Cheryl Gate and Adele in Chicago

Cheryl Cole Sacked by X-Factor Producers

It was just announced tonight that Cheryl Cole was sacked from the US version of X-Factor although she has already done tapings in Los Angeles and Chicago as a judge. Rumor has it that Fox executives have said that people don't understand her and her chemistry with the panel especially Paula is not there. Fox has yet to release a statement but word has it that Fox says she was more expendable than Paula. Her now vacant seat will be filled by Nicole Scherzinger and Steve Jones will now be the only presenter.

I am seriously appalled and outraged that Cheryl will not be a judge on this upcoming season. She was the one judge I was excited about and wanted the rest of the states to embrace her. Now that does not look like it's the case and Cheryl is Royally pissed, which she has a right to be. X-factor UK is now reaching out to have her back on the show but due to this whole situation rumor has it that she does not want to be apart of the X factor franchise at all.

Personally I think Fox is making excuses and being hypocritical because if "Cheryl was hard to understand" they should have sacked Steve Jones too because they are both from the same area. I also think Nicole could have either pushed to be a judge or did a good job consoling rejected contestants that Fox figured they would be better off having her as a judge. If I had my dream panel, I would want Paula out and Cheryl and Nicole both there because they have both been in the contestant's shoes and have performed in a group as well as a single performer.

Since these sacking rumors are most likely true, it makes me wonder about a few things that have already happened. Are they going to have to go back to LA and Chicago and do re-tapings with Nicole in the judging seat? If they are not going to go back and people end up liking Cheryl, what is Fox going to do now that they sacked her and do not have her as a judge? Overall, it seems a stupid mistake. People love her in the UK and people in the states were just starting to get to know her. One of her biggest supporters is Perez Hilton who I figure will be livid as most Cheryl fans to see her sacked. Rumor also had it since Cheryl was going to break into America. Glee was going to do her song Parachute for Season 3.

One thing to point to Fox executives who are not listening to the general public is that at the auditions I attended. Cheryl was well received by the audience. People made signs and yelled things like "Cheryl we love your accent." Point right there that her accent was a good thing which seems to be the issue with Fox's decision to let her go.

Also during all the auditions, no contestant said they had a hard time understanding her and Cheryl gave very constructive criticism. If there was any problem, it was that Cheryl didn't know some of the locations where the contestants came from or did not know some American terms. She needed to get help from Paula and LA Reid on that. As for this obnoxious comment on Cheryl not having chemistry, it is complete bollocks. There were multiple times during the taping that you could see the chemistry among the judges. Paula hugged Cheryl when both of them laughed about a certain strange performance. Cheryl even commented to a contestant that they were a comedian because they had LA Reid in stitches.

I really hope this isn't true and I hope Simon steps in and really tells Fox that if Cheryl goes he has to go because she will definitely make the show. Don't get me wrong, I like Paula but having her back on the panel feels like American Idol part deux. If they wanted to make it different, I think Cheryl and Nicole should have been on the panel to bring a different feel to the show. Till tomorrow..... we will have to wait for an official comment from Fox but it looks like Cheryl is out and this makes me not as excited for X-Factor USA as much as I used to be.

One person who love's Cheryl is Adele who sang Cheryl Cole's Promise This on BBC Radio 1 Live Lounge. Seriously Fox BIG MISTAKE!!!!

Adele comes to Chicago

I was fortunate enough to get tickets to Adele's sold out show in Chicago. Adele's album 21 has steadily been on the top of the charts ever since its release. People can relate to her powerful voice and lyrics. Many people so love them that Glee has performed two of her songs ( Turning Tables-Gwyneth Paltrow, Rolling in the Deep- Lea Michele and Jonathan Groff) and they have been in television shows like Grey's Anatomy. Furthermore, at X-factor auditions a few people performed her songs to not rave reviews from the judges because you have to have the soul and experience behind it. If you have not listened to it I highly suggest you do. It will change your life.

The show was at the Riviera and had Plan B open which I had not heard of but listened to a few songs before going to the show. He smashed it as an opener and came out with Writings on the Wall (below) but had a great set list. My other favorite song of his was She Said but what is great about him is he has a soulful voice but also raps. He has mentioned in the press he doesn't think he will make it in America due to the radio stations not knowing where to place him. He's either too white for hip hop or too black for pop/soul as he put it. Plan B complemented Adele and got the crowd excited for her to come on stage.

