American Idol is now down to five ladies and I will argue that it is the best top five in the history of the program and definitely vocally the most talented in Idol’s 12 seasons. Tonight the ladies put it all out on the stage in a divalicious smack down as they covered the great divas including Whitney, Celine, Barbra, Beyonce and of course Mariah which led to a fantastic second half of the show. Now, the first half wasn’t too bad either as the women sang “Songs From the Year they Were Born”, but it paled in comparison to the “Diva” round… So, just which performances overall were the best and which lady is in danger of going home? That is, if any of them actually go home~ hello the “Save” is still supposedly in play…. Take a look at my rankings and predictions below.
American Idol Rankings 4/17/13 ~ the great 1. Angie- “Halo”: I really had trouble trying to decide what was the best performance of the night, but to my shock I’m giving it to Angie’s fantastic interpretation of this Beyonce smash. It wa a daunting task that she handled tremendously and it was easily the best, and my favorite, Angie joint since her original song in Hollywood week. TIE 2. Amber- “What Are You Doing the Rest of Your Life?”: Amber gave an insanely perfect vocal on this Barbra Streisand song I’ve never heard of tonight. It was gorgeous and glorious, much like Amber herself. She is so perfect with these jazzy standards that I think perhaps she could do a Norah Jones type record in the future and have a great deal of success. TIE 2. Candice- “When You Believe”: this song had the perfect arc, perfect emotion and the perfect vocal. Candice had me in tears by the end and truly did Whitney and Mariah proud. 4. Candice- “Straight Up”: With fantastic reworking of the # 1 smash from 1989 by original Idol judge Paula Abdul, Candice proved her versatility and song choice savvy. This was another wonderful performance in a season where Candice can simply do no wrong. ~ the good: 5. Amber- “Without You”: I really liked this performance and Amber’s vocals were naturally great. I also enjoyed her vocal choices to differentiate it from Mariah’s version. Really good job. ~ the pretty good 6. Kree- “Have You Ever Been in Love?”: Kree’s take on this Celine Dion hit was quite nice and effortless. I really felt her emotion and longing. However, she hit some off notes for once, but still a solid showing. 7. Kree- “She Talks to Angels”: I really loved the acoustic opening to this Black Crowes cover. However, the rest of the song felt a little route and forced. That said, Kree’s voice was beautiful on it. Maybe I just expected more from it? ~ the decent 8. Angie Miller- “I’ll Stand by You”: while I appreciated the sentiment of the song and her dedication to Boston, Angie really over-performed the song and lost a lot of the meaning for me. She also hit some rather wonky notes along the way. 9. Janelle- “When I Call Your Name”: Janelle’s vocals were really beautiful and lovely on this Vince Gill track. I just wish it wasn’t so boring and surprisingly emotionally disconnected. 10. Janelle- “Dumb Blonde”: while I though it was a fun performance and I love Janelle’s personality, this Dolly Parton cover fell flat. She didn’t have the vocal prowess to make it unique and it felt a little too literal of an interpretation of the song.
Predictions~ Bottom two: Janelle and Amber (only because they seem to be the ones with the smallest fan bases) Going home: Janelle
* BUT ACTUALLY I THINK NO ONE WILL GO HOME~ I think they’ll either activate the “Save” (especially if Amber is the lowest vote getter) or the Producers will just declare it a “No Elimination” week. That happened once before with the Idol Gives Back show in season 6 I believe, so it’s not unprecedented.
