The Inaugural Concert

Last night was the Inaugural Concert on HBO. Since I don’t have that channel, I didn’t get to watch it. So today I watched some clips from the concert on youtube.

This one particularly stood out. It is Garth Brooks singing a medley of songs. Listen to him sing “Shout”. This country boy has got soul!

CMA Recap!

Well, it has been almost two weeks since the CMA’s so I thought I should look back at on the show, my predictions on who won, etc.

First of all, Carrie and Brad did a good job at hosting the show!

Second, Here is a recap of the winners vs. my predictions:

Entertainer of the Year: Kenny Chesney (I predicted Brad Paisley)
Female Vocalist of the Year: Carrie Underwood (I predicted correctly!)
Male Vocalist of the Year: Brad Paisley (I predicted correctly!)
New Artist of the Year: Lady Antebellum (I predicted correctly!)
Vocal Group of the Year: Rascal Flatts (I predicted correctly!)
Vocal Duo of the Year: Sugarland (I predicted correctly!)
Single of the Year: “I saw God today” by George Strait (I predicted “You’re Gonna Miss This” by Trace Adkins)
Album of the Year: Troubadour by George Strait (I predicted “Carnival Ride” by Carrie Underwood)
Song of the Year (award goes to songwriter): “Stay” by Sugarland (I predicted correctly!)
Musical Event of the Year: “Gone Gone Gone” by Alison Krauss and Robert Plant (I predicted “Shiftwork” by George Strait and Kenny Chesney)
Music Video of the Year: “Waitin’ on a Woman” by Brad Paisley featuring Andy Griffith (I predicted correctly!)

So, I got 7 out of 11 correct!

Third, here are links to some of my favorite performances from the show:

Taylor Swift – “Love Story” – Not the best vocalist but as this performance shows, a great performer!
Miranda Lambert – “More Like Her” – Gotta Love Miranda!
Martina McBride – “Ride” – Martina may be the best female vocalist of all time! I love seeing her back on an Award show performing again.
Sugarland – “Love” – This is a great song by a great duo!
Keith Urban – “Sweet Thing” – Again, such a great song!

Couldn’t find the video but here is another one:

George Strait – “River of Love” – I am not a big George fan but I LOVE this song!

Caitlin and Will win “Can You Duet?”!

Last Friday night the winner of CMT’s “Can You Duet” was announced. Caitlin and Will won the competition. They were not my pick but this version of the Keith Urban song, “Stupid Boy” is wonderful. This is one of my favorite songs and I love their version of it.

Some Politically Themed Movies Coming Up!

There are some politically charged movies coming up that I am looking forward to watching. Here they are:

1) “Recount” – Kevin Spacey, Laura Dern, John Hurt, Dennis Leary, Tom Wilkinson, etc. – Plot: “A chronicle of the weeks after the 2000 U.S. presidential election and the subsequent recounts in Florida” (from IMDb) - This movie is going to show on HBO over Memorial Day Weekend. Unfortunately I do not get that channel so I will have to wait until I can buy it on DVD.

2) I just read that Michael Moore will do a follow-up documentary to “Fahrenheit 9/11″.  According to MSN, “a followup to resume his examination of the nation’s status in the world in the years since the Sept. 11 attacks.”. The MSN article goes on to quote Nick Meyer, president of Paramount Vantage, “We don’t view this movie as bashing anyone. I think it’s going to take a look at where America is right now in relation to the world. It’s not going to be about the issue of the war. It’s about where we are and what our role is.”

3) “W.” – Josh Brolin, Thandie Newton, Ellyn Burstyn, James Cromwell, etc. – Plot: “ A chronicle on the life and presidency of George W. Bush” (from IMDb) - This Oliver Stone directed movie is going to be released in October, just before the presidential election.

4) “Battle in Seattle” – Woody Harrelson, Charlize Theron, Ray Liotta, etc. - Plot: “Activists arrive in Seattle, Washington en masse to protest a meeting of the World Trade Organization. Riots and chaos ensue as demonstrators successfully stop the WTO meetings.” (from IMDb) – This movie comes out in September. I remember watching this on TV when it was going on and couldn’t believe that it was happening a half hour from where I lived.

An Unlikely Oscar Winner

So, I said that I wasn’t going to make a post about this past weekend’s Academy Award show. Though, throughout the show I was intrigued by one of the nominees for Best Original Screenplay. Her name is Diablo Cody and she was nominated for writing “Juno”. I was intrigued at first because of how she looked. She didn’t look like your normal Academy Award show nominee with her half naked lady and rose tattoo on her right arm and leopard print type of outfit. She looked like a cross between Cleopatra and Marilyn Manson. I kept thinking, am I watching the Oscar’s or the MTV Music Awards. Saying all that, I thought she actually looked kind of sexy at the time.

