Eli Lieb • Adele & Others

It is fun to take a look at the rise of Eli Lieb, the handsome singer/songwriter from Fairfield, Iowa. Music has been an important part of his life growing up, and Lieb pursued his dreams, and moved to New York City, looking to hone his skills and get a break. He played some of the top clubs and stages, gaining precious experience and a following. After ten years in the city, the young man returned home to Iowa, but had not given up his dreams. Among the things he learned, music production came in handy as he started to produce his own material. He also began working on some videos to post to Youtube, to get his name out there, as well as to keep a finger on the pulse of Pop music. It didn't take long before people took notice of the guy from Iowa. In fact, people began wanting produced recordings, and soon Lieb made them available online. Some of those songs included "Someone Like You", the brilliant song written by Adele and Dan Wilson, and performed to perfection of the British chanteuse. But the one I really love is his cover of "Turning Tables", off the first Adele album. Check out Eli's version of the song.



I should also mention Eli is an out and proud gay man, just another reason to support his efforts. Among the many covers you can find online, he also gave a shot at Britney Spears' "Inside Out" and gave added depth to Katy Perry's "Fireworks", while keeping a lid on the amount of pyrotechnics. Give a listen to another of his YouTube videos, shot in Iowa, for the Perry song.



Of course, is there anyone who has recorded cover songs in the last few years that have not rearranged and massaged the music of Lady Gaga? Well, count Lieb among those who have, with his stripped down version of "The Edge of Glory" actually gives the song sturdier legs to stand on.



I have to say, Lieb has a beautiful combination of tone and grit in his voice. And he really knows how to use both. And he is a smart man, offering those covers as a FREE DOWNLOAD on his official website, just by joining his email list. Just visit the official website, and click on the headline "FREE ELI LIEB YOUBE COVERS EP". Recently, Lieb released a sweet version of the Maroon 5 song, "Payphone", which also features Wiz Khalifa. Give a listen to this, I think it is kinda wonderful.



You can find much of Eli's music on iTunes, including the covers of "Payphone" and "Someone Like You". Lieb also has an album of original material that is quite nice. I hope to being you more on that soon. But for now, to learn more about Eli Lieb, visit his official website. You can also follow him on Twitter or "like" him on Facebook.

Diva Dance Party • 2006

Clockwise: Madonna; Beyoncé; Gwen Stefani; and Mariah Carey.

To celebrate the release of Madonna's latest album, MDNA, I will start out with her track from 2005, Hung Up. Off the album Confessions On A Dance Floor, Madonna spent the latter part of 2005 and the early part of 2006 on the charts and in the clubs on the strength of songs like Hung Up. The songs was written by Madonna, Stuart Price, and Benny Andersson & Björn Ulvaeus, the B's in ABBA!



You can find Confessions On A Dance Floor on iTunes and Amazon. The next song can be found on The Emancipation of Mimi, the 2005 release from Mariah Carey. The album contained many a hit for the Pop star, many continued the success in the clubs with great mixes. But It's Like That, written by Carey, Jermaine Dupri, Manuel Seal, and Johntá Austin, was perfect for whatever you wanted, as performed by Carey and Fatman Scoop and Dupri.



You can find The Emancipation of Mimi on iTunes and Amazon. Our next song had an interesting journey to the clubs. Check On It was written by Beyoncé Knowles, Kasseem "Swizz Beatz" Dean, Sean Garrett, Angela Beyince, and Stayve Thomas to be a part of the soundtrack for The Pink Panther remake featuring Beyoncé. Although it didn't make the soundtrack, Beyoncé decided to rerecord it with the assistance of Bun B and Slim Thug and release it as a single, and a bonus track on the Destiny's Child #1s album. So Check On It with Beyoncé.



You can find Check On It on iTunes and Amazon. In 2004, Gwen Stefani stepped away from the band No Doubt, and released her first solo effort, Love. Angel. Music. Baby. She was interested in making an album of silly dance music, and one of those songs was Hallaback Girl. It was written by Gwen Stefani, Pharrell Williams, and Chad Hugo, in response to an interview where Courtney Love referred to Stefani as a cheerleader. With the single and album, she also became a chart-topping solo act.



You can find Love. Angel. Music. Baby on iTunes and Amazon.

Cover Boy • Theo Tams

It has been a while since I have posted about one of my favorite Canadians, so it is time to rectify that. Like so many singer/songwriters, Theo Tams has done a cover or two at his live shows, and only the other day, he added a new twist. He posted a video he made of himself singing a cover of Adele's Someone Like You. The song was off Adele's amazingly successful second album, 21.



Last year, I took a bit of a road trip to Toronto so I could see Theo performing live for myself. I am so very glad I did. One of the songs I managed to catch on video from that trip was by Britney Spears, but Theo managed to put his own magic on it. Here is Sometimes.



While I might not have captured a performance of Theo singing Lady GaGa's Bad Romance on video, my friend Sue did. So, without further ado, here is Theo's wonderful Bad Romance.



To discover more about Theo, you can find him on FaceBook here, and Twitter here.

Happy Birthday, Sue!

