2009: Another Year of Great Music

We Belong To Music - Timbaland Featuring Miley Cyrus

We belong to the music, we don’t answer to you. Continuing on my trend from last year, here is my second annual list of the top 10 albums of 2009 and top 30 songs of the past year. As visible, I increased the number of songs to 30 as it was impossible for me to narrow it down to just 25. Thus it can be said that 2009 proved to be another great year in music! Here are 2009’s lists:

TOP 10 ALBUMS OF 2009
1. Lady GaGa - The Fame Monster
2. Ciara - Fantasy Ride
3. Lights - The Listening
4. The Black Eyed Peas - The E.N.D
5. Luigi Masi - Save His Shoes
6. David Guetta - One Love
7. Flo Rida - R.O.O.T.S

8. Marianas Trench - Masterpiece Theatre
9. Shakira - She Wolf
10. Kid Cudi - Man On The Moon: The End of the Day

Runner-ups:
The New Cities - Lost in City Lights
Pitbull - Rebelution
Selena Gomez - Kiss & Tell
Alexandra Burke - Overcome

Corbin Bleu - Speed Of Light

TOP 30 SONGS OF 2009

1. Love Game - Lady GaGa
2. Jai Ho (You Are My Destiny) - A.R. Rahman featuring The Pussycat Dolls
3. Sexy Bitch - David Guetta featuring Akon
4. Tik Tok - Kesha
5. Good Girls Go Bad - Cobra Starship featuring Leighton Meester
6. Hotel Room Service - Pitbull
7. Get Sexy - Sugababes
8. Battlefield - Ryan Tedder / Jordin Sparks
9. Bad Romance - Lady GaGa
10. Boom Boom Pow - The Black Eyed Peas
11. Love, Sex, Magic - Ciara featuring Justin Timberlake
12. Savior - Lights
13. Falling Down - Space Cowboy featuring Chelsea Korka
14. Rusted from the Rain - Billy Talent
15. Day 'n' Nite - Kid Cudi
16. El Strip Club - DJ Nelson featuring Erick Right
17. Armed With Love - Luigi Masi
18. Shooting Star (Party Rock Remix) - David Rush featuring Kevin Rudolf, Pitbull, & LMFAO
19. Hooked On You - Jennifer Lopez
20. How Do You Sleep - Jesse McCartney featuring Ludacris
21. Hush Hush; Hush Hush - Pussycat Dolls
22. 21 Guns - Green Day
23. Summer Girl - Stereos
24. I'm The Shit - DJ Class featuring Lil Jon, Jermaine Dupri, & Trey Songz
25. Birthday Sex - Jeremih

26. I'm Yours - Jason Mraz

27. Obsessed - Mariah Carey

28. Patron Tequila - Paradiso Girls featuring Lil Jon & Eve

29. Knock You Down - Keri Hilson featuring Kanye West & Ne-Yo

30. Right Round - Flo Rida featuring Kesha

Runner-ups:
Any Other Day - Hilary Duff
Russian Roulette - Rihanna
Naturally - Selena Gomez
Starstrukk - 3OH!3 featuring Katy Perry

Empire State of Mind - Jay-Z featuring Alicia Keys

Gives You Hell - The All American Rejects

So again, these are my picks of the top albums and songs of 2009. There are many other albums and songs that I loved this year that didn't make the list, but were still great. I'm sure 2010 will bring not only another great year of music, but another decade!

1.

No More Drama

No More Drama - Mary J. Bilge

No more pain. No more game. No drama. No more drama in my life.

Mary J. Bliges' song of her 5th album seems to capture how I've been feeling about my personal life over the last few weeks. In these few weeks I got drowned in so much drama that I felt as if there was no way out. I got to the point where I just had to say "NO MORE DRAMA" and get away from everything and everyone. This post will attempt to give a brief gist of what has been going on with my personal life these past few weeks.

November and the first half of this month (December) were filled with a lot of poison with little antidote. This poison came via friends, health, and even family. Some antidote came from school and music, though school was almost a bit of poison itself. I'll organize everything according to the headings I've listed and try to make them parallel to each other so it’s easy to follow.

FRIENDSHIPS

So my drama started at the beginning of November with an issue of conflict with my new roommate (moved in September) and his ex-girlfriend. My roommate and I were a sort of "online" friends who met via multiple Facebook conversations over a mutual friend's pictures on the site. We consequently added each other on MSN and began talking and became close enough that he eventually moved in with me in September. Though the move looked promising, it was much less than that. After he moved in I learned a lot more about him and found that he was much different than who I thought he was and drifted away from the qualities I first saw in him when we became friends. It seems as if this was influenced by his ex-girlfriend who could also be said to have moved into my apartment when he did as she has spent more days at my apartment than at her own residence. Although I was encouraged by many friends to have her either leave or limited at my place or pay rent, I tried to live with it because of my friendship with my roommate. I put up with this until the beginning of November when she began to possessive over the apartment and wanted everything to run either her way or no way at all. She tried to control who came over to the apartment and how cleaning was to be done. She started passing threats, as well as getting in huge fights with my roommate almost every or every other night which would get loud and also resulted in major damage to the apartment. My communication with her stopped and became limited with my roommate. At first I tried to make amends with her and my roommate, but it eventually seemed pointless. This went on throughout November, and by December we had some limited conversation. This was also stopped after some dramatic incidents that occurred in the second week of December that I decided it would be best to drop the friendship altogether. Some are worth continuously fighting for, while others eventually run their course. I didn't feel bad about my roommate’s ex, but because of how close my roommate and I were, it was a bit hard to let go of that friendship. It had to be done.

The loss of this friendship came with the gaining of a new one as well as a rekindling of an old one. During the time of this occurring drama, I got close to a friend of my roommate who felt the same pain as I did of his changed character and who he had become because of his ex-girlfriend. As a result, we went out and partied a few nights and eventually became really close to the point where we could be called "besties" now. I'm not one to open up to people right away, but we developed such a great friendship so fast that it now feels that we've known each other for a long time. In addition to this new friendship, I also rekindled my friendship with my former roommate and best friend. After moving out, we lost contact, not because we ended on bad terms, but because it felt as if we needed the space from each other. I decided to text her on a train ride home after exams and it resulted in an hour long phone call where we discussed 3.5 months of lost contact. Although it may seem like a small period of no contact, it was a lot for us as we were used to texting and seeing each other daily. Rekindling this friendship was very therapeutic for me as is one of my very few friends (if not the only one) who knows me inside out.

