I'm Listening To....Angel Taylor

I just thought I'd forward a link of what I'm listening to today. I like passing along songs from artists you may not be familiar with. Click here to listen to Angel Taylor sing "Not Even Human". I like the words in this song she wrote. Let me know if you like it too.

Leandria Johnson...that damn Matthew Knowles did it again!

So it looks like Matt Knowles has struck gold again. Since Beyonce is almost on maternity leave and his love child isn't old enough to walk yet, MK had to find another big talent to occupy his time and that's just what he's done. He has signed Leandria Johnson, who is the season 3 winner of BET's Sunday Best. She has an amazing voice and recently sang on the finale of the current season to promote her new album which I am running out to buy right now. (Well, not exactly, but I am going to download it from iTunes right now.) I hope you saw the season finale or can catch the rerun on BET because her performance was spellbinding. She has the richest, most soulful voice I've heard in a long time. I almost don't want to insert a link for you to watch her on a YouTube video because the sound isn't that great and you really need to hear the true quality of every single sound that comes out of her mouth because they all are important for the overall experience. However, I will attach a link for those of you who may never get a chance to see the actual show, but for the rest of you, your homework assignment is to go straight home after buying this girl's cd and search your TiVo for the next airing of the season 4 Sunday Best finale and record it so you can keep it forever. She sang the song attached below and also did a tribute to Mahalia Jackson that was equally amazing.

Click here to see what I'm talking about, but remember the sound isn't that great in this amateur video.

Pouring Out A Little Liquor For Winehouse

As the music community mourns the death of Amy Winehouse I thought I'd take this time to share my favorite clip of her. Amy was known to be a little wild at times on and off stage. I preferred her most when she just sat still and sang. To me that was when you could see her true talent. Click here to enjoy her singing "Love Is A Losing Game". One thing about her stage performances that I enjoyed the most was her band. Click here to watch them perform "You Know I'm No Good".

R.I.P. Amy

Justin...Just Because

Just thought I'd share a little clip of Justin with you just because. It's nothing spectacular but I never get tired of looking at Justin. This is him and Jimmy Fallon acting like fools on late night tv. Click here to take a peek.

I sure wish JT would take a break from making movies and get in the studio and record another album. I would love to hear new music from him. Right now all I have to enjoy is Beyonce and Adele. I tried to give Jill Scott's new cd a chance, but I'm just not feeling it. I get what she was going for with the sound of most of those songs but it didn't quite get there for me. I always new we'd have to part ways eventually. I've tried to ignore the spoken word crap and her incessant need to sing about food...both of which I'm really not a fan of. I just can't take it anymore. Jill and I just don't understand each other the way Beyonce and Janet and I do. Oh well.

I'm Giving Jeremih One More Try

So most of you know Jeremih is a new artist that has a few R&B/HipHop songs currently on all the urban radio stations which doesn't mean much to me cuz most of the stuff they play on the radio is crap. I haven't been that impressed with him or the meaningless songs he sings, but I ran across a video of him singing Adele's song "Rumor Has It" and was mildly impressed. I was super impressed with the fact that he is able to play the drums and sing at the same time which I find nearly impossible. Then he proceeds to try and play as many instruments as he can in his allotted time. Click here to check him out. While in the Monday Mashup section of Billboard.com I also ran across video of our old friend Bilal singing "Tainted Love" who is apparently heavy into rock music now. Click here to check him out. In other music related news (not really)...they are making a movie of Steve Harvey's stupid book and Chris Brown is going to star in it along with Taraji P. Henson, Megan Goode and Gabrielle Union. I'm sure there are other black actresses out there available for work besides TJP, Megan Goode and D. Wade's mistress. Somebody please find them so we don't have to watch the same people acting the same way with the same facial expressions in every movie! In other news Trey Songz has signed on to star in the latest sequel of The Texas Chainsaw Massacre. Poor thing. Somebody help him.

Forget Harry Potter…I prefer Grace Potter!

