Trespassing

Currently Listening To: Adam Lambert - Shady

First of all, congratulations to Adam Lambert for getting the No. 1 spot on the Billboard Top 200 with his second album Trespassing! It has been quite a while since a non-winner got a number one album, so good job Adam!

As for the album itself, I must say I'm quite impressed. I can't decide if it's better than For Your Entertainment, but it is definitely a good album.

Tracklisting

1. Trespassing

2. Cuckoo

3. Shady

4. Never Close Our Eyes

5. Kickin In

6. Naked Love

7. Pop That Lock

8. Better Than I Know Myself

9. Broken English

10. Underneath

11. Chokehold

12. Outlaws of Love

13. Runnin

14. Take Back

15. Nirvana

Most of the songs are ballads, and surprisingly I'm not particularly bothered about that? It's a good thing though, they're nice songs and some of them are even composed by Lambert himself. A job well done indeed, I'm so proud of him! <3

Overall: 8.5/10

Recommendations: Trespassing, Never Close Our Eyes, Shady, Pop That Lock, Underneath, Outlaws of Love, Runnin

It's the End

Currently Listening To: Adam Lambert - Running

...of the 11th season of American Idol, and probably all blogging activity for this year.

Anyway, congrats  Phillip Phillips for winning American Idol. I really can't say I was his biggest fan, cos I'm not, but errr well. Whatever man, WGWG wins again. 


Was it a popularity contest? Definitely, it's actually worse this year I think.


At least he'll be having one of the better winning singles in AI history.

Yeah.

Great Singers, Bad Choices

Currently Listening To: Keane - The Starting Line

We are down to the Top 3 and honestly this year we have a very solid Top 3. Unfortunately, the actual night itself was quite underwhelming. This bunch of contestants should have wowed us all but they didn't. They really didn't. I'm not saying they were bad, I'm just saying, for that amount of talent, they should have been a lot better.

Each contestant sang three songs; Judges' Choice, their Personal Choice and also Jimmy Iovine's.

I'm afraid Jessica was the least impressive performer tonight, in terms of song choices. Three sleepy ballads. I don't know what J.Lo was thinking, she chose Mariah Carey's My All and you know what? That is one difficult song to sing. It takes a lot of courage for anyone to choose that song at all, and J.Lo chose it for Jessica. On Top 3 night. Luckily Jessica did a pretty good job with the song, without missing a single note. Sure she didn't go for that high note but I don't care as long as the song sounded good. Her own choice, Aerosmith's I Don't Want to Miss a Thing, was interesting. Sadly though, she didn't do anything interesting WITH the song. She hit -most- of the notes, but another ballad just isn't good enough. Jimmy could have done her a favour by choosing something more current, but noooo he just had to choose Jackson 5's I'll Be There. WHY?? Again, this is 2012 not 1950! Not a good choice, although vocally she was okay. The song choices really killed her chances. I'm sorry for Jessica, I hope her fans will be voting in full force.

As much as I hate to admit it, Phillip was a bit better than Jessica this week. Thanks to the song choices (except for his own). Steven's choice for him was The Four Seasons/Madcon's Beggin, and that was an excellent song choice. It suited him well and he made the song sound different rather than just singing it blindly. Was it a moment though? Hell no. Hated his own song selection, Matchbox 20's Disease. He could have and should have chosen something else. If I wanted him to stay I would have screamed but since I don't, whatever floats your boat Phil. And the third song...well, I've read a lot of rave reviews (including the judges' comments) for his rendition of Bob Seger's We Got Tonight. I don't get it though. Yeah it was a decent song choice and he sang it fair enough. But his higher register was just whack. I do value singing in tune more than connecting with a song emotionally. Nice dig there Steven, I sense some sarcasm although no one else did *shrugs* Singing in tune does matter people, how would you like it if the songs played on the radio everyday are sang out of tune? Will you still be listening? I sincerely doubt it. To me, Phil sounded like a mixture of Taylor Hicks, Chris Martin and Lee Dewyze. Not a good combination. In fact, a combination of all the voices I dislike. I'd be really surprised if he does leave tomorrow.

Joshua has been the most consistent contestant in the competition, and tonight was not different. His vocals were top notch for all three songs, and he sang every single song with a whole lot of passion and spirit. Randy picked I'd Rather Go Blind by Etta James for Joshua, and he slayed it. Hell yeah man, another standing ovation. I know that's not really a good thing, the endless standing Os, but he definitely deserved that one (I know, that wasn't a current song either but he did stand out more with it than Jess). I wasn't really into his version of Imagine, thought that he could have sang it better. Still, it beats Disease and I Don't Want to Miss a Thing for a personal song choice. And he gave a pretty good explanation for his choice. The highlight of the night for me, was Mary J. Blige's No More Drama, sang by no other than our gospel-faithful Joshua Ledet. If I were the judges, I would have given him another standing O just for the heck of it.

