Sadness in Paradise

I had some time to kill between work and rehearsal a week or two ago, so I saw "The Descendants". 

• Probably not a good idea to see such a weepy movie prior to singing.  Yes, I cried.  I do that a lot during movies, but there were a LOT of tears with this one.  I mean, hello, it's about a guy dealing with the fact that his wife is dying.
• Oh, George Clooney.  You're getting even more handsome as you age.  Thank you for continuing to do quality work like this so that I can be happy to keep watching you.
• It's difficult to walk fast or even try to jog in flip flops.  This is exemplified here, and it amused me.
• Shailene Woodley does an excellent job here as the rebellious older daughter.  Then we get to find out why she's being so rebellious, and it drives the plot further, which is great.
• Amara Miller cracked me up as the younger daughter.  She just says stuff without any filter because she's rebellious, too, yet I still felt a lot of sympathy for her.
• Nick Krause was hilarious, too, and I loved his interactions with Clooney, especially the night in the hotel room when Clooney couldn't sleep.
• Whoa, Beau Bridges.  Please do not ever grow your hair out like that again.  Yikes!
• I liked how the plot of Matt (Clooney) dealing with his wife's coma played out against the other plot of him making a decision regarding his family's land.  It's that whole concept of "letting go" that interested me.
• Lucky Judy Greer.  She gets this great role AND she gets kissed by the guy in the flip flops. Sigh.
• I think that I need to read this book.  I'll probably need a box of tissues for that, too.
• I really want to go to Kauai.  I was looking at some of those scenes and wondered if the Smoke Monster was there, though.  

Great movie.  Just remember to be prepared for crying when you see it. Especially that scene toward the end with Clooney talking to his wife.  Oh, I'm tearing up again.

The Fairest One of All

Today, the apple of my (other) eye turned 2.  Luckily for us, she was also in town, so that we could celebrate together at my parents' house.



Miss O loves to watch "Snow White and the Seven Dwarves", and dressed as "White" for Hallowe'en.  My parents had asked Bro to bring her costume this weekend, so that she could be themed with her cake.

The yummy cake, with princesses

Our Princess

When I heard about the cake, I immediately asked if there was an Ariel and if I could have it.  Mom said yes, but advised me to ask the birthday girl.  The cake arrived, and I asked Miss O, and she nodded yes.  Yay!  She was in a good mood today, and responded to me.  Here we are with our princesses.

There were so many cameras flashing that it was like we were paparazzi, and as we waited for Auntie Milda to return from her 2 hour jaunt (for what we thought was just to get chicken, Starbucks, bananas and popcorn), we decided to attack her with flashes from our cameras.  The result was hilarious.  This was my mom's idea.  My mom came up with a lot of funny stuff this weekend.


For some reason, Mom also said that we should do the candle blowing before dinner, and got all of the plates and forks ready.  We sang to Miss O, whom inexplicably went under the table in the middle of the song.  It might have been because Bro needed us to start the song over for the video, and she had done enough waiting.  I don't know.  But then we didn't eat the cake, as it was dinner time.  So I don't know why we did the candle thing before dinner anyway.  


After our dinner that included the birthday tradition of pancit, we designed our own donkey tails (yes, all of us), and played Stick the Tail on the Donkey.  Don't you miss the old days, when we used pins and were a potential danger to ourselves and everyone around us?  Yeah, me too.  Auntie Milda was terrified of being blindfolded.  Lucky for her, the blindfold didn't fit her, but she and all of us other adults were trusted to keep our eyes closed.  Even the lady with the new hip joined in.  It was tons of fun.

Mr. B then asked if we could eat cake, which he didn't really end up enjoying.  I loved it.  It was from Goldilock's bakery and was made of mocha sponge cake and macapuno filling.  Mmmm...I may need to have more of that before I leave tomorrow.


Miss O then opened her birthday gifts, which included a toy that had a hippo (from guess who), a couple of outfits (from guess who again), a rockin' Elmo, a couple of Angry Birds, and a very nice play kitchen and plastic food from her parents.  She also received a plush of one of the 7 dwarves.  I think it's Doc.

Miss O and this season's Chritmas trend: Scottie Dogs

Snow White gets dinner ready for the dwarves

Auntie Milda had forgotten to buy the popcorn while out on her 2-hour jaunt, so she was required to go out again.  She also went to get herself more Starbucks, because hers had spilled in the kitchen, much to the delight of Stocky P, who would not get away from licking the floor until actually being physically forced out of there.  Her 2nd coffee ended up being free because the computers had gone down.  Wow!  During this time, Bro and V built their daughter's new kitchen.


