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Birthdays This Week

June 8:
Alex Band (The Calling) (1981)
Nicci Gilbert (Brownstone) (1970)
Nick Rhodes (Duran Duran) (1962)
Mick Hucknall (Simply Red) (1960)
Bonnie Tyler (1953)
Boz Scaggs (1944)
Chuck Negron (Three Dog Knight) (1942)
Nancy Sinatra (1940)

June 9:
Dean Felber (Hootie & The Blowfish) (1967)
Dean Dinning (Toad The Wet Sprocket) (1967)
Jon Lord (Deep Purple) (1941)

June 10:
Faith Evans (1973)
Lemisha Grinsted (702) (1973)
Jo-Jo (K-Ci & JoJo) (1971)
Dan Lavery (Tonic) (1969)
Jimmy Chamberlain (Smashing Pumpkins) (1967)
Maxi Priest (1961)
Shirley Alston (The Shirelles) (1941)

June 11:
Dan Lavery (Tonic) (1969)
Joey Santiago (The Pixies) (1965)
Kim and Kelley Deal (The Breeders) (1961)
Donnie Van Zandt (38 Special) (1952)
Frank Beard (ZZ Top) (1949)

June 12:
Robyn (1979)
Kenny Wayne Shepherd (1977)
Bardi Martin (Candlebox) (1969)
Grandmaster Dee (Whodini) (1962)
Michael Hausman ('til tuesday) (1960)
John Linnell (They Might Be Giants) (1959)
Brad Delp (Boston) (1951) Died March 9, 2007
Bun E. Carlos (Cheap Trick) (1951)

June 13:
Raz B (B2K) (1985)
Rivers Cuomo (Weezer) (1970)
Soren Rasted (Aqua) (1969)
Paul DeLisle (Smash Mouth) (1963)
Dennis Locoriere (Dr. Hook) (1949)

June 14:
Billie Myers (1971)
Chris DeGarmo (Queensryche) (1963)
Boy George (Culture Club) (1961)
Alan White (Yes) (1949)
Rod Argent (The Zombies) (1945)

June 15:
Dryden Mitchell (Alien Ant Farm) (1976)
Ice Cube (1969)
Scott Rockenfield (Queensryche) (1963)
Steve Walsh (Kansas) (1952)
Garry Roberts (Boomtown Rats) (1954)
James Smith (The Stylistics) (1950)
Russell Hitchcock (Air Supply) (1949)
Ian Matthews (1946)

June 16:
Gino Vanelli (1952)
Edward Levert (The O'Jays) (1942)

June 17:
Kevin Thornton (Color Me Badd) (1969)
Paul Young (1956)
Barry Manilow (1946)

June 18:
Nathan Morris (Boyz II Men) (1971)
Dizzy Reed (Guns N' Roses) (1963)
Alison Moyet (1961)
Tom Bailey (Thompson Twins) (1957)
Paul McCartney (1942)

June 19:
Brian Welch (Korn) (1969)
Brian Vander Ark (The Verve Pipe) (1964)
Paula Abdul (1962)
Ann Wilson (Heart) (1950)

June 20:
Twiggy Ramirez (Marilyn Manson) (1972)
Murphy Karges (Sugar Ray) (1968)
John Taylor (Duran Duran) (1960)
Michael Anthony (Van Halen) (1955)
Cyndi Lauper (1953)
Lionel Richie (1949)
Brian Wilson (The Beach Boys) (1942)

Gene Simmons Accused of Sexual Assault
May 28, 2010 – How could a meeting between a make-up artist and Kiss’ Gene Simmons go so wrong? Well according to documents filed in Los Angeles Superior Court yesterday the guitarist wanted more from her than she was willing to give and it didn’t involve make-up. More

Bret Michaels Didn’t Tell His Doc About American Idol
May 28, 2010 – Didn’t Bret Michaels look healthy on American Idol on Wednesday night? There is a chance he wasn’t. More

Don’t Let Elton Cook You Dinner
May 27, 2010 - File this under “You can’t be good at everything.” Elton John was arguably the biggest solo musician in the world in the seventies and he was easily in the top 10 in the eighties but it seems he was too busy conquering the world to learn to cook. More

Reformed Faces Set for Vintage at Goodwood Without Stewart
May 27, 2010 – The good news is the Faces are back together but the not-so-fine print says Rod Stewart will not be in the mix. More

Only 2% Separated Final Two On Low-Rated American Idol Finale
May 28, 2010 – “What-eva” seems to be what many are saying about Wednesday’s American Idol finale. While 24.2 million viewers checked out Simon Cowell’s swan song it was the show’s lowest rated finale since season one which could spell trouble for winner Lee DeWyze. More

