Artist Showcase : Amber Riley

Hello and welcome to another blogpost. Today I shall be doing yet another "Artist Showcase" post, this time on the fabulous Amber Riley but before I do, I just want to apologise for the lack of upload last weekend. To make up for this, I shall be doing a brief review of Sam Smith's "The Thrill Of It All" (the album I was meant to review last week) before I proceed with what this post should actually be. Without further ado, I hope you enjoy this fusion of blogpost!

Overall, Sam Smith's second is a true masterpiece and I think everyone should listen to it if they haven't already. The record it so emotional and heart-breaking yet it manages to bring so much joy to my life just like Sam's debut album "In The Lonely Hour" did. In particular, I love the tracks "Pray", "Baby, You Make Me Crazy" and "Burning" which have all been featured as my "Song Of The Week" overtime but I have also fallen in love with songs such as "No Peace" and "Midnight Train". Like I said before, I cannot get enough of the album and with this in mind, lets look at the top ten rankings...

1. Sam Smith - The Thrill Of It All

2. Demi Lovato - Tell Me You Love Me

3. Calvin Harris - Funk Wav Bounces Vol.1

4. Kehlani - SweetSexySavage

5. Bruno Mars - 24k Magic

6. Sonny - Hopeless Romance EP

7. Sarah Close - Caught Up EP

8. John Legend - Love & Darkness

9. Harry Styles - Harry Styles

10. Childish Gambino - Awaken My Love

Now that that part of this rather bizarre blogpost is done, we shall now proceed with what this post was originally intended to be, here is the "Artist Showcase" on the phenomenal Amber Riley!

Amber Patrice Riley is an American actress, singer and author born in Los Angeles, California on February 15th 1986. She is most commonly known for her portrayal of Mercedes Jones in "Glee" (which I must say is my favourite show at the moment) and for her performance is the series, she won a Screen Actors Guild Award and was nominated for three Teen Choice Awards, three NAACP Image Awards and three Grammy Awards. Since the show ended, Amber Riley has gone on to pursue several projects, featuring in "The Wiz Live!", writing a book and most notably, playing Effie White in the West End production of "Dreamgirls" which is my favourite musical of all time; it's safe to say she is the perfect fit for Effie!

What first made me fall in love with Amber Riley was her song "Lions And Tigers And Bears" from Todrick Hall's "Straight Outta Oz". I was already a massive fan of Todrick's which made me watch the film in the first place but hands down, my favourite part of the movie had to be Amber Riley's "Lions And Tigers And Bears" which is equally powerful and vulnerable. The song has been featured as my "Song Of The Week" in the past and even though it may be several months after I featured it, I still can't get enough of the song so please listen to it below. I hope you enjoy it as much as me.

Like I said previously, "Glee" is my favourite show at the moment and now that I am close to finishing it, I now realise just how much I missed on before. Without a doubt, Mercedes (Amber Riley's character) has to be my favourite character as not only is her voice to die for, her character is so nice and unique! Although there are so many great songs of Mercedes' in "Glee", I think my favourite song of hers has to be her cover of "Bust Your Windows" as I love the original, her voice suits it so much and it is just such a spectacle! This may be a very controversial statement but I think I may prefer it to the original. Have a listen below...

Even though she may not predominantly be a singer, Amber Riley is utterly incredible and I seriously think you should watch some of her projects or listen to her songs as she is so greatly underrated and under appreciated. In fact, Amber Riley has recently released an album with other musical greats Beverley Knight and Cassidy Janson singing several musical songs which are all amazing. I seriously think you should check that out as it is really good as well as the rest of Amber Riley's material.

Song Of The Week :

My queen Beyonce is back (alongside Eminem) with "Walk On Water", a track so emotional and captivating that I can't deal with it! The lyrics throughout the song, stating that you can try to do your best and that is all you can do, are so moving that I think anyone can relate to them, including myself! Obviously, I think Beyonce's part is the best (which it is) as her vocals and runs are so smooth and luxurious that any artist is envious of them but when you combine this with Eminem's creative rapping, it creates what I can only describe as a musical masterpiece! You need to listen to this song as soon as possible. So I hoped you enjoyed today's mashup of a blogpost. Next week I shall be bringing back my infamous "7 Songs" series for a 'one-off' so I hope you are as thrilled as I am!

