MASHUP!

Hey guys! It's been two months that I started introducing my favorite western music, and here comes the last post now. A little sad because I actually love to share those awesome singers to you. Both the lyrics and melodies have the magic power to reveal a lot of emotions, and recently, I'm indeed attracted by putting different songs some kind in the similar style, which we also call it "Mashup". Let's listen to the classic one - Pop Danthology 2012 - Mashup of 50+ Pop Songs first.

The main reason that I choose Western music as my blog topic is that I literally cannot live without music! As a part of my life, music not only reflects happiness and joy in life, but also sadness or anger, dissatisfaction or disappointment, just like reading stories piece by piece. Those singers I introduced during the past two months have at least one in common, that is, they all enjoy singing, not caring about others' criticism and pursuing their dreams with all their heart. I really admire their courage and severance, so I decide to perform a mashup consisting of my favorite songs myself. Hope you can enjoy it!>< (I'll try my best even thought just thinking of it gets me anxious! lol)

The Script

Hey guys! Last week I went watch the movie The Hunger Game: Mockingjay – Part2, which was absolutely thrilling and exciting. The main roles of this movie overcome numerous hazardous difficulties, some of whom even lose their lives, but they finally succeed in some aspects. After watching the movie, I’m really impressed by their courage and determination, which also reminds me of the song Hall of Fame by the Script. The lyrics of this song are inspiring and touching. I like the lyrics saying that ‘Do it for your people. Do it for your pride. Never gonna know if you never even try.’ So first, let’s appreciate this awesome song! (And I also advise you to go watch The Hunger Game as well lol!)

The Script is an Irish band formed in 2001. The band consists of the vocalist and guitarist, Danny O'Donoghue, bassist, Mark Sheehan and drummer, Glen Power. They have released four albums ever since, which are The Script, Science & Faith, #3 and No Sound Without Silence separately. Each of their albums became a hit soon after releasing. For example, the single The Man Who Can't Be Moved from The Script reached number 2 in Ireland, Denmark, and the UK. Moreover, due to the album, they received an award at the World Music Awards for Best Selling Irish Act of 2008. They also received many other awards as a result of their music and the lyrics of some of their songs are very inspiring, such as Hall of Fame and Superhero. So here is Superhero by the Script.

Avril Lavigne

Hey guys! Last Friday an awful tragedy arose in Paris, and numerous people lost their lives or got hurt due to the terrible attack, leaving many broken families. Their painful expressions, both of the deceased's and their families', just reminded me of the song, I Wish You Were Here, sung by Avril Lavigne. Let's listen to this beautifully touching song and pray not only for Paris, but also other places suffering.

Avril Lavigne is an French Canadian singer-songwriter. In 2002, at the age of only 17, Avril released her debut album Let Go and has become a universally well-known pop star ever since. This album also won her the reputation of the "pop punk princess". She released her second and third albums, Under My Skin and The Best Damn Thing, in 2004 and 2007 separately, some singles from which, like Girlfriend, My Happy Ending,Sk8er Boi and I'm With You, were so popular that people at all ages must have listened to them at least once! Girlfriend, especially, was even ranked the top one of US Billboard Hot 100. In 2011, her fourth album Goodbye Lullaby was released, and won many famous awards. Beside writing songs and singing, Avril also voiced for animation movies and operated her own brand Abbey Dawn.
Here is Let Me Go sung by her.

Ed Sheeran

Hey guys! This week I wanna talk about a British singer-writer, whose beautiful songs have companied me through every night during the midterm exams lol. He is Edward Christopher Sheeran, widely known as Ed Sheeran(紅髮艾德). Hope you enjoy it!(:

In August 2011, Ed Sheeran released his debut album Discography, and he won the Ivor Novello Award for Best Song Musically and Lyrically due to the single, The A Team, from this awesome album. This song was also nominated for Song of the Year at the 2013 Grammy Awards. After his great achievement on music, he became well-known around the world. He is also famous as one of Taylor Swift's close friends. As a matter of fact, Taylor's fourth album Red is the work with him, as a special guest. He even spent a lot of time touring for Taylor's The Red Tour. In 2014, Ed Sheeran released his second album X, and as a result of it won the British Award for Album of the Year. His music of the first album is more like the folk music, and in the second he added more elements of rap music. Maybe that's the reason why Taylor Swift and he get along so well, for they both like to try anything different.(even many people mock their "gap of height" lol!)

