American Idol - guys last chance to make the Top 12

This was it, the guys last chance to make the Top 12. Who would sink? Who would swim?

Lee Dewyze opened the show and he did Owl City's "Fireflies"? Not exactly a song that showcases vocals and even though he tried to make it a little more rock, there wasn't much he could do with it.

Alex Lambert was up next and this kid has grown in the past few weeks like no one else. There is a special tone and quality to his voice that is way beyond his years. If he can just get his experience and performing to match, watch out! Very good vocal performance.

Tim Urban came next and he did Jeff Buckley's "Hallelujah". I love this song and I was scared he was going to butcher it but he nailed it and had his best performance of the season!

Andrew Garcia was up next and he continues to disappoint with his song choice and vocal performance, this time doing Christina's "Genie in a bottle"? Really? When I heard he was going to do Christina before they went to commercial, I was hoping he'd do "Beautiful" or "The Voice Within", never did I think he would do "Genie in a bottle"! Not good.

Casey James was next and he did a decent performance of Keith Urban's "You'll think of me". I'm a big Keith Urban fan and he did the song justice somewhat.

Aaron Kelly had a pitchy performance of LoneStar's "I'm already there". Kara got on him for not being able to live those lyrics and Simon finally had to stop Kara from saying this to the contestants to which I agree. You don't always have to have lived your lyrics to be able to sing them. As Aaron defended himself, yes... you can sing the song as a story with you being the storyteller. Good for Aaron and good for Simon for hopefully putting an end to Kara's misguided rants about that. Simon was in a particularly positive and helpful critiquing mood. Nice to finally see one night of that from him! Could it be he's happier now with his recently announced engagement? Could it be that Jay Leno chastised him the other night for being so mean to the contestants, using Simon's harsh critique of Haeley Vaughn for reference? Simon even admitted to Leno that he watches the show later and wishes he could take back things he said. Could it be he's just trying to be nicer to get audiences to like him more and watch his X Factor show? Or maybe it was just an aberration for the night, a temporary night of saneness for Simon? LOL! Nonetheless, it was real nice to see.

Todrick Hall did Queen's "Somebody to love" and being a big Queen fan, I was hoping he wouldn't butcher the song and he didn't. It wasn't great but at least he performed to the song and gave it energy. Nice to see on a show where everyone was a bit boring.

Michael Lynche finished the show with a very good vocal performance that brought Kara to tears?!

If I have to pick 2 to go home, I would say the 2 that would go home are Todrick Hall and Andrew Garcia.

American Idol - girls last chance to make the Top 12

Big night for the final 8 girls. This is the make it night for 6, break it night for 2. Who will be the 2?

Katie Stevens went first and did Kelly Clarkson's "Breakaway". Why take on Kelly Clarkson with everything on the line? She listened to the judges who wanted her to do something younger and more current. She did that but then they felt like they still don't know what type of artist she wants to be? This is a singing show and we find that along the way. You can't ask that question at this point and then throw theme nights at them that have nothing to do with the artists they are going to be. Regardless, her vocals weren't on point and she seemed to be thinking too much up there instead of just letting loose with the vocals as she needed to.

Still loving Siobhan Magnus! I just love her style, quirkiness, stage presence and those vocals of hers are outstanding. She can make it to the end and has the cute type of personality that could make her very popular. Watch out for her!

Lacey Brown's performance was very good and she definitely brought her best yesterday. She may have just put herself into the top 12.

Katelyn Epperly did Carole King's "I feel the Earth move" while playing behind a small synth piano on stage and I agree with the judges that it seemed like she was playing at a party instead of singing to get into the top 12. Weird choice of song too.

Didi Benami was back last night! I liked her emotional singing and what she did with the song although it was rather slow paced. Too many ballads tonight!

Paige Miles did "Smile" and it did sound as if she was having a hard time with it. We found out that she was rather emotional singing that song since she's such a big MJ fan. I can understand that since that was MJ's favorite song. I still think she sounded ok and not as bad as the judges made it out to sound.

Crystal Bowersox rocked Tracy Chapman's "Give me one reason". Her vocals were so clear and strong. Loved it.

Lilly Scott ended the show with a weird song choice of a Patsy Cline song and I just don't see how that played into showing what type of artist she is going to be (the judges theme of the night). She sang it well but I just didn't get it. Simon thought it was a weird choice especially on a night where she needed to bring it.

I think the girls overall were very solid with some really good performances. If I had to pick out 2 to go home, I would say that Paige Miles is one and the other would be from Katie Stevens, Katelyn Epperly or Lacey Brown (though I think Lacey is safe). Let's see what the guys bring tonight. Hopefully its more than they've brought the past 2 weeks.a

American Idol - 4 more go home

Well, last night we saw 4 more go home - John Park who went out with a great attitude and with much better vocals than Tim Urban who survived another elimination night.

Jermaine Sellers was sent packing as I figured he would be with his mouthiness and over-confidence. He talks a good game about being humble but doesn't follow it through. Hopefully this teaches him something as he has talent but needs to bring down the ego down a bunch of notches.

Michelle Delamour went home. I was going to say that I thought she should go home but I thought that she would get by on image and on the judges recommendations. I'm glad America saw through the judges and made their vote known. Michelle is good but not as good as others. I think we'll hear more from her in the future.

Then there was the emotional elimination of Haeley Vaughn. Could that have been any harder to sing the lyrics of "The Climb" while being eliminated? Poor girl. She seemed to be really loved by the other contestants as they all were very emotional with her elimination. How could you not like Haeley and her perpetual smile? I wish she lived closer to NY to be signed to my label! I wish her the best. I hope she gets teh vocal training she needs and we get to see her again.

American Idol - the top 10 girls are back!

Was looking forward to the show last night. Was expecting the girls to really be on their game and I wasn't disappointed. I was following the Crystal Bowersox through Ryan's twitter and was hoping that she would be there and not be disqualified because of her health issue. From what I read, there was an online article speculating that Crystal's health problem was related to her diabetes which she's been hospitalized for in the past and which she's suffered from since age 6. I was real happy to see that she was there!

Crystal went first and though she looked tired, her voice sounded great. I was very impressed that she could sound like that having spent the day before in the hospital and obviously having at least one less practice than the other girls did. But this girl is a true artist and she was confident and prepared. Simon was very impressed.

Haeley Vaughn went next and I thought she sounded good, although her lisp was interfering with the clearness of certain notes. I liked the way she did embellishments and ad libs to Miley's "The Climb" and I found it a very current song for her. The judges however didn't like it finding it pitchy (the lisp thing), her not connecting with the song(?!) and that she still needs vocal training (I agree). Simon of course had to pile on and be stupid after starting off his critique by saying he didn't want to make it worse. Guess its hard for rudeness to control itself. :/

Lacey Brown was next and she took Kara's advice to do Sixpence None the Richer's "Kiss me" and as soon as I heard Lacey singing it I thought it was a bad choice. When did the judges suddenly get into giving the contestants songs to do at this early part of the show? She sounded decent but IMO, the song did nothing for Lacey and I found that she imitated it too much. I hope Lacey can get it together next week, if she makes it.

Katie Stevens sounded solid although I found the arrangement and her singing rather boring for the first part of the song. She has a much better voice than that. The judges expressed the same frustation with her.

Didi Benami did "Lean on me"? Why? This girl has it all, the looks, the voice and performing skill but she makes bad song choices for her voice. She sang it well but it certainly wasn't anything to write home about. Hopefully she also can get it together if she gets a chance to come back next week.

Michelle Delamor was next and she decided that she was going to do a Creed song?! I didn't like the arrangement at all. She sang it well and Kara said she loved and bought it. Simon said he liked it too. I think he just sees her look and thinks Leona Lewis 2.0 and that she'll be a good looking singer for the show but I just don't see her voice being in that league. She was my least favorite performance of the night.

Lilly Scott is flat out cool. Love her vibe, love her look, love her vocals. She definitely has that IT factor. Kara made an interesting point about her (which can apply to Crystal Bowersox as well) that she can be a game-changer as to the type of artists (indie style singer-songwriters) that would consider auditioning for Idol in the future based on the opportunity she is opening for them with her good performances that are making the judges rave about her.

Katelyn Epperly did Coldplay's "The Scientist" on piano and sounded real good despite the extra slow arrangement that the judges weren't too crazy about, they did like her vocals though.

Paige Miles did a really cool version of Kelly Clarkson's "Walk away". Her vocals were good although some of the higher notes thinned out. Ellen loved it but Simon didn't.

Siobhan Magnus! I love this girl! I love her quirkiness, her down to earth attitude and this girl can sing!! She's fearless too! Took on an Aretha song and rocked it out and hit an amazing high note that was a great last impression to end the show.

The girls rocked it out last night. They definitely showed that they were back and ready this time. Good show! Too bad, the girls can't take up some of the guys spots as the guys may have a hard time finding 6 good singers to make the Top 12 the way they are going.

Hard to pick 2 to go home from last night but since 2 will go home, I will say that Haeley Vaughn and Lacey Brown will go home, with Didi also in danger :(

American Idol - the Top 10 guys sing

Its that time of the week, AI! Tonight, we were expecting the top 10 girls and we were thrown a curveball when the show opened with the guys standing before us! Wasn't expecting that! If I would've gone on Twitter (www.twitter.com/mariomelrockero) earlier today, I would've seen that Ryan (who I follow) had given a heads up about the guys singing tonight in one of his tweets because Crystal Bowersox had to be taken to the hospital earlier in the day and couldn't perform :( OK, so the guys got a curveball thrown at them, I wanted to see how they responded and if any of them could hit it out of the park. While no one hit it out of the park, there were definitely some line drives in the right direction and definitely a different ballgame from last week. Sorry for all the baseball references, just excited about baseball season finally getting underway in spring training. Let's go Mets! Yeah, Mets! I know, I know but I'm a diehard Mets fan so gotta root for them! :)

The show started with Michael Lynche who did a solid version of a James Brown song.

