DaveChung.com – A Guy’s Blog From Girl World

One random prediction that I’m very proud of is my prediction that Katy Perry would not be a one hit wonder.

While everything about “I Kissed a Girl” screamed “one hit wonder,” I was one of those people who actually bought her full album. When people would get into my car and ask, “What are we listening to?” and I’d answer, “Katy Perry”, I would get a look. After I got a look, they would say, “Is the CD good?” and I’d say “It’s actually much better that you think” before telling them that there were actually a solid number of not only listenable, but pretty good songs on the album.

How has the artist formerly known as Christian singer Katy Hudson managed to make this happen?

By being really hot and charming.

Ok that, but she (and her people) have also managed to actually choose 3 out of the top 4 songs on her album for her first three singles. And for that, Team Katy, you should be commended. While many of us see our favorite singers choose song after song that we wouldn’t have chosen for radio play hit the mainstream, by choosing “I Kissed a Girl,” “Hot N Cold,” and now “Thinking of You,” Katy Perry has not only shown her wacky side, but has shown that she has some diversity as an artist and good diversity at that.

While a catchy song by all means, “I Kissed a Girl” almost felt like a cry for attention. But then again, it was really catchy.

“Hot N Cold” was another fun song, a little out there, but less out there than “I Kissed a Girl,” but a great song that let Perry show off the new version of her on stage.

And now, after making a name and an image with herself, she gets to show some depth and she does that with “Thinking of You,” which I believe to be the best song on her album. And if Team Katy decides to release one more single off the album and makes it “Waking up in Vegas,” they will have gone 4 for 4 in choosing the top four songs from her album for radio play.

I don’t think anyone will ever campaign to say that Katy Perry is the best singer out right now, but I think everyone will agree that her voice is distinctive and in this song, it’s passionate and tells a compelling story.

If you know me, you know that I’m a big Carrie Underwood fan and it’s interesting to see the similarities between the video for Katy Perry’s “Thinking of You” and Carrie Underwood’s “Just a Dream.” While Perry’s video is more of an interpretation of the lyrics, compared to Underwood’s more direct translation of the lyrics, watch both and see if you find the similarities pretty striking for two videos released far enough away from each other for the creators to notice (Underwood’s came first, not that it matters).

Katy Perry’s “Thinking of You”

Thinking Of You – Katy Perry

Carrie Underwood’s “Just a Dream”


Just A Dream – Carrie Underwood

Regardless, I’m happy that Perry is getting the opportunity to not be a gimmick and that the release of a song with considerably more substance than her previous two singles gives her more of a chance of having longevity in the music industry. She’s not for everyone, but she’s a little different from others being churned out from hit factories and I think mainstream music can always use more of that.

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While Group 1 looked to be the top group this season with Danny Gokey, Casey Carlson, and Anoop Desai, it was clear that some of the other groups were going to surpass what was largely a disappointing first week of AI’s eighth season. To accomplish this feat, Allison Iraheta, Adam Lambert, and Megan Joy Corkrey of Group 2 stepped up and blew away the performances of Group 1 – yes, even Danny Gokey’s.

Allison Iraheta’s performance of “Alone” (performance video here) was probably the biggest surprise on the night to many since she wasn’t really front of mind throughout Hollywood. While it’s not even close to the first time that Heart’s “Alone” has been performed on American Idol, her performance is up there with Carrie Underwood’s as the best performance of the song ever on the show. More than anything, it was just Allison’s passion and near recklessness with the song that made it such a joy to listen to. She just let loose and really got the night going.

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While I don’t think it was an incredible performance, I think that the very pretty Megan Corkrey’s performance of Corinne Bailey Rae’s “Put Your Records On” (performance video here) should be just enough to let her squeak into the top 3 from Group 2. Megan has a unique look, an unconventional pretty, and a unique sound that I think gives her an identity in this competition. I can’t really remember anyone prettier than her now that Casey Carlson is out and her unique stage presence (the dance is kind of silly) could set her apart. Again, it’s not the first time that this song has been performed on AI, but I think anyone will agree that Megan Corkrey outsang Antonella Barba from a couple seasons back.

Lastly, Adam Lambert did the impossible – he made Danny Gokey appear beatable – not just beatable, but very, very beatable with his performance of “Satisfaction.” Adam is clearly the guy with the most stage presence, confidence, and range left in the competition, but it will be interesting to see how some of the theme weeks treat him. Like Blake Lewis, Adam takes risks with his arrangements and he’s going to have many “love it” or “hate it” moments and while he’s clearly great, I don’t think anything is guaranteed for him thusfar, but at least he’s making it interesting – along with Allison and Megan.

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Since many people think that Danny Gokey’s performance of “Hero” was the best on American Idol’s Top 36 week, I thought I’d post the vid!

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I thought it was good, not the best, but it was good.

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While the good performances weren’t incredible, they were solid. What we’re starting to see with Idol is that every good song has been done before by another Idol in a performance that is not only memorable, but possibly impossible to top. For every “Natural Woman” by Ann Marie Boskovich, there has been a better one by Kelly Clarkson. For every “A Song By You” by Ricky Braddy, there has been a better one by Elliott Yamin. And for Michael Sarver’s “I Don’t Wanna Be,” there has been an epic performance by Bo Bice that has been better

.

One of the most disappointing performances on the night had to be that of Casey Carlson, my early favorite who might end up going home well before she should after a poor song choice of “Every Little Thing” by the Police.

