Currently Listening To: Florence + the Machine - What The Water Gave Me
31st October '11: Florence + the Machine's second album Ceremonials is released!
Sorry but I'm so skipping Kelly's Stronger, reviewing Ceremonials first.
Track Listing 1. Only If For A Night 2. Shake It Out 3. What The Water Gave Me 4. Never Let Me Go 5. Breaking Down 6. Lover To Lover 7. No Light, No Light 8. Seven Devils 9. Heartlines 10. Spectrum 11. All This And Heaven Too 12. Leave My Body
Bonus tracks: 13. Remain Nameless 14. Strangeness And Charm 15. Bedroom Hymns 16. What The Water Gave Me (Demo) 17. Landscape (Demo) 18. Heartlines (Acoustic) 19. Shake It Out (Acoustic) 20. Breaking Down (Acoustic)
Nice album cover, but not as interesting as Mylo Xyloto's cover design. The songs however, sound a lot better than Mylo Xyloto! Love love love her voice, definitely one of the more unique voices in the music industry now.
Ceremonials does not disappoint, Florence Welch has produced a very haunting album indeed, with some very well-crafted songs, but is it better than Lungs/Between Two Lungs? I really can't say that it is, mostly because I find the songs from both albums very ethereal and dramatic, which is something that I'm fond of.
To sum it up, I think she did a great job on her sophomore album, so all hail Florence Welch! *worships*
Overall: Must listen if you love indie-folk music! 9/10 Recommended: Shake It Out, What The Water Gave Me, Never Let Me Go, Spectrum, Leave My Body, Strangeness and Charm, Heartlines (Acoustic version)
Coming up (for real this time): Kelly Clarkson's Stronger
Currently Listening To: Coldplay - Princess of China
Newly released, Coldplay's 5th studio album Mylo Xyloto.
Track Listing 1. Mylo Xyloto 2. Hurts Like Heaven 3. Paradise 4. Charlie Brown 5. Us Against The World 6. M.M.I.X. 7. Every Teardrop is a Waterfall 8. Major Minus 9. UFO 10. Princess of China 11. Up in Flames 12. A Hopeful Transmission 13. Don't Let It Break Your Heart 14. Up With The Birds
Another cool album cover. The album has 14 tracks but it's only about 44 minutes long, with 3 songs lasting for like, only 30 seconds each. I see they took a leaf out of Linkin Park's odd intermissions from A Thousand Suns O.o
Anyway, who would have thunk it, I was pretty excited for Mylo Xyloto after listening to Paradise. Was really disappointed with their last album, so I had high hopes for this one.
So how do I feel after listening to all the 14 songs? Mixed feelings I guess. Mylo Xyloto is like Coldplay + Keane's synths. Every Teardrop is very cheesy but not too bad after a few listens, while Us Against the World (there's a Westlife song with the same title I believe) is just very tedious. It's the Fix You of this album, so naturally I can't stand the song. Some of the other songs have really strange beats, like Up In Flames, which btw, reminds me of one of Keane's B-sides...
Frankly speaking, I think this album has shades of Perfect Symmetry in it, you know, that sort of 80s synth feel. Only a few songs remind me of the typical Coldplay song, the rest of it is like a mixture of various different bands. It is more X&Y than Viva La Vida, don't know if that's a good direction or not, but I definitely dig Mylo more than Vida.
Overall: 7/10 (FINALLY a Coldplay album that doesn't leave a sour taste in my head) Recommended: Paradise, Hurts Like Heaven, Major Minus, Princess of China, Don't Let It Break Your Heart.
Coming up: Kelly Clarkson's Stronger.
P.S: Keaneofficial.com is having this really weird contest right now. I'm super excited to see updates about the upcoming Keane album!
Wow, their last album was released like, five years ago. I'll have to admit that I was pretty excited when I heard about this album. So glad to see them at the number 1 spot on the Billboard Charts!
01. What You Want 02. Made of Stone 03. The Change 04. My Heart is Broken 05. The Other Side 06. Erase This 07. Lost in Paradise 08. Sick 09. End of the Dream 10. Oceans 11. Never Go Back 12. Swimming Home
Love the album cover, it's so royaldarkness =P I think the songs are pretty solid, still very Evanescence-ish. The only problem is most of the songs sound the same. I guess they could have added a little more variety? Anyway, it's still a decent album so do listen to it if you're an Evanescence fan!
Overall: 8/10 Recommended: My Heart is Broken, Lost in Paradise, Made of Stone, End of the Dream
Waiting impatiently for Florence + the Machine's second album and Coldplay's Mylo Xyloto next. (Finally something for me to write about. Blog revival FTW!)
How does this reading challenge work? Choose the option that works best for you...
Authors -- Read alphabetically by author. Commit to 26 books. Titles -- Read alphabetically by title. Commit to 26 books. Authors & Titles -- Commit to reading 52 books
Challenge Accepted!
A: Amulet of Samarkand (Bartimaeus trilogy) by Jonathan Stroud - Perfect, I just finished reading that a few days ago. (Completed Oct-15) B: C: Children of Hurin by J.R.R. Tolkien (edited by Christopher Tolkien) D: Drowned Ammet by Diana Wynne Jones (Completed Jan-30-12) E: F: G: Golem's Eye (Bartimaeus trilogy) by Jonathan Stroud (Completed Dec-17) H: The Harmony Silk Factory by Tash Aw I: J: K: L: M: Moonshine by Christina Jones (Completed Dec-24) N: O: P: Ptolemy's Gate (Bartimaeus trilogy) by Jonathan Stroud Q: R: S: T: Twenties Girl by Sophie Kinsella (Completed Dec-7) U: V: Virgin Earth by Phillipa Gregory W: X: Y: Z:
Wooohooo it has been quite a while since I was last here!
So much has happened since then - I've graduated (just attended the ceremony in Perth, Australia last week!) and I'm already working (I'm not really liking the job...).
Currently Listening To: Haley Reinhart - You've Really Got A Hold On Me
The American Idol Season 10 finale is finally here, and it is...*drumroll* a Country-fest, courtesy of Wittle Wauwen (Lauren Alaina) and Scotty McCreery (otherwise known as Mr. Baby-lock-them-doors)! Are we excited or what? I know I'm not but what the heck, it's still fairly entertaining to watch.
Let's run through the performances chronologically again, where Scotty won the coin toss but allowed Lauren to choose the performance order, and she chose to go second. So we're stuck with Scotty first.
Round 1 - Reprise
Scotty chose to sing Gone from the Top 5 night, and I guess he sang it well? It's a fun song, not one of the boring country ballads so I suppose it will work in his favour. Vocals, check. Stage presence, check. Is that good enough though? Honestly I don't know, I thought he had it in the bag but after hearing the both of them sing...I'm not so sure anymore.
Lauren's choice was Flat on the Floor, one of her better performances in my opinion. I think she sounded better the first round though. She sounded pretty breathless again, but she had more spirit this time so that too will work in her favour. After all, it's The Chosen One Wittle Wauwen. All that pimping - I'm really worried for Scotty now. It's VERY obvious they want Lauren to win, and they're not beating around the bushes about it. Lauren had a problem with her voice, boohoo, but she's all ready to sing, says the American Idol doctor so no problem there!
Was that even necessary? Yeah? The answer to that question is NO. Hella no. The bus is coming for Scotty and it's travelling at almost-full speed...
Moving on to Round 2 - Idol Hopeful's Idol's choice
Ah yes, I don't know who George Strait is but apparently he's Scotty's idol and he chose a song for Scotty to sing. Check Yes Or No is the title of the song and um...well, that's a really sad title. Check yes or no for Scotty this round? I'm gonna go with...maybe no. It was not a bad performance, but like Scotty's many other performances, it was boring. Whattup man? Choose a better song for the poor boy Mr. Strait! Or did you get the memo for the bus...? The bus is speeding up...
Lauren's idol is Carrie Underwood! Why am I not surprised? At any rate, Carrie chose a really nice song for Lauren, Maybe It Was Memphis. It suited her voice perfectly and guess what, Lauren actually sang it very well. Oh dear. Bad news for Scotty...will his gigantic fanbase save him from the unstoppable Lauren train????
Ding ding ding Round 2 goes to Lauren...hands down. And I don't even like her.
Ready for Round 3?
Here we go. Round 3 - Their first single!
Scotty my dear, that song title is gonna kill you. Love You This Big sounds like a song a little 5 year old kid would sing! Who wrote that song? Why that title? I think Love You This Much would be a much better title. Don't you think so? Anyway, the song wasn't that bad but it sure wasn't catchy. I really wanted Scotty to beat Lauren, but that is definitely going to be be an uphill battle for him. What with the song choices, and the way they're pimping Lauren...he's gone I tell you, gone...(please surprise me tomorrow America, PLEASE! I beg you T_T)
As for Lauren, well, she got a song that will win her casual votes for sure. Like My Mother Does is going to be Lauren's first single if she wins and guess what? It's a Kristy Lee Cook song! I'll be posting a link after this whole thing, read it and you'll see why that whole Kristy thing is soooo important. All right, back to the song. I really won't call that singing, cos the entire performance was a pimping session for Lauren. Song that will touch the audience, check. Lead her to her mother (led by Ryan Seacrest! Zomg), check. The endless praise for Lauren no matter what happens, check. Oh geezus. OKAY fine, I'll be fair, the song was not too bad but that was definitely not Lauren at her best. But who cares? She was wearing prom dresses! She sang to her mother! She cried! Her mother cried!!
