Music Review - Album: "In a Perfect World" by Keri Hilson

Keri Hilson – “In A Perfect World”

Track Listing:
1. Intro
2. Turning Me On (ft. Lil’ Wayne)
3. Get Your Money Up (ft. Keyshia Cole and Trina)
4. Return the Favor (ft. Timbaland)
5. Knock You Down (ft. Kanye West and Ne-Yo)
6. Slow Dance
7. Make Love
8. Intuition
9. How Does It Feel
10. Alienated
11. Tell Him The Truth
12. Change Me (ft. Akon)
13. Energy
14. Where Did He Go

Tamara's Take: C-, Not worth the money

Stand Out Tracks: Knock You Down
Songs on Repeat: Turnin Me On, Get Your Money Up, Alienated
Solid Tracks: Return The Favor, How Does It Feel, Tell Him The Truth, Energy, Where Did He Go
Skip It: Slow Dance, Make Love, Intuition (the beat is annoying), Change Me (I don’t like Akon’s voice)

I’m somewhat torn on this album. My first impression was completely negative; I don’t think that Keri has a particularly great voice and I think she is definitely a studio artist. I decided to give it another chance and I’m still not that impressed. I am really trying to hear what all the people I’ve heard praising the album must be hearing but I just don’t.

I can’t believe I’m even supporting “Get Your Money Up” because it is a very ghetto hoodrich song but I love Trina even though she fell off. The funny thing is that my favorite song on the track (Knock You Down) is only my favorite because of the guest artists, I could actually do without Keri’s part. I think it is a shame when the people you have featured on your album do a much better job than you do. Now I am a sucker for a sappy or sad love ballad but not by her, she doesn’t have the voice to pull it off. She needs to stick to the more Pop, catchy hook type songs.

I’m really surprised that there are several songs on here where I am just not feeling the production/beat AT ALL. I know that she has written for several other artists, I’m wondering if she gave her best material away…. I can understand why a lot of women/girls like the album though, I’m sure they can relate to the lyrics of the songs. This is not an album that I would just play straight through but I will add a select few of the songs to one of my various playlists.

American Idol - Top 7 Elimination Night

Ohhh kay so here we go.... Two people will be eliminated tonight. I predicted Lil Rounds and Anoop.

Performances:
Group performance - Are they lip syncing? WTF Danny?? Cut that mess out. Okay this whole thing was just too much for me. The dancing is a mess with Danny being the worst of the group. Adam is getting it a little to much. LOL.

Freda Payne - I love this song but wow. Where in the world did they find her? She has to be like 80 but she looks great for her age. I don't know if I should be impressed or if she should sit it down.
Thelma Houston - Oh hells naw @ that outfit. What is going on Idol? She still sounds good though.
KC and the Sunshine Band - WTF! This is just getting progressively worse. And womp to his old @ss having those young backup dancers.

David Archuletta: WOMP. Snore...blah....he doesn't even sound good to me but I was never really a big fan of his anyway.

Bottom 3:
-Lil': no surprise here, she'll probably be going home
-Anoop: He shouldn't have grown that mess on his face
-Allison: What the heck. I don't understand why she isn't getting to votes she deserves

Who Got the Boot:
-Lil': It is time for her to go. If she would have gotten better each week then I would call BS but she hasn't. I would like to say that I'll see her around but I doubt it. I don't see her being able to come out and sell an album unless she really switches up and defines her style.
-Anoop: Based on his performance last night I'm not that surprised. I never saw him winning the entire thing so it was only a matter of time before he would be leaving.



Tamara's Train of Thought:
-Paula has still got it!
-So now that Scott is gone they are really dancing? That's just wrong.
-Lil' is looking into dance? She probably should be, he has the body to be in rap videos.
-Why did they give Paula flowers? I'm confused.
-I still think these car commercials are stupid but I like that they are using this song instead of one from a popular artist. I do think they should have mentioned where that song came from though.
-Dang, they didn't even build up any suspense. Just booted her on out of there.
-Yeah you should have sang like that last night.
-Ha @ David trying to give the people in the bottom some advice on how it isn't over if you get booted off this soon,

American Idol - Top 7 Performance (Again)

I just realized that I didn't even post comments from the Top 7 elimination night, last week was a busy week for me. But as you all know...Matt was the pick to go home but the judges saved him. Big deal, marketing ploy, all it means is that two go home the next week.

