Back to normal.

So I'm sitting here in front of the computer after a 13-hour day that started at 6-ish AM with a horrendously hot and uncomfortable flag ceremony in an impossibly small and crowded function hall. For the rest of the morning all the way up to lunch time I had a nagging headache that was throbbing so hard the pain was excruciating. Then after a boring PE class about the history of volleyball I had an absolutely torturous drafting class that involved me drawing all these messy lines in the strangest places followed by a fun journalism class - the only problem was that I have to work with the girl who ruined my freshman year, turned my life upside down and made me swear to beat her at everything she ever loves and wants to do as revenge (which is pretty much writing - I can easily cream her at that.) for the rest of the semester. Probably the best part of my day was when during choir rehearsal we were given this song that made me want to faint while I was singing the melody.

That was my day. Phew.

The point is, I thought I'd unwind first before attacking the mountains of homework I have yet to even start (and a spanking new textbook with the plastic still on.) because it's not use trying to study when I'm this tired. I even drank like two bottles of tea!

So anyway, here's what has happened during my 'lock myself into KPOP mode for the next month' phase that I didn't even bother to mention. I guess this is a long overdue new music post.

• First thing's first. Towards the end of May(iTunes tells me May 27..) I come across a new Pixie Lott song that was probably the most beautiful one out of her current repertoire - Without You. It's a melodic piano riff-based R&B mid tempo but the melody and Pixie's voice make everything that says this is just another one of those songs seem irrelevant. Gorgeous middle 8 as well. YAY.
• I do love Iceland's Eurovision song - it's so nice for lack of a better term. I have the girl's album but I haven't had the chance to listen to it yet. I'll make time over the weekend, I promise.
• I'm slowly falling into the Kristina DeBarge bandwagon. I've never actually heard the first song that came to attention over the blogs but I do love Powerless, it's so much like Battlefield but not in a really good way.
• Ashley Tisdale. Ashley, Ashley, Ashley. I've heard her new album in full and I'm not impressed at all. There's probably one or two songs worth listening to but nothing that'll make me adore her for as long as I live for that one song. These HSM sophomore albums are really disappointing me - first Vanessa with the horrid excuse for a song that was Sneakernight then Corbin with a boring album and now Ashley with no brilliant songs. I still think Headstrong was and still is the best HSM alumni album EVERRRR.
• My beloved Karina leaked a new song - Love Is. I do love this song but she should really get the attention she deserves, she's so freakin' talented and her songs are like really, really, really brilliant. I cannot wait for her second release - if she does get one.
• Really late but I just found ex-Clique Girlz(What's happened to them? I haven't heard anything new.) member Ariel's solo song and it's not bad at all. Not what I was expecting from her but this is certainly better than anything I'd imagine she'd do. It's a gorgeous song but the verses need a little tweaking - over time the chorus has a tendency to be too sharp on the ear but other than that, it's good.
• Oh yes, The Black Eyed Peas(are they still number one?). They were the gigantically legendary group here when I knew nothing about music and only knew what I was being fed over the news and stuff like that - not a very good time for me. Not that I've developed my own tastes in music I'm not so much for them anymore. I despise rap, remember? They're not bad, they make great music if you take the technical and musical aspects but the music just doesn't appeal to me.
• I tweeted this a few days back but I just discovered recently that Usher has a protege. He's Canadian and FOURTEEN. When I heard that I was like 'you have got to be kidding me'. Another one of those YouTube sensations (although he kinda murdered Elliot Yamin's Wait For You) and if controlled a bit the boy can sing. What's more, he sounds his age! Hurrah. I love the song - it's so, so, YEAH.
• One of the songs that really moved me during the special but I didn't have the time to write about was Britt Nicole's The Lost Get Found. I don't know if I discovered it late or something but I absolutely adore it to the point that it was all I'd listen to for a whole afternoon while writing up posts and making homework. This was one of the songs that moved me partially because of the lyrics but more because the melody is insanely brilliant. It's honestly become one of my I'm in a bad mood so I need some cheering up and inspiring songs.
• I've said on a few comment sections that the new Mariah song has not impressed me. I've heard this all before, the auto tune, the melody - it didn't move me.
• I honestly can't believe I didn't bother listening to Girls Can't Catch earlier - I LOVE Keep Your Head Up. It makes me think of Up but it doesn't completely sound like it. Dammit. WHY make songs this brilliant? WHY?! Hahah.