John Park was next and he was much better than last week. Solid performance. Simon said it was forgettable but compared to some of the performances tonight, John's was very solid in comparison.

Casey James went up next and did a Gavin Degraw song while he played some electric guitar which was cool. I do have to agree with Ellen though that he sings very stiffly and at times looks awkward up there for some reason.

Alex Lambert was up next and his video package showed us that he's just a scared kid up there because of his lack of experience. That's important for the viewers to know. A lot of this season's performers have little experience and it shows. Does that make the show better because its truer to its roots or should this show be for those ready to take that step to being signed? I go with the latter just because of the nature of what the show is geared to, to a record contract but it is cool to see singers with little experience getting this type of platform to show their stuff and grow. Alex certainly grew from his experience last week and showed much more confidence and a little more personality while singing. Could that have been because he had the security of singing from behind a guitar while seated? Could be. Regardless, he does have a real nice voice. He will learn a lot about performing and about himself from his time on the show.

Todrick Hall did yet another out there song choice and performance, this time with Tina Turner?! Is he that scared to do a guy's song? He mentioned not wanting to be compared to the original singers as his reason for his song choices but considering that he is a singer/dancer, I think he would best be suited trying to do songs from singer/performers like Usher, Neyo and even Michael Jackson although he is nowhere near their level. Maybe that's what holds him back. Nonetheless, it was another bad performance.

Same for Jermaine Sellers. While he does rocks the onezie as he put it and that was hilarious, his singing is all over the place and over the top. He's also very mouthy with the judges and seems very over-confident. Funny that he mentioned that's how its done in church since I read somewhere that he was on a BET channel reality show looking for gospel singers and didn't make it so it seems he doesn't have the singing thing quite as figured out as he thinks. Being an emotional type singer myself, I agree with Kara that he's picking good songs but killing them as he's just going off instead of focusing on the message of the lyrics and letting those emotions show.

Andrew Garcia has been a huge disappointment so far. Not a bad song choice but his voice sounded so thin singing it. No power, barely any emotion, no real charisma, where has Andrew gone? Where is the guy that dazzled with that amazing Paula Abdul rendition? He's gone from front-runner to also ran and I think he might not even make it with how he's going. Wherefore art thou Andrew?

Aaron Kelly just keeps doing solid performances. He's definitely a contender. With better song choices and a little more experience and confidence (which he'll get on the show), he can go far!

Tim Urban had a chance to make up for last week's mess and while he did sound slightly better, it was still a sub-par performance. He needs to find a groove for his voice. The judges like his look but get put off by his singing. Ellen once again offered her harshest criticism to him. Simon gave him a confidence boost by saying he disagreed with the other 3 judges and liked his voice. Nice touch by Simon.

Lee Dewyze went last and had an excellent song choice doing Hinder's "Lips of an angel". While he was a bit pitchy, doing rock is not about technique and he does rock well. Best singer of the night. Still needs to work on his performing though as he was called out on it and admitted that he wasn't as comfortable in front of a mic stand as he is singing from behind a guitar.

All in all, the guys were waaaaaaaaaaay better than last week. My choices for bottom 2 are Todrick Hall and Jermaine Sellers with Tim Urban also in the mix.

A bittersweet day

Feeling a bit melancholy and quiet today. One year ago was one of the proudest moments of my life (right up there with the births of my daughters and my wedding day). One year ago I got to bring my mom home after spending months in the hospital and physical therapy rehab to get her strength and health back. It was a proud moment for me to see her back in her own house and I'll always remember how appreciative she was for my having been there. 19 days later though she passed away and that's why this day is bittersweet. I'll always treasure the memory (and all the other memories as well of course!) and it will always bring a bittersweet smile to my heart.

American Idol - Top 24 eliminations

The night began with an over the top dramatic moment by Ryan letting us know that 4 would be going home. I was hoping that it wouldn't be any of my favorites but you never know with Idol. I must say though that we were so underwhelmed by the singing this week that we didn't vote not even once which is a rarity in our house.

Well, I was 1 for 4 and was not happy with America's voting! I think 2 of the eliminated contestants should've made it to see another week.

First up we had a final 2 in the first row of Janell Wheeler and Katie Stevens. I was shocked that Janell was even in the bottom 2, let alone eliminated. Sure, she did a weak version of the Heart song but she showed in Hollywood that she could sing. She just didn't bring it and it cost her. Sad to see her go. Haeley should've been in the bottom 2 but it looks like America likes her which is not a bad thing since I do too. Janell sang the Heart song as her swan song and sounded really good! Darn it! If only she had sounded like that on Tuesday!

Next up we got to see Allison Iraheta return and do her latest single "Scars". She looked and sounded great.

Back to the girls eliminations! Lacey makes it through?! OK. Ashley Rodriguez and Didi Benami in the final 2 for the bottom row? Didi? Really? She's one of the front-runners to get in IMO. Easy choice of who's going home and so it was Ashley who I had picked to go home, who indeed was going home. Once again, Ashley's facial expressions showed a non-friendly arrogance that probably hurt her the night before as well. Ashley still sounded average on her swan song.

We come back and now its the guys turn to face the dramatic Ryan eliminations. In the top row we got a final 2 of Tim Urban and Joe Munoz?! Joe certainly can't be going home so early especially being one of the more solid singers and one of the better performers of both nights? He gets sent home! America got it wrong! Tim Urban definitely got the sentimental vote due to the thrashing the judges gave him last night. I hope Joe can use this to move onto big things because he has the voice and performing skills to make it.

Next up we got to see the reigning Idol Champ Kris Allen come on to sing a very powerful version of "Let it be" while we saw video footage of his humanitarian trip to Haiti. This all spotlighted to me why Kris won AI in the first place as he's not only a nice guy but a former youth minister who also has done missionary trips. I'm glad we got to see this side of him because I think he's a great role model.

The last eliminations were up and the final 2 in the bottom row were Alex Lambert and Tyler Grady. Both have pros and cons so this was a toss up on where America would vote. I was still rather surprised to see Tyler go home as he does a certain rocker and fun vibe that I thought America would be interested in seeing a little more of. Instead they went with the rather bland Alex, although I think his time may come soon. I think the contestants will definitely miss Tyler's happy go lucky attitude.

All in all, last night's eliminations put all the singers on notice that anyone can go home and that they better step it up! First week jitters are out of the way and now they should settle into a routine of it all so hopefully next week's vocals are way better than this week. A lot of the singers were missing in action this week so hope to see them back next week.

American Idol - the Top 12 guys give it a go

Night 2 and tonight's its the Boys Night out. After the disappointment of Ladies Night, I was so looking forward to the guys taking the stage and letting America see that they were ready to give the girls a run for the Idol crown. However, after watching yet another frustrating night of not so good singing and performing, I'm wondering if there will be enough good singers to be voted into the Top 12! Bring back Taylor Hicks! At least, he knew how to pick a good song and make us feel good while we watched him. Hell, at this point even Sanjaya is looking like a good alternative! At least I liked Sanjaya and found him entertaining from early on.

The show got started with Todrick Hall who decided to try what the judges have asked for and do something risky. It sure was risky to do a Kelly Clarkson song! Then to do it the way he did it, Todrick Todrick Todrick. Sometimes the musical ideas we hear in our heads should stay there, on this I know. His version of the song would've been good to dance to (which is probably why he heard it the way he did since he's a dancer) but to sing and show off vocals, it wasn't all that great. The idea was good, again the execution was off. Simon's comments saying it was stupid was stupid. For the most part I found myself agreeing with Simon tonight (which is strange since I usually find myself thinking more along the lines of Randy) but he was way out of line with his comments to Todrick.

Aaron Kelly did a solid performance and I can see him easily making it in on the boy band look and young girls votes.

Jermaine Sellers' killed the Oleta Adams song and by killed I don't mean that in a good way. He oversang and tried to do too much with the song, instead of just attacking the emotions of the song with his voice. He just attacked. Not good.

Tim Urban's video was real nice. He seems like a real genuine nice guy and it was nice to see him get a second chance but he picked the wrong song and then made it worse by singing it badly. I really felt for him as he stood there taking all the slings and arrows from the judges. Even Ellen couldn't find something nice to say, saying that maybe if the viewers listen to him with the sound down he can get in on his looks - man, that's lowdown "E". Tim saying that he switched songs at the last minute was good to know but the damage is done, we can only judge and vote on what we hear.

Joe Munoz who we were barely shown at any point before, brought it and I liked his performing and vocals were nice and solid. He was the best of the night IMO.

That 70s show castoff Tyler Grady's performance was a bit too imitating of what he's seen in the past from his music Idols and his vocals were not very good. He has a lot of frontman potential if he can just match the vocals to the style.

Lee Dewyze seems like a real nice, humble guy and I liked his choice of a softer styled rockish song but when he went for the big voice, it killed the tenderness of the lyrics and I'm glad that the judges gave him good constructive criticism on what he should be doing because they like his voice and so do I.

John Park oversinging of "God bless the child" was just too much. He has a good voice but sometimes less is more especially for a song like this. He could find himself in big danger tonight. I'm glad that he got to explain why he picked the song though.

Michael Lynche picked a Maroon 5 song to do? M5 is cool and all that but its not exactly the best vocals to try to do or imitate. He gave it a funky, upbeat rendition but it just seemed too rushed to me. I wasn't crazy about his trying to be so chummy with the judges and I'm glad that Ellen put him in his place and told him to listen. She got him to listen. Good for Ellen!

I honestly don't have much to say about Alex Lambert's performance, it was a very forgettable performance. He reminds me of Rob Thomas in vocals and looks but he just looks so bored while singing that it turns me off and makes me tune him out. He was warned about that during Hollywood week, still has to pick it up in that department.

OMG with the Casey James stuff! It was funny at first but to do a whole skit on it while Casey was waiting for his critique was rather lame and childish the longer it went on. I guess the judges have to amuse themselves when the singers aren't doing it though. Casey's song choice was ok but the vocals could've been better. Nonetheless, it doesn't matter with Casey - this guy will go a long way with viewers with his looks.

