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I paid $90 for my last haircut, no dye job. Of course, my husband paid $10. I also cut off 6 inches (pretty dramatic change) so I went to a much nicer place then I normally would.
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Yeah that's what I was thinking, in regards to the price of the styling. I just figured the wardrobe was part of the makeover, and maybe she went to a Scottish thrift store or their version of the Salvation Army or some such.
You might say "who gives a leather jacket to a thrift store?" But I'm thinking of doing it. I bought a nice jacket last year, but we get a free leather jacket at work after being there 5 years, which sadly, I have been as of last month, and I'm thinking of donating it. They're really nice jackets, but I don't need two.
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Yeah, not remotely uncommon to find leather jackets in thrift stores. I have one I picked up for $5 at the local Christian Ministries place across the road from my office. (Of course, it then cost me $35 to have it professionally cleaned. . . .)
Leather in general tends to be in overly plentiful supply at thrift stores. From the number of leather pants and skirts I turn up at even the most hole-in-the-wall places, I tend to hypothesize that an astonishing number of women dream of wearing leather only to realize they're too shy to wear it in public once it's been bought.
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quote:I tend to hypothesize that an astonishing number of women dream of wearing leather only to realize they're too shy to wear it in public once it's been bought.
Or like many of the things you find in thrift stores, the original owner gained weight and couldn't wear it any more. That's particularly likely with leather since it lasts forever.
My husband rode a motorcycle for many years. He bought a leather jacket from a thrift store back in about 1980. He put in over a hundred thousand miles on the motorcycle wearing that jacket and its still in fair condition.
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I suspect that she's made a bit of money either from her television interviews or an advance on a recording deal and so she's spending money treating herself to some of the things she's done without for years. She's been unemployed and so probably hasn't had money to spend on nice clothes or a trip to the beauty parlor. Many women would do exactly that.
It's not so much a make-over as it is finally having the resources to do things for your self you couldn't really justify when you were unemployed.
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I pay about $50 pre-tip to get my hair dyed. It's actually $60, but that's with the long-hair charge, which she wouldn't have. I cut my hair myself because it's long, a simple cut, and paying to get it dyed every six weeks is a bit daunting.
I think she looks great, and, more importantly, she looks happy. More power to her.
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I no longer have any doubts about whether or not she was the voice of that "Cry Me a River" track. She was rather sensational, and I don't think that's changed much. Talk about a diamond in the rough.
She still has some serious competition. There are a couple good child singers, a couple good adults singers, a bunch of really impressive dance acts, and a lot of crap too. But I don't think she'll get lost in the shuffle.
And the dance acts are really, really impressive. I love this show, though I feel like it's time to get past the auditions and on with the real thing.
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Susan Boyle is through to the semi-finals of Britain's Got Talent. She'll sing first off in tomorrow night's first semi-final. The format is that people call in for their favorite, who advances to the final round, and the judges pick their favorite as well, who advances to the final round.
She's up against:
Faces of Disco, a sort of comedy dance act. Natalie Okri, an adorable 10 year old soul singer. Diversity, an amazing street group with a great story. Sue Son, an electric violinist. Nick Hell, a weird sort of street performer. Julia Naidenko, a belly dancer, and one of the most gorgeous women I've ever seen. Darth Jackson, a Darth Vader and Michael Jackson impersonator.
From what I've seen, I think Sue Son, Susan Boyle, and Diversity will be the three big ones. Okri is a cute little girl and a halfway decent singer, but not as good, and Julia Naidenko is hot beyond belief, but hotness isn't a talent.
I was seriously disappointed that acts like Darth Jackson made it through at the expense of some other really, really great acts that I would have liked to see more of. There was a four man African themed dance act that was stunning, but lost to that guy. I understand the whole thing is, to a degree, fixed, but it was still disappointing.
Edit to add: Simba wa Africa is the four man African group that didn't make it. It's really too bad, I wanted to see more. Maybe they'll try again next year. I thought they were really, really impressive to watch.
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I think they audience and the judges got it right, given the performances.
This link has all eight performances in order of appearance in HQ on Youtube, plus the results.
I thought Boyle started off weak, but was better than her competition. Diversity was great. Natalie Okri really did pick the wrong song, Sue Son was pretty decent, Julia Naidenko is one of the most beautiful women I've ever seen, and I wouldn't be surprised if she's just fine despite her loss. Darth Jackson, as expected, sucked. Nick Hell got buzzed off, and Faces of Disco was meh.