Here is The A Team from Discography.

And here is Thinking Out Loud from X.

Christina Grimmie

Hey guys! This week I wanna introduce another one of my favorite cover singers, Christina Grimmie. After seeing this name, some of you may have no idea who she is, but I bet most of you have listened to Just A Dream by Nelly covered by Sam Tsui and her, for that video clip has been watched for over one hundred million times on Youtube to date! (and I may have contributed dozens of times lol, cos' it's awesomely great!)

Here is Just A Dream from Nelly covered by Christina Grimmie and Sam Tsui.

This video clip, as a result, made her gain many good reputation. Many started to subscribe her Youtube channel to her latest video. It's pretty hard for one cover video to reach over one hundred thousand views, but Christina's are counted in millions. Actually, there are little special effects in her video. She just sings accompanied by her piano, or sometimes works together with others, such as Just A Dream with Sam Tsui and DJ Got Us Fallin' In Love with another famous singer Alex Goot. Beside uploading her own covers on Youtube, Christina also challenged herself by participating in the Voice, and surprisingly made an all-turn performance! She is so talented and has deep affection in singing that she has released two single albums and received great reputation for them. Her fans are all waiting for her third album because Christina hasn't uploaded a new clip for awhile, hoping that she will bring them more masterpieces!

Here is Christina Grimmie's performance in the Voice.

Here is Counting Star from OneRepublic also covered by her.

Demi Lovato

“Let it go, let it go! Can’t hold it back anymore!” I think it is nearly impossible that you have never listened to this song Let it Go from the famous animation Frozen. Maybe you have even listened to other languages versions, such as Chinese, Taiwanese, or some funny adaptions, but the original one is written in English and sung by a well-known female singer, Demi Lovato. This week I gonna introduce her, for up to now she has done so much efforts. Hope you enjoy it! (:

Demi Lovato, an American singer and actress, showed great talent both in music and theater when she was littler, making her debut at the age of merely 6. After that performance, she started to play the piano and guitar, and even took the classes of dancing and acting. The movie Camp Rock starred Demi Locato helped her gain popularity and played an essential part both in her acting and music career, and the leading role of the movie is also the reflection of her, who is talented but lack of confidence. Fortunately, both the leading role and Demi have a happy ending after their efforts and love for music. She has released five albums, one of which, Demi, received awesome reputation upon releasing, and the single Skyscraper can be heard even to date. She just released her fifth album this month and currently has starred many popular episodes.

Here is Let it Go from the animation Frozen

And here is Skyscraper from Unbroken

Madilyn Bailey

After reading my introduction for Taylor Swift and Bruno Mars during the last three weeks, I bet you have been much more familiar to them. As a result, this week I wanna introduce a different way to appreciate music. That is, cover, also what most of us like to do. Hope you enjoy it! (:

Madilyn Bailey, now a well-known American singer, gains popularity just by being a youtuber and doing what she loves the most - singing. Madilyn has covered many famous songs, such as Titanium by Sia, Blank Space by Taylor Swift, When I Was Your Man by Bruno Mars. For Madilyn herself, singing is not only one of her favorite habits, but also an important part of life, and a way for communication. As a result, you may feel like she is expressing something when listening to her beautiful voice carefully. Besides, the music style of the songs sung by Madilyn often gets different from the original one. Especially Chandelier by Sia, for example, after covered by her, became calmer, not that intense, but more emotional. What Madilyn does is not only "singing", showing off her awesome singing skills. Instead, she approaches songs in a deeper way, trying to express the moods and circumstances the lyrics stand for. Maybe she isn't a song-writer or a producer, Madilyn still makes her own way to her favorite music.

