Taken by Whitney in November 2009. My cousin’s husband Pierre with their new baby girl Mathilde. Montreal, QC.

I’ll begin with the short version. It was disappointing. Both The Hills and The City were not unlike any other regular episodes. Neither of them felt like a finale of any kind. I am not pleased, because I spent a good chunk of time debating on which one I would lend my attention to, Hills/City, or the Victoria’s Secret Fashion Show which was airing at the same time. I chose Hills, because I thought it would be entertaining, and would also leave me much less guilty about the bag of candy in my lap.
For those of you missed it, here’s the rundown. For those who still plan on watching it, look away now. Unless of course, you don’t give a shit or can predict what happened anyway, even though it was nothing. NOTHING HAPPENED!

The Hills

Okay. So first, Spencer and Brody are playing basketball while Spencer bitches about his evil, scheming wife. First of all, when did they even become friends again? Second, sure Spencer has right to complain about his wife trying to trick him into fatherhood, but how many shady things has he done before? He painted her apartment with graffiti, surprised her with a pinball machine (she didn’t like the pinball so it was probably more for him), picked out their house before she could get a say, and made her shut her mother out of her life. He’s pretty much the devil. I hope they don’t have that child. I think she will become pregnant in 2012 and that’s how the world will end.
Hmm then what happened… Heidi got some extensions, Audrina met with Justin Bobby and complained a lot. Neither myself, nor Justin know or care what she was talking about.

Then Kristin was all, bitching about leaving her sweet summer Barbie beach home, with Stacie the bartender who was apparently a squatter there. Who shows up to her house but Justin Bobby!

He was all like, “you do special things to me, be my girlfriend.”, and Kristin said “Okai fine.”
THENN.. Jade and Brody were at an engagement party, and Jade’s friend planted seeds in her brain that stemmed into thoughts of engagement and babies with Brody. Jade got whatever Heidi has and asked him about vomiting committing, but Brody was not having it. He was like, “Bitch, whatchu talkin’ about we just got back together an hour ago!”. On a side note, does anyone remember when he dated Nicole Richie?

That’s strange. Brody also told some of his friends that he might still want to do Kristin.
Moving on, I forget. But trust me it was nothing explosive. Lots of lead-ins with no results. The whole episode felt like when you’re about to sneeze but then you just, don’t.

The City was marginally better than The Hills. Here’s what happened. Whitney designed her own clothes and Kelly Cutrone, who I both love and fear intensely, said she was Whitney’s bitch and will help her get a meeting with supermegaimportant Bergdorf Goodman. Kelly was like, “Don’t bring your bogan friend Roxy who screws everything up”

Bogan

I look innocent but I'm loca

pure hatred

Kelly Cutrone, from The City, is gettig her own show. I forget which company is hers – maybe People’s Revolution or something buy I can’t wait to see her tell people about themselves! She’s very direct without having an over the top personality. She went on Fox News and said of fellow City star Olivia Palermo, “I mean that when you’re in your ‘20s and you are in a prestigious place like Elle magazine, and someone like Erin is trying to help you, you better leave your fucking attitude at the door, right?” Bravo announced that Cutrone’s reality show, Kell on Earth, will begin airing February 1.

Should be good.

Whitney and I put up our Christmas lights over the Thanksgiving break.  First time that we have had Christmas lights and they look awesome!  But I must admit, I would love to add additional lights, but it is sort of cost prohibitive! 

‘Tis the season! Woo Hoo!

Whitney untangling the lights

All done!

Go team Crespo/Ronan!

This year has been pretty astounding for animated children’s films. Up and Ponyo will appear on many a top ten list, and even Coraline and 9 were visually interesting. And so far the adult films of the year haven’t been so bad, either. Movies like The Hurt Locker and Precious are compelling examples. But then there are the somewhere-in-between films. And these are the movies that have most impressed me in 2009. Where the Wild Things Are, Fantastic Mr. Fox, and Mary and Max must give marketers the biggest headaches. All three look like children’s films, two are based on children’s source material, and all three have dark, adult themes and humor that would not only be over a kid’s head, but entirely inappropriate.

