Rest assured friends, I have not fallen into the depths of the internet.  I'm still alive, although I've had an extremely busy year.  Since I've not updated this in forever, I decided to move to a more permanent and more accessible location within the blogosphere to write about my studies, travels, and music more generally--which will hopefully stir some scholarly discussion.  You can keep up with me here.  I hope you keep reading!

Tschüss meine Freunde!

America gets it wrong again.

For a second year in a row, America does not understand what American Idol is really about. The show has been sucking beyond recognition this year and has failed to capture my attention with the subpar contestants, aside from Melinda Dolittle, and the B-list celebs teaching the master classes every week.

Last year, they picked McPhee and Sir Hicks-a-lot over Elliot Yamin, clearly the more talented vocalist out of the bunch.

And this year, it happens again. Blake and Jordin are left to duke it out in the final and Melinda is sent home.

Luckily, the second and third place contestants typically get better record deals than the winner who (aside from obvious marketing fame and wads of cash) gets locked into an unbreakable contract and basically sells their soul to Idol for the rest of his/her life. So, go Melinda! You'll have more artistic control than the rest will and people will actually buy your album because you have a flawless technique.

But wow, America never ceases to surprise me with the stupidity.

What the hell is with this spelling trend in pop music over the past two years? I'm not talking "YMCA" Village People spelling either. That's not spelling a word, that's an abbreviation. Aretha Franklin spelled it out in "Respect," but that song actually has substance and a great form. The power in her voice makes each letter a percussive living and breathing thing. It has meaning. Here, the single word drives the entire song. And the repetition makes it more powerful.

Fast forward to 2005. Someone should have sent a memo to the record execs. "Stop spelling." But, like all pop fads, once one person revives a trend, everyone jumps on board. Suddenly, we've become a society of trashy 14 year olds not wanting to hold back from flashing our "junk." Ugh. It's especially prominent in the likes of artists such as Gwen Stefani ("Hollaback Girl"), Black Eyed Peas, and pretty much anything Fergie gets her hands on.

Speak and Spell Fergie is pretty much the worst offender. Even worse than the spelling is perhaps the mindless repetition. "My Humps," anyone? Call me a blind little pop culture sheep, I don't care...I still find it entertaining and want to shake my ass to her songs. Her songs are addictive like Doritos. Do I feel instantly stupid by listening to her music? Hell yes. But, at least I can work off those calories by dancing. Or being easy. Or being sleazy. Or just being up in the gym just workin' on my fitness... He's my witness.

I know that every girl in America wants to be a cheerleader, but holy crap this is getting old! And apparently it doesn't matter if you are a pop hottie or a hip hop master or an aging icon anymore. Even Tori Amos is spelling out M-I-L-F in her new single "Big Wheel" from the much unanticipated concept album American Doll Posse. By the way, if you are unfamiliar with what a MILF is, ask your mom. My final thought on all these spelling songs is that most singers who have good voices do not rely on their spelling skillz. Word.

Favorite spelling songs, in terms of "tastey-ness":
1. "Fergalicious" --Fergie (imbued with MUCH spelling, including T-A-S-T-E-Y!)
2. "Hollaback Girl" --Gwen Stefani
3. "Glamorous" --Fergie

And of course, the random pop notes of the day:
Anything Timbaland touches turns to gold.
Goldfrapp is D to the E to the L-I-C-I-O-U-S.
And a big HALLELUJAH that Sanjaya is no more an Idol contender.

As Alex Ross pointed out in his blog, the new Nike ad:

Nike + Mozart

Ah, the havoc of thy holy hoop.

I know I've been lax in updating this blog, but I've come across some comical things over the past couple of days.

First, Belinda Carlisle, the middle aged Go-Go, of 1980s pop fame, has reinvented herself as a French chanteuse. Yes, that's right. She just released a new album in FRENCH, Voila!. Her disco-esque reinterpretation of Piaf's "La vie en rose" is scoff-worthy; however, some of these tracks are pretty fantastic. It probably helps that Brian Eno is one of her collaborators. I particularly like the track "Contact." I may have to check out the whole album now...but you can preview a few of the tracks on her MySpace page.

