Episode 14: Song Review: "Green Light" by: Lorde

Wow, here is a artist I did not expect to talk about in 2017.

Now in 2017, we have young female artists that try to stand out but end up being compared to someone else. Some were passible like Alessia Cara, while others were not so passible like Daya. And now we have a surprising return of the original: Lorde.

For those who don't know, Lorde came around in 2013, a year where pop music wasn't doing very well. Actually songs in general wasn't doing very well with rap, and especially country with standard, cliché, and outright boring material. Then in the middle of the year, Lorde became popular with her breakout song "Royals" a song where she bashes mainstream, especially rap for every song being the same luxury song over and over that somehow gets popular. Something that hasn't stopped to this day. It became so big of a hit, that it reached Number one on the Hot 100 for multiple weeks. Lorde was on top of the world as we didn't have someone like her that often, especially by someone as young as she was.

And then, after another hit in 2014 with "Team" Lorde suddenly fell off the face of the earth. we didn't hear much of her outside of a "Hunger Games" song and a collaboration song with "Disclosure" on "Magnets" in 2015 and neither of them being hits. Then in 2015 and 2016, we had wanna-be's come in to replace her. But none of them could match up to the original.

Now cut to 2017 where she makes her big comeback single for a upcoming long awaited second album. And it rocketed up to the top 20 on the Hot 100. And Lorde has gone to full on pop for the song. Does it work? Let's take a look.

The Production

Listening to the song, I say this new sound works out well. There is good play on the piano. the beat is well mix. I somehow don't have a problem with the child sounds in the chorus as that usually doesn't work for me *See Cheap Thrills for example*. And yet, Lorde made it work.

The Performer

For someone as young as Lorde, you will think that her voice will not be as strong as other artists are, but she has a great voice. She was great back in 2013, and she is great in her singing now. That's all I can say.

The Lyrics

The writing is about Lorde talking about a break-up from what I can guess is him cheating. While she knows that the relationship cannot be fixed and she will leave, she can't move on and let go. Now she is waiting for the chance to move on with her life and be her own person. It's quite a mature and human feeling. We don't get a lot of "real" music these days when it is usually about clubs, and money, and fame, and stealing other people's lovers. So while the sound is different the Lorde writing is still there and it is done great.

Potential Hit??

I would love to think that this song will become a huge hit as it went from 100 to 19 on the hot 100 in a week. There is one problem though. Recently, Drake has released his recent project "More Life" the same project that has "Fake Love" on it. Can't wait to talk about that song in December. Seeing how every time Drake released something, most of his songs hit the hot 100 the following week, the same thing might happen this week which could potentially hurt this song's chances. It's bad enough "Views" damaged songs from Beyoncé's "Lemonade" from being big hits but, can we not have it happen to this song, it is a great as we need people like Lorde on the music charts.

F**king Drake.

Conclusion

Of all the big comebacks that we had in recent years, this could be my favourite one to date. Good Production, Great Vocals, and Great Lyrics, make a Great Song.

Ranking: 9/10

Yeah, I rank it that high as it deserves it. Now I just pray that it manages to hit the top 10. If Drake makes this song flop, I will be very pissed off. Like I said, we need Lorde right now. I might even take a look at her debut album one day once we are close to the summer. For now, I'll keep rocking out to this song.

Thank you all for listening, I'll see you in the next episode.

Episode 13 Part 2: Reality TV Time: Ranking of Survivor Game-Changers Contestants

Let's continue....


Number Ten:

Michaela Bradshaw

Previous Season: Millennials vs Gen X: 14th

No one in the cast knows who Michaela was in her first season going into the game, so this can either help or hurt her. But Michaela has a shot at this. She is strong in challenges, and she can be quite loyal. She just got to cool down a bit on the strategy side of her as it did her in, the first time. If She can blend in the crowd and be with the right people, she could make it far. It would be a good thing as she is likable for the most part.

