Fighting for all the wrong reasons

Adam Lambert

Sun, 08 Nov 2009 11:02:32 GMT

Sat, 29 Aug 2009 13:10:25 GMT

fissijo, I know you're like crazy happy right now! Congrats and enjoy!!!!!

Awww

Wed, 12 Aug 2009 07:01:56 GMT

Luca di Montezemolo:

"Well we're talking about Michael Schumacher. He is 40 years old, but he's still from another planet."

So true!!! =)

F1

Sat, 25 Jul 2009 13:21:20 GMT

So that Massa's accident was really scary! Especially after last weekend's tragedy with Henry Surtees. Some part of Barrichello's car struck Felipe in the helmet, and it looked like he was unconscious for some time. I really hope that he is going to be OK, they showed him moving as he was transported to the medical center, so this is a good sign. I hate when such things happen...

how awesome will it be?

Fri, 24 Jul 2009 13:13:01 GMT

So I saw this trailer today. Do I have to mention that I am overexcited?! Can't wait for it!!! Tim Burton & Johnny Depp are made of win =) Though I have to admit that it looks creepy at times. Oh and that cat is going to follow someone in their dreams =))))

Um, hello?..

Tue, 14 Jul 2009 09:23:37 GMT

Hello, hello to everyone who might still remember me! It's been quite a while since I wrote here, actually, it's been a while since I even checked LJ regularly. No major reason for that, just didn't feel like doing it. Anyway, I'm fine. 'Fine', of course, is being relative ;) but, you know, I'm as fine as I could be with the same old job and no love life whatsoever...
On to the happier things. Recently I got back from my vacation. I spent two weeks on Crete and had such an amazing time there! We were staying at the Annabelle Village hotel, and I think that was the best vacation I've ever had. The weather was fine, the food was great, people were very friendly, and, the most important thing, the sea was amazing! I've never swum that much in my life! Plus, the entertainment team (it's called 'animation team') was beyond praise! They were Italians, very nice, enthusiastic about what they did, and talented! I really enjoyed their performances! The only downside to the hotel was that it's mostly family type, so there weren't many young people there, mostly family with children. The guys from animation team were really cute though! ;) Not that I could have any luck with them.
So I'm still very much under impression from my vacation, there were so many nice things about it that my thoughts are keep skipping from one thing to another, and it's really hard to write about it because I'd like to say so much, but I don't want it to be one long boring entry.
So if you happen to have any questions don't be afraid to ask XD
That's it for now! Take care!

Damn it!

Thu, 21 May 2009 09:13:42 GMT

I was hoping for the best, but what happened is exactly what I expected. And the worst thing is that I'm pretty sure that the choice of at least some people didn't have anything to do with singing :((( You can think what you want but that's how I feel.
Kris Allen is the new American Idol, and it actually breaks my heart. Well, at least Adam Lambert won't have to release that crappy kinda song as his first single! And you know what, I am still happy because Adam already achieved so much, he is brilliant in everything he does and he has a long and successful carrier ahead of him, you can be sure of this!!!
ADAM LAMBERT IS MY IDOL

Happiness all over me

Thu, 21 May 2009 07:34:27 GMT

Shakhtar Donetsk has won UEFA Cup!!!!!!!! How awesome it is!!!!! Gosh that was such an emotional moment when the final whistle came. I have to confess that I actually had tears in my eyes when the team was receiving their medals and than Dario Srna raised the CUP. I am so damn proud for them!!! They really deserved it!!!!
Falling asleep I still heard screams 'Shakhtar is the champion!' That was nice =))))
Now I am gonna watch American Idol Finale and learn who's been crowned American Idol this season. Yeah, it's either gonna make me even more happier or just spoil my good mood a little. I hope for the first. I want to see ADAM LAMBERT victorious!!! *fingers crossed* (not like it's gonna change anything now but still..)

Holy cats!

Thu, 30 Apr 2009 12:35:01 GMT

What the hell has happened last night? How in the world did Adam end up in Bottom 2? I was stunned! I was watching the results show and I just couldn't believe my eyes. That was shocking. For an instant I was actually afraid he might be eliminated (I blame Daughtry's elimination for that thought. America, has you not learned anything from that?). I can imagine what people at work thought when they saw me staring at the monitor and looking startled. And since today's the last day at work before holidays, it's been a madhouse, and it took me more than two hours to watch that episode, so additionally I looked quite frustrated every time someone/something distracted me. And when Adam was proclaimed safe, I couldn't help but did a weird sound of relief/excitement aloud. Lame, I know. On the bright side, how awesome Adam looked in that Ford commercial! Next week I will miss both AI episodes because I'll be in St. Petersburg at that moment. I hope I'll be able to find out the results at least, and I really hope that this week's nerve-racking thing won't repeat.

