American Idol 9: The Top 5 Theme is..

Well, Ryan announced it yesterday. Harry Connick Jr. will mentor the American Idol 9 Top 5 next week as they tackle the songs of Frank Sinatra.

Also, Harry Connick Jr will be the first 'Idol' mentor to arrange the songs, write the orchestrations for the contestants and perform. He will also be performing on Wednesday’s results show. Lady Gaga will also appear to perform Bad Romance/Alejandro.

Wow. Another entertaining theme! Seriously. When I think about it, just the thought makes me want tto die for a minutes thinking these bland people singing this songbook. They haven’t done justice to any of the themes thus far, and I don’t see this being the exception. Granted they all can sing - to a degree - but they have no real Sinatra type swagger!

That said, I hope the Top 5 can demonstrate their “pure musical” chops while changing the songs up a bit to express themselves. If they can do that, then it would be a great evening of entertainment. However, if they just sing the songs in a copy of Frank Sinatra style, no matter how well they sing them technically, to me, that’ll just be like sitting around listening to people’s vocal lessons. Go Figure!

Song list after the jump!!

• All or Nothing At All
• All the Way
• Anything Goes
• As Time Goes By
• Blue Moon
• Blue Skies
• Come Dance with Me
• Come Fly With Me
• Come Rain or Come Shine
• Fly Me to The Moon (In Other Words)
• I Get A Kick Out of You
• I Love Paris
• I Only Have Eyes For You
• I’ve Got a Crush On You
• I’ve Got the World on a String
• I’ve Got You Under My Skin
• In The Still of the Night
• In The Wee Small Hours of the Morning
• It Had to Be You
• It Was a Very Good Year
• Just One of Those Things
• Love and Marriage
• Love is Here to Stay
• Love Walked In
• My Funny Valentine
• My Kind of Town
• My Way
• New York, New York (From “On the Town”)
• Night and Day
• One For My Baby
• Pennies From Heaven
• Put Your Dreams Away
• Someone to Watch Over Me
• Somethin’ Stupid
• Strangers in the Night
• Street of Dreams
• Summer Wind
• That’s All
• That’s Life
• The Best is Yet to Come
• The Good Life
• The Lady is a Tramp
• The Way You Look Tonight
• They Can’t Take that Away From Me
• What Is This Thing Called Love
• Witchcraft
• You Do Something To Me
• You Make Me Feel So Young
• You’re Getting to Be a Habit with Me
• Young at Heart

American Idol: Which Season Has The Best Top 5?

Now that this year's Top 5 has been announced. Let's look back and decide which season has the best Top 5.

Clarkson. Guarini. McKibbin. Gray. Helton.

Studdard. Aiken. Locke. Gracin. Trenyce.

Barrino. DeGarmo. Trias. London. Huff.

Underwood. Bice. Solomon. Federov. Savol.

Hicks. McPhee. Yamin. Daughtry. Bennett.

Sparks. Lewis. Doolittle. Jones. Richardson.

Cook. Archuleta. Mercado. Castro. White.

Allen. Lambert. Gokey. Iraheta. Giraud.

Dewyze. Bowersox. James. Kelly. Lynche.

Polls after the jump!!

American Idol 9: Top 6 Studio Versions

... then there were 6. This week, it was, arguably, one of the best episodes this season as they tackle songs of Shania Twain. However, with regard to the studio version, I felt a bit tentative with some of them.

This is how I rank their studio performances for this week:

01. Lee Dewyze
02. Siobhan Magnus
03. Casey James
04. Crystal Bowersox
05. Aaron Kelly
06. Michael Lynche

Random Thoughts: Lee Dewyze delivers another GREAT studio version. Shocker. Haha. I think that Siobhan Magnus also sounds great in her recording this week. Crystal's studio version is so much better than her live performance. She sounds amazing. Now, for Casey James, I think this is his best studio recording thus far. Great production as well. Aaron Kelly sounds good. To be honest, he sounds like a girl in the first verse, which is oddly a good thing for me. I don't know. Haha. That's all.


