[Live Blogging] #TXFGrandFinal #Music #Competition #NEWMUSIC

6:36 PM

What a lovely song 😉 Three final vocals appear on stage 😉 This full-on week is going to be incredible! What could be more delightful to see all of the talents grow to where they are right now. And yes! They got the perfect song for passion, for challenges!

Looking back the Taylor, Jai and Dami’s auditions, they quite deserve the place here tonight, don’t they?

All right folks, gear up! Taylor Hendersen is getting ready for “Some nights” by fun.

6:50 PM

Aw, did you see that hug from Taylor to his mom?

This is a fate song isn’t it? “Some nights” brought fun. a lot of critical acclaims, now brought Taylor to us! But here’s a little trivia 😉

Lyrically, “Some Nights” expresses the existential angst of a young protagonist who is a long way from home, and includes lines like:

“My heart is breaking for my sister and the con that she called love;
and when I look into my nephew’s eyes
Man, you wouldn’t believe the most amazing things that can come from
Some terrible nights.”

It has been speculated that these lines refer to the idea that even though the narrator’s sister was gotten pregnant by a convict (or, conversely, a con artist), her son (the nephew) is so “amazing” that the pregnancy was a blessing; good things can come out of terrible situations. (Wikipedia)

7:02 PM

Hm, let the criticism begin!

“Your eyes” is a very cute song, quite a fit for a fourteen-year-old to kick off his career. My housemate comments this is quite original, hm?

The easy-predicted song for a kid, but he has the sweetest run ever! Very catchy. I’m still very unhappy that Third Degree isn’t here but Jai, somehow, deserves this place. Anyways, I love the melody and his effort singling this brand new song for him.

But looking back it, even when you can’t get it out of your head, it’s a common song. One advice, Ronan, “Don’t let me go” is the real winner single. Jai is much much better with a guitar 😉

Go, Jai!

7:15 PM 

“Hero” is one of the most inspirational song ever. Mariah Carey did amazing with this song. It has become the inspirational of many, many people. It’s understandable that Dami chose this song. It well represents her passion and efforts.

7:19 PM

Dami is a MONSTER! It’s a totally different version from the first week!

She’s the star of the show, just her against the world. That small girl is now a “Hero” of a lot of people I believe. What can I comment about one of the classic like this?

This is the living proof that talent is only 1%, 99% is practice. Dami blew us away! She’s the definition of never giving up her dream!

7:32 PM

I’m so bump for Taylor’s new single!

Oh my god that is so sweet! Well, lyrically, it shows Taylor’s journey through this competition. “Borrow my heart” is the classic example of the prechorus is too good it outshines the chorus. Quite generic lyrics isn’t?

But Taylor’s XFactor is the stage present 😉 He captures the nation’s heart (at least he captures mine!)

7:46 PM

This is a tough song for Jai. His vocal is no comparison to Hayley Williams. I disagree with the judge, he could have done it better with “Drops of Jupiter”.

7:55 PM

OMG I sense Demi Lovato! Dami rocks the song on the stage. But the lyrics is a huge disappointment. Is it true that they predicted Dami’s gonna win the competition? This song is something you expect from a debut single that is easy to absorb and is predictably on every charts.

Four standing-ovations 😀 She’s my favourite. And she deserves everything !

8:22 PM

This is what I’m talking about. I love this original song compares to everything he has ever done in this show. It’s quite sincere, despite the generic lyrics (but hey, he’s just 14!), Jai is amazing in delivering his emotions. I want him to take this direction in his career. Well, best song from him out of three tonight.

8:34 PM

This is a very safe song for Taylor. And as expected, he delivers it beautifully. The emotions is too overwhelming. I don’t think whatever mistake he made can change the fact that he is already the winner in Australia’s heart 😉

8:46 PM

The vocal monster is back. Her vocal literally beats anything else. I’m speechless. My jaw has never hit the floor this hard.

FOUR SUPER STANDING OVATIONS. She is the star. She is the winner. That’s all I’m gonna say!

OVERALL

Best luck tomorrow guys! You can tell who I vote for right?

[Your stories #5] It’s about growing up.

Music saves lives,
Music helps you through difficult times,
Music teaches you things you can’t learn from school, or textbooks.

Music grows up with you.

Here’s a little story of how a simple song did all the things above.

When I first came to Australia, I was mentally depressed. It was not exactly culture shock. But I was so tired of being all by myself and so far away from my home. Sydney is not what I thought it would be. It’s just to quiet and I hardly saw anyone when I was on the road. It just scared the crap out of me to be honest. but I realized there was not much I can do in that situation. at that time, I heard one song called “What I cannot change” by Leann Rimes. some of its lyrics is “I will learn to love what I cannot change” and it was one of the song that helped me get through that time. now I learned to accept reality and “love what I cannot change”.

— Anonymous

Congrats on being yourself again. You are not alone. We all know life is full of difficulties and false beliefs. We dreams and sometimes our dreams don’t come true. Don’t be blue, my friends, because those things are the greatest teachers in life.

[Playlist] PSY’s gone Samuel L. Jackson on ‘I’m a m*********** gentleman’!!