Whitney sent me a link to this video on YouTube, which as a music historian, I found pretty amusing:


On a more serious note, Delerium has a new album out which seems to have some fantastic tracks. I've also reacquainted myself with two albums from 1996: Me'Shell NdegeOcello's Bitter and Dar Williams's Mortal City, both of which have held up over the decade quite nicely. In other news, I can't seem to get enough of Dave Brubeck these days. I'm not a hardcore jazzophile as it were, but Brubeck never ceases to excite me.

I am currently working as a nanny and the 11 week old infant in my care LOVES Puccini. LOVES IT! She especially loves when I sustain high notes that crescendo and release into a glissando. Watching her facial expressions while I am singing is priceless. I am the voice of her Lamaze bug "Guiseppe" as I've named who sings Italian opera, and her Lamaze frog "Claude" who sings in French, and her German pilot "Franz" who hangs over the changing table. Franz usually just holds long conversations in German, but occasionally breaks out into some lieder. It looks like we need to get her some female companions as well...maybe a nice Irish woman and a jazz singer. :)

Good news!

I am going to the MidPoint Music Festival (Sept 20-23). Since I'm a musician, I got a FREE full delegate pass with access for free admission to see all 300 bands and attend all the conferences and panels. ROCK. They also have a open demo critique, so I can bring along the remastered versions of a couple of my tracks to be critiqued, which would be extremely helpful. I'm getting business cards made up in time for the festival too. I wish I had my EP done, so I could whore it out to industry professionals, but it's not done yet... Anyhow, I think this will be a decent way to break-in to the scene, get a lot of networking done, and be on good footing to submit my material for next year's festival.

Some of my myspace contacts will be there, so at least I can meet up with them and hopefully get some face time about either collaborating or doing double-bill performances once I have at least an hour of music ready to go. I am super excited about meeting up with the Cincy band Entheos and talk promo, publicity, booking, and of course MUSIC, etc. which I am REALLY looking forward to!

Next step: find cheap (but professional looking) web design for my music website.
Then such fun things such as the photo shoot, graphic design, and studio recording can happen. Time is flying.

I am way too excited about this.

Amazon doesn't give all of the info (you can find out more on http://toriamos.com), but bet your sweet ass that I am getting this. Those of you who know me may describe me as slightly obsessed. It's true. Considering I own nearly everything the woman has recorded on CD, she's taken over about half the space on my iPod, and I've spent pretty much years of my life researching her music, societal impact, and cultural appeal...this really is a must-have. It's a five disc set with 86 tracks. The real reason I must own it is not because it has seven new tracks or that it has early demos of some of her more popular songs.

I am more excited because now I can now listen to some favorite early Tori gems such as "The Pool," "Flying Dutchman," "Take to the Sky," "Daisy Dead Petals," "Never Seen Blue," "Here. In My Head," "Sister Janet," and "Home on the Range" on CD! I have all these songs on a fuzzy cassette that is now about 12 years old. The fact that she is re-releasing all these old songs fills me with glee!

One month to go...whee!

Now, for something completely non-YouTube related...

Musical theatre diva Kristen Chenoweth released an "inspirational" pop CD entitled As I Am. I love Broadway and Broadway babies, but since her appearance on the scene, I cannot stand Chenoweth. It may be the over-bubbly cute factor, the perfect blonde hair and Hollywood looks, her piercing nasality...I'm not sure. Millions of people love her though...even though this album is the most self-indulgent thing I've seen released in quite some time.

Filled with Christian goodies (which is fine if Christian inspiration-pop is your thing). Musicologists take note...Chenoweth even took the liberty of adding new lyrics to "Joyful, Joyful" which uses the ever familiar theme from the final movement of Beethoven's ninth symphony. Somewhere Schiller is rolling over! While I do not consider myself a music purist on ANY level as I also like to manipulate and mess with standard rep., there are certain things that are better left alone.