Where the Wild Things Are

This is the film that seems to have been most misinterpreted. I’ve heard many stories about people who took their kids to go see this, and then had to leave half way through when their kids were bored/crying. Where the Wild Things Are is not meant for children. And that confused the majority of the movie-going public. In a market where the merit of an adaptation is based on how well it represents the book, this one has a tendency to disappoint. Dave Eggers and Spike Jonze take the story places Sendak never meant for it to go, but in my book, that’s never a bad thing.

I was just impressed. The voice acting was affecting (Gandolfini should be nominated for an Oscar, honestly), the costumes were a wonderful throwback, and the cinematography is both bleak and beautiful. A movie meant for adults that remember how hard it is to be a kid, Where the Wild Things Are doesn’t have as much of a built in audience as studios may have originally expected.

Fantastic Mr. Fox

In this film Wes Anderson gives us a bizarre mix of slapstick childlike humor and dry, typical Anderson one-liners. Lines like “I love you, but I never should have married you,” might not quite work when the next scene consists of animated rodents dodging bullets. But the mixture is, at least, interesting. Especially when we’ve been seeing a lot of the same stuff from this director (stuff I love, by the way, but the motifs are starting to look a little too familiar from film to film). The adult jokes tend to hit their mark while the Roald Dahl inspired plot is pretty delightful.

Again, Mr. Fox is a throwback to old animation styles. Mouse and the Motorcycle style puppetry mixes claymation with other stop motion. Even when the plot might get boring to an adult audience, the animation is always fascinating to watch. Adult themes like the suppression of creativity in a domestic environment will definitely go over a child’s head completely, and the goofy plot isn’t enough to sustain the film. Luckily for Anderson (and studios), he has enough of a reputation to avoid the marketing nightmare that the next film would come up against.

Mary and Max

So far, this is my favorite film of the year. It opened at Sundance to very pumped crowds, but has yet to get a U.S. release date. Which is sad, but makes perfect sense. This is a film that looks like a children’s movie. It looks as silly as Wallace and Gromit, for example, but contains much more adult themes. Suicide, death, depression, alcoholism, and obesity haunt the movie. But they also make poop jokes. Like the other two in-betweeny films, Mary and Max is not an “adult film.” There is no swearing, nudity, violence, etc., and all three films are rather heartwarming (especially this one). The themes have everything to do with childhood, but less to do with a child audience.

I think what I like most about all three of these movies is their awkwardness. Since they don’t quite fit into an age group they bounce all over the place. They don’t seem to care about pleasing a certain group definitively. So when it comes to awards, numbers, and even release dates, they struggle. Childhood is messy. Sometimes we’re forced into adult situations too early, sometimes we hang onto our youth too hard. All three of these films successfully, I think, explore this.

Ok...maybe there's a little nudity...

As you sneak away from your realtives to drink in the corner and check Facebook while no one is looking today, check out what I am thankful for in the world around me.  And in case you get busted now and have to go pretend to enjoy your second cousin’s creepy new boyfriend, mostly, I’m thankful for the things that make me laugh:

Whitney Houston, thank you for coming back out of your drug-induced social coma, or as your PR person likes to call it…retirement.  And thank you for your heart-felt pseudo-interview/therapy session with Oprah.  I will always be grateful for your lesson on how to say nothing for an hour.  And of course, I thank you for being able to hit most of your notes without sweating.

The Real Housewives of Wherever, thank you for clearing up any misconceptions or stereotypes we may have had about women in your nether regions.  We now know that Jersey does not equal mafia, housewives in Orange County are not made of plastic and, in New York no one is motivated by title or money.  Right countess?  Right.

I still miss George Bush.  I was thankful for his dippy demeanor that made you ask whether he was drunk or high on helium for 8 years.  And whenever I thought I had done a bad job at work, I only had to look to my nation’s leader to know that I could be much worse.  Thank you George for the self-esteem boost.

Thanks to Mariah Carey for reminding women everywhere that no matter how batshit crazy, old or big we get, a tube top and daisy duke shorts can still be worn in public.  Not worn well, but at least they are out there.

Thank you to Sarah Palin for her street smarts.  Before you, I knew as much about the Alaskan drilling mandates as you do about running a country.  And as you are finishing up your fourth glass of 80-proof Thanksgiving Survival juice, take a look at the other most smartest people who are really thankful for Sarah Palin.