Number Nine:

Troy "Troyzan" Robertson

Previous Season: One World: 8th

It's about time he appeared again. I remember that he was close to being recasted twice with "Caramoan: Fans vs Favourites", and "Second Chances", but not being brought back. Now, Troyzan is finally back on his island and I'm curious on what he is gonna do this time around. Troy is known for being a big personality, and he can be quite competitive when he is down in numbers. He was one of the very few things I liked about "One World" and I'm glad that he finally gets his second chance. It is a big question on how he is gonna do though. He will either be great or a disaster. Time will tell.

Number Eight:

Cirie Fields

Previous Season(s): Panama *Exile Island*: 4th, Micronesia *Favs vs Favourites*: 3rd, Heroes vs, Villains: 17th

She sure doesn't know when to stop. I don't hate Cirie. She has shown to be a strategic powerhouse. She is quite likable *She did call herself a nice gangster with a smile after all* and has shown to have what it takes to win over and over again. And while she seems at the best shape that she ever has in her last three apperances, it might be too little, too late. She was blindsided early last time, because everyone knew she was too much of a threat to be kept around for too long. Not only is one of those people back, not only is one of the people that she betrayed in the past back, but they are both on the same tribe as her. How can she survive with that? I don't know and if she does, then give her the win.

Number Seven:

Zeke Smith

Previous Season: Millennials vs Gen X: 9th

Another person entering the game where no one knows him. I don't even think Michaela knows much of him, they were only together for a very short amount of time and I don't recall either of them saying anything about the other once last season. With that said, I do think Zeke has a better chance of making it far then Michaela does. He is smart, he strong in challenges while not enough to be a physical threat, he can be funny, not afraid to make moves, and he is someone that looks like a classic villain with the mustache, how can you not like that? He can be strong socially as he started from the bottom, and almost got to the top. I could see Zeke doing well, we'll see

Number Six:

Sarah Lacina

Previous Season: Cagayan: 11th

The good cop of Cagayan. I'm not gonna lie.....Sarah disappointed me in Cagayan. She had serious potential in the game. She was likable, and so smart that she quickly found the other cop quickly *we'll get to him*, but I feel like she didn't take control as I expected, and she shot herself in the foot at merge. She seemed to be at the middle of 2 alliances, and got cocky and got into drama with hurricane kass, which ended in game in one of the most memorable tribals ever. Sarah has a second chance, and I hope she makes the most of it.

Number Five:

James "J.T" Thomas Jr.

Previous Season(s): Tocantins: 1st, Heroes vs Villains: 10th

The first one to get a perfect game by getting no votes except for the final tribal council, where he got all of the jury's votes. And for good reason, as J.T was amazing. He balanced the strategy, Brawn, and Social games perfectly, while being a southern gentlemen. He earned those votes. And then.....came Heroes vs Villains where he pulled what many considered, the worst move in Survivor History by giving his hidden immunity idol to a villain and get blindsided by his own idol. So, I see why is decided to come back, so that he can redeem himself from making a move that was doomed from the start. Curious to see what happens.

Number Four:

Ciera Easton

Previous Season(s): Blood vs Water: 5th, Second Chances: 10th

Oh hello again Ciera. Didn't I just see you a few seasons ago where I just saw you a few seasons before that? Despite, I still like Ciera. I enjoyed her from the very beginning. She was funny, she was strategic, and not afraid to speak up....even if it did cost her in "Second Chances". She was something that would never give up and would do what she thought was for the best, while not being annoying about it. Sure she voted out her mom which we all know as Jeff Probst won't stop bringing it up, but there is more to her then that one scene and it was shown over and over again. Let's see if she will keep going this season. With that said....Probst, why do you keep bringing up that Ciera voted her mom out? Do you want her to lose?

Number Three:

Andrea Boehlke

Previous Season(s): Redemption Island: 5th, Caramoan *Fans vs Favourites*: 7th

One of my all time favourite players is back. I am defently happy as I thought Andrea would never play again, as she said in a interview after "Caramoan" that she was done. But here we are, she returns and is ready to show what she can do, without Phillip Shepard around. She might make it far, as there are other people that are more threatening then her at the start. And I hope she does, because I love seeing her play and I hope she doesn't disappoint.