If you’re gonna throw eggs at me, don’t. Because this playlist is only for real quality male vocals that have NOTHING to do with the title. Got your attention? Let’s get to business. Very similar to the ‘Femme Fatal’ playlist, this list devotes to all the extremely talented contemporary male artists. As many people absentmindedly accuse new music, I just want to prove that among the trashy artists, there are still pure gems. (not to mention that are all insanely good looking!)

1. “The A–Team” – Ed Sheeran: In just a couple of lines, a few simple words, Ed gives us the hurtful reality of the society where, again, money, sex and drugs rule.

2. “Home” – Phillip Phillips: This is just as beautiful as Michael Bublé’s “Home”, yet not another cover. Very original, very down to earth and warm.

3. “Miss America” – James Blunt: Okay, let’s forget for three minutes that he has the most annoying song of the entire music history and listen to this song. James sings it live, with all of his emotions and grief for Whitney Huston. A very beautiful song from a sweet soul.

4. “Skyscraper (Demi Lovato Cover) – Omar Dean: One of the most amazing Aussie talents on the X Factor this year. He poured his heart and soul into this performance. Demi Lovato must be proud! I hope he goes far in his career.

5. “America” – Imagine Dragons: the name says it all. Yet the melody can still surprise you. Beautiful.

And well:

1. All music belongs to Youtube Music

[Playlist] Femme Fatal

Oi, this isn’t a Britney Spears album, so hold your horses! To change this blog’s aura, I’d like to present to all of my lovely followers and whoever stumbles across this post a contemporary playlist of great songs by some of my favourite female artists. Don’t leave your jaws hanging if you don’t see any legendary vocals here. My point is, vocal is just one part of what makes the song great. Just like in the chickflick ‘Music & Lyrics’, Drew Berrymore said that the melody is just the attraction, physical sex, the lyrics then is the soul. And c’mon, not all new music sucks.

1. “Buzzcut season” – Lorde: Man, you just can’t have enough with this little talented Kiwi sweat heart. The song is about how we are exposed to all ‘nothing’s wrong but nothing’s true’ beliefs. As Shakespeare says, ‘to thine own self be true’!

2. “Carmen” – Lana Del Rey: Here we see another issue in the society. Money and sex rule, everything else is either not worth it or just an illusion.

3. “Human” – Gabrielle Aplin: The lyrics say it all – “And you don’t need to pretend that perfection is your friend/…/Show me that you’re human, you won’t break/Oh love your flaws and live for your mistakes”

4. “Never let me go” – Florence + The Machine: Her vocal is heroin and her lyrics is pure art!

5. “Skinny Love” – Birdy: Great British talents. She brought a Bon Iver song to a different level.

Hope you enjoy this list! However, to this point, all seriousness is gone. Now is something for #guiltypleasure.

AND LAST BUT NOT LEAST, THE CONTEMPORARY POP CLASSIC OF ALL TIME

[Their stories #2] John Lennon’s ‘Imagine’

I’m sure we all love “Imagine” by the legendary John Lennon. But do you know he was inspired by his wife book?

The book Grapefruit written by Yoko Ono, published in 1964 contains: “Imagine the clouds dripping, dig a hole in your garden to put them in.”. We can see where the mesmerising lyrics from ‘Imagine’ come from. (Imagine there’s no heaven/It’s easy if you try/No hell below us/Above us only sky/Imagine all the people/Living for today…)

However, only after years did Lennon revealed the inspiration of the song: “A lot of it—the lyric and the concept—came from Yoko, but in those days I was a bit more selfish, a bit more macho, and I sort of omitted her contribution, but it was right out of Grapefruit.”

There are many critics praised Lennon’s work in different directions, based on different beliefs. Yet he just simply put that the song is “the concept of positive prayer … If you can imagine a world at peace, with no denominations of religion.”

Well, regardless of what they say, I’m raised by music, and ‘Imagine’ is one of the greatest teacher. You don’t need to be too smart to understand the simple wish Lennon put in the song!

Listen to ‘Imagine’ below:

*Video belongs to Music Youtube*

Or you can listen to the beautiful rendition of a talented Aussie! He has a great story to tell too!

[Your Stories #4] Inspiration.

Hold your horses! I’m not writing about that ‘Fireflies’ guy who spent a week on BillBoard Hot 100 at No. 1. Owl City and other Music Charts around the world, a musical project from Adam Young, has more than one song and the world seems to ignore them. Interestingly, I find his songs are too wondrous to miss. You may ask why. Well, here are a few stories from his fans telling us how Owl City has changed their life.

These three stories are for you!

Before you read on, if you have any story to tell, tell it anonymously here!

[Review] Owl City – Shooting Star (EP): He has the lyrics, he had the melodies, he has the beats, and he has the spirit.

The T.A.R.D.I.S.

[Review for Owl City – ‘Shooting Star’ (EP)]

He has the lyrics, he had the melodies, he has the beats, and he has the spirit.

Released on 16 May, 2012

Genre: Pop/Electro

© 2012 Universal Republic Records, a division of UMC Recording, Inc.

