American Idol:Song Choice Is Always More Important That Performance

This season has all the same crap surrounding it as the last season and the hype about best season of contestants ever. Well last season was obviously the season of suck and anyone with good taste in singers and ears that work properly can't deny the absolute garbage that was paraded around the stage last season. The crew chosen for season 10 is a major improvement and has some actual talent to present. Now if only they could have someone like me who knows music helping them with their song choices. I find too many times a good singer goes home because they don't have the musical depth knowledge wise to choose songs that work.

We have see many times when a bad song choice murders a contestants momentum. How about when Kimberly Caldwell sang "It's Still Rock N' Roll To Me" and was booted or Carmine Rasmusen and the awkward choice of "Love Will Lead You Back" completely unsuited for their voices and with some sort of direction neither would have sang those songs. Carmine's song "Nothin' Like Summer" proves she was leaps and bounds ahead of her competition but needed direction. Another of the bad song choice deaths and probably one I was most invested in emotionally was when Constantine went home after missing the mark and singing the Nickelback tune "How You Remind Me" which didn't sound good in rehearsal but nobody told him to change his song.

So once again we watched a group of capable singers hit the live stage and sing their bad choices to elimination or near elimination. Clint Gamboa did himself a diservice singing a Stevie Wonder song which has been the downfall of many contestants. It was painfully bad but he wasn't the worst at least. Brett Loewenstern which sadly was sent packing because of his terrible stage presence and complete disappearance of his originality. His version of "Light My Fire" wasn't the worst and he could have been one of the best contestants ever on Idol but we will now never know what might have been and for the bad song choice.

Stefano Langone wins a wildcard spot which I don't believe he should have it should have been Brett over him. Stefano will be gone early I believe because he can't sing as well as others and if his over singing of "Grenade" was the best he had to offer it might even shorter of a stay than I anticipate. Rachel Zevita who totally played the stupid card ruined what was her top five slot on the show and a chance to go onto the Idol tour with something that I was told was "Criminal" by Fiona Apple. She has everything, looks, style and talent but now the world might not ever get a chance to see her become an incredible artist. I really hope that she finds another way to success and can make the impact on the world she has the talent to make. Ashthon Jones who was a wild card choice makes no sense to me at all other than she's black and affirmative action put her in the show because talent surely did not. Kendra Chantelle was so much more in every way and the only reason I can see her not making it was for a more multi-coloured group.

The show if the contenders pick songs that work for their abilities and don't dog it are far and few in between their are five with the top three pretty obvious if they don't fail miserably with choosing their songs each week. Scotty McCreery, Casey Abrams and the eventual winner Lauren Alaina are my choices to battle for the title this season. There are a couple of dark horses in Naima Adedapo has an opportunity from the wildcard and could be a great save by the judges. Another of those dark horses who again could be there come finale night Haley Reinhart who is not only a good looking girl but a great singer. She might not have enough knowledge to pick the right songs on a regular basis come the horrible theme rounds. Lastly the guy who has the ability to upset my top three is Paul McDonald who is a star. No matter how good he's been so far this guy could win the entire show and I wouldn't be surprised to see him do just that this season on American Idol.

Overall this season reminds me of the best season of Idol season seven when there was a lot of talent and predicting the last man standing was almost impossible. This season is set up to be much the same and considering how bad it was last season overall this can only be better no matter what happens. Lauren is my call to take it all but she will have to be almost flawless to take the 2011 American Idol crown. Now let the Idol game begin!

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Avril Lavigne - Goodbye Lullaby

The last Avril album was a nice set of tunes that happened to be much more uptempo than her previous catalog. I preferred that change of pace versus the alterna-chick rock pattern that she was starting to fall into as she matured. The pomp and circumstance was becoming a bit derivative but as she encompassed the more happy pop rock side of her personality her music grew leaps and bounds in a short time. This time around she is bridging the gap between the pop punkish styled songs and the singer songwriter melodrama.

The album isn't as immediate as The Best Damn Thing but its a more powerful listen that has a nice depth to the songs. The production is sometimes a little weak but it does have a bit more of an organic feel for a pop record circa 2011. The albums first single "What The Hell" is good but Goodbye Lullaby has better songs on offer.

