IDOL-ized.

(click click click - enlarges nicely)

I attended the taping of the final showdown of American Idol today! It was held at the beautiful Nokia Theater in downtown LA's LA LIVE campus. Just seeing Adam and Kris on TV does not do their voices justice. They are both amazing live performers regardless of what style you call their singing. I would have posted / tweeted some pictures but cameras and phones weren't allowed. The logistics of where we parked the car to the waiting line to the theater itself were a big ol' pain so we just decided to leave the camera phones in the car. As for the show itself , it was definitely taped LIVE as it started promptly at 5:00 PST [8:00 EST]. Paula's green outfit tonight was a full length gown that looked fierce as she was introduced on the stage before the show.  Lastly, the best handmade sign seen in the audience was held up by a girl that said,

"ADAM -- can I be your EVE?"

(Awwww, bless her heart. LOL.)

***People always ask how I get to see things like this. It's not like I actually pay money to see television tapings. Studio tapings are generally free and tickets are available for the asking really. I guess you can just consider it a little perk of living in the Los Angeles area. It's just when shows are popular things get a little more complicated. I've been getting a lot of DANCING WITH THE STARS opportunities the past couple of weeks but those have been coming in on the DAY OF TAPING ~ not so convenient. In the case of today's IDOL taping, I put myself on the waiting list LAST season and just got a ticket availability confirmation by email this past Friday! As for the ELLEN holiday giveaway show earlier this year -- that was just pure luck!




.

100 Ladies.

Yeah, I know this is REALLY played out, but I'm not ashamed to say that I still like this song.  Apparently this whole routine was to help publicize Beyoncetron's FREE concert at the 02 Arena in London this coming November '09!  There's something involved with buying a pack of Trident gum or something.  Blah blah blah.  Anyways ...




.

Poke Her Phase.

 

(Download here )

Okay, I think I've been holding out and I've finally succumbed to all that is this performer (well, this remix at least).  I just find it funny how there is supposedly all this furor over her live personal appearance at this year's White Party in Palm Springs.  Apparently, right during peak-time with DJ Manny Lehman , she busts out with a full-on CONCERT STOP complete with piano and ballads!  Buzz kill???  Well, maybe.  Here's a direct quote from the Circuit Party Insanity listserv :

"OMG!  I fell out into a "Lady Gag Show Hole" at WPPS Main Event"

But from all accounts, people had the choice to see what is probably THE hottest act right now in pop music or simply shift to a smaller room where the club and 'circuit sounds' were still being played by Chi Chi LaRue .  She was also a small break in between 5 hours of the opening DJ and about 3 hours of the closing DJ.  Okay, I ain't a Circuit Gurl anymore, but I do appreciate someone's artistic talent whether I like them or not.  That goes for DJ's at clubs too.  There have been many times I've been to parties where I could care less for who's spinning.  My simple response was to just LEAVE or move on or just hang with my friends who may be enjoying it.  To stand there and just complain is to act like a self centered and selfish ass.  I don't think I ever acted like that back then.  If I did, maybe I was high or something.  Oh wait ....        ;-)


.

B- ought to know.

Oh really?!?

.

Yer what's hangin' out?

Britney - Tampa Show Wardrobe Malfunction
Uploaded by ltfgf

Priceless.

Be Mine.

Be Mine (Live @ Cherrytree)

Have I told you how much I love Robyn??!!?? Wow. I saw her last night perform songs from her new acoustic EP at Borders at Sunset and Vine. Apparently she was in town for the Grammy's in which she was nominated for one but didn't win. At the performance, she said that just being there was good enough because she didn't expect her album to be heard outside of Sweden. The link above is to one of the tracks on the EP. If you listen to the words you just want to give her a big ol' hug!

Get Together.

Okay -- this is totally random. I just like this song.

Madonna - Get Together
Uploaded by pseudo7rockstar

Miles Away.