Number Two:

Oh boy, I bet you thought this would be my number one.

Tony Vlachos

Pervious Season(s): Cagayan: 1st

Wouldn't be surprised if you did. I mean, Tony is one of the best well known winners ever. He found multiple idols, managed to flip flop between alliances and still make it to the end, and did all of that, while not having won immunity once. He was at risk of going home the entire merge and survived by doing stuff that most people would go home for trying to accomplish. If Sarah was the good cop, Tony is the bad cop. And he was amazing. Which can be a problem this season as everyone knows who Tony is, and while he was lucky enough to win the first time, it could be a problem this time. If he makes it to the end, give him the win because with the target he will have, he deserves it.

Number One:

Malcolm Freberg

Previous Season: Philippines: 4th, Caramoan *Fans vs Favourites*: 9th

Now, why would I have Malcolm at the top of this list and not someone ruled the game like Tony, or Andrea who I clamed to be one of my all time favourite players? Well let's look at his past two seasons. In "Philippines". Malcolm was someone everyone wanted to be with. He was good at challenges, great at camp, and kept a idol in his pocket and stayed around even when he revealed it to everyone. He was the someone that was made to win survivor and still made it to the final four where unfortunately, he couldn't pull off the final immunity win and was voted off.

In "Caramoan", He showed mostly, the same thing. He was likable, strong, idol-finding guy we all liked the first time. But this time, he showed a bit of his strategic side as well. Making deals with multiple people, making a army in the merge which could have worked if a ally kept her mouth shut, convincing someone who was gonna play a idol, to use it on him instead, and used two idols to create chaos and blindside the other sides leader.

Put these things together, we have someone that could win the game with ease. In those two seasons, Malcolm has shown the three aspects of Survivor that you need to win. Strategic, Social, and Physical. Strategic to not be stupid and make smart decisions, social where people like you, and physical to not be so weak that they will vote you off, and be strong enough to win near the end.

People like to compare Malcolm to Ozzy but that's because they have long hair. Malcolm can be arrogant as well, but at least he is self aware of it, unlike Ozzy. And is someone who could win the game if he makes it to the end. He has the tools, he just needs to use it.

I like seeing Malcolm play. It's cool seeing him grow as a player and it should be interesting to see how he does this season.

that's my ranking. Have fun, enjoy the show tonight. And I'll see you in the next episode.

Episode 13: Reality TV Time: Ranking of Survivor Game-Changers Contestants

This week on Wednesday, Survivor will premiere it's 34th season. This will feature 20 former players that has said to have tried to made game-changing moves in their seasons. Either if it worked for them, or it didn't, they would be eligible for this season.

I find it interesting that we are having a all-returnee season when we just recently got out of one with "Second Chances", but i'm not one of the people running the show behind or in front of the scenes, So I'll just talk about it.

What I plan to so is that, whenever there is a all-returnee season for a show, I will do a ranking on my thoughts on the contestants. It wouldn't matter if they should be on this season or not *Though it could effect them a bit*, it's my own opinion on them and what they were like on their previous seasons. This will work with #1 being the one I'm rooting for the most, and #20 being the one I'm rooting for the least.

One more thing, if you don't watch Survivor, then go watch the show NOW, as there will be spoilers ahead. .
.
.
.
.
.
.
.
.
.
.
.
.
.
.
.
.
.
.
.
.
.
.
.
.
.
.
.
.
.
.
.
.
.
.
.
.
.
.

With that said, let's begin the countdown.


