Katie’s Beer

I’ve been hearing about Chris Sligh for a while now, as I surf through various American Idol sites. Finally got to hear his voice last night and I was pleased. He sang one of my all time favorite love songs, “A Kiss from a Rose” by Seal. I later learned that Chris had an interesting road to finally making it on American Idol. Chris Sligh has auditioned several times before, but timing and image got in his way. I found his blog and read it with great interest…

Chris Sligh on the American Idol image:

“As a singer, I am not what one thinks of as a great singer. I have a good voice and I have even better tone; but my voice is not overly-different, nor is it overly-elastic…I just sing and hit every pitch I come on in key and can stay on note. As a solo artist and now with my band, I get comments constantly on how refreshing it is to hear someone who can actually sing. I mean, I’ve won national awards for both singing and songwriting, so why the freak am I not a major label artist? I have come to realize the answer is….IMAGE!!!

Chris Sligh on his many attempts to make American Idol:

Orlando, 2004:

2 years ago, I drove all night down to Orlando, where I tried out for American Idol the first time. I got in line, waited, then found out I had to wait for another line the next day. SUCK!!! I got no sleep one night and then got 4 hours the next night and chose an N*Sync song…bad idea. I sucked pretty bad. But I did learn a little about the show…namely get sleep before trying to sing. Also, I learned that the show is NOT looking for the best singers…

Chicago, 2005:

Last year, my wife and I decided to make AI a vacation. We drove up a couple of days before hand to Chicago, got a hotel, relaxed, hung out with some friends up there and showed up when I had to show up and that was it. I still didn’t get a ton of sleep, but hey I was okay. The problem this year was that the weather had said it would be sunny and 85 degrees. It ended up being rainy and 70 degrees, and we were in Soldier Field the windiest venue possible and it was freaking freezing. By the time I sang, I felt like an icycle, plus I started my song too high and cracked on the highest note. SUCK!!! I drove home defeated once again.

Memphis, 2006:

Nigel looked at me, looked down and then went into it: “Well, Chris, you don’t have a bad voice at all…in fact, you might have one of the best voices I’ve heard today…but your performace just…isn’t there. You have to get out of yourself and use your space. It just wasn’t good enough.” If he hadn’t been right, I would have argued, but he was actually right. So I walked out defeated.

Birmingham, 2006:

As I walked in, Nigel looked at me and said, “Haven’t we seen you before? You’re going to fall down and your glasses and wig fall off?”

“Um, no, my hair’s real,” I said, pulling on it to demonstrate its veracity. “I did sing for you in Memphis though, and I had a question about that. I sang ‘Kiss from a Rose’ before and I’d really like to sing it again.” “I didn’t put you through with that song did I?”, said Nigel.

“Well, actually you acted like you liked that song, but I sucked up the Elvis song pretty bad. Remember, I had my words written on my hand and you had me hold my hand up to the camera?” He smiled and leaned back with a contented look on his face, “Ah, yes, now I remember. I guess you can sing the song again, but it’d better be good.”

I gathered myself and started singing and got through the first verse and chorus. I started the song very low and it definitely hampered my ability to wail on some of the higher notes, but I just tried to hit every note well. It seemed like he enjoyed but he asked for a 2nd song. I chose “Trouble” again and I nailed it. I mean really. By the 2nd line of the chorus, I saw it in his face that I was going through to the next round. I finished and he waved his hand. “Well, that was nice wasn’t it…get your ticket.”

I think Chris is one to watch!

On a less serious note, I think Chris (or one of his friends) will be good at self-promotion.  He has already announced that he wants his fans to call themselves “Fro Patrol” (showing more of a sense of humor than seriousness) and someone named Wacky Wade has already created a “Chris is my Idol” t-shirt.  I didn’t check to see how many had sold.  Heck, I haven’t even bought a Taylor Hicks t-shirt yet and I’m the biggest fan I know of.  I did, however, spend $60 bucks on a U.S. Pond Hockey sweatshirt for my son two weekends ago.  I do have my priorities in order!