Theme: 70's Disco Era

Lil': "I'm Every Woman" by Shaka Chan - I'm sorry, I was too distracted by her big round outfit to really evaluate the song. She still hasn't done anything to impress me but she definitely could have a career as a video ho vixen. I think the competition is getting to her because she just looks very unhappy. Lil's mom looked like she was about to straight jump on Simon.

Kris: "She Works Hard for the Money" by Donna Summer - I give him a major side eye when he said what song he was going to sing but I was pleasantly surprised when he started. I didn't even recognize the song until he got to the chorus which is a good thing in this case. He is really trying to step up his game. I really liked his version.

Danny: "September" by Earth, Wind and Fire - He is just really uncreative as compared to some of the other male contestants. I see he still insists on dancing....I can't deny that he can sing but he is no longer moving me.

Allison: "Hot Stuff" by Donna Summer - I like how she switched up the stage, that's hot. I'm really feeling how she switched up the song to make it have more of a rock vibe. Aww, she looks so cute tonight. I greatly enjoyed her performance.

Adam: "If I Can't Have You" by Yvonne Elliman - I like how he is doing something a little more calm for once. He sounds great and does a good job and making you see and feel the emotion in his performance. He should go see a dermatologist though because his skin is kinda jacked up.

Matt: "Stayin' Alive" by Bee Gees - I'm not sure what his goal was for tonight but I don't think he reached it. He was miraculously saved last week so he needed to come out and blow us out of the water and IMO he didn't. I do like him but between all the other artists that are out that are similar to him he doesn't really stand out.

Anoop: "Dim All The Lights" by Donna Summer - What is that mess on your face? You had such a good week last week, what happened? I am not feeling this on so many levels. UGH.

Who Should Go: Lil should get out of here because she seems to be getting worse each week. Anoop should also go because he looked and sounded a hot mess.

Tamara's Train of Thought:
-"You're inner goddess" ? What are you talking about Ryan
-You gotta love Paula and her crazy comments
-My husband thinks Danny looks like George Michael, LOL
-Why are they always calling something "overindulgent"? I feel like they are misusing the word. Look up the word and see if it makes sense to you
-The other contestants should take some tips from Adam
-Is Paula about to cry? Puh-leeeeeze
-LMAO @ Matt's friend in the crowd

Movie Review - A Haunting in Connecticut

A Haunting in Connecticut – “Scary and captivating story”

Starring: Viginial Madsen (the mom), Kyle Gallner (Matt), Martin Donovan (the dad)

Plot: The story is centered around a teenager, Matt, that is being treated for cancer at a hospital located in a different town than his home. His parents decide it is best to find a house to rent in town which leads them to move into this particular house. They soon find out that the house was previously a funeral home. As the story progresses, stranger and stranger events begin occurring leading to an interesting ending.

Tamara’s Take: A-

I really enjoyed this movie. I love scary movies although I have been disappointed by a lot of them recently. This one definitely has some parts in it that make you jump and isn’t just a bunch of gore like the Saw franchise. I thought the story was actually a good one too and not something completely ridiculous. That could be because this movie is based on a true story. I find these types of movies the scariest because perhaps it could really happen. Although, not to me because I wouldn’t be moving into any old @ss house in the first place.

The main character, Kyle Gallner (Matt), is a good actor. I have seen him in several other things and I always think he does a good job. He does have a tendency to play the role of the sad, depressed, loner type kid so I wonder if he is really a versatile actor. He is young so I guess we will see in the future if he’s still acting.

If you are a fan of scary movies you will enjoy this movie.

American Idol - Top 7 Performances

My DVR didn't record American Idol last night :( So I'm watching the videos that are posted on the American Idol website. This is probably going to result in my opinions being out of order but oh well. Stupid DVR! So I didn't get to hear the judges opinions or see any of the opening videos.

Theme: Idols at the Movies

Contestants:

Adam: "Born To Be Wild" - Wow he sounds and performs like he is already a professional. This is a song that I have always liked. I'm glad he didn't change it up TOO much, he definitely added his own twist to it which was great. That ending was crazy!

Allison: "I Don't Want To Miss A Think" - I love her voice but I still feel like she struggles with the pronunciation of some words. She blew that out of the water. If she gets voted off then these people are crazy.

