A Little Pay-back

A while back.... John Bunn posted an incriminating photo of yours truly on his blog. It was a press photo... from the 80s... when I actually had hair... and a cheesy mustache. He then proceeded to Photoshop the image to create a "gameshow host" version of me... and a "Dick Clark" version of me.

So... with the help of a family "insider" (who will remain unnamed), I have a similar photo of Johnny B. Yup... it looks like it was maybe from the early 90s. He had the wings... and the cheesy mustache. Well... here... instead of describing it... let me show it to you.






















Well... most of you know that John is a multi-talented guy. He has always been very athletic. As a matter of fact... he was a star football player in high school. His mom and dad were a little late getting him signed up for the varsity team... but he seemed to fit right in on the gal's team.









After graduating from college... John pursued another one of his creative passions... MUSIC. As a matter of fact: Most people do not realize this... but John was actually the "construction worker" in the popular recording group, The Village People.












Soon after the highly unsuccessful YMCA reunion tour in '97... John found himself looking for something more... something new to do with his life. So he turned to what came natural to him. With his athletic build and boyish good looks... he turned to modelling. He freelanced a little... until he landed contracts with PetSmart, Jenny Craig and Preparation H.











John eventually settled down... married his high school sweetheart... and they began a family of their own.

He now focuses his attention on his job at NewPointe Community Church and his family. Today one of his favorite things to do is coach his kid's softball teams.







Well... there ya go. Who knew? Everything you ever wanted to know about the man... the myth... the legend... John Bunn.

Move Us Into Action... UPDATE

As a part of our new ACTION service initiative... several of our NewPointe musicians and vocalists spent the better part of this past Saturday morning helping out a single mom in Dover with some home repair and yard clean-up. The team worked hard together... installing and painting trellis, raking leaves and taking care of other various projects around this lady's house. These were projects that she could not complete on her own.

I could not be there for our first project (because I am home recovering from surgery)... but I was told that the team expressed that they cannot wait until our next project in February. The next time... we will get even more of our team out there serving in the community. Thanks, guys! Way to be the hands and feet of Christ!

If you want to read more about this initiative... check out this older post: Move Us Into Action

Very Cool New Technology: Lytro

You just gotta check out the website for this new little piece of tech gear. It is called the Lytro. It is a small light field camera that captures many layers of depth in one snapshot. The Lytro allows both the picture taker and the viewer to focus pictures AFTER they're snapped, shift their perspective of the scene, and even switch seamlessly between 2D and 3D views. This is amazing stuff! Go to the Lytro website and mess around with the sample photos in the picture gallery. It is very cool. The image will actually focus on whatever you click on. If you select an object in the foreground... the photo will blur everything else at appropriate levels. Technology that once required a room lined with cameras tethered to a supercomputer... can now be achieved with one camera with multiple micro-lenses. Absolutely amazing new technology.

Move Us Into Action...

There is a song on Tim Hughes , Holding Nothing Back project called "God of Justice". It is a very powerful song! I've been talking about this song for while now. We closed a series of messages back in the summer with it. I have to admit… it was a very convicting song to sing. You know... sometimes it is just way too easy to stand on stage and sing songs like this without letting it change US. We move on to the next song…. little disturbed and uncomfortable... but not ready to "make a change".

Well... THIS TIME a song has inspired our NewPointe musicians and singers to do something about it. The phrase from this song that has really grabbed our hearts is this: "Keep us from just singing... move us into ACTION." It is so easy for us, as worship leaders, musicians and singers to come together and do what comes "natural" to us... make music. We love it. We were created to do it. We print our charts, mark up our music, restring our guitars, rehearse to get everything “just right”. Then on Sunday mornings we come together, sound check, run-through and SING. It's just what we do... right? We are so good at serving within our comfort zone.

James 1:27 says that "Religion that God our Father accepts as pure and faultless is this: to look after orphans and widows in their distress and to keep oneself from being polluted by the world." WOW! How good are we at doing THAT? There's nothing in there about Marshall amps... well-crafted worship songs... or even ProPresenter. God is pleased when we are meeting the needs of his kids… those folks who cannot provide for themselves.