So the kids had their bath, the kettlecorn was popped, and we (Miss O, Mr. B, V and I) sat down to watch the "Cars 2" DVD, which I had requested because I had never seen the movie.  Miss O loves the movie, so she happily agreed to watch "Dardoo".  That was a fun movie.


During the movie, Miss O was very attentive to the TV most of the time, but she IS only 2 years old, and there were new toys to distract her.  My favorite distraction was when she decided to be inside the box that held Elmo.

That's not Elmo!

Happy Birthday, Miss O!  Thank you for letting us enjoy your special day with you! 

The Fairest One of All

Hoppin' on a Train to Macy's

Rockapella Holiday, Day 1

Saturday, December 3, 2011

The morning was difficult for me.  The day before,  I had been catching up on everything that needed to be done for the trip but couldn’t due to the loss of power at my house and the surrounding neighborhoods.  Very strong winds had hit our area on Wednesday night, and trees were strewn about everywhere, knocking down power lines and making transformer bursts look like bolts of lightning all over the skies.  24 hours later, I had power, but the damage was done to my schedule.  I had tons of stuff to do, and not enough time to do it.  But I was packed and ready to go in the morning…until I kept remembering little stupid things that needed to be packed, and then I was too late to meet Wendy at our agreed-upon time.  I realized that I didn’t haveWendy’s phone number in my phone anymore, and it also wasn’t written down anywhere.  All of the searching for her number was not getting me any closer to the airport, so I texted Karla and asked her to contact Wendy if she possibly had a number.  Well, thank goodness, she still had Jeff’s cell phone number in her phone, so I could relax and just meet everyone at the airport.  

I worried about traffic because I heard about road construction on the 10 and couldn’t remember where the mentioned exits were located.  I trudged ahead, though, and soon realized that those exits were not where I would be driving.  I got to the airport parking lot, got a good spot, and walked to the terminal.  The security line was a little longer than normal, and I realized that TSA only had 2 lanes open for their machines.  You’d think that on a weekend in December, they’d have more lanes open for all of the travelers, especially because this is the time of year when the less-experienced travelers are out and about, visiting family and stuff.  But noooooo.  Karla gave me updates on the boarding status, but I remained patient.  Even when the guy 2 points in front of me didn’t even have his boarding pass yet (Dude, did you not read ANY signs while we were standing in line?!).  Even  when the guy in front of me didn’t have his real ID and had to explain to the agent that he had lost his wallet and was told that he could use a photocopy.  Oh, goodness.  But I made it!  My patience paid off, I barely made it into my boarding group, found my friends in row 10, and we were good to go.

Our takeoff from ONT was quite turbulent due to the remaining winds, but the rest of the flight went OK.  We changed planes at PHX and Karla scored us seats in the 2^nd row.  We were seated behind a little boy who shares his name with a very tall former Lakers center that graduated from UCLA, so I’ll use that player’s initials here (KAJ) in order to protect the kid.  KAJ had been pretty active in the airport already, and he was quite talkative.  The flight attendants took a liking to him and talked to him to keep him entertained while he was awake.  We learned that KAJ was 4 years old and he had a twin brother at home.  They are identical except for one thing: Grandma informed everyone that KAJ got a mohawk on this trip, which Mom didn’t know was going to happen.  The hairstyle kind of fit his personality.  Like any other excited 4-year-old boy, he talked about what it was like to ride airplanes, and told stories about how he was just sitting there doing “nothing….nothing…nuuuuuuthiiiiing” when his twin up and punched him in the eye.  Wendy and I had other ideas about how that happened, but still, he was funny.  He wanted an iPad, mostly the one that the flight attendant said she owned.  At the end of the trip, he was asked to sing, but wouldn’t do so until everyone in the group was quiet.  Then he very quietly sang a song, during which, when he was told that they couldn’t hear him, he  got irritated and told everyone to be quiet so that he could sing.  Ah, a rock star in the making.  He’ll learn soon that rock stars just turn up the amps and sing the heck out of the microphone in order to be heard.  But I won’t be the one to teach him that.  I just wanted to see the expression on his mom’s face when she saw his new ‘do, but we didn’t get to see that. 

