LLS and Titans Heaven!

I promised you details, so here you go...

Two nights ago, I spent the evening at an event for LLS - The Leukemia & Lymphoma Society. (www/lls.org) I have to say, it was one of the most touching and amazing events I have attended. There were 12 candidates that had been nominated for Man/Woman of the year and these people were soooo inspiring. They had each spent 10 weeks raising funds and awareness to help find a cure. They had an unreal amount of dedication to their cause and it was great to see their efforts rewarded. All of this was in honor of the boy and girl of the year...Markeise Stroud and Palmer Richardson. The campaign of each candidate helped not only these two children, but millions of others in their fight against leukemia and other blood cancers. I really urge you to find out more about LLS. It's an amazing organization.

So, you may be wondering what made this night my own personal Tennessee Titans heaven. (You may not, but I'm gonna tell you anyway)
For those that don't know, I am a HUGE Titans fan!!! I think they are the best team ever and I think football is the best game ever. So, I'm a little bit of an obsessed fan, but I think it's a healthy obsession. Right?
Anyway, my favorite player is Cortland Finnegan. Don't get me wrong, I also love Bironas, Young, Collins, Hentrich, Kearse...you get the point. But it's safe to say that Mr. Finnegan is my favorite. That being said, when I got the invitation for the LLS event, it came from the Titans own Susan Reinfeldt. Yes, that would be the wife of our fearless general manager, Mike Reinfeldt. She is my new hero of the week. She not only invited me to the event, but she also sat me at Cortland's table!



Hehehe!!!!!! So, not only was I at his table, but I got to sit by the brains behind his amazing organization Ark31. (www.ark31.org) Her name is Lacey Owens and she is divine. She is also Cortland's better half. For those of you that are unhappy about hearing that Finnegan has a girlfriend, don't be! She's beautiful, intelligent and has the hugest heart. She made me excited about getting more involved in the community and we had a blast all evening.



Seriously, I had the best time at the LLS event and I can't wait until next year. I can't tell you what I got in the silent auction, but it's going to blow your mind! Well, maybe not, but I'm excited! I get it next week and you better believe you will hear all about it. Thanks to Susan, Bob Hyde, Cortland, Lacey and the entire LLS staff (plus my girls Lauren and Emily...the best candidates in the world!) for making this such an amazing night to be a part of. Thank you! Thank you! Thank you!

Oh! I almost forgot!!!!!

Adam and Kris...Kris and Adam...this is THE longest blog. Sorry!!!

Tonight was wonderful, exciting and completely confusing.

I am in LA attending the wonderful finale events that tend to make me smile even when I'm not feeling well. (Boo!)
Of course, I was pumped to catch up with all my Idol friends last night and then attend the show tonight.
More details on all of that when I get home...although I do need to mention that when I walked in and got to hug Renee and Agent Pierce from 24, I almost forgot how I felt and just wanted to scream at the top of my lungs!!!!! Jesus really loves me for setting that up!

So, as I download Ruben Studdard's new CD and Lakisha Jones' new CD...BOTH came out TODAY (Buy them, buy them, buy them)...I will fill you in on what I thought about tonight's show.

Now, I've been doing press all day and I've been saying I think Kris is going to take it all the way. Although, I am head over heels for Adam's voice...DUDE! It's awesome. That being said...after watching tonight's show in the beautiful Nokia Theater...I have absolutely NO idea who's taking this crown home. I really feel like tonight evened the playing field for both of them...all thanks to that last song!

First Round totally went to Kris for me, but that was after pulling a Kara and not being able to close my mouth for the entire Adam performance of Mad World. Both performances were golden, but Kris put a little extra feeling in his that just blew me away,

Second Round went to Adam. I was totally with Simon on that act. Although I loved Kris' song, Adam just completely owned his. It was breathtaking...seriously!

Third Round...Ummm....nobody. That's all I'm saying about that one. Well, maybe I'll mention one thing. One of my best friends, Kelley, mentioned that maybe this was more of a Danny Gokey song and I agree. Danny could have sung the living daylights out of that. Yep, I said it. See, I really do like Danny...promise!

