Taylor Swift - SPEAK NOW (REVIEW)

Taylor Swift has always been an intriguing character to me. I'm not really sure why - her songs, the autobiographical lyrical content which all seem to target a particular person (or persons), her addictive country/country-pop sound, or a combination of the above. And with Speak Now, I had to get it to figure out who she really is.

Ke$ha - ANIMAL+CANNIBAL (REVIEW)

Born Kesha Rose Sebert, she was an active musician, writing and providing background vocals for other artists. Her breakthrough only came in early 2009 after appearing on Flo Rida's number-one single "Right Round" under the mononym Ke$ha. She released her debut album, Animal, in January 2010, featuring the worldwide hit, "TiK ToK". In November 2010, she released her first extended play, Cannibal, as both an EP and a deluxe edition of Animal. In this review, I will be reviewing Animal and Cannibal separately.

Rihanna - LOUD (REVIEW)

In 2005, she started out with the reggae sound in Music of the Sun. The following year, she experimented with dance-pop and R&B in A Girl Like Me. In 2007, she chopped off her locks and became a Good Girl Gone Bad. 2 years later, she took her music and style to the macabre extreme in Rated R. In 2010, Robyn Rihanna Fenty, better known as simply Rihanna, goes back to her R&B/dance-pop roots in her fifth studio album Loud.

Simon Curtis - "8BIT HEART" (REVIEW)

Simon Curtis (born March 18, 1986) is an American actor and singer-songwriter from Tulsa, Oklahoma. He gained fame for playing Royce Du Lac in the Nickelodeon musical TV-movie Spectacular!. After releasing one extended play, Alter Boy, Curtis released his debut full-length studio album, 8Bit Heart in 2010.

"My Hope Is Found", by Adam Young

I was up late last night and decided to record a “cover song” of sorts.

Not for anything special, just for fun.

THE TOP 5: MOVIES OF 2010 (SO FAR)

Since I've not done so much on the blog, I've come up with a brand-new segment for it.

Introducing... THE TOP 5, where I will frequently post "Top 5" lists, whether it's music, movies, places and more.

To mark the very first Top 5, here is THE TOP 5: MOVIES OF 2010 (SO FAR).

MY BUCKET LIST.

It's being going around my head recently: what is on MY bucket list?

For those who don't know what a "bucket list" is, a "bucket list" is a list of things you want to do before you "kick the bucket" (aka, die).

Below are some of the things that I CAN scratch off my bucket list, since I've done them:

1. Participate in a televised singing competition. (2007 - "Campus Superstar", made it to Round 2 of auditions)

2. Perform solo. (2007 - did "Heal the World" in front of the whole school)

3. Make videos on YouTube (2010 - currently doing so)

And below are the things that are STILL on my bucket list (the things I have yet to do):

3. Go to Universal Studios Orlando and visit Harry Potter Land

4. Go to Universal Studios Singapore and ride the Battlestar Galactica roller coaster (if it gets approved, that is)

5. Visit New York City, especially Times Square

6. Visit Texas

7. Visit California

8. Visit Hollywood, one more time

9. Visit Australia (will be doing that soon; I'll be there in December celebrating Christmas)

10. Be part of a YouTube gathering

11. Be part of a Twitter gathering

12. Be part of a Dailybooth gathering

13.Get a girlfriend

14. Get married

15. Get a record deal and be a singer in the mainstream industry* (starred for importance)
16. Celebrate Halloween at least twice in my entire life

I guess that's about it (for now). What's on YOUR bucket list??

MY COMPUTER'S IS SOON REACHING THE END OF ITS LIFE.

This is the laptop I'm currently using - a Lenovo Y410 running on Windows Vista.

And this is the laptop I want to get if I were to lose the Lenovo - a MacBook with a 250GB hard drive. (The Lenovo has only 19.5GB of hard drive space. Pathetic.)

Sorry if my rant is boring you. But it has to be known.

2/11 UPDATE: Thanks to my parents, I have gotten what would probably be the greatest gift yet - a 13-inch MacBook Pro! YAY! I can't wait to start working with this baby...

"DINNER FOR SCHMUCKS" (REVIEW)

It's been on my "must-watch" list for ages, and I'm so glad that I could finally watch it! Here is my review of Dinner for Schmucks, starring Steve Carell and Paul Rudd.

ME - MASHUP ARTIST?? Probably not.

(SIDE NOTE: Wow, I have not been posting anything on the blog for quite some time...)

So... Yeah, um... I... made a mashup.

Yes, I indeed make one, by myself. And this is my VERY FIRST music mashup. I'm SO VERY PROUD of it and I hope you guys will like it, spread it if you can, and who knows, it'll get featured. Maybe.

