That voice! It will be missed.

A sampling some of my favorite Whitney Houston songs and performances - Damn, drugs are so fucking evil.


That turban! WERQ!



Why did I ever think Kevin Costner was hot in this movie?






Off her last album. God, I love her on this track. "...and I know just what to do..."

10 Random Thoughts - "Streets of Fire" edition

1. The first 10 minutes of Streets of Fire, the infamous "rock and roll fable" from 1984, are some of my favorite minutes on film. Diane Lane as Ellen Aim and her band The Attackers singing "Nowhere Fast" are so damn hot. 
2. I love everything about Diane Lane's Ellen Aim. I love the weird 80s/50s leather/spandex hybrid clothing she wears, I love her mullet, her lipstick. I even love that atrocious Golden Girls-style sequin box dress she wears at the end of the movie. Hard to believe she was only 19 when the film was made.
3. The music in this movie KICKS ALL KINDS OF ASS. I've owned the soundtrack in 5 different mediums: 8-track, album, cassette, cd, and mp3. That's love, people.
4. This film was my first exposure to Willem Dafoe. He is terrifyingly creepy (and secretly sexy? eww) as Raven Shaddock the evil leader of the motorcycle gang The Bombers. I didn't realize for a long time that he was the same actor in Platoon. Raven's white skin, weird possum mouth, and his hair gave me nightmares as a teen.
5. Michael Pare is really not a good actor. I take that back. He has Keanu Reeves syndrome; where his voice is so monotone that he sounds really dumb, and you don't even realize how great a job he's doing until it's too late. He was easy on the eyes back then though. Not aging well however.
6. What is Deborah Van Valkenburgh  doing these days?
7. The 4 actors that play the doo-wop group The Sorels are a who's who of 1980s "Black Acting School" alums. If you don't understand that reference, stop, and immediately go watch Robert Townsend's Hollywood Shuffle.
8. Bill Paxton's Clyde is like if Chet was a bartender in the 1950s.
9. Not to gush more about the music, but the two main songs by Jim Steinman that bracket the movie are seriously in my top 500 songs of all time. I have a secret desire to sing them on stage somewhere with a full band and back-up singers behind me.
10. If I was unlimitedly wealthy I would finance a full-musical remake of Streets of Fire. In fact, I've always thought it would make an excellent stage musical. Don't steal my idea! Patent pending!!!

Streets of Fire is currently on Netflix instant streaming. So what are you waiting for?! The soundtrack is in my car if you want to borrow that too.

HOW CAN I CHOOSE? Battle of the early 80s Cross-dressing Divas Edition

I have a VERY serious decision to make. Tonight, two of my all-time favorite films are each playing on the big screen. I cannot attend both screenings because I have yet to figure out the meta-physics of being able to be in two places at once.
The movies in question are 1983's Yentl, starring Barbra Streisand, and Victor/Victoria from 1982 starring Julie Andrews. I can't express how difficult a choice this is for me. Please help!

Here are the details:

In the Blue corner -

Yentl at the Central Cinema

Start time = 7pm

• Pro - Central is a drink and dine venue so I can enjoy a nice glass of cab sav and a green salad while singing along with Babs and staring lustily at Mandy Patinkin and his jew-fro and awesome facial hair.
• Another thing in this venue's favor is that it's only about a mile away from my house, so it's very convenient to get home if I've had too many glasses of wine.
• Another pro - they sell these pigs in a blanket (turkey or tofu pups also available) that are awesome. They also make incredible fresh popcorn with real butter.
• A potential con - unlike a lot of the Central Cinema screenings, I don't believe this one is a "sing-a-long"; so I may be ridiculed for belting out "The Way He Makes Me Feel" along with Barbra.