Sorry it’s been so long since the last post, but life gets in the way. Anyway, I know this weekend everyone was out seeing the final Harry Potter movie and though I’m a huge fan of the HP books, the movies really haven’t been that great to me. So while everyone else is up Harry’s butt I’d like you to direct your attention to a more deserving Potter. I’ve been meaning to write a post about Grace Potter for almost a year now and am just getting around to it. I think she’s a super cool chick with a great voice and her band is really funky. If you don’t know her, you should. Click here to hear her on Billboard’s Monday Mashup singing a Beyonce song. Click here to hear her sing her band’s most popular song “Paris”. Let me know what you think.

Carol King Me

Tonight on Idol…Jacob sang Carol King’s “Oh No, Not My Baby”. Well first of all…clearly, this week Jacob got his eyebrows arched. Besides that and the bowtie and those yellow shoes, I think he did better this week. The beginning of the song wasn’t that impressive, but he got into at the end and made up for it. I’m still concerned for him though. I’m not sure he’ll make it through even though he did hopscotch and everything, it may not get him enough votes.

The most interesting thing about the Country Girl’s performance was her earrings. Did you see her earrings? Those were some serious earrings. Why did she bring that boy up on the stage? That was awkward. Hopefully that will be enough to get her in the bottom in order to give Jacob a chance to survive. I’ve never seen the judges praise someone so much for missing a note. Whatever.

Haley and Casey’s duet wasn’t as great as their jazzy duet they did a couple weeks ago, but Haley has been sounding really good lately. I’m glad she’s back in her groove.

Thank the Lord for Babyface. He’s been giving helpful advice to the contestants. He gave the Country Boy a great tip on how to start that song (You’ve Got A Friend)…but I never want to hear him sing again. Have I mentioned that yet?

The Rocker Boy aka Trophy Head sang “Tonight Your Mine”. Once again, I’m not a fan, but I can’t really hate because he did a pretty good job.

Casey sang “Hide-E-Ho”. I had hide-e-high hopes for him and it was pretty good in the beginning, but then it never went anywhere.

Haley sang the get up in the morning song and I really enjoyed it. I liked the feel of it and she sounded really good. I like her and hope she makes it to the finals.

My psychic powers are telling me either Jacob or Casey are going home, but it really should be the Country Boy.

Chunky But Funky

Did my fellow Gleeks catch the latest episode with Mercedes singing Aretha Franklin’s “Ain’t No Way”? I love that show. Mercedes did a good job, so if you missed it, click here to check it out. Also on Glee that night was Gwyneth Paltrow singing “Turning Tables”, one of my favorite songs from Adele’s new CD titled 21. Gwyneth did okay, but of course Adele is way better. Click here to listen to Adele singing “Turning Tables” and tell me what you think. If you don’t have Adele’s CD you should get it. The first single off the CD was “Rolling In The Deep”. I really enjoy that song. Something about the music and the way she sings it makes me feel like its something you would have heard coming out of a church after hours in the back woods of Georgia in the 1950s.

Until next time…

MY LIP GLOSS IS COOL

It’s been a long time…I shouldn’t have left you…without a dope beat to step to (fyi – those are lyrics by Aaliyah for you old folks). Anyway, I’ve been super busy so I haven’t had time to post, but I’m back in full effect. I can’t recap everything from the last two weeks of idol, but I will say that Pia’s exit pissed me off more than words can say and I would’ve boycotted the show, but I have to continue to watch Jacob switch his hips and bat his eyelashes even though it frightens me. I’ve talked about his lip gloss before, but I want to talk about it again. I feel like initially it was subtle. He wore just a little for moisture, than a little bit more for some shine and last week he had full on gloss with a hint of color in it. Anyway, here’s what happened last night.

Country Boy – Again.....sounds like he sings the same song every week to me. I never want to hear him sing again.

Rocker Boy – Unfortunately he sounded pretty good. This was a good performance so I can’t really hate, but I’m just not a fan.

Haley (curly-haired girl) – “Rolling In The Deep” by Adele

I love this song and love Adele and will say more about her and her new album in another post, but I think Haley is finally back. I’m glad to see she’s been doing better these last few weeks because I had high hopes for her during Vegas week and then she kind of fell off for a bit.

