Category: Music

Idol Wired >> The San Francisco Treat

Since I spend a good portion of my week in San Francisco, you can imagine that I was excited to see how the American Idol auditions went in the city by the bay.

In case you had forgotten, Idol reminded us that Adam Lambert had initially auditioned in San Francisco. Aw, remember the days when Idol would find ridiculous amounts of talent? (Psst…seasons seven and eight, I miss you!)

It’s not that the singers shown weren’t talented, it’s just that they don’t seem as quality as prior contestants. I personally was looking to be wowed by the contestants and that definitely didn’t happen during the San Francisco auditions.

What I appreciated about this particular episode of auditions was that more good auditions were shown overall. And of course there were enough sob stories to fill the hour-long episode, but being that this was the last night of auditions, I was expecting them.

I really didn’t have any personal favorites from this set of auditions. However, there were a couple singers that I am looking forward to hearing from during the “Hollywood Week” round.

Matthew Ness from Huntington Beach, CA had some amazing big notes during his audition. Steven Tyler called the 25-year-old, “a diamond in the rough.”

Stefano Langone, the 21-year-old from Kent, WA sang Marvin Gaye’s, “I Heard It Through The Grapevine.” He has a Bruno Mars quality to his voice. Very smooth vocal.
Continue reading Idol Wired >> The San Francisco Treat

Music Review >> Glee Cast – “Silly Love Songs”

Glee is getting lovey-dovey this week with the song selections from their Valentines’ Day-themed episode, “Silly Love Songs.”

For the second episode in a row Kevin McHale (Artie) takes a Michael Jackson hit. In his episode, he’s singing “P.Y.T (Pretty Young Thing).” Out of all the males, I think McHale was definitely the right choice to sing this song. His voice has the right tone and flavor to pull this song off. I think it was important for him and the show to not have a carbon-copy vocal, but still manage to keep the essence of the song intact, and I think they succeeded on both levels.

This week Mark Salling (Puck) is singing Queen’s “Fat Bottomed Girls.” I know this song fits in with Puck’s storyline for the episode, but I feel like the song was in the wrong key for him. At times it sounded like he was straining to hit the higher notes. Because of this, I have to wonder if the backing vocals are purposely drowning his voice out. It seems depending on the song selection for him, Salling’s vocal performances continue to be very hit or miss this season.

We’re treated to two songs from Dalton Academy’s Warblers during the episode. Per usual, the vocal stylings of Darren Criss (Blaine) are featured on both tracks. First up with Robin Thicke’s “When I Get You Alone,” Criss continues to impress. His vocal performance is flirty and has some swagger to it, which really adds to the song overall. There’s a big note that he hits at the end of the song which is absolutely fantastic. I really like that the Warblers sing songs that are more pop/R&B, because it distinguishes their style from New Directions.
Continue reading Music Review >> Glee Cast – “Silly Love Songs”

Music Video: Anoop Desai – “All Is Fair (Crazy Love)”

So I am late to the party with this one, but Anoop Desai from the eighth season of American Idol recently released a music video for his single “All Is Fair (Crazy Love).”

Check it out below!

I am diggin’ this song!

What do y’all think?

Video: Maroon 5, Lea Michele & Christina Aguilera Perform at Super Bowl XLV

When it comes to the Super Bowl, I am all about the music. And this year, a handful of my favorite acts were all apart of this year’s game!

During the pre-show, Maroon 5 played their latest single, “Never Gonna Leave This Bed.” Check out the video below!

My favorite performance of the night was from Glee’s Lea Michele, who sang “America the Beautiful.” Her voice is absolutely gorgeous.

I have to say that Christina Aguilera is one of my all-time favorite vocalists. I thinks she’s insanely talented. To keep it real, it just wasn’t homegirl’s night.

She fumbled the lyrics, which of all nights to fumble the lyrics from the National Anthem, the Super Bowl isn’t one of them. But, she sang live. That is a feat in itself. She didn’t let it show that she botched the lyrics and just carried on with her performance. She was very professional about that. I can appreciate that.

If you missed Christina performing or just want to see it again, check out the video below.

Video source: 1, 2

Jane Lynch Talks About ‘Glee’s’ Big Super Bowl Special

Glee finally returns for a special episode after Super Bowl XLV this coming Sunday. Jane Lynch, who plays fan favorite Sue Sylvester, talked during a conference call earlier this week about the upcoming episode, which she described as “on steroids and writ large,” the different sides of her character, and how playing Sue Sylvester influences today’s girls.

It’s always a big deal for the show that gets to follow the Super Bowl every year, and this year Glee is taking the bull by the horns for it’s biggest episode, yet. Lynch commented on the two opposite TV forces coming together this Sunday.

“Football is very masculine and basically, to me, anyway, a metaphor for war. You’ve got your air game and your ground game. And you’ve got these “light in your loafers” guys, and I’m talking about even the straight guys, singing and dancing. I think it’s a terrific world we live in and I love seeing these two things come together,” she said.

The cast of Glee started filming the episode after the holidays, yet were seen only a couple weeks ago shooting footage during New Directions’ half-time performance. Lynch told us that it was all for additional footage.

