American Idol - Season 8 - Top 36 - Week 3 - Results

WOO HOO!!!!! A Daily AntheM from David Cook is being used for the montage at the beginning. YEAH!!!!!

VIDEO

The 12 contestants sing "Hot and Cold". I'm glad they are using more current songs for the group sings, but they are still corny and cheesy to the max!!!!

VIDEO

And here we go with the results...

Lil - IN (is that really any surprise?) And she sings her song again, "Be Without You" - good job!

VIDEO

Ariana - OUT
Taylor - OUT
Alex - OUT
Kendall - OUT
Scott - IN Scott sings again, and he did a great job again with "Mandolin Rain"

VIDEO

Nathaniel - OUT
Kristen - OUT

On to

Felicia - OUT
Von - OUT

Ju'not - OUT
Jorge - IN A little surprising, but good for him. He will sing "Don't Let The Sun go Down On Me" later.

Now onto the wildcard thing.... We will know tonight who is coming back for the wild card show tomorrow night.

8 people will come back for tomorrow's show and sing again.

Randy picks Von Smith
Kara picks Jasmine Murray
Paula picks someone from the first round - Ricky Brady
Simon picks Megan Joy Corkrey (not surprising, Simon has a hard on for her...)

VIDEO

After the break, Randy picks Tatiana (OMFG - not really surprising tho, as she's such a drama queen she makes for good tv - and she can sing, even if she's fucking annoying!)
Kara picks Matt Giraud! YEAH!
Paula picks Jesse Langseth
Simon picks Anoop Desai (no surprises there)

VIDEO

Jorge sings us out with "Don't Let The Sun go Down On Me".

Seacrest out!

Of that group, I'm thinking Anoop, Matt and Jesse will make it...

Thanks to www.mjsbigblog.com for the videos.

American Idol - Season 8 - Top 36 - Week 3 - VIDEOS

My take on tonight:

Von Smith - “You’re All I Need to Get By” by Marvin Gaye - VIDEO

MUCH better than Hollywood week. He looked comfortable on stage, and that made it really enjoyable for me. He was still shouting a bit near the end, but all in all, I can say I liked his performance.


Taylor Vaifanua - “If I Ain’t Got You” by Alicia Keys -

Shaky all over, no power behind the voice, not a good performance.


Alex Wagner-Trugman - “I Guess That’s Why They Call it the Blues” by Elton John - VIDEO

I like Alex's personality and quirky sense of humour. But his vocals tonight were weird - what was up with throwing that weird growl all over the place? And his physical performance was equally weird.


Arianna Afsar - “The Winner Takes it All” by Abba - VIDEO

That was a hot mess of epic proportion. It's too bad - she's got a nice tone to her voice, but her talent didn't shine threw with this performance. Bad, bad, bad all around.


Ju’Not Joyner - “Hey There Delilah” by The Plain White Ts - VIDEO

I actually really enjoyed the subdued arrangement and vocals. But I'm with Simon - I think it would have been even better if he kept it stripped down all the way through. I'm not crazy about his voice, but I enjoyed this very, very much.


Kristen McNamara - “Give Me One Reason” by Tracy Chapman -

I like Kristen's voice. I did not, however, like this arrangement, nor did I like the performance. No, no, no, no, no.


Nate Marshall - “I Would Do Anything for Love” by Meatloaf - VIDEO

First - Nathaniel is a huge drama queen. Second, he has a nice voice, but not enough power and gusto to sing such a diva song! Absolutely dreadful.


Felicia Barton - “No One” by Alicia Keys - VIDEO

I hate that song, but I liked this. I too thought it was a bit copycat, but I still thought it was good.


Scott MacIntyre - “Mandolin Rain” by Bruce Hornsby - VIDEO

I really, really enjoyed this one. Scott was a bit shaky at first, produced a few bum notes here and there, but all in all, I thought he did good. He sang with passion, and those higher, big notes were simply fabulous. I frankly love his voice - and he's got one. If he didn't, I'd be sympathetic to his story, but nothing more...


Kendall Beard - “This One’s for the Girls” by Martina McBride - VIDEO

I don't like country, and she has the generic country blonde girl lok, but she did pretty good. Not sure it'll be enough to go through, but it was enjoyable.


Jorge Nunez - “Don’t Let the Sun go Down on Me” by Elton John - VIDEO

I'm not liking the overly dramatic performance and vocals, but he had some really strong vocals in there nonetheless. Very nice. But let me rant a bit here - I hate that the judges told him before tonight to work on his accent. I hate that when he sings, there is not much of that accent showing through. He's from Porto Rico, he speaks spanish - what is so wrong with having an accent when he speaks/sings in english?? GRRRRRR!