Carlson is probably the most strikingly beautiful Idol that we’ve seen this side of Kady Malloy and Katharine McPhee (yes, even Carrie Underwood wasn’t nearly this strikingly beautiful off the bat). And while Casey has the looks of a star and seemingly the personality, the judges ripped on her performance that was in the same company as Steven Fowler’s “Rock with You,” which I considered to be the worst performance on the night.

Regardless, anyone who knows me knows that I stick with my favorites until they are no longer in the competition. So for Danny Gokey, Anoop Desai, and yes, Casey Carlson, my votes keep coming because I think that all three have the potential to truly be great.

Here are my top three performances on the night:

Danny Gokey – Hero

Anoop Desai – Angel of Mine

Tatiana Del Toro – Saving All My Love For You (it’s true! not even joking)

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Will Casey get another chance? Let’s hope so.

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Just one day after being announced as one of American Idol’s Top 36, the music industry seemingly took one more swipe at the previously signed Joanna Pacitti by having her get removed from the show, who has been burned by a not-so-successful stint in the biz. While an official statement hasn’t been released, it seems as though Pacitti’s former deal with A&M Records and 19 Entertainment (the production company behind Idol) had an effect on her eligibility.

While a lot of Idol fans weren’t fans of having an artist that was previously signed to a major label compete on the show, I, for one, am a little bummed about it. Based on what we saw, it didn’t look like Pacitti had the best week in Hollywood, committing the cardinal sin of forgetting her words, but she undoubtedly had one of the best voices and one of the more interesting stories of the season.

It’s nothing new to have an Idol that previously had deals in the music industry, but perhaps it was the fact that Pacitti was a little too closely wed to some of the forces behind the show compared to contestants past.

Pacitti has already been replaced with Felicia Barton on the official site, but it will be interesting to see how the show acknowledges the change when Season 8’s first group performs. American Idol has been much better about acknowledging controversies on air (see: Antonella Barba) in recent years, so it feels like this is a situation that could use a little bit of official explanation.

While it was pretty clear that Pacitti had felt pretty damaged by the music industry, I personally hope that her exposure on the show gives her yet another shot. I know that there are tons of talented artists out there who would give anything to have the opportunities that she’s had, but there’s something about the “give and take away” that has been her story for the past month or so that is tough to swallow for anyone who wants to see someone do well at something they love.

For now, check out Joanna Pacitti’s music video “Let it Slide,” but of course, you can hear her song “Out from Under” covered by Britney Spears as well .

Best of luck to Joanna, bummed that we won’t be seeing more of her in a season that looks strong already with contestants like this season’s talented hottie Casey Carlson and early favorite Danny Gokey.

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D-Trix, better known as Dominic to fans of So You Think You Can Dance, apologized earlier this morning to the b-boy and b-girl community on a message board for what appears to have been an accidental “bite” by his crew Quest Crew on MTV’s America’s Best Dance Crew of a dance move performed by a breaking crew in Korea.

to all bboys and bgirls

…. my name is D-trix from Quest and we are currently on a show called “America’s best dance crew”…. Myself and the rest of Quest would like to apologize to all the bboys/bgirls and creators of the gimmick we had performed last week on the show!!!… I can promise you all that we had no idea that some one else had thought and performed this same gimmick long ago!… Here we thought we were being all creative and then the morning after the showed had aired… people posted a clip from youtube saying “Quest bit this move”… and it was footage from Project Seoul doing the same gimmick in uk champs 2002!!… at this point our whole crew was frozen and we were all ashamed… We had no intention of stealing ideas and especially accepting credit for it!!… It is totally our fault for not doing our research!! this incident has heavily affected us since we normally pride ourselves in being original and creative. Ive personally been in the bboy scene for many years.. entered many jams.. watched tons of footage.. and its unbeleiveable how something like this could escape my attention!!!… we hope most of you can believe that things like this do happen by total coincidence, but Quest will make absolutely sure to prevent it from happening again. “not knowing” is not an excuse, and we do not intend on ever using the gimmick again, out of respect to those who have done it before us.

Was it really a bite? The similarities are obvious, but in things like dance and music, there is always going to be something that looks or sounds like something that’s been done before – just this one appears to be a little more obvious.

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While I don’t think that D-Trix and Quest Crew was intentionally trying to bite the style of another crew and claim it as his own, I think he took the high road by taking a minute to apologize for what looks to have been a mistake by his crew – even going as far as embedding videos of the moves in question to make his apology that much more real.

While Quest Crew might have taken a little hit on being “creative” through this move, they’re still one of the top crews left on ABDC and I hope that this doesn’t end up hurting their chances in the competition.

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In the tradition of epic dance anthems like “Macarena,” “C’Mon and Ride It (The Train),” and “Crank That,” I was listening to the radio last night and finally heard “Stanky Leg” by the GS Boyz.

While I’m now an old 25 year old, out of the target demo to be doing the stanky leg on the dance floor, something that I’m not crazy about with this new anthem is the fact that they actually tell you what to do for the whole first verse of the song. Sure, there was a little bit of that in the aforementioned jams, but at least Soulja Boy snuck in some random lyrics here and there in all the verses.

And they say lyrics these days aren’t about anything. Psh.

So without further ado, here is your opportunity to do the “Stanky Leg.” Don’t be that guy in the club who doesn’t know what’s up.

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