Here is Titanium Sia covered by Madilyn Bailey

And one of my favorite covers of her, Chandelier Sia

Bruno Mars

Hey guys!Last two I introduced one of my favorite female singers, Taylor Swift.So this week comes to male singers' turn! Hope you enjoy it! (:

Peter Gene Hernandez, also famously known as Bruno Mars, is both a singer-songwriter and music producer. Before becoming an individual artist, Bruno had written many songs for some well-known singers, such as Flo Rida and Adam Levine, and the songs Nothin’ on You and The Other Side also help him gain popularity. In 2007, Bruno released his first album Doo-Wops & Hooligans, from which the singles Just the Way You Are became a hit soon after releasing and even last on Billboard for over 4 weeks. His second singles Grenade also received awesome reputation. I bet lots of you have also heard his other songs like Marry Me, Count on Me, Talking to the Moon to name but a few. In 2012, Bruno released his second album Unorthodox Jukebox, and the singles When I Was Your Man, Locked Out of Heaven, Treasure are still widely played even today. The music style of Bruno is considered very wide, such as Pop, Rock, Blues, Hip-hop music. Due to his efforts and talent, Bruno Mars was nominated for Grammy Award and won Best Male Pop Vocal Performance for Just the Way You Are.

Here is Just the Way You Are from Doo-Wops & Hooligans

Taylor Swift (II)

On October 25,2010 and October 22,2012,Taylor released her third and fourth album separately, called Speak Now and Red. Some of her songs, like Back to December, Ours, Spark Fly, still keep the style of Country music, while the others, like Red, We Are Never Ever Getting Back Together,22,I Knew You Were Trouble, are combined with more elements of Pop music. Many people were shocked by the change in her music style, some even thinking that she was never "Taylor Swift" at all. However, for Taylor herself, she thinks she still keeps her love for Country music and what she did was merely try to add her new love, Pop music, to her songs."Everything is just a process." said Taylor, she loves her lyrics, and she's proud of what she has done. Red might not satisfy everyone, but it does satisfy Taylor herself.

Here is I Knew You Were Trouble from Red

On October 27,2014, Taylor Swift released her fifth album,1989,when she was also born. The music style of this album is totally different from before. Despite the success Taylor have done in Country music,1989 definitely belongs to Pop music albums. Although Red was nominated for four prizes, she didn't win any big prize. Taylor said that she was disappointed for real at first, but it was also due to the failure that she got a chance to think on her own. And Red is actually the transition to change her music style, and is indispensable for her."If I didn't undergo the failure, criticism, many things would be different now."Even though she have made some mistakes, even though she didn't do as expected, she still learned the lessons from it -- these are not nothing worthy.

Here is Blank Space from 1989

Taylor Swift (I)

Hey guys! It's absolutely awesome to introduce music, and what's better is that this week I'm ganna introduce one of my favorite singers, Taylor Swift, also so-called the most versatile music princess around the world!

Taylor Swift became interested in musical theater when she was little and started to write songs at the age of 12.Her talent in music is so great that soon after two years, when Taylor was only 14,she signed an artist development deal  and began her music career as a professional singer. From 2006 to 2008,Taylor had written several songs, many of which became a hit after releasing her first album Taylor Swift; People were fascinated by her voice and the unique lyrics, and, as a result, it was just weird not knowing this name --Taylor Swift. She won the Country Music Association's Horizon Award for Best New Artist, and was nominated for a 2008 Grammy Award of Best New Artist.

Here is Our Song from Taylor Swift.

Taylor's second album Fearless was released on November 11,2008.Still with her great talent and imagination, she wrote the song Love Story and immediately caught everyone's ear! The lyrics of this song is actually telling about how a teenage girl think of love, and maybe it was just because of its simple rhythm and lovely lyrics that almost people around the world were listening to her songs, and accompanying their own singing on a guitar, just like what Taylor always did. Country Music was greatly promoted owing to her efforts, and also became an important part in the world of music.

Here is Love Story from Fearless.