Anoop: "Everything I Do" - I heard via twitter that he did good and I agree. Perhaps he should stick with the slower, love ballads instead of trying to do the more "hip" stuff. This is my favorite Anoop performance so far. I see he's not trying to be in that bottom 2 again.

Danny: "Endless Love" - A harp? LOL. To me this is a Luther song and I just can't really hear anyone else singing it. He started off weak but it got better towards the end. Why doesn't he have on his glasses? I thought those were his signature. I just noticed how much yelling he does, not as much as Adam but still. He's moving down in my rankings.

Kris: "Falling Slowly" - I don't know this song and I'm not really feeling this performance. Nope, don't like it. I don't really care if he sticks around or not, I've enjoyed some of his performances but he hasn't really been consistent in my opinion.

Lil: "The Rose" - OK, she has the long weave in today. I kind of want to see her do a more upbeat song. She has a great voice but I not a winning combination. This performance just didn't really do anything for me.

Matt: "Have You Ever Really Loved A Woman" - Nope, don't know this song either. He tends to be over the top with his vocals. There were some nice parts to this song but nothing special.

Who's Going Home:
- I really have no idea. If I have to guess I'll say Lil but seeing as I've guessed wrong every single time, who knows.

Tamara's Train of Thought:
-I don't have much to say this week since I didn't actually get to watch the show. I do wonder why they picked THESE songs. I would love the chance to see what songs they actually had to choose from.

American Idol - Top 8 Elimination Night

Group Performance:
-The sang a song from 2002..."Can't Get You Outta My Head". This is one of the better performances set up wise. They still haven't convinced me as to why anyone would actually want to see them in concert. The ending was cute but overall I was bored by that.

Other Performances:
-Flo-Rida: I don't even know what you're saying. This is an extremely inappropriate song and those dancers are not family friendly. That backup singer looks stank and sounds horrible. Whose idea was it to let him get up here and perform? WHAT THE F*CK!

-Kelly Pickler: I have a problem with how she made people from NC seem like a bunch of country bumpkins. I see she's still sexing it up. I don't like this song as much as I liked the Red High Heel song. I think there also might be something wrong with the mic because I swear I can't understand what she's saying during the verse.

Bottom Three:
-Anoop: I'm not surprised. I don't really think he's going to be around too much longer.
-Scott: AND DESERVED! He needs to go because he is just the worst.
-Lil: That's what happens when you do a copy cat performance.

Who Got the Boot:
-Scott: He needed to go...he was the worst singer of the group and he seemed to be getting worse each week instead of better.

Tamara's Train of Thought:
- I guess I wasn't really paying attention because I have no idea who this old guy is.
- Do they actually show these Ford commercials after the show ends? I wouldn't know because I don't watch commercials anyway.
- Shouldn't the mayor be doing something more important besides coming to see an American Idol results show?
- The judges aren't saving anyone. I will be surprised if anyone gets saved this season.
-That was messed up, he didn't have to play with Anoop's emotions like that

American Idol - Top 8 Performance Night

Theme: Songs from the year the contestants were born

Contestants:
-Danny: "Stand by Me" by Ben E. King - I kinda like this version. Not as much as the other version but he sounds good. I'm glad he did a lesser known version of the song so it didn't sound like a straight copy cat performance.

-Kris: "All She Wants To Do is Dance" by Don Henley - I don't think I know this song. I'm still not a fan of how he sings out of the side of his mouth. What is with him singing surrounded by fans? Didn't he do this a time before? He sounds straight but it is just kinda boring to me.

-Lil: "What's Love Got To Do With It" by Tina Turner - Tina is a hard act to follow and it didn't help that it came off as a karaoke version of the song. I mean did she watch the video and attempt to copy Tina's mannerisms? I need her to be more creative...this was not at all impressive to me, I expect more from her. She looks great though.

-Anoop: "True Colors" by Cyndi Lauper - Ok...I'm not sure about this song choice. I understand that he knows what kind of artist he wants to be and I can respect that but I just don't really see it. He sounds great and I would like for him to stick around but there is just something about him that I don't think the majority of people like.

-Scott: "The Search Is Over" by Survivor - So he finally got out from behind the piano. I didn't know he played the guitar....this is a lot more interesting than any of his other performances have been but I still think he is the worst singer in the current bunch. Ohh nooo! That high pitched part was a MESS.

