A little over a month ago, we posted news of the double murder of, Academy Award Winning, former American Idol Contestant, Jennifer Hudson’s mother and brother, at their own home in Chicago. Since then, Hudson’s nephew, for whom an amber alert was issued, was also found dead in an SUV the following Monday. All three were brutally murdered by multiple gunshot wounds.

Hudson has already held funeral ceremonies for her loved ones; however, since then the only “person of interest” in the case has been 27 year old William Balfour, estranged husband of Hudson’s sister. Since the murders on October 24th, he has been held on a Parole violation charge, but, is now (finally…) a waiting formal charges by the Cook County State's Attorney's Office for the 3 homicides. This could take a day, or up to a week.

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Last night the 2008 American Music Awards were hosted by Jimmy Kimmel live on ABC. Throughout the night the AMA’s kept their tradition of having truly powerhouse performances and a clean mix of genres (which was noted by some artists) not found anywhere else.

Ordinary Joe here, and I’m going to give you the low down on the show. Firstly though, I must admit I didn’t catch it all (being ordinary in all, life has many requirements). So included are only those events that I witnessed.

American Music Award Recipients Included:
out Coldplay and the Eagles

Best Pop/Rock Group
Daughtry beat out Coldplay and the Eagles

Best Country Group
Rascal Flatts (2nd consecutive year winning this category)

Best Rap Album (Ironically introduced by Nickelback…lol)
Kanye West’s “Graduation” trumped Jay-Z’s “American Gangster” & Lil Wayne’s “Carter 3”

Favorite Country Male Artist
Brad Paisley

Best Pop/Rock Album
Alicia Keys “As I am”

Pop/Rock Female
Rihanna beats music queens Alicia Keys and Mariah Carey

Favorite Rap/Hip Hop Male
Kanye West won, but for the not so first time this year said rather, that Lil Wayne deserved his award (while fans took time to for vote him)

T-Mobile Breathrough Artist
The Jonas Brothers

Best Country Female
Taylor Swift

Best Soul/R&B Album
Alicia Keys “As I am”

Artist of the Year
Chris Brown surprisingly beat out Lil Wayne, Alicia Keys, Eagles, Coldplay. The win obviously took him by surprise suggesting he would have given it to Coldplay. He and girlfriend Rihanna are well on their way to becoming Pop Gods.

Annie Lennox, whom I know best for her vocals in “Sweet Dreams are Made of This”,
gave a touching performance. After 78 million records sold worldwide, and more recent humanitarian efforts, she received the American Music Award of Merit, the society’s highest honor.

Performers were:

Taylor Swift “White Horse”

The Fray “You found Me”

Pussycat Dolls

Jonas Brothers “Tonight”

Coldplay “Lovers in Japan”

Ne-yo with “Miss Independent” & “Closer” with lots of microphone moves and a crazy cool female dancer.

Leona Lewis “Better in Time”

Mariah Carey with “I Stay in Love With You”, performed in a sleek black dress and helped down a stage prop by husband Nick Cannon. MIMI was also congratulated on having the Most #1 hits and Spending the Most Weeks at #1, two positions formerly held by the king Elvis Presley himself.

Miley Cyrus almost takes the show with her performance of “Fly on the Wall”. Afterwards the new 16 year old moved to cutting her cake backstage.

Beyonce “Single Ladies”

Natasha Bedingfield Medley of “Soul Mate” & “Unwritten”

Rihanna “Rehab”

Kanye West “Heartless”: solid performance, with a Japanese techno style background

Sarah McLachlan “Arms of the Angels” ft. Pink whom also had a solo performance

Hey Ordinary Joe here, just letting you know that Kanye West has made the entire “808s and Heartbreak” album available for listening on Myspace Music, for a few days before its release.

The official track listing according to Myspace Music is as follows:
1. Say You Will
2. Welcome to Heartbreak ft. Kid Cudi
3. Heartless
4. Amazing ft. Young Jeezy
5. Love Lockdown
6. Paranoid ft. Mr. Hudson
7. Robocop
8. Street Lights
9. Bad News
10. See You in My Nightmares ft. Lil Wayne
11. Coldest Winter
12. Pinocchio Story (Freestyle live from Singapore)

At first full listen, the album is very good and Kanye West succeeds at using an 808 beat, and singing, for each song. He also includes the finished version of “Robocop” which was leaked weeks ago.

The Ordinary Joe Blog will review “808s and Heartbreak” after its official release on Monday 24th November.

Kanye West has also linked the songs to His Blog. You may go there to check it out also.

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Global New Age music phenomenon Eithne Bhraonain, along with her lyricist Rona Ryan and producer Nicky Ryan, collectively known as Enya, can revel once again in her huge international success with the release of her 9th album. The Christmas/winter themed “And Winter Came…”

The album opens with a thought capturing ‘lyric-less’ piano solo composed by the great musician herself, it is titled after the album “And Winter Came…” The hypnotic flow continues as the Irish song bird sings “Somewhere in a winter night/ The angels, begin their flight/ Dark skies with miles to go/ No footsteps to be lost in snow” from the track “Journey of the Angels”. The songs speaks of the heralding of the angels the night of Christ’s birth, however it introduces a dark element possibly ominous of his death that would soon bare the earth’s sins.