That's why this Saturday morning... the music teams from all 3 of our NewPointe Church campuses will be meeting at the Dover campus... and then going out to serve at the home of a widow in our community who is in need of house repair, cleaning, yard work, maybe a meal and some conversation and prayer. We are going to step out of our comfort zone and into a worship experience that we believe will please God. This will be an on-going initiative for our teams. We will be going out into the community on a quarterly basis. I am so excited to see what God wants to do in and through us as a team… as we practice being the hands and feet of Christ. How can we just sing about it? “We must go…”.

NewPointe Transit Advertising

Check it out! NewPointe is advertising on the side of buses in Canton/Akron. Get ready NewPointe Canton peeps. It's 'bout to get crazy up there!




< me.

Defending The Status Quo

The longer you do something well... the more likely you are to fall into the trap of defending the status quo. We tend to camp on our successes instead of forge ahead into the unknown and find it exciting. It's new... it's different... it's work... it's RISKY.

One of my team members shared this post with our staff this morning. I just had to pass it on. It was taken from Seth Godin's Blog. It contains great insight into how to avoid being that guy who is reluctant to embrace the new and different.

Are YOU that guy (or gal)? Ask yourself these 12 questions.

When confronted with a new idea, do you:

1. Consider the cost of switching before you consider the benefits?
2. Highlight the pain to a few... instead of the benefits for the many?
3. Exaggerate how good things are now in order to reduce your fear of change?
4. Undercut the credibility, authority or experience of people behind the change?
5. Grab onto the rare thing that could go wrong instead of amplifying the likely thing that will go right?
6. Focus on short-term costs instead of long-term benefits, because the short-term is more vivid for you?
7. Fight to retain benefits and status earned only through tenure and longevity?
8. Embrace an instinct to accept consistent ongoing costs instead of swallowing a one-time expense?
9. Slow implementation and decision making down instead of speeding it up?
11. Embrace sunk costs?
10. Imagine that your competition is going to be as afraid of change as you are? Even the competition that hasn't entered the market yet and has nothing to lose.
11. Emphasize emergency preparation and the expense of a chronic and degenerative condition?
12. Compare the best of what you have now with the possible worst of what a change might bring?

So... how did you do? How many of these questions describe your reaction to change? If you are leading a team. Be aware of these tendencies and call them out when they show up. Challenge your team to press on. Don't look back. Don't squelch a great new idea. There is always a better... more relevant way to express creativity. NEVER let the status quo... be good enough. There's WAY too much at stake.

Great Quote

"Higher than our ritual (singing songs)... is the simple acknowledgement that, in truth, HE is what we need. Even the simplicity of calling out to Him in times of trouble is considered a truer sacrifice." - David Crowder

NewPointe set-list: 7-10-18

"Game On" Week 2

We played "Don't Forget The Lyrics" during our family pre-show this week. It was hilarious! We had folks singing everything from Kool and The Gang... to Justin Bieber. Then we rocked an "old school" worship set:

"I Am Free" - Desperation Band
"Everlasting God" - Chris Tomlin
"How Great Is Our God" - Chris Tomlin

We had a great worship experiences at all 3 campuses... a powerful message from John Bunn... and then we closed the service with Natalie Grant's "I Will Not Be Moved".

3D Copier

I came across this video on Facebook the other day and was just BLOWN AWAY by the technology. I had no idea that anything like this existed (except on Star Trek).



So... what's next?

NewPointe set-list: 7-10-11

"Game On" Week 1

This was the second week of our new family series called "Game On". Before the service started... we played "Are You Smarter Than A 5th Grader" with the crowd. Bubba Joe showed up to "help out" with the game. It got pretty CRAZY! Everybody (kids and parents) had a BLAST!

Then in the service we played MAD GABS with the band. All of the MAD GABS were titles of songs that had to do with COURAGE (the virtue of the morning). The idea was to have contestants "sound out" the MAD GAB on the screens... and then the band played a short sample of the tune. Here are the songs... and the MAD GABS that we created for the service.