After a long night of mediocre singing and performances I was sooooo looking forward to seeing Andrew Garcia who had done nothing but great performances in all that we were shown of him. He was to be the saving grace of the night and even left for last as to leave us viewers with a strong last impression of the guys and then he came out and did Fall Out Boy? Really? I couldn't believe what I was hearing was the same guy I proclaimed as one of the final 2 with Crystal Bowersox. That performance and his vocals for it were so disappointing. I think he'll be safe for now but he's got to get back to what made us all think he was a frontrunner.

I don't know where AI goes from here but if these singers don't get past their jitters and poor song choices then this may be a horrible season for AI. Has Paula put a jinx on AI? Something happened between Hollywood week and now to a lot of the singers, I hope they can find their magic and soon!

Hard to pick from so many mediocre performances last night but if I had to pick 2 to go home it would be Alex Lambert and Jermaine Sellers. I think Tim Urban will get a sympathy vote but he'll probably only get this 1 week pass from viewers. Should be an interesting elimination night.

American Idol - The Top 12 girls sing!

Finally, after weeks of auditions, guest judges and Hollywood week we get to voting for the singers that will grace our TVs for weeks to come before we crown the newest American Idol.

So last night we had the Top 12 females and we started off the show with a statement from Simon saying he thinks the winner will be a female. I agree. Was excited to hear the girls. Then they sang and I wasn't excited anymore and wasn't so sure a female would win this season after all, at least not based on first impressions.

Paige Williams went first and she obviously comes from the Christina Aguilera school of singing. While it works for Christina who has an absolutely amazing voice, it didn't work so well for Paige, especially considering the song she was singing, or should I say over-singing. She can sing though. Just need better song choices.

Ashley was next up and she went for a Leona Lewis song which would be smart if she did it and sang it well since Simon discovered Leona. To not do it that well in front of Simon though was very risky and while she gave a good performance, that's not what she needed to do with that song. I like Ashley but with every performance of hers I'm less impressed. She has to step it up.

Janell Wheeler was next and I was expecting big things from her but her performance of Heart's "What about love" was very weak and the song swallowed her up. Very bad song choice, one of the worst of the night.

I like Lilly Scott. I think she's got a way cool vibe and look but I really didn't like her song choice or coffee house performance. C'mon Lilly, you can do better than that!

Katelyn Epperly finally got the show back on track with a good performance. I didn't like her outfit though. Trying too hard.

I really like Haeley Vaughn and want to see her succeed but she may not be ready yet. Her concept of what she wanted to do with the Beatles song was good but the execution needed better planning. She was a little too all over the place with her vocals and her outfit was too cutesy. She has a lot of potential though.

I was pulling for Lacey Brown to make it after coming so close last season. I wanted the judges to know they made a mistake last season in taking Megan Joy over her and then she went and did a very all over the place version of Fleetwood Mac's "Landslide". It was the worst performance of the night. Such potential and she blew it. I think she'll be one of the girls going home on Thursday. :(

Michelle Delamor has the looks to be a pop star but then she goes and tries to tackle Alicia Keys' "Fallin" and tries to do it with a very thin voice. No no no! Another bad song choice, the night was full of them. The judges seemed to love her although I think it may be based more on image than vocals from what we heard last night.

I like Didi Benami and she gave a good performance though I would rather she had picked a better song to show her vocals than Ingrid Michaelson's "The way I am".

Siobhan Magnus was hardly shown to us before tonight but she can definitely sing, took on a challenge in doing Chris Isaak's "Wicked Game" and she has a good look as well. They mentioned she's a dark horse (which was cute and Kellie Picler-ish in that she didn't know what that meant) and I agree, the contestants better watch out for her.

I have already said that Crystal Bowersox would be in the final 2 and while she didn't do anything to discourage me from that prediction, I do now wonder if she truly gets what to do as they hit the show and they begin doing themes? She seemed to not understand some of the critique as it pertains to what she does but she also did seem to be all ears and open to it, so that's a good sign that could make her even more dangerous.

Last but certainly not least was Katie Stevens and while I agree that she chose an old fashioned sounding song that she probably wouldn't do on an album, she did show very good vocals. I'm a fan.

All in all, the girls didn't live up to expectations but I think they'll step it up having some jitters out of the way and some constructive criticism of what they should be doing.

My 2 that I think will go home are Ashley Rodriguez and Lacey Brown. Haeley Vaughn will also probably be in big danger of going home.

American Idol - the Top 24 revealed!

The show last night got right to business showing us the remaining contestants who did or didn't make it. For the most part I'm very pleased with the Top 24. Most of them were easy to pick out from the many contestants they showed us. They either had good/great voices, had that special IT factor or in some cases BOTH! This season's AI should be very competitive. Can't wait to hear the girls sing next week!

I was very happy to see Jannell Wheeler, Lacey Brown, Ashley Rodriguez, Krystal Bowersox, Lilly Scott, John Park, Haeley Vaughn and Andrew Garcia make it.

I was sad to see Nikki Nix and Tori Kelly not make it. Tori definitely has star power. It was very hard to see Angela Martin not make it. I loved how tender Kara was with her in giving her the news. I have become a big Kara fan. She's very cool. Anyway, I don't know why Angela didn't make it but there was news that her mom went missing back home while Angela was in Hollywood so maybe the judges felt that this could become a bigger situation and one that might even require Angela to drop out from the show later in the process? Like I said, I don't know - am just speculating as to why when she was so admired by the judges and the fans. I really hope that life gives her a break and some label comes calling her way. I wish that for a lot of these contestants as a matter of fact.

At the end of the show they showed us the Top 24 and I noticed that Chris Golightly had made it but he wasn't shown to us as making it in or as being shown in the introduction dance montage at the end of the show. This morning I read that he was dropped due to a contract dispute which is a shame. I was pulling for him but I don't understand singers/musicians who don't get the business side of things. You can't just go out there trying every which way to make it, there has to be a plan and once you sign into a contract then you have to be ready to honor it. Hopefully whatever contract he was already under brings him success. So, Chris was replaced by Tim Urban. I wonder who will replace Michael Lynche who supposedly is out? My money is on Thaddeus Brown who was the last male cut even though as the judges put it, he didn't do anything wrong. Just didn't have enough room for him and didn't think him better than the ones they picked. I think he'll be brought in as a replacement and that last cut drama that saw him inconsolable at not making the cut, might just be the ticket that gets him into the top 12 on a sentimental fan vote if he's in as a replacement.

As of now, as of this early moment my picks for the Top 2 to make it to the finale are Krystal Bowersox and Andrew Garcia. As of now, they just stand out and above everyone else in terms of vocals and that IT factor. Crazy things happen on AI though! Like I said, should be highly competitive!

American Idol - Hollywood week - the first 7 revealed

So, we finally got to see and meet the first 7 of the 24 that will move onto TV for our votes!

We were shown how grueling it was and its always interesting to see the timeline of how long the days/nights are that the contestants/judges/band go through. We also got to see a lot of the final auditions that would make or break some of the contestants.

The contestants were broken into the usual 3 rooms and while they tried to make it seem as if any of them might be in danger, it became pretty clear to me that Room 1 was full of locks to move on, Room 2 had singers we barely saw (except for Mary Powers who they kept showing us to throw us off) and wouldn't make it and that Room 3 was singers that made mistakes and were getting in on their overall Hollywood week.

From Room 2, I was sad to see Charity Vance go. She is really good and I'm not sure why she didn't make it. Lloyd Thomas is a good guy and there for the right reasons so I was sad to see him go as well. Hope Johnson has a lot of potential but needs work, hopefully she'll work on things and come back next season. Mary Powers was just over-confident. Her final audition was vocally strong but performance-wise was too arrogant and aggressive looking. That was something that the judges were clearly looking at as Ellen had previously called out a contestant on that.

I was happy to see a lot of the people from Room 3 make it - Shelby Dressel, Ashley Rodriguez, Jannell Wheeler, Lacey Brown, Angela Martin, Haeley Vaughn.

With the 2 rooms it got cut down to 46 contestants. From there they have to cut 22 contestants to get down to the top 24. The final verdict on whether they are in or not was to be made on the Americal Idol stage at the Kodak Theater?! Wow, there's all sorts of things cruel with that! To make it so far after months of anticipation and work and to make it onto the stage that could make your dreams come true only to be told on that very stage that you are going home before ever truly making it on there must be so crushing. Yea, its life. Its what the show is. But put yourself in those shoes of something you love with a passion and making it through all those challenges only to have it yanked away from you at the last moment? :(

I was happy to see Michael Lynche make it. Unfortunately I read in the TV Guide that he was ousted because his Dad broke the confidentiality agreement of the contract all contestants and their families must sign. What a way to lose out. Didi Benami and Casey James were easy locks IMO to get in, happy to see them in. Kara's leg kick when she hugged Casey was funny, funnier that Randy called her on it! I was really not happy to see Shelby Dressel cut. I felt bad for Jessica Furney, she tried to make her case but it was too late. Too bad. So close 2 years in a row.

That's all we got last night but tonight the complete 24 will be revealed. Can't wait!

