web analytics

Pop Rock Nation

Category: News

music-news-from-breakups-to-the-lastest-buzz

  • National Karaoke Week is the fourth week of April!

    Until today, I had no idea there was such a thing as National Karaoke Week…

    If you’ve been reading my posts here on PopRockNation, you might know that I really enjoy karaoke. It’s not just because I enjoy singing, though. It’s because when it’s done right, karaoke can be a lot of fun and a great way to meet people who love music. Sure, people tend to do karaoke in bars, where there’s a lot of drinking and, depending on the place, things can get kind of sketchy. But karaoke can also be a fun, wholesome activity. Why, minus the booze, even kids can do it!

    Karaoke can be a fun way to be exposed to new music and bond with friends. It can also make for a great dare. It’s said that many people have a fear of public speaking. I’m willing to bet that even more people are afraid to sing in public. But if you manage to do it and the crowd is friendly and encouraging, it can be an excellent way to get a totally natural adrenaline rush. My poor husband, Bill, is not a singer, but I managed to get him to perform “Detachable Penis” by King Missile in front of a bunch of his peers. He still loves me, anyway! That song, by the way, is perfect for people who don’t sing and have no issues saying the word “penis” in public.

    The first time I ever sang karaoke was when I was in college. It was sometime in the early 1990s, when a good friend and I stumbled into Sunny’s Cafe and Bar in Farmville, Virginia. They had karaoke every Thursday night. There was a one dollar cover charge. I was too young to drink alcohol. That didn’t stop me, of course. I just imbibed before my arrival. My friend Chris and I sort of became regulars and it was a fun way to blow off steam on Thursday nights. To this day, Thursday still has sort of a party mystique at my house. It’s probably a good thing I don’t have any kids.

    These days, I don’t get to do much karaoke in bars anymore. But I can still celebrate National Karaoke Week this fourth week of April, 2013. In fact, I can celebrate all month, since SingSnap.com just announced a contest they’re having to celebrate National Karaoke Week for the rest of April.

    They’re throwing a contest that anyone who is a member of SingSnap can enter. There are several prizes; the grand prize is a lifetime gold membership to SingSnap.com. Given that SingSnap currently charges $80 per year and $15 per month of unlimited storage of recordings and unlimited access to its song catalog, a lifetime gold membership is a pretty good deal. You don’t have to be a great singer to enter, either. They’re looking for creativity and people who can make a song their very own.

    I’m not sure if I will take part in this particular contest. I’m a bit camera shy, and I have a feeling SingSnap’s contest will require that I make a video that actually shows me singing on camera! That will require me to get dressed up and– horrors!– wear makeup! And God forbid if I have to dance, too! I don’t mind singing in public if I don’t have to watch the end result on camera. But if you’re a karaoke fan and feel like celebrating, by all means join in the fun! SingSnap.com is free to join, though if you want access to all the songs on the site, you’ll want to get a gold membership.

    As for me, all this karaoke on SingSnap has inspired me to experiment with Garage Band, an Apple program I’ve had on my Mac since I bought it in October 2010, but have only just now started to play with. I recorded a couple of songs yesterday and made videos to go with them… neither of which show me on camera! I don’t know if I’ll ever use these new media skills for anything but personal enjoyment, but it’s always fun to learn new things!

  • American Idol Season 12: Cutting Down To 6

    Screenshot from the American Idol YouTube channel
    Screenshot from the American Idol YouTube channel

    The story of the night

    It’s really, the story of the season.

    How does Lazaro Arbos continue to stay on this show? The American Idol producers cut their own throats by showing us so much Lazaro in the auditions. His audition video went viral and many people tweeted it out and posted it on Facebook. We’re paying for that right now.

    I’m sure what’s saving Lazaro is that he gained quite a following and that following wants to root him on no matter how badly he sings.

    Wednesday night he wasn’t awful. Just maybe terrible in comparison to the strong singers on the show. And because of the Lazaro tax we’re paying, someone else will probably go home this week instead of him. I predicted Burnell.

    Who rocked the stage?

    Casey James was back shoulder shimmying looking like a waif model who forgot to take the hanger off of his shirt before he put it on.

    Carrie Underwood also performed her new single, See You Again.

    Who were in the top three?

    Before Ryno unveiled the top three, he asked the judges who their top three were.

    Keith: 1. Kree 2. Angie 3. Amber
    Nicki: 1. Angie 2. Amber 3. Kree
    Randy: 1. Amber, 2. Kree 3. Angie
    Mariah: 1. Kree 2. Amber 3. Candice

    I don’t understand all the Angie love. She was very plastic on Wednesday night. But I get the Kree (Summer), Candice, and Amber love. They are my three favorite contestants.

    Ryno finally unveiled the top three and it was Kree (Summer), Angie, and um, Lazaro. Thanks American Idol producers.

    Who were in the bottom three?

    At least Candice was sent over to the other side as number four, which left Amber, Janelle, and Burnell in the bottom three. Amber quickly went to the other side leaving just Janelle and Burnell whose names rhyme.

    Who went home?

    Sadly, poor Burnell had to pay the Lazaro tax. He did try to win his way back into the judges’ hearts, but they chose to not use the save.

    Burnell did one thing that was really cool though. As he was finishing his song, he started to sing to his fellow contestants and saved the last big note right for Amber, who he has a mighty crush on. That boy good.

  • For gingers only…

    A post especially for gingers!

    Hair color is a weird thing. I was born with blonde hair. As I got older, my hair got darker. My mom, being a vain type, started taking me to get my hair “Luminized” when I was still a young kid, which artificially lightened my hair. I hated those treatments. The color smelled bad and made my scalp itch. I’m sure the hairdresser dreaded my appointments, too. I wasn’t the most patient client.

    As I got older, I wasn’t used to seeing myself with darker hair, so I kept coloring it. Then in 1995, I went off to Armenia for two years. While hair color existed in the former Soviet country, I didn’t trust it. I saw a lot of “interesting” hair coloring attempts on Armenian women and I didn’t want to have weird hair. My weird personality already sets me apart enough! So I let my original color grow in and by the time I went home, my hair was sort of a dishwater blonde with lots of natural red/coppery highlights in it. It seems that I actually have a “tinge of the ging’”, as singer-songwriter Tim Minchin puts it.

    I resisted coloring my hair for a long time after I came home in 1997, but I hated seeing the inevitable silver streaks in my locks. But now, every time I use hair color, even if I use light brown, it turns red. So I guess I am now sort of a “ginger”, even though my hair never caused me the childhood trauma it apparently did others. Gingers were, after all, famously spoofed on South Park, where Eric Cartman famously claimed “Gingers have no souls!”

    I will admit it was odd for me when people started referring to me as a redhead. I have, in my mind, always been a blonde. I remember when I updated my military ID and in the block for hair color, I had to ask my husband whether I should put blonde or red. Both he and the lady making the ID said I appeared to be a ginger to them. It was weird being a redhead; even though I think they have as much fun as blondes do.

    Last week, an interesting article about redheads was circulating around the Internet, with lots of factoids about why some people have red hair as well as some of the myths perpetuated about redheads. I’m not sure if they apply to a pseudo redhead like me, though. I’m not quite sure in my case the carpet matches the drapes.

    Anyway, Tim Minchin is a guy who understands the plight of natural redheads, which he addresses in his hilarious song, “Prejudice”…

    I discovered Tim Minchin through a posting on one of my favorite Internet message boards and ended up downloading his great album, Ready For This (Live). “Prejudice” is just one of the great songs on that album. Whether you’re a ginger or not, it’s worth checking out!