Thank you for your support in 2010!

As the year comes to a close, I want to take a moment to thank you all for all your support and love in 2010. I hope to have your continued support in the coming year! I've been hard at work on a new album and I'm really excited about it and about you all getting to hear it. I should have a first single off the album in January and the album itself should be out in early 2011.

It's been a long time between albums. TOO LONG. It's been a long journey of personal problems, distractions and tragedy but I am finally ready to get back to doing what I love. My new album is titled "El Camino Espiritual" (the Spiritual Walk) and is almost like a diary of the past few years in my life. I hope you will share in my journey through my new music. Thank you to all of you who have shown me your support in the past few years, especially through the time when my mother passed. Your support meant the world to me and really helped inspire me. I can't wait for you all to hear my album and I so look forward to getting out there and performing for you all in 2011! I can't wait to meet you all. Lots of appreciation and love for you all!!

I'm on Facebook now! :)

For those of you that have been asking me if I'm on Facebook, I am now!! :)

My facebook fans page is http://www.facebook.com/pages/Mario-M-el-Rockero/164071136950043

Make sure you go to my FB page and hit that LIKE button so you can follow me there and give me your support on there as you've done with MySpace. To all my Myspace friends, unlike some other artists - I am not abandoning my Myspace page nor my Myspace friends. That just isn't my style. I'll just do my best to keep up with both sites the best I can. :)

I'll be looking for you on Facebook! ;)

Getting to record finally!

I had wanted to begin recording in August but had some delays obviously. I have taken the time to upgrade my equipment, fine tune the songs and get a lot of pre-production done (including work with a label-mate). I am just about ready to get in the studio and get to work though. Am excited! Can't wait for everyone to hear the new material.

Songwriting thoughts

Practice on the new album songs is coming together and I'll be having some down time with my family in about 2 weeks before beginning recording in August! Can't wait!!

Songwriting thoughts

All songwriting for my new album "El Camino Espiritual" is done! Been hard at work writing music since late May and today was the last day of songwriting. Feel very good about the songs and what they represent in relation to the album concept. I can't wait for everyone to hear it. Next up, practicing the songs and more songwriting that I'm doing for 2 other artists and then onto recording! Busy, busy, busy!

American Idol finale - Lee wins!

Good finale tonight!! Crystal and Lee the final 2 and a night of cool performances.

All the performances got me thinking and I told my family as we all watched that I hope to not see Bret Michaels making a surprise appearance and in the very next segment there he was! It was cool to see him on the AI stage and the respect being given him, just wish he'd slow down but I gotta give props to him.

I really loved the AI alumni song with all the former Idol winners (except for David Cook) singing for Simon. Very nice!!

Janet Jackson's voice sounded so eerily similar to her brother Michael's when she came out singing her slow song. Wow.

Very cool to see that Lee won! Not feeling his U2 remake and I feel that was a lazy choice for him by whoever picks that as a finale song and debut single. I look forward to seeing what he does as an artist. A lot of this season's contestants should have nice careers ahead of them. Congrats Lee!

Songwriting thoughts

Working in the studio today on my new latin album "El camino espiritual" (the spiritual walk) and today in particular I was working on the title track. The song is about memories and loss stemming from rough times I've had in recent years and the loss of my mother.

When I write songs, they usually come from a very personal place. I am a very open book to whoever really takes the time to listen to my lyrics. I usually have an easy time writing songs because of this, because it comes from a personal place and from thoughts that I need to express. Well, I knew writing the lyrics to the title track would be hard so chose to hit this song first so that I could address all these emotions head on and use them as the foundation for my album. I knew it would be hard but I didn't expect them to hit me like a Mack truck. It had been a while since I had dealt with these emotions and had repressed them. Opening a healing wound was not pretty but necessary. It was what I needed to say and I hope everyone can feel that when they hear it.

LOST & Celebrity Apprentice finales

Big night of TV, tonight was the finale of Lost and the finale of Celebrity Apprentice where Bret won! :)

I watched the LOST finale and taped the CA finale but flipped back and forth to see who won.

