For the next few weeks an America's Got Talent spin-off (or sequel) of the original show - with the words "The Champions" added to the title, will be airing. Each week, past winners or runners-up of AGT proper, along with winners from "......Got Talent" in other countries (for example, Spain, Russia) will compete to discover who is "Champion of Champions". Voting isn't being done by viewers this time, but by panels of "super-fans" in each of the USA's 50 states - a similar system, I guess, to the voting system of the dreaded, and occasionally hilarious, annual Eurovison Song Contest.
I've always been a fan of talent shows, mainly singing shows, but we've also watched AGT fairly regularly through the years. A few singers or musicians are always included in these shows. My husband has tagged along, watched beside me stuff he never would've watched before we met. I have to say, though, my fandom has been wearing very thin in relation to The Voice recently - so much so that this year we didn't even watch the finale. It remains to be seen whether American Idol will meet with the same fate when it returns later this year.
Anyway - back to AGT the Champions.
Last week a singer new to America, Cristina Ramos, appeared; she was winner of Spain's Got Talent. She sang a great version of "Bohemian Rhapsody", and was one of two contestants voted through to the final.
In the previous week's show we saw, again, Susan Boyle. It has been some 9 years since Susan Boyle first came to the notice of people on this side of the Atlantic - and of most on t'other side too. America's Got Talent, in 2009, was her vehicle, her vocal talent was the power driving her. In The Champions episode she was awarded a "Golden Buzzer" by Mel B, one of the judges, for her rendition of "Wild Horses", so will automatically proceed to the final.
Here it is. If you'd prefer to miss the intros, skip to around the 2 minute spot.
I'd recommend also listening to her album version of the song, linked at the first link below, from 2009.
An expression sometimes heard in the UK, but I haven't it heard used in the USA: "Give it some welly", sprang to mind while I contemplated a post for this Music Monday.
There are times when I just want to listen to a singer who "gives it some welly!" For any stray passing reader not familiar with the expression, here's what Wiktionary has to say:
(Britain) To increase fuel or power to an engine, as to a car by depressing the gas pedal.
(Britain) To apply great physical effort to (something)
.
'Welly', by the way is short for wellington boot - the rubber boots worn for wet weather or for trudging through mud and dirt. This footwear was named for the first Duke of Wellington (see Wikipedia).
So...when I crave hearing, and feeling, a singer "giving it some welly" I go to these favourites:
And, mustn't forget another fave: Carlos Marin (of Il Divo fame) - he never does less than "give it some welly!"
Two musical birthdays today, 23 October - both singers born in the same year too, and both born in the USA. Music genres are different, but both styles are rooted in the USA: jazz and country.
Dianne Reeves born 23 October 1956, Detroit, Michigan.
Dwight Yoakam born 23 October 1956, Pikeville, Kentucky.
Happy Birthday Kris Kristofferson! I wrote a blog post featuring him back in 2009, but vagaries of Blogger changes and YouTube deletions have affected it, so I'll use the surviving bits again, and add to them here.
Kris was born 22 June 1936 in Brownsville, Texas. Astrotheme gives his time of birth as 3.30pm.
I used to think Kris had Sun in Gemini. I was mistaken - but only just. Sun at 1 degree of Cancer, linked by conjunction to Mars and Venus in Gemini a degree or so behind. Mercury is also in Gemini - it's own sign. No need to ask the source of his writing talent then - it's all there! Classic line-up for a writer, in this case a songwriter, with Cancer Sun adding warmth and sensitivity to what might otherwise have emerged as a cooler, less emotional individual. Sun is conjunct South Node of the Moon - a sensitive point in the natal chart, further emphasising the Cancer/Gemini cluster.
Fixed Star Aldebaran, one of the Royal Stars lay within a degree of Mercury as Kris was born - an additional boost to his mental processes. He was a brilliant student and Rhodes Scholar in his youth. He rejected a military or teaching career in favor of following his dream to be a songwriter.
