A Day Full of MUSIC

Well....today at Orchestra was a day full of practicing pieces for our end of the year concert. We are doing songs such as "Jesus,Name Above All Names" all the way to a "Disney Classics" medley. In the chamber orchestra we are playing Pachelbel's "Canon in D"...one of my ALLTIME FAVORITE classical pieces & a "Richard Rodgers In Concert" medley piece too.

Richard Rodgers was a famous American composer who wrote over 900 songs and for 43 Broadway musicals. You MIGHT have heard of movies made by "Rodgers and Hammerstein"????...YUP that's HIM!!! He wrote songs for movies with Oscar Hammerstein II and the movies are now CLASSICS. (The picture to the left is Rodgers.)

Some of the bits of songs in the "Rodgers" piece we are playing range from "The March of the Siamese Children" from "The King And I" to "The Sound of Music" from "The Sound of Music" to "June is Bustin' Out All Over" from "Carousel". All the ones in-between are "Slaughter On Tenth Avenue" from "On Your Toes",The Surrey with A Fringe On Top" & "Oklahoma" from "Oklahoma","There Is Nothin' Like A Dame" from "South Pacific","Do-Re-Mi" from "The Sound of Music","I Whistle A Happy Tune" from "The King And I",& "My Funny Valentine" from "Babes In Arms". Our AMAZING choir will be singing along with us.

In the "Disney Classics" medley the bits of songs are.."Chim Chim Cher-ee" from "Mary Poppins","It's A Small World" (I know...your VERY FAVORITE SONG EVER right?????) from "It's A Small World","A Dream Is A Wish Your Heart Makes" from "Cinderella",& "Zip-A-Dee-Doo-Dah" from "Song Of The South".

All of the songs we're playing are really fun...despite some tricky parts...but we will work those out!!!!

Sinatra Night on Idol!!!!!!!!

Well....last night was the night that the contestants sang the songs of the ONE and ONLY...Frank Sinatra!!!!!! Annnnnd...not only a good night for songs but a good mentor also!!! The mentor was the AMAZING Harry Connick Jr!!!! So let me continue on with my reviews of the night.

Aaron-His performance wasn't bad....better than some weeks for sure!!! He has kind of an "old soul" so this week suited him to a "T". Overall....not bad.

Casey-WHAT. THE. HECK. I usually LIKE Casey...but last night?!?!?!?! What was up???!!?? I think my ears were screaming and bleeding during that performance. Ok,not really.....but I DID NOT LIKE IT!!!!! He was wayyyyyy off on pitch and Kara was RIGHT!!!....he sounded like a sheep. His vibrato is really.....ODD. Sorry Casey...I didn't "dig" it.

Crystal-Ok...so it didn't seem like the judges liked it very much.....I disagree. I thought it was good. Yes,it was "sleepy-ish" as Randy said...but COME ON!!!!! It's big band Sinatra era!!!!!! She looked quite "RAVISHING" last night and I thought her vocals AND song were quite nice.

Mike-Definitely the best....at least SOOOO far....(see next contestant) LOL. His performance was ROCK SOLID and he had nice vocals. He brought the "Big Mike energy" & it will probably pay off this week!!!! Great performance.

Lee-Ok....now THIS WAS the BEST of the night!!!!!! Lee has come out of his shell little by little over the course of AI...but SOMETHING happened this week. He seemed to take a HUGE leap in his confidence. I've always liked his voice but I didn't particularly like his PERSONALITY in the beginning. But after a week or two on AI I liked his personality ALOT better. And now??? He is doing amazing stuff. He could DEFINITELY WIN THIS THING. Amazing vocals,outstanding energy,great overall. Harry Connick Jr......you worked WONDERS on this boy.

My prediction???? ...Casey.....sorry dude.....you're gone.

Goodbye Siobhan.....

Well....I know this is a little late.....but nonetheless. Siobhan Magnus was voted off American Idol last week. I have to say that I was QUITE SAD. Siobhan was one of my FAVORITES. But I KNOW she is destined for great things and I am SURE someone will pick her up for a record deal VERY soon. So.....goodbye for now Siobhan....AI is just a notch-in-the-belt!!!! I can't wait for the REAL start of your career!!!