What did Scotty do? Well yeah he sang too, unfortunately he did not get any pimping. The judges already named Lauren their idol, so what else is left?
I have to admit that Lauren sang better than Scotty tonight but er, the thought of her winning just pisses me off. Why? Because I don't want the bloody producers to get their way! All that manipulation - it's disgusting I tell ya! Thanks to them, I actually miss JAMES (of all people!) and of course, Haley (robbed! ROBBED!). They should have been the final 2 dammit.
Sigh.
Read this for some fun info and of course, the Kristy Lee Cook curse!
P.S: I was looking forward to David Cook's performance, but meh. That wasn't very good. David dearest sang well but the song? Yeah, the goodbye song that plays in the background when someone gets eliminated? That song. Doesn't sound good at all. Poor David, please do more covers of Rolling In The Deep if those are the kind of songs you're stuck with, k? Oh and Taio Cruz sucked.
P.P.S: Holy shit all the way to the Top 2, and not a single pimp spot for Scotty! That's the end of the pimp spot myth I guess. It doesn't work hahahahaha. Yeah.
P.P.P.S: Oh oh read this review! It's a good one, cos he was actually in the audience. So yeah.
Please don't read this section if you don't want to be spoiled.
Scotty won!
Best news ever. (Why am I happy? He's not even my favourite!)
Take that Nigel Lythgoe! Looks like the bus got de-wheeled and de-roofed.
122 million votes. That is insane!
The Prophecy has been fulfilled! All hail Kristy Lee Cook!
And seriously, Lauren fans? Scotty was pimped? Please. He may have been given a free pass for boring performances but no way in hell was he pimped, okay? Lauren was, and all that pimping pissed off other fanbases.
On the bright side, I love the attitudes of the contestants.
It's pretty obvious that they all get along.
However, now I'm worried about his single...Love You This Big sucks even more than No Boundaries.
I must have missed it, Scotty kissed Lauren romantically? On the lips?? Serious???? Holy crap.
With the exception of Led Zeppelin, there seems to be a theme for the Top 3 night - Country. What on earth? I mean I'm expecting that from Scotty and Lauren's personal picks, and also the judges (plus Jimmy Iovine's) choices for them, but for Haley too? That's not fun man, no variety in the music genre. Thankfully all three contestants had their good and bad moments so I guess that evens it out a little.
I'm just gonna go with this chronologically.
Contestant's Choice
Scotty McCreery - Lonestar’s Amazed. I like the song and I thought Scotty did well with it. Then again it's not that difficult to sing. Still, it's a pretty boring song so I don't think it was suitable for a semi-finals performance. And it took Randy about like 10 weeks to finally give some sort of criticism to Scotty about his pitch. Whattup with that dawg? He had pitchier moments in the past and Randy did not have any comments about those moments.
Lauren Alaina - Faith Hill’s Wild One. Oh man that was a pretty bad one. There was just something off about her vocals. Now that I'm reading other reviews, I guess it was a problem with breath control. She just sounded tired and the performance was uninspiring. J.Lo gave a raving review as usual, but to me it seems like she didn't really believe in her own comment. Sad for you J.Lo. And I used to think she was a good. Sad really. -1 for Lauren.
Haley Reinhart - Led Zeppelin’s What Is and What Should Never Be. Now that was a perfect performance for a Top 3 night! Haley rocked the stage with her DAD. Oh yes, they allowed her dad to play the guitar for her. Vocally she nailed it, and she just seemed so happy to be there, on the stage with her dad. And I liked how she dealt with that trip, just continued on as if nothing happened. You go girl.
For once, the judges were actually quite fair with their comments. They should have commented on Lauren's breath problem though. The poor girl has not gotten any feedback about that, and it's gonna cost her something. I can tell Randy was aware of that, but he didn't say anything about it and commented about her having fun instead. Well Randy, it's a singing competition, fun or not she still has to sing well. Anyway. Round 1 goes to Haley for sure!
Jimmy Iovine's Choice
Scotty - Thompson Square’s Are You Gonna Kiss Me or Not. Oh wow he nailed the vocals and it sounded beautiful. As you might have noticed, I'm not really a Scotty fan but that was an excellent performance by Mr. Baby-Lock-Them-Doors. Jimmy Iovine made a great choice with that song.
Lauren - The Band Perry’s If I Die Young. She kinda lost it half way through the song. The first half sounded great, but then I guess she got caught up with the depressing lyrics and just...drifted away until she forgot the lyrics or something. She stopped, there was a blank, and then only did she continue. AND the judges (especially J.Lo) skirted over the issue, and J.Lo went around praising her for forgetting herself. Seriously?? If Haley did that, she would have been torn to shreds.
Haley - Fleetwood Mac’s Rhiannon. I loved that wind thing. It made her look absolutely stunning. Loved what she was wearing, and her earrings! Beautiful. However, her performance wasn't that beautiful. Mostly because of the song choice. I love that song, Rhiannon and I love Haley, but she was just okay. Didi Benami sang it so much better last year. I still get chills thinking of HER performance. Too bad for Haley, that was a tough song to sing (darn you Iovine!). Randy seemed okay with it though, get this - he actually bantered with Haley without being mean! Incredible. And poor Haley just looked relieved that none of the judges were bussing her this time around.
I'll give credit when credit is due - Randy finally stopped picking on Haley. New note from the Mr. Nigel Lythgoe? Stop dissing her, it's backfiring! And now he seems genuinely okay with Haley while I get this weird sense of dislike from J.Lo, despite her friendly-cheery facade...with that, I'll have to say Round 2 goes to Scotty.
Up till now it's pretty fair huh? Haley won Round 1 (the judges agreed unanimously) and Scotty Round 2. Moving on to Round 3...
Judges' Choice
Scotty - Kenny Rogers’ She Believes in Me. Not a bad choice from the judges. Suited his voice. It was just okay though, nothing great. Again, not very encouraging for the semi-finals. Are they trying to bus Scotty now? Or so I've read from other review sites (we have some really paranoid fans this season). Honestly I doubt they're actually doing that, it just didn't work out that well for dear Scotty. LOL at Steven's deja vu comment though, really funny. I think he was just being Steven Tyler, the REAL Mr. Nice (not Miss Lopez. Or should that be Mrs Anthony?).
Lauren - Lee Ann Womack’s I Hope You Dance. NUTS OF WONDER OMG. Scotty should have sang this song instead LOL. So J.Lo declared her the winner of this round before Haley's performance. Whaaaaat. That wasn't very nice, coming from the supposed Miss Nice. Maybe it was because she knew that their song selection for Haley was meant to sink her? Rofl there goes the conspiracy theories again. I swear I did not come up with that, read it somewhere in Idolforums. Like I said, paranoid fans. Personally, I thought that was Lauren's best performance of the night. For once, she had some control of her voice and sang with real spirit. The prom dress she was wearing distracted me though...she looked like she just walked out of Glee's set for the Prom episode.
Haley - Alanis Morissette’s You Oughta Know. #$%@ that's a hard song to sing man. Haley totally lost the verses. All I heard was mumble mumble mumble, and it was NOT in tune. At least she nailed the chorus, it sounded great. But the song as a whole? One of her worse performances. Loved the way she delivered the chorus, hated the verses. Not her fault though, the judges picked a hard song for her to sing and she still made it through the song with high spirits and a big smile on her face. The good thing is, once again the judges were being quite fair. I guess they thought they could bust her with a hard song and watch her die, but she didn't quite...die. Conspiracy? I'm beginning to believe it.
I think Round 3 goes to Lauren. Scotty was boring, and Haley was...fighting demons. At least Lauren more or less nailed her song. J.Lo did not look happy when Randy was giving Haley a thumbs up for the choruses. Steven looked delighted, but J.Lo?? She had this 'DRAT she nailed it' look on her face. I'm telling you, watch this video and you'll see it. Of course she said something nice (she had to, Nigel pulled the brakes on the bus), but that look on her face? Not very...friendly. I'm starting to have second thoughts about Jennifer. Seriously.
Who's gonna win this damn thing? Honestly, I don't know. I don't really mind who wins, but Haley and Scotty deserves it more than Lauren, based on their performances all season long. Lauren will be fine even if she doesn't win. She'll get a recording contract with Nashville and they'll market her like there's no tomorrow. Scotty is a bit tricky, since he seems to sing only old school country. But hey, if Garth Brooks can do it then so can Scotty. Haley? I love the girl, and I want her to win. But will she? It depends on America I guess. Most reviewers think she's going home tomorrow. Sad but potentially true. Here's hoping for the odds. Fans of Haley, I hope you voted enough.
P.S: One thing bothers me - Scotty has yet to get the pimp spot. By pimp spot, I mean the last to perform. If he goes home, then he would have lost the chance to do so. I can't remember if Lauren closed the show before, but I think she did. Correct me if I'm wrong.
Edit: Results
Looks like we're getting a country finale after all. Haley's gone =( It's sad but well, not unexpected. I say good luck to Scotty and Lauren. Not sure if I'll be watching the finale though. I don't like country music at all, and a third round of country night scares the shit outta me.
First time I don't have a favourite in the Final 2 since Season 6 (oh wow Haley was Melinda'd!) but errrr honestly Jordin and Blake were a lot better than Scotty and Lauren. Scotty will probably win, and he should over Lauren.