Number Twenty:

Brad Culpepper

Previous Season(s): Blood Vs Water: 15th

I can kinda see why someone might see him as a "Game-Changer". He created the majority alliance at the time, and he tried to make a move against it, which ended up failing as the target Caleb Bankston ended up turning the tables on Brad at tribal, which ended with Culpepper being voted out instead. But as we couldn't get Caleb to be on this season *May he Rest in Peace*, they might as well go for the victim of the game changing move. Honestly, I put Brad at the bottom as honestly, there wasn't much else to him in Blood Vs Water outside of looking like the bad guy of the pre-merge, and not even a fun one. Even if we did get fun moments with people attacking him after he voted them out. Brad created a alliance and he shot himself in the foot, and while he tried to change his target to someone else *who we will get to* it was too late as he was caught and booted off, and I see him not doing well here either. His biggest obstacle, is himself and I'm not sure if he can outcome it. We'll see

Number Nineteen:

Oscar "Ozzy" Lusth

Previous Seasons: Cook Islands: 2nd, Micronesia *Fans Vs Favourites: 9th, South Pacific: 4th

*Sigh*, I'll just be honest, I don't like Ozzy. I'm sure he's a nice guy and he might have been cool in "Cook Islands" though I have yet to see it. But while "Micronesia" might have been a bit of a start of Ozzy's downward with a bit of arrogance, "South Pacific" was a chore to watch him go through the season. I will give credit, that he one of the best players physically, but his social game sucks, a lot. If it didn't, he wouldn't have been blindsided with an idol in "Micronesia". I thought he went on "South Pacific" to improve on his social game. How does getting voted out three times in one season alone, make your social game an improvement? Espically, when you up the arrogance, and spend time bullying people like "Cochran" or laying on a hammock with another idol. And honestly, watching him leave with a up and applause from the jury with sickening to me, if anything it made his ego even bigger. I don't see Ozzy winning this season, at all.

Number Eighteen:

Sandra Diaz-Twine

Previous Season(s): Pearl Islands: 1st, Heroes vs Villains: 1st

Time for a serious question, while I get that Sandra is a game-changer, being a two-time winner and all, but why would she agree to sign up for this? She would be lucky if she wasn't one of the first four people voted off. She won twice, why would anyone take her to the end? Plus, she was never good at challenges, in fact she might be one of the worst ever in challenges. And with a cast like this where most of them are strong physically, it will be tough for her to survive the beginning espically if she is always on the losing tribe. Honestly, I never thought she was that great of a player the first two seasons either. "Pearl Islands, where I think she was lucky to be in the final 2 with possibly, one of the biggest goats in Reality TV history, as she could have lost against anyone else, even against "Fairplay". And personally, I would have voted Parvati in "Heroes vs Villains" to win, but that's just me. If she can make it past the first half of the game, she might have a shot and if she makes the finals again, then the other players doesn't deserve to be called "All-Stars". But, I think she has the biggest obstacle and I'm not sure if she will do well, and honestly, I'm ok with that.

Number Seventeen:

Caleb Reynolds
Previous Seasons: Kaoh Rong: 15th

Time for another serious question, What did Caleb do that was game changing? Yes, I know that his evacuation in "Kaoh Rong" was tragic, but that wasn't something that changed the game. If you wanted someone that almost died and was game changing, then you could have picked Russell Swan from "Samoa" as his evacuation was tragic and it effected the game for his tribemates, for better or for worse. But here is Caleb and really, the reason he is this low is because I saw him on "Big Brother" and I was not a fan of him in that game. Him being on Survivor didn't make things better as he wasn't around long enough to change my opinion on him. Now he has a second chance *A format that would work better for him to be honest* and let's see how he uses it.


Number Sixteen:

Sierra Dawn Thomas

Previous Season: Worlds Apart: 5th

On the topic of people where it's questionable if they were "Game-Changers", we have someone that was said to have played a quiet game-changing game. Even that is questionable. She is game-changing because she was loyal to people that were targeting her at the start of the game? I fail to see how that is game-changing. And honestly, I just find her bland and not interesting. Not much to say as she didn't leave much of a impact on me in "Worlds Apart".

Interesting Fact: Originally, they were gonna have "San Juan Del Sur" Sole Survivor, Natalie Anderson to be in this season but dropped out last minute and Sierra took her place. I'm not the biggest Natalie Anderson fan, but I found her more interesting to watch then Sierra. I don't hate her, I just found her forgettable.