The LOST finale was very good. Turns out that a lot of fans figured it all out way back in Season 1 with their theories of purgatory. I like how they brought all the characters stories to a head and resolved many of the storylines, even though this was really all about Jack and his road to redemption. Ben's story ending was sad as he stayed behind to resolve things from his life. I believe in the idea of purgatory and I thought that LOST portrayed it sort of how I view it all so I really liked the ending and how it was all done. Am sorry to see the show end and the end of seeing some beloved characters but I am looking forward to seeing what all these actors will do in the future.

It was hard to see Bret walk out there for the finale with a bad limp. It reminded me of all he went through but his positivity shone through and he represented that and what being a good person is all about. Everyone, including his fellow finalist Holly Robinson, were all pulling for him and after showing such dedication - how could he lose? He deserved it. He did a great job. So did Holly. Congrats to them both.

Why Bret why?

I just read that Bret plans on being at the Celebrity Apprentice finale :/ Dammit, I admire his dedication and drive but listening to your body and being around for your family are more important! I hope he's not pushing himself more than his body is ready for. :/

Get well Bret!

Just saw last night that Bret had suffered a warning stroke. :(

Bret Michaels has always been an Idol of mine. Just something about his style and songwriting that I relate to in a big way. "Rock of Love" in all its seasons showed me too much of Bret (lol!) but it also kept him relevant which is something for an 80s hair metal band singer in 2010! He's a survivor, along with Bon Jovi and a handful of acts from that era. Anyway, I'm pulling for him and wanting him to take it easy. I know he feels an obligation to us fans to go out and tour but I don't think there is any real fan out there who wouldn't understand if he just took some months off to be with his family. Somehow, it just doesn't seem to be in Bret's blood to sit and wait to get better. I admire his drive and ambition but I also want to admire it for years to come! My prayers are with him and his lovely family. Get well Bret!!

American Idol - the Top 3 sing to get into the finals!

Interesting night last night for American Idol. This was the top 3 singing 2 songs (artist's choice & judges choice) to help America decide who should be in the Final 2 and it didn't seem to live up to the hype of the night.

That is except for my pick for AI winner - Lee Dewyze! He was totally on with both of his songs and his confidence was at an all-time high. He had the eye of the tiger and it was very evident that he was there to lay claim to the title last night and not wait until the finals. IMO, he did it. He showed last night that he could raise his game and I think he can still raise it even more next week!

Casey took the safe route and didn't really bring anything new or unique to the table last night.

Crytal's take on Melissa Etheridge's "Come to my window" was solid but didn't compare to the original and Ellen's choice of Paul McCartney's "Baby, I'm amazed" was not only a quite interesting song choice but one that challenged Crystal vocally like no other song did all season.

All in all, I agree with the judges that Lee put himself in the finals with his performances last night. I think that Crystal will be in the final 2 with Lee next week as Casey's performance was rather lackluster BUT there is something about him that has brought him to the top 3 so it wouldn't surprise me to see Crystal go home.

American Idol's Final 4 give it a go!

Wow, was not really expecting Aaron to go home last week. At least he went home because of Sinatra week which is nothing close to the genre he will do as an artist. Again, it was a weird category to pick with only a handful of contestants and so late in the season.

So, last night we got to see the Final 4 doing Music from the movies. Interesting category but too broad this late in the season as well, IMO. Jamie Foxx returned as a mentor and he did a real good job. I like how he challenged the contestants and I like how he put it in a plain manner to them how he would reward their performance with either receiving a "Contestant" or "Artist" t-shirt from him based on how he thought they did. I really liked that. I read that he was a name that was out there in the rumors and I think Jamie may have been doing a bit of campaigning for the soon to be open judge's chair. After last night, I think he might not be such a bad choice after all.

Lee opened the show doing a Seal song? Not sure that "Kiss from a Rose" was such a good choice and the judges were all over him after his performance. I thought he did well considering the difficulty of the song but he could've picked a better song. My oldest daughter mentioned that he could've done the Goo Goo Dolls song "Iris" from the movie "City of Angels" (one of my favorite movies!) and I must say that would've been a great choice for Lee.