Preview for tomorrow (for anyone interested in the show beyond Susan Boyle):
I think there is more talent in this group than the last. Flawless is amazing, like I said along the lines of Diversity, and stand a great chance of advancing. James Pugh and Shaun Smith are both really good, but totally different singers, which makes me wonder how much of it will depend on their song choices and performances. DJ Talent and Peter Coughlin are awful and don't stand a chance in hell. The Hot Honeyz weren't one of the better dance groups, so unless they have something amazing planned, they're out too. Gareth Oliver is funny, so I'd call him a wild card, as is Merlin who might wow people if he comes up with something really shocking or amazing.
I still think the top three will be some combination of Flawless, James Pugh and Shaun Smith, maybe with Merlin and Gareth lurking behind them.
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I thought her rendition of "Memory" last night was really good... I was worried for the first 10 or 15 seconds that she was going to choke (started off pretty weak), but then she gathered herself and did magnificently.
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Shaun Smith and Flawless went through to the final round. I'm glad Gareth Oliver came in third, he was really good. I think I was right about Smith and Pugh as far as song and performance go. Pugh picked the wrong song and sang it poorly, Smith picked a pretty good song and really ran away with it.
Off the top of my head, Kayode Oresanya is absolutely awful. He sounds sort of like a cross between a saxophone and someone killing a cat. The Barrow Boys are kind of funny but very plain.
Shaheen Jafargholi is the obvious odds on favorite. The kid is really good, and short of picking an awful song or really just bombing it, I think he'll win the public vote into the next round.
Everyone else...it's a weird mix. Floral High Notes is a ridiculous act. Like Ant and Dex said, it's like arranging flowers with the radio on in the background, but the women is actually a really, really good singer. If she dropped the flowers, she'd be great. It just doesn't make a lot of sense. Ben and Becky were maybe a little blah, but ballroom dancing can be really explosive. Harmony was okay. The girls are cute enough, and they sing quite well together, but what song will they pick, and can they do something big? MD Showgroup were pretty cool in the audition, but compared to Diversity and Flawless, it was a little plain. I think they'll have to really put on a show.
Then there's my personal favorite; Stavros Flatley. Those two are hilarious, and I wonder what they'll come up with next. If it's clever and funny, I could see them going on, but it can't just be a rehash of their audition.
I see Shaheen in the finals, with any combination of MD Showgroup, Stavros Flatley, and maybe Harmony. It'll be interesting tomorrow.
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quote:Off the top of my head, Kayode Oresanya is absolutely awful. He sounds sort of like a cross between a saxophone and someone killing a cat.
A friend of mine does a really crazy mouth trumpet. No matter how many times I hear him I'm always astounded at the sound. He even works in a beatbox sometimes which I'm not exactly sure how he does without breaking the laws of physics.
Posts: 8741 | Registered: Apr 2001
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That guy is 100 times better than Oresanya. Did you watch the link?
I play the saxophone, and they even had a guy playing the sax on there as well, and he sounds nothing like anything I've heard. And that's not a good thing. I don't have a problem with the idea of people mouthing instruments, but they actually have to sound like the instrument they are impersonating.
posted
oh yeah, sorry I didn't really make my intention clear. That Oresanya guy was terrible. I was providing the link to show that people can do mouth instruments, and sound good doing it.
Posts: 8741 | Registered: Apr 2001
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I was a little surprised that Stavros Flatley made it to the next round, but I liked their act tonight. It's sweet how you can see how much they love each other and how happy they were at the end. *sniff* Also, how funny is it that their backup dancers were employees at the family restaurant? (I think)
I agree that the Floral High Notes thing is kind of random. I have to assume that it's something the husband and wife can do and practice together as a couple - otherwise why would you combine those two things?? I think they had a good point when whoever said that the queen would probably like it, though. The rest of the royal family (and country), maybe, not so much.
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I was surprised to see Stavros Flatley go through too, based on that performance. I think their audition was better. I think Shaheen didn't pick the best song, and neither did Harmony. Oresanya was awful as predicted. MD Showgroup was pretty decent, but again, I liked their audition better. Ben and Becky were meh, the Barrow Boys were bad.
I'm hoping Stavros Flatley will put something really cool together for Saturday's show. A lot of groups do a repeat of their audition performance...and I think that might actually serve them well, or maybe doing something else Michael Flatley related and kicking it up a notch if they can.