Abba Levi Canful Eye - "I Believe I Can Fly" (R Kelly)
Nut Dings Gone Esta Pus Na How - "Nothing's Gonna Stop Us Now" (Starship)
Aya Duh Tie Grrrrrrrr - "Eye Of The Tiger" (Survivor)

Here are the songs from our worship set at all 3 NewPointe campuses this past weekend:

"All Because of Jesus" - Fee
"Love The Lord" - Lincoln Brewster
"Glory To God" - Fee

True Worship

I was at our Canton Campus last Thursday night for rehearsal. As we were setting up... I realized that had left a piece of gear out in my car. As I went out to get it... one of our team members was just pulling into the parking lot. Coolant was pouring out of his radiator onto the ground. We took a look at it and realized that he was going to need a mechanic... and it was after hours for most shops in the area. Before we could even get back into the building... 3 or four other team mates (who had heard what was happening) were on their way out to help. They immediately found the problem (a leak in the lower radiator hose)... ran to an auto parts store... each pitched in to buy the part for him... and then repaired the leaky radiator in about 15 minutes. All before rehearsal even got started. Now THAT is what "family" is all about.... and (according to James 1:27) THAT is the kind of worship that makes God happy. Thanks, guys... for being the hands and feet of Christ.

After almost a year...

... I am going to TRY to get back into blogging on a regular basis. I just had to let some things go for a while... and blogging was one of those. So much has happened in the past 10 months of my life. It has been a very busy and challenging season of my life. So much is changing at NewPointe... and in my personal life. So... I don't know that I will necessarily try to catch everybody up on everything... as much as start with TODAY.

I WILL say that probably the most important thing that has happened to me in the past few months is.... I 'M A GRANDDAD! . And it's the most amazing experience that I have had since my own kids came into this world. Her name is Parker Nevaeh... and she has already brought so much joy to our family. God has blessed us with a cute, healthy little busy-body of a granddaughter. I am sure that there will be many posts in the future... about HER.

So... all that being said... I BLOG.

NewPointe STEPS Video

This video explains what NewPointe Community Church is all about. It's about leading people into a growing relationship with Jesus Christ through... STEPS. (One of our drummers, Jay Bair did all of the illustrations.) Enjoy.

(The concept for this video came from North Point Church in Atlanta.)

Great Quote

"When 99% of people doubt your idea, you're either gravely wrong or about to make history." - Scott Belsky (Making Ideas Happen)

GO '10 update video

Here is a little highlight video of our project for GO '10. Enjoy:

GO '10 @ NewPointe

This Sunday morning... my family... along with our small group will be mulching, trimming bushes, picking up trash and pulling weeds at East Elementary School in New Philly. You might be saying... "It's Sunday morning... shouldn't you be IN church?" Well, I'm glad you asked. This Sunday... NewPointe Community Church will be leaving the building... to BE the church in our community. We will be leaving our buildings, classrooms, microphones, kids’ areas and more to go and serve. It’s called Community Impact Day... or GO ‘10. We’ll be helping people and organizations in our surrounding communities tackle things like carpentry, painting, weeding, mulching, cleaning, etc. Some will bake and deliver cookies to those who serve us - like the police, hospital, and other emergency services. Others are needed to visit the residents of nursing homes and retirement centers. We do this every summer... and I can't wait to serve along side my small group family. This Sunday... we will worship and celebrate in a very tangible way... by serving others.

My New Hymn Project

For the past 20 years... my mom has been asking me to make a recording of some of her favorite hymns... songs like "Great Is Thy Faithfulness (her all-time favorite), "It Is Well", and "Blessed Assurance". So I decided to surprise my folks with a CD collection of hymns as a Christmas present.

Now... I didn't want to just set a microphone by the piano and record a poor quality "one take" recording of these songs. So I decided to spend a little extra time on it. It has taken me a few years to get to the place where I could pull this project off in a way that will do these songs justice. I wanted to give my parents a quality sounding CD with new arrangements of these songs.

so... I have been working on this project in my basement studio since mid-October... and I have to admit... I have had a blast working on it. Revisiting these powerful old songs has reminded me of the spiritual foundation that they helped to form in my life over the years. Even though we don't sing these old songs as often these days... my prayer is that the great songs of THIS generation... like "Everlasting God", "Glorious One", "How Great Is Our God" (and hundreds of others) will be the songs that MY kids return to throughout their lives to find strength and hope. Maybe some day those great songs will be included in a collection of "old songs" that our kids decide to record.

I wanted the project to have a more spontaneous feel to it... so I didn't chart any of the songs before recording them. Most of the tracks were recorded in one take... just as I was "feeling" them in the moment. It made the whole recording and programming process a little more difficult... but the end result was a lot more realistic and full of emotion and creative interpretation. I DID have a little help along the way. Brandon played electric and bass guitars on the project... and April sang with me on a couple of the songs too.