The music in Yentl is some of my favorite stuff to listen to, and especially sing along with. 13 yr old me could be found with her cassette tape of the soundtrack always in her Walkman. Yes, I was that dork. And for realz y'all, I had a HUGE crush on Mandy Patinkin. I had seen him on Broadway in Evita! a few years before and this movie, plus another Broadway experience (Sunday In The Park With George) pretty much cemented my love.

In the Red corner -

Victor/Victoria at the SIFF-Uptown

Start time = 8:45 PM

• Pro - This SIFF venue is next door to my friends John and Dan's house. So while the theater doesn't serve alcohol or non-traditional movie snacks, I can always eat and drink to my heart's content at their place and then stumble to the theater.
• I don't think I'll be any more welcome to sing out loud along with the movie here than I would be at Central Cinema.

This movie is a definitive period of childhood for me because it reminds me so much of my mother and grandmother. The three of us saw it in the theater together at the Uptown in Washington, D.C. back when they would sell soundtrack LPs and cassettes right in the lobby after the movie. I remember my mother buying the record and then a few weeks later my grandmother bought the sheet music to the songs and the three of us would spend many a weekend singing and performing the music from the movie. Years later, when they turned it into a Broadway show, a few years after my grandmother had passed away, my mom and I went to NYC to see it and we cried in the audience the whole time thinking about how much my grandmother would have enjoyed seeing Julie Andrews live.

Similarities between the two films:

• They both involve women pretending to be men in order to pursue/fulfill their dreams.
• I know every song from each movie by heart and can sing them on command, any time, any place, if asked. (and I'm in the mood)
• It's a battle royale between two of my favorite divas. Barbra vs. Julie!!! Mary Poppins vs. Fanny Brice! Maria Von Trapp vs. Esther Hoffman!

So? What should I do? WHO WILL WIN?!

2010 Year-End Musings

As I started to gather my thoughts around the 2010 year’s end, I looked back on blog posts that I made back in the beginning of January and am startled at the similarities to what I’m feeling/thinking currently.

Let’s see – I was complaining about how shitty a year 2009 had been (2010 has proven to be even more tumultuous); I was sick (I still am); dealing with old and/or infirm pets (still); and as I enter what will be the third year in my “new” house, I still haven’t adjusted or settled into it.
So were there any highlights in 2010? Well, maybe a few.

My top 5 Music Moments:

• The dominance of Ray LaMontagne in my life; especially his song "Let It Be Me"
• Songs from Glee – I couldn’t get enough of them. They made me love a Katy Perry song for crissakes!
• Rediscovering the Little River Band after finding an old greatest hits cd buried in the trunk of my car. Move over Journey, LRB is my new karaoke go-to band.
• Succumbing to Lady Gaga fever after resisting for two years
• After decades of singing it in the shower and to myself in the mirror, finally performing “Where Is It Written?” from Yentl for a live audience in November 2010.

Top 2010 Movie Moments:

Never Let Me Go – quietly devastating

Inception - Clever and captivating

Brotherhood – harshly beautiful

Hipsters – amazing snapshot of 1950’s Russia

Black Swan – seriously and gloriously f*cked up


Top 2010 TV:

• The WINTER OLYMPICS! And I actually got to go to Vancouver, albeit by my sad and lonely self, to see a couple of skiing events.
• The SYTYCD All-Stars season which brought Pasha, Allison, Ade, Mark, and Neil back into my life.
• New series – Modern Family, Justified, The Choir, Sherlock Holmes, Huge

Top 2010 Reading:

1. The Hunger Games trilogy came into my life
2. I got a Kindle!
3. The continued awesomeness of Melissa De La Cruz's young-adult vampire books the Blue Bloods series. It kicks all sorts of Twilight ass.
4. Lest you think I only read YA lit, I also enjoyed Pulitzer and National Book Award winners Tinkers, Great House, and The Imperfectionists

In 2010 I also participated with thousands of others in attempting to complete a 50,000 word novel in 30 days. I didn’t make it, but it was a great experience nonetheless.