Currently Listening To: Fleet Foxes - English House
We're down to three contestants now, and what we have is one bluesy-singer sandwiched between two country darlings.
Yes that's right, HALEY REINHART IS IN THE TOP 3 TO WIN IT Y'ALL!
I'll have to admit I didn't really see that coming, thought she'd be the one booted out instead of James. It's a bit sad for James because Scotty was the least interesting performer this week so yeah...still, it's better than Haley (who deserves to win!) leaving. Honestly, I do feel bad about James...his exit was mainly due to the incompetent judges not giving him good advice, and criticism when he needed it. Instead, they decided to throw another contestant under the bus and got the voters into a voting frenzy for that bussed contestant. Sucks for both of them.
Anyway, an analysis of the Top 3:
Let's start with Lauren. I'm gonna assume that Lauren is still the 'chosen one', cos she's been performing pretty well lately and to top that off, she seems like a really nice albeit naive girl. It was nice of her to defend Haley and call out the judges for not being fair. At least the girl has balls! (Can't say the same for the other dudes).
So what is her advantage? A decent voice, the Barbie-doll looks and obviously her singing COUNTRY music. America loves that (look at Taylor Swift, Lauren can sing circles around that chick. With her voice, surely she'd do better?). However, I think some Lauren fans are pretty delusional. Look, the girl can sing and all, but really she hasn't been that great. She didn't really get any criticism, okay? They gave her ONE advice and she made a face. Haley got trashed REPEATEDLY and THEN ONLY did she make a face. See the difference? On a side note, I actually like how she sounds in the studio recordings. Out of all the contestants, Haley and Lauren have the best recording voices, so go girls!
Two country singers in the Top 2, fancy that. I suppose Scotty is more country than Lauren? He'd do better if he varies it a bit. All those country ballads are boring me to tears, and those cheesy country songs are just disastrous. He needs to find some sort of a balance. Who cares though, no matter what he does, he'll be safe anyway. That's a conclusion we've all come to.
As for Haley, well Haley. I don't know. One part of me wants her to win while the other part is just glad that she made the Top 3. If she doesn't do well next week, and is eliminated, I won't be sad. I'll be proud of her for overcoming all that ridiculous bussing and proving them wrong. It's obvious that the judges don't like her that much, so I doubt she'll be receiving any sympathy from the judges...Steven might not be rude to her, but I get a feeling that he's not exactly her biggest fan.
It's really strange though. Before they entered the Top 12, the judges were all over Haley. When she oversang (I seriously hated that performance, was actually pissed off when she made it through), they were completely delighted and declared their love for her. When she started to improve, they just criticized her to no end.
I don't mind them criticizing her if she wasn't good, but they should do the same to the contestants when they suck too. Not praise them to the skies and then diss just one contestant just cos you're not suppose to support her (that happened to Pia too). I guess they were afraid that her progress would be a threat to one of their chosen ones (well it backfired, James is gone now...)
Looking back on the results show from yesterday, I think J.Lo DOES like Haley, but Randy hates her and Steven is just indifferent I suppose. All I have to say is, poor Haley for the double standard. It sucks to be in her position, and for that reason alone I WANT HER TO WIN.
Also, this is the first year with two female contestants in the Top 3 in a long, long time. The last time it happened was Season 6, I think. Jordin, Blake and Melinda right? Here's hoping Haley won't get the Melinda curse...BEST OF LUCK HALEY, please kill it next week! You have my support.
James - Don't Stop Believing. Lea Michele and company sang it better. It wasn't bad but it wasn't great. As usual, the judges praised him for something that did not deserved to be praised.
Haley - Earth Song. Interesting song choice, she sang it pretty well in my opinion. However, J.Lo and Randy basically just ripped her apart. It may not have been great, but those criticisms from J.Lo and Randy were uncalled for. Poor girl looked like she was about to cry. Normally I don't support contestants talking back, but she did the right thing. Love her attitude, I would have punched the judges in their faces. Thank God for Steven's support!
Scotty - Where Were You (When the World Stopped Turning). Hmmm he sang about Jesus. Not sure how I feel about that, but he sang it pretty well. He should be receiving some criticism about choosing boring songs but whaaat Randy's praising his LYRICAL choice WTF. WHAT ABOUT HALEY SINGING ABOUT CARING FOR THE ENVIRONMENT? THAT'S NOT A GOOD LYRICAL CHOICE???? CAN I PUNCH HIM IN THE FACE PLEASE PLEASE PLEASE??? AND J.LO'S IN LOVE WITH HIM! I WANNA PUNCH HER TOO. Bloody hypocritical jackasses!
Lauren - Anyway. Her best performance in weeks. And she actually reached for that high note. Good job Lauren, at least she's showing more balls than Scotty for Round 1.
Round 1 goes to Lauren, surprisingly!
~.~
Haley - I (Who Have Nothing). Loved the dress she was wearing. Didn't really love the song, but I thought she sang pretty well. Oh so now they're giving her a standing ovation for a performance that wasn't so great. WTF?? At least it earned her a 'SHE'S IN IT TO WIN IT!' from Randy-Jackass. I'm sorry Haley, but the second round 'praises' sounded disgustingly fake.
Scotty - Young Blood. That sounded like a drunk uncle performance. What on earth Scotty? This season's cheesiest performance. Is he trying to be Taylor Hicks? I mean, I know that dude won but where is he now? Yeah? BAD MOVE SCOTTY (but he'll be safe anyway so who cares =_=) And you know what? The judges praised the damn performance. Where's Simon? I want him back.
Lauren - Trouble. Dear Lauren, please scream at the stylist cos you look like a freaking bag lady! Awful outfit. Aged her about 50 years. She looked like Tina Turner on a bad day. Boring performance, but vocally it was good. Once again, she reached for that high note! Good job again Lauren.
James - Love Potion No. 9. CHEESY CHEESY CHEESY. Love Potion No. 9??? Are you serious? On the bright side he sang in tune - most of the time. INDULGENT ENDING. Hated it. A moment every single week? Seriously Randy Jackass? Delusional as well as rude. Screw it Randy.
Round 2 goes to Lauren again, with Haley a close second.
Darn it, Lauren's rocking it this week! Haley wasn't too bad, but her song choices were a bit dull. Scotty was definitely the weakest for me this week. Either him or James should go home this week, but I doubt they will. The girls are in danger =(
Also, I love how the previous Idol contestants are standing up for Haley! Thank you Adam, Michael Sarver, Allison and David Cook. Let her haters know that you love her too! Lauren too, she stood up for Haley.
P.S: I don't think I can't stand James anymore. Something about him ticks me off badly. Asperger's or not, he's annoying.
The remaining five contestants sang two songs each, and what was the end result? Why, there were some impressive performances while some of them faltered. Horribly.
There's no doubt as to who's the worse of the night:
Jacob Lusk
What more can I say? His first song was Jordin Sparks and Chris Brown's No Air and it SUCKED. No other word can describe that trainwreck, honestly. Horrible from start to end.
At least he sang his second song choice pretty well...that is, until the screaming started. Sounded like some cat wailing, and the judges PRAISED it. Like seriously. What the hell? I wanted so badly for Simon to scream at Jacob 'STOP BEING INDULGENT YOU MORON!'.
Moving on to...
James Durbin
For sure he did not live up to expectations. I have no idea why he chose those songs. 30 Seconds to Mars is not exactly the best choice one can make for a competition, and he made that dumb choice. Very mediocre.
Then, he decided to go all emotional on the American Idol audience with a tearful rendition of 'Without You'. Vocally it was weak, and I couldn't understand what he was singing. Sorry man, I don't wanna be mean about a performance that he was so emotional about, but that performance was -almost- painful to listen to.
Scotty McCreery
Both song choices were boring and bland and country, so yeah, that about sums it up. Anoop Desai's version of Always On My Mind was waaaaaay better than Scott's. I doubt Scotty will be in trouble, but he should be worried.
Lauren Alaina
I thought Little Lauren was pretty good tonight. At least the songs she chose suited her? Vocally strong, but her eyes were like blank. I kept thinking 'BARBIE!!!' whenever they zoomed in on her face. She really is like a chubby blank Barbie...
...so that leaves us with...
Haley Reinhart
Haley! Oh gosh, Haley. The last contestant I felt this excited about was ADAM LAMBERT, and that was two seasons ago!
Haley rocked the stage. Her rendition of 'House of the Rising Sun' gave me goosebumps, seriously! Absolutely stunning performance, that was. She got a standing ovation, and she damn well deserved it!
Okay, so she sang an unreleased Lady Gaga song first and got negative responses from Randy and J.Lo. Steven was unperturbed though, he loved it although he had never heard the song before. Let's hope America agrees with Steven? Cos she SLAYED that song! Her vocals for both songs were spot on! Hard to believe that I used to be anti-Haley, she has improved so much over the weeks and I think she deserves to win the competition. Or at least, get second place. The runner ups seem to do better than the winners anyway...
I really hope Jacob will be eliminated tomorrow. Sorry but the other four contestants are way better than him, even with drab performances (ahem Scotty). Please vote wisely America! Don't give us another Chris Daughtry moment.
P.S: I got a new toy to play with today gahahaha! Samsung Galaxy Tab ftw!!
EDIT: Results
Jacob's out! Finally. Was afraid he'd make the Top 4. Poor Lauren was in the bottom two and she bawled. Honestly, I think she should be going home next week....
There's just something about their songs. Very haunting.
