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  • Vital Idol: Paula Abdul Doesn’t Predict The Future Tonight

    Last night’s show was hard to watch. From Paula screwing up and analyzing a singing performance that hadn’t happened yet, to Simon being very grouchy, to the unorganized flow to the entire show, it was a hot mess. Neil Diamond didn’t really get a lot of air time and was low keyed because of the lack of time. The reason for the lack of time was because they decided to have each singer perform twice. Ryno Seacrest mentioned several times that they had to speed through things in order to get everyone done on the one hour show. No one wants to miss that 9 o’clock news.

    Paula’s Screw Up

    Brooke White and Jason Castro were again the worst of the bunch. But at least Brooke had great, shiny, silver pants. But they were also the worst of the bunch last week too. And neither of them went home. Syesha Mercado has been great these last few weeks, but she’s also been in the bottom more often than not. If she goes home tonight, it will be a second straight week where someone undeserving went home.

    On to the show …

    – Ryno just showed Idol alumni Gina Glocksen and Constantine in the audience. I think he buttoned up the very bottom button on his shirt. He was all chest hair tonight. Ryno also made him do the perv face.

    – Ryno just set the record straight on Paula. He said that she’s not addicted to Vicodin and she’s still a part of the family. Ok, he didn’t say anything about Vicodin.

    – Jason Castro is safe. Syesha just cringed.

    – The two Davids are predictably safe, and deservedly so, since they are the most consistent out of the entire group of contestants.

    – For some reason unknown to me, Natasha Bedingfield is singing Pocketful Of Sunshine. A little research showed me that it’s her new single. She then went over to hug David Archuleta who giggled like a little school girl, I mean, excited young man.

    – Neil Diamond looks pretty sharp in his leather jacket and black slacks. But not as “pretty amazing” as Brooke’s pants from last night.

    – In the bottom two are Brooke and Syesha and you can tell that Brooke expects to leave just by looking at her face. And she’s right. Big Rube is celebrating Brooke home tonight.

    – I’ll miss two things about Brooke. I will miss watching for how she wore her hair, either with the natural curls, or straight. And I will miss those great pants she wore last night. What I won’t miss is her fumbling the lyrics, as she did tonight on her go home song.

    What is the theme for next week? If it were up to me, it’d be New Kids On The Block night. David Cook would turn Step By Step into a grungy rock song.

    Seacrest Out!

  • New Releases 4/29/08: Madonna, The Roots and More!!!


    Last week was so bereft of quality releases that you knew there was going to be an overflow this week. How fitting that my last new release Tuesday in NYC is going to find me spending a LOT of money!! Here’s the hotlist:

    Madonna “Hard Candy”: Madge is back, she’s dropping the final album on her Warner Brothers contract, and she’s finally dropped the electronic flavorings that she’s favored for the last decade in favor of the R&B-leaning pop that she began her career with. Of course, working with Reggie Lucas, Chic and Jellybean Benitez in ’83 means working with Timbaland, Pharrell and Kanye West in 2008. It’s certainly not her first flirtation with hip-hop/R&B (see “Bedtime Stories” and “Erotica”), and if lead single “4 Minutes” is any indication, we might be getting the best Madonna album since “Ray of Light”. Not bad for a 49-year old mother of three, eh?

    http://www.madonna.com/

    The Roots “Rising Down”: Another act wrapping up their contract, The Roots are ending their ill-fated tenure on Def Jam with a bang. “Rising Down” is a pointedly political work (which means that it will be severely bungled by the Def Jam folks), featuring cameos by Roots album mainstays like Mos Def and Talib Kweli. Interestingly enough, the most commercial song on the album (“Birthday Girl”, which features Fall Out Boy’s Patrick Stump) was ultimately dropped from the album because it didn’t fit thematically. Well, thematic continuity or no, The Roots’ creative resume is damn near impeccable, and their last three studio albums have been almost perfect, so great things are expected from me on this one.

    http://okayplayer.com/

    Portishead “Third”: Anchored by the sultry/creepy vocals of Beth Gibbons, Portishead helped kick off the British trip-hop movement with 1994’s classic album “Dummy”, an album that still gets heavy rotation in my CD player. After a 10 year absence, Beth and instrumentalist Geoff Barrow are back. Although the reviews I’ve read of the album have been almost uniformly awful (and Barrow has not made any friends in the press, slinging darts at the likes of Danger Mouse and Prince), I’m still interested to hear what the duo has come up with after so long apart.