But honestly, though, I might not do something like this anytime soon. If you guys do like what I did here, thanks. But don't expect me to do anything similar again, 'cause I don't think music mashups are my forte. Plus, do you know how HARD it is to find acapella tracks for almost 90% of the songs out there? I mean, I'm fine with the instrumentals (I can make them myself), but the acapellas; man, they're hard to find!

Oh, and if you're wondering, I used Audacity for the track. ;)

So without further ado, here's "Get LAST FRIDAY NIGHT Outta My Way", a Kylie Minogue/Katy Perry mashup - made by ME! Mwa-ha-ha...

UPDATE: As of 11 Oct 2010, I got 2 thumbs up for the video! Yay!

Britney Spears - THE SINGLES COLLECTION (REVIEW)

10 musical years. 6 studio albums. 3 compilation albums. 29 singles. 1 amazing career. 1 Britney Jean Spears. Here, is 10 YEARS OF BRITNEY: SEEN THROUGH THE SINGLES COLLECTION.

(NOTE: All songs stated in this review are in the track listing of The Singles Collection - in order.)

Katy Perry - TEENAGE DREAM (REVIEW)

She was born and raised by Christian pastor parents, grew up listening and singing to only gospel music, started her career as a gospel singer under her birth name Katy Hudson and released her self-titled debut gospel-rock album. Then in 2008 she released her second studio album and first mainstream pop album One of the Boys under her stage name and a new label which spawned hits like "I Kissed a Girl", "Hot N Cold", "Thinking of You" and "Waking Up in Vegas". Fast-forward to 2010: after her big engagement to comedian Russell Brand, Katy Perry releases her much-anticipated third album Teenage Dream.

LAST POST AS A 17-YEAR-OLD.

THIS POST WILL BE MY LAST POST AS A 17-YEAR-OLD.

Yes, people: tomorrow, 22nd September 2010, I turn 18.

WHAT I FOUND ON 9GAG.COM - PART 1

The first of a series of posts where I post amusing pictures and videos that I found on 9gag.com.

1. "Crew neck, V-neck, and...": http://9gag.com/gag/35187/

2. "The object to your left...": http://9gag.com/gag/35196/

3. "Apple Confidential": http://9gag.com/gag/35184/

4. "How does Lady Gaga like her steak?" (Heard this one before): http://9gag.com/gag/34628/

5. "Hot Boy Dancing" (Song: "美人计" - 蔡依林): http://9gag.com/gag/35270/

6. "MySpace Angle": http://9gag.com/gag/35206/

7. "I love Bacon": http://9gag.com/gag/35069/

8. "Typewriter": http://9gag.com/gag/35064/

9. "Reasons people use graphs": http://9gag.com/gag/34778/

10. "The Real Tooth Fairy" (Show: Family Guy): http://9gag.com/gag/34699/

ENJOY!

WHY I SHOULD SPEND MORE TIME CHECKING OUT THE TOWN AREA OF SINGAPORE.

So today was my final paper before the semester break (YAY!), and I was with a bunch of friends for lunch. They suggested that we should go celebrate the end of our mid-years and the start of our holiday by going for some karaoke. I was totally up for it. Then we gave suggestions for places that we can go. We suggested going to K-Box Downtown East (since it's located closer to our respective homes), but in the end we went to the K-Box at the renewed *Scape.

I AM...: WEEZER-OBSESSED!!

For those who don't know who Weezer is, you must go check them out! They're awesome people who can make some quirky and fun tracks!

MUSIC RECOMMENDATION: Hebe 田馥甄 - "LOVE!"

In early August the following YouTube clip was released. The clip featured a snippet of a song, with an acoustic sound and a gentle, soothing singing voice. It garnered more than 100, 000 views on the website.

EMMYS 2010!

The 62nd Primetime Emmy Awards was telecast live earlier today at 8am here. It was one pretty simple show hosted by Jimmy Fallon, but here a rough low-down of the show.

GENE KELLY RULES!

One little-known fact about myself: I am a huge fan of Gene Kelly. In my opinion, he is the most talented Broadway actors/singers of all time. The following are 3 of my favourite Gene Kelly numbers picked from his films.

YAN-YAN FAILS!

Today I went to school and met up a bunch of friends to work on a banner to present to our secondary school teachers for Teachers' Day. For those who do not know, I am currently part of my secondary school alumni executive committee.

I felt a little hungry so I went to the nearby Cheers to get a snack. I got myself a Yan-Yan (biscuit sticks with a flavoured dip; mine was chocolate) and a Heaven & Earth Ice Passionfruit Tea (SO GOOD!).

