Singers Who Can Act (AKA Justin Timberlake Please make music again)

Last night my husband and I had a discussion about the “triple threat.” You know the type: Can sing, Can Dance, Can Act and this got me thinking about some of the greatest singers(stage or recording)-turned actors.

1)  Hugh Jackman: Many people might not be aware but after a short 1 season Aussie TV show stint, Hugh was primarily a stage star. It was only after his adorable success as an amazing singer/dancer with incredibly stage presence that he was offered the role of Wolverine in X-Men. Hugh will actually be playing Jean Valjean in the upcoming Les Miserables musical movie so we will get to see all of his talents in one place. Classic hit: Oh What a Beautiful Morning from the musical Oklahoma!

2) Justin Timberlake: Many of you know I am a devoted Timberlake follower. I will pretty much watch whatever he does, listen to whatever he produces or even recommends. His talent is undeniable. Granted I don’t think I’m in the minority when I say that he should be singing instead of acting. I think he’s hilarious and do watch both his films (even the ugly ones like cough The Love Guru cough) but if he doesn’t make another CD soon or appear in a musical soon someone (probably Joey Fatone) will get a beating. Classic hit: What Goes Around Comes Around

3) Will Smith: I know you might disagree with me on the “dancer” segment of this one, but we should not forget the incredibly awkward yet cool dancing talents of the fresh prince. I did try to “Get Jiggy With It” but the closest I ever got to it was a jig. Will is another one of those actors who I would follow to the moon and back. He’s funny and interesting and also an awesome rapper. I genuinely can’t decide which beats I prefer more, the Fresh Prince/DJ Jazzy Jeff era or the Will Smith late 90’s boom. Thoughts? Classic Hit: Parents Just Don’t Understand

4) Beyonce Knowles: Beyonce is clearly one of our generation’s most incredible talents. She is a kick-ass dancer, makes amazing tracks that in my opinion will withstand the test of time (that’s right my future kids will be listening to beyonce!) and she is a good actress to boot. I am specifically not going to mention her turn in a certain British spy spoof because it was pretty unremarkable, but her roles in Dream Girls and Obsessed were pretty awesome. Classic Hit: Single Ladies  

5)  Queen Latifah: Queen is a great example of why America needs more female rappers. This amazing beat-tress started out as a rapper (beat boxing actually) for a little group called “Ladies Fresh” which then ballooned into her own rap career and eventual singing career and acting career. I will admit freely and without shame that I love many of the movies that Queen is in. She proved she could multi task (sing act and dance) when she was in Chicago and followed up that musical with Hairspray (again amazing choice) but she is understated and awesome in a few roles like Last Holiday (a personal favorite). Classic hit: U.N.I.T.Y  

6)  Neal Patrick Harris: Ok, Ok, technically NPH didn’t start out as a singer, but rather a child actor, after which he moved to Broadway. NPH is one of those rare talents who can pretty much do anything he wants. He dances extremely well, can sing, and even rap (see this year’s tony awards)! My personal favorite NPH venture has to be Dr. Horrible’s Sing Along Blog. It’s rare that you route for the bad guy but under the direction of Joss Whedon NPH’s Dr. Horrible is one of the most lovable villains ever. Classic hit: Freeze Ray 

7)  Bebe Neuwirth: Bebe, who was called a “Fosse Girl” for all of her work in bob fosse musicals, is more than just an excellent dancer and singer. She is a great actress. She will forever be known to me and my family as “Lilith” the cold ex-wife of Dr. Frasier Crane on both Cheers and Frasier. She has also been in a ton of movies, and various TV shows. Classic Hit: All That Jazz  

8) Gene Kelly: Technically Gene was a dancer-turned singer- and then turned actor, but who really cares? Gene, obviously an enormous talent for his time was one of, in my humble opinion, the best tap dancers ever. I am a HUGE fan of singing in the rain, but Gene also shined and showed his chops in movies like On the Town and An American in Paris. Classic hit: Singing in the Rain 

9) Sutton Foster: Ok yes, Sutton isn’t really a “screen star” yet, but Sutton is one of the greatest talents on broadway right now. She has an incredible vocal range and an amazing dancing ability. This leads me to believe that she can basically do whatever she wants (see Matthew Morrison’s career.) Classic Hit: Gimme Gimme 