Jacob – “Dance With My Father” by Luther Vandross
(sigh) This was not a good performance for him. Usually he’s really good and this time he just wasn’t that great. So…instead of talking about his vocals I’ll spend a little bit of time on his cosmetics. The last couple of weeks his lip gloss has been cool, but seems like this week he’s put away the lip gloss and decided to put all the focus into his false eyelashes. I bet you next week he wears both.

Casey (aka Seth Rogen’s cousin) – “Harder To Breathe” by Maroon 5

YEAH!!!! Thank you Casey! First of all I love love love that song and the album it came from, Songs About Jane is one of the best albums of all time! Seriously, it’s that good…every song on the album is amazing! Ok anyway, that performance was great. I’m glad he’s back to himself because he started out so strong then kind of lost his way for a while.

Stefano – “Closer” by Neyo

Before he even started singing, I was thinking this is a bad idea. This is just not a song you sing in a talent competition. Hopefully for his sake he can prove me wrong, but I doubt it. Nope. I was right. That was a bad idea. I think Stefano just bought his plane ticket home. (Remember, I’m half psychic so it will probably happen.)

Country Girl – “Born To Fly” by Sara Evans

Eh. Who cares? There was nothing special about that performance, but I still think Stefano will be the one to go home. Talk to y’all tomorrow.

The Idols Go To Motown

Casey – “Heard It Through The Grapevine” by Marvin Gaye This was my least favorite performance of his, which is weird because I usually love everything he does and I thought the Motown genre would’ve suited him well, so I’m not sure what happened.

Thia – “Heat Wave” by Martha and the Vandellas I like her voice. It’s thick and heavy and she has a great tone. I know they wanted her to pick up the pace with her song choices, so I hope they’re happy now. I wasn’t really moved by this performance, but I don’t think she was bad. I prefer her standing still singing a ballad (exactly what the judges are telling her not to do). Did anybody notice the Barbie twins singing background for her? Where did they get them from? They must be new this year. Then there’s also a threesome…two girls and a guy. I wonder how they decide who gets what each week. Maybe they let the contestants choose.

Jacob – “Your All I Need To Get By” by Marvin Gaye and Tammi Terrell Man, he’s just as sweet as he can be, isn’t he? He kills me when he bats his eyelashes. Anyway, WOW! This is his best performance so far. All the way through was good. No mistakes. He definitely worked that song and didn’t over do it. I got the chills for the first time this season.

Southern Bell – “You Keep Me Hanging On” by The Supremes She had a really cute dress on. I know that has nothing to do with singing, but I just though I’d mention that. This was the perfect song choice for her. See what happens when you let a professional choose your song for you? I see she opted for the Barbie twins to back her up. I think she sang the song well, but I’m not jumping out of my seat.

Stefano – “Hello” by Lionel Ritchie Hmmm. I was excited when I heard he was singing this song, because every week he is amazing, but I have to say I was under whelmed. Not my favorite performance of his. He seemed to struggle with the pitch.

Haley – “You Really Got a Hold On Me” by Smokey Robinson and the Miracles Curly-haired girl got her hair straightened this week. I had high hopes for this girl from the auditions when she sang that song which escapes my memory right now, but I’ve given up hope for her. I think she’ll be going home soon.

Country Boy – “For Once In My Life” by Stevie Wonder Oh Lord. I really don’t want to hear this boy sing ever again.

Pia – “All In Love Is Fair” by Stevie Wonder OMG, I love this song. Wow! I loved her performance. I really think this girl can be the next big ballad, movie power song superstar. She’s got the look and she’s got the pipes. I can’t wait for her to come out with her CD. The industry needs her to fill that void. Whitney is in rehab and Celine is back in Vegas for a couple of years so we really could use some Pia.

Paul – “Tracks of My Tears” by Smokey Robinson I think it was smart to switch the song up and sing it in that style. I think it could’ve worked great if he sang it well, but he didn’t. I’m over him. Send him home.

