Earlier this week, Elton John had some blunt advice for Madonna, who was headlining the Super Bowl XLVII half-time show.
“Make sure you lip-sync good.”
– Washington Post (Jan 31 2012)
Elton the John was apparently still miffed at his error of predicting Madonna’s Globe nomination loss when she won just a couple of weeks earlier, exposing his ego, stupidity and poor sportsmanship. (Washington Post, January 17, 2012)
That said, the lip syncing is probably necessary during the carnival these Super Bowl half-time shows are. So I want to know what you thought of Madonna’s lip syncing? Answer in the poll below, and leave a comment if you like.
The TED (Technology Entertainment and Design) community just released its 2011 Ads Worth Spreading contest winners, and the ads are more super than the ones I saw for the Super Bowl! But what did you expect from a brilliant group who’s moniker is “Ideas Worth Spreading”? Here are the ads below, in no particular order.
The ads tend to be longer than the Super Bowl ones, where time is so expensive, though the Chrysler Born of Fire and Volkswagen’s The Force are both here. Hey, the cream does rise to the top no matter where you put it. But you know, if ads were this good, I wouldn’t care how long they went on. They’d be better than most things I’d ever find on television!
Some of these ads are also not widely seen, especially in North America, because they come from the world over and not all of these ad makers have money for American television time, much less Super Bowl. However, as a whole collection, I’d take this over the top Super Bowl ads I’ve seen in any year!
This is part 1 of 3 since there are too many commercials to put into one blog post. The link to Part 2 is at at the end.
For Super Bowl XLV, the NFL dressed the Black Eyed Peas in TRON Hallowe’en costumes, got them to sound like they would without all the studio mixing and smoothing over of recorded music, and added a little Guns ‘n’ Roses to complete the unmix.
As of today, Mon Jan 31, Facebook is offering deals in Canada through Facebook Places, although I imagine it’s slightly old news in the US and some other countries by now. What you give up in exchange is your “Facebook soul” in your demographic information, which could be singled out if there aren’t many users doing it at the same time, like at a small business, and you end up advertising with a status update that goes out to all your Facebook friends.
What were your favourite pieces of music that you heard for the first time last year?
I don’t necessarily mean music that came out last year, just that you heard it for the first time last year because it was new to you. If you care to share, you can put it in the comments following the post. I’d love to know to expand my musical horizons.
Below are a list of favourite songs I heard for the first time in 2009, enough that would fit on CD were I to have made one. Most were from musicals as I really got into them in 2009 after my classic jazz year in 2008. A few were one-off takes on television events, though, so I’ll start with one that was both. It was available on YouTube like most of my selections so I have included the videos to have the music right here for you. I also linked the songs to blog posts I did inspired by them, where I did one.
Someone Like You
from Jekyll & Hyde Linda Eder & Frank Wildhorn on 2000 PBS Special
Linda Eder delivers a loving performance of this gorgeous song with touching lyrics, accompanied by husband Frank Wildhorn, who had composed the song. (blog post)
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If You Were Gay
from Avenue Q
Rick Lyon and John Tartaglia Love and humour, not just in song but also video spoof. (blog post)
The Internet is for Porn
from Avenue Q Stephanie D’Abruzzo, Rick Lyon & the Guys
Possibly the funniest song I have ever heard! (blog post)
Mix Tape
from Avenue Q
Stephanie D’Abruzzo and John Tartaglia
A song that dragged my emotions up and down, enhanced by Stephanie’s nuances of acting while singing this song. (blog post)
As Long as You’re Mine
from Wicked Idina Menzel and Norbert Leo Butz
An often overlooked song from Wicked that I only heard once I saw the musical, rather than hearing the more popular songs from it. However, I loved it immediately, especially the soft-spoken ending.
Academy Awards 2009 Introduction
Hugh Jackman and Anne Hathaway
This number was both brilliant and unexpected in being clever, funny and spectacularly performed. My intro to the full talents of Hugh Jackman. (blog post)
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Monologue Song
from Saturday Night Live November 7, 2009 Taylor Swift
How to trash everybody you want to with class and humour while being really cute about it. (blog post)
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Dark Eyes
by Bob Dylan Judy Collins
Judy Collins gives this sad Dylan song a haunting rendition. (blog post)
Better Angels
Lesley Gore
The original It’s My Party girl seriously grows up with this beautiful tune I first heard on CSI Miami (compilation video of episode shown below).
I Got a Feeling
Black Eyed Peas
Just an awesome dance song, ’nuff said cause I’m getting dancing! Best 2009 song in my opinion. (I chose the flash mob version shown on Oprah for the video cause it’s also so awesome!)
Wake-up
The Arcade Fire
I heard this song via the trailer for Where the Wild Things Are and thought they had made a pretty good choice for a theme song.
The Closest Thing to Crazy
by Mike Batt Katie Melua
Pretty much describes what feeling in love feels like to me. (blog post)
I Want a Hippopotamus for Christmas
Gayla Peevey
I heard it on a Telus commercial and loved it immediately, a bit surprised I had never heard this 1950s seasonal classic until now. (blog post)
You’ve Gotta Have a Gimmick
from There’s No Business Like Show Business Bernadette Peters, Julia McKenzie, Ruthie Henshall
This is probably the ultimate example of my claim that girls have all the fun songs in musicals, and the video only emphasizes the point.
Married
from Cabaret Ron Rifkin, Michelle Pawk A charming little song about marriage. A compact version is shown below.
Mystery
performed on the show Inside the Actor’s Studio Hugh Laurie
A hilarious and charming example of how lyric writing sometimes feels like to me, trying to find desperate rhymes and more desperate words that conform with desperate rhymes. (blog post)
Love, Look in my Window
from Hello Dolly!
Ethel Merman
There isn’t a video for this one but the piece was written for Ethel Merman when she joined Hello Dolly! If you hear her perform it with the emotions she does, you’ll know why it was written for her. I can hardly keep from crying at points in it. Probably good I don’t have the music for that reason!
Digital Citizen 