ANOTHER singing show?

When I first heard that there was yet going to be ANOTHER singing talent show on NBC called The Voice, I cringed.

We already have American Idol, America’s Got Talent (technically not a singing show, but there are way too many singers on that show), and coming this fall, the much anticipated X-Factor. So why would we need another singing talent show to find America’s next big star?

I began watching The Voice to figure out what makes it different from all the other shows, and surprisingly, there were a lot of differences. For one, the auditions are “blind”, and by that the coaches (the only judges for this show are American votes) are sitting with their backs towards the stage, only listening to the voice they hear. After the blind audition, there are the battle rounds where the coaches pick two or three of their contestants to battle each other for a spot on the voting rounds, which is when American gets to vote.

Shocking enough, I am impressed with this show. Yes, the producers took a singing contest show but twisted it around enough so it would still sell to audiences (political economy anyone?), but they did it so it would stand out from the other shows.

Singing contest shows sells. We are currently in the era where we would rather watch talent be born on TV than sitcoms. Who knows what the next era on television will be.

And when it rains, it POURS

After attending FEST this past Friday, I figured I needed a very relaxing Saturday night. And luckily for me, there were many sappy, romantic movies on TV for free.

My roommate and I popped on the couch with some popcorn and began watching our first movie, “The Notebook”, followed by our second movie, “Failure to Launch.” After watching both movies, I realized there was a theme to both movies during the “sad” parts: there was rain.

This made me begin to ponder about other symbolic movie tricks that directors use to exaggerate a certain point in movies. When there is a fight, sadness, or when someone dies, directors use rain. When there is a happy scene, there is normally sunshine. And if there is going to be a disaster or tragedy, normally there is a terrible storm or fight.

I began to question why directors use these symbols during these particular scenes, and it made me realize that if they used sunshine during sad scenes, or storms during happy scenes, it would confuse the audience members because we are programmed into knowing that when it is raining during a movie, people are sad. We will get so confused if there is sunshine during this part that we will get distracted from the plot and get sidetracked from the actual movie itself.

So maybe it is a good thing that almost every sappy movie has a kiss in the rain after a heart-wrenching fight. All of us girls (and admit, guys) are expecting it. And if there isn’t one, it just leaves us confused in our own thoughts, sitting there with our popcorn.

Hangover 2: New story or same old plot line?

I will openly admit: probably one of my favorite movies of all time was the Hangover. Classic comedy that, even after watching it 20 times, never gets old. So you can bet that when I found out they were making a Hangover 2, I was beyond excited like a little kid in the candy story.

But then I saw it.

The trailer that is.

Sadly, it looks awfully familiar to the first one. Similar story plot: friend’s getting married, groom and friends decide to drink, wake up lost the next morning (notice, it is the same 3 guys who got lost the first time around too), one friend is missing, and then the search for that friend begins with the help of a Mr. Cho. Needless to say there are some definite differences, such as instead of finding a baby, they find a monkey, and they are in a different country.

But why is it that producers/directors decide to make another sequel to an already awesome movie? Maybe it is because the first one was such a hit, they decided to make another one. Or maybe it is because they knew it would make profits again, and why not remake something that already made a ton of money?

Normally, sequels end in disaster. I am hoping for the reputation of the first one that this one is at least comparable. Either way I am for sure still seeing this movie, despite all the very weird similarities. I will be keeping my fingers crossed when I eat my popcorn and pray that the director/producers throw in many different twists that keep me on my toes.

And I hope I get a good laugh too.

Story of the hour: hummus

Today, I was in the Student Center, minding my own business when all of a sudden, I was faced with controversy. No, it wasn’t about Presidential candidates for next year’s election, or even the current SGA election being held. It involved hummus.

Later on, I soon realized that not only students and staff members at DePaul were affected by this, but also the entire Chicago community. How? Well, apparently the Chicago news decided they have nothing better to report except for this controversy of whether or not the hummus brand DePaul provides is ethical. I, for one, do not know too much about the issue on why this controversy is occurring, but I will say this:

Shouldn’t the news be focusing on more important issues that are occurring in the Chicago-land? Shouldn’t us Chicagoans be focused on the gang-related activity that is happening in our neighborhoods, or the missing 6-year old from the suburb of Aurora? I am sad to see where the news is focusing on. Instead of stating important news, they report on, essentially, hummus.

I firmly believe that there does need to be a balance of soft and hard news, but honestly, who cares about what type of hummus DePaul sells in the cafeteria besides DePaul staff members and students? I personally think this is silly. I rather watch the news to learn about different bills being passed in the state or of any shootings that can endanger my own life. But hummus?

Let’s just hope next week the news doesn’t start reporting on how these SGA elections went. I honestly then do not know what the media news has come to if that was the case. -Alex Higgins

Gaga for GaGa?

To be completely honest, I am kind of getting sick of Lady GaGa. I mean, at first when she came out I was totally obsessed with her, but now I feel like she is just repeating the same stuff she always has done.

Let’s face it: she definitely transformed herself from being just an average singer to a mega celebrity where everyone knows her name. And I will give her credit for standing up for the Gay/Lesbian community. I think she really uses her form of celebrity for good, which most celebs don’t, and she really took a stance on something that she is passionate about. I personally really admire her for her dedication to this community and being vocal/public about her opinions, something many people are afraid to do.