Musical Songs You Should Listen To

Hello and welcome to another blogpost. Today I am sharing with you six songs from musicals that I am obsessed with. These songs can be from film or tv adaptations but they have all derived from musical theatre (disclaimer : I shall not be including previous "Song Of The Week"'s meaning that "Step One" from "Kinky Boots" and "Take Me Or Leave Me" from "Rent" shall not be included). I shall also try and include performances of each song as I write about it in order to make the post more 'immersive'. I hope you enjoy!

Listen from Dreamgirls
We are kicking off today's post with what is potentially one of my favourite songs of all time and (as you know) my favourite Beyonce song. Whether it is from the movie or the several theatre versions, anytime I have heard "Listen" live it has just amazed me with its desirable vocals and catchy lyrics. Fairly recently, I saw "Dreamgirls" in the West End and Amber Riley (commonly known as Mercedes from Glee) was utterly incredible and her voice is one of a kind. Anyways, please listen to this track as I just cannot get enough of it!

Revolting Children from Matilda
This next song is probably the newest on this post but that certainly does not mean it is the worst! The song is easily the catchiest on this blogpost as whenever I listen, the song gets stuck in my head for days! Back in July in my school show, this song was involved in it and you could tell it was easily the cast's favourite song to perform. The song is fun, light-hearted and just what you need in a song really. I really hope to see "Matilda The Musical" in the future as I bet it would be amazing; I would suggest you really try and do the same.

Run And Tell That from Hairspray
After "Dreamgirls", "Hairspray" is probably one of my favourite musicals as it covers such controversial topics and makes them seem like they're not a big deal. In particular, "Run And Tell That" is a great song (especially the film version) as the vocals are truly unbelievable, especially for me as a soul singer. If you somehow have never seen "Hairspray" before, you are seriously missing out as the show is so touching and fun throughout. I cannot wait for it to be my school's show next year as I know for sure that everyone will love it.

You'll See from Rent
"Rent" is an absolute musical classic and it has spawned tons of remakes of it's songs. One song that I think is severely underrated from the musical and hasn't been recreated a lot is "You'll See". If you ask me, the song features some great male vocals and I feel like it is constantly overshadowed by songs like "Seasons Of Love". If you ever watch "Rent" in the future (which you should do by the way because its amazing), please really appreciate this song as it is great and extremely unique in my opinion.

Love You I Do from Dreamgirls
Just like "You'll See" in "Rent", "Love You I Do" is so amazing but is constantly overshadowed by songs like "Listen" and "And I Am Telling You I'm Not Going" but I personally believe that, after "Listen", it is the best "Dreamgirls" song. In particular, I can't get enough of Jennifer Hudson's version from the film as it is so catchy and upbeat and her voice just suits it perfectly (To be honest, what song does Jennifer Hudson's voice not suit?)! Yet again, if you have never seen "Dreamgirls" before, first of all, I would seriously judge you and second of all, I would seriously recommend it as you really need to watch it!

You Can't Win from The Wiz
Last but not least we have a song that I have not been able to get enough of this year since I discovered it. "The Wiz Live" (not "The Wiz" movie which is pretty terrible to be honest) is now one of my favourite musical movies as every song is incredible and it features some great people : Elijah Kelley, Uzo Aduba, Amber Riley and Ne-Yo to name a few. In particular, "You Can't Win" is an unbelievable song that showcases some great vocals and lyrics. I would certainly say you should watch "The Wiz Live" online; I wish I could've seen the show to capture a glimpse of how good it would've been.

Song Of The Week :
This week's "Song Of The Week" is once again by Sam Smith, he is unstoppable at the moment! This week's song is "Baby, You Make Me Crazy" and the song is so fun, upbeat and happy, making a change compared to Sam Smith's usual material. In particular, I love the chorus' falsetto vocals as they are so desirable to any male vocalist. If you have any spare time upon your hands, this is a song that you really need to listen to!

Whilst on the topic of Sam Smith, next week I shall be reviewing his phenomenal new album "The Thrill Of It All" so I hope you are all as excited as I am for it.