Thanks to Grizzly Bear, I've become a fan of indie folk music, and also Fleet Foxes. I can't remember how I discovered them, but it is definitely a good discovery. I loved the songs from their self-titled first album and the Sun Giant EP - lovely songs with meaningful lyrics and the wonderful harmonization of their voices. Not to mention the haunting, lilting melodies of their songs.
Anyway, their second album Helplessness Blues just came out today and I've just finished listening to it.
Track Listing: 01. Montezuma 02. Bedouin Dress 03. Sim Sala Bim 04. Battery Kinzie 05. The Plains / Bitter Dancer 06. Helplessness Blues 07. The Cascades 08. Lorelai 09. Someone You’d Admire 10. The Shrine / An Argument 11. Blue Spotted Tail 12. Grown Ocean
As far as I'm concerned, it's a beautiful album. Loved most of the songs. Without a doubt it's the best album I've listened to so far in 2011. Lykke Li's Wounded Rhymes is a close second (I will be reviewing that later).
Ratings: 9/10 Recommendations: Bedouin Dress, Sim Sala Bim, Lorelai, The Shrine/An Argument, Grown Ocean
Currently Listening To: Lykke Li - I Follow Rivers
It's another good week for American Idol, with Carole King as the theme. Nobody sucked cos at least the songs are guaranteed to be good, right? Also, for some weird reason, they decided to pair the contestants up and make them sing duets. A good way to fill up the 1 and 1/2 hours I guess? Better than random fillers.
The worst performer of the night was definitely Lauren. Girl has no soul whatsoever. She sang the theme song from Gilmore Girls, I think. And um, it wasn't good. She wasn't really in tune, and she obviously did not feel the song at all. I like that she is trying to spread her wings a little but honestly, she IS too young for the competition. Out of so many 16 year old girls who made it to the Top 12 (or 24), Lauren is definitely one of the more immature ones. Too emotionally fragile, and therefore not ready for the stage.
Jacob's performance wasn't bad. It just wasn't very good compared to the other four. If anyone other than Jacob or Lauren goes home tomorrow, I swear I'll scream and rant on every single American Idol forum I can find! Dude's just not killing it. Better than Lauren, but still way off.
Casey was all jazzy again, and I liked it, didn't love it. Casey's deal is...well, he's not very mainstream now is he? His last 'mainstream' song choice (Harder to Breathe) was very strange. I can't decide whether I like him or not. Oh well, there's always...
Scotty! Excellent performance for our resident country dude. Whatever the song was, it wasn't very country and it worked for him. I prefer Scotty when he isn't singing country. His voice may be perfect for country music, but he actually sounds better when he's singing something else. Maybe a little R&B or rock next week? That'll rock my socks off!
I'm officially on the Haley train now. Loved her song choice! Very unusual, and it really suited her voice. She looked absolutely gorgeous too (Steven agrees with me, HAH! Does that make me a dirty old man then?). Haley Haley Haley! Seriously, if Haley's in the bottom 3 (or eliminated) tomorrow, I will scream and rip someone's hair off.
*cough*It looks like I'm in the mood to scream...maybe I'll be the next James Durbin/Jacob Lusck.*cough*
Anyway, despite my sudden devotion for Haley...I'll have to say that James gave the best performance tonight. Mostly because he stopped screaming/screeching/wailing unnecessarily (he didn't quite hold back for his duet though), and actually sang a good song, with an unusual arrangement. Kinda like David Cook lite I guess? It was good, and I actually enjoyed listening to his performance for once. (Also, the studio recording of Uprising is good! -Almost- better than the original. And I don't like that song).
Did I forget something?
Oh yes, the duets.
Duets hmmm. I guess Haley and Casey's duet was the best, they look so good together. And they sounded good together too.
Lauren and Scotty's duet fell flat, unfortunately. Scotty was better than Lauren, I'm not sure what's up with Lauren but she's drifting off the Idol stage for sure. Her individual performance wasn't good, and neither was her part in the duet so...I hope she'll be in the bottom 3, if not eliminated, tomorrow. Sorry Lauren, I think your time is up.
James and Jacob's duet was...odd, to say the least. What on earth was that? The Odd Couple live on the Idol stage? (I'm pretty sure Steven hated that performance LOL) Lotsa screaming and two boys behaving like kids drunk on rock and roll...alright, I admit it they looked like they were having fun.
P.S: Crystal Bowersox is performing on tomorrow's result show! And Bruno Mars! I'm actually excited for the results show!!!
...
Oh snap, the royal wedding is tomorrow so I guess I'll be watching the repeat for the results then =/
Edit: Results
I suppose I should be screaming now cos Casey's gone instead. Oh well...I'd rather him go than Haley so yeah, no screaming.
And it looks like Jimmy Iovine threw Haley under the bus. I only have two words for the AI producers (Nigel Lythgoe, to be specific): F*** you!
Currently Listening To: Adele - Rolling in the Deep
I'm serious. I've had enough of them, even J.Lo. Send all of them home, and we'll judge the singers ourselves. What's the point of employing three mindless goons, Nigel Lythgoe? Screw them and save some money!
Anyway. The theme this week is 'Songs of the 21st Century', and it's another drab night.
So I don't know who was worse - Scotty or Jacob.
Scotty - Now that was almost awful. Not a swingin' performance dawg. Totally. Not. I don't know about everyone else, but I think he really needs to step it up. Doing something non-country would be interesting, but we all know he won't be doing that so at least put some effort into your performances, Scotty. Just do it. Otherwise you will find yourself in Pia's shoes. (Then again she got a recording contract. Why not just give up eh Scotty?)
Jacob - Yawn. Boring. Geez. I guess he should be the one going home since Stefano actually sang with -some- soul this week.
James - Look I know people like his enthusiasm but that incessant screaming has to stop. Especially if the screaming is NOT in tune. Good lord he was screaming like someone stepped on his stupid scarf-tail or something. The entire performance was just mumble mumble sing SCREAAAAAAM mumble mumble sing SCREAAAAAAAAAAAM. Honestly I'd give him a B for effort and D for execution.
Casey - I think Casey kinda lost his mind by the end of the song. WTF with that kiss? A sudden peck on the cheek for J.Lo, courtesy of Casey! It started off good but ended up really strange and awkward.
Stefano - Dang it! I wanted him to go home but he pretty much nailed it this week with Neyo's Closer. I thought it was a solid vocal performance, but his antics during Haley's interview package kinda got on my nerves.
Lauren - Well well, Lauren was just...Lauren I suppose? Not very impressive but it was pretty decent compared to the others. Pretty vocals but without any real emotion (as usual). And you know what, her mother looks younger than her! That's sad, Lauren. Real sad. Great for her mum and all but for Lauren? Yeah, she's 16 not 40.
Haley - Haley wins the award for the best song choice and best vocal performance of the night, thanks to her rendition of Adele's Rolling in the Deep. Good job for choosing something current and then totally rocking the song. I wouldn't say it was perfect, but she was definitely better than everyone else this week. Sadly, it looks like she's gonna be the under-the-bus candidate this year. She WILL be criticized and thrown under the bus regardless of her performances so yeah. GET RID OF THE DAMN JUDGES ALL THREE OF THEM.
Right now I can sum up the season in three words - I MISS KRADISON! =(
EDIT: Results
STEFANO'S GONE! *celebrates* okay so he didn't really deserve to go home this week but...he's gone! YAY.
Currently Listening To: Secret Episodes (Rekishi Hiwa Historia OST) - Yuki Kajiura
I should be doing my Retail Marketing essay right now, but let me get this out of my system first:
Welcome to American Idol without Pia Toscano!
This week's theme is a theme that I seriously detest - Songs from the Movies. (For crying out loud, NOBODY chooses good songs for this theme EVER. Except maybe Adam Lambert...)
Definitely not one of my favourite Season 10 nights. Like every other Movie theme night from previous seasons, the contestants failed to choose songs that are at -least- interesting (I think Casey and James came close, but not close enough).
And so we begin...
...with Paul, dear lord. So he has two rose suits - one in white and another in black. Seriously. Get rid of those damn suits Paul! They're quite ugly. If Steven Tyler digs your outfit, and you're a guy, it means you have no fashion sense k? SOMEBODY GET HIM A STYLIST! Oh wait, I should be talking about his singing! I wonder why I forgot...maybe it's because...he didn't sing well? America, if you have any heart, please just send this guy home.
Next on the chopping block would be Stefano. Try as I might, I just can't get into this guy anymore. I feel sorry for him, I really do. I mean, he looked really nervous and awkward on the stage and he sang decently, but his song choices are killing me. If Pia was eliminated because she was boring, then Stefano should have been eliminated like 3 weeks ago. So what's the difference between him and Pia? Oh yes, he's SAUSAGE and she's not. Right.
Again, Haley failed to deliver, and got 'heavy' criticism from the judges. I say heavy because NOBODY ELSE received any criticism even when they deserved it (ahem Paul). Compared to the criticism from any other season however (unbelievable! Just a few weeks ago I would have said this season's judges rock), this is like...what, a small prick? Performance wise, it was pretty out there. Kinda like Steven when he's drunk. I didn't think she sounded bad, maybe just...unprepared and a bit all over the place. Poor Haley, she's getting the Pia treatment according to crazy Idol fans. Will their predictions come true? I guess we'll find out tomorrow...*cue horror music*
Our country darlings Scotty and Lauren gave rather uninspired performances this week. I don't know what to say. Vocally, both were decent and well, in tune, but I don't know. They kinda fell flat for me. Nothing different, nothing interesting. Scotty's song choice was super boring, and that almost made him as bad as Stefano, while Lauren did a credible job with Miley's The Climb. Unfortunately, it had no punch so Kelly Clarkson she's not. Sorry kiddo. But it seems like both of them have the most fans (Or so I read from idolforum's NGH)? That should keep them quite safe.
