Adam's World

Spare a few minutes to vote?

2011-04-09T11:19:00.004-04:00

I haven't updated this blog in a while, mostly since I haven't gone to many concerts recently and the only events I've gone to are school ones. It's not that I haven't wanted to go to concerts, it's just that I've had no one to go with.

Anyways, I'm entered in a contest to blog from The Monster Ball in Newark, NJ, and I'd really appreciate if you could spare some time to vote!

CLICK HERE and on the side where it says support Adam, click to vote with Twitter, vote with Facebook, or vote with both.

If you do this, I'll really really appreciate it, because I feel this would be an amazing opportunity, and one that I'm ready for! I'd get to cover The Monster Ball with the amazing Dannielle Owens-Reid, creator of Lesbians Who Look Like Justin Bieber and Everyone Is Gay, and I'd get experience by covering an event on video. Since I may be majoring in broadcasting journalism after my one year theatre prep course, I think this would be a great opportunity.

So CLICK HERE to vote.

Thank you for your time!

Lady GaGa - July 12th, 2010 - Air Canada Centre Review

2010-07-17T18:43:00.007-04:00

You may remember my blog post about my less than fantastic experience seeing Lady GaGa last June. Fortunately for me, this time was a lot better. I chose to not get general admission tickets this time, and instead get seated ones. I also decided to get the cheapest ones I could find. That meant I was in section 319, row 3. Since I was in row 3, I had a decent view and could see over peoples heads, unlike when I saw her last year and it was general admission. I went with my best friend Alicia.

I was able to buy merchandise quickly, before the doors opened in a sort of lobby area. The prices were slightly higher than when I saw her last year, but the merchandise was also better. I bought a black Monster Ball tour t-shirt, a pack of buttons, a glowing Lady GaGa bracelet, and sunglasses that were made to look like the pair of vintage Versace 676's that Lady GaGa wears often. When Alicia and I went outside, we noticed the "Jam Van", which she kept calling the rape van. We listened to some music in there, and I danced to Bad Romance, which sent my brand new sunglasses flying. Thankfully, they were not broken afterwards. Outside the van was life size Lady GaGa made of cardboard, which you could stick your head in. It cost $1 to get a picture with it. Right after Alicia and I got pictures with it, a guy stuck his head in and then he fell on top of it, bending it in half and partially breaking it. Lucky for us for getting pictures before! :) However, the Jam Van people weren't so lucky. Later on they ended up making people pay to get a picture next to a Lady GaGa poster.

After partying in the Jam Van for quite some time, we decided to wait outside the doors to go in. People that worked for Flow 93.5 approached us and took a picture of us holding up advertisements for their new iPhone app. Alicia was blowing kisses to the security guard and making hearts with her hands to try and convince him to let us in early. He did not, but security didn't check our bags or say anything about my camera being too big. Therefore, I managed to bring some food and water in, so I would not get dehydrated during this show. When we went inside first thing we did was talk to the Virgin Mobile angels and enter the contest to win a call from Lady GaGa. Unfortunately we didn't win, but that was fine. Next we went to take pictures with a replica of Lady GaGa's orbit that she has in the Bad Romance music video. Polaroid was sponsoring it, and it was free! The pictures turned out pretty cool, though I wish they were larger. However, I hear they're posting them online.

After that we got seated and noticed that the view was better than we thought. Lady Starlight was DJing and running around like a maniac. This was our opportunity to test out our cameras. However, they didn't work that well. Once Semi Precious Weapons came on, we started mastering our camera settings. Next to Alicia was a 10 year old girl. We kind of cringed for her when Semi Precious Weapons swore, but we also thought the lyrics "I can't pay my rent but I'm fucking gorgeous" were hilarious. We cringed again when Justin, the lead singer took off all of his clothes on stage. I really did not want to see his penis.

When GaGa came on, she started with Dance in the Dark. I didn't think this was the best way to start the show, but the visuals were very cool. Next was Glitter and Grease, which was one of my favourite performances of the night.

Forgive the less than perfect audio quality, I was using my new camera and it's not excellent at taking videos. She then performed Just Dance, and the hood of the car revealed a piano inside. Before she performed Vanity, she gave a little speech and said "all the freaks are outside" and "tonight and every night after, you can be whoever it is that you want to be!" It made me smile. For the next little while, I spent most of my time dancing and singing with Alicia. We were fist pumping with our glow bracelets. During Money Honey, Lady GaGa brought out a keytar.

When she called the winner of the Virgin Mobile contest, she mentioned that each night Virgin Mobile gives $20,000 to a charity that helps homeless LGBT youth. In a video before the concert started, she mentioned that she'd match all donations up to $25,000. This has made me respect her even more.

Next up were my favourite songs of the night. Speechless and You & I. When Lady GaGa performs Speechless live, her voice is so pure and it sounded absolutely beautiful. I teared up a little bit. You & I is a new song that she just added to her show, but she removed one of my favourites, Brown Eyes. from the setlist. However, that was okay because this song was so personal and it was just fantastic.

Before "So Happy I Could Die" there was a twister interlude. The stage changed and her outfit changed during this time to the living dress. It looked really cool, and the wings spread open and she looked like a giant butterfly. The platform also raised up so she was nearly on our level.

After Monster, she returned to the stage covered in fake blood.

After Teeth, Lady GaGa gave another speech where she said Jesus does not discriminate, he does not hate anyone, because if he did, how else would she be doing these shows every night? She then revealed that Jesus is her guitarist. During Paparazzi a monster appeared on stage, and I couldn't help but laugh when she screamed "It's taking off my clothes!"

After Paparazzi was the encore, Bad Romance. I was dancing like crazy at this moment. A fan threw a Canadian flag on stage and she picked it up and waved it around.

After the song ended and her whole crew was doing their bows, she picked up someone's panties and sniffed them, and yelled "Your panties smell good, Toronto!"

Bad Romance was the perfect way to end the show. I can't really describe how much I enjoyed the show. Her costumes, the dance routines, the motivational speeches, her intense love for the LGBT community, and her proudly waving around a Canadian flag at the end, it was all just amazing. This time I had an incredibly fun time, even though I wasn't up close. I didn't even have to meet her to feel her love and be happy, and I experienced this whole concert with my best friend. Her show has really evolved since I last saw her, especially with all the props and the costumes. I do miss the bubble dress, though. If you asked me if you should go to The Monster Ball even though you can't get General Admission tickets, I'd say yes. The show was amazing, and we had so much fun.

Review of Sweet Thing at The Casbah - July 7th, 2010

2010-07-09T23:02:00.005-04:00

I went to see Sweet Thing at the Casbah not knowing exactly what to expect. I had downloaded the free download of Dance Mother off of their website and I enjoyed it, but I hadn't really heard much else. I was worried that I wouldn't enjoy them, due to the lack of all male bands in my music library.

I met up with Jennifer, Jodie, and their friends Kayla and Kaylee. They're from America! When I met up with them the next day, I had fun trying to explain to them that Coles is different from Kohl's. Anyways, enough about that... We waited in the rain, but we stood under a ledge in order to not get wet. However, I did still get wet. Luckily, I brought an umbrella unlike them because I am f-ing brilliant. Why? I'm Canadian. So I tell Jennifer that she should just go in and ask if we are allowed in yet. She barely puts her feet in the door and then she walks out because a band is doing a sound check. She asks me if I have seen "Eclipse" yet. Unfortunately, I'm stupid and responded "Have I seen the clips of what?" "Eclipse... Twilight." I have not, as I have no interest in the Twilight series. However, I recently learned that my brother has seen Twilight and New Moon, and he wants to see Eclipse. He can never make fun of me again. So, after some mindless chatter, I start telling Jennifer she should go in again. At this time, a woman comes out and says "If you want, you can come in and I can take your money." So we go in.

Once we are seated, Jennifer wonders where Sweet Thing is and where Tyler is... Oh, that Jennifer! At one point, Jennifer saw every member of Sweet Thing except for Tyler. Once Kayla and I finally spot Tyler, we basically freak out trying to get Jennifer to see that he's there. I think Kayla and I reacted more to Tyler than she actually did, so I was a bit disappointed that she didn't freak like she did at the Degrassi Goes Hollywood premiere. However, I pointed him out to her a few more times, and took pictures to show her how she lights up at the mere mention of Tyler being in the same room as her. When Jennifer and Jodie went to the washroom, Kayla, Kaylee, and I took their cameras and took silly pictures. When they came back, we were laughing uncontrollably, so they knew something was up. When Kayla went to the washroom, I took her camera and took silly pictures. When Jennifer went to go and get a drink, Tyler walked by her. I asked her if she noticed him walk by, and she did. Then I teased that she was drinking so she could shamelessly get her flirt on and not remember it.

The first band, I don't remember that much about them. The second band wasn't completely bad... I just got Twitter on my phone, and I was using it at some points during the night. When the band was on, they said they have a MySpace but that they don't do Twitter. I kind of joked about how they use a site that went out of style 3 years ago, but they hate something that is currently popular. So in 3 years when the next TwitFaceSpace social media site is popular, I guess they're going to finally sign up for Twitter.

-Embarrassing stuff that I said right before Sweet Thing started goes here. Wait no, it doesn't. However, it's on my Twitter and Jennifer hopes Tyler never sees it.-

When Sweet Thing came on, it seemed like the place was packed. It was a bigger crowd then when we saw Tyler Kyte by himself at the Casbah last year. I really enjoyed their performance. I recorded a few videos, but the audio is horrible. When I recorded videos when I saw Shiloh there, the audio was horrible, too. I'm going to say it's just the venue, because I don't want to say that my new camera has terrible audio quality just yet. I really wish my Flip Mino HD's battery didn't die. Even though I won it (from entering the Pepsi Flip Your Smile contest, with a picture taken of me on the night I saw Tyler at the Casbah), I am still majorly pissed off that it doesn't work at all anymore. Anyways, enough going off track here...

Tyler finally noticed Jennifer was there while on stage. Apparently he reacted to seeing her in the audience, however I missed it. What I did notice is that Owen has a great stage presence. It was entertaining just to watch him dance around. He picked up the microphone stand and had it on the roof sometimes... He even pointed it at one lady in the audience, who had a dress with a rose pattern on it, and she looked incredibly scared. During "Dance Mother", it seemed everyone really got into it. Not only the band, but the audience. Even with the lyrics saying "I don't want to dance, mother fucker!" During Change Of Seasons I think it was, a most likely drunk individual, with a beer in hand made his way on stage and started singing along. Apparently this individual was Max Kerman from The Arkells. I enjoyed the bands entire set, when originally I doubted if I'd enjoy anything at all. The music was good, the group had a stage presence, and seemed to be humorous. So overall it was really good. And wow, Tyler Kyte was really good at playing drums. So now I've seen him play guitar, piano keyboard, and drums. His talents make me extremely jealous.

After the show, another band went on. No one really paid attention to them because it seemed most of the crowd was there to see Sweet Thing. I kind of felt bad, but I didn't pay attention to them either, since I was too busy raiding the merch booth. I just looked up the definition of raiding. "An entrance into another's territory for the purpose of seizing goods or valuables." That doesn't sound like what I did at all! Well, I didn't seize goods or valuables, I purchased goods and valuables. I bought a Sweet Thing t-shirt and their tour EP. Owen was the one running the merch booth. I asked to buy the buttons they had in the display case, but apparently they lost the bag of buttons. He told me if I stuck around long enough, he'd crack open the display case. So, I opened my Sweet Thing tour ep and then started to get people to sign it. For the first time ever, I forgot my sharpies. However, Jennifer had an extra large Sharpie for the entire band to use. This made the signatures on the CD look like little blobs, but I still know where those little blobs came from! Maybe one day when they hit it big time and I'm busking on a street corner in Toronto singing Lady GaGa covers, I will be able to sell it and afford one months rent. Just kidding, I would never sell it. I'm going to live on the streets! :D

So when trying to get autographs, we were gathered around Tyler. Tyler remembered my name, which surprised Jennifer since he's only met me twice. (That wasn't too shocking to me, since Shiloh remembered my name after meeting me once. However, I did make that Operator contest video which might've helped in her remembering my name.) Wow, I go off topic a lot. Anyways, Jennifer says he refered to me as "Adam my man". I don't remember this... Maybe it was when Tyler was saying goodbye to everyone. Anyways, she remembers it, and she seems to be jealous.
RT @ livelikemusic @AdamBMusic how come Tyler called you Adam my man? I want him to give me a nick name
Wow, I just retweeted something in a blog post. Anyways, I got a picture with Tyler and Alex is poking his head through in the background. Later when I got a picture with Nick, Owen randomly popped up in the picture. This made me think it was impossible to get a picture with just one member of Sweet Thing. However, I did get a picture with just Morgan.

Jennifer and I were near the merchandise booth, and they had stickers... We both wondered if these were free, but neither of us wanted to ask. We argued. "You didn't come all this way from another country just to be shy!" Owen ended up giving us stickers before we could ask. Yay Owen! Later, he cracked open the display case and Jennifer and I both got buttons. Originally I got the "I don't want to dance mother fucker" button, but I traded with Jennifer. It's probably a good thing I did. My Mom probably would not have liked me wearing it... When we said our goodbyes to Tyler, I had Jennifer ask if he was going to the Degrassi movie premiere this year. I don't know why I didn't ask him myself, but I didn't want to take away from Jennifer and Tyler time, because you never want to disrupt that. Ever. We said our goodbyes and then we all went outside.

Outside Jennifer was talking about her two year old cousin's (I think she said cousin, not nephew) reaction to the Lady GaGa episode of Glee. A lady came along and said "Are we talking about Lady GaGa? I'll talk about Lady GaGa!" "Oh, I was just talking about my two year old cousin's reaction to the Lady GaGa episode of Glee." "Well I am older than two, and I like Lady GaGa. I own her album on vinyl." I started talking to her and said I was going to see Lady GaGa on Monday. She told me to take pictures and post them on Facebook. How is she ever going to see them if I don't know her name? Oh well. So after some discussion about Lady GaGa, Spring Awakening, and striking Madonna's Vogue poses, I had to say goodbye. I said goodbye with high fives, as opposed to the hugs which Tyler gave them all.

And that concludes seeing Sweet Thing at The Casbah.

The best music of 2009

2010-01-29T16:04:00.005-05:00

As you may have noticed, I did not make a post at the end of the last year sharing the names of my favourite songs and albums of 2009.

I did purchase several CDs last year, but I got a lot of disappointments. There were a lot of albums that didn't stick with me and weren't memorable. The biggest disappointment to me was LIGHTS album The Listening. It was filled with auto-tune and filler. I've heard some of her unreleased material, and most of it is a lot better than what's on the album. With this album, she lost a bit of her charm to me. I purchased a ticket to see her on her supporting tour of the album before the album was released. I should've waited.

Some albums I did enjoy were The Fame Monster by Lady GaGa and Picture Imperfect by Shiloh. The Fame Monster made me rediscover my liking for Lady GaGa, especially the song "Speechless." Picture Imperfect contained some songs I could really relate to during the later part of last year, like "It's Not Me" and "Ruin Me".

There are also albums that I wish I had checked out like Fantasies by Metric, instead of albums like Exposed by Kristinia DeBarge.

A lot of awful music appeared last year, like TiK ToK by Ke$ha. Though from the moment I first heard it, I knew it would be a hit. It's kind of sad when you think about it, that the number one song in the country contains bizarre unintelligent lyrics like this one.

Since the radio is mostly filled with autotune these days, I have started to listen to 80's music instead. There's one radio station here that now considers 80's music oldies. This freaks me out because in 30 years "Fireflies" by Owl City is going to be considered oldies. DO NOT WANT NOW, AND DO NOT WANT THEN.

So, I want to know... What are your favourite 80's songs, and who are your least favourite artists/groups on the radio today?

A warning for those looking to purchase a new camera or a camcorder.

2010-01-24T08:55:00.002-05:00

Being an online blogger, I have a place to broadcast my opinions, an online soap box if you will. Of course, before I bad mouth something, I'm going to back it up with reports of several people saying the same thing.

The two products I am going to be talking about are the Samsung S760 - 7.2 mega pixel digital camera and the Flip Mino HD - 60 minute camcorder.

I've got to say, these products both worked fantastic for the first little while. They were the best I ever had for what I needed them for.

After using the Flip Mino HD a little bit for about 5 months, the battery started to wear down. On one charge I can now only record 11 minutes of video. There are other reports (like this one) that say the same thing has happened to them. I find it kind of funny that most reviews say it works for for 3 months and then messes up, considering it only comes with a 3 month warranty, when most other products like it come with a 1 year warranty at least.

The Samsung S760 was working fine when I went to see RENT last weekend and I took pictures at the stage door. Then all of a suddenly the lens wouldn't go in. The pictures it kept taking were blurry, but if something was very close up, it would show every single detail. There are many other reports (like this one) of this happening, too. I think it's funny that this also happened right after the warranty expired.

I decided to include examples of what is happening.

This is a picture of my jeans from maybe a foot away:

This is a picture of my jeans from 1 centimeter away:

If I wanted to take a picture of something that close up, that'd be perfect. Except I don't really think there's anything that I can take a picture of that close up that would be a great example of photography.

So if you were planning on buying one of these cameras, I hope you listen to my warning and consider something else instead.

LIGHTS at The Studio recap.

2009-12-01T20:09:00.002-05:00

Last night was a first for me, it was the first time I was at a concert alone. Okay, other people were at the concert, but I wasn't there with them... Anyways, I arrived at about 6:15 PM and therefore I had to stand in line for the next 50 minutes. Rogers mobile was sponsoring the tour, so they had people there take pictures of fans waiting in line. I got my picture taken with one of the employees, who I swear is the tallest female I have ever encountered in real life. Since Rogers was sponsoring the tour, only people who bought tickets through Rogers new mobile concert ticket buying feature got to go to a meet and greet with LIGHTS. Therefore, I did not have the chance to get a new picture with LIGHTS and not be deemed a "hideous ogre" by some of her fans on Facebook.

The opening act was a band called Jets Overhead. I really don't remember too much about them...But they're from Victoria and the lead singer had what appeared to be a sock in his jeans.

LIGHTS came on around 9:15 PM, and started with "The Listening".

Her voice sounded tired, and not up to par with how I'm use to hearing it. I wasn't sure what to think. Her next song was "Lions".

After this my camcorder said the battery was near dead, despite the fact that I had just charged it before the show. I wanted to save the battery power that I had left for a good moment in the show. So I started recording Saviour. She did a two and a half minute intro for Saviour. My battery died because of that.

After Saviour I started feeling bad... So I escaped and lost my spot in the audience so I could go and get a drink. Thankfully, they were giving out free water! Hooray for not having to spend my school money on water! I had about 10 glasses, I'm not even lying. I told someone working there that I wasn't feeling well, so they directed me to where they suggested I sit down. While sitting down I missed Second Go and Ice...Two of my favourites, damn.

When I went back in, LIGHTS was performing Pretend, which is quite possibly my favourite LIGHTS song. It put a smile on my face. She then performed "Quiet" and I went back into my "I feel like I'm going to suffocate" state and left. This video shows that what I missed was good, though.

When I went back in she was singing "River". During the end there was a massive amount of feedback...She asked for people to name the feedback. One person said "Davey" and she then said "Why not something like Fiona Feedback?" "No, Davey!" "Okay, that feedback is called Davey, and Davey's a pain in the ass. Sorry if there are any Davey's in the audience".

There were people beside me who had glow sticks in the shape of hearts, and they threw them at her... I was afraid she was going to get whacked in the face by one of them, but she didn't. LIGHTS dodges glow sticks like George Bush dodges shoes. A fan in the audience gave LIGHTS a Wonder Woman belt (I think that's what it was) and she seemed very happy about that. LIGHTS then performed The Last Thing On Your Mind and got everyone to sing along. Though I no longer love Drive My Soul and February Air after listening to them 1,000 times off of her EP, I still love The Last Thing On Your Mind.

LIGHTS left stage and then came back for her encore. She did a cover of "In The Air Tonight" by Phil Collins. It was interesting.... Kind of stretched out, but more cheery and electropoppy than the Phil Collins original. After that she performed an acoustic version of February Air. I learned something new last night, she has the same pick up for her acoustic guitar as I do. Despite not really liking the song anymore, I loved the acoustic version...It was a nice ending to the show and it put a smile on my face.

So there you have it... I didn't get to meet LIGHTS and show her fans that I am not a hideous ogre, and I wasn't feeling well the entire time, but I did have a good time.

2009-11-22T05:32:00.003-05:00

In the past couple of months, I have dealt with many things. There has been lots of tears, lots of pain, and lots of photos and videos that will come back and haunt me. Okay, not so much the last one, since I was the one who chose to go to school wearing a pink wig and play a mash up of "Single Ladies" by Beyonce and "You Belong With Me" by Taylor Swift.

Enough of that "I'm going to whine about my life" stuff. (I DON'T HAVE TICKETS TO SEE LADY GAGA IN TORONTO. :'( MY LIFE IS RUINED! [Actually, that's probably a good thing considered what happened last time I saw Lady GaGa in Toronto.]) Anyways, on my birthday I got to wear a pimp hat while standing on a throne in front of dozens of people as they bowed down to me. What better way to spend my birthday, right? I'll admit, it was pretty awesome.

Earlier in the year I gave my one friend a birthday card with The Jonas Brothers on it. "Jailbait Jonas, Ugly Jonas, and Joe Jonas". I decided not to say anything mean about Joe, because he's the one she likes... But maybe I should've put "Sandy Cohen Jonas" as suggested by Jodie over Twitter. Anyways, she gave me a card that said "Happy Birthday Adam" which had all the Jonas Brothers on it, including their little brother. Worst. Birthday. Card. Ever. Okay, not really... From her I got Disney Sing It: Pop Hits. It includes a lot of Disney pop songs, the majority of which are by The Jonas Brothers... Only Jonas Brothers song I kind of know is "Paranoid", and it's not even on the game. I do enjoy immitating an angry goat in heat when singing "7 Things" by Miley Cyrus, though.

So I was joking with my friend who went with me to the Degrassi Goes Hollywood premiere that JT's ghost needs to show up, because in the Halloween special Rick's ghost came back. I did not think this would actually happen, but I was wrong.

Oh Degrassi...

I've noticed this blog really does not have a set topic, and just contains a lot of obnoxious rambling. It's probably because I haven't blogged in a while... Or because I woke up at 4 AM because I have a cold. 4 AM use to be my bed time...

So uh... Last one to buy me a ticket to see GaGa in Toronto is a rotten egg.

...That won't work, I'm a moron.

TIME TO SHUT UP NOW!

Shiloh - Picture Imperfect Album Review

2009-10-03T08:41:00.005-04:00

You may wonder why I've waited so long to review this album, as it's been out a month and a half. I waited so long because I didn't want to seem completely biased and say Shiloh's album is like Mozart came back from the dead, and I also didn't want to seem to negative in my review. I have a great deal of respect for Shiloh and her team, and I worried that I was going to write something that would offend them.

Track 1 is Operator (A Girl Like Me). Odds are you've heard a song like this before. This song will get stuck in your head, even if you don't want it to. You'll be head bopping, jumping up and down, or acting like a complete moron when you hear it. You'll either love it, hate it, or hate that you love it.