Inside Macy's

We landed at EWR and took the air train to P4, where the hotel shuttle would pick us up.  When we arrived at the Best Western Robert Treat Hotel, we unpacked, charged up our phones, and got ready to go to NYC.  We took the hotel shuttle to Penn Station in Newark, and got tickets for the NJ Transit, which, we were told, would be leaving in 4 minutes.  So we hurriedly walked over to the platform and stepped onto the crowded train.  Luckily for us, we were only there for 1 stop before arriving at Penn Station in NYC.  Don’t you think it’s silly that the 2 stations so close to each other had the same name?  We think so.  It’s kind of confusing.  Stacey hadn’t arrived yet, so we went to Macy’s to wait, while Karla shopped for unmentionables.  Yeah, I still mentioned them.  That’s the way I roll.  She got a great deal for them on sale, then Stacey found us, and we had dinner at au bon pain on the 8^th floor, on the side of the store where the escalators were wooden on the sides.  Karla was excited to be on those escalators, and they were neat and different.  Since that was also the area where the kids were taking pictures with Santa, they also had a couple of movie posters on display for “Miracle on 34^th Street”, so I needed to take a picture of one before we left, because that’s where the story takes place, you know.

Outside Macy's

Stacey showed us the department store windows, which are really cool to look at in NYC.  The Macy’s windows were themed with Wishes, due to their sponsorship for the Make-A-Wish Foundation.  The theme was about how wishes were made and where they went.  It was kind of futuristic, and at the end of the display, you could design your own ornament and buy it inside.  We also saw the windows at Lord & Taylor, which were lined with children’s drawings of different holiday themes, around displays of neighborhood traditions.  My favorite drawing was that of Ginger the Gingerbread Man. 

Mabuhay Pinay!

We passed by the New York Public Library, and I advised Wendy that this was where the climactic scene in “Ghostbusters” takes place with the Gatekeeper and the Key.  She hadn’t realized that it was an actual place.   I just had to take a picture at the Philippine Embassy as we walked by.  

We went to Rockefeller Center, and Stacey took us up to her office on the 33^rd floor of the GE building, where we leaned out the window of the library to take pictures of the skating rink and tree below us.  Yeah, we leaned out of open windows.  Kinda.  We’re all kind of scared of heights, so I just strapped my camera on my hand and held the camera out the window.  But look at how cool the picture came out! 

Rockefeller Center, from 33 stories up

We then went downstairs and took pictures by the trumpeting angels, where you can see the more famous view of the tree at Rockefeller Center. 

The Posse at Rockefeller Center

Since we were in the perfect spot for it, we waited a couple of minutes for the projections on Saks Fifth Avenue to start.  The theme was of bubbles and snowflakes at war with each other or something like that.  My favorite part was at the beginning when all of the windows had lit up projections on them, and they “opened’ at the same time.  Very nice effect.

Snowflake at 57th

We tried to go into St. Patrick’s Cathedral, but it was closed.  Then we walked over to 57^th Street to see the snowflake.  For those fans of Rockapella’s Christmas music, this is mentioned in Scott’s lyric: “A snowflake of light suspended high above 57^th”.  Wendy didn’t know that this actually existed, either.


At the same intersection, I saw and really liked the Tiffany window of a carousel.  When you look inside the porthole, you see the store and the window you’re peering into, so it’s like an infinity painting. 

Tiffany window of Tiffany window

At that point, we bid good night to Stacey, and also, apparently, to Karla’s unmentionables.  So we ended up going to a drug store for more of them.  They don’t need to be pretty folks, just functional.  We walked back to Penn Station NYC, as I marveled at the theaters that were showing “Wicked” and “The Book of Mormon”.  When we got to 42^nd Street, I felt the need to do high kicks, but refrained.  I tried to get a picture of Madison Square Garden, but those didn’t come out very well.  APPARENTLY, there had been some kind of boxing match there that evening, as evidenced by the flags and the boxing gloves around some necks. 

We waited at Penn Station NYC for quite a while with a LOT of other people before a train arrived to take us back to NJ.  When the train got to Track 8, we were happy because we were close to the entrance.  Then we were pretty much pushed into the door.  I was not moving of my own accord.  Wendy said that she even spun around a couple of times.  I wish we had video of that.  After I had to assure Karla twice that Wendy was, indeed, in back of us, we got seats on the train.  We decided that we didn’t want to wait for the shuttle to pick us up, and walked back to the hotel. 

Exhausted from all of the walking and traveling, we settled in for an exciting day ahead.  Thanks, Stacey, for touring us around!  We’re here, Pella! 

Next up:  Pella Pops Day

Pella on TV in NYC

With the holidays going on, Rockapella is pretty much all over the place.  Just not in California.  I'm not bitter.


Here they are on CBS2 in New York, singing "Santa Claus is Comin' to Town".  Someone needs to tell JKB that the words are "rummy tum tums" and not "runny tum tums".  Because the latter just sounds like a cute way of describing a stomach ailment.  ;)

Rockin' on BetterTV

Rockapella was on BetterTV in Connecticut yesterday, promoting their holiday show in Ridgefield.  Here's a clip of them performing "Rockin' Around the Christmas Tree", complete with Scott's whistling, JT's sleigh bells, and the choreography that I can't resist doing whenever I hear them sing this song.