But the reason I am even writing this post, is not that I am annoyed with Kristen's Christian burblings, but rather, the bonus track, "Taylor, the Latte Boy." Yup. A song about a barista. In musical-theatre fashion. Yikes!

( Taylor, the Latte Lyrics )

"Bring me java, bring me joy!"?!?!

In the eternal words of the snotty Maitre D' in Ferris Bueller's Day Off, I weep for the future.

Who knew the Scissor Sisters had videos?!?!

OMFG I LOVE YouTube!!!

"Laura"

"Take Your Mama Out"
Jake Shears wins for gayest man alive in OVERALLS! A FUR CAPE! AND FEATHERS! All in the same vid. He is fabulous. The facial hair; however, must go!

"Filthy/Gorgeous" UNCENSORED and by uncensored, I mean VERY VERY UNCENSORED!
I love Ana Matronic!

I downloaded Spektor's extended Begin to Hope album on iTunes this weekend and I cannot stop listening to it. Brilliant!

For your viewing/listening pleasure:

"Samson" Directed by stop-motion guru Peter Sluszka.

"Us" This one is still my favorite! Directed by Adria Petty.

"Better" Another one by Adria Petty. The 80s-inspired visuals are simple and fit the song well.

Here's the promo vid. for "On the Radio" filmed at the school her mom teaches at in Mt. Vernon, NY.

I went to college the same time as Spektor... She was at SUNY Purchase and I was at Manhattanville. It's strange we never bumped into each other. Purchase isn't THAT big! LOL. We probably would have become friends.

A Kate Bush montage to Natalie Dessay's Queen of the Night aria.

***postmodern disasterpiece***

I left Music Hall Friday night filled with glee and excitement. Evan Mirageas's debut production was positively spectacular. Puccini performed to perfection.

Giordano Bellincampi accentuated the sumptuous romance and drama embedded in the score and the orchestra supported the sublime vocalists. In my past four years attending the Cincinnati Opera, I have never heard such vocal fireworks as I heard last night. After attending many memorable Met performances, I've never been nearly as impressed with Cincinnati's offerings. However, Cincinnati's 2006 Tosca now holds a place among my favorite performances. The front row center seating was also memorable! The set design by Jean Pierre-Ponelle was palatial and opulent, full of Catholic pageantry culminating in the visually stimulating Te Deum finale in Act I. The large chorus was filled with old students of mine and it was a pleasure to pick out their faces in their costumed regalia and see them singing in such a star-studded production.

The casting was brilliant. It is a rare thing to see such convincing acting on the stage today. Acting that doesn't appear staged and rehearsed. The type of acting that comes from deep emotional connection with the character and true craft. Singing actors of the Callas tradition are indeed uncommon. However, Aprile Millo as Floria Tosca brought such exceptional conviction to her role. Millo's singing was stupendous, a warm robust instrument that conjures memories of Renata Tebaldi in her prime. In the end, her age (nor size) did not matter at all. I was so spellbound in her performance, that I could focus only on the dramatic intentions of Tosca and the depth of her emotions. I only hope Millo's performances remind American audiences of the great singing actor tradition of the past, that supersede today's preoccupations with glamour and slimness that have prompted the utter madness of the Anna Netrebko craze. I've heard many a "Vissi d'arte," but few performances have moved me so deeply that I was on the verge of tears.

A bright shining star emerged with tenor Antonio Palombi's performance as Cavaradossi. His technique was glorious and his transitions from the hounded lover, to melodramatic romantic, to passionate revolutionary were remarkable. "E lucevan le stelle" in Act III was nothing short of heartbreaking. I hope to see more of him on the American stage. He is a glorious singer and performer. Mark Delavan performed a bastardly Scarpia. The use of smacking his leather switch against his knee-high boots in the first act had S&M undertones, which worked in Delavan's favor. His voice, still large and rich since I'd heard him as Scarpia six years ago at NYCO, needed a little more punch in the Te Deum, a difficult feat for any baritone. However, his performance of the evil police chief was extremely compelling. The roles of Angelotti (Wayne Tigges) and Sacristan (Thomas Hammons) were also a delight.