Anyway, once I got my snack I got back to my friends and started snacking into my Yan-Yan. But while I was happily snacking on my chocolate snack, I noticed a few kinks in the Yan-Yan that made me much happier.

Vampires DO Suck!

I'm not a big fan of parody films like the Scary Movie franchise, Disaster Movie and Meet the Spartans, but this may be the first parody film that I will go see.

It's about time... to rip on... the vampire movie.

Vampires Suck is a parody film directed by Jason Friedberg and Aaron Seltzer. It stars Matt Lanter, Chris Riggi, Jenn Proske, Anneliese van der Pol and Ken Jeong.

ME - PILGRIM-ISED?

So I came across this site, an avatar creator which is a viral tie-in for the movie "Scott Pilgrim vs. the World" starring Michael Cera. Here's my avatar:

For those who can't see clearly, in the black box it says:

NAME: JOEVAN LIM

AGE: 17 YEARS OLD

SPLIT-PERSONALITY

RATING: AWESOME

Make your own avatar by clicking on this link: http://www.scottpilgrimthemovie.com/avatarCreator

NOTE: I am NOT paid to promote the movie. I just wanna let you guys find out about this 'cause it's pretty fun. Okay, bye!

"BAD ROMANCE" - GEEKIFIED!

Lady Gaga's smash hit "Bad Romance" gets the geek-ishly cool treatment courtesy of Brett Domino (alter-ego of musician Rob J Madin) and Steven Peavis, with the help of the Korg Monotron and the Korg Kaossilator.

Brett Domino links:

http://www.brettdomino.com

http://www.youtube.com/BrettDomino

Rob J Madin link:

http://www.robjmadin.com/

ANGELINA JOLIE IN "SALT"! (REVIEW)

So I was out with 2 friends today. We hung out and ate a crapload of sushi. Then I had the idea of watching a movie, and we ended up watching the movie Salt starring Angelina Jolie.

In Salt, Jolie plays Evelyn Salt, a CIA agent accused of being a Russian sleeper agent. X-Men Origins: Wolverine's Liev Schreiber plays Ted Winter, head of the fictional CIA's Russian House, and British actor Chiwetel Ejorfor plays Peabody, a CIA agent in pursuit of Salt.

DANCE TO THIS SONG! - kevjumba, David Choi, Wong Fu Productions

"A lot of pop music these days is starting to sound the same. We thought we'd take a stab at it by making our own, very generic, catchy pop song."

Wong Fu Productions (Wesley Chan, Ted Fu, Philip Wang):

http://wongfuproductions.com

http://www.youtube.com/wongfuproductions

David Choi:

http://davidchoimusic.com

http://www.youtube.com/davidchoimusic

Kevin Wu:

http://kevjumba.com

http://www.youtube.com/kevjumba

When I first heard the song, I kinda felt that I heard it from somewhere. Then I was reminded of the Black Eyed Peas' "Meet Me Halfway".

LIFE-CHANGING YOUTUBE.

When reading this week's issue of 8 Days magazine, I came across the following "First Person" story, written by Jason Hahn, about YouTube. It's pretty amusing, I must say. Check it out below:

The other day, someone asked me what I couldn't live without.

I think he was being intellectually provocative or, at the very least, he was blind drunk. You know how you sometimes meet people like that at parties? They come up to you round about 1.30am, slightly wobbly on the feet, and eyes with that unfocused gaze that comes from having nursed, all night, a deeply intimate relationship with Jack Daniels on the rocks. They lean forward, happily unaware that they're invading your private space and then, in a haze of alcoholic vapour, they ask you what your name is.

Well, anyway, this guy at Marina's party leaned in and whispered, "What can't you live without, mate?"

I replied instinctively, without thinking: "YouTube".

WHAT I FOUND ON TWITTER - "THE LAST AIRBENDER"

The second of an ongoing series where I post amusing Twitter tweets based on a certain trending topic. In this post, I will be showing tweets with the trending topic, "THE LAST AIRBENDER".

@muzrobertson: "I thought comic adaptations couldn't get worse than LXG... then I watched THE LAST AIRBENDER." (LXG=The League of Extraordinary Gentlemen)

@dancingturtleee: "@Jared_Oh THE LAST AIRBENDER will only be released here in SEPTEMBER! Just kill me now please!"

@FilthyMcRich: "I havent seen LAST AIRBENDER either!" (I feel sorry for this dude, seriously.)

@Epic_Holiday: "Why is THE LAST AIRBENDER trending again!!!!!! Twitter, get your stuff together and fix your algorithim."