Track 2 is Alright. An uplifting song that reminds you of the summer. This'll get caught in your head, too. So much that you may try and figure out how to play it on guitar by ear, write out the chords you came up with, and upload them to Ultimate-Guitar.com. Maybe that's just me.

Track 3 is You're Not Alone. This song contains a lie. "My mother never smiles". I know for a fact that Shiloh's mother has smiled. In fact, Shiloh's mother smiled when I told her she should sell ear plugs for those who don't want to listen to Shiloh's opening acts for $5 a pair. Oh crap, this is getting biased. It's another uplifting song... I sense a pattern here. It's a relatable song that's made to target a younger audience.

Track 4 is Goodbye, You Suck. This song has the best music video ever known to man. Okay, maybe I'm just saying this because I'm in it. Another relatable song, because everyone probably has someone they could say "Goodbye, You Suck" to. I wish this song was the elimination song for American Idol, it'd be perfect.

Track 5 is...I forgot... Oh... I Remember. Yes, I had to say that unfunny cheesy joke. That's just who I am. It's a slower emotional song, that sounds like it's got a lot of history. It's one of the stand outs on the album. It's darker than most of the songs on the album, and it could appeal to a mainstream audience, not just tweens.

Track 6 is Better. Better than I Remember? No, the track name is Better... I never usually read what I write on my blog, but I am annoying myself right now. I think I'm going to stop making crappy jokes about the track names. It's another slower song. It shows off how strong Shiloh's voice is. It's another one of my favourite off of the album.

Track 7 is Strong Enough To Cry. It's a good song, it's just not one of my favourites and it's never really stuck with me.

Track 8 is Get To You. It's my favourite upbeat song on the entire album. I do some serious head bopping and singing along everytime I hear it. "I WANNA! GET TO YOU! I'LL GET A LITTLE LOUD IF I HAVE TO!" It would be a good choice for a single.

Track 9 is Missing Existence. This song contains the lyrics "The staircase walked through the window, the carpet talked to my feet, the school bus under my pillow said that somebody has been watching me". Okay, it's official. This song reminds me of when I got my wisdom teeth out and had crazy trippy dreams from all the medication I was on, like Beyonce selling hair shampoo in a hotel lobby and Jesse McCartney doing an autograph session at my house. I think Shiloh is too young to have gotten her wisdom teeth out, so I doubt that was the inspiration for the song. She said on Facebook it's about a guy with schizophrenia. So I wasn't too far off...

Track 10 is It's Not Me. It starts with a haunting piano intro. My understanding of the song is it's about people trying to change her and telling her not to say or do certain things, but she's saying that's not her. If that's the meaning behind the song, I can totally relate. If not, it's still an awesome song. I'd like to see this as a single, too...But I doubt nearly her entire album would be released as singles. It's one of my favourites off of the album.

Track 11 is Raise A Little Hell Now. I've praised this song before, and I was excited for the album version, but I'm not sure if it meets my expectations. The production on the album version makes it sound too poppy. Instead of it being a song about being loud and raising hell by doing stuff like cranking the amps up to 11, it's more like cranking the amps up to 5. Did that make sense? The studio version sounds as rebellious as staying up until 10:30 PM on a school night when your bedtime is 10 PM, instead of staying up all night at a party. The problem with this is mainly the production...You can hear Shiloh's vocals where she is really singing it from her guts, but those are the background vocals when they should be the lead vocals. You can notice this especially in the "Yeah, yeah, yeah, yeah" part near the end. So what I'm trying to say is I prefer the song live.

Track 12 is The Fight. I am obviously not part of the target audience for this song. It's an uplifting song, but it kind of reminds me of a Hannah Montana song. Shiloh is not Hannah Montana. This could target a Radio Disney audience, though. But I'm not sure if parents of the Radio Disney audience would let their kids buy her album, because some tracks contain strict words like "suck" and "hell". Even the YTV Big Fun Party Mix CD that features Goodbye, You Suck says "*YTV does not codone the use of the word suck".

Track 13 is Ruin Me. A beautiful piano ballad that is a great song to end the whole album. I really want to hear her perform this song live, because it's another one of my favourites. I love it, I really love it.

Overall, Picture Imperfect is a strong album. It contains songs that will appeal to several different audiences. I'm hoping my review didn't sound too biased, and that if you're considering buying the album it helps you make up your mind. I for sure want to hear more, ~~and a re-recorded version of All I Want~~ and can't wait to hear what's on her next album.

Good and bad moments of events that I've been to. Part 1

2009-09-06T20:17:00.007-04:00

I haven't been to a lot of events this year, so I thought I'd write a blog about the good and bad moments events I've been to.

December 3rd, 2005 - Meet and greet with Adam Rodriguez at Wal-Mart.

Bad:

I use to have a lot of dandruff, as I was using anti-dandruff shampoo every day, which I've since learned is not good. So while waiting in line I kept scratching my head. They had a DJ on in the middle of Wal-Mart before Adam started signing autographs. He said "Kid, stop scratching your head" and suddenly dozens of people were looking at me.

When I finally met Adam, I did not know what to say. He said "Hi, how are you?" I replied "Good, how are you?" "Good" and then he said "Your name's Adam too?" and laughed. "Y..eah". So I got a picture with him, and in the picture I was looking the wrong way.

Good:

I learned what meet and greets are like.

October 3rd, 2007 - Pure Divine Concert featuring Natasha Bedingfield.

Good:
Some people were trying to get Natasha's autograph while Natasha was doing an interview with Star! Daily. The interviewer came over and asked everyone to stop, and said if they stopped, they'd get to meet her for sure. I wasn't one of those people, but I got to meet Natasha Bedingfield. The Star! Daily camera man recorded me meeting her. The concert was fun, she pointed to me several times, and hearing everyone sing along to "Unwritten" was awesome.

Bad:
Star! Daily was cancelled a few days later, prior to it being cancelled they were only airing re-runs, so the footage of me meeting Natasha Bedingfield never aired.

May 22nd, 2008 - Jesse McCartney performance & meet and greet at eTalk for contest winners.

Good:

There was only one other guy in the audience there, who was hiding behind a girl who I assume was his girlfriend. You had to be at least 14 to enter the contest, and 50 people won 2 wristbands. So there's me, and dozens of attractive teenage girls. Perfect. So Anna Cyzon was hosting the event, and before Jesse performed she invited people on stage to sing some of his songs. So I thought this was the perfect chance to impress the girls. Most times I sang Beautiful Soul on Singstar : Pop I got an almost perfect score.

Bad:

I messed up the words to Beautiful Soul...So while I'm up there I start laughing like a moron while all the girls in the audience are either singing the song or laughing at me. They really love the song, and they want to see him sing it. When Jesse comes on and his guitarist starts playing the song, his string breaks. All the girls are devastated. His guitarist didn't have a string to replace it, so his 5 song set was cut to 3 songs, without Beautiful Soul. So therefore these girls didn't get to see him sing his trademark song, but instead they saw me destroy it. Lovely. So I got to meet Jesse, and he asks me if I like the album, and I said "Yeah, it's really good". In reality I had not listened to anything off of the album except for Not Your Enemy and Leavin'. I listened to them on YouTube because I didn't want to listen to my copy of the CD, because I bought it only to have him sign and then auction for charity. (It only got $22 for charity, and I had paid $15 for the CD.) So when I'm about to get a picture with him, he starts laughing at me. I'm not sure if it was because I'm the only guy there, or because I'm tall and he's a midget, or whatever reason... So I just suddenly started laughing, too. It was very awkward.

July 20th, 2008 - Z103.5 Summer Rush.

Bad:

So I won this contest called "Win the Perfect Day with Cascada in Canada", and I thought you won what you described your perfect day to be in the essay you had to write for the contest. After all, it said you will win your perfect day and the prize is worth a maximum of $5,000. Not true. A couple months went by and I had no idea what was going on. I was informed the day before that I was going to meet her at her hotel in Scarborough. So while I'm on the bus to Toronto, I get a phone call...That phone call is from the guy who put on the contest, and he said plans had changed and I wasn't meet Natalie from Cascada at her hotel anymore, I was meeting her at Summer Rush. Since I had never been to Canada's Wonderland before, I got lost in public transportation. It took me 4 hours to get there. I was told on the phone that I was meeting her backstage, meaning I thought my wristband got me backstage...so I made a complete fool out of myself asking a guy to let me backstage. Also, I went to go to the bathroom, and it was flooded. After using the bathroom, I went back the way I came from, and a guy almost kicked me out. I waited for him to leave and then went back the way I came from. So Cascada's on when I get back, and I can't see her at all. I am told that I'm going to get to meet her in a few minutes by the guy who ran the contest...Several times. It took about 30 minutes till after she was finished that I was brought in to meet her. I forgot how to speak basically, as I don't do well around girls with lots of clevage. So my Mom spoke for me. I was asked what my favourite song was from both albums and I completely drew a blank. I somehow said that I play guitar and piano... I don't know why I said that, exactly. We were about to get kicked out, after being there only one minute...So my mom came up with a plan... Have me take a picture with Natalie and the annoying record label guy who doesn't know how to run a contest. So I did. I wish I could crop him out, but he's in the middle of the picture. After the meet and greet time was over, there were two other girls behind me. Annoying record label guy gave them a copy of Cascada's first CD and instructed them to pretend to be big fans. WTF? I don't know what that was about, but my prize was for sure not worth a maximum of $5000.

Good:

I got free food and a picture with Natalie.

So that's part one, part two coming soon.

Happy 51st Birthday Michael Jackson

2009-08-29T21:39:00.005-04:00

On this day, Michael Jackson would've celebrated his 51st birthday. It has taken until now for me to completely realize what the world has lost. Michael Jackson was not only a fantastic musician, but a creative mind, a loving father, and a generous man. Of course the media couldn't show him as a good guy, they had to spread lies about him and hate him. He used the money he got after the Pepsi commercial shoot went horribly wrong to start the Michael Jackson burn unit. He did a lot of charity work. He protected his children from the media as much as possible, because he didn't want his kids to have the same life he had. He made some of the best music videos possible. They weren't music videos, they were short films. He redefined pop music. He invented some amazing dance routines, and this man was nothing short of a genius. You don't see that in many artists these days.

I hope you're moonwalking up in heaven, Mr. Jackson. Happy 51st birthday.

I'm sure Michael would have loved to have seen this tribute by Siedah Garrett.

Shiloh at The Studio Recap!

2009-08-28T23:04:00.008-04:00

So an hour after I woke up yesterday I got a package from Universal Music Canada. It included hundreds of flyers and about 100 - 200 signs with Shiloh's cartoon face on a stick. My Mom called them Shilohsicles. I went to hand them out at various malls and stores. When I was trying to hand out some flyers, two girls walked past me and said something about Shiloh. So I ran up to them and handed them a couple flyers. Apparently the one girl said "My friend looks like Shiloh". So I responded "My friend is Shiloh". It was just awkward...Really awkward. I was soon after kicked out of my favourite mall, but not before I gave dozens to my former babysitter who works at HMV, and the TicketMaster location in the mall. My former babysitter put a flyer for the show in each bag everytime someone bought something, and a "Shilohsicle" in the bag for everyone who bought her CD. So I went to another mall, and I got Sunrise Records to hand them out, too. Also, there was a booth for a local newspaper and they handed some out for us. We were kicked out of there, too. There was another mall I knew of, but it was completely gone, as they're converting it to a big box mall. So I went to a few more stores I could find...And I didn't get permission from some, but I just left stacks of flyers there anyways. I hope I don't get arrested.

After 4 hours, I ended up handing out about 75% of the flyers and Shilohsicles. I called Shiloh's manager and said I had 42 left over, but then I realized I had 2 stuck in the car window, so I had 44... I got to the show at about 7:30 PM. I thought doors opened at 8, and that's what I was telling people. Crap. When I got there, I noticed a little kid holding an HMV bag with a Shilohsicle in it. Success! I possibly maybe convinced one kid to buy a ticket. I was told by both Shiloh's manager and Shiloh's mom that it was too bad I already bought my tickets, because I could've got them for free. That happened last time I saw someone at The Studio, too. Next time I see someone there, I'm just going to assume I get free tickets. Though I don't think that'd work out right. Say if it was Sarah Slean playing, I have done nothing to promote her, but I am a fan of her... I don't think that would get me free tickets.

So once I was inside I called Shiloh's manager and told him I was there, and when he met up with me I handed him the remaining flyers and Shiloh's on a stick. He asked if I wanted anything from the merchandise table, but I already had pretty much everything there. Though I could've got a larger Shiloh shirt, because the shirt I won is a bit small and shows the male equivalent of clevage, guttage. Actually, I was wearing a V-Neck last night, so maybe that's the male equivalent of clevage. Anyways, he asked I wanted to see Shiloh before the show, and I said sure. So I got to go up and see her. The moment I walked in the door Shiloh was singing and Dan the man Kanter was playing piano. Since I quit taking piano lessons in May because my teacher wasn't teaching me anything, I'm jealous of his talent. (By the way, did I ever tell you how my teacher told some students they had to quit taking piano because they weren't learning anything? Lots of laughter ensued when I heard that.)

So Shiloh came up to me and gave me a hug, and she also hugged my Mom. I gave her a picture a fan named Danielle made for her, and a picture Danielle took that I don't think I printed out for her to include in her scrapbook. "Oh, this is from the mustache girl!" I also accidently had a picture of me with the Degrassi cast in there. Whoops! What's funny is I am wearing a Degrassi shirt in the picture, I watched literally only 4 episodes of Degrassi before then, and I didn't know who anyone was from the new cast. I told her I had something else for her, and I gave her a pink wig. Her manager asked if it was the same as mine, and I said yeah. I wasn't certain, actually. It might be like mine, but you never know. She loved it, though. She put it on immediately, and then started putting it on random other people, and I think she either took a video or picture of one guy wearing it. Maybe she was filming a Kyte video? I don't know. I was also asked if I wanted anything to eat or drink. I turned that offer down, and I really wish I hadn't. I paid $3.50 for an Orange Crush later. :( I'll get to that soon. Dan the man Kanter came up to me and I think I shook his hand. I said that I saw Tyler the night before, and I was told him how Jennifer and Jodie drove all the way from Detroit. He wondered why Tyler was there... At least 4 Instant Star cast members were at the premiere, probably because it's the same people who makes both shows. I didn't say that, though. But I said I was saying creepyish things to Tyler, jokingly, like asking him to sit with us. Shiloh was wondering what I was talking about, and Dan explained it to her. I never got to say how Jennifer wondered why Dan deleted her from his Facebook friends minutes after he accepted her friend request.

So Shiloh's manager was telling me about his new artist Katia Zuccarelli who was going to be singing 3 songs. I knew she was going to be opening, so I had my Instant Star 4 soundtrack with me, where she sings "Here We Go Again" with Luke McMaster. "Yeah, because I forgot her name's (Me: Alexz Johnson) label didn't let her sing more than 4 songs". He asked if I wanted him to go and get her, and I said sure. This is where the embarrassing stuff happened. Shiloh held onto my mini knapsack and the bag I had with the Shilohsicle in it while I got the CD out so Katia could sign it. I didn't really say much to her other than nice to meet you, and "Can you sign this for me?". After she signed the CD, I got my knapsack back from Shiloh and ever single thing fell out. My digital camera, my Flip camera that I won in the Pepsi Flip Your Smile contest, with the picture of me and Dan at Tyler's show, but I cropped Dan out, lol. My copy of her CD, and of course the Degrassi photo. So Katia left at about that time... And then I had to leave, which I assume is because they didn't want me breaking every single thing in that room. On the way out I noticed that Rob Wells was there. If you don't know who Rob Wells is, he wrote the only Idol winners single that wasn't complete trite. "Alive" the song was called, it was sung by the winner Melissa O'Neil. It wasn't a "I'm searching for that magical rainbow, climbing every mountain" type song. It was realistic. "Even if I crash down or burn out, at least I'm gonna know what it's like to feel alive". I liked that about it, because winning Idol doesn't always mean you get what you want. Everyone will be screaming for you, but people will forget who you are soon after. So yeah, I saw him but I didn't say anything to him.

So my Mom and I went in the concert area there, but my Mom didn't want to hold me back from my Shiloh fandom, so she wanted to sit outside the room. She knew that three of my friends said they'd go with me for sure, and then each one of them said they couldn't make it. She got to sit right by the merch table with Shiloh's mom. This was about the time that Shiloh's mom said it was too bad I bought my tickets already, because they would've got me them for free. I noticed something on the merch table I didn't have already... Buttons! They were 4 dollars, and Shiloh's Mom gave them to me for free for being such an awesome street team member. A girl was buying a t-shirt at that time and she said "Hey, I'm a street team member!" "Yeah, but Adam's been with us since the very beginning." "Yeah, I was supporting Shiloh when she was busking for change at the Eaton Centre!" That was fun, I had only two things that she could sign, a piece of ribbon or an article about current black history, and the current black history turned out to be all fake according to Snopes. I've gotta wonder, how can something be current history? Anyways, so I got a pack of buttons for free. 4 hours of work for $4 worth of buttons. In my pessimistic thoughts I was thinking "That's a dollar an hour. I should try busking, I'd probably make more." But in reality, it was fun promoting Shiloh and she's awesome and she deserves all the promo she can get. :D

So I got back in the concert area and Katia came on and performed 3 songs. Holy crap, she's only 16. She looks mature for her age and has a mature voice. My favourite song she sang was "I Lied", it was stuck in my head for the rest of the night. I'm a huge fan of her now, I want to hear more. I took these videos, even though on the Ticketmaster website it said cameras weren't allowed inside the venue. I feel like such a rebel!

After her set, I was wishing that I took up the offer I had earlier to have a free drink. I was starting to get a headache and I didn't feel well. I didn't want a repeat of the Lady GaGa concert incident, so I spent $3.50 on an orange crush. Way too expensive. I talked to Shiloh's mom and explained why I was paying such a crazy price, and that I didn't want to have to visit a paramedic because I didn't have anything to drink. She was talking about how she paid a crazy price for a drink when she went to see Sum 41. And I was also talking about how tickets were expensive to GaGa's show for me to not feel well, and she was talking about how expensive tickets were to see Cher. I also learned Shiloh use to do a good Cher impersonation. My brother says I sound like Cher when I sing, but I don't think he means that as a good thing. He's the one who tells me I should give up singing and just be a guitarist. I only play guitar to accompany myself when singing. So yeah, I talked to Shiloh's mom for a bit, about The Bounce Showdown, and how I can't picture Shiloh singing a Rihanna song... I told her I really liked Katia, but I didn't like the band The Latency, Shiloh's Mom loves them. I didn't mean any bad by saying I didn't like them, but I just don't like emo boy bands, and 90% of the CDs I have mainly feature females singing the lead vocals. I've never really liked listening to guys singing... Does that make me a self loathing sexist?

So after The Latency were finished, a lot of people left the concert area, so I was able to get closer the stage, which was great since I recorded most of Shiloh's set. She started off with Raise A Little Hell Now. I love this song live, more than I enjoy the CD version, but from where I was standing I couldn't hear her. Her microphone needed to be a bit louder. This probably was fixed a couple songs later.

Next she sang Goodbye, You Suck. I was annoyed a bit by the Shilohsicles getting in the way of my camera, but then I realized a minute later that these people were waving them and they were basically fanning me... So I couldn't possibly get be overheated and pass out. Thanks random kids between the ages of 8 and 18!

She then sang I Remember. I've gotta say, I'm really impressed with my new camera. If I recorded the show on my digital camera, all you would've heard was loud annoying static.

Next she sang Alright. I didn't record it, because I wanted to take some pictures.

I don't remember exactly when, but she also sang a cover of Sugar, We're Going Down by Fall Out Boy that I didn't record. I still don't understand that song.

She sang Better, and she did a great job on it. My camera was shaky at first because I had just got my camera out again, as I had put it away when taking pictures with my digital camera.

Before Get To You, Dan did a cool guitar solo, I think he was channeling Carlos Santana, because Santana's the only one I've ever seen do crazy guitar stuff like that. I had no idea Dan could do that, though. So now Kyle Riabko is the second best guitar player I've ever met.

I love how Shiloh just has fun with her band when on stage. Like at 1:40 in when she pretends to slap Dan.

Next video I recorded was You're Not Alone. Shiloh really got the audience interacting with her, and that's what a performer needs to always do.

Prior to It's Not Me, Shiloh's keyboardist Lindsay had her solo. I have no idea what song she was playing, but it sounds familiar.

And now the best for last. The final video I recorded was the highlight of the night to me, Shiloh's tribute to Michael Jackson. When she was talking about sponsoring a child through World Vision, I started crying. And I also started singing along during Man In The Mirror. I had no idea how loud I was singing. That's kind of embarrassing.

After Man In The Mirror, she performed Operator (A Girl Like Me). She brought a couple little girls on stage and had them sing along.

At the end of Operator, she said "A girl like, what's your name?" and the girl responded "me!" and everyone was laughing. It was cute.

So after the show I noticed the merchandise table was moved, and I couldn't find my Mom. After about 10 minutes I figured out where she was as Shiloh's manager walked by and I asked if he had seen her. "Do you want me to go get her for you?" "No." While waiting in line, the girls behind me were talking about Clay Aiken, and the one girl use to think he was cute. She also was saying she knew someone who was so in denial when Clay Aiken said he was gay, that they couldn't believe it. This woman apparently married her husband while a Clay Aiken song was playing. Interesting. I'm surprised when I hear real life tales of old women who didn't know Clay was gay.

So my Mom was talking to another girls mother, and Shiloh's mother during the show. So daughter of the lady my Mom was talking to came up to me with her friend and asked if she could wait in line with me and if I could take her picture. I said yes. The two girls behind me were PISSED. So later I made one of those two girls behind me take my pictures with Shiloh and Katia. The woman my Mom was talking to said the tickets were advertised as $15 at the door, and she had to pay $22. I did the only thing I thought I could do, get her daughter something that makes it worth the extra ticket price. Her daughter really wanted a Shiloh shirt, but her mom wouldn't get it for her. I said to her I'm going to change that. I asked Shiloh's Mom if she could help me out with getting the girl a t-shirt, and she said unfortunately she couldn't do that as she had to report the sales back to Universal. So I decided to buy it for her. It was only $15. Shiloh's mom then said I'm such a nice boy. Mwhahahaha, that's what I want her to think! Uh... So the girls mom was asking me if I just bought her daughter a t-shirt, and I said yes. "Did you get a good deal on it?" "I got your daughter something that made her happy, so it was worth it".

I took a picture with Shiloh, but since we had 4 pictures together already I decided to change it up and take a crazy picture with her. Shiloh asked if I had just bought her album or when I got it. I said I got it the day it was released. I think she wanted to know this because she wanted my thoughts on it. I kind of didn't let her get to saying that, though, by rambling on how I bought it the day it came out. So I got the girl who was ticked off at me to take my picture with Shiloh. :D Shiloh signed my copy of her CD "Hey Adam, we'll see you again soon!" She knows me too well... So I got a picture with Katia, and she said "Thanks for buying that CD by the way" and I went on saying how I bought Songs From Instant Star 4 the day it was released, too, and that it was hard to find, but I finally got a copy. I also said I'm looking forward to hearing more from her.