I look forward to the rest of the season. I will be going to Verdi's Un Ballo in Maschera (CCM's Ken Shaw is singing!) and Offenbach's Les contes d'Hoffmann, both entertaining favorites featuring coloratura Sarah Coburn.

I am anxiously awaiting Friday evening so I can see Cincinnati Opera's Tosca starring Aprille Millo.



Janelle Gelfand posted her response to Thursday's opening night performance in her blog. She asks whether an opera singer should "look" the part or not. Unfortunately, this is the trend in the US right now. Take note of Deborah Voigt (before and after) and Andrea Gruber's gastric bypass surgeries as well as the horrid affair of Anna Netrebko singing at the Met. How does an behemoth industry, such as opera, reconcile the looks vs. talent issue? The Met had success with Angela Gheorghiu (despite Gelfand's opinion), but gave into looks by adding Netrebko to the 2006 season roster.

This is an interesting question to pose with Millo at Music Hall. In response to Gelfand, ultimately, looks do not matter. Especially in regards to one's size. However, Millo looks nearly sixty, although she is only forty-eight. By no means do I intend to sound like an ageist opera queen here, but it does seem implausible for someone who looks sixty to convincingly play Tosca. We all heard about what happened with Catherine Malfitano as Carmen last year. However, Dame Millo is "the" reigning Tosca. So I will have to wait and see how this all plays out on Friday.

Mark Delavan will rock Scarpia. He recently sang in Forza del Destino at the Met and I've heard him sing numerous times with NYCO. I actually heard him as Scarpia in NYCO's Tosca when I was at Manhattanville...his Scarpia is positively brutal and scary! Cavaradossi is being played by Antonio Palombi, a tenor relatively new to the US. Here's hoping he gets it right! I want his "E lucevan le stelle" to break my heart and make me cry. I am really excited to see how this all will pan out under Evans Mirageas's direction. I've gotten used to Nick Muni's modernist and avant-garde productions...so an opulent Tosca will be an extreme change. But the grey-haireds will love that Cincinnati is moving away from stark and interpretive productions.


Any way you slice it, it's bound to be entertaining. Tosca is one of my favorites. I have the Oblinski artwork from the last Cincinnati production in my bedroom. Front row, here I come.

I've been neglecting this blog for far too long, but I've had a lot of health issues going on which had me sidetracked. For the moment, my grad school career is on hold, but I'm trying to stay positive about things and get myself better. Currently looking for a day job. I'll be doing goodness-knows-what, but hopefully I will end up teaching somewhere this fall.

Now, on to play musical catch-up.

Here are some musicians and musical things I am loving lately:
Anna Nalick, Coverville, KT Tunstall, P!nk's newest release, anything by Regina Spektor and the Pandora site that Alex Ross pointed out on his blog.

Steven Pressfield's book The War of Art has recently inspired me to get back in touch with the creative person I used to be. I've messed around with GarageBand on my iBook and have put some new tracks up on MySpace and on GarageBand. I am still just acquainting myself with GarageBand, so be nice! Best yet, I've started composing again. I thought for sure musicology would have sucked away any composition skill I had left, but it's nice to know it's been there all along just waiting for me to come back to it.

Once my job situation is squared away, I have plans to submit freelance work to Bust and Bitch. I've got a couple of pop essays in the works at the moment.

A couple RIDICULOUS links to sate the crowd:

A Mario Bros. Rock Opera?!?!

And for all the Starbucks lovers...oh the disaster!

Thanks for your continued reading!

...and JAMES BLUNT made me that way.