Michael did an MJ song ("Will you be there") from the movie "Free Willy" and I thought he sounded great and I loved the choir and the gospel feel he brought to the song. The judges didn't like it much, thought it was too safe(?!) for him and then there was a whole impromptu skit on what "Free Willy" was about since Simon lives under a rock and never heard of the movie. Lol.

We got a real nice duet with Lee and Crystal next.

Then Casey came out with a ukelele to do a rather bland version of "Mrs. Robinson". He almost went in a Beatles like direction with it that would've made it more current sounding and much more interesting but then he went back to the bland.

Speaking of bland, Crystal did a song from "Caddyshack"(?!). Lol! At least it was a Kenny Loggins song but I didn't agree with Ellen that it was better than the original. It once again was very coffeehouse-ish to me. She is what she is and she doesn't look to deviate much from that at this point.

We got another duet with Michael and Casey that was real good too.

I think the bottom 2 will be Casey and Michael and I would think that Casey gets sent home as the Top 3 gets set.

American Idol takes on Sinatra?

Still not happy that Siobhan was sent home last week. So my full rooting for Lee begins! :)

This week we had Sinatra week with Harry Connick, Jr as the mentor. He was very good as mentor - the most well prepared and helpful mentor that has been on the show. He also was very involved with the overall show's performances by playing and supplying musicians from his band. Very cool. I really don't get having Sinatra week this late in the season since it really doesn't show us anything that they are going to be doing as artists, which is something they've been stressing all season - especially Kara.

Aaron went first and I thought he did a good job. Casey on the other hand was way out of his comfort zone and looked real stiff.

Crystal did a nice job but once again decided to get mouthy after receiving less than favorable critique. She would be better served being quiet and listening to the constructive critiques that she is getting from judges that like her. She is showing that she's not as open-minded as she should be and that she will need to have any sort of commercial success.

Michael did a real nice job and Lee ended the show with a confidant and strong performance.

I think the bottom 3 will be Casey, Aaron and it should be Crystal who needs a little humbling but I wouldn't be surprised to see Michael in the bottom 3 since he's been there before. Either way, I think Casey goes home today.

American Idol - Siobhan goes home :(

The bottom 3 was Casey, Michael and Siobhan and Siobhan went home :(

I don't agree with the result. I totally think America got this one wrong. I'm sad to see her go. The show has lost a bit of its spark with her loss and lord knows the show needs it this season. I totally look forward to seeing what Siobhan does in the future. Pretty much more than anyone on the show except for Lee. The girl is talented and has a very bright future ahead of her. Onward and upward Siobhan!

American Idol does Shania songs!

I was wrong. I admit it. They voted someone off last week during inspirational week?! I was very surprised and even more surprised to see it was Tim who finally got sent home. It had been long coming but it holds true to past Idol shows when someone who keeps slipping by even though they have sub-par performances finally gets sent home when they actually hit their stride and start doing better and the judges start praising them a bit. I think the judges employ a bit of reverse psychology on America when they want someone they feel is undeserving to go home. Interesting to watch really.

Well, this week was Shania week and while I thought they were going to do country songs, instead it was only Shania songs... which is not a bad thing at all. She was a decent mentor in the advice she gave the contestants.

Lee opened the show and he did a pretty good version of "Still the one". It took him a bit to get into the groove of the song and what he wanted to do with it though. The judges really liked it though. In fact, everyone was pretty darn good this week!

Michael was solid with his song. Casey stripped everything down to an acoustic performance and I think it was his best performance to date.

Crystal's performance again suffered from more of that coffe-house sameness. Even Simon had to make the coffee-house reference finally. Nice to see Simon not praising Crystal for once. Her comments back to the judges that sometimes smaller is better sounded to me as if she was being defiant to their advice/critique and trying to educate them? Really now Crystal? This was the first time that I saw her sounding close minded to trying to make her sound more accesible. I think she really needs to start thinking about that because she is really limiting her potential by only wanting to play/sound folksy but then again, maybe that's all she wants. Either way, it was a rather bland performance.