I became more intrigued when the host, John Stewart, mentioned that she used to be a stripper. I thought, “What a fascinating story! She used to be a stripper and is now an Oscar nominated writer.”. It sounded like a real rags-to-riches Hollywood story. I knew I would have to find out more about her after the show. So, when it came time to announce the winner of Best Original Screenplay I found myself rooting for her to win. Sure enough, she did!

Well, after the show I looked her up on Wikipedia. Born with the name Brook Busey-Hunt, apparently she took the name Diablo Cody during a trip to Cody, Wyoming. Diablo is Spanish for “devil” and obviously Cody was chosen after the city. She grew up attending a Catholic School and graduated from the University of Illinois with a degree in media studies. Some of her earlier jobs included secretary and proof-reading work.

Wikipedia explained her stripping phase as such, “On a whim, Cody signed up for amateur night at a Minneapolis strip club called the Skyway Lounge. Enjoying the experience, she eventually quit her day job and took up stripping full-time. Cody also spent time working peep shows at Sex World, a Minneapolis adult novelty and DVD store. Eventually she became disillusioned with stripping and switched to phone sex before eventually returning to stripping. Cody soon made a retreat to more traditional employment in journalism, and a budding writing career stimulated by her skin trade days.”.

During her career she has written for City Pages, Jane, and recently started writing a column for Entertainment Weekly on a “rotating basis”. At the age of 24 she wrote a memoir titled, “Candy Girl: A Year in The Life of an Unlikely Stripper.”. I will be putting this on my reading wish list! “Juno” was Diablo Cody’s first screenplay. Not bad to have your first film be  nominated for Best Picture and grossing the most money out of all films nominated for Best Picture this year.

She has some other new things in the works including a show on Showtime. I look forward to watching “Juno” and seeing what else comes from this fascinating and unlikely Oscar winner!

Politics alive and well on SNL!

I watched the return of SNL (Saturday Night Live) last night (the first one since the writer’s strike ended). I like SNL but am not a huge fan. I don’t think it has been as funny since Tina Fey, Rachel Dratch, Horatio Sanz, and others left the show a few years ago. Well, Tina Fey was back to host last night and Carrie Underwood was to perform so I made sure to watch it. All in all it was a little dull! Though, the Weekend Update had two very funny moments. First, Mike Huckabee came on and I got to say that if he did have a chance at being president (which he doesn’t) there would be lots of humor coming from the white house! Then, Tina Fey came on and did a piece in which she supported Clinton which I absolutely loved! I knew I would have to post them hear for those of you to see them because both clips are great!

Mike Huckabee:

Tina Fey:

The Grammy’s – What a bore!

So, I am an award show junkie! I love them. Growing up I would always make a really nice dinner on award show nights, prepared just in time for the award show to begin. Even to this day, I sometimes still do it. I like all award shows, but especially the ones that are for music. I love seeing the live performances. Obviously, I love the ones associate with country music (CMA, ACM, and CMT Music Awards), but, I also usually really like the Grammy’s and the American Music Awards show. So, you can guess how excited I was to watch the awards show but after watching the three and half hour bore-fest I was quite bummed!

Here are some random thoughts on the 2008 Grammy’s:

> Best Performance: Tina Turner & Beyonce! The whole thing they did was fantastic. First it was just Beyonce, then just Tina, then they joined forces on “Proud Mary”.

> Worst Performance: I don’t think there was necessarily a horrible performance just many dull performances.

> Weirdest Performance: Watching Kid Rock duet with the aging Keely Smith. It was just awkward and looked uncomfortable.

> Worst Acceptance Speech: Kanye West after winning Best Rap Album: “For Mark Ronson and Amy Winehouse, if I don’t get to get up here for album of the year, you deserve it as much as me. I deserve it too.”. He has such a big head. He is a talented artist but so were all the other nominees. Halfway through his acceptance speech the music started to play to signify that he needs to stop. He then went on to talk about the death of his mother. He made some comment to the effect of “Your really gonna keep playing that”. I think they should have regardless of who he was talking about. Everyone has the same time limit. Get over it Kanye!

> Funniest Acceptance Speech: Vince Gill after winning Country Album of the Year: “I just got an award presented to me by a Beatle. Have you had that happen yet, Kanye?”. It as a great line and even Kanye seem amused. Vince was also nominated for Album of the Year and was not happy with Kanye’s previous comments and thus this was his public response.

> The Not-So-Sure-About-This Performance: Watching Carrie Underwood sing “Before He Cheats” while being backed up by a Stomp-esque group and her band. I am not sure who thought of including the percussion group into that performance but not so sure it was the right move. Jury is still out on this one for me.

> Worst Song Choice: Brad Paisley singing “Ticks”. I like this clever song but I would have never picked it to perform at the Grammy’s! What was he thinking!? We should be trying to debunk the country-music-equals-hick-music attitude of others. Singing this song didn’t help. If I were him I would have chosen “Online”. That song has much more unversal appeal.

