It's time for JD to go on hiatus. At 10:00pm EST tonight, I'm boarding a plane for London to start my graduate program and I think the time is right to step away from the boyband fandom craziness and focus on more important things.
I want to thank all of you who have followed this blog, asked questions, submitted entries, etc, and made this possible for over the last year. I've had some ups and downs when it came to One Direction, but they will forever be the only boyband who made me start a judgmental blog.
I will still be on Twitter, and I will still be checking my messages if you want to chat, but I don't see any updates for quite awhile, especially as I am just going to be getting back to school in a new country.
If you're excited for Louis to be playing the Celtic FC charity match, at least be aware that the match is in support of charities chosen by Stiliyan Petrov, a class act and wonderful footballer, currently battling leukemia.
I just saw a comment that Harry "disrespected" Austin Mahone, by saying Iggy should have won the award. I don't think he disrespected him. Everyone as always said that so & so should have won rather than the actual winner. So, what do you think. Are they over-reacting?
I think everyone is allowed to have their own opinion about it. I, personally, don't think One Direction had the "Song of the Summer", they just happened to have the most fans voting. Harry was showing his support for Iggy, not necessarily slagging off Austin. People just blow things out of proportion.
Considering I turned it off as soon as JT was done, I can't really give a full review. But...some highlights of what I did see:
Taylor Swift - First, "Shut the Fuck up" shot at One Direction. I'm not wholly convinced that that wasn't edited somewhat, but girlfriend need to realize that the cameras are always on her. Her little dig when she won her award as well - whether it was directed at Harry or not is irrelevent. She knew that it would be taken that way and the editing certainly ensured that it was taken that way. You have to admit, though...girl has some balls.
Miley Cyrus - The Smith family expressions says it all. I was really disappointed with that whole fiasco. I don't like the song to begin with, to be honest, and I know that the VMA's are about making a big impression...but this was awful. It wasn't about the music. It was about Miley making a spectacle of herself, of showing she's all grown up (but not necessarily mature), and making sure that everyone would be talking about her. Which we are. So, it worked I guess. But, she sounded terrible, in my opinion, and I don't think she should be trying to make her reputation off of grinding on Robin Thicke and being "ratchet". Rihanna, Gaga, Katy Perry, Beyonce - they've all had similar phases...but at least they can back it up with their voices.
Robin Thicke - Now, I love Blurred Lines. But I didn't like this performance...and I'll admit it was mostly because of Miley. Why was he performing with her? And people keep saying that he is as much to blame as her for the sexuality of the performance, but watching it again...he is just standing there. She is the one dry humping the foam finger and sticking her face in another girl's rear end. Over all, though, it left a bad taste in my mouth.
Justin Timberlake and N*Sync saved the show, to be honest. Great performance, great voice, great medley...he nailed it. He didn't need to strip down, grind on half naked girls, or make an ass out of himself to put on the performance of the night. That's how you do it.And the N*Sync reunion took me back to my youth - I saw them at Hershey Park many moons ago and they were very good.
Erm...don't really know what else to talk about. I'm not actually a fan of most of the people there.
One thing I will say is that I'm disappointed that it is now turning into something about the spectacle, the shock and awe of the performance, rather than the musical quality. But, what can you do?
Hi! I just wanted to weigh in on this everlasting TW/1D feud. I remember that the whole feud started after a British newspaper published an interview with Max, where he's quoted as saying something like "we're #3 in the charts, where are they?" and making it sound as a dig. But what most people don't know is that right after, Max said on Twitter that his words were twisted. It was a honest question about their chart position, he didn't know where 1D were in the charts. Did you know about this?
Is that where is started? There is no doubt that a lot of it has been fueled by the media and the fans, but the boys really could bury the hatchet once and for all or just refuse to talk about each other. But, they are young guys who don't have always have the best sense of when to shut their mouths. I doubt we've seen the end of it.
Can you explain to me why Liam went all crazy to that guy from Stupid Famous People? I felt like he over-reacted, I saw the video everyone is talking & he didn't do anything wrong from what I saw. Did he do something else that I'm not aware of? I came to you because I knew you'd be rational about the whole thing. Congrats on meeting The Wanted, by the way!