Well... after going to all of the effort to create the perfect Christmas gift for my folks... I decided to go ahead and add a few more tracks... "tweak" some of the originals... and create an EP that I could make available to a broader audience. My new album is simply called "Hymns" and also features great old songs like "Amazing Grace", "What A Friend We Have In Jesus", "My Jesus, I Love Thee", "More Love To Thee" and "How Big Is God?".


The EP is now available for download on iTUNES, Amazon.com, CD Baby and about 30 other digital outlets. I am also hoping to make actual CDs available very soon.

American Idol Update: Top 9

Tonight the top 9 contestants will be singing songs from the Lennon / McCartney catalog. There are a lot of great songs to choose from. It will be interesting to see what these guys to

First up...

Aaron: He is singing "Long And Winding Road". He should be able to handle this one. It doesn't require a huge voice. WOW... he is starting out very pitchy on this... just all over the place. It's weird. It almost looks like he is lip syncing this tune too. The vocal is very isolated (doesn't sound live)... and his body language isn't matching up with the vocal for some reason.

Katie: She is singing "Let It Be". This is a pretty good song for Katie. Her ad-libs are a little on the mechanical side... but over all... one of her better performances of the season. I agree with Simon. That song had more of a country feel... and was the reason it worked for Katie tonight.

Andrew: He will be singing "Can't Buy Me Love". I'm not sure that this was the tune to pull the guitar out for. He could have at least turned it around and played left handed. The performance was OK. He just does the same thing every week now.

Michael: I have always said that Michael could sing anything... but The Beatles could be a real challenge... unless he gets super creative with the arrangement. He is singing "Eleanor Rigby". I like it already. Oh yeah... this is a unique arrangement! I like it! Michael is absolutely the guy to beat in this competition. Best performance of the night... and maybe my favorite Michael moment all season. Great stuff!

Crystal: She is singing "Come Together". She will ROCK this tune! Great pick! The didgeridoo is an interesting touch. It is a bit of a distraction. It just sounds like feedback. Crystal sounds great on this song though. WOW! Even through a head cold... she sounds awesome!

Tim: He is singing "All My Lovin'". At this point... I really don't care what he sings. He needs to get out of the way... and let the vocal competition go on.

Casey: He is singing "Jealous Guy". WOW... this is amazing. This is the first "true to the Beatles" performance. He is the real deal with that guitar strapped on. Great vibe. I love it! Simple... emotional... soulful... and excellent. Best of the night.

Siobhan: She is singing "Across The Universe". She sounds OK on this. It's just too slow and boring (At least that is what Simon is going to say). She's going to have to bring her "A" game from here on out to compete with Crystal at this point in the competition. I still like Siobhan... but she is jut going to have to do something to stand out now.

Lee: He is singing "Hey Jude". Great tune. Here he goes. After Casey's guitar/vocal... this is not even close. He is a little pitchy here at the beginning. I think it is mostly because there's not a lot of instrumentation to carry him. This was not his best performance. Auuuugh.. the BGV girls just butchered the lead in to the chorus. OK... the didgeridoo was interesting... the guy grooving with the bagpipes... just weird.

Going home: Tim... please????

Favorites:

Casey

Michael

Crystal

Ultimate Ears

I have been looking into getting custom in-ear monitors for some time now. Most that I have found are just WAY out of the acceptable price range. So... when we went searching on-line for a DEAL... and I think we came up with a pretty amazing solution.

We found a company in Florida that will take ANY in-ear phones that you provide and turn them into custom ears. You just provide them with a mold of your ears... and your own pair of ear-buds. They take care of the rest. Ultimate Ears was one of the companies that we considered. Their custom in-ears were super expensive... but I found a pair of Ultimate Ears Triple Fi 10 professional ear-buds (not molded of course) for a very good price on e-Bay. I made an appointment to visit my audiologist to have molds of my ears made. And next... I will send them both off to this company in Florida where they will create a custom shell around my existing Ultimate Ears.

Well... I just got back from the audiologist where I had those custom molds made. It was a pretty interesting process. Here are a few close-up pics:

In the waiting room with my Ultimate Ears Triple Fi 10s


















In the audiologist's office.




















He is inserting a plug on a string to retrieve the mold after the material has hardened.
















