My Pegasus's Style detailed comments.
{Spoiler}Augustana - "Twenty Years"
www.youtube.com/watch?v=g0oTAivWGGkWords cannot explain adequately enough how HAPPY I am to see Augustana, out of all the big time artists and songs one could have picked out for this round, on the list for this round. I am on the train of thought that loves, when a contestant doesn’t always go with the usual, popular, or safe choices of artists and songs, so you get big credit for that from me. Especially for this round, where there are names like Queen, Journey and The Who on the lists, you went with Augustana! Also looks like this contestant has been paying some good attention on this special guest judge’s preference in music. With the pick of a live performance (I love those) from Augustana (A favorite music group for me). The only problem with me is, even though this is a great song from the band, this isn’t one of their best live performances of the song imo. The backup vocalist’s voice just didn’t blend in well with lead singer Dan Layus’s singing, especially toward the end of the song, where it gets really obvious. Would have been even better if taken acoustic, and/or the sole singer was Dan. Not sure if the other judge’s will like this as much as I do, but this contestant will be scoring well with me for sure. I just hope, that the chooser of this song, legit loved this song enough to submit it for the round, and didn’t just choose it to please a judge. So yes. Love this pick, and love you for using it!
David Bowie - Life On Mars?
www.youtube.com/watch?v=v--IqqusnNQAbsolutely Brilliant Choice! I hate you for getting this song stuck in my mind, for the past 5 days. I think I was hypnotized or put into a trance after listening to this, together with the video. I haven’t heard/seen this in ages, and forgot all about it, but once it got in my mind again, it doesn’t leave. Just remembering the images from the video alone, can leave that melody stuck in the mind. And with a video like that, with David Bowie looking like that, it’s quite easy to. Pause at 2:53. David Bowie was definitely ahead of his time, dressing like an 80s singer, in the early 70s! I applaud you, like for the first contestant, for picking a choice unexpected for this round. Very original and unique pick. Just an effective choice at the right time.
Dr. Dre - "Still D.R.E"
www.youtube.com/watch?v=kG_qcud1ShMHey how about that? I really like that somebody chose Dr. Dre and Snoop Dogg from my “house” as their choice in this round, rather than some of the more WC friendly artists. Bonus points for you, picking hiphop/rap a genre I didn’t expect making an appearance in this round. I really like this choice, but I’m not quite sure how it’ll hold up to the other choices yet to come. We’ll see.
George Strait - "I Hate Everything"
www.youtube.com/watch?v=HNEynVEe1NsSo far of the four, this is the weakest choice for me. No it’s not because it’s country music. In fact I adore country music, so it’s not that. I really liked that you went with country here, and a non-obvious choice (all picks so far have taken risks, and I love it.) it’s just that, this song, just didn’t really click particularly well for me. Not exactly my cup of tea when it comes to country music.
Journey - "Faithfully"
www.youtube.com/watch?v=OMD8hBsA-RI&ob=av2nWell it’s the first safe artist of the list so far. Safe is not necessarily a bad thing, cause awesome-ness is able to trump that. Journey. What’s not to like about them. I especially like Steve Perry’s mustache in this one. The Journey craze has been going on strong for the past couple of years, and I have been one of those, who was sucked back into this Journey music revival. However for me, that Journey love has died down a bit recently. Everytime I hear a Journey song, it just feels so, overplayed? For me. So this song, although a great song in musicianship (I did love power ballads, but somehow, that love has also dwindled down for me recently) it just was a victim of circumstance, in my constantly changing music tastes.
Michael Jackson - "Man in the Mirror"
www.youtube.com/watch?v=PivWY9wn5psCongratulations, you have just chosen my favorite Michael Jackson song. Okay big fan of the song. Unlike other MJ songs, Man in the Mirror Just never gets old, or feel over-played for me. It just keeps going strong. Love the beat, melody, lyrics, message, sing-along value. Flawless choice. The only thing that kept you from getting a higher score, is that, this was one of the predictable artists of the round to use. Good thing you went for the best song from him.
Oasis - "Don't Look Back in Anger"
www.youtube.com/watch?v=r8OipmKFDeMNever a big fan of Oasis, but wow, you sure did pick a song from them, that really caught my attention. I really liked this choice. Just catchy, great tone, and lyrics. Nice to sing along with, and it can get caught in the mind. This choice, has just got me to appreciate the band Oasis, much more than I used to. I’ll surly be looking into more music from them.
Oasis - "Wonderwall"
www.youtube.com/watch?v=6hzrDeceEKcAgain, wow, a choice from Oasis, I really liked, when I’m not even a big fan of them. You could practically cut and paste what I said from above over here, from the other Oasis pick. Just a song that captures one’s mind and gets them absorbed into the music that you are listening to. It’s really a pity though… If just one of these songs from Oasis was used this round I would have scored them each very high. But with two people picking Oasis on the same round, I have to reduce my placement, based on originality. Love both songs though, so this and the other Oasis song, won’t be going anywhere near the bottom of my list. Thank you both for picking Oasis songs that I like.
Prince - "Sometimes It Snows In April"
www.youtube.com/watch?v=lbZCpOr8hW8Calming, cool and touching Prince song, another artist I adore. Strategic with picking an artist off three judge’s “house’s” including my own. I love that you went with a non-obvious Prince Song. But not exactly one of my favorites from Prince. We’ll see how it stacks up. Still 10 more songs to go.