I don't know all the details - I'm thinking that the Stupid Famous guy is the one who follows them around the most (I think the account was made specifically for 1D) and is therefore the one they see the most often. Stupid Famous actually follows me on Twitter, oddly enough. Liam's getting defensive about things and isn't afraid to call people out - Louis seems to be rubbing off on him.
im with you about the face going numb thing. my face gets numb when i drink too, its really weird. glad you had a good time with the boys!! love the blog btw.
It is now the next morning and my head is throbbing, but I can genuinely say last night was one to remember. I guess it's best to start from the beginning - I bought tickets to see The Wanted a few months ago and took along my bestie Hannah. Now, Hannah is not really a fan of TW (she just doesn't really know their music), but was happy to come along and hang out with me before I leave next week.
We arrived at The Sands at 6:00 and the doors opened at 7. There was a line, but it wasn't too bad and we ended up being about 20 feet from the stage. There was also a bar (holla!) so Hannah and I took some shots and downed a few pints before heading in. Now, The Wanted were the only ones performing for some reason, so they had a DJ playing music for a while before the band came on at 8:30.
The thing that annoys me is the people seem to insist on holding their cameras in the air the entire time, which seriously impeded my view. Hannah, though, is 6'2 and can see everything. Lucky.
The boys sounded amazing. I judge groups on how they sound live compared to their albums and I would go so far as to say that TW sounds better live and when they are autotuned within an inch of their life. They were so good, so energetic, and so interactive.
I had brought my Manchester City FC scarf for Max and Tall Hannah held it up for me. Tom saw it, grabbed Max and pointed it out to him, earning us a kiss and a smile. I had hoped that that would have been a Heart Vacancy pull for us, but Nathan ended pulling a bunch of girls from the very front rather than the sides. (Side note: I was a bit annoyed - some of the girls just sat there. They weren't standing or dancing or singing along, they were sitting on the speakers watching.)
Anyway, the rest of the show went really well - I loved seeing the little dance moves they pulled and how they interacted with each other on stage. Nathan and Siva were on my side for most of it, but they all made their rounds. The Killers Medley was epic, and We Own The Night was perfection. Glad You Came, of course, ended the night, and everyone left on a high.
Now, at the beginning of the concert, Hannah and I had opened tabs at the bar. When we went back, the bar was closed. This was a problem. We managed to harass a security guard to let us in to get our credit cards, and we ended up just hanging out at the empty bar for twenty minutes with the bartender before the club opened. So, we got out of a $15 cover and got to drink more. Hooray!
It started getting crowded, so we headed outside for some fresh air and that was when we saw them. All five of the boys, Nano, Big Kev, and others were outside their buses signing and taking pictures with fans. So, we went.
I went straight to Max because I wanted to make sure he still had the scarf and didn't toss it, cause I would take it back. (at this point, I was pretty intoxicated, so I don't remember everything I said).
I told Max that I had thrown the City scarf on stage and his eyes got wide and he said "You legend! Thank you!" he gave me a hug and kiss and I asked if they were going drinking in the bar after and that I would buy him a drink. "Buy me five and you've got yourself a deal!" To which I replied that I was already do drunk that I couldn't feel my face and he started laugh and poked my cheek. Then, Hannah got our picture.
Next up was Jay. Now, I love Jay. And I'll have more to say on him later. But, I basically said the same thing to him, that we were at the bar if they wanted to come drink and he was all over it. I said I couldn't feel my face (I told this to all of them, according to Hannah, things were a bit blurry for me by this point) and Jay responded, "That is incredibly impressive!" I also mentioned the scarf, and we chatted about football for a moment or two. Hannah tried to take our picture, but since she was also drunk, she had switched my camera to video mode. The next few pictures are screen shots of 3 second video, apologies for the poor quality.
Tom was next, and like Jay he was wearing a sweet headband. I didn't get to chat much with Tom, except to offer to buy drinks.
I then told him I couldn't feel my face (what the hell is wrong with me?) and this was his reaction:
Siva was next and he was actually having long conversations with people, so I may or may not have been a bit aggressive in my drunken state. Again, I offered to buy drinks since I hadn't gotten a satisfactory answer (but they all responded to it in some way) and Siva replies, "but I can get free drinks on the bus!"