Aaron was in his element and soared to the heights he failed to reach last week. One of his best performances to date.

Siobhan closed out the show with "Any man of mine" and it started off a bit weak but ended strong.

All in all, everyone did well for what they do. This was a show where everyone's individual style shone through. Picking a bottom 3 from last night is difficult. I say the bottom 3 will be Michael, Crystal and Casey with Michael going home.

American Idol gets inspired!

So, I was 2 for 2 last week. Have been pretty good this season with picking who's in danger and who goes home but I'm not tooting my own horn (toot, toot!), it just has been rather obvious week to week who should go home, ahem... except for Tim. o_O

This week is inspirational song week with Alicia keys as the mentor. Alicia was ok as a mentor. We didn't really get to see or hear too much from her. What got more of Lambert last week. What's up with that?

Casey went first and did an ok version of Fleetwood Mac's "Don't stop". His voice didn't seem in sync with the music until the choruses. I was more impressed that he was actually playing with one of Lindsey Buckingham's actual guitars than with Casey's performance.

Lee went next and was very good in his performance of Simon & Garfunkel's "The Boxer". His best performance to date.

Tim did yet another emo/folk version of another song, this time the Goo Goo Dolls "Better Days" which is a favorite song of mine.

Aaron Kelly did R. Kelly?! While Aaron thought he could fly with his song choice, I don't think he got off the ground with it until the very end. Why didn't he do a Garth Brooks song? Garth has plenty of songs with inspirational messages. Same for Keith Urban. So many better options than what he picked.

Siobhan took on Mariah & Whitney's "When you believe" and I thought she did a really good job of hitting some crazy notes effortlessly. The judges didn't seem too impressed by her and Kara said that while she was technically very good that she didn't see who she is an artist. Isn't this a singing competition? So shouldn't a very good technical performance on a hard song be praised? The judges are giving too much conflicting advice this season. Simon didn't and won't like anything Siobhan does because he wants Crystal to win (he has stated she is his pick) and Siobhan is clearly a threat. So is Lee. I like that Siobhan didn't look upset by the critique and instead stood up for herself but she needs to work on getting her thoughts out faster and more clearly. She sounded a little too Paula-ish last night while explaining herself.

Michael did "Hero" and I think that was a real bad song choice for him vocally. It just didn't work. Simon sometimes seems to have no clue though. He said the song was about Spiderman?! DOH!!!

Crystal ended the show with a really solid performance. It just seems a bit too similar to everything else she does though and I'm rather skeptical of the tears. Alicia had told Aaron that if he got to the point of tears by the end of his song that he could bring it to another level but it was Crystal who had the last song on the show who did so. These contestants are competitors and being on last is an advantage as you are the last impression on the audience before the show ends, ending it with tears makes it a talking point and plays to the viewers sensitivities. She said she was overcome because her Dad was there for the first time but this is a girl who has stated she has performed around the world so I'm sure he's been to her shows before. Then when they showed the highlights with the phone numbers again, they replaced her ending in tears with a clip from rehearsal I would assume because she was not crying at song's end. I hate to be skeptical, I really do... especially when it comes to performances but it just seemed too out of character (she's been criticized for being too stoic and standoffish in the past, even Simon made a comment regarding this at the end of the song) and too coincidental with the Alicia Keys advice to Aaron Kelly earlier in the show. Anyway, it was a solid performance nonetheless.

So who goes home? No one! It's "Idol Gives Back" week and no one ever goes home during that week. It would be the wrong message to send, now wouldn't it? Let's talk inspiration but kill a contestant's dream this week. Talk about mood killer. Should be a good "Idol Gives Back" show tonight.

American Idol does Elvis!

Interesting show last night. Idol alum Adam Lambert was the mentor. First Miley, now Adam, who's next Justin Bieber? LOL. All in all though, Adam did a good job giving advice and pushing the contestants to challenge themselves.

With it being a double elimination week, the pressure was on. It was Elvis week! While Elvis may seem like an easy choice of music to do - Elvis' versatility, talent and presence still somehow comes through on the songs. The songs speak and show Elvis' range and talent in a way that no written word can.