Naima – “Dancing In The Street” by Martha and the Vandellas I’m not a fan of this song. I think her vocals were mediocre, but the African dancing and the drums were pretty cool.

James – “Living For The City” by Stevie Wonder I’m not a fan of this contestant, but I think this was a smart song choice for him and he did a good job with it.

If my psychic powers are working properly, Haley and Naima will be in the bottom and Haley will probably go home.

The Lady Can Sing The Blues….But She Can’t Ease Down The Road

This formal apology goes out to my SIL (sister-in-law) and Diana Ross, simultaneously. I realize now that I haven’t been giving Diana Ross the respect that she deserves. I’ve been holding a grudge against her for nearly three decades. Everything about her was bothering me. I didn’t appreciate her getting those girls kicked out of the group because of her “special” relationship with their boss. I really can’t stand that big wig of hers, but what really made me mad was the way she ruined The Wiz for me. I first experienced the play live onstage with Stephanie Mills as Dorothy and I loved every second of it. I was mesmerized by this musical. Because of my obsession, naturally I was over the moon when they decided to turn the stage play into a movie. Michael Jackson being cast as the scarecrow was just icing on the cake. Boy did the wind get let out of my sail when I first watched the movie. I was severely disappointed by Diana Ross’s portrayal of Dorothy. Not only was her singing sub par, her acting was super cheesy and way over the top. I could barely stomach it. She completely ruined it for me and I couldn’t even enjoy MJ lighting up the screen without her goofy self all in the shot messing everything up. That was the end of me and Diana Ross. After that she could do nothing right in my eyes. Leave it to Oprah, the omnipotent, to end the feud between me and Ms. Ross. I recently watched the episode where Oprah had Diana Ross on and she came across as very endearing with her kids and her interactions with Oprah. As they recapped her career I was reminded of so many songs of hers that I grew up loving and if my memory serves me correctly, I’m pretty sure I sang “Reach Out and Touch Somebody’s Hand” in an elementary school talent show. Diana sang a couple songs and low and behold, she actually sounded pretty good, which is pretty impressive that her voice has held up this well over the years. It kind of makes me wonder if maybe she really could sing all this time and I just couldn’t recognize it because I was so mad with her. Then I was reminded of Mahogany and Lady Sings the Blues and those two movies alone are reasons to worship her. The fact remains that she sucked as Dorothy, but I’m finally willing to let that go and will no longer let that overshadow her other career highlights.

Check out both Dorothy’s and let me know if I’m wrong.

Click here for Stephanie as Dorothy.

Click here for Diana as Dorothy.

Hmm…I just watched the video of Diana singing as I was attaching it to this post and now that I listen to it with an open heart I actually really enjoyed it. She sounded good and even more than that the emotion she was singing with was very touching. Damn. Apparently I’m the one with the problem. My bad Diana.

Two Peas In A Pod (on a piano)…Where Are The Other Two Peas?