@nrmers: "I swear, THE LAST AIRBENDER bored me. I admit that their powers or whatever are cool but the film is quite slow. N it was boring."

WHAT I FOUND ON TWITTER - "AVADA KEDAVRA"

This is the first of a series where I post Twitter posts (or tweets) based on a certain trending topic. Each part's title is the trending topic, the first being "AVADA KEDAVRA". (If you do not know what that is, go read a book.)

@HogwartsRadio: "Cedric Diggory did not die when hit with AVADA KEDAVRA. He was turned into Edward Cullen. A fate worse than death."

@aSmileSaysItAll: '"And I was like baby, baby, baby ooh! Like, baby, baby, baby noo! Like..." AVADA KEDAVRA! *silence* Much better.'

@HogwartsRadio: "Edward Cullen. The Boy Who DIDN'T Live. AVADA KEDAVRA!"

@Dreademort: "Someone AVADA KEDAVRA my life please."

@Charliegirl19: "I wouldnt AVADA KEDAVRA you, I'd Imperio you and Crucio you until you beg me for death, and I'd make sure you felt EVERY second of it"

@melissaanelli: "AVADA KEDAVRA #prop8. That is all."

PAUL DATEH - TOP 40 VIOLIN MASHUP

"just for kicks. i made a mashup using some songs from the current itunes top 40 list. hope you enjoy it!"

"Just for kicks"? This is absolutely genius! And I definitely enjoyed myself. Check it out below:

PAUL DATEH LINKS:

WEBSITE - http://pauldateh.com

YOUTUBE - http://www.youtube.com/pauldateh

TWITTER - http://twitter.com/pauldateh

MAGNET-LIKE SLOPES.

This is remarkably insane.

EVERYONE HATES M. NIGHT SHYAMALAN.

The era of the M. Night Shyamalan flick is over. I should have said that, like, a long long time ago.

But seriously, M. Night Shyamalan thrilled us with The Sixth Sense (released in 1999; 1999, gawd dammit!), Unbreakable (released in 2000) and Signs (released in 2002), but Shyamalan's "brain farts" started to surface from 2004's The Village, which received mostly negative reviews but still did well at the box office, making US$114.2 million in the US and US$142 million overseas. Shyamalan blamed it on the way the film was being marketed. The nightmare's long from over, dude.

CREEPY, FREAKY OR AWESOME??

Being somewhat a "song analyst", it came to my knowledge that some mainstream songs sound similar, either with the beat, melody or arrangement. And seriously, with every claim of similar songs that appears out of nowhere, my mind literally explodes every time.

One notable example is one which I posted in my previous post, "Pieces of a Scientist", a combination of Coldplay's "The Scientist" and Sum 41's "Pieces", two songs which use similar arrangements (or at least that's what I think).

Another notable example involves 2 very popular songs today: Beyonce's "Halo" and Kelly Clarkson's "Already Gone". Here's a lowdown of the controversy revolving around the 2 songs:

Kelly Clarkson claimed that Ryan Tedder (OneRepublic frontman, credited as producer and co-writer of both "Halo" and "Already Gone") reused the musical arrangement of "Halo" ("Already Gone" was released as a single 7 months after "Halo"), and stated that the public would incorrectly assume that she had stolen it; Tedder refuted the accusations as hurtful and false. After failing to prevent the song to be included on All I Ever Wanted (Clarkson's latest album) because the tracklisting had already been finalized and the album was already being pressed, Clarkson then voiced her anger toward her record company bosses for subsequently deciding to release "Already Gone" as a single.

So whose fault do you think it is: OneRepublic frontman Ryan Tedder for using a similar arrangement for both songs, Kelly Clarkson's bosses for releasing "Already Gone" as a single against her will, or the sharp-eared public who somehow love to find the negatives in almost everything? Hmm, I kinda added the last one out of randomness, but you get my point, right??

(PS. DJ Ryson made a mashup of both songs; click here to check it out and compare the 2 songs yourselves.)

Another few songs that you might want to check out are Ke$ha's "TiK ToK", Katy Perry's "California Gurls" and Miley Cyrus' "Permanent December". They ALL sound similar. Really, everyone's been talking about the similarities in these 3 songs.

Kinda a random post to set you guys thinking... LOL. Talk to you guys later!

MASHUP GALLERY.

Without a doubt, I'm a sucker for mashups. For those who do not know what mashups are, mashups are songs composed using 2 or more existing songs, usually using the vocal track of one song and the music track of another. Below are some of my favourite mashups found on YouTube.