Lil Rounds - “Be Without You” by Mary J. Blige - VIDEO

By far the best of the night. On pitch, great performance, both physically and vocally. She's in, for sure.


Thanks to www.mjsbigblog.com for the videos.

Pigott Borthers with guest vocalist Earl Stevenson - Rich Man

Lukas Rossi on Sunday Night Stu

Good Enough



Science



Lonely Ones

American Idol - Season 8 - Top 36 - Week 2 - Results

The night starts with a group sing of Ne-Yo "Closer". The boys were much more featured than the girls....


And on to the results:

Allison - IN
Jesse - OUT
Matt B - OUT

Allison sings and encore of "Alone" - VIDEO


Megan - OUT
Kris - IN
Matt Giraud - OUT
Jeanine - OUT

Kris sings "Man in The Mirror" once again. - VIDEO


Brooke White is back on the Idol stage to perform her single "Hold Up" - VIDEO


Mishavonna - OUT
Kai - OUT
Nick - OUT
Adam - IN
Jasmine - OUT

Adam then sings us out to his encore of "Satisfaction" - VIDEO


Nextg week's group:

Arianna Afsar, Juno Joyner, Kristen McNamara, Nathanial Marshall, Lil Rounds, Jorge Nunez, Kendall Beard, Scott MacIntyre, Felicia Barton, Von Smith, Taylor Vaifanua and Alex Wagner-Trugman.

Thanks to www.mjsbigblog.com for the videos

American Idol - Season 8 - Top 36 - Week 2 - VIDEOS

I am just getting around to watching this week's performance show. Yeah, that is how interested I am in Idol this year. *yawn*

Jasmine Murray - “Love Song” by Sara Bareilles - VIDEO

I thought it was nice that she chose a fun, young sounding song, but boy oh boy did she do it all wrong. She was off key a lot, and her expressions were really weird. Not liking this at all.


Matt Giraud - “Viva La Vida” by Coldplay - VIDEO

I like Matt a whole lot. His performance Hollywood Week really was great. But this? Not so much. It's a simple song to sing... No need for runs that never ends. Matt used way too many of them, and he did not use them very well, I should add. I was expecting much more from him. Still hope he goes through.


Jeanine Vailes - “This Love” by Maroon 5 - VIDEO

Absolutely awful. She certainly will suffer from lack of exposure on AI, and with a performance like that, she's not helping her case. Blech.


Nick Mitchell - “And I Am Telling You” - VIDEO

I just love him. I can't help it! He does not belong on American Idol, but damn, he still can sing! He's so funny and entertaining. His deadpan ending on the song was absolutely hilarious! I hope he gets some offers from his time on AI.


Allison Iraheta - “Alone” by Heart - VIDEO

I really like her looks. And I like her attitude, too. She didn't impress me performance wise - I thought it was a bit too manic at times - but WOW on the voice. That song is so overdone in those type of shoes, and yet, I wanted to hear how she'd sing it. When she started with the chorus... AMAZING. Love the raw-ness of her voice, the raspiness.


Kris Allen - “Man in the Mirror”- Michael Jackson - VIDEO

Hated the ending. Other than that... WOW!!!! I loved it. Kris might be one that could go through even without all the exposure that the favorites have had. This was a really good performance, both physically and vocally. That song was perfect for him - loved how it started low, and gradually got more exciting until Kris exploded in the chorus. Really enjoyed this. I would have loved to hear his take on that Michael Buble song he did in Hollywood...


Megan Joy Corkrey - “Put Your Records On” by Corinne Baily Rae - VIDEO

I like her voice - it's different than what we have heard so far. She chose a good song for her voice. The physical performance was really weird, almost uncomfortable tho... I don't know. Not bad but not great.


Matt Breitzke- “If You Can Only See” by Tonic - VIDEO

I like his voice and his song choice... But the performance was boring and cheesy. I disagree with Simon - I think it was a good choice for him. I just wish he had put a bit more power and passion in his vocals.


Jesse Langseth - “Bette Davis Eyes” by Kim Carnes - VIDEO

Meh. I think at times there were moments in the song where I went "Oh wow, this chick can sing..." but most of the times it was "why did she pick that song?" I did not enjoy that performance very much. And it's too bad because she can really sing... and she's got a really interesting voice.


Kai Kalama - “What Becomes of the Brokenhearted” by Jimmy Ruffin - VIDEO

Hum. First half I thought the performance was sleazy. Second half, he seemed more comfortable and I saw much more passion put into the singing. Voice was good throughout... But boring song over all.