10)(Marky) Mark Walhberg: Le sigh. I love Marky Mark so much. Did you guys realize that he was one of the original members of New Kids on the block but quit to make his own group Marky Mark and the Funky Bunch? Granted my husband thinks my opinion of his acting ability is clouded by my vision of his abs, but I think he is both adorable and a good actor. He can play it serious as evidenced by his role in (one of my least favorite films ever) Boogie Nights. He can play it funny in films like Date Night and The Good Guys. And I personally like him best in his action-y roles. Classic hit: Good Vibrations

Notably Bad Singer turned Actors:

1) Jennifer Lopez: Jenny from the block can sing, and dance, but I personally dislike every acting role she’s had and find her to be pretty one note as an actress. Terrible roles include Maid in Manhattan and Gigli.

2) Puff daddy/P.Diddy/Diddy/ Diddy Dirty Money: No monikers can help Diddy be a good actor. Don’t get me wrong, as a rapper- awesome, as a producer-awesome, as random hip-hop style dancer- awesome. But acting (as seen from his Hawaii 5-0 guest stint)- not so awesome.

3) Jessica Simpson: Employee of the Month. Need I say more?

Coldplay's new single

There is only one album set to release this year that I am more excited for than Lady Gaga's Born This Way and Kanye West and Jay Z's Watch the Throne. That album is Coldplay's Mylo Xyloto. Not only did i love EVERYTHING about their first single Every Teardrop is a Waterfall including the awesome stop motion video, but this new single called Paradise is just as good. Take a listen for yourself. 

Muppet's Post Addendum

Yesterday  I blogged about the Muppet's Green Album which features celebrity covers of some of their hits. Today Id like to post an addendum since OKGO just released their video for the Muppet Show theme song, and boy is it amazing. Not only do they combine classic muppet characters and elements, but they also use some of their best music videos as a backdrop for the video. 

Let me know your thoughts after you watch the video below!

Muppets the Green Album

When I opened up Aol Music today I found that the entire "Muppets Green Album" (a nod to the Beatles "White Album") was up for free listening. What I did not expect was that the entire album of Muppet's Classics (The Rainbow Connection, Manah Manah) are sung by contemporary artists the likes of OKGO and Weezer. You can check out the entire album yourself by clicking here, and leave your comments in the section below! I for one am loving it, but then again I am a huge muppets freak. 

Gaga debuts "You and I"

What are your thoughts?

Why you should be using Spotify:

Let me start by saying this: I work at a desk all day, in an office where I am the only
person here. Spotify might not be suitable for everyone’s work environment like it is for me, but let me tell you, this program has changed my life. An import from England (why is it that England is way ahead of the music game than America?) this music streaming program allows you to listen to endless amounts of free music. Think Itunes meets Pandora. Not only can you add your own music, but you can also search for albums and add songs to playlists. You can search for music you were too skeptical to buy because you could only hear 60 second snippets thanks to Itunes, and listen to the songs and album in full. Yes, not every song is available on Spotify yet but I can only assume that it's only a matter of time.
 
This FREE service comes with limited commercials which can be a bit annoying at times, but it's totally worth it for this free unbelievable service. Where else can I make a playlist that features The Steve Miller Band, Coldplay, Simon and Garfunkel, Madonna, Maroon 5 and T.I? (I’m sure I could find this through random shuffle on my ipod, but I am lazy and need a way to listen at work without headphones). This service is seriously for anyone who loves music (even you mom! They have Nat King Cole and Frank Sinatra). 

To request an invitation for Spotify click here and create your account today! Also if you are super cool and have a smart phone this can be added as an app!

