My thoughts on Shawn Mendes’ debut album “Handwritten”

I decided to do something that I’ve never done before with my blog and review Shawn Mendes’ debut album Handwritten. I’m going to go right ahead and say that I’m definitely not an expert on singing or playing musical instruments. Admittedly, I’m a terrible singer and hell will freeze over a trillion times before I ever get an audition on American Idol or The Voice. I say this because I’ll be reviewing this album strictly from the standpoint of a listener; that being said, here are my thoughts on the album.

Right off the bat, I have to say that I think Handwritten is a great debut for Shawn Mendes with a lot of really great songs. My favorite song on the album without question is definitely “Stitches”. I probably would have started writing this review several days ago if I didn’t think that song was so addictive. Every time I start listening to it, I pretty much always want to listen to it on an endless loop. Personally, I think “Stitches” has a great beat to it, and I love the lyrics to the song. If I had to say what my second favorite song on the album is, it would definitely be “Something Big”. As far as I’m concerned, “Something Big” is the most unique sounding song on the entire album, especially when it comes to the overall beat of the song. “Something Big” really comes across as a hip-hop song to me. While most of the other songs have a pop sound to them, there are a few songs that remind me of country music.

“Crazy” is definitely another song that really stood out to me when I was listening to the album. I thought that Mendes did a great job with his singing for the song, and it’s an all-around great song. I feel like I should also mention that “Crazy” feels very reminiscent of Iron and Wine’s songs, and I’m a huge fan of his, which is a big part of why I like the song so much.

As much as I love this album, my least favorite song on the album is definitely “I Don’t Even Know Your Name”. For the record, I think the song starts out on a good note with great singing from Mendes and I love the instrumental accompaniment for the song. Unfortunately, I think Mendes’ singing for that particular song takes major turn for the worse about thirty seconds into the song and he just starts to sound like a drunk person singing karaoke for the rest of the song. Honestly, I think the only saving grace of that song is the instrumental aspect of the song. Another song that I thought was rather weak compared to the rest of the album was “The Weight”, but thankfully I don’t think it’s as bad as “I Don’t Even Know Your Name” is. What really brings that song down for me is that I think Mendes’ enunciation of the words “The Weight” is rather poor, which really hurts the song as a whole since it’s the name of the song and therefore those words are said quite a bit throughout the song. Honestly, I kept thinking that Mendes was singing the word “The Way” as I was listening to that song.

Glee: Scoop on episode 4x20 "Lights Out" and May sweeps related scoop from TVLine's Michael Ausiello

Here's some scoop on Glee from TVLine's Michael Ausiello.

Glee | McKinley loses power in the April 25 episode, prompting Will and Finn to “lead the students in an unplugged session.”

 Glee | Katey Sagal debuts as Artie’s mom on… May 2!

 Glee | New Directions travel to Regionals in the May 9 finale, “but the competition gets tough when they go head-to-head with the Hoosierdaddies and lead singer Frida Romero (American Idol‘s Jessica Sanchez). Meanwhile, Rachel finds out if she gets the callback for Funny Girl on Broadway.” Oh, and there’s also this.

Link to the full article:‘Glee’ Season 4 Finale: Rachel Cast in ‘Funny Girl’ on Broadway? - TVLine

Parenthood: American Idol's Paul McDonald Cast as [Spoiler]'s New Crush Interest-TVLine

According to TVLine's Michael Ausiello, Paul McDonald, who was an eighth place runner-up on American Idol, has been cast in a recurring guest-star role for season 4 of Parenthood. Here's an excerpt from the article:



The singer-songrwiter will play a musician who uses Crosby and Adam’s recording space, The Luncheonette, and promptly catches the eye of the studio’s new assistant, Amber (Mae Whitman).

This will mark McDonald’s acting debut.

Parenthood‘s fourth season premieres on Tuesday, Sept. 11 on NBC.

