Usher’s latest album Raymond v. Raymond is actually performing quite well for the singer. Better in fact than I thought after listening to it and being pretty disappointed with it. On the strength of OMG (which is really one of the poorer songs on the album), it’s gone platinum.
Late in the summer, he’s repackaging the album and calling it Versus. One of the songs scheduled to be on the new album is Hot Toddy, featuring Jay-Z. It’s been leaked and you can listen to it below.
They pulled Ruben Studdard out of the closet they were hiding him in and he performed what seems like a new single. You can tell how much a crowd enjoys a performance by how many times the artist has to ask the crowd to get into it. Studdard must’ve asked the crowd at least three times to clap along with him. Maybe next time he should get on his knees and beg. “Come on y’all!”
Ryno Seacrest just said that Ruben and Clay Aiken were going on tour together. It’s like if Luther Vandross and Elton John impostors were touring together.
Onto the contestants …
Ryno asks Lee Dewyze to stand up. Lee goes on and on about his performance last night, but still looks constipated. How can the guy look constipated every week? Give the brother some fiber. He’s safe.
Ryno asks Casey to stand up and asks him how he can challenge himself. The first words out of Casey’s mouth were, “I mean …” No Case, we have no idea what you mean because you didn’t say anything yet. He’s safe.
Aaron Kelly is up and Ryno asks him if he’s ever really been in love. Aaron says that his nether regions were aflutter when he saw Miley Cyrus last week. Ok, he didn’t say that. Ryno told him he was safe anyway.
Creepy girl and Katie stand up together. Creepy girl isn’t living down her nickname with her wardrobe. Katie is in the bottom three. Simon says that he wishes Katie would’ve taken his advice as if to say that if she did, she wouldn’t be in the bottom three. Don’t worry Simon, she’s not going home.
Justin Bieber is sitting in the crowd to watch Usher perform. Hey, I just wrote about Bieber-Mania today.
Usher’s performing OMG, his newest single. It’s only the worst song on his new album. The girl might make Usher say, “Oh my God”, but the song makes me roll my eyes. The guy is simply too talented to put out crap like this. And to make things worse, will.i.am shows up to throw his terrible rhymes into the ether.
By the time this thing was over, I was hoping that Demi Lovato and Joe Jonas were going to save him.
Back to the evicting – it’s Didi’s turn. I have a bad feeling about this. I think Ryno could’ve told her to sit down and she would’ve just walked to the other side of the stage to join Katie anyway. Didi is in the bottom three, and all of you participating in the Sonic Spring Singing Contest were all right on the money in picking her, just like George wrote today.
Ryno tricked Big Mike into thinking he was in the bottom three and in turn, Big Mike picked Ryno up and nearly threw him into the air. Ryno better check his shorts during the next commercial.
Crystal is also safe. Timothy and Andrew stand up together. Timothy is the smartest person in this competition. He just told America that the reason he smiles is because he’s the luckiest man on the face of the earth. Or something like that. But he’s genuinely likable no matter how badly he sucks the big sloppy dunky one. Andrew is safe and Teflon Timothy is in the bottom three.
Ryno sends Katie back to safety. It’s Didi vs. Timothy in a “Who is more terrible?” competition.
Diddy and his group “Dirty Money” are performing tonight for whatever reason. This performance was actually not half bad. But in the 13 years that Diddy has been a recording artist, he still can’t rap worth a damn. And just to think, he was friends with one of the greatest rappers of all time. Just goes to show you that rapping is just as much of a talent as singing is. You can fake it to make it, but skills are skills.
I just thought about this. We have a Didi and a Diddy on the same show.
Teflon Timothy does it again. Didi Benami is on her way out, but she’s trying to sing her way back on the show hoping that the judges will save her from doom. It’s actually a really solid performance, but it also shows that her range is pretty weak. If Simon and company bring her back, I’ll eat my hat.
Simon says he’s not going to save her, saving Didi for another week of unhappy singing and saving me from having to eat my hat. It’s time for Didi to leave right now.
Photo of Didi Benami shared via Wikipedia
On Raymond V. Raymond, Usher goes back to his playboy ways. If you liked his progression to a more mature Usher, I’m not sure you’re going to like the step back he takes. While, you could say that Here I Stand didn’t have that one crazy big hit that Usher is used to having, an artist needs to grow, and while the album wasn’t super fantastic, it definitely showed growth. I think that’s why Raymond V. Raymond is disappointing. He’s basically telling us that all the growth was for naught.
To me, this album should’ve been about the heartache he’s currently going through because of the divorce from his wife. Wait, he’s a star. He doesn’t go through the regular heartbreak that we all go through I guess.
When he gives us radio garbage like OMG and Lil’ Freak, it really makes me wonder if he’s worried about where the next hit is coming from or if he really feels he’s a star. I guess, in a sense, you can never be too comfortable with your status in this fickle pop music world. But this is Usher, not Justin Bieber.
You know he still has it on songs like There Goes My Baby, which you simply want to sing to the love of your life, and Hey Daddy, which has an infectious, yet awkward chorus for guys to sing. But those moments are too few and far between.
The dude basically calls himself Usher Woods on songs like Foolin’ Around, which you kind of want to enjoy simply for his honesty, but at the same time, it’s just such an awkward thing to respect. Usher may feel like the bigger man for being honest, but how big can you be when your morals are questionable and you admit it?
On Papers he celebrates divorce. Really. And not since Kanye West asked people to chant, “We want pre-nup!” have you heard something as silly as Usher asking the fellas and ladies to say, “I’m ready,” if they’re sick and tired and want to sign some papers.
On Guilty he sings about the fact that he’s guilty for having too much fun and you might as well take him to jail. Maybe the most ironic thing about this song is that while he’s asking to be taken to jail, T.I. pops up and lays down some bars. I guess Lil’ Wayne was busy.
I’m not sure exactly what he was trying to do with this album. He’s stated that it’s called Raymond V. Raymond because there are two different sides to him, but the only side he really showed was someone who is begging for a hit rather than someone who knows how to deliver one.