Rat Pack Week

Wed, 29 Apr 2009 11:53:30 GMT

Quite busy morning today. Still managed to watch last night's AI episode, I had to do it piece by piece though ;) Anyway, this week it's Rat Pack songs (aka Jazz week). I expected the contestants to sing two songs this time but unfortunately it didn't happen :( I didn't wait for something great but it turned out pretty good actually. I think every performance was solid, and it's hard to tell who's going home this week. For me, the perfect candidate for this would be Kris because out of five people left he's the only one whose voice I don't like. But his performance was pretty good (similar to every other of his performances though), so it's unlikely that he's the one to go. Matt might be in danger of going home, it wasn't his best performance, I still liked it though. Danny and Allison were good, but I think Simon was right saying Allison might be in trouble. I really like her voice and her style, and she seems to be quite popular on the web, but she was in B3 3 times already (and not always it was deserved), so it shows that she might not appeal to enough voters, unfortunately. But we'll see. Adam was surprise!surprise awesomely amazing! or amazingly awesome! =) Everytime he takes the stage, it is just stunning! The more I see him perform, the more I wish the season would end sooner and AI tour would end sooner, so he could enter the studio and record the album! I'm sure it's going to be great!!! All his studio versions are sooo good. I can't wait to hear "Feeling Good"!

Catching Up

Tue, 28 Apr 2009 13:13:24 GMT

So as I promised yesterday here's some thoughts on F1.

On Saturday Toyota occupied the first row, Ferrari got into Q3 with TWO cars, and Brawn GP wasn't overwhelmingly quicker than every other team.
The race start was unfortunate for Massa who got sandwiched between Kimi (!!!) and Barrichello, and had to pit for the new front wing. From then on, his race was basically finished :( Both BMWs had even more horrendous start, both also had to pit and finished the race last. I wonder who's the biggest loser of the season so far - Ferrari or BMW? Well, at least Italian squad this time managed to gain their first points (YAY!), thanks to Kimi's solid drive to sixth. Now let's speak about those who had the great start, and I'm talking about Jenson Button here, who moved from fifth to third, and since both Toyotas were to pit early, he basically won the race on the first lap. Third victory of the season, and I can't be more happier! Well, actually I could, if only Ferrari wasn't so miserable. I do hope they're gonna improve as soon as new parts arrive, I just wonder why they couldn't bring at least some of them already. McLaren did it, and look where Hamilton ended up (he finished 4th). Trulli couldn't convert his pole position into the win and had to be content with the third, while Vettel took second place.
Overall it was quite enjoyable race, I actually liked the second half of it better. Jense is leading the Championship with 31 points now, Rubens is second with 19, and Vettel is right behind with 18 points.
Next race is in Spain, European rounds are kicking off. I think all teams will have major updates on their cars, so we might see a different picture there. Fingers crossed that Ferrari will bounce back.

Mon, 27 Apr 2009 13:21:36 GMT

So it's Monday again. The weekend went by too damn quickly :( Luckily this work week is going to last for only 4 days, just as the previous week (last Monday was a day off as a day after Easter). We will have holidays from May 1st through May 11th, which is awesome! My mom and I are going to St. Petersburg for 5 days, so I won't be at home on my Birthday. YAY! We will stay at my mom's school friend's apartment (it was so nice of him to invite us to stay there! no additional expenses on hotel). The only downside might be the weather. It looks like it's going to be 10-15 degrees, so yeah... not the best conditions to go for a walk! I think at least one day we'll spend indoor, that is visiting the Hermitage Museum. Anyway I'm quite excited about this journey, it's been a while since I went somewhere except for summer vacation.

Speaking of the weather. All qualifying sessions were canceled due to heavy rain on Motegi on Saturday. The starting positions for all Sunday races were determined based on Free Practice positions thus leaving Andrea Iannone, Marco Simoncelli (he's baaack!) and Valentino Rossi on pole positions for 125cc, 250cc and MotoGP races respectively. Surprisingly, the race I loved the most was 125cc race. Usually I skip it or watch it paying half attention. But this time it was so exciting with Iannone falling from the first to twelveth at the end of the first lap and then after the first half of the race he started to fight his way back to the front and he did it, he won and proved that his win in Qatar wasn't accidental. Marco Simoncelli wasn't as fortunate. He started the race strong, but then he had a problem with the front tyre, so he had to pit and finished 17th. Luckily the podium still featured the Italian - Mattia Pasini came in third, surprisingly his bad luck wasn't in attendance this time =) MotoGP race brought surprise in form of recovering Dani Pedrosa who did a great start (from 11th I guess), had fights with Lorenzo and Rossi, and in the end managed to finish in 3rd place! Jorge gained his second victory in MotoGP career leaving Rossi the second step of the podium. Overall it was nice although somewhat short-cut MotoGP weekend.