Link to the full article:Parenthood Casts Paul McDonald in Season 4 - TVLine







My thoughts: I definitely have mixed feelings about this casting news, because I don't always like it when shows cast reality TV show stars with no acting experience in guest-star roles. Sometimes they can be very bad actors. Although, in Paul McDonald's case the fact that he's a singer is a good thing since the character that he'll be playing is a singer who's recording at Crosby and Adam's studio. Now all that remains to be seen is whether or not Paul is a halfway decent actor.

The Voice: Carson Daly Talks Season 3 Changes and Emmy Nomination-TVLine

Here's an interview that Carson Daly did with TVLine's Michael Slezak. In the interview, Daly shares his thoughts on The Voice being nominated for an Emmy in the Outstanding Reality-Competition Program category and receiving an Emmy nomination of his own in the Reality-Competition hosting category. He also talks about the blind auditions for season three as well as the changes that have been made to the Battle Rounds and the live rounds. Carson Daly also talks about the feud between Christina Aguilera and Adam Levine, as well as the fact that neither of the winners for the first two seasons have had major radio success. Here's an excerpt from the interview where Carson Daly addresses the feud between Christina Aguilera and Adam Levine:



99 PROBLEMS BUT A CONTINUING XTINA/ADAM FEUD AIN’T ONE | Daly is the first to admit Season 2 ended with palpable tension between Aguilera and Levine — whose finale-night tiff over contestant Tony Lucca’s Jay-Z cover created oodles of tabloid chatter. “You could see it. You could feel it. I’m not gonna lie to you, and you’d read into my bulls–t if I told you that there wasn’t any,” he says. Nevertheless, after a rumored truce at the Season 2 wrap party, the duo’s on-set relationship during the recently filmed blind auditions was very cordial, Daly reports. “I didn’t know what to expect in frame one of Season 3. I was curious to know if the first time they had an exchange, would you be able to feel any resentment, but it just wasn’t there. It’s better. It’s like they went to couples therapy,” he says.

Daly continues that while no one can be sure whether or not Aguilera and Levine will “go back at it in the live shows,” he’s of the mindset that serious discord isn’t good for the show — no matter how much press it generates. “There’s fun bickering, like when your husband misses the turn in the car, and you say ‘Why don’t you stop and get directions?!’ That’s fine,” Daly offers. “But when there’s trouble in your marriage, that’s not the business of chemistry we want to be in.” To that end, “you’ll never see on The Voice a promo with a flashing ambulance because somebody fell backstage,” Daly insists. “We don’t produce our show that way. We’re not trying to capitalize on any headlines of that nature, and we haven’t really needed to thus far.”



Link to the full article:The Voice's Carson Daly Talks Season 3 Changes, Emmy Nomination - TVLine



My thoughts: I'm really glad that they've made some changes to the Battle Rounds because they were definitely my least favorite part of the first two seasons. I'm really hoping the fact that Blake Shelton's contestant, Jermaine Paul, won The Voice last season will knock Adam Levine down a peg or two in season 3, because the fact that Adam Levine was constantly bragging last season about Javier Colon winning the first season of The Voice annoyed the hell out of me. I get that he was proud and excited about Javier winning since he was on his team, but I feel like Adam went way too overboard bragging about it, especially since Javier wasn't doing all that well on the charts.

I'm sure that Blake is excited and proud of Jermaine Paul for winning, and he'll more than likely brag about it next season. After all, he bragged about Dia Frampton being the runner-up for season 1 and he also bragged a little about Xenia getting a record deal, but at least he didn't go overboard when he talked about it. When Blake bragged about Dia and Xenia's success, it came from a sense of pride, but whenever Adam bragged about Javier winning it seemed to come more from a sense of arrogance, rather than expressing pride for Javier's accomplishments. It will definitely be interesting to see how Adam and Blake act next season now that Adam isn't the only coach on The Voice to have a member of their team win The Voice.

90210: Adrianna related scoop from E! Online's Kristin Dos Santos

Here's some scoop on 90210 from Kristin Dos Santos' Spoiler Chat Daily for Friday 3/23/12.

