Glee has become a growing craze, dominating the attention of youth through television, as well as the music world. However, this phenom-enon hardly constitutes great new music fl ooding the airways. The high school version of Kidz Bop is quite pathetic in comparison to the songs it imitates.

It seems insulting that talented artists are losing in popularity to such copycat acts. Sadly, Glee’s fans have come to prefer the teenage remakes of classic and popular songs over the real artists and their works.

For example, Glee’s most popular remake is Journey’s immortal classic, “Don’t Stop Believin.” The majority of America’s Glee youth would most likely explain that “Don’t Stop Believin” is either a Glee original or they know only of the song as a Glee production; or at least, that’s what the iTunes charts would represent.

Perhaps that is why classic rock junkies, alongside many adults and fans of real music in general see Glee as a simple rip-off of great work.

Is the show well produced and full of talented singers? Absolutely. It is hard to deny that as a truth. However, a watered down “Empire State of

Mind” by the Glee cast is just wrong. The only “state of mind” it creates is one characterized by extreme disappointment as Jay-Z and Alicia Keys’ chart topper is reduced to a poor attempt at re-creation. Even worse, in songs such as David Guetta and Usher’s “Without You,” female vocalists are used as replacements. By changing the voice so drastically and altering the perspective of the song, it has been completely distorted.

Maybe Glee supporters enjoy paying $1.29 a song for remakes, despite the irony that the originals are often so old that they have been reduced to $.99 or less.

Altering pop favorites is not exactly a new art. As children, many of us listened to Weird Al Yankovic’s rewritten comedy lyrics or watched The Spongebob Squarepants Movie rework classic rock into its script.

These forms of media represented exciting works from bands like The Kinks and Twisted Sister in cool, youth-friendly ways.

As a result, many of us branched out, offi cially discovered the bands and began to listen to those artists.

One can only hope that Glee fans will use the show as a pathway to discover favorite artists, new and old, rather than continue to immerse themselves in Broadway-style versions of great music.

9ENTERTAINMENTFEB. 10, 2012

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Grammy and Oscar

Fab Four fans were excited to fi nd two new albums come out this past week. Ringo Starr’s Ringo 2012 and Paul McCartney’s Kisses on the Bottom exemplify the creativity that continues to breathe throughout generations. While these ex-Beatles have certainly depended on their past iconic success to grow as artists and musicians, both Starr and McCartney are continuing forward with their musical careers, opening up new ideas and developing individual sounds.

After the breakup of The Beatles, Ringo Starr pursued many aspirations from country music to rock covers. He found his niche with the All-Star Band, touring the world and develop-ing new songs and albums. Although Ringo has often been dismissed as the 4th Beatle, his musicianship and charisma have lasted throughout his career.

Ringo 2012 perfectly characterizes the personality of Ringo Starr. At 71 years old, he still has the energy to play Rock N’ Roll with his distinct passion and appeal to a wide audi-ence. Although the album is quite short, with only a total of 9 compact pop songs, it delivers a sense of care-lessness and fun. The album is pure fun and its production is of overall great quality. It could easily be better developed, but songs like “Anthem” and “In Liverpool” deliver the kind of energy that people have come to expect from such a classic rock icon.

Paul McCartney will be honored at this year’s Grammy Awards with the MusiCares “Person of the Year.” His activism as a musician and concerned citizen has had great impact over many people’s lives.

After the release of the song “Dance Tonight” on Memory Almost Full in 2007, I truly believed that Mc-Cartney had reached his peak. He had experimented in every genre from electronic music to movie scores and his expansion had been successful in nearly every way.

However, his most recent album, Kisses on the Bottom is incredibly un-foreseen and delivers a refreshing twist of simplicity. Although regard-ed as a pop album, McCartney bor-rows heavily from jazz music, along-side blues, folk and rock infl uences. His rendition of “Bye Bye Black-bird,” a classic hit from the 1920’s, as well as “I’m Gonna Sit Right Down and Write Myself a Letter,” both ex-emplify McCartney’s ability to pursue any genre or song and put his own style into it.

McCartney has been idolized as a Beatle, and his commitment to veg-etarianism and the environment have inspired many, but it is also reassur-ing to know that, at 69 years old, his music only continues to inspire and impress the world.

The tragic deaths of John Lennon and George Harrison are only fur-ther disappointing when we consider the amazing gifts that the remaining members of The Beatles have given us in the past few decades. It is inspi-rational to continue receiving works from artists who love music and have pursued it so fervently throughout their lives.