So Jacob, he was safe last week, even though he made a really stupid comment. Did he redeem himself this week? I would have to say...sorta? It is one of his rare controlled performances, and he sounded good enough but geez, Jacob's wearing me out at this stage. He looked quite nervous himself, on the stage and off. At least he didn't oversing this time? Oh well. To quote Michael Slezak from tvline.com: If Jacob ends up in the bottom three this week, it won’t be because he sang the song badly, it’ll be because America didn’t want to look into the troubled water and see their own reflections.
I know most people prefer James' performance over Casey's tonight, (judging from Slezak and NGH) but I beg to differ! I loved Casey's song choice! I like how he disagreed with Jimmy Iovine (the music director or whatever) and his why-is-he-there-sidekick Will.i.am, and stuck to his own choice. I mean seriously, Phil Collins? Pfftt. Good job Casey! Loved that jazzy arangement! And the song sounded awesome. James? Well, he screamed his way through his 'heavy-metal' song choice and apparently it sounded really good to everyone else but me (I think).
Is there anyone who agrees with me? Casey Abrams over James Durbin this week?? Leave a message!
P.S: I really am curious to know why Will.i.am is always there beside Iovine? Are they using his recording studio or something? Or did he blackmail Nigel Lythgoe to keep him on the show?? Insane. I demand an explanation!!
EDIT - Results:
NAILED IT! Bottom 3 as predicted, with the correct person going home. Goodbye Paul, see you again on some cruise ship somewhere.
Currently Listening To: Haley Reinhart - You've Got A Hold On Me
Thanks to the American voters (most probably silly teenagers and horny middle-aged women), Pia Toscano is no longer a contestant on American Idol.
Screw it America don't you know how to vote??!! $#%*@
Edit:
And for God's sake America stop blaming the judges. If you wanted her in you would have voted for her all right? The judges may be guilty of being lenient, but they are in no way directly responsible for ANYONE'S exit. Stop blaming others and blame yourself for not voting, PERIOD.
I can't get over the looks on Stefano and Jacob's face when Ryan announced who was going home. They were just shocked. I bet they're not feeling very good about being IN the show now, those two. DARN IT!!
Currently Listening To: Emiliana Torrini - White Rabbit (Sucker Punch OST)
I seem to be disagreeing with a lot of the reviewers tonight? I normally don't fancy Lauren that much, but didn't think she did that badly this time O.o
Anyway, welcome to another night of American Idol.
The theme was 'Rock & Roll Hall of Fame', but sadly the night wasn't rock & roll for me at all. In fact, I think this is my least favourite night so far mostly because I did not like the song choices made by the contestants.
Lemme start with...
Jacob. I think this is unanimous. He was the first to perform, and the worse too. Dull song, and I'm pretty sure he missed most of the notes he was suppose to sing. On top of that, he was being an arrogant brat. I mean, I get it he's singing 'Man in the Mirror', but to actually say what he said in his introductory video? Just. Bad move. He's better than Paul vocally, but right now I wouldn't mind if he goes as long as it's a guy.
Stefano never recovered from his fall from grace...he has been mostly -sucking- for the past few weeks and I don't think he's ready to take any risks whatsoever to keep his ass in the competition. Another lacklustre ballad from the former frontrunner. It's not gonna do him any favours, honestly. Right now I'm just waiting for America to get tired of keeping him IN the competition...
I was really hoping for Haley to rock this night but she did not. Rock the night I mean. Sure it wasn't that bad, and I liked the song choice. Unfortunately she was shouting her way through the song. A bit harsh on the ears...my mum was complaining about her in fact, so...yeah. I'm sure the studio version will be awesome though. She always sounds good in the recorded versions.
As for Lauren...well, when I first watched her performance, I liked it and I thought it was one of the better performances tonight. Then I saw some other reviews and re-watched it...and then I kinda got what they meant by lack of emotion. It's true, the girl has bad taste in songs and 'Natural Woman' is probably the last song she should have chosen this week...cos she sure wasn't a natural on stage. The song is just way too old for her. And what about her outfit? It made her look like a 40-year-old hooker and she's SIXTEEN for heaven's sake. From what i heard, Gwen Stefani styled the contestants this week. What was Gwen thinking? She needs to stay away from their wardrobe.
Casey delivered another solid but rather safe performance. It's nice to see him with that upright bass again. Somehow it makes him more complete. Less growling, more singing and no weird antics. Plus, he just seems like a really nice guy. I'll never forget his face when he was almost eliminated two weeks ago...that was genuine emotion and my heart really went out to him then.
Paul on the other hand, chose an interesting song and more or less rocked out (darn it! He was my pick for elimination) the idol stage. However, I can't help but sigh when I hear him sing. Dude just doesn't have much of a voice. It's a bit frustrating.
I don't know about Pia but um 'River Deep, Mountain High' is not exactly the most upbeat song ever. Seriously, it's better than those boring ballads she has been singing for the past 5 weeks or so, but really it is not as funky as she thinks. Let's face it...Pia is amazing but she is also EXTREMELY boring. Also, for the first time in the competition, her vocals for this song wasn't perfect. Not a good thing if she's gonna falter when she sings songs that aren't ballads...and J.Lo is right, Pia needs to work the stage. She's being called a 'pageant queen robot' and that's not good.
James and Scotty, I can't decide who was better. In fact I didn't think they were that great or memorable either but at least they were more interesting than the others. James finally did something other than a full-on rock song and Scotty was Elvis, and he sounded convincing! I was actually impressed with Scotty's voice (not the performance - now that was cheesy).
I have a problem with James' voice though. There's just something about the quality of his voice. At first listen, you'd think about comparing him with Adam. When you really listen to him sing (not scream) though...his voice comes off as a bit weak and thin, sadly. Not quite like Adam after all. Listen to his studio recordings and you'll notice it too. Without the noise, he just isn't that great so...I don't know. Can't seem to get into him. Well at least he's enjoying himself eh?
We're moving on to the Top 8 and I still don't have a clear favourite at this point. I'm inclined to Haley or Pia, but both girls have very glaring flaws as well. It's hard for me to decide...I don't fancy any of the other contestants. They're all quite good but uh, nobody is trying anything different. No David Cooks, no Adam Lamberts/Kris Allens, not even a Lee Dewyze (mediocre, fairly unknown, but surprisingly popular).
I can just sum it up five words: I DON'T CARE WHO WINS as long as it's not Paul or Jacob. Seriously.
Listen to this for a much better version of Natural Woman.
Currently Listening To: Thia Megia - Daniel (Studio Version)
Thia and Naima were sent home this week, and Paul joined them in the bottom three. Once again, I can't say I was surprised with the results (my predictions were wrong though!).
And with that, we're left with 6 guys and...3 girls.
Seriously! I think the 3 remaining girls are better than the 6 guys, but with America...who knows? Lee Dewyze won last year, yet Crystal Bowersox was the frontrunner all the way through.
Will history repeat itself (for the fourth time)? Or will the 6 guys drop like flies starting from next week? Honestly, I don't think any of the guys deserve to win except for maybe Scotty or James.
I don't think Haley is as good as Lauren or Pia, but she's growing on me for sure! I love the studio recordings of her songs, and she actually sounded better live for Bennie and the Jets. Amazing. Three/four weeks ago I was complaining about her being in the Top 13, and now I'm supporting her! Talk about changing lanes...
Anyway, I think Naima deserved to be booted out since she was way off this week, but Thia was actually decent this time around. She should have left like...three weeks ago, at least she deserved it then. I found the studio version of Daniel very lovely, even though her live performance wasn't that impressive.
Oooh on another note, they got rid of the group performance for this results show! Lauren and Scotty sang a lovely duet (am I the only who thinks that they'd make a perfect country couple?), and naturally it was a country song. Naima and Jacob sang another duet, which wasn't that good. The remaining four guys (James, Paul, Casey and Stefano) performed as a group, but it wasn't that great (it was bordering on horrible actually). Same goes for Pia, Thia and Haley's rendition of Teenage Dreams - a bit too cheesy, that one.
And what was up with that Jamie Foxx/Will.i.am performance? Now that's what I call a trainwreck. All dazzle and nothing else. Fantasia's was pretty good, she may not have been my favourite for Season 3 but that girl still sounds good now. Her appearance however, not so much...
Anyway, this week has been a good week for Idol...nice performances, no -complete- disasters, the right (sorta) people went home, a positive change for the results show...hopefully next week will be just as good! (Personally, I think it's time for Paul to leave the show.)
Currently Listening To: FictionJunction - Hoshikuzu
Hmmm where do I start? Well this week's theme is Elton John, and I personally I love this theme! One can never go -that- wrong with Elton John.
So how did the contestants fare this time? Honestly I thought all of them were pretty good this week. Except for a few...namely;
Naima. Oh dear lord please tell me she did not just reggae-fy Elton John. C'mon my good woman, it's Elton John! His songs are not suitable for strange arrangements. On top of that, her outfit was totally OMG. If I'm not wrong, the colorful stripes on her dress are the colors of the South African flag right? She has turned into Karen - constantly focusing on her African heritage instead of giving good performances. Vocally it wasn't -that- awful, however the arrangement killed it for me.