Crystal went first and I've just lost my connection to her. Her performances seem the same and I'm not seeing the growth or potential in what she brings as an artist. She is good, no doubt, but I just can't see her singing out of her niche into an area where she will sell lots of records or fully go mainstream.

Andrew went next and did "Hound Dog" and his voice sounded thin and I found the performance rather dull. I don't know if its the arrangements but a good singer can overcome that and he just hasn't been rising to the occassion. I've been complaining about the arrangements and that they should get a new house band or house band leader and I may just get my wish as I heard House band leader Ricky Minor will be headed over to the Tonight Show to take over for the departing Kevin Eubanks. Can't say I'll miss Minor but I will miss Kevin! Lol!

Tim did a good job singing "Can't help falling in love with you". I think the Emo/folksy vibe might just be his thing! :D

Lee did a very good job with his song and I think he was the best of the night. It was good to see him smiling. He has a good smile that can get him a lot of votes! Lee needs to work the smile! Lol!

Aaron tried to sound Elvis-y on his version of "Blue Suede Shoes" but the song cast too big a shadow on little Aaron.

Siobhan's version of "Suspicious minds" was good but she's been better.

Michael was very solid with his song performance.

Katie sounded good with her song vocals but her performing still leaves me flat and unmoved. That's not a good thing.

Casey's song was very good. I really think he will be an interesting country or blues rock artist. I'm very interested to see what direction he goes in as an artist.

2 going home tonight so I will say that the bottom 3 (will there be a bottom 3?) will be... on second thought I'll just say the two that I think will go home - Andrew and Katie with Aaron in trouble as well.

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American Idol - the save gets used!

A very interesting results show tonight! America sure is shaking things up this season! Lol!

Ryan promised that the results would be surprising and they were! Little Aaron, Big Mike and Andrew were the bottom 3!

I was surprised by Aaron and less so by Michael who has seemed to be a little too confident since the show started and more as the show has gone on. Andrew didn't surprise me. He's been coasting for too long.

Michael was the one in jeopardy and with his wife in tears in the audience, the judges decided to use the one save of the season. Michael gets a scare and a reprieve. Very interesting show! Double elimination next week!

American Idol does Lennon & McCartney

Top 9 went last night and did Lennon & McCartney songs. It promised to be an interesting show for sure. There was no mentor last night so the contestants were left on their own to work out these classics. I must say that I expected a few bad performances but I think everyone did a nice to very good job.

Aaron came out first and did a rather sleepy (as Randy put it) version of the "Long and winding road". I agree with Randy that the arrangement wasn't very good. I've been complaining about the band and their arrangements all season. Their lackluster arrangements and performances are hurting the contestants performances a lot IMO.

Katie picked "Let it be", an all-time classic and I was expecting it to be a trainwreck of sorts but not only did she sound great but I believe she had her moment last night with that performance. Everything about it was great. Kudos to Katie!

Andrew did "Can't buy me love" while playing guitar. Randy thought the arrangement (once again!! GR!!!!) overpowered what he was trying to do and Simon thought it came across as cheesy. I thought it was pretty darn good though. Andrew sang it nice and looked like he was having fun up there. Good to see.

Michael did a solid version of "Eleanor Rigby".

Crystal did "Come together" while a guy played along on a didgeroo? I found out her performance very coffeehouse-ish.

Tim did a decent version of "All my loving". Casey did a good version of Lennon's "Jealous Sky".

Siobhan turned the vocals down and did a very sweet sounding version of "Across the universe".

Lee ended the show with a rather pitchy but high energy version of "Hey Jude". I liked it.

REALLY hard to pick a bottom 3 which I wouldn't have thought. Knowing the category if you would've asked me before the show, I would've said the bottom 3 would be Tim, Katie and someone else but after hearing them its real hard to pick 3. I will say that Tim will be in the bottom 3 and I'll also pick Andrew and Aaron. Since I'm not even sure that will be the bottom 3, its hard to say who will go home but I will pick Tim (he's gotta go sometime doesn't he? LOL!).