BACKSTAGE AT THE 2009 ACMA’S

I’m writing this from the production office of this year’s ACMA’s at the MGM Grand Garden in Las Vegas. Today things are a bit more hectic than previous days this week, thanks to the crush of performers coming in for rehearsals before tomorrow night’s live show. Although things will never get too over the top, thanks to the calm and steady demeanor of Executive Producer RA Clark (known to everyone as RAC). Assisting him in keeping the mood light is Producer/Writer Barry Adelman, who is constantly cracking jokes and singing the most nonsensical lyrics he can think of in current pop songs (you wouldn’t believe how many times we’ve heard the words, “That’s not my name”).

For an excellent overview of the rehearsals, you can check out Whitney Pastorek’s reports at Entertainment Weekly’s website. But my vantage point is quite a bit different. While Whitney is writing about what’s going on in the arena, I’ve been spending time watching the performers booked for “George Strait: ACM Artist Of The Decade All Star Concert” working on their songs with the house band for the show. It’s been fascinating sitting a few feet away while Jack Ingram rocks up his song or Keith Urban shows off his skills on acoustic guitar. The funniest thing is while the area around the Grand Garden Arena is ringed with fans and autograph seekers, outside the hall where they’re coming in to rehearse for our show, it’s totally free of fans.

As you know, I did phone interviews with many of the performers on the George Strait show before I got to Las Vegas, but it’s much more fun to talk to the stars face to face and tell them things I’ve always wanted to share. For instance, I got to tell Faith Hill how much I enjoy her song “Paris” from the album “Butterflies,” even though I’ve never been all that sure what it was about. Faith said she wasn’t sure what it was about either, so I certainly felt good about that. Continuing with the compliments, I told Keith Urban how happy I was that he redid the song “Got It Right This Time (The Celebration)” on his “Greatest Hits” album. Previously, he had put a demo version on a previous album and while I liked the song, I still wanted a full-blown version, which I got on “Greatest Hits.”

But the most memorable moment was getting a surprise hug from Taylor Swift. Writer Fred Bronson had approached Taylor to show her the intro that she’ll give before her song. She was very happy with it and didn’t want to change a word. Fred reminded her that she had done a phone interview with me just a week ago, so much of what he had written were her words anyway. So Taylor came over to say hello and gave me a hug. Naturally I had her sign something for my friend’s daughter, who’s a big fan. And don’t think I forgot about myself, as I also had her sign the CD cover for her latest album, “Fearless.” So far I’ve also gotten autographs from Keith Urban, Dierks Bentley and Toby Keith, which probably makes me one of the most successful autograph hunters in the building. I was only stymied by Lee Ann Womack, as I didn’t have a CD cover along when she was rehearsing yesterday, something I was reminded of when she turned up in front of me when I was walking through the casino to my room this afternoon.

Okay, time to check out Tim and Faith rehearsing on the big stage!

WE ARE BACK… AGAIN!

Had another time-out on my internet access, thanks to moving. True, I only moved from one bedroom to the other in my apartment, but the loss of my roommate and his internet connection and the subsequent painting and carpet cleaning of the rooms made for quite a lot of trouble right here in Studio City!

But I’ve now got my world straightened out (well, I still have some stuff to put away and I haven’t started my search for a new roommate yet but at least now I have my own DSL line) and I have plenty to write about.

