Doris Day
I have the Doris Day album: Golden Girl Columbia Recordings 1944-1966 in my collection. The two CD set contains 48 songs, but the one song that I play the most is Again which to me epitomizes the meaning of easy listening and I never tire of hearing the song.
This YouTube video shows why I keep playing this song on my MP3 player:
Passions of Patchy may be off the beaten path, compared to mega music sites like Pandora and Spotify, but that in no way means the content is not as good. There may not be as much musical content as the afore named sites, but this is not just a musical site.
Before you even scroll down to the music icons, there is a CLICKS icon for links, which take you to some very interesting sites, including a link to make your own license plate, then emailing it to someone, that is just one of many links.
The CHUCKLES icon provides a plethora of jokes like this:
I am not offended by all the blonde jokes, because I am not dumb and I am not blonde – Dolly Parton
You see a lot of smart guys with dumb women, but you hardly ever see a smart woman with a dumb guy. – Erica Jong
Six year old Del says the best way to have someone to fall in love with you is to tell them you own a bunch of candy stores.
The section is broken down to 27 categories. Caution: It is addictive and time-consuming, once you start reading the jokes.
TOUCH SOMEONE -This is the first of the music sections and includes Bette Midler’s Wind Beneath My Wings and the REM classic Everybody Hurts. Rock Around the Clock seems to be out-of-place on this page, but it really doesn’t matter when you can hear Johnny Mathis sing his standard Misty.
The bottom row of icons is where you find most of the music on the page in jukebox format with list of songs to choose from.
BLUES IN MY EYE JUKE JOINT – This page consists of three jukeboxes consisting of songs like I’ve Been Loving You Too Long sung by the late and great Etta James which reminds us again of how great of a singer she was. The jukebox also includes current singers like Susan Tedeschi, singing It Hurt So Bad. Jonny Lang has his clothes in his matchbox and is heard singing Matchbox, a driving blues number that really jumps. There is an option at the bottom of each jukebox to play all the songs in jukebox. A lot of the songs may not be recognizable, due to them being sung and played by some of the blues pioneers of the past.
LOST IN THE 50′S AND DOO-WOP – Having grown up during this era, this is my favorite music on the entire website. The Lost in the 50′s page has six jukeboxes, filled with the songs, that baby boomers like me grew up with.
Some of favorites from the jukeboxes:
I Heard It Through the Grapevine – Marvin Gaye
Locomotion – Little Eva
Harbor Lights – The Platters
Shotgun – Jr. Walker and the All-Stars
Hurt – Timi Yuro…..one of the most emotion packed songs ever.
Lost in the 50′s…..this song takes me back to the 50′s, like no other song can do.
You next will find the DOO WOP jukebox on the bottom row of the Lost in the 50′s page. When you go to the Doo Wop page, there will be three speakers holding the doo wop music including songs like:
Blue Velvet – Clovers….This is nothing like the Bobby Vinton version as it gets the full doo wop treatment.
A Thousand Miles Away – Heartbeats….Doo wop music at its best.
Earth Angel – Penguins….A classic doo wop song that will live on forever, as long as there is music.
In The Still of the Night – Five Satins….This song was so well-known that it was included, as part of Ronnie Milsap’s song Lost in the 50′s.
SATIN SMOOTHIES - Is next as you return to the home page where you find two jukeboxes, where you can find the songs my parents grew up with, plus some we remember as teenagers. These songs were the chart-toppers, before Bill Haley and the Comets and Elvis Presley changed music forever in the middle 50′s.
These are just a few of those songs:
Old Cape Cod – Patti Page….You will be very fortunate, if you can find a song like this being recorded today.
Unforgettable – Nat King Cole….This has to be the best of Nat King Cole’s hits that has become a standard.
In The Mood – Glenn Miller Orchestra…. When you think of the big band era, this is one of the first songs, that come to mind and it sad we lost Glenn Miller during the war.
Lazy River – Mills Brothers….This was one of the premier groups of this era, who epitomized the music of the era.
SUNRISE GOSPEL – This page has only one jukeboxes but will bring back memories, to those of us who grew up in church in the 40′s, 50′s and 60′s, plus some more recent songs. The artists are not listed, but that sounds a lot like Dolly Parton on Farther Along.
Some of my favorites from this page:
Beyond the Sunset….song written by a blind person after a group of people were viewing a sunset together and thus the title of the song, since the blind writer said they looked beyond the sunset. The reading that goes with this song makes it even more special.
Family Bible….Willie Nelson wrote this song, but sold the rights to it for only $50 to Claude Gray, the country music singer.
Precious Memories….sang this at funeral once for a lady who attended our church. What a great thought to think of the precious memories, even though the loved one is gone.
TWO STEPPIN’ JUKE BOX - Last but not least, Patchy’s Passion includes three jukeboxes for country music fans.
The list includes:
Don’t Rock the Jukebox – Alan Jackson….This song really rocks out and tells the story of a man, who is too sad over his breakup with his girlfriend and doesn’t want to hear the Rolling Stones on the jukebox, but wants to hear George Jones instead.
He Stopped Loving Her Today – George Jones….This song has been chosen as the best country music song ever, on many lists of Top 100 songs.
Sweet Dreams – Patsy Cline…. also recorded by Tommy McLain of Pineville, Louisiana, who attended my high school in the 60′s. His recording of Sweet Dreams outsold Don Gibson, the writer of the song and the immortal Patsy Cline. His version went to No.15 on the Billboard chart.
For the Good Times – Ray Price….Has it really been 42 years since Ray Price recorded this country classic? It is true and also it is true that Ray Price is still actively singing at the age of 86. The 2010′s started his eighth decade of being active in country music.
Passions of Patchy was created on March 17, 2000, which she dedicated to her mom Candy, who was dying of cancer. This page tells about the last months of her mother’s life. If this doesn’t make your eyes tear up, then it may be time to have your pulse checked:
http://dapatchy.com/gospel/journal.html
You could spend hours at this website listening to the music and going to some of the links at the website.
Most of all though it is all about the music.
To go back in time to hear some of the music from the past that we never became tired of:
Jackie Gleason was best known for portraying Ralph Kramden on The Honeymooners but also appeared on the big screen from 1941-1986.
Jackie Gleason grew up in Brooklyn, New York and didn’t have much of a childhood, with his father abandoning the family, when Gleason was eight years old. His mother died when he was 16. His brother Clemence had died when he was three, so Jackie was an only child during most of his childhood.
Jackie Gleason as he appeared in Larceny Inc. movie in 1942 at the age of 26.
Gleason’s first foray into the movies lasted only two years, but he appeared in nine movies in those two years, including Orchestra Wives and Larceny, Inc. Then he performed in nightclubs and appeared in some Broadway plays till he received his first television starring role in Life of Riley, portraying the title character. He was not really suited well for the role and it was cancelled, but revived when William Bendix, the voice of Riley on radio became the star of the show.
Jackie Gleason Orchestra Formed
Jackie Gleason saw there was a place for romantic music and formed the Jackie Gleason Orchestra. I have read that there was never an actual traveling Jackie Gleason Orchestra but this article proves that assumption is incorrect, since this review of a performance with Gleason proves they did travel to different venues. Music showed there was a serious side to Jackie Gleason. I was surprised to read that Gleason actually was conducting the orchestra. Bobby Hackett is the one playing the trumpet solos on most, if not all of his albums.
http://www.bigbandsandbignames.com/gleason.html
Music For Lovers, the debut album for the orchestra was a tremendous hit and showed their was a market for romantic music:
Gleason’s first album, Music for Lovers Only, still holds the record for the album staying the longest in the Billboard Top Ten Charts (153 weeks), and his first ten albums all sold over one million copies.[19]
I have his Best of Jackie Gleason and His Orchestra album and it includes these songs:
http://www.cduniverse.com/search/xx/music/pid/1015597/a/Best+of+Jackie+Gleason.htm
The now defunct Dumont Television network hired Gleason as summer host of Cavalcade of Stars. He handled the hosting duties so well, that he was named permanent host. He introduced his Ralph Kramden character during the series and the sketches would evolve into The Honeymooners in 1955.
Jackie Gleason and Audrey Meadows in a scene from The Honeymooners television series 1955-1956.
There is no doubt that The Honeymooners television series is what made Jackie Gleason a household word. The show centered around his character Ralph Kramden and the show was clearly focused on whatever hare-brained scheme, that he was planning at the time.
The Jackie Gleason Show was telecast from 1952-1957 and then revived again to run from 1966-1970. In between he also hosted the Jackie Gleason: American Scene Magazine from 1962-1966.
You’re In The Picture Bombs
Jackie Gleason did have one colossal failure, when he was the host of a new game show named You’re In The Picture in 1961. This article details the failure of the show the first week and how Gleason came back the second week with a new format:
http://www.tvparty.com/picture.html
1961 would see Gleason also have one of his biggest triumphs on the big screen in The Hustler. He played Minnesota Fats the pool hustler and was nominated for an Oscar for Best Supporting Actor but did not win. It was an awesome achievement, considering that he hadn’t appeared in a movie, since appearing in Desert Hawk in 1950.
He is seen with Paul Newman in this pool room scene from The Hustler:
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=5TC3kqFUmqQ
The next year Gleason would return in Gigot, in which he played a mute and would be nominated for a Golden Globes Award as best actor. Gleason wrote the screenplay, starred and wrote the music for Gigot. Gleason was the only recognizable name in the entire cast of this movie. He is seen in this clip from Gigot:
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=la5tyq9gblk
Gleason also appeared in Requiem For A Heavyweight in 1962. He acted well in the movie, but failed to garner any nominations or awards, for his performance.