So, that’s my take on the Idol women and their Diva ways. I was shocked Angie had my favorite song of the night and a little underwhelmed that the girl I’m still betting will win it all, Kree, had a slightly off night. I was also on the Amber/Candice love train again and I just hope these two divas can go to the top three together. We will see…. And we’ll see who, or if anyone at all, gets sent home tomorrow night on American Idol… featuring a guest appearance by one of their own Idol divas, Clay Aiken!!! hehe,
Peter Jackson‘s holiday behemoth The Hobbit held onto the top spot at the pre-Christmas box office in its second week with a good $36. 7 million bringing its total come to $149 million and much more to come. The Hobbit easily fended off a quartet of new releases that all proved disappointing. Opening best was the Tom Cruise action flick Jack Reacher with a lackluster $15.6 million. We’ll see if it can hold up well as audiences were generally pleased with the film despite the miscasting of Cruise. (Hello, the character of Reacher in the book is 6’5 and blonde~ two things Cruise aint, but I digress.)… Arriving with a thud in third was the atrocious new Judd Apatow ”comedy” This is 40with $12 million. The audience response was poor as well which does not bode well for its future. I gave this heaping piece of unfunny crap a “D” grade… it did beat out the surprisingly funny road trip comedy The Guilt Tripwith Barbra Streisand and Seth Rogan which only took in $5.3 million. Trip (which I gave a “B” grade to) will have to work real hard after Christmas to even approach breaking even… The final new film to implode upon arrival was the 3D release of Monsters Inc with just $5 million. It was outpaced by the long running Rise of the Guardians which has had the best legs of all films this season after a wonky start…. For more on all the new releases and big grosses for the limited debuts of the brilliant Oscar contenders The Impossible and Zero Dark Thirty, head to Box Office Mojohere. Then, check out the new top ten below.
Mumford and Maroon. Maroon and Mumford… It kinda sounds like a new country folk band right? But it’s just part of the names of the two groups that hold on top of the music charts for another week, Mumford & Sons and Maroon 5. On the Billboard 200 Album Chart, Mumford makes it 3 weeks in a row with Babel while Maroon 5 leads the Hot 100 Singles Chart for a fifth week with “One More Night”. Can anyone stop them? We’ll see next week. In the meantime, take a look at the new top ten charts below and head to Billboard for more on all the charts here.
Top Ten Albums on the Billboard 200:
1. Babel- Mumford & Songs (last week~ 1)
2. The Heist- Mackelmore & Ryan Lewis (debut)
3. Monster- Kiss (debut)
4. Lace Up- MGK (debut)
5. Afterman: Ascension- Coheed and Cambria (debut)
6. Dont’ Panic- All Time Low (debut)
7. Release Me- Barbra Streisand (debut) * her 32nd top ten album, by far the most by a woman in chart history
8. The Truth About Love- P!nk (lw~ 6)
9. Halcyon- Ellie Goulding (debut)
10. The 2nd Law- Muse (lw~ 2)
Top Ten Singles on the Hot 100:
1. “One More Night”- Maroon 5 (last week~ 1)
2. “Gangam Style”- Psy (lw~ 2)
3. “I Knew You Were Trouble”- Taylor Swift (debut)
4. “Some Nights”- fun. (lw~ 4)
5. “We Are Never Ever Getting Back Together”- Taylor Swift (lw~ 5)
6. “As Long as You Love Me”- Justin Bieber w/Big Sean (lw~ 7)
7. “Too Close”- Alex Clare (lw~ 10)
8. “Die Young”- Ke$ha (lw~ 14)
9. “Blow Me (One Last Kiss)”- P!nk (lw~ 9)
10. “Good Time”- Owl City & Carly Rae Jepsen (lw~ 11)
And here’s the new single from Ke$ha (or key-dollar-sign-ha as I like to call her, thanks Glee!) “Die Young”
Grammy winning pop superstar Kelly Clarkson is currently on the summer leg of her fantastic Stronger summer tour and she has picked up where her spring tour left off by playing fan requests each night. The Duets star has tackled everyone from Coldplay to Barbra Streisand, the Foo Fighters and Heart and in her recent concerts, she took on two of her contemporaries, Britney Spears and Katy Perry. The results were naturally astonishing as Kelly utterly destroyed the other two ladies with brilliant versions of their hits “Everytime” and “Wide Awake” that showcased Clarkson’s amazing vocals. Check out both tracks below and Katy and Britney, please take note, this is how you sing live! … Also, head to Kelly’s website here for more deets on her tour and I’ll fill you in on my experience seeing her tonight at the world-famous Hollywood Bowl. I can’t wait!!! My life would suck without Kelly Clarkson!
