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Pop Rock Nation

Tag: Amy Winehouse

  • The Randomizer: NKOTB, George Michael, Mariah and More!

    *So, the NKOTB reunion is in full-swing. The first photo of all the guys together since 1994 is making the rounds, and I gotta say time has been kind to The Kids. They’re on the “Today” show tomorrow, performing and announcing their tour, and I gotta say, I’m pretty stoked! More so to hear the new material than to go see them live, though.
    *Speaking of artists that haven’t performed live in forever, George Michael is touring the U.S. for the first time since 1991, promoting his new “Twenty-Five” hits compilation. I love George, and he remains a singular vocalist who really isn’t all that exciting live. However, considering the man tours so infrequently, it might be a good idea to catch him now.
    *Congrats are due to Mariah Carey and Madonna. “Touch My Body” became Mariah’s 18th #1 hit this week, pushing her into second place, behind The Beatles, when it comes to artists with #1 songs. Meanwhile, “4 Minutes” has become Madge’s 38th Top Ten hit, also bumping her into second place all-time, behind, you guessed it, The Beatles!!
    *Wow, all I have to do is throw a Hammer or Vanilla Ice reference, and the artists mentioned in this column so far could have just as easily been mentioned in 1990. How ’bout staying power, eh?
    *Bobby Brown is writing an autobiography, which promises to dish tons of dirt on Whitney Houston, including the fact that Whit introduced him to cocaine and that she married him to improve her image. Um, wasn’t *Whitney* America’s good girl when she and Bobby got married? What needed improvement? And who knew Bobby could write?
    *Finally, in my current guilty pleasures list, the guys from Fall Out Boy have recorded a pretty nifty cover of “Beat It”, featuring some serious shredding from John Mayer on guitar. I’m not quite sure why I like Fall Out Boy so much. Maybe I take pity on the overwhelming ugliness of Patrick Stump. Anyway, here’s their cover for you (best to ignore the video loop of Patrick Stump blowing kisses):
    It’s good and all, but still doesn’t beat this ridiculously awesome cover by Charlotte Church and a drunk off her tits Amy Winehouse:

  • Grammys 2008: Really?!? Herbie Hancock?!?!

    So, I braved the NYC elements (it’s 17 degrees over there), hopped on a plane West, checked into my hotel and cleared up some work so I could be back in my hotel room to view the 50th Annual Grammy Awards in their entirety. Considering I shut it off before it even finished, color me a little underwhelmed by a show (and a voting committee) that has gotten better than they were, but still leads all award shows in WTF decisions?

    First of all, I was a little upset by what didn’t happen at the show. A rumored Michael Jackson performance commemorating the 25th Anniversary of “Thriller” didn’t happen (presumably because Michael refused to perform unless he received some kind of award), and an expected fireworks fest between Aretha Franklin & Mary J. Blige didn’t happen due to Mary somehow not appearing on the show (despite wearing two Grammys last night). Not sure what happened, but it’s possible Aretha (who’s back to looking like a Macy’s Thanksgiving Day float after losing a pretty decent amount of weight) ate her.

    The highlights were expected. No one that I didn’t expect to wow me already wowed me. Those “wow” moments? Kanye West’s futuristic performance of “Stronger” with Daft Punk followed by an emotional performance of “Hey Mama” that proved dude could potentially have a singing career as well, and Amy Winehouse’s excellent medley of “You Know I’m No Good” and the now completely ironic “Rehab”. Both also had the best acceptance speeches of the night. Winehouse was quite overwhelmed (and bringing her parents on stage with her was a nice touch), and West was deservedly surly as he started to get played off the stage in the middle of his speech. Vince Gill and Prince also provided chuckles (Prince DOES have a sense of humor) with subtle knocks on Kanye and Sinatra, respectively.

    Everything else was just kind of standard and boring, honestly. I hereby pronounce a future ban on all Beatles tribute unless John and George come back from the dead. I hereby pronounce a moratorium on ANY performances of “No One” by Alicia Keys (who performed the same song on the VMAs in September and the AMAs in November). I fell asleep during the performance by Lang Lang and Herbie Hancock. Musical virtuosity is great, folks. Now try to give us some excitement, k?

    While it was nice to see The Time together, I grinned at the irony of the band playing the instruments on “Jungle Love”, a song that no Time member (except guitarist Jesse Johnson and Morris Day) played on individually. Not to mention the fact that I thought Morris and co-performer Rihanna had no chemistry whatsoever. Ditto for Beyonce and 69-year old Tina Turner, although Tina surprised me by performing with the energy of a woman 1/3 her age.

