American Idols Live Tour

The other night Megan and I went to see a live concert put on by the top ten American Idols of this past season. It was a great concert. If you did not follow this past season of American Idol then this blog will probably mean nothing to you. Here is the skinny on what went down:

Summary:

Each Idol got to sing at least one solo in the same fashion you’d see on the show. But there were also a large number of duets, trios, and even quartets. As a whole, each performer sang as good as, if not better, than they did on the show. I’m not sure if that was merely because it was live of if they have really improved that much since the season finale.

Here are my awards to them.

Best Quartet/Quintet:

Rising out of the floor on a platform, Lakisha, Melinda, Gina and Haley sang a four-part 16 measure bit of “Boogie Woogie Bugle Boy of Company B.” As a choir teacher and vocal coach, I can tell you that it was awesome. When they were done with that, Phil Stacey, dressed to the nines in his Navy getup, sang the most amazing rendition of America the Beautiful. Clear voice and heartfelt, it was one of many treats of the night.

Best Duet(s):

This award was a tie. Jordin Sparks sang a duet with Melinda Jones that was just amazing and then directly afterward she sang a duet with Chris Richardson that blew us away.

Most Entertaining:

Blake Lewis. This guy just knows how to take the stage. At one point he came out on stage and started beat-boxing. And it wasn’t just any old beat-boxing. It was phenomenal! After about a five minute introduction he set into a steady beat-boxing rhythm. Then with a foot pedal below him, he looped about 4 measures of his own beat so he could stop beat-boxing but you could still hear him on the loop. He then added another beat over his original beat and looped it. He then added a bass line of himself singing “doom doom doom” like a bass guitar. With all three looped it sounded awesome as it was. He was like a human mix-machine. Then he started singing the verses to U2s With or Without You. When he got to the chorus, he looped himself singing “with or without you, with or with out you.” He then added a harmony part and looped it. He then added ANOTHER harmony part and looped it. So now you have ONLY Blake on stage but you have two beat-boxers, a bass line singer, and three part harmonies going. Our jaws were already to the floor… and then he went into the chorus climax over the top of it all: “I can’t liiiiiiiive, with or with out you baby!” It was probably one of the coolest things I’ve ever seen.

Most surprising:

Chris Richardson. I never liked him on the show. He never impressed me as being a very good singer or being very versatile at his craft. But at the live tour he blew us away. He sang great and he is very musically talented. He also gets the most stage time award. He was on stage singing in like every other song for the night. But I think it was with reason. He sang wonderfully, he was entertaining and he knew how to grab the crowd almost as well as Blake did. Aside from that, he sang a few songs while playing the guitar, but even more impressive is when he came out with a drum set and sang while playing that! He truly is a talented singer.

Worst Singer Award:

This goes to Haley. No surprise. She was as terrible (if not worse) than she was on the show.

Most Boring:

Chris Sligh. He seemed sluggish and uninterested as he slopped around the stage all night long.

Most fun:

The Boy Band. All five male Idols (Blake, Chris R, Chris S, Sanjaya and Phil) came out in a band fashion. Phil on keyboard, Blake on guitar, Chris Sligh on Bass guitar, Sanjaya on tambourine and Chris Richardson on drums, they played a couple of songs including the Beatles’ Hey Jude. They were VERY good. If they had debuted in that format and cut CDs as a band that way, I’d buy them.

Best Vocals:

This is a tough one so I’m going to break it up into three categories:

Best Versatile Vocals:

Jordin Sparks. This 17 year old girl did not win the show for no reason. She sang at least one song from every genre in the history of mankind except for Gregorian chant. And she did it WELL. She was incredible in spite of the fact that she was becoming vocally tired by the end of the night (not that I blame her).

Best Male Vocal:

Phil Stacey. Phil was INCREDIBLE! I always liked him on the show but I never felt that he should have won. After seeing him live… I’m starting to question. Phil has a clear and present voice.

He was entertaining and sang beautifully. I can see Phil making it big in the recording business after his tour is done. Just like Chris Daughtry, Phil didn’t win, but he could be big. He sang a number of solos that were just captivating. I would probably buy his CDs when they come out.

Best female and overall vocal of the entire night goes to… drum roll please…

Lakisha Jones! Can you believe it? We couldn’t either. But she came out singing her version of Whitney Houston's “And I have always loved you.” Let me just say that I do not hesitate to say that she sang it BETTER than Whitney. She was unbelievable! Clear voice, nailing the top notes like it was easy, and strutting around like a star. She blew everyone away with a stellar performance. She received a standing ovation that lasted easily longer than any other applause from any other song of the night.

My final thoughts:

Megan and I loved watching American Idol this season. Before this season we thought that American Idol watchers were silly uneducated teeny boppers. We made fun of those that liked Idol and rolled our eyes at people who talked about it. Well we saw the first episode of this past season (our first time ever watching it) and we were hooked. It really is a great show. We fell in love with the singers that we voted for each and every week. Seeing them perform live in concert was a treat and I’m glad we went.

Now we can’t wait for the next season to start!

More Than Meets the Eye

I had the privilege of seeing the premier showing of Transformers last night.

In Short:
It was probably one of the greatest--if not THE greatest--movies I've ever seen.

In Long:
Michael Bay was obviously the right guy for the job. His directing was superb. The lighting, the angles and the performance he was able to pull from the actors was just great.

