Another Sad Day

Seriously?!?! We've lost another amazing talent? I just don't get it. I sit and count all the amazing talents that have been taken away from us, usually because of drugs and it seriously depresses me. I'm not a huge believer in God, but who ever is up there is such a tease. These super talented people are put on Earth to share their amazing abilities and then they're taken away too early. It's like some sick joke. Breaks my heart. I remember listening to Whitney Houston when I was a little kid. Mouthing along with the song and re-enacting The Bodyguard. Whitney is such a huge icon and talent and will always be remembered. RIP Whitney.

Sing Sing Sing

I love the Hollywood Bowl. It's so much fun to sit outside and eat while you watch a show during the summer nights. I go every year with my parents and this year was no exception. I went to a bunch of shows and I'm pretty sure I've written about all of them. This past Saturday I took my roommate to see the Sound of Music Sing-A-Long for her birthday and I have to say that it was very fun. I thought that it was going to be annoying with all the people thinking they could sing, but it was actually a lot of fun. It's such a good movie and getting to be able to sing aloud was very fun. There was a costume contest before the show started and some parents came up with super clever costumes for their kids. The kids that won were all dressed like Oscar's because the movie won 5 Academy Awards. Very awesome.

I also forgot how good the movie actually is. I mean I've seen it a million times, but this was the first time in a long time I sat and watched the entire movie from beginning to end. I might have to go every year now. I loved how much the audience got into the movie too. When the Nazi's were searching for the Von Trapp family, people in the audience took out their flash lights and started shining them everyone. Each audience member also got a small bag of goodies and inside were party poppers so when the Captain and Maria kissed for the first time, everyone shot off their poppers. And of course, when they all sang edelweiss, everyone took out their cell phones and waved them in the air. I was laughing almost the entire movie at things the audience members were doing. So I definitely think I will return.

Weekend Show - John Williams at the Hollywood Bowl

Another wonderful Saturday night at the Hollywood Bowl. I was scared it was going to be hot because it was ridiculously hot during the day, but surprisingly it was cool. Anyway, I went with the parentals to see John Williams with special guest James Taylor. I went to the show last year and I knew all the Star Wars fanatics were going to be there, but I don't think anyone is ever prepared to see 2,000+ light sabers come out. It looks very cool and my parents loved it.

The show this year was a bit odd. The first half was music from all his cowboy movies where James Taylor read a story and sang a song and then the second half was all his famous movies like Harry Potter, ET, Star Wars, etc. I was a little disappointed because I feel like they could have showed more movie clips than they did. I know it's all about the music, but it's always nice to see the 2 paired together. There was one really cool thing they did with Indian Jones though. They showed the clip without music and John Williams spoke us through the action and then they showed the clip again with the music. It was very fun. But definitely more movie clips would have been better. Either way, John Williams is awesome and it's insane to me that he has all that music in his head.

Weekend of Disney

This weekend was very Disney filled and I’m not complaining in the least. Saturday, I headed down to the Anaheim Convention Center for the D23 Expo. It wasn’t what I expected, but I still had fun. I got to see John Lasseter and that’s really all I cared about. He and his creative team had a panel discussion and I waited in line for 3 hours to see it. There were a lot of nerdy people, which I didn’t expect at all. I guess when I think of Disney, I don’t think of a nerdy following, but this weekend kind of taught me a lesson. There were quite a few people dressed in bad costumes. I felt very out of place in some instances, but I saw some old co-workers and felt a little better about being there. I had fun, but I don’t think I will be going again. I was looking forward to the Carousel of Projects, which was a room showing all of the new projects coming up like the expansion of Fantasyland at Disney World, Cars Land, Buena Vista Street, etc but I follow so many Disney blogs that nothing was really new. I got to see a model of Buena Vista Street, which was cool, but for the most part, I already knew about everything they were showing. So again, it was fun, but I’ll skip it next time.

Then, I ran back to LA for a night at the Hollywood Bowl with Mickey and his magical brooms for Fantasia with the LA Phil. See, I told you it was a Disney filled weekend. I hadn’t seen the movie since I was a kid and I realized there were a lot of things I didn’t remember. They only showed clips of the movie, which was kind of sad because I wanted to see the whole thing, but it was still awesome. Of course, I was stuck sitting next to crazy people. The lady next to me was dancing and being obnoxious and the girl behind me kept humming every song. Then the dancing lady got annoyed by the humming chick and instead of turning around and telling her to be quiet, she kept shhing her. It was obnoxious. Either way, the Hollywood Bowl is always fun and enjoying something Disney related is even better!