Tags: American Idol 6 by TK
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Memphis Auditions:

MJ files this report…

Sundance Head 27, Porter TX - Sundance explains how he got his name, ”My folks were hippies.” Ha. His dad is Roy Head who had a number #1 hit for a few minutes in 1965 called “Treat Her Right”. It was knocked off the charts by the Beatles “Yesterday.” Sundance is a big guy. He says his Dad was a dancing fool, but “I have no moves.” Sundance explains that this year was big for him–he got married and his wife had a baby. And now Idol. He sings Bobby “Blue” Bland’s ”Stormy Monday”. He’s very confident–maybe a little over-confident. He’s a blues singer with a very powerful voice, but in my opinion-not a lot of color. I’m not quite feelin’ it, dawg. Paula - “Powerful voice.” Randy - “You blew it out.” Simon - “One of the best we’ve heard…in every way” And then, ”I’m going to be amazed if you don’t make the finals.” Then the first Taylor-diss of the season from Simon, “He just blew Taylor apart.” And then Randy adds, “He sang circles around him.” Well, peeps, we knew THAT was coming. It didn’t take long. Note: Simon has a tradition of dissing the contestants from the year before during the current season. Remember when he told Kellie Pickler that he liked her better than “that other one”? It’s totally part of his shtick. Don’t sweat it, peeps. Watch this one, sez I.

Read the rest of her recap at her fantastic Idol blog, MJ’s Big Blog.
Constantine to sing with Taylor Hicks’ band…

Stars of “Survivor,” “American Idol” and other reality TV series will participate in a charity soccer match in Birmingham in April. The game will be at 1 p.m. April 28, followed that night by a dinner and auction. A nationwide contest, details of which will be announced later, will get participants to raise money for Grassroot Soccer.

The prize for the person who raises the most money? To be Maroulis’ companion at the auction and dinner.

Maroulis, 31, will sing the national anthem before the soccer game, which he’ll also play in. At the evening event, Maroulis will perform with the Little Memphis Blues Orchestra, the former band of the reigning American Idol, Taylor Hicks.

Hat tip to Gray Charles

Source: The Birmingham News

Tags: American Idol 5, American Idol 6 by TK
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Drat! Only 87%! Probably because I didn’t know Luther’s birthdate, parents’ name nor places of birth and death. Still, 87% doesn’t sound too bad. It’s a “B”, right?

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I bet you didn’t know that today is Hockey Day Minnesota! Neither did I, which is fitting since every day in our household is hockey day. Ha! Our own personal observation includes volunteering (”no” wasn’t an option) at the Mite clinics at our home rink, off to watch grandpa and Coaches Josh and Mark skate in the U.S. Pond Hockey Championships, then miss grandpa skate in the great Gopher v. Badger alumni game (pond hockey version) for our son’s own game against the “evil” empire of Wayzata (Hopkins= Luke Skywalker and Wayzata = Darth Vader).

If we didn’t have hockey to watch in person or actually play, we could sit on the couch all day and watch 11 consecutive hours of hockey, highlighting the game from peewees to the pros. Three games at three different levels: St. Paul Johnson high school at Lake of the Woods high school at 1:00 PM, Denver University at the University of Minnesota at 5:30 PM and the Dallas Stars at the Minnesota Wild at 8:00 PM will highlight the day. Why they aren’t highlighting the U.S. Pond Hockey Championships is beyond me, but maybe they will do highlights from Lake Nokomis.

Hat tip to Chad the Elder of Fraters Libertas who appears to be planning to play and watch hockey today.

Tags: hockey by TK
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Tags: American Idol 6, matt sato by TK
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Lots of build up to this audition! The media coverage of the auditions was intense. My daughter begged me to let her go, but (thankfully) she had school. Prince is a good way to open the introduction; he really has become a home-town hero despite all his quirkiness.

A young Jewel fan, Jessica, from Cottage Grove (great hockey town, by the way) was featured for the first singer. What a sad way to open the Minneapolis auditions. The way she crouched to the ground upon rejection reminded me of Carol Burnett’s Eunice character singing on the Gong Show. Pretty girl, sweet voice, just not spotlight material right now. Hope she’s recovered…

Then there’s a weird Amish wannabe guy, Troy. I’m glad he made it clear he wasn’t from the Twin Cities. He’s from WISCONSIN! (just kidding…I think) Why do people want to look like that or waste people’s time. Aaaahhh, he’s never actually seen American Idol. Nice. Thanks for stopping by. Bye!