It was only a few months ago that we lost one of the biggest, and arguably the best, voice in pop music with the passing of Whitney Houston. Yesterday, unfortunately we lost another, the queen of disco, Donna Summer who succumbed to cancer at the age of 63 after a tough fight. I, along with millions of fans, are just devastated. This amazing Grammy winning singer defined a decade of disco with her smash hits in the 70′s, but she was so much more than that. Her hits continued thru to the 90′s and she was still touring up until last year. Her soaring voice was unmatched and she will be missed dearly. For more on Donna, head to her website here. And check out some of her amazing accomplishments below.
Donna Summer’s Incredible Career~
~ 17 Grammy nominations
~ 5 Grammy Awards
~ She was nominated for the Rock n. Roll Hall of Fame
~ 6 American Music Awards
~ 2 Golden Globe Nominations and 1 win
~ 14 # 1 Billboard Dance Hits
~ 20 Top 40 Singles on the Billboard Hot 100
~ 14 Top 10 Singles on the Billboard Hot 100
~ 4 # 1 Singles on the Billboard Hot 100 (“MacArthur Park”, “Hot Stuff”, “No More Tears (Enough is Enough)” with Barbra Streisand and “Bad Girls”)
~ Three # 1 Albums on the Billboard 200
~ More than 20 million albums sold
And now as we begin to mourn and celebrate this amazing music icon, Donna Summer’s music is flying up the charts again as a new generation discovers her genius. We will miss you Donna!
And here’s my favorite Donna Summer song that I remember so fondly from childhood, 1980′s # 5 smash “On the Radio”
Today, Entertainment Weekly online had a great post on the end of Kelly Clarkson‘s phenomenal Stronger tour. As I’ve also shared with you, at each stop, she has done an amazing cover song (and fan request) by artists ranging from Heart to Barbra Streisand to Coldplay and Britney Spears (“Til the World Ends” which we saw at her exceedingly brilliant show in LA las week). EW compiled their favorites and the list included one of her last covers, Olivia Newton-John’s Oscar and Grammy nominated # 3 smash from Grease, “Hopelessly Devoted to You”. As you can imagine, two-time Grammy winner Clarkson’s version is amazing, but I have to say I still love four-time Grammy winner Newton-John’s the best. (And yes, I loooooooove me some Olivia!!!) Hey it’s from Grease! It’s a classic. Anywho, I know you’ll love them both. Check them out below and watch for Clarkson this summer on the new ABC singing contest Duets.
Kelly Clarkson “Hopelessly Devoted to You” (live)
Olivia Newton-John “Hopelessly Devoted to You” (from Grease)
She may be 53, but you wouldn’t know it if you listen to Madonna’s latest, and may I say fantastic new album, MDNA. The record is a dance sensation with amazing songs full of potential singles (hello “Turn Up the Radio”) and a few insanely gorgeous ballads like “Falling Free” and the Golden Globe winning “Masterpiece” from Madge’s film W.E. Clearly her fans like what they hear on this one as MDNA debuts at # 1 with a whopping 359,000 copies sold giving Madonna her best sales week since Music’s debut in 2001. It also becomes her 8th # 1 album, the second most among women just behind Barbra Streisand. As Billboardreports, Madonna has now had chart topping albums in 3 decades:
Madonna has now etched a total of eight No. 1 albums: three in the ’80s (Like a Virgin, True Blue, Like a Prayer), four in the ’00s (Music, American Life, Confessions on a Dance Floor, Hard Candy) and now one in ’10s (MDNA). She missed scoring a No. 1 in the 1990s, remarkably, but she did claim five No. 2 albums in that decade with I’m Breathless, The Immaculate Collection, Erotica, the Evita soundtrack and Ray of Light.