So I saw Dan the man Kanter and Shiloh's manager, and he asked me if I'll be supporting Katia now... I did not really know how to pronounce her name when I got the Instant Star 4 CD, so hearing it pronounced correctly is strange. So I accidently said in probably the most obnoxious voice ever "Will I be supporting WHAT?". And then I laughed in embarrassment when I realized what he was talking about. And I said "Is she signed to Universal?", and I realized right after I said that, no, she's not, he's managing her, and he's not part of Universal. I explained really fast about buying the young girl a Shiloh shirt, and Shiloh's manager didn't really understand. I slowed it down and tried to articulate more. He asked if I was trying to get into her pants. "EWWWWW, NO, SHE WAS LIKE 13!" And Dan said he had to be careful what he says to me, or it'll end up on my blog. I wouldn't write anything bad about anyone working with Shiloh on my blog, I'm not a douche with a blog like Perez Hilton or something. But that quote about trying to get into a Shiloh fans pants was hilarious, therefore I included it. I asked Dan if he saw my recap of Tyler's show at the Casbah, and he said he did. "I knew you were reading it, so I put Dan the man every single place I could". Shiloh's manager's name is Daniel, so what do I call him? Daniel the cocker spaniel? I was told what the next single is going to be, and I'm refraining from saying anything. I was told by Shiloh's manager that "____ is going to be the next single" "Alright!" And then Dan the man said "No, not Alright, _____". It's a good single choice, though. After listening to the album, the songs I thought would be great potential singles were Raise A Little Hell Now, Get To You, I Remember, It's Not Me, or The Fight. (The Fight only if they were targetting the younger demographic with the next single.) Shiloh's manager asked me what song I liked the best live, and I said Get To You. I would've said Raise A Little Hell Now if I had remembered... I also told Dan the man Kanter that I am jealous of his guitar playing talent and Shiloh's manager said something like "That's what you get from years of pretending to rock out in the mirror". And then Shiloh came along and I was finished talking to them.

I just realized something, this is probably the longest blog entry I've ever written... I didn't even get to say every single thing I remembered from going to the concert, because I didn't want to drag it on, but I did anyways.

So yeah, I had a great time at the show. Looking at it from a pessimistic view point, I paid $18.50 + the price of two $18.00 tickets for me to hand out flyers for four hours. Looking at it from a optimistic view point, I had a really great time and if I died tomorrow I'd be fine with that. Of course I don't want to die tomorrow, so I'm not saying that like I'm a suicidal teenager or anything. I'm very content with life right now. After the show my Dad asked if it was worth it, and my Mom said that Shiloh and I act like brother and sister. LOL WHAT?

August has been a good month for me. I got to perform at 3 different venues this month. I got to hang out with my Grandma for a couple days. I got to go to a movie premiere. I got to go to Shiloh's show and have an awesome time. I've learned that my cover of Katy Perry's Hot N Cold isn't as good as I think it is, according to random people on YouTube. I've learned how to get kicked out of malls. And I've learned a lot more about the music industry.

Degrassi Goes Hollywood Premiere recap

2009-08-28T02:27:00.008-04:00

I've never been to a movie premiere before, and I don't really know anyone all that well who has. So I was in a dilemma over what I should wear. I ended up wearing a $600 custom suit jacket, a $0 Degrassi t-shirt, and $0 (my brother handed these down to me, and I don't know how much he paid for them) jeans.

So I went on a mission with my friend to find the Bloor Theatre and get to the premiere. My friend Kim had given me directions, but they were confusing. So another guy helped us out. Once we got off at our subway stop we needed to find where to go to find the Bloor theatre. We went in a store and asked a woman who didn't understand english very well. She said that the cinnamon is on the shelf. "No, Cinema. The Bloor Cinema. Movie theatre. Movies". "DVD CD Player, you talk to guy outside". Finally someone knew what we meant and pointed us in the right direction.

So we got to the premiere, and right when we got there, Jennifer and Jodie showed up. If you have no idea who they are, they hung out with me at Tyler Kyte's concert the day after I got my wisdom teeth out. I don't remember much from that night. I remember my whacky dreams after I got my wisdom teeth out, though. Oh, and I remember how I probably annoyed Dan Kanter by saying a thousand times that I wanted to be in Shiloh's next video. So we all filled out ballots to win prizes. Unfortunately I didn't win anything. I blame my Dad for entering my name into a contest that I wasn't interested in and then winning. Therefore my monthly contest win was already used up.

So while we're in line, interesting stuff happens. A few cast members walked by, and the Canadian wannabe version of Perez Hilton was wearing a disguise and handed people wristbands that said "I'll be famous someday". Buy a vowel to find out what I think he is: A d_uche. While in line Tyler Kyte came up to us. Jennifer squealed as loud as someone could possibly squeal. He heard, I'm sure he heard. He said he'd be back in one minute. He didn't come back. More squealing happened when Jennifer's sister Jodie met Sam Earle, the guy who plays K.C. on Degrassi. In real life he looks like the guy who played Tony on Skins, but with lighter hair and better teeth. Jodie is obsessed with this guy.

So once we got inside we were handed a free drink ticket and a bag of ketchup chips. I said that the ketchup chips were only being handed out just to show that you're in Canada. (Oh, if I didn't mention it yet, Jodie and Jennifer are from Detroit!) But apparently the character Craig mentions them in the movie. SPOILER ALERT! So we were told that we would be able to get several cast members autographs on the red carpet. The red carpet was 5 feet long. We weren't allowed outside for the red carpet, only the press were. So basically if you wanted to meet a cast member, you'd have to randomly find them after they got inside.

So we went upstairs to our seats and then Tyler came upstairs and I said what Jennifer probably wanted to say, but was too embarrassed by her earlier squealing to actually say. "COME SIT WITH US!" He didn't respond, but he did say "Enjoy the movie." Yep, I think I accomplished creeping him the hell out. A whole lot of nothing was going on once we got to our seats, so Jennifer and I went downstairs to see who we could find.

We saw Amanda Stepto (Spike), Ryan Cooley (HOLY CRAP JT IS ALIVE!!!), Shane Kippel (Spinner), Mike Lobel (Jay), craploads of other people, and Tyler Kyte (Tyler from Popular Mechanics for Kids. Um.... I think you know who Tyler is by now. Therefore I'm rambling for no reason at all.)

Jennifer had been dared to have Tyler sign a drawing that her friend drew of Tyler making out with the other guy she likes. Creeeeeeeeeeeepy. I also informed Tyler that Jennifer is not stalking him. Yep, I wasn't afraid to go there. This was his reaction to the drawing:

So we were told we had to go upstairs as the movie was about to start. So Jodie and my friend never got to come down to meet anyone before the movie. :( So before the movie started, the main cast of the movie gathered on stage. I tried to mimick how much Jennifer was freaking out for Tyler and Jodie was freaking out for Sam by freaking out over Cassie Steele. Okay, maybe I wasn't mocking them. I have a huge crush on her.

So we watched the movie, and it was really good. I'm now addicted to "Life Is A Show", but I have to wait until the soundtrack is out physically in Canada before I can legally embarrass myself by pretending to rock out to it. Before the movie, CTV showed previews for their fall line up. The only thing that seemed interesting was the next season of Degrassi. ~It's about to get real~. The movie contained 8 minutes that isn't in the version of the movie that's airing on TV, including a 5 second cameo by Tim Rozon from Instant Star.

So after the movie was over, that's when the real search for people begins. Apparently Jodie saw Cassie Steele in the washroom. After our washroom break, we went downstairs. Jodie went up to Sam Earle (AGAIN) and had him sign the poster she stole off the wall.
And then I went on a mission, I needed to find Cassie Steele. I did find her! She was talking to Tyler. I got a picture with her and I had her sign my copy of her new album. She was so surprised to see that I had her CD. It was a pain to get, I was charged twice on my PrePaid MasterCard for it. I had to contact a few people before I could reverse the charges. Someone said they'd send me a free t-shirt for my troubles, and when I replied, I never got a message back. But nevermind that, onto me meeting Cassie Steele. She looked gorgeous. I wasn't satisfied with how my picture with her turned out, so I said it didn't turn out and got another one. The second one turned out worse. I told her I loved the album and that the movie was great, and I thanked her a thousand times for taking a picture with me.

So after meeting Cassie, I introduced myself to Stephen Stohn and said that I really enjoyed the movie and shook his hand. I also introduced myself to Linda Schuyler and said that Degrassi is a great show, and that I was sitting next to her parents at her eTalk special. So after that, I went outside and got pictures with Samantha Munro (Anya), and Lauren Collins (Paige). I got about 3 pictures with Lauren because my friend was taking them on my old camera when I wanted Jennifer to take them on my new one. Lauren Collins was really nice, and she said "I like your shirts", and I think she was referring to mine, and another girl there wearing a Degrassi shirt, as I could only see one other person wearing a Degrassi shirt. Samantha Munro said she liked my shirt and that she has one just like it, and she wears it to bed.

So yeah, that was my experience at the Degrassi premiere. I met a lot of nice people and I had a lot of fun. Make sure to watch the movie on Sunday if you haven't seen it already. :)

Max Martin releases the same songs multiple times

2009-08-14T23:29:00.002-04:00

Recently there has been controversy over how Kelly Clarkson's "Already Gone" sounds like Beyonce's "Halo". Both songs were co-written by Ryan Tedder. Well it's obvious that whenever Ryan Tedder writes a song, it's going to be a ballad and/or feature a lot of simple piano playing. So let's look at songs Max Martin has written.

The Veronica's - 4ever

P!nk - U + Ur Hand

Oh hey, they sound exactly the same! But that's not Max Martin's only offense.

Kelly Clarkson - Since U Been Gone

P!nk - Who Knew

Yep, he's done it again.

P!nk - It's All Your Fault

Kelly Clarkson - My Life Would Suck Without You

See? It's not rare for a songwriter to write a song that sounds the same as another song they wrote. Another example of this is Too Little Too Late by JoJo sounds exactly the same as Over It by Katharine McPhee. Unlove You by Elise Estrada also sounds the same, but I am unsure of who wrote that song.

Little Boots - Illuminations - EP - Review

2009-07-07T14:58:00.005-04:00

Ryan suggested that I check out Little Boots' music, because he thought I might like her. Since I'm a sucker for english accents, I gave in and finally checked out her music. I bought her Illuminations - EP after watching her YouTube videos to see if I liked it. By the way, if you want to buy it, it's cheaper at Future Shop than HMV. So now I'm reviewing it for you all!

Track 1 is the lead single "New In Town". It's a very poppy song, and very catchy. "I'm going to take you out tonight, I'm going to make you feel alright" will be stuck in your head forever. It's fun. I suggest you check out the music video for it, as it's very entertaining. It includes homeless people dancing with shopping carts. Cheapest extras ever, all you have to do is give them a quarter.

Track 2 is "Stuck On Repeat". It's just over 1 and 1/2 minutes shorter than the original YouTube version. It's slower during the pre-chorus, and then the beat picks back up again. The song is repetitive, which is not surprising due to the title, but it's one of my favourites I've heard from her.

Track 3 is "Not Now". I like it, and not just to mock how she pronounces "January". If I didn't know better, I would've thought this was one of the tracks Greg Kurstin produced. During the verse "And how I laughed when some old man, said that you looked like Duran Duran" it resembles the verse "But I found it so entertaining, messing around with your head" from Lily Allen's song Back To The Start. It seems a lot of fans of Little Boots are angry that Not Now isn't included on "Hands", her debut album which was released one day earlier in the UK. Since I haven't heard Hands yet, I have no opinion on that, but it is a good song.

Track 4 is "Magical". Does this song sample some old song from the 70's or 80's? I swear I've heard the first 30 seconds somewhere before. It's a good song, but not as good as the three previous tracks. It hasn't really grown on me yet.

Track 5 is "Love Kills", a cover of a Freddie Mercury song. Yes, I had the same reaction as you did. "Freddie Mercury had a solo career?!?!?!" I've only heard his version once, but I assume his is better because it's Freddie Mercury. It's kind of a boring song, actually. A dull ending to an otherwise good EP.

I'd give Illuminations a 7/10 because I liked 3 and 1/2 out of 5 songs. Once I figure out what Magical sounds like and I can just sit back and enjoy it, maybe my review will change to 8/10.

I'm still here.

2009-07-01T20:32:00.003-04:00

Last week Michael Jackson died. Ever since then I've been in disbelief, because I really wanted to see him turn it around and go on his comeback tour. Michael was a pop music icon, and his music inspired my songwriting. Also, his performance of The Way You Make Me Feel with Britney Spears is my favourite performance I've ever seen on TV to this very day.

I was sad, and I still am sad about him being gone. Michael Jackson is a pop music icon, and his music has inspired many current pop artists. After reading up on every little detail, I was finally able to practice for my recital...

Shortly after practicing Fever I got a sore throat, which developed into a cold. So on Friday I went in for my weekly vocal lesson, and my teacher forgot about my lesson again! She did honour it, though. But she's got 2 strikes so far. I could hardly sing at first, and she told me that. I had sung Fever a thousand times, and she is now saying that instead of it being 100% perfect, it was 100% off.

So I practiced every chance I got. I was guaranteed that I'd do well. I think I did do well, but not as well as I had once planned, as I didn't expect to be sick. Old ladies loved me! ...Not really the demographic I'm going for, though.

So since I've not been feeling well, I've watched the entire series of Instant Star, except for the final episode. I'm pretending 4x12 is the last episode. I've also been playing guitar a lot, since now I never want to ignore playing guitar just because I'm sick. It's kind of funny, this time last year I hated playing guitar. I also have been playing piano a bit, even though I stopped taking lesson...But I pretty much only know one song, "Goodbye, You Suck".

I've also been listening to a lot of music...I'm looking for inspiration, I need to write more songs to perform at open mics. I need to find the right chords, though. I want to write an angry song, or a sad song, or an upbeat song that makes you want to punch someone, but all the chords I know sound too happy.

I bought Kate Voegele's album, and it's better than what I had heard from her first. It seems like some of the songs I loved when they leaked are on the deluxe version, which I didn't get. It was $7 more, and I couldn't afford it and birthday gifts for my brother, as birthday is on the 4th. I find it funny that both my birthday and my brothers birthday are on national holidays, but of countries that we don't belong to. I also found out that I spent too much on Little Boots - Illuminations EP, as it is $1 cheaper at Future Shop.

Oh, and thanks to the wonderous invention that is YouTube, I am now remembering Lady GaGa's actual concert, and not all the drama that ensued. Speaking about drama, who do you think this quote is a shot at in a review of her show by another Lady GaGa fan?

"lots of places reported that gaga went on stage 2 and a half hours late
Doors were at 8. That doesn't mean Lady Gaga is on stage ready to go at 8 o clock. There was an opener, then she was scheduled for 10. She came on at like 10:40. Late, but not 2 hours late. Someone already went over how people were booing and giving middle fingers and shit. so emberassing -_-" obviously it was their first concert, nothing ever happens on time at shows slash maybe it was past their bedtime lol."

My guess? M-m-m-moi. So many people are angry about my video of people booing at her show. I never said she was 2 and 1/2 hours late in my video, I said she came on 2 and 1/2 hours after the doors opened. Apparently she was scheduled to start at 10, but everyone I had talked to said 9. I'm over it.

So while I'm still getting better, expect a few more blogs. I'm finally going to review Illuminations by Little Boots soon!

I need suggestions for some great music!

2009-06-25T01:31:00.004-04:00

Last time I was at HMV, I was confused, I wasn't sure what album I should buy. I ended up buying Illuminations - EP by Little Boots, which I will review shortly. There were so many albums that I was considering checking out, and I wasn't sure if I should or not.

If you have heard any of these albums or songs by these artists, please let me know. I want to know if it's worth checking out the albums I have listed, or music by the artists listed.

Fantasies by Metric. I do like Help I'm Alive, but I'm wondering if the rest of the album is that good.
Far by Regina Spektor (Deluxe Edition). I want to know if the bonuses are worth spending the extra $7 on.
A Fine Mess by Kate Voegele. I love her cover of Hallelujah, and I've liked the songs I've heard so far from the album, but her first album was too poppy for me.
Middle Cyclone by Neko Case.

I've also wanted to check out more music by Garbage, Girls Aloud, Ladyhawke, and Roisin Murphy, but I'm not sure where to start.

I don't want to buy an album that is going to just sit on my shelf forever. I want to buy something that contains songs that are worth listening to. I don't want a CD where all the songs run together, I want a CD where all or the majority of the songs keep your interest. I have a few albums that I pretty much fall asleep when listening to them, and I hate that.

So if you can help, please do so. :) And if you have other suggestions for music that I should check out, let me know.

Perez Hilton Got Boom Boom Pow'd

2009-06-22T23:56:00.004-04:00

Remember how I said "I don't really think Perez Hilton is the best person to be an activist for gay rights. He's a total douchebag. He's an annoying attention whore that everyone hates and he brings disgrace to the name of gay people" in this post?

How right I was. Right after Perez got a punch to the face after the MMVAs, he felt he needed to write about it on Twitter, and have them call 911 for him. ATTENTION WHORE. I was also right about him being a disgrace to the name of gay people. GLAAD is pissed about him calling will.i.am a f*ggot.

I'm loving this. His video rant is hilarious, because he's such a bad actor. I usually can't even tell what bad acting is, but this is just so obvious.

He looks like Mayor Augustus Maywho in How the Grinch Stole Christmas.

My letter to Lady GaGa

2009-06-20T20:46:00.007-04:00

If you're reading this, you may or may not have read my recap of Lady GaGa at the Kool Haus. If you have not, I suggest you read it to understand why I am posting this. This is the letter I wanted to give to GaGa last night, but I never got the chance to. I wanted to show everyone that even though I didn't enjoy myself as much as I expected to, that I am a GaGa fan and not a hater. I use to really think she was strange, and I still think most outfits of hers are strange. But I've realized that is the who she is, that is Lady GaGa. She's a strange yet interesting person. She never wants to be considered boring. Plus everyone loves to dress up, I of all people should know this.

"Dear Lady GaGa,

My name is Adam and I am such a huge fan of yours. I thought I’d put everything I wanted to say to you in a letter, since whenever I meet someone at a concert it’s usually for a short period of time.

When you first started to gain popularity in 2008, I wasn’t sure if I liked you or not. But I opened my eyes in September and gave you another chance when an artist named Jordan McCoy mentioned hanging out with you and Vincent Herbert on her MySpace. I listened to a few of your songs, and I stumbled on Brown Eyes. That song was what made me fall in love with you, and say “Wow, she’s a real artist”. I read your bio on your MySpace, and that was when I was sure I’d buy your album. I felt I could relate to you so much, from singing along with a tape recorder to performing at open mics. After that my opinion has changed from “this girl is strange” to “THIS GIRL IS AMAZING AND A BIT CRAZY! I love her so much”.

I love how artistic and crafty you are, and I love your “no pants” pants. Whenever those are for sale, I need to get them. I like that you are always wearing something interesting. Jordan McCoy’s manager Debbie Hammond was talking to me about how she tried to talk you into wearing jeans and a tank top, but you just wouldn’t have that. I respect that about you, and how you won’t change who you are for anyone. By the way, Debbie said to tell you that she misses you madly.

I love that you’re inspired by sequins, it reminds me so much of my musical theatre teacher. No matter what we were doing for our recital, our costumes always had to have sequins on them. Whatever the song was from, if it was from The Lion King, or Peter Pan, or Cabaret, there would always be sequins.

I love that you have worked hard to get where you are. You didn’t just one day show up on a televised karaoke contest and get instant success. From what I’ve heard, read, and seen, you really worked to get where you are today. You went to open mics, you performed in bars, you didn’t have your career handed to you. I have seen old photos and videos from some of your performances in small venues. There’s a video of you performing “Again Again” at the Knitting Factory in 2006 on YouTube, and you sounded fantastic.

As a musician myself, I would love to be doing what you’re doing. After performing I always get such a high, it feels fantastic. I love going to open mics and having people either clap along or sing along when I perform. I even performed an acoustic version of Just Dance on my guitar last time I was at one.

You are such a good piano player, which is something I aspire to be one day. After taking 1 year of piano lessons, I quit, as I need to find a better teacher. My teacher had 12 weeks to practice one song so she could accompany me for a singing competition, and she failed to play the song well, which ended up getting me last place. She was stopping and starting so often that I couldn’t follow along.
You have such an amazing and devoted fan base. You’re the most popular female on Facebook, and people have even started a petition there for a full HQ version of Retro Physical to leak, as all they have is a 1 minute clip. Your fans are so interested in everything you do, and want to hear every song of yours. Not many artists have fans like that.

You are my inspiration GaGa, I am so proud to be a fan of yours. I like that a real artist is finally making big waves in the music industry. Your music is fantastic, and you’re such a great entertainer.

I love you so much,

Adam"

Lady GaGa at the Kool Haus Recap - June 19th, 2009

2009-06-20T15:23:00.008-04:00

When I woke up yesterday, I was so excited to see Lady GaGa. I wrote a 2 page letter that I wanted to give to her if I couldn't meet her or could only meet her for a short period of time. I have never been so excited for a concert in my life.

I went to the concert with my Dad. Once we got to Union Station, we decided to walk to the Kool Haus, since it apparently wasn't far away. MapQuest lied to me and said it was 12 miles away. Behind us were a few girls also going to see Lady GaGa, and they asked us for directions. They were shocked that we were going to the same place they were going. Once we got there I talked to one of the girls for a few minutes total. She had black lipstick on just like GaGa did in the end of her Paparazzi video. There were so many people with lightning bolt make up on, and a couple people with disco sticks which were literally a disco ball glued to a stick.

They started letting people in at around 8:04 PM. That was when I realized there were as many people in front of me as behind me. So I was finally inside at around 8:15 PM. I quickly made my way to the merchandise table. I bought a necklace, stickers, and a white uni-sex t-shirt. I only looked at the picture on the t-shirt, and didn't realize it had a rainbow on it.

So once I was by the stage, a few girls started talking to me. One had what I believe was a spanish accent. She was hilarious. Her and her friends (who had lightning bolt stickers on their faces) filmed me for some reason or another, and asked me what my favourite GaGa songs were. I responded "Paparazzi and Poker Face!". The girl with the spanish accent was all excited. "YEAH, WE LOVE POKER FACE!" and said "EVEN THOUGH YOUR NAME IS NOT EVAN, I'M GONNA CALL YOU EVAN!" Her friend told me that was her brothers name. Later she said "What is your name Evan?" "ADAM! Evan is close enough!" "YES IT HAS THE SAME VOWELS!" They asked if I could take a picture, which I thought they meant of them, but they wanted a picture of me with them. They asked me if my lightning bolt necklace was for Lady GaGa, and I said yes and that I bought it at the merchandise table. One girl said she couldn't afford it, as she forgot to bring money. I talked about how I worked 4 and 1/2 hours to be able to afford the merchandise.