Right now I’m working as a researcher for another Dick Clark Productions show, following up my jobs last year on “The American Music Awards” and “New Year’s Rockin’ Eve.” This time I’m helping to put together tribute montages for the “George Strait: ACM Artist Of The Decade All Star Concert.” This should be a really fun show with the biggest names in country music (including Alan Jackson, Brooks & Dunn, LeAnn Rimes and Tim McGraw) paying tribute to George by performing their favorite George Strait songs. The All Star Concert will be held on April 6th at the MGM Grand in Las Vegas. That’s the night after the Academy Of Country Music Awards, enabling us to take advantage of the fact that all the country superstars will already be in town. I myself get to go to Vegas for a week, although I doubt I’m going to have any time to hang out by the pool…

I’m a big country music fan and so I’ve always wanted to work on a country music show, which isn’t so easy to do when you don’t live in Nashville. I still remember the night years ago at the American Music Awards when I was walking across the parking lot to the shuttle beside Garth Brooks and I didn’t say anything to him because I wasn’t a country music fan back then. I’ve always regretted that, so I’m happy to be getting the chance to talk to some of my country music faves. In fact, I’m getting to talk to many of them even before the show.

One of my jobs is to arrange and perform interviews with the singers to ask about their memories and affection for George Strait and his music so that the scriptwriter, my longtime colleague Fred Bronson, can use the information to make what the singers will say onstage more personal. So far I’ve done phone interviews with Blake Shelton (singer of my all-time favorite song, “Austin,” and don’t think I didn’t tell him that), Miranda Lambert and Eddie Montgomery of Montgomery Gentry. Every single one of them had great stories to tell, and with Taylor Swift and Kix Brooks of Brooks & Dunn calling me on Monday, I have a feeling the quality will remain high.

That’s it for now. More bulletins as events occur…

MY FAVORITE SONGS OF 2008

I’m currently working as a researcher on “Dick Clark’s New Year’s Rockin’ Eve.” As part of my work, I’m scanning the internet for “Best of 2008″ lists, and that reminded me to put together my own. First up, my favorite songs of 2008.

What fascinates me about this list is that in recent years, most of my faves have been songs I’ve heard on country radio. This year, just two of the songs have been country hits, and one of those was also a smash on the pop and rock charts (you’ll also notice that the only song among the ten that wasn’t a hit single is a country album cut). So 2008 goes down as the year when pop music came back!

Here’s the list:

1.  “Love Song” – Sara Bareilles

I think my first exposure to this song came when I saw the clever video late at night on VH-1, but it was hearing it on the radio that made me a fan. This wasn’t the only catchy song on her album either.

2.  “Tattoo” – Jordan Sparks

Love her vocal on this. Her duet with Chris Brown on “No Air” just missed out on making my top ten.

3.  “Bleeding Love” – Leona Lewis

I admit it… I didn’t think much of this song when I first heard it (which was before it started getting airplay in the U.S.). I thought the song was too simple. But it grew on me after I heard it a few times on the radio and after that, I never once grew bored with it even after months of saturation airplay.

4.  “Love Don’t Live Here” – Lady Antebellum

With Keith Urban’s new album yet to be released, I didn’t have one of his patented love ballads make it into my top ten this year. So this was my favorite country song of the year, a great rocker that’s perfect to sing along to in the car.

5.  “Better In Time” – Leona Lewis

Did I mention that Leona Lewis’ album “Spirit” was my favorite of the year? This is what Mariah and Whitney used to do: put out albums where every song is a killer, there’s plenty of diversity among the music and you can sing along to every one. Oh, and in a brief meeting with Leona at the American Music Awards, you could tell she was a real sweetheart.

6.  “Hot N Cold” – Katy Perry

Speaking of great female pop music, this artist is the closest thing we have to the glory days of Cyndi Lauper and the Bangles. Fun stuff!

7.  “The Time Of My Life” – David Cook

I liked this song the very first time I heard it, which was live at the Nokia Theater during the “American Idol” finale. But it was always a joy to hear it whenever it came on the radio.

8.  “Love Story” – Taylor Swift

While I enjoyed every single off of her debut album, I think she topped it with her new one. The sky’s the limit for her!

9.  “Very Last Country Song” – Sugarland

After Sugarland’s amazing release, “Stay,” last year, I had high hopes for their new album but found it to be a disappointment… until I heard this song at the end of their album. An ingenious lyric and a great vocal!