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=54kM1mY86Mc
He appeared in Papa’s Delicate Condition and Soldier in the Rain in 1963 and wouldn’t appear in another movie, till he appeared in Skidoo in 1968. It is strange that he appeared in so many successful movies, than stopped his movie career for the next five years. He could be that filming his American Scene Magazine television show and appearing in movies was too much for him.
Next he appeared in How To Commit Marriage and Don’t Drink The Water in 1969, then took an eight year hiatus from making movies till 1977. He appeared in Mr. Billion and Smokey and the Bandit in 1977. I was going to include some clips of Gleason portraying Sheriff Buford T. Justice, but the dialogue was filled with so much bad language, that I decided not to use it, in case some kids were to watch it. He would go on to appear in Part II and Part III of the Smokey and the Bandit movies in 1980 and 1983.
Gleason also appeared in The Toy in 1982 and The Sting II in 1983, before appearing Nothing In Common in 1986, which would be his last movie. His movie career spanned 45 years from 1941-1986.
It is ironic that Gleason only won a Tony Award in his long career for Take Me Along, while never winning a Emmy, Grammy or Academy Award.
Jackie Gleason died of cancer in Fort Lauderdale, Florida on June 24, 1987 at the age of 71. Gleason left his mark on Broadway, in the movies, on television and music. He truly was an entertainer of the first magnitude.
His obituary from the New York Times:
A road sign with his famous catch phrase:
The burial place of Jackie Gleason in Our Lady of Mercy Catholic Cemetery in Miami, Florida.
Jackie Gleason kept his sense of humor in death with his famous catchphrase.
It is now official: Scotty McCreery and Lauren Alaina have both signed with the Mercury Nashville record label. The recording company’s ad announcing the signings is included in the link at the end of this article.
With the Lauren Alaina signing, it should signal that she will be recording almost exclusively country music. To me, her voice is better suited for country music. However, time will tell if she will crossover into pop music from time to time.
One thing that can be said for American Idol is that it is great training for new artists, since they have to keep an exhausting schedule during the season.
It is a shame that Scotty and Lauren Alaina can’t hit the road now with their own tour, instead of being tied down to the American Idol tour most of the summer. When they do tour, it wouldn’t surprise me to see them both appearing together in concerts as a package deal.
I want to be one of the first to wish them successful recording careers and that they will be singing country music for many years to come.
AMERICAN IDOL UPDATES
American Idol producer Nigel Lythgoe and Season 9 winner Lee DeWyze continue to conduct their “tweeting” war, over when DeWyze was told he would be presenting the American Idol trophy to the Season 10 winner.
Lythgoe contends it was a week before the finale night, while DeWyze said he wasn’t told till the last few moments of the show. I tend to believe Lythgoe since it is a more believable scenario that DeWyze was told a week before. It is unlike American Idol to have asked DeWyze the last-minute to present the trophy. I am not saying it didn’t happen that way, just not the way the well orchestrated finale would likely to have been handled by the producers. If DeWyze was lying as Lythgoe charged, it will only hurt his career. I realize he was upset at not being asked to sing on the finale, but it still doesn’t excuse his behavior if he had agreed a week before to present the trophy, then back out the last-minute.
James Durbin has tweeted that he is close to signing a record deal….Haley Reinhart has told Digitalspy.com that she was very comfortable singing with Tony Bennett, because of his demeanor and that she felt at home singing with the jazz quartet backing them….Casey James a contestant on Season 9 opened for Sugarland earlier this year and has been signed by Sony Records and is in the process of putting a band together.
Aaron Kelly also from Season 9 is working on an album and will be opening this summer for Rodney Akins and Little Big Town….Another Season 9 contestant Siobhan Magnus will be singing in concerts this summer singing songs from her alternative-grunge debut album.
The following USA Today article gives more updates on all 12 of the Season 9 contestants:
http://www.usatoday.com/life/music/news/2011-05-31-idol-season-9-catch-up_n.htm
It seems like the summer tour is slowing down the start of the career by American Idols, by keeping them too busy to finish albums.
The summer tour is apparently a huge money maker for the American Idol franchise, plus it pays the singers who participate well, but it slows down those singers who have recording contracts. Traveling from city to city for two months is not conducive to starting a career.
When the American Idol typically doesn’t release their debut album till November most years, it robs them of the chance to release an album during the summer and probably selling many more albums before so much time passes.
For instance right now Scott McCreery is as hot as a firecracker on the Fourth of July, but by the time the summer is over and November comes around the hotness diminishes over time.
By November, the next season of American Idol is only two months away and fans start anticipating the new season and by then have tired of waiting for an album to be released.
Scotty McCreery may be the exception, but it can’t help his career not having an album in the stores and available for download six months after the last confetti has hit the floor on finale night. Then there is another three month wait after the tour is over.
Pia Toscano could possibly have an album ready much sooner since she is already working on an album and should be the first American Idol contestant to have an album released.
The only way to take advantage of the new American Idol’s name recognition is to cancel the summer tour and release their debut album sooner, but can’t see it being canceled since it is too much of a money-maker for American Idol’s corporate ownership.
So American Idol fans will likely have to wait six months before actually having a CD of the new American Idol in their hands.
The video below will only work by copying and pasting but is worth the trouble to hear Tony Bennett sing in an HD quality video:
http://www.wolfgangsvault.com/tony-bennett/video/i-wanna-be-around_2146595811.html
Tony Bennett singing I Wanna Be Around at the Newport Jazz Festival on August 20,2002.
This video shows Tony Bennett at his best singing one of his standards that has been around for years. Those wanting to see more of his videos during the Newport Jazz Festival will be able to see Tony singing many of his hits including his signature song I Left My Heart in San Francisco in other videos also available at Wolfgang’s Vault website.
Tony is still active nine years later as he sang last Wednesday night, August 25 with Haley Reinhart of American Idol. He will be 85 years old later this year.
Voters are welcome to add their own favorites to list if they are still singing today, not necessarily recording music today.
Scotty McCreery shown backstage on finale night after being voted the Season 10 American Idol on Wednesday, May 25.
It has been two days since Scotty McCreery was named the American Idol for Season 10. The last confetti has probably been swept up and thrown in the dumpsters by now.
Life will never be the same for Scotty McCreery, as he embarks on a country music recording career. I have already read online that some record executives don’t think he can sustain a long-term career in country music. However, in my opinion it way too early to prognosticate on how long his career will last.
Other singers like Tanya Tucker and LeAnn Rimes started even younger than Scotty and are still performing so I think the record executives need to back off and see what happens.
When I think of Scotty, it brings to mind Jordan Dorsey telling Scotty he didn’t want him in his group during Hollywood week. He may not have been good enough for his little group, but he was good enough for American to vote for him as their American Idol.
Scotty showed his character during the Jacee Badeaux episode, when Jacee was unceremoniously tossed out of the group Scotty was in during Hollywood week with Jun Gamboa being the instigator. Scotty later said they had not done Jacee right and wish he had done more to keep it from happening and broke down talking about it.
BUSY SUMMER WITH TOUR STARTING IN JULY
Scotty and the 10 American Idol contestants who didn’t win probably will be allowed to go home for a while, then they will start rehearsing for the American Idol tour this summer. Latest word is that they will travel across the country appearing in 49 concerts.
Last year the tour was cut short, probably due to the talent not being as good as it will be this year. I can’t see that happening this year with so many talented singers.
It is sad that the high ticket prices will keep a lot of American Idol fans from seeing the show. It will cost a family of four $376 to sit in the $94 nosebleed seats in Reliant Arena in Houston, Texas.
The singers will make $1,000 for each concert during the tour, but that will only be a fraction of the profits being made. They will earn part of the profits from any merchandise sold at the concerts.
AMERICAN IDOL PRODUCER LYTHGOE DISSES DEWYZE
Nigel Lythgoe said in a tweet that Lee DeWyze refused to give Scotty McCreery the American Idol trophy. DeWyze said he did refuse, but was only asked moments before it was time to award the trophy. Someone made an oversight to not have asked DeWyze sooner.
Instead in the midst of the chaos, after Scotty had been revealed to be the next American Idol, Lythgoe asked DeWyze but he refused because he didn’t want to intrude on the special moment for Scotty.
RATINGS JUMP 21 PERCENT OVER LAST YEAR’S FINALE
Like most American Idol fans, I thought the loss of Simon Cowell would cripple the ratings of American Idol. Then I wondered if hiring Steven Tyler and Jennifer Lopez might be a mistake. I was wrong on both counts since the ratings for the Wednesday night rose by 21 percent over the 2010 finale.
29.3 million viewers watched the show which had some of the biggest stars in the music business. The list of singers appearing on the show would be astounded if shown on a television screen as part of the credits.
American Idol decided to go back to the three judge format, which was a smart move in my opinion. I really didn’t know what to expect with Tyler and Lopez on the judge’s panel with a returning Randy Jackson.
Both of the new judges, when critical of a singer’s performance never were mean to the contestants, but gave more constructive criticism, staying away from the nasty barbs Cowell was famous for. Randy was the closest thing to Simon this season, but then upon reflection, he wasn’t really that close.
LAUREN ALAINA TURNED DOWN BY AMERICA’S GOT TALENT TWICE
Lauren Alaina revealed on the Tonight Show that she had tried to appear on America’s Got Talent, but was turned down.