After that a couple other girls started talking to me. They had glittery lightning bolts on their face, and blonde crimped hair. I felt I betrayed spanish girl and her friends by talking to them, but I figured it would be rude not to respond. They asked me if I was a big fan of GaGa, and I said yes. They asked if I was there alone, and I said no, I was with my Dad and he was sitting somewhere. I said how the tickets were his early father's day gift because one day I put Poker Face on his MP3 player and he started to love GaGa. One of the girls said "It's so cool when parents love new current music". And I nodded. After that I couldn't locate spanish girl and her friends. :(

So after that a DJ came on for about 25 to 30 minutes and pumped up the crowd. Some songs played were American Boy by Estelle, Love Lockdown by Kanye West, and If U Seek Amy by Britney Spears. All of a sudden the DJs laptop froze and people were angry! So after that a few songs were played in a loop. A mash up of Katy Perry's Hot N Cold with the background music to Maniac. I think another one of the mash ups was a Kid Cudi song with Viva La Vida by Coldplay as the background music.

After every couple songs they played a clip of Lady GaGa saying "Space Cowboy, play that track." The crowd wooed the first two times. After that the crowd booed whenever that was played. People were angry. I started to try and get the crowd wound up and shout "WE WANT GAGA, WE WANT GAGA!" and it worked for about 20 seconds tops. People were booing, some left, some shouted they wanted a refund. I saw people text messaging their friends that she still wasn't on, and that she lost their respect. Some people attacked security guards and were taken away.

GaGa didn't show up until 10:30 PM. Since the VIP afterparty was supposed to start at 10 PM, I assume those who purchased VIP tickets are very angry. Especially since their seats for the concert were as far away as you could possibly be. Some people booed her when she finally did show up, and some gave her the finger. For Paparazzi she was wearing this cloak like thing with what looked like tinsel around the top of it.

If you asked me to recap every single thing that happened at the concert, I could never do it. I just don't remember much of it. I loved the outfit she wore when she was on the Vespa. I remember her saying that even though she smoked during Eh Eh that smoking was bad for you. I remember her saying fuck a lot. I remember her simulating masturbation. I remember the lyrics to Future Love being a little bit different. I remember her saying that this was her last show...without a band. I remember her covering Heartless by Kanye West. I don't really remember anything else though.

Right before Boys Boys Boys, I pretty much collapsed to the floor. I had been standing for about 6 hours, and I didn't have anything to eat or drink for about 9. (I had eaten enough then to last me a long time. If the show ended at 10 or even 11 PM I think I would've been fine.)
A girl hunched over and asked what was wrong with me, and I said I wasn't feeling really well. And she suggested I just get some fresh air, and she was trying to push me out towards the exit. At first I refused, then I was feeling so bad that I accepted her offer. When she was pushing me the way to the exit, others were pushing me back because they thought I was trying to move in front of them and get closer to GaGa.

After the show I was checking to see if GaGa would come out and sign any autographs. I didn't think she would, and my thoughts were correct. I heard a security guard telling a story about how one person hit him with their cell phone and it broke in half. The security guard said "It's down there, you can use it to make half a phone call".

After that I couldn't stand up straight any longer, my Dad had to pretty much have me lean on him the rest of the way out. I couldn't really see or comprehend what exactly was going on with me. I couldn't talk, I couldn't breathe. I was able to say that I wanted to go to a hospital. My dad talked to a security guard there and I ended up going to see the on sight paramedic. I don't know how long I was there, it felt like 20 or 30 minutes, but I had to get my pulse checked a few times, and I was instructed to take deep breaths and slow down my breathing. The guy there gave me a bottle of water. I literally forgot how to drink from a bottle of water, and it took me about 5 minutes before I was able to. I realized how late it was, and that I had to leave or else I'd miss the last bus to get back home. I still wasn't feeling well, but I was a bit better. I remember crying on the bus back, because I was so excited for the concert but ended up not being able to remember much of when GaGa was on stage. Once off the bus, I had my Dad take me to get a super big gulp at 7/11. That helped my dehydration.

I'm not sure where I stand as a GaGa fan right now. I love her so much, but it was kind of ignorant for her to be that late. I saw on Perez Hilton's Twitter that the exact time everyone was booing, he said that he was having so much fun hanging out with his BFF Lady GaGa backstage.

So yeah, that was my GaGa experience. Not as great as I had imagined...

The crowd booing:

Paparazzi:

Eh Eh:

Heartless by Kanye West:

Poker Face (Acoustic):

Future Love:

June 16th, 2009 = Best day ever music wise.

2009-06-17T11:52:00.004-04:00

Okay, so maybe June 16th, 2009 will not go down in history, but yesterday was a great day music wise.

First, I woke up and did what I do everyday when I wake up, turn on my computer and check out iTunes. I was shocked to find that Shiloh's new single "Alright" was available. (I thought Shiloh's newsletter would alert me first about all future releases?!) Anyways, I bought "Alright" and listened to it. It's more like Operator (A Girl Like Me) than Goodbye, You Suck. This is probably because the same two guys wrote it. I kind of find it weird that two guys wrote a song called A Girl Like Me. But who am I to say something is weird? I dress up like Britney Spears during her crazy days in Fall of '07 for my YouTube videos. While on that subject, of course I did that in a promo video for Alright.

It took me about 10 minutes to get that wig into a ponytail.

I like the song, it's breezy summery fun. I have no idea what that means, but it's uplifting and reminds me of the beach or something... I don't know, I don't understand what I'm writing half of the time. I tried to write a review for it on iTunes, but it won't let me for some reason...

So after listening to Alright several times, I noticed that a song that has been stuck in my head a lot lately was just added to iTunes. It's weird because I first heard the song over 2 years ago, and haven't heard it at all recently. It's called "Back To L.A." by Melanie Doane. I think it might've been stuck in my head because of the possibility that I'm going to L.A. this summer. Anyways, I bought it and sang along with it.

I also found out yesterday that Regina Spektor's new album is streaming in full on MySpace. I listened to it, it's pretty good. I might even review it on here.

Another thing I found out was that HMV is starting to get copies of Little Boots Illuminations EP in, but the official physical release is next Tuesday.

The best part of yesterday was that I got to go to open mic again. This time they were only allowing 2 song sets, so I had to choose wisely. There were 2 spotlight bands before me. Neither one of them were experimental, thank you Jesus! What I didn't understand was why both of the bands were playing slow songs, the drunks don't want to hear that! The first band even said their album was called "Depression River". They were both very talented musically, but entertaining the crowd, not so much. Then a girl with an acoustic guitar came on at 10:30. She was good, but once again didn't entertain the drunk crowd.

So it was time for my set, and I wanted to do my best to make the crowd laugh. "So I was bored, and I decided to research how to stay as disconnected from my performance as possible. It said 1. Don't sing live. 2. Hire several background dancers to cover up your poor performance skills. 3. *laugh* I FORGOT WHAT THREE WAS!" and then someone shouted "Maybe that is what 3 was!" and so I laughed and agreed. "So if you want to see all that, Britney Spears tickets go on sale Friday, but I'm going to entertain the way I KNOW HOW!" What's funny is 3. was supposed to be "Don't communicate with your audience".

So I performed Anti-Love Song. I made a few minor lyric changes. I had the audience clap along again, and I was trying to get them to stop by doing a slashing motion across my neck... Apparently they thought it meant something different, like I hated love songs so much that I wanted to slash my throat, and they all laughed.

So my second song was Just Dance by Lady GaGa. "This is a song by one of my favourite artists, and I get to see her live on Friday, so I'm excited". Not sure why, but some people laughed at that. "So if you know it, you can sing along, clap along, or JUST DANCE!" The audience didn't really clap along like they did back when I sang Hot N Cold last time, but I think I did okay.

So after my set I had 4 people who I didn't know come up to me and say I did a good job. One of the guys from the second band said I did good. One random girl told me that I did a great job, and that she prefered my song to the Lady GaGa song. As a songwriter, even a really bad one like myself, I really appreciated that comment.

So I decided to stay for 4 more sets. 2/4 were rappers... White rappers. I didn't really enjoy it that much. I was expecting another pretty girl with an acoustic guitar to perform, but that didn't happen. Oh well, I guess that's what YouTube is for, right?

Jordan McCoy's new acoustic Tuesday video this week is a original song. An original song that she actually wrote!

See, that's a songwriter. That's the kind of song I want to be able to write, something with emotion, power, and feeling into it. I love how she now sings the background vocals and adds them in later. It really makes up for the solo acoustic videos she had made that weren't the greatest audio quality, starting from Rehab by Rihanna and ending at Mad by Ne-Yo. Please Don't Leave Me, and On A Saturday Night (11:27) weren't that bad, but Just Watch Me and Sitting Here you could really notice the bad audio quality.

The video features pictures of Perez Hilton, and another person who uses the last name Hilton because he thinks it'll make him famous. It won't, just stop. I don't really think Perez Hilton is the best person to be an activist for gay rights. He's a total douchebag. He's an annoying attention whore that everyone hates and he brings disgrace to the name of gay people just like Chris Crocker, Danny Noriega, and Jeffree Star do. Stop trying so hard.

Though maybe having Perez in the video is a smart marketing move. It worked for Kalan Porter.

Also in the video is Brennan Hillard from American Juniors, who recently appeared in the movie Dance Flick. If you haven't seen it, you need to, his Fame scene is hilarious. He's a nice guy, too. He's always communicating with his fans on Twitter.

So yeah, that was my Tuesday, and those are the reasons why I think Tuesday was a great day for music. Up next will be my recap for Lady GaGa's show on Friday.

What I'm doing.

2009-06-10T16:56:00.007-04:00

First, I would like to point out that no matter how much I dislike MuchMusic, I would never boycott MuchMusic. Even if they had a girl who didn't even recognize Poker Face when I sang it pose as a Lady GaGa fan. They're promoting Shiloh, and Shiloh's a sweetheart, so that's great. And I'd still love if you all voted for Goodbye, You Suck to win an MMVA.

So yesterday I had things all planned out. I was going to write a blog reviewing Little Boots new Illuminations EP which was released yesterday. Ryan has suggested several times that I check out her music, and I'm really starting to get into it now. So I looked all over for the physical copy that both Amazon and HMV claim exists, but I couldn't find it anywhere. Once I am able to get my hands on a copy, expect a review.

Oh! Guess who I got tickets to see? Lady GaGa! I am so excited to be seeing her live, and I hope I get the chance to meet her. I'm now looking at all the tour merchandise on her website, and wow, those t-shirts are kind of hideous. I love how they photoshopped her red hood wrap to be black. I'm probably going to buy the sunglasses and bolt necklace.

I have been doing a lot of school work, I'm finally finished on Monday. I had to write a 350-400 word essay for english on an artist I liked, so I picked Jordan McCoy. I'll let you know what mark I get on that, lol.

I'm also getting back into playing guitar again. After getting my wisdom teeth out, I decided to take a break. I'm going to try and spend the summer performing and trying to further my music career, which is currently non-existant. I also hope to be able to teach myself piano at a faster pace than my piano teacher was teaching me.

Shiloh @ Much On Demand - June 4th, 2009

2009-06-04T22:20:00.006-04:00

So today I went to Much On Demand to see Shiloh perform. I ended up getting there an hour early, and 15 minutes later I found out I was at the wrong entrance. In that time I was at the wrong entrace, I did see Shiloh run fast into the building with her bodyguard, but before I realized it was her she was gone.

So once they finally opened the door, we went through coat and bag check, and waited for about 15 minutes more everyone was allowed in. My Mom was told she had to sit where she wouldn't be visible, as she was an adult. I didn't really find anything too strange about that, but my attitude changed later. I just left my Mom there and found a seat.

The people at MuchMusic were giving away wristbands to the MMVA's to those who dared to enter their karaoke contest. I waved my hand saying that I wanted to participate, and so I had to leave my seat. I went backstage for an audition with 4 other girls. Originally there were just 3 people total, me included, and they only wanted 3 people for the process, but 2 others came out of no where. So everyone had this audition, we had to either sing a Jonas Brothers song or a Lady GaGa song. Nobody really knew the words, except for me because I'm pretty much Lady GaGa's biggest fan. The person who was auditioning everyone seemed to like my singing. "That was a cool longue version".

10 minutes later I was told that the person I auditioned for really really loved my singing, but I was rejected because they decided to just go with girls. Sexists. They had a girl sing a Jonas Brothers song, so why couldn't they have a guy singing a Lady GaGa song? Oh, and did I say I lost my seat to an annoying stoner?

So next a woman came along and wanted peoples questions for Shiloh. My question for Shiloh was "If you could say something to convince people to vote for you to win a MMVA, what would that something be?" I was told in this SCREECHY annoying b!tchy tone "Oh well we really don't want questions about the MMVA's". So the annoying stoner who stole my seat said "HAHA, REJECTED!"

So once they finally had the karaoke contest, they had a girl who was a "huge Lady GaGa fan". During her audition that girl only knew the bridge, and she even messed that up. She wasn't a GaGa fan, at least not how I am a Lady GaGa fan. She won the wristbands, and she was told she'll be able to go on stage during GaGa's performance at the MMVA's. But they didn't just give her wristbands, they surprised the other two competitors and gave them wristbands.

So next was a webcam segment with Perez Hilton. If I didn't want to stick around and see Shiloh perform, I would've run through the crowd and called him a giant douchebag to the camera. So I didn't do that. A few minutes later everyone who was standing was moved behind Shiloh's band. Since I was behind them, I couldn't hear Shiloh's performance at all. I was deafened by the loudness of the drums. So I stuck around to see a performance that I couldn't really see or hear. I should've called Perez Hilton a douchebag to the camera and got kicked out.

So after that I talked to Dan the man Kanter and said I was there to surprise Shiloh. I couldn't think because I had such a headache.

So after filming a MOD promo for tomorrow, it was time to leave. My Mom talked to Dan, who had her talk to another guy, who had her talk to a security guard about giving Shiloh her birthday scrapbook. I was thankfully allowed to do so. I've gotta say, everyone on Shiloh's team is cool. Not only do they get her the best gigs, but they're really accommodating to her fans.

So I had to get the scrapbook back at the coat check and then bring it back. Shiloh's team confirmed I was okay to be there. So I gave her the scrapbook and said that I probably won't be at the MMVA's. (I am considering going to the red carpet, but if I get treated like I was today, screw that.) I also apologized that I wasn't able to get too many people to submit stuff for the birthday scrapbook, but I said I tried. She seemed to really like it. I like that I'm not expected to do anything by her team, I'm not a resource of information for them, and I just show up to Shiloh related events if I feel like it. I asked for another picture for my "I knew Shiloh before she was an international superstar" photo album, and so she took one with me. She also hugged me a couple of times. If she stays this nice, I can see her going far.

So yeah, I'm not really fond of the MuchMusic team. The VJ's were nice, and once security guard was nice, but overall my Mom and I weren't treated well by them. We were treated incredibly well by Shiloh, her team, and her band. That really made up for it, and it made me feel like it was worth the trip.

I shouldn't be too upset, I won a Flip Mino HD this week, so that's...that's cool.

A big thanks to Shiloh, her team, Dan "The Man" Kanter, Dave, and the other members of Shiloh's band for treating me well.

Lily Allen - It's Not Me, It's You Album Review

2009-05-31T23:19:00.004-04:00

I'm going to review Lily Allen's new album "It's Not Me, It's You". All I can think of when I hear the title of the album is the Prozzäk/Simon & Milo song of the same name.

This album review was requested by one of my readers. I'm now trying to be more reader friendly, since you're the people reading my blog, so I want you to enjoy what you read.

Track 1 is "Everyone's At It". I can't really tell you what the songs about, as I am horrible at describing things... I like the beat and lyrics. It's not my favourite on the album, but it's okay.

Track 2 is "The Fear". On it's own, the song is memorable, but when listening to it with the rest of the album it is a bit forgettable. The song is pretty much about not wanting to be consumed by fame, and the standards people have for someone who is famous. She cleverly name drops two british tabloids "The Sun" and "The Mirror". On it's own, I really like this song.

Track 3 is "Not Fair". It's kind of a mock-country song. In the song she describes that she really likes this guy, but there's one problem with him, he's not good in the sack. She likes him, but thinks this is not fair. Wow, I've been mindlessly singing along to this without paying attention to the lyrics for ages. It's catchy, it's a mock country song that's better than current country music.

Track 4 is "22". It's a song about the sad reality that when a party girl grows older, she becomes a social outcast. It sounds depressing, but it's actually a good song. A little too upbeat for the nature of the song, but it's good.

Track 5 is "I Could Say". This is when the album starts to get forgettable. In this song the only strong thing about it are the lyrics, unlike Lily's first album which had strong lyrics and perkiness in songs like "Alfie" and "LDN". The instrumentals really aren't there in this one.

Track 6 is "Back To The Start". The verses are slow and forgettable, but the extremely fast chorus is a bit addicting. The song is kind of about being jealous of a sibling, all the attention they get, and having a bitter attitude towards them because of this.

Track 7 is "Never Gonna Happen". I feel that this song would've probably suited her first album a lot better. It's not really perky as some of the songs on that album, but it seems to be in the same general style.

Track 8 is "F**k You". THIS is the perky Lily Allen that this album needed to have about 3 tracks ago. The song is about The British National Party and George W. Bush, and their discriminating views. I have never heard someone so happy when dropping the f-bomb. If you don't want to listen to that version, get the censored version off of iTunes. It's censored with the sounds of barnyard animals. It's hilarious. The lyrics are so clever and it's so upbeat. It's my favourite song on the album.

Track 9 is "Who'd Have Known". A sweet love song, but it doesn't really go anywhere, and you kind of lose interest in it.

Track 10 is "Chinese". It may be kind of forgettable, but it's a song you can relate to. Watching TV while eating chinese food. Unless when she says "We'll get a chinese and watch TV" she means they'll get a chinese person to watch TV with. Either way, I like it.

Track 11 is "Him". It's a song about God, and it probably offends some Christians. I'm a Christian, and I think this song is hilarious and that the lyrics are clever.

Track 12 is "He Wasn't There". It's kind of a mock oldies song, kinda of like her song Littlest Things from "Alright, Still". I like it, it's a good way to end the album. It makes me look forward to her next one, even though some of the songs were boring.

If I was asked which Lily Allen was better, I would recommend "Alright, Still". Still, the songs are solid and the lyrics make you think, which isn't that one of the things music is supposed to do? I like songs that make people think and start controversy. Overall, I like the album, but it's missing that certain je ne sais quoi that "Alright, Still" had in songs like Smile, LDN, Littlest Things, and Alfie.

I give it a 5/10, because she's better than Katy Perry.

Rockstar by Jordan McCoy Promotional Video

2009-05-27T02:41:00.004-04:00

On Sunday I thought it would be fun to go to the mall and hand out 4x6 promos for Jordan McCoy's new single Rockstar.

(If you want to do the same, here's the Canadian promo, and here's the U.S. promo.)

If you know me, you know I'm shy and I am horrible at talking to people. I never want to interrupt a random stranger. So to do this, I had to lose that.

Obviously I didn't want to approach people, so I decided to set a few on a free newspaper rack. About 15 minutes later after my future sister in law helped me get over my shy and awkward state, I was able to approach people. "Excuse me, this is just to let you know that Jordan McCoy's new single Rockstar as featured on American Idol and The Hills will be available on iTunes on Tuesday". Yes, after the excuse me everything else I said was a super fast run on sentence.

Since we were getting rid of the Rockstar promos fast, we needed to take the 3 off the newspaper rack, to ensure the right people got them. I'm not sure the right people did, as I think I saw 3 people throw theirs out shortly after.

We were down to just 10. The mall closed in 30 minutes, and we hadn't got a single video. We tried to say "We have the exclusive first listen for you here, if you want to listen and tell us what you think", but the response we got was "We'll just listen to it on iTunes". That's good, but not great for the promo video. We handed one to someone, and right after a little girl wanted one. She was about 2 or 3 years old, it was so cute to see her say "I want one, too!" and hold the promo that was a third of her size.

A few people were in a rush, but we convinced some people that it would only take a couple minutes. A girl in the first group that gave their opinion wanted me to turn the volume louder, so I did. After asking a Sunrise Records employee her opinion of the song, filming her thoughts & giving her the final promo, I decided to pretend to be a stranger hearing it for the first time. WOW! I could not hear anything else because it was so loud!

So after possibly deafening 6 people, here's the result of my 1 and 1/2 hour mall trip:

It was fun. I was doing something I don't normally do, talk to strangers in my annoying monotone voice. I have no idea if they'll ever find the video, but I want to do this again. Maybe at the Eaton Centre to get people to vote for Goodbye, You Suck aka "THE MUSIC VIDEO I'M IN, ISN'T THAT AMAZING?" to win an MMVA. Hint, hint. ;)

By the way, if you haven't guessed by now, Rockstar is now on iTunes. So if you like catchy summery songs like Lady GaGa with a rock edge and name dropping, get it now!

Afterthoughts - Part 1

2009-05-22T15:04:00.004-04:00

After re-reading some of my blog, I've had some afterthoughts of things I've said here, and have learned some things that I didn't know before. I thought I'd share.

1. My Katy Perry album review has a few mistakes.

After hearing the album in higher quality I've realized that:

Thinking Of You is over-produced.
Waking Up In Vegas is fun to sing,
The songs that I said sounded drowned out aren't really drowned out. They sounded that way because I was listening to them in low quality.

2. I never told you all the long story of how I fired my music teacher.

3. My look is not unique. I've mistaken other people for me before. Some of the time it's because I have the brightness turned down on my monitor. I thought there was a picture of me and my Mom at the Canadian Idol auditions on their website. Then months I realized when I turned the brightness up, it wasn't me or my Mom. In fact, the person I mistook for my Mom was taller than who I mistook for me, and he had a mohawk.

4. I recently realized that back in July 2008 when I went to Summer Rush, Lady GaGa walked past me. I should've been more on the ball and asked everyone that walked past me for autographs. I just had no idea who she was now, but I wish I could be so close to her now. Chances of me meeting her now: 0.

5. Wow, I come across as such a desperate attention whore.

6. The earlier posts on my blog all seem like total nonsense, but I think I've improved my blog lately and made it readable.

7. I only do about 50% of what I say I'm going to do. Where's that Reach Out - Hilary Duff video parody I promised, or that Kreesha Turner album review?

8. I really know nothing about the music industry.

9. I don't know who I like more, Jordan McCoy or Shiloh. Seriously, I really have no idea. I've known and been a fan of Jordan longer, but on the other hand, at Shiloh's video shoot I got free food...

10. Know how I took pictures of Cory Lee when I was outside the eTalk studios? Well there's a picture of Cory Lee with Linda Schuyler and guess who is in the background?

11. Up until today, this post said "Do you like technology? Check out Oh No They Didn't." Oh No They Didn't is a celebrity gossip site. I meant to post the link to Geekologie.

12. Apparently Dan Kanter played guitar for Hello Operator when they opened up for Hilary Duff back in 2006. I'm not going to say what I thought about them. Also, he played guitar for Skye Sweetnam when she was touring with Kalan Porter. I tried to get tickets for that show so I could go with my friend who is obsessed with Kalan Porter, but they were sold out.