With a massive tour about to start and the recent top ten hit “Give Me All Your Luvin’” (which just became her 41st # 1 dance single), plus her new single “Girl Gone Wild” (which should become her 42nd # 1 dance hit next week), the Material Girl shows no signs of slowing down. Way to go Madge! ….And speaking of veteran performers, sixty-something singer Lionel Richie is back with his big country-duets album, Tuskegee, which debuts at # 2 with a big 199,000 copies sold. Well done as well Lionel… For more on these numbers, head to Billboard hereand check out the new top ten below.
Top Ten Albums on the Billboard 200 Albums Chart:
1. MDNA- Madonna (debut)
2. Tuskegee- Lionel Richie (debut)
3. 21- Adele (last week~ 2)
4. Amaryllis- Shinedown (debut)
5. The Hunger Games Soundtrack- Various Artists (lw~ 1)
6. Up All Night- One Direction (lw~ 4)
7. Teenage Dream: The Complete Confection- Katy Perry (lw~ 31) * re-issue of Teenage Dream with added material
8. Vulnerable- The Used (debut)
9. Wrecking Ball- Bruce Springsteen (lw~ 6)
10. Now 41 Compilation- Various Artists (lw~8)
And here’s one of my favorite songs off of MDNA, Madonna’s “Turn Up the Radio”, which is reportedly going to be a single in the future too.
Over on the Hot 100 Singles chart, fun. just barely holds off teen titan Justin Bieber who gets his biggest hit ever with “Boyfriend” as it charges onto the chart at # 2 with massive sales. We’ll see if it can become a real hit in the weeks ahead with increased airplay and longevity or falls quickly like several of his songs have done in the past. (Those tween girls sure do love to buy his records, but not many others and thus his airplay is not so good.)… Two other artists grab their first top ten singles this week as Brit Boy band from The X Factor, One Direction hits # 9 and former Canadian Idol top-three finisher Carly Rae Jespen flies up to # 10. Take a look at the new list below.
Top Ten Singles on the Hot 100:
1. “We Are Young”- fun. w./Janelle Monae (last week~ 1) * 5 weeks at # 1
2. “Boyfriend”- Justin Bieber (debut)
3. “Somebody that I Used to Know”- Gotye w/Kimbra (lw~ 4)
4. “Glad You Came”- The Wanted (lw~ 3)
5. “Stronger (What Doesn’t Kill You)”- Kelly Clarkson (lw~ 2)
6. “Starships”- Nicki Minaj (lw~ 5)
7. “Wild Ones”- Flo Rida w/Sia (lw~ 7)
8. “Part of Me”- Katy Perry (lw~8)
9. “What Makes You Beautiful”- One Direction (lw~ 11)
10. “Call Me Maybe”- Carly Rae Jespen (lw~ 18)
And with her first top ten, here’s “Call Me Maybe” by Carly Rae Jespen
Kelly Clarkson’s Stronger world tour is turning into a sensation. The shows are selling out like crazy and each night, she is treating fans to a special “Fan Request” song. She has already done brilliant covers of songs by Heart (“What About Love”), Coldplay (“Fix You”) and Barbra Streisand (Funny Girl‘s “My Man”), and last night she almost brought herself to tears on her latest. Check out the brilliant version of Sara Bareilles‘s “Gravity”, Clarkson performed below. It’s simply stunning. For more on Kelly, her current # 2 smash single “Stronger”, her tour, her upcoming Super Bowl performance (she’s doing the National Anthem) and her upcoming Grammy performance, click here.
Kelly Clarkson “Gravity” (live)
And here’s Grammy nominee Sara Bareilles with her original version of “Gravity” (one of my fave songs of all time!)
The other day I posted Kelly Clarkson’s stunning version of Coldplay’s “Fix You” from her current Stronger tour. Each night she’s doing a fan request and last night at Madison Square Garden she fittingly did a Broadway number. The avid fan of musicals expressed her desire to star in one someday and from this performance (and going all the way back to Idol performances like “Stuff Like That There“), it’s clear she will be incredible on the Great White Way. So, take a listen to Kelly doing “My Man” from Funny Girl and then see the icon herself, Barbra Streisand, do it. Which one do you like better? And what will Kelly sing at her next stop? Check back for more Kelly updates soon.