Piers Morgan, one of the judges said it was a scandal that she didn’t make it and stated that she never had appeared in front of the judges.
The following article tells more about her appearance and includes two videos of her appearance:
http://www.thedeadbolt.com/news/1000092/lauren_alaina_turned_down_by_americas_got_talent.php
SCOTTY AND LAUREN: FINANCIAL REWARDS DISCLOSED
Scotty McCreery will be $250,000 richer after winning American Idol, while runner-up Lauren Alaina won $87,500. Lauren’s money would double if she records an album.
For the complete article:
http://www.hollywoodreporter.com/news/american-idol-winner-scotty-mccreery-192650
Other American Idol News
The Orlando Sentinel is reporting that Scotty McCreery will be visiting Disney World in Hollywood on Monday and will participate in a 10:00 AM parade….Limelife has revealed that Carrie Underwood gives her phone number to the final two contestants. Wonder if Lauren will be giving her a call?
Pia Toscano who was voted off the show early in Season 10 has been working on her new album and some songs have already been recorded but no release date has been announced since it is a work in progress….Haley Reinhart is currently negotiating on a record deal, but no details have been announced…Ashton Jones and Naimi Adedapo both have plans of recording albums according to bet.com, signaling a chance of as many as 10 of the Season 10 singers having albums in the stores by this time next year.
First, before any Lauren Alaina fans bash me for being anti-Lauren, I can honestly say I have no favorite going into tonight’s finale and would be equally happy with her winning as much as I wouldn’t mind seeing Scotty McCreery winning.
Scotty Pushed To Background From The Start
My complaint is that the show last night pushed Scotty McCreery out of the spotlight from the first minute. Ryan Seacrest opened the show talking about Lauren Alaina having a problem with her voice. Then he dramatically called a doctor onstage to give his diagnosis, which was that Lauren had been treated and would be able to sing and sing well.
Why even bring this up unless there was a medical crisis in which she couldn’t sing at all? It was evident during the show that Lauren was singing as well, if not better than she had all season.
Scenario If A Finalist Couldn’t Sing
The situation though if it ever happened that a singer couldn’t sing on finale night, raises questions of how American Idol would handle it if one of the finalists couldn’t sing on the final performance night. Would the other singer still sing or would they stop the competition that night and fill the show with guest singers and then extend the finale night to a third night? Or would they go ahead and have the fans vote after the show as always, even though neither singer had sung that night?
Falling In Place For Lauren Alaina
Meanwhile, back to the situation last night, it seemed like everything was falling into place for Lauren Alaina. The judges seemed to favor her over Scotty for the most part. Steven Tyler and Randy Jackson clearly thought Lauren Alaina performed better than Scotty. Jennifer Lopez avoided saying who was best on the third and final song of the night.
Song To Mom Might Be Moment Lauren Alaina Won
The emotionally charged moment when Lauren Alaina hugged her mom and sang to her may be the moment she won American Idol. Since that song was concocted by those in charge of the show, it seemed unfair that Scotty couldn’t have had a song that he could have sung to his mother. I don’t want to take away from how special that moment had to be for Lauren Alaina and her mom.
Unless, I am totally mistaken Lauren Alaina will become the Season 10 American Idol tonight. If she doesn’t it won’t be because the American Idol producers didn’t do all they could in their power to have her win the coveted title as the next American Idol.
Haley Reinhart Lost By Millions of Votes
This may be the first year I don’t have a favorite, since my favorite Haley Reinhart was voted out of the competition a week ago and didn’t even come close to staying on the show losing by millions of votes, having only 25 million votes out of 95 million votes cast.
Having followed the show all season, from the earliest auditions to finale night tonight, it has been a great season.
Several Record Deals For Contestants
This season should produce record deals for seven or eight of the singers by next spring. There were some shocking developments earlier in the season with Casey Abrams voted off the show and then saved by the judges. That save prevented them from saving Pia Toscano being voted off in one of the most shocking votes of all time.
However, American Idol producer Nigel Lythgoe told reporters that Pia was not doing well in the voting anyway, so even a judge’s save may not have kept her from being sent home. I still am having problems digesting why she was sent home since she had it all, the talent, the looks, but for some reason the voters weren’t enamored with her.
In conclusion, let me wish the best to whoever wins tonight. May they sell albums in the millions, not the hundreds of thousands, like the last two winners Kris Allen and Lee DeWyze.
Lee DeWyze Dissed by American Idol Producers
Speaking of Lee DeWyze the American Idol producers, for some strange reason as of yesterday hadn’t invited DeWyze to even be in the building for the finale tonight. I can understand their disappointment in his poor album sales, but come on, he did win last season and deserves to be on the show out of common courtesy.
Today’s poll asks if American Idol intentionally or unintentionally set up Lauren Alaina to be the next American Idol?
There was no clear cut winner last night on the last performance night for American Idol in Season 10. I thought both Scotty McCreery and Lauren Alaina sang very well in all three of their songs.
The judges had nothing but praise for the two singers that will find out tomorrow if they are the next American Idol. Randy Jackson seemed to lean more toward Lauren Alaina, but Jennifer Lopez refused to say who sang better after they all had sung. Steven Tyler gave the night to Lauren Alaina.
I think Lauren Alaina may have helped herself by singing so well even with throat problems before the show. She had the most sentimental moment of the night when she sang to her mother during her last song. That very well may have won American Idol for her.
However, Scotty did fine and may have been given a better song by George Strait, since the judges didn’t seem to like it as much as I thought they would. Check Yes or No just isn’t the kind of song that shows how well Scotty can sing. If Scotty had chosen the same song, he would have been accused of playing it safe.
Despite the judges giving a slight edge to Lauren Alaina, I think the voting will be too close to call.
The poll question asks who you will think you win based on last night’s competition:
Italian teenagers Piero Barone, Gianluca Genoble and Ignazio Boschetto of IL VOLO made an impact on American Idol audience last week on results night.
I doubt if anyone attending the American Idol results show last Thursday night expected the three teenagers who comprise the Italian singing group IL VOLO, to have such powerful voices at their age.
You could see that the three contestants Haley Reinhart, Scotty McCreery and Lauren Alaina were thoroughly enjoying IL VOLO singing O Sole Mio.
IL VOLO singing O Sole Mio.
O Sole Mio is probably the oldest song ever sung on the American Idol stage by any guest singer or contestant. The song was written 113 years ago in 1898. If American Idol has a 1890′s theme one week next year, this will be one of the songs sang.
Elvis Presley sings It’s Now or Never to the tune of O Sole Mio after another singer sings part of the Italian version.
The Presley video was filmed in Rapid City, South Dakota less than two months before his death in August of 1977.
Lee DeWyze who was the American Idol for 2010 has not been asked to appear on finale night and won't even be in the audience according to DeWyze.
Update after the finale: It is being reported that Lee DeWyze was in the audience during the finale and that Ryan Seacrest stood where he was blocking DeWyze which may have been intentional since producer Nigel Lythgoe seemed to be angered at DeWyze for not presenting the winner’s trophy to Scotty McCreery. Read this story for more details:
http://www.examiner.com/tv-in-national/american-idol-the-lee-dewyze-finale-controversy-intensifies
Lee DeWyze the American Idol of last season found out that American Idol producers don’t think much of him to not have asked him to return to perform on finale night on Thursday.
I know he has not done that well in record sales, but he still deserves to be on the show. It is almost like they are ashamed of him.
DeWyze sent this Tweet about the situation:
http://twitter.com/#!/LeeDeWyze/status/72805630527803392
It is like the producers don’t want to be reminded that the show has failed to produce a big selling record artist in the last two seasons with neither DeWyze or Season 8 winner Kris Allen doing well in sales.
Still it seems like common courtesy to let the previous year’s winner perform on finale night. Shows what I know about the cutthroat world of show business.
I can’t recall if a previous year’s winner has not been asked to return the following year, but have a feeling this is a first for American Idol and one that Ryan Seacrest won’t be mentioning during the finale.
UPDATE AFTER FINALE
It was clear that Crystal Bowersox was the better singer last season, but for some reason she didn’t draw enough votes to be the American Idol for Season 9.
Poll question is should DeWyze been invited to at least appear, even if not perform on finale night.
I don’t want to take anything away from Scotty McCreery and Lauren Alaina and am very happy for both of them, but am wondering if readers thought they were the most talented of the 13 singers in Season 10.
Personally, I thought Pia Toscano and James Durbin were the most talented singers this season. However, neither one made it to the final three, with Pia leaving many weeks ago.
The American Idol franchise has had a great season ratings wise. The show seamlessly changed from a judging lineup of Randy Jackson, Kara DioGuardi, Simon Cowell and the worst judge ever in Ellen DeGeneres (who deserves credit for admitting she was out of her element) to a lineup of a returning Randy Jackson and new judges Jennifer Lopez and Steven Tyler.
I have to admit that I was thinking that with the loss of Simon Cowell, that the show would jump the shark with his departure. Fox proved me wrong by picking judges that brought the strongest lineup of singers in the ten year history of the show.
As much as the show focuses on talent, popularity is a huge part of who wins and loses from week to week. Pia Toscano can attest to that fact. Producer Nigel Lythgoe stated that Pia had not been getting that many votes so it may have been a shock to most of us, but he could see it coming since he knew the exact vote count.
Naturally everyone is going to vote for their favorites, so if their favorite isn’t the most talented but still polls more votes than the other contestants, we will see less talented singers winning the competition.