Overall though, I think Jessica had the least comfortable night while Joshua came out on top again. Phillip was his usual so-so self. Who should win? Joshua definitely. But will he? That I really can't answer.

And for heaven's sake Phillip fans, stop bashing Jessica. Stop calling her awful, stop elevating Phil's status to 'great singer' (HE JUST ISN'T OKAY?) and then insisting that Jessica's a lousy one - just stop it. Almost every single comment I read against Jessica was for Phillip, wtf? I don't care if you fancy his singing or song choices or whatever, but calling Jessica atrocious is just low. Guess what? I think Phillip's singing voice in general is atrocious, never mind the emotional value of the song. (Ok fine I don't actually think his singing is atrocious but you get my point!) Screw it, if Phil makes it to the Top 2, I'll be crying for Jessica. Seriously.

Strange Themes

Currently Listening To: Keane - Sea Fog

I guess they ran out of good themes? I mean, California Dreamin'? Songs I Wish I Had Written? Hmmm okay. Not very interesting themes but they have to sing something I suppose.

Now about California...yeah, it ain't much of a theme and it shows.

Hollie...well she sang Journey's Faithfully, and honestly she didn't do that good. Don't know what the judges were going on and on about. Her voice was shaky, she didn't quite hit the high notes and she seemed to lack confidence. Not a good thing for tonight, since PHILLIP PHILLIPS is still in the competition. Will Hollie survive the next theme? We shall see...

Speaking of Phillip, man that song choice was whack. Have You Ever Seen the Rain was a really strange song choice for a competition like American Idol, but since it's Phillip who cares? Vocally it wasn't half bad I suppose, and because of that he will most likely survive elimination tomorrow.

And then we have Joshua. He sang Josh (another Josh? Oooh) Groban's You Raise Me Up, the only modern song choice for this theme (what's up with the contestants, seriously? It's 2012 y'all!). He was spot on vocally, as usual but I didn't quite feel the performance. Still a lot better than Phil and Hollie though.

Jessica oh Jessica, she sang Etta James. I don't know if any Etta James fans will be voting tonight, but I sure hope so because that was one hell of a performance, with the perfect amount of sass and vocal ability. Good job Jess! THAT WAS A HOT ONE TONIGHT! Still, I'm worried. It is 2012 after all, and 2012 Etta James is not. Please vote for Jessica if you want her to win!

Phillip and Joshua's Maroon 5 duet was amusing, mostly on Phillip's part cos he sounded just...ugh.
Hollie sounded good on her Eternal Flame duet with Jessica, I thought she sounded better than Jess actually. She also sounded good on the group performance, but out of that I don't think tonight is Hollie's best night. That's bad news for her fans unless they vote their asses off for her.

On another note, why are the song choices on Idol so...old? Almost every single song selected tonight are not contemporary music. It feels dated. And old. The Voice wins on that aspect.

Moving on to Round 2, which was better than the first, for everyone.

Unfortunately for Hollie, even with that decent rendition of Bonnie Rait's I Can't Make You Love Me I don't think that was good enough. She seemed lost, and was a bit swallowed up by the stage. Beautiful song choice though, I love that song. I agree with Randy about connecting with the song, she seemed way out of her depth. Based solely on this week, I'd say that she should go home but as whole, she is much better Phillip. I'm sorry Hollie, best of luck with the voters.

As for Phillip, now that was a really intriguing song choice. I liked that song, I really did but I still think that he needs to go home. It might be a shock elimination tomorrow, who knows? Maybe Phil WILL (finally!) go home. Or maybe Jess or Josh will be the ones going home. I don't know. They don't deserve to go home, but they might. DAMN YOU VOTERS just let Phil go, k?

Although I love Jessica and I think she was excellent as usual, I'm gonna put her at 2nd place tonight. Why? Well that was one crazy vocal, I won't deny it - the only people crazy enough to sing And I'm Telling You I'm Not Going are those who can sing exceptionally well. That person is Jessica Sanchez y'all! Finally a standing ovation for someone other than Joshua. However, I don't really like the song itself so that kinda spoils the whole thing. She better not be going, or I'll be throwing my shoes at the TV screen.