In conclusion, and in almost all seriousness, thank you to the friends and family who have been so supportive of my blog and endeavors.  Without your feedback, thoughts and daily visits, this would just be me squawking to myself in cyberspace.    I would thank you all individually right here, but I don’t want Dick Cheney’s Internet scoping device to pick up your names more than it already has.  Happy Thanksgiving!

Let me first start out by saying I was on Nationwide Radio in Kingston, Jamaica promoting an expo. I am the Event Officer for the expo. I didn’t want to appear on the programme but I eventually did. People who listened to the broadcast expressed that they were impressed and liked the delivery.

I have a personal issue that I will be working on. My demeanour does not speak of my potential and abilities. I hope I am expressing myself well. Most people who know me do not really KNOW ME. I appear to be reserved, laid back, unenergetic and conservative. Although that may be true, I have the ability to turn on the energy when needed. Some folks today call it an alter ego. I may be reserved but when the opportunity presents itself I turn into a total different person full of energy and life. It causes people who will offer opportunities to hold back because they don’t know what I am truly capable of.

I am a talented young man who is really underutilised in my job. So today, when I turned on the alter ego (no name for that person yet) my boss was really overwhelmed and seemed particularly impressed with my delivery. I want to get to the place where I turn it on all the time. I just hope I won’t turn people off.
You can’t have your cake and eat it, I guess.

Dancing with the Stars

Last night I watched the finale of the Dancing with the Stars. It was an entertainment night, filled with excitement and of course the revelation of the winner of the season. It was a surprise to see Donny Osmond win over Mya. I really think with all my heart that Mya would have taken the trophy home. I wanted to see her win. Her dance routine not ignoring her partner were always excellent and it reflects the perfect scores she received in the season.

However, the point must be noted that the core target audience may just have voted more for the winner. Clearly, if the winner was decided on the fact of delivery over the season then Mya would have won. Some people would argue that Kelly should have won based on the fact that she was the most improved. The fact is voting process was used and sometimes it isn’t fair.

My Favourite MYA

So of course, with Donny winning someone else would have taken the night. Whitney Houston was simply fantastic. I will only say this – her addictions may have affected her voice but she certainly can still deliver a great performance. Her songs on the night, I am still on cloud nine over it. Sorry! The videos are posted below for your viewing. The last song on the first video is one of my favourites from Houston so you could imagine my excitement and jumping in the house when she started to sing it. I have also posted a video of the song “I wana dance with somebody” from Whitney Houston back in the days. I have posted it because this is the real performance of the song. Enjoy.

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I bring you pictures from this year’s Telco TV Show.  That is Richard working furiously over there.

As always, bigger versions are available to view on DSI’s Facebook Group site: http://groups.to/displaysystemsintl

You have to admire Elle Magazine. While most magazines haven’t ventured out of their comfort zone, Elle has gone all out. They had their own Reality TV Show, Olivia’s stories at Elle are as important as Whitney on the City, and everyone seems to be crushing on Joe Zee. My favorite so far is their shoe diary. It documents cute shoes worn by the staffers every day. The pictures are surprisingly cool. I think it’s an adorable way to show the public more of what goes on inside Elle and I’d love to be a part of it.  I wonder what shoes I’d have to wear to get an internship there.

If i had a Daily Booth this is definitely what I would do.

As many of people probably know, Extreme Makeover: Home Edition came to Buffalo earlier this month. The home rebuild happened around the block from me, and for a week our neighborhood was bustling (even more than usual).

On Friday, November 13th, a bunch of West Side residents and PUSH Buffalo got together to celebrate a new park built by volunteers during the Makeover week. Here are some photos from that day:

The amazing PUSH members from top to bottom: Maxine Murphy, Chevy Garcia, and Jen Mecozzi. Jen and Maxine are also on PUSH’s board of directors.

I want to use this blog about movies to rant a little bit about things that are kind of unrelated to movies, but kind of totally related because movies, if you think about it, are related to everything. So lets get this shit underway:

Lately I’ve been really disappointed by my tendency towards self-censorship. I’m sitting here eating canned beets, writing a semi-crazy  anti-Mormon rant when I say to myself “this is the internet. People will read this,” and delete the whole thing. Sure, it was pretty offensive and I don’t want to make my dad cry, but it was also pretty funny and totally relevant. Because who cares that I’m eating beets? Aren’t you more interested in what I have to say about the ERA? I am!