For example, Haley Reinhart is a much better singer than either Scotty McCreery or Lauren Alaina, but she won’t be competing tonight because she only drew approximately 25 million votes out of 95 million votes cast. She wasn’t even close to being in the final two, but she didn’t have the backing of the voters like Scotty and Lauren Alaina.
Unless voting procedures are changed we will continue to see more talented singers fall by the wayside during the season while the more popular singers, whether as talented or not are the ones still standing for the final competition.
The last thing the American Idol franchise wants is another Kris Allen or Lee DeWyze type winning American Idol. How often have we heard about anything either of them has done since winning the coveted title of the American Idol? Neither is breaking any albums sales records.
Scotty McCreery probably could sell a million records, the first month after releasing an album and Lauren Alaina could probably do as well also.
With all respect to Kelly Clarkson, Carrie Underwood is the best American Idol prior to Season 10. Producer Lythgoe, mentioned earlier in this article, stated that Carrie led the voting all of her season. She not only had the talent, but also had the voters behind her the entire season. Despite all the drama on finale night that year, she probably won by millions and millions of votes over runnerup Bo Bice.
So tonight’s vote will be more of a popularity contest than a talent contest. American Idol is in a risky situation if they tinker with the voting process, since it may alienate their fans if they are only allowed to vote one time, as has been mentioned recently.
It all comes down to what is more important, for a singer to have a huge fan base voting for them in large numbers or for the most talented singer to be sitting in the audience watching a less talented, but more popular singer become the next American Idol.
Today’s poll asks if the two most talented singers of Season 10 are the ones competing tonight to be the next American Idol. This poll question has nothing to do with favorites or popularity, but about if the most talented singers are still standing tonight.
Scotty McCreery and Lauren Alaina singing Up on the Roof on American Idol.
Scotty McCreery teamed up for some duets during Season 10 of American Idol. It is ironic the two singers find themselves in the final two competition on Tuesday night, May 24.
Lauren and Scotty team up on the 1962 classic Up on the Roof first sung by the Drifters.
Lauren and Scotty singing the Randy Travis song I Told You So.
Scotty and Lauren singing American Honey during Season 10 of American Idol.
It will be interesting to see which of these two, Lauren Alaina or Scotty will be declared the American Idol on Wednesday night.
What happens during the competition show tomorrow night may not even matter, since Scotty and Lauren Alaina probably have been at the top or near the top in voting all season. It may be more of a case of which singer has the better fan support. Still, it would not be good to have any of the judges say disparaging words about their performance.
Earlier in the season I thought that Pia Toscano and James Durbin would be in the final two, but it didn’t work out that way. If the voters are only allowed to vote once next season, which has been mentioned by the producers, we may get a much truer vote.
We could not have two nicer people in the final two than Scotty and Lauren Alaina. It is sad that one of them will lose, but they both have bright futures in the recording industry. There is no doubt that Scotty will sing country music, but Lauren Alaina could sing either pop or country as she embarks on a recording career.
Kelly Clarkson and Carrie Underwood shown together on stage in this photo from a CMT blog.
Carrie Underwood is now the biggest selling American Idol ever after surpassing Kelly Clarkson and has sold 12,296,000 albums since winning Season 4 of American Idol.
Clarkson who won Season 1 has sold 10,674,000 albums which is 1, 622,000 less than sold by Underwood despite having a three year head start.
Underwood also leads in digital track sales with 18,482,000 while Clarkson has sold 15.6 million digital tracks with Underwood selling almost three million more digital tracks than Clarkson.
When it comes to gross earnings from concert tours, Underwood holds a commanding lead over Clarkson, earning $66 million in concert revenue compared to $32 million earned by Clarkson.
Season 5 winner Taylor Hicks didn’t even make the list, while fourth place finisher that season, Chris Daughtry is third on the list at Hollywoodreporter.com.
However, Kellie Pickler the sixth place finisher in Season 5 also is tenth on the list of top American Idol earners.
It is ironic that the American Idol of Season 5, Taylor Hicks didn’t even make the Top 10, while the fourth and sixth place finishers both made the list.
I can’t see Season 8 winner Kris Allen or Season 9 winner Lee DeWyze making the Top 10 list anytime soon, as they haven’t done well in album sales and probably are not booked in the larger arenas, which limits their revenue.
Scotty McCreery should sell well if he is voted the American Idol, while Lauren Alaina probably will sell less albums than McCreery if she is voted the American Idol of Season 10.
For more complete details of the Top 10 money earning Idols and contestants who have sold well, despite not being voted the American Idol.
http://www.hollywoodreporter.com/idol-worship/carrie-underwood-surpasses-kelly-clarkson-190305
If you only had enough to buy one album, which album would you buy?
It was a sad night for Haley Reinhart as she was voted off of American Idol. She had went home last weekend and now she will be going home again unless she will hang around till the finale next week.
I have to admit Haley was my favorite this season, but I am happy that Lauren Alaina and Scotty McCreery will be in the finale next week. Unless there is a major mistake by either singer next week, I expect Lauren to be the next American Idol, but would not be surprised at all to see Scotty win.
It is a time a girl won American Idol after the last two males who won, have not exactly set the world on fire, when they released their album. It takes a second to even remember Kris Allen and Lee DeWyze were the last two American Idols.
COULD TELL SCOTTY AND LAUREN ALAINA WOULD BE IN FINALE
There was a general consensus that Lauren Alaina (who has dropped her last name Suddeth for the show) and Scotty McCreery would wind up; in the finale after James Durbin went home.
HALEY SLIGHTLY BETTER SINGER
Haley Reinhart may have been a slightly better singer, but just didn’t have the popularity of Lauren and Scotty. I feel like the judges may have turned the voters against Haley, even though it may not have been intentional. Her fall last night probably did help her in the voting.
SCOTTY VERY EMOTIONAL DURING VISIT TO GARNER, NORTH CAROLINA
Scotty’s return home last weekend showed how emotional he is, which is a good thing in my book, but some may think of it as a weakness. To tell you the truth, it was several weeks into the show before I thought Scotty was a serious contender to be the next American Idol. When he stayed out of the bottom group for most of the season, then I knew he was as Randy Jackson likes to say, in it to win it.
LAUREN MOST LIKABLE OF AMERICAN IDOL CONTESTANTS
Lauren who also stayed out of the bottom group until one of the very last shows, kept getting stronger and stronger. There was no doubt Lauren was the most likable of the 13 American Idol finalists.
When she visited her hometown of Rossville, Georgia and and viewed the devastation of the recent tornadoes that his Rossville, it touched my heart and those of many other American Idol fans. The most touching scene was when she talked to a young boy who had been thrown 200 yards by the tornado, then looked out for the safety of his family members.
EQUALLY HAPPY FOR SCOTTY OR LAUREN TO WIN
In past years, I have rooted for one of the finale singers, but this year, I will be equally happy for either to win since Scotty and Lauren are so likable.
Scotty will probably sell more albums than any of the other singers this year, because of his immense popularity with the country music fans. Lauren is not locked into one genre as she showed when she sang an Aerosmith song with Steven Tyler after being told she was going to Hollywood.
We want to salute Haley Reinhart for her fighting back against all odds, to wind up in the final three. She was in the bottom three week after week, before gaining momentum in the last weeks of the competition.
Haley seemed to be in a state of shock when Ryan Seacrest announced she had been voted off the show. Guess that is normal though, when you want something that bad, only to lose it in the next to last week of the competition. This is not the last we will hear of Haley Reinhart as she is too good of a singer to fade away.
When her album comes out this fall, it should sell well if it features her singing the songs she sings best. If she growls, that is alright because that is how she sings and nobody needs to change it.
The final poll this season is obvious as we ask who will the next American Idol be, Lauren Alaina or Scotty McCreery.
Nigel Lythgoe an American Idol producer has stated that there could be a change in the voting next season.
It is not a sure thing yet, but voters next season, may be limited to one vote instead of voting repeatedly for the same candidate which is currently allowed.
This may prevent another travesty like Pia Toscano being voted off the show in the early weeks of the Season 10 competition.
There is no way in my book that Pia is a worse singer than Naimi Adedapo and Stefano Langone, but that is what happened earlier this season.
Pia should have been in the finals, if the voting had been done solely on talent. The problem is that some voters are voting for the best singers, while others are voting for favorites even though they know they are not the best singers.
The voting changes need to be made if it will prevent even one singer like Pia from going home so early in the competition.
http://blog.zap2it.com/frominsidethebox/2011/05/american-idol-major-voting-change-on-the-way.html
The poll question is: Should American Idol voting be changed for the 2012 season?
Note: I am privileged to share an article written by David Gasten of This Is Vintage Now who has been so gracious to let us post his article about Kathy Barr, a 50′s singer who is still remembered after more than fifty years.
Meet 1950’s Cheesecake Singer
KATHY BARR
by David Gasten
Here’s an intro to one of my favorite lady performers from the 1950′s, the sultry Kathy Barr. Kathy released three LP’s and one single over the course of her recording career, and Follow Me (1957) is her debut. Be forewarned, the Follow Me LP is a little over-the-top, but it’s a lot of fun, especially if you like curvy, feisty 50′s gals.
Kathy Barr was born in New York to Turkish parents, and was originally in light opera until some cats in the industry suggested that she try going in a pop direction, which resulted in this her debut LP. This album has been reissued on CD as a Japanese import, and the fine folks in Japan have done a good job of keeping it in print. She followed it up with an LP called Do It Again (Ava/MGM, 1964), which finally got a mini-LP slip sleeve reissue by the Spanish label LP Time Records in 2010.
