All kinds of updates...

Hi all, You may have noticed there hasn't been a blog post in a while. This has been for a few reasons, the main ones being:

1) I've been *really* busy with my singing competitions
2) Trying to balance the competitions/gigs with my blog has really been putting a strain on my voice
3) Add work to the equation and...unfortunately the blog has had to take a backseat.

Realistically, there will not be 100 songs in 100 days. But I hope to have 100 songs up here by the end of the calendar year. For me to foolishly assume upfront that I would ever accept quantity over quality was ridiculous. Even when I'm not doing a video every day, it's still hard to accept the quality level of the videos, because I know they're not what they "could" be if I were really focusing on them. But staying within the general spirit of the exercise, and now actually knowing what I got myself into, I'd like to have 100 videos up by the end of 2011. It'll still be a great learning exercise even if they're not all perfect. This should give me enough time to rest my voice in between videos *and* to think about things other than this blog. When you're doing a video a day, or even a few videos a week, it can be *really* time-consuming.

So...right now I'm actually without a singing voice. At all. It hurts to talk. (This is mainly because I'm sick, but singing only exacerbates the issue.) So while I couldn't sing to you if I wanted to, let me update you on the statuses of my various competitions:

-Claremont: The karaoke finals were Friday and I won!!!!! Soooo exciting!!! Quite honestly, I have only won one other singing competition in my life of the MANY I have participated in, so that was fantastic. My inability to win singing competitions has sort of become a running joke in my family. In case you were wondering, the one thing I won in the past was Collis Idol, my sophomore summer. (Yea!) Past failures...I'm sorry, non-successes...include: every school talent show ever, Dartmouth Idol (twice), and multiple casting processes throughout my life, if that counts. (And if it does, then I guess I have a few more "successes" than I named.) We can throw in the American Idol and Voice auditions too but those don't *really* count.

The best part of winning this contest was not just the cash prize (which was fabulous!), but I *may* have gotten a gig out of this as well, which is really exciting. The event itself was also a fundraiser for the Claremont Soup Kitchen, which was nice. I decided in advance that if I won the $500, I’d give $100 to the soup kitchen. You better believe that when my name was announced, $100 made its way over to the donation pile! (I’ve got too many competitions left, I can’t be greedy! I need some good karma!)

I have to say, everyone in the contest was *so* nice, which was refreshing. Also, a shoutout to Sal and Courtney Cania for driving down to Claremont and being supportive!

-Z Factor: is going swimmingly!!! Scores were made public after week 3 and I’m in 2nd place! Hopefully all will go well for the next two weeks (crossing my fingers that I can pull through this week), and then I just have to pull out all the stops for the finals. What that means, I don’t know. But I have a few weeks. I’m sure I’ll think of something. =)
(I have to repeat my sentiments from Claremont: the Z Factor people are awesome too. I’m loving that people aren’t being catty/ridiculous. I guess I should have more faith when not in NY. hahah)

-Country Showdown: performances are this Wednesday and Saturday. This is making me nervous. I’m just praying my voice is functioning on both days so I have a fair shot. I’ve also never competed in the Showdown before, just watched at Tunbridge. On a side note, I need to send in my app for the Froggy Country Throwdown soon, since *that* will be the show at Tunbridge this year instead of the Showdown.

I think that’s about it for now. Now I just have to finish my 5th cup of tea for the day before hopefully getting more than 3.5 hours of sleep, which is what I got last night, since apparently I couldn’t breathe and sleep at the same time. Good thing I had the foresight to take Monday-Wednesday off for vacation (I *only* get sick during planned vacations. Such a mess.)

Thanks for reading, and I may have some more non-vocal posts over the next few days/weeks as my voice mends!

Day 21: "Not Ready to Make Nice" by the Dixie Chicks

More country!!! For a period of time here, it may be about 50/50 country and other music as I sort out my Country Showdown selections. A short time ago I never would've thought that in a period of a little over a month I'd (if all goes well) perform competitively 11 times. I'd say I should rest up those vocal cords but...oh wait, I'm singing every waking second because of this blog. oops. I'm taking my rest where I can get it, and the blog can always wait a few days! Wish me luck at Z Factor tomorrow! ;)

Day 20: "Who Knew" by Pink

"Who Knew"...that I'd be at over 1500 views today?! (WOOHOO!)