HEALTH

It was the second week of November and midterm time at school that I began getting a high fever and started coughing to the point where it felt painful to get out of bed to go to school. Because of the H1N1 flu that was going around I felt it would be a good idea to go to a doctor and get checked out to make sure I was okay. I went to a walk-in clinic and was there diagnosed with a mild version of the H1N1 flu. When the doctor gave me the news I was scared and "How Could This Happen to Me" by Simple Plan ran through my head. A tad dramatic, yes.

As a result of this illness, my sister called my parents and told them to come pick me up. At first I was against this idea, but I also felt I needed to get away from the drama going on with my roommate and his ex, so I agreed and thought I would get the best recovery at home with my parents. I went home for almost the rest of November and gained recovery near the end of the month. This was when I returned to Ottawa for the next two weeks to finish exams, and tie in some loose ends.

FAMILY

My family came in as both a contribution and a neutralizer from the ongoing drama of the last few weeks.

During my illness as well as friendship troubles, my sister was there for me and I talked to her and confided a lot in her. We would speak often and she would always make sure to call me and make sure I was feeling good. With my roommate issue, she would give me advice on how to handle it.

After I came back to Ottawa from being sick, my sister asked me to come and babysit for the week while I studied for exams. I would go over in the morning, do some work, pick up my nephew, come back and spend some quality time with him, watch TV, make some light snacks and study at the same time until it was time to pick up my niece. I would pick her up and my sister would then come home and I would leave. This went on for the week and was really fun. It was good bonding time with my nephew and niece and was also a sort of rehab from all the drama and sickness I went through.

At the end of that week, I got an unpleasant phone call from my sister. She was going through a bit of a crisis, and told me she made some other arrangements for the kids. Although I was a bit confused, I didn't want to question anything as she sounded both depressed and frustrated. Since that phone call we haven't spoken much anymore. This came as salt to my wound as my sister is very close to me and losing my bond with her would take away a significant part of me. Although it initially felt as a temporary crisis she was going through that would blow over, it has been going for a while and in that time we've distanced. I'm still hoping it’s just a phase and that everything will blow over by the new years.

SCHOOL

School was mostly an antidote and a good get away from all the drama. During the problem with my friends, going to campus and classes would be a great way for me to get my mind away from social problems and would keep me focused on my education.

However, this antidote eventually ran out once I got sick and needed to go home. I missed 2.5 weeks of school as a result of my illness. Missing two weeks in University is very risky as there is a lot of material to catch up on. When I came back to Ottawa, it was exam time and there was much to catch up on. This tied into friendship and family drama that catching up wasn't the easiest thing. Regardless, I did my best to catch up and just recently finished my in-class and essay exams.

THE ANTIDOTE RUNS OUT, AND POISON PENETRATES

With friendships, health, family, and school all coming together, I felt like I lost myself and was sinking in the sea of drama. One of my friends compares me to a TV character and says that she knows that "I just want to be 'no drama Adrianna'". With this comparison she is right; I do just want my life to be free of drama. To do this, I felt that letting go of some friendships that had a negative influence on my life needed to be done. When doing this support from other and closer friends provided me with a life float taking me out of sea. An hour after my last exam I hopped onto a train back to Toronto for the rest of December. This train served as hands dragging the life float out of sea bringing me to a shore without a drama. No more pain. No more game. No more drama. After being raided with continuous drama over the last few weeks, I'm at a place now where I want some peace and serenity. I feel that this time at home will help me get away from everything and will serve as an antidote fighting all the poison that's been injected into me.

So far it's been working. I've come closer to the friends that I want to be close with and have re-developed a great bond and connection with my parents. My health is now better and school is over for a while. Although there is some drama lingering with my sister, I'm hoping time will fix that and everything will blow over. Here's hoping that I've reached the point where there's no more drama in my life.

Paranoia

Paranoid – Jonas Brothers

It’s like a poison in my brain. It’s like a fog that blurs the sane. It’s like a vine you can’t untangle , I’m freaking out. Just might be paranoid. I’m avoiding the lies cause they just might slip. Can someone stop the noise? I don’t know what it is but I just don’t fit. I’m paranoid.

This first single from the Jonas Brothers’ album “Lines Vines & Trying Times” best complements the feeling this boy went through. The feeling this boy went through when…

There was a cookie lying on the oven;

It was so hot, it was so fresh.

He snatched a piece and he ate it.

He gobbled it all in one bite like a little cookie monster.

It tasted good, but different.

He had the cookie alone; no milk, no drink to help it down.

An hour later he felt different.

He was in a crowd but closed off everything around him.

He wishes he drank something with the cookie to wash it down.

His mouth is now dry. His lips are dry. He craves water.

Everyone is smiling. Everyone is cheering. But he makes himself left out.

He feels guilty for eating the cookie. He shouldn’t have snatched it.

He’s losing his mind. He can’t think clearly. He’s freaking out.

He apologizes to himself. He apologizes to his God. He just wants this feeling to go away.

This feeling that he’s going to faint,

This feeling that he’s going to puke,

This feeling that he’s going to get caught,

No.

It’s just guilt. None of this will happen. He’s just letting his paranoia get the best of him.

The feeling goes away.

Everything stops.

Music turns off, lights turn on, and everything is back to normal.

People still cheering, this time he feels included.

What just happened? He ponders and questions.

Was it worth snatching the cookie?

Concert Review: LIGHTS

Concert Review: Lights

Supporting Act: Jets Overhead

Date: November 27th, 2009

Location: Bronson Centre, Ottawa, Ontario

Lights has been a performer I've wanted to see live in concert for quite sometime. It was about a year ago when I first heard her song "Drive My Soul" that I got into her dreamy voice and synth chords and melodies in her music. I later added her EP to iTunes and forgot about it a few months later. After the MMVAs in June, I rediscovered her music and started listening the EP constantly again anticipating her debut album. Finally when it released a few months ago, I was obsessed and couldn't wait for her to come perform the magical album on stage. I got this oppurtunity on November 27th, 2009.