Maybe self-censoring isn’t the problem. Maybe what you don’t say is far more interesting than what you can say, and maybe hurting peoples’ feelings just isn’t all that great. Maybe the problem is that I do it badly. Because Whitman self-censored all the time, but he still got to talk about blow jobs all he wanted (they were just hidden blow jobs!). But without all the potential literal imagery and swears, Whitman isn’t very funny.

I don’t expect Dear Jesus’s readers to be the biggest Kevin Smith fans, but you have to hand it to someone that can be so candid. Not only with his fans in Q&As and SmodCast, but in the films he’s willing to make. Can you imagine taking your mom to go see Dogma? It’s only a million times worse when you made the thing, I’m sure. There are cruder movies out there, but Smith’s films don’t pretend to be anything they aren’t. Sure, Chasing Amy’s on Criterion, but it wasn’t made with the intention of ever getting to that level of critical appeal. These movies are comedies, with poop jokes, and Smith is as honestly crude as he feels like being. I think that openness of purpose is nice. Maybe I could make something that looked as good as Clerks, but I could never be that open with it, and I respect the View Askew people for that attitude.

Marrying someone that recently left the Mormon church puts me in an interesting position. On the one hand, I have to be the mediator that calms him down when he’s screaming “burn the temple!!!” on Main Street. On the other hand, he gets me thinking about all this stuff again and it makes me angrier and angrier. And all I want to do is be candid about it with people that matter to me. Never going to happen. Not even on a blog that I’m pretty sure is safe territory as far as my immediate family is concerned. And that makes me sad…or angrier. I don’t know.

This weekend I spent with Mad Dog margaritas, poems about siblings, Everclear, Zombies, a fishing trip, family in town from far, families coming together, and a forced order of mozzarella sticks.

I got inspired at work today, which seems to happen often, and how often can you say that?

Now, Ellen has been in the kitchen braising lamb and cookin’ up some sweet potato biscuits. I’ve got a soon-to-be-full belly and a pocket full of love.

The good times are ones when there’s nowhere else to be but now.

The grass under my toes is as green as it gets.

The Soul Train Awards are back!!!

While many are still talking about how much better the American Music Awards were, I was checking out footage from the Soul Train Awards…
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The following are the nominees and BOLD are the winners I think will get it.

BEST NEW ARTIST

• DRAKE (I think he’ll get it)
• Jazmine Sullivan
• Keri Hilson
• Ryan Leslie (I’d like to see him get it)
• Solange

BEST R&B/SOUL ARTIST FEMALE

• BEYONCE (As usual, they’ll give it to her)
• Chrisette Michelle (I think she deserves it)
• Jennifer Hudson
• Ledisi
• Whitney Houston

BEST MALE R&B/SOUL MALE

• Charlie Wilson
• MAXWELL (I think he’ll get it AND deserves it!!!)
• Musiq Soulchild
• Raphael Saadiq
• Robin Thicke

SONG OF THE YEAR

• “God in Me” – MARY MARY (It was big and a close second!)
• “Pretty Wings” – Maxwell (I’d like to see this late entry win)
• “Single Ladies (Put a ring on it)” – BEYONCE (She’ll win but not by much!)
• “Spotlight” – Jennifer Hudson
• “Turnin Me On” – Keri Hilson/ ft Lil Wayne

ALBUM OF THE YEAR

• Beyonce – I am… Sasha Fierce (Platinum) Sony Music
• Jamie Foxx – Intuition (Platinum) J Records
• Kanye West – 808s & Heartbreak (Platinum) Roc-A-Fella/Def Jam
• MAXWELL – Blacksummer’s Night (Gold) Sony Music
(My choice to win although Kanye’s album minus his personal drama was superb if you are just talking about music!)
• Ne-Yo – Year of the Gentleman

RECORD OF THE YEAR (SONGWRITER AWARD)

• Beyonce – “Single Ladies (Put a ring on it)”
• Drake – “Best I ever had”
• Jamie Foxx Ft/T-Pain – “Blame it”
• Keri Hilson – “Knock You Down”
• MAXWELL – “Pretty Wings” (Hands DOWN if you are talking about the QUALITY of writing)

