Idol Musings

I was totally suprised last week by the double elimination,but Im glad we got all of the bad ones out of the way.You had the r and B wannabe and the R and B should be who did everything but....lol. Now its time for the true talent of the competition to shine.On tonight's American Idol, the top five finalists sang the standards of the Rat Pack era (think Vegas, the sixties, Frank Sinatra, Sammy Davis Jr and Dean Martin).

Jamie Foxx was the mentor this week.

Kris Allen was up first and sang The way you look tonight. I cant beleive Im saying this, but I think I agree with Simon when he made the comment that he sounded "wet"

Allison Iraheta sang, "Someone to Watch Over Me" and did pretty well. Once again, I agree with Simon when he says she lacks the confidence to win the compitiion. I am having my doubts as to whether she will make it to top 2........top three is really pushing it, but we shall see. My opinion is starting to change about her.

Matt Giraud did "My Funny Valentine" , and sung it really low,too low if you ask me.Judges loved it though, and Simon called it brilliant. I still think as far as genuine talent goes,he by far has it. He has God given talent, and unlike Adam,it didnt come with years and years of practice, it really just kindve comes naturally to him

Danny Gokey performed, "Come Rain or Come Shine" and it was ok. Simon thought it was great. If he wants to make it to final 2, he needs to do better than that

Adam Lambert sang, "Feeling Good" with his usual excellent vocals,but needs to cool it with the theatrics.People are getting really sick of it. I want to see something more toned down,perhaps a love song of some sort.

My pics for bottom three this week are Kris, matt, and Allison, with Kris going home,but you never know what suprises may happen.We shall see.

Dove Awards

Tonight I am watching the Dove awards, and I am going to play online correspondent....lol. The hour kicks off, with some of the worlds greatest artists doing a "what gospel is" montage. They then give the stage to Kiera Sheard with starts the singing off with her song "Invisible. She then introduces Mary Mary, and they sing a song. i think the name of it is Get up.Then Martha Munizzi and her sister present the award for male vocalist of the year. the nominees are as follows: Jeremy Camp,Jon Foreman, Ernie Haase, Brandon heath, David Phelps,Marvin Sapp, and Chris Tomlin. The winner is ....................BRANDON HEATH.
Next they go backstage to backstage correspondents Lisa Kimmey and rebecca St James,who interview Toby Mac. Followed by Third day with a performance of revelation.
Commercial
interview with Brandon heath. says he was making sure his legs were moving and accepted this award for all the other talented nominees.

Group of the Year:
Nominees are: Casting Crowns, David Crowder band, Ernie Haase and sig sound, mary mary,Mercy Me, Skillet, Third day. And the dove award goes to..............CASTING CROWNS
such and amazing honor,What he loves about Christian Music is that it doesnt point to itself, but points to something much bigger.
Donnie McClurkin takes the stage introduces Remedy Drive. I am not sure what song this is, but I wish they would have sang All Along. This song is terrible........lol*Its called daylight*

Donnie then introduces Francesca Battistelli, she sings Free to Be Me. I like her.
These are all montages by the way, not the full version, which I was thankful for.....lol
Donnie then introduces Chris Sligh who sings, what else, Empty Me. Go Chris!!!!!!!

Donnie then introduces Jonathan Nelson, who won three stellar awards this year. I have never heard of him. Donnie likes him....lol. Got a woot out of him.
Donnie then introduces Tenth Avenue North, I love these guys. They sing By Your Side
Donnie then introduces Addison Road,Im not sure if they are singing cause Jenny just had her baby like last week.
Back to Rebecca St James who is asking people to vote............. I did my voting earlier today, voted for Addison Road, Third Day,and some others who i cant remember.

COMMERCIAL BREAK
Can i just say i love the gospel music channel commercials, I dont have to worry about sending my daughter out of the room, or switching the channel....lol

We're back with another advertisement for the American Bible Study.
Isaiah Thomas and Fireflight take the stage: nominees for urban recorded song of the year. Declaration KF ,get Up Mary mary, Love him Like I do, Detrick Haddon with Reuben Studdard, No Looking back, Not a slave, JR Courtney Peoples. and the award goes to................. MARY MARY GET UP

Chris Tomlin takes the stage. Its estimated that 44 million people sing his songs per week. He sings I Will Rise. Wow, he sounds amazing live, I have never heard him live.Wow, the whole atmosphere just changed. What a treat. I wish they wouldnt have shortened it.

Lisa kimmey asking people to vote again

COMMERCIAL BREAK

backstage interview with Mary Mary.. talk about their song

Tye Tribbit, December radio and Canton Jones to present the female vocalist of the year award. The guys joke that they got all men to announce the award, and said they were going to go watch a LifeTime movie afterward.....lol. the nominees are: Francesca Battistelli, Brooke Fraser, Karen Peck Gooch, natalie Grant, Mandisa, Sandi Patti, Laura Story....and the dove goes to................NATALIE GRANT. She encourages those who are pursuing music not to give up and to keep blooming where they are planted.


