A Very Special Moment - Issue #9: Dance With My Father Again

For those who watch Ellen, you probably already know she's sent her staff to the Philippines to find young a boy by the name of Alrich Talonding.  She recently invited him to sing on her show.  

The young boy has become a YouTube sensation after a video appeared of him singing Luther Vandross's, "Dance With My Father Again".  And if you've never heard of the song, it's one of the most emotional and heart-wrenching songs you'll ever hear.  It's about a child who misses his father who passed away, and who's mother's pain embraces him. Lyrics are at the bottom. 

"Dance With My Father Again"

Back when I was a child, before life removed all the innocence

My father would lift me high and dance with my mother and me and then

Spin me around ‘til I fell asleep

Then up the stairs he would carry me

And I knew for sure I was loved

If I could get another chance, another walk, another dance with him

I’d play a song that would never, ever end

How I’d love, love, love

To dance with my father again

When I and my mother would disagree

To get my way, I would run from her to him

He’d make me laugh just to comfort me

Then finally make me do just what my mama said

Later that night when I was asleep

He left a dollar under my sheet

Never dreamed that he would be gone from me

If I could steal one final glance, one final step, one final dance with him

I’d play a song that would never, ever end

‘Cause I’d love, love, love

To dance with my father again

Sometimes I’d listen outside her door

And I’d hear how my mother cried for him

I pray for her even more than me

I pray for her even more than me

I know I’m praying for much too much

But could you send back the only man she loved

I know you don’t do it usually

But dear Lord she’s dying

To dance with my father again

Every night I fall asleep and this is all I ever dream

Are People Really This Stupid? Issue No. 30 - The Habanero Challenge

You see this little beauty right here >>>

That is the 4th hottest pepper in the world.  And yes, it will burn the hell out of your mouth.  It is called the Habanero Chili Pepper.

Some people, including the infamous YouTuber, GloZell decided to take the habanero-eating challenge and the consequence wasn't too great. Are people really this stupid?  YES!  LOL.  I'm one of them.

I told myself I would never eat one by itself ever again, and I haven't.  But boy are they are great for making salsas. :-)

The following guy made a bet for 20 bucks.  And boy, did it cost him.  Absolutely hilarious! 
Oh, and by the way, drinking coke or water does not make it feel any better, it only intensifies it.

Catch GloZell eating a Habanero after the jump, it's even more hilarious! LOL.

Must Watch: Why I Hate Religion, But Love Jesus

The following video was posted 2 days ago, and it will probably reach 3 million views by the end of the day.  It has been causing a firestorm among Republicans and the hardcore Christians, but ironically enough, most of them are siding with the words this young man, Jefferson Bethke has written.  People I thought would never condone this video are stating something positive about it.  Almost every status update on Facebook where I've seen this video posted have said, "Wow".

And "Wow" is right.  The poem Jeff recites in this video is meaningful and downright powerful.  He wrote a masterpiece of a Poem, and the commendation is well deserved.

When you can move people by simply writing and saying something as beautiful as this, you know you've done something right.

A poem I wrote to highlight the difference between Jesus and false religion. In the scriptures Jesus received the most opposition from the most religious people of his day. At it's core Jesus' gospel and the good news of the Cross is in pure opposition to self-righteousness/self-justification. Religion is man centered, Jesus is God-centered. This poem highlights my journey to discover this truth. Religion either ends in pride or despair. Pride because you make a list and can do it and act better than everyone, or despair because you can't do your own list of rules and feel "not good enough" for God. With Jesus though you have humble confident joy because He represents you, you don't represent yourself and His sacrifice is perfect putting us in perfect standing with God!

Lyrics after the jump...

Must Watch: A Tasty Way To Go...

Nevermind that the guys are cute.  This is the creepiest, Dexteristic, short film I have ever seen.  Hopefully you brave souls will watch it; Especially with it's very tasty ending.  

It's only 46 seconds, so I'm sure you have that much to spare.

Jimmy Wong Wins Second Round of Cover Wars 7

With an impressive group of YouTube artists, Jimmy Wong edged out Eli Lieb and Walk Off The Earth featuring Roomie.  It is now time for you choose the winner of this month's Cover Wars competition.  

So who will take home the Gold Record this month?  Will it be the endearing love ballad by Jimmy, or the powerful pop version by Petie that will win you over? You decide.

The final round begins today 9/19/2011 and will end this Saturday, 09/24/11.  I will declare the winner on Sunday, the 25th.