Now he is filling my ear canal with the mixture.



















This is what the substance looked like as it was hardening in my ear. It only took about 10 minutes for it to "set". It was the quietest 10 minutes of my day.














The finished mold. Pretty weird looking... huh?

Hopefully in a couple of weeks... I'll have new custom in-ear monitors. Woohoo! Can't wait!

American Idol Update: Top 10

It's Soul and R&B night on Idol... and the mentor is Usher. Tonight's the night that Crystal promised something a little different. That should be interesting... eh? The contestants with the edge tonight: Lee (soulful - this is HIS night) Michael (smooth R&B), Casey (soulful) and Crystal (raw and soulful). Here we go.

First up....

Siobhan: She is singing Chaka Khan's "Through The Fire". Didn't get off to a very good start. She's a lot better than that. It was just an off night. I still like Siobhan a lot.

Casey: He is singing "Hold On, I'm Coming". WOW! That horn section is HOT! He sounds great... but again... he tends to get a little distracted by the guitar. Nice guitar solo. I still like his voice. Strong performance. Probably one of my favorite Casey performances of the season.

Michael: He will be singing India Arie "Ready For Love". This song is so laid back. He sounds REALLY good on it though. Of course... Michael could sing just about anything and sound good. Big Mike has a lot of momentum right now. He is a very confident dude. Great job, Mike!

Di Di: She is singing "What Becomes Of The Broken Hearted?". I hope she makes it through this song. After the Usher interview... I don't know. Hmmmm... I don't know. Her voice was sort of "matter of fact" on this tune. This song requires some "emotion". It was just too dry. Oh well... not the best choice for her. Even though I don't like Katie's voice... Di Di will probably be the next female to go.

Tim: This should be his week to go. Yet another guy who is sticking around a lot longer than I can believe. He is singing Anita Baker's "Sweet Love". He is going to totally bomb this tune. He just doesn't have any "soul" in his voice. Here he goes: Ouch! OK... DONE. Bye bye, Tim.

I loved Simon's response: It doesn't matter what anybody thinks about Tim's voice. He smiles... people vote... and he'll be here next week. Who cares?

Andrew: He is singing Chris Browns "Forever". Cool Cajon and string section out on stage with Andrew. It's OK... better than the past few weeks... but still nothing new from Andrew. Same sound... same lack of dynamics... same ol'... same ol'.

Katie: She will be singing "Chain of Fools". WOW! She is brave to take on Aretha... but we'll see. I can't help but think of LeAnn Rimes every time that I hear Katie sing. So I have a hard time hearing her sing all of these different styles. WOW... I just don't like her voice on this tune. She could sing country... that's it... only country. Kara is a big fan of Katie. She thinks she is an R&B/soul singer. I don't get it. Randy compared her to a young Christina Aguilera??? No way. Not even close. I agree with Simon on Katie... 100% Country... or nothing.

Lee: He is singing "Treat Her Like A Lady". Great song choice. He sounds great! There's not much of a melody to the tune though. The judges will probably pick that apart. Maybe 5 notes in the whole song? He is still in his "wheelhouse". Good stuff. Maybe even the best of the night.

Crystal: She's bringing something "different" tonight. She is singing Gladys Knight's "Midnight Train To Georgia"... on PIANO! Cool! She makes it look so easy. She sounds great on this song. Oh... and now she is leaving the piano. OK... that IS different. You can tell that she is not quite as comfortable without the instrument. Still... that was record-able.

Aaron: He is singing Bill Withers' "Ain't No Sunshine When She's Gone". Again... another song that is probably way to big and soulful for his little thin voice. We'll see what he does with it. He has such a nervous vibrato. It really takes away from his pitch and the whole listen-ability. I don't know....

My picks...

Going home: Tim or Aaron

Tonight's favorites:

Crystal

Lee

Michael (and Casey)

Rumor has it... that Nashville Christian recording artist, Kim Hill is going to be hanging out at NewPointe for our Easter services this weekend.

OK... so it's not really a rumor...

It's True!!!

A couple of weeks ago... I was updating my Facebook status while sitting in our Weekend Design Team meeting (Which is what you do during Weekend Design Team meeting... right?). I had just posted the following: "...in Weekend Design Team meeting. We are working on NewPointe Easter services this afternoon." when Kim commented: "Don't you need a good chick singer from Nashville??" I said, "Sure... come on up!"