    My personal biggest offense was this. Since the Grammys appeared on tape delay here at West, I decided to fight temptation and not check any news sites for a winners list. Curiosity got the best of me and I finally broke down and went to cnn.com, where I saw a picture of Herbie Hancock’s grinning mug accompanied by the words “Album Of The Year”. Don’t get me wrong, I dig Herbie Hancock. Although I’ve only heard parts of the winning album, “River” (a Joni Mitchell tribute), I don’t think it’s bad. Besides, how can you be mad at someone who played with Miles Davis? Still, though, in light of excellent albums by West and Winehouse being nominated, the night’s major prize went to the height of fuddy-duddyness, highlighting a problem that’s been Grammy’s Achilles heel for as long as I can remember.

    If you want to bring this show into the 21st century and resonate with music listeners today, it might be time to stop making this show a back-slapping fest for record executives and older artists (especially in light of slumping music sales), and figure out some way to get the voting and nominating committees a little more in step with the times.

    I had high hopes for this show, but in the end, the Grammys turned out to be just another tired award show, and this year’s show was one of the most boring ones I’ve ever had the misfortune to watch.

  • 50th Grammy’s: No Coffee

    I’ve blogged this show for the past two years and made fun of it’s usual lengthiness, but am going to change my tune. The last few years caused me to drink copious amounts of coffee to get through the shows. I’m only drinking Diet Pepsi Max (and bobbing my head like LL and Busta) and Diet Dr. Pepper Cherry Vanilla style.

    Let’s just get this out of the way. Kanye is going to be the sentimental favorite tonight. With his mom’s recent surprise passing, I can’t imagine him not performing Hey Mama tonight and just making the tears run down everyone’s faces.

    • The show opens with Alicia Keys singing a duet with Frank Sinatra. And dude is in black and white.
    • Alicia’s dress is way too tight and reminds me of the dress that Donna Martin wore to the Spring dance that made her look like a mermaid. Her breasts must be suffocating.
    • Carrie Underwood is a really pretty girl, but isn’t the kind of girl who should ever wear hot pants of any kind. She has a bad case of noassatall.
    • Alicia Keys just won the Best Female R&B Vocal Performance and accepted the award from Prince. Her heels must’ve been higher because dude would’ve had to jump to kiss her.
    • Morris Day and The Time just came out, but only to act as the intro act to Rihanna. Prince was not in sight, but Rihanna still gave him props by wearing her hair the same way as him.
    • Fantasia was in the crowd and she’s rockin’ a blond bald spot.
    • Amy Winehouse won for Best New Artist so they aren’t screwing her just yet for being a nut job.
    • Say what you want about Kanye, but the dude is an entertainer. And he did Hey Mama justice and his mother proud tonight.

     

    • There are some people who actually look great in HD, but poor Fergie Ferg isn’t one of them. She should have it in her contract that they can’t do close-ups on her.
    • First the Oscars did it to Dreamgirls and now the Grammy’s. They gave the Compilation Soundtrack award to Beatles Live. I think I would’ve been ok with Hugh Grant winning for Pop! Goes My Heart, but not to some guys in tight trousers dancing to Beatles songs.
    • Beyonce came out in nothing more than a dress with bikini bottoms and she let the thighs loose. Let’s just say that if Jay-Z ever fell asleep on her lap, he may never wake up.
    • Tina Turner came out and sang with Beyonce and save for one moment where she kicked out her knee and I thought she dislocated her knee cap, that old woman can still get it done.
    • Even though Amy Winehouse won the song writer’s award for Best Song, what is more interesting is that I learned that Jay-Z gets a writing credit for Umbrella, all because he was in a verse at the beginning of the song that no one remembers. Dude didn’t even write, “Ella ella aye aye”.
    • Just as I aimed my buddy Mike that if Nas or Kanye West didn’t win, we riot, Kanye West won for Best Rap Album.
    • The Grammy’s tried to play the wrap-up music on Kanye, but he made it stop. That was classic.
    • I thought the only people who knew who Feist was, were the folks who watched VH-1 early in the morning.
    • Alicia Keys and Johnny Mayer work well together. And thankfully, Mayer cut off the Edward Scissorhands hairdo.
    • In introducing Amy Winehouse (who is live via satellite as she couldn’t get her visa in time), Cuba Gooding said, “Ya know what I’m sayin?” I didn’t know the dude had it in him.
    • Either Winehouse is trying to make us think she’s messed up, or she’s really messed up. Which also begs the question, “How can someone sing so well while messed up?”
    • After winning Record Of The Year for Rehab she shouted out her “Blake incarcerated”. Yep, she said it.
    • Why is will.i.am on my TV singing and rapping a collection of past Grammy’s hits? The crowd didn’t know what to do when he was done.
    • Usher and Kanye West would’ve tied if there was an award for Best Sunglasses.
    • In the biggest upset in the last week, Herbie Hancock beat out both Kanye West and Amy Winehouse for Album Of The Year. It was an Eli Manning-esque comeback. Then, when reaching for his thank you cards, they slipped out and fell, only he didn’t know and kept reaching into his pocket. At least Eli didn’t drop the trophy.

    The rumored Michael Jackson tie-in for the re-release of Thriller never happened. That made me sad. But at least I didn’t have to drink coffee.