That Mariner Duck Guy!

Got Tix!

I forgot to mention that I got a ticket to Dierks' HT&H3 tour in Chicago!  I don't know what made me do it, but I went online and bought myself a ticket.  So, I'm going to fly out to Chicago for a day, go to the bar, watch Dierks, leve bar, go to O'Hare & fly home early the next morning.  Crazy, no?  I just didn't want to miss out on the concert.   

HT&H 3

Dierks has announced his High Times & Hangovers tour 3.   No west coast  cities. Boo!  No Southwest cities either.  The only show that I can possibly make is the Chicago show at Joe's bar on Feb. 1st.  I'm thinking about it!

The dates/venues  are:
2/1 - Chicago, IL - Joe's Bar
2/2 - South Bend, IN - Legends at Notre Dame (student show)
2/3 - Carbondale, IL - Copper Dragon
2/5 - Athens, GA - 40 Watt Club
2/6 - Auburn, AL - War Eagle Supper Club
2/7 - Albany, GA - State Theatre
2/8 - Milledgeville, GA - Capitol City
2/9 - Statesboro, GA - Legends

If you have a chance go & see Dierks.  He's an awesome performer and you are guaranteed to have a good time.

25 Most Played Songs of 2006

One nice feature with the Ipod is the "25 Most Played" feature.  I reset the counter at the beginning of the year and at the end of December I sort the songs by most played.  Usually, it's a surprise on what is my #1 Most Played song.  This year, I kind of figured it was goign to be Dierks Bentley, but I had no idea what song it would be.  In fact, up until yesterday, he held the #1 & #2 position.  However, since Madonna's concert aired the day before Thanksgiving, and with the release of "the Devil Wears Prada", I've been listening to Madonna's "Jump".  And  because of this exposure, the song has "jumped" into the Number 2 spot.  I must say that this is the most diverse Top 25 ever!  And this goes back to the days when I did my "Top 30" charts as a kid.

Here they are, my Top 25 Most Played songs in 2006!

1. Settle For A Slowdown - Dierks Bentley
2. Jump - Madonna
3. Every Mile a Memory - Dierks Bentley
4. Drinkin' Me Lonely - Chris Young
5. Jewel - Ayumi Hamasaki
6. Before He Cheats - Carrie Underwood
7. Momentum - Ayumi Hamasaki
8. Escena Final - Belanova
9. Walk In the Sky -   Bonobo featuring Bajka
10. Todos Me Miran - Gloria Trevi
11. Love Today - Mika
12. Ramalama (bang bang) - Roisin Murphy
13. Quién Me Iba A Decir - David Bisbal
14. Startin' - Ayumi Hamasaki
15. Ni Freud Ni Tu Mama - Belinda
16. The Mating Game - Bitter:Sweet
17. Fleur de saison - Emilie Simon
18. Violet Sauce - Namie Amuro
19. Save Room - John Legend
20. À L'infini Remix - Lisa Reagan
21. Sixteen - Los Super Elegantes
22. Needle On the Record - Naomi
23. Smack That - Akon Ft. Eminem
24. Me Pregunto - Belanova
25. Hood Boy - Fantasia featuring Big Boi

I found a lot of the accompanying videos, but not all of them.  On some songs (like Ramalama) I first heard the song on "So You Think You Can Dance" and  found the routine posted on YouTube. Here is the link to the videos...I believe there are 22 of the 25 songs.  3 are not the true video, but they do use the original song.

Here are the videos.  Enjoy.

David Bisbal

While vacationing in Cuernavaca, Mexico, I picked up David Bisbal's latest cd called "Premonicion". I had never heard of David and I bought the cd based on the cd jacket.  I know, but we had a cd player in the house we were renting and I wanted Latino music.  I just had an instinct.  I love the cd.  The cd also came with a bonus dvd and the video for his single "Quién me iba a decir" was included.  And I must say it's one of the sexiest videos of the year.  Must have something to do with David wrapped up in the ropes :)

Anyway, here it is:

57th Kouhaku Uta Gasssen

It's that time of year again.  The line-up for the 57th Kouhaku Uta Gassen has been announced.  What will Sachiko vs. Kenichi wear this year?