Here’s my recap for Idol Week 2, in case you missed it. Naima sang “What’s Love Got To Do With It” and it just wasn’t good. Her opening video package was more interesting than her performance. Paul (I think that’s his name) sang “Guess That’s Why They Call It The Blues”. Apparently he had a cold so his voice was hoarse so he didn’t sound good at all. Actually he doesn’t really sound that great when he’s not sick, but J-Lo had the nerve to say he sounded good after telling Naima that she was pitchy. Go figure. Thia sang the song from Pocahontas. I absolutely love this song and most of the Disney princess songs. I think she did a decent job with it, but once again she didn’t wow the judges. The rocker boy (don’t know his name) sang a Bon Jovi song. The judges thought he did great. I’m not falling for the smoke and mirrors. They get caught up in the performance aspect of it all but if you really listen, he’s not hitting those notes, he’s just screaming. The curly-haired girl Haley sang Whitney’s song “I’m Your Baby Tonight” which has me completely perplexed. Of all the Whitney songs there are to sing, this should be last on your list. I’m not saying she sounded that bad, I’m just confused as to why she even chose that song. What was she thinking? I don’t know why they don’t ask me first. If she would’ve asked me should she sing this song, I would’ve told her ‘hell to the no’. Stefano sang “If You Don’t Know Me By Now”. Once again, he sounded great. He is in it to win it and he’s been pretty consistent so far. He should sail through to the finals. Pia sang “Where Do Broken Hearts Go”. I wasn’t a fan of the up tempo music they created to try to make it appear like she was more than a ballad singer by doing something different. She still sang the song like a ballad. She sounded good though so I won’t sweat the weird dance track behind her. I’m not sure what the country boy sang. Everything he sings sounds the same to me. As far as I’m concerned he’s been singing “baby lock the door and turn the lights off” every time he gets on stage. Karen Rodriguez sang Taylor Dayne’s “Love Will Lead You Back”. I like this song and I enjoyed her performance. She did it in Spanglish again, which I am a fan of. Casey (Seth Rogers look-a-like) sang Nirvana. He’s just great to me every time. He’s always entertaining and I can’t wait to see what he does next. The thick girl that was sick sang a Melissa Etheridge song. She actually sounded good considering she was sick, but I wasn’t all that moved by her performance. Jacob sang Heart’s “Alone”. I love this song. I think he did a good job with it. Boy that Jacob sure is on fire…and not for the Lord, if you know what I’m saying. I’m pretty sure he had Mac lip gloss on.

On the results show, America voted Haley, Naima and Karen into the bottom three. I don’t think Karen should be in the bottom. I’m going to be pissed if America doesn’t start giving her the respect that she deserves. Do you think they’re turned off by the Spanglish? They can’t think she’s a bad singer, because she sounds good! The Black Eyed Peas dedicated their song to the people suffering in Japan…which is confusing because the song they sang had nothing to do with anything like that and was in no way inspirational. The performance started with Will.I.Am playing the piano and Fergie “singing” on top of the piano. I wonder where the rest of the peas are. Will.I.Am really thinks he’s a superhero. Something has happened to Fergie’s voice. I feel like at one point she sounded ok, but she’s been consistently horrible for at least four years now. Make it stop. The other two peas showed up later. At the end of the show Karen was in jeopardy of getting kicked off and was given one last chance to sing in hopes that the judges would save her. They didn’t. Whatever, I didn’t think she was going to win, but I don’t think she deserved to go home this early. Next week I’ll break this up into two posts so it’s not so long.

No Time for Fake Ones

Ok guys, it is time for Idol chatter. Since the top 10 or 13 or however many they select now have been chosen, I’m going to start blogging weekly to track their progress. I’ve been watching this show since the beginning so I know how it works and I don’t understand why these idol contestants just don’t run their song selections past me. If they really want to win, they should consult with me first. I can help them. If that piano teacher would’ve told me he was planning to sing “OMG” to make it into the top 10, I would’ve told him that the only thing singing “OMG” would get him is a plane ticket home. This week the contestants were asked to sing one of their idols’ songs. The judges didn’t care for the girls who sang LeAnn Rhimes’ “Blue” and Selena’s “Dreamin’”. I disagree with the judges. They thought the songs were too slow so the performance came across as sleepy and not very exciting, but the fact is they both sounded really good so I don’t think they deserved the negative comments. “Dreamin’” is my favorite Selena song and Karen Rodriguez did a good job with it. The curly-haired girl that sang “Blue” did a great job with that yodel. Don’t get me started on how hard I feel the yodel is. Refer to my blog from 12/15 if you want to hear me go on and on about yodeling. I think the guys that sang “I Believe I Can Fly” and “Lately” did a good job, but I think the best performance of the night was Pia singing “All By Myself”. I cannot tell you how happy I am that America voted the Diana Ross wanna be off in the first week. I couldn’t stand to look at that wig one more week. I really thought there was not one genuine thing about her and that diva attitude she tried to portray was so phony. On top of all that, her voice wasn’t even that great. Her attitude was fake, her nails were fake, her hair was fake and I’m pretty sure her name was fake. I bet you Ashton is a stage name she came up with. Her real name is probably Keisha Jones. If she stuck around I was going to nickname her Phony Braxton, but she’s gone now so we don’t have to worry about that anymore. By the way, that performance from Diddy Dirty Money was whack. I’m sorry, but I still don’t understand the point of this group. Does anybody notice how Diddy just puts those two girls off to the side way in the back as far away as possible? It’s almost like he has a restraining order against them and they have to stay a certain distance away from him at all times. Then it seems as if their mics are turned down really low because you can never really hear them when they sing the two lines that he allows them to sing. So I ask you, what is the point if you’re not even going to let them sing or get near you?