For the past 3 years I’ve said that the coming the year couldn’t possibly be worse than the one that I just lived through, and then that year has tried its best to prove me wrong. I truly hope that 2011, a year filled with mystical and powerful numerological importance, will be the year of healing and happiness.

Happy New Year everyone!

Television Revisited - For the love of Glee's "Acafellas"

Summer hiatus television. A lot of silly new shows, returning cable favorites, and a chance for the networks to run repeats of their hit shows' past season. Fox is rerunning Glee from the beginning throughout the summer and this week's episode was the infamous "Acafellas". Now if you ask most fans, and definitely most detractors of Glee, to name one episode that they hated, many would name this one. "Acafellas" was the episode that caused no less than 4 of my friends to stop watching Glee altogether, even though it was only the 3rd episode into the series.

The chief complaints included: the story arc strayed away from the kids and focused too much on Mr. Schuester and tertiary characters that we never see; it didn't make sense for Schue to want to give up on the glee club so quickly; the confidence "lesson" theme; Mercedes not understanding that Kurt is gay was totally unbelievable and seemed to contradict previous eps; the dumb show choir choreographer Dakota; the Acafellas music was lame...and while I agree that there were some flaws to this ep, I've never understood why people didn't like it.
I love it! Here are some reasons why:

• The other name options for the acapella hip hop group were "Crescendudes" and "Testostertones". Hee hee
• Victor Garber was introduced as Will's dad. And sure, he hasn't been back but just knowing that there's a possibility that I'll get to see Garber and Morrison singing a duet someday is enough.
• Other cameos included Tony award winner John Lloyd Young as returning shop teacher Henri and Josh Groban as himself giving us a small hint at the brilliance he'd show later in the season finale.
• This was the first episode to really introduce the fantasy element to Glee; with performances turning into dream sequences and where the audience gets to be inside the heads of the characters. People have come to love, or at least "get" this element of the show now, but I think it was hard to adjust to it when it was first introduced.
• We got to fully know and fall in love with MILF-lover Noah "Puck" Puckerman.
• Anytime we get to see Sheets n Things employee Howard is always a good thing, especially when people are yelling lines at him like - "Who is Josh Groban?!! Kill yourself!"
• THE MUSIC IS AWESOME. Maybe it's because all of that early cheesy hip hop came on to the scene when I was in college, hearing Bel Biv Devoe, Montel Jordan, and Color Me Badd (especially song acapella) just brings a smile to my face. 

SYTYCD Season 7 - first competition episode

What can I say that hasn't already been hashed out on Twitter and message boards? The opening competition episode of this season of So You Think You Can Dance was overall pretty great, although I don't know if the All Star format is as much of a success as Nigel Lythgoe seems to think. I won't disect every routine, just talk about some highs and lows and ah-ha moments.

Good stuff:

• Damn Neil Haskell, I f*cking missed you. And Tyce Diorio really needs to stick to contemporary routines. Ashley and Neil got a nice piece, while Billy Bell was saddled with Tyce's crap "Broadway" stuff.
• Someone on this show FINALLY USED JASON MRAZ'S SONG BUTTERFLY for their choreography. I know so many people hate Mraz but I'll always love him for his live performances and seriously, I love "Butterfly". A lot.
• Sean Cheesman's African dance. Kind of tremendous. And Robert is so sexy and such an amazing dancer.
• Alex and Allison dancing a Sonya Tayeh contemporary routine to Jeff Buckley. Breathtaking.

Bleh:

• One of my favorite songs was finally used on this show...but used very poorly by Napoleon & Tabitha for a lyrical hip hop routine that was totally uninspired. I had always imagined Butterfly being used for a latin dance choreographed by someone like Jason Wilkinson.
• Kent's coming real close to annoying me. C'mon kid, I want to like you.
• Hey Nigel, Mia, and especially Adam? Could you take it down about 100 notches? I am already exhausted by you and it's the first damn episode. You almost overpraised Alex tonight; and he was AMAZING. Just step back a little.
• Hey Nigel and producers, if we're going to be stuck with this shitty stage and lighting all season, at least have quality camera work. PLEASE. That opening was a total mess.