But seriously. Basically her song “Born This Way” has the same background music of a Madonna song, she constantly changes outfits during awards shows, and she shows up in outrageous outfits. I admire her for the creativity, but after you have done something once, maybe its time to try something different. From now on, I am not surprised with anything that Lady GaGa does, because honestly, she is probably one of the most creative people ever.

I guess it’s safe to say that I am raising the bar for GaGa. Come up with new songs/background music and entrances to awards show. Maybe then I won’t be getting so sick of her and begin to admire her more like I did at the very beginning of her rise to fame.

Are you in good hands?

Every time I see an All State Mayhem commercial, I always find myself in a better mood. I don’t know what it is, maybe it is because every one seems to be getting better. And unlike the State Farm commercials, these keep everyone laughing for a long time.

Being a marketing major, I find these sets of advertisements to be the most effective. I think it maybe partially because there is a constant character, Mayhem, in every commercial doing a variety of things that can be done in real life, and that I can totally see myself or one of my friends doing. It seems like the advertisers who created these sets of commercials understand that having one main character throughout a series of different commercial campaigns is the most effective.

Each commercial uses different aspects to reach its target market, such as gender, to get the viewer to switch to All State. In this particular commercial, All State is targeting teenager girls (and possibly their families) to switch to All State to avoid a car accident while texting, even though I am pretty sure it is illegal.

Whether it is funny or relatable, one thing is for sure: All State’s Mayhem commercial campaign is quite possibly one of the most recognizable set of commercials, and anyone who watches them enjoys it.

Is He Just Not That Into You?

Over this past weekend, some of my friends and I decided to have a girls night. You know, eat ice cream, paint nails, and watch a chick flick. Well, the movie we decided to watch (one of my favorites) was “He’s Just Not That Into You”, which made me question how being female affects one’s dating life.

I guess I was brought up that the guy always makes the first move: if he likes you, he calls you, asks you out on a date, or simply pays you some attention. But why, I always wondered, was it frowned upon for the girl to make the first move? Like, what if the guy was shy, or nervous to ask you about because he felt you were so much better than him? Isn’t that being slightly sexist?

I’m not going to lie, I like it when the guy makes the first move, but why is it frowned upon if the girl does it? Does it really mean he isn’t into you? Or do we still live in a slightly old fashioned society where a man needs to treat a woman ultra special? I am not complaining about this, but I don’t think a woman should be scolded if she makes the first move.

As far as the rest of the movie goes, it is pretty accurate how girls make up excuses for guys if they don’t call you back, but I was happy to see that they also added the male version of this so it wasn’t totally sexist.

I guess when you are into someone, you want them to pay you attention, no matter.

My lovely lady humps

I recently stumbled across an article about women’s body type and what makes a woman beautiful. The publisher interviewed Emma Roberts as to why she thinks she is beautiful/what makes a woman beautiful. Roberts admitted that she is on the skinny side, and isn’t voluptuous as many other celebrities (aka Kim Kardashian), but is still beautiful despite her lack of female lumps.

This made me start to question: when did voluptous women start to become the symbol of beauty? I remember when every girl wanted to be anorexic skinny like Lindsay Lohan, and having some lady humps was considered beautiful.

I for one am not complaining. I believe I was born with my humps, and I plan on flaunting them as much as I please (I, however, do believe in having a tasteful, classy image to what I wear and try to avoid low-cut tops as much as possible). I am pleased to have read that many younger stars, such as Roberts, are looking at more voluptous women in a more healthy light. But who has the right to call someone else ugly, fat, skinny, or pretty?

No one, except the individual themselves. As the media may portray beautiful women to be a certain way, I honestly believe the personality of one can make up for whether the person is attractive or not. I am hoping that since the media has found more humpy women to be attractive, that personalities will become the deciding factor on whether someone is drop dead gorgeous or not.

Until then, I guess we will continue to live in a somewhat judgmental, shallow world. But I firmly believe that the media shouldn’t portray a women’s beauty slowly on the size of her hips, or whether she is an A or DD bra cup, but rather how the person is making a difference in the world.

And by that definition, Kim Kardashian should not be considered as one of the role model to many young females, but I’ll save that for another day.

-Alex Higgins

Spears Can Hit Way More Than One More Time

OK, so I hate publicly admitting this, but I LOVE Britney Spears. I am obsessed with her music, especially her latest album. I think she is pure, musical genius. Her music can be inspirational and empowering to get up and dance (something I enjoy). As far as her personal life, well, lets just say that she has come a long way, and as far as I am concerned, she is a role model to many people for how she handled her meltdown.

Let me start with I looked up to her when I was in 2nd grade, which was about 12 years ago. That was when “Hit Me Baby One More Time” was what all us little elementary school kids were jamming out to, and all the boys of course, had crushes on her.

Now, lets fast forward roughly 8 years later. B Spears (as I refer to her) now has 2 adorable kids, and also 2 divorces. She also decides to shave her head and literally falls apart for the entire world to see, courtesy of the media. Now, I love my celebrity gossip magazines and E! News, but during B Spears’ mental breakdown, I couldn’t help to think “Didn’t think the media ever once think to leave her alone?” I know I would want my privacy if I was having personal issues, but it seemed like the media didn’t care.

Despite the unwanted media attention, B Spears’ pop stepped in and helped her get her life on track. Before her current album, she had another major record and a sold out tour. I am sure this album will be even bigger than the last one. And I, for one, will allow B Spears to hit me more than one more time.