Kelly Clarkson “My Man” (live from Madison Square Garden)
She hasn’t done it since 2001 and he is the first to do it in history… Just what am I talking about? If I said she is Christina Aguilera and he is Adam Levine from Maroon 5 would you have a better clue? Now, now get your heads out of the gutter. I’m talking about the fact that Xtina grabs her first # 1 single on Billboard’s Hot 100 since “Lady Marmalade” (performed alongside Pink, Mya, Missy Elliott and Lil Kim) ten years ago with her collaboration with Maroon 5 on “Moves Like Jagger”. It’s the first chart topper on the Hot 100 for the band since “Makes Me Wonder” in 2007…. So, just what exactly is Levine doing that’s so special? Well, he becomes the first singer to land a # 1 song as a member of a band during the same week as a featured solo artist with the song “Stereo Hearts” by Gym Class Heroes featuring The Voice coach rising to # 10. Congrats to them both. With all that said, Katy Perry tumbles from the top to # 5 and Foster the People flies up to # 3. It should be a big race for the top next week between Maroon & Xtina, Foster the People and two flying high singles by Lady Gaga (“You and I”) and Adele (“Someone Like You”) that will have massive sales increases after the MTV Video Music Awards…. In the meantime head to www.billboard.com for more on the singles chart and check out the new top ten below.
Billboard Hot 100 Top Ten Singles:
1. “Moves Like Jagger”- Maroon 5 w/Christina Aguilera (last week~ 4)
2. “Party Rock Anthem”- LMFAO (lw~ 2)
3. “Pumped Up Kicks”- Foster the People (lw~ 7)
4. “Lighters”- Bad Meets Evil w/Bruno Mars (lw~ 6)
5. “Last Friday Night”- Katy Perry (lw~ 1)
6. “Super Bass”- Nicki Minaj (lw~ 5)
7. “How to Love”- Lil Wayne (lw~8)
8. “Good Life”- OneRepublic (lw~ 9)
9. “Give Me Everything Tonight”- Pitbull w/NeYo, Nayer & Afrojack (lw~ 11)
10. “Stereo Hearts”- Gym Class Heroes w/Adam Levine (lw~ 15)
And here’s Gym Class Heroes teaming up with Adam Levine in the video for “Stereo Hearts”
Heading over to the album charts, rapper The Game nabs his third chart topper with R.E.D. pushing Jay Z & Kanye West down to the runner-up position… And nabbing her 31st top ten album, Barbra Streisand debuts at # 4 with What Matters Most. She’s had more top ten albums than any woman in history and is third among all artists behind Frank Sinatra (33) and The Rolling Stones (36). Wow. Check out the new top ten below.
Billboard 200 Top Ten Albums
1. R.E.D.- The Game (debut)
2. Watch the Throne- Jay Z & Kanye West (last week~ 2)
3. 21- Adele (lw~ 2)
4. What Matters Most- Barbra Streisand (debut)
5. Now 39 Compilation- Various Artists (lw~ 3)
6. Hell on Heels- Pistol Annies (debut)
7. Tailgates & Tanlines- Luke Bryan (lw~ 4)
8. Muppets: The Green Album- Various Artists (debut)
9. My Kinda Party- Jason Aldean (lw~ 5)
10. Chief- Eric Church (lw~ 7)
American Idol is now down to five ladies and I will argue that it is the best top five in the history of the program and definitely vocally the most talented in Idol’s 12 seasons. Tonight the ladies put it all out on the stage in a divalicious smack down as they covered the great divas including Whitney, Celine, Barbra, Beyonce and of course Mariah which led to a fantastic second half of the show. Now, the first half wasn’t too bad either as the women sang “Songs From the Year they Were Born”, but it paled in comparison to the “Diva” round… So, just which performances overall were the best and which lady is in danger of going home? That is, if any of them actually go home~ hello the “Save” is still supposedly in play…. Take a look at my rankings and predictions below.