Hmmm...

• Jose does yoga. And has a totally hot body that is hidden under all that b-boy swag.
• Mandy Moore still loves her some 80s music. I'm serious; there's maybe been 2 routines she's done for this show that hasn't featured a song from the decade when I graduated from highschool.
• Adam Shankman had a bad case of "gay face" in 1991. He's so much more handsome now.

Glee Season 1 finale

Sigh...well it's over. And even though I have the summer reruns to keep me company, I'll still have a gaping hole because my Tuesday nights won't have Glee to fill it.





I am a big fan of this show, but I’ll be the first to admit that this first season has been wildly erratic with transcendent highs (anything with Burt Hummel loving his gay son, Gaga, Madonna, Groff/Menzel) and painful lows (most of the “lesson” episodes, Matthew Morrison “rapping”). I’ve had to defend Glee on more than one occasion and I hope that Ryan Murphy and the writers take this time off to really tap into the show’s potential greatness, and not let it become a cliché of itself.


Here are some things that have been on my mind for the past 14 hours regarding last night's finale:

1. Journey super-fan that I am, I really enjoyed the medley of songs that the McKinley kids performed at regionals. Including the always awesome fave "Lovin', Touchin', & Squeezin', and an expanded version of "Don't Stop Believing" that had new solos added for Santana and Puck.

2. The fact that Josh Groban and my beloved Olivia Newton John awesomely and fearlessly acted like total conceited assholes for the joke, and really brought the funny as they played "themselves". Brilliant.

3. Johnathan Groff. And that "Bohemian Rhapsody" performance. First, I think it's kind of great that the writers actually chose to show Vocal Adrenaline performing the full piece (has this show ever had a full song performed on air?); and the way it was juxtaposed with Quinn giving birth was totally crazy and totally worked! And seriously Groff? So damn hot.
4. TV/Movie pet peeve - "newborns" are played by baby actors who are like a year old. I get it but good lord the baby they had playing Beth was GIGANTIC.

5. Shelby's adoption of baby Beth was perhaps the fastest and easiest adoption OF ALL TIME. Even by fake tv standards. I mean I get why they did it for story purposes, but it would've been nice if we'd seen Shelby talk about adopting or had any inkling of this desire prior to the last 10 minutes of this finale.
6. The AMAZEballs rendition of "To Sir With Love" that the New Directions kids did for Mr. Schue. That song gets me every. damn. time. Oh, and Matt and Mike got lines!
7. Dialogue goodness from one Sue Sylvester:

"It looks like a briar patch. I expect racist animated Disney characters to pop out up and start singing songs about livin' on the bayou."

"From Fort Wayne, Indiana, the not at all stupidly named Aural Intensity!"

"I spent large segments of each day picturing you choking on food, and I recently contacted an exotic animal dealer because I had a very satisfying dream that I once shoved your face into one of those pink-inflamed monkey butts."

Reality TV catch up - First week of June 2010 edition

So You Think You Can Dance - while I watch the audition shows (the producers do a slightly better job than "American Idol" of not wasting time with crap attention-starved asses), it's not really until Vegas semi finals that I even remotely care or become emotionally invested in any of these people, with a few exceptions. This week the two audition cities featured were LA and Chicago.

Standouts included that kid Adrian with the looooooong neck who choreographer Stacey Tookey couldn't wait to get her hands on, and Alexie who made it to the last round in Vegas Season 6 and whose movements I really liked. But more importantly she reminded me how much I freakin' love Janis Joplin's version of Summertime. Seriously, musically this version kicks so much ass. The guitar parts alone make me weep.

