# 1: Jordan Pruitt - Unconditional

I've had an extremely hard time choosing my favorite song of 2008, mainly because there were so many amazing releases this year, as the countdown proves.

But I've made my decision, and I know I picked the right song.

Jordan Pruitt, I think, is one of the most underrated Disney artists. Even if she is kind of unnoticed by the general music-buying public, she's one of the few artists Disney has gotten spot on this year.

I always say that the transition from first to second album is the hardest part of any singer's career, because it will reveal if you were really being you during your first album or you were being controlled by your record company. Vanessa and Miley failed miserably for their sophomore releases but Jordan made it look so effortless, so easy.

Of course, she had to have an all-star cast of songwriters to help her, and she definitely got that.

The lead single was co-written by a woman who'd written two of the most amazing pop songs ever made, Christina Aguilera's Come On Over and What A Girl Wants. Could it get better than that? Of course it could.

A swedish guy called Savan Kotecha also did some stuff on her album. This guy is amazing when it comes to writing pop songs, he wrote two of the best Westlife songs ever, Amazing and Something Right, he practically wrote Shayne Ward's second album and he did some stuff for Celine Dion as well.

Can you imagine? The same guy who'd worked with all these huge artists worked with Jordan Pruitt this year. The product was amazing, he wrote another of my favorite tracks on the album, My Shoes.

Because of how hard it is on Jordan and songwriters and producers to make a sophomore album, I wasn't expecting a song as gorgeous as Unconditional to appear on the album, but it did.

If I was to choose the most beautiful melody this year, it would be this one. Above all the number one singles, the seasoned artists, the amazing performers and the beautiful voices, a song's melody is what made me so into music. How the notes intertwine with each other and make something so gorgeous just baffles me up to this day, and Unconditional just makes me want to cry.

I'm not kidding. When I hear this song, it just makes me want to burst out into tears.

Gar, I'm getting toooooooo emotional. Unconditional is not just brilliant, it's stunning and it instantly made Jordan Pruitt one of my favorite artists of all time. 

Better than any other song this year, this is the song that really made me shut up and listen. Which is why I think it deserves to be my favorite song of the year.

Well, that's it for 2008. Everything that needed saying was said(although I did forget a few releases...noo!), and so we close this amazing year.

I hope you guys had fun reading about the best of the year, because this is the part where we say farewell to 2008 and hello to 2009, hopefully filled with even more amazing music(and a Westlife release!!! AAAHHH!)!

There's still the final 'What I Used to Listen To' post, but have a happy New Year everyone!

Jordan Pruitt - Permission To Fly

So back when I was at Pop Addicted!, I wrote a review for her album. So I thought, why make another one when my thoughts on the album are still pretty much the same? I edited it a bit, but it's still practically the same. haha.. so here it is, it's crap but forgive me.

When I heard the first few tracks on the album, my first reaction was FINALLY, Disney got something right. Miley's album was a disappointment, never mind Vanessa's, that was horrid but this album is definitely WAY better than almost everything else Disney has released so far.

I listened back to Jordan's first album before I listened to this one and I just have one word to describe the shift from debut to sophomore release, effortless. Her first album was good, it showed off her range and what she could do but it was a bit juvenile. This album on the other hand, is more grown up, but not in the radical or confused way. Her music was and still is very well-defined, it's like a breath of fresh air after a few disasters and it's put Disney back in my good books.

Of course, there are a few tracks which I'm not a big fan of but I just have to say that the production team and everyone involved in the album very clearly gave every single track an enormous amount of attention and thought so yeah.

I absolutely hate her version of The Way You Do The Things You Do, I just don't like the song at all but one thing I can commend is the fact that she gave her best shot and it fits very well with the album, something I'm very peculiar about as you may know. I've got to admit, I'm a bit disappointed with the title track, I was expecting something drop-dead gorgeous. Even if it's not what I expected it to be, it's a nice song and it fits very well with the rest of the album so yeah.

It was extremely hard for me to pick the best tracks on the album because I love most of the track but I guess I'll have to but I'll divide them into two groups, the favorite tracks and the absolutely DROP-DEAD GORGEOUS ones that deserve awards(haha..). 'Simple Things' is a track that I love, but there are better songs on the album. Still, it's a track to watch out for, the melody is cute!

There are four absolutely drop-dead gorgeous tracks for me. 

In Love For A Day starts out so-so but once the chorus hits, it just gets amazing, and it's very Jordan down to the last note. I'm Gone has a killer hook, very catchy but the melody is also amazing, the perfect combination for a song. I Wanna Go Back is also an amazing song, from the very start you start singing along to it, at least I did! 

The most brilliant, stunning and amazing track on the album though is 'Unconditional', everything about that song just leaves me speechless, the song is amazing, the melody and it's very, VERY Jordan, it could've been on either album and still fit in.

Rating: 5/5!

It's also number 8 on my top ten albums of 2008! Hurrah!

My Christmas Playlist!

I can't believe Christmas is in TWELVE days! To help you get into the festive season even more, here are some of my favorite pop-ified Christmas songs!

• Carrie Underwood's Hark! The Herald Angels Sing is an amazing song, and it reminds me of Christmas Eve, when we go to church with the whole family and eat and eat and eat! I don't know why, though.
• Blue's Gift is exactly how I imaged a Blue Christmas song to be, R&B. I don't know if it's really a Christmas song, but it sure seems like it! Melodically it's amazing, though it doesn't really feel as Christmassy as the others.
• I've always found Last Christmas to be really cheesy and all, but Britt Nicole's version completely changes that. It's rock-y in her usual style but for some strange reason, it still feels even a bit like Christmas to me. That plus the fact that her vocals are on top condition here!
• Boybands are known for their acapella work(Westlife and Boyz II Men especially..), so it's no surprise that *NSYNC would have an acapella Christmas song. Their version of O Holy Night really, REALLY feels Christmassy, I LOVE it!
• The first time I heard Merry Christmas Everybody sang was during the Popworld Christmas special with Westlife. A few weeks later, I heard the Girls Aloud version, and it caught my ear. It sounds like something that would be playing in a mall, and it gets me nostalgic, since malls are packed during December and I'm frantically looking for gifts.
• I keep on hearing 98°'s This Gift in malls and stores this year for some strange reason. The song's beautiful though, the melody and what seems to be a harmony during the chorus just feels like Christmas to me.
• Yes, Westlife did a version of White Christmas. Don't blame them, they'd just finished their rat-pack album and it seems like it rubbed off on them. Correct me if I'm wrong but this was the b-side to When You Tell Me That You Love Me. Actually, I don't think Westlife's the correct artist for this, it's got to be Shane Filan. Seriously, he's the only one singing! Still, this has got to be the song that feels like Christmas the most, if I was to choose(biases aside.)
• Last year, Josh Groban's Christmas album Noel was a gigantic hit and with that, I found probably the best original(within the 2000's) pop Christmas song, Thankful. The melody's gorgeous, and his voice is in top shape.
• Keke Palmer has a gorgeous voice for what she usually sings, but I never knew she'd have a gorgeous voice for Christmas songs as well! Home For The Holidays was on Disney Channel Holiday, and the way the R&B-ness of Keke was mixed with the holiday elements was pure genius. It's catchy yet it showcases her voice. Brilliant!
• Lastly, a song from Jordan Pruitt. Also from Disney Channel Holiday, Santa Don't Stop is a very fun song that's consistent with Jordan's musical direction yet it's clearly a Christmas song.

As a sort of 'gift' to you guys(corny, much?), I've put up a download link to the playlist! It'll be up for 2 DAYS only. Enjoy!

My Christmas Playlist!