Around the Tubes - 7/2/11

I have gotten a plethora of cool press releases have been flooding my inbox recently that you may find interesting. This post will include blurbs on True blood, Harry Potter, The Lying Game, Three 6 Mafia, Life After Film School, Feherty, Larry David, Garry Morris, and Candyman 187.

- Before you get you grilling on Monday, Sunday sees an all new episode of True Blood at 9:00 on HBO. Below is an advanced preview of what you will see. And if you are fan of the show’s music, a third volume of the True Blood Soundtrack which will include a song by Neko Case, will be out this fall.



- Next weekend will be a Harry Potter weekend on ABC Family starting on Thursday with a new movie from the series airing all weekend. Or if you just want to watch them in one sitting, the channel will be airing the first five movies starting at 7:00 AM on Sunday. And if you think you are the biggest Harry Potter, head over to ABCFamily.com to enter your name for a chance to win the “Harry Potter Ultimate Fan Sweepstakes” grand prize which includes Blu-Rays (or DVD’s) of the first six movies and other Harry Potter swag.

- I found Alexandra Chando highly likable during her short stint on Glory Daze and not only does she have her own show, The Lying Game, we will be getting to see double of her as she plays twins on The Lying Game coming to ABC Family this August. Although isn’t the twins switching lives then one disappears the same plot of the Sarah Michelle Gellar show that got demoted to The CW? But anyway. Check out a promo below:

- Academy Award winning Three 6 Mafia (still weird typing that) is back on the scene with a new show, a mixtape and an upcoming album release. Famous Food debuts July 10 and follows the rap duo as they try to start a new restraint with Heidi Montag (huh?), Ashley Dupre (what?), Danielle Staub (who?), Jake Pavelka (seriously, who?) and Vincent Pastore (Big [Expletive Deleted]!!!). You can currently grab DJ Paul’s mixtape Pray for Forgiveness on iTunes while Juicy J’s mixtape Rubba Band Buisness 2 is currently available on livemixtapes.com.

- We are still two weeks away from the premiere of the final season of Rescue Me but this Sunday executive producer Peter Tolan will be on Life After Film School of Fox Movie Channel at 7:30.

- While on this week’s episode of Feherty on Tuesday at 9:00 on the Golf Channel, David will welcome golf legend Tom Watson.

- The New Yorker recently sat down with Larry David where he talks about his less than stellar golf game.

- On this 4th of July weekend Garry Morris is dedicating his new song Faith and Freedom to the men and woman of our armed services and you can download the song for free (right-click the link). The album Faith and Freedom will be released on CD to the general public at a later date.

- More free music alert: get the new track from Candyman 187 Show ‘Em All produced by Candyman 187 & The Havenotz and Skip Saylor or just check out the video below:

Hey I Can't Find Nothing on the Radio, Turn to that Station

Peter Buck once not so affectionately referred to his band’s early nineties records as R.E.M.’s James Taylor period, and sure Out of Time featured the worst song ever by a great artist with Shiny Happy People and included Endgame which sounded like it was lifted from seventies AM radio, but he is not giving the album along with my favorite album by the band Automatic for the People) enough credit. Yes the songs were much mellower than their previous work but the band got out of its comfort zone utilizing different instruments and even included a strings section on multiple songs. So I will be giving Out of Time its due by making it this month’s induction into the Scooter Hall of Fame.

The embracing of new instruments by R.E.M. was best exemplified by the album’s first single and band’s biggest hit Losing My Religion where Buck put down his guitar and picked up the mandolin which was a perfect backdrop for Michael Stipe’s haunting vocals. Half a World Away also featured the mandolin, but in a much more upbeat use than Losing My Religion and featured bassist Mike Mills on his new instrument for the album, the organ and remains one of the band’s most beautiful works of art.

Out of Time also so the introduction of guest vocalist, a first for the band. R.E.M. may have been the first alternative rock group (or college rock as it was called back then) to include a guest rapper on the song, and they even started the album off with KRS-One on Radio Song (which should have been a much bigger hit than it was). Their old Atlanta buddy Kate Pierson of the The B-52's adding vocals to Shiny Happy People, Country Feedback, and Me in Honey.

Though Out of Time was the start of the band’s “James Taylor” era, the album still featured a few songs that would not have been out of place on their eighties albums like Low where Stipe gets low on the vocals against a sparse backdrop of staccato guitars and organ. While Belong features the classic harmonies of Stipe and Mills that really sore in the chorus. But Out of Time was just a great primer for what was coming next with Automatic for the People where the band were at their peak musically.

You a Bad Girl and Your Friends Bad Too

Let’s just get this out of the way first: Run the World (Girls) is one of the worst songs ever in the history of the world (Full disclosure: I’m a guy). With that said, if you chop that song off of Beyoncé’s latest album, which is easy because it is the last track, 4 is her strongest work to date. Dangerously in Love was too top heavy on the hits. B’Day sounded like it was rushed. And I Am… Sasha Fierce was too schizophrenic (which may actually had been its intent). But 4 is her most cohesive album yet (assuming you hit the stop button before you get to Run the World (Girls), seriously that song is horrible).

