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Pink’s latest release “Sober” is off her fifth cd “Funhouse.” This is her second release off the album and it is one of her best piece of work. Pink manages to dig deep into her emotions and bring out pure brilliance on paper and in music. She delivers a song that effects many and is highly relateable to those struggling with their issues. Many turn to alcohol to get rid of their problems but how they choose to deal with it is an inevitable question.

“Sober” has an unusual video to go along with it. I don’t care for it much. It takes you through party scenes and an a large amount of drinking. People are passed out as she wonders what she is going to do when she wakes up feeling horrible again. One particular scene is confusing to me as she seems to be making out with herself. But that is Pink’s way of expressing herself. I can’t relate to this video or really understand it.

Listen to the song though. It will be played on the radio quite often and it is probably Pink’s next big hit.

Alter Bridge’s “Watching Over You” is a soft rock song that is used for the theme song to Celebrity Rehab 2 show. I never heard of the group Alter Bridge, but this new song is rather good. The lead singer looks like Kevin Bacon if he stayed out of the sun for a while and with long hair. The group came together in 2004 and has now made a name for themselves with this second release off their second album, “Blackbird”.

Thanks to reality tv this band has managed to be heard. There was a bit of confusion if they would be more rock or pop. The simple fact is they are effective in both genres so why not play it on both kind of radio stations. They are good and deserved to be heard. Check it out if you can. Doubt you will hear much of them on the radio but you can hear their music on the internet. Their name Alter Bridge and the song is “Watching Over You”. The video is also good and has clips from the reality show Celebrity Rehab.

The 2008 American Music Awards had a variety of singers performers and seemed to lack variety on the awards. Christina Aguilera opened the show with a 7 medley 7 minute performance. I love Christina but I really expected more from her with this. I thought she spent too much time trying to change outfits or change up the one she had on. She didn’t sing as much as she could have and spent most of the tunes yelling out yeah or oooh while the back up singers and back up recording played. Disappointing is the best way to describe her performance.

My favorite performance was from Pink with “Sober”. I haven’t heard that song yet but I was very impressed with her. I thought she was the best performance of the night. She later performed a duet with Sarah McLachlin. Beyonce danced more than sang “Single Ladies” and she seems more interested in trying to flip her hair and bounce around. A real artist doesn’t have to jiggle all over the stage in order to impress the viewers. Enough already. The Jonas Brothers were outplayed by the music. They squeaked and sang out of tune and the girls still screamed. What’s up with that? I really don’t like the idea that the media continues to try to compare these boys to the Beatles and the hysteria that surrounds the group. That’s complete crap. The brothers even went as far as wearing the same material and same colored suits as the Beatles wore in their performances. These boys need to realize they are not even close to such brilliance as the Beatles. They never will be. Bad move by the publicist.

Mariah Carey made an appearance and performed a dull song. She could have done better than that. After all, it is an award show not the Mariah hour. Pussycat Dolls were funny. I enjoyed watching all the girls trying to dance on the poles as one girl couldn’t remove her jacket and others faltered on their moves. If they were going to be creative they should have had the poles lift up above the stage. At least that would give something for the audience to look at. They rely a lot on their wardrobe opposed to their singing ability. Apparently they had a recording backing them up as they struggled from one position to another. Shame on them. They could also do better. I have seen their performance of “When I grow Up” on another show and it was extremely entertaining.

New Kids on the Block made the show for me. I am so glad to see them together again. I saw them many years ago perform on the AMA’s and the Grammys and fell in love with these entertainers. They aren’t the greatest singers but they do entertain. It isn’t all about the singing and it isn’t all about the dancing. It is about the connection the artist has with their fans. Loved it.

Other performers consisted of Annie Lennox (who achieved the Lifetime Achievement Award), Cold Play, Leona Lewis, Miley Cyrus, Taylor Swift, Ne-Yo, Kany West among others. I was very impressed with the list of singers this year. Even though many critics feel as though this year’s AMA’s wasn’t as vibrant as in past years I must say this years list of entertainers were great. I love variety and the award show offered something for everyone. They had hip hop, rap, pop, and rock. Previous years were very disappointing with all of the hip hop artists that performed. It got real old fast.