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1. Kathy Barr on “The Magic of Music” radio show (May 2, 1958)
CLICK HERE to listen to Kathy Barr “The Magic of Music” radio show
There’s really not a better introduction to Kathy Barr’s Follow Me than this interview on The Armed Forces Network’s radio show “The Magic of Music”. This half-hour vintage radio program dated May 2, 1958 features the announcer interviewing Kathy in between selections from the LP (about half the album is represented here).
There are some GREAT lines in this must-hear radio show. The gentleman announcer and Kathy have a really good rapport but the announcer gives in to the temptation to ogle her a bit; it’s quite cute and Kathy obviously loves it. Here’s a couple of good ones:
Announcer: (referring to what Kathy is wearing on the album cover) That’s a beautiful gown.
Kathy: (suggestively) That’s a nightgown…
(The two laugh)
Kathy: I’m a New York girl. I was born and went to school and grew up in New York City. Of course, now Los Angeles is my home.
Announcer: Well, fine; we’ll get to addresses later…
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2. Review of Kathy Barr’s Follow Me
KATHY BARR
Follow Me
RCA/Victor Records, 1957
(Periodically reissued on CD in Japan. My copy is a 2007 jewel box version in the “RCA Female Vocal ¥1000 Series” released by BMG Japan.)
MP3 download available from Amazon.com for $6.99.
I’m going to start this review with a fair warning that this is a true “Love It or Hate It” album if there ever was one. If you like your jazz and easy listening technically perfect and serious, you will probably think this album is terrible. On the other hand, if you like over-the-topness and voluptuous fifties gals, this record is a LOT of fun! But even then, it’s over-the-top enough that it may take some getting used to.
According to the liner notes on the back of the album, Kathy Barr was “born Marilyn Sultana Aboulafia in New York”, was of Turkish ancestry, and was discovered by Mario Lanza.
The orchestration on the album is by Jerry Fielding. The liner notes use the words “vibrant,” “vivacious,” “vital,” “volcanic,” “powerhouse,” “molten lava,” and “flaming redhead” to describe Kathy, so you know what you’re getting into already before putting this record on.
On the Over-The-Top-O-Meter, I would say Kathy Barr is about halfway between Marilyn Monroe and Yma Sumac. Kathy makes dramatic swoops to hit notes (and hits them) while the orchestration follows her from hip-bumping swagger to violent makeout passion. Kathy sits on your lap, teases, flirts, runs her fingers through your hair, and never lets you forget that she’s ALL WOMAN the entire time she sings, to the point that when she ends the album with the title track “Follow Me”, it’s almost torturous knowing that she’s leaving and you can’t go with her. “Don’t go…” you plead under your breath as she slinks out the door, the feather boa follows her, and the door slams behind her.
As hot as that sounds, again, be forewarned–it may just be annoying to you instead of hot. It took me a couple of listens before it really hit me under the belt, and even still some of the notes Kathy hits grate on me a bit occasionally. For instance, the “Make my bed, make my bed…” phrases at the end of “Bye Bye Blackbird” still annoy me. But all is forgiven–you don’t hear too many singers that straight up WOO you on vinyl, and it’s a lot of fun to hear her slinky showgirl take on “Tiptoe Through the Tulips” (later revived by Tiny Tim) and her version of “My Heart Belongs to Daddy” that totally one-ups Marilyn Monroe’s version.
Kathy did a non-LP single, “Welcome Mat” b/w “A Slip of the Hip” (1957), and some radio show transcriptions that have never been released on CD, but show up on eBay from time to time. She also appeared in a theatrical production of The Desert Song that had a soundtrack album released for it in 1958 that features her singing like an operatic songbird–very opposite of this record to say the least. And just recently, the European reissue company LP Time Records did a mini-LP CD reissue of Do It Again, the 1964 follow-up to Follow Me which was originally released on the MGM-distributed Ava imprint and also features Jerry Fielding conducting. So there’s more to collect from this incredible babe of a singer. And the mastering on Follow Me is crisp, clear, and warm, so of the typical high quality that is to be expected from our friends in Japan.
This is a great find for Bachelor Pad Music collectors and any man who loves having a 1950′s porcelain redhead with big, soft, jiggly curves sitting in his lap and singing to him–it’s not as good as the real thing but it’s not a bad substitute either.
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3. Kathy Barr Discography:
Follow Me (RCA Victor, 1957)
“Welcome Mat” b/w “A Slip of the Hip” (RCA Victor, 1957)
Selections from “The Desert Song” (RCA Victor, 1958) with Giorgio Tozzi
Do it Again (Ava/MGM, 1964)
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4. Kathy Barr, Where Are You?
So where is Kathy Barr now? Nostalgia and Now editor Andrew Godfrey and the author have both been investigating this for a while, and have come up completely empty-handed until today when we received this message from her daughter, Sylvia Glickman. We want to thank Sylvia for passing on this information to share with our readers.
Kathy Barr was my Mother. She passed away in Hollywood FL on June 21, 2008. She was married to Irwin Glickman, and leaves one daughter behind, Sylvia Glickman, and two grandsons.
Earlier in the season, before Pia Toscano was sent home, it looked like the final three would be comprised of Pia, James Durbin and possibly Casey Abrams.
Instead we have a final three of Scotty McCreery, Lauren Alaina Suddeth and Haley Reinhart. Scotty is not too much of a surprise since he was safe most weeks. Lauren was safe most of the season too, but I think it is safe to say nobody considered the best singer on the show, except for her most ardent fans.
Haley lived in the bottom three most of the season and very few fans of the show, thought she would have a chance to be in the final two, but that is where she is after the shocking departure of James Durbin last night.
It was almost a given that James and Pia would be in the final two, but when Pia was the fifth contestant to leave the show, it appeared that James and Casey or possibly Scotty would be in the final two.
I am a Haley Reinhart fan, so you can take this for what it is worth, but to me she is the most talented of the three remaining singers. If she leaves next Thursday night, then we will probably have the youngest pair ever in the final two since Scotty won’t be 18 till October and Lauren won’t be 17 till November.
Haley has to be the favorite because of her age and experience and has been singing for many years. She has sang in jazz bands, sang in her own band, Haley and the Rastitudes and has sang in many venues over the years.
You can find Haley singing in many You Tube videos before she was ever on American Idol.
If a voter goes strictly by talent, Haley will be the winner. However, the most talented doesn’t always win the American Idol as Adam Lambert found out two years ago.
Some of the American Idols have won because of their huge popularity. Taylor Hicks has been one of the worst Idols ever when it comes to record sales, but because he was very likeable and popular he became an American Idol.
This is where Lauren comes in. She is talented, but not on the level of Haley or Scotty. Yet she may be the next American Idol, because her fans are voting for her in huge numbers. Even when the judges were talking negatively about her, she continued to stay out of the bottom three.
There is no doubt that Lauren is the most likable contestant this year. Voters like that she is just being herself and not pretending to be the greatest singer on the show. I am not sure she would sell as many albums as Haley or Scotty.
Scotty will probably sell more albums than either Haley or Lauren. His best chance to win would be if Lauren leaves next week, so he won’t have to split the country music vote on finale night.
I want Haley to win, but have a feeling she could only win against Lauren. Her attitude problems with the judges could come back to haunt her. Many of the commenters on the blogs say they will not vote for her because of her attitude, so that could be a huge factor in whether she wins or not.
It will be fun to see how all of this unravels in the next two weeks. With only 13 days remaining before finale night the tension is starting to build for the last three contestants and millions of American Idol fans.
It had been looking all of Season 10 that James Durbin would be in the final two, but instead two of the three remaining contestants will be on stage that night.
When Lauren Alaina Suddeth was told that she was safe first, my first thought was would it be Haley Reinhart or Scotty McCreery going home, but instead it was James. It wasn’t that long ago when five straight girls were sent home with the boys having a 6-2 advantage. Now the tide has turned as there are now two girls and Scotty.
Television viewers could tell that James was very concerned when he found out that he or Scotty would be going home.
No rocker has ever won American Idol, but James looked like he might be the first rocker to be an American Idol. James may not sell albums as well as Chris Daughtry, but should sell better than last year’s American Idol Lee DeWyze.
I expected Haley to be sent home tonight after the negative comments from Randy Jackson and Jennifer Lopez last night. Who knows?…Haley may have even been the highest vote-getter since the voting results are never released.
American Idol fans will never forget how James rocked the house week after week, and as far as I know never received a negative comment. Being a front-runner is not always good though as voters may vote more for someone in danger rather than vote for someone they think won’t need their vote.
LAUREN ALAINA SUDDETH
Lauren has gotten stronger each week, as she has hit her stride at the perfect time in the season. She may be getting more votes for her popularity, more than for her singing, but she is singing very well now and could very well be standing with Haley or Scotty at the finale.
HALEY REINHART
Haley looked like she may have been going home tonight after she was criticized by Randy Jackson and Jennifer Lopez. I was afraid she was going to be thought of as a complainer by the voters after she didn’t accept the statements that Jackson and Lopez made about her singing. On the other hand she may have gotten a lot of votes from voters who thought Jackson and Lopez ganged up on her undeservedly.
SCOTTY MCCREERY
Scotty is another singer who has sang better and better as the competition goes on. If Lauren is around at the finals, Scotty will have to split the country vote with Lauren. However, if either of them goes home next week, the one remaining should garner almost all of the country votes.
WHO WILL GET THE VOTES FOR JAMES DURBIN?
It will be interesting to try to figure out who will get the James Durbin votes. Since none of the remaining singers are rockers, the rock voters may not even vote the rest of the way.