Cover Wars 6 Winner Abraham Lim

On this day I will personally email the winner their Cover Wars Gold Record.  It's not an actual vinyl record, but a recognition award congratulating them for their amazing talent and their win; So your vote is really important.

Here are your final two contestants battling it out with their covers of Lady Gaga's, "Edge of Glory."

Round One Winner, Petie Pizarro

Round Two Winner, Jimmy Wong

To vote, simply leave me a comment indicating which artist you think deserves the win for the second round of the competition.

Cover Wars 7

This has got to be the most difficult Cover War to date.  I spent 2 hours on Sunday listening to over 100 covers of Lady Gaga's "Edge of Glory," and I never grew tired of listening to it.  

All the artists in this month's war deserve a standing ovation, hell they each deserve a Cover Wars Album, they are all absolutely amazing!  I cried as I watched a cover of a boy with Cerebral Palsy and it made it even harder for me to pick these Top 12 people.  He didn't make the top 12, but I will tell you this... the courage alone was enough to make anyone vote for him.

Cover Wars 6 Winner Abraham Lim

This month's Cover War is going to be a little different, and I may do it like this from now on.  I am posting six covers of "Edge of Glory" today and you will have 7 days (until 9/10/11) to vote for the best out of these six.  The second round begins the next day (9/11/11), and will consist of another six covers to the same song; You will also have 7 days to vote on this round which will end on 9/17/11.  The top two finalists from the previous two weeks will compete in a final competition which will take place from September 18-24, 2011.

The winner will be declared the following day, September 25, 2011. On this day I will personally email the winner their Cover Wars Gold Record.  It's not an actual vinyl record, but a recognition award congratulating them for their amazing talent and their win; So your vote is really important.

Meet Group 1 of the Cover Wars 7 contestants, a group of talented artists I chose to start the first round of this month's Cover War! 

Top left to right: Neilo Rose, Alana DeBlase, Petie Pizarro;

Bottom left to right: Nick Pitera, Jay Loftus, Drew Chambers

To vote, simply leave me a comment indicating which artists you think deserves the win for the first round of the competition.

Cover Wars 6

I can't believe it's been a month since my last Cover Wars post, but after listening to Adele's CD on my way to work this morning, I had to feature a Cover War using another one of her songs.  You may recall my very first issue featured Adele's "Rolling In The Deep."

Once again, it was a very difficult decision to make, so I went with only the guys for this battle.  The girls were fantastic, but I can only do so much. Maybe I will feature them at a later time, but for now, the war is on...

These are the top 6 guys I felt did an awesome job of covering Adele's, "Someone Like You."  Sean Rumsey, Abraham Lim, Eli Lieb, Benjamin, Chris Kennedy from The Shures, and Nick Gardner

The contest ends next Thursday, August 11, and the winner will receive a Cover Wars Gold Record that I will personally email them.  It's not an actual vinyl record, but a recognition award just for being on my blog, so your vote is really important.

 

 

Cover Wars 4 - Winner

Cover Wars 5 - The Results

So the results are in for my first ever, Cover Wars by Category issue.  It was a close call between the group and teen performances, but overall each performance was fantastic.  You have to remember, I chose what I felt was the best of the best, and you decided which of them were the winners.

Each contestant sang their own cover of "Grenade" by Bruno Mars, and in the end, the winners were...

Lion Named Roar for Best Group Performance.  While many of you were impressed with Lawson's version of the song, Lion Named Roar came out on top as the best all-around sound, and I couldn't agree more, the vocals were great, the music was great, and the video was great.  Congrats Lion Named Roar!

As for the Best Female Performance, Lisa Lavie won this hands down, her unique voice made it all the better for her in the end.  Her strong vocals, accompanied with some great music, made it an even easier choice.  Giving it her emotional best, Lisa was the clear choice.  Congrats Lisa!

In the Best Male Performance category, it was the hot-looking "nerdy" guy, Alex Goot vs. the ever popular, Jason Chen.  Alex definitely provided a shocking element to his performance, his voice! The music was amazing, his playing the guitar, the piano and the drums added to a great video performance as well.  There  definitely was no competing with Alex, he won this hands down.  Congrats Alex!

 For Best Teen Performance, my readers were stuck between two teenage boys who gave it their all, Marko Stantic and Jordan Jansen.  In the end, Jordan took this home.  His unique voice, the emotion he provided, and the video accompanying the song, garnered him enough votes to take home the Gold Record.  Remarkable voice, remarkable performance, congrats Jordan!


