National Anthem Face-Off! Who Does it Better?

I've put *'s next to my favorite renditions, and XX's next to my least favorites, ha. What are your favorites?

Solo Females:

*Fergie:


*Mariah Carey:



Mariah Carey 2:



*Monica:


Toni Braxton:



Beyonce:



Brandy:



*Whitney Houston:



Leann Rimes:



Kelly Rowland:



xxJessica Simpson:



Kelly Clarkson (really bad videorecording!):




xxChristina Aguilera (what was all that extraneous crap?):




Christina Aguilera 2:



JoJo:


Female Groups:


*Wild Orchid:


Destiny's Child:



Solo Males:


*Clay Aiken:



Clay Aiken 2:


Brian Littrell (of the Backstreet Boys):


xxJustin Timberlake:



Jason Mraz:




xxxxxxR. Kelly (national embarrassment!):



Male Groups:

N'Sync:



Backstreet Boys:



*Hanson (has some bad echoing. I love this because they come out getting booed and then by the end, the audience is on their feet applauding):



Hanson 2:

Mini-Reviews #16! Monica, Clay Aiken, Bone, & More!

Mini-Reviews #16! Monica, Clay Aiken, Bone, & More!


Click here to listen to "A Dozen Roses" from Monica's album the Makings of Me.

Click here to visit Monica's official website.

Click here to visit a fan site for pictures, downloads, performances, and other stuff.





Click here to listen to "Precious" from Chante Moore's album Precious.


Click here to visit Chante's official website and keep up-to-date on her upcoming album with her husband Kenny Lattimore. And yeah, seems like she has the Beyonce/Mariah look going on these days too...



Click here to listen to "What You See (Reload)" from Bone's album Thug Stories.

Click here to visit Bone's official site for news of the (real? official?) new album. And eek, it looks like they added some random 4th member to the group now? I sure hope not. 3 is better than some random 4th dude.

Ha, it looks like this album reached #1 on the indie charts and is holding strong at #2 now.



Click here to listen to "Lonely No More" from Clay Aiken's album A Thousand Different Ways. I would've put up "Without You", but I think that's his current single...

Click here to visit Clay's official website.

Click here to visit one of A Thousand Different Clay fan sites...





Click here to listen to "Know My Name" from Jamelia's album Walk With Me.

Click here to visit Jamelia's official site.

Mini-Reviews #15! Janet Jackson, John Mayer, Kelly Rowland & More!

Mini-Reviews #15! Janet Jackson, John Mayer, Kelly Rowland & More!


Click here to listen to "Beyond Imagination" from Kelly Rowland's album Simply Deep.

Click here to visit Kelly's official site to stay up-to-date on her upcoming album and happenings.

Click here to visit Kelly-Rowland.com for pics, info, and other good stuff.




Click here to listen to "Belief" from John Mayer's latest album Continuum.

Click here to visit John's official site for all the latest news and updates.

Click here to visit J-Mayer.org for all the latest articles, pics, and related stuff.




Click here to listen to "All the Way" from Wild Orchid's last album Hypnotic.

Click here to visit Wild Orchid Online, a rather thorough fansite dedicated to the trio.







Click here to listen to "Love 2 Love" from Janet's latest album 20 Y.O.

Click here to visit Janet's official website for all the latest news and updates.







Click here to listen to "For the Love of You" from Jason Weaver's album Love Ambition.

Click here to visit a fansite dedicated to the "Finest Man on Earth" lol (NOT my words!).

Click here to visit his wikipedia page, heh.

A Very Special Mini-Reviews: Fergie

A Very Special Mini-Reviews: Fergie

Tracklisting:

1. Fergielicious
2. Clumsy
3. All That I Got (the Make-Up Song)
4. London Bridge
5. Pedestal
6. Voodoo Doll
7. Glamorous (ft. Ludacris)
8. Here I Come
9. Velvet
10. Big Girls Don't Cry (Personal)
11. Mary Jane Shoes (ft. Rita Marley)
12. Losing My Ground
13. Finally/Maybe We Can Take a Ride

Click here to listen to "Losing My Ground" from Fergie's album the Dutchess, in stores now!

Click here to listen to "Mash Out (ft. MC Lyte & Will.I.Am)", a song that should have been on the album. And bonus points if you know what the heck she is saying here: "I ____ some ______ and poked my ____ out"???? That's driving me crazy!

And click here to listen to "He's Alright" from Wild Orchid's album Wild Orchid. The second coming of En Vogue, I said!

Visit Fergie's official site and don't forget to buy the album!

As a bonus, here's the J.J. Fad video for "Supersonic" which "Fergalicious" is a cover of. (And hearing it again definitely makes me think M.I.A. was inspired by this also, lol.)

And for another bonus, Fergie back in the day when she was very hot. :-p The video for Wild Orchid's "Talk to Me"! Eep, what a find!

More Thoughts on Xtina....

... because that ish wasn't so funny on second thought...

Pink and Xtina Beef??? What's Beef, pt. 2!