DJ Earworm - United State of Pop 2009 (Blame It on the Pop) [A mashup using Billboard magazine's top 25 hits of 2009]

DJ Ryson - TiK ToK Up the Dancefloor

ManuMixx Remix - LoveGame/Celebration/She Wolf/Sexy Chick/Hotel Room Service Mashup

Coldplay VS Sum 41 - Pieces of a Scientist [This is technically not a mashup, but 2 songs overlapped over each other. It is said that the 2 songs use the same instrumental.]

AWESOMEST RICKROLL EVAR!!!

In this video from March 2010, the University of Oregon all-male acapella group, On The Rocks, Rickrolls* the other passengers on board a train in New York City.

*Rickrolling: an Internet meme typically involving the music video for the 1987 Rick Astley song "Never Gonna Give You Up". The meme is a bait and switch: a person provides a hyperlink that they claim is relevant to the topic at hand, but the link actually takes the user to the Astley video. The link can be masked or obfuscated in some manner so that the user cannot determine the true destination of the link without clicking.When a person clicks on the link and is led to the web page, he or she is said to have been "rickrolled". Rickrolling has extended beyond web links to playing the video or song disruptively in other situations, including public places; this culminated when Astley and the song made a surprise appearance in the 2008 Macy's Thanksgiving Parade, a televised event with tens of millions of viewers.

HAHA; YOU'VE BEEN RICKROLLED!!!

HOW YOU DOIN'?

The catchphrase first became popular through the hit TV sitcom Friends (hands down, awesomest show EVAR!) as Matt LeBlanc's character Joey Tribbiani's catchphrase.

Fast forward to the present: "How you doin'?" is still relatively popular (or so I think), but it gained prominence once again through media personality Wendy Williams of The Wendy Williams Show.

Personally, I do use the catchphrase "How you doin'?" once in a while, because Joey Tribbiani of Friends used it. JOEY TRIBBIANI MADE IT POPULAR! Wendy's version of "How you doin?" just seems a little retarded to me.

Zooey Deschanel & Katy Perry.

Hmm, never thought that the 2 of them look so alike. See for yourselves...

Similar hairstyles, similar bright-blue doe-eyes, similar smiles... THEY ARE TOTALLY TWINS! I swear.

GRANDPA JIVES HIS BUTT OFF TO LADY GAGA!

Check out this grandpa shaking his booty to Lady Gaga's "Poker Face".



I mean, seriously, he's got the moves! But in all honesty, the video's awesome until the 2 younger guys entered the frame and ruined the rest of it. But the grandpa eventually out-danced the younger guys with his slick moves and gray hair. TOTAL WIN WIN WIN.

Miley Cyrus - CAN'T BE TAMED (REVIEW)

Miley Cyrus, born Destiny Hope Cyrus, catapulted from being only known as country singer BillyRay Cyrus' daughter to super-stardom through the Disney Channel hit sitcom Hannah Montana. She is also a recording artist, having recorded the show's 3 original soundtracks as her titular alter-ego, as well as her 2 original albums as herself, Meet Miley Cyrus and Breakout. But now that the show is currently in its final season and is almost over, Miley's current challenge is to mature and break out from her Disney shell. Her first step: releasing her third studio album after her 2009 EP The Time of Our Lives, entitled Can't Be Tamed.

INTRODUCTION.

Er, hi everybody. For those who don't know me, here's a little introduction of myself.

Name's Joevan. 17 years of age. Born and raised in sunny Singapore. Currently in Temasek Polytechnic, studying Media & Communication Technology.

I love music. I am an aspiring singer/musician/singer-songwriter. I play one instrument and one instrument only: my ukulele.

I love movies. I am a sucker for animated movies, but I do love some comedy/dramedy stuff. Favourite 2010 movie so far: "Toy Story 3".

I love the Internet. I have an account on almost every website around. I have a YouTube (http://www.youtube.com/kboxMANIA), a Twitter (http://twitter.com/JoesintheVan), Dailybooth (http://dailybooth.com/JovialMen) and a 12seconds (http://12seconds.tv/JoevanLim).

I love YouTube. I love making videos on YouTube equally as much as watching others' work on YouTube. My favourite YouTubers include Charles Trippy & Alli Speed, Philip DeFranco, iJustine, Shane Dawson, MysteryGuitarMan and Ray William Johnson.

I have a wild imagination. I have an alter-ego who lives in my head. His name is Wolfgang Cyrus Pang. He'll be posting some stuff on the blog too ('cause he knows my email and I gave him my password).

I guess that was somewhat a rough idea of who I am. So continue on and enjoy the rest of my blog!