I'm exhausted even after drinking tons of caffeine - I'll just go to bed now and do my homework tomorrow morning. I'm a delinquent student when it comes to geometry, algebra, chemistry, history and pretty much anything that doesn't have to do with English and writing. Hahah. Good night guys!

# 70: Mariah Carey - I'll Be Loving You Long Time

Mariah Carey.

We all know she has a high voice and she can sing all these massively difficult songs that she made herself, but I just adore this song, and I think it's brilliant.

Her vocals are not as thin on this song, and the chorus is massively catchy. That plus the fact that the song is just amazing, the melody's so freakin' catchy that I could hum the chorus after maybe two listens.

Now that is part of the formula for the perfect pop song. Can people sing along to it on the street and will they be able to keep it stuck in their heads long enough to buy the single?

That's the case with this song, and that's why it's one of my favorite songs of the year.

New Music!

What's been going on these past few days? Quite a lot, actually.

• The new Christina Aguilera album is out, but the only track I'm really addicted to is Keeps Gettin' Better. Oh well.
• The new Hilary Duff album is out as well, and I'm seriously loving Holiday! It's the perfect combination of her old, teen pop sound and her new dance sound(ala-Dignity). Brilliant! Plus, the melody's just amazing, so that's an even bigger plus!
• The new Beyonce album is also out, and it includes a track called Halo. Simon Cowell wanted it for Leona Lewis, but she was too busy to record it. The song sounds very generic, any R&B artist can sing it, but I can't imagine Leona singing it. There are some parts in Beyonce's vocal that I hear hints of JoJo in it, and the song would really, really fit JoJo's voice. Maybe she can record something that sounds like Halo for her new album?
• It's Mariah week on The X Factor. I wonder how Daniel will murder another song for the fifth week in a row and not get eliminated. I'm excited to see what JLS and Rachel did, but Diana couldn't perform! I hope she gets well soon, but she did get in to next weeks show, which is good! Eep!
• WHEN will I ever get to hear the new Same Difference single in full? It's driving me nuts!
• Archuleta's album is out as well. I don't like it, but I don't hate it. Sounds like a pathetic excuse for an album. Seriously? Right now I'm confused as to who Archuleta really is as a singer. I loved him during the early stages of AI, so why didn't I hear anything like that on his album? I wonder how Cook's album turns out.
• Well, Taylor Swift's new album is out this week! I'll be continuing The Countdown to Fearless sometime today or tomorrow. I've got homework! Gar.
• There's a new Deluxe Edition of Alicia Keys' album, but I haven't had the chance to listen to the new tracks yet. Will do in the next few days..
• Strange. The Popjustice X Factor Playsheet hasn't been posted yet, and the show already aired. I wonder why.. 
• It's been out for ages already(I've seen it like a million times..), but the trailer for Westlife's new DVD(shot in front of 80 THOUSAND PEOPLE! Practically the pinnacle of their career) is amazing! Out on November 24! Eep!

• I've adored Bayje since I heard about her(can you believe I actually thought this was a JoJo song? That's what one of my favorite blogs said..), and I really, really adore this song! Have I mentioned that it's got a brilliant middle-8? Brilliant, sounds very Ne-yo - ish with a JoJo edge.

New Music!

School for me's starting tomorrow, so let's recap on stuff that's come out since the last post!

