Good Monday to you one and all. I decided to give myself a bit of a blogging break at the weekend by posting my "lists" over at TheZapping Spin Off blog that i had written up on another forum earlier in the year - and it took me almost as long anyway! Gah! But i do this blog because i love it and you can't keep me away from it for long ;) It's like my own little part of the universe where i control what's going on... I don't get thousands of visitors, but i'm always thrilled when people come back day after day :) I was well moody last night - i finally got round to watching a tv box set i'd had for a while only to find out there were two disc twos and no disc one! I've had it so long i can't remember where it's from. Ditto The Lion The Witch And The Wardrobe dvd... we couldn't get the subtitles to turn off for love nor money! There they were on the screen all the live long day! GAH! Then DazPropertyTycoon beat me at monopoly so I was well moody the rest of the night ;) Still on with today's randomness...
.
THE JUDGEMENT FACTOR:
.

Sigh. Part of the genius of The X Factor is that the judges are directly pitted against each other. This means you get slimey Louis Walsh siding with Sharon every opportunity he gets, Sharon giving little backhanded compliments because she's the "nice" one and Simon telling it like it is. Now on the one hand I have a lot of respect for Mr Cowell. He doesn't hold back on his opinions and is usually right. But then, he always seems to think an album of covers and ballads will surfice for the winner and consumer interest generally wanes shortly after this. So it was quite delightful to see Simon actually genuinely lost for words when his two acts tallied the lowest votes of the night. Tragic :) But prior to that there were only a few ok performances this week. To be honest, I really don't have any interest in Sharon's over 25 category and i think if i have to watch another week of Ray's hypermaniacal "dancing" swing tributes on stage, i'll be reaching for the cyanide. For me this show is still all about Eton Road (though Leona is absolutely genius - i'll let Samuel tell you why).... they put in another fun performance on Saturday of the Beatles' From Me To You (though what that middle eight was about i have no idea!) and if Louis lets them do either Don'cha or I Don't Feel Like Dancing next week as promised I will love him forever. PS. They should have done this boyband tribute though this week, ably performed here by lovely V... PPS. I still adore those slightly rubbish but loveable MacDonald Bros...
.
LINK: Eton Road website
LINK: The Bitch Factor Blog site
MP3: Eton Road - From Me To You
MP3: V - Boyband Tribute
.
THE AMRAZINGNESS OF MRAZ (see what i did there?!):
.

Aw, I love little Jason Mraz. Over the past few years he has quietly and unassumingly worked his way up to one of my top five male singers. I love his laid back melodies, his clever wordy lyrics and his utterly geeky coolness aura that seems to surround everything he does. And not only has he put out a couple of great albums, he seems to constantly be recording little gems for other projects. I'm Yours (a b-side) perfectly soundtracks my feelings for DazPenicillin; a rather chilled out cover of One Love featured on The Gap cd; various other covers have popped up on other soundtracks and most recently a rather genius mash-up of The Joker and Everything I Own with Chrissie Hynde shows up on Happy Feet (some Penguin movie out this Christmas). It really shouldn't work, but it really does. Chrissie's voice with echo effect nicely complements the sometimes sexy Mraz and the whole track is another great entry into Jason's canon (steady!)...
.
LINK: Jason Mraz's official website
LINK: Pre-order Happy Feet soundtrack
MP3: Jason Mraz - The Joker-Everything I Own
MP3: Jason Mraz - Summer Breeze
.
THE RETURN OF THE MACS:
.

It's about to get confusing in the world of ex-boyband acoustic pop rock. Because two similarly monikered popstrels are about to make a comeback in 2007, going down the serious musician trail. First up is Ste Mak (formerly of the excellent BBMak) who I previously wrote briefly about here. Armed with nothing but his distinctive vocal and a guitar, Ste is producing some great tunes that are a logical extension and maturation of his work in BBMak. Angels over New York is a great uplifting tune that with proper production could be an anthemic stadium sing a long track, while The Only One fair crackles along with an addictive energy that screams "first single status"... It will be interesting to hear what happens once these myspace demos hit the production line in readiness for public consumption...
.