Literally. I totally dogged on the current Madonna tour in previous posts. Well, tonight was the night that she performed in Los Angeles at Dodger Stadium. The nightly news just reported that BOTH Britney AND Justin Timberlake performed songs with her onstage tonight! Now I'm totally regretting not going. Ugh.

Margaret Cho, Long Beach Terrace Theater.

Margaret Cho, Long Beach Terrace Theater, originally uploaded by flip4bearz.

I just got back from seeing Margaret Cho live. This is like the 4th or 5th time I've seen her over the years and I've got to say that this was the FUNNIEST thing I've seen from her ever!!! She was the raunchiest ever too! Her repetoire tonight was like 80% about sex. LOL. The title of show was called 'Beautiful' and she certainly fit the bill. Unfortunately I forgot my camera so you really can't tell from my crummy phone shot. The show was being taped for TV / video so this is definite must see when it becomes available. As an opener, we were treated to a few songs by Liam Sullivan. Some of you may know him as 'Kelly.'

Fallen Madonna.

Oops.

Sold out.

Yaz!, originally uploaded by flip4bearz.

What an amazing show! The place was packed and full of a lot of 30-40 somethings. Go figure! There were a lot of woofy menz too! Although I was up in the 'nosebleed seats' -- the layout of the theater wasn't bad at all. The sound, however, was less than to be desired up there. I'm sure if I were on the floor it would have been a lot different. On a fun note, right towards the end during 'Don't Go' -- Alison got carried away and lost track of the first line of the song. She totally paused and then stared at Vince who quickly stopped the track / computer / whatever. It was really cute. Some more pix and a few clips for you down below.

Oh yeah -- right when I walked into the venue, I went up to the bar and bought myself a beer. The dj was spinning 'Robert DeNiro's Waiting'! As my bartender handed me my beer, he was speaking to a coworker to his right, "Yeah, I think this is the Bangles." I said, "NO!!!!!!!!!!!! It's Bananarama!" I almost showed him my 'Rama tattoos on my legs but I held back. ;-)

Hot Merch Guy behind the table in Gray T-shirt


In My Room [snippit]


Don't Walk Away From Love [snippit]


Encore / Graphic


Only You [full]

Blue eyed dressed for every situation.

Yes, tonight's the night! Yazoo [Yaz here in the U.S.] are playing at the Orpheum Theater in Los Angeles. For years I've ranted and raved about how much 80's music has had such a profound influence in my life. Their first album UPSTAIRS AT ERIC'S was one of my first LP's that I bought with my own money. It's hard to belive that I've been dying to see this band ever since I was a little 'new wave' teen back in suburban Maryland. All of my hopes were shattered after they broke up a year or so later with their sophomore effort YOU AND ME BOTH. Forget the fact that I've seen Depeche Mode 4 times live. Forget the fact that I've seen Erasure 3 times live. Forget the fact that I've seen a lot of my favorite bands and performers from back in the day live already [Depeche Mode 4x's, Erasure 3x's, Duran Duran 2x's, Madonna 2.5x's, Culture Club, Tears for Fears, Human League, Howard Jones ...]. Now -- over 25 years later, all will be better in this world tonight ... at least for me! LOL. I'm going stag tonight. There was a little ticket buying debacle that happend but I didn't let that stop me. A full report and (hopefully) some pictures to follow.

Cobrastyle.

I'm still on my Robyn kick. Here she is on THE VIEW earlier this week. Her band with the Teddy Bear heads was cute ... and NO, they didn't perform like that on Saturday. They were actually kinda hot! LOL.

Robyn.

Robyn 2, originally uploaded by flip4bearz.

I've been trying to catch Robyn live ever since she released 'With Every Heartbeat' last year. She's only done a couple of other shows at small venues here and each time they sold out almost immediately. Believe it or not, I actually WON tickets to see Robyn at the Wiltern Theatre last night in Los Angeles!!! It was a simple register to win thing on her website. What an amazing show.

Sticky and Sweet.