And y'all is there anything cuter than the fact that Cat Deeley puts a coat on to protect herself from the sweat pouring off the kids as they come out of the auditorium to hug her after they've been given a ticket to Las Vegas? Cat loves these folks so much - take note Ryan Seacrest.

RR/RW Challenge: Fresh Meat II -

Yay for my boyfriend Landon and his Fresh Meat partner Carley, she of the bad hair and weird frowny face. They beat loathsome sore loser Evelyn and perma-smile Luke in the Exile and then did well enough to come in 2nd place not have to face the last Exile which would have been totally unfair. Here's hoping they can continue to kick butt and win that prize money.

Nine By Design - I haven't really talked about this show. It chronicles the ridiculous Novogratz family, a husband and wife design team with their 7 gorgeous children in tow as they build, design, sell, kvetch, yuppify and annoy the living hell out of everybody in Manhattan (really the tri-state area, oh, and London).

To be truthful, I actually love the relationship that Bob and Courtney Novogratz have. Theirs is a real partnership, in both love and business, and they are truly a great team. Courtney is kind of kick-ass actually. She's really why I watch the show. I would have been jailed for murdering Robert Novogratz long before I had a chance to birth 7 of his children. The way Bob whines about them being in debt and their lack of money (sure, whatever Bob, you own three $20 million dollar homes) and the way he treats their best client (developer Dave Barry) grates on my nerves to no end. On a shallow note, I also HATE his thin lipped mouth.

But other than his fondness for dumb hats and overpriced ridonk "desks" aka fiberglass art, his parenting and husbanding skills kind of make up for every other douchey thing he does.

The season finale was this week - can't wait to see if they were able to sell their $25 million home on West St in NYC (Tribeca?), and all of the new projects they've roped poor Antonio and Steve, their contractors, into next. And seriously those kids? With the whacked out names like Five, Breaker, and Major? ARE UNBELIEVABLY BEAUTIFUL!

The power of Journey can make ANYTHING happen

When I first saw this picture this morning, my eyes bulged right out of my head.










What ON EARTH was going on that created a situation where Lady Gaga, dressed as Miss Havisham from Great Expectations, was happily smiling with, and in the arms of one Bruce Springsteen?!

Evidently this picture was snapped after they'd just finished a star-studded rendition of Journey's "Don't Stop Believing".

Proof once again that no matter how played-out, and karaoked (I know that's not a word) to death a song is, it's still a f*cking Journey song, and Journey songs RULE THE EFFIN' EARTH, and make you insanely happy when you sing them, because Steve Perry and Neal Schon were AWESOME, so even "edgy" performance artist dance divas like Lady Gaga and jaded old "rockers" like Springsteen and Elton John will gladly get together and belt out a tune that's been covered ONE MILLION TIMES by everybody from 5th grade classrooms to Glee cast members to Sting at a benefit for the rainforests.

Seriously, I think Journey songs could bring world peace.

SYTYCD Season 6 Top 10

Season 6's top 10 dancers performed last night in their new "random pairing out of a hat" couples, performing two routines and a solo. The fate of the competitors for the rest of the season is in our hands, as the girl and guy with the least amount of votes will leave tonight.

So the first thing that was different about last night's show was that there really wasn't a lot of "filler". There wasn't really time because of the 10 different routines (20 if you count the solos) that needed to happen within the 2 hour period. I've watched every season of this show but I totally don't recall the top 10 performing two dances before this season. I believe that was reserved for top 8 and beyond?

At any rate, one of the unexpected things last night was that the couple routines did not have intro segments. No interview with the choreographer(s), no banter about the new partnerships, no clips showing the dancers working with their instructors - just Cat Deely going straight into introducing the couples, them already on stage dancing right away. It was VERY JARRING and denied me face time with my beloved Pasha(!) and Spencer Liff among others. I mean seriously, the only possible time that Spencer may be topless would be during rehearsals - why are you fucking with me show?!