STUDIO VERSION
Lee Dewyze: You're Still The One
Michael Lynche: It Only Hurts When I'm Breathing
Casey James: Don't
Crystal Bowersox: No One Needs To Know
Aaron Kelly: You've Got A Way
Siobhan Magnus: Any Man Of Mine

LIVE VERSION
Lee Dewyze: You're Still The One
Michael Lynche: It Only Hurts When I'm Breathing
Casey James: Don't
Crystal Bowersox: No One Needs To Know
Aaron Kelly: You've Got A Way
Siobhan Magnus: Any Man Of Mine

American Idol 9: Top 6 Results Show

Siobhan Magnus. Shocking. Siobhan was never in the bottom three so what happened to cause her to be eliminated this early in the competition? Well, it really shouldn’t surprise anyone when you sit down and think about it. Siobhan had no idea who she was as an artist. At first, I thought she had a handle on it when I saw Wicked Game, House of the Rising Sun, and Paint It Black. I assumed she was going to be this dark pop/rock princess but then everything just got weird. She strayed from her uniqueness and it endangered her. Now, I know she doesn’t care about being defined but, as an Idol contestant, her lack of definition really destroyed her over the past few weeks. As a technical vocalist she was stunning - even when she wasn’t given her proper dues.. and judges, that’s on you! - but as an artist she was confusing and kept appearing out of place and not ready for the big show. Still, I enjoyed her and it was too early for her to leave. Alas, alas, alas..

This was not a week where my confidence in the American Idol voters was vindicated. The bottom two were, as ranked by me, two of the top three. The fact that we had to watch one of Siobhan and Casey leave after turning in strong performances was an incredulous turn of events. Still, I suppose every season must have its shocker, right? That’s the problem with having such a great performance show the night before; you don’t want anyone to leave - well except for Big Mike.

Anyway, here are some observations and comments about this week's results show: 

• 33 million votes registered last night, according to Ryan Seacrest. 
• Ryan introduces the judges. We get right to the music. 
• Rascall Flatts sing Unstoppable - not a fan of the Flatts. Oh, no I’m not. Nasal is NOT a form of singing.
• Ford Music Video: Believe - Vampire theme. Oh, did everyone see how incredibly pumped Siobhan was? Haha.
• Aaron Kelly is the least intimidating vampire ever. No, ever.
• Here’s why I could never be on this show.. I would have to make fun of these little shameless promotional moments. Geez. I like Shrek but not part of American Idol. 
• Next week Harry Connick Jr will mentor the Top 5 for a Frank Sinatra week! Boring. 
• Carrie Underwood makes a surprise appearance to introduce Sons of Sylvia. I like the song but the lead singer scares me. He looks like a walking mosquito. Haha. Sorry. 
• Lady Antebellum is pure love. Enough said.
• Wait, so, Shakira is still a thing? Like, people still listen to her?  
• Man, this results show is taking FOREVER! 
• I loved watching Michael Lynche’s wife celebrate. Haha.
• Wow. So what happens now to the rumored Lee-Siobhan thing? 
• Think was awesome, but who else wanted to see Siobhan scream that note right into Simon’s face? I do. 

A few more rants. Haha.

OMFG! THIS IS SO MESSED UP!! PIMP SPOT DIDN'T WORK!! ALL MY FAVORITES ARE GONE!! AND THIS SEASON'S VOTES ARE OUT OF WACK!!

I don’t believe this! We are left with Crystal and those four boring dudes. This season just became even more uninteresting. Why are people voting for Mike and Aaron? I don’t get it. First it was Alex Lambert and Katelyn Epperly. Then Didi Benami went home. Now, Siobhan!!

And, I HATE THE SAVE. Hate it.  Big Mike should have headed out when he had the lowest number of votes 3 weeks ago.  Messing with America’s decision is a terrible idea. I think Big Mike’s save threw off the rest of the season.

Oh, and what a GREAT Top 5 we have!!!!!! Exciting? NOT!

