Cookie Monster Spoofs Icona Pop's "I Love It"

Icona Pop's "I Love It" has been ubiquitous for the past few months.  Here comes Sesame Street's spoof of the song featuring Cookie Monster, entitled "Me Want It (But Me Wait)."

R.I.P. Cory Monteith

In a shocking news, Glee star Cory Monteith was found dead in his hotel room in Vancouver on Saturday.  He was 31 years old.  The Vancouver police released a statement saying that they had ruled out foul play, and will be conducting an autopsy today (Monday).  They also stated that Monteith had returned to his hotel room alone early Saturday morning, and his body was discovered by hotel staff when he failed to check out on Saturday. 

I have been a big fan of Glee since the beginning, and it was great to see Monteith grow as an actor, dancer, and singer as his character, Finn Hudson, also grew.  He was never the best actor, dancer, or singer, but he always came across as emotionally real and accessible.  The consensus around Hollywood is that he is also a very nice guy in real life.  Monteith just recently left rehab for a second time, and he had talked candidly about his struggles with drugs in the past, which led to him going into rehab the first time when he was 19 years old.  He seemed to be doing well recently, being out and about with his girlfriend and Glee co-star Lea Michele, and looking happy and healthy.  What a blow to his family, friends, co-workers, and fans. 

In honor of Monteith, here are my top five favorite Glee musical numbers featuring Monteith by himself or as the lead:

1) "Don't Stop Believin" by Journey, from the episode "Pilot."  The original that started it all.  Finn was the one who rallied the rag-tag Glee club members together to sing this song, and the result was pure gold.

2) "Man in the Mirror" by Michael Jackson, from the episode "Hold on to Sixteen."  Finn and the other boys look and sound amazing on this cover, and won Regionals despite Rachel's suspension after stuffing the ballot box in favor of Kurt for school president.

3) "I'll Stand by You" by the Pretenders, from the episode "Ballad."  One of the early Finn solos, and Monteith knocked it out of the park with his emotional performance after he found out that Quinn was expecting who he thought was his baby.

4) "We've Got Tonight" by Kenny Rogers and Sheena Easton, from the episode "I Do."  This duet between Finn and Rachel showed their amazing chemistry, especially since the co-stars were already dating in real life by this point.

5) "Faithfully" by Journey, from the episode "Journey."  Another great duet between Rachel and Finn, and the start of the Finchel phenomenon.  Glee producers had mentioned that they thought of Finchel as being the end game, so now it would be interesting to see how they would deal with Monteith's passing. 

"Girls Just Wanna Have Fun" Turns 30

I have a soft spot for Cyndi Lauper's "Girls Just Wanna Have Fun."  My best girlfriends and I sang that song a lot in college, especially during girl-bonding sessions. 

The song turns 30 this year, and the Kinky Boots cast surprised Lauper with an awesome music video (Lauper wrote the score for the musical).  The video features the Kinky Boots cast as well as some famous guests, such as Kelly Ripa, Whoopi Goldberg, Katie Couric, Hoda Kotb, Kathie Lee Gifford, and Holland Taylor.  Cast members of other Broadway shows also participated, such as Laura Osnes from Cinderella and Lilla Crawford from Annie.

Game of Thrones' Bronn as a Pop Singer

On Game of Thrones, Jerome Flynn plays the badass sellsword Bronn.  He is a mercenary hired by Tyrion who was knighted after the Battle of Blackwater, naming himself Ser Bronn of Blackwater.

It turns out that Jerome Flynn has a not-so-badass past as one half of Robson & Jerome, a British boy band in the 1990s.  Check out the picture and the story here. 

Michael Buble Sings in New York Subway Station

I apologize for the long absence.  A bunch of illnesses and craziness at work have combined to make it difficult to post.

This is pretty cool - Michael Buble singing in the Lincoln Center subway station in New York City, accompanied by a cappella group Naturally 7.   He sang the song "Who's Lovin' You" from his new album, To Be Loved.

