15 January 2013 - Kellie Pickler - Red High Heels

While I've never watched American Idol for more than five minutes at a time, I've certainly become a fan of many of the contestants over the years, which is why I suggested that we do this two-week Hall of Fame AI celebration.

My first AI Hall of Fame post goes to my No. 1 artist of 2012 -- Kellie Pickler (who came in 6th place in Season 5 of Idol). This June I posted her Best Days of Your Life video (a song she co-wrote and performed with Taylor Swift). Today, I present you with my favorite Kellie Pickler song. It's off her debut album Small Town Girl.



And now, here she is performing Sara Evans' Suds in the Bucket on Idol.

14 January 2013 - Kelly Clarkson - Miss Independent ( & Respect Yourself )

This....is AMERICAN IDOL!

Since AI is returning to the air this week, Scott and I decided we'd go ahead and give you two weeks of American Idol alumni, to show you what an impact the show has had on the entire music industry.

Let's start at the beginning.  The very first winner.  She's been featured on here before - our second post, and Scott's first - and now, she kicks off our showcase.  Released in 2003, this is the song that really made Kelly Clarkson a bigger star, and broke her out of the American Idol mold and squeaky-clean image.

The song itself is sparse, hard-edged pop-rock, which highlights her huge voice really well.  Perhaps not surprisingly, the song was co-written by Christina Aguilera and originally intended for her.... but it would seem strange to hear her sing this song, which Kelly own so perfectly.



Bonus: Here's Kelly Clarkson's audition. It's one of the most colorful auditions ever.  She even had a career backup plan.

11 January 2013 - Connie Britton & Chip Esten - No One Will Ever Love You

Scott was kind enough to post a song from the ABC show Nashville yesterday.  We are in complete agreement as to how great that show is.  On Twitter, I have spoken with a couple of old time country artists - Lynn Anderson most notably - who vouch for the ACCURACY of the show's portrayal of the Nashville music business, which I found heartening.

Yesterday's song was Juliette Barnes, so today, I am pulling out Rayna James.  Connie Britton, who I have loved since "Spin City", is tremendous in a role that is supposedly loosely based on the life of Reba McEntire.  I don't know if that's true, but she can sing, and well, which I found surprising.

Here's my favorite song from the show, a duet with Charlie Esten, who plays Deacon Claybourne.  Forget for a second that this song is written for a television show.  It's expertly produced by T-Bone Burnett, who I've been a fan of for many years, and full of raw, deep emotion.  It's got an old-time, classic country feel that I love. And, getting back to the TV story - our two characters wrote this song many years ago, when they were romantically linked, and both actors expertly capture the emotion of the song.  It's a fantastically acted show.

You noticed that I noted Charles Esten as "Chip" on this post.  I knew I had seen him somewhere before, but I couldn't place him right away.  As it turns out, I did recognize him. His singing ability shouldn't have surprised anyone.  He did it several times on television in the past.  He was a featured player on the television show "Whose Line Is It Anyway?"

10 January 2013 - Hayden Panettiere - Telescope

It's been a long month, but one of the few TV shows I watch returned last night and bombs were dropping everywhere. While the story lines and acting on Nashville are top notch, it's the music that makes this show must see for me. The actors and actresses are singing songs by some of the finest songwriters in Nashville and beyond (oh and the music is produced by the legendary T Bone Burnett). Here's the first of hopefully many videos released from the Nashville Soundtrack. Word is Hayden wants to put out a country album of her own. I hope it happens.

9 January 2013 - Katy Perry - Wide Awake

Last year, we honored Katy Perry as our first Wicked Guilty Pleasure Hall of Fame honoree.  Since that time, she reissued her Teenage Dream album, adding a few songs.

Also, she did a documentary - Part of Me.  The documentary was shockingly and stunningly powerful.  It did a fantastic job in humanizing Katy Perry, big star.  She's just Katy Hudson, people. She's a daughter, a granddaughter, a sister, a friend... and, at the beginning of the movie, a wife.  Not by the end.

This song played over the closing credits of that documentary.  The power of Katy's vocal - the woman can sing, doubtless, and she makes sure you know it with this huge song - and the heartbreak of the lyrics really match well with the 2nd half of the movie.  Really, the video is an allegory for her high and low points of the past year, starting with scenes from the first video from Teenage Dream ("California Gurls") and ending with the opening scene from the movie.  It's a dark, dark song, to be sure, but still enjoyable.



I strongly recommend the movie.  Here's the trailer.  At about the :33 mark is the day that Russell Brand filed for divorce.  I choked up a little at that part.  It was difficult to watch.

8 January 2013 - Marcy Playground - Sex and Candy

Was this song really from 1997? Yikes. Anyway, I always liked this Marcy Playground tune. I got to see them in 2009 in support of their Leaving Wonderland record (they were playing on one of the free side stages at a small music festival I go to every year in Virginia Beach). I have to say, it was a fun show and as expected this song got the biggest crowd reaction.

7 January 2013 - 'Rent' (Movie) Cast - Santa Fe / Seasons of Love

The movie version of 'Rent' was really well done.  This was probably due to the fact that almost the entire Broadway cast came back to do the film. (Exceptions: the fantastic Tracie Thoms was a step up from Fredi Walker as Joanne, and Rosario Dawson replaced Daphne Rubin-Vega as Mimi and did an admirable job).  At any rate, Jesse L. Martin, who originated the role of (Tom) Collins, takes the primary lead on this song, which, for me, perfectly captures the hope and hopelessness combined in the first act.



Of course, if I am going to talk about the 1st act of Rent, I need to also share the song that opens Act 2 and captures the feeling of the act to come. Jesse L. Martin and Tracie Thoms - who proves she's got pipes! - take lead roles in this song.

By the way, I love how the movie handles this song - just like it is handled on stage.  Perfect.  Spot on.