BEST REGGAE ARTIST AWARD
• Movado (He had a fairly good year but may not stand out compared to Sean)
• SEAN PAUL (because the people who choose them always go to the guy most popular they’ll probably choose him)
• Serani
• Taurus Riley
• Ziggy Marley

CENTRIC AWARD – SOUL APPROVED/UNDERGROUND

• Corneille
• Eric Roberson
• LAURA IZABOR (I think she’ll win as the most visible, held up and I have not stopped playing this album. Great work musically though I wouldn’t say “underground.” Atlantic just didn’t promoter her)
• Maysa
• The Knux

BEST GOSPEL PERFORMANCE MALE, FEMALE OR GROUP

• BeBe and CeCe Winans – “Close To You”
• Fred Hammond f/John P Kee – “They That Wait”
• Marvin Sapp – “Praise Him in Advance”
• MARY MARY – “God In Me” (As the biggest crossover they’ll win hands down…and I happen to think it’s a great song anyway with a greater message)
• Smokie Norful – “Justified”

BEST COLLABORATION

• Keri Hilson featuring Kanye West & Ne-Yo – “Knock you Down”
• Keyshia Cole featuring Monica – “Trust”
• MARIO featuring Gucci Mane and Sean Garrett – “Break up” (I choose this song although it may be too street for some tastes…but the combination of flows made for an engaging journey into downtempo Rhythm & Beats aka R&B)
• Mary Mary featuring Kierra (KiKi) Sheard – “God In Me”
• Trey Songz featuring Drake – “Successful” (People like this dude Drake right now and Trey finally got some hits out this year beyond New York and ATL…This was a good second place mention)

ENTERTAINER OF THE YEAR

• Michael Jackson

Since there weren’t any choices, it goes to Michael. It goes to him not because he was the best this year but because he died this year, let’s keep it real. This music industry is so politically inclined they couldn’t just say we are giving MJ the accolades we haven’t given out of guilt…maybe if more of us were supportive and loving toward one of the greatest to ever do it then maybe the people closer to him would have done more to protect and take care of him.

Looking forward to seeing who actually wins! Maybe the industry can take notes from the AMAs by giving awards based on sales and not politics since sales mean PEOPLE chose the winners! *Pardon me Grammys* but the voters are not necessarily in tune with the music…I’ll get on their case in another blog coming soon!

*Freedom*
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MY GOODNESS!!!! She Murdered this! Church!

LD

I don’t care what anyone says, Mariah Carey can sing. I do wish though she would stop changing between normal register and falsetto in the quieter parts. It gets very annoying. She is at her best when belting it out. It seems she has toned down all the ornamentation she used to do on notes, there is still a little but not as much. That can also be really annoying. I saw her interviewed recently. She is quite nice, certainly nowhere near as egotistical or melodramatic as Whitney Houston. Sorry, Whitney.

For Jermaine (who was trying to sing along, but didn’t know the words):

Everywhere I go, every smile I see
I know you are there – smiling back at me
Dancing in moonlight I know you are free
Cuz I can see your star shining down on me

Janet is a star.  And she’s still got it.  I can’t imagine what she’s been through this year, but she brought the best opening sequence I’ve seen at the American Music Awards in a while.

Paula Abdul is up next in a beautiful black dress and looking completely present – is she hosting?  Well, she’s presenting the first award…

Fave Pop/Rock Group: BEP collects their 6th AMA.

Haven’t actually seen Veronica Mars in a minute – but she gets to give Rascal Flatts their best Country group award for the 4th straight year.  And Pete Wentz  kinda creeps me out.  Which is fitting I guess, cuz watching his wife on Melrose Place, she kinda creeps me out, too.

Maybe it’s cuz my life is just barely winding down from the crazy, but I’m feeling particularly snarky.  Daughtry doesn’t usually get any love from me, since I’m not really into the rock bands that all sound the same to me.  ffwd.

Shakira’s performance starts off cool with the steppers, and then her hair’s kinda cool – she kinda looks like she’s going for Mariah’s look.  But I’m trying to figure out if I’m actually hearing her voice or not.  Adam Lambert seems totally into it, which actually ups his stock in my estimation.

