The Supreme Miss American Idol, Season 4 winner, Carrie Underwood is back at #1 on the Billboard Top 200 albums chart this week. No, she does not have a new solo album out, but she is featured on the Tony Bennett collection, Duets 2.
She and Tony Bennett recorded a fantastic version of It Had To Be You and Carrie shows off her astounding vocal range and ability to excel in any musical genre.
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=iebbhCOtv5c
A little fun fact about this assortment of 20 duet partners for Tony Bennett is that six of them, included Carrie, were all honored with the Grammy for Best New Artist.
Grammy winner for Best New Artist in 1975, Natalie Cole performs Watch What Happens with Tony.
The most successful Best New Artist winner of all time was given in 1990 when Mariah Carey accepted the award. On this collection she and Tony provide an incredible rendition of When Do The Bells Ring For Me.
Sheryl Crow won Best New Artist in 1994 and here she sings The Girl I Love with Tony.
In 2002 smooth jazz vocalist Norah Jones was recognized as Best New Artist and she and Tony perform Speak Low.
We all know that Carrie Underwood won in 2006, and the next year, in 2007 Amy Winehouse was awarded as Best New Artist. In one of her final recordings before her death earlier this year, Amy and Tony recorded Body and Soul for this collection.
Showing posts with label Sheryl Crow. Show all posts
Showing posts with label Sheryl Crow. Show all posts
Sunday, October 2, 2011
Wednesday, May 4, 2011
The Top 5 sing Now & Then
Each of the top 5 finalists will be singing two songs tonight. One that is current and contemporary while the other is a classic oldie. They got some guidance from 1994 Grammy winner for Best New Artist: Sheryl Crow. After each review this week I will be giving two scores on a scale of 1 to 10. One for stage presence and another for vocals. (1 is really bad and 10 is exceptional superstar talent)
30 Seconds to Mars had a huge hit last year called Closer To The Edge that was a perfect choice to show how James Durbin can connect his classic heavy metal energy to a fresh and current sound. He completely owned the stage like he was entertaining to a sold out arena. Without You was a #1 smash in 1972 for Nilsson and then it was a huge hit again hitting #3 in 1994 for iconic superstar and 1990 Grammy Winner for Best New Artist, Mariah Carey. James further demonstrated his emotional depth with his raw and tear-jerking interpretation of this outstanding song. To say he gave the audience chills only scratches the surface. Stage Presence: 9. Vocals: 9
The Season 6 Miss American Idol winner, Jordin Sparks had a huge #3 hit with No Air in 2008. Jacob Lusk completely butchered this passionate R&B slow jam with his over dramatic screeching vocals. Rock group Nazareth hit #8 in 1976 with Love Hurts and Jacob did his best to show some range by taking on this power ballad, but once again the vocals might have been strong, but they were totally out of control and he looks awkward and dresses all wrong every time he is on stage. Stage Presence: 3. Vocals: 5.
The Supreme Miss American Idol, Season 4 winner, Carrie Underwood included Flat On The Floor on her second multi-platinum album, Carnival Ride. Lauren Alaina gave it her best effort, but the fact remains that she has no personality to speak of no matter how she dresses or what she does on stage. The Righteous Brothers truly created a timeless classic when they first charted with Unchained Melody at #4 in 1965. It's an emotional powerhouse vocal extravaganza and Lauren managed to put in her best vocal performance of the competition so far with this effort. But the reality is that she threw away many opportunities to showcase her voice with weak choices. The world has heard many many better versions of this song leaving hers to be completely forgettable. Stage Presence: 4. Vocals: 7.
Scotty McCreery used the Montgomery Gentry song, Gone, to try and show he can do something uptempo and move around the stage. He then used the 1982 Grammy Winner for Song of the Year, Always On My Mind, to demonstrate his tender side. Either way, Scotty ended up falling short of the mark. There is nothing exceptional to say about him. Stage Presence: 5. Vocals: 5.
Lady Gaga performs You and I as part of her live concerts and Haley Reinhart had the honor of bringing this unreleased song to the American Idol stage. Lady Gaga will definitely benefit from the exposure on the top rated show on TV, but she has nothing to be threatened about with the way Haley did it. This girl gets up on stage and does every corny and comical mannerism that comedians use to mock Casino lounge singers or cruise line entertainers. It's impossible to take her seriously. The Animals spent three weeks at #1 in 1964 with The House of the Rising Sun. Haley had some small moments of vocal talent buried under this performance but you had to get past the feeling that she is part of the show this season playing a big joke on all of us. Stage Presence: 3. Vocals: 6.
From the scoring system, it's plain to see that James Durbin is the clear front-runner, but all of the others seem to be competing very hard to be the next one eliminated. My prediction for the bottom three this week is Jacob, Lauren and Scotty with Jacob finally going home.
30 Seconds to Mars had a huge hit last year called Closer To The Edge that was a perfect choice to show how James Durbin can connect his classic heavy metal energy to a fresh and current sound. He completely owned the stage like he was entertaining to a sold out arena. Without You was a #1 smash in 1972 for Nilsson and then it was a huge hit again hitting #3 in 1994 for iconic superstar and 1990 Grammy Winner for Best New Artist, Mariah Carey. James further demonstrated his emotional depth with his raw and tear-jerking interpretation of this outstanding song. To say he gave the audience chills only scratches the surface. Stage Presence: 9. Vocals: 9
The Season 6 Miss American Idol winner, Jordin Sparks had a huge #3 hit with No Air in 2008. Jacob Lusk completely butchered this passionate R&B slow jam with his over dramatic screeching vocals. Rock group Nazareth hit #8 in 1976 with Love Hurts and Jacob did his best to show some range by taking on this power ballad, but once again the vocals might have been strong, but they were totally out of control and he looks awkward and dresses all wrong every time he is on stage. Stage Presence: 3. Vocals: 5.