Monica: What can you tell us about the scenes between Haley Reinhart and Adrianna on 90210? 
Haley herself (who was back on Idol last night, let the angels sing!) tells us: "I'm in a little sound check, and then I don't want to give away the entire scenario or what happens, but let's just say Adrianna was kind of unaware of some things, so me and her had a little introduction together. It didn't last too long. [Laughs.]" Hmmm! Color us intrigued.

Link to the full article:Spoiler Chat Daily: Mad Men Scoop From Jon Hamm! Plus, Big Bang Theory, Shameless, 90210 and More - E! Online

Haley Reinhart of American Idol to Perform on 90210-TVLine

According to TVLine's Matt Webb Mitovich, Haley Reinhart from American Idol will be performing her song "Free" on 90210 in an episode this spring.


Link to the original article:Haley Reinhart of American Idol to Perform on 90210

'One Tree Hill': Bethany Joy Galeotti finding post-series life 'such a change'-From Inside the Box-Zap2it

Bethany Joy Galeotti confirms it's not easy to say goodbye to Wilmington, N.C., but the recent end of filming "One Tree Hill" there made it necessary.

The cast has scattered as the Wednesday, Jan. 11, premiere of the CW drama series' ninth and final season nears. It promises new dilemmas for Haley James Scott (Galeotti) and her husband Nathan (James Lafferty), thanks in no small part to his ever-scheming father Dan (Paul Johansson).

"I was less emotional than I thought I'd be on the last day," Galeotti tells Zap2it, "but I think it came out in other ways. I'd be at home doing my laundry and not be able to find something, and I'd burst into tears. It's hard to see photos from the set and think, 'I'm never going to be in a room with all the same people again.'

"I'm sure I'll go back to Wilmington," adds Galeotti, who also made her debut as a director during the show's run. "I'm sure I'll work with some of those guys again, but that particular combination doesn't exist anymore, and it's hard to think about that. After you spend nine years of your life seeing the same faces every day, it's such a change."

While she's settling into being more of a full-time wife and mother back home in Battle Ground, Wash. -- where she and husband Michael also own and operate a restaurant -- Galeotti intends to keep fulfilling the musical yen "One Tree Hill" helped satisfy by sending Haley on a concert tour.

With longtime friend Amber Sweeney, she still performs in the duo Everly, and she's looking forward to a July concert in Los Angeles where she expects to reunite with "One Tree Hill" co-stars Shawntel Van Santen and Daphne Zuniga. Galeotti adds that Jana Kramer, who also got to merge her acting and her music on the show, also may sing at the event.

"We've got another performance coming up for Nicholas Sparks' celebrity golf weekend in April in New Bern [N.C.]," Galeotti reports. "I think we're going to be more of a boutique type of band, not pursuing things full-steam-ahead, not going on tour and being rock stars. We both have our own things we want to keep on the front burner, but this is something we can do to still be able to enjoy doing music."

Had her life not taken the course it did, Galeotti may well have tried out for FOX's "American Idol," NBC's "The Voice" or another televised music competition. "I think they're fun,'" she reflects, "Usually if I watch 'American Idol,' I'll pick it up after the audition process. I feel like so much of it is the gimmick of watching a train wreck, and I think it breeds negativity and gossip. I don't like that.

"I think 'The Voice' is a great show," Galeotti notes. "I really enjoy that, and I also like 'The Sing-Off,' though I haven't seen too much of it. I would definitely encourage any young artist toward those, since everything's different now. You kind of have to take the opportunities that come to you, so I would say, why not?"

This article was written by Jay Bobbin.

Link to the original article:'One Tree Hill': Bethany Joy Galeotti finding post-series life 'such a change' - From Inside the Box - Zap2it

TVLine: Crystal Bowersox on Body of Proof Season 2, Episode 6, Second Chances

Since auditioning for American Idol‘s ninth season, Crystal Bowersox has made a name for herself on a variety of fronts — diabetes spokesperson, didjeridoo enthusiast, kick-ass coverer of Rolling Stones classics, heartfelt singer-songwriter, and VH1 staple — but it was hard to imagine she’d ever find herself in the role of murder suspect. Tuesday night’s edition of ABC’s Body of Proof (10/9 c), however, will change all that, as Bowersox plays Zoe Brant, a troubled young woman who gets questioned by Megan (Dana Delany) and Bud (John Carroll Lynch) as they look into the death of a champion equestrian.