Queen - "Flash"
www.youtube.com/watch?v=MS4_Z84-rREQueen was another predictable artist, but great you picked a not so obvious choice from them. Catchy and addicting at first, but when I realized it was from a corny movie, I just felt not so stoked about it, especially with the constant dialogue from the film repeating throughout it. Points for the thought of the pick, but in the end fell flat for me.
R.E.M - "Orange Crush"
www.youtube.com/watch?v=tf79lOZ7inwHoly Crap I didn’t know I would like this as much as I did. What an addicting beat. I just could listen to this for a long while. Widow will be bound to score this one high I bet, being that R.E.M is of her favorite artists ever. And I don’t blame her, cause this song choice, is just killer. Great song, from a very talented band.
Ray Charles - "Night Time is the Right Time"
www.youtube.com/watch?v=E4rG4GRTVB4I simply loved this. Nice choosing an artist from my “House” here. Blues was a great and perfect genre to be represented on this round, and Ray Charles was another great pick. This will be scoring quite well for me. I just loved the slick, cool feeling this song emits. Love the chorus, and back up singers. I heart you.
Sesame Street's Ernie (feat. Shawn Colvin) - "I Don't Want to Live on the Moon"
www.youtube.com/watch?v=1zzL3N7HE0sWhoa. Completely Unpredicted Song Pick. You went with Sesame Street as your choice here? And an actual Good Song to listen to? Fantastic decision, and great risk, which paid off for you here. Just so nice and pleasant, and actually falls into a section of music that I like.
Tears For Fears - "Mad World"
www.youtube.com/watch?v=GZfv2tk1RFUI sometimes feel a bit reluctant to score songs very low, cause it’s been used in the past, but this time it was easy. Easy cause I utterly detest, this version of the song. I really like the Gary Jules version, but I do not like the original for some reason. You made a good decision in picking the live version though, cause it was better than the studio recording for me, but because it was a repeat, it goes down on the list again. Sorry.
The Beatles - "Helter Skelter"
www.youtube.com/watch?v=QWuXmfgXVxYYes, an expected band, but “Helter Skelter” was a surprisingly good choice for me. “Helter Skelter” was one of the Beatles songs, that somehow alluded me. I knew the name, but didn’t really listen to it thoroughly. Maybe, because of the associations with that title, was why I avoided it, but it’s a decent choice this round. I like the hard rock side of the Beatles, collection.
The Doors - "Peace Frog"
www.youtube.com/watch?v=KRJKOtM-onMBig YES. Another from my “House.” Too young to really be an adequate fan of The Doors, but what I heard from them I do like. At first with a title like that putting me off, I didn’t think too much of it, cause there are some Doors songs I don’t like, but yes this was a superb choice. Extremely Catchy singing, melody, and lyrics. Not to mention a deeply addicting bass line. Cool pick.
The Who - "I Can't Explain"
www.youtube.com/watch?v=8rtfvbNJfP0There are two strikes which would work against The Who. One is that they are always, always, picked for this competition, along side with The Foo Fighters, and thus was a highly predictable artist to pick for this round. Second, I am not exactly a big fan of The Who, cause they have some popular songs, that I really don’t like. I basically like only Baba O Reily, Among a few that haven’t been used in WC Idol/X Factor yet. Luckily for you, contestant, you went with a non-obvious choice from them, that I LOVED. So yes, I am going to rank this song choice highly. Very Awesome beat, a toe-tapper for sure, and extremely catchy!
Weird Al Yankovic - "Albuquerque"
www.albinoblacksheep.com/flash/albuquerqueI like Weird Al, I really do. I love his parodies, and he actually has some good comedy songs, and is a pretty good singer. However, this imo, is really not one of his best songs. First it didn’t really feel like I was listening to music, but more of a comedy act put together to sound like a song. It was more of a silly narrative, rather than one that pulls you in. The redeeming thing is that it could have been funny, but it wasn’t that funny. And the length, man, it felt like it kept going on and on, and just felt like it would never end. I have watched it before, and didn’t like it the first time. So I didn’t watch it ever again, until now. As a judge, I made sure to listen to it in full. Painful, but I gave it a chance. Never Again!
Guns n’ Roses - “Knockin’ on Heaven’s Door”
Hey, a pretty decent song choice here. There will be a penalty however, due to the lateness, so forgive the pun here, but I’m gonna be knock, knock, knockin the rank down a few pegs, as fairness for the other contestants for getting their’s in on time. Sorry.
Rankings:
David Bowie “Life on Mars” 1
Augustana “Twenty Years” 2
Michael Jackson - "Man in the Mirror" 3
Sesame Street's Ernie (feat. Shawn Colvin) - "I Don't Want to Live on the Moon" 4
Ray Charles - "Night Time is the Right Time" 5
The Doors - "Peace Frog" 6
The Who - "I Can't Explain" 7
R.E.M - "Orange Crush" 8
The Beatles - "Helter Skelter" 9
Oasis - "Wonderwall" 10
Oasis - "Don't Look Back in Anger" 11
Dr. Dre “Still D.R.E” 12
Prince - Sometimes It Snows In April 13
Journey - "Faithfully" 14
George Strait - “I hate everything” 15
Queen - "Flash" 16
Guns N Roses - Knocking On Heaven's Door 17
Tears For Fears - "Mad World" 18
Weird Al Yankovic - "Albuquerque" 19