Monday, February 14, 2011

The Grammys - Lights, More Lights, Fake Fire..and Real Arcade Fire

Justin Bieber lost.  He had his eyes closed, as if he was wishing for his name to be called. After all, isn't he the heartthrob of millions of 12-year old girls?  But when Esmeralda Spalding's name was called, his eyes popped open in complete surprise- just like the rest of us.

While many of the female pop stars were popping out of their minds in costumes best suited for Laugh-In meets the Carnies, Esmeralda wore the Grammy.  Lady GaGa arrived in an egg, and her performance laid another.  Justin was sharp with his dance moves, but his voice is thin, nearly transparent, and almost as lost in the music as his dancing was in the lights.

Mick Jagger wore the best tux of the night and proved that old rockers can still move their hips and bring a crowd to its feet.  Here is a man who loves to perform.   Streisand, on the other hand, looked antiquated- a relic of a by-gone era where show tunes, classical, and jazz music dominated the Grammy awards.  Her voice was a mere ghost of her past, with only a glimpse or two of that signature control and tone that set her apart from other contemporary singers.  She also followed Mick Jagger onto the stage- yeah, you don't want to do that.

Usher can dance, is a true entertainer, and his troupe tore up the floor. Likewise for Bruno Mars with his multi-instrument performance- nice touch to CBS for the black and white filter...I felt like we had a real director for this award show.  Rhianna sang beautifully, looked lovely, as did all the women who sang the 'long enough tribute to think she was dead" to Aretha Franklin.

Eminem is "The Man".  He has the presence and power that most rappers only dream of.  When he steps out on the stage, he brings the audience to their feet, and he lives and breathes his words- it's an assault upon your senses, an amazingly powerful experience. Eminem is fascinating to watch, a mesmerizing artist unlike any other.  He didn't wear an outfit from a 1980's Dr. Who television show in order to bare his soul- he just laid it out there.

Once you remove the silly costumes, turn-off the auto-tuners and the karaoke machine, and the juvenile hair styles, there were some excellent performances that deserve mentioning- and so we rated them.  The Mutant Mouse top five performances at the 2011 Grammy Awards were:

5.  Bruno Mars - nice work kid
4.  Mumford and Sons- You boys kicked ass
3.  Eminem - $#*# man, that was sick.
2.  Muse - music and light show was excellent- lose the anarchist dancers tho
1.  Arcade Fire - Says thanks for Album of the Year award and then plays another song- awesome

Kudos to CBS for adapting on the fly to Arcade Fire's decision to play another song.  It felt like unscripted, fly-by-the-seat-of-your-pants television. And isn't that what we were looking for all along?

On a final note: Sorry, Justin- you have to have better music on your CD than your competition in order to actually WIN a Grammy.  Don't give up, your dance moves were slick tonight...you could be the next Justin Timberlake if you keep at it for a few more years.  Or you could end up like Leif Garrett.  Good  luck, kid.







Saturday, February 12, 2011

Wishmakers Latest Charity Project to Benefit FSMA

From our Friends, The Wishmakers



The Wishmakers have a new project!! We will be raising money for Families of Spinal Muscular Atrophy (FSMA) by selling children's activity Maze  books in memory of Violet Wehrkamp (Little Flower Violet). Our kick- off event will be February 18th at 9 p.m., at Desaki Japanese  Restaurant on Route 611 Swiftwater, PA. Books will be sold there that  night and online at www.thewishmakers.org

The Wishmakers created children's maze activity books ("SMAZES") to benefit Families of Spinal Muscular Atrophy (SMA). They will be on sale starting February 18th from their website.  Join Wishmakers Facebook Group at http://www.facebook.com/pages/The-Wishmakers/183933024956554


The Mutant Mouse Chronicles will be there on February 18th for The Wishmakers FSMA Charity Event.  Join us as we support Families of Spinal Muscular Atrophy on February 18, 2011 at 9:00 p.m. at Desaki Japanese Restaurant, Route 611, Swiftwater, Pennsylvania
www.fsma.org
  

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