And yeah, Joshua is the best tonight for me for you. He really doesn't deserve to go home, his rendition of It’s A Mans Mans Mans World was incredible. No other word can describe it. The emotional connection, the vocals - everything was just perfect. Hands down the best performance of the night for me. 15 standing Os. Beat that!

Who should go home? Phillip

Who will go home? I DON'T KNOW DAMMIT

EDIT: Results

I knew it, Hollie is gone.

Congrats to Phil, Jess and Josh anyway.

Strangeland

Currently Listening To: Lana Del Rey - Born to Die

I've been waiting for Keane's fourth studio album Strangeland for some time now, and it is finally out today - 7th May. I heard the little snippets of their tracks a few weeks ago and was quite impressed, but now that I'm done with the whole album...I don't really know how I feel about it? I mean, it's an okay album but somehow something is missing. There are a few great tracks in the album though. Personally I love Sea Fog and The Starting Line, those two songs are reminiscent of the early Keane. The rest of it is just so-so, the studio version of Disconnected is pretty awesome, and lead single Silenced by the Night is good as well. Unfortunately, the additional tracks for the Deluxe version are just...too eighties, especially The Boys. When I first saw the title, my mind immediately went to the Girls Generation song instead so yeah, not very impressed. The song itself is pretty um, unimpressive as well. Too cheesy 80s pop.

Track Listing
1. You Are Young
2. Silenced by the Night
3. Disconnected
4. Watch How You Go
5. Sovereign Light Café
6. On the Road
7. The Starting Line
8. Black Rain
9. Neon River
10. Day Will Come
11. In Your Own Time
12. Sea Fog

Additional Tracks:

13. Strangeland
14. Run with Me
15. The Boys
16. It's Not True

Overall: 7/10
Standouts: Sea Fog (beautiful song), The Starting Line, Silenced by the Night, You Are Young, Watch How You Go.


I guess the album didn't quite live up to my expectations. I was really expecting something mind-blowing, like Helplessness Blues. My favourite Keane album as of now is still Under the Iron Sea.

Now excuse me while I go listen to more MBLAQ.

60s British Invasion?

Currently Listening To: Haley Reinhart - Free

And it's another good night for American Idol, with the remaining 5 contestants singing British songs (define British songs, anyone?) and also songs from the 60s. The contestants (almost all of them anyway) are consistently striking home runs, so it has gotten even harder to rank them. Seriously man, I'm not exaggerating.

With the exception of one I suppose.

Honestly, I think Phillip Phillips has really overstayed his welcome. His performances this week definitely confirmed that for me. The first song was bland and rather uninspiring, and the second song...he mauled it. Like, seriously destroyed it. He sounded awful, and I have no clue why the judges were praising him. His studio recordings are pretty awesome but live, he just does not live up to this season's standards. I don't care how his studio recordings sound anymore, he shouldn't be robbing the other four contestants from their places in the competition. Please, let him be the one to leave tomorrow...

Moving on, we have Skylar Laine in fourth place this week. I love this girl, but she was definitely overpowered by the others this week. She was very energetic with the first song but vocally it was quite lacking, as she more or less mumbled her way through the song. I really liked her take on You Don't Have to Say You Love Me though, she sang it really well. Unfortunately it might have a been a bit too nasally, so...I don't know. It was good, but it wasn't good enough. On the bright side I thought she looked really pretty tonight! Here's hoping she'll be safe tomorrow...

Hollie Cavanaugh continued to improve this week, even with her usual diva song choices. Her first song, River Deep Mountain High, wasn't a half bad rendition but ya know what, Pia and the Glee cast sang it better. Just my opinion, I know she has quite a lot of fans. Bleeding Love on the hand, was excellent. Her best song in the competition I think. Very well sung, and for once, she didn't lose control of her voice. I would have picked her to leave after Phil, but I don't know, she has been getting better and I WAS a fan of hers at one point...

Jessica Sanchez takes the second spot for me again this week. Her first song, Proud Mary (I love that song btw!) was just so-so. I mean, she sang it well as usual, but it wasn't great. Not a good thing for Jess because Hollie chose a song with a similar feel and sang it better, in my opinion. Her second song however - holy #$%@, now that was what I would call a goosebump-inducing rendition of a song! And I can't stand that song - Joe Cocker's You Are So Beautiful - girl turned that song into something completely ethereal. Loved it, love her. If she leaves this week I'd be pissed. Seriously pissed.

And so, that leaves us with Joshua Ledet, who shines every single week. Talk about consistent! He got another standing ovation for his second song - his thirteenth standing O this season. 13 standing Os! Again, I felt like he didn't quite deserve the standing ovation (Jessica should have received one this week. What's wrong with the judges? Geezus!). To sum it up, both of his performances were stellar. Good job Josh. Now how are they going to market you if you end up the winner? Hmmm...