But all joking aside, this song is amazing. I'm sure everyone who has heard it has cried *at least* once while listening. It's impressive how deep Pink is with so many of her songs. There's not a lot of fluff in her catalogue. Hopefully later this week I'll be uploading "Perfect"...another gem! Enjoy. =)

Day 19: "Forget You" by Cee Lo Green

In the intro to Cee Lo's album The Lady Killer, he says, "I'm often asked what do I do for a living? And I answer...I do what I want."

In recording this video, I asked myself, "WWCLD?" (What would Cee Lo do...if he were a woman singing "Forget You"?)

Answer: Clearly peacock it up with all kinds of ridiculous jewelry and the requisite suit jacket and sunglasses. End scene.

Day 18: "Before He Cheats" by Carrie Underwood

Alright, since last we spoke, I've had a crazy week for singing!!! On Tuesday, I went to Rutland for Z Factor. I thought people were going to be eliminated each week (which I believe was the original plan based on what the rules say), but we're all going to perform for 5 weeks, and then the top 12 will be moving on to the finals at the VT State Fair. Fingers are crossed for that one!

On Wednesday, I went to Claremont for another karaoke contest. The format of this one is that for five weeks people compete to get a spot in the finals, and the top four from each week get in. The grand prize is $500. I got into the finals!!! They're on 8/19, and I'm psyched!

Then on Thursday I found out that I've been picked as a finalist in a local round of the Texaco Country Showdown!!! The show's later this month. And so with this song I celebrate. I have a feeling I'm going to be performing a *lot* of country within the next month or so, so I'll be practicing it right here on my blog! Please help me figure out what works and what doesn't. ;)

Day 17: "I Need a Dollar" by Aloe Blacc

This song is fantastic. The first time I heard it, I could've sworn it was a '70s song being performed by Bill Withers, but ce n'est pas le cas. Also, the title made me laugh out loud. After a little digging, I realized this was in fact the artist of a song I'd heard playing on "Mob Wives" (yes, I've watched Mob Wives. get over it.) and thought "Wow! This guy's awesome! He sounds like a '70s singer, but he's a current artist! I should look him up!" Being on an elliptical at the time, I promptly forgot to do this. But I'm glad I found him again!

The song's way low in my range, but it's an awesome blues song, and I got to have fun bopping around while recording it. Let's talk about some upgrades in my videos as of late:

-I've moved my studio out of the bathroom for the time being! (We're movin' on up, mooovin' on up!)
-Guess who learned how to fade to black and isn't afraid to use it?
-I'm finally getting used to mic input levels and trying to get better at picking one that suits the song.

As my little sister Courtney (future video participant) might say: "Get on my level."

Thanks for watching! I'm glad I had such a productive night!!! (And since I'll be at the contest tomorrow, no video tomorrow, but hopefully there'll be something up Wednesday.)

Day 16: "Just Tonight" by The Pretty Reckless

Tonight's 2nd song is "Just Tonight" by The Pretty Reckless. Great song. I love rock songs with a sick female vocal. The first time I heard it on the radio I was like, "...is that Pink? No...the voice is a little different." (Teaser: there will probably be some Pink songs up here in the next week or so.) I was *very* surprised to find out that a 17 year old recorded the original track. Cindy Lou Who no less...

It's occurred to me that I never properly celebrated hitting 1000 views on YouTube. I'd like to take the opportunity to do that now. And so: YAYYYYYYYYYY 1000 VIEWS!!! I'm actually at 1,258, and I largely have the Amy Winehouse videos to thank for the sudden spike in viewership. "Rehab" got 23 views in the past hour. I've had videos that have gone a WEEK without that kind of popularity. I think what's more exciting is that initially I had more hits on my blog than YouTube, and now it's the opposite. This means I went from mainly having friends/family viewing my music to having outside people watch my performances. Exciting!!!

Speaking of outside people watching my performances, tomorrow I will compete in Z97.1's The Z Factor competition!!! After work, I will schlep over an hour to Rutland and *hopefully* make it through this round and compete again next week. There are elimination rounds every week and the finals are at the Vermont State Fair next month with the grand prize being $971. Wish me luck!!! =)

Day 15: "Rehab" by Amy Winehouse

After the unexpected success of "Back to Black", the song that started it all..."Rehab"! More videos to come very soon!