BOTTOM 3

Siobhan Magnus

Casey James safe

Michael Lynche safe

WTF! This is so messed up!
--------------------------

GROUP 1

Siobhan Magnus

Lee Dewyze safe

GROUP 2

Michael Lynche
Casey James

GROUP 3 
Aaron Kelly safe
Crystal Bowersox safe

American Idol 9: Top 6 - Who's Going Home?

Last night the the Top 6 performed Shania Twain's catalogue and turned in strong performances. Yes, all of them. Well, the word strong can take on many meanings here, but you know what I mean.

In theory, having a tight six-way contest should make it harder to predict who's going home - and we all know anything can happen on Idol - but in this case, I'm now leaning towards saying that Michael Lynche will most likely go home tonight.

Big Mike is just dead to me. I think his presence is already starting to offend and I don't even think he has that big of a fanbase to buy him another week. Heck, he should've been eliminated three weeks ago. His time has run out and we NEED to send him packing.

However, history suggests that it's Aaron Kelly's time to go. I mean, the fifth person to perform during Top 6 week typically ends up in the bottom three for six out of eight seasons. In four of those seasons, the fifth performer went home, including Carly Smithson and Constantine Maroulis. See, Carly Smithson had a good performance (Jesus Christ Superstar) and still went home that week.  So, will Aaron fall prey to that trend? I'm not so sure but a Bottom 3 appearance this week is more than likely.

Now, I think that there is no clear cut Bottom 3 this week although Michael Lynche and Aaron Kelly are almost a no-brainer. Casey James and Siobhan Magnus should be the other member of that group. I don't know. Gut-feel, I guess.

As for Lee Dewyze and Crystal Bowersox, I think both of them are safe. Sure, they both had underwhelming  and low-key performances last night and a trip to that Bottom group is possible - at least for Lee - but I do feel that their fanbase are big enough to carry them through to the next round. Enough said.

A few hours back, I honestly had no clue who is going home as voters have been out of wack and more than half of the Top 6, arguably, should not be there and better people went out before them. But now, I'll go on a limb and predict that Michael Lynche will be eliminated tonight.

I think there's a 20% chance of a surprise elimination though. Besides, this is American Idol and we may all agree that it has done surprises before.

Glee Season 1: Home Episode Review

Home

Season 1, Episode 16

This episode felt like what Acafellas felt like for me last September. It had a beautiful message and it made me - yes I'll even go there - cry.

I mean, what it lacked in the normal "excitement", it made up for in the emotion. I've never cried so much in a Glee episode. Very touching episode and major kudos to Chris Colfer and Amber Riley especially.

While this episode was a complete opposite to The Power Of Madonna, I think this episode really showed the depth of the series. The beginning was filled with snippets of humor and story, which was hard to achieve. Kurt really showed some spark in this episode, as did Mercedes - I was pleasantly surprised at the vulnerability, especially with Quinn.

I couldn't stop laughing during Kurt's House is Not a Home. I would laugh at the awkwardness between him and Finn, and then I would stop to realize the truth behind the song - loved the Brittana part! Personally, I totally adored the Finn/Kurt dynamic. All the scenes with their parents were just amazing and Chris Colfer murdered every line he had with awesomeness.

The musical numbers were also low-key, which to me supported the low-key theme of the night. Home was probably one of the most poignant songs I have heard. Beautiful was also a surprising gem. I was thinking it would be an over-produced number for a song that is so stripped down.

The only part I kind of didn't like was April at Will's apartment. When I thought the song was going to end, it extended even further. And then it got super weird, to the point where I thought they were going to have sex. It was really weird, but I guess it was also sweet?

Seriously, this is one of my favorite episodes so far. The Chenoweth was a bit of an overload and her songs didn't do much for me because I wasn't as invested in her character or the emotion behind them, but apart from that it was flawless to me.

Oh, and some interesting facts: The songs featured tonight, A House Is Not A Home and One Less Bell To Answer were written by the amazing Burt Bacharach, who used to be married to songwriter Carole Bayer Sager. Ummm.. Burt and Carole, anyone? Crazy cool!