Once again, here are your Cover War winners singing their cover to "Grenade"...

As promised, each winner will be sent an image of their Cover Wars "Gold Record."  It's a fictional image of my Cover Wars logo and a Gold Album embedded in a black frame. I created this image specifically for this series.  

This is also the first issue where I have sent the winner a personalized image of their Cover Wars album.

Cover Wars 5

Cover Wars is going to be real interesting this time around...

There were so many covers to this song that I couldn't post every single one of them against each other.   So, because all of them were unique in their own way, I separated them into vocalist categories; Best Group, Best Male, Best Female, and Best Teen.  

Last Week's Winner

Each of the category winners will get a Cover Wars Gold Record that I will personally email them.  It's not an actual vinyl record, but a recognition award just for being on my blog, so your vote is really important. 

It was a difficult decision, but I chose the "best of the best" out of the videos below.  After listening to over 200 covers over the weekend, I chose 50 that I liked, and managed to get it down to 22.  At this point it was becoming really, really difficult, because I liked every one of them.  This morning I came up with the idea of making it a "win by category" issue, and once again, as hard as it was, I was able to bring it down to 10 covers.  I tried to bring the Group category down to two, but I couldn't.

The song being covered is "Grenade" by Bruno Mars.  I think that everyone who has ever dated, been in a relationship, or has been married can relate to this song.  The lyrics speak for themselves:

Gave you all I had
And you tossed it in the trash
You tossed it in the trash, you did
To give me all your love is all I ever asked,
Cause what you don't understand is
I’d catch a grenade for ya (yeah, yeah, yeah)
Throw my hand on a blade for ya (yeah, yeah, yeah)
I’d jump in front of a train for ya (yeah, yeah , yeah)
You know I'd do anything for ya (yeah, yeah, yeah)

In order to vote, all you have to do is leave a comment, and paste the following into the message:

Group Category: 

Female Category: 

Male Category: 

Teen Category: 

Type who you're voting for next to each category. The names are down below to the left of each video.  I hope you enjoy listening to these covers as much as I did.  Thank you for your cooperation. - Blade aka Peter

Group Category:

Before You Exit

Lawson

Lion Named Roar

Skyline

Female Category:

Lisa Lavie
Dana

Male Category:

Alex Goot

Jason Chen

Teen Category:

Marko Stantic

Jordan Jansen

Cover Wars - Issue No. 4

Cover Wars 4 is here, and figuring out who of these 3 will take home the Gold Record is up to you.  I really had a difficult time finding a good cover to P!nk's "F**kin Perfect."  It is, by far, one of my most favorite songs of the past year, and for me, it is up there with "Born This Way," "Jar of Hearts," and "Rolling in The Deep."

One of the main reasons I love this song so much, is because it deals with suicide, and the yearning for acceptance in this world.  I grew up with thoughts of suicide as a gay adolescent, and up to my early twenties; Let me tell you something, it's not a good feeling to have. 

While, many on the right have changed the song to reflect their "Christian" values, or make it about their "relationships," it isn't about that.  Don't get me wrong, there were some excellent covers out there, but I had so much trouble finding a good cover, because of that reason.  It isn't about "less, less than perfect!"  It's "pretty pretty please, don't you ever feel, like your less than f**kin perfect!"

It was the same way with "Born This Way."  Removing the lyrics, or changing them to reflect your own life makes it really difficult when the song is trying to send a different message.  I'm not being hypocritical here.  I mean, there are songs out there where the gender role was changed from "he" to "she," or "her" to "him." I think that's okay, so long as the main message or point is getting across.

Pink quoted,

"Cutting, and suicide, two very different symptoms of the same problem, are gaining on us. (the problem being; alienation and depression. the symptoms; cutting and suicide). I personally don't know a single person who doesn't know at least two of these victims personally." - P!nk.

She also goes on to explain,

"that, while the video may be considered shocking, it is intended to open people's eyes to these problems. In addition, P!nk believes the video is a message to everyone who needs help. Pink described the process of making the video as a “very emotional experience” and related the core theme of “Fuckin' Perfect” to her yet-to-be-born baby, saying, “I have a life inside of me, and I want her or him to know that I will accept him or her with open and loving and welcoming arms. And though I will prepare this little munchkin for a sometimes cruel world, I will also equip this kid to see all the beauty in it as well.” She also noted that she expects the video to “Ruffle some feathers,” meaning it would cause controversy."