So...that means that in true "America's Next Top Model" form, we have to look back at all their previous pictures, I mean performances, to see who comes out on top. The key to my notes...Adam performances on top, Kris on bottom, stars by the one I think was best that night. Keep in mind that this is just my opinion and I have been wrong before...not often...but once or twice. :-)



***Black or White - Adam
Remember the Time - Kris

Ring of Fire - Adam
***To Make You Feel My Love - Kris

***Tracks of My Tears - Adam
How Sweet It Is - Kris

Play That Funky Music - Adam
***Ain't No Sunshine - Kris

***Mad World - Adam
All She Wants to do is Dance - Kris

Born to be Wild - Adam
***Falling Slowly - Kris

***If I Can't Have You - Adam
***She Works Hard for the Money - Kris
~Seriously, this was a tie for me

Feeling Good - Adam
***The Way You Look Tonight - Kris

***Slow Ride - Adam/Allison
Renegade - Kris/Danny

***Whole Lotta Love - Adam
Come Together - Kris

***One - Adam
Apologize - Kris

Cryin' - Adam
***Heartless - Kris

So that's 7 for Adam and 6 for Kris. Okay, so I did all that and it's still too close to call. Somebody help me! Who wins??? Although Adam is the most flawless singer ever on AI, Kris shows so much heart in each of his songs. Too hard...must sleep on this one...This SOOOO reminds me of Reuben and Clay. Wow! Awesome end to an amazing season.

PS - I just looked and ALL my blogs are long...MY BAD! Hehehe...

4 Words...

THE. BEST. TOP. THREE. EVER!!!!

Today was a crazy busy day that ended with getting the chance to do an amazingly fun show at the 11th Annual Grammy Block Party here in Nashville. The Grammy foundation has this event every year (ok...duh! it's annual...sorry for stating the obvious). I never imagined that I would be performing though. It was so cool to be on that stage with my saaanging girls...Janet, Amy and Kelley. What an honor! What a night! What an experience!

However, I missed watching Idol when it came on, so I had to come home and watch it later. Amy already had plans, but Janet and Kelley watched with me, so you will get all of our opinions today. We pretty much agreed though. :-)

So...here go my thoughts for the best top 3 night in Idol history in my opinion. (I didn't clear that one with K&J)

Dance Little Sister
Ummm...still kinda trying to figure out exactly why Paula chose this particular song. Don't get me wrong, Paula is my girl and I love how much she believes in the contestants, but...
My heart kinda went out to Danny because this song required him to kind of go back to his yelling ways, and then there was that very interesting scat solo in the middle. I loved his energy though and I'm so impressed with his ability to give that song all he had even though it was a weird choice.

Apologize
Before I proceed with this one, I have a quick question. Why didn't they do the "judges choice" episode during the Top 4 since there are now 4 judges? Just wondering...
I thought this song was great. I thought Kris sounded great once he got into the song and I was extremely happy for him. That is, until the judges completely confused me. I thought the main purpose of the judges choosing a song was for them to choose something that fit the contestant perfectly. I understand wanting Kris to change it up to fit his style, but what if he felt that song already matched him without changing it? We all know he is fully capable of making a song his own. This song just happened to be Kris ready, I thought. Even Randy said he should do an album just like it. I know I'm rambling, but I'm still a bit confused. Anyway...I really liked it. Oh! And that ending was gorgeous!

One
DUDE!!!!! That's skill. That's artistry. That's perfection! I mean, I actually jumped to my feet for the majority of the performance and didn't sit down until the commercial came on. That was a great choice by Simon and an even greater performance by Adam. Coming from the best vocal coach in the world (Janet Kenyon)...she was so impressed with his ability to start off tender, ten blow us away and end up going right back to that amazing tender sound. That's really hard to do and he nailed it. Also, I'm not sure how anyone can call him scary when he has the best attitude. The fact that he credited the song's lyrics for why it was so beautiful speaks volumes. He never takes full credit. Amazing!

