Songland - General Discussion

[auntiemel]

On 8/29/2019 at 9:59 AM, Kelloggirl said:

While I loved the final song, I have to call a little BS on this one. Didn't it just seem too "out there" to add Spanish! and rappers! and a Latin Beat! to a song that didn't really have those elements (maybe the beat, a little)? I'm thinking that maybe Leona gave Ryan an inside tip on capturing that vibe. Then again, maybe not and I've just become overly cynical from years of "reality" TV and the latest round of predictable shenanigans on AGT. 

Still love this show, and man is Leona Lewis GORGEOUS!

I actually thought that was a smart gamble on Ryan's part, to just swing for the fences in capturing a very profitable trend and try to make Leona see herself in it...and it paid off!

[foxfreakinmulder]

6 hours ago, dvr devotee said:

I hope this show is renewed for next year.

I do too and with the same producers, I like all 3 of them.

Is OneRepublic Ryan's band? Is that why they would need another producer to sit in his seat?

[Whimsy]

I really enjoyed the episode with Charlie Puth.  I really only know him as a guest coach on the Voice.  I don't even know if I know any of his songs (not really my style), but he seems like such a nice young man. 

I see why he picked the song he did as it suited him, but it was so weird to me that they didn't even show any comments to the Berklee girl.  I was expecting them to say something similar to what they did to another contestant earlier in the season about how the song was so personal to her that only she should perform it.  I just expected more.  Especially since her pitch was featured so heavily in all of the promos. 

[saber5055]

The Charlie Puth episode was my favorite. I liked all three of the writers, but I figured the winning song would be the one that was chosen, and I never guess correctly. Funny that I liked it better when the writer sang it rather than Charlie.

The writers are always great singers. It must be luck of the draw that some become famous, like Charlie, while most don't. I liked getting some background on Charlie. He looks so young, but I guess 27 is young. I thought Ester looked especially beautiful last night, and Shane's face looked so chubby.

[RedbirdNelly]

[I've not yet watched the C Puth episode]

one late thought on L. Lewis episode: it cracked me up when Shane and the Tall Guy were working together. I had not realized how big that guy was until they were sitting next to each other and Shane looked like a little kid.

I really do love this show; I love all the producers. Shane cracks me up. Esther seems so sweet and I Iove when she just starts writing lines on the spot. Ryan is great too.

I would like this to be renewed for next summer--keep it a limited, summer thing. Please do not go all Voice with it so it's on all the time and the talent starts to drop.

[Ilovepie]

On 8/30/2019 at 8:12 AM, dvr devotee said:

Not that this is a competition between the producers, but so far, the songs chosen by producer are:

Ester: will.i.am*, Jonas Brothers

Ryan: Kellsea Ballerini, Meghan Trainor, Aloe Blacc*, Leona Lewis

Shane: John Legend, Macklemore, Old Dominion

will.i.am also recorded the other two producers' songs, with Ester's released as the single. Aloe also recorded the song Shane produced.

So we're basically at 2-4-3.

Thank you for doing this - I was wondering who was "winning". I think Ryan has an advantage because he is the producer for a few of these artists (Meghan Trainer and Leona Lewis) albums, so he kind of knows what they like/want. I absolutely hated the song Leona Lewis picked. I didn't even recognize it from the original version. That hook that Ryan was so in love with was impossible to even hear underneath all the crap he added. I do enjoy the collaborative nature of this show and marvel at the producers creativity, but I usually end up feeling like I liked most of the songs better before they tinkered with (or obliterated) them. I think most of the time they sound so over produced. This episode was no different. So far, only will.i.am has picked the song I liked best. I absolutely think Meghan Trainer, the Jonas Brothers and Leona Lewis picked the wrong songs, but what do I know - Crowded Places remains my favorite song in the whole show, with Be Nice a close second. I have not heard a single song from this show on either the regular radio or my pandora stations, and I listen to pop stations that would feature a lot of these artists..........