The viewer is getting cut off by the wide margins on my page, so here's a link so that you can actually see everyone at once.


I love them.  :)

We Can't All Travel By Bubble

June and I went to Hollywood after work and had some dinner at Dillon's before going to pick up some wine she ordered.  We then walked back to the Pantages Theatre to see "Wicked" on opening night!


I resisted buying a beautiful t-shirt for $48.00, stared and stared at the merchandise (which included a cool pen that lights up like a flashlight with a silhouette of the logo).  Then I finally broke down and bought "The Grimmerie", a book I had been eyeing since my first Wicked show.  Our seats were on the orchestra level, left center, row Z.


June had seen the show previously once, from the balcony.  She didn't really get the play at that time because she couldn't see the facial expressions.  She had recently read "Wicked" by Gregory Maguire, on which this play was based.

• The first piece didn't really impress me that much because the chorus seemed a little bit off in its intonation, and I was worried that this touring company would not make me as happy as the semi-permanent cast that I had seen in this theatre during its long run.
• The feeling of worry went away, though, as soon as I heard Katie Rose Clarke (Glinda) sing.  She sounded just plain beautiful.  
• Then Mamie Parris (Elphaba) opened her mouth to sing "The Wizard and I" and I was blown away. She has an amazingly strong and wonderful voice!  
• Ms. Clarke also impressed me throughout the show with her comedic skills.  She tossed her hair ("toss toss") with her back bent all the way with her body at almost a 90-degree angle, and it made me giggle every time.  It also made me wonder how she could be so limber and not hurt herself.  She must do yoga.
• I also liked Kyle Dean Massey's (Fiyero) performance.  I didn't really like the one that I saw the last time I saw the show, so I was pleased that Mr. Massey did such a fine job.  He actually made me feel sympathy for his character. 
• The Wizard was played by understudy Kevin McMahon.  I never really like the people that play the Wizard, but since I like Mr. McMahon and still don't really like the Wizard, I guess that I just don't like the role.  
• The flying monkeys still creep me out.  I doubt this will change.  EVER.
• The sets were great, and I didn't see any difference in them from the ones they used when this was the house show in the theatre for 2 years.  
• Every time I see this show, I notice something I'd never seen before.  This time, it was in "Dancing Through Life".  Fiyero's dance moves are the same as those of the Scarecrow in The Wizard of Oz!
• June now understands the show more, and has linked stuff from the book into the show, and loves the show now that she's listened to the CD a lot of times and actually understands the show.

On our way back to June's house, we had a bit of trouble getting home, due to very strong winds that hit So Cal.  It then took me 45 minutes to get home from her house; the drive normally takes me 15 minutes.  The freeway was getting too scary with the wind pushing the cars sideways, so I exited the freeway and had more trouble due to fallen trees on every street I encountered.  When I finally got home and closed my gate, the power went out.  My power was out for 24 hours (I was one of the lucky ones).  Cindy came by to loan me her ice chest (what a good friend!), and then concluded that the wind was my fault, because I took home the tornado from the show.  Sorry about that, folks, especially to those that still don't have power, 6 days later.

Anyway, if you like "Wicked", go see this show.  The leads are fantastic!

Pella + Pops soooooon!

I am so totally excited about this! 5 more days!!!

Rockapella/Boston Pops Deliver Gift of Song Tied Up In Glittering Bows | News | Rockapella

The Sing-Off Season 3 Finale

So now I'm avoiding Twitter and Facebook in case there are any spoilers.  Because tonight is the Live (on the East Coast) finale!


As you recall, I was torn last week, and decided not to vote.  I held to that only because I totally forgot about it. 


Group Performance: "The Way You Make Me Feel" by Michael Jackson
I like that sexy, slow opening.  I also like how the Aires finally get to sing directly with girls. :)  That was a pretty cool arrangement.


Pentatonix spent their charity time with The Trevor Project, which provides help to bullied kids. 


Pentatonix: "Without You" by David Gueta feat. Usher
I didn't really like that opening.  This is now the time where I wish that they could have done last week's show live, so that we could hear them without any fancy editing to influence our votes.  No, I don't mean that they do their songs over, but sound levels and such make a strong impact on performances.  Here, it's a negative effect for me.  Don't get me wrong: I like Pentatonix.  I just wonder how much of the other shows were more "produced" than tonight.


A little ditty from Vocal Point: "The Way You Look Tonight"
Oh, Will Arnett lookalike, how I've missed you.


Urban Method donated food to the Sickle Cell Foundation.


Urban Method: "Stereo Hearts" by Gym Class Heroes feat. Adam Levine
I'm again wondering about production, but not as much as with Pentatonix.   