The other marginally bad performance, for me, was Stefano's. It wasn't exactly a trainwreck, but it was definitely not memorable and not impressive. Vocally there were no notable flaws, unfortunately the performance had nothing. I have a feeling he's in serious danger again this week...
...which leads us to Jacob's oversinging. Again. Dude has never been in the bottom three before but with the backlash he has been getting from reviewers lately, I think he should be worried. He's such a great singer...sadly he has to ruin everything by being overdramatic. Somebody really needs to pull a Simon and just flat out call him out on that.
I guess Paul wasn't any better than Jacob either? Another one guilty of being overindulgent. James suffers from the same problem as well. Both of them were okay in terms of vocals and performance (James was very dramatic with the special effects though. Piano on fire WTF). I think Paul and James should really try to shake things up a bit. And by shaking things up I don't mean setting the stage on fire or wearing ridiculous outfits (Paul's Elton John tribute outfit was just...ridiculous). I mean they should choose a song that no one will expect them to choose, and then do something totally different with it. Otherwise known as, take a leaf out of Adam Lambert's book and shock the audience!
I suppose that applies to Pia and Scotty too? Try something other than ballads/country music? Scotty gave a solid performance, but honestly I thought it was very boring. I was like, okay please end the song now so I can listen to the next person. And he was the first to perform! Way to start the show Scotty.
Thia sang surprisingly well this week. The song suited her voice, and she actually sang in tune this time, with less pitch problems. If her fanbase picks it up this week, she should be bottom-three-free.
Casey stopped growling this week and it paid off! His voice isn't very strong, but that was a solid performance of 'Your Song'. At least he connected emotionally with the song? He is one lucky dude...for getting that second chance last week. Hopefully this performance pays off and he won't get the boot again...
I don't understand the praise for Lauren this time. Yeah I know it was a good vocal, but errrr exactly what was so great about it? I couldn't sense the 'connection' the judges and some other reviewers were talking about. Some parts, she sounded quite flat to me so...yeah. I no understand hype? D= BTW she seriously looks like she should be in the Miss Teen USA competition instead of American Idol...she's starting to resemble Barbie now! *shudders*
And now we're down to the two best performances this week!
Haley was trending on Twitter today, for a very short period of time, so I knew that she was either fantastic or terrible. When I finally saw her performance, I was impressed because - it was really really good! I got the shivers when they showed the clip of her singing in the studio. Believe it or not, but I'm kinda favouring her right now. At least she's courageous enough to try new things every week. I loved the song (Bennie and the Jets), and I loved her voice! She worked the stage, sang beautifully and to quote Steven Tyler, sang SEXY. Kudos to Haley for slamming it this week! Say goodbye to the bottom three honey.
Although I kinda preferred Haley's performance, I just can't fault Pia's outstanding vocals. It. Was. Perfect. As usual! I'd prefer her to try something new but hey, if that ballad sounds good go ahead and sing it girl. Pia's in it to win it! (Why am I quoting RANDY now???)
The saddest thing happened today. Diana Wynne Jones passed away after battling lung cancer for the past two years. I can't even begin to describe my feelings right now...she has been my favourite author ever since I discovered her about ten years ago. I had always wished that'd she'd trend on Twitter one day but...not for this.
There is not a single book of hers that I do not love. I swear to you that woman was just magic. Heads and shoulders above every other author I've read so far and believe me, I've read a lot. She opened up a whole new world for me, a world of pure magic and fantasy, a world I wished I lived in instead of this miserable place we call home.
I was looking forward to her new book too and now...I'm just really sad =( As a tribute to Diana, by hook or by crook I will complete my collection of her books, including A Sudden Wild Magic although I don't know where I'll find that. I will also be re-reading all her books this week.
Sigh I've been looking all over Penang for Aunt Maria and The Ogre Downstairs but I can't seem to find them anymore so if anyone sees any of those books around please let me know! (Even tried hunting at the Popular Warehouse sale at Midlands Park yesterday but no luck...)
List of DWJ books I still don't have (Just to remind myself what else is left)
The Ogre Downstairs
Aunt Maria
The Dalemark Quartet Vol. 1 (Cart and Cwidder & Drowned Ammet)
The Game
A Sudden, Wild Magic
Rest in peace Diana, you are dearly missed by all your family, friends and fans. There is no one else like you, and there will never be another author like you.
Currently Listening To: American Idol performances
I'm watching Idol right now. Typing as I'm listening. Motown night again. It's much better than last week but there are still some screw ups. Also, they need to get rid of the background singers. They're drowning the contestants out.
Initial thoughts:
Stefano - #%^@ what the hell is he thinking? He freaking sang Hello, the song David Cook made famous back in '08. Bad decision Stefano, VERY big fall from last week mate.
Scotty - No shit, this is the direct opposite of Adam's Ring of Fire performance. Turning motown into country is just stupid, enough said. It's interesting, but at the same time it sounds really silly. Taking chances? Sure, but it still sounded totally off. And Ryan's really freaking me out - 'Is the voice inside of your head that deep as well?' SERIOUSLY WTF.
Thia - Slight improvement from last week, but still very far off the mark. Everyone else is way ahead of her in terms of stage presence and all that jazz so...I'm really wondering how long she'll last.
Haley - Interesting performance this week. Surprisingly good vocals, excellent song choice (I loved it anyway). However, in terms of outfits, she is seriously morphing into Haley Scarnato aka skimpy-outfits. Not sure if that tactic will work for this Haley though?
Casey - It was okay performance, nothing to shout about. Better than last week definitely. He really needs to step it up though, otherwise he'll be going the Danny Gokey/Andrew Garcia route..
Paul - Oooh an even more interesting version of Tracks of my Tears. Of course, Adam did it SOOOOO much better, but I guess Paul wasn't that bad either? Motown meets alternative rock woot.
Pia - She's really good but at the same time she's also very boring. She needs to stop singing ballads! Great vocals as usual, but something about her is off this week. And like Lauren, she's kind of pageant queen-ish. Not necessarily a good thing...
Lauren - Hmmm she sounded really good this week but er, she doesn't have much of a stage presence either eh? I noticed that she didn't really know what to do on the stage either; randomly place hand on hips, walk around a bit, cock head a little - honestly I think both she and Thia are too immature for the show. Unlike Allison Iraheta, David Archuleta or even Aaron Kelly, they don't seem to realize that they're live on stage, in a show that is shown all over the world...
Jacob - Finally, another performance that he did not oversing. Okay maybe he did oversing a bit towards the end but overall it was a solid performance. And what was with that random hugging?? What is wrong with Ryan this week??? Jacob looked confused when those girls just went up on stage and hugged him.
Naima - Excellent performance from Naima this week! The dancing was a bit over-the-top but at least that was interesting. Vocals - spot on, song choice - awesome, and great timing too or else she would have been eliminated.
And the number one position this week goes to...drumroll please...
James Durbin rocked it this week, I thought. Still not a big fan of him but he sang well. He still can't stop screaming though, the entire song was like way too high for him.
And that's it for this week. I wonder who will be going home tomorrow...
P.S: My mum liked James, surprisingly.
~*~
EDIT (Results):
I didn't watch the episode yet but holy shit Casey Abrams was almost eliminated from American Idol!
Oh yes, almost eliminated! The judges saved his sorry ass. To be honest, I wasn't that shocked about this 'shocking elimination', and anyway he's still in the competition now so...no fuss right? Unfortunately the judges won't be able to save anyone else if there are any other unexpected eliminations (*cough*LaurenPiaJames*cough*).
None of the song choices made on American Idol tonight was good. Seriously. Not. One. Single. Song.
And because of that, I'm having a really hard time trying to find something nice to say about the contestants so let's just..get on with the seriously horrible performances, starting with
Karen Rodriguez. Girl gots to go. STAT. Horrible song choice (one of those super boring ballads played on a loop on Lite.fm), terrible execution...and she's younger than me?? She looks so OLD. She is definitely the contestant I dislike the most in three seasons. THREE SEASONS and last year really sucked. Honestly, I'm done with her, and I hope America is too.
Thia Megia fared no better than Karen this time around. She gave a completely uninspiring performance of 'Colors of the Wind' and as I've mentioned before, GIRL CANNOT HIT THE HIGH NOTES. As if that's not bad enough, she is bland, boring and totally flat in her delivery so if she's not gone within the next few weeks, I'd be surprised.
Naima Adepapo was slightly better that Karen and Thia, but still bad overall. Who'd have guessed that she'd just crash and fall like that? Two weeks in a row. At least last week was entertaining. No excuses for this week - she made a bad song choice, couldn't sing in tune and wasn't memorable. She's in serious danger, IMHO.
(Note that the bottom three are all FEMALES! I thought this was suppose to be a girl's year? Femme fatales crashing and burning badly.)
Haley Reinhart took a step backwards this week. She has been improving lately, but this time was a no go for her. Vocally, a very weak performance and well, song choice sucks obviously.
As for Casey Abrams...well I thought the song choice was not too bad, but the actual performance was absolutely uninspiring. He sang 'Smells Like Teen Spirit' but it sounded more like the Smell of Dispirit. Compared to the others though, he was still okay.