Paul McCartney’s Daughter Controls his Touring
May 27, 2010 – It sure sounds like Paul McCartney is a responsible dad. The former Beatle say he never tours when it’s his turn to look after his daughter Beatrice – his child with ex-wife Heather Mills. More

Slash Yawns at New Rock Scene
May 27, 2010 – Slash says he’s not holding his breath for the next big thing in Rock. In fact the former Guns N’ Roses guitarist is disappointed in the current Rock scene. More

Jones Experimenting With Summer Festivals
May 18, 2010 – Norah Jones says she hasn’t done too many festivals in the past because her music was too “intimate and quiet.” More

Phil Collins, Huge Alamo Fan
May 11, 2010 – The name Phil Collins reminds us of countless hits, huge arena tours and complicated drumming. How about the Alamo? More

Sting Says Legalize Marijuana
April 5, 2010 – Sting seems to be fed up with our paradigms around pot! The singer says we, as a society, spend too much time putting marijuana users in jail when legalizing the substance could feed the hungry of the world. More


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Who Will Have Stronger Career Kris Allen, Adam Lambert or Danny Gokey?     Bookmark and Share
May 26, 2009 – Up until the finale of this year’s American Idol I had a renewed faith that the show was a singing competition again but Adam Lambert, clearly the better singer did not win. Though his Goth looks threw me off at times and that “cat on your back” show-off wail reminded me of why Celine Dion and I do not mix. I was still always waiting to see what treatment he would give a song.

I enjoyed Danny Gokey, for similar reasons, he had an amazing voice and presence. The Milwaukee choir leader lost his wife a month before his Idol audition and he came locked and loaded with a heaping, helping of Al Green’s soul but he didn’t win either.

Kris Allen was the champ on last Wednesday’s season 8 finale. Hell, even he was surprised. It made for the biggest upset in the show’s history.

So why did he win if Lambert and Gokey were clearly better singers? Popularity, plain and simple but more specifically popularity with young girls. Prepubescent teens don’t always make the difference, I doubt Taylor Hicks or Ruben Studdard, both past Idol winners, scored very high with the young chicks but Allen’s unassuming personality and boy next door looks made up for that perfect All-American score. He does come off like a genuine nice guy but he’s not in the league of Lambert and Gokey when it comes to singing.

Some are blaming the whole mess on “The Gokey Swing Vote” theory. It does make sense that once Gokey was eliminated more of his fans would back Allen over Lambert. Gokey did share a little apple-pie image with Allen.

Also, though Lambert has never openly talked about it, it kind of looks like he’s gay. I’m all for full gay rights but not everyone shares my kumbaya enthusiasm on the subject. Interestingly some critics are saying that his sexuality was the defining factor – I hope not.

Another logical explanation is that many Lambert fans probably didn’t vote.  He was the hands down leader, according to everyone.

To be fair, let’s see where Allen goes from here. Being the winner of Idol, he will not have as much creative control as Lambert or Gokey on his own career. It’s a well known fact that the reins of the Idol management are very tight, just ask first winner Kelly Clarkson. Her exhaustive struggle to leave the Idol grip almost derailed her career. Having said that, let’s see how relevant Kris is after a year, once the publicity machine has slowed down and our sights are set on another go-round with Idol season 9.

Also, winning American Idol is never a guarantee of future success, Ruben Studdard (season 2) Fantasia Barrino (season 3) and Taylor Hicks (season 5) have struggling careers. Coming in second, for a while anyway, was good luck for Clay Aiken who easily outsold Studdard the year they competed. Chris Daughtry was fourth the year Hicks won and his debut sold a million copies after only five weeks and Jennifer Hudson was seventh on Season 3 and look how many trophies she has and one of those is an Oscar.

The real reason winners like Kelly Clarkson (season 1) and Carrie Underwood (season 4) have become huge superstars was their true mass appeal, and so far that’s something Allen obviously has. That’s what made him win. The singing part…I’m not so sure.

Because of comeback cases like Hudson and disasters like Hicks it's impossible to tell who, in this year's top 3, will do better. One bad decision, like a crappy tune or maybe as simple as an unpopular quote to the media can change your destiny in a New York minute. Having said that I still put my money on Lambert even though I personally like Gokey the best.

So Lambert and Gokey could actually have an advantage over Allen in the long term. The former has already had offers from Kiss and Queen. That’s huge stuff.

In the end the cross that Kris Allen will have to bear is convincing the people who didn’t vote for him that he’s worthy. The bad news is Allen, by contract, needs to start by singing that God-awful insipid “No Boundaries” co-written by Idol judge Kara DioGuardi.

One thing’s for sure, he’s bound to do better than Taylor Hicks. – by John Beaudin

 

 
 
 
 
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