The Dartmouth Aires helped out Saving Strokes.


Dartmouth Aires: "Paradise by the Dashboard Light" by Meatloaf
Michael's just awesome, and he's a good guy, too!  Awwww.  Wait.  Who's that girl?  She looks familiar.  Oh, that's Amy from Delilah.  How nice of her to join them!  


Now it's time for the groups to sing with the regulars.


Pentatonix with Nick Lachey: "Give Me Just One Night (Una Noche)" by 98 Degrees
I like how NIck said that they were the boy band that *didn't* dance.  I was going to type that they sound great, then I heard a bad pitch, and then a bad chord.  But they redeemed themselves.  


A little ditty from The Deltones: "Edge of Glory"


Urban Method with Sara Bareilles: "Gonna Get Over You" by Sara Bareilles
They're kind of overpowering her sound, and hello, she's the LEAD.  


 A little ditty from Afro-Blue: "Let Your Hair Down" 
I think that Shawn would have sung with Afro-Blue if they had made the finals.  That would have been awesome.  Alas, no.


Dartmouth Aires (with the studio audience), conducted by Ben Folds: "Not the Same"
See?  Shawn's not singing with any of the groups!    Instead, we're being told what to do by Ben, and I heard a bad note from Mr. Folds (ssshhh...don't tell him I said so).    Shawn isn't even singing in this song.  


A little ditty from the Yellowjackets: "And Then It Goes Back" (or something)


All-Girls: "You Make Me Feel Like A Natural Woman" by Aretha Franklin
Go, Girls!!!  That was cool.  Except for that last weird chord.  Loved seeing all of the diva-ness.


A little ditty from North Shore: "The Lazy Song"


All-Boys: "Born to Run" by Bruce Springsteen
Awww. why aren't they all wearing sexy Springsteen jeans?  I would have liked that.  I like hearing the leads together.  Great job!  That was my favorite of the night.


A little ditty from Delilah: "Grenade"  She sang that while siting down?!  Wow.


Folger's commercials without Rockapella during "The Sing-Off"?!  Sacrilege!


Smokey Robinson with Afro-Blue: "You've Really Got A Hold On Me"
See, even Smokey wants to sing with A-B.  That was a nice balance between Smokey and the group.   They could be his new Miracles.  :)


A little ditty from The Collective: "I Will Survive"


Results


3rd place: Urban Method
Can we please lay the "rapapella" word to rest for now?  Or forever, whatevs.  You know, because I'm not the one that coined the word.  ;)


Urban Method's Swan Song: "Coming Home" by Diddy Dirty Money & Skylar Grey
Aw, she's crying.  It's really difficult to sing like that.


Now we get to look back on the journeys for the top 2.


The Dartmouth Aires' Michael needs a recording contract.  If not with the Aires, then some other way, because the man has major talent.  


Pentatonix is just too cool and innovative for words.  So what were they called when they were just a trio?  Did they ever say that?  Kristi looks like she's going to cry no matter what happens.


1st place: Pentatonix
Congratulations!!!


New Champions Pentatonix song: "Eye of the Tiger" by Survivor


So the Aires don't get a swan song?  Bummer.


Next week:  Sing-Off Christmas, Live


I don't think that I'll be blogging about that one, so until next season...Sing.  Sing a song.

MU-PPETS! MU-PPETS!

I've been excited about "The Muppets" ever since I heard that it was in production, so this year's choice for our Friday-after-Thanksgiving movie was a no-brainer.  Brady, V, Bro, Linda and I went to the theater near my parents' house to see the show.  There was so much traffic that we ended up late for our first time choice, but since it was starting pretty much every hour, we just waited for the next one and passed the time by walking around the adjacent strip mall.   We were able to get some good seats when we finally got into the theater, and settled in for some Muppet action.  Whoo Hoo!