The album starts off strong enough with the Prince style power ballad 1+1 although once the guitar solo comes in at the end of the song you wonder why it was not there throughout the whole song. That and why didn’t B get the actual Prince to play on the song instead some cheap Prince knockoff. I Care is such a weird RnB meets pop song that you will be reaching for the liner notes to see if Cee-Lo and/or Danger Mouse were involved (nope, it the dude who co-produced Kanye West’s Runaway).

While the Kenneth Edmonds (Babyface get back to making your own music stat! RnB needs you) co-written and produced Best Thing I Never Had is classic woman scorned Beyoncé (where she is at her best) in the tradition of Me Myself and I and Irreplaceable. I am still trying to decide if Rather Die Young is a lost gem from the RnB radio in the eighties or an AM radio hit from the seventies. Disappointingly the Ryan Tedder produced (and Diane Warren??? written) I was Here does not use the same backing track as Halo, the song Tedder famously recycled for five oor so other songs he produced.

The most notable songs on the album is where she dusts off two classic for sample. First there is the soon to be slow burning house party staple Party where producer Kanye West lifts lines from Doug E Fresh and Slick Rick’s old school classic La Di Da Di and sprinkles them throughout the song. While the middle school version of myself totally geeked when Beyoncé lifted the intro of Boyz II Men Uhh Ahh for Countdown. Yeah the song itself turned out to be a letdown, but you got to give her props for resurrected the greatest RnB group of the nineties. Come to think of it, Babyface, how about get back into the studio with Boyz II Men while you are at it.

Song to Download - Party

4 gets a on my Terror Alert Scale.

Live Blogging The Voice Results Show

After three months of blind auditions, battle rounds and Grammy production style live shows, the very first winner of The Voice will be crowned tonight winning them a record contract and some driving around money. No word on what the winning coach will receive aside from bragging rights. Before we get to tonight, check out of my live blog of yesterday’s The Voice Finale.

7:59 – I wonder if Vegas is taking bets on Javier Colon winning only to get bum-rushed by Kanye West who grabs the mic screaming, “Yo Javier, I’m really happy for you. I’mma let you finish, but Dia Frampton gave the greatest rendition of a song of all time. OF ALL TIME!!!!” I have money to burn.

8:01 – Well Dia Fampton already wins the award for largest applause. Higher than the judges and guests (how did Ryan Tedder get such a large one though, he is the worst of the bunch). Did she cut her hair even shorter?

8:05 – A Jay Leno recap? Ugg, they are really going to stretch this show out like turkey meat.

8:07 – When the announced the guest performances I went 0-3 guessing which finalist they would sing with. It was like they pulled names out of a hat to see who would perform. It should be interesting to see which will turn out to be the biggest train wreck (my money is on Beverly / Tedder).

8:12 – I love Drops of Jupiter and all, but is Pat Monahan really anyone’s favorite artist? I guess that is a better introduction that “Singing with an artist she sort of likes, but was the only one we could get to say yes.”

8:15 – Mark it: the first gratuitous NBC employee crowd shot.

8:16 - Bring back the V Room!!! Wow, someone actually asked Allison Haislip a question.

8:27 – Javier should sing with artists that wrote that song more often because he actually kept to the melody and did not ruin the song. And amazingly Javier went through the whole competition without singing one song that had higher than 25 beats per minute.

8:27 – Wow, Christina Aguilera just groped herself on live television for no apparent reason. I bet that GIF hits the web in 3, 2…

8:37 – So they paired one of the bolded voices on the show with a dude who makes the most boring music on the planet. Alrighty. At least Beverly weirdness made the performance almost watchable. But to think this could (should) have been Xenia dueting with Norah Jones. Sigh.

8:44 - Ha, they skipped over Dia's Battle Round in the montage, the lowpoint of the series this season.

8:47 – Ugg, the one song I was hoping Dia and Miranda Lambert were not going to sing. Yawn. Why couldn’t they have done one of her ish kicking song?

8:54 - Beverly and Vicci clearly know its not them.

8:58 – Wow, Javier Colon is The Voice.

9:00 – The Voice has a serious credibility problem right off the bat. Every week, Dia topped Javier on the iTunes charts, even reaching number one today, and she did not win. There really needs to be a recount, seriously, it was like Katherine Harris was involved in tabulating the votes or something. If someone like Dia dominates the iTunes charts where people spend their hard earned money and not just set up phony e-mail accounts to vote en mass, there is something wrong with your voting system. Mark Burnett really needs to explain this result because The Voice is now officially a fraud.


(Scooter's Note: I wrote this portion before the live show started) And here is a look at how the all The Voice performances stacked up on iTunes (click to download) just minutes before the show started, I vaguely remember Carson mentioning that only the original songs count as votes so I have bolded those. But keep in mind those bolded count as votes so the list may be a little spoilery (and let’s face it, if the most downloaded contestant does not win, The Voice will have a credibility problem right off the bat).