Keith Urban is definitely one of the cutest country artists there are – I guess that’s why he doesn’t have to wear a hat.  Kiss A Girl is ok, but..uh…ffwd.

Reba McIntyre is definitely looking better than she did on SNL last night…she introduces Kelly Clarkson – the one, true Idol.  I love Already Gone.  It’s just a great song.  And I love Kelly Clarkson.  So it’s great.

Fave Pop/Rock Female Artist: Taylor Swift – she’s at Wembley Stadium for a show tomorrow night – cool.

A. Rod, Jay-Z, Alicia Keys – New York State of Mind.  I love this song.  I can’t even explain it.  I even get why Lil Mama jumped up on stage at the MTv Awards.  Solange, Taye Diggs, they’re into it – Leona Lewis is barely head bobbin’ – Melissa Etheridge is feeling this more than her.  Whitney’s proving there’s still a little Bobby left in her, and Perez Hilton is surprisingly rhythmic.  This is probably the hypest song of the year.

Alternative Rock Band: Green Day.  Second time they’ve won this one.  Short n sweet thank yous – the way I like ‘em.

Ok. Wait.  What?  Kate Hudson is wearing something crazy.  It basically makes her look like a boy.  I just saw way too much of her chest.

You know what?  The Black-Eyed Peas are fun, party music, but I kinda don’t understand them.  Their performances always seem so odd.  I just don’t get it.  They kinda seem like grown up versions of iCarly – cuz of how nonsensical they seem, sometimes.  But I. Love. Boom Boom Boom.  Seth Green seems to like it, too.  That was the craziest mashup I’ve seen in some time – It Takes Two To Make A Thing Go Right and Smells Like Teen Spirit?  Crazy.  But it worked.

Soul/R&B Male:  Michael Jackson.  With Jermaine and his family accepting, because he hadn’t yet been inappropriate enough.  By the way, I actually think Jamie Foxx should’ve won, but I understand why MJ won.  It’s not necessarily undeserved.

Country Male:  Keith Urban.  First AMA – congrats.  ffwd.

Soul/R&B Female: Beyonce.  Couldn’t be there.  Awww.

Ne-Yo does a song from the Princess and the Frog?  YAY!  I love him.  He intros RiRi wearing a modified suit from The Fifth Element.  How can you not love the line – “I’m such a freakin’ lady”?

Carrie Underwood performs and it looks like she’s wearing  a look by Carol Hannah (of Project Runway fame).  I definitely feel like I saw that as the first look on her Bryant Park collection.  She’s the second voted Idol to perform tonight, third alum to sing, and 4th to grace the stage, as Kris Allen presented.  Paula is pleased as punch.

Then Lady Gaga performs and it is…to be expected, I guess.  I don’t know what that strap over her privates is. but it’s weirdly distracting.  Her voice is really good though.  When she plays the piano things are nice, except the camera’s obsession with her crotch being fed by the fact that her legs are spread w-i-d-e open.  I suppose it’s true that without all of her eccentricities she probably wouldn’t be famous at all.

PS – I still don’t like Perez Hilton.

Drake, Kid Cudi, Jeremi, introduce Mary J.  Why did Drake have to say it was his mother’s fave woman in the world?  I guess it’s nice.  But…it definitely spotlights her age.  Though Mary’s looking dang good.  And her voice is SO much better!  Her performances have really improved.

Ahh – so that’s Colby Callait.  She wasn’t feeling NY State of Mind.  Eh.  And Gloriana wins Breakthrough Artist.

Who is Gloriana?

I thought Keri Hilson shoulda won.  But Country does have very devoted fans.

J. Lo’s singing again?  I like this song.  But I do not like the outfit.  Those shorts are AWFUL!  And then they – they – made it worse!  They put some kind of strange skirt looking thing over it!  Throw on your Louboutins and get thee to a stylist, Jenny-from-the-block!

Samuel L. Jackson presents International Artist of the Year to Whitney.  I wonder what is required to win this.  I’m amazed that the Bodyguard soundtrack is still the number 1 soundtrack – I thought sure it’d be Titanic.  But Whitney has come back and I’m happy.  She looks great.  And she sounds great.  You know that choir is so proud of her.  I think most every Black person in America is proud of Whitney’s comeback – and that she’s no longer with Bobby.  She wasn’t built to break.  You go Whitney.  Ooh – and Bobbi Christina is cute, now?  Everything’s coming up roses for Whitney, now.