The story line was intriguing, though not flawless. The special FX were FANTASTIC. I mean BEYOND fantastic. Eventually you forget that you're looking at CGI and you just watch the film for what it is.

I loved how the transformers (especially Starscream) would transform in mid flight and land. Just amazing stuff. The whole move was one HUGE battle after another. Rarely was there a dull spot in the movie. Constant action. Constant amazing cinematography.

The Cheese Factor:
There were a FEW cheesy moments in the movie. Some of the dialogue was a bit over the top and made me groan. And every time Optimus spoke there was this cheesy music that would swell up behind him as if to suggest that every word he spoke was so terribly noble and awe-inspiring.

I won't talk about the few things I didn't like because I don't want to spoil it for you. Just do yourself a favor and GO SEE THIS MOVIE. It truly is: more than meets the eye.

The Saddest Part of Teaching

As a teacher I have seen some of the saddest things. I grew up in a home in which education was considered important and I had parents who actually cared about where I was and what I did. Saddly, this is not the case for MANY of today’s youth.

I teach a guitar class. Half of the students in the class are currently failing. Another third of the class had a D or C. Very few have B’s or A’s.

Now, keep in mind that this is an elective course. There is NO homework and 80% of the points come purely from coming to class and participating (trying on some level). Still, kids just don’t care, and it breaks my heart to see it.

Example 1: I ask “Stephen” to come up and play a 4 measure melody for me that we’ve been working on for 2 straight class periods (3 hours). 4 beats per measure equals about 16 notes the he had 3 hours to learn to play in order. He gets there, stares at the music and has no idea where to start. “I don’t know how to do this,” he says. “Okay, what is the name of this first note?” I ask. “Oh, that one… I can’t remember that one,” he responds. “That was the very first note we ever learned in this class at the beginning of the 1^st semester and we’ve played it unceasingly every day since then,” I explain. “I’ll just take a zero,” he decided.

Sad. Just sad.

Example 2: Every day my students have to do a journal. Basically I put a few questions on the board for them to answer. What is the name of this note? How many beats are in a 4/4 measure, etc. They write down whatever they think are the right answers and then we review them. At the end of the month we turn in all the journals. Note: the student gets FULL credit for turning in the journals at ALL. All the answers could be made up and have nothing to do with the question and they will still get full credit. I have told them this many times. I’ve pleaded with them to understand that right or wrong they get ALL the points for just turning it in.

…you guessed it: only about 1/3 of the class turns them in. CAN YOU BELIEVE THAT!?!? It’s a full 10% of their grade and they CHOOSE not to turn them in.

I have so many students like this (mostly in guitar, my choir students are pretty good). They don’t care about their grades and it stems from their home life. They obviously have parents who aren’t involved in their lives, and THAT’s what saddens me the most. These poor kids don’t have parents who check their grades or explain to them what responsibility is. I wonder if their parents even know they still live in the same house with them.

Now I understand that there are students whose parents do care and they still fail. But when I’m offering a FREE passing grade just for handing me a notebook regardless of what’s in it, and they choose not to do it… it goes to show that they don’t care, and obviously nobody else does either.

Take Responsibility - Stop Saying "you"

Okay, today's post is a rant. Have you ever noticed that people constantly use the pronoun "you" when referring to events that they experienced themselves? Why don't people take responsibility for themselves?

Here are a few examples:

Example #1
When asked: "What was so good about that movie?" a person responds: Well you can really get into it. You sit there watching it and you feel the emotion of the score and then you get all teary eyed and you...

Do you see what I mean? I didn't "really get into it." I didn't sit there and I didn't feel the emotion... YOU did, so say it!

A better response would have been: Well I can really get into it. I sat there watching it and I felt the emotion of the score and then I got all teary eyed and I...

Example #2
When you're in a position like mine, you have to really try hard to do your best. If you don't, then the boss will catch you not doing your job and you'll be fired.

How about you take responsibility for yourself. Try this instead:

When in a position like mine, I have to really try hard to do my best. If I don't, then my boss will catch me not doing my job and I'll be fired.

Example #3
I like to play the guitar because you learn how to read music, and you can play songs from the bands you like and then you might be able to start your own band.

Try this instead:

I like to play the guitar because I learn how to read music, and I can play songs from the bands I like and then I might be able to start my own band.

So take my advice: take responsibility for yourself. Don't say "you," say "I."

Nintendo Wii = The Matrix

So I had a thought the other day. The Nintendo Wii is really cool from what people tell me. As usual, Nintendo is trying to be the first gaming system to take the first step in virtual reality gaming. Now you can go bowling or hunting right from your living room. Who needs to go out when you've got great home theater systems and even tennis courts and fishing ponds right in your own house?

The gaming revolution will only get bigger and better. Soon, we'll have virtual reality glasses to put on and games will be in 3D. Then We'll be able to start smelling and feeling the worlds of our games. When you want to go bowling with friends in another state, you just hook up online in your virtual reality world.

Before you know it, the gaming world will overtake our own. You can live in a mansion in your virtual world. Why not? You can see it, feel it, smell it, design it, etc. And if that house is so much better than your own, why not live there, and add a feeding tube to your arm so you don't die from "playing" your game to long.

You see where this is going, don't you? Before long, we'll be living in the world of the Matrix--with all humans hooked up to virtual reality computers, living out our lives and forgetting about the real world behind us.

...and it's all because of the first pioneer steps of the Nintendo Wii.