Still A Bad Graduation

Ugh! So now the Glee people are saying that Lea Michele, Chris Colfer and Cory Monteith aren't leaving Glee. I'm so sick of your games! The cast members signed on for 7 years and therefore can't be leaving the show after the 3rd season. Makes sense, but stop messing around. One of the creators was asked during Comic-Con if these 3 were leaving and he said:

Cory, Lea, Chris, they are seniors and so they are graduating. But because they are graduating doesn’t mean they’re leaving the show. I always say, if you have Lea Michele under contract, you don't just say, “You know what? We’re gonna let you go.” It just wouldn’t be kind of the smart thing to do.

Well duh!!!! I would come over there and strangle you myself if you did something like that. There are just more and more things that make me dislike Glee. It makes me sad because it has the potential to be a good show, but when you throw this bullshit into the mix, I'm outtie.

Manic Monday

Sad day. I'm sure you've all heard that on Saturday morning, Amy Winehouse was found dead in her house in London. I was shocked, but not at the same time. I mean, we all knew she had some major drug and alcohol issues and she said herself that they tried to make her go to rehab and she said no. I feel kind of bad because even her mom was quoted saying it was only a matter of time so it seems like no one was able to get through to Amy. She was definitely talented, but a little strange. She falls into that 27 club thing where a handful of rock stars died at the age of 27: Janis Joplin, Kurt Cobain, Jimi Hendrix, Jim Morrison, Brian Jones and many others. I find that very interesting. Is that like the golden age or something? Like Final Destination seeks rock stars who are 27? Either way it's a shame and my heart goes out to her family and fans.

Good Friday

Ugh! Rebecca Black is back with a song called My Moment. It’s so awful. At least Friday was catchy. This is just bad. I wish she would just sing and not have machines make her voice all weird. I heard her sing live on a talk show when someone asked her to sing on the spot and she was fine. This makes her sound like she can’t sing in the least. I’m not a fan! Either pick up your game or go away! Plus, it feels like she’s kind of throwing this song in everyone’s. I know people were saying some really harsh things about her and that sucks, but I don’t really appreciate the obvious attitude in this video and with the lyrics of the song. The people you're singing about can make or break you. The public can be really cruel and I would have cautioned against her attitude, but I guess we'll see where she goes.

Worst Graduation

Ok, I can’t ignore this any longer. I think this is the dumbest decision the Glee writers and producers could possibly make! Lea Michele (Rachel), Chris Colfer (Kurt), and Cory Monteith (Finn) will not be returning for season 4 of Glee. They will be “graduating” and they won’t be followed off to college. I understand that the writers didn’t want it to be one of those shows where the kids are in high school for 8 years, but wow. Your show is popular right now. Why would you change the cast so dramatically like that? I pretty much only watch the show for Lea Michele. She’s amazing and belongs on my TV singing. There’s a show right now called The Glee Project where the Glee talent guy is actively hunting for new talent. I don’t really like any of the kids they have on the show. I’m not even a very big fan of Glee and this makes me a little mad. I think it’s a really bad decision and I wouldn’t be surprised if the show gets canceled not too far down the line.

Fox is also going to release a 3D concert movie of Glee. I’m kind of over you!

Weekend Show - West Side Story

I went to the Hollywood Bowl this past weekend with the family to see West Side Story. We originally thought it was going to be a live action show, but it turned out to just be the movie with the LA Phil playing the music. It was very good, but I never realized how gay the movie is.

I've seen it plenty of times, but wow is it gay. Obviously, it was perfect for the time, but now when you watch the movie it's very fruity. The guys are dancing all over each other with fighting motions. I had to try not to laugh at some points. The movie will always remain a classic in my heart, but with very gay tendencies. It was definitely a good time though. I always love the Bowl in the summer.

Weekend Show - Glee Live

I hope everyone had an awesome weekend. I wish it was longer, but what can you do. My weekend was packed with entertainment. I saw Glee Live at the Staples Center on Saturday night. The show quality was just as good as their last tour and it was very fun. There were little girls in front of me who would not sit down so I had to dodge a lot to see the stage so that was annoying, but there was a little boy sitting next to us who was so in to the show and that made it better. There were definitely more solos this time around, which I found interesting. I mean it made sense because there are a lot of solos in the show, but of course the big numbers were amazing. I'm happy that they at least hold up live show quality because sometimes their TV show quality is lacking. Here are some fan videos from the Vegas show in case you missed out.

