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O Solo Mio – Il Volo – Not unlike Il Divo for kids, three pretty Italian boys with decent voices covering the other set of standards. Really nasty, irrelevant and not to mention tedious stuff. High culture for the masses has never been less interesting.
I Love You This Big – Scotty McCreery – Scotty has a big country voice, like a George Strait not a Randy Travis (or, God knows, a Brad Paisley) ad this big country ballad is as creepy as creepy as your high school buddy coming on to your mother, and getting somewhere. This song was written by a Jay Smith it says on "ask.com" -one thing is for sure, Scotty didn't write it for anyone. And I don't think it was a country biggie, who would have thrown the bizarrely terrible metaphor out with the bathwater. So let's say Jay has his big break. And so does Scotty. And, please, let's leave them there.
Brighter Than The Sun – Colbie Caillet – The problem with Colbie is that her songs are over sweetened, she adds everything plus hand claps so that if you miss one hook there will be another one along in 15 seconds. It is as if her supergo keeps on interffering with her id. Which is a shame, because if she'd leave the songs to breathe a little, she might be revealed as a fine songwriter.
Rise Above 1 – Reeve Carney – Power pop as character exposition from the Bono/Edge music to the Spiderman On Broadway and when I saw it, yes, it was the best song. If you can call it a song. The song doesn't build the way U2 appear to want it to. This has been the band (also Springsteen's) problem for over a decade; their anthems don't anth: here the melody is nonexistence and all the heavy lifting has to be done by the bridge and it isn't sturdy enoughto withstand the weight of ideas and structure put on it: it doesn't rise, it wobbles and sinks. It is morose. A terrible song in every imaginable way.
1+1 – Beyonce – Suffers a bit, nearly everything does, with the same problem as Colbie does: here, it is the guitar solo that is a bridge too far. Music can't breath if you are gonna put an infinite amount of layers on it and then up the volume on anything that catches your attention. Just because you CAN doesn't mean YOU SHOULD. The song is great, beyonce should play it straight and trust people to hear it for what it is. TRACK OF THE WEEK.
King Of Diamonds – Motopony – The drum machine is immediately annoying and the vocals pitched too high, but not a terrible song.
Leaving (Seal the Link) – Chino – Dancehall plus a melody!
Riot – Tedashill – Electro rock.
Helena Beat – Foster The People – 80s rock with a better drum machine.
Light Blue Afternoon – Jarvis Cocker on acid derailed at the middle 8.
Louder – Charice – Power pop 2011 -all synth slashes, handclaps and back singers.
Best Friend's Brother – Victorious Cast – Bluesy verses, pop tween chorus, anthem break, synths all over the place, and saucy words. Not bad.
One Night In Bangkok – Mike Tyson – No he can't sing but at least he's game.
Don't Wanna Go Home – Jason deRulo – Too dank for the target market, but a smart sample