This opportunity came with a blessing from my frenemy MuchMusic...I had entered a contest about a month before the concert to win tickets and a meet and greet with the singer and a few weeks before the concert I found out I won! Therefore, thanks to MuchMusic, my excitement and overall concert experience was amplified a great level.

The meet and greet occurred first. I had won two tickets and had invited my friend to come along with me. While waiting anxiously to start the meet and greet, my friend and I discussed Lights' talent and our favourite songs. Finally, it came time to meet her and it was the quickest thing ever! We got our picture with her with my camera, my friends camera and Rogers' camera (Rogers hosted the meet & greet) and then were told Lights could sign one item. During this item she did ask how we were doing and gave us hugs. As a fan of Lights, I brought her a gift that I gave to her during this time. One was a

"Listenfied" cover of myself that resembled her album cover "The Listening" as well as a glossy

picture of the Sailor Scouts from Sailor Moon, a television show that Lights (and myself) adore! She loved both things and thought it was cool at the fact that I labelled myself as "The Ringleader" on the cover. She stated that the Sailor scouts looked hot considering they weren't in their traditional sailor outfits. She then gave me a big thank you and another big hug and signed my CD. She began signing the cover when her marker ran out so she signed the back again, this time making it out to me saying "Amazing Art!". Just like that, the meet and greet was over!

It wasn't long till we were let into the venue. Having the meet and greet passes we were let in early and my friend and I were able to get ourselves front row of the concert. If you've read my previous entries, I love being as close as possible and at the Bronson Centre, being front row means you are in against the stage in the centre of the artist's musical talent.

Jets Overhead opened the show in a disappointing manner. Their music, stage presence, and live performance all felt lacking. After doing my research on them when I came back home, I noticed that they were in no way a "new band" and knew what touring was all about. As a result, I felt they could have done much better opening. My dislike for them may have been the combination of the lead singer's creepy ways on stage (he was trying way hard to be "rock and roll") and the uninteresting or capturing songs. I'm very open to music and every genre yet despite that I was still unimpressed. Regardless, their lacklustre performance got me more excited for Lights.

The gap between Jets Overhead and Lights wasn't that large. The lights dimmed and we knew it was time for her to appear. I was so excited! Starting with a musical introduction, Lights came in with a bang and high energy. It was somewhat difficult to hear her clearly over the loud synths and beats and the cheering of the crowd. Knowing her songs made it easier to follow along despite not being able to hear her at her fullest. This, however, did improve as the show went along.

Lights had incredible stage presence. Despite not having a huge budget, she did everything she could to make the show as interesting and interactive as possible. In between her songs, she had a animated video segment that was based on her coming that she herself made and animated. She was interactive with the crowd and kept telling Ottawa that it had "been too long" since she last saw us. She also showcased her talent on various instruments as she played the key-tar, played the piano, and also played an acoustic version of her song February Air as an encore.

In the middle of the show, the fire alarm went off and didn't seem to have the need to stop.

Lights laughed at this and continued to play her set. It ironically happened when she was supposed to sing her song "Quiet". Lights "adapted" well to this and tried to play with the alarm so they overlap in her performance. Her songs "Pretend" and "Quiet" were both joined by the fire alarm. Despite this, she still rocked it out. "Its 'cause your so damn hot," someone shouted regarding the reason for the fire alarm. The alarm eventually stopped and Lights applauded the workers who assisted in fixing it. However, when she came out to do her encore insisting that she felt we were ripped off and that she would play more songs, the alarm started again. Let's put it this way, its a show that neither Lights nor the concertgoers will forget.

Some highlights for me during the show were her performances of Saviour, Drive My Soul, and Ice. Those are also ironically my favourite songs by her. During Saviour she had a little musical introduction before playing the 8 beats that start the song. Another moment for me was the beginning of Ice. The song itself already sounds like the soundtrack to a Nintendo game and she revitalized that by playing the instrumental of "level 2 of the original Mario game". I know it probably has a name, but I'm not quite sure. She played that and synchronized it into the intro of Ice. It definitely added to the song and the performance itself was amazing. Another highlight was Lights' shirt which said "Canada" on it. REPRESENT!

Despite having a bad opener, Lights definitely proved how talented she is during her amazing show. Writing and producing her own music, designing her own set, making her own videos, playing her own instruments, and being an extremely gorgeous and nice person all add to the appeal of Lights and nothing can take away from that, not even a fire alarm.

On Set Of...Turn It Up

Turn It Up - Stereos

Turn it up, turn it up, turn it up now. Get in the back 'cause we're driving just to get down. Turn it up, turn it up, turn it up now.

Those were the lyrics to the upcoming single by Stereos that my friend and I heard over a thousand times on November 24th, 2009 when we attended the music video shoot for the song.

It was all really last minute. I had read on Twitter that they were looking for some extras for the

music video shoot (at the time the song name wasn't given). All they wanted was a picture and availability on the day of the shoot. I jumped on the boat; even if it was just the role of an extra, I figured it would be some good experience for me attending a music video shoot considering film,

music and television is one of my great passions. I also like the band Stereos and missed out on attending their concert so I

thought it would be fun.

They emailed me back a day before the shoot and told me they liked my picture and disclosed the address of the shoot (Circa Nightclub in Toronto). They allowed me to bring a friend so

I quickly called one of my friends I hadn't seen in a while who was in my Comm Tech class with me and who I felt would also enjoy the shoot. She agreed excitedly and the next day off to the shoot we went!

They had originally told us to be there for 4:30 however we weren't let in till about 5:30ish. While in line we met some crazy underage groupie fans who were gong gaga for not only being at a Stereos video shoot but being able to get into a club and then we met people who weren't fans at all and just attended to be extras. When let in, we waited on the upper level of the club for a while and eventually the band came out and started shooting solo shots of them performing the song on stage.