If the time of birth used is near correct, Scorpio rising is reflected in Kris's early and enduring erotic pull for the ladies. Moon in Leo close to midheaven links to his career on stage both singing and acting. He's one of the few singer/songwriters who have also made a good impression as a movie actor - Gemini versatility. A strong Jupiter in Sagittarius, its own sign, forms a harmonious trine to Moon in Leo, helpful for publication (of his songs and acting endeavors)
The other well-known facet of Kris's personality is a strongly left-wing political leaning. I'm pinpointing avant garde, rebellious Uranus in a very strong position on the descendant angle to represent this.
There are challenging aspects in Kris's chart too, of course. Hardly anybody gets away without some of these. There's a Grand Cross here, linking Neptune, Mercury/Chiron, Saturn and Jupiter by squares, consequently throwing up two oppositions: Saturn/Jupiter and Neptune/Mercury.
I haven't been able to find out much about Kris's personal life, other than that he has had three marriages, 8 children and 2 grandchildren, and is still on friendly terms with both ex-wives. He has probably dealt with alcohol and drug problems - he wouldn't fit the template of his times and profession if not! I suspect the Grand Cross relates to that, but also to his political opinions. He was brought up in a strongly conservative family in staunchly Republican Texas - he must have had many challenges before moving to a more liberal environment.
Kris's songs are thought of by many as country music. I consider them to be without category, or at the most crossover folk/country/popular. I recall hearing on one of his recordings an audience member calling out to him something along the lines of "Is that country music?" or "That ain't country, Kris", and he answers in his signature lazy drawl, "If it sounds country, man, that's what it is!"
Below are some of my own favourite songs written and sung by Kris Kristofferson (nobody sings 'em better, don't care what anyone says!) He's joined by Rita Coolidge on the second and third songs.
This one is pure poetry - you can feel that you're there with him, one Sunday morning!
This one, has that wonderful line : "Freedom's just another word for nothing left to lose"
Cannot forget this one:
Oh yes...and something completely different:, "Don't Let The Bastards Get you Down" - good advice which never goes out of date. "It's gettin' hard to listen to their lies" (ain't that the truth?)
As the Sun remains in Gemini I'm sticking with the two-fer style of last Monday, last Friday and the weekend. Two musical birthdays this week: one singer - still with us, the other musician left us in 1977:
Barry Manilow (17 June 1943) and Erroll Garner (15 June 1921). Most people know of the former, not so many, I suspect, the latter. The former, a singer and songwriter of sentimental romantic pop songs, the latter a jazz pianist, widely popular in his day, and still affectionately remembered by jazz enthusiasts. Both though have been, to some extent, the target of much mean-minded criticism. Why? Too many ordinary people enjoyed their talents. To find favour with some critics an artist, of whatever ilk, has to appeal only to a coterie of "hip" and "cool" would-be elites, should be virtually unintelligible to everyday folk who just enjoy a good tune and a sentimental ballad.
In Erroll Garner's case, though loved and respected by fellow-pianists, he was not regarded, in his time, as "one of the elite", probably due to his ability to bridge the gap between jazz and popular audiences. "We can't be having the Great Unwashed appreciating jazz", I'd bet his critics were declaring archly.
Garner's style was unique, self taught. He started playing aged 3, a complete natural, he never learned to read music, didn't need to, it was simply a part of him. As was written by Richard Cook & Brian Morton in The Penguin Guide to Jazz on CD, 6th Edition:
“Erroll Garner was one of a kind. He was as outré as the great beboppers, yet bop was alien to him, even though he recorded with Charlie Parker. He swung mightily, yet he stood outside the swing tradition; he played orchestrally, and his style was swooningly romantic, yet he could be as merciless on a tune as Fats Waller. He never read music, but he could play a piece in any key, and delighted in deceiving his rhythm sections from night to night. His tumbling, percussive, humorous style was entirely his own.”
As for Berry Manilow, in an interview with Eric Spitznagel in Vanity Fair, while discussing critics the interviewer asked:
I read somewhere that when you met Bob Dylan, he hugged you and called you an inspiration. Are you sure he was being serious?
Manilow: I wish I knew, but that’s what I remember him doing. We were at a Seder at Burt Bacharach’s place, and he walked right up to me and hugged me and said, “Don't stop what you’re doing, man. We're all inspired by you.” It was very important for me at the time, because those were the days when the critics were just killing me. They would have annihilated me if they had the chance.
Interviewer: I’m sorry, I’m still trying to digest the idea of you and Bob Dylan and Burt Bacharach at a Seder.