This is from j!-ent

White Team (Male)

Masafumi Akikawa
AquaTimez
Hiroshi Itsuki
w-inds.
ORANGE RANGE
Saburo Kitajima
Takeshi Kitayama
Gospellers
Kobukuro
Masashi Sada
SEAMO
Shikao Suga
Sukima Switch
SMAP
DJ OZMA
TOKIO
Hideaki Tokunaga
Ichiro Toba
Kiyoshi Hikawa
Akira Fuse
Takashi Hosokawa
Takao Horiuchi
Pornograffitti
Kiyoshi Maekawa
Kenichi Mikawa
Shinichi Mori
WaT


Red Team (Female)

aiko
Ayaka
Angela Aki
Sayuri Ishikawa
Miki Imai
Ai Otsuka
Miyuki Kawanaka
GAM & Morning Musume
Kaori Kozai
Kumi Koda
Natsuko Godai
Sachiko Kobayashi
Fuyumi Sakamoto
Yoshimi Tendo
Dreams Come True
Mika Nakashima
Yoko Nagayama
Rimi Natsukawa
Ayumi Hamasaki
Ayaka Hirahara
Ayako Fuji
BoA
Bonnie Pink
Kaori Mizumori
mihimaruGT
Masako Mori
Akiko Wada

Dame Shirley

Divalicious Dame Shirley Bassey is featured in Marks & Spencer's 2006 Holiday campaign.  She is singing P!nk's "Get The Party Started" Bassey style! The commerical also features Twiggy.  Fabulous.

M&S Commercial

Concerts

I didn't go to many concerts this year.  The three that I did attend were very special.

1. Kenny Chesney/Dierks Bentley/Big & Rich/Gretchen Wilson/Blaine Larson concert in June at Qwest Field was phenomenal.

2. The second concert that we attended was in Red Bluff, California.  We flew down to catch the Nashville Star tour.  Chris Young/Casey Rivers/Matt Mason/Nicole Jamrose.  Even though it was the Tehama District County Fair, we had a fun time and all four are very talented, especially winner Chris Young.  Chris was one of my favorite singers this year.

 

3.  On Friday, December 1st we went to the Everett Events Center to see Dierks Bentley/Miranda lambert/Randy Rogers Band.  I aslo won Meet & Greet tickets from the DB fan club.  The concert was awesome.  I didn't se emuch of randy Rogers since I had to leave for the M&G.  Miranda Lambert rocked.  And Dierks was too good to describe. He was spectacular and was gereatly appreciative of the crowd of 6000 or so.  He told us in the M&G that this was the biggest crowd so far on the tour.  The M&G was an experience.  Dierks was shorter than he looks in videos!  He is just the nicest guy.  Very humble and actually took the time to make each of us feel like we were his friend.  He asked if we've met before and I told him "No, I think I would have remembered meeting!'. He signed my shirt. He asked how to spell Layne but I told him "I don't want my name, just sign it "Dude".  That's your favorite word right?"  He laughed and said "yes, it is" so he signed my shirt "Dude!".  Too funny.  After signing, he told us all to stick around and then took the time to address us and answer any questions that we had. He didnt' seem like he was just doing this and he really seemed greatful that we are in his fan club.  He had more people waiting outside for the radio station winners Meet &Greet  but he didnt' rush us.  Incredible.  And he's an incredible performer.  If you get an opportunity, go check him out.  He's just a regular guy with a guitar who writes great songs and loves to sing!

Here's a link to a photo collage that I created.

Every Mile collage

Chris Young

Drinking'  Me Lonely goes to radio on Monday the 17th!  I'm still waiting for the Tehama Distric Fair to post their concert schedule.  Need those N-Star tickets to go on sale!

Anyhoo, Chris has some new photos up on the Nashville Star site. I can't wait for his cd.

Chris Young

Here is a picture of Chris Young at the academy of Country Music Awards.  Getty image.
I can't wait for hisfirst cd as the reigning Nashvile Star to be released.  If you have a chance go check out the Nashville Star concert tour.   

Eurovision

It seems like only yesterday when Ukraine's Ruslana walked away with the 2004 Eurovision crown for "Wild Dances"

Well, the 2005 competition was held last weekend in Kiev and the winner was from last year's host country - Greece.  Helena Paparizou won with the song  "My number one".  Looks like the 2006 competition will go back to Greece.   I listened to a couple of songs and I found last year's song selection was better than this year's choices.  For the record:

1. Helena Paparizou - Greece
2. Chiara - Malta
3. Luminita Anghel & Sistem - Romania
4. Shiri Maimon - Israel
5. Walters & Kazha - Latvia

2005 Eurovision