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The In-Studio Covers Round-Up – 2/6/12
I call this the In-Studio Covers Round-Up because I had one criteria as the unifying theme. If I saw a mic in the video, I classified it as in-studio and threw it in this batch. Simple enough right? Nevermind if it was actually used for the recording, or if it’s just a prop, or whatever else. A few new faces sprinkled with some Youtube cover artist veterans. 10 videos in total. Have fun!
Jessica HO Covers “Empire State of Mind” by Alicia Keys
JRA Covers “Doing It Wrong” by Drake
Sam Tsui Covers “Domino” by Jessie J
Emmalyn Estrada Covers “Love on Top” by Beyonce
Passport: Ailee Destroys the Competition on Korean Music Show
Oof. I’m sure you knew Ailee could sing but have you ever seen her do it on a national television program that was broadcast to millions? Because that’s exactly what happened on a South Korean TV segment called ‘Singer & Trainee’ where she teamed up with veteran R&B singer Wheesung – whom even he was out-sung by her to be quite frank. In fact, she quickly became one of the top searches in Korean search engines after the show aired. Think ‘Singer & Trainee’ as something vaguely similar to the premise of NBC’s The Voice. Anyway, I’m sure we’ll be hearing more from the girl! We were happy to know she was making moves over there, now we’re elated to hear and see it too.
Source: AKP
[edit] We’ve got another clip from the show, this time of Ailee singing Halo… and making it look too easy!
Passport: John Park (of American Idol Fame) Competes on Korea’s Superstar K
On the last season of American Idol, John Park stood out for his crooner voice and ability to nearly charm the pants off of Shania Twain. John made it to the live semi-finals where he quickly fell into the middle of the pack and was ultimately voted off due to his flat performances and poor song choices. Personally I thought he’d be just another singer who comes and goes from the public radar but it looks like he’s giving his singing career via reality TV another shot. Superstar K, which has a lot in common with The X Factor and American Idol, is a Korean singing competition now in it’s second season. It was a run away hit and John appeared during the audition show and is rumored to be in the final top 10. He decided to sing Alicia Key’s “If I Ain’t Got You” along with a cool rendition of the Wonder Girls’ “2 Different Tears“. Judging from his audition below, he still has some issues with stage presence and “star quality”, but as the female judges Lena Park & Tasha exclaim, he’s still got that charm. Tiger JK and Seo In Young are the other judges in this episode. Gotta love JK’s closing comment “You gotta show American Idol wassup man.”
*Note: mNet’s been taking these clips down from Youtube with a vengeance, so I tried a different host. I can’t promise the clip will be up forever.
D-Pryde Remixes “Fireworks” by Drake
The kid D-Pryde has got a new remix out, this time of Drake’s “Fireworks”. The original featured Alicia Keys but D substituted Tamra Davis instead. What really stands out this time around is the video. It’s a lot more robust than your typical Youtube remix video, featuring a lot of footage he’s compiled over the years. DL it for free.
Here is the long awaited “Fireworks” music video. Sorry I haven’t uploaded it in a long while, I was working on a lot of things since I got signed by a new label. But thanks to all of you who have patiently waited. It’s here! Tamra Davis is the feature on the song, so make sure you check her out and subscribe to her, PRETTY PLEASE?
Summer Breeze x Jayne Rio Release Cover of “Unthinkable” by Alicia Keys
Guitar pro Summer Breeze has teamed up with Jayne Rio for an awesome acoustic rendition of Alicia Keys’ “Unthinkable”. They keep the tone of the original intact and injected their own unique spin while stripping back the instrumentation to just the acoustic guitar. It ain’t easy to cover Alicia but Jayne killed it on the vocals and Summer’s guitar playing is on point (as always). And guess what, it’s a free DL so make sure to grab it!
Esna x Sam Hart x Summerbreeze Cover ‘Unthinkable’
In a quick, impromptu video in a bubble tea cafe, Esna Yoon, Sam Hart, and Summerbreeze do a quick little collab to cover Alicia Keys’ “Unthinkable”. This isn’t the most focused cover, nor is it meant to be completely serious. It’s really just a collection of three very talented artists jamming out to a soulful song. There are parts of it that sound great, and parts that are a tad sloppy but overall it’s a good way to kill a few minutes.
Paul Dateh x Ken Belcher x Jennifer Chung Sing ‘Dusting Off’ & More
Jennifer Chung joins Paul Dateh and Ken Belcher to sing their original song ‘Dusting Off’ and produce another fine collaboration. The song has a fun pop/country twist to I enjoyed seeing Jennifer Chung tackle a slightly different genre though her contributions weren’t in the forefront as much here. Paul & Ken make a solid team as always. I wonder if there is going to be a studio version of the track.
They also covered the Alicia Keys song “Doesn’t Mean Anything”. Here JC gets her chance to shine though there are a couple rough spots. I really enjoyed Paul & Ken’s arrangement.
Lyrics for ‘Dusting Off’ after the break.
Jae Jin Covers… Pretty Much Everything
Check out this interesting cover of a medley of 6 (yes, SIX) pop and R&B songs. The medley uses ‘Replay’ by IYAZ as the base (seems like no singer’s youtube account is complete without this one) and also incorporates ‘No One’ by Alicia Keys, ‘Love Like This’ by Natasha Bedingfield, ‘Apologize’ by One Republic, ‘Love in this Club’ by Usher, and ‘So Sick’ by Ne-Yo.
The singer is a guy named Jae Jin from Baltimore, MD. He doesn’t have a ton of material out online yet but I was pretty impressed with the way he fused all those different songs together accompanied by his friend on guitar. Given, there were a couple rough transitions here and there but it’s still a great watch/listen.
Clara Chung Covers Alicia Keys
I’ve only recently come across Clara Chung’s music but I gotta say I was fairly impressed with this medly cover of two of Alicia’s most recent hits, ‘Try Sleeping With a Broken Heart’, and ‘Empire State of Mind’. It’s not that Clara had any crazy runs or got all r&b diva on us, but rather she gave a somewhat subtle, understated vocal that I really appreciated. The girl’s got a soulful voice and I’m digging that.
However, I had some mixed opinions on her quirky one handed instrumental but it doesn’t negate the fact that this baby faced girl has a voice years beyond her appearance. And lastly, if you want this song for keeps, you she’s put it up as a free DL here.
Showdown: Jessica Sanchez vs Ashley Robles
For this edition of Showdown we got two r&b heavyweight divas ambitiously covering Alicia Keys and her contribution to Jay-Z’s ‘Empire State of Mind’. Some of you may know Jessica Sanchez as a young singer who has proven that she’s got a voice well beyond her age. In the other corner we have Ashley Robles, a veteran vocalist working to make a name for herself. So who came out on top in this showdown? You decide!
Jessica Sanchez
Ashley Robles
In my opinion, neither could quite compare with the exceptional Alica, but overall I think Ashley’s experience gave her a little more polish and control. While it’s clear Jessica has some pipes, her vocal felt a little too forced for me. Agree? Disagree? Tell us with your votes!
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