If I think of any more afterthoughts, I'll make another post.

Spontaneous

2009-05-13T20:26:00.003-04:00

I feel like doing something spontaneous, like deleting my MySpace and YouTube account, and writing myself a whole new online identity... There are reasons that I don't want to such as "My videos have so many views! I have 200+ MySpace friends, and 100+ YouTube subscribers and friends. I'm on Jordan McCoy's top friends, and there are messages from her in my inbox!!!" But when I think about it, does that really matter? If that's what I'm the most proud of in life, I must be living a dull life...

This post has everything.

2009-05-09T19:11:00.010-04:00

Recently I had ideas for a few posts, but since they would all be so short I thought I'd combine them all.

First, I'd like to ask you to vote for Goodbye, You Suck by Shiloh to win a MMVA for Best Canadian Video!

VOTE HERE!

If you don't remember, in January I went to the video shoot and wrote a recap of the whole day.

Something else I'd like to post is this video of Tyler Kyte from The Casbah:

If you didn't read my recap of the show, I mentioned that Dan Kanter from Shiloh's band told me he reads me blog.

So just like how I tagged Jordan McCoy in my next 10 posts after Jordan's manager stopped by my blog, I'm going to tag him in my next 10 posts. When I learn someone likes something, I have a habbit of changing that as quickly as possible. Like when I tell someone a joke, they like it, then I tell them the same joke 10 more times. So they liked it at first, but then they hate it shortly after.

So why am I actually mentioning Dan Kanter? I noticed that in Tyler Kyte's album booklet, Dan the man Kanter's name is spelt wrong. Not just once, three times.

But that's not the only time someone has gotten his name wrong. Skip to 3:03 in.

Though maybe he's just using Dave Kanter and Dan Kantor as aliases when he's embarrassed to be seen with a certain act... Though if he is, I'd think he'd use something a little less obvious.

Lastly, I'd like to mention that Jordan McCoy's new single "Rockstar" is going to be released on Amazon, iTunes, Napster, Puretracks, and Rhapsody on May 26th.

The song was featured on Season 3 of The Hills, episode 12 "Stress and the City" which aired October 29th, 2007. It was also featured in a commercial for American Idol's Top 11 performance show on FOX, which aired from March 11th, 2009 to March 17th, 2009.

So yeah, that's it! Remember to vote for "Goodbye, You Suck" to win a MMVA!

Tyler Kyte @ The Casbah - May 7th-8th, 2009

2009-05-08T03:39:00.010-04:00

So today I went to see Tyler Kyte perform. I had completely forgotten about the event until 3 days before when I read about it on Jennifer's (jdancer189 on DLS) twitter. The thing is, yesterday I got my wisdom teeth out. So I had to spend most of my day convincing my parents to let me go, and that I was feeling well enough to go. Yesterday out of habbit I put my wisdom teeth out for "The Tooth Fairy". Little did I know that "The Tooth Fairy" would wake me up at 2 AM while he was putting $20 on my desk. $20 was perfect, as that was the price for two people to get into the show.

So Jennifer filled me in on all the details about the show and told me where to find her. So a few minutes after I got there, which was about 11:15 PM I heard "Hey Adam!". It was a manly voice, so I knew it wasn't Jennifer, unless Jennifer had a sex change. Who was it? Dan the man Kanter, Shiloh's guitarist. But tonight he was Tyler Kyte's guitarist. So I was talking to him a bit about Shiloh's video for Goodbye, You Suck getting nominated for an MMVA, Shiloh's next video shoot, getting my wisdom teeth out, and how I heard of Tyler. So after talking with him a bit I talked to my Mom and said I was going to hunt for Jennifer.

So I asked Dan if the girl sitting next to Tyler was named Jennifer, he asked and then told me that's who she was. I said "Hey, I'm Adam!" and introduced myself. I shook her hand, and then I shook Tyler's hand. Dan told Tyler that I'm on Tylenol 3's and then Tyler said "Oh, do you have any on you? Just kidding." Even after he said he was just kidding, for some reason I still answered his question and told him they were all at home. So I talked to Jennifer about a few different things... Twitter, Twilight, Jordan McCoy, American Juniors, Spring Awakening, how I knew Dan, getting my wisdom teeth out, the firing of my music teacher, hand stands, cart wheels, and DLS. I suggested that we get Tyler to pose with a DLS sign, so he did. He also signed my Instant Star 3 and 4 soundtracks.

The paper was mine, but the writing was Jennifer's. If you're a long time reader of this blog, you know my printing is total crap.

So I got a couple pictures with Tyler. The first didn't turn out that great, so I got another one. I didn't want to at first, as I didn't want to seem like a stalker...Getting several pictures with him or of him, and getting him to sign many things... The second picture turned out better than the first, even though my face looked a bit swollen.

So a lot of time had passed before Tyler finally took the stage. I went outside with Jennifer and her sister for a bit of fresh air... Dan was out there, so I told him to tell Shiloh that I'd love to be at her video shoot. He told me that he had text messaged her and told her I was there. Speaking of text messaging, I noticed that I had forgotten to top up my cell phone account when trying to call my Dad. With all the excitement of getting my wisdom teeth out, I lost $44.

So when I went back inside, I had to go to the washroom. At the same time Tyler Kyte was in the washroom, so Jennifer asked me afterwards "Was Tyler in there at the same time as you?". She seemed to kind of let out a squee of happiness when she said that. Meeting someone in the washroom, or seeing someone you know in the washroom is incredibly weird. Like when I was at the Goodbye, You Suck video shoot and one of the guys in charge was in the washroom at the same time as I was and asked me "What's up?". Awkward.

So once Tyler was finally on, over a half hour after he was scheduled to be on, his set was 4 songs long. Since I didn't have his album yet, I wasn't sure what songs he was singing. But I'm pretty sure Sunlight was one of them... Tyler said that he had to sell his Bruce Springsteen tickets so he could perform tonight, but during his set he wore a Bruce Springsteen t-shirt. This was the first concert I've been to where the artist talked to me while on stage. Apparently it wasn't as amazing for me to go there as it was for Jennifer to come all the way from Michigan, lol.

After his set Dan asked me how I liked it, and I said it was good. "It's not Goodbye, You Suck though, is it?" "No, but it was still good!" I also thanked Dan a lot for handing me a copy of Shiloh's set list when I had seen her at the Casbah 2 months ago. He told me he collects set lists, so he is always happy to hand them out. Tyler had said on stage that people there could buy his CD, so I was looking for where Tyler was selling his CD, and I couldn't find them. I asked him and a few minutes later a big box of them were brought inside. I had to go to the bar to get change, as I only had a $50 bill. After I bought the CD I had Jennifer open it so I could get Tyler to sign it. I'm jealous of females and their easy CD shrink wrap opening skills.

So afterwards I went outside and got a picture with Tyler, Jennifer, and her sister Jodie. (I think that was her name!) There was this guy outside with Tyler and he took the picture of me with Tyler, and he was telling me that the sound quality of Tyler's album was great. I already bought it, so he didn't really need to say that to sell it to me. So I told Tyler that it did take a lot for me to get there, as I had to convince my parents that I was well enough after getting my wisdom teeth out. And he said he was just joking when he said what he did on stage. I told Tyler that I've been a fan of his since Popular Mechanics for Kids, and I watched it all the time with my brother. Which was true.

So I got a picture with Dan the man Kanter, and told him to say hi to Shiloh for me. He mentioned again that he had text messaged her. I kind of forgot that he said that before because I was semi-asleep, like I am now writing this recap at 5 AM.

Dan asked me if I was going to write a recap on my blog, because he apparently reads Adam's World and enjoys it. This might be why I've referred to him as Dan the man Kanter a few times.....

So yeah, I had a great time! I also believe I am starting to overcome my shyness a little bit, since I was able to form sentences when talking to partial strangers! To all those DLS members reading this, Jennifer is very nice! She put up with me accidently interrupting her and her sister talking a few times because I couldn't hear them, my probably horrible breath, and me telling her that she looks like my friend who I have a huge crush on.

Jordan McCoy covers Poker Face by Lady GaGa.

2009-04-22T00:21:00.005-04:00

Today marked the return of Jordan McCoy's Acoustic Tuesday videos. So far she's off to a good start, no auto-tune! I actually like the effect she added, which is including background vocals that she's singing herself.

Well done Jordan, this is a huge step up from White Horse!

R.I.P. Columbine High School Massacre Victims

2009-04-20T21:24:00.002-04:00

10 years ago today 12 students were killed during the Columbine High School Massacre. Those are 12 students who never got to go to college, raise a family, or live their dreams.

While 4/20 is known by stoners as a day for getting tweaked out of their minds, you need to not forget what happened 10 years ago today. It's kind of sad to see that one of the trending topics on Twitter right now is "Happy 420", when this isn't such a happy day.

I'd like to include a song about the shooting in this post.

While some say the exchange that inspired the song didn't actually occur, it serves as a reminder of what happened on that day.

Rest in peace to all the Columbie High School Massacre Victims. I hope you're in a better place now.

Spring Awakening at The Canon Theatre Recap

2009-04-16T19:47:00.008-04:00

On Wednesday at 2 PM I saw Spring Awakening, I had on stage seats, and what an amazing show it was. Even though I have 5 years of musical theatre experience, I had never seen a musical before. I was excited!

THIS REVIEW CONTAINS SPOILERS!

Once I got there, I quickly headed for the merchandise. I spent $75, which was 3x the price of my ticket. I was surprised that Kyle Riabko's CD was $25, but I bought it anyways.

Once the show started, I noticed a few cast members were sitting right next to me, and that happened several times throughout the show. As the show went by, there were a few funny moments, like when Wendla asked her mother about sex, but the first highlight of the show to me was "The Bitch Of Living". When you're on the stage, you can feel everything. The stomping of the actors, the music, everything. Being on stage during The Bitch Of Living was intense, and more fun to watch than watching off stage. They are so in to it, but there are times where you realize they're just acting, such as when Ben Moss (Ernst) was looking right at me for about 20 seconds.

The second highlight for me was "Touch Me". During one point of the song, part of the cast was right behind the stage seats singing directly into the ears of myself, and others in the stage seats. The performance can't have that effect to everyone in the audience, so that's one of the better stage seat experiences.

As the show went along, I thought if I ever got a role in Spring Awakening, I'd probably be Ernst. Ernst to me seemed to be a bit of a shy character, and I am shy in real life, so perfect!

During the end of Act 1 and beginning of Act 2, there was the partial nudity as mentioned in the disclaimer. The time where you see Wendla's breast, and Melchior's butt. By where my stage seats were, I had the clearest possible view of it all. I had no idea what to do...so I paid attention to detail. It was Wendla's right breast that was shown, and Kyle Riabko has a mole right above his right buttcheek.

The next 10 to 15 minutes of the show were my favourite. It started with Moritz and Ilse singing Don't Do Sadness/Blue Wind. After Moritz refused to join Ilse, it leads to his suicide. That then became the saddest scene of the whole show, when Melchior sings Left Behind at the funeral I cried. I checked to see if any other people on stage were crying, and it seemed like I was the only person on stage crying. THOSE HEARTLESS BASTARDS! After Moritz's funeral, Melchior was confronted...Which lead to Totally Fucked. Totally Fucked was probably the best moment...The cast climbing up on the ladder on the back wall, climbing over the wooden bars beside and behind the stage seats, and just the entire cast jumping up and down screaming "BLAH, BLAH, BLAH, BLAH, BLAH, BLAH, BLAH!"

During The Word Of Your Body (Reprise), I had realized that the character Ernst, who I thought I related to the most, was gay. So if I did one day audition for Spring Awakening, would I be willing to play a gay character? Hmm... "Those You've Known" was a spooky moment, with the fog machines as Melchior was in the graveyard, when the ghosts of Wendla and Moritz came and sang to him. I liked the feel of that scene, it was well done.

The show ended with "The Song Of Purple Summer", which was led by Ilse and included the rest of the cast. Beautiful song. When the show was over, I didn't want to believe it. I had just seen something incredibly controversial, yet amazing, and I was shaking.

I went to the stage door to meet the cast. I got my programme signed by Andy Mientus, Christy Altomare, Sarah Hunt (I think), Steffi DiDomenicantonio, Perry Sherman, and Kyle Riabko.

Kyle was one of the first to come out of the stage door. Shaking as a combination from being cold, and excited, I couldn't open my copy of Kyle's CD. I had to as a girl to open it for me. And let me tell you, that girl was amazing. Not only did she open it, but she took a picture of me with Kyle! I told Kyle that I had entered his Song For Amanda contest, and that my entry was the one with all the photoshopped pictures. He said "Sorry you didn't win" and "Oh yeah, I saw that one. What's your name again?" When I entered all I did was tag my video songforamanda, there was nothing to submit your name or email, which really makes me wonder how I am a member of his mailing list... So I said Adam, he signed my copy of his CD, and wrote To Adam on it.

After I got a picture with him, he said "Now you can photoshop this picture, too." I then was struggling to put my camera and CD away, and so I was standing right in front of him saying nothing, so he said something like "See you later Adam". I probably should've said something, but I had like a brain fart. It's weird talking to someone after you've seen their ass. Someone had brought a copy of his first CD to get signed, and I thought it was funny how he described the picture on it as a confused 15 year old who hadn't hit puberty.

Steffi D. was right in front of me, so I tried to get her attention by waving her Canadian Idol top 10 trading card at her...She saw it and laughed, and said "Hey Christy, look at this, it's my Canadian Idol trading card!" And she said "Oh wow, did you have to hand those out or something?" "No, they came in like little packs...I find it so funny that you have that!" And so I asked if she could sign it, and she agreed.

Then I said "Hi, I'm Adam by the way...As in Adam who talked to you on MySpace." "YOU'RE ADAM? THE ADAM? NICE TO MEET YOU ADAM!" And she shook my hand. I told her how it was my first time seeing a musical, and she was in it, and I was on stage. She said "Oh wow, when I saw you here I thought 'Hey, that guy was on stage'" "Yep. Can I get a picture with you?" And she replied something like "Sure, I'll do anything for you!" My Mom said something like "Oh really?" at that moment, lol. So Steffi called over Christy and asked her to take the picture. After Christy took the picture she said "It's so cute" and Steffi replied something like "I'm sure it is!".

So after Steffi went back inside, I realized I didn't get Christy's autograph yet, so I called her over and said "I forgot to get you to sign this in the moment of being starstruck over Steffi, so can you sign this?" And so she said "Sure!". And I thanked her for signing it, and that was when the barrier was taken away from where the fans and the cast were. Since all of the cast were inside then, the barrier was gone, and a couple cars passed by, I assumed it was over. A lot of people still stayed there, so I'm not sure if any other cast members came out to sign stuff or what, but I met Steffi D. and Kyle Riabko, which was my main objective.

If you ever get the chance to see Spring Awakening on stage, you better take it!

Music News

2009-04-14T02:27:00.004-04:00

Marie Digby's new album "Breathing Underwater" leaked in full, over 2 months before the scheduled release date. I listened to most of the album, and was disappointed. It's all R&B, the cute acoustic pop singer/songwriter is gone, and she doesn't have a strong enough voice for R&B. I was right for giving up on her after she begged her fans to get her a MacBook discount.

Kreesha Turner just announced that "Passion" will be her next single from the album of the same name. I'm really excited for this, because I thought Passion should've been released instead of Lady Killer, as it has a much better chance to be a hit. Hope it does well!

Shiloh's single "Operator (A Girl Like Me)" just went gold, and her debut album "Picture Imperfect" is slated for a late summer/early fall release. Recently a slightly different version of the video "Goodbye, You Suck" was released to MuchMusic. A version that doesn't use a special effect to cover the only slightly clear view of my face.

Mini Juno Awards Recap + New Projects!

2009-04-02T20:22:00.004-04:00

So I didn't post my Juno Awards Recap the other day because there was really nothing to recap. Kreesha Turner looked gorgeous, and Sarah Slean and LIGHTS both looked so cute.

This was obviously the best moment of the Juno Awards:

Congrats LIGHTS!

Now I have two projects on the go. One is a super secret birthday project for Shiloh, if you want to help, email me at adambmusic -at- gmail.com.

The other is a new Jordan McCoy fan site. If you want to help with that, email me at the email address above.

As you can see I'm doing a lot of stuff right now, so I'm sorry for not updating!

Sorry for not updating so much.

2009-03-29T20:21:00.003-04:00

So, I haven't updated in a while since I have been busy trying to catch up on Degrassi. Currently I only have 8 episodes left, so expect a return.

What you can do in the meantime is go to some of my favourite blogs on the side there.

Do you like celebrity gossip? Check out Oh No They Didn't.
Do you like mocking American Idol? Check out Vote For The Worst, Idletard, and Top Idol.
Do you just plain like American Idol? Check out MJ's Big Blog.
Do you like music, specifically Euro Pop? Check out Ryan's Jungle Fun.

Some of my other favourites include Photoshop Disasters, Cute With Chris, and Bad Boy Blog.

I leave you with LIGHTS creative new video for "Ice".

Lights "Ice"

I'll be blogging about the Juno Awards (and how cute LIGHTS, Kreesha Turner, and Sarah Slean looked) later tonight or tomorrow.

This is a post about Shiloh.

2009-03-22T22:40:00.003-04:00

Remember how I said Shiloh is much more of a rocker than one would think when hearing Operator (A Girl Like Me)?

Watch this:

5 things I've learned about the music industry.

2009-03-16T00:54:00.003-04:00

Recent I've learned a few things about the music industry that I thought I'd share.

1. The music industry typecasts people based on their look, skin colour, or other features.

If you're a teenaged girl with blonde hair, you don't belong in the Disney pop genre, as they currently only want brunettes. So a teenaged girl with blonde hair has to either sing country music, or wait a couple years, get implants, and aim for a more mature audience.

If you are a black girl and you try to make it in the country music industry, good luck. The music industry typecasts black girls as R&B singers.

2. People find fame attractive. This is why people think Britney Spears and David Cook are hot. When one looks like drunken trailer trash, and the other a sleazy bartender. If they didn't have some level of fame, they wouldn't get second glances.

3. If you're male and you don't rap, or you're not in a (all male rock or punk) band, you'll probably never see your name on any Billboard charts, unless you aim for the tween girl market.

4. Communicating with fans is the key. If you don't update them on what you're doing, they'll lose interest. Also interact with them by having meet and greets, and never refusing signing an autograph or taking a picture with someone. Don't get too close to fans though, like making a fan your friend. They're still a fanatic of yours.

5. You need to heavily promote yourself, there are tons of viral marketing options now, YouTube, imeem, ReverbNation, MySpace. Make sure your music is out there, and try doing covers of popular songs to make it easier for people to discover your music. When you release something, let them know.

Bored with American Idol?

2009-03-12T23:06:00.009-04:00

Is anyone reading my blog bored with this current season of American Idol? If so, I am too. It'll never have such fun performances like these:

Click here to watch the above performance in higher quality.
I couldn't embed the higher quality video, as embedding is disabled. :(

Theme songs

2009-03-12T00:02:00.006-04:00

I'm sorry for not updating my blog for a while. I got sick again! Slowly getting better, but it seems like I'm getting better faster than I did last time I was sick.

I have found the perfect theme song for every girl I know, as every girl I know seems to be a fag hag:

Wait, all the girls I know I are fag hags... Do they think I'm gay? Though I do sometimes purposely give out gay vibes to confuse people, so I guess this is probably my theme song:

Yeah, that's all I have to say.

I made a new video.

2009-03-07T00:27:00.004-05:00

Here's what Shiloh's video for Goodbye, You Suck would've been like if I was in it more.

The poll has ended.

2009-03-05T15:32:00.003-05:00

So I have come to a conclusion on what I should do regarding my MySpace profile. First I'd like to thank all 9 of you for voting, you're all fantastic lovely people.

I have decided something that wasn't on the poll. I shall make my profile picture Lady GaGa.

Why? Jordan loves her and Shiloh opened for her.

I figured this choice will please both parties involved, even though Shiloh really has no idea what is going on.

And Jordan, even though I'm not using your promo image as my profile picture anymore...

It's time for a poll!

2009-03-03T19:48:00.008-05:00

In the most heated battle since the war of 1812, two artists compete for one coveted spot. The spot of having their face as my profile picture.

I need your help.

Should I keep Shiloh as my profile picture?

Go back to using Jordan?

Combine the two?

Or delete my MySpace?

The whole world is counting on you. VOTE NOW!

poll by twiigs.com

There is one other option.

Whoever pays for me to go to that will have any image they want used as my profile picture. ;)

Shiloh @ The Casbah - March 1st, 2009

2009-03-02T17:41:00.007-05:00

Yesterday I saw Shiloh perform at the Casbah. I arrived at around 4:20 PM, and doors opened at 4:30 PM. A minute after I got there, I saw Shiloh walking by. I thought I failed to get her attention until I heard her shout "ADAM!" a couple minutes later. I walked over to where she is, and then she told me I was tall. No idea what to respond, and I didn't want to bore her with talk of how I always hit my head on the ceilings in my house, I replied "I know I am!". Later on I saw a midget on a BlackBerry, I wish I saw the midget at that exact moment so I could've said "And you're tall, too!" pointed at him.

After bidding Shiloh farewall while we walked in different directions while dramatic piano music played...Okay, that didn't really happen. But after Shiloh said "I'll see you in there!" I still had to wait about 10 more minutes in the cold. 10 minutes seems like 30 minutes when you're freezing. The doors opened at 4:35 PM instead of 4:30 PM. At 5:00 PM the first opening act started playing. The first opening act was just a girl with an acoustic guitar. After observing her performance I realized that I'm not the only one who uses the same chords over and over again in a song, but makes it sound different by using a different strumming pattern and moving the capo position.

I realized that each opening act had around 30 minutes to perform. One band took so long to set up, that they went over by about 15 minutes. That band apparently had a huge following, a lot of people were singing along to their songs, had t-shirts, CDs, and a lot of people left after they finished their set. I noticed that they handed out papers advertising their video shoot...Their video shoot that you have to pay $5 to attend. I think I'll pass.

So Shiloh's band went on stage at around 7:15 pm. I noticed something different, it seems like Shiloh's keyboard player has changed race, hair colour, and has grown a lot... Or maybe she just got a new keyboard player. A lot of people were pushing and shoving to get in, and a lot of people shoved me over, to the point where I didn't have any room to move. And I really wanted to move, because they pushed me in front of a few girls who were 10 years old tops, and their view was obstructed by my height. I think one of the girls must've got their attention somehow, because they moved so the girls could get closer to the stage and see the stage.

Shiloh went on stage at about 7:25 PM. First thing I noticed was how much more aggressive Shiloh's on stage persona was than she was normally. For a minute I thought she was a completely different person. I've noticed a lot of people calling her another Avril Lavigne. This was not a Avril Lavigne on the stage, this was a future rocker chick who could probably beat the crap outta you in a fight, who has more personality than Avril could ever have.

