Music

Sunday, May 30, 2010

The best Lee Dewyze's version of "Beautiful Day"



Here is performance of Lee from Access Hollywood. It's the best version of that song,me think. Enjoy!!

Kris Allen Performed "Maybe" (Allison Krauss song) on Benton,Arkansas



Really nice,Kris!! I like it!!

Friday, May 28, 2010

American Idol Season 9 Top 2 Studio Recording Review

- Lee Dewyze - Everybody Hurts (I love Lee takes on this recording,very mellow,he meant every words,love his voice,pretty good recording)
- Crystal Bowersox - Black Velvet (ouch sorry Cyrstal,I prefer your live interpretation of this song. Somehow she lost her raw voice quality in this recording)
- Lee Dewyze - Beautiful Day (it's almost the same with its live version,only added that with much auto-tunes and very polished sound. Yuck!! If you want great version of Beautiful Day,check Lee's rendition on Access Hollywood instead.)
- Crystal Bowersox - Up To The Mountain (GORGEOUS!! This song makes me stop my activities and forced me to listen carefully to every lyrics. This song should be promoted to the radios and get Crystal her own grammy awards)

Best recording this week: Up To The Mountain

Thursday, May 27, 2010

American Idol Season 9 Grand Finale

- Lee looks as stoic as he can gets.
- Randy is boo-ing Simon and immediately after that applaud him. What a douche!!
- The Top 12 sing School's Out with Alice Cooper & Orianthi. Amazing!! Too bad they're lip-syncing. I love the school uniform outfit though. Siobhan shows her stomach. Whew.
- Kris Allen performs The Truth. OMG!! He looks scorching hot. He's already fine without make up,and with make up tonight he looks like a Greek god. I love his performance!! Dino jaw at full force tonight. LOL
- Simon's clip. I feel nostalgic.
- Siobhan Magnus & Aaron Kelly sing with Bee Gees. At last,live singing. This performance is way above my expectation. Barry Gibbs sings better than the last time he was on the show (Season 6). The harmonization is spectacular. So good!!
- LOL at David Hasselhoof.
- Michael Lynche sing Take It To The Street (amazingly sang by Taylor Hicks on S5) with Michael McDonald. Very nice!!
- Dane Cook sings to Simon plus appearance by The Brittenum Twins,Normund Gentle,Tatiana Del Toro,that pink jumping woman from the first audition,I Am Your Brother guy & I don't recognize that alfredo guy or whatever who's hogging the mic the entire time,since he looks much more buff.
- The Top 6 Girls sing Christina Aguilera's catalogue. In the name of all that is holy,why are they so much more improved tonight?? Every once of their few seconds performances are better than their entire run on Idol. Case in point: Lacey Brown's sultry take on Beautiful,Paige Miles blows the roof & the stadium with Fighter,Katie Stevens killed every verses of that two songs,Siobhan rocked every lines. So amazing!! That's proving the girls are definitely so strong this year,when they're not nervous.
- Christina Aguilera sings beautifully. Outstanding!!
- Ricky Gervais is so damn funny.
* So far so good,don't screw it up TPTB!!
- The Top 6 Guys perform Hall & Oates catalogue. Andrew Garcia still suck at singing with the band,Tim Urban looks so tanned and buff. Clearly the girls are much more talented judging by the singing.
- Hall & Oates sing their song effortlessly.
- Crystal sings an Alannis Morisette song with all her heart. Isn't she supposed to sing with Melissa Etheridge? It turned out,Alannis is the one who duet with Crystal. Amazingness at every level!! Crystal looks very pro & like the 2nd coming of Alannis. Love it!!
- Carrie Underwood rocks Undo It. Wonderful performance as always. I love this song so much.
- Kris Allen gives the Top 2 their own personal styled Ford car. I love Crystal's design. Gosh,why Kris looks so damn fine!! It's like he's not aging at all. Craziness!! Oh,Crystal & Lee butchered My Wish. Awful harmony. No one can compared to Kradam's Ford video last year.
- Casey James sings with Brett Michael. OMG! I'm surprised. This is so inspiring.
* I didn't think last season could be topped by this season's finale. But I was wrong. So far I enjoy tonight's performances. The best night for me this year. I'm having so much fun and forget all of my problems. Yay!!
- Lee performs with Chicago. Just okay.
- Simon's tribute again. Flirting with Paula.
- Pants On The Ground by the General Platt and William Hung. LMAO!!
- Paula Abdul's tribute to Simon. Aww,I miss Paula. I hope she has the success that she deserved on her new dance show.
- All winners except David Cook sing Together We Are One. Plus appearances by some Idol alumni : David Archuleta,Allison Iraheta,Matt Giraud,Brooke White,Melinda Doolittle,Blake Lewis,Chris Richardson,Kristy Lee Cook,etc. Woah,this is so fantastic. I can die a peaceful death right now. I'm getting emotional right now. This show has given me a lot of joy. Sigh. I'll miss Simon definitely.
- Janet Jackson performs Nothing with the top 12. I love it!! It reminds me of her Velvet Rope album. The kids seemed awestruck watching Janet performs.
- Crystal & Lee perform with Joe Cocker. Crystal lays it all on the table while Lee's just winging it and smile. Geesh.
* Where is Taylor Hicks & Elliot Yamin's duet??
- Ryan didn't say how many million votes tonight.
- Lee Dewyze wins American Idol,and a girl can never win this show ever again,no matter how great she is or how beautiful she is. 3 white guy with guitar in a row. Woah!!

