IDOL Tournament: Round 5 - David Archuleta VS Carrie Underwood

Idol Tournament is back and it's tougher than ever as there are only 8 Idols remaining for this round. I also changed my mind and instead of featuring their latest music videos, why not have a before and after makeove of them so that we could compare. Just for fun! And we start Round 5 with a pretty tough competition between David Archuleta and Carrie Underwood.

Poll is open for 48 hours only. If anyone's interested in the matchups DAM NATION planned for the coming weeks, click here to check out the entire 64-player bracket (then click again for a zoomed in view).

David Archuleta 

Carrie Underwood

VOTE!

X Factor US: Boot Camp Part 1

written by Gabriel Sierra
DAM NATION, Contributor    

Yay! After watching the same previews for almost three weeks, it’s finally time to move forward and get the real talent. I can’t wait to see how this works! There are 162 acts in this round, which will become 32, so there’s going to be lots and lots of cuts!

The 162 acts got to travel to Los Angeles for Boot Camp. Day one eliminated 62 acts, leaving only 100 for Day 2.  The episode began with the contestants being choreographed by a professional dancer in some sort of a challenge. It was interesting, though some didn’t want to dance and others couldn’t. If I’d have been there I would’ve danced, if that’s what they want you to do, do it! It’s 5 million dollars after all!!

Recap after the jump!!

After the dance lesson it was a compilation of the second auditions and a few comments the judges gave. We got to see TONS of contestants singing bits of a song, and the judges faces while they heard it.

Once the auditions were done, they divided everyone into three groups. Group 1 walked up to the stage, where Paula Abdul built a little bit of suspense before telling them they all made it through. There were a couple of familiar faces, but too many people to mention each of them, one that stood out was Stacy Francis, who didn’t do so well in her second audition, Simon said her performance had been “over the top”, and I agree, great singer but it’s not necessary to pull the high notes all the time.

Group 2 was eliminated, and as always, there were a few contestants who asked the judges for another shot.  I don’t know how many times I’ve seen this happen, and if they’ve watched this sort of shows before, they should know once they’re eliminated, the judges don’t give another opportunity.

Group 3 made it through and from all the familiar faces, I’d say this is the best group so far, probably the best ones. Group 1 & 3 were reunited after they made it through and there were cheers and happiness everywhere, it was a cute moment. Then Simon said they were going to throw a party and everyone went crazy!

We got a few clips of the party, everyone seemed to be having a lot of fun, but it wasn’t fun when the next morning at 6 a.m. they were woken up and told to be in the lobby in 5 minutes! They were running around getting their stuff together.

L.A. Reid was waiting for them in the lobby to tell them they’re next challenge, which was to sing in groups. I’m telling you, this episode was so much like Hollywood Week from American Idol, pretty much the same. The difference was that it wasn’t so much ‘groups’ as it was ‘ensembles’ and the songs were chosen by the judges. They had five hours to learn the song and prepare everything. A third part of the groups would be sent home.

Drew Ryniewicz, Caitlin Koch, The Anser (Group), Audrey Turner, Elaine Gibbs, Clayton Senne, Dexter Haygood
Talk about variety! I remember loving Caitlin in the first audition, the rest were good (the ones who were shown) but nothing stood out. The song chosen for them was Creep by Radiohead. Brian Friedman, the choreographer, assisted them, and thank God he did because they were all over the place! 52-year old Audrey Turner, who was married to Ike Turner, was in the group hoping to make it through. The five hours of rehearsal were up and it was time to sing in front of the judges. Drew began and it was magical! Dexter was OK, The Anser was good and Audrey was amazing! Elaine was incredible too! And finally Caitlin finished the song in an amazing way! It was such a great performance!

Jazzlyn Little, Melanie Amaro, Heather Gale, Aaron Surgeon, Arin Ray, Special Guest (Group) and Stacy Francis
They had a vocal coach Claude Kelly, who gave them good advice. The choreographer, Brian Friedman, also helped them. They all sounded amazing in my opinion, although Jazzlyn forgot her lyrics.

Dani Knights, Skyelor Anderson, Leroy Bell, Chelsea Musick, Ben Rue, Paige Ogle and Cari Fletcher
The song was Desperado by The Eagles. This group was OK.

Tinuke Oyefule, Jennifey Joy, Lauren Ashley, Tatiana ‘Reina’ Williams and Brian Bradley
The song was Wishing On A Star by Beyonce and Jay Z. This kid, Brian, drives me insane, he’s too full of himself. That said, it was good!

Josh Krajcik, Tiger Budbill, Nick Dean, Kompl3te (Group), Andrew Muccitelli, James Kenny and Thomas McAbee
The group sang Superman by Five For Fighting. Nick Dean started the performance and forgot his lyrics. I didn’t love the performance.

Phillip Lomax, Tiah Tolliver, Chesi Spriggs, Robert Cruz, Kelly Warner, Austin Simmons and Nick Voss
This group was AMAZING! Especially Tiah, who needed to prove she was a good singer after what happened in her first audition. Loved it!