I really had no idea how great of a performer she was. She could go up to people, touch their hands, rub their heads, or pose for their camera and not miss a beat. I've gotta say, that was pretty awesome to see. I've been in or near front row at many concerts, but have never had anyone touch my hand. So I put my hand out and Shiloh touched it. OMGOMGOMG!11! I AM NEVER WASHING IT AGAIN!11!shiftonejuan!11!un!!! During one song Shiloh brought up a little girl on stage. I'm not sure exactly who this little girl was, but she seemed very happy to be on stage, so it was cute.

When Shiloh performed "Goodbye, You Suck" I noticed my dancing was way over the top. I did not care at all. A few people in front of me were staring at me...Not sure why. A few people kept screaming "sing Operator!" and she'd respond "You're going to have to wait!". During one song Shiloh instructed everyone to wave their cameras in the air. I thought she said hands, then noticed all the people waving their cameras a minute later. Hooray for making a fool of myself in front of people I'll never see again! It was cool to see Shiloh perform Operator, as everyone was singing along, and she kept turning the microphone on the audience. Some people didn't want the microphone turned on them though, and they shook their head when Shiloh wanted them to sing.

After Shiloh's set was over, I had no idea where she went. I was trying to locate her, but couldn't find her. In my time of confusion I asked her guitarist (Dan? Dave? Something like that) if I could have a copy of the set list. I think he recognized me from the Goodbye, You Suck shoot or the War Child Event, because he said "Hey!" and shook my hand. After I obtained a copy of the set list, her Mom pointed out to me where she was, if I wanted to go say hi. While in line a guy approached me, saying I should change my MySpace profile image from Jordan McCoy to Shiloh. I responded with "alright!". I still have no idea who this guy was, but I'm guessing he works for Universal or something. I'm surprised by how many people know who I am, just from my video of Operator in the pink wig...

So when it was my turn to see Shiloh, I got her to sign the set list. She said "You're very lucky to have this". And I said "I know, it is the first set list I've ever gotten. And it was also the first time someone touched my hand while on stage." You probably read that in an excited tone, but now imagine a very nervous male saying that while his voice seems to be cracking. That's how I sounded.

So I got another picture with Shiloh, as I wanted to have one picture with her where my forehead wasn't extremely shiny, and I failed. Not only was my forehead shiny, but I looked very flamboyant. Probably because of the Zoolander t-shirt I was wearing.

So the same guy who told me to change my profile picture on MySpace to a picture of Shiloh talked to me again. He asked my opinion on the Operator fan video. I said that I liked it, and asked him if that means I won a prize pack. Apparently Universal got ahead of themselves and haven't made the merchandise yet, but I did win.

So, that was my night. :)

Shiloh - Operator (A Girl Like Me) Fan Video Compilation

2009-02-24T23:50:00.003-05:00

I am featured a lot more than I am in the Goodbye, You Suck video!

I thought I was going to be the only guy to enter, since the song is called Operator (A Girl Like Me), but wow, I was wrong.

Kelly Clarkson - All I Ever Wanted Album Review

2009-02-21T17:40:00.003-05:00

Before I start off, I would like to say that if my review ends up being negative that it's not because I don't like Kelly Clarkson. I do like Kelly Clarkson, and I own Breakaway and My December.

Track 1 is the lead single "My Life Would Suck With You". If I didn't know Max Martin co-wrote it already, I would assume he did, because the intro sounds like "It's All Your Fault" by P!nk from her album Funhouse. The song is catchy, it took me a few listens to like it, but it's nothing special. It's one of those songs you sing along to whenever you hear it, but you'll probably forget it in a month or two.

Track 2 is "I Do Not Hook Up", which is rumoured to be the next single. When I originally heard this song, I heard the Katy Perry demo. Even though Katy's vocals were not that great on the song, one line during the chorus caught my ear and I became addicted. "Keep your thing in your pants". Unfortunately for me, Kelly changed that line in her version to (I think) "Keep your hand in my hand". Now that doesn't seem as addicting. This song also screams Disney to me, and the loud instrumentals are a bit distracting.

Track 3 is "Cry". During the beginning of the song, it starts off slower, and picks up during the chorus. The song does showcase Kelly's stronger vocals, but at the same time doesn't go anywhere. It's beautiful, but not memorable.

Track 4 is "Don't Let Me Stop You". Here comes the Disney sound again...Someone trying to rock, but instead it's just a pop song with loud noises. There's really nothing more I can say about this song. It's okay, just okay.

Track 5 is "All I Ever Wanted", and it's a cover. No, not a cover of that awful Canadian Idol winners single, but if it was, it would fit right in with this album. It was originally released by a band named Aranda. If this song was released as a single, it would probably never be played on the radio. Wow, the song completely changes around 2 minutes and 30 seconds in, and it doesn't suit it at all. This is a song that has several boring cliches. NEXT!

Track 6 is "Already Gone". What is that awful sound in the background? Irritating much? It sounds like a nice song, but wow, the drums seem amazingly distracting. If it was stripped down, it'd sound much better. Though the song is very chorus heavy.

Track 7 is "If I Can't Have You". Ooh, it sounds kind of techno...Interesting. Once Kelly starts singing, the song reminds me of Disturbia by Rihanna. I kind of like it, but it sounds like Disturbia during every verse. It's catchy, it could maybe be a radio hit, or at least a dance club hit.

Track 8 is "Save You", a cover of a song originally by the band Gone 'Til November. This is a really beautiful song, though when the drums kick in after the first chorus it doesn't seem fitting. It reminds me of the scene in the movie "The Rocker" when the washed up drummer plays the school prom with "A.D.D." and goes nuts on the drums and ruins the show. To me this song sounds like it would be recorded by P!nk, and in some parts Kelly has that voice. It's my favourite song I've heard so far.

Track 9 is "Whyyawannabringmedown", which was originally sung by the band Aranda. What is this? It sounds like a mix between rap and rock. I heard Lil Wayne was going to do a rock album, he should include this song to mix both of his styles. It does not get better, at all. Kelly fits neither of the styles featured in this song and it just seems completely awkward.

Track 10 is "Long Shot", a song originally released by Katy Perry in her Java Records era, which was the worst era of Katy Perry's music. When I heard she was covering this song I thought "WHY? This is Katy Perry's worst song!" Surprisingly Kelly turned the song around and I actually enjoy it now. In times she sounds exactly like Katy Perry, when Katy is using her voice at full potential. If I heard this on the radio, I would think it's Katy Perry.

Track 11 is "Impossible". What's with this Disney view of electropop sound that Kelly is doing in this song? It doesn't fit her. I do however like the piano in the song. But Kelly's voice isn't the best in this, it sounds a lot like her voice isn't in its best condition and like it has been damaged. Much like a few of the songs on My December.

Track 12 is "Ready". Originally a rough demo version of Ready leaked, and it was stripped down and sounded like a beautiful slower song. Will they over-produce it and ruin it? Yep! They made it sound like a cartoony upbeat song. The line "drenched in all of the shit" was changed to "drenched in what you want me to be". Okay, they're so trying to get this played on Radio Disney. This album is really starting to remind me of "One Of The Boys" by Katy Perry. The greatest songs have been overproduced.

Track 13 is "I Want You". It seems like the song was made to sound like it was a song played on oldies radio. A song from oldies radio that isn't very good. It's pretty cheesy, and fails in comparison to the song "I Want You" by Rachael Yamagata.

Track 14 is "If No One Will Listen", a cover of a song originally by Keri Noble. The other day I was trying to figure out why Keri Noble was so high on the iTunes chart...She doesn't have many friends on MySpace and hardly any views on YouTube. This must be why...But why was the album that doesn't feature If No One Will Listen charting? Oh well. It is an emotional ballad, you can tell it is the closing song from an album by the whole feel of it. It's beautiful, and my second favourite after Save You.

Overall, I enjoyed a few songs. A lot of the album seems like it is copying other artists styles, styles that don't fit Kelly very well. Kelly has such a great voice, but her label is trying to turn her into Katy Perry. Another example of this: Look at the back cover of One Of The Boys and the cover of the My Life Would Suck Without You single. Both Kelly and Katy are pictured with heart shaped lollipops. The over production really did ruin Ready which would've been my favourite song.

I am confused about what _ out of 10 ranking I am going to give this album. I do think it's a bit better than Katy Perry's, but not by much. Okay, I've decided.

4.1/10.

My first encore.

2009-02-21T01:32:00.005-05:00

Prescient

Pre"sci*ent\ (pr[=e]"sh[i^]*ent or -shent), a. [L. praesciens, -entis, p. pr. of praescire to foreknow; prae before + scire to know: cf. F. prescient. See Science.] Having knowledge of coming events; foreseeing; conscious beforehand.

I had to get a ticket to see Shiloh, and I realized the place where I had to go to get tickets was the same place that has an open mic every Tuesday. So I begged my Mom constantly to let me perform at the open mic, and let me get the ticket. She decided to let me perform.

So as soon as we got to the area, I went into the wrong place...Twice. However, I did see a poster for Shiloh's show, so I knew I near the right place. The third time is the charm, right? So I got it right on my third try. I got there at around 8:10 PM, and apparently the sign up sheet went around at 8:30, according to the Facebook page of the venue. So while waiting for that, I asked how I could buy a ticket to see Shiloh. My Mom then informed me to buy two tickets, which I find weird because my Mom seems to fall asleep at all events related to Shiloh... So at around 8:45 PM I noticed that there wasn't any sign up sheet going around. Apparently they don't hand the sheet around and just keep it at the bar. So I signed up, I was fifth. Not bad, right? 4 people ahead of me, and since each person is allowed 15 minutes on stage I can't wait too long, right? Wrong. Two of those people were spotlight artists.

As I waited for my chance to go on stage, I kept telling myself the chords to my song "Anti-Love Song" over and over in my head. I thought maybe I would screw up the chords if I did not do this. I also thought "Wow, I've been practicing with a mic stand at home for singing, but not for the guitar... My first time at an open mic my guitar was too loud, and I thought this time it might be too quiet. And what would I do if they wanted an encore? I was freaking out in my head.

As I awaited my turn on stage I heard the music guy ask one of the spotlight artists what kind of music he made. "Experimental" was his response. I knew this was a key word for crap, because if it doesn't already have a genre, it shouldn't have a genre.

The first band I missed partially because I was in the bathroom, but they sang very childish songs, and not one person in the band had a great voice. They were all talented at playing their guitar, banjo, and violin, but not at singing.

The next guy up is a comedian. All I could think of was "Wow, he kind of looks like Demetri Martin". His jokes were pretty average, though I cracked up a few times. "I just pirated a pirate movie, it was perfect". There was a drunk guy in the front row, and he cracked up at every single joke. His laughter was hilarious, and even the comedian cracked up a few times. After this, I knew how to perform for a drunk crowd. Get them to participate, and get them to laugh. Even though Jordan McCoy told me to not talk too much, I realized that when I do talk, I need to make them laugh.

The next band up was a slow depressing band. Pretty much each song sounded the same. I watched closely as the lead singer played her guitar. Guess what? All the chords were the same! What was weird was how at the end of the song she would take the capo off her guitar, and then put it in the exact same spot it was before. It's like she was trying to fool people into thinking she was playing different chords in a different key each time.

After that it was about 10 PM, and the experimental band was up. But apparently it isn't a band, it's just one guy. That one guy put on one amazingly annoying performance. He had two keyboards, a guitar, a laptop, a fog machine, a strobe light, a USB Mother Teresa, and of course a horrible voice. This guy played annoying back beats to the sounds of his screaming. I didn't know when it was the end of a song, or if it was just one hour of something with the sole purpose to annoy me. The weirdest parts were when the guy put the capo over a few strings, not all of them, and played what didn't appear to be an actual chord. And when he grabbed a garbage bag, ripped it open, and what was inside were drum sticks, teddy bears, pie plates, and a pot. He used the drum sticks to bang on each item while he did his torturous screaming. I felt like leaving. In my head I could not concentrate on not forgetting my lyrics or my chords. I didn't want to go on after he left.

After that...interesting show I didn't clap. I clapped for everyone else, but that guy...No. He assaulted my ears for 1 hour. So he took all his odd things off the stage and put them away. While this happened, the Family Ties theme song was played on the speakers. Why? I don't know.

So I set up my camera to record audio, took my pick and capo out of my pocket, grabbed my guitar, and went on stage. I tried to make a joke, saying that it was great to be playing in Houston, while looking at my hand like I was reading the location off of there, but I don't think anyone got it. I said "I'm going to be singing a couple songs for you" and someone shouted "Yes you are!".

The first song I sang was Hot N Cold by Katy Perry. I was scared and shaking, as that guy who performed before me was still freaking me out. My guitar was very faint during this time, PRESCIENT. During the chorus all of a sudden the crowd starting clapping along to the beat. This made it so much more fun to me, because everyone seemed happy and seemed to be having a good time.

After I finished I got a lot of people clapping for me. The first open mic I was at, hardly anyone clapped. Right before I started my second song, while the sound man moved the microphone closer to my guitar, I heard someone say to their friend, who I assume was in the washroom "You just missed the best cover ever". Wow...Someone really liked me. After this I accidently dropped my capo, and when I bent down to pick it up, my guitar hit the mic stand, pushing it further away again.

The second song I sang was Anti-Love Song, an original. I asked "So does anyone here have siblings?" In a questionable tone pretty much the whole crowd said yes. I could see a guy in the front row, who looked only a couple years older than me, look at me like he was saying "WTF man?" So I said "Do any of you have siblings who are in a relationship and it annoys the heck out of you?" "YES!" a girl screamed out. "This is a song about that". Though it was kind of about that, it was more a song that I wrote to be the reverse of my lovey-dovey ballad song Fantasize.

So guess what? I don't know how, but I missed a chord. PRESCIENT. Once I got to the lyrics "That's what you do, you get crushed, so now I don't blush", I knew someone would look at me like "WTF? Such cheesy lyrics, this guy is a dork". Well guess what? Someone did. PRESCIENT. During the second last chorus, I got people to clap, and they clapped until the end of the song. I said to everyone "thanks, you've been really great". And they instructed me to sing one more. "Oh, one more?" "YEAH!" I got my first encore! PRESCIENT.

I wasn't sure what to sing, but I started playing Skin by Alexz Johnson. A ballad after singing two upbeat songs? Didn't get the same crowd reaction. I noticed that when I start something with a P like PRESCIENT (or in this case "Take away the pain, I create my paradise") I should stay away from the microphone. It sounds as if I am spitting into the microphone. During the chorus I screwed up and sang one line, that wasn't supposed to be included until the last chorus. I went on like nothing happened, yet I was shaking so much. During the end of the sound, the sound guy added an echo, which made the dramatic effect of the song come across more. I had a few people clap, not as many as before. I didn't know what to say, I said "Thank you", then a few seconds later "Thank you again". As I left the stage a girl smiled at me, like she enjoyed my performance a lot.

On the way out a guy named Mike told me he was sorry to see me go so early. I was waiting 3 hours to get on stage, so I think I stayed long enough. He told me it was good to perform at an open mic, and that it was where it's at, where you get experience. I told him that I've only been playing guitar for 6 months, technically it's actually 7 because I started late July, but I didn't really know anything in late July. He was amazed...

I told him about my first open mic, and how I had only been playing for about a month, and how I had the chords and lyrics written down. He said his first open mic he wrote his lyrics on his arms, and performed with his arms in front of his face. Being the idiot that I am, I forgot to say to him good luck as I left.

Having a fun responsive audience is one of the greatest things a performer can have, and that's what I had. I felt amazing and like I had a natural high from how great people responded to my performance.

Want to listen? Do so at my MySpace. Also on my MySpace are some recordings I only put up due to not having anything else on there. They're very rough, not that good.

Tomorrow I shall try to review Kelly Clarkson's new album. I think it's called "All My Label Ever Wanted (Was To Make Me Katy Perry)".

Clay Aiken dropped from RCA.

2009-02-19T23:31:00.006-05:00

All I can say is...

HA HA HA
HA HA
HA

All the Claymates think he's the most amazing performer ever, not amazing enough to sell records it seems. Though their over-requesting his songs killed any chance he had at a successful major recording career.

Warning: This post is about Jordan McCoy.

2009-02-18T02:45:00.004-05:00

The day after I commented that I wasn't fond of Jordan using auto-tune, and the day after when someone on IDF commented that she sing acoustic versions of her own songs, Jordan does this.

She listened! I don't care if I get mocked for saying this, but I love this song and have been playing it over and over again.

Coming up on my blog: A full report on what happened when I decided to perform at another open mic. I would write all about it now, but it's 2:50 AM.

Going Goo Goo for GaGa.

2009-02-16T17:57:00.000-05:00

Try to say that 5 times fast.

Recently my love for Jordan McCoy is becoming questionable, and seems to be constantly going up and down. (Example : I don't think I Decide should be her new single, but she's awesome for saying she loved me in her SayNow video, but I don't like when she auto-tunes her acoustic covers...)

What I do know is that my love for Lady GaGa is increasing. LoveGame isn't what I would've picked as the third North American single, but even though I'm not too fond of Eh Eh, it was a good choice for the third UK and Australian single.

Why has my love for GaGa been increasing? I'll give you a few reasons.

1. Even though it's not the greatest song from The Fame, the video for LoveGame is incredibly risque and I love it. But some of those dance moves seem like the ones I did when making videos to try and get featured on BritneySpears.com...

2. The recently found demo for "No Floods" is absolutely gorgeous. The song is beautiful, and her vocals sound fantastic. Lets see another top pop artist like Britney Spears, Clay Aiken, or Rihanna sing this well. Truth is, they can't.

3. Disco Heaven is such a uniquely entertaining pop song. I don't know what it is about it, but I'm always singing it.
"Oh the lights dim while we're dancing, yeah the floor is shaking in this disco heaven."

4. Even when not at her vocal best, she's fierce in live performances.

5. She admits she sometimes looks like a tranny.

"I just don't feel that it's all that sexy. It's weird. And uncomfortable. I look at photos of myself, and I look like such a tranny! It's amazing!" - Lady Gaga tells Entertainment Weekly.

These 5 reasons are why I wish I could have gotten tickets to see The Fame Ball tour, but unfortunately when I went to check if they had any available, it was sold out.

So if anyone who is reading this is a GaGa fan, why do you love GaGa?

I Wanna Be Rich, And I Want Lots Of Money

2009-02-15T00:57:00.000-05:00

Title references The Fear by Lily Allen.

Okay, maybe I don't want to rich, but I want to have a career in what I love. What do I love? Singing, acting, and dancing.

All three of those were combined when I took musical theatre, but the teacher, who was the best teacher ever, was fired and the new teacher made her students lip sync.

Since then I have tried to break into the industry any way possible. I've posted cover videos on YouTube, and if you're a long time reader of this blog, you know I recently auditioned for a movie.

After a week of not getting a call back for a second audition, I knew my future in that role didn't look too good. It was recently announced that they found someone for the role. They didn't announce who, but apparently it's the kid from Spy Kids. So much for wanting undiscovered talent. I guess he's about as undiscovered as Joanna Pacitti. Though I'm not bitter, the people at the audition treated me well, and it was my first audition for a movie role, and hopefully won't be my last.

And now for my shining moment. Remember my recap of Shiloh's "Goodbye, You Suck" video shoot?

I'm in the video!
Well, my t-shirt is. Though that t-shirt is now falling apart and I'm going to have to throw it out...But hell yeah, my t-shirt now has its 5 milliseconds of fame!

The guy right front of me is the guy who I mentioned in my recap...Justin, aka the one who said his ass was a swimming pool.

Here's the full video:

When on the set I never really got to see how funny some peoples dance moves were. I love this video.

Here are some fun things to do when watching the video:

1. Count how many times the girl in the white tank top behind Shiloh changes into a guy wearing a white t-shirt, and another girl.
2. Count how many times the red haired guy is in completely different places.
3. Count how many times Shiloh's microphone changes hands when she's not shown moving it to her other hand.

It's actually pretty fun.

Even though some people write Shiloh off as another Avril Lavigne, she's really the sweetest girl ever and she can really sing.

The Music Teacher From Hell.

2009-02-11T23:19:00.000-05:00

Okay, maybe the title is a little bit rude... But recently my music teacher has been a bit annoying.

The local music festival is coming up again, and last year I got scores of 82% and 85%, which means I ranked in second place.

Last year my music teacher picked the songs for me, and she picked this song that I could absolutely not stand, Lonestar by Norah Jones. I think I've mentioned that before...

This year I asked her if I could accompany myself with guitar, and she said sure. I brought in my guitar and played Hot N Cold by Katy Perry, as it's the most upbeat song I know on guitar, and the only song I know on guitar that I can find official sheet music for. I played it all the time when trying to build up my calluses, and changed the lyrics to annoy whoever was in the room. "You change your mind, like my brother changes clothes...You PMS like my Mom, I would know". Stuff like that.

So my teacher says the song is repetitive and doesn't really go anywhere or challenge my notes. She then compares it to the earlier works of Leonard Cohen. "The lyrics are good, and Leonard Cohen is a great poet, but when he first started off" (here is the kicker...) "he sang worse than you". WHAT? WHAT DID SHE JUST SAY? Immediately I freaked out at her, not screaming like I was angry, but screaming while laughing in disbelief. This is the woman that gets paid a lot of $$$ every month to teach me how to sing and how to play piano, and she insulted my singing. Backpeddling time! She says "You're a good singer, I'm just saying he was worse than you, I was complimenting you". I let out a "Suuuuuuuure", knowing she insulted me.

So I brought in the official sheet music for Hot N Cold today, and she decided that I should not play the song on guitar. She said the (official guitar chords from the book) guitar chords don't go high enough, and that when I'm judged, I'll be marked down for that, and for not playing them at the exact speed. To show me how to play it, she then proceeds to play it on piano, but since she hasn't studied the sheet music, she stalls and plays it slowly. Because of this, she tells me to instead find an official instrumental. She also tells me to bring in Katy Perry's One Of The Boys CD, which I don't own, to her Katy's version. I was also thinking of doing Thinking Of You, but she wants me to learn it on guitar, when I want to learn it on piano.

As I leave my lesson, she says "It's too bad you didn't want to do a Norah Jones song, as I have a great CD of piano instrumentals for her songs." NO. Just no. I don't want to sing a song that is played in Starbucks. (I actually found out they do play Lonestar there.) Then since Valentine's Day is coming up, she is handing out gummy hearts. She tells me "They're really bad, I shouldn't eat them, they're bad for me, they don't taste like jelly, take as many as you can". Wow, that really convinced me that I wanted a gummy heart, saying how bad they are, and how bad they are for you. Thanks uplifting music teacher.

Next post will be a follow up about the "Goodbye, You Suck" video, and "Untitled Nancy Meyers Project".

"Edward" Auditions For "Untitled Nancy Meyers Project" Recap

2009-01-17T18:09:00.000-05:00

So I arrived in Toronto at 10:45 AM today, and went to the place where they were casting for the role of Edward, and arrived at about 11:30 AM. When I arrived there were so many people there, that I could hardly get in.

Once we finally arrived indoors, a CTV camera man took video of the line up for the auditions. Also, I did not realize that I had to go up and get a script and sheet to fill out. So after reading my script about 15 times, I also realized I had to get a number. It was #47, and all I could think of was the line in Jailhouse Rock by Elvis. "Number 47 said to number 3, you're the cutest jailbird I ever did see." I could not say or sing this, as whoever had #3 was most likely a guy, unless a girl auditioned for a guys part. If I had realized before I read the script that I had to get a number, my audition would've been earlier.