And so she is!

Kim will be singing the opening song (Which you will NOT want to miss. So get there early!)... sitting in with the band for the worship set... and then singing another song before the message.

How cool is that!?!?

So... make plans to attend one of our 4 weekend services at the Dover campus. They are Saturday night at 7:00 and Sunday morning at 7:30 - 9:00 and 11:00. Get there early... we are expecting HUGE crowds!

See you there!

'Nuff Said....

Tonight's big game has me a little "torn". Growing up in Tennessee... my blood is definitely orange... but I am a Buckeye fan too. I have lived in Ohio for 14 years now! Why does it have to come to this?? Why do I have to choose?? Oh well....

GO BUCK-A-TEERS!

American Idol Update: Top 11

For the record... I totally disagreed with the decision to send Lacey Brown home last week. There were 3 or 4 vocalists that needed to leave the competition before Lacey. I think (as an artist) she was misunderstood. I didn't; however, feel like she was worth a "save". Oh well... enough about that.

Tonight's show features the remaining 11 contestants singing songs from the Billboard No.1 Hit list... and they will be mentored by... Miley Cyrus? Really? Miley? Let's see... Stevie Wonder, Slash, Gwen Stefani, David Foster and... Miley Cyrus? O... k...a...y. Here we go...

First up...

Lee: He will be singing "The Letter". This is right in his "wheel house". I like the horn section out front. Very cool. I like his voice a lot. He is a little pitchy on the chorus though. He is not a big time performer... but the dude can sing. Way to go, Lee! Great start to the show.

Paige: She is STILL here??? I thought she was gone 2 or 3 weeks ago. Hmmmm.... She will be singing the Phil Collins tune, "Against All Odds". Great tune... this one should do the job. : ) The melody of this tune is way too "exposed" until the big drum fill and the band drops in. You know what I mean? Her pitch will STAND OUT on this one... big time. Yup... there she goes. Done. Nuff said.

Simon and Kara said that she just stopped competing somewhere along the way? I'm not sure that she ever should have been in the competition. I'm just sayin'.

Tim: is going to sing Queen's "Crazy Little Thing Called Love". I can hear him singing this tune. Good choice for him. Let's see what he does with it. Here he goes. You can tell that he is not comfortable with all of the choreography... (if that's what it is). Awkward. It's a distraction at this point. This the best that I have heard Tim sing though (But that only shows how bad the other performances have been). Still... possibly the next guy to go.

Aaron: will be singing "Don't Want To Miss A Thing" by Aerosmith. OK... I typed that before the commercial... just guessing what tune he would choose. Woohoo! I was right! Again... big song for a guy with a little voice. Hmmm. Well see. He sounds pretty good on this tune so far. Yeah... that's what I was afraid of... he didn't save anything for the bridge. Ouch! The high note at the end of the bridge was a little painful. He did the best that he could with THAT tune though. Especially being sick. Still... home soon.

Crystal: This girl can SANG! She will be singing (no surprise) Janice Joplin's "Bobby McGee". Crystal is a pro already. Very nice! I love the dynamics... the tone... the soul... the emotion in her voice. WOW! Best of the night! I just hope people don't stop voting for her because they think she's safe all the way to the end. That happened for Daughtry and about 5 other great vocalists during past seasons.

Michael: OK... so Ryan said that Michael is going to show his "romantic side". I am guessing that he will do a tune by... Hmmm... either Luther or Marvin... let's see... after the commercials. OK... so it's Percy (or Michael Bolton - my favorite version- and the #1). He is singing "When A Man Loves A Woman". Oh yeah... WOW! He will knock this one OUT OF THE PARK! Smooth as silk. Great vocal. Oh yeah... good stuff! Yeah, Michael!

Andrew: will be singing Marvin. Somebody just HAD TO. He's singing "I Heard It Through The Grape Vine". His voice reminds me a little of Jamiroquai. That was much better than the last 2 or 3 weeks... but still... I don't know. I think he might be safe as long as Aaron and Tim are there... but that's about it.

Katie: is singing "Big Girls Don't Cry". Now here's a young vocalist with an "old" voice... singing a current tune. Bad song choice... if you ask me. It's like listening to Lee Ann Rimes sing the tune. It just doesn't match up. I DO NOT agree with Kara. She does not belong in that genre. MAYBE country. I don't know.