More people who can’t sing…more wasting time. More people who honestly think they can sing. L-O-V-E-L-Y! I really hate this kind of stuff. I’m heavily using the DVR right now. Good thing I didn’t get home until 7:30pm!

Now to a guy who dressed like Apollo Creed, striped robe and all. OK, buddy…we don’t do that kind of thing around here. Oops, he can sing opera. Any guy who can sing an Italian aria that nicely impresses me. Now I feel bad that I laughed at his outfit. Still, not Idol material. I think his true calling is as a motivational speaker.

Denice Jackson, age 16, Madison, Wisconsin. Neat girl. Great attitude! Loud and on key….hope they send her just for the experience. Very potential Idol! Very cool! They are giving her lots of time, so I think she’s a keeper.

Tie-girl, Tashawn…well, if you can’t remember the words under pressure, I guess that’s it. More guilt-trip for me. No tone, really…

Girl from Columbia. Very beautiful, cute accent, but can she sing??? Husband says she’s a “hoochy-hoochy girl”. Calls Simon “Simone”. Nice. Too bad she doesn’t actually know the words to Blondie’s “Call Me”. Then she sings like Shakira, complete with hip-shakes. Randy and Simon are obviously impressed. Figures. Someone call Charo, quick; Perla just stole her act. GIVE ME A BREAK!!!!!!!!!!!!! See, men, this is what we women complain about. Well, at least she’ll be at home in Hollywood. Uggh! Men.

Cowboy from Elk River (another good hockey town). I love that he sings country and I love the cowboy outfit; too bad he can’t actually sing more than one note. Too bad. He actually seems like a nice guy. Pretty typical Minnesota guy - low-key, realistic.

Nicely dressed guy from Rhode Island - can’t sing. Some other weird dude- can’t sing.
Navy guy, Jarrod Fowler. He’s had a lot of media coverage, but no one has heard if he can sing other than hearing that he won his ship’s singing contest. He’s got to be headed to Hollywood. Yes!

Trista from Brainerd (yet another good hockey town). Great imitation of the Lion from Wizard of Oz. Hey, Brainerd is a nice place and should have intervened on her behalf.

Steven, the music teacher from New York, had a good voice, but was not Idol material. Yikes! He shouldn’t have tried those high notes. Rule #1 - don’t argue with the judges. My daughter says that Randy has become the bad guy (she didn’t actually use the word “bad”, but a euphemism that would get her in trouble most places.)

Michelle from Excelsior! Hey we are in Excelsior a couple times a year. Very typical-looking Minnesota girl- pretty, thin and blond. Wow! She’s in. I’ll have to see if I can’t find anyone who knows her.

***Break in action - had to take son to hockey!***

Matt Sato of North St. Paul. What can I say? I’ve known about Matt for some time. He’s my husband’s student! It has long been rumored that Matt has made it through to the final 24 and tonight provided our only hope. He’s not talking…not to anyone. He can’t or he’ll be sued! He’s a 16 year old junior at North St. Paul High School. He’s a member of the very well-know Northern Lights, North St. Paul High School’s show choir. Tonight, as my husband watch the show, my daughter saw tears in his eyes. He’s very proud!!! I’ll try to get some words from Matt himself, if my husband will cooperate.

Tags: American Idol 6 by TK
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Dan at Necessary Roughness has posted Lutheran Carnival XLI*. Dan has a way of tying together life and sports to which my family and I can relate. Dan creatively groups the posts by topic:

Lutheran Carnival XLI is divided into the three phases of game play in American football: Offense, Defense, and Special Teams. Offense will carry posts that address thinking outside the Christian faith. Defense will carry those posts that defend the faith. Special Teams are posts either by teams or require special treatment.

In Lutheran Carnival tradition, Dan introduces us to another Lutheran we should all know, Phillip Nicolai…

Philipp was a second-generation pastor in Germany, born in 1556 and died in 1608. He preached during a time when both Roman Catholics and Calvinists were making life difficult to be a Lutheran: he had to flee several times or preach in house meetings. In 1601 he was elected chief pastor of Saint Katherine’s in Hamburg, finishing out his life in 1608 with a violent fever. Nicolai is best remembered for two of my favorite hymns/chorales: “Wake, Awake, For Night is Flying” (LSB 516, TLH 609) and “O Morning Star, How Fair and Bright” (LSB 395, TLH 343). It seems the Morning Star hymn has been translated a couple of times. The hymn’s tune, Wir Schön Leuchtet, has been appropriated for five hymns in LSB, a testimony to its versatility and popularity. It’s beautiful stuff; I’ll be happy to play it for the locals.

