I wanna put on my my my my my boogie shoes...

DISCO night on Idol...  overall really good performances (with the exception of Lil')

Loved Adam, Kris, and really enjoyed Allison too.

Here they are if you missed them...

I've actually been working on a wonderful DISCO show for Busch Gardens Tampa called DANCE TO THE MUSIC.  The show opens next Wednesday!!!  I helped create it (which has been awesome!!!) and am doing vocal direction for it!!  I'll talk more about this next week.  Needless to say, there's been a LOT of disco music in my life lately.  I feel I could "boogie oogie oogie til you just can't boogie no more!"

So in honor of that new show and Idol Disco night, here are 3 really cool covers of Gloria Gaynor's hit I WILL SURVIVE.

The first is a very popular one by the group CAKE.

Check it out on itunes here.

The second is by cabaret artist Colleen McHugh.  

Very funny interpretation.  Check out I WILL SURVIVE from her live album SONGS OF SELF-DELUSION on itunes.

Finally, here are the wonderful PUPPINI SISTERS with a lovely version.  (The youtube clip cuts out halfway through the number)



Download their cover here. Also, check out my past post on these fabulous ladies.

Hey Paula!

Great episode of Idol tonight.  Overall I enjoyed all the performances.  Adam never ceases to amaze me.  BORN TO BE WILD was wonderful.  This guy has vocal chords of steel!!

I also was so thrilled to see Kris Allen sing FALLING SLOWLY from one of my favorite movies of all time... ONCE!

I definitely think Paula does her homework after she sees the dress rehearsal to come up with quotes and phrases she wants to use.  Actually, I think she has a quote book and takes bits of overused phrases and puts them together to come up with a new phrase that has nothing to do with the situation.

Tonight she told Adam... he "dares to dance in the path of greatness," and that "fortune rewards the brave!"

Here's a great brief montage of Paula and Whitney Houston from their past shows on Bravo!

It's a Mad Mad Mad MAD WORLD

I was absolutely overwhelmed by Adam's performance of MAD WORLD on Idol this week.   Originally performed by Tears for Fears, I first heard the song by Gary Jules as a cover featured in the movie DONNIE DARKO.  His version became a number one hit in the UK in 2003. 

Here is the Gary Jules version.

Gary heard Adam's version as was very pleased.   He said that he was in the other room when the song came on.

"I ran out and I was like, `I knew he was gonna do it! I knew it!' " he recalls. "I've been waiting for years for somebody to do it. I thought David Cook was gonna do it last year for sure. ... As soon as I saw that guy Adam on `American Idol,' I was like, 'Oooh, this could be it.' "

Jules, 40, thinks Lambert put a signature spin on his cover-of-a-cover.

"It was fantastic," he says. "He has a beautiful voice. ... I heard his Michael Jackson cover and I heard some of his other stuff, and I think that he's probably one of the most — if not the most — interesting performer I've ever seen on `American Idol.'"

Personally, I loved everything about this performance.  The lyrics of the song speak of the feeling of alienation.  His performance reflected this beautifully.  The gorgeous lighting (which I have a feeling he had a say in) was the icing on the cake.  Adam is a true artist.

Here it is...

Here are the links to download the video performance and the studio version. 

...and if you haven't seen it, check out DONNIE DARKO.  The original theatrical version and a director's cut are both available on dvd, and both are on the same blu-ray disc.  The director's cut makes the plot more easy to understand, but I kind of like the ambiguity of the original.  On the original dvd there are some great deleted scenes that add richness to the plot, but I feel the newer version doesn't allow the viewers to make some decisions for themselves.  Either way, really great movie.  Amazing performances by Jake Gyllenhaal, his sister Maggie, and the wonderful Mary McDonnell as Donnie's mother. Definitely one of my favorite movies.  It's one of those films that will stick with you long after you see it.  There is also an amazing website to go along with the film.

Here is the trailer.

Hitsville

Motown night on American Idol was really good tonight.  Adam Lambert did an amazing rendition of TRACKS OF MY TEARS.  

They announced on the show tonight that the versions on itunes this week would be to the original instrumentations.  Isn't that basically Karaoke?  If this is true, I will be very disappointed because I would love to hear a studio version of Adam doing that song.  

Each week itunes offers extended studio versions of the songs as well as videos of the show performances.  I usually really dig them.  It's very interesting to hear what each performer sounds like in the studio.  Sometimes you love a number on the show and then when you hear the studio cut, there is no magic.  Other times it's the complete opposite.

You CAN also download free mp3's of the live versions (including Adam's from last night) on the blog www.rickey.org.  Many times they often are posted the same night of the show. 

A few years back a MOTOWN REMIXED album was released.  A second volume followed.  The results were varied, but I really dig DJ Smash's remix of Stevie Wonder's SIGNED, SEALED, DELIVERED, I'M YOURS.  It's got a great groove and really show's off Stevie's voice (which is not always the case with remix albums.) 

Check it out...

Here is a video about the remix album.

can't BEAT IT!

Here is the best performance from this week's AMERICAN IDOL.  The theme was "The Music of Michael Jackson."

Adam Lambert rockin' BLACK OR WHITE!  This guy is amazing!!

Here is a cool "non-idol" cover of Michael Jackson.  HEATH BRANDON singing BILLIE JEAN!  

One final very different MJ cover...

Steve Lawrence (HUGE HUGE musical hero to me) of Steve and Eydie fame, crooning his way through SHE'S OUT OF MY LIFE.  Definitely not his best work, but this version makes me smile.  He is SO smooth.  Much more on Steve and Eydie in a future post.  Check out his cover here!