Rachel Crow, Joshua Maddox, 4shore (Group), Hayley Orrantia, Illusion Confusion, Caylie Gregorio, De’Quan Allen and Ellona Santiago
The song chosen for them was I Have Nothing by Whitney Houston. They were excited but I got worried immediately as this was a tough song to sing! And yes, one moment later they were all struggling with it. Now, this performance was a bit weird, some were good, some weren’t. I liked Ellona, I think she saved the whole performance.

Siameze Floyd, Jeremiah Pagan, Song Preservation Society (Group), Cesar de la Rosa, Makenna & Brock, The Stereo Hogzz and Emily Michalak
The song was Run by Leona Lewis. The judges seemed satisfied and were smiling, but I didn’t think it was good at all. Everyone was pretty much on their own.

Now, sadly we didn’t get results, which I suppose was a good strategy to make people watch the show again tonight. I can’t wait to see who will make it, there are too many people I like. I guess we’ll see tonight who makes it through!

Movie Review: Abduction

Abduction was SO awful, it's actually a lot funnier than Bad Teacher. Haha. But seriously, aside from Taylor Lautner's enviable abs, what's there to really appreciate with the film?

I admit, this was NOT the worst film I ever saw, but everything about it was such a freakin' mess! For one, I thought the story wasn't compelling enough for me to even care. The writing was sub-par, the romance was dumb and the ending was anti-climatic.

Plus, nothing about the plot made sense that it made me question a couple of things: Were the characters really got to travel from Pittsburgh to Virginia to Nebraska and back in just one day? Who cooked for them in the cafe? There was no one there!! Who put the gun under the seat during the baseball game? Why didn't the CIA think of tapping the bestfriend's phone? Why was this film so dumb?

Shockingly, the technical aspect of the film didn't help as well - and I thought that would redeem Abduction from being pure garbage, but NO! Sure, the action, in general, was fine. However, the editing felt stilted that I never got to appreciate it, the camera work seemed lazy, and the pacing was too uneven.

Oh, and don't get me started with the acting. I never felt like I was watching a natural performance from anyone involved in this film. Everything felt so staged.

And while Lilly Collins was mostly decent, Alfred Molina was fine and Sigourney Weaver did her best with the material she was given, Taylor Lautner's performance pulled this film to hell with that wooden portrayal. What was up with that? He was like reading the lines off the script. He seemed disconnected in some of the more dramatic scenes and lacked charisma for action. Yes, there was something rather watchable about him, but that's not enough!

To be fair, Abduction did look promising in it's first few minutes and then it went downhill really fast. Sad. Now, if only I could figure out why the hell did they even call this movie ABDUCTION in the first place, I'd give them a one point rating higher. But for now..

RATING: 2/10

Movie Review: The Change-Up

If Freaky Friday and The Hangover had a lovechild, this would be it! The Change-Up worked with this very tired material - you know, switching bodies and whatnot - but for older audiences complete with excessive foul languages, sex references and toilet humor. Was it funny? Sure. But there were certain things that didn't sit with me well.

Of course, the film was a no-brainer and I get that. The Change-Up was not of great substance or profound moral quality as it was obviously made to entertain. But while I admit that it was indeed funny, there was something about it's raunchy humor that felt out of place. I guess, if the movie didn't take itself too seriously - especially towards the end - and just went with the ridiculousness of it all, it would've worked. 

Some situations were played too over-the-top that it ruined whatever sense of realism this completely unrealistic premise tried to achieve. The script was uneven, the pacing was a little odd  and yes, the humor that had all the swearing and gross out gags became tiresome very quickly.

Good thing the cast delivered good performances. I thought Ryan Reynolds and Jason Bateman were successful in their portrayal of each other. They, to me, somehow made the film interesting than usual. Leslie Mann gave a good poignant performance for a comedy, and Olivia Wilde was, well, fine. Haha.

Again, the film had plenty of laughs and it was kind of refreshing to see a film that wasn't subtle about what to expect, which unfortunately was also to it's detriment. It was entertaining, and that's all there was to it.

RATING: 6/10

Glee Season 3: Asian F Episode Review

Asian F

Season 3, Episode 3

Wow. I didn't see this one coming AT ALL. I had reservations about it last week - I thought it was too early to tell - but this episode made it official, GLEE IS FREAKIN' BACK!!

The episode was well put together, it didn't feel rushed and everything flowed perfectly. Yes, it did lack a bit of humor, but that's just a minor issue because as far as the drama went, everything was well executed. Oh, and Glee had gotten back to story telling than a mere musical extravaganza! Yay!

THE GOOD:

- Brittany's few scenes were actually quite amusing. Sure, the entire subplot seemed a bit moot as there would be no contest in a real high school, considering the popularity of Brittany in McKinley, but the show needed something to explore, I suppose.

- Poor Kurt, everyone who tried to help him with his campaign ended up running against him. Haha. Yes, it's part of THE GOOD part of this review.  Go figure!