[foxfreakinmulder]

9 hours ago, Whimsy said:

I really enjoyed the episode with Charlie Puth.  I really only know him as a guest coach on the Voice.  I don't even know if I know any of his songs (not really my style), but he seems like such a nice young man. 

That's the only place I know him from too. He does seem like a nice guy. So far all of the artist that have been on seem like really nice people.

I wasn't a fan of any of the songs, not my taste in music but I thought he was going to pick the song from the girl he knew until he said he wanted everyone in the clubs jumping and people at his concerts singing along.

One thing I've noticed before is people sitting behind the producers. They were in the dark so you could only see their silhouette but I never noticed them before. I don't think they have an audience I wonder who they are?

[Whimsy]

54 minutes ago, foxfreakinmulder said:

That's the only place I know him from too. He does seem like a nice guy. So far all of the artist that have been on seem like really nice people.

I wasn't a fan of any of the songs, not my taste in music but I thought he was going to pick the song from the girl he knew until he said he wanted everyone in the clubs jumping and people at his concerts singing along.

One thing I've noticed before is people sitting behind the producers. They were in the dark so you could only see their silhouette but I never noticed them before. I don't think they have an audience I wonder who they are?

I noticed those people this episode too. Probably friends, family, special guests of the producers and maybe the songwriters. 

[Darian]

I love watching nice, talented people having a great time doing what they love. And anything about mentoring, even in this limited form, has so much appeal to me. I love collaboration in creative endeavors.  It's such a feel-good hour. 

Before the songwriter performed the revised version, I was actively rooting against the guy who won. That had never happened. But I have a whole rant about the phrase "daddy issues" and I hated the lines "I know you've got daddy issues. Please don't make them mine." I'll spare you the rant, but it's enough to make me dislike that guy. I did not hear it in the second version, so looks like that line didn't make the cut, and I hope it didn't.  

[MoreCoffeePlease]

I loved the Pill/Medication song ... the original version! I had no idea you can major in songwriting at music school. Cool.

Most of the songwriters seem to have totally gone along with what the producers want to do. I'm sure that has to be hard. Australian guy though, you could tell he wasn't happy with some of Ester's suggestions. His song in the end though was awesome. 

I like the Habit song before the changes as well, and the performer. Seems like a fun and nice guy.

[saber5055]

36 minutes ago, MoreCoffeePlease said:

Australian guy though, you could tell he wasn't happy with some of Ester's suggestions.

I thought for sure he was going to be kicked to the curb for not wanting to make Ester's changes. "He's difficult to work with." Actually, maybe he was and we just didn't see it! That guy kept changing his look too, first his hair was all girly with a flip-up like was popular in the '70s, then it looked like he had lipstick on. He was very pretty though. I wish his accent were stronger, that Aussie accent is attractive.

[auntiemel]

This is the first time that the celeb guest ultimately opted not to record any of the songs.

Awkward!

[RedbirdNelly]

I was watching Hollywood game night last night with Esther as one of the participants and just now realized she was in Pitch Perfect. I can't believe I didn't see it before.

[foxfreakinmulder]

22 hours ago, auntiemel said:

This is the first time that the celeb guest ultimately opted not to record any of the songs.

Whaaaaaat! I totally missed him saying he wasn't going to record any of the songs. What about the song he picked, and are we still talking about Charlie Puth?

[auntiemel]

1 hour ago, foxfreakinmulder said:

Whaaaaaat! I totally missed him saying he wasn't going to record any of the songs. What about the song he picked, and are we still talking about Charlie Puth?

He didn't actually say it during the show. They ended with the live performance, but when people went to go and find his version on itunes, etc it wasn't there. He sent out a tweet. Let me see if I can find it...