Carrie in Africa! What a touching segment. For anyone wanting to know more about helping to eradicate malaria and provide bed nets, please either visit malaria no more from my homepage or go directly to their site malarianomore.org. This organization is very dear to my heart. Also, if you haven't purchased my CD yet, you can get it here on the website and a portion of the proceeds will go to malaria no more also. It doesn't matter how you do it, just get involved! :-)

You Are So Beautiful
Gorgeous!!! I loved this version of this song. It seriously was like a worship song and I thought it was amazing. I was so excited to hear Danny just sing and leave it all out on the stage. As partial as I am to the original version of this song, it was great to hear another take on it. Danny seriously nailed it and I really thought he secured a position in the finale until...

Heartless
Was anyone else nervous when they heard his song choice? I was, but I was quickly shut up as soon as Kris started singing and playing that guitar. It was phenomenal!!! What else can I say??? I think it was soooooo perfect! Janet wished the band would come in, but Kelley and I agreed it was perfect just the way he did it. I really think he deserves that finale spot for his beautiful voice, his innovativeness and his cute black shirt. Hehehe...

Cryin'
First of all, if you don't know me, Aerosmith is one of my very favorite bands. I think Steven Tyler is out of this world and I am such a fan. That being said, Adam is now my hero...not just for knocking that song out of the park, but for also giving Steven Tyler credit for being brilliant. Adam is a very gracious contestant and I was also blown away by how he credited Kris and Danny for being wonderful at what they do too. This was an amazing Top 3 and he didn't take that for granted.

So...all in all...this was an amazing night. I wish we could have heard them do 3 songs just because they were that good. This will be a hard week, but I'm going to go with Adam and Kris in the finale. I'm not counting Danny out because I thought he was awesome. I'm just saying what I think for now. The coolest part about this Top 3 is that I could hear every single one of their CDs in my head tonight. I will buy all 3 immediately and I'm sure I will love them all. Can you tell I loved tonight???

What did you think? Who in the world is going home? Who makes the finale???

Last question...Are you as excited as I am to hear Jordin do her new single on the results show??? Battlefield is such an awesome song. If you haven't downloaded it, you have to go get it. You're gonna love it!

Love ya'll!!!

Details on the best day EVER!!!

So...after watching an amazing episode of "Lie To Me", I settled in to my Boston hotel to watch American Idol with my girl Kelley. Obviously, I was upset about the results, but we will get to that later...

First things first...PERFORMANCES!!!
I'll go backwards. Chris Daughtry was great. I have mad respect for that guy. He is such a great artist. What a writer, what a voice, what an great attitude. So, can you tell I like him???
Now, on to Gwen Stefani. I have two words for you...push-ups! (Or is that just one word? I feel like Kara) While it may not have been my favorite No Doubt performance, the girl did work out in the middle of the song and then continue to sing. That's talent right there.
On to my girl, Paula Abdul. I'm so happy for her. She owned that performance. She was all over that stage dancing like she was Allison's age (Allison. One single tear just dropped). It had to be the most nerve racking thing in the world to perform on that stage after you've judged everyone else, so I am officially impressed and so glad to say I know her. Plus, she looked gorgeous!

Now to the results...I am soooo happy for Kris! I think he's wonderful and I'm happy to see him in the top 3. I just was sad for my girl. She is such a phenomenal talent. People keep asking me why I don't say anything about her pronunciation and all that. Well, first of all, I think it works for her tone perfectly. And secondly, I have such a hard time singing my words and trying to cover up my lisp that I will never fault anyone for the way they sing a word. Needless to say, I love that girl and I was so disappointed last night. I took a short time to mourn and then it happened...