After countless takes of those, they brought the extras down to the main area and asked them to partake in the dancing crowd scenes. Of course this was a small if non existent part as there

were about 60+ other people but it was still fun getting into the music and seeing how many takes they did, the different camera angles they shot with and the different cameras used. It was also a pleasure to see hear them use terms such as "cameras rolling, speed" and others. It was also nice to see the crew work, behind the scenes work and different equipment used.The band members were really nice too and would talk to the crowd in between takes and also try and sign things. However, near the end you could tell that they were getting tired especially since many of them were sick as well.

By the end of the shoot we were tired as well. Throughout the shoot they asked to maintain high energy, dance along, sing along, and most of all just show tons of enthusiasm. After tons of takes we sat out for a bit and got some rest and finally joined back in. It was a lot of fun, but vey exhausting as well. Although it was cool to be in the music video and at the shoot we were almost certain that when the video came out we wouldn't be in it, or if we were it would be a glimpse of our hair or finger. Despite that, we made the best of it and had a lot of fun!

The whole shoot definitely brought me back to my highschool days in Comm Tech. It was my favourite class and we did a lot of shooting in studio and on set. Going into the shoot I knew wh

at to expect so it was still a great experience. It also gave me a chance to reconnect with my friend I hadn't seen in over a year. The shoot ended around 11:45 and both of us were ready to pass out. The band members were nice to stay after the shoot and meet with fans so my friend and I got in line.

We were really tired so we couldn't meet all of the members of the band so we met two, Pat (the

lead singer and frontman) and Dan (bass). Both of them were really nice, though you could

definitely tell they were tired...especially Pat. I shook hands with them both and congratulated them on the shoot. I told Pat I'd be attending their Hamilton show in December and he remarked "cool see you there". After taking our pictures, we spoke to some crew members asking them about how they like their work and how they got into it. After some little chit chat, we got ready to end our crazy day and head home.

The day was amazing. We both had a great time reconnecting and got a great experience being at the shoot. Make sure to check out the music video for Turn It Up when it comes out (no date currently known). Till then,

IT'S A WRAP!

You Are Beautiful....No Matter What You Listen To

You Are What You Are (Beautiful) - Christina Aguilera

You are what you are. You are beautiful... No matter what they say. Words can't bring you down.

The 10th anniversary remix of the hit song Beautiful by Christina Aguilera describes an issue that's been bothering me. This issue is about musical tastes and stereotypes.

We're almost nearing year 2010 and equality and stereotypes should be long gone. However, from what I've noticed about many things stereotypes still exist; whether it be if blondes always have more fun/are clumsy or men always run the house. Sometimes stereotypes are unavoidable. What I mean to say is, yes, blondes aren't the only peoples that are clumsy, or Indian people don't all smell like curry and have accents, but sometimes seeing those notions on TV, or sometimes even in person just build it into our mind that sometimes when we say things based on a stereotype, it is accidental. There is one stereotype, however, that IS unavoidable and is sometimes made for non valid reasons. The stereotype I'm talking about is the stereotype of musical genre.

I don't come from a very musical background in my family history (well at least not that I know of), but I do appreciate music in all of its forms. My iTunes library consists of various genres including Pop, Hip-Hop/Rap, Country, Rock, Alternative/Punk, R&B, World and more. This leads to me having a love for many artists; Hilary Duff, Lady GaGa, Eminem, Akon, Billy Talent, Good Charlotte, Green Day, Spice Girls, Alexisonfire, Usher, Massari, Destiny's Child, Jennifer Lopez, Bollywood and more. Something that bothers is me when people generalize music in 2 categories: Guy and Girl

These two categories have existed for a long time. In elementary school I remember girls would giggle or joke if they learned a boy listened to Britney Spears. In the same way, the boys would make fun of that kid or avoid him because of this. In high school when people learned of more adult words and concepts, that same boy (now a teen) would be called gay. Such a big accusation (yes, accuse is a very strong word) simply because of this boy's choice in music.

My question is, why is music categorized in what guys SHOULD like and what girls SHOULD like? Why can't guys enjoy the likes of pop music or to that extent, female artists, without being either made fun of or looked upon as strange? Are the other people that make fun of such people so insecure with themselves that they have to pick a part others' choice in music? This brings me to another question/scenario. Are some men so threathened with their masculinity that they can't listen to female sungs? Having gone through many friends, I've met some guys who won't even listen to a song sung by a girl because they feel those songs are "chick songs." Please. There's a difference between not listening to a song because you don't like it and because its sung by a female. To accentuate my point even more, this person DID like a few songs from that female singer before and then suddenly didn't want to hear them simply because they were sung by a girl.
Why has it come to this?

I'm not going to ramble on about this issue (I could write pages), but I am going to say that a guy isn't any less masculine or gay simply because he listens to diverse music or music sung by a female(s). A genre doesn't haven't to be stereotyped to be listened to only buy a guy or girl. I've always been open to my diverse musical tastes as described above. Throughout the years (yes, a cliche line used in the opening of many essays/papers) I've gone through people making fun of me because of my musical tastes. If not always serious, I've had people joke around that I should listen to "more manly music" or that I'm "gay" simply because of my musical choice. What is "manly music"? The stereotypes would say music that is sung by guys and then would further state real men listen to either rock or rap. Listening to music such as Backstreet Boys or N'Sync (not my favourite artists but just an example), although sung by guys isn't manly because its "too boyband". These stereotypes exist for those people who aren't comfortable with themselves that they pick on others for petty things as such. However, because this has been going on so long, just like other stereotypes, the musical stereotype has also become one that is sometimes passed by people without thinking why they are making that stereotype.

Music has been made to enjoy. It has been made for enterntainment. It has been made as a drug to help people find an out when in difficult or stressful situations. It has been made for people to relate to or relate with. Consequently, like many other things, music should not become stereotyped into categories for guys or girls. It should not be stereotyped AT ALL. (Other stereotypes of music that I didn't bring up include racial stereotypes -- African/Jamaican people listen to Rap, Caucasians listen to Rock etc.) Music should be listened to for its purpose and that's for enjoyment, enternatinment or as a remedy, as a drug, or something to relate with. Thus, no stereotypes should be made.