The Supreme Miss American Idol, Season 4 winner, Carrie Underwood included Flat On The Floor on her second multi-platinum album, Carnival Ride. Lauren Alaina gave it her best effort, but the fact remains that she has no personality to speak of no matter how she dresses or what she does on stage. The Righteous Brothers truly created a timeless classic when they first charted with Unchained Melody at #4 in 1965. It's an emotional powerhouse vocal extravaganza and Lauren managed to put in her best vocal performance of the competition so far with this effort. But the reality is that she threw away many opportunities to showcase her voice with weak choices. The world has heard many many better versions of this song leaving hers to be completely forgettable. Stage Presence: 4. Vocals: 7.
Scotty McCreery used the Montgomery Gentry song, Gone, to try and show he can do something uptempo and move around the stage. He then used the 1982 Grammy Winner for Song of the Year, Always On My Mind, to demonstrate his tender side. Either way, Scotty ended up falling short of the mark. There is nothing exceptional to say about him. Stage Presence: 5. Vocals: 5.
Lady Gaga performs You and I as part of her live concerts and Haley Reinhart had the honor of bringing this unreleased song to the American Idol stage. Lady Gaga will definitely benefit from the exposure on the top rated show on TV, but she has nothing to be threatened about with the way Haley did it. This girl gets up on stage and does every corny and comical mannerism that comedians use to mock Casino lounge singers or cruise line entertainers. It's impossible to take her seriously. The Animals spent three weeks at #1 in 1964 with The House of the Rising Sun. Haley had some small moments of vocal talent buried under this performance but you had to get past the feeling that she is part of the show this season playing a big joke on all of us. Stage Presence: 3. Vocals: 6.
From the scoring system, it's plain to see that James Durbin is the clear front-runner, but all of the others seem to be competing very hard to be the next one eliminated. My prediction for the bottom three this week is Jacob, Lauren and Scotty with Jacob finally going home.
Thursday, August 21, 2008
Crush
As you all know, when David Cook ended up being crowned the Season 7 Miss American Idol, all of my attention went toward feeling bad for cute little David Archuleta. The judges set him up all season to think he was certain to get the crown. When he didn't, you could see that he was blind-sided by the news.
David Cook then went on to dominate the Billboard HOT 100 (for one week at least) with 11 songs debuting in the same week. David Archuleta had to once again settle for being in the shadows, but this week, his time in the spotlight has come! David Archuleta's first original single "Crush" has sold 166,000 downloads in the United States, according to Nielsen SoundScan, and opens at #2 on the Billboard HOT 100.
Compared to the chart achievements of the other American Idols, this is pretty amazing. Even David Cook's The Time Of My Life only peaked at #3. The only other Idol single to get up to #2 is Kelly Clarkson's Since U Been Gone from 2005. This is a very promising start to David Archuleta's music career.
Jordin Sparks, meanwhile, is continuing to inch up the Billboard HOT 100 with One Step at a Time which is now up to #21 this week.
The other exciting news to come out involves the Supreme Miss American Idol, Carrie Underwood, releasing a benefit single with some of the other biggest musical divas in the business. She will be joining 14 other superstars on the single to be released on Sept. 2nd that will benefit cancer research. The impressive list includes the biggest hitmakers of recent years, Fergie, Rihanna and Beyonce, and three other divas who share the honor of winning the Grammy for Best New Artist just like Carrie Underwood did. Those other divas are Sheryl Crow, the amazing Leann Rimes and the biggest mega-superstar diva of all time, Mariah Carey.
I will be right there on iTunes the day this song is available to buy it immediately. I haven't even heard it yet, but it's already my favorite song of the year!
David Cook then went on to dominate the Billboard HOT 100 (for one week at least) with 11 songs debuting in the same week. David Archuleta had to once again settle for being in the shadows, but this week, his time in the spotlight has come! David Archuleta's first original single "Crush" has sold 166,000 downloads in the United States, according to Nielsen SoundScan, and opens at #2 on the Billboard HOT 100.
Compared to the chart achievements of the other American Idols, this is pretty amazing. Even David Cook's The Time Of My Life only peaked at #3. The only other Idol single to get up to #2 is Kelly Clarkson's Since U Been Gone from 2005. This is a very promising start to David Archuleta's music career.
Jordin Sparks, meanwhile, is continuing to inch up the Billboard HOT 100 with One Step at a Time which is now up to #21 this week.
The other exciting news to come out involves the Supreme Miss American Idol, Carrie Underwood, releasing a benefit single with some of the other biggest musical divas in the business. She will be joining 14 other superstars on the single to be released on Sept. 2nd that will benefit cancer research. The impressive list includes the biggest hitmakers of recent years, Fergie, Rihanna and Beyonce, and three other divas who share the honor of winning the Grammy for Best New Artist just like Carrie Underwood did. Those other divas are Sheryl Crow, the amazing Leann Rimes and the biggest mega-superstar diva of all time, Mariah Carey.
I will be right there on iTunes the day this song is available to buy it immediately. I haven't even heard it yet, but it's already my favorite song of the year!
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