Manilow: Isn’t that great? Frank Sinatra also said a kind thing about me around that same time. Somebody asked him about me and he said, “He’s next.” That meant a lot. Despite what the critics were saying, I did what I could do and I made the most beautiful music I knew how to make.
Here they are then:
Erroll Garner with a famous piece he wrote himself - Misty; and one he didn't:
One Manilow wrote: I Made It Through the Rain (he did too!)
And one he didn't write, Weekend in New England was written by Randy Edelman (another Sun Gemini by the way - born 10 June 1947).
I was going to leave it at the music and refrain from delving into their astrology, but having prepared this post, a previous tag popped up for Barry Manilow, and I found that I'd already looked at his chart in this 2010 post. Erroll Garner's natal chart is available at astro.com, here.
My husband, and some of his family, have seen literally dozens of famous musicians and vocalists performing live. Once they begin reciting their lists I listen enviously, trying hard to remember anybody nationally or internationally famous at all that I've seen on stage. Best I can do is say I saw British crooner Dickie Valentine, back in the 1950s; then many years later, sometime in the 1990s, I saw country music star Don Williams perform in Harrogate, Yorkshire. I think that's about it!
It wasn't that I was never enthusiastic enough, I just never had opportunities to attend concerts, often due to where I was living, or my work hours, or travel difficulties, or expense. In the UK, in those days, and still, I guess, most big name stars performed only in London, and that was always out of reach for me, due to all of the listed reasons.
I have enjoyed listening regularly to a number of locally-known vocalists during vacation times abroad (abroad from the UK that is) who, though well-known in their little corner of the world, were not household names. Those artists were more real to me, anyway, than some "big name" big shots. I could chat to them, have a drink with them, sing along even....more fun altogether than sitting in the cheap seats of some huge theatre or arena.
Ye gods, I do so hate arenas! We went to an arena concert in Tulsa to see the American Idol concert in the year when Adam Lambert was runner up, 2008 I think (he should've won!) We could scarcely hear the singing for the incessant screams and screeches all around. Simply unpleasant, it was!
I've done much better on the live performance front since coming to the USA. Thanks to husband, his daughter and son-in-law we've seen Leon Russell, Elton John, Ricky Lee Jones, and Boz Scaggs - all but one in nice, smallish venues.
Husband and I took a coach trip from our town to to Branson, Missouri some years ago, included in the tour was a show featuring Andy Williams & Petula Clark; and another with country singer Mickey Gilley. Still on the country music front we saw an old favourite of mine, Gene Watson singing at a small casino near Norman, Oklahoma. We also saw David Alan Coe "singing" in a small venue in Oklahoma City several years ago. What possessed us to make the effort for that I really don't know. Ooooh, but it was LOUD and pretty darn BAD! We staggered out into the car park at half time never to return. I was deaf - completely for a while, a very strange experience - new to me! Husband had constant ringing in his ears for a while too.
I've been wondering who, among those living and still performing, I'd pay good money to see on stage, but I came up empty. CDs and/or DVDs will suffice! What I'd really love to see would be top notch live peformances of two favourite musicals, Les Miserables and Evita. Not much hope of that though, I suspect.
Anyway - who among musicians and singers have you seen performing "in the flesh" as it were, or alternatively, who do you wish you'd seen or might still have the chance of seeing - any offers?
As some posts in my archives attest, I'm a sucker for musical talent shows. Always have been, always will be. From Carroll Levis Discoveries way back in the 1950s in England, and Opportunity Knocks, New Faces, Search for a Star, Fame Academy - all the way up the genealogy of talent shows to Pop Idol, American Idol, The X Factor, Britain's/America's got Talent, The Voice, Nashville Star, Sing-Off......Over the years I've watched and enjoyed every one of them. Husband peeking over my shoulder called out "Major Bowes Amateur Hour, 1940s - Sinatra appeared on that show!"
Nowadays critics refer to such shows as "reality TV". I don't put them in the same category as Big Brother, Survivors, shows about hoarders, restaurant/garden/home/fashion make-overs, Honey Boo-boo (whatever that is) and the rest. Talent shows are different. Or to be absolutely accurate, they used to be different before manipulation of the audience crept in. It's sad, but it was inevitable. As long as they're watched bearing in mind that producers are pulling strings: heart-strings and purse strings, it's still possible to enjoy the shows....most of the time.