Jacob Lusk was just as bad as Casey. I think he's the first male contestant who sang Heart's Alone and um, I thought that was a really bad choice because so many other previous contestants sang the song much better than him. Once again, Jacob's guilty of oversinging, and that about sums up his whole performance.
Paul McDonald was sick, but er didn't really hear that in his performance. He sounded the same to me. Song choice was decent (for tonight), and he was generally okay I guess? No progress.
Personally, I felt that James Durbin went down quite a few notches this week. Mostly because I'm starting to feel a little bored with him? He is the only 'rocker dude' left though, so I shouldn't be expecting much variety. At least the song he sang was okay, vocally it wasn't so great but overall it was good enough to put him head and shoulders above the other 7 aforementioned contestants.
Lauren Alaina is really immature, isn't she? I take back what I said a few weeks ago about her being older. She actually has the maturity of a ten-year-old and Ryan Seacrest is doing everything possible to encourage that. On the bright side, at least she sings well? That is about the only good thing I can think of to say about her. I'm sorry judges, I don't think she should be excused just because she's what, 16?
And as expected, Scotty McCreery went country again. At least he pulled it off well? One of the better song selections of the night, although I don't know the song.
Pia Toscano sounded awesome as usual, but I really hated the song she sang. Seriously, aren't there any better songs to sing? From 1988? Or is that year such a bad year? (Gosh we're the same age...I'm embarrassed). She needs to be more creative. It takes more than just good vocals to get through American Idol ya know. Work it girl, show some versatility.
So Pia was okay and all, but the best of the night was definitely:
Stefano Langone! Let's give him a big round of applause, for being the one shining star tonight (despite the questionable song choice. Or should I say, in spite of the song choice?). Brilliant vocals. Absolutely perfect. Now he kinda reminds me of David Archuleta hmmm.
Anyway, a very disappointing week. Jennifer Lopez is as awesome as ever though. The only judge giving constructive criticism. I say, give her a round of applause too for being so gorgeous and awesome!
~*~
EDIT (RESULTS): Karen's gone. FINALLY!
Ooooh, Lee performed? Gotta watch that then. I thought they'd forgotten about him heh.
Currently Listening To: Nicole Atkins - Cool Enough
The performances of the 13 American Idol finalists was shown tonight, and honestly I think it is one of the strongest Top 13/12 ever. Compared to last year, everyone in this season sound like professionals. Seriously.
Anyway, to me the bottom of the pack this week would be:
Ashton Jones - Oh dear. Wannabe diva. I didn't think she was that bad, but when you're in American Idol and you don't stand out...I think you're screwed. By standing out, I mean being memorable or at least having a mediocre performance. Unfortunately for Ashton, she was forgettable. And apparently without a fanbase.
Naima Adepapo - She sang Umbrella for heaven's sake! Bad song choice. Danced more than she sang. To top it off...she's a wild card contestant so that means she does not have much of a fanbase either. I think it's sad, cause I actually like her.
Karen Rodriquez - Vocally it wasn't that awful, but it sure wasn't good either. And something about her seems so...fake. Everything she sings is just flat, kinda like Taylor Swift with a better voice.
The rest of them were pretty good in my opinion, seriously no comparison with any of the contestants of Season 9. Unbelievable!
Paul McDonald - I'll be honest here, I didn't 'get' his performance. Sure it wasn't bad, but it was boring. Lacked integrity and passion, I feel.
Thia Megia - I won't deny that she has a voice, but seriously this girl is just as flat and emotionless as Karen. The only thing better about her is her voice, and her looks. Overall, a decent performance and thus she'll be safe.
Haley Reinhart - That was a pretty good performance for Haley. The yodelling(??) was weird but vocally I thought she was spot on. Boring song choice though.
Lauren Alaina - She and Thia needs to learn a lesson or two from each other. Thia should infuse some of Lauren's confidence in her performances, while Lauren should learn humility. I mean seriously, it's just a slight critique and there she was making faces at the judges! Really shows her age. Time for Little Lauren to grow up a little. As for her performance, it wasn't that bad but it was boring. Great voice, bad attitude, so sorry I do not like her at all.
Casey Abrams - Thought his performance was just so-so yesterday. I mean, I do like the guy and all but he has no...oomph factor. It's like, Kris Allen or Taylor Hicks. Consistently decent performances but no strength somehow.
Stefano Langone - Awwww isn't he cute? He sounded okay, the song choice was okay and had an interesting arrangement but he lacks oomph too. I would, however, sign him if I were music producer or something. He has the perfect voice for Bruno Mars-ish songs, and that seems to be the in-thing now so, yeah.
Jacob Lusk - He sang I Believe I Can Fly, believe it or not! And he sang it quite well too. Usually that song is like the death kiss. A bit over the top at times but generally pretty good performance.
Scotty McCreery - I still find his deep voice disturbing, but that was an excellent song choice. Should be signed up by a country music record label asap! The perfect male counterpart for Taylor Swift...and definitely better than her. Baby lock them doors...
The Top 2 for the night:
James Durbin and Pia Toscano! Congratulations for being consistently good, and for delivering stand out and vocally impeccable perfomances. Okay, maybe not impeccable but close enough! And to think, I didn't like any of them a few weeks ago. So I'm still not a big fan, but at least I'm really warming up to them now. James' song choice was excellent, a Paul McCartney song I've never heard before but it suits him really well. And Pia's voice is just amazing! Definitely the best female of the bunch.
~*~
Soooo...I'm still pretty impressed. Jennifer Lopez, I think she's an awesome judge. She actually gives constructive criticism! I remember liking her when she was a guest judge a few seasons ago, so yeah she is the perfect replacement. Steven, on the other hand, is so Paula. Half drunk and too nice for his own good. And as for Randy? Well, Randy's just Randy. Curious to see who'll go home tomorrow.
EDIT: Results
So I was right about Ashthon, no fanbase whatsoever. I was very sad to see her go though, she has the potential. May she do well in the future.
Also, please pray for Japan everyone. It was hit by a really bad earthquake and that resulted in a terrible tsunami. The damage looks terrible and I was shaking when I saw the news. This goes out to all the countries that might be affected by the tsunami too.
I haven't blogged this much since...a long, long time ago? But American Idol kinda deserves to be blogged - don't ask me why, I just have this urge to blog about it (every single year since 2009! Amazing).
So anyway, the judges decided on a Top 13 instead of 12 because of the overwhelming talent this year and you know what, that was actually a good decision.
And the lucky thirteen are:
(Thanks to America) Lauren Alaina Pia Toscano Thia Megia Haley Reinhart (the horror!) Karen Rodriguez (the most undeserving person in my opinion. Poor Lauren T. and Kendra!)
Paul McDonald Casey Abrams James Durbin Jacob Lusk Scotty McCreery (Baby lock them doors and turn the lights down low...)
(Thanks to the kind judges) Stefano Langone (he's cute in the...muppets kind of way) Ashthon Jones Naima Adepapo
I say, America got the guys right but the inclusion of Haley and Karen is mind-boggling. Haley should be following the footsteps of the other infamous Haley (Scarnato from Season 6) and Karen, well, she's just on the wrong stage. Beauty pageants that way honey, not here!
Even though I still don't have a clear favourite for now, I am quite excited about the Top 13. Here's hoping they'll swim and not sink next week.
P.S: Adam's returning to the Idol stage on the 10th of March to promote Aftermath! AWESOME! Now if only James would sing with him...that would be really interesting.
Currently Listening To: Florence and the Machine - Howl
It's official, the girls are much better than the guys this year. Sadly I'm still not inspired to support anyone in particular, male or female. This season is so much better than the last, and it's only the Top 24! Promising.
Anyway, moving on - lemme start with the ugly cos that's the easiest...
The Ugly: Tatynisa was a trainwreck, singing Rihanna's Only Girl. For American Idol? Seriously?!! Insane decision and it shows. The worse performance for both nights.
Rachel was a trainwreck too. I don't know what to say about that one other than it really sucked.
Really disliked Julie's performance too. I can't remember anything about it, again other than the fact that it sucked.
The Mediocre: Haley, Karen, Ashton and Naima were okay. Nothing bad about their performances, but they weren't fantastic or interesting either.
As for the Good...in no particular order: Boring Kendra turned out to be quite good. Decent song, decent performance AND she's pretty. Might get into the Top 10 if she's lucky enough.
I still think Lauren Turner's the better Lauren, even though she isn't very...attractive. Let's hope her voice is good enough for the Americans, otherwise she won't be making it through to the next round. Great voice, solid performance.
Lauren Alaina on the other hand...well, she is good but something about her just seems off. Is she really 15?? She seems so much older. Sorta like a more precocious and annoying version of Allison Iraheta. And you know what, Allison is so much better!
Another surprising one was Pia. She was soooooo under the radar but when she hit the big stage, she totally nailed it. Much better than some of the other over-hyped contestants (Seriously? The ones listed in bad and mediocre should be eliminated based just on their performances tonight).
Thia Megia was also okay, but I noticed that she couldn't really hit any of the high notes. Powerful voice, most certainly. However, I thinks she's a bit like the Scotty McCreery of the girls - not much of a range.
~.~
I guess 14 contestants will be eliminated tomorrow, and then a wild card round to round up the Top 12. Good luck to everyone, they will definitely need that.
Currently Listening To: Adam Lambert - Feeling Good
Oh boy. Oh boy. Wasn't bad as far as first nights go (last year was terrible), but some people I looked forward to kinda sucked and those I didn't really care about did pretty well.