Download the songs HERE.

American Idol 9: Top 6

A paint salesman! A glass blower! A mother! A construction worker! An outrageous excuse to go overboard with the camera’s zoom function! That’s right. It’s American Idol. The top 6 put on one of the most bizarre episode in a long while.

 Tonight was indeed the Twilight Zone episode!

I mean, the people who I thought will deliver good performances were lackluster and those who I wanted to suck were surprisingly good. Geez.

Just when I thought this season will be as predictable as Carrie Underwood winning the whole thing in Season 4, things got really interesting tonight. I don't know.

But the thing that surprised me the most tonight was that I have a new found respect for Shania Twain, her song writing and vocal abilities. Really. I have always liked her - even though I was NEVER really a big country fan - and saw just how well crafted, clever and nuanced her songs really were through the performances.

Anyway, here we go!

06. Michael Lynche
It Only Hurts When I'm Breathing
Big Mike began his performance sitting on the steps and somehow I felt he stopped the stairs from moving!! Haha. Ok. Enough with the jokes. To be perfectly honest, I thought he did very well tonight. His performance was sweet, emotional and his vocals - save for some shaky falsetto - were good. However, I've been so turned off by his arrogant behavior at times that I'm now having a hard time believing his performances. Not sure if he was faking all the sentimentality - maybe not - but I just don't care about him anymore. Michael also has reached his ceiling and we all know it. It’s only a matter of time before he has to bow out of this competition and go on to make whatever he wants to make. Haha. Oh, and the cheese.. I drowned in it. Haha.

05. Crystal Bowersox
No One Needs To Know
Ok. Now this feels weird. After Crystal sang, I just sat on my bed and stared. I looked around the room to see if someone was playing a trick on me then I realized that my siblings were still sleeping that time. So, it wasn’t a joke. Surprise! Surprise! Haha. This week, Crystal was underwhelming! I was actually shocked by how unauthentic Crystal's performance came across. Who would've thought?  Sure, she sounded great and her falsetto was very impressive but the performance lacked as much swagger as the original. I don't know. I thought the female harmony singer sounded tentative, which somehow threw off the arrangement a little bit and it just didn't seem to go anywhere. I appreciate that she stuck with the theme better than anyone else though. Oh, and note to Ryan: There is a time and a place to comment on teeth. An interview with Crystal Bowersox is not that time or place. Haha.

04. Lee Dewyze
You're Still The One
Somehow, it sounded like Lee was trying to pull a David Cook Always Be My Baby moment, but failed. Haha. Don't even go there Lee! I mean, I liked his arrangement of the song and he played a little with the melody to suit his range and style but I found his vocals to be a bit shakier and forced than usual. There were parts where the melody seemed way off - although I thought it was more an issue of his interpretation than his pitch. Ultimately, the performance wasn't bad but it could've been better considering he had a great song to work with.

03. Siobhan Magnus
Any Man Of Mine
I'm confused! The judges criticized her for When You Believe and Suspicious Minds, but this performance got her unanimously praised? Seriously. Don't get me wrong, I thought she did really well this week but her vocal performances the past few weeks were so much worthy of good reviews, which she obviously didn't get. But yes, Siobhan was totally back to her sassy self again! To me, this was the most energetic performance of the night. It was really great to see her do something fun for a change and really interact with the crowd. The rhythm of the song was a bit bizarre but her endearing awkward delivery almost made up for it. The moments at the end of the performance were absolutely perfect to close out the evening and we better hope that Siobhan makes this the beginning of a comeback and not a fluke. Now, this dark horse still has a chance.

02. Aaron Kelly
You've Got A Way
WTF! How is this possible? Haha. I can't believe that I actually liked Aaron's performance tonight and ranked him this high. Well, maybe because he managed to deliver exactly what I’ve been waiting for all season from him. I thought his tone was beautiful with the song and his voice had character. It wasn't perfect vocally but he sure has a nice upper register. Sure, this week was pretty much in his wheelhouse, but he also managed to perform the song in a very mature way I wasn’t aware he possessed. I really felt that he was tugging at the heartstrings. Finally! Good job Aaron!

