Lee DeWyze was performing songs off his debut album Live It Up tonight live in NYC for IHeartRadio.com and fans that won tickets to the show.
I am so stoked, because there is already video popping up of the songs Lee performed tonight!
Check it out!
“Stay Here”
“Live It Up”
The four songs featured in this week’s episode of Glee pack quite the musical punch.
Diving into the tracks this week, the weakest is definitely the duet between Mark Salling (Puck) and Kevin McHale (Artie) on Bob Marley’s “One Love (People Get Ready).” This song really doesn’t fit Salling’s voice, although when harmonizing with McHale, he sounded pretty good. It definitely wasn’t as good as the other three songs from this week’s episode.
Hands down my favorite track this week was Dalton Academy’s version of Katy Perry’s huge hit, “Teenage Dream.” The song features lead vocals from Glee newcomer, Darren Criss (Blaine). This is a song that I wouldn’t expect to hear covered by a guy, but I thought Glee’s interpretation was wonderful.
The arrangement for this song is great. Replacing instruments with harmonizing does not go unnoticed. The harmonizing is a huge part about what makes Glee’s take on “Teenage Dream” so successful.
I really enjoy Criss’ voice. His voice is a great addition to the cast this season, and I hope that the audience gets to hear more from him.
Onto the mash ups! The Glee girls performed a mash up of the Rolling Stones’ “Start Me Up” and Bon Jovi’s “Livin’ On A Prayer.”
Amber Riley (Mercedes) took the lead on “Start Me Up.” Her vocal provided a saucy and provocative interpretation of the song.
Lea Michele (Rachel) was the featured singer on “Livin’ On A Prayer.” Michele is able to adapt her voice nicely to the song. To really pull off that song’s chorus, you need a booming, powerful vocal. Michele pulled it off without a hitch.
Both of these songs made for quite the rockin’ mash up.
It also occurred to me while listening to this week’s music that last season on Glee, the guys incorporated a Bon Jovi song into their mash up. I wonder if it’s just pure coincidence, or luck in Bon Jovi’s case, that their new greatest hits album just happened to come out the same week one of their biggest hits was covered on Glee. I thought that was interesting.
The Glee guys did a mash up of The Supremes “Stop! In The Name of Love” and EnVogue’s “Free Your Mind.”
Now, I really like both of the mash ups, but what gives the guys the edge for me is that almost every single one of them is featured as a lead vocal throughout their mash up. Also, these songs brought the best out of the guys (vocally speaking) and collectively they sounded great.
This mash up is definitely a fun listen. Who knew that two songs that are so different musically and lyrically could fit so well together?
I have to say that whoever is responsible for putting together the arrangements for this week’s crop of songs did an incredible job. Glee definitely had a good music week.
Glee airs Tuesday nights on FOX at 8 p.m.
Originally posted on BlogCritics.
The latest American Idol season 10 promo featuring the past nine winners has hit the web!
Check it out!
I love hearing about the Idol’s lives before they went on the show, so I am just loving all these promos. I hope Idol does them all a solid and has each of the past winners on this season to promote their music.
Just sayin’!
David Cook, Ruben Studdard and Melinda Doolittle were all present last night at the Ronald McDonald House Benefit in New York City.
Mike Woods from Fox 40 took video of the three former Idol contestant’s performances, including these three videos of David Cook performing Bon Jovi’s “Livin’ On a Prayer,” a Radiohead cover of “High And Dry,” and a mash up of “Heroes” with Oasis’ “Champagne Supernova.”
Check it out!
How awesome is that mash up? It’s done so well, I just love it.
David Cook, I am pleading with you to hurry up and get your sophomore album finished. You’re killin’ me, smalls. I need new music from you. Like yesterday.
I know I am not the only one that feels that way. But, I’ll keep waiting…
Lee DeWyze performed his new single, “Sweet Serendipity” for the first time live on The Tonight Show last night.
Check it out!
I really like this song live. I thought Lee sounded pretty good. The chorus seemed to get him a little bit after the second verse, but overall it was a great debut performance to kick off the album promo for Live It Up.
It was great to see Lee back on TV, and I hope this performance kicks up the sales of the single.
What you think of Lee’s performance from last night?
Last night Maroon 5 performed a free concert at The Fillmore in San Francisco as apart of the launch of the new Windows 7 phone.
The show was an abridged version of their Hands All Over tour. They did a great mix of 12 songs. I have to admit that I was shocked that they didn’t perform “Makes Me Wonder,” however I loved hearing “Hands All Over” live. It was a hot performance!
Per usual, I have brought a gift to share with the class!
Enjoy Maroon 5 performing their latest single, “Give A Little More.”
As a bonus and because my dad loves this song, here is “Sunday Morning” preceded by the band intros.
Enjoy!
Both videos were taken by moi!
You can now listen to clips of Lee DeWyze’s upcoming album Live It Up on his Facebook page. The clips are listed under the “Music” tab.