Fave Country Female: Taylor Swift.  She’s still up?  How is she gonna be ready for the concert?

Fave Pop/Rock Male: It’s a shame MJ died this year.  For so many reasons.  He’s now won 23 AMAs.  Jermaine’s Muslim?  I thought they were Jehovah’s Witnesses.  It would’ve been nice to see TI spank Em, though.  I dunno if it would’ve happened, but I woulda loved it.  So I’m gonna say that’s how it would’ve gone.

Alicia Keys has brought back all the 90s dances, and that dude dancer she’s got is in-cred-i-ble.   And a lil bit hot.  But unbelievably talented.  She’s wearing some craziness, but then, that’s what she does.  I like this song, too.  Have you ever tried sleeping with a broken heart?

Seth Green intros Em and Fitty.  It’s kinda disgusting to me to see girls singing along with Em, seeing as how he’s so woman-hating in his music.  Not that I don’t kinda like that second song he was doing.

Now Timbaland is kinda cool but also bananas.  I’m glad he’s still hanging with Nelly Furtado – that’s cool.  I dunno who the other girl is.  But the zombie thing is a little bit cool.  With a not-so-subtle Thriller reference it’s cute.

That little Hobbit fellow from FlashForward kinda gives me the creeps.  But I would also be jumping up and down to intro Green Day singing 21 Guns.  I love this song.  And I love how these guys are old and married with kids now, but they’re still great.

Wow.  I had no idea Keri Hilson was that tall!  Or..that Toni Braxton was that short.  They present fave Rap/Hip-Hop Male:  Jay-Z.  So…who would be nominated for the female version of this award?  Is there even a female version?

Ryan Seacrest had time to present?  How many jobs does he have?

Artist of the Year:  Taylor Swift.  She won 5 tonight.  I kinda thought she’d win.

And now Adam Lambert performs.  Isn’t it a lil over the top to grind into a dude’s face?  The lyrics are actually right on – “do you know what I’m about to do?”  I was never really a fan, so excuse me if I think his 15min are up.  I still think he’d be better in a more Freddie Mercury role.  I’m watching the folks by the stage and everyone just looks like they’re staring.  They’re all clapping now, but…he still weirds me out a little.

Oh, and 9 awards were given out earlier, with Jay-Z winning a couple, Michael winning a few, and Taylor winning a few.  But I didn’t see a Rap/Hip-Hop category for the ladies.  Come back Eve – we miss you!

I enjoy watching awards that show a tribute to music.  Even if it is an awards show that is voted on.  I would rather watch the performances on those because we all know it is the dumb ten year-olds that vote for those.  So, I just ignore the results.  I just got finished watching the American Music Awards.  There were many great moments and some head scratching moments.

I will start off with the fan voted awards.  The big winners were the late Michael Jackson and Taylor Swift.  Next I will go to the performance losers of the night.  First would be Rihanna.  I know she went through a bad year, but the performance was very messy.  The Second and last would be Adam Lambert.  I think it is good that there are artist out there that are open about their sexual preferences, but that was awkward.  It was a very screamy, pitchy performance.  I know a great songwriter Claude Kelly wrote this song, but I think he went a little skew with this one.

Now For the best performances of the night.  First would be Kelly Clarkson.  I an a big fan of songs that include orchestra strings.  They had changed this song because of the comparison to Beyonce, but this version is great.  I would like if Clarkson had done maybe a new song, but performing a different version is good.  Second would be Lady GaGa. Physically she scares me a little, but musically she is fantastic.  She proves that you should not judge by appearance and listen to the music.  It was great when she smashed her way in to the piano section.  Piano was a great choice to include.  Lastly was the great Whitney Houston.  The award of the night for her.  What is better that seeing a legend perform.  It is great to see her back again.  These three ladies also did what not many on the show did.  They performed on pitch and key.      I just wish the ending of the show was different.

Overall, It was an alright show.  The end went for too much shock value and could end up overshadowing the great performances in this show.  Congrats to all the winners and good night.  I hope…….