To be fair though, based just on the performances, MD probably should have gone through over Stavros, but between Shaheen and MD, Shaheen might have had the edge.
Posts: 21898 | Registered: Nov 2004
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The schedules are up for the last two semi-final performances. Tomorrow's looks pretty weak, again.
Fabia Cerra and Fred Bowers are both just awful. They have no business being there. Sugarfree is very middle of the road. Jackie Prescott and the Tippy Toes I don't remember seeing, but usually doggy dance acts don't do very well. The Brit Chix are also very middle of the road.
I think it'll come down to Aidan Davis, since apparently pre-teen breakdancers are very in vogue in Britain for some reason. Julian Smith, and 2 Grand. The thing about those last two is, Julian Smith's audition was actually pretty weak. I seriously could have done that. My intonation might not have been quite as good, but it wasn't at all a hard song to play. Will he do something more impressive this time? And 2 Grand is a grandfather/granddaughter singing act, where the girl is actually really, really good, and the guy is just awful. If Floral High Note couldn't get through with a good singer, I don't think they will either unless they dump grandpa. I see Julian Smith and Aidan Davis going through, barring any surprises.
Semi-final 5 is going to be loaded with talent though.
Callum Francis , a young singer/theater performer. Debbie Chapman Dancers, an all girl dance group. The Dream Bears, I won't waste your time with a link, they're an awful all male comedy group. Good Evans, a family singing act. Gregg Pritchard, a male soprano. Hollie Steele, a 10 year old singer. Luke Clements, weird juggler guy. Martin Macham, singer and guitar player.
If I were Callum, given his obvious penchant for theater, I'd do maybe something Gavroche related from Les Mis. The character lines up well with his personality, and he has a great accent and nice clear voice.
A couple people here just don't stand a chance, like Luke Clements and the Dream Bears, but the other six are either really good, or stand a chance of having a great performance. Martin Macham wasn't great in his audition, but I could see him picking a better song and coming up with something pretty good. Hollie Steele was adorable and great. If she picks a good song and nails it (unlike Natalie Okri), she could go on. Good Evans has a lot of good individual singers, like the mom (who despite the judges, I think is really good), and the kid, who is pretty good. The little girls are adorable, but they sing pretty badly together as a family. Gregg Pritchard is strangely entertaining, as you don't see many male sopranos, but I think he's good, and with a good performance could go on. Callum Francis is adorable and has exudes charisma. The DVD Dancers are compelling as well. If they dance well and don't just have gimmicky costume changes, they stand a chance.
Two of my major complaints about the show are that A. Great acts are left behind while utter crap makes it through. I can only imagine it's because it's rigged to a degree to send through certain acts that they favor. B. That there can be a night of crap, like tonight's, and like what night four looks like, and then have a night where several great groups (night five) are all clumped together and only two can advance.
I still like the show though, flaws and all. Even if parts of it are fixed and staged, and if talent scouts are combing the countryside to find these people instead of them randomly showing up (Susan Boyle, apparently), it's still largely about unknown people getting a shot at something bigger, and I've seen some crazy and impressive stuff. At the very least, it's entertaining, and it's not, mostly, low brow.
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Wow those last few episodes were pretty cool and also a little sad.
Hollie Steel broke down crying in the middle of Edelweiss, and then asked to sing again. She was initially told no by the producers, at which point she really let loose, but then Simon told her she could sing again, and apparently the producers weren't happy about that (leading them to have Ant and Dec say before the Final that NO exceptions would be made), but they couldn't very well overrule him on live TV like that. So she tried again and did a really good, job, and they sent her through to the next round. For a ten year old, that was pretty impressive I thought.
The finals were pretty tight, lots of great performances. But Diversity won, with Susan Boyle coming in second.
I was rooting for Diversity, and I'm really glad they won. Their main competition was Flawless, but I think Flawless had a really, really weak final, though I think their Semi-final was really good. They're both amazing dancers, but I think Diversity is just so damned creative, I'm glad they won!
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From what I watched, it had to be either Susan Boyle or Diversity. Those two were on a level of their own. Everyone else was good (except that grandfather, who was merely sweet), and Stavros Flatley brought tears to my eyes, I was laughing so hard.
I would be sad for Susan Boyle, but she's probably already got a recording contract and she'll continue to have her dream of being a famous singer.