Casey: is next. He will be singing "Power of Love" by Huey Lewis. I like Casey's voice... I LOVE Huey Lewis! Big fan! He sounds great on this. The only problem is... that he never really "sells a song" with the guitar around his neck. He is the best guitarist ever on AI... and he is a really good singer... but the two just don't compliment each other. I still liked his VOCAL a lot. maybe a favorite of the night?

Di Di: She is singing Linda Ronstadt's "You're No Good". She is starting out a little sharp from the very beginning. If "quirky vocal" is not getting the vote this season (ex. Lacey and Lilly already out) she may not last as long as I once thought.

You know... the judges tell them what they want to see them do next week... then when they try it... they get slammed for it. I don't get it. Sometimes it just seems like a "no win" situation.

Siobhan: She is singing Stevie's "Superstitious". WOW. Talking about taking on a BIG SONG. She is definitely one of the best female vocalists left though. If anybody could pull it off... I don't think she really needs to do the screaming high note EVERY week. She is really reminding me of Adam Lambert in that way... and it really gets old. The only difference is... Siobhan is not a "one trick pony" like Adam.

Tonight's picks:

Going home: Paige (Please? Pretty please?)

Favorites:

Crystal

Michael

Casey (or Lee... or Siobhan. They were all kinda in the same category tonight.)

Until next week.....

God's Chisel

This past Sunday... our very own John Bunn and JD Lowry performed "God's Chisel" (a sketch originally performed by The Skit Guys) as a part of "The Me I Want To Be" series @ NewPointe. It was amazing! Powerful sketch... powerful performance.

Two of my favorite lines from that sketch...

God: "I made you good... be good."

John: "God, I've let you down so many times."
God: "You were never holding me up. I hold YOU up with my victorious righteous right hand. Don't you forget that."

American Idol Update: Top 12

Tonight... the top 12 will perform songs by the Rolling Stones. There are a couple of bluesy voices in the group... but there aren't any true rockers... so this should be interesting. I have been outside all evening riding my bike, playing a little basketball with the girls and enjoying the nice weather... and to be honest... it was a struggle to come inside and watch tonight's show. I'm just not that into this season. Oh well...

First up...

Michael: I am walking in a little late... so Michael is already singing. I wasn't really even paying any attention to what he was singing... but he sounded really good on the ending. Simon didn't care for the performance. I must have missed something. I thought he sounded great. Oh well... Michael is definitely the front runner of the guys.

Di Di: She is performing "Play With Fire". She sounds pretty good on this tune. She pushes a little too hard on the big notes. Her voice isn't built for that kind of power. I still like the quirkiness of her voice though. I liked it.

Casey: He's singing "It's All Over Now". He's going to be rocking a little slide guitar on this tune. I like his voice on this song. Very bluesy. He seems a little distracted by the guitar though. On some of his bigger moments... he actually pulls away to play a riff on the guitar. Hmmm.... I like it when he plays and sings... but I'll bet he would sound better without it though.

Lacey: After hearing her story... I would have thought that they had the wrong vocalist's bio. She does not appear to be an introvert at all. She appears to be very comfortable on stage. Lacey will be singing "Ruby Tuesday". Seems like a good choice for her "Leigh Nash-esque" voice. Her pitchiness would normally be a negative... but it is so much a part of her sound with that quirky voice that you just accept it. I liked it... for what it was. : )

Andrew: This guy is fading for me. A lot like Danny Gokey last season... but Andrew is fading much faster and much earlier in the season. He hasn't been able to bring anything new to the show since Hollywood. Very forgettable vocalist at this point. Not the worst of the 6 guys... but getting there quickly. He is singing "Give Me Shelter". It is very pitchy. He's really not "selling" the song either. Not a good performance. Again... pretty forgettable.

Katie: I just don't see her performing a Stone's tune. This is going to be interesting. She is doing "Wild Horses". I think (at 17) she is still developing as a vocalist. She has tons of potential... but this competition is just too big for her. I can see her recording a country album in about 3 or 4 more years. I didn't care for her performance tonight.

Tim: He is singing "Under My Thumb". I thought he was gone last week... but he is actually sounding pretty good on this song. He picked a great song for his weak voice. Still not crazy about it. Not a strong ending.