When reading the script, it is not like McLovin' in Super Bad at all. It is about a 17 year old who met an older woman online, knowing she'd be a little older, but not 65 or so like she ends up being. Most of the lines consist of shock or nervousness.

There were several people auditioning. One guy looked exactly like McLovin' and knew it, he had a McLovin' I.D. and everything. There was a guy who looked perfect for the role, he looked mature, not dorky, but still looked around 17. There were a few guys running lines and they didn't do well...They had no personality and they were just stating their lines and questioning them.

When I finally got in the audition room at around 1:50 PM or so, I had read my script several times. They asked my name, age, and height, and then instructed me to look at the reader. The reader was a hot 20-something year old girl, not a 65 year old lady like the part she was reading. This threw me off, I forgot that my line was first...I had to look down at my sheet a couple times. They explained that "Edward" is nervous, so don't worry about that. I hesitated on a few lines, but I think I had personality. In just a few short minutes it was over, and the two ladies in the room were thanking me and saying that I did great.

The shooting begins in February, so I'd assume that by February I'll know if I got the role or not.

Now to promote myself...

2009-01-16T22:18:00.000-05:00

I entered P!nk's MySpace contest, and I need to get 100 listens by the 20th to qualify.

Listen here.

I know I don't sound great, but I blame that on the fact I haven't practiced my excercises with my teacher for almost 2 months. I have practiced by myself, and I've had one vocal lesson since, but I need to practice with her to not make any mistakes.

I took one week in November off due to a doctor's appointment, and I took the month of December off because I was sick. Last week she wanted to pick a song for me to sing and not work on the scales, and this week she is sick.

So tomorrow I'm going to an open call audition for a movie role...I'll let you know how that goes. (If it's a complete scam or if it's not, and if it's not, how I do.)

Jordan McCoy - EP Review

2009-01-14T12:04:00.000-05:00

First I promoted it, and now I will review it.

Track 1 is "Next Ex Boyfriend". It was released as a single to Radio Disney, and when you listen to the song, you can tell it was perfect for that and not mainstream radio. The song is catchy and fun, but you can tell it's aimed towards the younger audience. I think I may be a little older than the target audience for this song. I like it, but it's not my favourite.

Track 2 is "I Decide". It's a cover of a Lindsay Lohan song, and Jordan's version is better. Why you ask?

'nuff said.

It is a declaration of independence, and Jordan's proclaiming that she's the one who is running her life, and no one else. She'll take her changes, and if she messes it up, it's her right. Vocally Jordan delivers a good performance, and gets the message across.

Track 3 is "Just Watch Me". It's basically a song where Jordan says she'll be successful, no matter what anyone says. It's a song about believing in yourself. Jordan delivers a powerful vocal performance, full of notes that are hard to hit, and the song is very catchy.

Track 4 is "I Get Weak". It's a cover of the Belinda Carlisle hit. Unlike Belinda's version, Jordan's is upbeat, and a bit more poppy. It's kind of a flip side to I Decide, because she's explaining how the person she's in love with has control over her. She gets weak everytime she's around this person. This is her best vocal performance on the entire EP, hitting many high notes and holding many long notes. It's also a really catchy song, catchier than Belinda's version was.

Track 5 is "Rock 'N' Roll Girl". First I have to say I totally love the synths in the background! This is the catchiest song on the whole EP. It's a fun song you can dance to, and sing along with shamelessly. You don't care how well you sing along with it, because you're having fun. I use earphones to listen to music, so I didn't dance around when I listened to this yesterday, but I kept jumping up and down in my chair, like a baby in its high chair wanting attention. If any other songs from this EP are released as a single, I think this would be a successful one.

Verdict: Even though I wish there could've been a couple other songs, instead of I Get Weak and Just Watch Me, which were already released as iTunes singles, I like this EP. Hopefully the full album will be more Rock 'N' Roll Girl and I Get Weak than Next Ex Boyfriend. This EP isn't for everyone, but if you have a teen pop music craving heart, you'll love it.

7/10.

Jordan McCoy - EP - Available Now!

2009-01-13T02:40:00.001-05:00

(You probably knew I was going to promote this. Truth is, I probably would've somehow even if Jordan and her manager weren't amazingly nice to me. The songs are really good catchy pop songs. Though I'm getting bored of the song Just Watch Me, after playing it and its remixes 211 times, according to Last.FM.)

Jordan McCoy's debut self-titled 5 song EP is now available online!

Jordan McCoy - EP includes:

Next Ex Boyfriend
I Decide
Just Watch Me
I Get Weak
Rock 'N' Roll Girl

You can buy it on iTunes, Amazon, Rhapsody, or Napster.

Here's a preview of what you get:

I'm in your music videos, hiding in the background.

2009-01-12T01:56:00.000-05:00

^ I sound like a literate lolcat.

So Chris Sligh (finally) released his official Empty Me fan video. As you know, I'm no stranger to entering contests like this, and have multiple times.

I appear near the end in my now famous red clown wig, and I'm featured for 25 seconds!

I think I didn't appear that long in the Tyler Kyte video I was in because:
1. I took myself too seriously, and didn't really have fun.
2. My camera kept changing the colour levels and brightness randomly, and for some reason the video quality was awful.
3. There is no three.

I should have a goal, to see how many music videos I can appear in within the next year...

Shiloh "Goodbye, You Suck" Video Shoot Recap!

2009-01-08T20:34:00.000-05:00

So yesterday I spent a lot of time at Shiloh's video shoot for her song "Goodbye, You Suck".

A few days ago, I got this comment on my entry for Shiloh's Operator (A Girl Like Me) video contest:

"haii adam, i remember you, i met you at the mall when i did that warchild thinger! nice brittany spears costume, lol XD i want a pink wig now. i like the vid, i hope i see you on wed. ^_^ -shiloh p.s. yes this is better then me, looks like i've got some serious competition, lol"

So I started begging my Mom to go to her video shoot. I found out yesterday at 12:30 PM that I was going, and I had to be there for 5 PM.

So a lot had to be done in little time. My Mom and I had to call the number to get directions from Union Station, we both had to have either a shower or a bath, I had to shave and great dressed, and pack everything I needed.

I had a 2 minute long shower, and I shaved in one minute, missing several spots. We got to Toronto at 3:47 PM, and took a cab ($24!!!) to the shoot location. We arrived at about 4:20 PM, and then we had to find a way to cross the street. My mom insisted we cross the street "now!" So we stepped in a huge 1 foot deep puddle, and for the rest of the days my shoes, socks, and part of my pants were soaked!

I had no idea where to go, so I just followed people. About 30 people, including myself, were there as extras for the shoot.

So at about 6 PM they started bringing people in for the video. They had everyone change places several times, and I ended up being behind a guy who was almost my height, and when he was jumping up and down when they were filming, he towered over me.

After one of the first takes, Shiloh recognized me, and said "Hey Adam! How are you?". I believe I responded "Good, how are you?" and she said something like "great!" and then later mentioned that she loved my video with the wig. So I said "Thank you, I'm glad you liked it!" then a guy named Sam who was pretty much the guy in charge of everything said "I liked it too!" and I said "Thanks...", but the perkiness just wasn't there as much as when Shiloh said she liked my video.

A couple guys were trying to see if Sam still remembered my name, not realizing that was what they were doing, I said my name was Adam. "You weren't supposed to tell him!" Then I asked Sam "What's her name?" as I pointed to Shiloh.

So after about 8 takes or so, water was handed out to everyone on set. I drank the whole bottle immediately. After jumping up and down, dancing, and looking like I was having fun for about 8 takes, I could hardly stand. The guy who towered over me, who I later learned his name was Justin, said to Shiloh one of my favourite quotes ever now. "My ass is a swimming pool".

After a bathroom break, and a few more takes, there was a pizza break. I had two pieces of the Hawaiian pizza. My Grandma use to make the best Hawaiian pizza ever, so I was reminded of that while I enjoyed it. Shiloh came in the pizza room, and asked me why I was being so silent, and I said "He (I pointed to Justin, I didn't know his name at the time) is always talking, and I can't get a word in!" And she just replied "You can't get a word in edgewise." So a girl there asked me if Shiloh and I go way back, and I said "I met her about 2 months ago at the Eaton Centre. She was busking for War Child".

So the next few takes was when the fun started. Shiloh asked me to come closer to her during the filming, so she could grab my hand and sing near me. I also brought out my pink Britney wig, and put it on, as she laughed. I said jokingly "I'm going to wear the wig, so when they cut and paste the clips together, in one shot I'll have no wig on, and in the next I'll have it on!" and she replied "Do it!" The creative director informed me I could not, so I threw the wig aside.

They took a few shots of the crowd, and encouraged people to look like they were singing along. I did that the whole time, so it wasn't hard for me to do. I noticed the camera was pointed at me a lot, and I think I looked directly at it too much... I tried not to, by doing some of my old school out of date dorky dance moves... After downing three bottles of water, and a break, there was a final scene, involving strobe lights. Only about 30 seconds long, but since the set was dark except for the strobe lights, everyone was hitting and running into each other. It was so much fun though! There were about 5-10 takes... So 5-10 times I stepped on someone, someone stepped on me, I hit someone, or someone hit me!

After that it was a wrap! So after that Shiloh was signing posters, and taking pictures with people. I was taken out of line by the creative director, and he asked me to get my pink wig, as he wanted a picture with me. So I took a picture with him in the wig. And then I got back in line, and a couple girls commented on my wig, saying they liked it. When I was pretty much next in line, Shiloh said she had to go perform a song for everyone that was going to be on her album, and before she did I said I had to go, so I had her sign the poster and take a picture with me. After that another girl said she liked my wig, and I explained how I was Britney Spears for Halloween, and didn't shave for 2 weeks.

After getting a text message from my friend Kim, saying that the bus left from Toronto later than I thought it did, I was able to stay and hear Shiloh's performance after all. I seriously thought I was gonna miss the bus before Kim sent me a text...I didn't say I had to leave to get my poster signed faster.

So after that I got paid $50, and that payment came as a surprise to me. I would've done it for free! A few people there had their agents tell them to do the video, and hadn't even seen her first video until they were told. And I just found out on Shiloh's MySpace, and remembered after Shiloh commented on my video. (By the way, I finally learned the difference between an agent and a manager, it was an agent I had when I was supposed to be in a Zellers commercial at 4 or 5 years old.)

So after that the creative director offered me and my Mom a ride to Union Station (hooray for no $24 cab back!) and we arrived. My Mom had forgotten it was a 2 door car, and slammed the door on my leg! So after jumping up and down from 6 PM - 11 PM, I had a door slammed on my leg! Major pain!

Anyways, everyone at the shoot was excellent and did a great job at treating me and my Mom well! I totally want to do that again! And now I know that I have real life fans of me and the pink wig!

By the way, here's the video I did for Shiloh's contest:

And here's the poster I got signed:

The Best and Worst Music of 2008!

2009-01-04T22:44:00.000-05:00

I finally decided to write this blog. It has been so hard for me to choose what should be my top 10 favourite songs, and top 10 favourite albums of 2008. Mainly because a lot of music released this year has been awful.

The Worst Album of 2008 That I Bought:

Pocketful Of Sunshine - Natasha Bedingfield.

The best tracks from this album come from the 2007 UK release "NB". In several tracks on Pocketful of Sunshine her voice sounds completely shot, and it is an unpleasant listen. The track "Angel" is an obvious rip off of Fergie's Glamo(u)rous.

The Songs I Hate To Love:

Leavin' - Jesse McCartney
Holiday (Remix) - Hilary Duff

I'm not sure why, but every time I hear these two songs, I find myself singing along. Knowing that they're fame started as last generations Miley Cyrus and The Jonas Brothers makes me not want to like these songs, but I just do.

The Worst Songs Of 2008:

Overdosin' - Heidi Montag
The Clap - Perez Hilton
Mind In The Gutter - Chris Crocker

I hate the invention of auto tune. These people shouldn't be allowed to release such awful excuses for music.

The Best Music Video of 2008:

Hot N Cold - Katy Perry. The tranny bridesmaid makes this video awesome.

The Best Albums of 2008:

1. Sam Sparro - Sam Sparro
2. The Fame - Lady Gaga
3. LIGHTS - EP - LIGHTS
4. Passion - Kreesha Turner
5. Elephants...Teeth Sinking Into A Heart - Rachael Yamagata
6. Perfect Day - Cascada
7. Songs From Instant Star 4
8. The Pink & The Lily - Sandi Thom
9. I Stand - Idina Menzel
10. Lights Down Low - Damhnait Doyle.

It was really hard to pick which albums were my favourites. A few I'm not even sure should be on my top 10, but I enjoyed each one of these albums multiple times. A few dud tracks on each, like every album, but still good. Teeth Sinking Into A Heart was the better half of Rachael Yamagata's two part album.

The Album I Hate To Love:

Departure - Jesse McCartney

The songs are very catchy, but it's also awkward to listen to. I remember listening to Dream Street and thinking of one of those kids releasing an album filled with sexual lyrics is disturbing.

Favourite Songs of 2008:

1. Faster - Rachael Yamagata
2. Black & Gold - Sam Sparro
3. Again Again - Lady Gaga
4. Perfect - LIGHTS
5. Song For Amanda - Kyle Riabko
6. Pavement - Cassie Steele
7. Passion - Kreesha Turner
8. Thinking Of You - Katy Perry

I seriously can't think of any others. The music of 2008 just wasn't too great... In 2008 I bought many used CDs and many CDs released in previous years.

Music Obsessions

2009-01-01T00:37:00.000-05:00

First I'd like to say Happy New Year! Now here is the regular scheduled blog...

So you all know by now that I like LIGHTS. Recently she played a gig in Toronto, and performed just before a metal band. The audience was filled with metal heads and she had bottles thrown at her. Here's a video:

Instead of getting all angry, she did a good job handling the situation. She joked and said that she was going to collect all the bottles and recycle them. I think that's a true performer, because I don't know how I could handle a situation like that. Kudos to LIGHTS!

What song I am currently in love with is Katy Perry's new single Thinking Of You. This is a video of her performing the song 2 and 1/2 years ago.

She has a beautiful voice in that video, and the song is great. She is playing at a small venue in Toronto in a couple of months, and I was thinking of going. Unfortunately the show sold out before I even knew that tickets were on sale. Tickets are $60 a piece on eBay! They were I think $13 when they were on sale, it's crazy!

After using Windows Movie Maker for about 2 years, I finally figured out how to do everything it is capable of. I just made this promo video for Jordan McCoy's EP.

I need to polish up my TV announcer voice, if I ever want to become one. Though out of the 50 or so careers I'd like, that's probably the 50th. My Mom and Dad think I should start a record label! That's probably #3 on my list of dream careers...

Random fact : Did you know that I got an unsigned artist featured on YouTube's home page, and a video of her original song went from 3000 views to 878,332 views?

After I uploaded the EP promo video to YouTube, Jordan posted a blog about me!

"My awesome fan made this for me!! He makes the BEST videos ever."

Oh yeah, I'm her "awesome fan"!

Another obsession is this old Lady Gaga demo track I just found on YouTube called "Wonderful".

I wish that was on the album!

So stay tuned for my best songs and albums of 2008 blog!

An open letter to popstars and their labels.

2008-12-28T23:57:00.001-05:00

Dear people at record labels who choose what their artist should release as a single,

When you are picking singles from an album, never have the first, second, or third single be a ballad. You need to release 3 upbeat tracks before releasing a ballad.

Example:
Fergie released London Bridge, Fergalicious, Glamorous, and then released Big Girls Don't Cry. Katy Perry released Ur So Gay, I Kissed A Girl, Hot N Cold, and Thinking Of You.

If you don't have the previous upbeat hits, the ballad will never be a hit and never, EVER, release a ballad as a first single. If the first single is a ballad, and doesn't do well, that means radio DJs may not play the following singles.

Example of how some people do this in the wrong order:

Kreesha Turner's first single was Simple, it was a slow song, it didn't chart at all. Her next single was Bounce With Me, it charted pretty low. Her next single was Don't Call Me Baby, it did well, and was #1 on the U.S. dance chart. Her fourth single? Lady Killer, a slower, not too upbeat song. It debuted low and is falling already.

What should've been released, in this order:

Don't Call Me Baby, Passion, Bounce With Me, Shattered.

Another example of singles released in the wrong order:

Suzie McNeil's first single from her new album Let's Go was upbeat. Her second single "Don't Tell Me Goodbye" was a rock ballad.

Singles should've been:

Let's Go, Help Me Out, Fast Lane, and Don't Tell Me Goodbye. Help Me Out would probably be the biggest hit, as it's a dancey tune that could have some killer remixes.

A hint to other current pop artists or their labels:

Britney Spears third single should be "Kill The Lights" and her fourth single should be "Out From Under".
Lady Gaga's third single should be "Boys, Boys, Boys", or in the U.S. "Starstruck", and her fourth single should be "Brown Eyes".

Sincerely,
Adam

Merry Christmas Everyone!

2008-12-25T21:56:00.000-05:00

So last night I went to the Christmas Eve service at church. I have to say, the Christmas service combines one of the scariest sounds and one of the best sounds...

The scary sound, when everyone says "And also with you" every time the pastor says "Lord be with you". Everyone sounds like scary little robots... But the best sound is everyone singing all the songs together. And this is from a guy who can't stand Christmas music.

So after church I got to open a present. I knew I was getting both season 1 and 2 of Degrassi, and opened what I thought would be season 1 so I could watch it while trying to fall asleep...But it was season 2. So after we went to my (brothers) friends house, and exchanged gifts...

For the first time in many years I didn't only get a Lifesavers book! I got a Livesavers book, a shirt with a bunch of guitars on it, a Harry Potter chocolate frog (I don't like Harry Potter, but what was odd was the "trading card" was some made up character not in the movies, that plays guitar.), and some trick die.

I went to bed around 2:30, didn't fall asleep until about 4, maybe 4:30. I woke up at 6:30 when I heard my brother ripping open presents. I wanted to wake up before him, because I wanted to sneak gifts into everyones stockings.

One of the funniest gifts I got, was by accident. Every year we get Lindt Chocolate Reindeer for Christmas. My Dad bought what he thought was a Lindt Chocolate Reindeer, but really it was a Reindeer Jelly Bean dispenser. The jelly beans were light and dark brown, and of course they came out of its butt.

The other gifts I got include a red Johnson 608 RD acoustic guitar, $40 cash, $40 mall gift card, a $20 iTunes card, which I shall use to purchase Simply Ella Fitzgerald off of iTunes, and something completely different...Just Watch Me - EP by Jordan McCoy.

I also got a couple sweat shirts, and sweat pants. My brother bought me a pair of PJ pants that say on them "Turn me on", and they show a bunch of light bulbs all over them. What's cruel is he put empty CD cases in them, to look like I was getting CDs for Christmas, though I unfortunately didn't get any in what I thought were CDs.

From my brothers girlfriend, I got a t-shirt that says "If you have anything to say, raise your hand, and put it over your mouth".

I was supposed to get a guitar tuner, but unfortunately I did not, as on the 23rd the weather was bad so my Dad could not go shopping, and on the 24th all music stores were closed. So I have an out of tune guitar, but still a really good guitar, to me at least.

I'm going to spend my mall gift card tomorrow. I am looking at getting a microphone stand. I want to prepare before doing another open mic. Recently I have kept the mic a bit too far away from my face, so I want to learn how to get it just right, so everyone can hear me. I'm also going to buy KT Tunstall's CDs, as they're on sale tomorrow.

So yeah, that's what I got for Christmas... I entered Shiloh's Operator (A Girl Like Me) video contest, and in it you can see my new sweat shirt and sweat pants, and my guitar shirt.

Merry Christmas!

Simply Having A Wonderful Christmas Time

2008-12-24T17:15:00.000-05:00

Except for the fact it is hard for me to talk, I have been having a good Christmas time. However, I can not stand Christmas music... But Christmas is my favourite holiday, because there's a lot of my favourite colour, red, everywhere. Though there is also a lot of green, which is my least favourite colour...

Okay, this sounds odd saying how great the holiday is, then saying something else to insult it. It just doesn't feel like Christmas to me yet. It's been a whole year since Carly Smithson was exposed as a plant on Vote For The Worst? Also the Christmas bazaar at the local school isn't happening this year, so it just doesn't feel right.

One thing I love is watching people open presents that I got them. Though I haven't exchanged presents with anyone yet, I'm looking forward to that tonight. On Christmas Eve it's a tradition at my house to open one present, and go over to my (brothers) friends house and exchange gifts with them. Every year I get life savers or jolly ranchers...I can't stand either!

Every year when I start wrapping Christmas presents, I'm completely horrible at it. Then I start to get good when I'm almost finished my wrapping, and completely forget how to wrap again the next year. This year I've been putting "Love Adam" on the gifts, and making the V look like a heart. Also some I've been writing on them like I'm signing an autograph...

Expect a blog tomorrow about all the (hopefully) wonderful things I got.

More About Food Poisoning + Old "Art".

2008-12-22T02:30:00.001-05:00

Well it seems like my Dad isn't the only one who has food poisoning... It seems as if my Mom has it too. We think the culprit is a meat pie that they both shared. My Dad is doing a lot better today, and it seems he'll be better before Christmas. I guess the things he was saying the other day were just because he felt so bad. Food poisoning is not fun, and I wished to die when I had it, too. Though I don't think I ever said "I want to go to heaven, and I want to go this afternoon" to anyone, and made them cry by saying that.

Now on to a more fun blog...I was on Neopets today and found my old "art" that won the Neopets Beauty Contest!11!!

My shading was way off...

My artistic talents were limited.

I cheated when shading this one.

Oh wow, this looks AWFUL.

I didn't have any darker pencils, so I shaded with...A regular pencil!

When originally drawing this, to make it the anthro style, I drew the outlines of boobs on it. My brother saw those boobs I drew, told my mom, and I had to erase them.

Neopets was an awful obsession for me.

Canadian Idol got cancelled

2008-12-17T19:31:00.000-05:00

I may be a fan of several past contestants, and I did audition twice, but I'm not that heart broken.

Sure, there will never be entertaining contestants like Steffi DiDomenicantonio, Jacob Hoggard, and Montana Martin Iles on American Idol, but there will always be another TV talent show, that will probably be coming along soon.

Even if nothing replaces it, there are still many other ways to get a record deal. Two new and popular Canadian artists Shiloh and Kreesha Turner won radio contests. Other popular artists such as Colbie Caillat, LIGHTS, and Taylor Swift were discovered on MySpace. And there are several people who got record deals thanks to YouTube.

So what if I can't be on a cheesy TV talent show? Does that mean my career is over? No! I'll be performing at Open Mic nights, and upload covers and original songs to YouTube and MySpace. If anyone happens to read this, who thinks their dreams are crushed because they can't audition for a TV show, he/she/shim can think again. People were able to get in the music industry with, or without Idol.

Now I want to know, who from Canadian Idol has made it big?

*crickets*

Exactly.

