Pop Music Thursday - Jennifer Hudson in the "Spotlight"

Update - I was saddened to hear the tragic news about Jennifer's mother and brother. My prayers are with her in this awful time.

This week's HOTT track comes from Jennifer Hudson. Lots of people always ask, why didn't she win AI? I'll tell you why: Because in 2004, she wasn't polished or ready. The Jennifer Hudson on American Idol was raw and not as good as Fantasia -- yet.

Flash forward to 2006. 2 years after her AI boot she slipped into her now famous role as Effie in the film "Dreamgirls". This Jennifer had time to grow, train, and learn. This Jennifer became JHud!

She won a slew of awards in 2007, which led to her Best Supporting Actress Oscar. It's funny because on Broadway, Effie is generally regarded as the lead role, but as a relative unknown Jennifer took a backseat to Beyonce's Deena. No matter.



Flash forward to 2008, and JHud is on the charts with her self-titled debut CD. It debuted at #2 on the Billboard Album Charts and the first single off the album is called "Spotlight".

It took me a while to get into this track, but I do like it. It's solid, smooth and strong.



There are several remix versions of "Spotlight", but one I really like is her live performance on Dancing with the Stars.

So, that's my pick for the week, but I will feel remiss in this post if I fail to acknowledge the re-emergence of good ol' Britney Spears.

She looks great, and the video is HOTT, but...



...without the video and her name behind the track, it's kinda meh. I'm not sold, but what do you think?

My 80's flashback

Today I'm a little uninspired and I have a TON of rambling thoughts (should I go to the gym, is Jango getting better, what will we do for my Dad's birthday this weekend, how in the world will I find time to come up with a Halloween costume, why is my mac book pro so damn slow, will Obama win). Yeah, a lot of thoughts whirling in my head.

Then, I finally settled in for a trip through 80's music that made my afternoon bearable.

Let me backtrack. Yesterday I started using a new music service called LaLa and so far I really like it. I'm realizing that it's biggest service is its use as a digital storage locker. I'm still uploading tunes, so I haven't explored that part of the service to its full extent.

Basically, you can listen to A LOT of tunes for free (they estimate 6 million full-tracks) and you can play *your* music, anywhere on the web. But LaLa is not the point of this post.

I did a search for Duran Duran and found a list of similar artists, resulting in a afternoon sample that went something like this:

Duran Duran - "New Moon on Monday"


Nik Kershaw - "Wouldn't it be Good"


Spandau Ballet - "True"


Thompson Twins - "Lies"


Tears For Fears - "Everybody Wants to Rule the World"


I had thoughts of hair spray, perms, neon, gel shoes, cassette tapes, Atari, and all the low-tech stuff we had back then. Good times.

What are some of your favorite 80's songs?

Why I'm voting for Obama

I'll try and keep the political talk on this blog to a minimum. I do enough squawking on Plurk and Twitter and even my Posterous blog. But the endorsement of Obama by Colin Powell is HUGE. What he says about the state of the Republican party, Palin, and the attack tactics of the McCain campaign ring so sensibly. His statement in this video hits at the heart of why Obama should be the next President of the United States.

I will also say that if I could vote for Colin Powell, I would (and not as a write-in, as an official candidate).

For the love of Gergen

This post is dedicated to my husband who LOVES David Gergen.


And here's the accompanying article by Jessie Klein.

Plus, here's Gergen getting ambushed last night on CNN -- awesome.



I think I'm beginning to see the light.

Posted by email from bigepaz is eileen (posterous)

Pop Music Thursdays!

I'm gonna try something else new. I blatantly promote the fact that I love Pop Music. I just do. Even if you're a country, metal, punk, or even classical music aficionado, I'm willing to bet there's a Pop singer or band that you like. You don't have to admit it here. I'm just sayin'.

So, I think I'll try something simply called "Pop Music Thursdays". I'll choose a hot track to feature every week and post it here. Definitely send me your suggestions and comments!

This week I'll start with Miss B - Beyonce. This is a new track called "Single Ladies (Put a Ring on It)".

My friend Mau (who has awesome taste in music) IM'd me and said, "You might like this". He's not a Beyonce fan, but will admit this track is "HOTT"! And I definitely agree.

Shake it Miss B!

• Beyoncé


• New Music

Posted by email from bigepaz is eileen (posterous)