• A new Taylor Swift song just came out, and it's confirmed my thoughts, Taylor Swift is going to wow us with her second album. If we all thought her first album was amazing, this one's looking to be mind-blowing!
• Why has almost everyone in the blogging world heard the new Same Difference single in full? WHY? I'll wait, but beware, I'm not that patient!
• New Hannah Montana songs have been circulating, and I absolutely loathe them. She's trying to do something she can't, mix country with Britney-like pop. I know that kind of pop is popular now, but look at Taylor Swift! Hannah/Miley has forgotten how she became popular in the first place, nice, catchy, distinctly Disney songs. Oh, well. Let's hope there's at least one good song on the soundtrack.
• Sara Bareilles has a new live album. I'm loving it! Obviously, I adore the songs! Some new songs were included, and I'm once again loving them!
• Not directly related to music, but Kian Egan from Westlife, Anthony Costa from Blue, Kenzie from Blazin' Squad, some guy from East 17, Jenny Frost from Atomic Kitten, Mutya Buena from the Sugababes, A girl from All Saints and someone from this 80's girl band were all on Alan Carr's Celebrity Ding Dong. I love the part when Ant and Coleen mimed Flying Without Wings in mid-air! Plus the fact that Kian was there(eep!).
• A new Corbin Bleu song's out. It's an OK song, but it's slowly growing on me.
• I'm loving Amy Diamond's Music In Motion. Seriously! I might review it later in the week if I have the time..
• Natalie Bassingthwaighte's new single, Alive is amazing! I wonder if her album will be any good..
  
• Not so hot about this week's episode of Britannia High, but it might get better later in the series. No particular songs that I'm loving, and the dance routine in the canteen was all too predictable. But Nicola and Kimberly(GA!)'s visit was nice. But Danny(is it Danny?) screwed the whole thing up. Gar.
• Mariah Carey has a new song, but I haven't heard it yet. Downloading at the moment, so it'll take a few minutes. Will edit the post when I've listened to it already. EDIT: I don't like the song. It's a ballad, but the melody just doesn't cut it for me. Plus it reminds me a bit of When You Believe or some Spanish-like song(Westlife's I Cry? something like that..)
• The video for David Cook's Light On is out. It's a generic video, with clips of the story and Cook singing, nothing special. The song is OK, but I expected more from Cook. I adored him on AI so what happened to that guy? Right. He got controlled by a bunch of record company executives who know nothing about music!

• Darin has a new single out, and the video premiered sometime last week. The song is nice, I haven't listened to it enough to say it's amazing, but I like it.

What to expect this week:

• MAYBE a review of Amy Diamond's Music In Motion
• My very own countdown to Taylor Swift's Fearless, out next week!
• MAYBE a review of Sara Bareilles' new live album, Between The Lines: Live At The Fillmore
• Something to get us all into a Christmassy mood, maybe?

Mariah Carey - Bye Bye

Artist: Mariah Carey
Album: E=MC2
Year: 2008
Rating: 4.8/5

(Short post today, still got the flu..)

Why oh why do I always manage to predict post- album singles? Examples? Westlife, I loved 'Something Right' back in November and now it's a single. Leona Lewis, I loved 'Better in Time' AND 'Footprints in the Sand' when her album came out and now it's a single. Blake Lewis, I loved 'How Many Words' back when 'Break Anotha' was the single and now it's a single. Finally, when I got my hands on a Mariah album, I LOVE, LOVE, LOVED 'Bye Bye' and now it's been confirmed to be the second single! All these predictions are kinda freaking me out, maybe I CAN be an A&R person. Anyway..

I absolutely LOVED 'The Emancipation of Mimi', I remember back when 'It's Like That' was brand new and it was being shown on the local music channel during a time when I was just getting addicted to it, they used to play it three times a day at the exact same time(If I'm not mistaken it was 8 in the morning, 2 in the afternoon and 8 in the evening). Anyway, I loved all the singles off that album and eventually got the album itself. So, when I heard of another album this year, I immediately got my hands on one. I was not disappointed.

For me, 'Bye Bye' made the album. It's the perfect song and the melody is just amazing. I love how the song builds up and the start is just perfect. It's the perfect 'wave-hands-while-swaying' song, it can be the finale to a concert.

Want it? Buy the album when it hits stores on April 15.