POLL QUESTION:
Today’s poll question asks which of the remaining three contestants will be the American Idol.
I couldn’t help but think that Randy Jackson and Jennifer Lopez may have set up Haley Reinhart so she will leave the show tonight.
It seems like Haley has received more than her share of criticism this season. She was the only one last night to receive negative comments from the judges. With eight songs and three comments per song Haley received the two negative comments out of 24 comments by the judges.
It was almost like the judges knew Haley would be upset enough to show some attitude, knowing that could speed her exit off the show tonight.
Many commenters about Haley on American Idol blogs say they won’t vote for her because of her attitude. The judges put her in that situation. Haley is not like some contestants that will keep smiling while being trashed by the judges.
If Haley goes home tonight, no need for Randy and Jennifer to act surprised, because they knew what they were doing. They angered Haley enough to force her to have an attitude and now the voters are apparently posed to use that attitude against her. I could tell it meant a lot to Haley to have Steven Tyler go against Randy and Jennifer to say Haley sang well. This is one of the few times this season that one judge has disagreed with another judge or judges.
As far as I know, they have never made a negative comment about James Durbin. It was the same way during Season 8 for Adam Lambert, who received raves from the judges week after week.
LOPEZ WANTING SCOTTY TO KEEP COMING UP WITH SOMETHING NEW
I couldn’t believe it when Jennifer Lopez told Scotty McCreery that he needed to keep coming up with new way of singing. Scotty has already proved he can sing country and any other genre he has been asked to sing this year. He needs to be let alone, since he has already shown he can sing slow songs, plus he has excelled at singing up tempo songs. He doesn’t need to change anything.
IOVINE STAYED IN BACKGROUND
The American Idol mentor Jimmy Iovine, seemed to refrain from telling singers what to sing last night. After Jacob Lusk told the media that Iovine was intimidating into singing songs he didn’t sing, the producers must have told him to back off and let the singers pick their own songs. He may have been the one who told Haley to sing the Lady Gaga song which Haley apparently didn’t want to sing. Then when she sings it, she got trashed by the judges for singing it.
LADY GAGA FREAKED OUT CONTESTANTS
It was easy to tell the contestants were freaked out by Lady Gaga especially Scotty, who was told to make love to his microphone.
However, I do think she gave some helpful advice when it came to delivering songs with intensity. All four contestants seemed to have some extra intensity when singing the songs of Jerry Lieber and Mike Stoller. If not for Lady Gaga telling Haley to show in her face what she was feeling from the song I Who Have Nothing the song would have had a lot less impact.
Lauren Alaina Suddeth showed that she deserved to be in the final four last night. I have heard Trouble sang in the past and she sang it as well as anyone plus the lyrics were changed a little by the arrangement in the last part of the song, but she handled it well.
NO CLEAR WINNER
There is no clear winner for Season 10 at this point. It would not surprise me to see any of the remaining four contestants become the next American Idol.
Scotty and James have been solid all season long, while Haley has been close to going home most of the season, but is peaking at the right time, if the judges didn’t ruin her chances of winning last night.
Lauren had avoided the bottom two or three until being in the bottom two last week. She had trouble adjusting to being in that situation after being sent to safety so many times in the weeks before. If Pia Toscano was still in the competition, Lauren or Haley or possibly both would be gone at this stage of the competition.
There is no remaining contestant that I would root against, since they all belong in the final four. Sadly, someone has to go home tonight.
Don’t be surprised if Haley sings her farewell song after being voted off the show. I don’t think she will be hugging Randy or Jennifer if she does leave since they put her in the position to be voted off.
The poll question asks if Randy and Jennifer hurt Haley’s chances of winning American Idol last night.
Johnny Mathis singing his standard Misty on a French television program in 1973.
Johnny Mathis singing Crazy from his country music album Let It Be Me.
Johnny Mathis is now in his 55th year of being a recording artist. His first No.1 hit was Chances Are in 1957. He wouldn’t have another No.1 hit till 1973 when I’m Coming Home was No.1 .
Too Much, Too Little, Too Late would be his last single to reach the No.1 spot in 1978. You would think he would have more than three No.1 hits.
Misty the song I most identify with Mathis topped out at No.12 on the charts. I can remember the first time I heard it was when I was at the service club in Hawaii in 1963. I didn’t know today that the song was already four years by then.
Chances Are, It’s Not For Me to Say and Twelfth of Never
Mathis was born in 1935, the same year Elvis Presley was born and will be 76 in September.
Peggy Lee may have died nine years ago but her music lives on since she left behind her musical legacy to be treasured for years to come.
There have been many great female singers since the 30′s but the best in my book is Peggy Lee. She not only has a great voice, but you connect emotionally with her when she sings.
You can actually picture the folks who live on the hill in the song by the same name and who can forget Peggy singing Is That All There Is about the many disappointments in life.
The mark of a great singer is if they can transfer the emotions they are feeling in the song they are singing to the listener and none was better at that than Peggy Lee.
She lost her mother at the age of four and had a wicked stepmother that abused her. So when you hear her singing with so much emotion, it is because she has known life at its worst and its best.
Peggy Lee singing You Was Right Baby.
Peggy Lee may be gone, but she will never be forgotten.
Reese Witherspoon is slated to portray Peggy Lee in a biopic that we hope will be in theaters in the next year or two.
It is less than three weeks now till the final vote is revealed by Ryan Seacrest on who will be the next American Idol. Nine contestants have gone home and after Thursday only three will remain. My prediction is that Lauren or Scotty may be home this week, but after the Pia Toscano shocker, nobody is really safe this season.
Paula Abdul may not be part of American Idol, but Idol fans who follow her will be glad to know she will be a judge on Simon Cowell’s X-Factor this fall on the Fox network. She apparently left American Idol when she requested $10 million after learning Ryan Seacrest was being paid $15 million, but the producers refused to pay the $10 million so she walked. Now she will be sitting next to Simon Cowell again, which should help the ratings of the new show.
http://insidetv.ew.com/2011/05/08/x-factor-paula-abdul/
Adam Lambert has picked Haley Reinhart to be the next American Idol. He told the Hollywood Reporter “It’s incredible how she makes it look so easy and effortless” and said “Plus she’s having fun up there.”
Lady Gaga will be the guest mentor on Wednesday’s show. Contestants might want to think twice before placing too much weight on her advice, since she likes to think out of the box, which might not go over well with the judges. Haley Reinhart, in particular needs to be careful with Lady Gaga as her mentor.
The contestants will be choosing music from the Jerry Lieber and Mike Stoller catalog this week. Forty of their songs were in the Broadway musical Smokey Joe’s Cafe. This list at Amazon.com shows the titles and sound clips can be heard of each song. This list is not an inclusive list, but contains most of their better known hits.
Taylor Hicks has re-opened a restaurant-bar that he performed in while learning the music business. The restaurant is located in Birmingham, Alabama. He is one of the partners who re-opened the restaurant. This article gives many more details on the restaurant, including the menu being offered.
http://blog.al.com/bob-carlton/2011/05/american_idol_taylor_hicks_of.html
Haley Reinhart is one of four finalists on American Idol.
Haley Reinhart singing the Frank Sinatra classic Night and Day with the Wheeling High School Jazz Band in December of 2008.
HaleyReinhart singing Like a Star in October of 2008.
Haley Reinhart singing with the Harper Jazz Ensemble in May of 2010.
Haley singing with Haley and the Rastitudes.
Haley at the Milwaukee audition earlier this season, mentioning that she had not been chosen in the 2010 auditions.
Haley dancing to Michael Jackson music at a wedding.
After watching these videos, it is clear that Haley Reinhart has paid her dues to get where she is today. If she survives the next two weeks, she will be in the final two on May 25.
Haley was a slow starter this season staying in the bottom three for a good part of Season 10. She has been coming on strong lately and could be on the verge of being the next American Idol.
However, an even better singer Pia Toscano was sent home five weeks ago, so nobody is really safe until Ryan Seacrest names them the next American Idol later this month.
The best thing about Haley is that she sometimes sings music from the 40′s.
Whether Haley wins American Idol or not, we should be hearing her music for a long time through her recordings.
This is the first week that there is no clearcut answer to the question of who will go home next week. Casey Abrams went home a week early in my book, but did gain some extra weeks after being saved by the judges earlier this season.
It was almost a foregone conclusion that Jacob Lusk would be going home last night. On my little poll 74 votes said that Jacob would go home out of 94 votes cast.
Next week we could see Scotty McCreery or Lauren Alaina Suddeth go home depending on how the competition goes next Wednesday night. Unless Haley Reinhart or James Durbin stumble badly on Wednesday night, we may be headed to a Haley and James Final Two.
James is in the only contestant to not have been in the bottom two or bottom three this season. Haley seems to have really turned her chances in her favor after being in the bottom three earlier in the season.
I am not sure if Lauren can handle the pressure coming up in the last three weeks of the show, if she is still there at the end. She will be watched closely by the mentors and judges to see if she backs off high notes, like she did last Wednesday night. As I have stated before, whoever goes home first between Scotty and Lauren will leave their votes to the other for the most part.They are both young and both are from the south, so either one of them should pick up a lot of votes, once the other leaves, unless they both wind up in the Final Two.
Right now, like Randy said James is the one that is most likely to win American Idol. It is unclear who will get the votes of Jacob Lusk, since none of the remaining singers sing his kind of music.
Personally, I am still rooting for Scotty and Haley, but Scotty could be gone when the votes are counted from the next results show.