01. Casey James
Don't!
The rollercoaster ride continues. Haha. Casey just gave me a reason to like him again! Haha. Frack. I actually loved it. To be fair, I never doubted his talent, it was just that he never showed any charisma until now. This, to me, was the most believable and authentic performance of the night. I was actually glad that he just sat on a stool, played his guitar and sang his heart out. Maybe a little more emotion and a tiny more grit in his voice will make this performance THE moment for him. But what the heck! It was awesome. This was much closer to Jealous Guy than Don't Stop, quality-wise. It did show off more of his voice - including the tiniest bit of falsetto - and it was the first time, I thought, where he sounded it could go straight to radio. I was fairly impressed.

Idol News: Katharine McPhee's Terrified with Chuck's Zachary Levi

I'm not sure what is this video particularly for, but it's interesting to know that Zachary Levi can actually sing. Haha. I mean, I don't know if this is the music video Katharine McPhee will put out for Terrified - since there are still no confirmation if this will be her second single next to Had It All - but I'm hopeful. It's about time for her to score a hit with this song.

Video after the jump!!

Glee Music: Home

In tomorrow nights Glee, it's the moment we've all been waiting for .. the return of Kristin Chenoweth!! Here is the music from the episode! Enjoy!

DOWNLOAD

DOWNLOAD

DOWNLOAD

DOWNLOAD

DOWNLOAD

DOWNLOAD

(all 5 tracks)

American Idol 9: Tim Urban Visits The Late Show with David Letterman

Tim Urban dropped by the show of David Letterman and sing Can't Help Falling In Love. As he did with the judges, Tim more than held his own with Letterman.

I really think he has a lot of charm and potential. His personality is engaging, spontaneous, genuine, fun, warm and sweet and hell yes, arguably, he can sing. I would so much rather see him perform than sit and be bored watching a Casey show or a Big Mike Watch-Me-Make-Pounding-Motions-And-Think-I’m-Cool Show. I hope he will find a success that he can use all the wonderful qualities he has. Some of the best selling songs are loved for the song and the singer, and not necessarily for how difficult it is to sing well or feature the vocal technique, I am hopeful. We’ll see what happens after the tour, won’t we?

Video after the jump!!

Idol News: Allison Iraheta To Perform In Manila on May 4, 2010?

Wow. I just learned this now. Allison Iraheta will visit Manila next week!! How crazy is that?

I'm not so sure how true the news is but Philippine Entertainment Portal already confirmed it in one of their articles. According to the article:

"American Idol Season 8 finalist and fan favorite Allison Iraheta is set to conquer Manila with her spunky personality and music on May 4, Tuesday, 5 pm at Midtown Atrium, Robinsons Place Manila.

Presented by Channel [V], Robinsons Malls, Sony Music, Magic 89.9 and Mellow 94.7, this one-day event will have the red-haired rocker perform cuts from her debut album titled Just Like You.

Wow. David Cook, David Archuleta, Michael Johns, Taylor Hicks, Chris Daughtry, Kris Allen, Jason Castro and Elliott Yamin are some of the Idols who have headed to the Philippines to perform after their Idol runs.

I wonder why I've never heard or read anything about it just until now. Anyway, I’ll post more news when it’s available.

Music: Sweet Rain - Didi Benami

Excuse me while I die again! I miss her already! Here's a pre-Idol song from Didi Benami called Sweet Rain. The song is produced by Rocco Guarino who co-wrote it with Didi, and also did some stuff for Season 7 Idol finalist, Amanda Overmyer.

Ok. Didi really has a very commercial sound. The track screams Colbie Callait, which is a good thing. If only Didi had done more stuff like this in the live shows, she wouldn’t have gotten the boot early in the competition. I mean, she does two things that I like. One is that she finishes a note as most singers cut off the note at the end of a line or phrase, but Didi holds it. Secondly, she know what words to emphasize and give a special ring to it - don’t know how else to say it. Well, you could really hear it when she sang Terrified. Sigh. I really like Didi and hope the best for her career.