I wish I had been there to see it.  I've seen and heard a lot of talented musicians in the subway stations and subway trains, and it's always a nice moment as long as they don't get aggressive about asking for money.

American Idol Top 10

Tonight is the performance show for American Idol's Season 12 Top 10.  The theme is Music of American Idols, and as Ryan helpfully explained, the contestants got to choose from songs sang by the winners during their American Idol runs, or songs they have released in their post-show careers.

I thought the performances really showed the divide between the girls and the boys.  Even the worst girl, Janelle Arthur, was better than all of the boys.

Curtis Finch Jr. - Fantasia's "I Believe".  I thought Curtis's lower register was wobbly and his red paisley jacket was awful.  The performance was typical Curtis, and I don't mean that in a good way.

Janelle Arthur - Montgomery Gentry's "Gone".  Props to Janelle for picking an uptempo song, and I thought this was her best performance since Hollywood Week.

Devin Velez - Carrie Underwood's "Temporary Home".  This one was just boring, and like Randy, Mariah, and Keith, I expected more out of Devin.  Hopefully this won't get him sent home this week, because he is my favorite boy contestant.

Angie Miller - Celine Dion's "I Surrender".  Angie did a great job, but I didn't feel that it was as good as the way the judges praised it.  I definitely heard some strain in the higher notes.

Paul Jolley - Lonestar's "Amazed".  His best performance so far, but still bland.  He did look and sound less desperate to be liked, which is a good thing.

Candice Glover - Shirley Bassey's "I (Who Have Nothing)".  Perfection.  I think it was even better than Jordin's version.

Lazaro Arbos - Kelly Clarkson's "Breakaway."  Oh, Lazaro.  This was the worst performance tonight, but he might have enough fans to pull him through.  He really needs better song selection.

Kree Harrison - Roy Orbison's "Crying."  Kree put her own spin on the song, and she sounded fabulous as usual.

Burnell Taylor - Ruben Studdard's "Flying Without Wings."  It was just OK for me.  Burnell was lucky he performed second to last, because if this was earlier in the show, he may be going home tomorrow.

Amber Holcomb - Kelly Clarkson's "A Moment Like This."  Amber closed the show with another strong performance, although not as good as Candice or Kree.  She sounded a little rushed in parts, but that may be just nerves.

Predictions for Bottom Three: Lazaro, Devin, Curtis
Prediction for Elimination: Devin

Hawaii Five-O, Train, and the 2013 Pro Bowl

Hawaii Five-O's latest episode, "Paʻani" ("The Game") was shot during the actual Pro Bowl occurring in Honolulu, Hawaii, and guest-starred Arian Foster, the star running back from the Houston Texans.  In addition, Pat Monahan from the band Train showed up to play the CEO of a technology company who had one of its employees killed during a team building military-style exercise. 

It turned out that Train was the halftime performer at the Pro Bowl, and they also shot a video for their new single, Mermaid, that incorporated the Pro Bowl and featured cameos from Hawaii Five-O and the NFL. 

American Idol - Top 20

Now that American Idol has chosen its top 20, it's time for the viewers to vote.  Here are my favorites, in no particular order:

Girls

1) Kree Harrison.  She didn't get much air time during the auditions, but really made up for it with great singing during Hollywood and Vegas weeks.  I like the low-key vibe that she gives out, plus she is primed for one of those major TV makeovers.

2) Candice Glover.  I thought it was a shame that she didn't make it last year, but she came back even better this year.  One of the strongest voices this year, but she has to start picking more daring songs instead of the typical Aretha/Whitney/Mariah R&B ouvre.

3) Angie Miller.  It's amazing how well she sings considering that she is partially deaf, and I liked the original song she sang in Hollywood.  She needs help in the clothes department, though. 

4) Breanna Steer.  She hasn't had a lot of air time, but her version of Jazmine Sullivan's "Bust Your Windows" during Vegas week was great and a nice change from all the ballads. 


Guys

A lot of the guys that I like have been eliminated already, and I do suspect that the producers are really attempting to stack the deck in the girls' favor.  The judges have eliminated guys who have great voices, but who the producers fear will cruise on their looks and charms for weeks, like Johnny Keyser and Jimmy Smith.  Nevertheless, I did like two of the top 10:

1) Devin Velez.  He has guts and a great voice, without the attitude (*cough*Curtis Finch, Jr.*cough*).  Let's hope he doesn't fall into the Karen Rodriguez trap and only becomes memorable for singing in both English and Spanish.

2) Nick Boddington.  His Vegas cover of James Morrison's "Say Something Now" was surprisingly weak, but he has shown enough flashes of brilliance that I hope he sticks around and gets stronger.

Grammy Nominations

Nominations for the 55th Annual Grammy Awards were announced last night with a special Grammy nominations concert hosted by LL Cool J and Taylor Swift.  A lot of people got the expected nods, but there were also some surprises. 

- Justin Bieber and One Direction were completely shut out, despite having two of the most successful albums. 
- Frank Ocean and Fun. both got nominated for album of the year, best new artist, and record of the year. 
- Maroon Five only got two nominations and none in the big categories
- Jay-Z, Mumford & Sons, Frank Ocean, Kanye West, the Black Keys's Dan Auerbach and Fun. tied for the most nominations with six each.
- Carly Rae Jepsen or Gotye seemed to have a strong shot at best new artist, but got beaten out by bluesy rockers Alabama Shakes and folk-rock trio the Lumineers. 
- Yay for Kelly Clarkson and her nomination for Record of the Year, best Pop Vocal Album, and best Pop Solo Performance, plus the song "Stronger (What Doesn't Kill You)" is also nominated for Song of the Year.
- There isn't a clear favorite like Adele last year, so the Grammys might be going to more disparate artists this year. 

The 55th Annual Grammy Awards will air on Feb. 10 at 8 p.m. ET on CBS.
A partial list of the nominees is below.  For a full list, go here.

Album of the Year:
Black Keys, El Camino
Fun., Some Nights
Mumford & Sons, Babel
Frank Ocean, Channel Orange
Jack White, Blunderbuss

Song of the Year:
Ed Sheeran, “The A Team”
Carly Rae Jepsen, “Call Me Maybe”
Miguel, “Adorn”
Kelly Clarkson, “Stronger (What Doesn’t Kill You)”
Fun. feat. Janelle Monae, “We Are Young”

Record of the Year:Black Keys, “Lonely Boy”
Kelly Clarkson, “Stronger (What Doesn’t Kill You)”
Fun. feat. Janelle Monae, “We Are Young”
Gotye feat. Kimbra, “Somebody That I Used to Know”
Frank Ocean, “Thinkin Bout You”
Taylor Swift, “We Are Never Ever Getting Back Together”

Best New Artist:Alabama Shakes
Fun.
Hunter Hayes
The Lumineers
Frank Ocean

Pop Vocal Album:Kelly Clarkson, Stronger
Florence + the Machine, Ceremonials
Fun., Some Nights
Maroon 5, Overexposed
Pink, The Truth About Love

Pop Solo PerformanceAdele, Set Fire To The Rain [Live]
Kelly Clarkson, Stronger (What Doesn't Kill You)
Carly Rae Jepsen, Call Me Maybe
Katy Perry, Wide Awake
Rihanna, Where Have You Been

Best Rock Album:The Black Keys, El Camino
Coldplay, Mylo Xyloto
Muse, The 2nd Law
Bruce Springsteen, Wrecking Ball
Jack White, Blunderbuss

Best Alternative Music Album:Fiona Apple, The Idler Wheel…
Bjork, Biophilia
Gotye, Making Mirrors
M83, Hurry Up, We’re Dreaming
Tom Waits, Bad as Me