OK, I found this article - https://www.billboard.com/articles/news/television/8529191/songland-recap-charlie-puth
 

[foxfreakinmulder]

1 hour ago, auntiemel said:

He didn't actually say it during the show. They ended with the live performance, but when people went to go and find his version on itunes, etc it wasn't there. He sent out a tweet. Let me see if I can find it...

Thank you auntiemel :-) That's not cool, especially after crying and saying he understands how hard it is as a song writer waiting for your big break. What did he think the show was about?

[radiochik]

I just watched the Charlie Puth episode and, like many of you, it was also my favorite of the series so far.  I loved Sam DeRosa's (the girl who went to Berklee w Charlie) song and went searching for some kind of an update on her/the song.  I'm not sure why they didn't mention this at the end of the show but apparently Shane signed her to his record company as an artist - you can find the song Pill for This (and a few others of hers) on Spotify.  Here's the article I found about her signing:   https://musicrow.com/2019/09/monument-records-signs-pop-artist-sam-derosa/

Edited September 10, 2019 by radiochik
Need to put in link the right way

[realdancemom]

On 9/10/2019 at 4:37 AM, radiochik said:

I just watched the Charlie Puth episode and, like many of you, it was also my favorite of the series so far.  I loved Sam DeRosa's (the girl who went to Berklee w Charlie) song and went searching for some kind of an update on her/the song.  I'm not sure why they didn't mention this at the end of the show but apparently Shane signed her to his record company as an artist - you can find the song Pill for This (and a few others of hers) on Spotify.  Here's the article I found about her signing:   https://musicrow.com/2019/09/monument-records-signs-pop-artist-sam-derosa/

That's cool.  I'm glad that Charlie didn't pick her song because she sang it perfectly.

[Kelloggirl]

On 9/9/2019 at 7:30 PM, auntiemel said:

He didn't actually say it during the show. They ended with the live performance, but when people went to go and find his version on itunes, etc it wasn't there. He sent out a tweet. Let me see if I can find it...

OK, I found this article - https://www.billboard.com/articles/news/television/8529191/songland-recap-charlie-puth
 

His reason sounds like a total cop-out. Bummer for the guy, I do hope his song gets picked up by someone else.

[adhoc]

Quote

Thank you auntiemel :-) That's not cool, especially after crying and saying he understands how hard it is as a song writer waiting for your big break. What did he think the show was about?

I didn't like any of the songs for Puth, so I was fine with that. 😥  And TBH, I wasn't ecstatic about tonight's 4 Ryan Tedder options, either.  I guess I'm just out of it; none of them was what I would call "memorable". I think he picked the best of the bunch, though.

Overall, I would say the only episodes where I really liked the winners were the one with Aloe Blacc (Just Gettin' Started and Same Blood, both quite good) and the one for Jeep (Young, which turned out really on point for the commercial, IMHO).

Songs I liked that were not selected include Crush (Daniel Feels) and Crowded Places (original arrangement by Rynn). 

Edited September 12, 2019 by adhoc

[sarkygal]

2 hours ago, Kelloggirl said:

His reason sounds like a total cop-out. Bummer for the guy, I do hope his song gets picked up by someone else.

I was turned off because his selection process was based on hearing a song HE couldn’t have written which seems pretty damn arrogant for a guy who hasn’t been on the scene that long. 

He’s not exactly a prolific songwriting genius in the same league as Lennon or Babyface or even Will.I.Am. I didn’t buy his humility and I thought he was rather condescending to his former classmate. 

[saber5055]

17 hours ago, sarkygal said:

He’s not exactly a prolific songwriting genius in the same league as Lennon or Babyface or even Will.I.Am. I didn’t buy his humility and I thought he was rather condescending to his former classmate. 

After reading that article about Puth not recording that song -- which is the total and only reason for this show -- I have to agree with you. Good on you for spotting it as you watched, while I was all suckered into thinking he was a sensitive nice guy. He probably even had a bottle of Visine in his pocket to create that tear rolling down his cheek as he lamented about his days as a struggling writer. Eh.