The non-filtered mouth of John Mayer

Just read an article about the John Mayer controversy over his Playboy interview comments regarding his "hood" status and Jessica Simpson. I'm not a big John Mayer fan, I'm not even what I would call a casual fan of his but I do admire his guitar playing talent. However, what little I have heard about the guy is that he is a egotistical, boastful jerk. This is clearly seen in his Playboy interview. "Hood status"? LOL! Really John? I doubt you'd be recognized in the hood if you ever dared to venture there! Trying to sound cool for the sake of just trying to sound cool never works, don't you know that by now? It's not like it ever works for you. Then you go on and on about Jessica Simpson who didn't do anything to you other than care about you. From all I've ever heard, Jessica's only fault in the relationship as in her relationship with Tony Romo is that she's been too clingy and smothering. Not exactly a crime. This is a girl who cared about Mayer and he takes the opportunity to boast about how sexual she is and how he couldn't get enough. Really? Kissing and telling is not cool, no matter who you are. But with Mayer who doesn't seem to have a filter between his brain and mouth like the rest of us have, in his mind I think he thought he was complimenting Jessica. Instead this fool just setup a reputation for her that others will now try to exploit. Its hard enough for celebrities, especially female celebrities, to find people to trust enough to get into relationships with without this sort of bs being thrown in by some ex-lover. I don't know Jessica but from all I've read she is a sweet girl who has been really hurt by her past breakups and she really doesn't deserve to be talked about like that. No one does. As a casual fan of Jessica's, I've seen her grow up (just like Britney, Christina, Mandy, etc.) and it makes you somewhat protective of them as a fan and you want to see them be happy and normal. After all, they give us joy through their music so its logical to want them to be happy as well. I know a lot of people don't think that way but oh well. Anyway, I hope John realizes that he just didn't damage himself with his ignorant, run at the mouth comments. I see him apologizing profusely over his "hood status" comments but while serious, I see those as just plain ignorant whereas I see his comments about Jessica, very vile as this was a girl who loved him. Apologizing to the fans and realizing that you need to control your mouth and think before you speak is all good but I really hope that he apologizes to Jessica. Hopefully he already has. Hopefully he learns from this and realizes that its never cool to try to make yourself sound cool, leave that to other people to say or not say.

American Idol - Hollywood week (Solos and Group night)

We got Hollywood Week this week! We're almost to meeting the top 24! As expected, lots of ups and downs this week watching some favorites soar to the next round and others fail to make the cut. We also got to see a few new faces that impressed!

We finally got to see Ellen and as I expected (although I wasn't happy with her becoming a judge, she's grown on me through interviews and shown herself to be not only a fan of the show but of the contestants that go up there to be judged), she was prepared and taking it very seriously. It got on my nerves that a lot of times the contestants thought she was making jokes when she was being serious in giving critique.

From the solo auditions on night 1:

Katie Stevens really rocked it. Skiiboski didn't impress but you gotta love his confidence. Poor Vanessa Wolfe, her nerves and inexperience got to her. I'll miss her, really wanted her to make it further. Andrew Garcia just continues to impress, his interpretation of Paula's "Straight up" was great! I was sorry to see Maegan Wright go. Same for Amadeo. Jannell Wheeler sounded really good. Haley Vaughn did good which made me happy because I really want her to move on. Mary Powers sounded great. Lilly Scott has a very unique voice, really liked it! I liked watching Michael Lynche's saga as he did the auditions while going back and forth to the phone with his wife who went into labor! He had a nice groove to his song choice. Nice! Tim Urban moved on although I thought he only sounded decent with his David Cook song choice. Maddy Curtis had a real bad song choice. Sorry to see her go. Casey James had a rocking audition with his blues guitar. Very cool. Didi Benami had a great audition that I loved! Crystal Bowersox had a very good one as well and even had her fellow contestants helping her on the chorus! Very cool to see and hear.

So they whittled the contestants from 181 to 95 and we saw a lot of contestant's go and a lot of dreams dashed. :(

Next up we got the dreaded Group Night where its always drama with groups competing with each other and even fighting within their own groups. Well, this season was no different. Unfortunately, this is when we see the bad side of some of our favorites. Not my favorite segment of Hollywood week but its good for the judges to see who can work with others and how well and who is willing to put in the effort and time necessary to put on a good performance in a very strict and limited deadline.

Onto my group night thoughts:

I thought the standouts were Charity Vance, Tori Kelly, Jannell Wheeler, Casey James, Andrew Garcia and Katie Stevens.

I was happy to see the following move on to the next round - Ashley Rodriguez, Micheal Lynche, Hope Johnson.

I was sorry to see go - Seth Rollins (I thought he sounded good), Kimberly Kerbow and Mark Labriola who forgot the words to their songs, Matt Lawrence and Dave Pittman.

Next week is the last round and then the top 24! Ryan Seacrest has said on his twitter that next week's shows are the most intense and emotional Hollywood week episodes ever. Oh no! =(

American Idol Auditions - Denver and best of the rest!

Final week of auditions before Hollywood week!

This time they went to Denver and we got a return guest judge in Victoria Beckham who IMO is looking too thin! She would make a good permanent judge to replace Simon when he leaves at the end of this year. Under the original configuration we had the opinions of judges from the executive (Simon), performer (Paula) and producer (Randy) viewpoints. Then they added the songwriter (Kara) perspective. With Ellen coming on, they are replacing the performer POV with that of a fan which is cool as Paula did that too. I've heard names like Mottola, Iovine and even Jamie Foxx (?!) to replace Simon but I think Victoria would be a far better choice from what I have seen of her.

Anyway... back to the auditions!

First up was Mark Labriola who complained that he's always getting compared to Jack Black because of a very slight resemblance but then went and tried to act and talk like Jack Black! Doh! He had a decent although pitchy voice and made it to Hollywood.

Kimberly Kerbow had a very good look and a decent voice. She reminded me of a redheaded Hilary Duff (who my daughters love!).

Casey James had a cool look and voice but the judges thought his personality was rather bland. Uh, could he just have been nervous? Maybe!

Tori Kelly had a nice voice.

We moved on to Day 2 and we got to see a lovely video package of an arrogant and very full of himself Austin Paul who as expected was not as good as he seems to think he is. Nor did the judges like his attitude, they seemed to catch on pretty quick that he was just there to pump up his resume with the ladies and of course his already over-inflated ego.

Next up was Nicci Nix who has a way cool name, is a baby speaking girl who came from Italy for the audition and her voice was very good.

Haeley Vaughn is a black girl who wants to sing country pop which makes her very unique and she knows that would set her apart. I certainly would want someone like her and her attitude on my label! I really liked her. She had a very bubbly personality and nice voice.

The show ended with bikini boy Ty Hemmerling! Hilarious!

Night 2 of AI auditions was a look back at the auditions from all the cities they went to, to show us other contestants who made it (and those that didn't as well). There were some real good contestants!

First up we got Amanda Schectmman who had a nice look and voice but her pleading was a little too Tatiana-like for me.

Next up we got to see Lacey Brown who had come down to the last spot to make last season but lost out to Megan Joy. She has a real nice voice and really intense eyes. She knows what to expect and do in Hollywood so hopefully she makes it to the next part after Hollywood.

We only got to see the next 2 briefly. Rachel Hubbard had a real nice voice and look. Genesis Moore had a very nice voice.

Personal trainer Michael Lynche had a nice soulful voice.

We got to see a video package on Didi Benami who was doing the audition in her BFF's memory. Her BFF had passed away and she did a very passionate audition that connected with the judges, although Simon didn't seem too impressed for some reason. She has a very good voice and look.

Aaron Kelly had a good look and voice and seems like a real nice kid. He would make excellent boy band material and I think if he makes it past Hollywood then he'll make into the Top 12 because I know the young girls will burn up the phone lines to get him in. LOL!

Lastly, we got a video package on Hope Johnson who grew up very poor. She is very pretty and has a decent voice with an interesting tone.

That's it! Time for Hollywood week next week! Hollywood week is always hard because we get invested in a lot of the singers and their stories and the challenge of Hollywood week is how to stay focused. Some of these singers have never been out of their state or small towns and they get caught up in all the firsts that they are doing that it throws them off from their purpose to be there. Then there's always the group challenge that ruins a lot of contestants chances when they are paired up with people that they have nothing in common with or don't get along with. Its rough. I wish them all luck. Ellen has mentioned in interviews that since she wasn't at the auditions that she has studied hours of auditions to familiarize herself with the contestants and by the looks of the Hollywood week preview, Ellen will pull no punches and be a good fair judge. Next week should be good.

American Idol Auditions - Los Angeles and Dallas

Good week of auditions on AI and interesting casting of guest judges as well.

We started with seeing auditions from Los Angeles and day 1 was Avril Lavigne as guest judge. Avril did ok as judge. We didn't see her do much other than laugh at some of the auditions.

We got the circus going right away with super-sweaty contestant Neil Goldstein who seemed to sweat more and more right before our eyes! LOL! He also had this weird vibrato going on with his voice. Thankfully we won't be seeing him sweat in Hollywood.

Jim Ranger had a cool Kid Rock / southern rock vibe.

Next up we saw a video package on life-long martial artist (?!) Damien Lefavor who could neither sing or do martial arts. No wonder we saw Avril laughing so much!

We then saw rocker grrl Mary Powers who had a good voice and whose 8 year old daughter wanted to meet Simon. He was very cool to the little girl and made her day.

We got a video package of all the Adam Lambert inspired contestants. Then we got to meet AJ Mendoza who said he had sent a demo to Adam and that Adam only had good things to say about it. He then went and gave his best Adam Lambert impression. There's only one Adam and it would stay that way after that audition! LOL!

Day 2 was Katy Perry as guest judge. At first, she seemed like a good judge until they showed her bickering and being catty with Kara who is an actual judge on the show and has shown herself to be very knowledgable on what she's talking about.

Day 2 brought us some good contestants to watch and hear.

We got to see a video package on Andrew Garcia and then watched him sing. He had a very good voice, the best up to that point. He also sounded and reminded me visually of Danny Gokey. That's a good standard to be compared to!

Tasha Layton who is a minister by night had a good look and voice. Nice to see a lot of spiritual and genuine people trying out.

The show ended with foster child Chris Golightly who sang with great passion to his voice. I really connected with him and think he has a lot of potential. He reminded me of Justin Guarini in look and voice. Hopefully that's a good thing as I think Justin should've had a better career than he's had and better than a lot of the lucky ones that came after him with lesser talent that got farther in their careers because AI was a bigger show when they were on.

Night 2 of auditions brings us to Dallas and we got Neil Patrick Harris as a guest judge. Being a big "How I met your Mother" fan, it's cool to see Barney up there judging. Suit up!

Dallas brought a lot of good talent!

Lloyd Thomas had a nice voice and looks to be a great Dad. I can get behind that!