“She’s a bad girl with a good heart, kind of like me,” says Bowersox, laughing. “I’m more of a good girl now with a good heart, but I used to be [like Zoe], though I don’t know what it’s like to be incarcerated at all. I know nothing about it. My juvenile record is sealed so it’s all good.”

Idol’s Crystal Bowersox Splits With RCA/Jive

All kidding aside, though, Bowesox says she did draw from real life — specifically, her close relationship with her son — to help her prepare for her role. “Zoe was incarcerated for drug dealing, and she’s on some kind of work-release program [where she gets to see] her young daughter,” Bowersox explains. “I could not imagine what it would be like to be locked up for a bad decision and not be able to see my child. I can hardly go a weekend playing a show without missing him like crazy, so I drew my inspiration from the things I could find in common with the character.”

Body of Proof Exclusive: Battlestar Galactica’s Jamie Bamber to Romance Dana Delany

While the Idol runner-up attended a performing-arts high school, she admits her acting résumé was a little sparse before Body of Proof producers contacted her about auditioning. “I was really insecure about it. I’d never done anything like this before,” says Bowersox, who remembers getting “a really great piece of advice about acting” from Lynch in between takes. “He said, ‘As long as you’re telling the truth, you have nothing to worry about.’ And I kind of thought on that for a minute, about telling the truth from someone else’s perspective,” Bowersox explains. “Acting isn’t necessarily pretending. It’s storytelling. It’s giving someone your perspective on something.”

That said, “I felt pretty guilty when I was being interrogated,” she adds with a laugh.

Still, are there parallels between her Body of Proof gig and her day job? “You have to learn to draw the same emotion you had when you wrote a song every time you perform it,” Bowersox says. “Acting is the same way: You have to find those emotions and bring them to the surface, and then put them back when you’re done.”

In addition to “learning a lot” from Delany and Lynch, Bowersox notes there were other perks from her time on set. “I got to see so much behind-the-scenes stuff,” she recalls. “It wasn’t like working with the makeup artists on Idol. There were pictures on the wall of the trailer with all the gory makeup and horror-film stuff that the artists had done before, and I was just infatuated with it.”

With her acting debut imminent, Bowersox says she’s well aware of the doors Idol has opened for her. “[Body of Proof] was a great opportunity for me,” she says. “There are actors who wait in lines for auditions and callbacks and screen tests, and I walked right on and screen-tested and they liked it. I’m very lucky for that.”

Catch a preview of Bowersox’s Body of Proof episode below, then hit the comments and tell us if you’ll be tuning in tonight.




This article was written by Michael Slezak.

Link to the original article:Crystal Bowersox on Body of Proof Season 2, Episode 6, Second Chances

J.Lo, Randy, Steven, and Ryan Returning for American Idol Season 11

In what amounts to a very high-profile dotting of the i’s and crossing of the t’s, Fox announced this afternoon that Jennifer Lopez, Randy Jackson, Steven Tyler, and Ryan Seacrest will all be back when American Idol‘s eleventh season kicks off Sunday, Jan. 22, 2012.


“From the very first day of auditions, we knew we had something special in our new judges panel, and we’re so happy that America felt that way too,” said Mike Darnell, President of Alternative Entertainment at Fox, said in a release. “Together with Ryan – who is fantastic day in and day out – they built an incredible connection with both the contestants and our viewers, and I’m absolutely thrilled to welcome them all back to Idol for another season.”

More to come…

Writer of the original article from the TVLine website: Michael Slezak

Link to the original article:J.Lo, Randy, Steven, and Ryan Returning for American Idol Season 11