Fame or Famine

…their old familiar carols play…
Yesterday was a first for me. I’m no stranger to Christmas music – been singing it since I was a wee lad – but last night I accompanied my girlfriend to her church. Now, full disclosure here: by nature I am a Zen Buddhist, and the only reason I can say that I’m not a bad one is because there really aren’t any bad Buddhists (it kind of defeats the whole non-expectation thing). So I don’t go to any Christian denominations; the closest I’ve come to organized Zen is a partial sesshin I sat in on.
But …read more

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Ok, first things first: Yes, it’s Christmas, and yes, Johnny Depp has played Willy Wonka and Jack Sparrow and even Gilbert Grape and Benny and all manner of likeable characters.
This, however, is not one of them. So unless you are ready to see a musical with the graphic portrayal of a serial killer literally splattering blood across the camera lens, wait for his next vehicle, when he’ll play George Jetson or somesuch.
(no, I don’t actually know who’s playing the lead in the Jetsons or even if they’re making a movie version. But really, how could they not?)
It’s hard to write …read more

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Jennifer asked in the comments for ways to see the finale, and while I don’t know of any way to watch the whole thing (NBC.com doesn’t replay the show on the web as it will for a lot of other shows) you can go to Youtube and type in “Clash of the Choirs” finale and get all of the individual songs.
I find this really handy – among other things, I was able to send out Blake Shelton’s song as an online video card to my family in OK – but best of all, it’s a chance to listen again to …read more

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I have a professional background in video, and I learned my skills at the cusp of the digital video revolution. This meant that while I started learning linear analog editing – basically three VCRs and a device that let two of them fade between to record on the third – I also learned digital non-linear editing at about the same time. The first is a skill that’s no longer really needed; anybody with a camera and a MacBook can make a video better than what I had available back then, and I don’t think they bother to teach it anywhere.
But …read more

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(sigh) I’m not sure I can handle four nights of this. Well, I write that as the first carol is, again, a soloist and then a backup group. The second two choirs use more of the broadness of talent that is a choir – drawing on the power of the harmonies.
I have to say…as holiday specials go, this is a fantastic idea. With all my bitching about the way the things are arranged, there still are moments like Shelton’s choir singing “Rockin’ Around the Christmas Tree” with so many happy talented changes and voice that I literally got chills.
These are …read more

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(sigh) Once again, I’m kind of disappointed. Why can’t they have the choirs showcasing really good polyphonic music? Why do we keep having unison singing? And why is everyone just completely being so nice?
The “tense Xmas music” is kind of weird…like a Santa Horror flick. I really, really despise that they try and build up that tension. It’s not that I don’t think things should be tense – I just think the way they are doing it is heavy-handed.
And finding out that Blake’s choir is in the bottom two? It is scary, in a way, the way this is …read more

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I missed the first bit of the show, and I think that means I missed Blake Shelton’s choir. Listening to Patti’s commentary makes me really think that all the other choirs really are just not going to have a chance compared to her. She’s got so much experience, so much talent, there’s just nothing that’s going to compare…Prayer and beatin’ their butt seems to be the strategy.
Iris tells me that Shelton had one iffy soloist, but was pretty good. She’s irritated that the choirs seem to be more focused on soloists & backups, rather than having group ensemble pieces. I …read more

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Clash of Choirs
I’m starting to think that the true joy of these reality shows is that they give me an opportunity to hang out with friends online and off – last night I had my middle daughter Kat, home from her first semester in college,  sitting next to me as we watched, and Camille (a glass artist from Lansing, MI) and my friend Iris online in a Google group chat.
The Clash started tonight with what turns out to be the modus operandi of a lot of things: a pop song arranged for a show choir. I’m a little disappointed, as …read more

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“‘Clash of the Choirs’ is a live four-night musical event coming to NBC in December 17th. “Clash of the Choirs,” has tapped five musical superstars — Michael Bolton, Patti LaBelle, Nick Lachey, Kelly Rowland and Blake Shelton — to embark on a musical challenge as they return to their hometowns to assemble an amateur choir and prepare them to compete live in studio for the title of America’s best choir. The show will feature music genres ranging from current pop hits to holiday classics. The choir hopefuls will be judged each night by viewers watching at home.”
I’m so ready for …read more

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If you missed the Dancing with the Stars finale, with Helio and Julianne and probably the most ecstatic and jubilant finish to a dance I’ve ever seen, go watch it. Even a curmudgeonly old humbug like myself is going to want to see these two perform again, and so I’ll be tuning in on Christmas Day to see the 24th annual “Walt Disney World Christmas Day Parade”. The two of them, along with other Dancing with the Stars celebs, will be strutting their stuff in the opening segment.
Incidentally, while looking over the Dancing with the Stars site I see a …read more

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