10. “All Summer Long” – Kid Rock

I might not have heard this song much here in L.A., but I heard it plenty on my annual visit to my hometown this summer. Perfect music for tooling down the country roads!

AMA’S 2008 – A REALLY BIG SHOW

I got downtown to the Nokia Theater at 3:45. After picking up my credentials, I immediately went out to the red carpet and stood behind the beautiful Nicole Scherzinger of Pussycat Dolls and watched her interview celeb after celeb (and if you happened to watch the pre-show, I’m proud to say I wrote many of the interview questions). Saw Taylor Swift, Jamie Foxx, Terrence Howard, Annie Lennox, Chris Brown, David Cook, David Archuleta, Natasha Bedingfield and Ne-Yo while standing there from 4:15 to 4:45 but the highlight was when Steven Tyler and Joe Perry of Aerosmith stepped up on the platform. It was like seeing royalty.

During the actual AMA’s, I hung out with Craig, a guy working party security (for about twenty years now, I’ve helped out with security for the after-party, usually confirming that celebrities without party tickets are actually who they say they are and are important enough to let in). Craig had one goal: to get a photo of himself with the Jonas Brothers to show his two young daughters. So we hung out outside the Jonas Brothers dressing room for a while. He snapped a photo of them with his phone when they went to the rest room, but they had a big bodyguard so he didn’t ask if they’d stop to take a photo with him, at least not then. Afterward, we went outside to wait for them after they finished their performance, figuring they’d be going directly to their limo. Hilariously, my friend went back into the building to use the rest room for a moment and a minute later, out came the Jonas Brothers. Fortunately a professional photographer had gotten the brothers to stop so he could snap a few shots. Craig came out a second later and the boys were nice enough to take a photo with him.

We may have been waiting for the Jonas Brothers, but it was the perfect vantage point as we also spotted such artists as Coldplay, Leona Lewis, Christina Aguilera, Mariah Carey, Brad Paisley, Rascal Flatts, Alicia Keys, Pink, Sarah McLachlan, Rihanna and Daughtry.

By 8:00, I was stationed at the entrance to the party to help out there. There were hardly any problems with people without tickets trying to lie their way into the party, although one guy did try to say he put his ticket down in the restroom and someone just happened to mark it with a Sharpie (obviously he had found a ticket someone had already used to get into the party). Probably a lot of the stars went through the VIP entrance as just one celeb came through to go to the party without a ticket: Carrie Ann Inaba, a judge on “Dancing With The Stars.” Jordin Sparks, who won “American Idol” two years ago also walked past us to get to her car in the parking garage.

After years of having a band play at the AMA after-party (one year Stevie Wonder even went up and did a song with them), last year they had a DJ for the first time. There was a DJ again this year and it seems like more people were dancing than ever. I saw the producer and the writers of the AMA’s at the party and they were all very happy with the show, even if it did ruyn three minutes over the allotted three hours…

BACKSTAGE AT THE 2008 AMA’S – DAY 2

Actually got up early enough to get down to the Nokia Theater by noon, in time to watch Alicia Keys run through her hit, “Superwoman.” Although the director announced Alicia’s rehearsal would be a closed set, all the chairs up front were filled by the time she started. Alicia wowed the audience with a little help from some special guests. I’ll just say who knew opera could be so funky…

Next up were two of the hottest teen acts around. First came the Jonas Brothers performing “Tonight.” While it was the first time I’d heard the song, it was very catchy. I couldn’t get it out of my head, at least until the next singer, Miley Cyrus, started her rehearsal of “Fly On The Wall.” Miley showed off some nice dance moves and rock star poses while running through her song. Actually, it’s lucky Miley got a chance to use the stage at all, considering how many fans went up onstage at the end of the Jonas Brothers’ rehearsal to try to get an autograph from one of the boys.

Otherwise, I made sure I met some of the record company publicists escorting the acts in my constant quest to arrange interviews for next year’s new edition of “The Billboard Book of Number One Hits.” I also got to meet singer Sheila E, who was picking up her credentials for the show tomorrow night and went out of her way to be friendly to everyone she met.