Just Dance, Gonna Be Okay.

2008-12-12T00:18:00.000-05:00

So, I'm still sick. I had to cancel singing at a Christmas gig, and made my vocal teacher very upset. And when I called her to tell her so, I decided it would be rude to cough or sniff on the phone, so I didn't, and my Mom thinks I didn't sound sick enough.

Since I've been sick, I found that my dog has learned a new trick... Here's a video to show you:

She can open up her crate all by herself!

Also, I found out by visiting Britney Spears website that they are having another dance off. I first heard of it when over at Idol Forums making my weekly posting about Jordan McCoy. Someone posted that a contestant from American Juniors, Tyler Foehr to be exact, was featured on Britney Spears website.

So I made a video for Circus.

It was fun, but much too campy for my main YouTube account.

When I wasn't featured, probably due to my late entry, I decided to make another video, for If U Seek Amy.

That wasn't as fun, as I was in my bathroom with limited space, and using the speakers from a laptop to play the track, so it wasn't very loud. I also think Circus is a better song.

I have a few more videos I plan to make soon.

Reach Out - Hilary Duff music video remake.
David Archuleta - A Day in the Life.
Forgotten Scenes.

The David Archuleta video will be sort of a spin off of me calling in to the Vote For The Worst radio show as "Gaspy" and Jeff Archuleta. Singing random songs that I have the word gasp, air, breathe, and such in them. Also, training for his next music video so he doesn't look at a man instead of the female love interest again.

The Forgotten Scenes video will include random stuff. Like when I did the "How To Audition For Dream" video, I meant to add a scene where I said "Hunter sings so much better than I did when I was 13" and include a clip of my singing when 13. And I also have some footage of me singing, and playing guitar, where I suddenly break my string mid-song.

Hopefully I'll be better soon, as I've noticed when sick I've gained a little bit of weight. So I'll need to get back into shape, hopefully before Christmas. If anyone that reads my blog (HA! I think people read my blog!) knows of good ways to get back into shape quick, please share.

Goodbye for now,

Adam.

I'm so...SICK!

2008-12-05T23:19:00.000-05:00

Today is December 5th, know what that means? 20 days until Christmas, and 11 months until my next milestone birthday.

Unfortunately, I am still sick. I hate being sick as I feel like a prisoner in my own body.

I can't sing, and have to make up for two music lessons because of my illness.
I can't eat foods that I enjoy a lot, and have been living on ice cream and water, instead of egg nog and ketchup chips.
I can't play guitar, as I always have to use one hand to cover my cough or accept a sneeze.
And I am stuck in my room most of the day watching DVDs. I'm not sure why, but I really don't like movies. I just feel completely uncomfortable sitting in a room alone for a of couple hours watching a movie.

Okay, so it's not as bad as the time I had food poisoning, but it's still pretty annoying.

Oh, and know how last year I blogged about the Christmas bazaar at my old school? The school got a new principal and the bazaar didn't happen this year! That bazaar was part of my yearly Christmas tradition, and now it's not happening anymore. I loved seeing friends I haven't seen in a long time.

A year and a half ago I added some on Facebook, they said they wanted to hang out with me, but never did. I confronted them all about it, and they denied that it was because they didn't want to hang out with me. They said they'd hang out with me, actually, and one person who I more recently added said she'd invite me to a party she was having.

I was never invited to any party.

I need to somehow make my own friends, on my own time. But there's really not anyway I can meet people. I currently can't get a job, as I have so much school work to do over the next few months. I can't join musical theatre again, as the new teacher makes all the students lip sync, I may be a professional lip syncer, as my brother hated when I sang along to music in the car, so I lip synced instead, but I want to sing.

I suppose I could try meeting people at Open Mic's and such. And maybe at the Canadian Idol auditions next year. It's weird, I don't really want to be on the show, but I like the audition process. I talked to a couple of people at the auditions last year, one person, who I knew already online, had the other added on Facebook, and I asked him to tell her to add me, but he never did. Her Facebook was private and so I couldn't even send her a message or a friend request. I went on to find her previous MySpace pages, which she had abandoned, so I never got to talk to her.

Music is one of the top 3 reasons I live. (The other two reasons I live...God, and what my parents did one night in a bedroom.)
It is painful for me to not be able to sing, and I want this cold to be over with.

NOT AGAIN!

2008-12-03T01:38:00.000-05:00

So on Monday night I went to bed, and all of a sudden I had a sore throat. I couldn't fall asleep for an hour or so because of it. Today I woke up and it is still as sore as it was. I was just sick on Halloween and my Birthday, I don't want to be sick for Christmas! Last year I was sick on Christmas and because of that I got a couple presents early. This year I've pretty much picked out my presents and watched my parents buy them. Though my mom says the brand new red acoustic guitar is "hypothetically" for her, I know it's for me.

One year my Mom went Christmas shopping with my brother. She had my brother pick out a movie that he thought I'd be interested in, that he'd also like himself. For once in his life he actually picked out a movie for me and he didn't like it at all, and my Mom had given it to him instead as a Christmas present.

In other news, I am still working on some lyrics and melodies (mostly in my head) for some new songs for my EP that I plan on releasing next year... I'm going to finish a few after I hypothetically get my Mom's brand new red acoustic guitar for Christmas. After that I'm going to test a few out at an open mic downtown.

I'm not sure if I should perform any covers at the open mic downtown, though. I know Hot N Cold by Katy Perry pretty much backwards and forwards, and constantly annoy my brother by playing it all the time. That, and I change the lyrics to say "You change your mind, like my brother changes clothes".

I have also realized I need to put more soul and emotion into my words, and my voice. I seem pretty much robotic when I sing.

You made it through all that? Good for you! Now enjoy this video of Kyle Riabko and Steffi DiDomenicantonio singing some 90's classics.

Britney Spears : Womanizer - Live on Star Academy

2008-11-29T13:09:00.000-05:00

Britney Spears is now on her "Britney is sane, we swear" tour, also known by her as the "Where's Starbucks, y'all?" tour.

She has done two live performances so far where she's clearly lip syncing.

It's not hard to sing live! Sure, it might be a little hard to sing and dance at the same time, but it is possible. Britney Spears is a talentless spoiled little whore.

Why the hell do people still like her? My Mom's talking computer sounds more human than Britney's voice in her songs.

The Music of 2008

2008-11-27T14:02:00.000-05:00

At the end of the year, I'll be making a list of my top 10 favourite albums and top 10 favourite songs of the year. Since the year isn't over yet, I haven't completed my list...

What will my list include?

My favourite songs will most likely include:
Faster by Rachael Yamagata
Ice by LIGHTS

My favourite albums will probably include:
LIGHTS EP - LIGHTS (Does that count?)
The Parkdale Sessions - Kyle Riabko
The Fame - Lady GaGa
Sam Sparro - Sam Sparro
Elephants...Teeth Sinking Into A Heart - Rachael Yamagata
N.B. - Natasha Bedingfield (It was released on iTunes Canada in January this year.)

My least favourite album (that I've bought) this year is by the same artist one of my favourite albums of the year.

Pocketful of Sunshine - Natasha Bedingfield.

Now what do I think will be on my favourite albums/songs list next year?

Hopefully Jordan McCoy's album will be released next year, so I can put that on my list next year. And I'm also looking forward to the new Dream, which features Jordan McCoy. Other albums I'm looking forward to are LIGHTS full length album, Amanda Overmyer's debut album, and Alexz Johnson's debut album away from Instant Star.

(P.S. Isn't it ironic that after I posted a blog saying I'm not obsessed with Jordan McCoy, that I've mentioned her in almost every blog since then? Well, at least I'm not one of those creepy 30 year old guys who hits on her on MySpace.)

Busking for Change - War Child Event Recap

2008-11-26T00:08:00.002-05:00

On Monday I woke up at the early time I have never heard of before, 8:30 AM. After less than 6 hours sleep I nearly fell back asleep, and was going to pull the covers over my head. At 8:45 AM I decided to get ready.

After meeting up with my BFF Kim, and arriving at the Eaton Centre, we got into a long line up. That line up was for Kalan Porter. After waiting for more than half an hour, I finally got to meet Kalan. I invited a friend to come along with me, to see Kalan, but she denied. Not only did she deny, but said she was still sick, when I know for sure she wasn't. So I got Kalan to sign one of the bracelets they were selling for the War Child charity. I got a picture with Kalan, that didn't turn out the best as I had my camera zoomed in when I handed it to a random girl to take my picture.

Kalan performed to a crowded hausfrau audience, singing Down In Heaven, Hurray, and The Devil Went Down to Georgia.

Despite being a bit far away from the stage, Kalan projected his voice very well and without a mic, I could still hear him.

After Kalan left the stage, I asked him to sign my copy of his CD, and he did. When Kalan was finished performing, the whole crowd vanished, and I was the only one really paying attention to Eva Avila.

I have to be honest, she was very cocky. She promoted her CD before promoting the charity, and when asked to sing another song (she only sang two, No More Coming Back, and How Come You Don't Call Me), she denied.

Without a microphone, she doesn't project her voice very well, and she does overly dramatic hand gestures.

And she had a huge autograph line up that consisted of me, and...me again.

She said she remembered both me and my mom going to her showcase, and asked if I got a chance to listen to the new album. I said it was better than her first album, and she said "Well... it's great to hear everyone's opinions" , sounding like she liked her first album better. After getting her to sign my copy of her "Meant To Fly" single, I lined up again and got a picture, after Kim's friend decided she'd take one of me and Eva.

It's Shiloh!

I love her and I love her music video. It's fun to watch the misadventures of an IBW. (Look up IBW on Urban Dictionary.)

She sang a few songs, I'm not sure how many of them were hers, but I know at least two were covers. She sang her single twice. When I was recording one video of her performance, there was a creepy photographer saying "Nice one! She looks beautiful! Woo Shiloh!" and accidently thought I was the other professional photographer, and came up to me asking for advice. So I had to cut that out, here are my clips of her performances...

When I met her, she gave me a hug! She is really tiny and cute.

I also met members of the Degrassi cast!

They all shook my hand and introduced themselves, Ray decided he wanted to be the only one to sign the actual CD, and write "only me" on it. As there wasn't room where he put his signature, Samantha said for him to write "only me" on the other side of the CD. Ray said "Yeah, the other side so he can't play it". And Samantha said "No, the other side of this side..."

They were all really nice, and spent a lot of time with everyone in the line. Not like other meet and greets I've been to, not naming names (Jesse McCartney), where you get an autograph and just have to leave ASAP. During the meet and greet Shiloh was on, after every performance Ray would stand up, and shout her name.

Ray also saw my shirt that I was wearing, which just so happened to be my Degrassi shirt and asked where I got it, saying it was a very exclusive shirt. But the cast was really cool, and since then I've been trying to catch up with the show.

So that was pretty much my day.

That's What You Get

2008-11-21T00:20:00.000-05:00

(When you let your heart win, wo-oa-oa-oah. Did I just quote Paramore?)

So the sales numbers are in for The Best Of Hilary Duff, her final release from Hollywood Records.

Due to her departure from the label, Hollywood Records decided to not promote it anywhere other than the internet. That's fine, but they hardly make it available on the internet! They released it physically to all major music retailers, and the only place online they released it was Amazon.

iTunes is the most popular place online to download music legally! Not releasing a CD on iTunes means you're destined for fail, unless you're AC/DC.

So how did Hilary do?

She debuted at #125 with 5,500 copies sold.

Not surprising that she debuted that low, but what is surprising to me is that you debut that low when you sell 5,500 copies? In Canada you can sell that many and have a #1 album!

I think Hollywood Records didn't promote it, as they don't want anyone else to sign her due to low album sales, and so she'll regret her decision, and come crawling back.

Anyways...I hate the fact that Holiday by Hilary Duff is my guilty pleasure right now. I thought I was over her?

I am becoming a perfectionist

2008-11-18T16:25:00.000-05:00

A couple years ago I stupidly asked for an electric guitar for Christmas. Because I was young, immature, and wanted to be a rock star. I can hardly stand any rock music, and I simply do not have the voice for rock music. The music I write is far from upbeat and all the songs (with the exception of Charity Case, the pop song for female voice I wrote after being inspired by Lady Gaga's album) are ballads.

I like my electric guitar, as it is easier to play than my mom's acoustic guitar, which is possibly the worst guitar ever. But I also don't like it as I can't tune it, and the strings break easily.

Recently I uploaded to my not-so-secret YouTube Music account a video of me singing an original song I wrote, and playing said song on the electric guitar. The first time I played it, I thought I sounded fine. Then after that every little thing sounded awful to me. "Wow, I sound like I'm shouting. The acoustics in my bedroom are bad. The guitar sounds too tinny. I missed the strings when trying to play that chord..."

So I deleted it, even though it had two 5 star ratings, I couldn't stand to hear it myself. I also covered a song from Instant Star and uploaded it, it had received one 1 star rating, and one 5 star rating. I know the person gave me the 5 star rating, but did not know who gave me the 1 star rating. Considering it is people I don't know that I want to appeal to, I deleted it.

I kept the video of me performing at my first open mic uploaded, though. Because I knew why it didn't sound perfect, because I had only been playing guitar for about 3 weeks, and I accidently had the mic several inches away from my face.

Because my YouTube profile seemed empty, I decided to subscribe and send friend requests to Jordan McCoy's YouTube page, the Clockwork Entertainment YouTube page, Hunter Pecunia's YouTube page, and the Official Dream TV YouTube page. Little did I know that Jordan, Hunter, and Dream would subscribe back.

I think that since they subscribed, and there is a chance that they might view my videos, I feel pressure to sound better.

So next time I record something and post it on YouTube or MySpace, I want to hear honest opinions from everyone, as I can't judge myself, as I've learned that most people hate their own voice.

P.S.

poll by twiigs.com

Syesha Blog Parody - 11/17/08

2008-11-17T21:32:00.000-05:00

This blog is a parody of the wonderful Syesha blog.

Hey to all my fans out there! OH wow! I have like so much to tell you all, oh lo!

I woke up today and decided to have a shower, and like there were no towels! So I had to use pajamas as towels!!! And then there were no clean cloths to wash my face, so I used a mini towel, that was too tiny to use as an actual towel! And then I ran out of soap!!! So I had to use body wash instead of soap!

So when I got out of the shower, I decided to post a blog, but oh lo and behold, I couldn't think of anything to say! So I went downstairs to do my vocal practice, as a girls gotta practice if she wants to be a superstar! And guess what? I recorded over my vocal practice tape with Let It Snow, Let It Snow, Let It Snow! Oh lo! So I had to use my grade 1 tape, and I'm on grade 8 now, so it was so easy, yet so boring!

So after that I decided to rehearse my lines, for nothing in particular, but if you want to get a role in a movie, you gotta practice! Unfortunately no one knows who I am, but I'm working on an album and I hope all two of you will enjoy it!!! I hope to get a Oscar, a Tony, and a Grammy one day! Jennifer Hudson got an Oscar, so I can too! And I can also duet with Michael Jackson!

Someone came up to me today and said that I was only kept to the top three of American Idol so American Idol wouldn't seem racist! And I was all like Americans aren't racist, Obama is the president elect!!! If you haven't voted already, go out and vote! But then they said "Okay, American Idol is sexist", and I was all "Oh lo! You got that wrong, the producers behind American Idol are incredibly un-sexist! They're ugly!"

So I want to hear from all of YOU and want YOU to ask ME what I think of things, tell ME what YOU want to hear in MY blog, actually it'd be read in MY blog, as I'M typing words, oh lo! :D

Much love,

xxx Syesha xxx

One mans accident leads to one dogs dinner.

2008-11-16T13:20:00.000-05:00

So the other day, I was trying to get a lasagna out of the oven. It unfortunately slipped off the baking sheet and went all over the insides of the oven, and all the pots and pans (blitches) underneath it.

My Mom decided to call in some professional help...

In other news, I won't be posting as often, as I'll be doing a lot of school work. But I am performing at an open mic soon, as a bar near here has one every Tuesday night, so I'll post how that goes after it happens.

I love LIGHTS.

2008-11-14T01:19:00.000-05:00

I'm about to have a major fantard moment here...

Her music always makes me smile.

Eva Avila - Live at Polson Pier Recap!

2008-11-12T11:57:00.000-05:00

I was one of the first 20 people to email the address on Eva's website, and so I got to be on the list for Eva's performance. I was a bit surprised to find out that it was the same concert that you could win tickets to on Virgin Radio and EzRock, as I had entered the Virgin Radio contest, but I didn't win, and was a bit upset about that.

Everyone there who won on the radio got a VIP pass. There were about 100 people there total, about 30 or so won online. They had hundreds of the VIP passes but wouldn't give one to those who won online.

I arrived at 6 PM, so I was the first one there. At first they didn't have a list of the online winners, so they said I wasn't on the list, but about 20 minutes later they found the online winners list.

So everyone was allowed in at 7 PM, and there were free drinks!

At around 7:05 they screened all 3 of Eva's videos in front of the stage. There was also a big picture of her album cover at the side of the stage.

I also took a picture of the Eva Avila drum set...

There were a few press cameras there, the one I noticed the most was the CBC camera, and one of the radio hosts from Virgin Radio was there. I believe an eTalk camera was there, too.

Eva's performance started at 7:30 as planned. She performed No Smoke, Run, No More Coming Back, Damned, and Give Me The Music. I can't say her performance was flawless, as sometimes during songs like "Damned" she went a little bit off during the chorus, but was pretty good during the rest of the song.

Slightly off topic: I'm getting better at using my new camera!

After every two songs, Eva would get interviewed and/or have the audience ask her questions. One person asked her how her life had changed since Idol, right after Eva had finished explaining how. Another asked what advice she had for aspiring singers, and Eva said "You're in the right city for trying to make it in the industry. Just keep doing your thing and the right guy may come along and notice you." She was also asked about her love life, and she responded that she is in love with promoting the album right now.

Eva kept saying how blessed she was to be where she was now, doing the job she loved. She also said that she goes home about once a month, and that her family keeps her grounded. And she's glad she doesn't live too far away from home, as then she couldn't go home as often.

After Eva performed "Damned", the Virgin radio host said that it was one of her two favourite songs off the album, and that it might be for the fact that Eva says damn a lot in the song. Another fan asked when Eva first started singing, Eva said that her first public performance was when she was 3. She said that she sang a portuguese song with her father. Eva was also asked if she'd ever release a spanish album, and she said yes, but not before a french one. She said the next step is for her to release a french album, and Quebec is her home, so she can't not release a french album. Also, Eva hopes to tour in February with the new album.

One lucky fan won a $500 Sony Style gift card, and Eva picked the winner by drawing a name out of a hat or something like that. I wanted to win, as everytime my Dad and I go to the mall and pass Sony Style, he says "You wish you had a gift card to that store, don't you?" But a mom, who was there with her daughters, won it and said "Now I can give my kids a Christmas!" and she was very happy, so I thought that was great.

Here's a video of the performances, and an interview clip I took by mistake when trying to take a picture. Okay, I haven't mastered my new camera yet...

As you can see in the video, Eva was looking at me a lot. Not sure why, but it could be the fact that I'm 6'4" and was singing along to every song. I was a bit embarassed by how often she looked at me, as I recently had a birthday, and a party, and my Mom recently had a birthday...Meaning I've had 3 different types of cake recently, and it showed with my bad complexion.

After the performance, Eva signed autographs and took pictures with fans. First they said only people with VIP passes could get autographs, but others lined up anyways, so I did, too. I went a long way to get to Toronto, and I was the only person I saw there with an actual copy of her CD. CBC was filming as Eva met fans. When I got to Eva I said that she did great, and that I love the new album, she asked for my name and I said "Adam" and she signed the CD "To Adam, Love Eva :)". My Mom met her, too. My Mom shook her hand and said how we voted for her on Canadian Idol. I then took a picture with Eva and then Eva thanked us for coming.

And that's all I can remember that happened. So now it is time for me to get a little preachy...

Whenever I go to Toronto I pray to God for protection, and on the way home I did, too. Right after I prayed we ALMOST got hit by an ambulance, but in the end we didn't. Times like this I am thankful to God, but also scared about learning to drive. In the past year I also almost got hit by a car when crossing the street, and a car backed into the side of the car I was sitting in.

I have put off driving for so long, but I'm still a bit afraid.

SURPRISE!

2008-11-10T00:29:00.001-05:00

Sorry for the slow updates, I have been busy with stuff involving my birthday, and my Mom's birthday.

So, for about a month or so I was suggesting to my Mom that I wanted a surprise party. I later decided to just have a regular birthday party that I had planned for Saturday. So on Friday when I came home from my music lesson, I was surprised to see balloons, a Happy Birthday banner, a pinata, gifts, and one more person than who was with me on my birthday.

When I put my key in the front door, and opened the door, this is what started playing.

It is the worst, yet best birthday song at the same time.

This is what I saw when I entered the house:

That birthday card there was awesome, not only did it include $10, but it had Britney pictures in it... "Before she was crazy" and "When she was crazy"

"Before she was crazy" was an old picture of Britney in about 2001, "When she was crazy" was a picture of me in my halloween costume! After that it said "Now it turns out she was just a robot who's battery was dying".

What I find funny about the surprise party is, I was falling asleep at my music lessons, and when I got in the car I said to my Mom "I wanna go to sleep went I get home." Also, I was wearing my worst clothes possible, as I was saving my best clothes for my party on Saturday. So not only was I tired during the entire party, but I looked pretty bad, too.

Earlier Friday morning I was mad that my Dad had eaten my last piece of birthday cake, which I was saving for myself...

But I got an oreo cake for my birthday party, and got both the first and last piece.

Since we did not have any blindfold for the pinata, we just covered everyones head with a towel. Since it has been many years since I hit a pinata, I was not familiar with the rules. So as soon as I could, I constantly hit it over and over again. I never got to break it though, my brother did. When all the candy fell to the ground, everyone rushed after the little small candies. I grabbed all the top prizes, but then had to distribute them to others so I wouldn't be a greedy bugger.

After that, we all played Singstar, and my team won!11!! Mostly because of me, since my brother failed at pretty much every round.

Later we decided to rip open the "Happy Birthday" balloon and suck the helium out of it, and film it. My future sister in law apparently has never seen anyone suck helium out of a balloon before. I can not talk with helium without laughing, my brother can, but I can't do it.

Other than the awesome card and the $10, I got pull-n-peel candy and this little light effects thing, that displays several colours on the ceiling and such. It's pretty cool...

After all of that, everyone went to Tim Hortons, and everyone except myself decided not to talk, and just text message each other instead. I didn't get in on the fun, as I had left my cell phone at home by accident, but I did bring my camera and took many embarrassing pictures.

So yeah, that was my birthday party.

I Need Your Help!!!

2008-11-08T15:00:00.000-05:00

So, I entered another MySpace contest... I need 100 plays on my version of "Love Story" by Taylor Swift by November 10th at 3 PM PST.

http://ksolo.myspace.com/actions/showSongProfile.do?rid=670057&sid=27818&uid=5117058&

Please listen as many times as possible!

You can even mute it, and it counts as a play. Or you could use the music note in the bottom right corner, to change the key and make me sound like a chipmunk or darth vader...