I woke up early this morning to do the FOX morning show in Boston. For the record, I'm not a morning person and I REALLY cannot hide my lisp before 10am, but I digress...
I went to talk about my record ("Coming Back To You" in stores and online now!) and about receiving an Exceptional Woman Award tomorrow, but little did I know the visit would change my life! (Yes, I'm aware that I'm dramatic)
The station was asking me whether I wanted to sing my 2nd song before or after a satellite interview they were about to do. Then, when they heard me lament over Allison's departure, they told me that the interview was with her and they would love for me to join them. DUDE! I screamed and then promptly dropped my mic and went straight over to talk to her. Now, I was SO excited to be seeing her and telling her how much I loved her, that I don't remember much...but I do know that I was able to tell her how awesome it is afterwards and how many great things I knew would come her way. Oh! and how much fun she would have on the tour.

***Trust me, as soon as we get a copy of the segment, it will be posted on my website!!!***

So now, I am out of mourning and just excited for the many opportunities that will come her way. She is destined for greatness and I will be buying the record, going to the concerts, in the fan club and on the street team! :-)

Top 4 Rock Week...

Okay, so it is 1:30am EST and yes, I am blogging.
You see, I am in NYC and I had a show and a dinner tonight and then I came back to my hotel...and because of the wonders of the Slingbox, I was able to watch American Idol from my DVR at home in Nashville. That is the coolest thing EVER in the entire world!!! (A special thanks to the family who made this possible)
All this to say...I have so much to say about AI tonight (this morning), I just had to blog. Twitter and Facebook couldn't handle my thoughts for the night.
Here we go!

1. Adam
This was obviously going to be a good week for him. I would have been extremely shocked if he had a bad night. What I love about Adam is that he is pretty consistently flawless. I am in awe of his voice. Whether you like him or not, you almost have to admit that his voice can do some pretty amazing things!

2. Allison
It's no secret that she is my favorite. She has THE most creative instincts for any singer her age. That being said...even though she nailed her performance vocally, this was not my favorite of her song choices. Sadly I say this and cannot think of an alternative at the moment (maybe because I'm almost asleep). She still came in an incredibly strong 2nd for me tonight.

*Kris and Danny duet
This was interesting...I am unable to critique this well though because I spent most of the duet being upset for these two guys. We all know that rock music can be pretty hard on the voice, so why make them sing their duet before they sing their solos??? Why couldn't Adam and Allison do theirs at this point? On top of that, why not spread the "rock" love and split up Adam and Allison to make the duet playing field a little more even? So, not only do they have to scream their voices raw, but they are at a distinct disadvantage as a duo. Ok...I'm finished with this one...sorry for rambling.

3. Kris
I love this song! It is one of my favorite Beatle songs. This, however, was not one of my favorite Kris nights. Don't get me wrong, I still think he's a cutie and a great singer, but realy the only think "rock" about this was the band. I am all for making the song your own, but I am also all for taking full advantage of working with Slash and finding that inner rocker somewhere. Maybe it was because he was flustered from having just done a duet and then running to change clothes during the commercial break and being ready to blow your own song out of the water. Dang it...I'm supposed to stop talking about that one.

4. Danny
Ummm....what do I say? I feel Danny's pain (See Latin week Season 6). Everyone is allowed to do a song that is not necessarily them. It totally happens and I have all the sympathy in the world for him. However, that last note did kinda freak me out...mainly because it sounded like it hurt...a lot! Here's hoping he's okay and that singing the duet before that performance did not mess him up. (I know, I know)

* Adam and Allison (My top 2)
Awesome!!!! The best part of this was that Allison easily held her own with Adam and didn't even break a sweat. That's my girl! I loved every second of it and was almost able to get past my frustration with the whole duet thing. I still feel that they had a real advantage, but it was almost worth it to see the awesome-ness that occurred!

THE WRAP UP:
So, if I'm going by performance alone, I'm thinking they actually went in the perfect order tonight. Adam, Allison, Kris then Danny. However, I think Kris might be in trouble because I'm pretty sure Danny's fans have made the rally of their lives (They are some awesome fans...but they have nothing on the Backups). All I have to say is Allison better not go home. Enough said!

I seriously need to know what you guys think....I'm so curious about this show!!!
Love you bunches and hope to hear from you soon, (Nighty night!)
Me