Wednesday, May 26, 2010

American Idol Season 9 Top 2 Performances (Finale)

Gosh,tonight reminds me of last year's fantastic Kradam night. I miss that moments. Crystal Bowersox looks gorgeous btw.

Round 1: Contestant's song choice
- Lee Dewyze - The Boxer (pretty nice,it's like his first rendition of this song,nothing different,he has much more confidence maybe)
- Crystal Bowersox - Me and Bobby McGee (I love this song. She rocked it on the Top 11 week. She brings different arrangement to tonight's performance. What an amazing performance!!)

Round 2: Executive Producer's choice
- Lee Dewyze - Everybody Hurts (strong performance,very good song choice,it suits Lee's voice,arguably one of Lee's better performance)
At this point,I really need showstopper performance like Carrie vs Bo or David Archuleta vs David Cook in previous seasons. C'mon guys!!
- Crystal Bowersox - Black Velvet (holy shit,Crystal shows how it's done. This is the Crystal that we know since beginning,someone that is in different league from the others. She shows so much passion. There's a fire in her performance. I feel excited too. One of her best performances)

Round 3: Coronation Song/Singles
- Lee Dewyze - Beautiful Day (oh U2 song, I thought it's gonna be Daniel Powter's Bad Day song. Hahaha. It's pretty good performance I think,he gave it his best. Hmm,I don't know if he can make this performance any better)
- Crystal Bowersox - Up To The Mountain (woah,they did a great job picking the single song this season. Giving the contestants a song that's suitable for their own personal style. Crystal totally knocks this song out of the park. Very emotional performance. She should win this thing)

Will Young's performance seemed a bit stiff and cold for me. Although I love his song by now. Nice job,dude!!

My rank:
1. Crystal Bowersox - Up To The Mountain
2. Crystal Bowersox - Black Velvet
3. Crystal Bowersox - Me And Bobby McGee
4. Lee Dewyze - Beautiful Day
5. Lee Dewyze - Everybody Hurts
6. Lee Dewyze - The Boxer

Tuesday, May 25, 2010

Kris Allen Feat. Pat Monahan - The Truth at Mixfest 2010 San Antonio,Texas



I'm on the fence on the duet. I love Hey Soul Sisters!,but I don't get it why they added Pat on the song. Sigh.

Carrie Underwood - Neon Moon (Brooks & Dunn Tribute)



What an amazing performance. I got goosebumps. The best Carrie's performance in recent months. Her voice is pure and stunning!!