> Amy Winehouse: Everything leading up to and during the Grammy’s this year was about Amy Winehouse. After hearing her perform, I now know why. I like her voice, it has that raw, organic sound to it. Though, they should have put her performance at the end of the awards show. After she gave her much-hyped-about performance, the show just seemed like it was being strung along for no apparent reason.

> Hostless?: I hate it when Awards Show don’t have hosts. I am guessing this had to do with the writer’s strike but still they should have had a host.

> 50th Anniversary: This should have been a great awards show and it wasn’t. This was the 50th anniversary for goodness sakes!!! I think they should have done more to commemorate that like have current artists sing the songs that have won Record of the Year in the past.

> Alicia Keys: One of my favorite female singers! She did a great job opening the show with her Frank Sinatra duet and then later singing her hit “No One” with John Mayer on the guitar!

Riverdance – Oh what an evening!!!

I got a call this past Saturday from my Aunt Arta Rose letting me know she had two extra tickets to see the last showing of Riverdance in Seattle on Sunday. It was is their farewell tour and with my birthday in the near future she wanted to know if I wanted to go with her and my Uncle Mark for my birthday. I hadn’t really cared for Riverdance when it first came out. But, I had no plans for Sunday and thought “well, it has to be better in person” so I decided to go. They gave the other ticket to my dad.

So, on Sunday afternoon I met my dad at his place and we carpooled down to Seattle. We got there early so we could go out to eat for my birthday before the show. We went to Von’s Grand City Café on Pine St. and let me tell you, the food was soooo good! After reviewing the menu several times I decided on the lamb shank meal. I have never had lamb before and decided that I might as well try it. The lamb was seasoned and cooked perfectly and came with mint jelly on the side. I had also never had mint jelly before but thought it added the perfect touch to the lamb. The meal came with garlic-mashed potatoes that was blanketed with a wonderful brown gravy and fresh green beans that were done in some type of fabulous blend of herbs and seasonings. The meal was superb!

After dinner, dad and I went back to the car to drop off our leftovers and then proceeded to the Paramount Theater for the show. We got there early so we stepped inside and waited for my Aunt & Uncle to arrive with the tickets. Once there we proceeded inside and up the stairs to our seats.

From the beginning to the very end, the show was fantastic! Never a dull moment! I was so pleasantly surprised. There was Irish dancing, a Flamenco soloist, Russian Dancers, a Baritone soloist and so much more. My favorite part of the show took place not long after the intermission and was called “Trading Taps”. During this segment of the show 2 black tap dancers and 3 white tap dancers basically had a tap off. Each of the two ethnic groups displaying dancing from their background in a feat to try and out dance each other. Then they flip-flopped and did each other’s dance moves. By the end of the segment they were all dancing together. I found it to be a powerful display of overcoming adversity to celebrate diversity.

Needless to say, the performance was SPECTACULAR! I loved every minute of it. The dancing was FANTASTIC! The singing was GREAT! The band was OUTSTANDING! I am definitely glad I went. If they come near you on this farewell tour then definitely go see them. You won’t regret it!

Vote for Melodee Lynn!!!

The following is from a friend of mine. Her name is Melodee Lynn and she is a fellow Community of Christ church member from California, originally from Pennsylvania. She would really appreciate your support by voting for her in this contest. One vote per e-mail address. Once you vote, they will e-mail you and then you will need to click the link on the e-mail to validate your vote.

To see her music video go to http://youtube.com/watch?v=fjWC6gctquw

Message from Melodee Lynn:

Voting has officially started for the Rock Star competition and I could sure use your help. Star 98.7FM radio’s Rock Star music competition is back and bigger than ever! I could win a record deal with ATO Records (a label founded by Dave Matthews) and get to go on tour! I cant thank everyone enough for your endless support with my dreams!!

Here’s how to vote!
1. Log onto Star 98.7 FM by going here: http://star987.com/pages/rockstar2/voting1st.php

2. Once on the voting page (give it a second to load up) all the bands are in alphabetical order by band name, so scroll down to find me…MELODEE LYNN “You Don’t Love Me”.

3. Click on the vote button and vote for me. You must have a valid email address to do this otherwise it won’t work. It takes about one minute for the vote to upload, and you must confirm the vote through your email account!

Thank you so much for your time in doing this. I am so thankful for your support and votes! PLEASE tell all your friends, and family, and I would LOVE it if you could repost the bulletin too on your myspace, facebook, and email! Lots of LOVE – Melodee Lynn

THANK YOU ALL!

Amen – A song that’s gonna make you think

I was perusing the music profiles on MySpace to find a new profile song when I came across this song on Kid Rock’s profile. This song is his latest single and is called “Amen”. Kid Rock has been quoted saying that this is the best song he has ever written. I might have to agree. Of course, I do not know all of his songs but I do like this one. There are a few lines that I am not sure I agree with but overall it is good and definitely stirs emotions.

I was able to find a video of Kid Rock singing the song on Ellen. Check it out below:

What thoughts do you have after hearing the song?