Best Music Videos of 2011 (so far)

I know it’s been a while since my last post, so I’m trying to come back on this one with a bang. I’m going to list my favorite music videos of 2011 so far. As you know music videos hold a lot of water in my estimation. They need to have one or more of the following qualities in order for me to like them 1) It has to be visually appealing 2) It has to be humorous, or not take itself too seriously 3) It should relate in some way to the song (even if that means splashing the lyrics occasionally on screen).  So here goes:

10. Yellowcard: Hang You Up:  I’m not sure why I found this video so funny, but It was amusing to me that no matter where Ryan, the lead singer of Yellowcard goes, everyone thinks its bizarre that he is singing. Basically it’s breaking the fourth wall within a music video, since most music videos have the singers singing and most of the people in the video completely oblivious. I particularly like when his ex-girlfriend, who he keeps singing about, comes on screen and without seeing who it is knows it’s her ex-boyfriend because he keeps singing. She says “I got a restraining order against you! You can’t sing within 500 feet of me!” Hilarious.

9. Ke$ha: Blow:  “No Mythical Creatures were harmed in the making of this video.” Genius. I love how Ke-dollar sign- ha doesn’t take herself very seriously. I love James Van Der Beek in this video saying “Don’t Slanderbeek my name.” And I particularly like how their guns shoot rainbows! Can I get one of those?

8. Maroon 5: Never Gonna Leave this Bed:  Originally, when I heard this song off of the album it was one of my favorites. I imagined a sexy romp in the sack video with Adam Levine (which in and of itself would have landed on this list). What I got instead, was an interestingly thought out video. What would happen if we decided NEVER to get out of bed? Maroon 5 tells us that the bed will travel with us (Bed knobs and Broomsticks was obviously WAY ahead of its time!) Needless to say, Adam Levine in a moving truck bed or a bed in the middle of Santa Monica is definitely a sight to be seen.

7. Foo Fighters: Walk: This video, a funny replica of the 1993 movie Falling Down starring Michael Douglas tells the story of an average guy who basically cracks while stuck in traffic. The movie is a bit more violent, where this is more amusing, and features Grohl in the same getup (down to the glasses) as Douglas.

6. All Time Low: I Feel Like Dancin’: This satire on the music business shows the band in the middle of trying to film a music video. They are getting advice from a manager type guy from “the label” who has his own advice for exactly how the video should go. He has 3 tips to make a video succeed all “following the model” of other music videos. I won’t ruin the surprise but the last one is by far the most hilarious. I actually laughed out loud.

5. Coldplay: Every Teardrop is a Waterfall: This video falls into the ‘visually appealing’ category. It uses a similar stop motion technique to their video Strawberry Swing but it doesn’t disappoint. When it gets to the main part where everything is backlit it plays out like an intimate and cool concert that you wish you were actually participating in.

4. Matt and Kim: Cameras:  I love a good old fashion fight video and Matt and Kim’s Cameras does not disappoint in that vein. Not only did this video look fun to shoot, but many of the hits actually look quite real and make me wonder how bruised they got in the process.

3. The Black Keys: Howlin for You: Not only did the Black Keys give their video a plot, they gave it the plot of a movie! It’s an entire fake preview for a movie that doesn’t exist and it is brilliant. It appears to be a mix of Kill Bill and possibly a random buddy cop comedy? Regardless it’s quite smart and interesting.

2. Katy Perry: Last Friday Night TGIF: From start to finish I love this video. From the random cameos (Darren Criss? Rebecca Black?? HANSON!?) to the great acting by Katy Perry as a nerd turned pretty woman for a night, not to mention a crazy cameo by (“uncle”) Kenny G who plays the sax solo on the song, and then 80’s icons Debbie Gibson and Corey Feldman this video is an extreme foray into awesomeness.

1. Beastie Boys: Make Some Noise: This tops my list for part of the same reason as Katy Perry’s. CAMEOS ABOUND!  Will Arnett?! Rashida Jones!? Kristin Dunst!? Will Ferrel!  I LOVE how this video captures the same sentiment as Fight for your right to Party. I love even more that they hired actors (Elijah wood, Seth Rogen, Danny McBride) to play the versions of themselves straight from their other video (since they are definitely too old to play themselves now). On top of it all this song, is classic Beastie Boys. Basically everything about this video is pure genius.

Notable Visually Appealing Videos: Death Cab for Cutie: You are a Tourist: this light and action show supposedly was captured in one take, if that’s the case it’s a huge feat.

Maroon 5: Hands All Over: Stylized animation of Adam Levine? Hells yes.

What are your favorite videos of 2011 so far?