Mark harris, Marty McGeehee, and wayne watson take the stage. announce this years receipient of the GMA gospel change award. They present this award to Jars Of Clay, for the work they have done with the wells in Africa.
David Pop Winans was recognized, he passed away earlier this year,father of BeBe and CeCe.
GMA inductees were announced for the year, and these included Dixie Hummingbirds,Larry Goss,Dr Bobby Jones,Dolly Parton, Michael W Smith.
They also recognize 39 dove awards, 9 grammy winner Sandi Patty, who takes the stage and sings We Shall behold Him.
She speaks and acknowledges Dottie Rambo.They do a Dottie Rambo song montage by various artists. One of them includes her family members, daughter, son in law, and granddaughter. They sing mama is teaching angels how to sing. It was pretty.

COMMERCIAL BREAK

Brandon Heath sings Give Me Your Eyes , with some really funky dancers in the background. Oh wait a minute, those are the characters in his song, thats pretty cool.

China and vaghn take the stage, with Toby Mac to present the song of the year. You may remember Chynna Phillips from the group Wilson Phillips(I am really showing my age now....lol) She is in a duo now with this other chick. The nominees are as follows: Amazing grace, my chains are gone Chris Tomlin, Cinderella Stephen Curtis Chapman, Empty Me Chris Sligh,Give me your Eyes Brandon Heath, I will not Be Moved Natalie Grant, Im Letting Go Francesca battistelli, Mighty To Save Ben Fielder(my favorite pic), Never Going back to Ok The Afters, Reason Enough Ernie Haase, You reign, Mercy Me and the dove goes to.....................GIVE ME YOUR EYES Brandon Heath What? You cant be serious.............. another award. Wow,what a good year he has had.He lets his songwriter speak........

COMMERCIAL BREAK


Award for new artist of the year, Jeremy Camp and the Afters,introduce the superfan..Alicia Nelson. nominnees are: Addison Road, Francesca B, Fee, Jonathan Nelson, Remedy Drive, Chris Sligh, Tenth Avenue North..........and the award goes to................TENTH AVENUE NORTH. Sweet!!!! They were toatally not expecting it.

Jars of Clay takes the stage,introduces Natalie Grant and she sings. I dont recognize the song,but then again Im not a huge natalie fan...............wow, she is really wailing...............gets a standing ovation

COMMERCIAL BREAK

DARN, MY SATELLITE JUST WENT OUT, iM NOT SURE WHAT THE DEAL IS..............

Ok, we are back, they are backstage with natalie grant
AJ Stiles and Grits take the stage........... present the short form video daylight,Fan mail Kj 52, in the valley of the Dying Son, Groovin, Slo w Fade, SLOW FADE BY THE CRASTING COWNS(lol, that was funny, he mispronounced it) Grits makes a shout out to Obama.

Miss California takes center,she gets a standing ovation, not sure why. Presents Mercy Me and they sing a montage of thier songs:I Can Only Imagine, Home.

Sinbad takes center stage,they forget to turn on his mic.....lol
Michael W Smith comes on and presents Steven Curtis Chapman, who sings Cinderella who dedicates it to his late daughter Maria Sue(getting teary). She died last year,for those that didnt know. Got ran over :-(
He gets a standing ovation
COMMERICAL BREAK
SHOUT OUT TO fAIRFIELD iNN AND MOUNTAIN vALLEY WATER

backstage with Lisa and rebecca
artist of the year award presented by Willism Baldwin and Kirk Franklin. William jokes that he is the white sheep of the family,kirk asks what does that make him......lol Casting crowns, Stephen Curtis chapman, Fireflight,marvin sapp, Third day, Toby Mac, Chris Tomlin.........and the dove award goes to Stephen Curtis Chapman. he comes on stage with his wife. He talks about hope and how that has gotten him through this year. Hope makes us bold,Jesus is coming, he cant come soon enough.

Brinign it to the close, the blind boys of Alabama with mac Powell(what a combination.....lol)

Overall, Id have to agree with the Tenth Avenue North Choice, and SCC, but not the others.


and thats a wrap

Uncle Sam you can..............

