Earlier this weekend, another track from the highly anticipated Glee: The Music presents The Warblers album appeared on the internet.
Take a listen to the Warblers’ take on Keane’s “Somewhere Only We Know,” which will be featured on an upcoming episode of Glee.
I am a huge fan of this song. I tip my hat to the Glee music producers; they did a great job with this track.
I think Darren Criss sounds fantastic on everything he’s recorded for Glee this season, and this track is no exception. He really is able to utilize his voice to connect emotionally with the audience, and I think that’s part of why people just adore him.
Glee: The Music presents The Warblers is out April 19.
Last week, Maroon 5 took on the daunting task of writing and recording a brand new track in the 24 hours. Coca Cola had fans send in their thoughts and inspirations to help the band create their new song.
The event was streamed live, and if you watched it, it was pretty interesting. I managed to catch a couple hours where the guys were tracking drums and laying down PJ’s vocals.
Earlier this morning, the result of the 24-hour recording session was released! Check out Maroon 5’s new song featuring PJ Morton, “Is Anybody Out There”!
Receive a FREE download of “Is Anybody Out There” here.
I could be heard throughout American Idol’s Thursday night’s results show repeating the same question, “What just happened?”
I mean, seriously, where to start? Do I start with the “Judges’ Save?” Do I start with Hulk Hogan? Or do I start with Steven Tyler turning 120? (I kid, I kid!)
Let’s start with the “Judges’ Save,” because a little more than a week ago I made what has been I believe my only prediction about season 10 so far via Twitter. It was then shown on MTV.com’s “Idol Party Live!” hosted by the super awesome Jim Cantiello live after each results show. Check out who I thought the “Judges’ Save” was going to go to this season.
Of course, if you watched Thursday night, you know that my prediction was totally wrong. Supposedly Casey Abrams had the lowest total number of votes after Wednesday night’s performances. I can kind of believe it, because he didn’t have a great performance and he went first that night, which means that with 10 other performances, people could have just forgot about him. Also, there’s the possibility of voter complacency. However, the conspiracy theorist in me thinks that Idol really wanted to create some buzz. And what better way to create some buzz than to possibly eliminate a huge fan favorite?
Even I have to admit that when the judges told Casey he was saved was a great moment. Although, I thought for sure he was going to throw up, or have to take another trip to the hospital. Casey’s reaction was truly the icing on the cake for the night.
Other than that, I hope next week’s results show can be as entertaining and unexpected as last Thursday’s was. I loved seeing the contestants singing with Stevie Wonder. More than that, I loved Steven Tyler’s reaction to Stevie Wonder on stage. As much as I enjoyed Idol pulling out the stops to celebrate Steven’s birthday, I had to wonder if Randy was sitting there thinking, “I’ve been on this show for the entire time it’s been in existence, and never has anyone surprised me with Mariah Carey serenading me on my birthday!”
I have to say that seeing Hulk Hogan on Idol is hands down the craziest thing that I have seen on this show. I loved the video of the contestants talking about James Durbin’s love of pro-wrestling. His reaction to Hulk Hogan coming on stage to let him and Paul McDonald know they were safe and going on tour was pretty hilarious. Hogan “punching” Ryan Seacrest into the crowd was also funny. I don’t care to see a professional wrestler every week on Idol, but it was a cute moment this past week.
Thinking ahead to next Wednesday, with Casey being saved this week, what does that mean for the contestants? Well, all 11 contestants will be going on tour this summer, so there’s that. But, they still have to sing their butts off next week, because it is “Elton John Week” and two of them will be eliminated. My only advice for the contestants next week is more like a plea. Please don’t sing “Don’t Let The Sun Go Down On Me.” It’s been done over and over and over again.
So to recap, Casey was saved from elimination, the Top 11 will tour, and two contestants will go home next week. What did y’all think about the results and Thursday’s overall show?
Glee: The Music presents The Warblers is due out April 19, and will highlight Glee’s Dalton Academy Warblers, the all-male a capella singing group featuring Darren Criss, Chris Colfer, the Tufts University Beezlebubs.
The album will include “Teenage Dream,” which still holds the record of having the best first-week sales of any Glee track, along with “Bills, Bills, Bills,” and “When I Get You Alone.” The album will additionally feature two exclusive songs, one of which being Barbra Streisand’s “What Kind of Fool,” which Darren Criss and the Warblers performed as the opening number at the 2011 MusiCares Person of the Year gala.
Songs from Glee’s Dalton Academy Warblers have sold 1.3 million tracks to date. In the last week, Glee had it’s highest first-week sales from a single episode with 722,998 downloads of tracks from “Original Song.” Combined with their other music, Glee sold 964,000 downloads in the last seven days, which breaks their own record that they set this past February with 880,000 tracks sold in one week.
Glee: The Music presents The Warblers is set to be released April 19. For more information on music from Glee, check out their official music website.
Glee: The Music presents The Warblers track listing:
1. “Teenage Dream” (Katy Perry)
2. “Hey Soul Sister” (Train)
3. “Bills, Bills, Bills” (Destiny’s Child)
4. “Silly Love Songs” (Wings)
5. “When I Get You Alone” (Robin Thicke)
6. “Animal” (Neon Trees)
7. “Misery” (Maroon 5)
8. “Blackbird” (The Beatles)
9. “Candles” (Hey Monday)
10. “Raise Your Glass” (P!nk)
11. “Somewhere Only We Know” (Keane)
12. “What Kind Of Fool” (Barbra Steisand)
13. “Do Ya Think I’m Sexy?” (Rod Stewart)
And so it goes, Karen Rodriguez was eliminated from American Idol this week. Not shocking in the least. And she did herself absolutely no favors by singing Mariah Carey’s “Hero” as her swansong, and then pleading to the judges for “The Save.” Ooh…girl. That save is reserved for Lauren Alaina, Pia Toscano, and possibly Casey Abrams.
In my eyes, Karen was booted for her hot mess of a performance from last week. I think sometimes when contestants have a bad performance, the audience’s opinion of them carries over into voting the following week. Not saying that it’s fact, just that it could be the case for Karen’s dismissal this week.
Let’s talk about the other two contestants that found themselves alongside Karen in the bottom three this week, Haley Reinhart and Naima Adedapo.
I figured that Haley would find her way back to the bottom three just based on the judges comments from the night before. The judges definitely can sway the vote, and if they are consistently giving a contestant a hard time, I think that translates to the audience as, “Vote for Lauren Alaina.” Ha ha, I’m kidding. But, I do think that their comments combined with her lackluster performance is why Haley found herself back in the bottom three this week.
I was legitimately disappointed when Ryan Seacrest announced that Naima was headed to the bottom three. I think the judges gave her too much of a hard time in their critiques. Her performance was nowhere near as bad as they made it out to be. She is one of the more polarizing contestants this season, and it would be a shame to see her before she reaches her full potential on the show. I think Naima is keeping the show fresh and bringing something new to the table. If she’s eliminated in the next few weeks, I feel like it could be a devastating blow to the season.
I wanted to touch on this week’s group song, which was a mash-up of Steppenwolf’s “Born to Be Wild” and Lady Gaga’s “Born This Way.” First off, good on Idol for a live group performance! Nigel Lythgoe tweeted last week that the group performance was live, which I’m still not sure I entirely buy, but it is what it is. I felt like this week’s mic issues were done purposely to show that the contestants were singing live. You got your point across, Nigel. Continue reading Idol Wired >> Another Girl Bites The Dust
In this week’s mix of music, Glee offered up three full-length original tracks, as well as three tracks from Dalton Academy’s Warblers, and a solo from Chris Colfer. To be honest, this was probably one of the best weeks for Glee, musically speaking.
Let’s talk about the original songs, shall we? Both “Get It Right” and “Loser Like Me” debuted after the announcement that there would be original songs on Glee this season a few weeks ago.