Joyful, is “White is in the Winter Night” in which Enya expresses the deep-rooted delight that fills every good heart during the season. Next, follows, a heavenly take on, “O Come, O Come, Emmanuel”. She includes the Latin version of the text, “Veni, Veni, Emanuel/ Captivum solve Israel!” The album’s first single “Trains and Winter Rains” sounds much like previous hits by Enya. “Trains and winter rains/ No going by, No going home/ Trains across the plains/ And in the sky, the star alone.”

In place of the “Little Drummer Boy” Enya sings of the “One Toy Soldier” whom asks “Who can mend my broken drum? / Will it be as good as new?” The album continues with “The Spirit of Christmas Past” which seeks to inspire those who are depressed by the season with words of encouragement “Believe in what I say/ Don't throw this time away/ Tomorrow will be Christmas Day”. “My! My! Time Flies!” I feel, is the most eccentric track on the album, and exhibits more extensive synthesizing of her voice.

The album closes with “Oiche Chiuin” (Chorale), the Irish version of the Christmas carol “Silent Night”. The song was originally written in German and titled “Stille Nacht” but was translated, while its melody remains world renowned.

Enya brings together calming lyrics with beautiful melodies; a mix of traditional with contemporary winter themes. The famous multiple layering of her voice pays off again to produce her signature sound and a rocket for the New Age genre. Show me someone who’s stressed, listens to this, and doesn’t come out smiling. This album which was 2 years in the making and sits at #8 on the Billboard Hot 200 this week does a great job of bringing in the season. Enya’s “And Winter Came…” gets an “A” from the Ordinary Joe Music Blog for her complete mastery of her craft, excellent compositions and the way her voice can both instill fear in the mind, while also asking it to leave reality and dwell wherever its overtones will take you.

Watch the video below, to hear Enya’s comments and hopes for the album.

With his third studio album, John Legend wanted to change his sound up, while not drifting too far from home. The album opens with an intro of one of its greatest songs “Good Morning”. The melodic piano keys mix with horns and Legend’s neo-soul voice produce a sound synonymous to previous albums, yet juxtaposed to some of the album’s more funky tracks.

“Give me the Green Light”, sings Legend on the album’s first single, that features Outkast’s Andre 3000. The video for the single was released a while back, and vividly displays the party anthem for what it is. “I’m just style freein’, freestylin’, which yawl seldom do,” chants Dre’, on the single, that was Legend’s biggest leap from his typical sound.

“It’s Over” (ft. Kanye West) carries with it a jazzy sound, over a notable Pharell Williams produced beat. One of the better songs on the ablum, “Everybody Knows”, follows with lyrics like “I still can’t believe you, found somebody new. I wish you the best… I guess".

Talented, but troubled, singer Brandy makes an appearance on the album in “Quickly”. The story of a love that must ensue a.s.a.p. for fears of a falling sky and Armageddon, or maybe it was more of global warming and a doctor’s visit gone bad. Next though, and more of a ballad is “Cross the Line”, the only extravagance being the slight percussion that accompanies the piano line.

With an essence of reggae, soul singer, Estelle steps on board on the track “No Other Love”. Legend, in the wake of artists like Jasmine Sullivan, draws from the reggae genre to add that extra funk. (He did this in a big way later on, but you have to keep reading).

“This time I want it all!” sings Legend over a slightly synthy background. “Last time I wasn’t sure/ This time I will give you more/ I’m more mature” from “This Time”; it’s lyrics making it the perfect “breakup and get-back-together” song. The album picks back up with a more upbeat “Satisfaction”, but the speed is broken quickly with “Take Me Away”.

Birds’ chirping in all, “Good Morning” shows why John Legend is one of this generation’s kings of soul “Baby how can I convince you/ Make it so you can’t resist/ Whatever else you have to do now/ It can’t be half as good as this”. He continues in this vein with “I Love, You Love”, a truly heartfelt tune.

The album’s final song, “If You’re Out There”, was debuted at the Democratic National Convention back in August. The song called for voices of a generation to stand up and make a difference. One of the album’s bonus tracks, “Can’t Be My Lover”, features Jamaican reggae powerhouse Buju Banton. That’s more of that reggae thing I was talking about. A collaboration no one expected, I’d say, but the track came out amazing and flows well as Legend pulls off the reggae swagger.

The album is currently #6 on the Billboard Hot 200, but has peaked at #4 already. Besides a few glitches here and there, John Legend accomplishes his goal of morphing into an edgier artist and embedding his name in R&B/Soul History. The Ordinary Joe Blog gives “Evolver” a “B” for high energy and talented collaborations, and soothing soulful rhythms and lyrics.

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