Tour dates were just announced for Madonna's STICKY AND SWEET tour this summer. The Los Angeles stop is on November 6 at Dodger Stadium. Tickets go on sale June 1. Wow, I wonder how much THOSE tickets are going to cost?!? Either way, I'll probably go. I missed out on TRUE CONFESSIONS a couple of years ago. I guess I kind of needed a job or something at the time to afford to go right? ;-) In my lifetime, I think I've seen Madonna live 2.25 times [WHO'S THAT GIRL (1987), BLONDE AMBITION (1990) and DROWNED WORLD (2001)]. The .25th time was with the BLONDE AMBITION TOUR. I just happened to be in Los Angeles during my summer break and my aunt and I tried to see what we could do to see the show because all 5 days were sold out! We didn't buy any scalped tickets but we did wait in line for the unclaimed will-calls. By the time we were able to get to the box office, there was like 30 minutes left in the show. We ended up with decent seats ~~ first tier (back left) with a straight on view of the stage. $30 for 30 minutes!!! It's hard to believe that's what it big concerts cost back then.

FUN FACT: Madonna's WHO'S THAT GIRL TOUR (July 2, 1987 @ RFK Stadium in Washington, DC) was my first concert ever!

Yaz(oo).

OMG. I totally forgot about this! Yazoo (Yaz in the US) are reuniting for a tour this summer. At first I only thought it was only going to be a European only gig, but they announced a US leg last month! The group is comprised of Alison Moyet and Vince Clark (early Depeche Mode and later Erasure). Apparently they were only together for about 18 months and only had 2 albums released. Their first album was released in 1982 and called UPSTAIRS AT ERIC'S. It was one of my first LPs from my teens and was such a huge influence on me growing up. I can't wait! $67+ isn't all that bad I guess. I missed out on the advanced pre-sale on the tickets by a week and the only seats available were singles in the upper balcony midway to the back. I just bought 1 ticket because none of my friends here know who the band is and I'm sure none of them would agree to come with me and sit across the room either! Ugh, I'm old. LOL. I don't care really. They broke up almost 25 years ago! This is just something that I thought probably would have never happened ever in my lifetime. It's going to be an awesome show. Here are some videos:

Situation (acoustic)


Only You


Don't Go (live at G.A.Y.)


Nobody's Diary (The Tenth Stage Remix)

Southeastern Pacific Spice.

Yup. I just saw The Spice Girls Wednesday night at The Staples Center here in Los Angeles. Talk about guilty pleasure. The $110++ ticket didn't turn out to be the floor seats I thought I was getting, but it was a great 2 hour experience nonetheless. [Pictures to follow below.] The ruckus really started before the show when the celebs started showing up. Apparently when David Beckham appeared with Tom Cruise, Katie Holmes, and Suri following thereafter the camera phones were just clicking away. This news, of course, was coming from my seat neighbor's phone who's friend was sitting at that side of the venue! LOL. Anyway, the next big eruption came from the section below us when apparently Paula Abdul showed up. I was like saying to myself, "How come the only thing I can spot was the big drag queen on the floor clear across arena?" I turned out to be Chi-Chi La Rue. Don't ask me how I know. I'm just sayin'...

Anyway, back to the girls. They did all of their hits and then some. They wore fabulous outfits by Roberto Cavalli. They also had way cute dancers too! It was nice to see them in some updated takes on their 'signature' costumes from back in the day too. Geri Hallowell (Ginger) was in her Union Jack mini. Mel B. (Scary) did her leopard thing. Mel C. (Sporty) sported some sequined Adidas warmups and trainers. Victoria Beckham (Posh) was fierce in her black mini(s) and heels. Emma Bunton (Baby) was equally fabulous in her own little baby doll dress too! They all did solos except for Victoria who did a runway walk and started posing of all things during in her own section! The stand out voice was definitely Mel C. Second was Mel B. Geri Hallowell was definitely third, but with her solo of "It's Raining Men" she definitely gets kudos for almost stealing the show. All in all, I had a blast!