Demi Lovato - Here We Go Again

Sophomore albums by Demi Lovato and Jordin Sparks are now in stores. Demi opened for the Jonas Brothers' Burning Up tour last summer, and Jordin opens JB's world tour this summer.

I voted for Jordin to win over Blake, but I am more of a Demi fan. If I were torn between which album to purchase, I would go with Demi. Here We Go Again was $2 cheaper than Battlefield at WalMart. We'll see who ranks higher on next week's Billboard 200.

When I first saw both artists for the first time, I was only vaguely familiar with their songs. Demi wins this round again, for her rocking set (7/12/08 Verizon Wireless Amphitheatre, Irvine, CA) was filled with high energy and I loved the songs. But perhaps I was a bit biased as I did enjoy her performance in Camp Rock. I saw Jordin when she went on tour with Jesse McCartney (8/7/08 Orpheum, Los Angeles, CA). She used up all the songs of hers that I knew 3 songs into the set. From then on it felt like I was watching American Idol, with not much movement, just singing. Her voice is amazing and I really loved the way she waved and acknowledged her fans in the audience, but she could have added something more to the performance.

In a radio interview, Demi mentioned that she took somewhere around a month to write the album, and 2 weeks to record. That seemed like a very rushed time frame, and it probably was since there were a few track listing changes. I love her single "Here We Go Again." It would have been awesome if I had been one of the select to be in the music video, but what can you do xD? Don't think I didn't catch the Twilight reference in "Solo," Miss Lovato! Good Job :-)! In comparison to her last album, Here We Go Again is more edgy, which is expected as Demi has grown in the past year. There aren't any anthems like "La La Land" and "Party", unless you count the Sonny With a Chance theme song "So Far So Great."

Go check it out, people!

Sparks and McCartney

Grace really wanted to see Jesse McCartney in concert. He was having a great year. "Leavin'" was number one on the radio. Departure is an great album!

The concert was at the Orpheum. It's cool because this is where they hold auditions for American Idol and So You Think You Can Dance. I really liked this venue. It was small and quaint. There wasn't a metal detector check, so we were free to roam with our cameras. We had orchestra seats, row H! Alissa and Kelley went too =]

Jordin Sparks performed first. "Tatoo" and "One Step at a Time" were one of the first songs she sang. Those were the only ones knew, so I wasn't sure what to look forward to. I felt like I was watching an episode of American Idol, without the judges' critiques. She didn't do much. It's her and her style. She did make an effort to smile and wave to her fans. The girls in front of me were estatic when she flashed them a heart.

During intermission, we met up with the girls upstairs in the mezzanine/balcony. They spotted Travis Garland in the audience. They had gotten pictures, and a bunch of girls lined up to get their own pictures. Most of them didn't know who he was, but they still wanted pictures.

Jesse's set was so good! He wore a "Sexy Back" type suit, and his backgroud singers also served as background dancers. It was almost like a boyband. He was so cute! He sang most of the songs on Departure. He also sang his hits, "Beautiful Girl" and "She's Not You." Sadly, he didn't sing "Right Where You Want Me." During "Oxygen," a new song, he chose a girl to come up on stage with him. He serenaded and seduced her. We were all like WHOA. We were also jealous.

After, we went to the back to try to meet him. There were about 20 other people waiting too. Travis was there again, and he stopped for second round pictures with us. We can't say the same goodness of Jordin or Jesse. We waited for a long time. When Jesse came out, he dashed straight to his car without even waving at us. It was kind of lame.

I still enjoyed the concert. I just won't wait for him ever again.