44 to 24: the top 24 revealed!

ALLRIGHT it's that time of the year again where i boost my ego by boldly predicting the frunt-runners to watch out for last yr's idol, and true to my predictions, after hearing just 10sec of Glambert's cover of "Believe", he went on to become the hottest thing on Idol last yr!
but this season there's no such impressive instants yet. but here's a few potentials to watch:

Lily Scott - the girl with silver hair and oversized earrings who covered Fitzgerald
Crystal Bowersox - the tattoo-mum with a kid's photo as lucky charm. "Natural Woman"
Tyler Grady - 70s rocker. very Morrison. very cool.
Andrew Garcia - tattoo-on-neck dude with a decent voice and a very punk-wife tt resembles a certain ANTM contestant.

AVATAR and HURT LOCKER lead with 9 nominations each

Best Picture
Avatar
The Blind Side
District 9
An Education
The Hurt Locker
Inglourious Basterds
Precious
A Serious Man
Up
Up in the Air


Best Actor
Jeff Bridges, Crazy Heart
George Clooney, Up in the Air
Colin Firth, A Single Man
Morgan Freeman, Invictus
Jeremy Renner, The Hurt Locker


Best Actress
Sandra Bullock, The Blind Side
Helen Mirren, The Last Station
Carey Mulligan, An Education
Gabourey Sidibe, Precious
Meryl Streep, Julie & Julia

Best Supporting Actor
Matt Damon, Invictus
Woody Harrelson, The Messenger
Christopher Plummer, The Last Station
Stanley Tucci, The Lovely Bones
Christoph Waltz, Inglourious Basterds


Best Supporting Actress
Penélope Cruz, Nine
Vera Farmiga, Up in the Air
Maggie Gyllenhaal, Crazy Heart
Anna Kendrick, Up in the Air
Mo’Nique, Precious


Best Director
Kathryn Bigelow, The Hurt Locker
James Cameron, Avatar
Lee Daniels, Precious
Jason Reitman, Up in the Air
Quentin Tarantino, Inglourious Basterds

Best Original Screenplay
Mark Boal, The Hurt Locker
Alessandro Camon & Oren Moverman, The Messenger
Joel Coen & Ethan Coen, A Serious Man
Pete Docter, Bob Peterson & Tom McCarthy, Up
Quentin Tarantino, Inglourious Basterds


Best Adapted Screenplay
Jesse Armstrong, Simon Blackwell, Armando Iannucci & Tony Roche, In the Loop
Neill Blomkamp & Terri Tatchell, District 9
Geoffrey Fletcher, Precious
Nick Hornby, An Education
Jason Reitman & Sheldon Turner, Up in the Air

Best Animated Film
Coraline
Fantastic Mr. Fox
The Princess and the Frog
The Secret of Kells
Up

Best Foreign Language Film
El Secreto do Sus Ojos (Argentina)
Un Prophete (France)
The White Ribbon (Germany)
Ajami (Israel)
The Milk of Sorrow (Peru)


Best Art Direction
Avatar
The Imaginarium of Doctor Parnassus
Nine
Sherlock Holmes
The Young Victoria

Best Cinematography
Avatar
Harry Potter and the Half-Blood Prince
The Hurt Locker
Inglourious Basterds
The White Ribbon

Best Costume Design
Bright Star
Coco Before Chanel
The Imaginarium of Doctor Parnassus
Nine
The Young Victoria

Best Documentary
Burma VJ
The Cove
Food, Inc.
The Most Dangerous Man in America: Daniel Ellsberg and the Pentagon Papers
Which Way Home

Best Editing
Avatar
District 9
The Hurt Locker
Inglourious Basterds
Precious

Best Makeup
Il Divo
Star Trek
The Young Victoria

Best Score
Avatar
Fantastic Mr. Fox
The Hurt Locker
Sherlock Holmes
Up

Best Song
“Almost There,” The Princess and the Frog, Randy Newman
“Down in New Orleans,” The Princess and the Frog, Randy Newman
“Loin de Paname,” Paris 36, Reinhardt Wagner & Frank Thomas
“Take It All,” Nine, Maury Weston
“The Weary Kind,” Crazy Heart, T-Bone Burnett & Ryan Bingham

Best Sound Editing
Avatar
The Hurt Locker
Inglourious Basterds
Star Trek
Up

Best Sound Mixing
Avatar
The Hurt Locker
Inglourious Basterds
Star Trek
Transformers: Revenge of the Fallen