Im going to be nice and not finish that sentence.........its ok, Im human.So, tomorrow is April 15th,otherwise known as tax deadline day in the United states. i dread this day to no end,which is why i am writing this blog, trying to avoid the inevitable. I hate having to give the government our hard earned money,knowing that it might go to support something I dont want our funds supporting like abortion,or redecorating the homeland security headquarters.That money that could go to something really important,like a car for me........ Its always a hard time of year, and i shed many many tears. Its espcially hard when i see others getting returns and stimulus's etc, when we get nothing,and probably make way less than these people do.Spending it on frivilous crap like Flatscreens and Nintendo Wiis, it just really makes me want to vomit. Its not fair, but as I always tell my daughter life isnt fair.....lol. Its a big shot in the foot, especially this year, all the economy stuff,etc.
Speaking of jobs and the economy, I have been looking for things to do online, and suprisingly I have found some interesting prospects,sadly i havent had much time to look into them,but I will let you know what comes of it..........much to my suprise, there are a ton of companies,well known ones at that, that offer work at home positions.
Not much else to write about. Happy April 15th everyone(not). Do me a favor. Or at least think about it. If you do receive a return,do something nice for someone else,buy them a coke, take them out to dinner. Dont use it all on yourself................remember what goes around comes around, if you spread a little kindness, it will come back to you.

An ode to easter candy

Because i am bored and have nothing else to do
I just wanted to give a shout out to my absoloutely favorite st( as my dd would say) easter candy in all the world............the ever popular, soo yummy and scrumdidlyuptious cadbury creme egg...........Easter would not be easter without this delectable treat filled with ooey gooey caramelly goodness . It would win an easter candy throwdown against peeps anyday. Who the heck would want to eat a neon chick with no flavor and no center, that is soo boring?lol

and while we are on the peeps topic, here are some pretty hilarious pics i found:
Theres Obi-Peep

Biker Peeps


and my absoloute favorite peeps photo of all time:

Until next year cadbury Egg................see you then

The orgins of Easter

Before i officially begin this blog, i just wanted to say I am soo happy megan went home. Yipeeeeee. Ok, enough of that. Who do i think will go home tonight? Well, probably Scott, but we'll see.I wrote this on Tuesday evening,but am just now posting it, so looks like i was right again....lol


So, this Sunday is Easter. For some of you, its the only day you go to church each year. Others will gather with family, hunt eggs,pay a visit to the Easter Bunny.Some will attend sunrise services, buy new church clothes(Ive got mine, and it is three sizes smaller than what i was wearing at the beginning of the year. Yipeeeeeee), and decorate eggs. After recently receiving some pretty harsh criticism from a few people about taking my daughter to an easter Egg Hunt, I decided to do my research. I have never researched Easter, its just something we, as a family have always done. I know whats its about,the resurrection of our Lord and savior. But still had so many questions......like why does the date always change? Well,The resurrection of our Lord and Savior has been celebrated since the discovery of the empty tomb. However, the “official” holiday was declared in 325 A.D. when Emperor Constantine convened the Council of Nicaea. At that time it was determined that the church would celebrate Easter on the first Sunday that occurs after the first full moon on or after the vernal equinox. This is why the actual date of Easter varies from late March to early April every year due to the variances in the timing of the full moon.
The name "Easter" derives from the pagan queen of heaven Ishtar or Astarte, also known by other names,depending on the region celebrating.Ishtar is the goddess of love, war, fertility, and sex. In the Babylonian pantheon, she "was the divine personification of the planet Venus".In every other language but English and German, the name Easter is derived from the Hebrew word pesach for 'he passed over. And what about "easter eggs"? Well, eggs represent fertility,new life, a new beginning.

Eggs are often identified with Easter. Long a symbol of fertility and immortality, the egg reminds Christians of the rock tomb from which Christ arose.

In medieval times, eggs were traditionally given to all servants at Easter. It is said that King Edward I of England (1307) distributed 450 boiled Easter eggs, dyed or covered with gold leaf, to members of the royal household.
Today, in most countries the eggs are stained with plain vegetable-dye colors. The Syrian and Greek faithful present each other with crimson eggs in honor of the blood of Christ.This is where we get dyeing eggs from,but as with all traditions,it has been changed to suit each individual, and now we dye them many colors. Belief among various groups of pagans was that at one time, a very large egg fell from heaven into the Euphrates River. Fishes then rolled it to the bank where doves rested themselves on the egg until it hatched. Inside was said to be the godess Venus (who was also referred in other pagan cultures by other names such as Astarte...). It was also believed that the egg served as an ark in the time of the Great Flood in which the human race was housed inside.The Egg Hunt is designed that who finds the egg/eggs has good luck/new life for the year. Not all cultures hide their eggs. Some give them as gifts and in some European nations they play a game called “egg dumping” where players hit each others eggs and whoever has the intact egg wins. This is also likely why we see bunnies around easter time as well, because they represent springtime and fertility and give birth in multiple numbers. The actual concept of the easter Bunny came from Germany.

The Easter bunny was introduced to American folklore by the German settlers who arrived in the Pennsylvania Dutch country during the 1700s.