Mishavonna Henson - “Drops of Jupiter” by Train - VIDEO

Seems like this could have been a great song for Matt Giraud... The beginning was good, and I liked her take on the song. But then she got over excited and she started going off pitch... Meh at best. I do like her and her voice, hope she makes it somehow.


Adam Lambert - “I Can’t Get No Satisfaction” by the Rolling Stones - VIDEO

I quite liked the slow, sexy beginning. But when he kicked into high gear, he lost me. I hated the high pitched "singing", the physical performance was weird and uncomfortable, and Adam just didn't touch me at all. There's only Mick Jagger that has the bravado needed for this song... Adam didn't have that. I have to admit that he does have an incredible range and he can really sing! But it's not really reaching me yet.


Of course now the results are in and all, but before knowing the results, I'd say Adam, Allison and perhaps Kris or Matt will go through.

Thanks to www.mjsbigblog.com for the videos.

American Idol - Season 8 - Top 36 - Week 1 - Results

The night starts with a group sing of "I'm Yours" by Jason Mraz.

While it was refreshing to hear some recent, relevant material on AI, the singing itself was not great... But it was still entertaining, if not for the sheer cheese value of it all.

Now onto the results. Ryan calls the contestants to center stage, chats with them, announces the results.

Casey - out
Stephen - out
Alexis - in - She sings an encore of her song" I Ain’t Never Loved a Man". And she does it even better than the previous night!

VIDEO

Rickey - out
Jacquie - out
Anoop - out (I'm sure he'll get a wildcard spot...)
Michael - in - He sings "I Don't Want To Be" again. And while i still think this was not a song for him, he does it better than the previous night, too.

VIDEO

Michael Johns and Carly sing "The Letter" - individually, they sounded great... But together, it was not so great.

VIDEO

Anne Marie - out
Brent - out
Stevie - out

Tatiana - out (oh the drama! I thought she was going to faint!)
Danny - in and he sings "Hero" again as the encore and it sounds great!

VIDEO

Next week's group will be:

1. Megan Corkrey
2. Kris Allen
3. Mishavonna Henson
4. Matt Breitzke
5. Allison Iraheta
6. Matt Giraud
7. Jasmine Murray
8. Kai Kalama
9. Jesse Langseth
10. Adam Lambert
11. Jeanine Vailes
12. Norman Gentle

Thanks to www.mjsbigblog.com for the videos

Blake Lewis - Vlog #1

Talks about being singed to Tommy Boy, upcoming shows, and upcoming music!

JD Fortune - The Death Of A Motivational Speaker - New Songs!

And new videos!

Please visit

http://www.myspace.com/jdfortune448 and go listen to JD's new music! 6 new songs are up, and they are AMAZING. Go! GO!!!!

EDITED

I had to edit this since JD keeps on deleting his videos! Your best bet to hear JD's music is to visit his website at www.jdfortune448.com and listen! Oh, and you can register there, too!

American Idol - Season 8 - Top 36 - Week 1 - VIDEOS

This year, we'll see 3 groups of 12 contestants for the first three weeks. This week's group is:

Alexis Grace
Anne Marie Boskovich
Anoop Desai
Brent Keith
Casey Carlson
Danny Gokey
Jackie Tohn
Michael Sarver
Ricky Braddy
Stephen Fowler
Stevie Wright
Tatiana Del Toro

3 of these people will be in the Top 12, as the The Top Female, Top Male and Top vote getter of each group will advance to the next round.

This week, the contestants choose a Top 10 song from the Billboard Hot 100 from any year.So we start with:


Jackie Tohn - A Little Less Conversation (Elvis Presley) VIDEO

I think she did good opening up the season! I love her voice, but this slowed down version didn't really allowed her to let it shine. Her best part was the bridge just before the "come on come on", followed by the come on come on. I also though her performance was a bit manic... All in all, a good start of the season. 6/10


Ricky Braddy - A Song For You (Donny Hathaway) VIDEO

Not bad, but a ballad in the #2 spot won't help him get through. The format is not helping him either - poor guy has had no face time at all during the auditions and Hollywood week. His vocals tonight were good, especially once he got into his higher register. I also liked the way he interpreted it. I liked it until the very end... I did not like the end at all. 8/10


Alexis Grace - Never Loved a Man (Aretha Franklin) VIDEO

I love the way she looks tonight. GREAT song for her voice, for her look, for the sexy little thing she wants to established. Lots of blues and soul in her voice. Loving it! 9/10


Brent Keith - Hicktown - (Jason Aldean) VIDEO

Cutie who will suffer from the lack of exposure during Hollywood week. I didn't know he was kind rock, kinda country. Good song, nice singing, good voice, nice performance. But kinda middle of the pack I think. 7/10


Stevie Wright - You Belong to Me -(Taylor Swift) VIDEO

The lower parts were painful.... Actually, her whole vocal performance was shaky as hell. No power, no oumph, nothing. I liked her song choice, but that song really didn't show off her voice AT ALL. 4/10


Anoop Desai - Angel Of Mine (Monica) VIDEO

What an old fashion song choice! Solid vocals, but boring song and boring performance! 7/10


Casey Carlson - Every Little Thing She Does is Magic (The Police) VIDEO

Facial expressions are weird and turning me off! Vocals only are not bad... But she doesn't have a powerful enough voice to pull this off. It really sounded karaoke. 5/10


Michael Sarver - I Don't Want To Be (Gavin DeGraw) VIDEO

I don't know what to think of this! His vocals were ok, his performance was ok, and I like the sentiment behind doing this song. But it didn't show off his beautiful vocals! He did surprised me with the performance. I didn't think he would be able to do it, but he did. 6/10


Anne Marie Boskovich - Natural Woman (Aretha Franklin) VIDEO

Pitchy in the higher notes. Good ending. I just don't like that song.... I felt like her voice was a bit too thin for this song. 5/10


Stephen Fowler - Rock With You (Michael Jackson) VIDEO

The arrangement was so freaking CHEESY!!! It felt also very pitchy. The only good thing is that he looked comfortable on the stage. Bad, bad, bad. 4/10


Tatiana Del Toro - Saving All My Love For You (Whitney Houston) VIDEO

Putting aside that she is fucking annoying, that was the best performance so far. 8.5/10


Danny Gokey - Hero (Mariah Carey) VIDEO

He was bare none the best. He gave me shivers. I was disappointed he did not rearranged the song, but he made the best of it. I LOVED his growly notes and the falsetto... 9.5/10


I HATE this format. This heavily favours those who had lots of screen time during auditions and Hollywood Week. And of course, it's a huge disadvantage for those who didn't. It's already a popularity contest when it should be a talent contest, at least in these earlier rounds!

I think Danny and Alexis are in for sure. Third person probably will be Anoop, although I'm really hoping it'll be Michael Sarver.

I guess we'll see tomorrow!

Videos provided by http://www.mjsbigblog.com

American Idol Season 8 - Your Top 36

Anoop Desai

http://profile.myspace.com/index.cfm?fuseaction=user.viewProfile&friendID=446173972

Von Smith

http://www.myspace.com/vonleesmith

Alex Wagner Trugman

http://www.myspace.com/alexwagnertrugmanfansite

Adam Lambert

http://www.myspace.com/adamlambertmusic

Taylor Vaifanua

http:// www.myspace.com/taylorvaifanua

Jasmine Murray

http://www.myspace.com/jasminemurrayfans

Ariana Asfar

http://www.myspace.com/ariannaafsar

Casey Carlson

http://www.myspace.com/caseycarlsonmusic

Megan Corkrey

http://www.myspace.com/megancorkreyfansite

Mishavonna Henson

http://www.myspace.com/mishavonna

Stevie Wright

http://www.myspace.com/steviewrightmusic

Felicia Barton

http://www.myspace.com/feliciabarton

Kendall Beard

http://profile.myspace.com/index.cfm?fuseaction=user.viewProfile&friendID=316243399

Kristen McNamara

http://www.myspace.com/kristenmcnamara

Alexis Grace

http://www.myspace.com/flexinlexin

Scott MacIntyre

http://www.myspace.com/scottmacintyre

Lil Rounds

http://www.lilroundsfan.com/

Jesse Langseth


Allison Iraheta

http://www.myspace.com/allison_iraheta

Danny Gokey

http://profile.myspace.com/index.cfm?fuseaction=user.viewProfile&friendID=444993263

Ricky Braddy


Matt Giraud

http://profile.myspace.com/index.cfm?fuseaction=user.viewprofile&friendID=49367494

Ju’not Joyner

http://www.myspace.com/junotmusicpage

Jorge Nunez


Brent Keith

http://www.myspace.com/brentkeith

Stephen Fowler

http://profile.myspace.com/index.cfm?fuseaction=user.viewprofile&friendid=448091390

Nick Mitchell — Norman Gentle

http://www.youtube.com/user/youraschmo

Jackie Tohn

http://www.myspace.com/jackietohn

Tatiana Del Toro

http://www.myspace.com/tatiananicoledeltoro

Nathaniel Marshall


Jeanine Vailes


Kai Kalama


Anne Marie Boskovich

http://www.myspace.com/annmariesings

Kris Allen

http://www.myspace.com/krisallenmusic

Michael Sarver

http://www.myspace.com/graymakstudios

Matt Breitzke

Pork Beans - Behind The Scene

Idol Worship: Blake Lewis' New Deal; Album To Feature Ben Gibbard?