That heinously annoying voice that sounds like a little elf who just ran a marathon, "You're beautiful, it's true.  I saw your face in a crowded place and I don't know what to do because I'll never be with you."  That voice--so affected, not remotely natural sounding.  Horrid songwriting.  And it's not just this song either that is lacking any sort of craftmanship.  It's unfortunate though, because he is a video dream with a hot A&F media-friendly body.  Teenage girls probably still like him although his singing lukewarm tunes is abysmal. 

It's an interesting phenomenon.  His voice sounds embodied in a 15 year old nerd who hasn't yet hit puberty and yet, here he is, chiseled swimmer's body and all, beautiful face, half-naked and shoeless on MTV, performing the athletic cliff-jump and looking hot while doing it. 

From the visuals alone, I expect a sound more muscular and visceral; definitely more passionate.  Not a whiny wallflower, which is what I get. 

Hollow lyrics.  Hollow voice.  Hollow melodies.  Hollow harmonies.  The whole package just falls apart.  Thank goodness he has his arresting good looks to hold it all together.

I just read a review of him that likens his music to that of Jeff Buckley.  I have to disagree.  I'd take Ryan Cabrera's whining over this any day.  Better yet, I'll stick with Damien Rice.

Oh Rob Thomas!

Something To Be...total FABULOUSNESS.  I love.  I adore.  His music keeps getting more interesting...and here he is, SOLO!

The brass choir on the title track and "Streetcorner Symphony" is just genius.  Rock.

"All That I Am," has the best orchestration since Bjork.  POP PENTATONICISM!  HELL YES.  Marimba, bells, percussion ensemble, shofar, kanun, and duduk.  This is the most interesting song on the album with the most poignant lyrics.  It has Miss Saigon flavor without Andrew Lloyd Webby overkill.  Love love love this song.

Awesome collaborations on here too.  Wendy Melvoin (guitar), Greater Anointing (backup vocals), Cassidy (backup vocals), and John Mayer (guitar).

I love the hell out of matchbox twenty...but oh my god this is wonderful.

Thomas's songwriting gets better and better.  And his voice continues improving. 

I had a most FABULOUS weekend and wanted to share my joy. Here goes: Saturday was BEAUTIFUL weather, mid 70s, breezy, gorgeous. Lizz and I traveled into Kentucky. Three years later, the fact that I live only a ten minute drive from Kentucky is still a novelty to me. We went to Newport and walked around, got some sun, and had some delicious stuffed grape leaves at Cafe Istanbul.

We purchased tickets for Chicks Rock Fest at the Southgate House that evening, drove back to my place, got glammed up, and went back out. The music was great. Please take all my opinions with a grain of salt. Live is always different. And I am a music snob, after all. But no band was bad, I recommend checking out their sites and seeing any of the bands live if you like them and they play near you!!!

The first five minutes after I walked into the bar, LA musician Jennifer Corday approached me to tell me "she liked my tank top." HA! Likely story. I was impressed nonetheless. I don't think Lizz was. LOL. Despite the flattery and listening to a pretty good set by the Ani DiFranco meets Paula Cole-ish Julie Loyd (from Boston), there was a drunk blonde with the most piercing voice on her cell phone at the back of the bar LOUD AS HELL. She remained at the bar for the entire set and three hours total, proceeding to get more shitfaced with every passing minute, calling everyone she knew, yelling into the phone, taking pictures, and asking other random bar friends how to text message. Oy. Moved to the ballroom and caught a song by Paperboy Jack. Very poppy, No Doubt-ish, with a Gwen-esque singer..think less attitude, bigger boobs, less intricate songwriter, more trite lyrics.

After Julie Loyd, we saw an awesome set by The Walker Project from Cincinnati. Talented siblings, Carole and Chris Walker. Think soul meets folk meets funk meets gospel meets pop. The lead singer has an amazing voice which the mp3s do not enough justice to, she needs to be heard live. And she has a TON of energy. TO. FUCKING. DIE. They are really fab and I plan on supporting them by seeing some of their local shows and getting a CD. A lot of people turned out to see them, which rocked. Unfortunately, drunk blonde was continuing her loud cell convo in the back... People were getting pissed at this point. Add a few beers and a tequila shot in here, and there I am.