Before Adele went on, the crowd got a boost of excitement when our new mayor Rahm Emanuel showed up. Cameras went flashing crazy and there were some cheers for him. He definitely enjoyed Adele, as an example, during the show my friend and I noticed him doing maraca moves during the set. The stage for Adele was set up to look like a living room with lamps all over the place. Adele was very appreciative of all the fans that after singing Hometown Glory and I'll Be Waiting the lights went on so Adele could see everyone. Adele also sang sitting down and standing up which I was not expecting.

The show seriously was magical and one I want to go back to over and over again. There are many concerts you go to and the performer is not as up to par as their CD. Adele sounded better than her CD and her voice just gives you goosebumps. Her voice is just so powerful and sounds amazing live. Besides her incredible vocal, one thing that I loved about the show is that Adele laughs a lot and loves communicating with the audience. She gives little anecdotes about the story or her life and then has a little giggle afterwards.

The venue was perfect for Adele. It made it more intimate and you could hear everyone singing the lyrics to all her songs. Some highlights from the show besides her amazing voice which blew me away was when she finished singing Rumor Has It she stuck both her middle fingers up in the air as to say screw you to the man who broke her heart. When she sang Make you Feel My Love, a Bob Dylan song, it was ironically Bob Dylan's 70th birthday that day. Everyone knew Adele would encore especially since she made a reference to Beyonce doing the same thing. I totally called it right when the show started by saying she would do her two hit singles off the record Someone Like You which she started off playing on guitar and Rolling in the Deep which she had the audience participate in.

Overall, Adele did beyond words an amazing set that took the audience on a soulful and meaningful journey that I did not want to end. When it comes to Adele one thing I love about her and find fascinating is that she is not your typical person you would expect in the music industry. She is not skinny, she doesn't endorse products, and stays true to herself. She doesn't put on huge productions like Gaga but has staying power on the charts for being real. Adele's songs are empowering and people can relate to the meaning and feeling Adele puts into her songs.

Adele set list Tuesday at the Riviera:

1. Hometown Glory
2. I’ll be Waiting
3. Don’t You Remember
4. Turning Tables
5. Set Fire to the Rain
6. If It Hadn’t Been For Love (Steel Drivers cover)
7. My Same
8. Take It All
9. Rumour Has It
10. Right as Rain
11. One and Only
12. Lovesong (Cure cover)
13. Chasing Pavements
14. Make You Feel My Love (Bob Dylan cover)

Encore:
15. Someone Like You
16. Rolling in the Deep

X factor & End of Carlo

X- factor has officially started filming auditions in LA and Chicago but it will not officially air till September. I was fortunate enough to go to auditions and see what the season might end up looking like but before I get into that, let me go into how the show works.

Many people know or don’t know the format of the show. Fox has started running promos to gain interest but don’t know how it compares to American Idol. So for those who don’t know, X-factor is a singing competition but here the judges mentor the contestants in specific categories. There are four categories, which are girl 12-25, boys 12-25, over 25’s, and groups. Each category has a judge as a mentor who helps pick their songs and helps them through the week to prepare for the live shows. Right now, the judges are going city to city looking for people for each category. If they get 3 'yeses' they are taken to the second stage of auditions where they will sing in front of only the judges and not an audience.

If they get past the second round of auditions, then only the top 8 in each category are judged by their specific judge. Then they perform again and each judge narrows down the contestants to just 4 people who they will bring to the Live Shows. At the Live Shows, each judge presents their contestants and then the next day, the two contestants with the lowest scores go in front of all judges and perform for the last time. The judges finally choose who they want to go through next week however if it is a tie, then the public vote will choose who leaves the show.

The judges are Simon Cowell, Paula Abdul, LA Reid, and Cheryl Cole. Many people are unfamiliar with Cheryl but she personally is my favorite and I am so glad she’s on the show. For those who don’t know or have not read Perez Hilton, Cheryl Cole was a judge on the UK X-factor but originally was part of the girl group Girls Aloud. Girls Aloud is like the Spice Girls except they were put together by a talent show like American Idol where the top female singers and the top male singers were put in a group. Girls Aloud members however have split into other projects but plan to come back together. Cheryl however has gone onto a solo career and is going to break into the USA. Her hits include Fight for this Love and Parachute, which is rumored to debut on Glee in season 3. Anyway, she looked stunning both tapings and will definitely continue her fashion wars with Paula.