The arrival of the "Oschter Haws" was considered "childhood's greatest pleasure" next to a visit from Christ-Kindel on Christmas Eve. The children believed that if they were good the "Oschter Haws" would lay a nest of colored eggs.
So, what do all of these things have to do with the true meaning of easter(or as i like to call it Resurrection Day)? Is there anyway to tie these things into that without taking away the real meaning? More importantly what is the real meaning? Its a serious question. A friend of mine drives a bus. Today,they all loaded up the bus, easter baskets in tow, and he asked them if they knew what it really meant. Only one little girl on the whole bus knew the answer. A recent poll indicates that only about 48 percent of our children know what the true meaning of Easter is.Easter is celebrated to mark the rebirth of Jesus Christ. Jesus was resurrected from the dead on this particular day. Jesus was crucified two days before Easter and that day was known as Good Friday. In these two days, Jesus went through hell and all the sins of mankind were washed away. He died for our sin, so we would not have to!!!
So, in all actuality,in my humblest opinion,and after my research Easter,I would have to say that yes, easter does tie into Jesus Christ's resurrection..Will I continue the traditions i have always done? the easter egg hunting,dyeing,etc? i guess that is all a matter of personal conviction. I see nothing wrong with it, as long as i can symbollically tie it into Jesus Christ's resurrection.I may just dye our eggs only red next year though. I think it is important to find a healthy balance somewhere. I think I am beginning to understand why some people dont celebrate holidays at all.....lol. Im only kidding of course. I leave you with the lyrics to this song, by one of my favorite artists, Mac Powell :
He was pierced for our transgressions
He was crushed for our sins
The punishment that brought us peace was upon Him
And by His wounds, by His wounds we are healed

He was pierced for our transgressions
He was crushed for our sins
The punishment that brought us peace was upon Him
And by His wounds, by His wounds we are healed

We are healed by Your sacrifice
And the life that You gave
We are healed for You paid the price
By Your grace we are saved
We are saved

He was pierced for our transgressions
And crushed for our sins
The punishment that brought us peace was upon Him
And by His wounds, by His wounds we are healed

We are healed by Your sacrifice
And the life that You gave
We are healed for You paid the price
By Your grace we are saved
We are saved

He was pierced for our transgressions
He was crushed for our sins
The punishment that brought us peace was upon Him
And by His wounds, by His wounds we are healed
And by His wounds, by His wounds

What can wash away my sin?
Nothing but the blood of Jesus

More Idol Thoughts

So, last week we said goodbye to Michael Sarver. I really thought, based on his last performance alone, that they should have saved him. I wasnt able to watch last weeks performances,so I dont know whether to agree with America or not.
So heres a recap of last night. i will start with who i think did the worst, and who i thought did the best. Worst, hands down was Anoop. I am soo not feeling the whole R and B thing with him, he seems more Clay aikenish to me. He totally butchered that Usher song, and came across as a wannabe.Totally agree with Simons comment. There seems to be alot of that going around. He looked stiff and a little constipated the whole time....lol. I dont think he will go home tonight, however, because he has a pretty huge fan base.
The best performance of the evening was a tie between Danny and Scott. Danny did an amazing job with what hurts the most by Rascal Flatts. he really captivated the audience,and almost brought me to tears. it was soo hearrtfelt, you could feel the emotion, and really tell that he was putting his whole self into that song. I have to admit, i have been a fan of scotts, but not of his vocals,probably because he is blind, for the most part, but last night his vocals and his ability really shone through with Billy Joel's Just the way you are.
And then we have the rest of them, dear Megan Joy who sang yet another older song. She could have picked anything, and she chose Turn your lights down low,which is a Bob Marley song. Boo!!!!!!!! I like her voice, but her song selections are going to be the death of her.I dont think a stool is her problem, paula. Although, maybe it would keep her from doing that stupid dance that she does.Please go home, Ryder needs you.Song selection seemed to be the downfall of most of the contestants,with the exception of Allison and Kris. Allison just didnt have a great night, and the clothes were very distracting. I love No Doubts Dont speak, and she did a good job, it just wasnt her best. Lil should have done an R and B song, instead she chose a Celine Dion song................she gets points from me because her daughter went up and hugged randy, that was just precious. I think her daughter may have kept her there another week. Which brings me to Matt. I really like him. I should have voted for him. he messed up one of my favorite songs,once again, not sticking to his own personal style,trying to please the judges,etc.At this point, i dont think he has a big enough fan base to keep him around.
Bottom three tonight: Matt, Megan Joy,and megan Joy(oh, wait a minute....lol). I predict Matt will go home,we'll see..........
I probably wont have anymore idol thoughts for awhile,because my Tuesday evenings are going to be occupied, but we will see. If Rachel had her way, this is how the rest of the season would go:
9. Megan Joy
8. Anoop Desai
7.Lil
6.Scott MacIntyre
5.Matt Jiraud
4.Kris Allen
3.Adama lambert(hmm, was that a typo?)
2.Allison Iraheta
1.Danny Gokey