    Home page

    Estelle “Shine”: Estelle also comes from across the pond. The young singer is the first artist released on John Legend’s Homeschool Records. Given Legend’s star power (and the industry’s current fixation with British female vocalists), it’s no surprise that Estelle’s debut features a star-studded cast including Kanye West, will.i.am and Mark Ronson. First single “American Boy” is cute enough and has gotten a pretty good buzz. Can Estelle follow in the (musical, not personal) footsteps of Brit divas like Amy Winehouse and Lily Allen?

    http://www.estellemusic.com/

    Robyn “Robyn”: I posted a blurb about Robyn a month or two back, when “The Rakamonie EP” was released, and her self-titled full-length album (her first American release in a decade…what is UP with some of these artists) hits stores today. Most of you who remember her obviously do so from the singles “Show Me Love” (not to be confused with house music diva Robin S., who *also* had a 90s hit called “Show Me Love”) and “Do You Know (What It Takes)”. Well, she’s grown up, she has an attitude problem, and she’s making some of the best pure pop music around right now. She’s kinda like Fergie, only GOOD.

    http://www.robyn.com/

    And that’s not it, folks!!! Augustana try to stave off one-hit wonderdom with their sophomore release, “Can’t Hurt, Can’t Love”, Def Leppard’s “Songs From The Sparkle Lounge” is their latest attempt to stave off irrelevance, former neo-soul guitarist/vocalist Lyfe Jennings offers a more commercial side on “Lyfe Change”, complete with T.I. and Snoop Dogg cameos, teenage girl rapper Lil’ Mama’s debut FINALLY hits stores a year after “Lip Gloss” became a Top 10 hit, British soul singer (and critical fave) Jamie Lidell drops “Jim” today, Mudcrutch (the band that eventually became Tom Petty & The Heartbreakers) release their self-titled debut today (which may be this week’s sleeper hit), we have new albums from punk legends Mindless Self Indulgence and rock en espanol legends Mana, rock legend Steve Winwood (fresh off a tour with Eric Clapton)and hipster fave Santogold.

    Damn. Do you think folks could have thrown some of this stuff into last week when there was nothing out worth mentioning? Geez.

    Happy shopping!!

    Oh…and get a complete list of this week’s releases here: http://www.pauseandplay.com/cdfront.htm

  • I Guess Mr. Collins Has Had His Phil


    So the music world has been rocked-ROCKED, I say!!-by the announcement that Phil Collins is retiring from touring and releasing new albums.

    OK, so I’m being a little sarcastic. Considering Phil hasn’t made a better-than-average record in a decade and a half (some folks would say more, some would even say he’s *never* made a better-than-average record), I don’t think a whole lot of people are wiping away tears at Phil’s retirement. Actually, his decision to bow out now should probably serve as sort of a guideline for most rockers who find themselves north of 50.

    That said, I’m far from a Phil Collins hater. Over the past thirty-five years or so, Phil’s established himself as not only one of rock’s best drummers, but also s a fantastic pop craftsman. Even if you’re not a pop fan, you’ve gotta admit that through the Eighties, he ranked as one of the decade’s best singles artists-and he’s certainly one of the better blue-eyed soul singers the world has produced. I’ll even admit that about four years ago, I dragged my then-boss to an intimate concert Phil held in New York City that was filmed for a VH-1 special that I don’t think ever aired. Anyway, I even made my boss (who DETESTS Phil Collins and Eighties’ pop in general) stay after the show and wait in line just so I could shake Phil’s hand and tell him how big a fan I was. I’m surprised I didn’t get fired afterwards.

    I really wanted to include the clip of Stewie Griffin singing “In The Air Tonight” to pay tribute to Phil, but Youtube doesn’t have it, dammit.

    So instead, you get one of my favorite songs of the decade: “Sussudio”. Enjoy. We’ll miss you, Phil. Enjoy skiing in the Swiss Alps and boinking hot chicks young enough to be your daughter. And take Tony and Mike with you so they don’t try to reform Genesis with some lameass lead singer again.