At least the show gets a second season so that's good news. As long as Puth isn't invited back.

I saw Ester Dean on Hollywood Game Night too and only knew her because of this show. But I've never seen Pitch Perfect all the way through, so there's that. She wasn't as pop-culture savvy on HGN as I thought she would be. I still like her though, she is quite beautiful and seems nice. (Just not Charlie Puth nice thank goodness.)

[Darian]

I can't believe I didn't recognize Ester Dean as Cynthia-Rose from Pitch Perfect!  

[foxfreakinmulder]

I enjoyed the episode with One Republic and the song Ryan picked was my favorite. I liked his rendition of it too.

I can't believe how good these song writers sing. How are they not on the radio? I hope some of them get noticed and picked up by other artist.

Happy they got picked up for a second season and I hope it's with the same 3 producers. Ester is my favorite. She's always so happy and encourages the songwriters.

[bobby2018]

3 hours ago, foxfreakinmulder said:

I enjoyed the episode with One Republic and the song Ryan picked was my favorite. I liked his rendition of it too.

Me too. Really like the Live at Red Rocks version. This is the only song from the first season  stuck in my head. I'm glad it reached itune #2 (when I checked).

[hnygrl]

Totally agree with you guys. The song Ryan picked is hauntingly, sadly beautiful and is STILL stuck in my head. I kinda knew he'd pick that one when he "hit that note" when practicing it. In my head their conversation (picking a song) went something like this:

"so we're definitely picking somebody to love. How long we gotta pretend to agonize over it?"

Soon as dude sang his song everybody else coulda just went home, it was over. That song though...

[RedbirdNelly]

15 hours ago, Darian said:

I can't believe I didn't recognize Ester Dean as Cynthia-Rose from Pitch Perfect!  

I'm glad it is not just me. Now it seems so obvious. But I also love how her Pitch Perfect character is very different from her on Songland. Some actors --when you see them in "real life" ---make you realize their character is just them playing themselves.

[Diana Berry]

On 9/12/2019 at 11:13 PM, hnygrl said:

Totally agree with you guys. The song Ryan picked is hauntingly, sadly beautiful and is STILL stuck in my head. I kinda knew he'd pick that one when he "hit that note" when practicing it. In my head their conversation (picking a song) went something like this:

"so we're definitely picking somebody to love. How long we gotta pretend to agonize over it?"

Soon as dude sang his song everybody else coulda just went home, it was over. That song though...

First time watching the show and really enjoyed it.

Agree as soon as that guy did his song "game over".   Continued success for him.

[Raja]

By the time the third song pitch came for the One Republic episode I had the feeling that all three had the same backing chord progression  and track.

[auntiemel]

I heard "Same Blood" on an episode of The Resident! 🙂

[vibeology]

I’m glad this show is back but I have a hard time believing the fix wasn’t in for Madeline Merlo. I guess she hasn’t broken through in the US, but she’s pretty famous in Canada as a country music star. It’s basically impossible for me to believe that four country music professionals don’t know who she is. Her biggest hit was co-written by Nicolle Galyon who has written four songs for Lady A. Plus she was the only person that showed up with a song that worked for the summer. I liked the song but I’ve always liked her music so that’s not surprising. 
 

 

[bobby2018]

The number one song on iTunes right now is Champagne Night (From Songland) by Lady Antebellum.

[pezgirl7]

I liked Madeline's song better before they changed it. I also really liked Ryan Innes' song, again, more so before they changed it. I tried to find a full-length version online, but every link I came across was broken. I guess he had to scrub it from the internet before he went on the show. Last season the show posted the final versions of all three songs on Spotify, but it looks like they're not doing that this year. So the only version I could find is the one from the show.