Kimberly Carver had a nice voice and I liked her bubbly personality.

Poor Dexter Ward was convinced he was the next American Idol but then tried to do a Shai song (which for those of you that don't know is one of the best accapella songs ever done IMO and considering it has amazing 4 part harmony, shouldn't be done by a solo singer), it just showed he was not close to being ready. Felt bad for him. He was devestated. :(

I know its the cool thing to sit and point at the singers who fail on this show but at the same time, these are kids/young adults who for the most part have a passion for singing and singing brings them joy. Its hard for me to see some of these singers go down in flames and to see their emotions well up as their dream is burst of not only making it to Hollywood but also a lot of times to even think that they can sing well. Its a cruel truth that sometimes needs to be said but sometimes a more tactful way should be used with some of the more passionate contestants that lack the talent to go further. But I know that won't make for good TV, now will it? :/

Up next, we got Erica Rhodes who we found it was on the kids show "Barney & Friends". As a Dad of 3 kids, I've seen my fair share of Barney and recall seeing her on the show and being on the show for a long while. Don't recall seeing Selena Gomez or Demi Lovato on Barney but I definitely remember seeing Erica. Anyhow, it was cool to see her still doing entertainment and singing. They had her sing the Barney "I love you" song and I thought she sang that better than the song she auditioned with. Again why do a song with 4 part harmony? In this case En Vogue's "Free your mind". I also didn't feel that she needed to wear the leather and whip getup to make an impression.

We got to see a video package on Dave Pittman and the challenges he faces with Tourrette's Syndrome. He had a great voice and Neil Patrick Harris broached the subject of him having Tourrette's syndrome to which Dave acknowledged it. Things like this are good to see because a lot of people think that Tourrette's is just random cursing, etc. and its good to show a more common face to the condition.

Onto Day 2 of the Dallas auditions and we get new guest judge Joe Jonas but unfortunately we got to see more of him in the video package of who he is and getting to the auditions. We barely saw him give input as well. He only got 20 minutes of TV time too. Weird.

Todrick Hall amused with a very funny original song that showed that he also had a real good voice to go along with his song-writing talent.

Maegan Wright had a real nice voice and tone.

Lastly, we got a video package on Christian Spear who had leukemia at age 4. Again, real nice to see a survivor's story and another story of inspiration. I know a lot of people just want to see the trainwrecks but in a time of recent news where we hear about wars, earthquake disasters and economy woes I would much rather hear stories of inspiration to get to know the singers that we might be listening to for the next few weeks/months than seeing some failed audition. Anyway, she had a nice voice. It's going to be hard to see a lot of these genuinely nice people not make it through Hollywood week.

American Idol Auditions - Chi-town and Orlando

So this week we got AI auditions from Chicago and Orlando and both towns hoped to have lots of promise, only turns out that Orlando lived up to some promise as Chicago hardly got any golden tickets to Hollywood which was surprising.

First up was Chicago and the guest judge was Shania Twain and she was very good as judge.

Chicago had an interesting mix of characters and the 2nd day of contestants was brutal in trying to find anyone to give a golden ticket to. Here are my contestants of note from Chicago:

First up was Katelyn Epperly who was there because her parents were divorcing? She said she had always felt jaded about doing the AI audition in the past and was contemplative about not having both parents for support at an event of hers. As a child of divorce myself I can understand some of her thoughts but I found the way it presented as her reason for doing the audition as strange. Regardless, she had a nice voice and a good look.

Amy Lang was getting on my nerves with her antics before she even went before the judges and I'm glad that she kept her over the top ways with the judges and got sent home. Wouldn't be able to take much of her. Tatiana last season was enough! LOL!

Charity Vance was very cute and had a nice tone to her voice.

It was good to see Angela Martin back for another try, she's had a lot of bad luck in her prior tries in Hollywood and is getting one more try to hopefully have everything go right. Hopefully this is her season. Regardless, I have to say that I admire her tenacity and persistance.

John Park had a nice voice and tone and it would be nice to have an asian male make it onto the show.

Paige Dechausse got her story given to us and it was quite a story. Here she is an asthmatic and showing that she wasn't letting that hold her back. Gotta admire that! She had a nice voice too.

With that we move to the Orlando auditions where Kristin Chenowith was the guest judge for the first day only. Her and Kara really got along and it was very amusing how they kept themselves entertained and Simon on his toes. Hopefully Kara and Ellen can have this sort of chemistry, if they can then this season of AI will be more entertaining than usual.

Lots of good contestants from the Orlando auditions:

Seth Rollins - We saw his story of him being a Dad of an autistic child, something that is becoming all too prevalent in our society today. Hopefully he can make it onto the show and help raise awareness of the challenges of raising an autistic child. He had a real good voice and seems like a real good guy and father. Those are qualities I can definitely admire and support!

Jermaine Purifoy was another contestant that refused to give up and tried out again and made it this time. He has a real good voice.

Shelby Dressel didn't let a problem with her facial muscles stop her from trying out for her dream and I was real happy to see her make it. She has a great attitiude that can inspire a lot of people. She also had a real nice tone and voice.

Vocal beatboxer Jay Stone was interesting with his ability to sing and beatbox at the same time but we've seen that sort of thing before with Blake Lewis. He did have a decent voice though so it'll be interesting to see how far he makes it.

Then there was Cornelius Edwards and his painful looking jumping split! Forget that his pants tore, I'm surprised that's all that tore! He made it but honestly, I was too busy recovering from his painful looking split to remember if he could sing well or not! LOL!

We got to see sisters Bernadette and Amanda Desimone and I found them both to have good personalities, looks and voices.

Then came the Jarrod Norrell who gave it up to God before singing his rendition of "Amazing Grace". While it wasn't good and the judges weren't very kind, I found that he didn't want to leave as his way of showing passion but he had to listen and respect too. I will say that I don't agree that he needed to be handcuffed to be ushered out (we've seen worse and more dangerous seeming contestants and they haven't gotten this treatment) BUT we don't know what else happened that wasn't shown so I assume they did that because they needed to. Sad that what should be a positive thing turns into something like that.

Lastly, we got Matt Lawrence and his story of how he spent 4 years in jail as a youth and how he wanted to make something of himself to repay his parents for all the pain and grief he put them through. Very noble and he looks as he's learned from repaying his debt to society. He had a very good voice and picked a real good song to audition with.

American Idol Auditions - Georgia

After the first episode, I was looking forward to the 2nd episode from GA.

Night 2 of the auditions was definitely interesting and entertaining. Mary J. Blige was a good guest judge although she laughed a bit too much at some of the contestants and didn't get a few others. Still, not bad for a guest judge.

Here are my thoughts on some of the contestants from GA:

Keia Johnson had a very good personality and voice, was happy to see her going to Hollywood.

We got 3 glimpses of good contestants that made it to Hollywood. Wish we would've seen more of them.

I really liked Jermaine Sellers, he was the best we've seen so far. Seemed like a real nice guy too!

I really liked country girl Vanessa Wolfe - she was real and sweet but like Simon, I wonder if she's ready to leave the small town for the fast pace of Hollywood week?

Guitar girl Holly Harden reminded me of Kellie Pickler and I didn't think she would be good but she had a real good voice and didn't need the gimmick at all.

Mallory Haley had a real good voice and look and would make a great country singer.

Then there was Skiiboski. What a personality! He was another one that actually had a good voice and didn't need all that gimmicky stuff but he definitely was memorable for it!

When I saw the best friends Lauren Sanders and Carmen Turner, I just knew one would make it and one wouldn't. Isn't it always that way? I felt bad for Lauren and I hope that their friendship doesn't suffer from any jealousies because of it. Lauren seemed supportive so hopefully that's a good sign.

Cop Bryan Walker had a real good soulful voice but I don't know if his image will wind up holding him back with viewers. Wish it wouldn't be that way but that's the way it is sometimes when its more about image than talent.

Then came Lamar Royal - they showed him pre-audition complimenting Mary J. Blige and saying it was an honor to sing for her, called her a real Idol and also said that he would take any critique constructively. Then he went in and did the exact opposite. When he saw that his audition didn't go over well he began lashing out at the judges even though they were trying to give him good advice and were telling him that he had a good voice but went about the audition all wrong. Instead of listening and learning, he kept talking back to the point that Randy just kept telling him that he really had a listening problem. When he went outside, he berated all the judges and really went off on Mary J. Blige who had been raving about only moments before. Bad attitude will never get you anywhere.

General Larry Platt ended the show with what I agree with Simon could and should be a hit song with his Pants on the Floor song. Great stuff and I'm glad they stopped him before he hurt himself! LOL! 62 year olds aren't used to busting out those kind of moves! LOL!

Next week is Chi-town, should be good!

New season of American Idol! :)

A new season of American Idol! Always a big family time event in our home to sit and watch and vote!

I predict that this season's final 12 are going to be the most talented ever and that the winner will be one of the most successful Idol winners ever.

Good first show! It was more substance than fluff, we got to see a lot more of the better singers than the trainwrecks. Of course there were trainwrecks to be sure! LOL!

I like that they are planning on focusing more on the contestants and their individual stories this season, as it should be.

I liked Victoria Beckham as a guest judge. She was fair and sympathized with the contestants. I also have really grown to like Kara, she tells it like it is and has no problem putting an unruly or disrespectful wannabe in their place. More on that in a bit.

Made some notes on the contestants:
Boston really brought it! Lots of NY contestants made it which is great since auditions in NY have been pretty bare in bearing talent in the past. Good to see that a lot of the NYers that made the drive really showed their drive and talent.