video credit to mjsbigblog

Friday, May 21, 2010

American Idol Season 9 Top 3 Studio Recording Review

- Casey James - OK,It's Alright With Me (woah,from the first note,I already love this recording. Casey's bluesy raspy voice comes out very apparent and clear,I really really enjoy his voice in this song,and everything is much better than his live performance.)
- Crystal Bowersox - Come To My Window (the melody and the arrangement in this song remind me so much of the music on late 90's. Very nostalgic. Crystal's voice suck me into the song. Very lovely. I love it!! If you love late 90's music,you should buy this song. It will make you dance.)
- Lee Dewyze - Simple Man (somehow,the first thing that I thought when I listen to this song is woah,Lee could have a bonafide music career after this. I don't know if people will buy Lee's songs since the market is so inundated with crappy albeit catchy songs. But I believe,the record company can find a way to market Lee. He's very markettable,judging from his recording voice alone. Btw I love this recording,usually I'm not a fan of this type of genre in music,but dunno why I like this)
- Casey James - Daughters (hmm Casey back to his boring self in this song. Bummer. I'm not enjoying this song at all. It's like he didn't give it his all when recording this song.)
- Crystal Bowersox - Maybe I'm Amazed (the arrangement in this song is too gloomy for me,somehow I'm not liking this recording at all. It's too blah.)
- Lee Dewyze - Hallelujah (sorry Lee,I don't like this rendition. Your voice is pretty good in the song but Hallelujah has already been done to death and I'm so bored with it. And you did nothing in the arrangement)

The best recording this week: Simple Man,Come To My Window,OK,It's Alright With Me

Thursday, May 20, 2010

American Idol Season 9 Top 3 Result Show

Hoahm,okay tonight is the announcement of the Top 2. Ryan begins with chit chat with the Top 3. It's so boring that I daydream along the way. I don't know,but these guys don't have any sparks in them to excite the audiences.

Casey James's homecoming clip. Is it me or did they cut Casey clip only until the hospital?? I didn't see his reunion with his family,etc. Looks like something's wrong with my channel.

Travis Garland performs. Looks like it's lips-syncing. I don't see this song gains any traction at all. He should've been with his old boyband.

Crystal Bowersox's homecoming clip. Touching. She has to win this thing,if not that'd be injustice.

Lee Dewyze's homecoming clip. Woah,he's shocked that all of this happening to him.

Justin Bieber performs. I love You Smile,I Smile. He should've sang a full Baby song. This is the only interesting thing in the whole night. I've seen the popularity of Hilary Duff,Miley Cyrus,Jonas Brothers and now Justin Bieber. Who's next?? It's getting more popular by each new artist. Someday it'd be the equivalent of the second coming of Christ.

Casey James is eliminated. Crystal & Lee for the Finale. Predictable. Gosh,what a lazy singout.

Wednesday, May 19, 2010

American Idol Season 9 Top 3 Performances

1st round (The contestants's song choices)
- Casey James (in order for Lee vs Crystal dream TPTB finale to happen,they put Casey to perform first,contestants song choice first & judges choice later,in order to prevent showstopper performance like Kris Allen last year to happen,and it works. Casey's performance is so blah,meh and lazy. He has major nerve going on in the beginning of the song. He'd be toast if he didn't transform his 2nd performance into magic)
I saw Lilly Scott far away in the audiences.
- Crystal Bowersox (I love the first note,the rest are okay. Not a great performance. The band ruined everything. It's too mediocre for Crystal. Sigh. Hoping for a great 2nd performance.)
- Lee Dewyze (this is what I'm talking about. I want to see them duking it out in this final stage of competition. I love this performance,the accoustic at the beginning,the right arrangement for the band,his voice soars and fills the stage perfectly. This rock version of Lee is what people have been waiting for. Great job,Lee. I'm impressed!!)
2nd round (The judges's song choices)
- Casey James (he sang it better than my expectation,quite beautiful performance there. Albeit verging on sleepy and slow tempo. Hence,great playing guitar as always from Casey. I hope Casey has his chance too to sneak in into the top 2. Since he has Jealous Guy & Don't in his resume so far)
- Crystal Bowersox (holy crap,Crystal blows me away. I didn't know that she could sing like that,and she doesn't bring her guitar out. A risky move indeed. She sang that song outta the park & adding 1 more fantastic performances into her showstopper performances list. The way she pushed her voice reminds me of Season 6 divas year)
- Lee Dewyze (oh gosh,the pimping. It's like Crystal has lost and Lee won this competition. I can't stand it. Yes,he has quite good performance but he has some flat notes in the higher register and the choir is so cheesy,everything just smells over-pimping for me)

My rank:
1. Lee Dewyze (Simple Man)
2. Crystal Bowersox (Maybe I'm Amazed)
3. Casey James (Daughters)
4. Lee Dewyze (Hallelujah)
5. Crystal Bowersox (Come To My Window)
6. Casey James (OK,It's Alright With Me)

Saturday, May 15, 2010

Lady Gaga & Elton John Sing "Don't Stop Believin"



Lady Gaga,Elton John,Bruce Springsteen,Sting,Blondie's Debbie Harry,Shirles Bassey performed Don't Stop Believin at New York Carnegie Hall. I love it!! I love this song.