The only total surprise would be for James to be voted off the show, but think his followers are very loyal, since he is the only contestant singing heavy metal music.
Now is the time for the singers to not let the mentors, Jimmy Iovine and Lady Gaga pick their songs. Otherwise they may lose because they didn’t go with their gut feeling, as to which song to sing.
The poll question asks which of the final four is most likely to go home on Thursday night.
Vote as often as allowed.
After next Thursday’s night results show, there will be only four contestants left in Season 10 of American Idol.
Assuming the show will have a bottom three this week, Haley Reinhart, Jacob Lusk and Scotty McCreery should be there this week.
Lauren Alaina Suddeth surprised me when she was safe and Scotty was in the bottom three last Thursday. I think Lauren is a very good singer, but have a feeling she was safe last week, due more to her popularity than her singing ability. She has never been in the bottom three and James Durbin is only other contestant to not have been in the bottom three this season.
Unless we are in for a shocking elimination on Thursday, I see Jacob Lusk or Haley leaving the show. Scotty may have showed he slipped a little last week in the voting, but I look for his fans to vote in large numbers next week to insure he stays on the show.
There is no way of knowing, but it will be interesting to guess on who will get Casey’s votes next week.
Since American Idol isn’t releasing the vote totals, we can’t be sure that Lauren Alaina Suddeth or James Durbin haven’t been the leading vote-getters since the show started.
James has knocked it “out of the box” (Randy’s catchphrase) every week and should be safe on Thursday. Jacob keeps hanging in there, despite being in the bottom three.
The poll question asks who will be going home this week:
Casey Abrams mentioned how much he liked Oscar Peterson before leaving American Idol. Just who is this Oscar Peterson Abrams spoke so highly of? I have a Christmas cassette by Oscar Peterson, so had heard of him, but know very little about him.
Peterson was born in Montreal, Quebec Canada on August 15, 1925 and died December 23, 2007 in Mississiauga, Ontario, Canada.
He won seven Grammy Awards between 1974 and 1991. He was different from most pianists in that he played 100 notes, while other pianists were using ten in a song.
Oscar Peterson playing Sweet Georgia Brown both very fast and very slow.
Oscar Peterson playing an audio only version of Yesterday the Beatles classic.
Piano duet with two of the greatest jazz pianists of all time Oscar Peterson and Ray Charles.
The classis song Georgia On My Mind being played by Oscar Peterson.
Casey Abrams playing Georgia On My Mind on bass.
Close to two million people have watched this video on You Tube. It is Casey at his best. He may be growling as Jimmy Iovine calls it, but it doesn’t bother me, since it just shows how emotionally involved Casey is involved with his music.
Casey may not be the next American Idol but this is not the last we will hear from him. He is by far the most musically talented contestant on American Idol. Even if his albums don’t sell well, he can always find work in a jazz band or studio band.
His love for the older jazz music may have cost him a chance to be the next American Idol, because his growling apparently turned off some of the voters, who went more for the music of the other contestants who stuck to one music genre for the most part unless forced to sing something different.
The fact that Casey even knew who Oscar Peterson was told me all I wanted to know about him, showing he truly loves the music of those who came before him.
Casey may be gone, but he surely won’t be forgotten. It would be worth seeing the American Idol tour, just to see Casey sing and play the bass, unless he is told not to play the bass on the tour.
Pia Toscano to sing at a private party for $100,000.
The ninth best singer on American Idol Pia Toscano, may not be the next American Idol, but is keeping busy since being voted off the show.
She has appeared on many talk shows, sang on Dancing With the Stars and next weekend will sing at a private party in Los Angeles.
Toscano was offered $50,000 to sing a few songs at the party, but when she turned it down, the party organizers upped the offer to $100,000 which she accepted. It is surprising that she turned down $50,000, but she probably has an agent who probably thought that she is too hot right now to work for a $50,000 payday.
She will probably actually lose money when the American Idol tour starts, since she could make a lot more singing as a solo artist, instead of having to split the money with the other 10 contestants this summer.
The tour should draw a lot of fans this summer, since there are so many talented singers who will be traveling across America during the tour.
It wouldn’t surprise me if Pia Toscano is the most successful singer from Season 10. She may release an album before the next American Idol does.
She is almost certainly the first American Idol contestant to earn $100,000 for one performance, before finale night.
We may see several American Idols from Season 10 making albums. That doesn’t mean those albums will sell well as this list of former American Idols and their current ranking among all music sales at Amazon.com shows:
Lee DeWyze – Live it Up – November, 2010 – 857th in sales
Crystal Bowersox – Farmer’s Daughter – December 2010 – 32nd in sales
Kimberly Caldwell – No Regret – April 2011 – 625th in sales
Danny Gokey: Danny Gokey: My Best Days – March 2010 – 2.216th in sales
Allison Areheta – Allison Areheta: Just Like You – December 2009 – 9,369th in sales
Jason Castro – Jason Castro – April 2010 – 4,641st in sales
Kris Allen – Kris Allen – November 2009 – 6,358th in sales
Constantine Maroulis – Constantine – August 2007 – 48,975th in sales
Adam Lambert – Adam Lambert: Glam Nation Live - March 2011 – 130th in sales
David Cook – David Cook – November 2008 – 1,115th in sales
Melinda Doolittle – Coming Back to You – February 2009 – 7,938th in sales
Brooke White – High Hopes and Heartbreak – July 2009 – 20,620th in sales
Katherine McPhee – Unbroken – January 2010 – 18,743rd in sales
Chris Daughtry – Leave This Town – July 2009 – 1.094th in sales
Paris Bennett – Princess P – May 2007 – 95,703rd in sales
Taylor Hicks – Taylor Hicks – 2006 (no month shown) – 324,392nd in sales
Ruben Studdard – Soulful – December 2003 – 99,525th in sales
Blake Lewis – Heartbreak on Vinyl – October 2009 – 90,540th in sales
David Archuleta – The Other Side of Down – October 2010 – 7,791st in sales
Carrie Underwood – Some Hearts – November 2005 – 468th in sales (which is amazing considering it was released about 5 1/2 years ago.)
Kellie Pickler – Kellie Pickler – September 2008 – 14,943rd in sales
Kelly Clarkson – All I Ever Wanted – March 2009 – 1,842nd in sales
There were too many American Idols to include them all in the list. This list shows being the American Idol doesn’t always translate into album sales as Taylor Hicks has found out. He may have sold the least albums of any American Idol, but I look for Kris Allen and Lee DeWyze to also have trouble selling their albums.
So when Ryan Seacrest announces the winner of Season 10 next month, don’t feel too bad for the runner-up as they may outsell the winner.
I may be in the minority, but I think Ryan Seacrest and the producers are having too much fun playing with the emotions of the contestants when giving the results of the voting on Thursday nights.
When he kept sending contestants back to the couch, without letting them know their results, it only was to create more drama for the eventual revelation that Casey Abrams was the one going home.
It may be entertaining for Seacrest and the viewers, but it has to be torture for the contestants to have their emotions played with.
Personally, I think that the results should be given at the end of the show. Instead the results are broken up into portions, in between commercials and then finally the one being sent home is told after a song by a guest singer or a commercial.
These contestants have been on a emotional roller coaster, since the final 13 was revealed. They don’t deserve to have to wait so long to learn their fate.
But that isn’t dramatic enough for Seacrest and the producers, who want to squeeze that last drop of blood from the contestant being sent home.
Then the one being sent home is forced to sing a song before leaving the show. I have seen some of these singers fighting tears, while trying to sing their way, through what has to be an overwhelming emotional experience.
My main objection to all the drama, when announcing the results, is that these contestants have worked very hard for several weeks and don’t deserve to have their emotions toyed with, while Seacrest plays his game of wait and see who goes home.
Today’s poll asks the opinion of readers on whether the results shows are too dramatic.
It is safe to say that very few American Idol fans expected to see Casey Abrams sent home. But that is exactly what happened on Thursday’s show. I can’t believe it had anything to do with his growling as mentor Jimmy Iovine said.
Casey may have just lost the voters by singing songs from so many genres, that fans couldn’t tell what kind of singer he will be.
Right off, it was a huge surprise to see Haley Reinhart sent back to safety. James Durbin may be the frontrunner in the votes as he and Lauren are only contestants to not have been in the bottom three. Tonight’s voting results tell me James has to be the favorite now with Casey gone and Scotty McCreery in the bottom three.
Scotty singing a non-country song may have hurt his vote tally, even though he sang well. His fans probably wanted to hear the bass voice, so when he sang in more of a tenor voice he may have lost some of his young fans.
Jacob is still living in the bottom three, so could be going home next week. It looks like Haley gained a lot of votes since last week for her to be safe.
Casey may be gone but we will be hearing from him later this year or early next year when he releases his first album. It is ironic that after sounding so good last night, he is voted off the next night.
James Durbin should be the next American Idol, but rockers haven’t done well on finale night. Bo Bice lost to Carrie Underwood in Season Four and Adam Lambert lost to Kris Allen in Season Eight.
Chris Daughtry finished fourth in Season Five but he and Clay Aiken are the only American Idol contestants who lost, yet have had No. 1 hits in the Billboard 200.
Time will tell if James can become the first rocker to become American Idol. The voting has shown that the voters are voting more for favorites, rather than for the most talented.
There is no way Pia Toscano was the ninth best singer on American Idol this season. It is strange she is No.9 this season but already has sang on Dancing With the Stars.
Nobody can tell me that Lauren, Haley and Jacob are better singers than Casey but the voters have spoken.