Now onto the audition/ taping experience. When I arrived, I wound up with good seats behind the monitor. I was not fortunate enough to get on the floor but still had really good seats. Before the taping started. they had an emcee to help get the crowd pumping and asked an audience member to come up and sing Rappers Delight. The first night the woman killed it with moves and everything. Then Nicole Scherzinger and Steve Jones came on stage to introduce themselves since they were going to be behind stage interviewing the contestants. Then I freaked out when the judges came out because you realize it is the real deal.
We saw about 20 acts each night-- some good and some completely terrible. The highlights of the good ones was a girl from Colorado who people said auditioned on American Idol but did not make it all the way. Then there was a guy who was 30 years old who reminded me of Jamie Archer/Afro who had an amazing voice but couldn’t make it in the business. He sang At Last by Etta James with a lot of soul. People were on their feet and cheering like crazy. I can see him making it really far as well as a girl from Chicago who ended the night a great song. Then the best groups were a group of 3 guys who sang Usher and had the dance moves to go along with their music. Then there was a girl who was in a group but the crowd begged her to go single because it was obvious that she was the star of the group and did a great job. Finally there was a young girl who tried to sing Adele but failed. However when she sang an original song, she did better and went on to the next round.

The bad were just terrible but great to watch at the same time. The best, which will definitely be shown on television, was a guy who sang Creep by Radiohead and did an interpretive dance. The comments from the judges after the performance were priceless. Paula said she had been to that place, Cheryl said she wanted to go to that place, Simon was shocked and said he would go to that place and LA Reid said he missed that place. You had to be there and when it is shown on TV people will be talking about it. Then there was a woman who was 45 years old dressed like a hooker and claimed to be in Prince Videos but had a terrible voice. Then there were people who would come out as an act not knowing where they were and continued to stump the judges. There was a person who said his part time job was Second Life making skins which stumped the judges but they finally got what he was talking about. Then there was a guy dressed in a very artistic outfit who got on for entertainment value and only sang in one note.

Overall, it was a great show and will definitely be a great season. It will be interesting who will be picked for the final show and win the $5 Million record contract. The judges were amazing and the chemistry is there. The Simon we love and hate is back with his great comments. Paula, usually the friendly judge, offered more criticism than what I expected. Cheryl was very kind and offered great criticism and good advice for next time. Then LA Reid offered great Record Producer comments to see if they would be marketable and if they could make it in the business.

As a side note since Simon and Cheryl left UK X-factor and Dani said she will not be returning it has been announce that Louis Walsh will be returning with Gary Barlow from Take That and Kelly Rowland taking 2 of the judges seats. One more seat is open and Lily Allen and Frankie from the Saturdays are rumored to take the spot.

Now onto Footy news!!! Today was the last day of the season with Manchester United winning the EPL for the 19th time. :P Chelsea ended the season in 2nd and lost their last game to Everton. Besides losing Chelsea finally released a statement releasing Carlo Ancelotti. The statement said “Chelsea's long-term football objectives and ambition remain unchanged and we will now be concentrating our efforts on identifying a new manager."

He did bring us the double last year but not utilizing the players we have and not following through in games where we were winning. It is rumored he will take the West Ham job but it will be interesting who will be manager at Chelsea next. Ever since Jose Mourinho left, Chelsea have not been the team they use to be. Although they bought Torres and Luis it seems Luis has only been the one to show his true blue colors. Well, we will see what will happen in the off season but on the bright side I LIVED THROUGH THE RAPTURE!!

The Royal Wedding

I'm going to take you through the whole day and try my best to give you an idea what it was like.
So we woke up at 5 am and had breakfast. Rumor had it that it was suppose to rain so everyone tried to dress warm and comfortable except me. I dressed for the occasion, navy dress, leggings, and beautiful white fascinator which I got many complements from locals on it:). Thankfully there was no rain the whole day and when the wedding was done the sun came out and made for a beautiful rest of the day.

After we were already we left with food for the day and took the bus to St. James park to get on to the Mall. Once we hopped off the bus we had to wait for Matthew and Denis, friends of Frankie's, who biked to St. James Park. The bikes they used are a new addition to London. There are bikes all over London that are free for the 1st half hour then £1 for the rest of the day. It's a pick up drop off type of system and when you're around London you see so many people on them that makes you want to try it. It's just lovely and since it was so early in the day Matthew and Denis could get to the park in 15 minutes with no traffic. While waiting for them we saw women in veils and running suits.Once we were all together we walked towards the mall through St. James Park towards the crowds which were already beginning to form and people were packing up their tents.

The people around us were from everywhere and many people decked out. We came across two women dressed in wedding gowns with signs on the back that said "It should have been us." Then there were 2 men with good bodies dressed in Union Jack boxers, Union Jack shorts, Union Jack hats and bow ties and no shirts but beautiful six packs!!! Then there were many people with flags from Canada, Australia and of course many people had Union Jack flags.