Rihanna also performed and won several awards. I have become a fan after her last album and I wasn’t happy that she performed “Rehab” which I feel is one of the worst songs from the album. She was surrounded in scaffolding and it served no purpose. Since Justin Timberlake came out a few minutes before handing out the award to Annie Lennox, I thought he would show up with Rihanna since he does have a bit part on the song, but he didn’t. I would really rather see JC Chasez come out as opposed to Justin anyway. JT is getting old and I am quite frankly tired of seeing him.

Overall, the American Music Awards was good. I wish they offered more variety in awards. Most definitely they need a better host next year. Jimmy Kimmel is simply annoying and not funny. Chris Rock would be great in this venue or Ross the intern from the Tonight Show. Kimmel tries too hard to be funny and turns to insults in order to get any laughs.

“Light On” is American Idol winner David Cook’s first single. This song has a beautiful melody and chorus. It resembles Daughtry however. Can’t help comparing since their voices tend to be alike and they both hit those high notes with such power. Chris Daughtry and David Cook could sing without music and you could swear you would hear music. Their voices are just so powerful and musical.

Cook’s debut album is self-titled and “Light On” is its first release. It will be a great hit for Cook. The video is choreographed well with the song. Very simple yet effective. I guess this will one cd that I will buying for Christmas. When David was on American Idol (season 7) I was routing for the runner up David Archuleta. I know Archuleta is making a name for himself as well, but mostly with a younger crowd while Cook will manage to be effective to all ages and I am impressed his first release. Well done. He just look really bad in the cover for the song shown above this article.

The Reeker is supposed to be a horror film. It is a simple, low budget film about five college age people that are traveling together to another state. I saw this movie on cable was just so happened to come across it. I am glad I watched it. The typical scare was used of being stranded in a deserted place. The young adults end up running out of gas after kicking out one of the passengers since they were becoming annoying to the driver. They stop at a gas station and diner to only find out that everyone has disappeared and they can’t seem to get any reception from their cellphones or payphones. Nothing came out clear on the radio either. Eventually death comes along and begins killing one by one off leaving two behind. One mysterious man continues to appear and disappear throughout.

The end of the film explained why everyone had disappeared and why they couldn’t get any help. It also explained where the idea of death came from as well as the mysterious man. This plot should have given M Night Shamylan something to look at when considering the ending to his last film “The Happening.”

For a good scare and for good fun watch “The Reeker”. You will be entertained and love the ending. Don’t expect any real blood and guts in this film. There are a few gross scenes but nothing horrific as some may anticipate.

George Clooney starred and directed in “Leatherheads”. It was released in April of this year with luke warm success. I recently rented it and enjoyed the film’s humor and setting. Renee Zellweger portrayed a reporter that every man seemed to desire. I don’t know why every man had to desire Renee since she looks as though she is sucking on a lemon all of the time and a prettier actress could have been chosen. Yet, Renee is a great actress and aside from all of the ridiculous admiration she continued to receive throughout the movie she did the film justice.

Clooney portrayed an older football player. The setting was the 20’s before football had rules and before football was considered a real sport. The story was based around a high shool football hero who decides to become professional when offered a lot of money. Since his popularity as a war hero and great football player made the guy so well known across the country, many came to see him play pro football. Then a football commisioner comes in and decides to change things up by making rules and penalizing or fining those who didn’t listen to him.

The music and mood of the film was wonderful. Clooney manipulates the audience with his direction to make you become a part of their lives. He brings you into the characters and care about them. This film has plenty of humor and simply enjoyable to watch. Check it out if you have the time.

The Promotion was released this year during the summer.The film stars John C. Reilly (Talladega Nights, Step-Brothers) and Seann William Scott (Mr Woodcock, the Dukes of Hazzard). I rented the film once I saw Reilly and Scott was in it together. I thought how can this film go wrong? These two actors are hilarious when given the right script. Well, The Promotion was ok. It seemed to not have a climax. Every story has to have a climax. This film didn’t.