Get this through your f**kin heads people.  You need to learn to accept your child for who, and what he is.  If he acts a little girly, and likes to play with dolls, let him.  If he walks or talks a little funny, who gives a shit.  If he grows up loving sports, but you find out he only likes boys - big f**kn deal, He's f**kin perfect!  He or she is your child through and through. No blood about it!

Here are  your top 3 battling it out for the top spot.  I cant decide on who I want to win, so I'm asking for your help.  please make sure to leave a comment with your vote.

First one on the list is Peter from the Czech Republic, followed by Eypee from Berlin, Germany; with the final competitor being Marina Braga from Brazil.

And the Cover Wars Winner Is....

NO ONE!  It was a tie! This only means one thing....There has to be a tie-breaker!

After 21 votes, the Cover War between 16 YouTubers was decided by you, so we now have to vote and see which artist is better. Our current reigning champ, Sam Tsui, or Ben Chambers.

I have posted the two covers for, 'Jar of Hearts' down below.  I will reveal the results this Saturday, so make sure you vote.

      Sam Tsui          vs.         Ben Chambers

Jar of Hearts by Christina Perri

Cover Wars - Issue No. 3

It was during a dance routine by Billy and Kaitlyn on So You Think You Can Dance, that introduced us to Christina Perri's hit song, Jar of Hearts.  The moment I heard it, I loved it.  

I've experienced so much of what the song is trying to convey.  I dated guys who were with me for only 2 or 3 months, then they'd leave. It was heart breaking.  Furthermore, you'd see them with someone else a week or so later, crushing your heart even further.  Then, they'd leave them too.  These guys were just collecting their "jar of hearts," because unbeknownst to them, they were breaking people's hearts without a care in the world. I thank God everyday for giving me Ryan, who's been with me for 6 years!

This is only my third issue of the series, because of the amount of time it takes me to put this together.  The premise behind "Cover Wars" is to get your opinion on who you think is the "best of the best" when a YouTube artist performs a cover to a popular hit, like Adele's current song, "Rolling in the Deep" or Madonna's, "Like A Prayer".

This week's battle has an unprecedented 16 contenders. I literally went through several hundred covers of Perri's song, to find the ones I wanted competing against each other. I chose 36 covers, and out of those 36, I siphoned out 20.  It is now up to you to decide which of these 16 wins the battle.  Out of all these, one of them made me shed a tear, can you guess which one that was?

I have listed each of the contestants in the playlist from 1-16, starting with the current reigning champ, Sam Tsui, and his cover of Jar of Hearts.

01. Sam Tsui

02. Maddi Jane

03. Quanah

04. Kait Weston feat. Tyler Ward on Guitar

05. Matt Beilis

06. Sara Neimietz

07. Kris Cunningham feat. Sophie Lowe

08. Tiago Braga

09. Ebony & Anth

10. Step aka Fonzy91

11. Alex G. feat. Jeff Hendrick on Guitar

12. Umberto aka emotionsinfluences

13. Brandon Skeie

14. Omar

15. Kevin

16. Ben Chambers

Cover Wars - Issue No. 2

UPDATE: Sam Tsui wins cover war! - See Comments

Last week, I started my new series, "Cover Wars," and I had so much fun putting it together, I even designed the headline pic up above.

The premise behind "Cover Wars" is to get your opinion on who you think is the "best of the best" when a YouTube artist performs a cover to a popular hit, like Adele's current song, "Rolling in the Deep" or Madonna's, "Like A Prayer".

This week's battle song is Lady Gaga's, "Born This Way". Currently one of her number 1 tracks, Gaga's Born This Way album hits stores on May 23rd.

For the second round of my new series I have chosen 6 people or duos to battle it out, Sam Tsui, Tyler Ward feat. Alex G., Wesley Avery, Peter Hollens, Marius Gröh from Germany, and Ben feat. Josh.

Who do you think will win this war?

             Sam Tsui                       Tyler Ward featuring Alex G.

Wesley Avery                               Peter Hollens

   Marius Gröh                               Ben featuring Josh

For All You Star Wars (Prequel) Haters

Yesterday I brought you posters in Lego, today I bring you "The Force" in Lego!  Haha, it's actually a video done by YouTuber, dzine123.