Upon first listen, I was semi-horrified at “Loser Like Me.” It’s co-written by the master writer of all pop songs, Max Martin, so I felt like I had to give the song another chance. It’s definitely a Max Martin song. It has a good beat and cheesy, yet catchy lyrics.
I think that it should not have been sung by Lea Michele (Rachel) and Cory Monteith (Finn). I am assuming they were showcased in the song, since it was being used for Regionals, and neither of them were featured in the songs used for Sectionals. I think that Mark Salling (Puck) and Jenna Ushkowitz (Tina) would have been a better fit for the song. Ushkowitz is a wasted talent on the show and deserves her turn in the spotlight.
Michele’s voice on “Get It Right” is phenomenal. I love how her vocals are reined in, and then build up to that wonderful glory note. I seriously got chills while listening to it. I also love how the song related to Michele’s character’s storyline.
The thing with both “Get It Right” and “Loser Like Me” is that they work much better within context of the episode, which is definitely a good thing. I think both songs are pretty good anthems, and hopefully they do speak to the audience. But for me, I probably won’t be singing along to them in my car anytime soon.
“Hell To The No” was the third original song included in with this week’s song releases. Amber Riley (Mercedes) takes the lead on this very much ridiculous track. I just can’t take this song seriously when there’s a line about the previous tots storyline. Also, this is probably Riley’s weakest vocal performance to date. She sounded as if she was shouting throughout the length of the song. Continue reading Music Review >> Glee Cast – “Original Song”
After crossing the 100,000 fan mark on Facebook, Lee DeWyze posted up a special performance to fulfill a promise he made last fall!
What made this treat that much sweeter was that it was an acoustic performance of “Me and My Jealousy”!
Check it out!
I just love this song!
Don’t forget to tune into the American Idol results show tomorrow night, because Lee will be performing his latest single, “Beautiful Like You.” Can’t wait!
I reviewed last week’s performances, and I think it’s pretty safe to say that the females of American Idol season 10 are having a bit of a hard time this season. Take a look at my current standings for this season’s Top 12 as of last week’s performances.
12. Karen Rodriguez
Karen’s star is fading awfully fast. Blaming her pitchy performance of Selena’s “I Could Fall In Love” on a “couple technical difficulties” during the results show last Thursday was eye-roll inducing. For Karen to survive this week, she’s going to have to step outside of her Selena/J-Lo repertoire, sing something that gets people talking, and sing it well. 11. Jacob Lusk
It’s time for Jacob to realize that his performance of “God Bless the Child” was his season 10 shining moment. He has now tried to re-create this moment twice, and it is not paying off in his favor. I think he is going to need to rein in his vocals and try something a little more subdued. Sometimes the quieter performance can be quite powerful (i.e. Kris Allen’s performance of “Falling Slowly” during season eight.)
10. Haley Reinhart
I like Haley, I really do. She’s been able to show the versatility in her voice this season in her past couple performances. That aside, she seems to lose her nerve midway through her performances, which causes all sorts of pitch problems. Haley needs to stay confident in her ability to continue to survive each week.
9. Thia Megia
I seem to be the only one that doesn’t get the weird, old fashioned tone to Thia’s voice. Personally, I don’t think she has a voice that will go over well on the radio. Singing-wise, Thia needs to adapt her style and show that she can be current. Personality-wise, I’m sure she has one, but I’m just not sure why she’s opting to operate in robot mode all the time.
8. Lauren Alaina
Oh, how quickly they fall from grace. Lauren’s problem last week was that her performance was boring. She can definitely sing, but she has to work on her stage presence. I suggest finding space in that mansion that the contestants are currently living in and practice on moving while singing. If she can match her stage presence with her singing, she will probably save herself from an early ouster. Continue reading Idol Wired >> Top 12 Standings
least. And she did herself absolutely no favors by singing Mariah Carey’s “Hero” as her swansong, and then pleading to the judges for “The Save.” Ooh…girl. That save is reserved for Lauren Alaina, Pia Toscano, and possibly Casey Abrams.
Me” debuted after the announcement that there would be original songs on Glee this season a few weeks ago.
Wait...WHAT? 