1. Inventing Shadows - Dia Frampton

2. Stitch By Stitch - Javier Colon

6. Moves Like Jagger - Maroon 5 featuring Christina Aguilera

7. Man In the Mirror (The Voice Performance) - Man In the Mirror - Javier Colon and Adam Lavine

12. I Won't Back Down - Dia Frampton

15. Afraid to Sleep - Vicci Martinez

16. Beautiful - Beverly McClellan and Christina Aguilera

34. Lovesick - Beverly McClellan

35. Love Is a Battlefield - Vicci Martinez and Cee-Lo Green

41. Losing My Religion - Dia Frampton

48. Heartless - Dia Frampton

55. Fix You - Javier Colon

83. Time After Time - Javier Colon

84. Dog Days Are Over (The Voice Performance) - Dog Days Are Over - Vicci Martinez

105. Angel - Javier Colon

139. Jolene - Vicci Martinez

148. Price Tag - Xenia

167. The Man Who Can’t Be Moved - Xenia

179. Bubbly - Dia Frampton

Live Blogging The Voice Finale

I scoffed at The Voice when it was first announced and here I am live blogging the finale just month’s later. Sure for me the last performance show is just a formality because Dia Frampton locked this with her rendition of Heartless which is now the gold standard for singing competitions. So unless she runs offstage crying during one of her performances, she should take home the trophy (or whatever the winner gets).

8:45 - Currently watching The Voice pre-show, aka Pretty Little Liars. It is weird that everyone killed The Killing for not revealing who killed Rosie Larson yet no one made a peep when Pretty Little Liars ended its first season without giving a definitive answer as to who killed even if the heavily hinted that it was Ian. Not only do we not know who the killer is, the show adds more questions without answering them at a Lostian pace.

9:00 – We start off with the coaches doing Vanilla Ice!!!! Wait, never mind. I thought the Queen medley was a couple weeks ago.

9:07 – One second of it and I already hate Vicci’s song. She is really at her worst

9:10 - Holy TRL reference!!! Carson totally has PTDS.

9:12: I miss the V room. The Social media room just does not have the awesomely cheeky vibe to it.

9:16: It is not a good sign that Up all Night does not premiere for three months and I am already tired of it.

9:21: R&B has been slowly dying for the past decade and though Stitch by Stitch does not hit the highs of the 90’s R&B, it is still decent by today’s standard. Bonus points for wrangling in the vocal gymnastics at the right time, something Javier Colon has struggled with his previous performances. Grade: B- Download Stitch By Stitch on iTunes.

9:30 – It’s the Blues Brothers!!!

9:32 – Dia has hit the right emotional buttons during her solo performances, but goes more for the fun root when singing with Blake, and we have Blues Brothers costumes (though Dia ditched the sunglasses early) and ZZ Top style synchronizing moves. Grade: B Download I Won't Back Down on iTunes.



9:42 – Every Vicci Martinez performance has been the same, take a great song and pale in comparison to the orginal singing in a karaoke style, then start screaming for no apparently reason, and even though there was no orginal artist to underperform, she still follow the same pattern. Grade: D+ Download Afraid to Sleep on iTunes.

9:50 – Pitbull on The Voice. Huh? Everyone that got booted in the battle rounds have better voices than him. And did he just name drop Seacrest? Wrong show buddy.

9:59 - Crap, I meant to put in a bet in Vegas that Christina Aguilera would make Beverly McClellan duet Beautiful with her. That would have been easy money. I actually like Beverly better in this performance. Grade: B- Download Beautiful on iTunes.

10:04 - Katherine McPhee acting again? Did no one see The House Bunny? No? Nevermind then.

10:13 – I am a little disappointed that Dia was not allowed to write a song herself. If you are going to label her a singer-songwriter, how about let her write her own song? The song she did probably went too far into Vanessa Carlton territory than it shoud. Oddly her orginal song was the one song that she did that did not sound like she put her own personal touch on. Grade: B- Download Inventing Shadows on iTunes.



10:21 - Fun fact: Man In the Mirror was the very first song I ever performed in public.

10:25 – I was getting a little worried, how do you perform Man in the Mirror without a choir, but they finally showed up, but it was still too small of a choir. Fill the stage up with a choir during that song. I wonder if they scaled it down this time around because the Team Adam performance was drowned out a couple weeks ago. Grade: B Download Man In the Mirror on iTunes.

10:31 – I am not sure if I am disappointed or relieved that Brad Paisley’s Don’t Drink the Water is not a Dave Matthews Band cover.

10:44 - Beverly may not have deserved to be in the final four when the spot could have gone to Xenia or Nakia, but she may be the most entertaining performer from the top eight. Her original song was a little bland. But then again all the original songs were a little bland (grant none were as horrible as all of the American Kareoke winning songs not named Inside Your Heaven). Grade: C Download Lovesick on iTunes.

10:55 - Cee-Lo singing Pat Benatar in a Legion of Doom costume. No seriously. Can I buy a song with just him performing the song? Vicci may have the coolest looking performances, but the weakest voice in the finals. Grade: B+ Download Love Is a Battlefield on iTunes.