Best Visual Effects
Avatar
District 9
Star Trek

Best Documentary Short
China’s Unnatural Disaster: The Tears of Sichuan Province
The Last Campaign of Governor Booth Gardner
The Last Truck: Closing of a GM Plant
Music by Prudence
Rabbit à la Berlin

Best Animated Short
French Roast
Granny O’Grimm’s Sleeping Beauty
The Lady and the Reaper (La Dama y la Muerte)
Logorama
A Matter of Loaf and Death

Best Live-Action Short
The Door
Instead of Abracadabra
Kavi
Miracle Fish
The New Tenants

蓝奕邦 – [邦]

蓝奕邦 – [邦]
发行：东亚唱片

蓝奕邦不是天籁之音，但像他一样的歌手更稀少，可欲不可求。

05年的[无非想快了]一鸣惊人，让我在07年初次听那张专辑时开始对他注意。被专辑名称所吸引，想知道他到底是谁，会对“快乐”与“不快乐”又有什么看法。那可说是我花最多时间在歌词本的专辑之一，因为它记载着奕邦生活的笔记，和歌背后的故事与泉源。潦草的笔记虽然让我看得头大，但也看得投入。

每听一张蓝奕邦的专辑都是一次的experience，一种“体验”。老黄瓜说过： “实体专辑的可贵，除了音质更加以外，歌词册是关键。” 你不单是在听歌解闷，而是在了解一个人：他的经历，想法，生活方式，甚至是姓名的来源。由此把歌手与听者的距离拉近，把艺人那高不可攀的形象打掉，建立坦诚与真实的桥梁。

听[邦]有如与朋友聊了一夜后获得的安慰，十分comforting。

[邦]是蓝奕邦三部曲的完结篇，词曲全由奕邦一人包办。以姓名取为专辑名称，应该不难发现主题一定环绕在他身上。[邦]是累积两年酝酿出的生活写照与成长片段。曲目的编排有如平常天的次序：起身时必定先《赖床》，之后你会在工作上遇见《奇珍异兽》，而一切的不满与闷会让你想《逃学去英国》。你会想突破，而那必须从自己开始（《独行侠》）。接下来，唯一的路就是面对万难地《向前走》，因为《时候尚早》，要面对与跨越的还很多。

前四首的摇滚曲风逐渐转重。一切的烦燥在前四首重叠，直到《逃学去英国》最后一段副歌之前才得到释放。喜欢《逃学去英国》我行我素的霸气。歌者的发泄，听者也感受到，有共鸣，有如终于叹了一口气的爽。Bridge部分是高潮，词写着：“游荡 纵有不安 / 仍期待 去破天荒 / 到远方 谁人又可罚我留堂 / 而沿岸 有好风光/ 还是 满布肮脏 / 总好过闷局里发荒” 。接着的5首是抒情曲风的励志歌曲， 以反败为胜做主题。

我听专辑时，注重的除了概念与可听度，觉得让一张专辑更上一层楼的，就是cohesion （整体感）和 flow。[邦]做到了两点， 让我陷入歌者的生活，完全投入。这不简单，尤其当[邦]里的6首歌已在之前的两部曲发表过。

也是你会觉得他的歌太“芭乐”，主流了。但比起市场上一般非诚意，为讨销量而刻意“芭乐”的歌来说，他的歌是有意义，不造作的。

西洋乐坛有Elton John, Billy Joel, 两位以钢琴为主的流行音乐歌手，而香港男性代表有蓝奕邦。他们最大的武器是钢琴，整场演唱会可以几乎在钢琴面前演唱，考琴艺，更考魅力。有诚意，但更有感动。他们都是说故事的人，不仅是在让你听一把好嗓子发出来的音符，而是在对你调情，聊天。

这是一张当你陷入生活谷底时，能给你一份力量和推动力的专辑。他不会让问题凌空，但音乐就妙在能给于你暂时的逃避，而从中得到“向前走”的力量。好听的专辑其实不少，但能真正让我反复回播，很有信心的说在十年后也会一样喜欢，一样有影响的，却不多。蓝奕邦的自传是我们人生的反照，而他的诚意与感动，你也听得到。

哪根蔥说过：“为了不让这个会创作，会反思的歌手，莫名被我判下无期徒刑，下面两张绝对不会错过。” 希望你也会试听，会喜欢，但更希望这是一张会对你有启发的专辑。

歌词册里，蓝奕邦这么写着：

“我坚信，音乐，是用来说故事的。

而故事，是要用生活炼成。

我不“活”，如何“说”？

I have to live, so I can live to tell。”

希望你也能在歌里，找到属于你的故事。

推荐：逃学去英国，赖床，向前走，时候尚早，。 。 。