I no longer let people's judgement based on my music affect me. I'm comfortable enough with myself and with who I am that I don't need people's stereotypes to build my lifestyle. In that sense, I've also picked apart who my real friends are. If anyone reading can relate to this blog, my strongest recommendation is to not let people's stereotypes affect you and question to yourself (or if you're blunt enough to them) why they are making such judgements. It's not you, it's them (trust me). If you are reading and are one of the guilty ones, I hope this blog gets through to you. Lastly, if you are reading simply because you follow this blog, or because I sent you here to read, thank you for reading my rambling.

Like Christina Aguilera says, You Are What You Are. You Are Beautiful...no matter what you listen to.

November Music Review

So after creating many posts about my personal life, I’ve finally decided to make a general post about one of my favourite things in the whole WIDE world; music! The last 3 weeks have been INCREDIBLE for fresh music, and November will be the month to purchase albums! Lady GaGa, Rihanna, and Britney all have albums coming out in November! On top of that, we’ve got Jennifer Lopez returning to music after her pregnancy and fellow Canadian, Massari releasing a follow up to his successful debut! To promote these albums we’ve got some amazing singles floating around that deserve attention, and here they are:

Morning After Dark – Timbaland featuring SoShy

After the success of the many singles from Shock Value, Timbaland’s back with a fresh single called “Morning After Dark” in which he introduces a new artist, SoShy, from Paris. Timbaland’s set to release Shock Value 2 in November, and this is the first single from the album. To be honest, I’m a little disappointed. Weeks before the release, the song was described by Timabaland himself as “very interesting” and “so different”, but to me it’s the trademark Timbaland beats backed with very eerie elements to create the vampire/ “Twilight” theme Timabaland was talking about. The verses are reminiscent to earlier Timbaland produced and featured hits such as “The Way I Are” featuring Keri Hilson and “Promiscuous” featuring Nelly Furtado; they are sexual innuendos exchanged back and forth between Timbaland and his “new” artist he wants to promote. Nelly Furtado got the boost she needed to get back in the spotlight. Keri Hilson finally got out of writing songs and got an album released, and now it seems like he’s trying to boost SoShy as well. However, I think he might fall short this time as she’s nothing “amazing.” Her voice is sexy, but nothing extraordinary. If you haven’t heard a Timbaland song before (I’d be surprised), this will sound fresh and new. If you have, you’ll instantly know its Timbaland. Despite that, it’s still an enjoyable song and a good first single. Let’s see how this impacts the charts! Catch the album out December 8, 2009.

3.5/5

Bad Romance – Lady GaGa

Taken as the lead single from her "new" album also refereed to as a re-release, “The Fame Monster”, Bad Romance is the new single from Lady GaGa. It seems as being “fresh” these days is a little hard. As much as I love this song, I can’t help but hear elements of previous GaGa hit “Poker Face” in this song. However, GaGa still manages to make the song its own unique masterpiece with a lot going on in one song. She adds her “rah rah” and “mum mum mahs” as well as French verses, and a catchy chorus to deliver an amazing pop-art fiasco. Produced by RedOne, it seems as if GaGa knows the recipe of not only a hit, but an amazing song. The lyrics of the song are a bit more dark than her previous, but it fits into the theme of the release, “The Fame: Monster.” If this is your first time listening to GaGa, you’ll understand why her name is everywhere, and if you have heard her before, you’ll love how she can just deliver hit after hit. I recommend this song to everyone; if you don’t enjoy it the first time, listen to it once more and I’m sure the “rah rahs” will be stuck in your head. Check out the album November 24th, 2009.

4.5/5

3 – Britney Spears

It hasn’t even been a year since her successful comeback album, “Circus”, that the legendary Ms. Britney Spears is back with a new single. No, we aren’t fortunate enough to get a new album, but this song is being released to promote her second greatest hits, “The Singles Collection”. “3” is produced by long time collaborator Max Martin who produced her number one hit, “…Baby One More Time” as well as hits for Kelly Clarkson, P!nk, and others. This song is another hit he has under his belt. It has already debuted on the Billboard Hot 100 at number 1, an accomplishment for Britney and the chart in general. T his song is cliché Britney Spears. It has the controversial lyrics (this time not about seeking people, but about threesomes), has the thumping beats, and of course the vocal synths that Britney heavily relies on. It is nowhere near my favorite Britney release, but of course it is so catchy that I can’t get it out of my head after the first listen. That’s the marketability of pop songs these days; as long as they have a catchy hook, they are a success. But of course, how else will people be persuaded to download the song? At least when its stuck in their head, they have an incentive to download it and blame it on being “catchy.” Isn’t that what I’m doing right now? Watch out for “The Singles Collection” out November 10th, 2009 (November 24 for the deluxe box set).

2.5/5

Fresh Out The Oven – Jennifer Lopez feat. Pitbull

Like the title says, this latest song by Jennifer Lopez IS fresh. At this moment, it is unsure what is happening with this song. It was confirmed by Pitbull as the next single, but has now been dubbed a “promotional” single from the diva’s upcoming album “Love?” that won’t be featured on the album itself. It is official artist is referred to as "Lola" a pseudonym Jennifer used for this song. Thankfully it was for this song only. Regardless of its release, it is a fresh song that takes Jennifer Lopez back to her “J.Lo” album days. It combines elements of pop, hip-hop/rap, and R&B to create an amazing uptempo song that’s sure to be a hit at the clubs. She gets help from Cuban rapper, Pitbull who no one can seem to get enough. When I heard about the collaboration, I was super excited, but when I heard it I feel Pitbull didn’t really add much to the song. This Neptunes produced song is so good on its own, the Pitbull rap seems unnecessary to the song. I was expecting a little more from him, but despite that, I’m not complaining he’s on the song; I’m just wondering how him and Jennifer Lopez AND The Neptunes couldn’t have come up with something even more amazing. Don’t get me wrong, the song is great, but with all the big names on the track I expected a little more. Don’t let that take away from the song! Keep a look out for Jennifer Lopez’s much awaited album “Love?” out January 26th, 2010!