Forget the Grammys and Forget Esperanza Too

I just wanted to also mention a few highlights from the performances on the Grammys and my last post was getting too long and I know you guys have a short attention span. The Aretha Franklin tribute was enjoyable. Christina Aguilera did a great job singing “Aint No Way”. Yolanda Adams singing “Move in the Spirit” was the other highlight. Lady GaGa being born out of the egg was kind of funny. Is it me or did her song “Born This Way” sound just like Madonna’s “Express Yourself”? Come to think of it, she actually looked like Madonna with that fake blonde ponytail. Cee Lo’s outfit was pretty entertaining. The performance with the Muppets was a cute idea. Gwyneth Paltrow singing “Forget You” went over better on the Glee episode she was on, but I guess they had to give it a shot. John Mayer, Norah Jones and Keith Urban singing “Jolene” prior to presenting an award was quite enjoyable. I wish they would’ve let that go on longer. Wow, I can’t believe they got Barbara Streisand to perform. I like that song “Evergreen”, but I must say her voice isn’t what it used to be. I’ve really enjoyed everything Bruno Mars had to offer this year so I was excited to see him perform on the Grammys, but I have to admit I was kind of under whelmed. I know he was trying to be creative, but he should’ve left Grenade ‘just the way it was’. Get it? Just the way you are is his other song. Anyway, this version of Grenade that he tried didn’t work mainly because he couldn’t hit those high notes. He probably has been overworking his voice lately, but he should’ve rested it for the Grammys or drank some hot water with honey and lemon or something. Maybe if he brought it down an octave he wouldn’t have had to struggle so much to hit those notes. Janelle Monae’s dismount from the mosh pit didn’t go so well.

The Verdict Is In

So….turns out I’m only half psychic. Here’s what I got right…

Best Country Performance by a Duo or Group - Lady Antebellum
Best Country Song - Lady Antebellum
Best Rap/Sung Collaboration - Jay Z Empire State of Mind
Best Rap Solo - Eminem Not Afraid
Best Contemporary R&B Album - Usher
Best Urban/Alternative Performance – CeeLo
Best Male R&B Vocal Performance - Usher
Best Pop Vocal Album - Lady GaGa
Best Pop Performance by a duo or group - Train
Best Male Pop Vocal – Bruno Mars
Song of the Year - Lady Antebellum or CeeLo (I get half a point for this. It went to Lady Antebellum)

…and here’s what I got wrong…

Record of the Year – CeeLo(I thought) Lady Antebellum (actual winner)
Album of the Year – GaGa(I thought) Arcade Fire (actual winner)
Best New Artist – Beiber(I thought)Esperanza Spalding (actual winner)
Best Female Pop Vocal Performance - Beyonce(I thought) GaGa(actual winner)
Best Pop Collaboration - B.O.B.(I thought) Herbie Hancock/Pink, etc.(actual winner)
Best Female R&B Vocal Performance – Kelly Price(I hoped) Fantasia (actual winner)
Best Traditional R&B Vocal Performance – R Kelly(I thought)John Legend(actual winner)
Best R&B song - Fantasia(I thought) John Legend (actual winner)
Best R&B Album - Raheem DeVaughn(I thought) John Legend (actual winner)