• I like Walter.  He's sincere and such a big fan, like the rest of us, and believes in them, like the rest of us.  He also faints like many of us would probably do if we met Kermit.  I agree with another post on a website that he looks like Ted Mosby from "How I Met Your Mother", which cracks me up because his co-star is Jason Segel, just as Ted's portrayer, Josh Radnor co-stars with J.S. on his show.
• V thinks that Amy Adams is perfect casting for this movie, and I agree.  I just didn't like her songs.   I did like her singing in "Enchanted", so her voice is not an issue for me.  I think it's just that those particular pieces did not resonate in me.
• The new songs that I really enjoyed the most, though, were Kermit's "Pictures In My Head" (made me cry), and Gary and Walter's duet "Man or Muppet". 
• I loved, loved, loved the cover songs of "Smells Like Teen Spirit", "Forget You" and "We Built This City".   "The Whistling Caruso" was very well done.
• Not really a cover since they changed the words: "Smells Like Teen Spirit" by the barbershop quartet was made with awesomesauce.  
• The classic Muppets songs made me very happy:  "The Muppet Show" theme song made me smile, "Rainbow Connection" had me in sentimental tears, and "Mah Na Mah Na" got me bouncing like it was supposed to do.  
• The chemistry between Kermit and Miss Piggy is still palpable, and their story was a very current one, featuring Miss Piggy's need for independence vs. her need to be with Kermit.
• The cameos were perfect!  I loved who played Miss Piggy's secretary at Vogue Paris, I loved who played Walter's human mirror, and I loved the people working the marathon.  And, WHOA!  Dude sitting on the park bench in the opening number!  
• A-NI-MAL! A-NI-MAL!  I heart him very much, and I loved that he had his own little storyline.  I want those Angel and Devil Animals.
• I had forgotten how much The Muppet Show loved to tear down that 4th wall, but remembered when I saw them do it again here.  "...this will be a really short movie."  I giggled for a while after that (then started to cry when they started reciting the lines from their theme song).

We all loved the movie.  I need to get the soundtrack.  I need to get the DVD when it gets released.  I need to get those Animal Angel and Devil dolls if they make them.

The Sing-Off 3.8

It's the Final Four.  


Group Performance: Mash-up of a bunch of songs by Gwen Stefani, The Verve, Katy Perry and The Who


I'm really annoyed by Nick saying that a challenge is "all-vocal".  What the hell else would it be on this show, Nick?!  OK, I know that he's reading a teleprompter, but he needs to say something to the writers of this show, or else I'll continue to think he's an idiot.


First Challenge:  Master Mix of 2 songs with different tempos and styles


Pentatonix: "Forget You" by Cee-Lo Green and "Since U Been Gone" by Kelly Clarkson
The key of the Cee-Lo is too low for the female lead, because she had an intonation problem in her solo.  I don't really like the chord progression of the KC song.  I like the way the lyrics in the mash-up mix, but I don't like the music.  I do agree that the rhythm section was great, though.


Urban Method: "Hot in Here" by Nelly and "Fever" by Peggy Lee


Ooh, those are really differently styled songs.  Let's see how they do.  I like that!  Go, girls with the "I wanna take my clothes off" move!  Sexy.  See?  Sara agrees with me.  


Afro-Blue: "I Believe I Can Fly" by R Kelly and "Fly" by Nicki MInaj & Rihanna
A little trouble with those opening chords, guys.  It got a lot better, though, and turned into the lush jazz that I'm used to from them.  The rap kicked butt, Mariah!


Dartmouth Aires: "Born This Way" by Lady Gaga and "Sympathy for the Devil" by the Rolling Stones
So what's with the palm leaf fans?  Is that a devil thing?  I like the pause before the battle between the leads.  Very cool.  


My pick for this set:  Urban Method


Second Challenge: Judges' Pick


Pentatonix: "Dog Days are Over" by Florence + the Machine
I like how they start the song slower than I'm used to, then the beat picks up.  They did this song really well, and redeemed themselves from the first song.  19 year olds?!  Wow, that's incredible.  


Urban Method: "All of the Lights" by Kanye West
I don't think it's much of a challenge to give a hip-hop song to the hip-hop group.  Oh, they want to combine talents.  I see.  Ooh, what was that spacey sound that they all did together?  That was neato.  


Afro-Blue: "A Change Is Gonna Come" by Sam Cooke
That's a great choice of song for them.  Kristi's voice is really smooth and comforting, I just sit back and smile when I listen to it.  Sara, if y'all didn't confuse them along the way, you sure as hell confused me.  Thank you for accepting who they are, even if it's just for today.  


Dartmouth Aires: "Shout" by The Isley Brothers
This should be fun!  But, wait.  If you want them to show that they're not just entertainers but also  recording artists, then why would you give them a song that is automatically entertaining?  I don't get it, but I do love the way they perform this song.  Michael's very bendy.  


This is a diffcult one....my pick for this challenge is Afro-Blue.


Results


Moving on to the finale:  Urban Method & Pentatonix


I'm so tired of Afro-Blue being in the bottom, especially when other groups' pitch issues are brought up, and they don't have that problem most of the time.  


Reprise do-or-die encore for Afro-Blue: "American Boy" from episode 3.2.1
Dartmouth Aires: "Somebody to Love" from episode 3.5
Hmm...both of those were the favorites of the judges...but they're considering that song along with all of the other live performances from the season.