[foxfreakinmulder]

So happy the show is back. I was getting worried we wouldn't get a second season. I'm not a country fan anymore so I don't know Lady Antebellum, I've heard the name but haven't heard any of their music. I knew they would pick that song because of the reaction it was getting when she sang it for them. I also knew Shane was going to win, you have a country artist producing a country song for a country band, come on, If he didn't win country fans would've been upset. I did like the little video they showed with the song at the end, especially the older gentleman dancing:-)

I really liked the first song too.

[auntiemel]

On 4/14/2020 at 6:15 PM, pezgirl7 said:

I liked Madeline's song better before they changed it. I also really liked Ryan Innes' song, again, more so before they changed it.

Agreed, I liked both better before they "Pop-ified"them.

Also, they completely changed the theme of "I'll Drink to That." And, maybe it's my age, but from my perspective, the concept of "an accounting of all the small pleasures in life worth celebrating" is SO MUCH MORE COMPELLING than the concept of "hey, I know everybody thinks you have to be rich to have fun, but we're super poor and we still have fun!" Wasn't that territory pretty roundly covered by Royals, anyway? And for as impressed as the entire panel was by the rhyming of "double" "bubble" and "trouble," I'm going to assume they're not big Shakespeare aficionados. Spoiler alert: he got there first!

Anyway, that makes me sound like I hated the episode, I actually thought it was pretty fun. LOL.

[Swenson]

I love this show,  it can actually make more new stars than the Voice in that you have some really talented songwriters who for the most part can be big artists themselves.  Was her name Madeline Merlo or something with her song "I'll Drink To That"?   I loved it and her performance of it much more than the eventual Lady Antebellum song they made from it sayin something about drinking beer on a "champagne night" whatever that is.  Sometimes they should just record it as is but then we wouldn't have a show.

And what if you're someone like me who can come up with a song but can't sing worth s#@t.  Would they allow me to bring a singer along?   

[Whimsy]

42 minutes ago, Swenson said:

And what if you're someone like me who can come up with a song but can't sing worth s#@t.  Would they allow me to bring a singer along?   

That's so funny because I was totally thinking that last night, too.  I was thinking about how all of the songwriters on this show have at least a decent, if not fantastic, voices.  I thought that girl with the braids (don't remember her name) has an amazing voice and I actually hope this helps her career. 

[Diana Berry]

I had no idea who that singer was on Monday’s show.

[foxfreakinmulder]

I wished I knew what the song that won was saying in English. I thought that might be the one to win since even the band was dancing along when he first sang it, but I liked all 3 songs. I don't know who the artist was but again he seemed like a really nice guy and happy to be there. That's one reason why I really like this show.

That was cool that they had a winner from last season sing with that one girl so I wonder if the show keeps in touch with the winners?

I agree about the songwriters, most of them can sing better than what you see on a competition show. 

[dvr devotee]

The woman from NJ whose song didn't get picked to be tinkered with had a voice like Ann Wilson. With such a unique voice presenting it, I could see how Luis Fonsi couldn't see himself singing that song. I have no idea if she wants to be a singer, but if she does I hope Ryan Tedder hooks her up.

@Diana Berry, Luis Fonsi is the singer-songwriter behind "Despacito," which was the biggest song of 2017 all around the world, I believe. The version with Justin Bieber got a ton of play here in the US. Like, you couldn't escape it. Besides Despacito, he's very popular in the Latin music world.

(I only just finally looked up the English translation of the original the other day, and, holy moly, is that an insanely sexy song.)

Edited April 22, 2020 by dvr devotee

[realdancemom]

I did like all three songs.  I also liked the fourth song that wasn't picked and I hope she records it herself.  She had a great voice but I can see why Fonsi didn't pick it.  Sway was the right song for him even before it was tinkered with.  I just wanted to do a Zumba routine with it.

[Diana Berry]

On 4/22/2020 at 5:10 PM, dvr devotee said:

The woman from NJ whose song didn't get picked to be tinkered with had a voice like Ann Wilson. With such a unique voice presenting it, I could see how Luis Fonsi couldn't see himself singing that song. I have no idea if she wants to be a singer, but if she does I hope Ryan Tedder hooks her up.