I knew Lady Antebellum was going to win big this year so I should’ve picked them for everything. I’m extremely pissed about Arcade Fire winning Album of the Year and Esperanza Spalding winning Best New Artist. In these two categories it seems like the academy said hey, let’s give the award to whoever is least likely to win. I’m sorry, but there is no way in hell that Esperanza Spalding is the best new artist. I didn’t like her when she did that Stevie Wonder thing at the White House and I don’t like her now! Oh and if I wasn’t already mad enough, then they don’t even give Raheem the award for Best R&B Album, they give it to John Legend aka the Cowardly Lion from the Wizard of Oz (you know that’s what he sounds like when he sings). There is no way in hell John Legend’s cd is better than Raheem’s! So turns out I was also wrong about the Best Pop Collaboration. I thought it would go to B.O.B and that girl for Airplanes, but it went to Herbie Hancock for Imagine, which I wasn’t even familiar with. Of course I’m familiar with the Beatles song, but didn’t even know Herbie had a version with all these great peeps on it. I can thank the Grammys for bringing this little pearl to my attention. Click here to listen to Imagine by Herbie and his friends.

My Grammy Picks

So…I said I was going to write a bunch of posts this week leading up to the Grammys to prove that I have psychic powers, but after the first post I got busy and I wasn’t sure anyone was reading anyway so I stopped. However, it is important to me to prove I’m psychic so I’m going to cram about four posts into one quickly and put the rest of my picks out there before the awards are given since the show starts in 10 minutes.

Record of the year nominees are:

BOB – Nothing on You
Rihanna/Eminem – Love the way you lie
Lady Antebellum – Need you now
JayZ/Alicia Keys – Empire State of Mind
CeeLo Green – FU

Record of the Year will probably go to…CeeLo

Album of the Year will go to GaGa or Eminem…probably GaGa.

Song of the Year (award goes to the songwriter) between F U and Love the Way you Lie and Need You Now…probably Lady Antebellum or CeeLo will get it.

Best New Artist competition is mostly between Beiber and Drake. I’m thinking Beiber is going to get it.

Best Female Pop Vocal Performance goes to Beyonce for Halo
She’s up against Katy Perry for Teenage Dream and Norah Jones for Chasing Pirates who don’t stand a chance against Beyonce. Though I’m a big Sarah Bareilles she really can’t beat Beyonce in this category either. King of Anything is a cute song, but her vocal performance is way better on some other tracks. The only competition Beyonce has is GaGa for Bad Romance, but I think Beyonce is the clear choice here.


Bruno Mars will win Best Male Pop Vocal for Just the Way you are

Sade is up for Best Pop Performance by a duo or group for Babyfather…which is confusing because I’m not sure how she’s a duo or a group…or if she should be awarded for a song about a baby conceived during a fling. Getting back on track…Maroon 5 for Misery or Train for Hey, Soul Sister or Paramore for The Only Exception should win…but it will probably go to Train.

Best Pop Collaboration is between Airplanes and Telephone, though I think the GaGa Beyonce video was cool, I don’t really think the song itself was all that great. B.O.B and them should win the Grammy.

Beiber, Boyle and GaGa…Oh my! - Best Pop Vocal Album nominees are Beiber, Boyle, GaGa, John Mayer and Katy Perry. Though I do have a touch of Beiber Fever, I think Lady GaGa should get the Grammy.

The nominees for Best Male R&B Vocal Performance are Kem, Usher, Jaheim, Musiq and El DeBarge. Based on the songs that are nominated and not necessarily who has the best voice, I’m going to predict the winner will be Usher for There Goes My Baby.

R.Kelly should win Best Traditional R&B Vocal Performance for When a Woman Loves.

Best Urban/Alternative Performance should go to CeeLo for F You, even though Tightrope by Janelle Monae is also worthy.

Fantasia will probably win Best R&B song for Bittersweet.

I truly believe that Raheem DeVaughn should win Best R&B Album for The Love & War Masterpiece…and I’m not just saying that because the most talented, not to mention cutest percussionist ever is on this album…and also just happens to be my husband.  I really do think this cd is a masterpiece! It is a double disc and every track on this album (except for maybe one) is absolutely wonderful. I’ll have to go into more detail about how much I love this album on another post cuz I could go on and on for days about how great it is. It really should’ve gotten more recognition…and maybe it will after it wins a Grammy.

