The Useless Critic 2.0

Yes, I have become the person that is promoting Christmas Carols in the Springtime, and although, there is no chance of Jack Frost nipping at your nose, I have the chance to promote one of my favorite singers yet again. I could not wait until November to write this. And of course there is " Davis Gaines Ol Man River on The Useless Critic ." I really became a fan of Davis Gaines during my 2009 fascination with Broadway music. This video has been on the internet for a few months, but I had only recently discovered it. This is a studio recording, and I will admit that I much rather prefer to listen to Davis Gaines when he is live on stage, but this is still fun. His studio voice and his live voice are quite different. To be honest this sounds nothing like him, but it has a lot of his qualities. QATFYG: Who has the best studio voice?

So I was slightly drunk, with my best friend, at a haunted house a few weekends ago. You know, one of those fake ones they put together where you go to not be so much scared as harassed? Yes, the Conneaut Lake one in fact. something something levels of fear/hell something. I've never been to one before. They do a really nice job! It was fun. a lot of random people touching me and chainsaws breezing against my body. you know I loved that. well, because of my intoxicated state, every time some person dressed up a ghoul or serial killer would jump out in front of me and be like BOOLA BOOLA BOOLA, I could think of one of two reactions: a.) WHERE THE FUCK DID YOU PUT KE$HA b.) CHRISTINA RICCI IS ON BROADWAY THIS WEEKEND! (I read this headline in the morning and for some reason, it just stayed with me). Well I have done a lot of pondering on this issue, head-on-knuckles type. And I came to the conclusion: I LOVE CHRISTINA, I ALWAYS HAVE! especially this time of year- give my girl props f...

So lately, I caught a Marvin Hamlisch interview, and I was shocked at how good it was. I didn't even know his name, but I knew his music........... Creating the Music for "A Chorus Line," or doing piano work for Babara Striesand in "Funny Girl," which I am so watching this weekend. That's just the frickin start of his life. As well as a bazillion other songs that are commonly heard in movies, theatre, and on the tv. This guy just had such a fascinating life. He's won 12 Oscars, and is one of only two people to win 3 Oscars in a single evening. Also he is in the EGOT club. (For people who have won the Emmy Grammy Oscar and Tony). It's crazy how talented he is. He even went to the Juiliard Pre College program at the age of 7. This is part of the interview, and I find it so inspirational to hear the stories from people who are just accomplished, but not total douchebags..... There are more interviews from him online, and I'd like to find the rest of...

Just writing an updawebdate on one of my favorite singers. Davis Gaines has a relatively new video out on the internet now, of him singing the famous “Ol’ Man River” from the musical “Show Boat.” Davis is one of my favorite vocalists and for his Showy genre he has an interesting voice, and an interesting vocal technique. He is most famous for performing the title character in “The Phantom of the Opera,” which he performed over 2,000 times on Broadway and performing different roles in “Sweeney Todd,” which is available on the internet and on DVD. I used to describe him as Josh Groban, but with a more mature voice. But I will confess that he is not as flawless as Groban. Some of his low notes are a little to garglely…not a word, but that’s how I describe it. However, if you're still comparing him to Groban, he has more Clarity when he belts loud notes. And I know it's called tonality in music. But I call it clarity for him because well, the notes sound so clear. When I first hear...