The poll question now is who has the best chance to win American Idol on May 25.
The last old time radio show aired on September 30,1962. Next year marks the 50th anniversary of Suspense and Yours Truly, Johnny Dollar being the last old time radio shows to be broadcast.
The poll today breaks down by age groups of people who have heard old time radio shows either live from 1920′s till September 30, 1962 or media such as MP3 CD’s and downloads:
Doris Day celebrated her 89th birthday earlier this week.
Doris Mary Ann Von Kapplehoff was born on April 3, 1922. She is better known to her fans as Doris Day.
She hasn’t been seen on television except as a guest or in the movies since the Doris Day Show ended in 1973. For the last 38 years she has lived a low profile life.
When her third husband, Martin Melcher died in 1968, she claimed to not know he had planned a television series the Doris Day Show before his death.
She did the series and it was successful, which was the last time she appeared on television in a regular series of her own.
Her fear of flying probably was a huge factor in retiring, since she probably wouldn’t have consented to fly to movie or television locations.
She never liked anyone swearing around her and once required anyone that swore to place a quarter in the “swear box’ during a recording session.
Day surprisingly believes a couple should live together before being married as she stated in her 1975 autobiography:
[In her 1975 autobiography] You don’t really know a person until you live with him, not just sleep with him. Sex is not enough to sustain marriage. I have the unfortunate reputation of being Miss Goody Two-shoes, America’s Virgin, and all that, so I’m afraid it’s going to shock some people for me to say this, but I staunchly believe no two people should get married until they have lived together. The young people have it right. What a tragedy it is for a couple to get married, have a child, and in the process discover they are not suited for one another! If I had lived with Al Jorden for a few weeks, God knows I would never have married him. Nor would I have married George Weidler. But I was too young and too inexperienced to understand any of this. Now my heart was busted and I had lost my way.
She didn’t think much of Elizabeth Taylor’s penchant for wearing expensive jewelry saying it could have been better used:
[about Elizabeth Taylor's diamonds] When I see Liz Taylor with those Harry Winston boulders hanging from her neck I get nauseated. Not figuratively, but nauseated! All I can think of are how many dog shelters those diamonds could buy.
The new Fox series Mobbed drew 10.8 million viewers last night, after 22 million watched its lead in American Idol.
In the debut episode a man wants to surprise his wife, by getting married with a mob of people being there to dance to the song Everlasting Love.
One selling point for this show, is that the show builds suspense as it goes, so shouldn’t lose any viewers in the second half.
The original plan was to have 100 in the mob but by the time of the event, over 1,000 people were part of the mob.
There was one ingredient to the event that could have backfired. When they decided to create some jealousy by having a girl pretend to be the man’s girfriend, it upset the man’s girlfriend.
However all is well that ends well when she is told everything will be alright and next thing you know the security guard starts singing and the event goes off as planned.
Won’t give any more details in case someone wants to see the entire 43 minute video at Fox.com. Just look for full episodes.
Howie Mandel did a great job of coordinating the event. It will be interesting to see if they can come up with another show as good as the one last night.
The great Frank Sinatra singing one of his up tempo songs Nice and Easy.
This is Frank Sinatra at his best singing one of his signature songs. The next video features Sinatra singing one of his lesser known songs but one of my favorites, How Little It Matters.
Sinatra singing a shortened version of How Little We Know.
Neither of the songs included in this post were huge hits with How Little We Know reaching No.30 on the Billboard charts in 1956 while Nice and Easy topped out at No. 60 in 1960.
That doesn’t really matter to me since both songs are two of my favorite Sinatra songs. He recorded his first song in 1939 and was still singing into the 1990′s.
The following list names every song recorded by Sinatra and which year it was recorded:
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/List_of_songs_recorded_by_Frank_Sinatra
Eric Carmen singing his 1975 hit All By Myself.
When All By Myself was sang by Pia Torcato on American Idol earlier this week, Randy Jackson mentioned Celine Dion’s version, but neglected to mention Eric Carmen, the original singer and writer of the song.
Celine Dion singing All By Myself, in what is considered the best version recorded, and it became a gold record for her. She hit high notes seldom reached at the end of the song.
She recorded it 21 years after the original version sung by Eric Carmen.
Pia Torcato sang this song as well as anyone this side of Celine Dion on American Idol on Wednesday night of last week.
Casey Abrams had two more blood transfusions last night.
Casey Abrams had to undergo two more blood transfusions yesterday, and has been diagnosed with ulcerative colititis.
It is now questionable whether Abrams can keep the grueling schedule American Idol aspirants must endure. He would almost certainly be eliminated, if he were to miss a performance show.
Abrams, one of the most talented performers on the show this year, narrowly missed an earlier performance night when he had to have another blood transfusion.
It would be sad to see him lose out on his dream, of being the next American Idol, but to me he looks extremely weak and pale.
He wasn’t in danger of being eliminated last night, but he could be later, if his health continues to prevent him from participating in the shows.
Abrams may be the most talented instrumentalist, ever to appear on American Idol. He has played the melodica, the bass and the guitar this year on the show.
He is one of my favorites on the show this year but if the doctors can’t keep him healthy he may not be around in May when the American Idol is chosen.
We want to wish Casey a fast recovery and may he have made his last hospital stay of the season.
Frank Sinatra singing I Get a Kick Out of You and
The third verse of the song has a reference to cocaine but in the video it is changed to perfume from Spain.
That would bore me terriff is in most Sinatra versions of the song and not terricic’ly too as shown in the third verse lyrics here.
Some get a kick from cocaine.
I’m sure that if I took even one sniff
That would bore me terrific’ly too
Yet I get a kick out of you.
Cole Porter wrote the song in 1934 making it 77 years old this year.
Jane Russell has died at the age of 89 at home in Santa Maria, California of respiratory failure.
Jane Russell has died at the age of 89 with her family beside her in Santa Maria, California. The actress who was discovered by Howard Hughes when she was 19 and working in a doctor’s office. Hughes would cast her in The Outlaw in her first movie appearance. She appeared in nineteen movies between 1943 and 1957. She would only appear in four more movies, with her last movie appearance coming in 1970 in Darker Than Amber. She was 49 the year her last movie was filmed.
Russell was born in Bemidji, Minnesota on June 21, 1921. Her family moved back to United States from Canada so she would be born a U.S. citizen.
She co-starred with Marilyn Monroe in Gentlemen Prefer Blondes in 1953. Then in 1955 she received top billing in Gentlemen Marry Brunettes.
Television appearances were few and far between for Russell as she appeared in only seven television appearances with her last appearance being in a 1986. She hadn’t acted in movies or television in the last 25 years of her life.
Russell would pursue a singing career that started in 1947 but she was more famous for her movie career. She did have a very listenable voice which was very soft. She was part of this singing group that included big band singer Connie Haines and actress Rhonda Fleming:
Jane Russell singing One For My Baby.
Allmusic.com has short clips of many of her songs:
http://www.allmusic.com/artist/jane-russell-p443225/songs
While going to church she became involved in singing with a group that included big band singer Connie Haines and would later include Rhonda Fleming another famous Hollywood actress.
Her first husband Bob Waterfield was a football player who won the Heisman Trophy and would later play quarterback in the NFL for the Cleveland Rams and Los Angeles Rams. He would be inducted later into the NFL Football Hall of Fame. Their marriage lasted twenty four years.
Roger Barrett an actor was her next husband but died only three months after their wedding. She next married John Peoples in 1974 and they would be married till his death in 1999.
Russell battled a drinking problem that got worse after his death but eventually conquered alcoholism and she had this to say about her reliance on God in the last paragraph of her New York Times obituary:
A higher power was always there, she wrote, “telling me that if I could just hold tough a little longer, I’d find myself around one more dark corner, see one more spot of light and have one more drop of pure joy in this journey called life.”
Archive.org will keep a reader entertained for hours.
Archive.org is probably the best source for audio and video online this side of YouTube. The home page for the website as I write this article has a link to an audio version of a Grateful Dead concert at Veteran’s Memorial Coliseum at New Haven, Connecticut on May 11, 1981.
The concert is only one of 803,305 audio recordings at the website. There are 2,214 old time radio related links to old time radio shows and magazines that were printed during the height of the popularity of old time radio.
One Roy Rogers episode has been downloaded 74,882 times showing that the website is available for downloading many of the old time radio shows we grew up with.
Old time radio fans will love looking at list after list of old time radio shows available for downloading including some of the more obscure shows which have very few episodes in existence.
The live music archive features 88,813 archives while the moving image archives total 451,934.
Avid readers will enjoy knowing that there are 2.694,639 texts including books and ebooks. The new Bookreader at the site includes Origin of the Species by Charles Darwin and is the example shown of how the Bookreader works.
http://blog.archive.org/2010/12/10/2685/
There is an audio version of some books but the one I listened to was not of the best quality and seemed to be a computer generated voice which probably would be tiring to listen to for an entire book.
Most readers may not enjoy the voice and instead opt to read the books without sound. For those that like the audio they should enjoy the feature that highlights the portion of the book being read by the voice.
The Mega Reader iPhone app provides access to the 1.8 million free books at archive.org so they each iPhone user can have their own personal reader.
Each volume of the Warren Report investigation of the assassination of President John F. Kennedy is available to read.
The site is an excellent source of reading material for educators and students who are looking for books that are no longer copyrighted.
One word of caution: it could take hours just to look at what is available at archive.org. This website may have the most content of any website online and is worth going to the website to see for yourself what is available.