Undoubtedly the season with the best Top 5 4 ever. I don't really want Hollie to win though. I'm fine with the other three. Oh well, we shall see.

Who should go home? Phillip X 2

Who will go home? Please don't let it be anyone other than Philip X 2

Edit: Results

Sigh Skylar is gone. I knew it. Damn you Phillip!

Queen of All Trades

Currently Listening To: Glee Cast - Fat Bottomed Girls

So we're down to six contestants, and what better way to start the show than with a medley of Queen's hits?

Oh yes, it's Queen night on the American Idol stage and guess what? It rocked!

Seriously, I can't find fault with anyone of them (okay, maybe just one) but unfortunately, someone still has to go and this week it might be the end of the road for one of my favourite contestants ever. Anyway, this week the contestants sang two songs again, one song from Queen and another song of their own choice.

Round 1:


Phillip - Fat Bottomed Girls
Shit that was so out of tune. Fat Bottomed Girls was pretty awful, in my opinion. I don't know what to say about it except...I WISH YOU HAD STOPPED SINGING AFTER THE FIRST SENTENCE PHILTIMES TWO!

Haley - Save Me
The beginning was pretty good, her voice sounded strong and there was some potential for something special but then she kinda lost her way towards the end? The title of the song is ominous though. Save Me? From the bottom 3 perhaps?

Jessica - Bohemian Rhapsody
Bohemian Rhapsody was good, but not good enough for the top six. There was something off about her voice for that song, she wasn't quite as powerful as usual. Not too good a performance Jess, we need more from you!

Elise - I Want It All
I think the theme gave Elise a great opportunity to climb right back up to the top 3. Although she sang that song well, I don't think it was quite the right song for her. On top of that, there's just something about her personality that turns me off. I don't know if it's her sulky faces, or her slightly condescending way of talking, I just don't fancy her as much as I did before...

Joshua - Crazy Little Thing Called Love
Oh the Queen song was brilliant! It was fun, and it wasn't one of his gospel ballads. Very impressive, Joshua. I don't know about you, but if the Top 5 is four women against one man (Joshua), he probably deserves to win. Don't know if he'll actually win though...that might just be a challenge.

Skylar - The Show Must Go On
Well, that was very well sung! The Show Must Go On, I mean. Very powerful vocals by Miss Skylar Laine. Love her voice,  Good job girl I'm behind you 100%.

Round 2:


Phillip - The Stone by Dave Matthews
Okay so that wasn't so bad. I actually liked the song, and I'd probably listen to the studio version again and again but erm, yeah. Not for American Idol. Time to go home Phillip, you're the weakest vocalist left and this is a singing competition after all. The other 5 sang circles around this dude.

Skylar - Tattoos on this Town by Jason Aldean
Girl is a firecracker indeed. She's just so comfortable on the stage, and it shows. Not so sure about the song choice though, and she sounded a bit nasally at times, but overall still very good. Please pick better songs girl, I'd love to see you win this thing *waves Team Skylar banner*

Hollie - The Climb by Miley Cyrus
That was pretty good, a lot better than the previous weeks. Good job, she might actually have a chance of surviving with that song choice, otherwise she'd probably be gone...

Elise - Bold As Love by Jimi Hendrix
Yeah, right back into the Top 3. That was the best she had sounded in weeks. I actually liked it. Unfortunately, the unknown song choice might put her in jeopardy. Steven was right, it does matter actually. Yeah she knocked it out of the park, but that doesn't mean she'll be getting a lot of votes.

Jessica - Dance With My Father by Luther Vandross
I loved it. Much better than the first song, and yet I love the original Bohemian Rhapsody. Maybe that's the reason why I wasn't too fond of her rendition. Honestly, I love Jessica and I think she's incredibly talented, but few of the other contestants overshadowed her tonight with the first theme. Not a good thing when it's so close to the finale. Please pleeeeease vote for Jessica! *waves Team Jessica banner*

Joshua - Ready For Love by India Arie
His first few notes gave me goosies. Scratch that, the whole song gave me goosies! For real yo! He was just that good. That was absolutely incredible, totally worthy of that standing ovation. The only standing ovation I approve of. I'm as speechless as Randy was, Joshua was just plain old WOW. Very difficult to accomplish with this bunch of contestants. GOOD JOB MY BOY! *waves Team Joshua banner enthusiastically.

