Monday, February 14, 2011

What You Missed at the Grammy Awards!!

The Staples Center in Los Angeles, California was filled with great music and tributes that lasted well into last night as the 53rd Annual Grammy Awards brought music's best and brightest together.  With what is sure to go down as one of the most memorable Grammys, the evening began with a tribute to Aretha Franklin by 5 dazzling women, all of which are not afraid to show a little diva.  Yolanda Adams, Christina Aguilera, Florence Welch, Martina McBride and Jennifer Hudson delivered a great performance highlighting some of Franklin's most notable records of all time.  The performance was followed by a video cast of Aretha thanking everyone for the well wishes, http://www.dailymotion.com/video/xh0t3d_211213232_webcam#from=embed

Certainly, however, the most elaborate performance of the night came from Cee-Lo Green. All dressed up in colorful feathers and a sequined head cap, looked like a one-man tribute to George Clinton and Liberace as he performed an edited version of his nominated hit "F--- You," (The Song Otherwise Known as "Forget You") with cameos from Gwyneth Paltrow and Jim Henson Co.'s Muppets as backup singers. Paltrow wore a black suit with a deep V-neck, and played the vamped up girl pretty darn well to go opposite Green and all his glory.

One surprise of the night came from jazz artist Esperanza Spalding.  Spalding beat out Justin Bieber, Florence + the Machine, Mumford & Sons and Drake to win best new artist. Best New Artist was her only nomination for Sunday's awards and she went 1 for 1 as this was also the first time ever a jazz artist has gone home with this award.

While hip-hop and pop made their single presence felt in the form of Eminem and Train (Train won best pop performance by a duo or group with vocals-the band thanked Justin Bieber for taking a solo career). Country music made sure the music academy couldn't ignore it. Miranda Lambert won for best female country vocal performance while Lady Antebellum took home FIVE awards, including record and song of the year for its crossover smash "Need You Now" from their album "The Suburbs"; They beat out Katy Perry's "Teenage Dream," "The Fame Monster" by Lady Gaga and Eminem's "Recovery" - 2010's best selling album - to take home the trophy, a surprise win that left the Detroit MC shut out in all the top categories (Eminem was ahead with 10 nominations heading into the Grammys but came away with only 2 awards).

Personally, I found the performances of Katy Perry, Eminem/Dr. Dre/Rhianna and Drake/Rihanna the best and most true to form, they sounded excellent on stage.  The rare performances by Mick Jagger (celebrating the late Solomon Burke), Bob Dylan and Barbra Striesand were inspiring and brought the audience to their feet every time.

For a more complete wrap up of the nights events head to http://www.grammys.com/ to catch vids, and other special features available.

The Roommate Movie Review

The Roommate is a thriller about two freshman girls making their transition into college. One of the roommates, Rebecca, becomes massively obsessed with her new "friend" and roommate Erica. The story unravels quickly and begins without fair warning. The Roommate lacks plot twist and a good ending. There is little offered in terms of surprise. Leighton Meester did an outstanding job of playing a psychopath, Rebecca. Her and the rest of the young, attractive actresses managed to keep the crowd from walking out of the theater with their risque outfits, tittelating shower scene and girl on girl action. This is a lame attempt at attracting viewership, so far bringing in $26.1 million in box office earnings. We give this "thriller" a four out of ten, which is generous compared to the 2.7 it received on rottentomatoes.com.

http://www.rottentomatoes.com/m/the_roommate/




http://sharlettmena.webng.com/Finshed%20Podcast.wav

Monday, February 7, 2011

Super Bowl Entertainment...a Super Miss?

Residents of Green Bay are walking around with an extra spring in their step today after the Packers won Super Bowl XLV.  While the game was good, as the Pittsburgh Steelers and Packers had a nice "back and forth" going, the entertainment factor was lacking.

It all begins with the singing of the National Anthem at the start of the game.  With American soldiers in the crowd and passionate NFL players standing by ready to play for the masses, it is important to have an inspiring anthem.  Unfortunately, guest singer Christina Aguilera did not deliver any inspiration as she completely butchered the song.  She tried way too hard with style and innotation and forgot about the words. 

Check out the performance here: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=AjvVon4w-QQ

Usually, I am a big fan of Christina, she has a wonderful, powerful voice but this National Anthem seems to be a challenge for her.  In the past she has proven difficulties with missing words or phrases, see here http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=d33FPKM6gv0.  Again, I applaud her range but would like to see a toned down, traditional version, in its entirety, especially at the start of what is considered a great American traditional, the Super Bowl.  Two of the best performances of the National Anthem, EVER, I believe are from Whitney Houston circa 1991 and Beyonce circa 2004.  Check out these links to see what I am talking about.
               
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=YHmdu_I_0zI (Whitney)
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=OhrrGu2rcZ4 (Beyonce)

Next on the menu, the halftime show.  The Black Eyed Peas were on the mainstage with guest appearances by Sledge of Guns N' Roses and rapper/singer/women swooner Usher.  First, the back up dancers were incredible, they were on their A game indeed, however, the audio delivery by the Black Eyed Peas was almost to non-existent at times.  While I understand that is not necessarily their fault, the stadium system may be more to blame, the group however must understand that their voices are going to need to be powerful, you are not in a concert arena people.  Member Fergie has a great voice and the band as a whole sounds good to me live so I give the performance a B, Usher and Sledge were the saving grace.

The final component of the show, the commercials, were not what I expected.  After the massive success of the Betty White Snicker's commercial last year, it seems advertisers remained in the comfort zone this year.  Rosanne Barr getting pummeled by a huge log was funny but too similar to White getting tackled in a flag football game.  I did like the "Doritos Cheese Dust" commercial simply because it was gross, unexpected and completely relatable.  Oh, c'mon you have never tasted something so delicious that losing any excess flavoring could be considered a slight crime? Ever had a Cinnabon Cinnamon Role? Overall, Youtube will not get any traffic from me as I try and re-live a commercial over and over.