Number Fifteen:

Aubry Bracco

Previous Season: Kaoh Rong: 2nd

and

Number Fourteen

Debbie Wanner

Previous Season: Kaoh Rong: 9th

I put them together as they were from the same season, same brains tribe, both were involved in the same blindside and both I'm mixed on.

Let's start with Aubry, I admit, I really wanted to like her in "Kaoh Rong", she seemed nice, would have a good story in the game as starting from the bottom to the top, and someone that could rule the game strategically. Is it bad to say, I think she is overrated? I'll explain. The one move I will give credit for, is on convincing Tai to betray his alliance and join her, so that she will not get voted out. That I will get credit for. Outside of that, there was moments that made me scratch my head. I remember when after Julia joined the other alliance for the reward challenge, and Aubry thought she was a traitor. She was joining a team for a reward challenge, and someone from your side had to go there. You didn't know for sure that she was joining their side officially. Then she got obsessed on getting Julia out for it, and I never got why her, instead of someone from the other alliance. Then she betrays her ally Debbie for really, no good reason.

In fact, let's talk about Debbie. The one that was considered the female version of "Coach". originally, I couldn't stand her. I just found her really annoying the first few episodes as she was always having too much energy, and came off as that annoying cheerleader. So I was upset when she blindsided Liz at that tribal, especially when it should have been Peter. But that's another story. Eventually, once she cooled down a bit and started to be more of a player instead of a character, she started to grow on me a bit. But of course when that started happening, she gets blindsided as apparently her loyalty was questioned by Aubry which ended up being another bad call. Honestly, I would have been loyal to Debbie as she seemed trustworthy, even if she was weird.

I don't know how these two will perform, but I'm not expecting much.

Number Thirteen:

Jeff Varner

Previous Season: The Austrian Outback: 10th, Second Chances: 17th

The guy that gave up the game for peanut butter and got voted out in a tie-breaker that demolished his tribe. That alone is enough to put him on this season. I saw a bit of his scenes in "The Austrian Outback" and from what I got, he was quite funny. In "Second Chances" he kinda went out there  on the move making. At least he did start the trend of the "Voting Blocks" that season even if he wasn't there very long after a foot injury. At least he did something. How will he do this season? Well, clearly he worked  on being more healthy after "Second Chances", but its a question mark on how he will do with his mind. Time will tell. He will be great, or a disaster.

Number Twelve:

oh, I'm not making any friends for this pick

Tai Trang

Previous Season: Kaoh Rong: 3rd

I do have reasons for putting Fan Favourite Tai, this low on the list. I'll say that, I really wanted to like this guy. He was nice, fun, and has a funny moment once in a while. With that said, once the merge came, it was hard to see him play. When watching him play in the merge, I saw him playing a game that I really don't like seeing people play. It was the playing by emotions card. The one where you play the game and make choices based on how you feel, instead of picking the smart route. I'm talking about the imfamous moment where he betrays his alliance *And his only shot of a easy win*, after being easaily convinced by Aubry of leaving the bad guys and being with good people. I get that you want to put a bit of heart in your gameplay, but you need a balance. You also want to think with your head, and think of the smartest choice that can get you the win and he blew it when he blindsided and humiliated a ally, for no good reason. I don't know how Tai will do this season, I wouldn't trust him after what he did last time. I want Tai to do well, but I'm not sure if he can.

Number Eleven:  

Hali Ford

Previous Season: Worlds Apart: 11th

Before I say anything, I want to say that, I like Hali. She was part of my favourite alliance of "Worlds Apart. The No-Collar Trio of her, Jenn, and Joe. They were fun to watch, and you can tell they were trying to play the game and were in charge at the start. With that said, she misses the top 10, because I'm not sure what she qualifies her as a game-changer. That was because, they didn't show enough of Hali. They put the focus on Mike, Joe, Jenn, Shirin, Rodney, Dan, Carolyn, or Will, but usually not Hali. Which is a shame because when she does appear, she is fun to watch and I hope she does well here.

That is it for now. Tomorrow, we will begin the top 10 of the contestants.

