I have a lot to talk to you about tonight, and it's probably all music related. First up should be a Mya-Moe update. I received my shipping notification, and according to it, I will be getting my new ukulele next Tuesday. As of me writing this, it is in Portland Oregon. The Mya-Moe shop is in White Salmon Washington, which is about an hour away from Portland. I'm really looking forward to getting my hands on it, and I will have a fresh picture of it in Tuesdays edition of this.
I got a surprise email late last night from Twenty One Pilots. They did a session with their favorite band MuteMath, and redid 5 of their songs. The email had a link to download the EP. I don't have that link for you, but I do have a video they made for it for you to watch, if you have the time. It's 25 minutes and 31 seconds long, so you need to put some time in for it, but it's worth it. It is them in the studio doing the songs as they were recorded, and it's pretty fantastic. Here is the video.
Tonight, I watched America's Got Talent's Christmas Special that was on last night. This was the first time that they have done this, and it was rather good. They had a lot of past acts, as well as acts from this last season. The highlight as it was during this past season was Grace Vanderwaal. She came on near the end of the show, and performed Frosty the Snowman with a children's choir. During the season, which she won, and she was a favorite of mine, she only did original songs. It was a bold but very good move on her part. I'd seen some of her covers on her Youtube channel, and they were good, but her originals suited her much better. That has changed a bit. This version of Frosty was of course a cover, but she managed to put her very original flare on it. Before you even ask, Yes, I have the video of her performance for you. There is just something about her voice, that you can't help but love.
Once I was done watching AGT, I turned over to what was left of the Micheal Buble Special. I was a little bummed that I only caught 15 minutes of it, but I forgot that it was on tonight. There was good news though, and it was a bit of a gift. There was a Tony Bennet 90th Birthday Celebration on after it. I'm a big fan of Tony, and I'm going to hold back on doing a big write up of him here right now, because I know that I will be writing it all again when he passes, and I'd rather take this time to talk about the performances that happened on the stage.
There were some incredible artist on that stage, and all to honor Tony. He greeted each one with an appreciative smile, and mouthing words of love and encouragement to them. Tony Bennet is an enormous supporter of the Arts, and even has a foundation to help Youth Arts programs. The show started with Alec Baldwin done up as Tony himself, and Alec did a great Tony impersonation. He introduced the first act, and without even blinking my eye, I knew who it would be. It was none other than the Mother Monster herself, Lady Gaga. Gaga has the talent to sing anything, and she proves it with each performance I see of hers. She did two songs during the show. The one to start it off, and then one later on. When they would cut to Tony in the crowd, you could see his love and respect for her. She can do no wrong in my eyes when she is singing, and it appears that Tony feels the same.
I don't remember all the acts, but I'm going to go through a few of them that I do remember. Micheal Buble was right after Gaga, and he did a fantastic job himself. He is a true modern crooner, in the vain of Tony. He has those same golden vocal chords of Tony, and can really belt out a song. Diana Krall was up after that, doing another of Tony's hit songs. She has a sweet voice, that spreads over you like wings. KD Lang was soon after Diana, and walked out barefoot and just as awesome as ever. KD Lang has one of the purest voices that I've ever heard. There were a few prerecorded performances shown in from time to time. Billy Joel with Tony from Madison Square Garden. Bob Dylan, Elton John, and a few other birthday wishes from Paul McCartney, Keith Richards, Garth Brooks, and one or two others. Two performances that caught my attention were from Leslie Odom Jr., who preformed a song that I chose as the Favorite Song of the Week. We will get to that a little later. The other performance was by Stevie Wonder. I can't even begin to explain how great Stevie is. He did two of his songs, but what he did that no one else did, was have the entire crowd dancing in their chairs. Stevie blew the roof off the place, and then fixed it, and blew it off again. The whole crowd stood and cheered for him when he finished, it was an amazing performance, and Tony loved it.
The final real performance of the night, was Tony himself. Alex Baldwin came out as Tony again, and played the part of a show host. he introduced his next guest as a celebrity impersonate by the name of Phony Bennet. It was Tony of course, and Tony went with it. it was funny and fantastic. Alex got serious and said, "Tony it's time for you to do what only you can". Then he left the stage for Tony. Tony saddled up next to the piano, and at 90 years old, he crooned like he always has. He did 3 songs and just laid it all out there for everyone. The crowd was in awe, and so was I. I'm hoping that I don't have to write that eulogy piece I was staying away from tonight, for a very long time, and they way Tony was so alive up on that stage, I think my hopes will be answered.
Now let's get to that Favorite Song of the Week. As I said earlier, Leslie Odom Jr. sang a Tony song, and that was the choice. There is a catch though. As good as his version was, I wanted Tony to get the honors tonight, so without further adieu, here is Tony Bennet with "Autumn Leaves".
I know it was a lot of videos tonight, but they are all worth watching, and believe me, I had a couple of more that I could have thrown in there. For instance, I had a different pick for FSOTW before I saw the Tony Bennet 90th. I was going to post a video by Aurora. You'll probably see it next week, because it is such a great song and video.
I was also going to go off on meteorologist and how they are so terrible, but music is much more positive, and a whole lot more fun, and that is where I want to be right now, because this time of year is so bad for me. Music is life, and it heals so much, so do yourself a favor, and watch as much of theses three videos that you can, you won't regret it. Peace in and goodnight.
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