Song Highlights: Smile, Push, I Love You, Remember When, Darlin' & Stop Standing There

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Radiohead - The King Of Limbs

This band is so overrated that I can't describe with words how much. This album is more of an E.P. with its eight songs. It's about as ridiculous to call this music as would be to call the noise songs as it would be to call it good. The album is chalk full of noise and chants and some weird wanna be Pink Floyd moments and it takes until track seven until something resembling a song arrives. This is one of those releases that will get tons of critical acclaim and hype but won't be convincing me that it is anything more than a complete waste of time that I could spend listening to cheesy bubblegum pop.

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Jessie J - Who You Are

Whoo Hoo! Finally Jessie J's album has arrived. I jumped on the bandwagon immediately after hearing "Do It Like A Dude" the first time. She just has that special something that grabbed my ear and didn't let go. After hearing her next single "Price Tag" featuring the very talented B.0.B. my anticipation for the album was at an epic level. That is usually bad because I find I get all hyped up and then let down by the finished product. I'm glad to say that this hasn't happened at all. Jessie's vocals are so defining and original that she oozes charisma as she delivers each note.

The album is produced to absolute perfection and doesn't come close to ever becoming overblown or under cooked. Each song is good and some are fantastic like the previously mentioned "Price Tag". There are moments where she sounds a bit like the incredibly talented Nicki Minaj and other times a bit of Rihanna's sound invades Jessie's stylistic creativity. This album is easily better than Rihanna's latest release which was a return to form of sorts for her and is better than the very strong Pink Friday album from Minaj. A true candidate for best album of 2011 that will be a massive success on the charts with two number one UK singles out of the gate and soon she will stomp on the shores of Canada and the USA.

Song Highlights: Price Tag, Do It Like A Dude, Rainbow, Mama Knows Best, Abracadabra & Stand Up

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Rev Theory - Justice

The album title JUSTICE is a huge statement and then you see the artwork. It's a been there seen that before and to be honest I wouldn't even pick it up if I was unfamiliar with the group. The album art which can sell an album all by itself seems to be lacking on many releases of the last few years. Now the music on the other hand has something to offer. The opening track is a gritty energetic modern rock song but once it ends it's forgotten quickly. This is the trouble with the entire album too much of it is forgettable and lacking any sort of hook. Sure a few tunes are good and should keep the band going on single releases but I can find a hundred bands that have released albums better than this and didn't get anywhere near the push this outfit somehow is getting.

Another album of mediocre material in a seemingly long line as of late. Where is the good stuff 2011? But again 2010 started really slow and finished pretty high this year is looking to be the same.

Song Highlights: Hollow Man, Say Goodbye, Hangman & Wicked Wonderland

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PJ Harvey - Let England Shake

PJ Harvey is not for everybody because she's so outside the box most of the time. Her style and her vocal charisma is more akin to those music snobs who only like what everyone else hates and vice versa. The 2011 Harvey album is a return to form for her as I think she had started to slide quality wise. Now I am not a huge fan of her myself but I've got friends who continually tell me I don't know what I'm missing. I can understand her talent and influence but she never jumps far enough into the mainstream sound to become one of those artists I like.

The indie pop is ok on Let England Shake and she's doing some cool stuff but I prefer and bigger production from this kind of song writing. There is nowhere enough bottom end and bass on the album leaving it all feeling a little thin.

Song Highlights: The Words That Maketh Murder, The Last Living Rose, In The Dark Places & Written On The Forehead

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Jennifer Lopez - Love

J-Lo's love album is an album of formulated, calculated derivative electronic dance pop that has about as much soul as Pat Boone. The album is full of paint by number songs that were probably past on by the current pop princesses burning up the charts and their Disney counterparts. The best songs on this album are hard to find considering how vacuous the majority of the album is. Pitbull puts in the best performance on the album and that includes what Jennifer has done as well. The Dream shows up from the washed up rapper world to bore us with his wanna be style stolen from 50 Cent. This album proves J-Lo needs American Idol to be a success this season because her recording career is obviously failing miserably. She has no idea what good dance pop is and proves it over and over and over again. Let's not forget the album cover what a piece of shite that is too with her stupid eyebrows and that overdone blown hair. This entire package is bad and please I beg you not to spend money or bandwidth on this garbage. One of the worst albums of 2011 for sure.

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