11:00 It’s all over but the voting. So vote early, vote often, vote Dia Frampton. 1-855-VOICE-03. I’ll leave you with the best Dia quote I have read about her: “She's adorable, and looks either like Lyla Garrity or Jessica Alba, depending on the kind of adorable face she's making.” – Rolling Stone.

Check out my Live Blog of The Voice Results Show.

I Want My Music Television - 6/28/11

There have been a couple of videos that have caught my eye lately so I thought I’d give them some love since the death of Musical Television left a void for a forum on the art form. If you are interested in buying the video through iTunes, click the title link (where available). If you are interested in buying the song, look for a link in the analysis.


TMZ - "Weird Al" Yankovic



Last week “Weird Al” Yankovic released his painful to sit though Lady Gaga parody (I am pretty sure that is what the Nazis say when they opened the Arc of the Covenant), thankfully Al is already cleansing the mind pallet with his new video where a Taylor Swift look-a-like (I am assuming that since I Belong to You is the song getting the Weird Al treatment) gets harassed by TMZ.


Space Bound - Eminem



What the frack Eminem? Is there supposed to be some big deep meaning behind this video that I am not seeing, or did you just film this video as an excuss to hook up with Sasha Grey?


Love You Like a Love Song - Selena Gomez & The Scene



Holy Max Headroom homage! Although if I did the math correctly, Max Headroom predates the birth of Selena Gomez. That really makes me feel old.


Faster - Matt Nathanson



I am getting a strong George Michael / Faith vibe from the latest Matt Nathanson video. The both feature a solo artist in blue jeans and jacket playing an acoustic guitar. Even musically they utilize the same famous Bo Diddley beat.

Previewing Weeds 7.x

Last season on Weeds the Botwin Newman family took a great American road trip after Shane killed a very important person taking them through Seattle, Montana, points unknown before ending up on Nancy’s birthplace as a last spot before hopping in a plane to Copenhagen. The season ended with Nancy sacrificing herself to the feds, confessing to the murder of Pilar, after being taken by her husband who was not very happy that she split town his kid, while the rest of her family took off for Denmark.

The seventh season opens three months later when Nancy is up for parole. Yes pervs, there is some Caged Heat action before she is released to a halfway house in Washington Heights where we meet what may be the breakout character of the season in the form of the runner of the halfway house who went to the Don King school of speaking. And by the end of the episode it looks like Nancy happens upon something new to sell.

As for the male members of the cast, the all seem to assimilated well into Danish lifestyle (how is too good to spoil) and even Doug (which has a little something extra to him now) made the trip across the Atlantic even though the last time we saw him he had decided to reconnect with his family. We even get to see the three year old Stevie who was given custody to Nancy’s sister (guest star Jennifer Jason Lee) with both of his parents in jail and other family in another country. But the end of the episode shows that we will be in for an explosive season of Weeds.

Weeds airs Mondays at 10:00 on Showtime followed by a new season of The Big C. You can download previous seasons of Weeds on iTunes.

Previewing Leverage 4.x

The last image we got of Leverage was Nate sharing a bed with Sophie which adds to plenty of tension when the show returns tonight on TNT. Both Nate and Sophie are quick to jump into a new case to temper the awkwardness as the crew steals a mountain (again) when a mountain climber go missing with foul play being suggested. (Apparently the climber in question is not Eric Stoltz even though I was convinced it was for most of the episode). With many experienced climber dying on this part of the mountain, this is easily the most dangerous mission the Leverage team has taken to date

With Damien Moreau behind bars, tonight’s episode does introduce what looks to be another season long arc when someone turns the table on the Leverage team. Also expected this season the team will target a public relations expert (guest star Michael Gladis) who protects his clients by destroying the lives of anyone who gets in their way; a millionaire who pays to have himself moved up on a heart-transplant waiting list; a woman who profits from people’s grief through a funeral scam; a big corporation out to bury potato farmers; and a group trying to kill a World War II veteran (guest star Danny Glover) who allegedly has a very rare Van Gogh painting. In addition, the team will once again face their nemesis, insurance-investigator-turned-InterPOL-agent Jim Sterling (guest star Mark Sheppard). They will also discover that someone has been spying on their activities, although the nature of the culprit’s agenda is a mystery.

Leverage airs Sundays at 9:00 on TNT and will be followed by Falling Skies in its new timeslot. You can stream recent episodes over at tnt.tv. You can also download Leverage on iTunes.

57 Channels and Only This Is On - 6/25/11

Quote of the Week: You got all of that from a crate of oranges? (President Levi, Friday Night Lights)

Song of the Week: Our Hearts Are Wrong – Jessica Lea Mayfield (Pretty Little Liars)

Big News of the Week: A Melancholy Happy Trails to Clarence Clemons: The music community lost a great one this week when Clarence Clemons passed away earlier this week due to complications from a stroke earlier this month. Clemons was most famous as the saxophonist for the E Street Band that backed Bruce Springsteen for three decades. But he truly shined at live shows where he was always a crowd favorite whenever he stepped to the mic. He also added his talents to artists as wide ranging from The Temptations to Gloria Estefan to Twisted Sister and most recently appeared on the latest Lady Gaga album and even popped up in Bill and Ted’s Excellent Adventure. He will be missed.