The Glee controversy

RECORDWho should win: “Holocene” – Bon Iver. Record of the Year goes

to the song with the best production, and with haunting vocals, a simple guitar melody and a beat that sounds like it is being played miles away, “Holocene” sounds like something out of a dream.

Who will win: “Rolling in the Deep” – Adele. No one can deny that Adele will win a majority of the awards she is nominated for at this year’s Grammy’s, especially due to the mammoth success of her sophomore album 21; however, “Rolling in the Deep” has no impres-sive production tricks, so “Holocene” overpowers Adele’s hit.

Should have been nominated: Kanye West’s “Runaway” gives loneliness its own anthem, and Foster the People’s “Pumped Up Kicks” has a cheeriness that makes its frightening lyrics even creepier.

SONGWho should win: “The Cave” – Mumford & Sons. Very few songs

are inspired by ancient Greek philosophy, and Mumford & Sons’ plati-num-selling single delivers it with passion and folk-powered fi re.

Who will win: “Rolling in the Deep” – Adele. Her lyrics are good, but it helps that the singer has one of the best voices in the past decade.

ALBUMWho should win: Though I am not happy with the nominations I

believe that Adele’s 21 should win for best album. She had multiple jaw dropping hits that are catchy and fan favorites.

Who will win: I am again on the bandwagon by thinking Adele is going to capture the grammy hands down. With her excelling vocals and relatable lyrics she is shoe in for best album.

ARTISTWho should win: It is hard to say whether the Grammy will again

go to true talent or jump back to defi ning based on commercial suc-cess. I’m going to predict Nicki Minaj as the winner so that I can be pleasantly surprised if I am proven wrong.

Who will win: Perhaps my bias is naturally steering me as far as pos-sible from new hip hop artists, but in reality, every essence of Bon Iver’s music far supersedes any works by the other nominees. Both J Cole and Nicki Minaj preoccupy themselves much too strongly with narcissistic language and binge drinking to have any real consideration. The Band Perry and Skrillex, though better qualifi ed as Grammy musicians, are too specifi c for Best New Artist. The Band Perry is slightly dramatic with its country licks, but this year’s Grammy artist shouldn’t be another Taylor Swift. Skrillex defi nes a new generation of music; it is powerful, electronic, intense, but not for most people who value acoustics or lyri-cal content.

FILMWhich should win: The Artist is by far the most emotional, moving

and relatable fi lm that has graced the movies in years. The silence of the fi lm does not take away from the emotion or create confusion; in fact, this aspect is perfectly utilized, allowing more dramatic expres-sions from the actors and demanding more perfection from Ludovic Bource’s soundtrack.

Which will win: While The Descendants, Hugo, War Horse and Mon-eyball all have specifi c essences that set them apart as great fi lms, only The Artist has received such consistently high praise from critics. The Descendants may create an upset, but it is more deserving of a Best Ac-tor award, especially because it depends so much on George Clooney for its success.

ACTORWho should win: Jean Dujardin, who was spectacular in The Art-

ist, deserves the Oscar because for an actor to be able to portray such emotion in a silent and black and white fi lm is an amazing achievement. Jean Dujardin who was once criticized for “having an overly expressive face” used his quirkiness to his benefi t to make this silent fi lm come to life.

Who will win: Surprisingly; I am on the bandwagon by thinking that Jean Dujardin will get the Oscar. He undeniably was incredible and will most likely be rewarded for his performance.

DIRECTORWho should win: Woody Allen should win for best director with

his fi lm Midnight in Paris. It was a spectacular fi lm that portrayed the differences between our modern society and the “Roaring 20’s.”

Who will win: Since The Artist seems to be the fi lm to beat, I am predicting that Michel Hazanavicius will get the Oscar. He is extremely worthy of the award because directing a silent and black in white fi lm that still is able to grasp the attention of its modern day viewers is not an easy task.

ACTRESSWho should win: Viola Davis deserves the Oscar for her outstand-

ing role in The Help. Though Streep is the most-nominated actress in the history of the Academy Awards, collecting her 17th this year I think it will be close but in the end Davis will pull out the win.

Who will win: It is defi nitely close this year, and this category could shake up the Kodak Theater on Oscar night. Viola Davis should win but I have a feeling that the fan favorite and winner might come down to Rooney Mara who was electric in the much-hyped and ultraviolent blockbuster The Girl with the Dragon Tattoo.

PredictionsThe Iliad staff predicts the winners, and reveals the ones that deserve it most

RYAN SULLIVANCHASE PADO