Next is Stewart Mac, formerly of boyband Triple8 (who gave us the crunk rock of Knockout and Give Me A Reason). It seems that every upcoming male solo star these days has the obligatory white shirt black tie photo shoot, but hey, Stewart looks good with it so who's complaining. Like Ste, Stewart has gone down the the acoustic pop route, with one difference. While Ste's songs are works of craft in progress, there is an instant accessibility with Stewart's music. He has a keen talent for developing a melody that will work it's way into your brain and make his songs a lot of fun to listen to. Actually, some of the tunes remind me of the great songs on Third Eye Blind's debut cd which i was obsessed with in the late 90s... Anyway apparently an album is forthcoming and I can't wait to hear it. At this stage in the game, i give the edge to Stewart...
.
LINK: Ste Mak's myspace site
LINK: Stewart Mac's myspace site
MP3: Ste Mak - The Only One
MP3: Ste Mak - Angels Over New York
MP3: Triple8 - Knockout
.
THE 5 BEST RETURNING SHOWS (SO FAR):
.

Some shows that I have previously loved I am currently only sticking with out of loyalty and the hope that it will get better again soon (yes Lost, I'm talking about you...) - it's called The X-Files Syndrome. Others I haven't gotten around to watching just yet (Veronica Mars; Gilmore Girls) so this is based on everything else...
.
5 - Veronica Mars/Gilmore Girls. Yes I know I haven't watched them yet, but i have such faith in their combined brilliance that I know they will be magnificent. I worry a little for the soft ratings of VM, but hopefully the CW will have faith to let it continue and build a solid audience on Tuesdays... and i hear that GG hasn't suffered at all for Amy Sherman-Pallidino's departure. Phew...
4 ~ Prison Break. It's like crack isn't it? You know the plots are utterly ludicrous. You know that no one else would be able to elude capture that many times or that there wouldn't really be that many corrupt officers chasing them. Yet it just reels me in week after week, like an exhilarating rollercoaster ride. Though I think i'd be quite happy if the story was completely wrapped up in season two... best not to drag it out. Don't want to make me sick...
3 ~ Smallville. After a crappy season 4, year 5 experienced something of a creative renaissance leading up to a great, if somewhat nostalgiac season finale. Fortunately the greatness has continued into season 6 - not in the least for the addition of leather clad bow slinger Green Arrow who looks to start up a Justice League. The promo ads look stunning and it's the only good thing to come out of the disappointingly not picked up Aquaman pilot,,,
2 ~ Desperate Housewives. Is back to being brilliant. Although actually i still really liked season 2 apart from that dodgy man in the basement storyline. Bree continues to hog all the best lines, Susan continues to have the best slapstick comedy and Lynette has the best neurotic mother role i've ever seen. Separately and together these wives are certainly at the top of their game this season...
1 ~ Grey's Anatomy. Well really, what else could it be. The only show since Felicity to string out a love triangle for so many seasons and still make it watchable, heartwarming and heartbreaking at the same time. Off set shenanighans seem to have overshadowed the storylines of late, but this is still my favourite drama on television at the moment. Viva McDreamy!!
.
QUICK BITZ/BLOG WATCH:
.
~ Another guilt free Mika download from Arjan - at this rate, I will soon have the whole album ;)
~ L'il Henry may not be able to post comments on my site (boo!) but he has set up a forum related to his Fetch Me... site. Well done that man :)
~ They are probably all from somewhere else, but Michel saves you having to look all over the place for an impressive array of video clips and photos from Kylie's Oz Tour...
Oh dear god - the winner of a show i never heard of has covered The Rose. Simon Cowell is SO original ;) Lovely Jessica has the goods. Oh my god. Someone help me. I really like it...
~ at this very minute in time DazPod is being very weird and slightly sexy with his iPod...
~ call me a geek (and lose your teeth ;) ) but it's quite exciting that Babylon 5 is making another movie, no?
~ Is this site for real? They have the whole Everwood collection on dvd, but is it legit??
.
Coming soon ~ well it's the Scissor Sisters tonight with Ruthiepoos, so you know that's gonna feature; some more about TheZapping Record Company feature; that thing on Books probably linked into Gary Barlow; Lois and Clark; more up and coming myspacers; another fashion update; Jean; 24 Days of Christmas and lots more...