Friday, May 14, 2010

American Idol Season 9 Top 4 Studio Recordings Review

- Lee Dewyze (hmm I don't see why people should buy this recording,it's almost alike with his live performance. Somehow,I'm enchanted by the background singer's voice in this)
- Michael Lynche (bland performance and I don't care at all. Just Mike singing that song in karaoke)
- Crystal Bowersox & Lee Dewyze (beautiful vocal and arrangement from both of them,I can hear their chemistry and the harmonization is great.)
- Casey James (I love this recording of Casey. Great vocal,great arrangement,more melodic rather than his live performance. Definitely one of his best recording)
- Crystal Bowersox (same with Casey. Crystal has great recording too this week. I love her vocal and the way she sing in this recording. I can feel her conviction and all her passion. Great job!!)
- Casey James & Michael Lynche (thanks to Casey,Mike probably has his best recording. This recording is so good,you should check it out. I love both of their voices.)

The best recording this week: Casey James,Crystal Bowersox,both of the duets

Thursday, May 13, 2010

American Idol Season 9 Top 4 Result Show

Boring intro.

I don't like this Fantasia's song. I prefer "Even Angel" that she sang on Oprah Winfrey Show. However,when she hits the bridge and singing those words of advice,I love that part.

Casey James is safe. There goes my bonus points.

Daughtry sing September. It almost knocked me to sleep. Bzzzz.

Lee Dewyze goes home........to Chicago for homecoming. Nice there,Ryan!! You almost got me.

I couldn't careless about Bon Jovi. Meh.

Mike & Crystal. Who goes home?? It's Michael Lynche. Yay!! Crystal is crying (she wanna win this thing,really!!). After that,Mike's singing yesterday's awful song and they shoot him and his wife for the rest of the show until the end. I'm so tired of the baby pimping.

Wednesday, May 12, 2010

American Idol Season 9 Top 4 Performances (Movie Week)

Please stop with the boo-ing,Randy!! It's getting so old!! You should get the boo-ing instead for being a complete useless on the show.

- Lee Dewyze (I love his voice,less flat than the usual,but very karaoke indeed & boring. Why couldn't he pick a fresher song instead?? And why Randy still uses the word "pitchy" after Harry scolded the judges last week?)
- Michael Lynche (what's going on tonight,Randy,is that the contestants pick the worst song imaginable. Overdone and cheesy song that people already bored with. Gosh,so boring. I'm not excited at all at his performance. He sounds good & the choir is a plus point but whatever!! I don't care.)
- Crystal & Lee (when I heard they were going to sing Falling Slowly,I rolled my eyes thinking what a copycat they are,picking Kris Allen's memorable performance last season. But what you know,it's the best duet ever and one of the best performance of the season. This is fantastic on every level. Great vocal,great arrangement,great chemistry resulting in perfect performance. Of course,Simon loves that song,unlike last season which he was indifference to Kris. CMIIW. Yeah,I know he said that he loved the performance on the result show but that after the whole blogosphere applauded the performance which the stupid Randy criticized)
- Casey James (better song choice than Lee & Mike although it's very laid back but at least it's not a cheesy song. Casey is singing in the pit of death. Not good!! Why won't he learn?! That swaybot pit is deadly!! His performance is okay. He looks smoking though with his stubbles gone. Kara is enjoying the performance too much. Mmkay.)
- Crystal Bowersox (the best individual performance tonight. Crystal should win this thing hands down. I'm not a fan of that song though. Doesn't have a lot of melody in it and not catchy at all.)
- Casey & Mike (Casey excels when he sings sweet raw tender song,while Mike soars singing a love song. Thus this performance is spectacular)

Why is it possible that the duets are better than the solos? Were they intentionally focus on the duets & ditch their solos?? Tomorrow Fantasia gonna perform. Yay!!