LISTEN:

Music: The Truth (ft. Pat Monahan) - Kris Allen

It's final! This is Kris Allen's next single following his hit debut single, Live Like We're Dying.

Fans, including me, aren’t really happy with this latest development. The general consensus seems to be that the original version of  The Truth stands just fine on it’s own. But choosing to re-mix it with Monahan on vocals - he sings the bridge and some harmonies - is probably Jive hedging their bets. Train’s song, Hey Soul Sister is really popular right now, so Jive must believe Monahan’s star power will help the song chart.

But it’s not like Kris needed any help with his first single, Live Like We’re Dying, which has sold over 1M copies, and was at Top 10 Top 40 hit.

I was really hoping for Alright With Me as his next single. It’s catchy, upbeat and seems a good fit for pop radio. Plus, it’s been used on the Ford commercials that have run during Idol and some other programming. People are already familiar with it.

LISTEN

American Idol 9: Lady Antebellum, Rascal Flatts and Shakira to Perform on Top 6 Results Show

So, we all know that it will be Shania Twain week on American Idol and although the contestants will tackle her catalogue, it's safe to assume that this week is this season's country week.

Rascal Flatts will perform their single, Unstoppable, and Shakira will sing Gypsy. The Lady Antebellum performance of  I Need You Now,  taped last week will also be part of Wednesday’s results show.

Ok. I love Lady Antebellum and, to some extent, Rascal Flatts. But Shakira? That's random as hell! It's like, "Let's get country stars to perform on the week of Shania Twain! Oh yeah, let's not forget... Shakira!"  Haha. And why isn't Shania performing? Weird. Oh well.

American Idol: Who Sang It Better - Inspirational Face-Off!

First, it was The Beatles Face-Off, and then followed by Elvis Presley Face-Off. Now, it's time to go Inspirational this week.

Featured Theme: Inspirational

In the strongest possible terms, the American Idol judges’ panel has insisted that “song choice, song choice, song choice” is the most critical decision a contestant can make. And week after week, most Idol hopefuls seem to get it completely wrong, and it could be due to the fact that they keep picking the same old overplayed songs.

Now, after numbing our ears year after year with the same predictable tunes, I think it's time to embrace that sad fact and just decide, which had the best version of the songs.

Videos and Poll after the jump!!

Anwar Robinson (Season 4)


Katharine McPhee (Season 5)


Aaron Kelly (Season 9)

David Archuleta (Season 7)


Siobhan Magnus (Season 9)

AMERICAN IDOL COUNTDOWN: 20 Best 'Idol' Music Video

American Idol as a TV show is about as successful as one can get, but people might not realize how big the empire is! If one considers its musical track record, it is pretty impressive. Since the show started, there have been more than 200 songs by Idol alums to hit the Billboard Hot 100 singles chart. David Cook even had 11 songs in one week after his coronation.

Now, these hit singles are mostly accompanied by music videos that - to some extent - contribute to its success. I took into account chart toppers and threw in a couple of personal favorites to bring you my list of the Best American Idol Music Videos.

My methods aren't scientific, but I do take things like over-cuteness and gorgeousness into account. Ha!

Here's my list of the 20 Best American Idol Music Videos!

20  Feels Like Tonight - Chris Daughtry
Obviously, all of his music videos are the usual generic band production. This video, however, is quite refreshing. His band is still there playing the instruments but the overall concept is intact with the song.

19 A Little Too Not Over You - David Archuleta
Adorable video! I like the idea of the video and the collage of pictures is too cute to ignore. I'm also quite surprised about how intense he looks on the video.

18 Radio Radio - Brooke White
This music video is just perfect for the breezy, country-tinged single. I think she looks exquisite and I like the retro-singer/songwriter look of this video. It just feels so light and happy. I like it.

17 Let's Just Fall In Love Again - Jason Castro 
What a fun music video! I heard this song before and the light tune combined with this feel good video made me a fan. That was really adorkable! Haha.