We caught a couple songs from Crankbox. I heard of this band a few months ago when the lead singer, Bre (second from left), found my personals ad and started emailing me. She seemed cool enough, but I was too busy with school to start anything. We caught their song "On the Radio" which was pretty damn funny.

After this was the much awaited set from Hungry Lucy, a trip-hop band in the vein of Portishead and Massive Attack. Needless to say I was excited. Well, things started to turn into a surreal lesbian independent film as soon as Hungry Lucy was getting ready to perform--War-N from the group was wearing a white tunic/caftan, looking very much like a religious experience, complete with the iBook, Korg, and a dumbek, while Christa Belle was looking high on life (or something better) in a white lace slip dress over a pair of jeans, and waist length brown curly hair. Quite the pair! I was ready. Maybe it would have been better if I was high. Not sure. I actually thought War-N was really good and made good use (not overuse) of precomposed loops on the iBook. His drumming, particularly on the dumbek, also good. Christa Belle had a clear, if not whispery soprano voice, which most times sounded too childish for trip-hop. There was no annunciation whatsoever, so I couldn't tell if the lyrics were anything spectacular or not, but at one point I did think I made something out about "killing trees." Hmm. I also had a problem with the way she had her eyes closed for the ENTIRE set. It's one thing to close your eyes while singing occasionally...it shows you really have deep emotional attachment to what you are singing about; however, to do so for an extended period of time cuts off the audience completely and then the performance becomes one-dimensional and self-serving. Underneath the music remained the high-pitched drone of Loud Blonde on the cell. After the band finished each song, the guy in the chair next to me (Promoter? Biggest Fan Ever? Not really sure.) clapped so loud I thought his hands were going to flail off and break or hit me in the face inadvertently. Incidentally, he also brought a stack of three of their CDs of them which he had neatly stacked on the table. Perhaps to be autographed??? As I looked behind me, a woman was wearing pants made completely of WHITE LACE. Oh so wrong. Lizz bought me a much needed Corona to pick up where the tequila left off.

Next we saw The Outside from NYC part punk, part hard rock, part emo. LOVE. They really rocked out. The lead singer, Tree, somehow makes butchiness cute. She totally rocked hard, complete with kicking and thrashing, along with some impressive singing. I only wish we had seen the entire set. The audience was eating it up though.

Awesome awesome awesome night!

OMG DID YOU SEE AMERICAN IDOL LAST NIGHT?

Let me preface this rant with the fact that I am practically gay, a gay rights supporter, and a supporter of HRC, the gay BLT, and the rest...I mean no offense.  But this moment could not go unmentioned.

Hello gayness Anthony Fedorov!  Thank you for Rogers and Hammerstein rolling around in their graves.  Thank you little impish freak for choosing to sing "Climb Every Mountain" from The Sound of Music.  That's right--the song that Mother Abbess sings.  A NUN.  And you, Fedorov?  Gayest of gays, which I love and embrace.  This one should have come with a warning label: EXTREME GAYNESS.  Conservatives and Middle Americans Beware--too gay for you.  It would have been bad enough had Fedorov sung the song as it was written.  But, no, obviously NOT GAY ENOUGH!  He in fact turned it into some kind of musak-pop complete with hip-shaking on the lyric "A dream that will need all the love you can give..."  And then, he did mistakenly reach for some stratospheric note high into the heavens where Richard Rogers was throwing up into a trash can, only to sound like a sheep.  OH. MY. GOD.

My mother promptly called me.  This is one of my FAVORITE musical theatre pieces which he shredded, destroyed, murdered, slaughtered, and then sodomized with a metal pole.  I sang this song when I was 16 at my voice recital.  It was "my" song.  Complete with a rocking high Ab at the end.  And he killed it.  KILLED.  MOCKED.  HUMILIATED.  For all Americans to see. 