The Killing: The show got killed this week (bad pun intended) for its cliffhanger ending and rightfully so. The producers say that no one with the show ever said that the first season would be self contained, but my big problem was that everyone assumed it was because it was based on a Danish show that did wrap up the murder mystery in a single season then moved onto a new case in the second. Obviously they knew at the beginning at the season it would end the way it would so all they had to do when people talked about how they assumed that we would learn Rosie’s killer by the end of the season all you had to do is tease that that may not necessarily be the case and that would have temped the firestorm they ended up having with the ending. Then the show had its second presidential moment of the season with Belko about to go Jack Ruby on the councilman after his earlier Monica Lewinski moment with Rosie Larsen. But I am not sure if I will be around next season when Holder stands in front of a Mission Accomplished sign. You can download The Killing on iTunes.

Pretty Little Liars: That slow motion musical montage of Aria searching for Mr. Fitz may be the creepiest thing I have ever seen on television. Am I the only one bothered that the show is turning statutory rape into some grand love story? You can stream recent episodes on Hulu. You can also download Pretty Little Liars on iTunes.

Friday Night Lights: Another classic Buddy Garrity episode, so great as he hounded the principle and Coach about the potential of him leaving for Florida adding great comic relief, then turning on a dime and giving a heartfelt plea at Tim’s parole hearing. But it was painful to watch Tim this week; dude has a lot of pain in his heart from his time in prison. Hopefully everything works out in the end.
You can stream recent episodes on Hulu.




Free Download of the Week: DMB Caravan Sampler (iTunes): The first of Dave Matthews Band’s four festivals they are having this summer got under way this weekend in Atlantic City and for those that could not make it, head over to DMBCaravan.com where you can get an iTunes code for a seven song sampler including a track from Dave and the boys.

New Album Release of the Week: When The Sun Goes Down - Selena Gomez and the Scene

New DVD Release of the Week: The Lord of the Rings: The Motion Picture Trilogy (Extended Edition + Digital Copy)

Video of the Week: Remember that story everyone joked about years ago when a woman sued McDonalds for millions of dollars because she spilled their hot coffee on her laugh? Well that is actually the jump off point for the latest HBO documentary in their Summer Series. Hot Coffee premieres Monday at 9:00 and takes a look at “frivolous” lawsuits and looks at the effectiveness of a civil justice system heavily influenced by bottom-line corporate interests. Here is a trailer:



Next Week Pick of the Week: The Voice, Tuesday at 9:00 and Wednesday at 8:00 on NBC: Had you told me three months ago I would be anticipating the outcome of the first season of The Voice I would have laughed in your face and that I would be “Team Blake” I would have been insulted. Sure the idea of the Blind Audition was an interesting concept, but I figure it would in end be the same as American Karaoke: mediocre singers singing crappy song. But there is one reason for my change in heart: Dia Frampton. After the novelty of the Blind Auditions and Battle Rounds came to a close, Frampton put up not just the greatest performance on any singing competition, her rendition of Kanye West’s Heartless was a Grammy worthy performance (for more on Heartless see: You a New Friend I Got Homies). Unfortunately my two other early favorites, one named wonders Xenia and Nakia, exited this week. But after seeing what do was able to do with Heartless and R.E.M.’s Losing My Religion (see: That's Me in the Corner, That's Me in the Spotlight), I cannot wait to see what she has in store for the finale where she will perform an original song (hopefully she gets to write the song herself and is not forced to sing song sappy crap that usually comes from the American Karaoke winners) and a duet with coach Blake Shelton (when I heard this I was sending mental notes to the two suggesting they do a song by The Civil Wars which would fit both of their styles and they can knock it out of the park). It has also been announced that she will also duet with Shelton’s wife Miranda Lambert for the result show on Wednesday. No word who (or if) the other finalist Beverly McClellan, Javier Colon or Vicci Martinez will perform with. I guess Blake was able to get a answer quicker than whatever name Cee Lo pulled out of his extensive rolodex of artists he likes to name drop.

Around the Tubes - 6/24/11

I have gotten a plethora of cool press releases have been flooding my inbox recently that you may find interesting. This post will include blurbs on True Blood, Football Cops, Creatures of Habits, Cocaine Sub Hunt, Life After Film School, Don King, nbc.com, Mob Wives, Oprah, and "Weird Al" Yankovic.

- True Blood returns to HBO this Sunday at 10:00 and to get ready for the fourth season premiere, head over to the show’s Facebook page and once you Like the show you can Immortalize Yourself where you can make an exclusive Season 4 video staring themselves, their friends and their favorite True Blood characters. You can also sign up fo Blood Line to receive weekly calls from a different True Blood cast member.

- We still do not have a collective bargaining agreement for football, but the Manning brothers are keeping busy with their new show Football Cops which looks like Sabotage with footballs.

