Here's Avril Lavigne covering Ke$ha's Tik Tok on BBC's Live Lounge. She stopped b to talk about her album Goodbye Lullabye, which is out this week after all those fights with her label.
Avril has been going on about her label for a while, posting a letter on her website a few months ago blaming RCA for the long delay in releasing the record. And this week she reportedly told the News of the World, "It's hurtful actually. I put so much into this record, but the record company were kind of cold. But what it came down to was they really wanted me to go in a different direction and that was not OK with me.
"I've been doing this for ten years now and I write my own music. All of these new people were telling me what to do and I was like: 'NO, NO, NO!' This is my fourth record and I'm 26 so it's time for me to do something a little different. I love this record and I'm really proud of it."
Here is James Blunt, for reasons on which I'm not quite clear, covering Katy Perry's California Gurls.
I'm not a big fan of this song to begin with. I actually hate pretty much all of Katy's music - she yells too much and it's all too plodding - though I quite like Katy herself. At first I found her kind of irritating but it's hard to stay mad at someone who is basically always bouncing around with a huge smile on her face and wearing various amusement park rides and delicious foodstuffs. It takes a stronger woman than me not to chuckle when she dresses as a banana or a carousel.
That being said, I still don't like this song very much. And I know it's fashionable to crap all over James Blunt these days but him I also like. And I think I at least like his version better.
Here's a woman who calls herself Venetian Princess covering Taylor Swift's You Belong With Me but as a zombie - because zombies aren't getting at all old (also, she doesn't look like a zombie. She looks like an alien or monster or something. Zombies are undead. They don't file their teeth. Sheesh). This thing has been watched over 26 million times. Seriously. 26 MILLION TIMES. I don't know.
Here is Canadian treasure Michael Buble performing This Love by Maroon 5. I like the part where he forgets the words. Who did it better? Probably comes down to whether you like Michael or Adam Levine best.
You'll have to see the Maroon 5 video on YouTube (here) because it's a wee bit risque. Also, they've disabled embedding.
Rihanna's Only Girl in the World just got GOOD. Here's a capella dude Mike Tomkins covering it. He's also done versions of Teenage Dream/Just the Way You Are and Dynamite. I found him via New York Magazine's Vulture. Enjoy!
"A number of fundraising singles are jostling for the number one position on the Christmas charts," according to civilsociety.co.uk, and one of these is from the British Tinnitus Association's (BTA)cover version of John Cage's masterpiece 4'33".
The campaign is headed by DJ and music producer Eddy Temple Morris and is called Cage Against the Machine (Geddit? Like last year's campaign to keep Joe McElderry out of the No. 1 spot and put Rage Against the Machine up there instead? Also, if you know the Cage track, you get the other meaning too). The aim is to help raise funds for the BTA and four other charities.
I couldn't find the BTA's version, but here's the original as well as two version, one on piano by David Tudor and one acapella version. Nice. I can't decide which on I like best.
OK, this is an oldie but a goodie. I'm told Elton John said to Regis and Kelly that William Shatner's is his favourite version of his song Rocket Man. Is it yours? I have to say I do enjoy a good Shatner rendition. This one, however, doesn't compare to his take on Pulp's Common People, which is pure brilliance. Here they are.
P!nk has recorded a version of Whataya Want from Me, which she wrote with Max Martin and Shellback, and which became Adam Lambert's second single off his For Your Entertainment album.
Here it is. Who do you think does a better rendition? Or, are they kind of the same? By the way, has anyone ever seen P!nk and Adam Lambert in the same room? Just asking. There's also a mashup of the two versions below, showcasing that they're nearly identical. Spooky!
I just came across a reference to this song and realized I never put it up as a take two. So, even though it's months old, here's Miley Cyrus covering Poison's Every Rose Has Its Thorn.
I think I need to mention here that I do a MEAN version of this song at karaoke. Just sayin'.