Check out the American Music Awards on ABC tomorrow night. I’ll be back with coverage of the red carpet, the show and the party soon after!

BACKSTAGE AT THE 2008 AMA’S

This Sunday night is the 2008 American Music Awards and if today’s rehearsals are any indication, it promises to be a great show!

I went down to the Nokia Theater in downtown L.A. this afternoon and immediately took a seat to watch the lovely Leona Lewis run through her great ballad, “Better In Time.” This is one singer who doesn’t need the Autotune, as she belted out each and every word with emotion, all the while maintaining her balance on an elevated platform. I couldn’t do it, and I don’t even wear heels!

Next up were the Pussycat Dolls, who drove a car onto the stage for their number. Listen for lead singer Nicole Scherzinger’s long-lasting held note on Sunday night’s show.

More simple but just as impressive was Sarah McLachlan who sung one of her beautiful hits, “Angel,” sitting at the piano in a duet with a special surprise guest.

The final artist to hit the stage was Pink, who will be performing her new single, “Sober,” on the show. This week I had a chance to listen to Pink’s latest album, “Funhouse,” and was impressed by the diversity of the songs, both musically as well as lyrically. Pink is a true artist.

In between performances, I got a chance to talk to David Archuleta, who will be presenting an award on Sunday night. David may be celebrating the high debut of his new album on the charts but is even more excited about another achievement. The singer just earned four more merit badges on his way to becoming an Eagle Scout. Now back when I was a Scout, I only made it to the rank right below Eagle, Life, and let me tell you, the requirements for Eagle are not easy. Not only do you have to earn 21 merit badges, but you have to complete a time consuming service project (David’s was planting trees in a park). So congratulations on this impressive achievement.

Of course, David being David, music is the love of his life, so rather than talk, he was much more interested in going into the theater and watching the other performers rehearse (it turns out he’s a fan of the Pussycat Dolls’ lastest hit, “I Hate This Part”).

Look for another AMA update tomorrow night!

BORN TO ROCK

I was very happy to see one of my musical favorites, Bruce Springsteen, was chosen as the halftime entertainment for the upcoming Super Bowl, especially since it will give me another chance to enjoy the band just months after I saw them play live!

Although I grew up in an area known for its early embrace of Springsteen’s music, I never paid attention until “Born To Run” made it to the radio in 1975 (can you believe that such a great anthem only made it to # 23?). After buying the album, it soon became one of my favorites, which drove my college roommate nuts because he hated Springsteen (or anyone with gravelly vocals like Bruce or Rod Stewart). While I had nothing to do with the endless streets Springsteen described (I had yet to even learn to drive), I loved his majestic music and propulsive rock. As the years went by, I continued to buy Springsteen’s albums and read every concert review in “Rolling Stone,” sad that I would never get a chance to see my hero because the tickets for Bruce’s stops in nearby Philly always disappeared so fast.

But I finally got a chance to see what all the fuss was about soon after I moved to California. Thanks to my job at dick clark productions, Sony Music offered me a ticket to Bruce’s show at the L.A. Sports Arena in 1984. Part of the “Born In The U.S.A.” tour, it was of course an excellent concert that went on and on, with a encore that included such rockers as “Do You Love Me, “Twist And Shout” and the band’s Detroit Medley. It was a show so good that when I went back to my car and found my radio had been stolen from the dashboard, I didn’t even care!

After seeing Bruce live, I pretty much said to myself I had seen it all, and in recent years, I’ve hardly gone to any concerts. But when I was visiting Pennsylvania in August, it turned out that Springsteen and the E Street Band was playing a stadium show in Hershey. It was a few days after my birthday and I couldn’t think of a better birthday treat. Amazingly, Bruce and the band hadn’t lost a step since 1984! Springsteen himself was a paragon of non-stop energy, spinning on the floor and dancing in the crowd, but what really amazed me was the performance of drummer Max Weinberg. The band played for three hours and ten minutes without an intermission, and since it was a summertime stadium show, the focus was on rockers. How hard was it for the Mighty Max to keep up a pounding beat for all that time? Rock and roll must truly keep you young!

One of the most interesting things about this tour was that fans brought  signs to request songs, the more obscure the better. That included covers the band hadn’t performed since their days on the Jersey shore and songs that had never even made it onto an album. Bruce pulled some signs from the crowd and ended up taking five of the suggestions. One song, “Part Man Part Monkey,” was a reggae track that Springsteen said the band didn’t even know! But that didn’t stop them from sounding just like the record, found on Springsteen’s box set of unreleased material, “Tracks.”

But the real highlight for me were the many songs from “Born To Run,” the album that first ignited my love affair with the music of Bruce Springsteen. In the encore alone, he played “Thunder Road, “Jungleland,” “Tenth Avenue Freeze-Out” and of course “Born To Run.”  I’m sure that come Super Bowl Sunday, 95 million people will feel the same way and sing “Tramps like us, baby, we were born to run”…

AMERICAN IDOL 7: TOP 2 ANALYSIS

Even though it doesn’t matter anymore what was sung, I still thought I should write this up so as to have a complete record of the season. Although after hearing many of the contestants this season say how they were annoyed with (as one of the Top Ten said) fat guys in their underwear with no life writing about them, I feel bad about being tough at times on the kids. Now that that’s going to stop me…

CLIVE’S CHOICES:

“I STILL HAVEN’T FOUND WHAT I’M LOOKING FOR” – David Cook

David has brought a bit of Bono to some of his earlier performances, so it was fitting he sing U-2. This didn’t show his smarts when it comes to arranging, as it hewed to the original, but it was still enjoyable.

“DON’T LET THE SUN GO DOWN ON ME” – David Archuleta

Nice touch starting the song sitting on the stage, which gave it a thoughtful feel. But Clay Aiken still owns this song, as it’s obvious David A. hasn’t lived the heartache of the lyric.

SONG CONTEST:

“DREAM BIG” – David Cook

Well, I’m glad they didn’t sing the same song. Unlike Mr. Cowell, I thought this was catchy with a good lyric. The key seemed a bit high for David, but it was fun.

“IN THIS MOMENT” – David Archuleta

I hated this song. It makes me want to vote against David A. just so “Dream Big” would get released! Let’s hope they put out “Angels” instead…

CONTESTANTS CHOICE:

“THE WORLD I KNOW” – David Cook

An O.K. performance, but I don’t know the song and it didn’t knock me out. But David C. has been saying he designed the season as a set list for one of his concerts, so this is a nice thoughtful encore.

“IMAGINE” – David Archuleta

Great tone, and another great performance. David A. wins the night… and I thought “American Idol.” But we all know how that turned out!

AMERICAN IDOL 7: TOP 3 ANALYSIS

Yes, one of them is on the brink of superstardom and that singer is David Archuleta. That doesn’t mean that David Cook won’t win the title though. Here’s what we got:

JUDGE’S CHOICE:

“AND SO IT GOES” - David Archuleta

This isn’t the most exciting song. David did the best that he could with it, but it’s no knockout punch.

“IF I AIN’T GOT YOU” – Syesha Mercado

Well, she can sing. She’s certainly up to the standard of R&B divadom, but doesn’t bring much imagination beyond that.

“THE FIRST TIME EVER I SAW YOUR FACE” – David Cook

For a guy who always rips the ladies for choosing a song originated by a man and vice versa, I thought it was funny for Simon to choose this song for David. Still, Simon had Leona Lewis record it for her album, and the song works just as well here. In fact, why don’t we crown him the “Amercian Idol” right now? As always, David brings more depth and more emotion to a song than any other singer this year.