4/5

5. Russian Roulette – Rihanna

After the success of “Good Girl Gone Bad”, Rihanna is back with a new album releasing next month called “Rated R” and here we have the first single, “Russian Roulette.” This song is a very dark and serious song that seems to be a sequel to her previous hit “Unfaithful”. This track deals with suicide and Rihanna sings about it till she reaches the end taking a deep breath before pulling the trigger of the “Russian Roulette”. Produced by Ne-Yo, this is a beautiful ballad that showcases Rihanna’s versatility and amazing vocals. I’ll admit that when I first heard this song three letters were going through my head, W T F, but after a few more listens and analyzing of the lyrics, it has become a favourite of mine from this Barbadian artist. Whether it will be a hit or not, I’m not sure; she definitely took a risk releasing this as the lead single from the album, however I am sure that this will be a favourite among critics and will definitely be nominated for some awards when the time comes. If you are a bit touchy about the suicide issue, this may not be the best song to add to your library, but if you’re a music fan like me always looking for fresh music then this is a song for you! The lyrics are really touching and I’m glad it ends on a dark note. In real life, things don’t always end in happy endings and I think Rihanna is trying to show just that. Job well done; pick up the album November 23rd, 2009.

5/5

6. Body Body – Massari

The last song I’m going to review for this blog is the latest single from Canadian R&B sensation, Massari. Massari was received with major success after his debut self-titled album was released in 2005, and he is finally releasing his follow up, “Forever Massari” in early November. Here we have the second single called Body Body that I was fortunate enough to hear first at promotional party Massari held at a local nightclub in Ottawa. The song, and its steamy video, are really hot and is a surefire club, dance, and pop hit. It’s an uptempo R&B song that combines Massari’s Middle Eastern roots to create an exotic song. It’s nothing groundbreaking, but is definitely a better choice as a single to promote his album than previous single “Bad Girl”. Most importantly, it’s a Canadian artist who is working hard to becoming really big. He’s already had amazing success, and with the right promotion and marketing, he can become even bigger and enter the territory of current R&B stars, Colby O’ Donnis, Jay Sean, and Chris Brown. Till then, let’s support our Canadian musicians and get Massari’s album “Forever Massari” out November 10th, 2009

3/5

Enjoy and make sure to pick up the albums when they come out!

New Banner 2.0

Hey everyone,

So as promised, this blog is going through various changes and improvements to celebrate its one year anniversary! 2 weeks ago, I bought a custom domain for this site (www.khizerlicious.com as evident), and changed the title from It's Khizer, to Khizerlicious. Then, less than a week ago, I got Marianas Trench to make a shout out video for this blog. The latest change that comes to this blog is a new banner!!

After a year of "Banner 1" (too tired to think of a creative name) created by Varun, I now have "Banner 2.0" ! This banner was created by a really good friend of mine, Sebastian, and he did an awesome job. Let me know what you think!

I'll leave you with the old banner, and the shout out video by Marianas Trench!

-Khizer

Concert Review: Marianas Trench plus Guests [The Beside You Tour]

Beside You Tour

October 23rd 2009; Bronson Centre (Ottawa, Ontario)

Marianas Trench featuring The Mission District, Carly Rae Jepsen, and The New Cities

A long day to say the least, yesterday I attended the sold out “Beside You Tour” that featured Marianas Trench as the main act, with The Mission District, Carly Rae Jepsen, and The New Cities opening. Although the doors didn’t open till 6, I was at the venue at 3 as I had a pass for a meet and greet. Consequently, I was able to get front row centre right in front of the stage and had one of my most “up close and personal” concerts to date!

It all started with the meet and greet with Marianas Trench around 3:30. 5 other people and I were sitting in the lobby of the Bronson Centre (while a million other fans were waiting lined up outside in the cold) waiting for the band to come out. Around 4:00 they came out and starting saying hello to all of us. Josh Ramsay, the lead singer, was losing his voice so he was in whispers and barely talking, but was still all smiles. They were really humble; they interacted with us like they were one of us (I spoke to Ian about cities in Canada) and when I introduced myself they would give me their name as well. Most celebrities would just expect you know them. It was awesome. I got them each to sign my Marianas Trench CD (Masterpiece Theater) and spoke to them all for a little bit. When I got a chance to talk to the lead singer, Josh Ramsay, I asked him if he could make a shout out video for this blog. He pointed at his throat and I realized how stupid I was for asking him that. He then whispered in my ear that “I’m sure if you ask one of the other members they will gladly do it.” It was really nice of him to say. I then spoke to Matt (he asked if I was from Ottawa and I told him how I’ve been all over Ontario), and finally Mike who after talking to him and getting him to sign my CD I asked if he could make me the video. He was a little confused by the request but agreed and made the video with Josh and Matt beside him (Ian was talking to the other fans). I got a group picture with the band, and it was time to say goodbye. This was my first time meeting a whole band, and they definitely set the bar high, especially after I saw that Josh Ramsay “tweeted” on Twitter about the meet and greet and said: “just met some very sweet fans at a meet and greet. love Ottawa!”

After they left we were allowed to stay in the venue and be the first to let into the show. So it was another hour and a bit of waiting, before we were let into the auditorium and when we were, I got dead centre in the front row. On top of that, it wasn’t like most concerts I’ve been too where at the front row there’s a gate between the stage and the concertgoer, but front row at this venue was being right at the stage itself! It was really exciting. There were hundreds of girls in attendance all screaming for the bands, and even in first row, I was the only guy which made it awkward, but also made it noticeable for the bands to see me.

The show finally started with Montreal based band, The Mission District as the first act. They were a typical pop rock band and weren’t anything amazing, but still put on a great, live show. In the middle of their 6-song set list, they performed a rock cover of Just Dance (Lady GaGa) and incorporated elements of Disturbia (Rihanna), Billie Jean (Michael Jackson), and Love Lockdown (Kanye West). It was their most entertaining performance of the night.

The next performer was Carly Rae Jepsen who performed with two band members. I had briefly heard of her before, but I learned that night that she was a Canadian Idol finalist who was now touring with Marianas Trench. She had an amazing performance, and was just incredible live. She was really down to earth when performing, and made cute introductions to her songs. She made it really intimate and close, and her voice just made me head over heels for her. Her performance was brilliant. Some highlight songs she performed were Hotel Shampoos, Sour Candy ( a duet originally with Josh Ramsay, but at the concert was performed with her band mate Tavish), and her single Tug of War. She had me longing for more after her performance!