Episode 12: Song Review: Shape of You By: Ed Sheeran

Well, it has been a while since I did a song review, hasn't it? And since I last did one, a lot has happened. The presidency was official, Internet was losing their sh*t about The Oscars *I was glad Emma Stone won Best Actress* and things were quite busy as well in music charts. "Closer" breaks the record for most amount of times in the top 5. more songs getting success due to memes and viral rhymes, and a artist made history on having 2 debuts in the top 10 in the exact same week. What's surprising is that it wasn't Justin Bieber, Taylor Swift, Adele, Rihanna, or even Drake that accomplished this, it was....Ed Sheeran.

Now before you start complaining at me, I will say that I don't hate Ed Sheeran, I actually like a good chunk of his songs. Even when at the time where he was known for his "White-Guy-With-Acoustic-Guitar" days. Songs like "Lego House" and "The A-Team" from his debut album "+" still hold up after re-listening to them recently. And then came his album "X" where he got more success now getting songs making the top 10 or in the case of "Thinking out Loud" at number 2. If I made a best hit songs list for 2014, then "Don't" might have a shot of making the top of the list. I like the song that much. After success in 2014 and 2015, Ed takes a year off in 2016 where we heard nothing from him at all. Then we got people like Shawn Mendes who tried to be like Ed Sheeran, but with mixed results.

But then at the start of this year, there has been buzz of Ed return and making his third album called "÷", continuing his trend of naming his albums with Math symbols. so much buzz, that this song "Shape of you" debuted at number one on the hot 100. Originally this was gonna be a double review with this and his other top 10 debut "Castle on the Hill", but it quickly went down that hill. It's a shame because it is a really good song, but I guess it was too real and unshallow for the viewers. So we just have this song that is still number one to this day. Let's dive into it starting with...


The Production:


Continuing the trend of tropical-like-music that was popular in 2016 while having pop music involved, I will say it is still well done. It is not quiet, while not being so over the top that it ends up being annoying. I'm not gonna complain about the four cords as I have come to accept that it will be in almost a lot of pop songs each year from now on. I do like the production overall, but you can still have a bad song with it as shown last year, so let's continue on with.....


The Performer:

I believe that Ed Sheeran has found the balance with his vocal range in his songs. He is a decent singer, but he has a limit on how hard he can go. Evidence shown in "Thinking Out Loud" that it doesn't always work where he try's to sound rock hard with his vocals, but he takes a more subtle approach in this song and it smoothly works. In the verses, he sounds calm and ready and saves the high pitching for the chorus, it's a nice balance.


The Lyrics

The one thing Ed usually excels at, is the writing. He can be a good story-teller and his writing can be on point and smart. Here he talks about how he met a girl at a bar and starts dancing with her, which them blooms into a relationship while talking about he loves her body and how she works. Ed says that originally he wrote this song for Rihanna which shows in the talks about clubs, bars, and loving with people for their bodies. Which he says in the chorus a few times. It still works as he also talks about how the relationship goes with going on a date after a week and talking about their families. There is still some weird or off lines like how he says that his bedsheets smell like her and seems to take some pleasure from it. A little too much information there buddy. And then, there was the "Come on be my baby" part which is said for a breakdown almost like Meghan Trainor's "No" where there she was saying that she was untouchable. Ugh. It's not great but I'll take begging over unconvincing arrogance.

Final Conclusion:

I'll admit that "Castle on the Hill" is the better song of the two. It has better production and more interesting writing about childhood friends and not having seen them for so long and excited to see them again. With that said, "Shape of You" is still a good song. It has the vocal performance and writing that goes well with the tropical house beat. It's also a better Rihanna song then anything Rihanna does recently. Weird that it always happens.


Ranking: 8/10

If anything, this should be a strong lead into his ÷ album. If this is a sign, then Ed Sheeran should be a strong year even with competition against Katy Perry, The Weeknd, and Taylor Swift around. And, I'm cool with that. Good job dude.

Thanks for listening. I'll see you all in the next episode where I take a look at the cast of Survivor: Game Changers. Take Care.