Phillip Nicolai

Be sure to read the many good posts of this edition of the esteemed Lutheran Carnival! Great job, Dan!

* If you’re like me and realize that your knowledge of Roman numerals ended a few carnivals back, Nova Roma gives a short explanation of each symbol If you’re rushed, you can use their handy converter.

Tags: Lutheran Carnival, Lutheran, sports by TK
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I am not alone.  Many of the listeners of my formerly favorite radio station,KOOL 108, are not happy with recent changes - adding more 80’s tunes and removing Jeff Olsen’s Morning Show.  I now find that I am not listening to the station as much anymore, sad to say.  I am, however, buying my favorite songs for my iPod.  My next move may be satellite radio.  Hope someone at KOOL 108 reads this blog and the bulletin board at MNSpeak.

Jeff Olsen - if you read this, please let me and your many listeners know where to find you on the radio dial!

Here are some pretty good comments I found on MNSpeak:

Please PLEASE Kool, move it back, this new format is just not working. The 70’s were so much about the Southern California style soft rock, such as Player, Firefall, Steely Dan, Ambrosia, Chicago, Seals and Crofts, etc. You had the 80’s at 8pm leave them there, we need the old format back, that was the appeal of your station, sadly it has lost that appeal now. Please give us back our old format, we waited so long through the nonstop Christmas music, only to come back to this?

Come on Kool, move it back, please!!!

I am 49 years old and have been listening to Kool for approx 30 yrs throughout it’s various incarnations. I listen to everything from Big Band to Eminem-and enjoyed Kool–until now–the new format is pitiful-and listening to the new morning show this am was painful-2 men- no brains -ea fighting over the mike trying to get their share of air-time. No more KOOL for me-I can hear what they are now playing anywhere. And by the way nobody wants to “move” 24/7 I know that money talks-but this girl’s walkin

I am 27 years old and I am a huge fan of the 50s and 60s music. (I love the Beatles!) I loved listening to Kool 108 when that was the format. Now it is even further from that. Personal I am not a fan of the 80s at all or the end half of the 70s. I grew up in that era and I think that there wasn’t a whole lot of good quality music made, it a rather disappointing era overall. There are other stations that music from the 70s can be heard, why can’t they let us have our oldies?!

I just have to say that I am kind of disappointed in the way KOOL 108 took Jeff Olson off the air w/o an explaintion. I called yesturday and all they said was that he wasn’t going his show anymore. I was thinking of calling back today and asking where we can find him.
I think we should all call and let them know what we think. Until they say why Jeff is not there anymore.
The phone # is Office: 952-417-3000 they are open from 9-5. Let’ give them heck for what they did.

And get this! Last week I sent them a email and told them they need to change it back {pretty much what I said here} it went to programming, and they did not even have the courtesy to respond to me at all, not even a “thanks for the comment”. There is a insider there, and they have said that the feedback has not been good on the format change and the Jeff Olson situation.

Whose hare-brained idea was it to change a perfectly good radio format. Did someone think all the original rock and rollers were going to drop dead Christmas Day. The morning show with Jeff was the best. This new format is AWFUL. It’s nothing new or innovative. It’s just a copy of KQ and quite annoying. I am no longer a listener.

For my part, I’ve printed up the dialog at MNSpeak and will be faxing it to ClearChannel.

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YouTube is a strange place. Recently I stumbled upon an unknown talented singer, thanks to Shelley! The best I can figure out is that the guy, Aydin Oz, lives in Turkey and uploads his songs on his home computer. I haven’t discovered any original tunes, but he sings excellent covers of some of my favorite songs. I love listening to acoustic guitar and find his voice very soothing. If not for YouTube, how else would I ever have heard the person’s voice? Please take a listen. My favorites are Moon Shadow and Muskrat Love. Can anyone tell me how to turn these gems into MP3’s so that I can listen on my iPod?