Like, what the fuck, Siva? So I told him that was very true, but that I wouldn't be there and so it wouldn't be as great of an experience. And, if wouldn't drink with us, the least he could do would be to take a picture. He happily obliged.
Lastly, there was Nathan. He was all bundled up and at the very end of the line. At this point, I was on a bit of a contact high and even more drunk than before, so I might have been a bit too obnoxious...oh well. I did the same spiel with him, though instead of offering to buy him a drink I said I would drink in his honor, and then earned the nickname "numb face" from him. People were laughing at me, but it was fine. Hannah got the picture with Nathan, and he thanked her for putting up with me. "You're a very good friend to deal with numb faces". She told him that this was her first boyband concert ever, and that she had a good time, which made him happy. Then they made fun of me some more.
We hung out for a bit more. I apologized to Nano for comparing him to a small MP3 player. He laughed and said he's used to it. I then talked to Kev and asked if they boys were coming in the bar - he shrugged and said "I never have any idea what they're doing" but said that he thought they would come in for a bit. Then my phone died.
So, Hannah and I went back to the bar. We saw the backing band, and about an hour later, Tom, Max and Jay joined them in a VIP area. I hugged Max again and he thanks me again for the scarf. (By the way, that boy is TINY). They were hanging out and weren't really interacting with too many other people, so Hannah and I sobered up and got ready to go home. We left at 2:00am, and actually ran into Jay again on the way out. I told him that the show was amazing, earning me a Jayhug and a Jaykiss. He also then grabbed Hannah for a hug and kiss without her permission, which was kind of funny. I expected him to head back to the VIP section, but he actually stood with us and chatted. I asked how much longer they were in the states (3 days), and then I told Jay that I'm moving to London next week.
His eyes lit up and got really excited. He asked what for, where I was living, if I was excited, etc. He recommended visiting Brick Lane for the bars and things. He then said he had to go, but grabbed Hannah's face and pulled it in to kiss her on the cheek again (the look on her face was priceless) and did the same to me. Such a genuinely nice, nice guy.
Then, we left. I'm so exhausted, so hungover, but can't believe that we met them all. Looking back (and as I start to remember things), I might have been a bit obnoxious, but that was the alcohol talking and I know I was entertaining to Jay and Max at least. The concert itself was great, but the fact that they were signing and taking pictures for almost 3 hours after the show amazes me, and they were so congenial, easy to talk to, easy to approach. I also don't think they said the same thing to two people - they gave everyone a compliment of some sort (or an insult in my case - thanks, Nath), hugged them all and seemed genuinely interested in getting to know their fans. I'll be a fan for life because of that, beyond the music. If you ever have the opportunity to see them, do it. You won't be disappointed.
Review will be forthcoming…once my hangover lessens. I will say that those five guys are some of the nicest, most genuine people I have ever met. I sincerely mean that. They were amazing.
Let's be "controversial". Who had better performances The Wanted on GMA or One Direction on The Today Show? And your thought on the fans? I really liked the somewhat flashTWFanmily had.
Let’s be even more controversial and say that I didn’t watch or record 1D’s performance, but I did watch and record TW’s. To be fair, I’m seeing TW tonight and wanted to get a better sense of their live performance. I thought they were great - they were energetic sounded exactly like they do on their album, or better (as all performers should) and they truly seemed to be excited to be there.
I watched some youtube videos of 1D’s performance. First of all, how horrendous that the Today Show people couldn’t get their names straight? What kind of journalists are you? I thought they sounded pretty good (Harry in particular impressed me today), though I would have liked to have seen a bit more energy from all of them as a group.
Rather than comparing the two bands - I’m going to compare the two crowds, since that is where the cameras decide to focus most of their time for some reason. Yes, TW had the flashmob, which was pretty cool, though not as exciting as I thought it was going to be. It was pre-arranged, but still a cool thing to see. Now, the one thing I noticed about 1D’s crowd, aside from the screaming, was the fact that practically every single person had their phone out and was texting or videoing or taking pictures during the performance. Now, I know this happens at every concert every, but I’m of the firm belief that you will have at least 10x more fun if you put your phone away and actually enjoy the performance. Take a few pics in the beginning, but unplug and soak in the music.
Overall, I thought they were both fine performances. I’m more excited about TW though, mostly because I’ll be seeing them tonight.