Looks like Xtina has beef with all the people she's copied. I'm just waiting for her to start beefing with Etta James now, lol. I wrote about how Xtina copies Pink already with the Linda Perry thing, the "oh woe is me" lyrics, the album art and all, so let's not tread there again. But among the people Aguilera has made disparaging remarks about are all the people who have "influenced" *cough* her own music and style. Did Xtina not talk about how she grew up singing Mariah Carey's songs? And her overdone vocal style does *NOT* come from Etta James or any of her name-dropped legends. Nope, that's the Mariah influence right there, where the notes are there just for the sake of being there, lol. And did Xtina's first album not tread the same waters that her other former rival Britney Spears popularized with her first album? And did her second album not find its inspiration (and producer) from Pink's second album? And did her "dirrty" style not rehash what Black R&B and rap perfomers had been doing for the last 10 years at that point: parading around half-naked? And what Madonna had done nearly 2 decades before also? And not to mention the latest character she's playing. Madonna covered that territory already, so did Janet Jackson to a lesser extent.

And the album art again. Hmmm....

Madonna doing "Black" music in 1994 vs. Xtina doing "Black" music in 2006:


I don't know. Xtina is just really starting to rub me the wrong way. She isn't a legend yet; and quite frankly I don't think she will EVER become more than another name mentioned when people are already talking or writing about Mariah or Britney. At least not until she does something *honest* because that's the one thing missing from ALL of her albums: honesty. She's always forced, fake, and trying too hard to portray some character or image. There isn't anything particularly unique about her. Everything that she's done in her career up to now has been done already. I think she needs to show more respect to the people who have set the pace and the space for her. These ARE people like Mariah, Madonna, Britney, and Pink. No matter how much name-dropping she does of Etta James and Ella Fitzgerald and Billie Holiday, it's clear who her REAL inspirations are and that still even comes across on this latest album: all the people she's dissed. Aguilera = not an artist, I'm afraid. A good singer, but that's about all there is to Xtina right now. (And there are a LOT of good singers out there that nobody paid attention to just because they weren't blond and half-naked.) She hasn't set any trends or done anything new. None of her songs are destined to any kind of memorability or "classic" status. She even dissed Beyonce too, but that's pretty much all she is right now: another Beyonce. Maybe she can dump on Mariah when she's achieved one-third of the things that Mariah achieved... in her first 5 years no less (10 #1's already). Heck, Britney can claim more of a "legend" status than Aguilera can right now. "Baby One More Time" and "Oops" are damn near iconic for the decade.

So yeah, she's just really starting to bother me. Or maybe it's all the tacky red lipstick.

Mini-Reviews #14!

Mini-Reviews #14! Beyonce, Lyfe Jennings, 702 & More!


Click here to listen to the bonus tracks from B'Day, "Check On it", "Listen" and "Get Me Bodied Redux", lol. I actually really like the "Get Me Bodied" Remix thing.

Click here for Beyonce's official website.

Click here to visit BeyonceWorld, probably the best known fansite ever because their pics are always being hotlinked, lol.






Click here to listen to "Find a Way" from Conya Doss's album Love Rain Down.

Click here to visit Conya's official website.







Click here to listen to "Steelo" from 702's album No Doubt. One of my fave R&B tracks ever.

Click here to visit a fan site, I don't think there is an official website anymore.






Click here to listen to "Biggie Nigga" from Lyfe's album the Phoenix. Probably not the most representative, but definitely the must-hear track, ha.

Click here to visit Lyfe's official website.

I recommend checking this one out!




Click here to listen to "Suddenly" from Hinda Hicks' album Still Doin My Thing.

As a bonus, and because I *LOVE* this steamy hot track, click here to listen to "When You Touch Me There" from Hinda's first album Hinda.

Click here to visit a fan site, as there doesn't seem to be anything else out there.

Read more about Hinda at wikipedia.

Mini-Reviews #13!

Mini-Reviews #13! Justin Timberlake, Jessica Simpson, Vivian Green, & More!

Click here to listen to "The Lover in Me" from Jessica Simpson's album, A Public Affair. (This is such a bad album cover, lol). You should buy it if you want the good cheesy stuff!

Click here to visit Jessica's official website.

Click here to visit SweetKisses.net for all your Jessica goodies and news! (NO, she is NOT dating John Mayer!!!)

Remember to buy the album and support Jessica!



Click here to hear "Waste My Time" from Blu Cantrell's album So Blu.

Blu's official website has gone down the pits, apparently. Ack. :-(

But click here to visit a lonely little fan site. I hope she returns with a new album somewhere eventually. Too talented to go to waste!

Remember to add this great album to your collection!



Click here to listen to "Damn Girl" from Justin Timberlake's album FutureSex/LoveSounds. I picked this song just because it doesn't have an interlude hanging on the end. :-p

Click here to visit Justin's official website.

Click here for another official Justin website?

Album of the Year! Remember to buy it!



Click here to listen to "Fanatic" from Vivian Green's debut album, A Love Story.

Click here to visit Vivian's official website (Turn your speakers down first, egads!)

Remember to support Vivian! Buy this album and check out her latest 2005 release, Vivian!




Click here to listen to "Kiss and Tell" from Brownstone's second album Still Climbing. JAM!

Click here to read more about Brownstone.

Don't forget to add this album to your collection!

Fergie Clips!

Get your Fergie clips right here!

Tracklisting:
1. Fergielicious
2. Clumsy
3. All That I Got
4. London Bridge
5. Pedestal
6. Voodoo Doll
7. Glamorous
8. Here I Come
9. Velvet
10. Big Girls Don't Cry
11. Mary Jane Shoes
12. Losing My Ground
13. Finally
14. Get Your Hands Up

Click here to listen to "Won't Let You Fall", the power-ballad from Posiedon.