The Good:
Believe it or not, James Durbin. He most certainly is aiming for the Adam Lambert target audience, what with the song choice and the whole rock vibe. See what happens when you sing instead of scream James?
Old man Scotty McCreery, the more I listen to him the older he gets (in my eyes anyway). But yeah that was a good performance despite my lack of interest in country music.
I had faith in Jacob Lusk and he did not fail to impress for sure! The dude who loves to oversing gave a fantastic, controlled and spectacular performance of A House is not a Home. Very old school, jazzy and bluesy. Bravo dude, bravo.
Casey Abrams needed a shave, but he sure sang his heart out! Can't believe he's only 20? He looks about...40. Nice voice, interesting song choices, and also the pimp spot. What's not to love? The judges are in love with him. Let's hope America is too...
The Mediocre: I couldn't figure out where to put Paul McDonald, so this section is specially for him. Very very mediocre, but he did have the right kind of voice for that song.
The Bad: Tim Helperin (Boring), Jovany (good voice, dull song), Clint (an idiot for doing Superstition), and Stefano (good voice, but Just The Way You Are? Come on man).
...
and The Ugly: Jordan, Brett, and ROBBIE WHY ROBBIE!! They were just all levels of suck.
Oh and Imma be calling Robbie Bambi from now on. If he makes it through. How many people are getting cut again? 7 girls and 7 guys? Then a wild card round? Hmmm.
Currently Listening To: Glee Cast - One Less Bell to Answer/A House is not a Home
It's time for Americaaaaaan Idol - again! And yes even though I'm not that excited about this season, I'm still planning to blog about it. Why would I do that? Well, number 1: I'm bored. Number 2: It's fun to look back on old entries one year later so...yeah.
Anyway, the Hollywood rounds are over and the Top 24 has been decided. I thought they were going to change the format or something, but I guess not? It's still 12 guys and 12 girls. Alrighty, my first impressions of the contestants this year:
From Daemonstv.com
The Guys
Brett Loewenstern - Hmmm, his hair is really distracting. Not particularly fond of him but I guess he's all right...
Jovany Barreto - Agree with J.Lo, great upper range but other than that bleh.
Jacob Lusk - Oversinging much? Overemotional too.
Paul McDonald - TPTB didn't show much of him so...I don't know. He's interesting enough though.
Clint Jun Gamboa - Hate this guy. Jerk, and he's not that great anyway.
Robbie Rosen - David Archuleta 2.0. Not necessarily a bad thing. My favourite for now.
Jordan Dorsey - I don't see what's so great about him. Deandre Brackensick should have been in over him I think.
Tim Halperin - Another unknown interesting enough to catch a little of my attention.
James Durbin - Oh god. Adam Lambert wannabe for sure. Mr I'm-just-gonna-screamwailscreech-every-word-cos-it-worked-for-Adam! Can't stand the guy.
Casey Abrams - Interesting choices of instruments. A more polished Taylor Hicks perhaps? I do like him though.
Scotty McCreery - He made me hate the song he couldn't stop singing. No idea why he's still in the competition. His so called amazing deep voice is like Taylor Swift's - flat as hell.
The Girls
Naima Adedapo - I like this girl! No overpimping, and she has a nice voice.
Julie Zorilla - Omg this girl is awesome. Definitely one of my favourites!
Karen Rodriguez - Not bad either.
Lauren Turner - Two Laurens this year, and I prefer this Lauren.
Kendra Chantelle - Boring.
Ashthon Jones - Darn I missed the part where they showed her singing, so I have no idea.
Rachel Zevita - I guess she deserves a chance? Weird operatic chick.
Haley Reinhart - I don't get it. She doesn't deserve to make the Top 24. Just plain awful.
Thia Megia - Um. Well. She does have a good voice, but I think she's a little too unpolished for AI.
Lauren Alaina - This chick has issues with Steven Tyler. She just can't keep her hands off him! Seriously! He's 62 and she's 16 for heaven's sake. Good voice, but I don't like her at all.
Pia Toscano - ...who is she again? Sorry no clue who that is.
Tatynisa Wilson - This season's Lil Rounds perhaps.
I suppose Adele wrote this album two years ago? Cos I'm turning 23 today, and we're the same age XD
So I'm not exactly a fan of Adele but I did like some of the songs from her previous album.I was all for Duffy when they were both nominated for the Grammy's a few years back, and was quite upset when Adele won but now I kinda sorta understand why she had won instead. Honestly, Adele's sophomore album is a lot better than Duffy's. Was completely and absolutely turned off by Duffy's nasally Well Well Well. It was so terrible I couldn't bring myself to listen to her new album. (I don't even know the name of the album!)
Anyway going back to Adele, I'm still not a big fan but 21 is a pretty good album. Mostly ballads with a few upbeat songs, such as Rolling in the Deep (the first single) and Rumour Has It (my personal favourite).
Tracklisting 1. Rolling in the Deep 2. Rumour Has It 3. Turning Tables 4. Don't You Remember 5. Set Fire to the Rain 6. He Won't Go 7. Take It All 8. I'll Be Waiting 9. One and Only 10. Love Song 11. Someone Like You
Overall: Pleasant album, not really my kind of music but still nice to listen to. 8/10. Recommendations: Rolling in the Deep, Rumour Has It, Set Fire to the Rain, Someone Like You.
Currently Listening To: Brooke Waggoner - Go Easy Little Doves
I finally bought The Girl with the Dragon Tattoo bookset/The Millennium trilogy by Stieg Larsson for RM59.90 at Popular! They were having some special offer for the New Year celebrations and it was open to everyone and not just the members. The other bookstores are either selling them individually for about RM35.90 per book, or the bookset for RM79.90, so I'd say I got a pretty good deal.
I was interested in the trilogy because the American version of the movie will be out in December, and the books are like, quite famous?
So far I'm about halfway through the first book. Don't know what to make of it yet, the story is interesting but um, I don't think it's written very well. I mean, there are pages and pages of useless information and pointless descriptions of totally random stuff. It reads more like a report of the book, rather than the actual novel.
I know it's originally in Swedish and I'm actually reading someone else's translation of the book but still, the information is the same right? Note to self: don't ever write like that. It drags everything down.
Despite that, I'm still progressing fast, thanks to the intriguing plot and the interesting characters. Can't really tell what the story's about though. Based on the description on the back cover of the second book, it looks like the story's about human trafficking? I guess I'll find out soon.
Still on my favourite topic (books books books!), I'm totally loving this blog right now:
The blogger's a huge Diana Wynne Jones fan, and she even hosted a DWJ event on her blog a few months back! Her first ever author's week event in fact, to encourage other DWJ fans to review her books and to spread the DWJ love. It's so rare to find DWJ fans, so I'm like in DWJ heaven right now. I even learnt new things from the blog - for example, I can't believe that I actually missed out one of her books, A Sudden, Wild Magic. Never knew it existed until I came across it in that blog.
Anyway it's getting late, and I should totally get started on watching the 13th episode of Glee Season 2 =P (and it's 1.40am!)
P.S: OMG I'm almost done with Persona 3! I guess I better finish off the final bosses of P3 AND P4 before classes start.
Currently Listening To: Evanescence - The Only One
I never thought that I'd be blogging about this but...you know what, I am actually impressed with the first episode of American Idol Season 10.
New judges, new contestants...all off to a promising start, surprisingly! Steven Tyler and Jennifer Lopez are pretty decent, with Tyler being totally amusing and J.Lo actually being helpful (unlike the other three women who had graced the judging panel).
As for the contestants, well, they are finally focusing more on the good auditions rather than the outrageous ones. Or maybe America finally ran out of crazy people...? Japan seems to have invaded the AI stage though, I think that Japanese dude singing Miley Cyrus was the worst audition for today.
So...it is still way too early to tell whether the season will be good or bad, but a promising start is better than a dull one right?
Does anyone remember the Baby Sitters Club books? I recently found a blog revisiting (and ridiculing) the books, and now I'm inspired to reread them! So I rummaged around my boxes of books, and discovered that I only have 4 volumes of BSC left. Only four! How many did I have in the first place? I think I gave the rest to Becky. Or perhaps my mum donated them to some organisation or something... If I remember correctly, I only had like maybe 10 volumes? Borrowed most of it from Trix, she had like a ton of them. (I wonder if she still has them now...?)
Even though I was a bigger fan of the BSC, I seem to have more Sweet Valley books - maybe about 25 volumes? Or probably more. So far I've only re-read Stacey and the Mystery at the Mall. 13 years later...I have no idea why I was so obsessed with the books. I mean, the idea of a baby sitters club is not exactly...cool, so why were addicted to them when we were younger? Probably because it described the lives of American teenagers...
Anyway, I remember liking the characters for silly reasons. I wasn't a fan of the Kristy-narrated books but I had liked Kristy because her middle name's Amanda. My favourites were Stacey and Claudia though, Stacey because she's blonde and Claudia for being Asian lol. Thinking back, I guess I was being kinda shallow? Like I said, silly reasons for liking the characters =P Seriously, if there is anyone out there still reading my blog, lend me your BSC books if you still have them!
Also, I found blogs for the Sweet Valley books, and the Goosebumps and Fear Street series by R.L. Stine (I'm done with the Goose\bumps one actually), so I guess I'll be spending the next few weeks reading them all XD
And maybe it'll give me something to blog about.
Here are the links to the blogs, if anyone is interested (or too bored):
