Sophia Grace and Rosie are the first kids to visit Cars Land at Disney's California Adventure. Is there anything cuter on television? I love Sophia Grace's impression of Mater. Hilarious.
Showing posts with label Ellen. Show all posts
Showing posts with label Ellen. Show all posts
Wednesday, May 30, 2012
Saturday, April 23, 2011
Ellen Knows Talent When She Sees It
Since Ellen Degeneres stepped down from the judge's booth at 'American Idol', she has really made a point to try to showcase new and undiscovered talent on her show. She even started her own record label, ElevenEleven, to sign artists that she feels need to be seen and heard. Her latest discovery is no exception.
Karmin is a band from Boston, comprised of Amy (who sings and plays guitar), and Nick (who sometimes sings and plays piano). They've had a Youtube channel since August of last year, and do some amazing covers. They've recently ventured out and started to record some originals, too. Here is the video that got Ellen's attention. It's a cover of Chris Brown's 'Look At Me Now', featuring Lil' Wayne and Busta Rhymes. I have never seen anyone cover Busta Rhymes, and do it justice. This white girl from Boston kicks it's ass...
Of all of the songs on Karmin's channel, my favorite is their cover of Adele's 'Someone Like You'. They have a really original take on it. First, they added a backing string track on the song, which adds a nice layer of depth to it. Then, they turned it into a duet. Amy has a great voice, but she can't compare to Adele. At the moment, this song is the shoe in for Best Female Pop Album Vocal Grammy, if not Song of the Year or Record of the Year. Amy has to strain on some of the notes, while Adele doesn't break a sweat. She's a natural.
Nick, on the other hand, is impressive. He has a natural gift and finds the harmony on the chorus effortlessly. The result is beautiful, and hands down the best cover of the song I've heard yet. The combination of the two voices really make it an emotional piece. It really tugs at the heart strings.
If you haven't heard the original from Adele, here she is singing the song inside her home a couple of months ago.
You can find out more about Karmin by checking out their official website. They even have an ITunes store, which carries all of their originals, as well as a number of their covers. Unfortunately, neither of the two songs in this post are available for download....yet.
Karmin is a band from Boston, comprised of Amy (who sings and plays guitar), and Nick (who sometimes sings and plays piano). They've had a Youtube channel since August of last year, and do some amazing covers. They've recently ventured out and started to record some originals, too. Here is the video that got Ellen's attention. It's a cover of Chris Brown's 'Look At Me Now', featuring Lil' Wayne and Busta Rhymes. I have never seen anyone cover Busta Rhymes, and do it justice. This white girl from Boston kicks it's ass...
Of all of the songs on Karmin's channel, my favorite is their cover of Adele's 'Someone Like You'. They have a really original take on it. First, they added a backing string track on the song, which adds a nice layer of depth to it. Then, they turned it into a duet. Amy has a great voice, but she can't compare to Adele. At the moment, this song is the shoe in for Best Female Pop Album Vocal Grammy, if not Song of the Year or Record of the Year. Amy has to strain on some of the notes, while Adele doesn't break a sweat. She's a natural.
Nick, on the other hand, is impressive. He has a natural gift and finds the harmony on the chorus effortlessly. The result is beautiful, and hands down the best cover of the song I've heard yet. The combination of the two voices really make it an emotional piece. It really tugs at the heart strings.
If you haven't heard the original from Adele, here she is singing the song inside her home a couple of months ago.
You can find out more about Karmin by checking out their official website. They even have an ITunes store, which carries all of their originals, as well as a number of their covers. Unfortunately, neither of the two songs in this post are available for download....yet.
Monday, February 14, 2011
5 Of The Best Love Songs You May Have Never Heard
Well, It's Valentine's Day, and by now, for many of you, the flowers have already been given. The cards have been read. The chocolates have been eaten, or at least tasted. And, it might be safe to say, the kissing has already started. Maybe you already have a number of your favorite love songs in mind tonight. Maybe you don't.
Perhaps, you're going with a reliable choice. The "old tried and true". Like Marvin Gaye's 'Let's Get It On'. Yeah. That's a good one. One of my favorites was always Peter Gabriel's 'In Your Eyes'. I heard it for the first time when I was 12 years old. It changed the way I listened to music, had that much of an impact on me. It was the first time I equated music with poetry. Twenty something years later, it's still one of the most romantic songs I've ever heard.
I wanted to do a post for Valentine's Day that featured a number of love songs that my wife and I really liked, songs that we listen to quite a bit, that have gotten little notice by the mainstream media. None of the songs below have charted. Only two of them were released as singles and had music videos released for them. None of them, to my knowledge, received any radio airplay from mainstream radio. I hope you like them as much as we do.