Best Contemporary R&B Album is a toss up between R Kelly and Usher. I kind of want to go with R Kelly on this one, but you can’t ignore that Usher…even though I try very hard.

Kanye – Power or Eminem – Not Afraid for Best Rap Solo. I’m going to go with Eminem on this one.

Best Rap/Sung Collaboration is a tough one. I think John Legend and his crew don’t have a chance. It’s a toss up between Empire State of Mind, Deuces, Love the Way You Lie and Nothing on You. My psychic powers are telling me it will go to Empire State of Mind.

Lady Antebellum will win Best Country Performance by a Duo or Group and Best Country Song.

I’ll check back tomorrow to see how well I did with my predictions. Rock on!

The Price Is Right

In case you’re not aware, I’ve been known to have psychic powers…so the time has come for me to make my Grammy predictions. This week as the Grammy awards approach, I plan to foretell who will win the award in a few categories of particular interest. After the awards air, I’ll check back with you to confirm my predictions were accurate, therefore proving I am clairvoyant once and for all. The first category I would like to discuss is Best Female R&B Vocal Performance. And the nominees are…. Faith Evans “Gone Already”, Fantasia “Bittersweet”, Monica “Everything to Me”, Kelly Price “Tired” and Jazmine Sullivan “Holding You Down (Going in Circles)”. Ooh, this is a tough one. This is hard because each nominee is a great singer, so it is hard to pick a clear favorite, but if we’re talking about best vocal performance we have to focus on the quality of the nominated song…and for that reason, Faith Evans is ‘gone already’. She’s out of the running and so is Jazmine Sullivan, though I love her voice, “Going in Circles” isn’t her best vocal performance. So that leaves Fantasia, Monica and Kelly Price. I really believe the award should go to Kelly Price. Out of the options, she has the best vocal performance, but that song isn’t as popular as the others so I wonder if it would get the recognition it deserves. My psychic powers are telling me that Monica will receive the Grammy for “Everything to Me”. However, I think Kelly Price deserves to win for singing the mess out of that damn song. Click here to listen to Kelly Price sing “Tired”, if you’re not familiar with it. Also, take a second to vote on the poll to your right and let me know who you think should win so I can see if we’re on the same page.

She’s Not Going to Write You a Love Song…but she basically is

So…I’m finally getting around to doing something I said I would after my last post…which was so long ago, but better late than never. Last time we talked about Sara Bareilles’ twist on Beyonce’s Single Ladies and Sharon posted a comment that she enjoyed Sara’s rendition, but said she wasn’t familiar with her. Well, here is a little something to introduce you to Sara Bareilles who is definitely a singer/songwriter worth knowing. She exploded on the scene back in 2007 with her big hit, Love Song. I’m sure you’ve heard it, even if you think you haven’t. I feel like it was on a bunch of tv shows and commercials and for a while you would hear it everywhere. Come on…you know the girl sitting on the piano singing “I’m not gonna write you a love song…cuz you asked for it…” Remember? Anyway, I really like her. She’s got some good songs, but you’ve got to hear my favorite.

Click here to hear Sara Bareilles singing “Gravity”.

Cover Me Bad (…or Good?)

Billboard.com does these things they call mash ups….which I’m not sure why because I always thought a mash up was when you mix two different songs into one, but anyway, they have artists perform cover songs outside of their normal genre. Every now and then it turns out a pretty cool performance because it is interesting to see how the artist interprets the song and puts a different spin on it. Click on the link to listen to what Sara Bareilles did with Beyonce’s “Single Ladies”. I really like Sara’s music. She’s got quite a few songs that I love. I’m not saying I’m in love with what she did with Beyonce’s song, but I do think it was pretty clever because I couldn’t figure out how she was going to switch it up.
Click on this link to listen to Janelle Monae sing the old classic “Smile”. She didn’t really do anything different with the song, but I thought it was cool to see her stand still and sing. Check out her guitar player with the wig and the manicure. What’s that about?
One more, just for kicks. This is Charice singing Shania Twain’s “Your Still the One”. Again, not very different from the original, but she sounds good so I included it. Let me know what you think.