Noelle & Ryan: started off the show with a NappyTabs "hip-hop" routine performed to a song I love - "Give It To Me Right" by Melanie Fiona. I think I would've classified this as jazz almost. Even calling it lyrical hip-hop is pushing it but I really liked the choreography about basically sexual harrassment in the work place. It took me a minute to get into the routine because of the aforementioned lack of intros but I thought Ryan and Noelle did well and had good chemistry. Nigel said that he thought Ryan could've been "funkier" and I guess I agree with this. That didn't take away from the dance for me though.

Legacy & Ashleigh - Contemporary choreographed by Gary Stewart to "Poison" by The Prodigy: I thought this routine was really cool. It was insane too. And a little disjointed; at times it seemed like Legacy was waiting for Ashleigh? Their chemistry wasn't really there for me. The ending of the dance with Legs in a head stand was absolutely phenomenal though. And I love Adam Shankman and his wink.
They did do segments with the dancers about how they started dancing before each solo. I won't be talking about the solos a lot in this post except for some notables. Like Russell's parents who they show watching him on the show from their living room in Roxbury. Love them!

Kathryn & Nathan - Broadway choreographed by Spencer Liff (get naked now!) to "Choreography" from White Christmas sung by Danny Kaye:
Okay, we're going to have Spencer Liff do all of the Broadway choreography on this show from now on right? I LOVED this routine. Fun, lively, energetic, reminiscent and an homage to the great stage work from the 40s and 50s; loved, loved, loved.

Ellenore & Jakob - Quickstep done by Melanie LaPatin and Tony Meredith: Like Adam Shankman gushed, these two together are my ultimate partnership, so I was a little disappointed that they got the quickstep because I felt their talent was sort of wasted on it. But still, it was one of the best quicksteps that has ever been done on this show.

Ryan's stepdad looks like he's my age. Ryan's 27 right? Hmmm... me thinks his mom may be a cougar.

Mollee & Russell - Lyrical Jazz from Mandy Moore danced to "It Must've Been Love" (hee!) by Roxette:
Mandy's love for the 80s continues which her choice of song, but whatever, I love her for it anyway. And I enjoyed the choreography for this piece but didn't connect with Russell or Mollee dancing it. I thought the judges overpraised their performance. But I will agree that it was good for all to break the Nathan/Mollee partnership up. They both danced more mature and better than they have all season together.

Nathan's solo was freakin' amazing performed to one of my favorite songs - "Golden Train" by Justin Nozuka. A lot of people have commented that they thought Nathan getting choked up at the end was fake; but I think the emotion was very real. Those tears weren't fake.

Ryan & Noelle #2 - Smooth Waltz created by Jaytee and Tomas:
Pretty darn beautiful although Noelle was the weak link for me. Agreed with Nigel that she needed to relax more.

Wait. Ellenore's parents moved from Santa Cruz to NYC for her dancing?! Wow, those are some supportive and accomodating people. Ellenore's mom is soooooo pretty.

Ashleigh & Legacy 2 Electric Boogaloo - Hip hop from Dave Scott done to "Slow Down" by Bobby Valentino:
I personally thought it was one of the best hip-hop routines of the season but the judges panned it and I didn't get their criticism really. I also felt bad for Dave Scott whose choreography got trashed on national television. It wasn't as bad as when the Russian folk dance people got trounced but still, damn.

Commerical aside > Not at all excited about the Carrie Underwood holiday variety special.

Nathan & Kat II - Tony and Melanie Rhumba to "Walk on By" by Aretha Franklin:
Not sexy enough for me. My mind immediately compared it to the superior rhumba done by Ade and Melissa last season and the Dominic/Sabra one from S3. Nate and Kat had potential though, so I hope this routine which was probably the weakest of the night doesn't sink them.

Wow, Legacy's clip package. I can't believe he and his cute friend Flea came to L.A. from Miami with "nuthin' but a dream" after watching You Got Served to try and make a living b-boying. Nuts! I love Legacy's dad!