So if your one of the original trilogy fans who hated the prequels and wish to see them in a condensed version - this video is for you.  All three prequels in less than 2.5 minutes - you can't beat that.  I'm still waiting for the condensed versions of Lord of the Rings and Harry Potter in Lego.  Hell, all of the Friday the 13ths in Lego would suffice. LoL

Cover Wars - Issue No. 1

UPDATE: Drew Chambers wins first cover war!

As part of my new series, "Cover Wars," I would like to initiate the series with one of my favorite songs of the year, "Rolling in The Deep" by Adele.  It's from her new album, "21".

The premise behind "Cover Wars" is to get your opinion on who you think is the "best of the best" when performing a cover to a particular artist.  

Today I chose, Drew Chambers and Kris Cunningham feat. Natalia Brown to compete in the first round of my new series.

Who do you think has won this war?

What Do A Banana and "Born This Way" Have In Common?

Admit it - you gotta love this kid!  He proudly sings Lady Gaga's, "Born This Way," and does a fabulous job dancing to it too!  Banana and all, he should be on Ellen.

A Special Tribute to Adele

The first time I heard of Adele, wasn't because I heard her singing, Chasing Pavements.  It was because I came across a video of a hot, shirtless, YouTuber named Brandon (pictured below), who was singing a cover of the same song.

But since the subject is about Adele, and not Brandon, I thought I would post two impressive music videos by Adele, and in doing so, apologize "in a sense" to a couple of friends.

This young lady has class, has a voice, and has a new fan.  It's not very often that I get turned on to a new artist, but Adele is the exception.  After giving my friends hell the other day over her music, I take back everything I ever said about the artist, I didn't know her.  

I saw her video, "Rolling in the Deep," and was truly drawn to her words, her music, the person that is Adele.  She reminds me so much of Patsy Cline, another artist who's music transformed country music into one of the greatest establishments ever created.

And then I listened to "Someone Like you," which was performed Live in her home.  I've come to the conclusion that Adele is nothing, but pure magic in every sense of the word - She is a true artist.  I cried to this damn song.

Rebecca Black's 'Frday' Gets A Parody

You knew it was only a matter of time before Rebecca Black's 'Friday' became a parody.  And you thought it couldnt' get any worse?

Well here's your Christian version, titled 'Sunday.'

You Just Made Another Teen A Millionaire

While all of you were making fun of 13-yr-old Rebecca Black last week for her song, "Friday," she was slowly counting each .70 cent download from iTunes and laughing her way to the bank.   So while we continue to spread her video which went viral last week, she is amassing her millions according to Forbes.com.  She currently sits at #45 on the iTunes Top Singles chart.

The Ark Music Factory, an LA-based production company who asks for 1,000 or 2,000 dollars from your mommy or daddy, puts together a piece of crap song and video for you, with the hope your little bundle of joy will become rich.  Well, guess what?  You have done that for little Rebecca Black.

So while all of you folks that continue to bash her as seen in the YouTube comments below...

• CRASH IT!

LinokuStar 4 seconds ago

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• u have been kidding me this so fuking sad...... (which seat can i have... there's only one seat u can have u retard and your friends are like 12 they cant drive!!!! (yesterday was thursday and frinday we know u retard we know our days!!!!!!!!!! fuking idiot

ExtenZeOverDoes 4 seconds ago

• nice.

oxygenisweird 7 seconds ago

• baaaaaad!!!!bad!!bad!!

1997kurdishgirl 9 seconds ago

• i think a 5 year old wrote this song :)

XxJaclynxX333 11 seconds ago

• I am paid to attention once. ！！！！！！！！

1wsuret4 12 seconds ago

• You're really talented !!! It's funny =D

HiindouuJonas 15 seconds ago

• this is terribile...

therunnerissofast 16 seconds ago

...she continues to laugh back at you, and fortunately for her, will eventually sit on a balcony from her Beverly Hills mansion as you struggle with your miserable life every day.

Geez thank God, Ryan and I are happy. LOL.  I need to contact this Ark Factory.

Katy Perry's "Firework" as You've Never Seen or Heard It Before!

You may remember him from 2010 when he was a guest on the shows, Today and Ellen, or you may have heard of him when his videos went viral in the Fall.  He made covers of Katy Perry's, "Teenage Dream" and Bruno Mars, "Just They Way You Are."

Well, the very hot Mike Tompkins is back and the cutie dishes out a cover of Katy Perry's "Firework" as you've never seen or heard it before. I truly enjoyed watched this video, he's truly an amazing artist.  When someone can create music with their voice alone, they are truly a musical genius.

Check out the video below: