Kelly Clarkson « theMaxOnline

24Nov/110

Grammy’s The Big 4 predictions

The nominations for music's biggest night of the year will be announced next Wednesday and like the Oscars, there has been a lot of Grammy buzz floating around, specifically with certain names. I've taken The Big 4 awards and chosen my predictions for the nominations for them. It's really hard to narrow down the lists to five since there are a lot of contenders so while I end each category off with a solid five for my actual predictions, there's also the inclusion of some secondary guesses that I also expect to make it in place of some of my final guesses that don't.

Album of the Year
760 albums were submitted for this the biggest award of the Grammys. Many fingers have been directed at some obvious choices for most of the year. When people refer to an album having "Grammy buzz", it typically refers to whether it is considered for this category.
Adele has been pretty much a sure bet since 21 came out back in February and Tony Bennett has gotten some attention with Duets II. I'm also betting on the Foo Fighters getting a surprise nomination with Wasting Light. Kanye West is a sure shot too however he is involved on two submitted albums, his own My Beautiful Dark Twisted Fantasy as well as Watch The Throne with Jay-Z. So one of those is likely unless they cancel each other out. Other considered titles include Paper Airplane by Alison Krauss and Union Station (don't be surprised. She's the woman with the most Grammys ever - 26), Born This Way by Lady GaGa and filling the off-the-wall out-of-the-blue quota is Here We Go Again by Willie Nelson, Wynton Marsalis and Norah Jones. Meanwhile, after last year's Teenage Dream (Katy Perry) nomination, there might also be room for more mainstream-friendly, hit-filled albums like Loud (Rihanna) or Speak Now (Taylor Swift).

My predictions: Adele, Tony Bennett, Foo Fighters, Lady GaGa and Taylor Swift.

Song of the Year
The Song of the Year category is a songwriter's award. However, for simplicity's purpose, I'll list the singer of the songs rather than just the songwriters when I make my predictions. 839 songs were submitted for consideration for the final five. If any category will have any major surprises of The Big 4, it would be this one.
Some of the songs at the forefront of my predictions include the obvious Rolling In The Deep (which is the only song of Adele's submitted. A smart move to avoid the splitting of votes. It's pretty much guaranteed), Don't You Wanna Stay (Jason Aldean & Kelly Clarkson), Firework (Katy Perry), Marry Me (Train's underdog submission) and Perfect (Pink). This category often contains a surprise that comes out of left field that could be any of the following: All Of The Lights (Kanye West), You And I (Lady GaGa), Pumped Up Kicks (Foster The People), Hold My Hand (Michael Jackson and Akon), Back Down South (Kings of Leon), The Cave (Mumford & Sons) or Call Your Girlfriend (Robyn). Hey, it could happen!

My predictions: Rolling In The Deep, Don't You Wanna Stay, Marry Me, You And I and Perfect.

Record of the Year
854 titles were submitted for this category. The Record of the Year is an award for the artist, producer, mixer, engineer and others that worked on the actual recording of the song. It typically has consisted of titles that are bigger hits than those that end up in Song of the Year.
My guesses consist of Adele (Rolling In The Deep) as a sure bet, as well as Maroon 5 and Christina Aguilera (Moves Like Jagger) with the rest being mostly wild-card guesses. The Foo Fighters are Grammy darlings and have been nominated in The Big 4 a few times in the past. Walk could represent the rock voters with Jason Aldean and Kelly Clarkson's Don't You Wanna Stay for those on the country side. Other guesses go for Lady GaGa (You And I or Judas but likely the former if any of them), Kanye West (All Of The Lights) or perhaps Nicki Minaj (Super Bass) or Mumford & Sons (The Cave).

My predictions: Adele, Maroon 5 with Christina Aguilera, Jason Aldean and Kelly Clarkson, Lady GaGa and the Foo Fighters.

Best New Artist
The Best New Artist category is tough to choose from amongst the 447 submissions because quite often the names that make the final five nominations list may often be artists who are known only to people of the genre of music they do. Last year's winner Esperanza Spalding, for example, was unknown outside of the world of Jazz but was suddenly a recognizable name due to her Grammy nomination. So this category can do a lot for a nominated artist.
My thoughts are based on little more than current buzz and partial name recognition of some of the following including The Band Perry, Bon Iver, Eliza Doolittle, Jessie J and Nicki Minaj. But other names that could sneak in include a hopeful prediction for Nicole Atkins or to a lesser extent Ellie Goulding. Perhaps An Horse, J. Cole, Foster The People, Neon Trees, Christina Perri and Tyler, The Creator.

My predictions: The Band Perry, Bon Iver, Eliza Doolittle, Jessie J and Nicki Minaj.

As for the overall predictions, I'm guessing that Adele, Tony Bennett, the Foo Fighters and Jason Aldean all pick up the most nominations including ones they happen to make in the categories above. The nominations are announced on Wednesday, November 30th.

20Nov/113

2011 American Music Awards: Liveblog

I've never liveblogged before. Unless you count my ongoing tweets on Twitter a few months back for the MTV Music Awards. I've seen liveblogging occurring on actual blog sites before and figured I've have a crack at it while a live event was going on. I'm choosing the American Music Awards.

The AMAs are less classy, more casual than the Grammys but perhaps more scripted than the MTV Music Awards. The awards themselves are fan-voted but somehow different than the People's Choice Awards. I don't think the AMAs have the level of respect that the Grammys have, nor the reputation that the MTV Music Awards have but they still have their share of pretty good performances. This year, Nicki Minaj, Katy Perry, Kelly Clarkson, Ludacris and a bunch of others are performing so it has potential to be entertaining.

So I'll be adding to this blog post over the course of the night once the awards start in less than an hour. Check back!

7:57 ET | Show is about to start. Taylor Swift totally looks like a cat lady since she does kind of look like a cat. She's not the best speaker... Alanis Morissette was by earlier in the pre-show for one of her first public appearances since she had a baby last year and she's recorded 31 songs which will be whittled down to an album out in the middle of next year. Very excited!

8:05 | First performance, David Guetta and Nicki Minaj doing Turn Me On. Very elaborate stage setup for this show opener. There's definitely too much backing track for Nicki's vocals. I feel like would have to be an in-person performance to be able to appreciate it. I wonder what would happen if Nicki sat down?

8:09 | It's so odd that Maroon 5 wouldn't be on anyone's mind right now if not for Moves Like Jagger. And they'll probably not get that level of popularity again.

8:16 | Taylor - stop pretending to be surprised... unless you're not pretending... :/

8:32 | Well, that Chris Brown performance was better than the MTV Music Awards. It does pick up but he didn't lose the lame visual effects which take the focus off of his dancing, which he does do well.

8:34 | Go Nicki! Beating out Kanye and Lil'Wayne is a big deal for her!

8:38 | It feels like it's been years since I've actually seen Kelly Clarkson doing a live performance. So far, so good. And good theme. This is an awesome version of the song too. Gives it its own touch rather than the CD version that sounds like the Bruno Mars rip-off.

8:40 | Mr. Know It All is the performance of the night so far. Kinda swing, kinda jazz. Everyone - take note!

8:50 | Great to see Ludacris! Even if he really sounds terrible... The group in the background do add a nice element to Tonight (I'm Lovin' You). Imagine if they were all singing the real words... *heh heh heh*

9:00 | I'm going to assume that wasn't a technical difficulty for J-Lo?

9:02 | Kind of random Pitbull appearance. I bet he had something better to do that he interrupted to come out and do those few lines.

9:04 | J-Lo really DOES look like Steven Tyler... wow....!

9:08 | Artist of the year: Adele, Lady GaGa, Lil'Wayne, Katy Perry or Taylor Swift?

9:13 | Wasn't it at the AMAs that Adam Lambert had that "controversial" performance?

9:17 | And that's probably why Maroon 5 won that award earlier. #OneRepublic

9:18 | That's the most emotion I've ever seen Taylor Swift show! Wow! Go Taylor! And Go Nicki!

9:22 | Maybe that's why Pitbull ran away. The awkwardness of having to sing with both J-Lo AND Marc Anthony in the same night.

9:32 | I don't know what cloud you've been smoking on Klum but this Katy Perry song isn't a #1 song (yet).

9:35 | Katy did a surprisingly good performance. Simple, kind of elegant, not quite Adele-status but still quite good!

9:40 | Looking forward to hearing how much Christina can scream her way through the one verse of Moves Like Jagger she was allowed.

9:49 | Welcome back, Alanis! So nice to see her....! Maybe she'll be back performing next year? Doubt it... but her new album will be out by then...!

9:53 | It's like I'm watching and listening to Growing Pains.

9:54 | I don't think Ellie liked Robin Thicke very much.... nor would I since he couldn't pronounce her name right.

10:01 | Finally. Moves Like Jagger. They've been pimping this one out all night. Even though LMFAO is closing the show, that's a hard sell.

10:04 | Christina didn't have enough time to scream up a storm. But she did kind of try. If not with her vocals, with that hair. Yowza!

10:20 | That was fun! I do like Modern Family!

10:21 | Good to see Bruno Mars win. I'm not a huge fan but I think he's perhaps the best male singer out right now. Though I'm surprised Justin Bieber didn't win considering this is fan-voted? Maybe his fans are too busy threatening that woman who accused him of fathering her baby?

10:30 | There's still a bunch of awards left to be given out and two performances. Will.i.am with Jennifer Lopez and LMFAO.

10:42 | Mick Jagger is TOTALLY going to be accused of lip syncing! Not since Ashlee Simpson have I seen anything that badly lipped!

10:49 | Artist of the year!

10:50 | Taylor Swift?! What the what?! Now she can act surprised because I certainly am. Not Adele? Or even GaGa? Or even record-breaker Katy Perry?! What the what?!

10:52 | It's so odd that LMFAO has been the anchor for the end of the show all evening. Who knew they'd ever be such a big deal? I remember them playing The Forum in Halifax twice last year. Can't deny their songs are catchy though....!!

10:59 | David Hasselhoff? How random is THAT?

11:01 | The end of the AMAs. Kelly Clarkson had the best performance but LMFAO are quite fun too! Not really any memorable moments. So there's my first liveblog. How did I do?

29Oct/112

Music Review: Stronger

Album cover for Kelly Clarkson's Stronger

The first thing someone might notice when listening to the new Kelly Clarkson record is the level of power pop that incorporates most of the album. Of course, the first thing someone might expect before listening to the new Kelly Clarkson album is the level of power pop it will have. Tracks like I Forgive You and What Doesn't Kill You help to deliver. Yet I expect so much more from her.

Stronger continues on from the sound that she had for her last album All I Ever Wanted, which was released following the commercial flop of 2007's My December. The interesting thing about those two records is that All I Ever Wanted has only barely surpassed sales of December despite having multiple Top 10 hits. Of course, My December had the benefit of being a highly anticipated followup to 2005's Breakaway but the hype was shot down almost immediately to the point that a second single wasn't promoted. It's become almost urban legend that the entire project was sabotaged by the label and perhaps that's why Kelly has been relegated to doing the type of songs that have made up these latest two records.

On Stronger, Kelly is involved with co-writing six of the 13 tracks that make up the regular edition, about on par with her involvement with All I Ever Wanted. My December, meanwhile, had Kelly's involvement on every track. The focus on a Kelly song is clearly toward her voice and delivering the perfect pop song. Of course her voice has always been her strongest asset but while the delivery is there and what is delivered seems almost mundane, what's the purpose?

That's not to say that the only worthy Kelly Clarkson song is the one that she writes. This album is full of catchy pop hooks, many a strong chorus and likely potential radio hits. It's to suggest that Kelly was really on to something good when she was in control of her own songs and due to record label politics, she hasn't been able to have that type of control since. Instead, we're given two albums of songs that have that sense of restraint and obligation.

One of the better tracks on here is the closing track, Breaking Your Own Heart. It's perhaps the closest this album comes to delivering the obligatory radio-friendly ballad a la Already Gone or Because Of You, despite not being as obvious a hit as those two it passes them in authenticity and may just be one of the best ballads she's recorded. Otherwise, Stronger offers up a bunch of catchy pop songs that should be a major part of the pop music landscape for the next year and a half, if this type of pop was in that is. You Love Me is insanely catchy (Kelly co-write), What Doesn't Kill You is great on high volume (Kelly didn't co-write) and Einstein is awkward yet catchy but hopefully gets swept under the rug unnoticed (yeah, Kelly did co-write this one).

Keep an ear out for You Can't Win. As the title suggests, it's a lose-lose in all situations but the presentation is perhaps the most interesting on the record: "if you go/they'll say you're following/if you don't/then you're too good for them." Unfortunately for Kelly, she missed the feel-good-about-yourself-boat by almost a year. In fact, most of the record feels like it's too late, as if it was transported from 2005 with the exception of Mr. Know It All, perhaps the freshest sounding song for Kelly but with its sound being similar to Bruno Mars' Just The Way You Are, its freshness is almost expired.

Stronger is sure to appease fans of Kelly's biggest hits but the disappointment lies in what she could have made had she been given more freedom as an artist. The expectation is met with what Stronger turned out to be but her capability has fallen short and she is capable of so much better if allowed to do that.

Tracklisting
1. Mr. Know It All
2. What Doesn't Kill You (Stronger)
3. Dark Side
4. Honestly
5. You Love Me
6. Einstein
7. Standing In Front Of You
8. I Forgive You
9. Hello
10. The War Is Over
11. Let Me Down
12. You Can't Win
13. Breaking Your Own Heart
14. Don't You Wanna Stay (with Jason Aldean)*
15. Alone*
16. Don't Be A Girl About It*
17. The Sun Will Rise*