A very happy birthday to my friend from the north, Sue! We met on the internet, through our mutual appreciation of a certain handsome Canadian singer/songwriter. And when I made my way to Toronto to see Theo Tams performing live, I finally got to get Sue, and several other amazing Canadians, and have an amazing time! I was on a whirlwind tour, going to Toronto and seeing three different performance dates in 5 days, in Stouffville, Etobicoke, and Oshawa. I was excited to learn I would be joined at all three shows, in our own little Theo-fest, by Sue and Melony. And what fun we would have! We laughed, we sang along, we recounted our memories of the last show while waiting for the next one...




So, to celebrate Sue's birthday, it gives me the chance to revive a few of those videos once again. I think I will start with Theo singing Serena Ryder's Weak In The Knees, cause I think Theo made us all a bit weak with his amazing shows.



One of the songs he sung in that pub in Etobicoke was Wait For You, an amazing song from his Give It All Away album.



As an encore at the show, he decide to add another cover song to the program. Theo surprised one and all with a lovely version of Britney Spears' Sometimes.



Well, I hope that reminds Sue of our lovely long weekend together! And let's face it, any excuse I can have to listen to some of Theo's music, or to watch more videos, I will gladly take it!

Sign of the Rhymes

Michael "Mister Chase" DiMartino features the music of Britney Spears & Lady GaGa.

Well, I discovered this beautiful gem when my friend Ricky Morgan posted it to his FaceBook recently, and have been hooked since. It features the lovely Michael Chase DiMartino employing American Sign Language for the Britney Spears hit, Womanizer. He effectively combines dance, sign language, good looks and a strong sensuality to make a great video.



He doesn't stop at Brit-Brit, and gives the same treatment to superstar Lady GaGa on her megahit, Bad Romance. He certainly employs some interesting techniques to re-energize the song.



If there was a performer and a song that fit better with the comic strip treatment than Britney Spears and her Hold It Against Me, I couldn't name it right now. And as an excuse to see DiMartino shirtless for most of the video is a wonderful thing.



He also offers and interesting interpretation for another of Lady GaGa's songs, Beautiful Dirty Rich. And, once again, I find myself enjoying DiMartino's performance as much as the songs.



But before you start thinking DiMartino has only the signing skills, you would be mistaken. He not only released an original video for his song, Addicted, it was officially released, too!



You can purchase Addicted on iTunes here. You can get it on Amazon.com here, for FREE at the moment. You can find him at his official website here. You can find him on Twitter here, and on FaceBook here.

Glee Meets Britney Tonight!

To get everyone ready, I thought I would post a couple of Britney covers I really enjoy. It will help everyone prepare for watching the show tonight. I will be starting off with one of my favorites, Christopher Dallman singing Britney's 2009 release, Radar. This is a cut off Dallman's Sad Britney EP, a must have for your collection.



While not included on any of his albums, singer/songwriter Sacha Sacket did manage to cover one of Ms. Spears oft covered songs, the 1998 song that started it all, ...Baby One More Time. This is Sacha live and in concert several years ago, and I was thrilled to find it on YouTube.



With another cut from his Sad Britney EP, where he covered four of Ms. Spears songs, Christopher Dallman returns to sing Gimme More live at a show on the West coast.



And although I already have this song covered by another artist, I thought I would just be missing the boat if I didn't add in this fan video from a live concert by Tori Amos. Here is the amazing singer/songwriter doing her own cover of ...Baby One More Time.



Remember, GLEE is on your local Fox station tonight at 8PM/7PM Central.

GLEE Casting News - Darren Criss

Michael Ausiello of EW.com announced new casting for GLEE over the weekend. Darren Criss will be joining the cast, rumored to be playing a gay competing with Kurt on another glee club! According to Ausiello, Criss’ character, Blaine—a cute and charismatic gay student from a rival Glee club named the Dalton Academy Warblers—will maintain a strictly platonic friendship with McKinley High’s most out and proud pupil. But could that change as the season progresses? Yes, it could. Here is the video Criss is rumored to have submitted to get the attention of the producers.



While the producers have mentioned Kurt will be getting a boyfriend this season, it is not certain if it will be Criss' character. There was a time it was rumored to be blond quarterback cutie played by Chord Overstreet. For now, it is all up in the air.



Of course, this Tuesday night on FOX is the long awaited Britney Spears episode of GLEE, and in case you missed it, here is a promo for the show.



And here is a sneak peak at the cast covering Britney's Toxic.



GLEE is on your local FOX station at 8PM on Tuesday nights, 7PM Central time. I know I can't wait to see it!

Gregory Does Britney

I have been a fan of Gregory Douglass' for some time, because I really love his lush music. Because I find it impossible to resist, I thought I would share you with a great cover by Gregory Douglass, Toxic by Britney Spears.



For more about the talented singer/songwriter, check out Gregory's official website here.

Video Britney Spears Circus @ The Supermarket

With a thanks to Theo Tams for finding this video, I couldn't resist posting. I don't think the video needs much explaining. However, I will take this as an excuse to run two of the new pictures of Theo, which are amazingly hot. He has a new video coming out shortly.