Sara's choice:  Dartmouth Aires (emotionally moved her every time)
Shawn's choice: Afro-Blue (could have a long-standing career in music)
BTW, I'm feeling like this is contrived, but whatever.
Ben's choice: Dartmouth Aires (going with the most consistent)


You all know how I feel about the judges trying to change Afro-Blue's style every frickin' week.  So just imagine how annoyed I am at this moment.  How is someone supposed to be consistent when they're being told that their own style is wrong every week? AUGH!


Afro-Blues' swan song: "We've Only Just Begun" by The Carpenters
Man, how could they let this group go home?!  Stupid judges.  The song was gorgeous.  


So it's our turn to vote.  Hmmmm....I really don't have a favorite out of the remaining 3, nor do I hate any of them enough to vote against them.  So maybe I'll just sit out from this voting session.  Or maybe I just won't tell anyone in this post.  :)


Next week:  The Finale

DLR LotD 11/19/11

Disneyland Resort
Line of the Day


Saturday, November 19, 2011


"We just take the duck fat and spread it all over." -- Valerie, at Catal

The Sing-Off 3.7

We're down to the top 5, and it's R&B night.


Group Performance:Medley of  "I Feel Good" by James Brown, "ABC" by The Jackson 5, "Crazy In Love" by Beyonce


First Challenge: Contemporary R&B


Dartmouth Aires: "Ignition (Remix)" by R Kelly
Uh-oh, they're getting really intense in rehearsal.  I don't know this song.  I like the "bounce bounce", though.  I heard a couple of dissonant chords in there that my ear didn't like, but they're fun, as usual.  Shawn's all tripping out on the sexy stuff.  I'd like to hear them do all of "Trapped in the Closet", too, Ben.  :)


Um, Nick:  aren't all of the groups here an "all-vocal crew"?  WTF?!


Urban Method: "Knock You Down" by Keri Hilson feat. Kanye West
Yeah, I don't know this song, either.  Again we're seeing that Katie has the strongest voice out of all of the women.  Maybe they should force the other gals to sing a power song so that they can get the confidence they need, too.  


Vocal Point: "Every Little Step" by Bobby Brown
I thought they were doing contemporary stuff?  I guess that doesn't mean "songs Sherry doesn't know".  ;)  They wear their names on their sleeves.  Some of these chords are just not working for me, guys, probably because people are not in tune.  I like that all of the vocal percussionists get to show off with this genre.  Tanner got to shine in this one!  I love how Shawn is jealous of the bass men.  Is Sara the only one with ears?  How did the other judges get so snowed by all of the dancing?  I mean, the dancing was fun, but the intonation was not as good as it should have been at this point in the competition.  Maybe it's a sound balance thing that's off on the TV and not in the studio.  Or maybe it's because I'm listening more than I'm watching so my senses aren't all distracted.  


Afro-Blue: "We Belong Together" by Mariah Carey
Uh-oh.  There are a lot of lyrics to remember.  The tempo is slower than I prefer, but they sound really good.  Ack, except for that one chord.  She has sparkly eyeshadow.  Now Ben feels like they're really getting somewhere.  Oh, Ben.  They were somewhere a long time ago.  Sometimes I feel like the judges' comments on the arranging are being said by the producers of the show who only want something they can control later on with the record company.  


Pentatonix: "OMG" by Usher feat. Will.I.Am
Aw, Kevin is having a hard time with the explicit lyrics.  So they couldn't pick a different song?  I feel like the key is too low for the lead, but they pulled it off well.


My pick for this challenge goes to Pentatonix.


Second Challenge:  Classic R&B


Dartmouth Aires: "Midnight Train to Georgia" by Gladys Knight & the Pips
A couple of chords were off, but I love hearing Michael sing.  Sometimes there are just too many of them singing and it takes away from how simple the song should sound.  


Urban Method: "It's Your Thing" by The Isley Brothers
There's more strength from the women! Thank you!  


Vocal Point: "Ain't Too Proud to Beg" by The Temptations
OK, y'all know that I KNOW this song.  :)  Wait. They don't have a girl on stage to drag around.  They did not disappoint me, making sure that they use Temps moves in their choreography. Where did Ben get the soul for that last run?  And why didn't he use it for the whole song?  Show them how it's done, Shawn!  


Afro-Blue: "Best of My Love" by The Emotions
I absolutely love this song, so I'm glad that it's this group singing it.  Interesting transitions to their jazzy style and back to the original.  That made me smile a lot.  So, what is it, Judges?  Do you want them to do their style or don't you?  Augh!


Pentatonix: "Let's Get It On" by Marvin Gaye
Wait.  So Kevin is OK with these lyrics?  That was awesome, and Shawn sure loved it!  