Mr. Fedorov.  I am very disappointed in you.  You mocked musical theatre legends.  You destroyed a lovely song.  A lovely musical.  I am sure there is a group of Fedorov haters somewhere, preparing for your demise.  I only seek justice, and ask all America to serve this justice fairly by ensuring you be voted off Idol tonight. 

In general, I do not take reality tv seriously, but I take singing seriously and goddamn this was a travesty.

My copy of The Beekeeper came from Amazon yesterday.  I really want to like this CD, I really do.  In fact, I've been playing it nonstop to try and force it on myself.  But God, Tori...where have you gone? 

There are *maybe* three good songs--"Parasol," "Sleeps with Butterflies," and "Martha's Foolish Ginger."  And a couple mediocre-good songs--"The Power of Orange Knickers," "Goodbye Pisces," and "Toast."  But the problem is that they are all permutations of one another, the orchestrations are all similar and boring, complete with the FM-lite rhythm track.  And the lyrics which are normally excellent and you can dive into, move things around, and find alternate and varied interpretations fall completely flat here.  They are trite at best, "Original Sinsuality" and "Ireland" or completely incomprehensible drivel, "Jamaica Inn." 

And then there is Tori-Gone-Wrong.  "Hoochie Woman?"  What the fuck?  If you've heard it, you know what I am talking about.  Please do not insert a lyric about "I bring home the Bacon."  More apt is from the same song is, "I went to work and the office girls were all burning their poetry.  It wasn't good."  NO DOUBT. 

"Cars and Guitars?"  You are NOT Chrissie Hynde.  Enough.  I am just immensely disappointed.  This is adult-FM Tori gone too far hippy-dippy.  I feel this CD won't be rotating in my stereo much longer, despite my attempts.  I will not be seeing this tour.  I don't want to see these songs performed live.  Tori, come back.

Oscar moment:

I love Beyonce as a R&B/pop artist.  Please dear God, do not moonlight as a serious songstress singing a psuedo-operatic chanson from the French film Les Choristes. French choral music is lovely.  I am all for crossover artists, but seriously, what was that???

And speaking of travesties, I just saw the Nationwide commercial featuring MC Hammer.  OH SNAP!!! 

*dies laughing*

And why, oh why, is Beyonce now trying to be a musical theatre goddess in a shoddy second attempt at divadom singing the heinous aftermath Loud Lloyd Webber pastiche of "Learn to be Lonely?"  It certainly wasn't good with Minnie Driver's less than supple pipes wailing it out and Beyonce brought no hope to the song either, although she looked pretty singing it.  Oy vey.  Awful song, trite performance.

But yay to the Santana-Antonio Banderas collaboration on "Al Otro Lado del Rio."  I <3 Santana.  Antonio singing is super fab....*dreams of Evita* A good song, but performance-wise, even better!  This may win.

I enjoy Josh Groban as a adult-contemporary artist though way too many people try to say he is an opera singer (FAR from the truth) and "Believe" is typical of his genre.  I like this song, for all its saccharine.  But, why must Beyonce join in?  He sang it fine by himself at his concert.  Why wasn't I notified the Oscars were changing over to The Beyonce Show this year?

As for the Counting Crows, when did they become bubblegum junk?  I used to find them somewhat profound, and now they are CRANKING out the crap.  "Accidentally in Love?"  COME ON.  Accidentally punch me in the damn face!  I never knew Duritz could write such turgid lyrics!!!  And why does he now resemble Kid from Kid 'n Play of House Party fame (only with a floppier fade)?

Best Score goes to Jan A.P. Kaczmarek for Finding Neverland who gave a lovely speech!  Now, I cannot wait to see this movie next weekend, for musical purposes alone.

Thank you for YO-YO MA performing the Bach Sarabande.  AH...lovely as always!  And a delightful break from Beyonce!