Overall:
1. Joshua
2. Jessica
3. Elise
4. Skylar
5. Hollie
6. Phillip (It's time to go home buddy)

Best Top 6 ever, seriously. Love them all, Phillip too even though he kinda sucked with Fat Bottomed Girls this week.

Who should go home? Phillip

Who might go home instead? Jessica =(

Tough Cuts

Currently Listening To: Phillip Phillips - Give a Little More

Welcome to another edition of American Idol, where the 7 remaining contestants fight- I mean, sing to their deaths. Okay maybe not literally, just the death of their dreams and ambitions. With last week's -almost- elimination and the save used by the judges, the top 7 contestants had to sing two songs each this week, and how well did they fare? Very well actually. Extremely well. Honestly, I think all of them more or less deserves to be in the Top 5, but five of them will eventually have to leave, no matter what.

Based mostly on tonight's performances, and with a slight consideration of their previous performances, I guess the bottom two should be:

Elise Testone and Colton Dixon

Not to say they weren't good anything, it's just that the other five contestants were way better than them. Elise sang Alicia Keys' No One and Let's Get It On by Marvin Gaye. The first song was definitely better than the second, I don't even have an opinion for that one. It was just...dull and bland throughout. Vocally she wasn't half bad but with those 2 boring song choices, it's time for her to go.

As for Colton...well, honestly I think he has a lot of potential but with the 'rock' version of Lady Gaga's Bad Romance and the strange arrangement for Earth, Wind and Fire's September...to be fair, Bad Romance was interesting and quite well sung, but his poor lower register really doesn't do him any favours for that song, and also his second song choice. It's a shame, his Love the Way You Lie performance from last week was pretty awesome.

And now, to rank the remaining 5:

Hollie - Rolling in the Deep (Adele)/Son of a Preacher Man (Dusty Springfield)

If Colton stays in the competition then Hollie should go. I'll admit, she was a lot better compared to the previous weeks but her performances still lacks...soul somehow. Rolling in the Deep was quite good, Preacher Man not so much. Seriously. I'm only putting her in 5th place because of Rolling in the Deep and the improvement from last week. Otherwise, I would have placed her right at the bottom.

Phillip - U Got It Bad (Usher)/ In the Midnight Hour (Wilson Pickett)
His second song saved his sorry ass for me this week. That Usher song...wow. It didn't sound anything like Usher, and definitely not in a good way. It was the usual Phillip style alt-rock kind of song, and it didn't work for me. Now, his second performance was interesting because he actually sounded different for once. That one worked for me, and that is why he's in fourth place this week. (If he hadn't sang that he would have been in sixth place)

Jessica - Fallin' (Alicia Keys)/ Try a Little Tenderness (Otis Redding)
I'm not sure if Jessica did enough to garner more votes this week. Sure, she sang two beautiful songs beautifully, but I don't know. I feel her more than I feel Hollie, but something is missing. I don't know what it is - it's definitely causing her votes (or maybe it's because she ain't sausage =_=. Anyway, Fallin' was a good song choice for her, and oh my god the second song, vocally she was stunning. Not enough WOW factor though. She really needs to have a WOW performance, and yet it is hard to WOW audiences when you're consistently good every week. Please vote for Jessica America! She deserves to be in the Top 3 at least.

Skylar - Born This Way (Lady Gaga)/ I Heard It Through the Grapevine (Marvin Gaye)
I believe this girl has it in her to win the whole thing. Seriously. She's a vocal powerhouse, and she's country. Perfect for American audiences. I really liked both of her songs, I think she sang them extremely well. Very unusual arrangement for Born This Way, it actually suited the melody well. I Heard It Through the Grapevine was excellent also. Good job Skylar. I'm behind you 100%!


Joshua - I Believe (Fantasia Barrino)/ A Change is Gonna Come (Sam Cooke)
I couldn't decide between Skylar and Joshua, but after careful consideration of all their performances, I think Joshua sang it better, emotionally and vocally. I Believe was very solid, and A Change is Gonna Come was absolutely fabulous! Better than Adam Lambert's version of the song. He simply outclassed all of them with those 2 performances. It doesn't mean he'll be safe though, I don't think his fanbase is very big so....PLEASE VOTE FOR JOSHUA Y'ALL! He needs your votes and he deserves to be in the finals!

Vote wisely America.

P.S: Not sure if they'll be sending 2 contestants home tomorrow, so I'm just gonna go with one.

Who should go home: Elise Testone


Who will go home: I'm gonna make a random guess here and say....Hollie?

Edit - Results:

And Colton leaves the competition...hmmm not entirely shocked. It's the song choices buddy, and he admitted it. Oh well.