The story line follows Scott who portrays Doug an assistant manager of a supermarket. He desires to become a manager of the new opening of the same store at another location. Then Reilly suddenly gets hired as another assistant manager and desires the same thing as his co-worker. They build a friendship until they realize that one another are applying for the same position. Then they try to sabatoge each other.

The movie went at the same pace throughout and there was absolutely no action. It is great for television but not for theatres. If you are fan of Scott and Reilly then see The Promotion. If you are not a fan I wouldn’t waste my time. The acting was good but the directing lacked keeping the viewers attention. The screenplay should have also been better. It can be rather dull to many which may have been the reason why I didn’t hear about it when it was released.

Rihanna releases a new single entitled “Rehab” which is the 8th release from her third album “Good Girl Gone Bad.” The single was written by Justin Timberlake, Timbaland and Hannon Lane. I am surprised it took three people to come up with this song. It is rather boring, but I imagine those dealing with their boyfriend or girlfriend always threatening to leave if they don’t have things their way will be able to relate to the song. I didn’t enjoy it very much.

the tempo and chorus is very similar to Rihanna’s past work, but this song is particularly dull. I wasn’t a fan of Rihanna’s first two cd’s, but this one really changed how I felt about her music. She released a number of great hits including “Take a Bow” and “Disturbia,” but “Rehab” seems like a duller version of her past hits. She needs to keep changing it up and not get too comfortable. This was the mistake Beyonce made. Even though they continue to make money, they will not be considered real artists if they don’t change things up and make things their own. Why do you think Madonna has been so respected in the music industry? Rihanna is perfectly capable of being a great artist, but “Rehab” is a very poor example of what she’s capable of. I feel cheated.

In the video to “Rehab” Rihanna spends most of the time in different skimpy outfits accessorized with long earrings and high heels. Justin Timberlake portrays her boyfriend, but spends most of the time just glaring at her and trying to act tough. I can never see Justin as tough. He has to be an acceptional actor to pull that one off.

Juno star Ellen Page. The film came out in 2007 and I just recently was able to see it. This is one of the most well-written screenplays I have seen in a long time. The plot surrounds a girl (Page) who becomes pregnant while in high school. She decides to give her baby up for adoption by a wealthy couple.

In the meantime the film progresses by showing her family and simple they are. It emphasizes how good the girl has it at home and how pregnancy doesn’t have to come from a teenager who is having troubles at home. It is something that can simply happen. The dialogue is incredibly sarcastic and funny.

Ellen Page is one of the better younger actresses we have around. She deserved her Oscar nomination. The film deserved its Oscar nomination as well. I don’t understand why Juno didn’t win one of the two nominations. Page certainly deserved her Oscar. Great film.

“If I were a Boy” is the latest single from Beyonce. It is a concurrent release from her third solo cd “I am…Sasha Fierce”. I really like this song. I didn’t anticipate to like it since Beyonce has managed to turn out some stupid songs lately. She is a great singer but has fell into the wrap of selling what sells. What I mean by this is that she has had a hit single and made sure that the ones that followed sounded exactly like it. “If I were a Boy” is different and shows off her voice. It tells a beautiful story about a woman whose man is cheating on her and if she was more like a man she would be more understanding to her feelings.

The video is shot in black and white. It turns the table on the man and shows the woman being flirtateous while the man gets jealous. Near the end of the video it changes back to reality where the man is the one that is being this way and she is hurt since he doesn’t seem to understand what she if feeling. The funny thing is, guys that are flirting and pushing their limits don’t really care how the woman feels. There are women that do the same thing too. There just needs to be love, not lust or someone to do, otherwise this kind of stuff will happen.

“If I were a Boy” is well-written and very well sung by Beyonce. If you have a chance listen to it. You can find it online, probably you tube and vh1 music.