Football Cops Trailer


- You cannot do better than free and you can currently do so with the new self titled Creatures of Habit album for free. But if you are feeling generous, it is a name you own price digital download on BandCamp, so you can pay for it if you want.

- We have all heard of drug mules getting their products into the country, but the cartels have many other ways to get cocaine onto our shores which the National Geographic Channel will be looking into with Cocaine Sub Hunt premiering this Sunday ay 9:00. Check out a preview below:

Life on a Cocaine Sub


- Monte Carlo hits theaters next week and this Sunday director and co-writer Tom Bezucha will stop by Life After Film School this Sunday at 7:30 on Fox Movie Channel to discuss how he directed Selena Gomez through the acting challenges of playing two characters.

- Don King may be turning 80 soon, and yes there is an app for that. Yes you can download the Don King app that features a biography, never before seen video of his career and much more.

- In other app news, NBC just recently released its nbc.com app for the iPad which you can download for free. The app is free and features preview clips from NBC shows, photos, recaps, games and much more.

- The first season of VH1’s Mob Wives comes to a close this Sunday with an “explosive” finale following an all day marathon and will be followed by a reunion show hosted by Wendy Williams.

- Don’t ask me what a “bookazine” is but O The Oprah Magazine is releasing one to commemorate Oprah’s Farewell Celebration: Inside 25 Extraordinary Years of The Oprah Winfrey Show. It will go on sale nationwide June 28 and will be on sale wherever bookazines are sold.

- And just because, Weird Al Yankovic and the Roots performing the internet exclusic Beer Barrel Polka:

Weird Al Yankovic: Beer Barrel Polka

That's Me in the Corner, That's Me in the Spotlight

There were no truer words spoken on The Voice when Blake Shelton said about Dia Frampton, “This girl isn’t just someone who can sing, this girl is someone who has a vision.” Where everyone in the competition is still content with singing straight karaoke versions of their songs, Dia is clearly spending her rehearsal time tweaking her performance all week, not settling on a strong vocal performance, she seems to be the only one on the show who is working to make a great song. Those hand claps at the chorus were so simple, but yet so brilliant and really to her dreamy version of Losing My Religion and turned it into a great performance. If Dia Frampton wins The Voice, she will give instant credibility to the show that the other finalist would not.

Semi-finals: Dia Frampton Sings "Losing My Religion"


Compare that to arguably the best overall performance of the week by Vicci Martinez (faux-hawks aside) ; seriously, it is hard to beat a drum line, but there is no way I would ever buy her version. I already have the Florence + the Machine version on my iPod, why would I want an inferior version in every way, from vocals to music, it is just a bland version compared to the original. Sure Dia cannot compete vocally with Michael Stipe either (of course he does have one of the great voices in rock and roll history) but she changed it up enough to make it a worth wild version on its own merits where you do not naturally compare their vocals.

Semi-finals: Vicci Martinez Sings "Dog Days Are Over"


When they announced that each team’s America’s Vote would go against the Coach’s Save I had to think of Mark Burnett’s other show Survivor and its recent Redemption Island twist. Sure the idea of Redemption Island was cool, but I figured they would immediately vote out whoever got back in the game and that happened. And on The Voice having an America’s Vote and a Coach’s Save is good theater, I thought to myself, America is just going to vote for the same person unless that person runs off the stage crying during their performance. But I also assumed that all the coaches would not give anyone over fifty-five points and Adam shocked me when he put almost all his eggs in Javier Colon’s basket.

But that wasn’t the shocking moment of the week from Adam Levine who admitted he changed his mind from Jeff Jenkins to Casey Weston at the last minute. I wonder what change his mind. I thought Jeff should have been kicked off the show right after his “legal Thomson sister” comment. Though it may have more to do with Casey outselling Jeff on iTunes last week. But I wonder since Adam and Cee Lo had the advantage of seeing their singers practice for a week had any influence on their picks. And considering Jeff was set to perform I Don’t Want to Miss a Thing, one of the worst power ballads ever in the history of the world, I would not be surprised if that played a part. I actually knew a couple who chose that song as their first dance at their wedding and I took the under on the length of their marriage. Needless to say I may a pretty penny off that wager. And Curtis Grimes fans rejoice, you can actually buy the songs by the rejects on iTunes where you can purchase his version of Colder Weather. Also available are the Thompson Sisters Cowboy Take Me Away (um nevermind, it was on iTunes yesterday, but seems to have disappeared), and Devon Barley giving Animal by Neon Trees a spin.

But Adam did not have the most shocking moment of the week. That went to Nakia who turns out to have a boyfriend. In the immortal words of Hurley, “Didn’t see that one coming.” So next week on The Voice the final four will be performing a duet with their coaches (I wonder if Vegas is taking bets on who will over-sing more Christina/Beverly or Adam/Javier) and an original song. I wonder if Carson misspoke on the original song, but I hope they do do something original and are allowed to write their own songs if they want because I would much rather hear a song that Dia and Javier wrote themselves than some crappy American-Karaoke style championship song. Then again there will be a short voting window with the results show airing again on Wednesday.