I am actually listening to the clips as I type this, and I am liking what I am hearing. I am pretty stoked to pick up my copy of his album this upcoming New Music Tuesday!
So Lee fans, what do you think about the album clips? Any favorite songs?
Take a look at Glee newcomer Darren Criss during his first big number for the upcoming episode, “Never Been Kissed.”
Criss takes on Katy Perry’s current hit, “Teenage Dream.”
Sounds great! I can’t wait to see what his character brings to the show!
Last night Good Charlotte performed their latest single, “Like It’s Her Birthday” on Lopez Tonight.
Check it out!
Seeing them doing promo for their new album Cardiology has been making me all kinds of nostalgic.
When I was in college, my part of my dorm room was covered in Good Charlotte posters and pictures I had taken at their shows. I couldn’t get enough of this band. In the span of two years, I saw them live four times. Each time was better than the previous time, even if there was two days inbetween shows.
If you want to see a band perform their heart out on top of putting on a great live show, whenever Good Charlotte heads out on tour, or if you’re lucky enough to see them while they’re doing promo, GO! I promise that you will not be disappointed.
And if you haven’t already, check out my review for their new album Cardiology that came out this week.
Lee DeWyze is one busy dude. Since winning season nine of American Idol he has toured the United States with his fellow Idols, as well as writing and recording his new album Live It Up. He is now gearing up for the release of his album on November 16.
Earlier this week, DeWyze was nice enough to talk with me over the phone about his upcoming album. During the first part of our conversation we talked about the recording process, songwriting and the various collaborators he worked with, and his lead single, “Sweet Serendipity.”
You started recording Live It Up this summer while on the tour with American Idol. What was the recording process like while you were on the road and how much of the album did you complete? And what was the recording process like after you completed the tour?
The recording process was pretty amazing actually. On the tour, I’m trying to focus on that, but I’m also trying to write an album and recording it all. For me, it was a very different process, trying to write an album while being on tour and doing other things while you’re doing it. But, it was great. Working with the people I worked with was great. I had a huge hand in the writing process. Being on 10 of the 11 songs writing-wise was a huge accomplishment, and I really have the label and the people around me to thank for allowing me to do that. That’s who I am as an artist. The fact that I got to accomplish that goal of mine was really awesome.
After the tour was over, I really put in 100 percent. I enjoyed the whole process. And always, there’s ups and downs of it, you run into tiny walls, you get through them and keep going.
So, you wrote on the majority of the album, 10 out of the 11 tracks?
Yeah 10 out of the 11, I worked with various writers. I worked with amazing people. Toby Gad, Dave Hodges, Claude Kelly, Lindy Robbins, John Shanks, Zac Maloy, Espionage, David Glass, I mean the list goes on. Just great people that I got to work with. They helped make the album what it is too, I have them to thank for that.
Okay, so when you are working on a song, what comes first, the lyrics,
the melody, or a little bit of both?
I like to start with music sometimes, once I get the beat in place, I can start to write about it. Melodies are important. I always kind of pride myself on my melodies. For me, it was a little bit of everything.
How many songs did you initially start with before narrowing it down to the 11 that are on Live It Up?
We had quite a few. There are definitely going to be some songs that are offered out there separately from the album. I’m really, really proud of what I have done. All the ones that didn’t make the album, it’s not that they weren’t good songs, it was just that we knew the right songs to go on this first album. I’m happy with the single, I’m happy with title of the album, I’m happy with the whole thing.
Very awesome, you sound really excited. How did you decide on what to title the album, and were there any other possible titles for the album that you had in mind?
I ran a couple different titles through my head, you know Live It Up is definitely kind of the theme of the album. I felt that each one of these songs really had a little meaning [tying to the album title]. It’s a cool little album. I love it. It speaks a lot about me, everything in life, relationships, love, a loss, you know different things that everyone goes through in their life.
Alright, let’s talk about your first single, “Sweet Serendipity.” You were planning to originally release the title track of the album and the night before your single was going to debut on the radio, you switched it to “Sweet Serendipity.” What was behind the change of heart about what song to lead off your album with?
Truthfully, I’m sitting there looking at the whole album, there were a lot of songs that I could’ve picked for the single. They’re all really strong songs. I think “Sweet Serendipity” is the right song for the right time. We put it out there, and it’s a great song. I’m really proud of it.
I like the song and it’s really catchy. It’s a lot more pop than I was expecting.
That’s the thing that I like. There’s everything from pop to rock to broken down acoustic. That’s kind of why I like the album so much. There’s different variety on there, and that’s what I’m about.
How would you describe the overall vibe of the album?
I would call it a reflective album. I would definitely say that there’s something for everybody, regardless of what emotion you’re going through, there’s something on there for you. I just wanted it to be fun. When you come to a live show, I want you to dance and have a good time. I want you to be into the music, it’s really what it’s all about.
Wait...WHAT? 