16 Battlefield - Jordin Sparks
Yes. The concept is simple but it is, without a doubt, visually stunning. I think the second half is very powerful. It is kind of cool to see how much her confidence and performance skills have grown since then. And she looks amazingly beautiful in this video.

15 Come Back To Me - David Cook
By any means, this concept isn't original but it's not just a random cool backwards sh*t for the sake of cool backwards sh*t. It actually makes sense artistically and conceptually. And the difficulty level of making this video requires due props.

14 For Your Entertainment - Adam Lambert
This video looks edgy with a smile. Haha. I'm a bit baffled with this guy as I'm not generally a fan of his but this video has that perfect mix of sex and playfulness. See, now THAT is what he should've done on the AMAs.

13 Hood Boy - Fantasia Barrino
She goes full-diva in this video. I love it! Really. This video is awesome. The song. The voice. The lighting. The set pieces. Everything looks so dope.

12 Friday I'll Be Over U - Allison Iraheta
Colorful. Fun. '80s homage. This video pretty much indicates exactly to whom she is going to be marketed and I think it is very very appropriate. She will be a breath of fresh air for the tween/teen set and will be more real than the Disney girls they are used to.

11 Before He Cheats - Carrie Underwood
Bad A*s Country Girl! This video made me appreciate her as an artist. I never really liked Carrie but the video and the song somehow made me consider her as someone relevant. I like the attitude and she didn't seem too manic and robotic in it.

10 Bury Me Alive - Carly Smithson (We Are The Fallen)
Carly is easily the hardest-rocking ex-Idol out there right now. Who would have imagined that while she was competing on Idol? This music video is creepy cool - it’s like a great Gothic drama. Who hasn’t had a nightmare about being buried alive or been in a smothering relationship you desperately needed to get out of?

09 No Air - Jordin Sparks
It's the duet that propelled Jordin to stardom. She collaborated here with Chris Brown in an effort to gain some publicity for both of them, which eventually became their biggest selling single to date. I think the chemistry is palpable and the emotion is just achingly good. I seriously can't get enough of this music video.  

08 Whataya Want From Me - Adam Lambert
Now, this is the Adam that I love. He is appropriately angsty, the cinematography is beautiful and the styling is awesome. He is SO much prettier without all that make-up on his face. Really nice.

07 SOS [Let The Music Play] - Jordin Sparks
If only Jordin could really dance well, I think she can give Beyonce a run for her money. Seriously. She proves here that she can be a music bombshell - for lack of a better term. She looks FIERCE in this video - channeling her own Sasha in that gold dress. Sexy.

06 Behind These Hazel Eyes - Kelly Clarkson
Kelly Clarkson in mud? Interesting. Though the story seems to come out at the later part of the video, the whole idea is pretty strong. The concept resonates her as an artist with an edge. It is less formulaic and darker than her other videos even though it has the same relationship-y theme.

05 Love Story - Katharine McPhee
She does her best Beyonce impression and looks super hot in this video. She has the diva strut down to an art as she stomps around in a sparkly and sexy yellow dress. The dance moves also look quite sharp. Fun. Funky. Infectious.

04 Temporary Home - Carrie Underwood
I dare you to get through this video without shedding a tear or two. Enough said.
 

03 Live Like We're Dying - Kris Allen
It has a cool, futuristic look and much of the imagery is interesting. I think the visuals are stark and beautiful, but not so obtrusive that they distract from the lyrics. I am also glad that they showed him on the piano. Very very nice video.

02 Because Of You - Kelly Clarkson
I don't know why but I usually gravitate on emotional music videos and this one is no different. This, to me, is such a powerful video with an authentic raw emotion from Kelly Clarkson. The premise is simple but it is just heartbreaking and it gets to me every single time.

01 Just A Dream - Carrie Underwood
Goosebumps!!! Never fails to give me chills! Very emotional video. I think this song reminds us what we need to be thankful for. This is one of the saddest song and video I've ever seen and heard. This video convinced me that Underwood is not only a great singer but she interprets songs that make you stop breathing. This video proves that.