Semi-final Results: George Michael Medley

I Want My Music Television - 6/22/11

There have been a couple of videos that have caught my eye lately so I thought I’d give them some love since the death of Musical Television left a void for a forum on the art form. If you are interested in buying the video through iTunes, click the title link (where available). If you are interested in buying the song, look for a link in the analysis.


Perform This Way - "Weird Al" Yankovic



I have been listening to “Weird Al” Yankovic my whole life, would tape the Dr. Demento Show whenever he was on, even bought his Box Set release even though I owned all his albums, but I really need the Men in Black mind eraser gadget so I can wipe this music video from my memory. Remember his song Do I Creep You Out? I can finally answer that question with an emphatic yes.


Block after Block – Matt and Kim



Matt and Kim are back to their guerilla tactics on the streets of New York City, but managed to keep their clothes on. Why cannot all music videos be this fun?


Calgary – Bon Iver



After working with Kanye West for his Beautiful Dark Twisted Fantasy, I was interested on if Justin Vernon (aka Bon Iver) would take any of that influence into his new album. And from the sounds of Calgary, in this song at least his sound is fuller. And he also seemed to take Kanye’s recent penchant for weird visuals in his music video.


Life Is Life – Noah and the Whale



When we last saw Noah and the Whale they were telling us that life goes on (or at least spelling it) and now Life Is Life. But with the cheerleaders in the performance shots I cannot help but think of the lost nineties gen Popular by Nada Surf.

One Ring to Rule Them All

Sure The Lord of the Rings movies were released individually a couple months ago on blu-ray, but who bought The Fellowship of the Ring and thought to themselves, that’s really the only one I want. Most fanatics knew that the full set would get a blu-ray release eventually and a week from today is that day when you can buy The Lord of the Rings: The Motion Picture Trilogy, fifteen disks in all, and Warner Bros is going all out for the release. Highlighted by a midnight release party in West Los Angeles where actors from the film will be there to autograph your newly purchased blu-ray and a costume contest with a grand prize of a VIP Tour of Middle-earth (an all-expense paid trip to New Zealand where the movies were filmed). For a full run down of what Warner Bros is doing to celebrate (including the re-airing of The Big Bang Theory’s Lord of the Rings parody), here is the full press release from Warner Bros:

One Ring. One Release. One Unforgettable Night.

Count-Down to “Middle-earth Midnight Madness” Launch Celebration,

Theatre Screenings Lead Huge Warner Bros. Home Entertainment Group Push for The Lord of the Rings™ The Motion Picture Trilogy: Extended Edition

Special Event Featuring Cast Member Greetings, Costume Contest With Fabulous Prize Packages, and More at Best Buy in West Los Angeles to Celebrate Warner Home Video's June 28 Midnight Release.

Facebook Page, with 5.2 Million Friends, is Official Destination for Insider Information, “Wisdom Wednesday” Q&A with Weta Workshop Talent and new Elvish Name Translator application!

Burbank, Calif., June 17, 2011 -- On June 28, Warner Home Video will release all three of Peter Jackson’s visual masterpieces on Blu-ray in a 15-disc stunning collection entitled The Lord of the Rings™ The Motion Picture Trilogy: Extended Edition. To celebrate the occasion, Warner Home Video has announced a count-down to “Middle-earth Midnight Madness” celebratory event at Best Buy’s West Los Angeles location, 11301 W. Pico Blvd., where fans can join in the anticipation of the magic moment when they’ll finally be able to own the new extended edition trilogy on Blu-ray.

Brimming with enthusiasm, fans from all over the country (and possibly worldwide) will be encouraged to arrive for the festivities at 12:00 PM on June 27 -- dressed as their favorite Middle-earth characters. The Aragorn, Frodo, Gandalf and other look-alikes will be eligible to win one of several exciting prizes[1], with one lucky contestant capturing the Grand Prize of a VIP “Tour of Middle-earth” – an all-expense-paid trip to New Zealand (Auckland, Wellington, Queenstown), courtesy of Air New Zealand and Weta Workshop. Highlights of the Grand Prize package itinerary will include a VIP tour hosted by Hobbiton Movie Set Tours, visits to The Lord of the Rings movie locations, a SKYCITY Grand Hotel VIP experience in Auckland and being hosted at the Weta Cave by the crew from Weta Workshop. Two Second Prize winners will receive an Official 10k Solid Gold version of The One™ Ring from Noble Collections (consumer value $495 each). Three Third Prize winners will receive a life-sized replica of The Sting Sword™, Frodo’s sword used throughout the Trilogy, also supplied by Noble Collections (consumer value $295).

All attendees will be winners, as they marvel at the specially created atmosphere, with autographs from celebrities, and themed give-aways, topped off with the choreographed countdown to midnight and the satisfaction of being the first people in the world to get their new Blu-ray copy of The Lord of the Rings™ The Motion Picture Trilogy: Extended Edition.