@Diana Berry, Luis Fonsi is the singer-songwriter behind "Despacito," which was the biggest song of 2017 all around the world, I believe. The version with Justin Bieber got a ton of play here in the US. Like, you couldn't escape it. Besides Despacito, he's very popular in the Latin music world.

(I only just finally looked up the English translation of the original the other day, and, holy moly, is that an insanely sexy song.)

Ty I listen to oldies so I had no idea.

[auntiemel]

Shane: We're thinking about the concept of translation. Getting lost in translation. You know...that extremely common phrase that people use literally all the time? Also the title of one of the more successful movies of the last 20 years?

Luis Fonsi (blank face, then...): Is that too obscure and complicated? Will it require people to think too much?

Me: Aaaaandd...just fuck the entire world and then shoot me in the head.

🤣 😩

Edited April 26, 2020 by auntiemel

[realdancemom]

On 4/21/2020 at 11:00 AM, Swenson said:

I love this show,  it can actually make more new stars than the Voice in that you have some really talented songwriters who for the most part can be big artists themselves.  Was her name Madeline Merlo or something with her song "I'll Drink To That"?   I loved it and her performance of it much more than the eventual Lady Antebellum song they made from it sayin something about drinking beer on a "champagne night" whatever that is.  Sometimes they should just record it as is but then we wouldn't have a show.

And what if you're someone like me who can come up with a song but can't sing worth s#@t.  Would they allow me to bring a singer along?   

I finally watched Lady Antebellum's episode last night.  Missed it their episode since I didn't know the season started and I watched Fonsi's episode last week.

In both episodes this season and the episodes last season, the songwriters had good voices.  Ryan Innes from this episode was on The Voice.  He was on Usher's team.

[dvr devotee]

I love this show but every episode this season with nearly every songwriter that's come on, Ester has had this "where did that come from?" shocked face whenever the singing starts. I get that some people don't "look" like the singing voice that comes out, but the editors are really unimaginative to include it multiple times in an episode. They've shown Ester doing it with both Axel and Jocelyn so far tonight, and there's still one more songwriter to go.

[Diana Berry]

I just noticed Adam Levine is a producer.  I can see him grabbing that Scary song with the falsetto.

[MoreCoffeePlease]

Finally, a winning song that didn't sound too different even after having the producer work on it. Songwriter was also a good singer with a great look.  I love the song both in a stripped-down, acoustic version, as well as a more "produced" version.

Redhead was also a good singer, even though she said she writes and doesn't perform.

Blond from Canada had a strange mouth and  made weird faces while singing. I didn't really get or like her song.

[foxfreakinmulder]

Martina McBride was my favorite female country artist when I was into country back in the early to mid 90's. I saw her perform at a small Indian Casino and she is was so tiny and petite and was really nice and engaging with the audience. Her big hit back then was Independence Day so a few people would shout for her to sing it and she was like, "okay, hold on, I'll get to it" and then she would start and stop and talk start and stop and talk she was having fun with the crowd. But that girl can sing!

I liked all 3 songs that she had to choose from. I knew the Wolves weren't going to make it by her face when they were singing because she sat there with a blank stare you could tell she didn't really connect with it.

My one complaint with the show is, I don't need to hear the song before the singer goes in to sing it. Just let them introduce themselves and say why they wrote the song they will be singing, that's all I need to know about them. Other than that, I really enjoy this show!

[RedbirdNelly]

It was nice to see Martina again. I love this show and I love her. I made my son who didn't know who she was go find the video to Independence Day and then come back to watch the episode with me. 

[realdancemom]

Martina seems really nice.  I was so happy for the young girl that was picked.  It validated her career choice especially since she doesn't have a plan B.  I really appreciate how happy everyone is to just be there.