Ellenore & Jakob take 2 - Sonya Tayeh contemporary piece done to "Tore My Heart" by OONA & Paul Tweedie:
Dream partnership! AMAZING! Huzzah! My top 2 did a truly fantastic job.

Ashleigh's mom's hair/head is scary. That is all.

Mollee & Russell finished with a Jive choreographed by my boyfriend, and former S3 contestant Pasha and Anya: This routine had great choreography and lots of energy but still fell flat for me.

Jakob's solo = brilliance defined

Overall no one was awful. I don't really want any of the guys to go, but could lose Noelle or Mollee without shedding a tear. I think Ryan, Nathan and possibly Legacy could be in danger. And I think Noelle, Kathryn, and Mollee (crossing fingers) could be in the bottom for the girls. All I know is if Ellenore is in the bottom or heaven forbid goes home - I'm opening a can of whoop-ass on you America!

What I can't stop listening to...

American Idol recap for the week March 16

This week’s theme was “Country” which I actually wish they’d saved until a little farther into the competition but whatever, it was nice to see Randy Travis as the mentor. First, he wasn’t promoting a new album or anything – he was just competently there giving advice and helping the kids. It was very refreshing.
So let’s get to the performances:

Michael Sarver – before I knew it was country songs this week, I was thinking about this theme and what song I thought Sarver would sing. I was hoping for either some Rascal Flatts or Lonestar, you know, a nice ballad like “I’m Already There”. Instead he did a really up-tempo Garth Brooks tune. But he did it well I guess. Nothing special. And I’m still disappointed that it wasn’t something like “My Wish”. Maybe neither Rascal nor Lonestar are in the Grand Ole Opry, which is what the theme specifically was?

Alison Ireheta – Still don’t believe she’s 16. She competently sang a Patty Loveless song which is actually a Dottie West song, which was perfect for her.

Kris Allen – So cute. “To Make You Feel My Love” was too cliché a song choice though. But he sung it well. I’m actually hoping he makes it to the final 3. He’s totally grown on me.

Lil Rounds – Zzzzzzzzzzzz I’m so tired of people on this show being “uncomfortable” with the different themes. She did a Martina McBride song of course. I’m over Lil…and Martina McBride.

Adam Lambert – Boy oh boy. I don’t have words. Is this guy for real? To quote Randy Dumbass Jackson, Adam “did his thing”. I just wish “his thing” didn’t also involve such an alarming amount of eye-fawking. Jeezus.

Scott MacIntyre – I’m sorry, I’ll say it. I was DAMN DISAPPOINTED that he didn’t sing a Ronnie Milsap song. It’s not just the blind thing. Milsap songs are all piano-based melodic gems that would have suited Scott very well. And Milsap is a member of the Opry (I checked). I think Randy Travis was hoping for this too. Anyway, Scott chose to sing a fawking lame Martina McBride song instead with his mediocre voice and he continued to weird me the hell out with his creepy eyes and the way he holds his mouth.

Alexis Grace – I really don’t like when other people sing Dolly songs, especially “Jolene”. Alexis’s version had a weird arrangement with timing issues, but it didn’t suck that much. I might revisit what it sounds like on the actual studio recording of it on iTunes.

Danny Gokey –Sigh…what was up with that white jacket he was sporting? HATEd the Carrie Underwood “driving Jesus” song he did. But I’m resigned to the fact that this dude is going to be in the finale.

Anoop Desai – I just LOVE my little mathlete! He was awesome and I will be buying this off iTunes for sure. And did you see his hot brother/cousin in the audience with Anoop’s adorable parents? From “zero to hero” indeed.

Megan Joy – Megan Joy? She dropped her last name? The hell? I hate poseur shit like this. She already bugged me with her faux quirky vibe and this cements my hate. She looked cool though.