Valerie


Born This Way

The Voice

I hope you’re watching The Voice. It’s kind of a good show. I wasn’t sure how I was going to feel about it at first. I was scared it was going to be similar to American Idol, but it’s not at all and I totally appreciate that. There are no bad singers on this show. All the bad singers are gotten rid of before the cameras even started rolling. I really like that because I feel so bad for those people on American Idol. They treat them so horribly. The concept of this show is kind of cool. Various singers come out and the judges have their backs turned. This is all based on voice and not looks at all. If the judge likes what they hear, they push a button that turns their chair to face the singer. The singer then has an opportunity to be on that judges “team” to move on in the competition. Sometimes there is more than one judge to turn around and the singer gets to choose which judge they want to work with. If no judge turns, the singer is out. So that’s round one. Round two are the judges working with the singers on their team to make them all awesome. They all sing the same song and the judge has to eliminate the ones they don’t like after that one song. Eventually, it gets down to a few singers leaving America to vote for the one they like best. The winner becomes “The Voice.” It’s a very interesting concept.

The judges are a really cool group: Christina Aguilera, Cee Lo Green, Blake Shelton, and Adam Levine. I like that these people are singers themselves so they know how the business works and what people are looking for. American Idol had 2 producers and Paula Abdul. Such a horrible combination. I think only singers can appreciate other singers. I never understood how you could judge a singer when you can’t sing yourself. Either way, this show has an awesome concept and it’s one of the few reality shows I hope sticks around. Check it out when you get a chance. It’s on Hulu if you missed it on TV.

Manic Monday

I hope everyone had an awesome zombie Jesus weekend. I dipped my foot in both the Passover celebration and the Easter celebration. It was definitely a good time and I will never eat again. I definitely have a food baby going on right now. But here we are again enjoying, or not, another Monday morning. And what better way to start this morning than with some awesomeness. This guy on Britain's Got Talent, performed a bunch of nursery rhymes in his best singing voice. Kind of cool, but also kind of silly.

Manic Monday

So Ark Music Factory finally posted their "secret" and it looks like all the rumors are true. They charge $2,000 to write you a song, record it, make a video, and then post it on the internet. Not a bad price for all of that I guess. They post it on YouTube and hope it goes viral making you famous. So if you get your 15 minutes of fame like Rebecca Black and then get a record deal, that $2,000 is no big deal at all. Kind of sounds genius to me. I'm sure it costs them nothing to create all of this stuff and then they make some profit. Why didn't I come up with that concept? Seems so simple yet kind of awesome. I think I need to get on that.

Black List

Ok so we all remember the song Friday by Rebecca Black. I mean how can you forget. I showed you the awful video last week and you were tortured. It shows us that anyone can be famous. Well, Jersey Shore did that, but this topped it all off. I didn't know anything about Rebecca Black. I had no idea where she came from or how the hell she got so many people to hate her for making this song. Apparently, she's received a lot of death threats. Plus, there are so many rumors swirling around that I have no idea what to believe. One of the rumors I heard was that she paid someone $2,000 of her own money to record this song and make this video. I don't know how true that is. She's from Canada like all of them are so maybe she actually was desperate. I also heard that this song was just an auto tune experiment. These two guys had her sing and then auto tuned the crap out of the song. The thing that makes me sad about that is that she doesn't have a bad voice. In the song yes, but a reporter asked her to sing a few bars of the national anthem and she can sing fine. Seems like if this was an auto tune experiment, they should have found someone who can't carry a tune, right?

So with all of these rumors swirling around, I did a little research. Rebecca is signed with a record label called Ark Music Factory. They sign all these super young "singers" and make them think they're amazing. I watched some of the clips of their "artists" and it's awful. Not only that, but their website says something about the Ark Music Factory's secret being revealed tomorrow. Secret? So is this some child trafficking thing or what? What secret could a record label have that they're ready to share? Their site has a window that says:

Very interesting. I feel like we're all about to get scammed. This is probably some sociology project from USC or something. The student who can make someone famous in a matter of hours gets an A. It all just seems so weird! Part of me wants to know what the hell is going on, but the other part of me is sad that people fall into this crap, including myself. I guess we will have to wait until tomorrow to know what the hell is happening. So until then, torture yourself some more.

Epic Fail Blog Friday

This is your warning. If you haven't heard of Rebecca Black yet, listen up and then plug your ears. She apparently is the new up and coming female Justin Bieber, but at least Bieber can carry a tune. This girl is awful. Her song has been stuck in my head because it has the same words over and over and I want to scream! She doesn't sing, she talks to an annoying tune. I think she was on Ellen's show the other day and she's just as bad in person. I just...how do these people get record deals? Here is her song. I'm sorry for the torture, but it only seemed right to warn you. Happy Friday!

Gaga No More

Remember how I was super excited because Lady Gaga got Target to change it's ways and stop donating to anti-gay organizations and start donating to gay organizations? Well, something happened and now the deal is no more. They haven't released details as to why this fell through, but it makes me very sad. I know that Target wanted to partner with Gaga for her new single Born This Way and she would only do if they changed so does this mean she's no longer partnering with them? I hope that's the case. I honestly feel that some of these companies shouldn't take sides at all. If they want any business at all, they shouldn't take sides. Or they should just take the good side of things. Just saying. Either way, I hope whatever caused this deal to fall through is a really good excuse. I like me some Target.

Weekend Show - 33 Variations

When I was little, my mom used to do this work out video and sometimes I would do it with her. I remember it being super ridiculous because it was made in the 80’s so everyone looked like Olivia Newton John. Anyway, when I grew up, I learned that the chick in the video was Jane Fonda. I didn’t know she was an actress too and then it just became a joke in my head. I always thought she must have been embarrassed to have done that work out video. Later, I found out she made many more work out videos and even though she’s 73 she’s still makes work out videos. Well, because she was such an integral part in my mom’s work out life, I went with her and the family to see Jane star in 33 Variations at the Ahmanson on Saturday. I went into the play having no idea what it was about. I read a brief article in the playbill and deduced that the 33 variations were Beethoven’s 33 variations so naturally the play was going to be all about his music. Jane Fonda’s character is a music scholar and she travels to Germany to study why Beethoven chose to write 33 variations of a particular Waltz he became obsessed with. It was a very interesting show. There was a pianist on stage right who would play the variations as the characters discovered them. It was awesome.

The play was set in 2 different time periods; the present with Jane Fonda and the past with Beethoven as he wrote these 33 variations. The story lines almost mirrored each other. It was incredible.

The set was incredibly as well.

The proscenium was made out of file boxes and there were rolling pieces that had file boxes on them as well to represent the library in Germany where Beethoven’s music is kept.

There was also video projection on moving set pieces. The projection surface/moving pieces were a bunch of pieces of paper to represent Beethoven’s variations. It was just well thought out and incredible. Of course, Jane Fonda’s character had a freaking disease and died. I thought that was so unnecessary, but I guess there needs to be stakes in the story somewhere.

The girl who played the daughter was very awkward. After the show, I found out she was the understudy so that might explain why, but wow she was awful. The guy who played her boyfriend was awful as well. This show gave me a new appreciation for classical music though. If I look past the awkward actors and the stupid storyline of the mother dying, the show was very good.

Disney Dust

Another Disney Channel star is on the way to biting that dust, only this time it’s been a long time coming. Miley Cyrus has been in and out of the insane media with pictures of her smoking or taking pictures of herself half naked. This time, Billy Ray is speaking out. He blames Hannah Montana for all the insane stuff happening to Miley and their family. I guess Billy recently divorced his wife and of course, Miley is still Miley. It makes me sad because the show can actually be entertaining and Miley is actually kind of talented. Unfortunately, she’s a teenager with a bunch of parents watching her every move to see if she’s ok for their children to watch. Teenagers do crazy stuff like smoke weed and take crazy pictures. She just happened to do it in the eyes of the public. It sucks to be a teenage star on the Disney channel. I think we all should have learned our lesson long ago with Hilary Duff. She had to sprint away from the Disney scene to keep her head on straight. Billy Ray gets all the blame because he’s Miley’s dad, but kids do things all the time that their parents don’t know about. It’s the way growing up is. I guess pictures of Miley smoking a bong were released in December and he’s all heart broken about it and now she’s not really speaking to him. They should have ended Hannah Montana when they had the chance and Miley should have taken a small break and then come back away from Disney. As much as I love Disney, their channel seems to ruin teen actors.

Fail Blog Friday

So Lady Gaga has a new song out today. I find a lot of her music catchy and this one is definitely catchy as well, but she freaking stole it from Madonna. It sounds exactly like "Express Yourself." It disappoints me because Lady Gaga always seems to do her own thing. Maybe she lost her mojo. Take a listen. Happy Friday y'all.

Nonfail Blog Friday

Some of you may think this is a fail, but I totally thinks it’s a nonfail, or win depending on how grammatically correct you want to be. I read this article yesterday and it made me laugh. Poor Glee. Guns N’ Roses was asked by Glee to use their songs for an upcoming episode and this is what Axl Rose had to say:

"We got asked about that once already but it got turned down. I draw the line at Glee.Glee is worse than Grease and Grease is bad enough. I look at Grease now and think, 'Between High School Musical and Glee, Grease was a work of art.'"

High School Musical 3 was actually a good movie and Glee can be alright sometimes, but this comment just made me laugh and I had to share. Have an awesome weekend!