In attendance will be talent from the trilogy as well as broadcast, print, radio and online media to report on all activities, including the fan-favored online destination TheOneRing.net. TheOneRing.net staff will be on hand, as the line starts officially at 12:00 PM on June 27th, to celebrate the release with trivia, games, fan profiles and more! Smaller prizes and swag will be handed out throughout the day. Costumes will be judged by representatives from TheOneRing.net as well as by Richard Taylor who will judge the finalists via Skype. Taylor, co-owner and creative lead at Weta Workshop is co-founder of the Weta companies in New Zealand. Weta Workshop has an international reputation as one of the film industry’s most successful special effects studios. Richard and the team worked on The Lord of the Rings film trilogy for seven years designing and creating armour, weapons, prosthetics and miniatures for these films, and Richard received four Oscars® and three BAFTAs for Weta’s work on the trilogy in the disciplines of Costume; Make up and Visual Effects.

To round out the event, tickets will be given away for the last and final exclusive in-theater screening taking place in more than 500 theaters across the country. Several lucky fans will have the chance to attend The Lord of the Rings Extended Edition Theatrical Series – The Lord of the Rings: The Return of the King on Tuesday, June 28th in Los Angeles 7:00 PM PST. For tickets to other Fathom events and screenings visit www.fathomevents.com.

Other key initiatives heralding the Blu-ray release:

The Lord of the Rings Facebook page (facebook.com/lordoftheringstrilogy), with 5.2 million fans, is the official destination for insider information, talent access, and new content. The all new Elvish Name Translator application, allowing fans to explore the history of the Elvish language and translate their name into the official Elven font, launched on the page on June 6th. Additionally, June 8th marked the beginning of “Wisdom Wednesdays,” a Q&A format where fans get to hear from the legendary talent behind the trilogy. Alan Lee and John Howe, illustrators and conceptual artists for The Lord of the Rings film trilogy as well as Academy Award®[2] winning talent Richard Taylor, Design and Effects Supervisor for The Lord of the Rings film trilogy will respond to fan questions, previously gathered through the Facebook destination. Answers began posting on June 8th with future video postings on June 15th and 22nd.

TNT scheduled airings of the theatrical versions include The Lord of the Rings: The Return of the King Saturday June 18th at 8:00pm ET/11:00pm PT followed by the July 3rd airings of The Lord of the Rings: The Two Towers at 1:00pm ET/4:00pm PT and an encore of The Lord of the Rings: The Return of the King at 4:45pm ET/7:45pm PT.

Additionally, on June 30th, CBS’s hit network comedy series, “The Big Bang Theory,” is scheduled to show, both on air and via cbs.com, a re-broadcast of their highly-rated The Lord of the Rings parody episode, “The Precious Fragmentation.”

Exclusive in-theater screenings of the trilogy in high definition are taking place on three consecutive Tuesdays this month, each in 500 theaters across the country. Presented by NCM Fathom and Warner Home Video as The Lord of the Rings™ The Motion Picture Trilogy Extended Edition Event, the screenings will be as follows: The Lord of the Rings: The Fellowship of the Ring™ on June 14; The Lord of the Rings: The Two Towers™ on June 21; and The Lord of the Rings: The Return of the King™ on June 28, all at 7:00 p.m. local time. During each event, theater audiences will also view, on the big screen and in hi-def, nearly an hour of additional feature footage per film with extended scenes carefully selected under the supervision of director Peter Jackson. In addition, fans will be treated to personal introductions to each film in the trilogy from Jackson.

Coming soon is the new videogame The Lord of the Rings: War in the North! In this co-op based Action RPG, you must work together or die alone in an epic quest to turn the tides in the War of the Ring. Fight new enemies, visit new lands, and live the untold adventure. Available on Xbox 360®, PlayStation®3, and Games for Windows®. Fans can pre-order the game at www.bestbuy.com or any Best Buy store.

About the Extended Edition:

This highly anticipated extended edition (Blu-ray) set will be released in English 6.1 DTS-HD MA audio and includes a new transfer of The Lord of the Rings: The Fellowship of the Ring™ which was remastered from the original 2k digital files. The set boasts more than 26 hours of additional content, highlighted by the rare behind-the-scenes documentaries created by Costa Botes, the filmmaker given unprecedented access to the set of each production by Peter Jackson. The feature-length documentaries, with more than four and a half hours of footage, focus on a number of complexities and circumstances that tested the filmmakers, cast and crew during the shoot, as well as a look at some of the comical antics and personal moments on the set. The Costa Botes documentaries accompany acclaimed special features by Michael Pellerin from the original extended cut releases to make this the most comprehensive The Lord of the Rings compilation ever. The Lord of the Rings™ The Motion Picture Trilogy: Extended Edition (Blu-ray) will be packaged in multi-disc elite packaging inside a premium rigid slipcase and will retail for $119.98 SRP.


[1] NO PURCHASE NECESSARY. Open to legal U.S. residents. A parent or legal guardian must accompany any participant under 18 years of age at all times during the event. For official Registration Form and complete Official Rules including costume guidelines and prize descriptions, visit www.lordofthering.net.

[2] * Academy Awards® and Oscar® are both registered trademarks and service marks of the Academy of Motion Picture Arts and Sciences.