My pick for this challenge:  Pentatonix


Results
Moving on to next week: Pentatonix, Urban Method, Dartmouth Aires, and Afro-Blue


Vocal Point's Swan Song:  "Let Me Go Home" by Michael Buble
Oh, Will Arnett Lookalike, I'll miss you.


Next week:  America gets to vote

DLR LotD 11/11/11

Disneyland Resort
Line of the Day


Friday, November 11, 2011


"That rat just keeps getting me down." -- Jack Skellington, to Sherry, when she asked if he could take off his head to recite Shakespearean quotations, in New Orleans Square

Sally, Sherry, Linda and Jack

The Sing-Off 3.6

Yay!  I have no idea who goes home tonight as I watch!


Group Performance: "Wake Up" by Arcade Fire
That was a lt of guys on that one circle.  They all did that song well together  I'm starting to think that I need an Arcade Fire CD, because I think that's the second song I've heard by them that I like.


I didn't know that Shawn Stockman is an "R&B Bad Boy."  OK, Nick.


First Challenge: Classic Rock


Pentatonix: "Born To Be Wild" by Steppenwolf
I feel like Scott needs to have more growl in his voice for this song.  His voice sounds a little too pretty, but I understand the need for keeping on pitch and sounding clear when you're singing a cappella in a quintet, so that you don't lead the rest of the group to the path of unrighteous flatness or sharpness.  The breakdown was really cool, though, as usual.


Dartmouth Aires: "We're Not Gonna Take It" by Twisted Sister
Uh-oh, Jack left for graduate school.  Good luck, Jack!  There's a rock growl!  Of course, with so many of them, they have a little bit of wiggle room to play with the pitch a little, which they didn't need here anyway.  That was fun.  Their shredded leather coats were wacky.  See?  Shawn mentioned the rock growl!  


Afro-Blue: "American Girl" by Tom Petty & the Heartbreakers
If Afro-Blue loses because their harmonies are too complex for the mainstream, then I say, "way to go on staying true to yourselves".  Alas, they've simplified themselves a little bit for this song.  I understand the need to win, but, well, whatever.  I'll get off of my soapbox.  I liked the addition of the National Anthem. Sara, you didn't see them in the song because they're trying to conform to your previous coaching about being too complex.  You judges are making me crazy and confused.  Don't let me step on that soapbox again.


Delilah: "Dream On" by Aerosmith
I think Amy's voice needed to be less breathy at the beginning, because it sounded weak, maybe because it was too low for her.  Later on, she sounds great, being all Steven Tyler screamy.  Cool!  Maybe she was faking the weak thing after all.  :)  I agree with Ben about the fan effect.


Urban Method: "Here I Go Again" by Whitesnake
Well, that rocked with the awesome rap!  Since I don't really know much more of the melody than what they did, it worked for me.  Do you see how they didn't compromise their identity for the challenge?  I like that.  


Vocal Point: "You Really Got Me" by The Kinks
I like that opening!  Rocked that high note at the end, too!  That was fun.


My pick for this challenge:  Urban Method


Second Challenge:  New Country


Dartmouth Aires: "Save A Horse, Ride a Cowboy" by Big & Rich
Cute props.  I feel like the background vocals were too loud and overshadowed the leads' voices.  How cute, with the hats down for Sara!  


Afro-Blue: "Need You Now" by Lady Antebellum
OK, I'm tired of this song, so I hope they get me out of that funk.  They sang that better than LA.  Of course, it helps that the lead voice is that of my favorite gal in the group: Christy.  


Urban Method: "Before He Cheats' by Carrie Underwood
Go, girl!  I like Katie's rockin' voice.  


Delilah: "If I Die Young" by The Band Perry
I don't know this song (from the title), and I've never heard of the original artist.  Oh, wait.  I do know this song.  Nice blend at the beginning, but I didn't really like the ending chords.  


Vocal Point: "Life Is A Highway" by Rascal Flatts
Is the first lead rushing the rhythm, or am I not hearing it right?  They just have so much fun up there! OK, so it wasn't just me: Sara heard the rushing, too.  


Pentatonix: "Stuck Like Glue" by Sugarland
What a cute song that I've never heard before.  I'm wondering if she was having pitch problems at the beginning, or if she meant to do that whole vocal slide thing.  


My pick for this round: Afro-Blue


Results
Staying for next week:  Pentatonix, Urban Method, Darmouth Aires, Vocal Point and Afro-Blue


Well, that one scared me.


Delilah's Swan Song: "Survivor" by Destiny's Child
Nice way to let most of the gals have a piece of the lead.  I wish they enunciated better, though.


Next Week:  R&B.  You know, they should do jazz one week, just to see if anyone but Afro-Blue can sing that genre.