http://billboard.blogs.com/jadedinsider/2009/02/idol-worship-blake-lewis-new-deal-album-to-feature-death-cabs-ben-gibbard.html

The season six runner-up has signed a new record deal with Tommy Boy Entertainment, the seminal dance/hip hop/electronic label whose catalog includes albums by Africa Bambaataa, Biz Markie and De La Soul. "I'm doing an electro-pop slash real-hip hop-influenced album," he told Billboard. "It's a great record already and we're only five songs into it. We're hoping to have it out for April, so I'm working my butt off."

Blake says there will be a "ton of guests" on the record, mostly Seattle vocalists, but he also has his sights on someone we didn't quite expect: Ben Gibbard from Death Cab For Cutie. Turns out, Blake's got a connection. "My manager Leslie Lewis is Jenny Lewis' sister, so it's all a community thing," he said. "I'm hoping to talk to him about it at the Grammys."

In the meantime, Blake, who was dropped by RCA after one album, is getting a kick out of watching the new season of American Idol, for the first time since his near win in 2007. And he's also commenting on it, as a special correspondent for his local FOX station. "It's comedy to me," he said. "Because with the audition episodes, I was there for 12 hours, and to see how they cut it into two cities in a one-hour show, I just laugh about it." -- Shirley Halperin

Greg Neufeld on Tour With Civeda and Suzie McNeil

Civeda is rock on ice

By Jessica Murdy - Chilliwack Progress
Published: January 15, 2009 6:00 PM


It’s been a few years since sweet Suzie McNeil rocked it up on a little show called Rock Star: INXS. But it’s been a busy few years, and she’s still working her rock star butt off.

She was a favourite on the reality series, and was the last woman standing. (JD Fortune went on to win, and to front INXS.)

But since that experience, she hasn’t fizzled. There was no slinking away. No giving up. She kept on working, backing up Pink on her I’m Not Dead tour across North America and recording two albums to date. The most recent, Rock N’ Roller, was released in November and features her hit song Believe.

But the reason she’ll be touring this winter is to take part in an innovative rock show that combines ice skating, circus acts and live music. The show is called Civeda, and will tour Canada coast to coast. And the first stop for the show is right here in Chilliwack at the Prospera Centre, January 29.

McNeil and a long list of others will be in town for the five days prior to the show’s opening date, rehearsing all the choreography together for the first time.

“The idea was to combine the music and the ice dancing together,” McNeil told the Progress this week. “So they’ll be helping to tell the story (to go along with the music).”

For now, the dance performers are rehearsing the choreography to McNeil’s tracks, along with hits by Canadian Idol finalists Carly Rae Jepsen, Greg Neufeld and Ashley Leitao. But by opening night, the two different art forms will become one.

“We will be taking people on a journey and it’s something I’m really excited about,” she says.

As for McNeil, the singer/songwriter, she’s busy writing songs for a third album in the near future.

“The second one was grueling,” she says, but she’s determined to do it again. Living between her Canadian home of Toronto, and her working home in L.A., she says her real home lately has been her suitcase.

But she couldn’t pass up the opportunity to join Civeda. She’ll take any opportunity to promote her own material, something she has made certain sacrifices for. When the tour with Pink ended, McNeil was offered the chance to tour Europe with her.

“After a lot of thinking, I said, I think I’d rather do my own thing,” she recalls. “If you’re an artist it’s sort of in your blood and in your bones. It’s the struggle of being an artist, and being your own artist. It’s so much more rewarding emotionally (to perform your own music.)”

While singing back up was “like a job” with the security and ease of not being in charge, it just wasn’t enough to fulfill her creativity. So, she left Pink and struck out on her own.

“It was a great learning experience and good to see how a big machine like that works,” she says.

Tickets for the show are $24.75, $45 and $65, depending on seating.

Tickets for Civeda are available through Ticketmaster’s website. For more information, visit www.civeda.ca.

Greg Neufeld - New Songs

3 new songs on Greg's myspace, from his upcoming album, The Music:

www.myspace.com/gregneufeldmusic

- Ever You

- Counterfeit

- 7 Miles Away

We've heard Ever You before, and this version is different than the others, but it's amazing nonetheless. Counterfeit is a mid tempo song, with soaring vocals. Amazing. 7 Miles Away makes me weep.

As always, gorgeous voice, better than ever I'd even say....

Go listen. NOW! What are you waiting for>