Music Gifts

The American Idol finalists have been revealed for the 2010 season.  I’m not huge on the show, but obviously 11 million+ people are, so it’s more than worthy to post here for everyone to see.

Did Benami
Crystal Bowersox
Lacey Brown
Michelle Delamor
Lee Dewyze
Katelyn Epperly
Andrew Garcia
Tyler Grady
Todrick Hall
Aaron Kelly
Casey James
Alex Lambert
Michael Lynche
Siobhan Magnus
Paige Miles
Joe Munoz
John Park
Ashley Rodriguez
Lilly Scott
Jermaine Sellers
Katie Stevens
Tim Urban
Haeley Vaughn
Janell Wheeler

I also heard that someone was actually kicked off the show recently, more than likely for having a prior recording contract.  I thought that didn’t matter because that Irish chick last year had a contract prior to Idol also.  Like I said, I’m not big on the show, but its worth mentioning for the sheer popularity of it.

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Moving on to another largely successful news story.  Aerosmith is planning it’s summer European tour.  Which I had thought that Aerosmith had recently broke up when Steven Tyler left the band, but now he’s back?  That certainly was a quick argument, because he’s back, and without “Steven,” Aerosmith just simply isn’t Aerosmith.  Here’s a snippet from the Billboard.com article describing what’s happening with Aerosmith and their summer ideas:

“There’s no Aerosmith without Steven Tyler,” notes Download promoter Andy Copping of Live Nation U.K. “There’s no point in entertaining anything other than (with) Steven Tyler.” Copping adds that an Aerosmith without Tyler “was never part of the conversation” with the group’s representatives.

The group has also been offered tour dates in South America, but nothing has been announced yet. No North American shows have been mentioned, and there’s also no word on if and when Aerosmith plans to resume work on the new album it was recording in Brendan O’Brien, which was sidelined by Tyler and Perry’s health issues.

Tyler has been in rehab since late December for an addiction to painkillers. Perry has been touring with his Joe Perry Project to support his latest album, “Have Guitar, Will Travel,” while drummer Joey Kramer has been promoting his autobiography, “Hit Hard: A Story of Hitting Rock Bottom at the Top.” Guitarist Brad Whitford is gearing up for an Experience Hendrix tour that starts March 4 in Santa Barbara, Calif.

So all is well in good in the land of Rock and Roll is seems.  About the only thing that’s frustrating with Aerosmith is that it feels like they break up once every year or so and get back together for a “strong” return.  It’s just them trying to add to a hype that doesn’t even need to get bigger.  They will still sell-out stadiums regardless.

Steven Tyler and Joe Perry of Aerosmith

So this list for the Academy awards has been released.  I must say I’m not really surprised by anything other than the fact that “The Hangover” isn’t up for best comedy.  All in all, you can basically spot immediate winners/losers on the list.  I myself would like to see some of the lesser known movies win, but as we all know.  In Hollywood.  It’s all about popularity.

BEST PICTURE
- “Avatar”
- “Up in the Air”
- “Inglourious Basterds”
- “The Hurt Locker”
- “Precious: Based on the Novel Push by Sapphire”
- “The Blind Side”
- “Up”
- “District 9”
- “An Education”
- “The Hangover”

BEST DIRECTOR
- “Avatar,” James Cameron
- “The Hurt Locker,” Kathryn Bigelow
- “Inglourious Basterds,” Quentin Tarantino
- “Up in the Air,” Jason Reitman
- “Precious,” Lee Daniels

BEST ACTOR
- Jeff Bridges, “Crazy Heart”
- George Clooney, “Up in the Air”
- Morgan Freeman, “Invictus”
- Colin Firth, “A Single Man”
- Jeremy Renner, “The Hurt Locker”

BEST ACTRESS
- Gabourey Sidibe, “Precious”
- Sandra Bullock, “The Blind Side”
- Meryl Streep, “Julie and Julia”
- Helen Mirren, “The Last Station”
- Carey Mulligan, “An Education”

BEST SUPPORTING ACTOR
- Matt Damon, “Invictus”
- Woody Harrelson, “The Messenger”
- Christopher Plummer, “The Last Station”
- Stanley Tucci, “The Lovely Bones”
- Christoph Waltz, “Inglourious Basterds”

BEST SUPPORTING ACTRESS
- Mo’nique, “Precious”
- Anna Kendrick, “Up in the Air”
- Vera Farmiga, “Up in the Air”
- Penelope Cruz, “Nine”
- Maggie Gyllenhaal, Crazy Heart”