- Emma's storyline was REALLY GOOD! I laughed at the idea of her parent being "ginger supremacists", but the back story of how she got her OCD was pretty heartbreaking. Her parents were like on crack! Oh, and that scene where she was sitting on her bed after her parents left, I just lost it. Haha.

- No matter how annoyed most people are towards Rachel Berry, I still love her! I thought she handled herself well when the "directors" of The West Side Story announced that they will double cast the role of Maria. I expected Rachel to lash out with this decision, but she took it surprisingly well - unlike Mercedes.

- Not a big fan of Mike Chang's character - even hated the fact that he's part of the New Directions just because he's a great dancer. Shocker. That said, his storyline in this episode made me appreciate him more. That scene with his mom was absolutely heartwarming that I cried. Haha. I just hope they continue to delve into his character more.

- Since Will's verbal smackdown with Quinn last episode, I'm slowly - I hate to admit it - becoming "sort of" a fan. It was a bit stupid though to have Emma's parents show up for dinner completely unannounced, but whatever.

THE BAD:

- I seriously can't decide if I like what the writers are doing to Mercedes' character. I get it. She needs to empower herself to essentially find her confidence and I understand that she's tired of being pushed out of the spotlight for Rachel Berry, but why does she have to be a bitch? Yes, she's good with what she does, but if Mercedes thinks that Rachel didn't work hard to do what she wants to do in her life, she's completely out of her freakin' mind.

-  Oh, and I was all for Mercedes having a boyfriend, but to have someone to fuel that diva behavior like crazy was a bit much. Don't you think?

- Tired of Kurt's whining! His reaction when Blaine got the part was disappointing and her little talk with Rachel about the election was odd. To me, I don't see why he's so convinced that he's the ONLY one who could make a difference in McKinley - for bullied kids, I suppose. Santana was directly responsible for him being able to come back to the school right? But what do I know.

THE MUSIC:

SPOTLIGHT was executed pretty well. I just didn't think the song was anywhere relevant to what Mercedes was going through. The song was about a lover and not exactly someone taking her spotlight. But I digress. She connected well with the song and she sounded great.

RUN THE WORLD (GIRLS) rocked!! Brittany slayed it complete with those kick ass dancing. Plus, Santana was a pleasant addition to the number.

COOL. To be honest, the scene prior to this performance actually warmed me to the song. I didn't like it when I heard it a few days ago, but this was pretty good. The choreography also showed a good amount of strength, grit and masculinity.

IT'S ALL OVER was amazing! Somehow Kurt ruined the performance with his horrendous high pitched voice, but the whole performance was brilliant. Almost everyone had a part, which was great, and the acting was surprisingly good as well. Very Dreamgirls.

OUT HERE ON MY OWN. I didn't think either Mercedes or Rachel did much with the song, but they sounded fantastic. I, however, thought that Rachel was so much better than Mercedes on this one. Just saying.

FIX YOU. GORGEOUS. I'm not particularly a fan of Will Schuester singing with the New Directions, but this actually worked beautifully. It was a nice backdrop to the scenes that were played during the number. The camera work was great and I like that it lead to another cliffhanger for next episode. Possibly one of the solid performances in this episode.

IDOL Tournament: Round 5 Introduction

I'm sorry if this took a couple of weeks to begin. A couple of shows premiered in the last two weeks - Glee, The X Factor, and The Sing-Off that I decided to have it all settled first before we start another round of this tournament. I didn't want to compromise this tournament as it maybe - or maybe not - overshadowed by some of the posts in this blog.

Again, every day starting this Saturday, October 8, 2011, at 10PM EST, I’ll launch a new set of duels. The polls will be up for 48 hours, and the winner will obviously moves on to the Final 4.

For this round, I will feature their newest/latest singles/music videos just to be updated with their music. And again, I don't know what I should put for Haley Reinhart who is still in this tournament. I'm thinking You Oughta Know since that's the last song she "released" - part of her EP post American Idol. What do you think? Any suggestions?

Anyway, if anyone's interested in the matchups DAM NATION planned for the coming weeks, click here to check out the entire 64-player bracket (then click again for a zoomed in view).

The Sing-Off Season 3: Current Hits & '60s Favorites Downloads(Episode 3)

Here are the new The Sing-Off downloads c/o Stickler of YourMusicTube. This week, each group performs two songs, so there's so much The Sing-Off goodness for all of you! Enjoy!

1. Somewhere Only We Know Group Performance

2. Never Say Never Vocal Point

3. Whataya Want From Me Delilah

4. Just Can't Get Enough Urban Method

5. American Boy Afro-Blue

6. Dynamite The Yellow Jackets

7. Pricetag Kinfolk 9

8. (Love Is Like A) Heat Wave Delilah

9. Dance To The Music Urban Method

10. The Way You Look Tonight Vocal Point

11. Heard It Through The Grapevine Afro-Blue

12. Can't Take My Eyes Off Of You The Yellow Jackets

13. Let It Be Kinfolk 9

DOWNLOAD