Music Trivia

American Idol: Crystal Bowersox sings new debut single as guest on Idol?

American Idol!

Crystal Bowersox sings new debut single as guest on Idol?

[Apr. 29]

Crystal Bowersox returned to the stage of American Idol Thursday, April 28, 2011 to sing what may become her newest single, Ridin’ on the Radio too much applause. Bowersox was the runner-up on season 9 of American Idol.

It was a great performance, better than the live VH-1 performance, with a full back-up band, harmonica, and lap steel. She seemed really to open up, now that she’s on her own and has released her debut album, Farmer’s Daughter. Of course, she had every reason to be relaxed, since she returned to the Idol stage without a chance of being voted off.

Now Crystal Bowersox just has to survive the real world of music, and she still needs a real breakthrough hit. Is it possible that Ridin’ on the Radio will become that hit? Nobody knows. But speculation contends that it may be the next debut single to be released, and this writer wouldn’t be surprised if it is. She sings it with power and grace. You can practically see her thoughts as she slips into that dreamy moment of just riding away to nowhere in particular, singing out loud, enjoying creation.

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American Idol 2011: Why did singer Casey Abrams get sent home, really?

American Idol 2011!

Why did singer Casey Abrams get sent home, really?

Casey Abrams was voted off American Idol on April 28th, 2011 with judges saying that he was great but fans feeling like he might have been just a little bit too funky to win the title of American Idol. But do they have any questions about his talent? Nosiree. They think he’s a musician of note and believe that he’ll go far, possibly bringing jazz back into modern pop music culture. Just not THIS season.

This author would welcome the change. Casey Abrams himself has said that he wants to make jazz cool again, with influences like James Taylor, Ray Charles, and even Frank Sinatra, one of the hippest cats to ever grace a stage. But that just wasn’t enough for the judges or the audience, and so it’s goodbye to Casey Abrams.

But if being voted off American Idol, broke Abrams’ spirit at all, he certainly didn’t let it show. He sang “I Put a Spell on You” as his departure song, almost as if he had known he’d be voted off sooner or later but also knew he’d already hooked America on his style and presentation. He hugged the judges over the desk on his way out, singing as he went, and kissed and hugged ladies in the audience while he left.

Funny enough, he looked relieved and actually for the first time singing relaxed.

Even though he didn’t win — surely as disappointing a departure as that of former contestant and a judges favorite, Pia Toscano — the judges have no doubt that Casey Abrams is a rising star, and Casey, for all it’s worth seems to be just as certain, with a cool confidence that harbors no pretense about his abilities.

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Dancing With The Stars: American Idol Pia Toscano best singer on DWTS?

Dancing With The Stars!

Pia Toscano from American Idol the best guest singer ever?

[Apr. 26]

I will stand by you. That’s the song singer Pia Toscano knocked out of the ballpark during her live guest appearance on DWTS Tuesday April 26th, 2011. Tom asked the big question, “How the hell did you get voted off?” The new celebrity singer was ousted from American Idol in a freak vote, astonishing judges and fans. Proving her meddle on her live song, the gorgeous girl proved she already is a star celeb of note whose career people will want to follow from now on. Was her song the best on the ABC dance competition? Let’s put it this way… while the other celebrity guests singing were New Kids On The Block and Backstreet Boys — who were great individually and combined into the boy power band NKOTBSB — she truly was the one who rocked the house.

Pia Toscano is rumored to be dating professional dancer Mark Ballas, the outstanding choreographer who will sure take his dance partner Disney starlet Chelsea Kane to the finals. He has finally come into his own during the 2011 season as his best friend Derek Hough elected to sit this season out. The two are always vying for top spots, but Derek — the golden boy with a big smile and pretty blonde hair — has always managed to get the better celebrity dance partner. That is, up until now.

Chelsea Kane is as lovable as a golden girl as Derek was fun to watch, and she meets and exceeds every dance move challenge sweetie Mark Ballas dreams up. Fans are a bit disappointed to hear that the celebrity teen is not dating young Mark; they are happy to see Mark is dating the lovely brunette Pia Toscano on the other hand.

On the episode where wrestler Chris Jherico got voted off, while surprise dancer Kendra Wilkinson stayed on thanks to her risqué Rumba April 25th, the star of the night was Pia Toscano.

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Lady Gaga apologizes to fans for retarded comment via Perez Hilton blog?

Celebrity OOPS!