P.S. I'll post my quick thoughts on F1 race later :)

Wed, 22 Apr 2009 18:30:19 GMT

Left work early today because of a stomach ache. It was pretty bad, I could hardly sit. I took analgetic, so now I feel much better. Two hours nap was also helpful ;)

Started watching this new show called Harper's Island. It is really good. It actually vaguely reminds of Agatha Christie's novel Ten Little Niggers, which was one of my favorites back when I was into crime fiction books. The show is gripping and thrilling, and I so recommend it. Plus the cast is good, many familiar faces (Ruby and Bobby from SPN, Henry from Ugly Betty, Carl from Desperate Housewives, psycho-Derek from OTH and more).

I did go to the cinema last week, watched Fast and Furious 4. So good! I was truly impressed, actually I didn't expect that I would like it so much. On TV screen it wouldn't probably have been that exciting.

..if I can't have you..

Wed, 22 Apr 2009 09:26:08 GMT

So Disco week. Let's take 'em one by one.
1. Lil. That's got to be her last week! Please? As for her performance, I think it was actually not bad. Copycat? Well, yeah, maybe, but I wasn't hating it like most of her previous performances, and it wasn't boring. I think judges were just too hard on her this time.
2. Kris. Really? Was it THAT good as judges were trying to make it look (or sound, whatever)? I liked his last week's performance. It was original, it stood out. But this week it was the same boring shit he usually does. He's just too sweet for my ears. I can't imagine myself buying his record! Teen girls will probably vote as crazy though.
3. Danny. Hmmm. I like Danny's voice. A lot. But my problem with him is his song choices which are not always that good. Just like this time. However, when it's Disco week, it's hard to choose the right song, on the whole. This performance was okay, nothing remarkable, nice vocals, it just didn't touch me like I hoped it would. Oh, and I agree with Paula on her "one of the sexiest voice" comment =)
4. Allison. I liked her performance! It makes it two in a row now. Good song choice, great vocals. She looked very confident, which added to a good impression of her performance. I liked the arrangement, slowing it down made the song fit Allison's style perfectly.
5. Adam. Well he looked so classy, such a perfect dream date :) His performance? IT WAS BRILLIANT!!!!!
6. Matt. Although I'm not a big fan of singing falsetto, I really like Matt. This performance was upbeat, fun and, on the whole, enjoyable. A few high notes turned out quite screeching, but that was the only shortcoming in his performance for me.
7. Anoop. With this performance he seemed to want to show that he has a pretty good vocal range. It didn't save him from being quite monotonous though. Vocally it was good (except for the last note, obviously), but I couldn't wait for this performance to end.

Overall, this week's Top 7 performances were quite good with Adam being absolutely amazing, and Allison coming in a distant second place. And although I really liked Matt's performance, I think he might be in trouble again, as voters just don't seem to like him enough to keep him :( My personal Bottom 3 is Kris, Anoop and Lil.

Little of everything (aka catch-up post)

Wed, 15 Apr 2009 12:35:11 GMT

It's been almost a month since my last entry. Nothing's really changed though. My life's the same boring shit, and my health doesn't make me happy either. I actually did a blood test and even visited a cardiologist, did ECG, but everything seems OK, so at least it doesn't seem to be heart-related. Yay!
I've been promising myself to write something here for like.. two weeks now, but I'm too good at breaking promises given to myself. Anyway, today my boss went on business trip, so I've got enough time to write something and not being distracted every five minutes :)
I'll start with F1. The new season started in the almost perfect way. My hopes weren't vain, and Brawn GP appeared to be the leader of the field, with Jenson Button winning both races! Seeing him on the top of the podium was very, very nice (reminded me of my trip to Hungaroring in '06). I've always believed that the winning days would come for Jense, because he's a very talented driver and deserves to get one victory after another! Of course, the start of the season would've been even better if Ferrari didn't struggle so much. And it's not that they lack the speed (not that much but still...), it's the team's decisions (especially during Malaysian GP) that worry me (and probably every Ferrari fan) so much! It looks like we're going to witness pre-Brown/Todt all-Italian team of early 90s. That would suck!

Last weekend it was the start of MotoGP season. Only one week before that our local sport channel confirmed that it would broadcast all races live, which was really nice as I feared I would have to be content with just results and maybe Youtube clips :) So the race weekend in Qatar were quite unique! It was raining both on qualifying and race days. The 125cc race was shortened to only 3(!!!) laps due to heavy rain. So there's not much to comment on ;) Subsequently the 250cc drivers (riders?) drove only 2/3 of the distance, the race itself was OK. My only problem was that Marco Simoncelli was smart enough to ride on motocross bike one week before the start of the season, and he broke his right(?) hand. Obviously he wasn't participating in the race :( Hector Barbera was victorious, showing good form after last year's back injury, Bautista wasn't on the podium, so I was quite happy! MotoGP race was postponed to Monday, so in the end we got one day longer weekend =) Casey Stoner was dominant as he usually is in Qatar, Rossi came in second and his team mate Lorenzo was third. Dani Pedrosa suffered as he is still recovering from his multiple injuries, the newcomer Kallio looked quite good. In the end it was an okay weekend, and I really hope the next one will be more normal and dry.