This year we're swamped with talent shows. Having noticed what a good, and profitable, audience draw they've become, more producers have jumped onto the talent-cum-money bandwagon. On that same bandwagon are established stars who fancy their chances as judges on the talent shows. Not a good development in my opinion. Attention is now skewed away from the contestants on to "celeb" judges who, in most cases are there only to further their own careers, not potential careers of contestants.
It'd be preferable for talent show judges to come from the "back-room": record producers, voice/stage performance coaches and suchlike. That's not likely to happen. Next best thing is to engage as judges well-known characters from outside the music industry who can at least speak well off-the-cuff, think on their feet, form opinions quickly. There are too few such judges on talent shows at present. In spite of my husband's early warnings about Howard Stern's appointment as judge on this year's America's Got Talent, he turned out to be excellent in the role. Every panel should have at least one such character.
Much as I loved Steven Tyler, his powers of assessment and ability to put them into words during his 2-year stint on Idol should have been better - in fact could hardly have been worse after the first few audition shows. Perhaps producers gagged his distinctly raunchy style and he clammed up? New to the judging panel of The X-Factor this season are Britney Spears and Demi Lovato. It'll be interesting to watch how they shape up comment-wise.
It remains to be discovered, early in 2013 how American Idol's 3/4 new voting panel will work out: long-standing judge Randy Jackson will be joined by Mariah Carey, Nicki Minaj and Keith Urban (appealing, in theory, respectively to: the over 30s, the under 30s and the country music lovers).
Each panel needs "a clown" - someone who attempts to inject humour into the occasion. Idol tried out Ellen DeGeneres for a season but it wasn't a success. The Voice has Blake Shelton, a likeable country singer who tries hard to have fun with the show, Howie Mandel does likewise on America's Got Talent. X-Factor and Idol might benefit from an injection of humour, judge-wise.
Hosts/Presenters? A job that looks easy but I'd bet it isn't easy at all. Top marks go to Idol's Ryan Seacrest; close second: The Voice's Carson Daly; runner up Nick Cannon (AGT). Others shall remain nameless because, to put it bluntly, they suck.
I'm amazed that all the shows are still able to find sufficient amateur talent to go around. In fact, I'm noticing more and more that some - a good proportion - of the contestants are already semi-professional. I have a suspicion that some have actually been head-hunted by scouts working for the shows. I'd prefer it if this wasn't so, but understand that completely untapped talent is fairly rare these days, and in many cases fairly raw, not yet ready for prime-time. Still, I miss the excitement of the discovery of a brand new singer, never heard before by anyone, anywhere. If one such individual does emerge, very occasionally, their nerves frequently get the better of them, they fail to progress further against more seasoned stage-ready performers.
A few names, not necessarily winners, from talent shows of the recent and not-so-recent past have managed to lodge themselves in my memory:
From long ago, in the UK, Darius Danesh aka Darius Campbell
who seems to have carved out a solid career in the music business. I've mentioned him, and his natal chart, before on these pages - SEE HERE.
Adam Lambert from American Idol, 2009 - follow links in the Label Cloud, to my old posts, for more about him. Adam has toured the USA and abroad, sung in concert with Queen, and in my opinion he hasn't yet quite hit the right spot or genre to reach superstar status.....but he will!
I'm not a big fan of female singers, but have to mention Carrie Underwood, American Idol's gift to country music, and arguably their most successful find so far. Haley Reinhart and her updated jazzy style impressed on last year's Idol.
Josh Krajcik from last year's US X-Factor - I was, and remain a fan, eagerly awaiting release of his first album.
Prince Poppycock from America's Got Talent a couple of years ago; and from the same show this year Andrew DeLeon (true raw untapped talent, and though he didn't go very far - he will, I think, in the future).
There have been several stand-out contestants from the new season's crop of shows among those episodes we've managed to catch so far, but as yet actual names have not registered....that takes time, and seeing several performances. Here's one whose name I did remember, right away: Willie Jones:
The beat of their talent goes on.....and my foot will always be tapping along.