I really liked 16 year old Maddie Curtis - very sweet girl with a good voice.
I liked Amadeo Diricco's friendliness and getting to know him but I just wasn't feeling his voice. I felt that the song he chose to audition with didn't show off his voice all that well.
We got just a brief glimpse of Luke Shaffer who seemed to have a real nice voice. Also got a brief glimpse of Benjamin Bright, although I thought his voice was just ok.
Then came Andrew Fenlon... first he was brewing all day about having to wait and then when he got his opportunity, he wasn't sure if he wanted to go in! Then he gets in there and right off the bat gives off this arrogant, sarcastic attitude that overwhlemed anything he was going to do vocally. He acted innocent to his antics but I wasn't buying it and neither was Kara who really let him have it. Good for her! I hate that they give people like him airtime but its good to show that there should be a certain etiquette and respect shown to the judges.
After the drama that was Fenlon, it was great to see and hear Ashley Rodriguez! Really liked her voice!
I found Tyler Grady's voice ok but I liked his 70s style look.
I really liked Katie Stevens! Very nice girl who loves her grandma! That struck a nerve with me for obvious reasons. She also had a very good voice to top it off! I hope she goes far.
I really liked nice guy Joshua Blaylock. Nothing wrong with being a nice guy! ;)
I liked Justin Williams story more than his voice but I think his story and looks are what got him to Hollywood. I expect to see him pushed.
I really liked Bosa Mora, he had a nice story and looks like a real good kid. I really liked his voice too!
Last but certainly not least was Leah Laurenti. I always find it sad to hear when a singer is not allowed to sing by their family. Its like telling a bird to not sing, its just not right and very sad. She's so good but had no confidence in her talent because of all the years she was held back. I'm glad that she finally has spread her wings and let her song sing, she has a wonderful voice and I'm so rooting for her! I hope she goes far.

He's back home!

My stepdad came out of the hospital today. Relieved and happy to have him home.

Hmm, 2009 wants to hold on a bit longer!

So, it looks as if last year's luck wants to hold on a bit longer.

My stepdad (my mom's husband) fell in his home and hurt himself pretty bad on Wednesday. Hurt his ribs, back and got stitches on his arms. Then this morning at 4am I got a call from his medic alert that they were sending an ambulance to him because he was having an asthma attack.

My brother kept me updated and it turns out that he just made it to the hospital in time. Was put in ICU in critical condition because he was hypoxic by the time he reached the hospital. Now we wait.... and pray.

It's a New Year!

I am happy to see 2009 go! My mom's sickness and passing totally consumed my emotions and thoughts all year and I must say that I was not looking forward to the holidays at all. It was a rough year for my family but thankfully the holidays went better than expected as I tried and for the most part succeeded in looking at the holidays through the eyes of my children. When the clock struck midnight on New Year's though, all the emotions and thoughts of 2009 rushed back at me. Thankfully, they were feelings and emotions that I had already dealt with so that made it easier to deal with.

As 2010 begins, I look to it as a new beginning. I have 2 albums planned for this year - a new latin solo album and an english rock album with my as yet to be formed band. I know that my angel mom is by me and supporting me now in my endeavors more than ever and that gives me inspiration, confidence and motivation. I'm looking forward to 2010. :)

Long live the King! Thanks Michael

Hi everyone,

I watched the Michael Jackson Memorial as most of the world watched yesterday. It was a beautiful memorial for a wonderful music artist that brought a lot of happiness and light into the world with his music.

For me, it was so much more than that though. You see, the past few years for me have been very rough with personal problems 2 years ago and just when I began healing from those wounds and scars, I began dealing with my mother's health last year. Then that continued to this year where I lost my mom in March and as you can imagine, its been a personal hell the past 2 years or so. With all that happening in my personal life, it should come as no surprise that I began slowly losing myself and what I am passionate about. My music and everything having to do with that aspect of myself began taking more and more of a backseat to all the other problems and issues I was dealing with. I must say that I have been a broken and lost man these past 2 years. Broken from all life had thrown at me and lost as to what I should do about my music. I am a very optimistic person by nature but all the negativity life had thrown at me and feeling let down by life and some of those around me led me down a very introspective path. I am a very giving person and I felt and learned that some of those that relied on me could not be relied on. By the same token, some that I barely knew became ones that I could rely on and that helped balance out my anger and frustration. It was very sobering and made me sad too. So I was broken, lost and sad. Not a good combination of feelings to have. My mother's death was the final straw that sent all the feelings crashing in a downward spiral of introspection but it also helped me to begin finding myself. Like I said, I am an optimistic person and had to find a positive from within all the bad happening in my life. I had many regrets over my mom not seeing me become the success I had wanted to be. BUT, I know she IS looking down at me and will see what I will do. She is the one that introduced me to music as a child as she always liked to listen to all types of music and never pushed any one style of music on me. When the time came that I wanted to do music, she not only supported me but also became my manager and pushed me until I took the reins and ran with it. The more I thought about it, the more I realized that I had to go back to what I had set out to do with my music - I owed that to her. However, with so long not doing music - it becomes daunting to get yourself back into the mindset of an artist. All the doubts, insecurities and other things that come with being an artist can work a number on you, especially when you've faced so much adversity. I had friends that told me to use my music to work out my sadness and emotions but for a singer/songwriter like me that uses so much emotion in his lyrics and sings that way as well, drawing on these emotions that are still raw is very hard. Its very hard to revisit that pain. I slowly worked my thoughts back to that of an artist but was still finding it hard to make that final push. However, I was finding that peace within myself that I had long been missing.

Then Michael Jackson died. I have always been a fan of MJ's music. He has written and sung some of the greatest music of all time. I always felt a connection to him as an artist in that I knew how it felt to be shy and misunderstood and I can understand how he turned into MJ the performer once he hit the stage. It is something we share in common. MJ was an "old soul" which is why he was able to sing songs well beyond his years even as a child. I always felt that connection as well.

His death and all the recent stories of what he accomplished in music, not only in music but what he was able to do with his music combined with the introspection of my mom's passing made me more introspective as to what I set out to do and haven't done with my music. For those of you that have followed me for years (or have just read my bio ), you know that I had a rock band named Vogue's Rogues and a lot of our music dealt with societal and environmental issues. This is something I had planned to continue to a higher level with my new rock band Society's Soul but all that took a backseat as I explained above. Hearing songs that MJ wrote such as "Heal the World', "We are the World", "Human nature", Black or white" reminded me of the message laden songs I had wanted to write. Also, hearing of all his charitable works. Of course, I am not nor will ever be in MJ's class of what he accomplished but it made me sad and frustrated to see where I was at and all those emotions I had been dealing with but at the same time it started awakening something within me.

Watching the MJ Memorial yesterday and hearing all the stories and accomplishments as well as all the love he had from his fans helped me find myself. Yes I was sad watching it and was moved many times to tears by the outpouring of love and respect BUT it also helped me remember that I have my own story to write and its time to getting back to that story and write some new chapters. 2 vastly different people - my mom and MJ helped me to find something I had been missing for so long. Its said that God works in mysterious ways and as long as you believe and are open to the signs, he will provide and I can attest that he has for me. I am ready to get back to where my passion lays, to doing music. That is why I say thanks to Michael, because in death he continues to inspire. Not only MJ but all the positive messages spoken at the Memorial of what he tried to accomplish with his music inspired me to get back to where my passion is. As for Long live the King - I not only am referring to the King of Pop who will live forever with his musical legacy and what he has given to charities but I also mean it for the King of Kings who worked in mysterious ways to help bring me back from the purgatory of the past few years to showing me that in going through this he was also helping me to find myself.

I'm back! Ready to get to doing and performing new music and working with artists and meeting all my great fans who have stuck by me and support my music.

R.I.P. Farrah Fawcett / R.I.P. Michael Jackson

Yesterday's double bad news of the passing of Farrah and Michael really saddened me as it did a lot of other people around the world. The passing of Farrah really affected me because it reminded me of my mom in how she fought so hard to get better and also her age of 62 which was the same as my mom when she passed 3 months ago. So I already was sad yesterday before the Michael news. Both are American Icons and will be remembered. Micheal's music will live on for generations and along with Elvis, I don't think we will ever see music stars like those 2 again. Having gone through a loss recently, I know the pain and send my deepest prayers to Farrah and Michael's families, loved ones, friends and fans.

Healing has been slow but almost back

My long delayed pre-production on my new album which will be titled 'El Camino Espiritual' (The Spiritual Walk) has obviously been delayed once again as I have gone through and struggled through all the personal issues that accompany the loss of a loved one but I am finally beginning to feel like myself. Have had a hard time since February (which was when my mom began getting ready to come home) with anxiety and its been rough but the bad moments are getting less and so is the anxiety. Hopefully I will be able to get back to my music soon. I would also like to take a moment to thank all of you who have shown me support because it really has helped and meant a lot for me to get and feel all those positive vibes and support. It's been so appreciated and I love hearing from you all!

Thank you to all for all your kind words of sympathy

It has indeed been a rough time for myself, my daughters, my stepdad, brother and my wife but we are supporting and helping each other through this as a family should.

We had her remains cremated and had a wonderful memorial service for her this past Monday.

Have my good days and have my bad moments but I take comfort in that she is no longer suffering after having suffered through so much the past 8 months. I also take great comfort and satisfaction in that I did everything I could for her from taking care of her bills to making sure that everyone was attending to her and her needs at the nursing home and hospital all the way until the day that I brought her back to her home. She fought hard to make it back home and although she only did wind up being home for a little over a week when she made it home that one final time, she did make it home and I helped make that happen for her and I take great comfort and satisfaction in that. I know that she went off to a better life knowing that I was taking care of everything and would continue to take care of my stepdad and brother which I am doing and will continue to do as those would be her wishes."

Sad news regarding my mother

My mom finally returned home on Tuesday 3/3 after being in and out of the hospital and nursing home and not home since Sept. '08. She was rushed back to the hospital Friday afternoon 3/13. We lost my mom Monday morning 3/16 for 10 minutes but thank God that the doctors were able to bring her back to life. She was in ICU in critical condition but unfortunately never regained consciousness and passed away this Saturday morning. She was 62. Rest in peace mom. I'll always love and miss you.

Thank you to everyone who sent their support, love, prayers and warm thoughts all these past months and recently. It helped so much through some rough and dark times. I'll always appreciate it from the depths of my heart. Thank you.

When it rains it pours...