The final opening act before Marianas Trench took the stage was a Quebec based band called The New Cities. They are a 6 member band and mixed a lot of synths with their music creating a dance rock type of sound. Their sounded reminded me of Mobile (another Canadian band), and well known Metro Station, but they were still able to make themselves unique in their performance. They gave off high energy and were really into their performance. Their best performance was of their single, “Dead End Countdown.” Overall, they put on a fabulous show.

After a short break, Marianas finally took the stage and opened the show with “Masterpiece Theater I.” The song was an amazing choice as the opener, as it is the same song that opens the album and sets the stage for what’s to come. Being one of my favourite songs on the album, it was great to see them open with that song. They continued with “Shaketramp”, their popular single from their debut album, Fix Me, and continued with other songs including “Celebrity Status.” It was evident that Josh was losing his voice as he was a bit soft at the beginning of the show and let the audience help him out with the main choruses, but he really pulled the show off despite that. It was full of energy and interaction. They recognized me from the Meet and Greet and made eye contact and acknowledged my presence as well. It was an awesome feeling. The band interacted with the fans; Josh went out in the crowd, and they brought stage crew members on stage and performed little stunts with them. The fans were crazy and they threw up some crazy things including a signed jock strap, bra, and underwear with phone numbers and sexy messages on them. For each thing thrown up, the band would stop their song and read and /or discuss what was thrown up. As well, they recognized me from the Meet and Greet and made eye contact and acknowledged my presence as well. It was an awesome feeling. They continued with performances of “Beside You”, “All To Myself”, and closed with “Masterpiece Theater III.” It was a perfect song to close with as it is the album closer, and being a concept album, it wraps up the whole album/concert perfectly. Of course they needed an encore, and they came back performing “Good to You”, and their biggest single, “Cross my Heart.” It was obvious they wouldn’t leave without performing that song, and they definitely created anticipation for it. They really knew how to put on an amazing show, and despite losing his voice, Josh still did amazing on vocals. They always kept momentum during the show and it was “never a dull moment!”

After the end of the show, I saw Carly Rae Jepsen’s band members at her merchandise table and I went over and said hi to them. I told Tavish how he did a great job, and asked if Carly was going to come out. He told me that she disappeared on them, but there was a possibility that she may come out. I told him to give her a message saying a “handsome man” was looking for her. He asked my name, and after telling me how cool it was, he wrote it down and promised me he’d let her know. I walked away from the table and saw members of The New Cities and as I was going to go say hello to them, I saw Carly and ran up to her. I was super excited as I was really blown away by her and her performance. I quickly reached in for a hug and before completing the hug, I asked if I could actually get it. It was funny in my head. I then told her how amazed I was by her performance, and though I hadn’t heard her before, she got me head over heels for her that night. She was in awe, and told me thank you multiple times. I was so excited around her; I saw Tavish looking and I told him “I FOUND HER” and he laughed and so did Carly. Carly asked if she could sign her CD for me, and I said sure. She said she wanted me to remember her and if she could sign the actual CD itself. I agreed and while she was looking for a marker, I gave her my golden one to make everything more special. She asked how to spell my name, and Tavish showed her the paper he wrote my name on. She got stumbled after the I, and I told her Z is next. She signed it, and told me that she really hopes I enjoy the CD, and I assured her I would. I said bye to her and Tavish and head back over to The New Cities. My favourite member in the band was the keyboardist, and luckily he was still in the lobby and I was able to meet and greet with him, and the guitarist as well. After that, I went to the merchandise table of Mission District, and they were at their table as well. I bought their EP, and the lead singer signed it, and I was able to get a picture with the band as well. Talk about intimate and interactive!

As a whole, the Beside You tour was mind blowing. Being right in the centre of all the action was an even better experience, and getting to meet everyone was the cherry on top. Anyone who likes the rock, punk rock, pop rock, dance rock, and acoustic genre, would love this show, and I do recommend anyone who hasn’t seen it yet, to get tickets to go.

P.S. Here is the shoutout video made by Marianas Trench to this blog:

Shukriya. Merci. Thank You. Gracias.

Thank You – Jay-Z

Thank you, thank you, thank you; hold your applause for later. Thank you, thank you, thank you; you’re far too kind.

Just like Jay is thanking his fans for all the success and support, I am writing this blog to thank everyone for the tremendous support I got during the MuchMusic VJ Search.

Throughout the whole pre-competition, I got support from so many friends, family, and people who randomly saw my audition and added me to Facebook and joined my group because of. By the end of the search, my group reached 300 members! People spread links through Twitter, Facebook, forums, and their MSN! One of my good friends spread the word at my university and introduced me to a bunch of her friends to increase my support.

On top of all that, Verve Girl magazine in Toronto chose 10 people they thought were the best for the VJ position and invited them to participate in a mini challenge at their studios! It was amazing being one of the chosen among all the thousands of entries! I went to Toronto to attend the mini challenge where only 5 people came. It was a lot of fun; I met new people, got to interview lead singer of indie band “The Clicks” and most of all, felt recognized.

At the end of the search, I wasn’t chosen as a semi finalist, and though it hurt a little bit, it was more bittersweet. Despite not winning, I got a lot of support from everyone and had a great time campaigning myself. I had such a fun time making the video and the whole process itself was just a great experience. On top of that, I also earned myself an internship at Verve Girl / Youth Culture. Therefore, out of the whole thing, I just learned and gained so much. I got amazing feedback even after I wasn’t chosen! Here are some responses I got:

“No worries bro keep your head up always next time and ull be more experience too… bro i wanted to tell u look even though u didnt get selected ur still a role model to all people younger like me so ull do it next time”

“ your video was so much better than all the ones i saw”

“Khizer is the VJ in my bed”

“Khizer is the vj in my head, Khizer is the vj of the dead”

“what abunch of whores D; ! I voted for you like 200 times lol”

“I so thought you'd at least make the top 12 cause of the contest at vervegirl…punks don't know what they're doing”

“hey khiz, sorry about Much's stupidity. I feel like we should mutiny”

"The simple fact that you didn't make the final 16 definitely leads me to believe that there's more of a conspiracy than first thought. There will be many other things that will come your way."