First up is a track from a band call Bright Eyes. It comes from their 2005 album 'I'm Wide Awake, It's Morning'. It's called 'First Day of My Life'. It's a very sweet and innocent song, but I especially like the video. It was directed by John Cameron Mitchell, director of 'Hedwig and the Angry Inch', and most recently, 'Rabbit Hole'. The people in the video are real people, listening to the song for the first time:
Speaking of John Cameron Mitchell, as I said, he directed the 2001 film adaptation of the off Broadway show, 'Hedwig and the Angry Inch', in which he also starred as Hedwig. The soundtrack has a beautiful song explaining the origins of the human race, the males and females of the species, and love. It's called 'The Origin of Love':
Next up are two songs from my favorite modern singer songwriter, Joshua Radin. Without knowing it, you have probably heard some of his music before. In the last 5 years, his songs have been featured on over 75 television episodes, ranging from 'Grey's Anatomy' to 'The Bachelorette'. He is a friend of 'Scrubs' star Zach Braff. One day in 2004, Braff brought in a copy of one of his songs into the studio in the hopes of getting it played on an episode. The rest, as they say, is history. In early 2008, Ellen Degeneres was at a party at Braff's home and mentioned that she was still looking for someone to play for her and Portia de Rossi at their wedding later that year. Ellen was introduced to Radin, who played the following song for her on the spot. That song later became their wedding song. That song, called 'Today' is on Joshua Radin's 2006 album 'We Were Here'.
My favorite Joshua Radin song is actually a cover of a song originally performed by Yazoo called 'Only You', back in the 80s. In the 90s, Erasure covered it with moderate success. This version, in my opinion, is much better than the original. It's also found on his 2006 album 'We Were Here'. Enjoy:
Finally, when the word "punk" is mentioned, "love song" aren't the next two words to immediately follow in your mind. I can't think of a large number of punk bands that have released a love song as a single. And, depending on who you ask, Green Day has strayed from their punk roots too much to truly be considered "punk" nowadays. Nevertheless, one of my all time faves is a track from their 1997 album, 'Nimrod'. It's a love letter of sorts from lead singer, Billy Joe Armstrong, to his wife, Adrienne. They were at a point in their marriage where they were constantly arguing. "I love you" was being said merely out of routine. But, looking at the relationship, two things stood out. 1.) The pattern that they had fallen into as a couple, and 2.) that he still felt passionately about his wife. This is 'Redundant':
Hope you liked my suggestions. Thanks for listening. Happy Valentine's Day.
Perhaps, you're going with a reliable choice. The "old tried and true". Like Marvin Gaye's 'Let's Get It On'. Yeah. That's a good one. One of my favorites was always Peter Gabriel's 'In Your Eyes'. I heard it for the first time when I was 12 years old. It changed the way I listened to music, had that much of an impact on me. It was the first time I equated music with poetry. Twenty something years later, it's still one of the most romantic songs I've ever heard.
I wanted to do a post for Valentine's Day that featured a number of love songs that my wife and I really liked, songs that we listen to quite a bit, that have gotten little notice by the mainstream media. None of the songs below have charted. Only two of them were released as singles and had music videos released for them. None of them, to my knowledge, received any radio airplay from mainstream radio. I hope you like them as much as we do.
First up is a track from a band call Bright Eyes. It comes from their 2005 album 'I'm Wide Awake, It's Morning'. It's called 'First Day of My Life'. It's a very sweet and innocent song, but I especially like the video. It was directed by John Cameron Mitchell, director of 'Hedwig and the Angry Inch', and most recently, 'Rabbit Hole'. The people in the video are real people, listening to the song for the first time:
Speaking of John Cameron Mitchell, as I said, he directed the 2001 film adaptation of the off Broadway show, 'Hedwig and the Angry Inch', in which he also starred as Hedwig. The soundtrack has a beautiful song explaining the origins of the human race, the males and females of the species, and love. It's called 'The Origin of Love':
Next up are two songs from my favorite modern singer songwriter, Joshua Radin. Without knowing it, you have probably heard some of his music before. In the last 5 years, his songs have been featured on over 75 television episodes, ranging from 'Grey's Anatomy' to 'The Bachelorette'. He is a friend of 'Scrubs' star Zach Braff. One day in 2004, Braff brought in a copy of one of his songs into the studio in the hopes of getting it played on an episode. The rest, as they say, is history. In early 2008, Ellen Degeneres was at a party at Braff's home and mentioned that she was still looking for someone to play for her and Portia de Rossi at their wedding later that year. Ellen was introduced to Radin, who played the following song for her on the spot. That song later became their wedding song. That song, called 'Today' is on Joshua Radin's 2006 album 'We Were Here'.
My favorite Joshua Radin song is actually a cover of a song originally performed by Yazoo called 'Only You', back in the 80s. In the 90s, Erasure covered it with moderate success. This version, in my opinion, is much better than the original. It's also found on his 2006 album 'We Were Here'. Enjoy:
Finally, when the word "punk" is mentioned, "love song" aren't the next two words to immediately follow in your mind. I can't think of a large number of punk bands that have released a love song as a single. And, depending on who you ask, Green Day has strayed from their punk roots too much to truly be considered "punk" nowadays. Nevertheless, one of my all time faves is a track from their 1997 album, 'Nimrod'. It's a love letter of sorts from lead singer, Billy Joe Armstrong, to his wife, Adrienne. They were at a point in their marriage where they were constantly arguing. "I love you" was being said merely out of routine. But, looking at the relationship, two things stood out. 1.) The pattern that they had fallen into as a couple, and 2.) that he still felt passionately about his wife. This is 'Redundant':
Hope you liked my suggestions. Thanks for listening. Happy Valentine's Day.
Friday, October 1, 2010
Ellen Speaks Out For Trevor Project
Again, you can place a $5 donation to The Trevor Project directly from your cell phone. TEXT "TREVOR" TO 85944 to donate.
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