Owl City has just released a new EP with four electric/pop tracks that have stuck in my head since the moment I had them in my iTunes. The enegetic and playful spirit of this exclusive playlist (EP) is undeniable. Adam Young never disappoints me with any of his releases, and his new EP, I have a feeling that these four songs would get into my most played songs very soon. (Update: They are now! I wrote this since the EP first came out!!!) 

Though Adam’s melodies, beats as well as tempo change dramatically in this EP, the genuine beauty of his lyrics remain the same. He…

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[Your stories #3] I lived that day.

Suicide isn’t a strange issues among teenagers these days. For youth between the ages of 10 and 24, suicide is the third leading cause of death in the U.S. And yes, you can search high and low for many kinds of stories behind the suicidal reasons. But in my opinion, I think those who DID NOT commit suicide are the strongest of them all. They aren’t afraid of the pain, they have the dare to face it.

And here I want to share a little story about an individual, whose identity is anonymous. The person was standing in between the line of life and death. When the death was getting closer, a little song called ‘Bleed’ by Hot Chelle Rae changed her/his mind.

[Your stories #2] I found myself in the ‘Hall of Fame’ (1)

There are moments in life when you found yourselves in the bottom of the worst failure.
There are moments in life when you don’t have any faith left in yourselves.
There are moments in life when you question your entire existence, when you thought you lost almost everything.
There are moments in life when…

My adventure with music sounds a bit….. odd, but it have been very meaningful, both to me and my continuing life.

.

I am good at social subjects, which covered the most of the entrance test to senior high-school. I was arrogant and proud, I didn’t even lay a finger on the ready-to-fight subjects. Well, sure as light in the sky, i failed, shamefully. I cried a lot on the day I knew the result. It was pathetic, to tell you the truth. However, as life goes on, as it always is, I still had to attend to the school I did not longed for. There, I was desperate at first. However, on one day, I accidentally heard the song “Hall of Fame” of The Script. Suddenly, I felt like being encouraged by every aspect around me. The music hence told me how to fight against my very own and create the path I desired. Since then, I’ve been very successful, both in study and social life. Well, it’s all thanks to music, I guess . That is also the first of the bond between me and music, the clearest of all, to be more precise.

Take a look at Simon & Garfunkel’s lines

Sail on silver girl, sail on by
Your time has come to shine
All your dreams are on their way
See how they shine

you don’t necessarily need an old tunes that you can’t relate to to find the courage. Something like this can also save you, silver girls and boys:

Standing in the hall of fame
And the world’s gonna know your name
‘Cause you burn with the brightest flame
And the world’s gonna know your name
And you’ll be on the walls of the hall of fame

There, we have it, another example saying ‘good’ music is meaningful music.

Tell your stories here!

*Music video belongs to Music Youtube*

Ps. “Hall of Fame” debuted on the Irish Singles Chart at number one and number two on the UK Singles Chart, number 25 on the Billboard Top 100 and many other music charts around the world.

Has Lorde finally given up on popular music in ‘Royals’?

Kiwi talent sings about what she doesn’t have, or… doesn’t want to possess.

I found Lorde not long ago. The 16–year–old Kiwi singer/songwriter kinda reminds me of Lana Del Rey by the misty tunes, but her lyrics are much much brighter in some sense. Her songs, despite sounding dark, have that indie, dazzling feels that I absolutely adore. ‘The Love Club’ EP & her debut album ‘Pure Heroine’ can’t be missed!

One thing that got my attention is the lyrics from ‘Royals’ – the single that starts it all for Lorde.

But every song’s like gold teeth, grey goose, trippin’ in the bathroom
Blood stains, ball gowns, trashin’ the hotel room,
We don’t care, we’re driving Cadillacs in our dreams.
But everybody’s like Cristal, Maybach, diamonds on your time piece.
Jet planes, islands, tigers on a gold leash.
We don’t care, we aren’t caught up in your love affair.

Believe it or not, Lorde just points out the current trend the majority of contemporary music is heading. All the glamour, the dollar bills, the golden, unrealistic dreams (all of which you can see in a Pitbull, Ke$ha videos) are something we are all tired of. In short, new music’s future sucks (The music doesn’t, but the industry does!). Songs on music charts aren’t guaranteed good music either. That’s what makes Lorde special. Her music is honest. She knows where she stands and she puts the littlest things down to music.

And we’ll never be royals (royals).
It don’t run in our blood,
That kind of luxe just ain’t for us.
We crave a different kind of buzz.

Is it true that ‘we don’t care‘ about those bland songs on the Billboard hot 100 anymore? Again, this is not generalisation or stereotype (I mean, Radioactive & Royals are pretty dope!). It seems like contemporary popular music needs a break from Nikki Minaj and Justin Bieber. I don’t blame the artists. They got fame so easy these days with the media, the Internet and stuff. Let’s face it, people are nostalgic, yearning for some good, simple, yet meaningful tunes.

Lorde, you rock baby!

Thoughts?

Stream ‘Royals’ here:

*Music video belongs to Music Youtube and VEVO*