One more thing on the subject of sport. Yesterday's match Chelsea vs. Liverpool seemed to be a real thriller! Too bad I didn't watch it :( 4-4 in the end, and unfortunately it's Chelsea that reaches CL semi-finals :(

I'm going to the movies tonight to watch Fast and Furious 4. Judging by the trailer it has to be at least spectacular! =)

'Songs from the Movies' Week on American Idol turned out to be horribly boring! I'll probably post more on it later or tomorrow after the results. But I think that so far it's quite hard to tell for sure who's leaving and who's safe.

It's country time!

Thu, 19 Mar 2009 07:55:38 GMT

I haven't had time to post this yesterday, so I do it now ;) I haven't watched the results show yet, therefore I don't know who went home, so my impressions are not spoiled by the results ;) Grand Ole Opry theme was on American Idol this week. Let me mention that I am not a country music fan at all! That being said, I was a bit cautious before the performances as I didn't really know what to expect. Actually, during the first week of Top 36 performances I really liked Brent Keith's country song, so I was hopeful that this time there might also be something that I would like :) I'm not going to write about every performance separately, because, as it turned out, most of them were pretty similar to me ;) Sooo my favorite performances were by Adam and Matt. Adam was incredible! It was one of those performances that you either love or hate. No one can stay indifferent! If I didn't know, I would have never thought that song was country to start with :) Matt's performance was very emotive. I think I liked Matt from the start but now he really started to grow on me. I'd say he's now one of my favorites!
I also liked Kris' performance, he sang a beautiful song, and did it well. Megan stayed true to her style, and I found her performance quite enjoyable as well. Scott, Danny and Anoop were OK. Alexis was the one who quite disappointed me. I actually liked the song, but her singing, especially the high notes, wasn't near as good as before. And Michael, Allison and Lil just left me indifferent.
Overall, it was quite a boring performance night. I enjoyed the last week much more. So the big question is (or was) who is sent home? I honestly don't know! I think the most possible situation is that it's gonna be either Michael or Scott, although I like them both and would rather see Lil go.
Now I'm gonna go watch who has been eliminated in reality. And why do I feel that I won't like it?

P.S. Happy belated birthday to nyc_55david! I hope you had a great Bday! ;)

*******************EDIT*******************
Watched the results show. I am SHOCKED!!!!!! When Ryan said about a shocker at the beginning I hoped it would be Lil. Pretty soon it was clear that it wasn't her :( And as much as I like Michael, I think it would have been more fair if he was eliminated... I understand why the judges didn't save Alexis though, obviously it is too early to save anyone, but still it was disappointing. On the bright side, I think the group performance was nice, kinda liked it. And I absolutely loved the Ford commercial. It is so much fun!

Mon, 16 Mar 2009 18:11:38 GMT

The weekend pretty much sucked. On Saturday I woke up only after noon, 1 p.m. I guess. Had lunch, read a book and decided to take a nap, cause I still wanted to sleep. The next time I woke up at around 5 p.m. I could have probably slept even longer, but my conscience didn't let me ;) Uneventful evening afterward, I watched How To Lose A Guy In 10 Days, I guess that was the fifth time I watched it. I just can't help but love this movie. At the same time, though, I really hate those unreal love stories, they just make me sick. So yeah, I stayed up until 1 a.m. or so, then went to sleep only to wake up in the middle of the night from stomach pain. Lucky me! I still managed to go back to sleep and was woken up at 10 a.m. by my mom who needed help to record a tv show. Needless to say that I was a bit frustrated by the whole situation. Went back to sleep, again, and was woken up, again, at noon. And can you imagine, I still didn't feel like I had enough of sleep! To make things worse, I felt nauseous the whole day! Did I mention that it was raining the whole weekend which didn't really make for good mood either.
So this sleep problem really bugs me! It seems that no matter how much I sleep I still feel like I need more! Of course each work day I don't sleep enough, and probably it sums up at the end of the week.. I don't know... Plus my work place isn't the best place to feel myself good - lots of people, basically no fresh air, no proper lunch break, just another reason that I should find a new job!

F1 season kicks off in 10 days. Having looked at the latest test results, it seems like we're gonna have quite an exciting season! Now I understand why Ross Brawn decided to buy the former Honda team. Indeed, how could he blow off such jewel he created? I really hope that Brawn GP will keep their pre-season form and challenge for high-placed finishes and even victories!

And here I come back...

Wed, 11 Mar 2009 20:52:16 GMT

...with my American Idol obsession =) So here are my thoughts on the first week of the finalists' performances:

Lil Rounds - The Way You Make Me Feel. I liked this performance, she sang well, she looked nice. I absolutely loved her make-up. Actually, other than those ugly white pants, I've got no criticism to offer.

Scott MacIntyre - Keep The Faith. There were some shaky vocals at times, but overall it was good, I liked the song, I think I've never heard it before. That was a really nice performance.

Danny Gokey - Pretty Young Thing. I hated the beginning of the song, then it got better, but I still didn't like the song itself. I would have said that it was a really good performance if it were not for Danny's dancing (?) moves. They were weird and distracting. I obviously liked the singing part though!

Michael Sarver - You Are Not Alone. I didn't feel this performance. It wasn't bad, but it lacked something. For me, it was quite flat.

Jasmine Murray - I'll Be There. It was such a lovely performance! She picked a beautiful song and sang it with passion. And I love Jasmine's voice.

Kris Allen - Remember The Time. Well, it was good, again. Kris seems to be pretty comfortable covering MJ songs ;) But seriously, it was an okay performance, nothing outstanding though. He seemed to really enjoy his performance playing his guitar, but I think he oversang it a bit at the end.

Allison Iraheta - Give It To Me. First of all, what the hell did they do to her hair? Back to performance, I really loved it, I think she picked the right song, it suited her very well. She was rocking!

Anoop Desai - Beat It. I think that was an absolutely dull performance. I didn't like it all!!! It seemed like he was trying too hard, but no good came of it.

Jorge Nunez - Never Gonna Say Goodbye. This performance left me emotionless. It was really boring.

Megan Joy - Rockin' Robin. I loved it! That performance was so much fun!!! Rock'n'Roll baby! I loved that a bit growling singing. Oh and the caw sound at the end was hilarious! But Megan needs to learn some new moves :)

Adam Lambert - Black And White. Amazing performance! Adam sure knows how to attract audience's attention. It was really entertaining and there were good vibes coming off. I really enjoyed it! And I loved how emotional he was after Paula's words. Aww so cute <3

Matt Giraud - Human Nature. I didn't find his vocals at the end of the song great, but other than that it was a very likable performance, a very soulful one. There's something about this guy and his singing that makes your heart beat just a little bit faster.

Alexis Grace - Dirty Diana. Considering it was probably one of the hardest songs to sing, she did pretty good! I loved her outfit and her look overall, it suited the song very well. Her voice fell of the pitch a few times, but it didn't really matter cause the singing was very nice and emotional. On the whole, I liked the performance and I liked that Alexis stayed true to her self.

So, to sum up, I think the Michael Jackson week turned out to be pretty good, well at least it wasn't a disaster that almost everyone had thought it would be. Most of the contestants did quite well with their chosen songs. As for the outsiders, for me they were Anoop and Jorge, but knowing what a huge fan base Anoop has, it's unlikely that he will be eliminated this week. But we'll see.

Coming out of my shell

Tue, 10 Mar 2009 15:26:14 GMT

Today's the first workday of the week. We celebrated Women's Day on Sunday, so yesterday we had a day off! Nice, but not enough for me to feel rested. Anyway, lately I got so carried away by American Idol that I totally disregarded other news that were pretty exciting. First of all, rumours about the possible reunion of Guano Apes turned out to be true! Yes, they will gather together this summer to play at some festivals. So far two dates were confirmed:
21.06.09 Nova Rock, Nickelsdorf, Austria
25.07.09 Benatska Noc Festival, Malá Skála, Czech Republic
The line-up at Nova Rock is absolutely rockin! In addition to Guano Apes, there will be Metallica, Slipknot, Placebo, Limp Bizkit, Trivium! Gosh, I wish I could go there!
Hopefully, they will add more dates! =) Anyway, it seems like the band have been practicing since the end of last year, so it is possible that they may come up with new material, which would be absolutely great! And who knows, they may even record a new album! Oh well, one way or another, this is going to be very exciting!

Moving on. A former Honda F1 team will start the new season as Brawn GP! Isn't it awesome?! Both Jenson Button and Rubens Barrichello will keep their positions as drivers, which is nice, but it also means no drive for Bruno Senna :( Also I'm not crazy about the fact that they will be using McLaren engines. But then, Jenson's got a drive and that's all that matters to me!

Wild Card Round

Fri, 06 Mar 2009 11:08:30 GMT

So here's my impressions of the last night performances.

Jesse Langseth - she couldn't have been more boring! Such a dull performance. Wrong, WRONG pick for the Wild Card, dear judges!!!! The only feeling I got from that performance was annoyance.
Matt Giraud - that was hot! The performance full of passion and soul, that's what Matt can do great! And although I found it was a bit weird song, because there seemed to be more exclamations than, actually, lyrics, I still liked it!
Megan Corkrey - I liked the song she chose to sing, I think that was a really nice performance, very enjoyable. And I think she sang it really well, except for the last note which wasn't great.
Von Smith - I liked it, actually. The first part of the song wasn't that great, but then he really started to sing, and it was pretty good. Personally, I think it was better performance than it was the night before, a bit boring, but still better.
Jasmine Murray - she's definitely got a great voice, I'm just not sure that was the kind of a song I would like her to sing. Vocally, it wasn't perfect, but the performance was very soulful!
Ricky Braddy - I loved the song choice, it showed Ricky's range and wasn't boring. I liked the performance, I think it was fun and a big improvement!
Tatiana Del Toro - I liked her first performance, it was really good, but I just don't understand why she chose to sing the same song again? What's the point of the second chance then? I still have to admit that this performance was great, she has a big voice and knows how to use it.
Anoop Desai - gosh, that was so good! He'd sung this song during Hollywood week, and I can see why he decided to perform it again. It was highly enjoyable and jolly performance.

And the finalist are:
Jasmine Murray
Megan Corkrey
Matt Giraud isn't it great that everyone from wild card I wanted to advance did it! I'm not bad at predictions, am I?
and Anoop Desai!

Yeah, the judges decided to have Top 13 this season, which wasn't such a big surprise and was quite understandable! I mean, both Matt and Anoop showed really great performances last night. And although personally, I like Matt more, I think Anoop deserves his spot among the finalists!

Top 12 is shaping up

Thu, 05 Mar 2009 14:45:19 GMT

Last night at the Results show for Group 3 we learned who were another 3 contestants to progress to the final Top 12. That happened to be Lil Rounds, Jorge Nunez and Scott MacIntyre. For me there was no question about Lil, but I wasn't sure about the guys. I expected one of them to get through for sure, but at the same time Ju'not Joyner seemed to have a really good feedback, so he also had a good chance to advance. Anyway I was quite content with the outcome as it was. But that wasn't the most interesting part of the night. At the end of the show judges were to announce who they had picked for the Wild Card round. So the group of 8 people who will have their second chance to impress the judges consists of:

1. Von Smith. Hmmm for me that was pretty unexpected! I don't think he's THAT good to give him another chance. But the judges seemed to like his performance, so at least they were consistent.
2. Jasmine Murray. She has a good voice, but she picked the wrong song for her performance during Week 2. Plus she is very likable. I think she deserves the spot in this group.
3. Ricky Braddy. Oh that was sooo predictable!!! This guy is a great singer, very soulful, but I wouldn't vote for him because he is so damn boring!
4. Megan Corkrey. I was glad the judges brought her back. She's got an amazing voice, she stands out. Now she just needs to pick a good song!
5. Tatiana Del Toro. She had a good performance during Week 1. She can sing, but her personality annoys me very much. It would be too much to watch her whining and weeping again!
6. Matt Giraud. I thought he had one of the worst performances of the whole Top 36. But he had sung Ray Charles' "Georgia on my Mind" during Hollywood Week. That was enough to win me over ;) I hope he'll advance to the Top 12!
7. Jesse Langseth. Can't believe they actually chose her over someone else at the last moment! She's boring. BORING!!! An she's weird! We already have a weird girl in the Top 12 (yes, I mean Allison Iraheta)
8. Anoop Desai. I would've been really surprised if they hadn't picked him for the Wild Card round! He didn't have an impressive performance during Week 1, but clearly deserves to try again.

So this is how things look like. I don't agree on every judges' pick. I really wanted to see Mishavonna and Nathaniel again. By the way, Mishavonna wasn't even in the group that the judges were choosing from. What the fuck? She started really growing on me! :((( I also wouldn't mind if they picked Jackie Tohn, Felicia Barton or Alex Wagner-Trugman. But unfortunately the picks are what they are! So choosing from these 8 contestants, I hope Jasmine Murray, Megan Corkrey and Matt Giraud will advance to the Top 12!

I lack words so don't be too harsh to me!

Wed, 04 Mar 2009 20:43:32 GMT

It was time for the last group of 12 to perform. I didn't have obvious favorites this time like I did in the previous two groups, so I was quite curious to see how they would perform before drawing any conclusions. So here we are:

1. Von Smith. I thought this performance was dull. Weird song choice, it absolutely didn't suit him. Actually I liked it better when Von was "shouting" during Hollywood Week... He stopped shouting, he became really boring. Everyone seemed to like his performance though. Oh sometimes I think I have weird taste in music.
2. Taylor Vaifanua. I remember that I liked her during auditions. I think she has a nice voice. But that wasn't great singing! Low notes weren't good at all. Other than that, she was OK.
3. Alex Wagner-Truman. Ok, I think he is really cute and funny! Absolutely adorable! I think that performance was super entertaining! I also think that he has overdone the singing, but it still was terrific! Loved it!
4. Arianna Afsar. That was horrible! Did she try to make SOUL out of ABBA song? No, really, you don't do this to any ABBA songs!!! Her voice was all over the place. The worst performance of the night I think!
5. Ju'not Joyner. Boring, boring, boring! I didn't like his voice. He made this song ("Hey there Delilah") sound really dreary.
6. Kristen McNamara was a karaoke host, and last night it showed, it really did! Too bad cause she seems to have a really good voice. But that performance was tasteless and pretty forgettable.
7. Nathaniel Marshall. Drama queen, but I think in a good way :) I liked this performance. I think it was entertaining, vocals were good. The song choice wasn't as bad as the judges were saying. It might be old, but he made it sound fun. He definitely is standing out!
8. Felicia Barton. Another song from Alicia Keys that night. I think she sang it pretty good, although there were moments when her voice cracked on high notes. Overall, it was quite a nice performance.
9. Scott MacIntyre. That was a good performance. Singing wasn't that great, but it still was enjoyable and touching.
10. Kendall Beard. That was a performance that you forget the minute it ends. Maybe fans of country music fount it good, but for me it was flat and boring.
11. Jorge Nunez. He sang "Don't let the sun go down" and I think he actually added a new flavor to the song. It sounded different and really nice. He's got good vocals.
12. Lil Rounds got a pimp spot! What a surprise! =) She's hell of a singer and her performance was just as great. I think the song choice was perfect and showed her vocal range.

To be honest, I think that was the weakest group out of the 3. The song choices wasn't great for the most part. Obviously Lil Rounds and Jorge Nunez stood out. I personally really liked Nate's performance, but I don't think he has many chances to go through. In the whole, females looked much weaker once again, so it looks like the final Top 12 won't be gender balanced.

American Idol Group 2 review

Mon, 02 Mar 2009 20:14:21 GMT

So this time I'm a bit late with my American Idol impressions. I just didn't have time to post anything proper. Last week was very busy and crappy, for that matter. Unfortunately this week seems to pick up just where the previous one left off. Today was such a nerve-racking day, I wonder how I managed not to kill anyone!!! I guess I just really need to rest properly, maybe get myself some spa treatment... yeah, one can always dream! But I seem to digress from the subject of this post :)

So last week the second group of 12 was performing, the group where Adam Lambert was! Naturally, I was very excited and just couldn't wait for the morning to come to work and watch it! BTW while still at home, as soon as I'd woken up, I tried to vote using Gizmo. I didn't have a lot of time, I spent only 20 minutes on doing it, but unfortunately I didn't get through a single time, the line was busy :( not that it upset me that much (I mean, busy line means lots of voters right?) but I REALLY wanted to vote :( At work I only watched Adam's performance, and it was quite an impressive performance! But let me start from the beginning.
First of all, it was nice to see that they lost the sitting-on-the-couch-with-the-parents part. Cause it had been awkward. They still showed each contestant's family in the audience, but there were no interaction, so that I could live with.
1. Jasmine Murray. I think her performance was OK, though quite forgettable. I think the song ("Love Song") wasn't the right choice for her, something more r'n'b would've suited her voice better.
2. Matt Giraud. He sang Coldplay's "Viva La Vida" and that was a total disaster. It was 'Stevie Wright' of the second group, completely wrong song choice! Too bad because Matt is a really good singer, but unfortunately he just couldn't show it with this song...
3. Jeanine Vailes. Her song choice was "This Love" by Maroon 5, and I have no idea why she said she felt confident singing this song, because it was pretty terrible.
4. Nick Mitchell aka Norman Gentle. I didn't find his performance as funny as everyone seemed to think. But I have to admit he can sing! However I don't think American Idol is the right place for Nick/Norman/
5. Allison Iraheta. That was great! One of those performances that give you goose bumps! By the way she reminds me of Pink. But the girl acts weird!
6. Kris Allen. The performance was good. I can't say I didn't like it, but it just wasn't my cup of tee, simply too sweet to my liking ;)
7. Megan Joy Corkrey. I didn't like the song and those weird moves she was doing while singing. Still I like her voice!
8. Matt Breitzke. I think it was the most forgettable performance of the night! Though I liked the song, I think it needed more vocal emotions, if it makes any sense. Just not the right song for Matt.
9. Jesse Langseth. Hadn't liked her before, didn't start to like her after that performance. It was boring. And although I never heard this song in original performance, I heard it sung by Leighton Meester (yeah, yeah, I know). I think Leighton sang it better, much better :P
10. Kai Kalama. I actually liked it. Nice song, nice voice. He didn't stand out but the performance was enjoyable.
11. Mishavonna Henson. Ok, why is everyone wants the girls to sing something young and less serious? What the hell? Stevie Wright did it, and we all know how "good" it ended up to be... I think Mishavonna's choice of the song wasn't bad. Maybe it wasn't perfect either, she chose "Drops of Jupiter" by Travis, but she sang it pretty good. I think it sounded a bit stripped, but I liked it a lot. I think that was a really good performance!
12. Adam Lambert. I didn't expect him to sing The Rolling Stones song, to be honest, but it turned out to be quite a good choice! I have to agree with Simon that at some points Adam didn't sound good, but still that was an amazing performance!!! I actually hate The Rolling Stones, but after watching Adam's performance, I was singing "Satisfaction" for the next few days. The most entertaining performance on the show so far!!!! Paula Abdul said 'you're in the league of your own' and she is so damn right!!!! Oh, and Randy's comparison to Steven Tyler/Fall Out Boy/R.Pattinson/My Chemical Romance was absolutely priceless!!!!! !! well maybe except for R.Pattinson, because I don't get all the hype around him or Twilight books, but that's not the point. It was totally unforgettable performance!!!!! GO ADAM!!!!!!

Next day during the Results Show we learned that Allison, Kris and Adam made it to the Top 12. It was quite predictable that Allison and Adam would get through, but I didn't expect Kris Allen to be the third lucky one. I mean he wasn't bad, he sang Michael Jackson's song pretty well, and it means something. But let's be honest here, it is obvious that most of his voters were teenage girls who find him very attractive. I would rather see either Mishavonna or Megan in the Top 12. Matt G would have been another candidate if he hadn't screwed up so much with his song choice!

I wonder why the contestants make such weird song choices. Judges keep saying that many of them were so much better during Hollywood week, and they are so right!!!!! I understand that lots of contestants seem to choose the songs they personally like. BUT it doesn't mean they CAN sing it well, that they have vocals to sing it!!!! I mean, how they can not see it (or hear it)? It's not karaoke contest! You don't sing songs you love, you sing songs that suits you and your voice!

Ok, this week the last group of 12 is performing, and then on Thursday there will be Wild Card Round which should be pretty interesting I guess! Last chance for the losers of semi-finals to make it into the final Top 12!

P.S. Almost forgot! The group song at the Results Show was AMAZING!!! So much better than the previous week's one. Watch it here!

Albums 2008 part 2

Mon, 23 Feb 2009 17:48:12 GMT

I knew that I had forgotten about something!!!!
I was on my way home when I remembered about another great release from previous year. And when I got home and checked my music library, another one came to my mind! Gosh I'm so absentminded!

...
9. David Cook - David Cook. Can't believe I could forget about this one! Great album from the winner of last year's American Idol (and the reason I'm so obsessed with AI right now). I listened to his previous, pre-Idol album, and it's not nearly as good as this one! Highly recommend!
10. iO - For The Masses. You can say it's a reincarnation of Guano Apes, just with a new singer ;) I think, as a huge fan of GA, I was doomed to like this band. Yes, Sandra is gone and concentrating on her solo career, but you can't take away the fact that these guys were a big part of the band, so this new band inevitably keeps those incredible vibes that GA had. And the new vocalist adds something absolutely new to the equation, and voila we have the album that is worth hearing it!

Top Albums

Mon, 23 Feb 2009 15:02:48 GMT

I hate making plans! Because whenever I do, somethings turns out just not the way it was supposed to be...
Not the point... Here is my long-promised list of the best albums of 2008!

1. Fall Out Boy - Folie A Deux. I think I like this album more than the previous one. Still it can't compare to From Under The Cork Tree. But some of its tunes could have been featured on that tracklist.
2. Theory Of A Deadman - Scars & Souvenirs. Still rocking and going strong.
3. Lady Gaga - The Fame. The whole world may love her for Just Dance and Poker Face. For me, it's her diversity that stands out. Again and Again is absolutely incredible!
4. Shinedown - The Sound Of Madness. The band decided not to re-invent the wheel and proved that 'old' not always means 'boring'. Same strong sounds with deep lyrics that touch the deepest parts of your heart and soul.
5. Duffy - Rockferry. She's amazingly talented, nothing else needs to be said!
6. Pink - Funhouse. I think Pink really benefited from her divorce. Probably her best album so far.
7. Slipknot - All Hope Is Gone. Well it just has to be in this list.
8. The Rasmus - Black Roses. Nothing specific. I just really enjoy listening to this album.

I should have probably included Nickelback's Dark Horse in here. But I just don't feel like this album is good enough for that. Unfortunately, it's quite flat. I'd been waiting for it for 3 years and was really disappointed when it finally came out. I guess Chad Kroeger and Co should have spent a little more time in the studio and a little less - being on tour.

And just to end this, the newbies! These are not a full-length albums, just EPs. The first one is by the band Run Into The Shadows, it's called Don't Even Say A Word. Check out their MySpace. The guys are in search of a new singer right now, so we'll see how they will sound in the future, but with this EP it was love from the first listening for me ;)
The second band is Forever Oeuvre with the self-titled EP. I think they have took a place in my music-loving part of heart that was left void after Guano Apes broke up. It's not exactly the same kind of music, but it evokes very similar feeling in me. There's something about their energy, I think. Visit MySpace!

Well, that's it! I sure think I forgot something, but what the hell!