-Allison: "I Can't Make You Love Me" by Bonnie Raitt - She does look a lot older than 16. That was wonderful. I absolutely love her voice. I thought her performance was way better than Danny's. She just needs to work on her pronunciation.

-Matt: "Part Time Lover" by Stevie Wonder - He did his thing tonight. I don't know if I support those dance moves he attempted and he also does a bit much with his voice sometimes. Overall it was a great performance with some really outstanding parts to it.

-Adam: "Mad World" by Tears for Fears - They just need to go ahead and give him the title of American Idol. Enough Said.

Who Should Go:
-Based on talent...Scott should be out of there but knowing how the public votes it will probably be Lil.

Tamara's Train of Thought:
-Dammit Scott...put on some shades!!! I'm just going to drop it, for real, it just isn't going to happen.
-Wait, Scott isn't the oldest? He sure looks like he's the oldest.
-I think the judges kiss Danny's butt entirely too much.
-Isn't it kind of ironic that Scott sang about something being right before his eyes?
-There is so much I could say about Adam's video but I won't.
-Wow! I can't believe Simon actually gave someone (Adam) a standing ovation. That is huge.

Music Review - Album: "All I Ever Wanted" by Kelly Clarkson

Tamara’s Take: Heavy Rotation

This is Kelly’s fourth album and it is a lot better than the last album. She has said that this album is a mixture of several different styles; I agree. It is a wonderful, crazy mix of styles that creates something beautiful. I can listen to this album straight through which is always a positive. There are a few songs that I’m not crazy about but none that are terrible.

Track Listing
1. My Life Would Suck Without You
2. I Do Not Hook Up
3. Cry
4. Don’t Let Me Stop You
5. All I Ever Wanted
6. Already Gone
7. If I Can’t Have You
8. Save You
9. Whyyouwannabringmedown
10. Long Shot
11. Impossible
12. Ready
13. I Want You
14. If No One Will Listen

Stand Out Tracks:
I Do Not Hook Up – (“I can’t cook no but I can clean..up the mess she left”)
Whyyouwannabringmedown – (“So watch your evil attitude when you got me spending my time pleasing you”)
Long Shot – (“My heartbeat beats me senselessly, why’s everything gotta be so intense with me”)

Songs On Repeat:
My Life Would Suck Without You, Don’t Let Me Stop You, If I Can’t Have You, Impossible, I Want You

Solid Tracks:
Cry, All I Ever Wanted, Already Gone, Save You, Ready

Skip It:
If No One Will Listen

American Idol - Top 9 Elimination Night

ONCE again I think that Megan is going home but seeing as she wasn't even in the bottom 3 last week we'll see....

Bottom Three:
-Megan: Of course, I would have been pissed had she not been in the bottom 3 because her performance last night was completely terrible.
-Allison: WTF! I don't understand what is wrong with these voters. She is one of the best on the show, I don't know how she keeps getting put in the bottom 3. She better not go home.
-Anoop: Maybe he shouldn't try to be an R&B singer....

Who Got the Boot:
-Megan: It was inevitable because she just wasn't singing to her strengths. It was kinda messed up how Simon just told her point blank that there was no chance she was going to be saved.

Performances:
-David Cook: looks and sounds good. I think he deserved to win last year, he was the most consistent and original throughout the entire season. In that respect Adam reminds me of David.

-Lady Gaga: She is quite strange looking. Her piano is crazy (in a good way) looking...translucent with bubbles, cute. She is putting on a whole production, most people just come out and sing. I don't really know how I feel about this whole thing...that zipper on her eye is scary, this whole performance was scary.

Tamara's Train of Thought:
-Another corny Ford commercial....UGH....stop it
-I'm surprised they are doing this Journey song, it is such a karaoke song but they actually sound good doing it.
-I find it slightly amusing that they stuck Scott over on the piano, that's one way to get around teaching him the dances.
-Did they show the contestants at home last season?
-I don't think that the people being made fun of thought it was all that funny even though they played along nicely.
-No matter how they try to change up this elimination ceremony it is still long, drawn-out and boring every time. I'm not sure why I still watch this part.
-If I was in the group with Danny or Adam then I'd be relieved.
-Ryan really got Matt this time with the bottom 3 fake-out.
-OK I officially think that Megan is crazy the way she cawed over to the bottom 3 seat.
-Allison better had been the 1st one to get to sit down, she shouldn't have been in the bottom 3 anyway.