Best Rap Album:Drake, Take Care
Lupe Fiasco, Food & Liquor II: The Great American Rap Album, Pt. 1
Nas, Life Is Good
The Roots, Undun
Rick Ross, God Forgives, I Don’t
2 Chainz, Based on a T.R.U. Story

Best Country Album:Zac Brown Band, Uncaged
Hunter Hayes, Hunter Hayes
Jamey Johnson, Living for a Song: A Tribute to Hank Cochran
Miranda Lambert, For the Record
The Time Jumpers, The Time Jumpers

Country Solo Performance:
Dierks Bentley, “Home”
Eric Church, “Springsteen”
Hunter Hayes, “Wanted”
Ronnie Dunn, “Cost of Livin’”
Blake Shelton, “Over”
Carrie Underwood, “Blown Away”

Hugh Jackman Does Gangnam Style

Now this is a great picture - Hugh Jackman the Gangnam Style dance with Psy, complete with Wolverine blades. 

Jackman also posted another picture in his Twitter feed of the two of them laughing together. 

Ohio State Marching Band

As a former band geek, this video of the Ohio State Marching Band doing their halftime show this past weekend in the game against Nebraska was fantastic.  The Best Damn Band in the Land (seriously, that's what they call themselves) did a tribute to classic video games such as Zelda, Pokemon, Tetris, Super Mario Bros., Space Invaders, Pacman, and Halo.

Here's a story of how they pulled it together.  I'm impressed that it only took 14 hours of on-field practice time.  These are definitely elite band members.  In high school we had 14 hours of practice every week, but we definitely couldn't pull off a new show every week.

 

Gangnam Style

You know you've hit pop culture jackpot when your YouTube video has been viewed over 200 million times, you have been parodied on Saturday Night Live, celebrities like T-Pain and Katy Perry tweeted about how awesome the video is, and it has been featured in the Wall Street Journal, the Financial Times, and CNN.

The song in question is called Gangnam Style, and it's by South Korean rapper Psy (real name Park Jaesang).  Psy is 34 years old and grew up in South Korea, and went to Boston University and Berklee School of Music.  He released his first full album in 2001, and has been known as a controversial and unique singer in the K-pop arena.

The Atlantic did an interesting article on the subversive message behind the video - worth reading as an academic exercise.

Ukulele Cover of "Rolling in the Deep"

Just when you thought you have heard every cover of Adele's popular "Rolling in the Deep," here comes a ukelele version courtesy of Jake Shimabukuro, the Hawaiian ukelele artist.  This version is pretty incredible, and unless you have amazing speakers on your computer, it's actually better to listen to it with headphones on.  Mr. Y and I agreed that we might actually get this guy's album when it comes out on October 2nd.

Remix of UP

Mr. Y told me about this great remix of the Pixar movie UP from Australian DJ Pogo, which sounds like a lounge track.

Cookie Monster - "Share Me Maybe"

Sesame Street did a great parody of Carly Rae Jepsen's inescapable song "Call Me Maybe."

Watch Cookie Monster singing "Share Me Maybe" - totally awesome. 

Sample lyrics:

Me just met you
and this is crazy
But you got cookie
so share it maybe

Flight of the Conchords

I was reading about Men In Black 3 and found out that Jemaine Clement from Flight of the Conchords is playing the main alien baddie.

The boys from Conchords have been doing separate projects for a little bit. Bret McKenzie just won an Oscar for Best Original Song. He wrote "Man or Muppet" for the latest Muppets movie with Jason Segel, and was also the music supervisor for the movie. He has a role in the upcoming movie The Hobbit, and his dad is playing Elendil.

Jemaine, who was previously nominated for an Emmy for his work on Conchords' HBO show, did voiceover work on Despicable Me and Rio, in addition to the upcoming Men In Black 3.

The good news is that they are supposedly planning a reunion tour and a movie. It would be great to see them together again.

Gotye

I realize I'm totally behind the curve on this, but have to share my newfound love of Gotye's "Somebody That I Used To Know," featuring quirky New Zealand singer Kimbra.