CONTESTANT’S CHOICE:

“WITH YOU” – David Archuleta

David has been wanting to do something contemporary, and here it is. I thought David singing about little mamas and boos was hilarious, but his voice sounded great and shows that with the right song, he might make it onto Top 40 radio.

“FEVER” – Syesha Mercado

Again, this sounded great, but was more theatrical than emotional. Off to Broadway with you!

“DARE YOU TO MOVE” – David Cook

Slightly shaky vocally here and there, plus only being able to perform a verse and a chorus didn’t allow for much excitement to build. David’s a rocker, and that isn’t always fun.

PRODUCERS’ CHOICE

“LONGER” – David Archuleta

As usual, David sounds good, but could they have picked a more boring ballad?

“HIT ME UP” – Syesha Mercado

The Motown sound returns. This is not the kind of dramatic song she needed to put her in contention, but the funny thing is, her sound is the most likely of the three contestants to find a home on the radio.

“I DON’T WANT TO MISS A THING” – David Cook

The funny thing is, at one point over the course of the show, David Archuleta almost sang this, a song he often included in his pre-”Idol” performances. David is not too bad, but it’s chaos by the end.

 

 

AMERICAN IDOL 7: TOP 5 ANALYSIS

For an artist I wouldn’t name as one of my favorities, I sure have a lot of affection and respect for tonight’s mentor, Neil Diamond. I always put Neil at the top of my list when it comes to the best concert I ever saw (chronicled on his album, “Hot August Night 2″) and often pull out one of the three “Greatest Hits” albums I have. So of course, of the two songs I wanted to hear most tonight, “I’ve Been This Way Before” and “If You Know What I Mean,” neither was performed.

Each contestant got two songs tonight. Let’s see how they did…

JASON CASTRO – “Forever In Blue Jeans”

A nice simple folk based version of this song, and boy, does Jason look like the part of a teen idol. But this isn’t one of Neil’s better songs, and Jason missed out by not doing “Girl You’ll Be A Woman Soon” or “Red Red Wine.”

DAVID COOK – “I’m Alive”

David brings a bit of Neil Diamond’s guttural roar to this fun rocker. In fact, I heard David was a bit worried he would sound a little too much like a Neil Diamond impersonator on this one, but it sounded great.

BROOKE WHITE – “I’m A Believer”

Brooke brings her good spirits to this fun song, but it didn’t blow me away. Obviously you have to dig in a bit emotionally to impress the jusges at this point.

DAVID ARCHULETA – “Sweet Caroline”

Nice to hear him do something upbeat again, even if his voice didn’t quite match the song in that balls out Neil Diamond way. Still he gave it his best.

SYESHA MERCADO – “Hello Again”

An impressive reimagining of this song, plus I liked her long haired look.

After the weirdest moment in “Idol” history (what, Paula doesn’t even make up her own inane critiques?), we got…

JASON CASTRO – “September Morn”

Nice enough. No mistakes. Better than I expected, considering how much Jason seems to be struggling with the various theme weeks.

DAVID COOK – “All I Ever Really Need Is You”

David brings a bit of U-2 to this one, which in his version even sounds like “All I Want Is You.” And the girls go wild…

BROOKE WHITE – “I Am…I Said”

Maybe they should give her a harsh critique before every performance, because this was very good (although she could have brought a little more drama to the last line). Brooke picked the best written, most interesting song of the night. The song was the star and should help her stay another week.

DAVID ARCHULETA – “America”

As someone with immigrant roots, this was a perfect choice for David. While it didn’t match the drama of Neil’s version, I liked the way David played around with the melody at times. he also gets points for the rearrangement of the end of the song.

SYESHA MERCADO – “Thank The Lord For The Nighttime”

Straight out of the sixties, you could imagine this being a performance on “Amercian Bandstand” way back when. Perfect vocals too. She certainly deserves another week. Maybe with Simon saying she’s in trouble, her fans will have voted all the more. We’ll find out tonight…