Once we arrived on the mall our plan was to move up the Mall however, once we got to Clarence House we were right by the barrier so we decided to stay there and see diplomats come and go. For those of you don't where the night before Prince William (now Duke of Cambridge) and Harry came outside and shook peoples hands. Sadly missed that opportunity but we had great placement for the main event. While we waited the street cleaners cleaned the streets and the crowd cheered every time they came. It was funny because the sweepers were waving to the crowd and loving it.

However what I witnessed next was amazing. We saw all the diplomats come in the cars. We even saw people from Clarence House taking pictures on the balcony. That was my official last picture because then my camera dropped and broke (3rd times a charm I guess). I shed a little tear but then Matthew said I could use theres and be the official photographer. This ended up being a good thing because I was right at the barrier and could see straight on the Mall.

While waiting for Will to come out in the car we were surrounded by news people where I was possibly interviewed by CBS. I say possibly because I don't know if they really aired it or used it. So I got an interview of sorts and sounded giddy. My Voices of America interview never worked out and because there was so many people with cell phones it was hard for BBC Radio to contact me. Anyways in my interview I was asked about Prince Harry and Will and which one I liked better. I said Harry because he is available but honestly he is cuter anyways. I was also asked about my fasinator which I replied along the lines of loving Kates style and why I bought one. It was an early interview around 7 am Uk time. After my interview we just waited and cheered the cars and busses that came into Clarence House and left. Outside Clarence house while waiting the crowd chanted "We want Will" and one side chanted Kate and the other side Will. Then while we waited the drum posessions came by which got people excited.

So I got some great stuff. A great video of Harry and Will leaving in their car in their dashing military uniforms. I got a picture of Charles and Camilla but there windows were smaller so it wasn't as good. I got a picture of Kate waving on the Mall on her way to the Abby which zoomed up looks so clear.

When Kate arrived at the Abby the music and service was blasted over the speakers. I was really surprised that once she got to the alter they said their vows right away. Wills voice was definatley stronger and easier to hear while Kates was very quiet and somewhat hard to hear. However you could still understand it and when Kate finished her vow and the Archbishop pronounced them husband and wife the crowd went crazy with cheers. After we heard the vows people pretty much chilled and relaxed not listening as intently. Once the bells rang we waited for the cheers to get loud to know that Will and Kate were arriving close to us. First a bunch of horses came down the Mall trotting and the quickly after that Will and Kate arrived followed by Prince Harry with the bridesmades. That was the last thing I saw but then the Queen and Phillipa came in carriages but we had moved closer to Buckingham palace trying to get onto the Mall for the kiss. We were all in the crowd but the crowd pushed me away from Frankie and everyone that we got separated.

I luckily got pushed to the front where a few people got onto the mall the rest of the people who wanted to walk on the mall had to go a different entrance. As most people have seen via television police held a barricade and directed the people to the front of Buckingham Palace. The walk with everyone was insane. People were pushing to get as close as they could and waving flags around waiting for them to come out. I had a German flag swaying in my view and people around us were like that flag needs to be put down. After waiting around 5 minutes Kate and William came on the balcony and started waving to crowds cheering. Then the family came out and we saw the first kiss and after some more cheering and chants of Kiss Kiss Kiss we saw another kiss. The first time there were two kisses on the balcony but was more satisfactory for the crowd.

Once Kate and Will went back inside the crowds cheered Hip Hip Horray!!! They we tried to disperse the best they could which I guess the best way was stand still. There were TV cameras in the crowd interviewing people, so people wanted to get on TV and being close to the huge media center people wanted to see all the broadcasters. I could see the back of Anderson Cooper's head and Piers Morgan who took a picture of the crowd.

While trying to move back up the Mall they made an announcement to move back up the Mall so they could clear it. While I was slowly moving back to meet my people by the toilets a man with a trumpet playing God Save the Queen and taking other requests. Once I found Frankie and everyone we walked to Green Park to have the rest of our picnic. There was a screen where we watched Fearne Cotton interview other people and waited for Kate and Will leave Buckingham Palace. I had no idea they were leaving so soon to return to Clarence House and I think many other people didn't know either because the Mall was pretty empty. But when they emerged in the Aston Martin and the helicopter was over head we could see the helicopter on the screen and in real time. It was so surreal which is the best way to describe this experience. I still feels like a dream that I was there to witness all of this and have a great view of it all. Overall it was an AMAZING DAY and I am in love with Kate's Dress still. When I found out it was Alexander McQueen I teared a little and clapped like a little giddy girl.

Anyways I don't know if I will ever experience anything like this ever again but am so glad to have spent it with the people I was with and witness history. I also am happy for the couple and cannot wait to see what comes in the next few years. Oh and the children they will have will be so cute; I can't wait.