It's an insanely catchy song about heartbreak that makes good use of a xylophone. I first read about Gotye in EW's latest music issue. They included him as one of the top 30 greatest artists right now (Kimbra made the list too). Then Blaine and his brother Cooper (played by the incredibly handsome Matt Bomer) sang this song on Glee, and Elise Testone and Phillip Phillips sang the song on American Idol.

Gotye (real name Wouter "Wally" De Backer) is a Belgian-Australian artist who has been pretty popular in Australia and Europe. Happy that he finally hitting it big here.

Check out the freaky video:

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=8UVNT4wvIGY&feature=youtube_gdata_player

Grammy Awards

Tonight's Grammy Awards had several great performances. The most anticipated was Adele, who was performing for the time since her throat surgery. She sounded great singing Rolling in the Deep, and was definitely Queen of the Grammys with her six wins, including Record of the Year, Song of the Year, and Album of the Year.

Nicki Minaj had a great, elaborate set with stained glass, priest, altar boys, choir, and being lifted in the air on cables. It was a fun performance of her new single, "Roman Holiday," and will probably generate some protests. She also showed up on the red carpet with a guy dressed as the Pope. We also spotted Ade and Kathyn from So You Think You Can Dance dancing backup for Nicki Minaj.

Of course Whitney Houston's death hovered over everything. Jennifer Hudson did a beautiful job singing "I Will Always Love You" as a tribute. Everyone was talking about her during the red carpet and LL Cool J started the show with a tribute to her followed by a short video tribute. What a sad ending to a beautiful singer. May she rest in peace.

Lily Collins and Snow White

Lily Collins is a new star who is in the Snow White movie with Julia Roberts, Mirror Mirror (as opposed to the Snow White and the Huntsman starring Kristen Stewart and Charlize Theron).  She was also in Abduction and The Blind Side, and dated her Abduction co-star, Taylor Lautner, briefly.

Mr. Y actually knew something about her before I did - that she's the daughter of Phil Collins.  I looked up pictures of the two of them, and they do look alike.  Her mom is Jill Tavelman, Phil Collins's second wife.  In case you're curious, he has been married three times.

I've seen the trailers for both Snow White movies, and it's interesting to me how different they are.  Snow White and the Hunstman was darker and scarier, and Charlize Theron is quite terrifying as the Evil Queen.  Mirror Mirror is sunnier and more comedic, but at least in the trailer I thought Julia Roberts did a great job of instilling some menace to her portrayal of the Evil Queen, despite the candy-colored costumes and sets.  Chris Hemsworth and Arnie Hammer play the Huntsman and the Prince, and again they were set up very differently.  Chris was more dirty, dark, and brooding while Arnie was clean cut and smiley.

It would be interesting to compare the two when they actually come out.  Mirror Mirror is up first in March, and Snow White and the Huntsman comes out in June.

Celebrity Autograph

There was a crowd of people in front of the stage entrance to the David Letterman show, and when a large Escalade pulled out, suddenly a surge of people started chasing the car.  Unfortunately the light at the corner turned red, so the crowd surrounded the car and started banging on the windows demanding autographs. No one rolled down the window, and thankfully when the light turned green, the car was able to go forward without hitting anyone.  

As the crowd was dispersing, I noticed that a lot of them were young men in their teens or 20s, and a lot of them were carrying the same pictures of the celebrity.  Plus they seemed to know each other well and were complaining about the stingy celebrity and comparing notes about who the "nice" celebrities are.  It makes me think that these guys are not typical fans, but professional autograph seekers who try to get celebrities' autographs and then turn out and sell them.  Their technique was very dangerous and someone could easily have gotten hurt.  

I had asked someone who the celebrity was when I saw the crowd chasing after the car.  It turned out that the celebrity was Sting.   It must have been pretty scary for him inside the car, with this mob of guys banging on the windows and screaming at him.