“This is a big episode. It’s kind of like the Madonna episode. It’s like the episode we for four months, like it drags on that long. I think we started actually after the holidays, but we needed to pick up a couple of really quick reaction shots during the “Thriller” song. They were really quick and fast, and everybody had to get back into everything. You know, the zombie makeup, etc. So, it was a big deal for two shots,” she explained.

This season on Glee, the audience has seen two different sides of Sue Sylvester; the side where she’s terribly mean and is shooting off some of the funniest one-liners on the show, and she has also shown a softer side when visiting her sister in the rest home. Lynch filled us in about which side of Sue we would be seeing Sunday night.

“Sue Sylvester is a little bored with her routine, even though she has kids riding around on BMX bikes and jumping through fire. And this one routine with Katy Perry’s “California Gurls,” she wants to top herself, so she finds out there’s a human cannon in town, she buys it, and wants to shoot Brittany out of it,” Lynch said.
Continue reading Jane Lynch Talks About ‘Glee’s’ Big Super Bowl Special

Idol Wired >> Is The Torture Over, Yet?

When I first sat down to talk American Idol, I had just the worst migraine, which was caused by the auditions in Los Angeles that aired last night.

No, I’m not kidding. The L.A. auditions were by far the worst auditions that I have ever taken the time to sit and watch. I seriously want that hour of my life back.

This is season 10 of American Idol. I expected better than Thursday night’s episode. I guess I should have known better.

Before I get ahead of myself, let’s talk about Wednesday night’s auditions in Austin, TX. Even though the episode was so much better than the L.A. auditions, there were only a couple singers that I would consider being actual contenders in this season’s competition. Those singers are 21-year-old Jaqueline Dunford from Scottsdale, AZ and 19-year-old Casey Abrams from Idlywild, CA.

Jaqueline Dunford auditioned for the show with her boyfriend, 19-year-old Nick Flint. Dunford, who sang Duffy’s “Mercy” was in my opinion the best of the female singers in the Austin. She took that Duffy song and really in the ridiculous words of Randy Jackson, “blew it out the box.” I really like the tone of her voice, and appreciated her demonstration of vocal control.

My other favorite from Austin, Casey Abrams sang “I Don’t Need No Docter” by Ray Charles. This dude can sing. And scat. I love it! I am sensing a trend with the male singers with the soulful, raspy voices this season, but Abrams infused his audition with so much personality, that he set a nice tone for himself going into “Hollywood Week.”

The L.A. auditions episode that aired Thursday night was hands down the worst episode of Idol I’ve ever watched, and I’m saying this as someone who watched the train wreck known as season three in its entirety.
Continue reading Idol Wired >> Is The Torture Over, Yet?

Music Review >> Glee Cast – “The Sue Sylvester Bowl Shuffle”

Glee returns this Sunday for a special episode that’s airing right after Super Bowl XLV. This new episode contains four brand new tracks from the Glee Cast.

Lea Michele (Rachel) and Mark Salling (Puck) duet on the popular Lady Antebellum song, “Need You Now.” I have always wanted to hear these two sing a duet together, so it is such a treat to have it happen. The two singers were given a great track to sing, that fits pretty perfectly with their ongoing storyline.

I really liked that Michele and Salling didn’t try to do carbon copies of the original vocals for this track. Michele has a beautiful voice for ballads. I feel like sometimes she does struggle with the more contemporary tracks, but “Need You Now” fits her voice like a glove. Salling really adapts his voice well for this track, and really shows a softer side of his vocals that the audience doesn’t hear too often from him. Singing together on the chorus, both singers sound fantastic. The singers’ vocals compliment each other, and have personally left me wanting another duet from them.

I think Cory Monteith sounds good on lead vocals on the Glee version of The Zombies’ “She’s Not There.” The tone of his voice was really nice. However, during the chorus with all the guys from New Directions singing together, I felt like I was being yelled at. That doesn’t work for me. I don’t want to sing-a-long when I feel that I am being yelled at.

In the upcoming episode, we once again hear from Dalton Academy’s Warblers who sing Destiny’s Child hit song, “Bills, Bills, Bills.” The song features cast member Darren Criss (Blaine) on lead vocals.

Criss is showing some vocal versatility on his part with this track. If you’ve listened to his EP, you kind have the idea that he’s more of a folk-pop singer. He really embraced the spirit of this track and infused the attitude of the lyrics into his vocal. I really liked hearing Criss on an R&B track, because it allowed him to show a more soulful side to his voice.
Continue reading Music Review >> Glee Cast – “The Sue Sylvester Bowl Shuffle”

‘Glee’ Music Preview >> “When I Get You Alone”

Apparently it’s “Darren Criss Week,” and we’re being spoiled with interviews and Glee clips. I’m definitely not complaining!

Check out Darren as Blaine with the Warblers performing Robin Thicke’s “When I Get You Alone” in a clip from Tuesday night’s upcoming Glee episode, “Silly Love Songs.”

I absolutely love this! Probably my favorite song the Warblers have done this season!

Video source: 1