The James Kilgour Blog

Alexandra Burke is this year’s winner of the nationwide talent search, the X Factor.

Her first single, a cover of Leonard Cohen’s Hallelujah has already reached the number 1 spot, and out sold Leona Lewis’ Run.

But some are not happy. Hallelujah is a special song, that took Cohen 5 years to write, and the late Jeff Buckley’s version, (which is currently number 2), is regarded as the definitive version of it. How dare Simon Cowell manufacture the song?

I disagree with their arguments. Hallelujah is an amazing song, but I think anyone has a right to sing it. That is the intended point of a song; to be sung. The song gives praise to God, and I believe this is something to be shared.

Why should she not sing it? Just because it has brought the song to the public’s attention. It’s a good version too; perhaps not as simple but effective as Buckley’s, but still a good cover. And the nation agrees.

JK

Britney’s performance on the X Factor last Saturday has been heavily criticized in the press. To some extent I agree; the performance wasn’t as good as it could have been. It was disappointing that she didn’t sing live, and she was thinking a lot when she was dancing, which disrupted it’s “natural flow”. However, I think she should be given a break. She’s had a tough year, and it’s great to see that she’s coming over the hill from that. Her confidence will surely grow again, and we’ll see her back on top soon.

When she performed Womanizer on Star Academy in France, her performance was better I thought. See it below:

UPDATE: This video has now be removed because of TF1. See the X Factor video instead.

JK

Same Difference, from last year’s X Factor performed on yesterday’s result show. They followed in the footsteps of Mariah Carey, Leona Lewis, Take That and Celine Deon. All those artists sang live, and they haven’t even been competitors on the show. Then it was Same Difference’s turn. And they mimed. It was terrible miming too, and if that wasn’t enough, you could hear that there voices had been enhanced, because the song had almost quite an ‘electronic’ ring to it. Then, at the end when they spoke the sound became completely muffled. Wow. Watch it for yourself below:

It’s despicable for them to Mime on the X Factor. Being contestants who sang last year, they should have done the same yesterday. Big difference.

JK

Spotify is a new music service, where you listen to as much music as you like for free! It all runs through it’s very well designed client, and the service has all the latest music.

Getting an invite to the service was the easiest! Luckily, I managed to win a competition to get an invite; the code arrived today in my inbox!

Downloading the software was very quick, and installing even more so! I only had to make one click inside the installer window!

Once installed I opened the program. I was shocked! It look almost identical to iTunes, except with no prices! The choice was good; ‘Funhouse’ by Pink and ‘Human’ by The Killers were just two of the available albums.

You would expect with such a service, (especially one in beta) would be very slow to load. Not at all. The songs start straight away, and actually, quicker than in Napster or  in iTunes. Neither have I had any problems with the streaming.

The service is also meant to have ads, but after 20 songs, I’ve only heard one of these, which lasted about 15 seconds or less. It was for Xbox Guitar Heroes, and I didn’t really bother me much.

The only thing that could improve the service would be the ability to download the songs free as MP3s! Here’s hoping. If it wasn’t for my Napster subscription, which allows me to download, than I’d probably switch to it.

So, if you want to give the service a go, I have some invites to give out. The first commenter’s on this post will be sent one each, (to as many as I get).

JK 

So last Saturday Laura White was evicted from the X Factor, despite being a hot favourite to win.

As we could see from her and Cheryl Cole’s face, there was a lot of shock at this result. It all fell to Louis to cast the judges vote of cause, between her and Ruth Lorenzo.

Now it is being said how it was “tactical” voting on behalf of Louis, and how the public was angry because she was supposedly going out with an X Factor executive, which actually wasn’t true.

All I know is that I think Ruth was actually better in the sing off. Laura too was amazing. What is strange is how certain people are still in the competition, such as Daniel. He tries his best, but he’s just isn’t in the same league as Laura.

I think as always, the public voting goes down to who has the best story, and who gets the nations sympathy.

Here’s Laura’s performance:

JK

Funhouse is P!nk’s new album, which I downloaded from Napster yesterday. And I love it!

P!nk is amazing artist, and as everyone should know, she doesn’t make bad music.

So What, the album’s first single is probably my favourite. However, I also  much recommend Sober, Funhouse, I Don’t Believe You, Mean and It’s All Your Fault.

Here’s looking forward to the next album!

JK

The X-Factor judges got more than they had planned for with Ariel. Looks like Simon Cowell was actually quivering in his boots, and this time not even about the singing. Some people just are academic enough… Simon prefers normal music, Ariel.

JK

This should be released as a single. It’s AMAZING! That Credit Crunch Stuff looks yum!

JK

Digital Rights Management gives the Music Stores the ability to control the music we pay for. One click, and the track can instantly be disabled, and with one click, our possible usage limited and restricted. Apple for example, limits most iTunes downloads to only being played on 5 computers, and transferred to iPods. Napster, limits most tracks downloaded on it’s basic subscription package to only being played on three computers, and no portable media players.

But is this legal? Is this fair? DRM controls things that we have bought. Imagine if you were to wake up, and find that your toaster, no longer accepts bread unless it is of a particular brand. Or what about if your radio refuses to play anything other that a certain station. Is that what you paid for?

My problem, is what about if one of the online music stores goes bust. What happens if they deactivate their DRM licensing server. Where does that leave the consumer?

Music should be provided to the consumer, so that they we can do what we want with it. If we want it on a cd, or on a MP3 player of our choice, we should have that option. Not the record labels or the music venders.

JK

Napster once was the spawn of the music industry, a downloader’s delight, and enemy of retailers. But now, Napster is the golden child. Boasting Over 6 million, mp3 tracks available, is Napster still the best option for downloaders who want the best deal?

I’ve only just started using Napster; enticed by the offer of a free 7 day trial. The software is very cool, functional and quick and the selection is fantastic. The basic package, £9.95 per month provides unlimited downloads, of WMA tracks. These can be played on your computer, but not put on your MP3 player or iPod. For £14.95, you get the option to transfer to a Play-For-Compatible device (No iPods though).

Another great feature is the ability to stream any track. This allows you to sample it before you download. And downloading, trust me, is lightening fast (I have 4mb broadband). Also, Napster have hundreds of different “radio stations”, in any genre, plus CD Compilation playlists.

My really big concern though is the fact that you don’t actually own the music you download. If you stop paying, your music stops. At least with the likes of iTunes, you own what you pay for. Any that doesn’t expire. For the price as well, you would expect some sort of return from your investment.

JK