Posts: 2849 | Registered: Feb 2002
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Yeah the grandfather wasn't that good. His granddaughter was pretty good though. It'd be interesting to have her come back on her own next season.
Stavros Flatley already has offers for a number of engagements. And apparently Prince someone of Monaco wants Diversity to perform at a Red Cross benefit. It looks like no matter who won or lost, most all of them will find a way to make their talent pay off in the near future.
I've seen two news reports that both Boyle and Diversity are set for film deals detailing their lives and rise to stardom.
Susan Boyle: The Musical!
Diversity as a movie might not play well in America. Too many dance movies here lately, especially ones that focus on street dance, but if they played themselves in the movie, I'd go see it. They're compelling, have a lot of charisma, and it's not some "rise from the hood" movie like everything has been around here lately. The kids are still in primary school, and everyone else is in various levels of college, or grad school, or tech school. They dance for fun, not to escape stereotypical poverty. So I actually think it'd be really interesting.
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I am really really partial to Shaheen Jafargholi, I think he did an amazing job in both the semi and the final(not to mention his original audition), and personally think he out sang Susan Boyle on both of those occasions. I admit that Diversity's final performance was spectacular, and they probably deserved to win, but I think it should have been Shaheen standing up there with them.
Some stuff pre finals:
I think MD showgroup got robbed. Stavros is funny, and sweet, and entertaining but I thought MD showgroup put on a much better performance in the semis and I dug their message and it was sad to see Stavros breeze by on what is mostly a gimmick act. That's my personal opinion though, and Simon was right on when he said that what they do is make people happy, and there's nothing wrong with that. Shaheen breaking down when he got picked over MD was really touching.
I also think Callum Francis got screwed when they advanced 2 Grand. The girl is great, but the granddad is just wretched. And I think Callum(while not the strongest of singers) put on a few great performances.
Thank god for youtube, I just caught up on all the semi final performances over the last two days!
edit: oh, Hollie's breakdown was really difficult to watch.
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I just watched the final, not having seen anything but a handful of YouTube clips (mostly Susan Boyle's) until now.
I loved, loved, lovedStavros Flatley. I was howling with laughter, and like Piers said, that was for all the right reasons. I totally would have voted for them had I been able to.
I agree that Shaheen was great, and that the grandfather in 2 Grand was the weakest link (but sweet).
That said, Diversity rocked. That win was well deserved.
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I agree about Callum and about MD Showgroup. I thought MD was great, their energy was friggin amazing, and I liked their message.
I think Simon picked 2 Grand though because he felt that Callum was already good enough to succeed on his own, whereas 2 Grand would just plain be done if they didn't go on.
I was shocked really to see Diversity win. I thought that Flawless would split the dance vote, allowing a singer, likely Boyle, to win. I'm seeing tons of coverage in America of Boyle, and lots of comments saying she was robbed, but I think for anyone who watched it all the way through, it's hard to say that Diversity wasn't deserving.
I still think Stavros Flatley is hilarious, and the two of them are just infectious.
I'm glad they allow for entire episodes to be put up on YouTube, else people outside of Britain wouldn't be able to watch it. Simon remarked on the YT phenomenon and how the popularity of the show exploded, especially here in America, as a result. He plans to bring Susan Boyle over here because of her popularity, but I have to imagine he'll wait just a little bit. She still needs some polish, despite her naturally strong voice. She's still no Elaine Paige.
Posts: 21898 | Registered: Nov 2004
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quote:I think Simon picked 2 Grand though because he felt that Callum was already good enough to succeed on his own, whereas 2 Grand would just plain be done if they didn't go on.
Yeah, he explained why he picked them, I just still disagree. You're right though that Callum would not have won the competition, and will most likely be fine on his own from here on out anyway. He's got a really natural sense of performance, and if he improved his voice a bit(which is already quiet good) could be spectacular.
Posts: 8741 | Registered: Apr 2001
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Bad news today about Susan Boyle. I hope she recovers soon - between this and the little girl crying onstage, I'm starting to wonder what kind of presure this show puts people under.
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I don't think this particular show puts people under any more pressure than any of the other copies of it do. There have been dozens of kids on the show of varying ages, some younger than Hollie, none of whom have broken down. And in other British shows like X Factor, or the American talent shows, I don't know of anyone who required hospitalization for stress.
I don't think the show puts people under any extra stress, but I do think the media and the public do.
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