My rank:
1. Crystal & Lee
2. Casey & Mike
3. Crystal Bowersox
4. Casey James
5. Lee Dewyze
6. Michael Lynche

Janey Cutler : Susan Boyle 2.0 or what??

Janey Cutler - Britain's Got Talent 2010 - Auditions Week 4


Another Susan Boyle moment from Britain's Got Talent. Janey Cutler is an 80 years old grandma who has tremendous vocal power. I never heard people at that age can sing like that. I can't wait for more of her performances. At least something interesting is happening,not like American Idol which so boring,I can't wait for this season to end.

Friday, May 07, 2010

American Idol Season 9 Top 5 Studio Recordings Review

- Aaron Kelly (love this recording much better than his live performance because he sounds less country twang in here. Love the sound from the big band too. Aaron's voice is extremely marketable. I hope I see his music career soon)
- Casey James (of course this recording is in different league compared to his goat awful live performance but I still cringe over the incompability of his bluesy country voice with jazz element. Not matching at all and very strange.)
- Crystal Bowersox (love her phrasing,love her nuance,I can't imagine how awful this season would be if Crystal isn't here. I love this recording so much. Not boring or sleepy at all. It's perfect)
- Michael Lynche (his vocal is flawless,everything is perfect,but I dunno why I don't care at all for this recording. It seems this recording just went over my head. This one is better than his live rendition though)
- Lee Dewyze (woah,I love love this recording. Lee's voice is as usual different from his live show. I don't get it why it's so different. Maybe because they polish it to death. But anyway,he picks the right song for his voice and this week. Thanks God,I can like another Lee's recording since Beast of Burden)

The best recording of this week: Lee Dewyze and Crystal Bowersox

Thursday, May 06, 2010

American Idol Season 9 Top 5 Result Show

The 1st group performance,everyone lips syncing except Crystal. I think she's singing it live judging from her breathing.

Woah,I love this behind the scene clip. Way to go,producers!! That clip of the boys waking up must make the tweens flailing out there.

Lady Gaga's raunchy performance was pretty good. Love the veil and the maria statue. I wonder if the people complain because this is not safe for the children.

Lee is safe.

Another behind the scene clip. I wonder if the producers reading those survey that they have on their website.

Harry Connick Jr performs. I'm sleepy. This is so boring. I effin love Ellen's expression when Harry jabbed at her.

2nd group performance,the lips syncing is so obvious. This can't get any boring.

WTF Casey is safe??? There goes all my points. Mike and Aaron are in bottom 2. Aaron Kelly goes home. Awwwwwww,I'm so sad for Aaron. At least I like him. Well,hope next week (overdone to death) movie week won't be so boring. Jamie Foxx mentors again,I wonder if I'll like it like last year.

Wednesday, May 05, 2010

American Idol Season 9 Top 5 Performances (Sinatra Theme)

Of course they did filler endlessly at the beginning,I was already super bored with all of this shit. Another filler again after the commercial. Geesh!!

- Aaron Kelly (uh oh the band overwhelmed his voice. Why can't they tone down the bandzilla a bit so that we can hear the contestant's voice more clearly?? And no Ellen,I could still hear country from his voice. It's so weird those country jazz vocal. I think it's okay though)
- Casey James (thanks Casey for the conviction free and awkward performance. The vocal was all over the place. I didn't get a single good moment from this performance. He'll go home tomorrow,I think)
- Crystal Bowersox (woah,I never thought she could sing a jazz song this perfectly. Her phrasing is of course flawless,she looks like a jazz singer & not folk at all,although the song made me sleepy but I think she excels)
- Michael Lynche (somehow he lost me in the beginning part of the performance & I didn't get excited at all about this performance. I wanted to like it but I didn't,I dunno why. Kris sang this song beautifully last year while Mike just hit those big notes without any interesting addition to the performance)
I don't get this night. Usually I love big band night the most but tonight is blah. WTH with Lee getting pimp spot again???
- Lee Dewyze (OMG!! He just locks himself for the Top 2 there!! So full of swagger,it's just effortless,amazingly not pitchy like usual,everything just felt right. He could win this thing. Crystal better be watch out for Lee)

My rank:
1. Lee Dewyze
2. Crystal Bowersox
3. Aaron Kelly
4. Michael Lynche
5. Casey James

The one thing that I'm excited about for this week is Lady Gaga performing tomorrow.