James’s blog
Extras:
- Harry Hill’s book - index of famous names (PDF)
- Cover Paije (Spotify playlist)
- Now That’s What I Call Wigging Out (Spotify playlist)
Why not:
Sites I’ve linked to:
- Amardeep Singh at Lehigh University
- Anglican Church Music
- Billie the Vision
- Books by Mark Billingham
- Einar Egilsson’s chord image generator
- Garry Knight on Flickr
- Harry Pearson
- Korall on Wikimedia
- Lille Cathedral
- Michael Rosen blog
- Nadia Oh
- Nick Hillman on Twitter
- One Post Wonders
- Popjustice
- Red Bubble
- Slate: Owen Pallett
- Sputnik Music forums
- Stewart Lee
- Survivors Fund
- Tour de France Lanterne Rouge
- Wordle
- Wyclef on YouTube
Other good sites:
Fantasy mentoring: Week 3
22 Oct 10 | Re: Song choices
Don’t go searching the blarchives because I haven’t done this before, but it’s the third week of the X Factor live shows already, hence Week 3. I’ve received word that the theme of the show this week is Guilty Pleasures, so for a bit of fun I’m going to choose my favourite act in each category and act as their fantasy mentor, choosing the songs I think they should perform in order to win those all-important public votes.
Here we gooooooo! Der der der, duh duh duh der, DUH DUH DUH - DER DER - BOOM!
- Girls - Katie Waissel. My choice: Saturday Night by Whigfield. She should perform this just like Whigfield used to, with a big grid of dancers doing the traditional Saturday Night bop while she roams around doing nothing more than the occasional shimmy. This is a good way to get lots of activity on the stage without her having to really dance, and she’ll be able to put the big voice to reasonable use while still being fun and in the spirit of the theme.
- Boys - Paije Richardson. My choice: A medley of Got To Turn Around by Phats and Small and Make Luv by Room 5 feat Oliver Cheetham. These two songs have nearly identical backing tracks so it will be no problem to combine them and thus make up for their slight lack of lyrics. He should only do one sing-through of each and then spend whatever time remains bopping about and grinning, which should help to win over any viewers who remain unconvinced by his actual singing. Some glitzed-up dancers will help too, and they should all be dressed far more stylishly than he is in order to play up his Luther Vandross-like charming uncoolness for maximum effect.
- Oldies - Wagner. My choice: I Would Do Anything For Love (But I Won’t Do That) by Meat Loaf. Guilty Pleasures is a potential elephant trap for Wagner because he’s already struggling for credibility, so he needs a song that everyone thinks is cheesy but that can actually surprise people by turning genuinely emotional. This choice is perfect, and will finally give him a chance to show what his voice can do without being tripped up by quick, intricate vocal lines. Of course the song will have to be edited down - just the initial mini-chorus, one verse cycle and the chorus again will do, and keep in the lines “Maybe I’m crazy, oh it’s crazy and it’s true / I know you can save me, no one else can save me now but you”, which will take on a new significance in the context of the competition. The arrangement should be stripped right back, with little bombast, so as to catch the viewers off guard, provide a break from the Guilty Pleasures cheeseboard and put the spotlight on Wagner as a vocalist and a real contender, not a bonkers comedy foreigner.
So there you have it. Will the judges’ choices match mine? Will they be better, or worse? Time will tell.
(I don’t like either of the groups so I’m not doing them. If I had to pick I’d say Belle Amie doing Who Do You Think You Are by the Spice Girls, but that could easily be a disaster.)
Posted by BRUNHILDE at 18:22
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