“wtff…yoo Muchh is gayy shyttt…man forgett deem…likee who needss them… like who cares if u dont get to vj uwll be like a dentist withh like millionss so yee there stupid…likee i watchedd alot of dem…and ur was by far the best…even if i didnt know u, so like in myy head u wonn …ur the vj of my life”

“remember everything happens for a reasonnn ”

So once again, I thank everyone for the massive support I got throughout the whole competition! It may not be today, it may not be tomorrow, but one day MuchMusic will be my workplace! I promise you that.

The Celebration

Celebration – Madonna

Come join the party, it’s a celebration. I’m gonna party, it’s a celebration!

The latest single by Madonna was released last week to celebrate her career achievements. Ironically, it’s a celebration on my end as well; this blog has been up for ONE YEAR!! It feels as if it was just yesterday when this blog was started!

This blog has been one of my major outlets to talk about my life. Whether it be personal issues, my crazy trips, or the concerts I attend, this blog is part of me, and I’m excited to see it grow!
In terms of this growth, this blog has already grown in its own way. I recently bought a custom domain for this blog so it is no longer attached to a “.blogspot.com”. It is now, www.khizerlicious.com! If you type in the old www.itskhizer.blogspot.com it will redirect you to the new one.

As well, this blog is going to take a little bit of a turn. Right now, new posts are published once or twice a month, if that. I have decided to post more than I currently do, but because my life isn’t that interesting, not all posts are going to be directly related to my life. In between my personal posts, I will add in some posts about recent happenings in the world and my opinions on them. That can range from new music or movies released, restaurants I try out, issues in the world etc. I think that will give me a way to always stay in touch with everyone as well as keep this blog more livelily. I will organize my blog in such a way so there is a distinction between my personal posts and the general ones.

I have many things planned for this blog; a new banner, a new layout, links, and a lot more so just keep checking and reading and you can see it grow with me!

Thank you for all the support. It’s been up one year; let’s see how long this lasts. In the meantime, come join my celebration!

With Love,
Khizer

MuchMusic, Make Me A VJ

When I Grow Up - Pussycat Dolls

When I Grow Up, I wanna be a famous, I wanna be a star, I wanna be in movies....Be on TV, people know me. When I Grow Up.

Yes, I used this song as an opener before, but this was probably the best song I could find to describe this blog right here. This lead single from the Pussycat Dolls' second album, Doll Domination, is exactly how I've been feeling, not only all my life but this current week!

As you guys must already know (or come to the conclusion), I love MuchMusic. I've been to their events, I've auditioned for them multiple times, and my passion and adoration for music and knowledge of celebrity pop culture makes me perfect for the job! Like the Pussycat Dolls sing, I wanna be famous, I wanna be a star, I wanna be in movies! I wanna be on TV, and have people know me! However, that's not the only reason why I want the job. Actually, the main reason I want the job is because of my passion for music and my obsession over pop culture!

So, forunately for me, they have their VJ Search 2.0 going on, and after weeks of planning and production, my audition is finally out!

Not only on YouTube, but my audition is available on MuchMusic's website and is available for everyone to watch, rate, and spread the word!

Now, speaking of spreading the word, today I also realized at the amazing friends I have. It hasn't even been 24 hours that I have had the audition up, that all my friends are posting my links to their walls and getting their friends to do it as well. Some of my best friends from high school and even friends I only talked to once or twice are spreading the word! My audition isn't limited to Facebook! I've got friends on Twitter who are tweeting about my audition like crazy, and are getting their followers to rate, comment, and spread! In addition to Facebook and Twitter, I'm also a part of a few forums on which I'm getting people to spread the word!

I would like to take this time to thank EVERY SINGLE PERSON who is taking the the time out to rate me, watch my audition, and spread the word! Every little bit helps! Though I don't like naming names on this blog, a few people said somethings that really brought a smile to my face. I am posting some of those quotes below:

"Vote Khizer for the next MuchMusic VJ!!!♥ He knows the celebs, knows the gossip, knows the music, and is so easy to talk to! :) "

"if you don't win I'm going to lose faith in music television... okay, that already happened but still, you deserve it!"

"you deserve it man! Ive never met someone try so hard for something"

"im not gunna lie, when i first heard about the contest i was like "khizer is gunna win""

"oh don't worry ur a natural, u'll win this thing"

"You know what's stupid Khiz? ppl just post photos of them "looking hot" etc. and that's it - they cant even post a vid and reason why thy should be a vj. This isn't a competition based on looks. I really hope you make the top... 16 because I know this has been ur life long dream, and anyone who knows you knows you have what it takes and more :)"

"LOL khizer that video is hilarious!! good job!! good luck, i went on and voted. you so deserve this haha!"

"Not only did I vote for you, I sabotaged everyone elses votes. They all got one stars. Tee Hee."

"Khizer!! YOU ARE HILARIOUS! LOVE YOU. I'm a contestant too (#2191) But you def have what it takes. I think you made a ref to Latoya Howard in your aud vid (i think). Anyway she stole over 23K worth of things out of my house! Then fled back to Canada. I hope you win babe!!"

"Vote or die"

These are a few of many amazing feedback I got! You all know me enough to know that I have the drive and passion for this job! Thank you once again to everyone spreading the word, inviting their friends to join my group, tweeting about it on their twitter, posting the links to their facebook, commenting and rating on YouTube and rating on the site! You guys all know who you are and it means so much to me.

I pray that I win this thing and take it home!

For those reading right now here's your chance to watch my audition, comment on my video, join my group, rate my entry, and spread the word!

All it takes is 3 Simple Steps:

1) Watch my audition video on YouTube here:
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ix2EaW4ps7o

2) Rate my audition video on the Official VJ Search Website here:
http://vj.muchmusic.com/gallery/2267#gallery

3) Join this group, and invite all your friends to do the same here:
http://www.facebook.com/group.php?gid=136249614801#/group.php?gid=136249614801&ref=mf