Lady Gaga apologizes to fans for retarded comment via Perez Hilton blog?

[Apr. 22]

Lady Gaga told British music magazine NME that accusations of plagiarism are “retarded.” But almost immediately realizing her celebrity OOPS moment, she apologized for the use of that particular word. Saying the use of the comment goes against what she does to support causes that she associates with, including her outspoken support for the LGBT community, Lady Gaga ate crow with a seriously apologetic game face on. “I consider it part of my life’s work and music to push the boundaries of love and acceptance,” said Gaga in a statement released through celebrity blogger Perez Hilton. Yes, that is right. She used Perez Hilton to help her get the word out to Little Monsters and Critics everywhere that Lady Gaga did not mean to make a slur against the special needs community or to demean them. She readily admitted her words were chosen poorly.

The press release statement Lady Gaga issued about having used the word retarded inappropriately was written in such a way that is was very politically correct. She writes:

“To anyone that was hurt, please know that it was furiously unintentional.

Whether life’s disabilities left you outcast, bullied or teased, rejoice and love yourself today.”

TheSocialChallenge.org has demonstrated that when engaged, like Lady Gaga, users of the word “retard” are likely to apologize.

You can visit the site to see live streams of tweets using the word. Consider telling those who are using it to take it back and find a better word to discuss the situation. The way Lady Gaga used it demonstrates just how casual it can be, and how unfair it really is.

Says Holly Roos:

“It’s really unfortunate when someone with as much influence as Lady Gaga uses that word,” said Holly Roos, an advocate for TheSocialChallenge.org, and a mother of two children with Fragile-X syndrome.

“But through The Social Challenge, in just over a month, we’ve actually had hundreds of people tweet back with apologies, pledging not to use the word in the future. It’s a great opportunity to make a difference, and I’m really glad to see that Lady Gaga thought better of her words, too.”

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Music News: Weird Al parody of Lady Gaga Born This Way song coming out?

Music News!

Weird Al parody of Lady Gaga Born This Way coming out?

[Apr. 22]

Weird Al Yankovic was struggling to come up with a hit single for his upcoming album. He had all the songs written, recorded, and mastered, he says on his blog, but he needed a single to make the album complete. Despite reservations that “Born This Way” by Lady Gaga would be what everyone expected him to parody, it would in fact be the hit he was looking for.

So, Weird Al sent an email asking for permission to release “Perform This Way” on his upcoming album, highlighting how it would preserve the integrity of pop star Lady Gaga and her human rights theme, and that he wanted the proceeds from the song to benefit the Human Rights Campaign. But representatives of Lady Gaga decided she would have to hear the song before she approved it.

Weird Al set about writing the lyrics so he could get the go-ahead in spite of the fact, as he notes, that his songs generally are upheld as “fair use” in court. He just likes to respect the position of the artists. So he sent off the lyrics to the Lady Gaga reps and got a response back again that she would have to actually hear it.

Weird Al writes in his blog:

At this point she has the lyrics… and hopefully she is familiar with her own song… and the parody is basically her music… with my lyrics. It really shouldn’t be that hard to decide – based on having the lyrics right in front of you – whether or not you’d be okay with a parody.

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Annual Easter Egg Hunt at the Playboy Mansion with Bunnies kid friendly?

Holiday News meets Hollywood Gossip!

Annual Easter Egg Hunt at the Playboy Mansion with Bunnies kid friendly?

[Apr. 22]

Here’s some strange holiday weekend news for ya… did you know that every year, Playboy founder Hugh Hefner throws an Easter Egg hunt at the Playboy Mansion that seriously outdoes the one at the White House? That is, if you measure the kid friendly even in terms of bunny sightings.

The Playboy bunnies from various eras got together and brought their celebrity children (you know — the ones that are NOT famous because mom posed in the nudie magazine and might not have gone on to do more or less spectacular things).

The kids were treated to an Easter Egg hunt featuring actress Pamela Anderson and rock and roll star Gene Simmons (movie star of reality TV fame and lead singer for the rock band KISS).

How, exactly, Hef chose to further tie in the bunny theme with Easter in any of the mansion rooms away from the kids is not quite clear (thankfully), but suffice it to say that if you peruse the photo gallery of the 2011 Playboy Mansion Easter Egg Hunt here, the only person looking lascivious seemed to be Gene Simmons.

Looking for a little bunny tail, perhaps, while he was a house guest?