Matt Giraud – First of all, I loved Randy Travis as a mentor. I would have had the same reaction upon learning that Matt was singing that damn sad Carrie Underwood song. Second, this was a surprisingly great performance. Love ya Matt!

My Top 10 List for Music in 2008

2008 was the year that I really started having a love affair with my iPod. I know, I'm like years behind everyone else on this; I've had an iPod for a long time (and just got a brand new pretty purple Nano for Xmas - thanks Dad!) but this year I actually took it almost everywhere I went, listening to music and podcasts all the time. At work, walking the dog, cleaning the house, packing, on the plane, in my hotel rooms etc etc, my iPod was always close at hand.

Anyway, to that end, on this first day of 2009, I've made a list of the top 10 musical experiences for me in 2008. I say experiences because this top 10 isn't just songs or albums from this year - it's a mixed bag of a bunch of stuff. Enjoy!

Honorable Mention - The album "Black & Gold" by Sam Sparro. This young Australian kid is a genius.

10. "I Will Possess Your Heart", Death Cab For Cutie from their latest album Narrow Stairs
I usually try to avoid all bands that 20 yr old annoying college students and faux-hipsters like but dammit if this single wasn't fawking awesome. Do yourself a favor and listen to the 8 min album cut not the radio edit.

9. The album Sounds Like This but especially the track "Rock and Roll", by Eric Hutchinson
I kept on hearing the really catchy "Rock and Roll" on one of the local Seattle radio stations and then checked on Hutchinson's whole album on iTunes. I liked it so much that I downloaded it and have been listening to it ever since.

8. "Worrisome Heart", by Melody Gardot
I got the title track off the album of the same name by this young chanteuse from Philadelphia as a free iTunes track in the Spring of 2008. I immediately fell in love with the song and listened to it all the time but was always getting Gardot confused with other young lady singers new on the scene like Duffy and Adele. Then I went ahead and bought this whole album. I won't be mistaking Melody Gardot's voice, which has been described as a cross between Billie Holiday's and Tom Waits, for anyone else's again.

7. "Viva La Vida" - Coldplay
I fell for this song like many from the onslaught of iTunes commercials this summer. I've never been a huge Coldplay fan, but this song is so damn catchy it was irresistible.

6. "No Air" - Jordin Sparks w/ Chris Brown
From the very first time I heard this duet I LOVED IT. It's endearingly overdramatic and filled with just the right amount of teen angst. And then it was used to perfection in the first competition dance for Joshua and Katee in this season of "So You Think You Can Dance", cementing it's place in my top 10.

5. "American Boy", by Estelle
I danced around to this song so much when I was in Mexico in late July. It's so fun and funky. I mean I even got it as a ring tone for my phone which was the first time I've ever done anything like that.

4. The Monroes's "What Do All The People Know"

Yes, I know this song is from 1982. But I was reintroduced to its fabulousness this 4th of July and I've become obsessed with finding a MP3 of it. For now, the YouTube video will do.

3. Brandi Carlile's voice on "The Heartache Can Wait" and "Already Home"
Brandi's album "The Story" was probably one of my favorite things of 2007. This year I've fell in love with her voice specifically in 2 songs put out this year. The first was the duet "Already Home" she did with the country duo Ha-Ash. And then recently, the holiday song "Heartache" was released and Brandi's alto voice is so heartbreakingly beautiful that it's quickly become one of my all-time favorite holiday songs.

2. We Sing, We Dance, We Steal Things, by Jason Mraz
The best album released this year. Period.

1. Sparkling Choir of Love's performance of "North Port" at the 2008 Seattle Folklife festival
Okay, this is really more than a little self-indulgent, but my choir's performance at the Folklife festival in May of this Shaker shape-note piece was f*cking amazing. I got chills singing it and after our last auditorium-shaking note was sung there was an audible gasp of joy that came from the stunned audience before their thunderous applause and standing ovation. Yes. We rock.