As I had posted before, my mom finally returned home on Tuesday 3/3 after being in and out of the hospital and nursing home and not home since Sept. '08. She was rushed back to the hospital Friday afternoon. I was feeling very sick with a bad flu that I've been fighting all week, almost was hospitalized myself last weekend, and with yesterday's news I really felt worse. Am very stressed and depressed now, on top of feeling sick. Please say a prayer for me and my family.

Como yo escribi antes, mi mama por fin regreso a su casa en Martes 3/3 despues de estar en el hospital y centro de terapia y no en su casa desde Sept. '08. Ayer por la tarde fue llevada de emergencia al hospital otra vez. Yo me sentia muy enfermo batallando una mal influenza toda la semana, yo casi fui hospitalizado esta fin de semana que paso, y con las noticias me senti mucho mas mal. Estoy muy deprimido y con estres, encima de sentirme enfermo con esta influenza. Por favor de decir una oracion para mi y mi familia.

Jorge and Jasmine go home! Kelly sings!

The show started with the new Judges Save rule designed to save an artist that the judges think is wrongly being voted off on AI by America's votes. They can only use it once before teh Top 5 is set and then the next week, 2 will get voted off. I like it. Adds a twist to the show that probably would've saved Daughtry and Jennifer Hudson.

So, I was almost right about who was going home - the real shocker was Jasmine being voted off. I didn't think that she was ready to go home yet. I don't expect for the judges to use their save until much later in the season so I didn't expect them to save her. She was lucky to make it in as a wild card and I wish her the best. She's learned a lot during this process and I hope to see more of her. I like that Ryan was speaking to her after she was eliminated and giving her brotherly words of support. I've always liked that about Ryan and that while he's trying to get a good cry out of them for the TV cameras as he's told, he's there for them as well. That says a lot about him as a person.

Jorge looked so sad, he knew his time was coming to an end. He didn't even enjoy the very good Kelly Clarkson performance. She looked and sounded great. I wasn't crazy about her outfit but its Kelly so she still looked great! Sorry to see Jorge go but not surprising. Hopefully he'll go onto big things too. He seems like a very nice guy.

American Idol Season 8 - Michael Jackson night!

Good 1st night of singing. No one was bad and a lot of the performances were very good to excellent. The judges upped the ante right off the bat by saying that 2 would be voted off today. I knew that this would be inevitable since American Idol is only signed for so many weeks to be on FOX, I just didn't expect it right out of the box.

Simon was in his typical brutal form, Paula seemed in mid-season over the top and tipsy form, Randy was on point as usual with his advice and Kara was kind of in between all of them. Still undecided how I feel about her as a judge.

Lil Rounds opened the show with a very good performance of "The way you make me feel".

I really liked Scott MacIntyre's performance of "Keep the faith". I thought he really shined behind the piano. I felt that Simon had somewhat of a point of picking a song that wasn't one of Michael's huge hits to do but at the same time, Michael is not Scott's style of music and his interpretation of the song was very good. Simon's comment that American Idol isn't about being artistic had to be one of the most stupidest comments I've ever heard on a music show. That feeds right into what critics have wrongly said about the show. What a dolt to say that.

Danny Gokey got the crowd on its feet with an interesting performance that showed off his excellent vocals and interpretation of "PYT".

Michael Sarver's version of "You're not alone" was very good. Nice, solid performance.

Jasmine Murray finally lived up to what I want to see from her with her performance of "I'll be there". Nice vocals and she looked great too.

Kris Allen's performance of "Remember the time" while playing on the guitar reminded me of Jason Mraz. Of course, Randy mentioned that as well. Good performance and the female audience really loved him.

Allison Iraheta was up next and wow, am I fan of her voice. Love the flaming red hair too! Allison is the 1st rocker girl on AI that has it all. I think she's top 3 at least.

Anoop Desai's song choice of one of Michael's biggest hits "Beat it" was a poor song choice. You stay away from the monster hits because you risk sounding inferior if its not beyond superior. Anoop is definitely in danger tonight.

Jorge Nunez' performance wasn't bad but it wasn't a standout performance either. Jorge is in danger tonight as well. Simon's comments to him were uncalled for.

Megan Joy Corkrey's performance of "Rockin' Robin" was cute. I really like her and think she has a lot of potential but she's really in over her head on AI, never having done anything more than school choir.

Adam Lambert's over the top performance of "Black and White" was very good in some parts but way over the top in other parts. I don't know what was up with Paula practically crying over his performance but at least Adam came across as humble and modest this week. I hadn't gotten that sense from him before. Nice to see.

Matt Giraud's performance of "Human Nature" was good.

Alexis Grace' performance of "Dirty Diana" was good but trying too hard.

So, who goes home tonight? Hmm, I definitely think that Anoop and Jorge are in big danger tonight - as well as Alexis, Megan and maybe even Michael Sarver. I like this all the singer's in this year's group but I think that Anoop and Megan go home. :(

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American Idol Season 8 - Night 4 of the semi-finalists (Wild card night!)

Interesting show to say the least!

I was pretty happy with the judges picks although it sucked to not see Norman Gentle get one more chance to entertain America in only the way that he can!

So we got 3 singers from Night 1 - Ricky Braddy, Anoop Desai and Tatiana.
4 singers from Night 2 - Jasmine Murray, Matt Giraud, Megan Joy Corkrey and Jesse Langseth.
Only 1 singer from Night 3 - Von Smith.

I didn't think that any of tonight's performances were especially good.
They were all rather solid but uninspired.

Matt got picked based on his bluesy performance but I found Matt's singing not relevant to what would sell today so I don't know why they picked him since they are always talking about the singers doing things that are current and relevant. Matt can sing, no doubt - I just don't know how well the audience will relate to him if he continues in that style. They didn't like his more contemporary style either so Matt's got a lot of figuring to do.

I did not like Megan's performance or singing of KT Tunstall's song tonight either. She has a good look and this is a TV show after all so I think she got in on that, she also has a lot of work to do!

Jasmine Murray did much better than her disappointing 1st performance but she still has to put it all together and make it consistent. She certainly has the looks of a pop/r&b star!

I was disappointed to see that Anoop didn't make the Top 12 but was shocked when they announced that they were making it a Top 13! Very cool! He deserves to be there and he was my happiest choice of the night.

American Idol Season 8 - Night 3 of the semi-finalists

Tonight's show was kind of karoake-ish. Not too many very good performances until the end of the show.

Von Smith opened up the show with a good performance but something about this Jesse McCartney look-a-like doesn't do much for me. He is talented and is passionate about music but there's just something missing that I can't place my finger on.

Taylor Vaifanua shouldn't have done an Alicia Keys song. It wasn't the right song for her.

Alex Wagner-Trugman - I like this kid but the judges were all over him for trying too hard. I liked his performance and thought the growling vocals were good and fun.

Arianna Afsar picked a really bad song to do. I felt bad for her as the judges were telling her how bad she did. She seems like a really nice girl.

I really liked Ju'Not Joyner's interpretation of "Hey there Delilah".

Kristen McNamara was good as well, although she should've picked a more uptempo song rather than make a slower song fast.

Nathaniel Marshall's choice of a Meatloaf song was rather strange. Not a fan of his though. I found him as irritating as Tatiana.

Felicia Barton got her 2nd chance to do her thing and again, picking an Alicia Keys song is a tough act to follow. Not a good choice although she didn't do it half bad.

I'm a big fan of Scott MacIntyre. He's very talented and with his combination of talent, overcoming adversity and being a genuine nice guy - he will go very far!

Kendall Beard had the unlucky task of following Scott but did pretty well with her version of a Martina McBride song.

Jorge Nunez was very good! I was very happy for him and found it cute when the judges were talking to him and he couldn't translate fast enough in his head the words he wanted to express. Paula and Kara seemed to love that!

Lil Rounds was the performance I wanted to see out of the all the performers tonight and she didn't disappoint! Great performance!

I think that Lil Rounds easily wins the top female vote, while Scott takes the top male vote. I would like to see Jorge win the 3rd spot but I think that Ju'Not and Von have a good chance to get in as the 3rd performer.

My mom is finally home! :)

Man, I wish Blogger had some smileys I could use in here! Maybe if someone else knows how I can get some smileys on here, you could let me know! ;)

Anyway, after not being home since September of last year with hospital and physical rehab stays - my mom is finally home today!!!!

What a relief to say the least! Not that I am not stressing her health anymore (far from it since she is still not and will never be 100% healthy) but its just a nice feeling to know that she's finally back where she belongs. This has been such a long journey for my family that it almost doesn't seem real but I'm sure glad it is!

I just want to say thanks to everyone for all their thoughts, prayers and warm wishes for my mother. myself and my family. Thank you for all your support. It will forever be appreciated. :)

Stress and snowstorms

Sounds like a potential song title ;)

Well, stress has gotten the better of me. The stress of coordinating everything for my mom's discharge today and other things I've been working on has really affected me hard the past weeks and has run me down into the ground. Have needed a few days to recharge from 2 weeks of stress-related insomnia (not helped by early morning calls dealing with everything). Its even made driving hard to do and I love to drive! Am trying to take things easy but stress is a bitch! LOL!

My mom's discharge will have to wait one more day as NYC just got hit by a major snowstorm. We're expecting 14 inches by the time its all said and done tonight. Its for the best as the roads, sidewalks and stairs are all too dangerous and slippery today. A fall because of that combined with the dangerous cold would be very bad so better to postpone it one day and be safe rather than sorry. In the meantime, I'll take it easy and rest up for tomorrow.

American Idol Season 8 - Night 2 of the semi-finalists

Well, Night 1 results went as I pretty much expected so I'm off to a good prediction start! :)

My thoughts for Night 2:

Jasmine Murray - This girl has it all - looks and talent so that made it soooo disappointing to hear how she sounded and the song she picked. I think she made a big mistake with her song choice.

Matt Giraud - This guy can sing but also picked a bad song for his voice. Not a good start to night 2.

Jeanine Vailes - Don't remember her from any of the opening week shows but she didn't impress me and I wasn't and am not a fan of wearing shorts for performances.

Norman Gentle!!! Big fan of this guy! Honestly, he CAN carry a tune and his entertainment value is off the charts. I was hoping for Norman to show up and not Nick. Was very happy to see Norman posing at the top of the steps to begin the song. Loved the way out there performance!! Would love to see him on the show because he would add life and personality to a show that takes itself a little too seriously at times. I would much rather watch Norman with one of his off the wall performances than hear Simon making crude remarks to Ryan or the dumb question and answer with the fans that doesn't really do much to add to the show.

Allison Iraheta! Wow, can that girl sing!! She has such a mature sound to her vocals at such a young age and her phrasing and vocalizing is way beyond her years. This girl is for real and she served notice to everyone that she is a real threat to everyone. I don't agree with Kara that she doesn't know how good she is - I think she does and she hasn't shown Kara everything she can do yet.

Kris Allen picked the perfect Michael Jackson song that you can do something with. He sounded really good.

Megan Joy Corkrey was very good vocally and the camera really loved her. She looked great. Her performance was a little awkward but at the same time it was cute as the little rocker chick tried to dance, that will get better with time though.

Matt Breitzke was good but I agree with Randy that if he was going to do a rock song then it needed the edge a rock song should get. I agreed with Simon that his performance was good but boring.

Jesse Langseth was good and she's really pretty but her schmoozy attitude put me off a bit to her.

Kai Kalama disappointed me as he picked a very safe song that seemed easy for him to sing.

Mishavonna Henson suffered the same problem as Matt Breitzke.

Adam Lambert will have to show me more to win me over. His over the top performance of a Stones song would've been laughed off on Rock Star. Its hard to tell whether he wants to be a rocker, emo or Joe Jonas wannabe! He hasn't convinced me of any of the above but he definitely has the Broadway star down and that's not a compliment when being on a show such as AI.

My thoughts are that Allison easily gets the most votes as Top Female. Unfortunately, I do think that Adam will get in and I hope to see Norman make it, if its even just to piss off Simon. LOL!

American Idol Season 8 - Night 1 of the semi-finalists

Season 8 of AI is underway and as you already know, that's time for my family to get some quality couch potato time in front of the TV!

Some thoughts on the auditions and Hollywood week. The whole bikini girl thing was ridiculous, from Kara's catty exchange with her to Simon and Randy putting her through. What drama during Hollywood week!! Wow! It was good to see how passionate some are and were about their music and big shot at making it. I so felt for Rose and Lineesha, I would've liked to see them both go through. I'm a big fan of Danny Gokey and I totally admire the friendship and support that his friend showed throughout the whole process. I'm not one that has a lot of close friends so I always admire true shows of friendship such as he showed to Danny. I'm also a big fan of Norman Gentle. The shoutout to Ryan while doing his song was priceless! LOL!

Last night was the 1st round of the semi-finals and I like that they've brought back the old way of voting people in with the highest vote getting male and female voted in along with the 2nd highest vote getter of the night. I also like that they have brought back the wild card round because that is how Clay Aiken and Jennifer Hudson got a 2nd shot at getting in and deservedly so.

Well, here are my thoughts on the 1st round semi-finalists:
Jackie Tohn was pretty good but I'm not too fond of her. Seems to try too hard to be a rocker chick and last night was no different. That outfit was horrible too! She looked like Olivia Newton John at the end of Grease!

Ricky Braddy was very good.

Alexis Grace was also very good and I loved her look. Love the pink highlights! Very cool.

Brent Keith was good and will make a good country artist. I like that he played straight for his intended audience and didn't make apologies for it.

Stevie Wright sounded overwhelmed by her moment to sing. I felt for her and didn't like Simon being so harsh with her. Shocker I know. By the time the judges critique had gotten to Simon, she got the point and didn't need him piling on. I'm glad Kara called him out on it.

Anoop Desai was very good.

Casey Carlson picking a Police song to do was a bad idea before I even heard her sing. The song was WAY too big for her. I agreed with the judges criticism and Simon seemed to learn from his bashing on Stevie Wright and at least gave some helpful criticism. Now that's not too hard, right Simon?

Michael Sarver was good but I had wanted him to be very good.

Ann Marie Boskovich was good.

Stephen Fowler was disappointing. I really wanted him to do well but doing a Michael Jackson song? What was he thinking? Anything Michael sings works for Michael and pretty much Michael only. Stephen has a lot of potential, he's just dropped the ball twice already in showing it.

Tatiana Del Toro... the audition and Hollywood week drama queen. Honestly, I didn't want her to make it because of all the dramatics and over exposure on her antics but I must say that she can sing. Sing she did last night, I must say that I thought she was the best female singer of the night. I see she toned it way down last night. It seems that she saw how she came across and was portrayed during the auditions and Hollywood week and if indeed it wasn't her as she mentioned last night, then I can see how she would be embarrassed by how she came across. As much as she loves attention and boy does she, I think she's also smart enough to see that she needs to tone it down and not come across as so whiny and annoying if she wants America's votes.

Big, big fan of Danny Gokey. Honestly, I predict him as this season's winner already. This guys sings with heart and emotion and gets into the heart and soul of a song's lyrics, reminds me of me in a lot of ways. Of course, his story is one of deep despair and amazing triumph in the face of adversity so who can't love that? I agree with Simon that his performance wasn't his best but it was very good.

Danny easily is the top male vote getter and Tatiana should be the top female vote getter but if there's a voter backlash against her then I see Alexis Grace being the top female vote getter for the night. The second highest vote getter also going in IMO will be either Anoop or the roughneck Michael Sarver. Should be an interesting night.

Very happy but cautious

I just came back from seeing my mom at the physical therapy rehab place and got some great news, it looks like we'll have my mom back at home by the end of the month or the 1st or 2nd of March at the latest!! Wow!! Its hard to believe its almost over and that we'll have her back home. Almost 7 months of hospital stays, setbacks, sadness, frustration, tears and more is almost over. Its so hard to explain all the feelings but they all end in being very happy, just still very cautious since a setback can ruin it all. Been down that road a lot throughout this journey but I'm optimistic and have faith in God that the worst is finally over.

Back to doing what I love!

My mom's health has stabilized and we hope to have her home this month or next so now that she is close to coming home, I am getting back to doing what I love ~ working on my new latin pop/rock album to be titled "El Camino Espiritual" (The spiritual journey). The past 2 years have been very hard on me with personal problems with my wife in 2007 and just when things were getting and feeling normal and I was finally back mentally and emotionally to where I wanted to be to begin work on what I love to do, then my mom's health situation began and threw me for a loop again. It has indeed been a spiritual journey for me these past 2 years and I have a lot to reflect on and let out through my music. It will definitely be the most personal album I have recorded to date. I have always been a very introspective songwriter and singer and you can learn a lot about me through my music but I think this will be step beyond all I've previously done. It should be quite the experience for me.

My fans have always been so important to me and I've always tried to reach out and let them know, you can see that especially on MySpace. I've posted on my MySpace blog for my MySpace fans & friends to give me their opinion on which is their favorite song from my first 2 albums "De un corazon a otro" and "Rockero soy". If you haven't already and are a MySpace user, stop by my blog and give me your opinion. It's always cool to hear what my songs mean to my fans.

A not so merry Xmas and not so happy new year

Well, my mom's health issues have continued. Since my last post about my mom in October, she had 2 hospital stays while in rehab. She had one in November that set her back a bit but she came back from that hospital stay more determined than ever to get her health back and not lose any of the progress she had gained to that point. It was good to see, it made us all optimistic. However, in December she developed a cold (probably from visitors seeing their relatives) and it got progressively worse until she was admitted back into the hospital again, this time on Xmas eve. It was a very sad day for my family because we had all, my mom included, planned to have my mom home for Xmas. Indeed, she had even been told that should could get a day pass for 2 days to spend Xmas at home but with her health not good, my mom had decided against it. Still, we rather she had been at the rehab place than in the hospital! Needless to say it was a very sad and bittersweet Xmas for my family. I did my best to put on a brave face but I had my breakdown moments in private. Thank god for my kids and seeing their happiness at getting their xmas presents. Their smiles and happiness made me forget everything for a little while. My kids can always do that for me.

My mom was back at the rehab place before New Year so that was good. She was back at the rehab place on the date of my grandmother's (her mom) death, and I must say that December has always been a hard time for me since her death over 20 years ago. This December has been especially hard and I've been even more reserved and quiet than I usually get this time of year. Also making it hard is seeing that people I thought I could count on weren't as there for me as I thought they were. Lesson learned I guess. I must say though that people that I barely knew, at least in person, such as my MySpace friends were extremely amazing in how they showed they cared, supported me and showed that for my mom and me through their thoughts and prayers. Really amazing and meant so much to me. However, back to what I was saying... having my mom there on New Year's was hard. On New Year's I usually look back on the year and evaluate what I've done, haven't done, what's gone on throughout the year, etc. and just thinking of my mom still not home as the New Year began and the old year ended made me really sad for her. My family has a tradition where we all call each other within minutes of the New Year's ball drop and not being able to call her and not hearing her voice really made me sad and I had to retreat in private to compose myself. My stepfather has had it especially hard through all this so we spoke to him for a bit on New Year's and I think it really made him happy. That's all I can ask. I've gotten very close to him through all this with mom. Gotten closer to my brother as well, its been tough on all of us.

In the midst of cloudy days came a ray of sunshine!

In the midst of the cloudy days surrounding my past few months, finally a ray of sunshine shone. I got a message at the beginning of December that MTVTr3s.com took notice of my Ropa Rockero clothing and wanted to include it in their 2008 Holiday Gift Guide! On December 17th it went live!! 2 days after my birthday so that was nice! It was right on the home page in a topic titled "Need last minute gift ideas?" - on page 6 of the MTV Tr3S Holiday Gift Guide 2008 there it was, one of my Ropa Rockero shirts being recommended along with other cool items! That was definitely so cool and brought some much needed sunshine to my life. A big thank you to Sandra!