Siobhan: I really like this girls voice. She is very confident in her ability too. That will play big as the competition goes on. She sounds a little nasally in the beginning. I love how she is selling the song though. This is big. Very dramatic. She is knocking it out of the park. Best and most creative performance of the night! WOW I think she may be the female vocalist to beat. Watch out Crystal!

Lee: He will be singing "Beast of Burden". Oh... come on... another mellowed out arrangement of a Rolling Stones tune. Where are the rockers this season? I like this guys voice... but he is struggling a little with pitch and confidence. Last notes were rough. I still like this guy though.

Paige: I really thought that she should have been sent home last week. Maybe this will be the week. She is singing "Honky Tonk Women". Finally an arrangement that sounds a little more like the Stones. She doesn't sound too bad on this tune. I like the raspiness to her voice. That's new. This is the best she has sounded all season. Ohhhhh... she has laryngitis. Well... when she gets well... I will have to go back to not being a fan. Sickness may have gotten her through this week.

Aaron: Is singing "Angie". He sounds pretty good on this song. He couldn't have picked a better song for his voice. Much like Tim (with a weak voice)... he chose a song that he can handle. Safe... but smart. Much better than last week.

Crystal: This girl can sing... and play. She is doing "You Can't Always Get What You Want". Maybe she will finally bring some edginess to the show tonight. Something about her voice reminds me of Jennifer Nettles (Sugarland). She has that "sassy" sound to her voice. She sounds pretty good on this song. Not incredible... but really good. She's a performer.

Here are my picks for this week...

Going Home: Paige or Tim

My favs (in this order)...

Siobhan

Crystal

Michael

Great Quote

"Of all people, Christians should be addicted to quality and integrity in every area, not looking for excuses for second-best. We must resist this onslaught. We must demand higher standards. We must look for people with real creative integrity and talent, or we must not dabble in these creative fields at all. All of this does not mean that there is no room for the first halting steps, for experimentation, for mistakes and for development. But it does mean that there is no room for lazy, entrenched, year-after-year, established mediocrity, unchanging and unvaried."


Franky Schaeffer (from his book: Addicted To Mediocrity)

American Idol Update: Top 8 girls

The top 8 girls are performing tonight. They all want to be in the TOP 12... but 2 of them will be going home this week. No pressure... right? Let's see how they do.

First up...

Katie Stevens: This girl CAN sing, but hasn't really wow-ed anybody since her audition. She is going to be singing Kelly Clarkson's "Break Away". Hmmm. This better be good. She has a very rich tone for a 17 year old... but her pitch is a little "if-y". She's not much of a performer either. This is not a very strong performance to kick things off. It won' t help her this week.

Siobhan: is singing "House of The Rising Sun"... strange? Nice a cappella beginning. I don't care much for the song... but she sounds great. Great voice. I think she may be the girl to beat.

Lacey: Is singing "The Story" by Belinda Carlisle. WOW... this song has one of the most difficult melodies ever. Accuracy is everything on this tune. She is doing a great job with it though. Cool vibe... nice job! I liked it.

Katelyn: Carole King's "I Feel The Earth Move". She has a softer voice. She will need a little more "soul" in her voice... more power... to pull this one off. It's just not working. Not a great performance.

Di Di: She's singing a Fleetwood Mac tune tonight. I like what she is doing with this song. She is definitely stronger with the guitar in her hands. The only other time that she has sounded good on the show was when she played the guitar Hollywood week. So far she has not been able to perform with the band though. That will probably hurt her along the way.... but I think she's safe this week. She sounded pretty good on this tune.

Paige: She's doing Charlie Chaplin's "smile". She looks nervous. She sounds nervous. Oooh... this is not good at all. This may be her last week on the show. I'm just sayin'....

Crystal: Tonight... she is singing "Give Me One Reason" by Tracy Chapman. WOW... she sounds great on this! Perfect song choice. Too bad she's not doing her own guitar work though. After that intro... I thought maybe she was going to shred. Still... really good stuff. Maybe the best of the night! Very nice.

Lilly: She is singing Patsy Cline's song, "I Fall To Pieces"? OK... before she ever gets started... this is going to be weird. Talk about bad song choice... and the mandolin is not helping anything. She does still have the uniqueness factor going for her. I just don't know.

Tonight.... I have to go with (not necessarily in this order)...

Lacey

Siobhan

and Crystal.