-----------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------

Welcome to the Performance of the Month AmIRight contest! Good luck to all contestants. . .this contest is open voting for all SOTM, POTM, and ABC current and past participants wether or not they have entered this contest.  The rules are fairly simple and mostly similar to other contests.  The difference, this contest is played with your ears instead of your eyes!

1. All voting will end promtly at the very end of the month.
2. All contestants currently in the POTM need to comment and vote on all contestants by that time
3. Failure to vote by the deadline will result in forfeit of your points
4. Failure to vote will result in a penalty of 20 points to be applied to the following month's contest (no DQs)
5. Once You've Voted, You can not change your vote UNLESS your vote was invalid
6.  In the event of a tie, procedures mentioned in the entry thread will be followed up to 10th place
7.  You can't vote for your own song
8. You can't vote for another song more than once in the same contest
9. This round has 4 entrants, so you get to vote for your TOP 5 (5 points for 1st, 4 for 2nd etc)
10. HAVE FUN

------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------

1) Charnstar:
http://www.gifthalloween.com/images/toddler_spiderman2.jpg
The Battle Of Spider-Man 2
Lyrics

2) Matthias:
http://catcherintherye.blog.kataweb.it/photos/uncategorized/broken_computer.jpg
Are You Naive 'Round Gadgets
Lyrics

3) Phil Alexander:
http://www.davidfeldmancomedy.com/archives/blairpoodle.jpg
My Way (Blair Version)
Lyrics

4) Red Ant:
http://news.bbc.co.uk/media/images/41001000/jpg/_41001785_swearing_203.jpg
Foul Mouthed Me
Lyrics

5) Ethan Mawyer:
http://www.queencollector.com/Shame/gerbil.jpg
Who Wrote This, Your Gerbil?
Lyrics

6) Below Average Dave:
http://www.northshire.com/images/smellybus.jpg
Smelt You On The Bus Line
Lyrics

7) Rick Cormier:
http://yellowbrickroadonline.com/images/WG_1893_WWE_Legs_House_Bank.jpg
I'm Pinned Beneath My Things
Lyrics

Can I quickly point out that the lyrics to the "My Way" flash are slightly abbreviated (Special offer: 33% off!) as my co-conspirator in this reckoned the OS goes on too long for the average internet user's attention span.  But then, the lyrics run through the flash, so you can read 'em (and weep) as the song's playing.

How does one vote and comment on the entries themselves? Can I just include my comments with my votes in this thread?

The 5 point performance, in my opinion and that's all that counts for my vote, goes to Phil  Alexander. There's a good reason why jibjab in 2004 was much  more popular than all parody performers that don't release videos...visuals are a huge boost. It would take an absolutely mind-blowingly amazing pure recording, like a spaff/lund production, to take the top spot over this, and no such recordings are in the competition. Bonus points for topical relavence.

2nd place, for four points, goes to Rick Cormier. Easily the most professional sounding recording of the bunch, this could probably e played on the radio without irritating people much more easily than most parodies or the original song. And its funny. It did drag on a bit near the end, but I don't think anything could have been done about it.

3rd place goes to Red Ant's recording. It was a little hard to understand in spots, but I've atttempted performing mmy version of that eminem song several times and I know how hard it can be to do. I think the part where it really stands out (positively) as a recording is the shouted line about giving Tourette his syndrome.

4th place, 2 points goes to BADave for smelt you on the bus line. That was a good quality recording, but didn't stand out all that much especially because of the inevitable comparison to another one rides the bus.

5th place - this one was tough, but I'm giving it to the charnstars based on having a target audience that can relate to it. It was hard to understannd with all the echoes and the accents on "spiderman" sounded off (syllable stresses not regional accent). But Spiderman has many fans, and catering to a fan base is a good thing.

honorable mention - matthias with that gadget song. It seems like the original song is a bit out of Dave's comfort zone as far as the notes involved, and that made the vocals sound annoying to me. Possible what the american idol people call "pitchy". Also, and I seem to be in the minority with this opinion but 'll stick with it anyway, but I believe that matching words to the original to such an extent that it sounds unnatural is a very bad thing. Especially in a recorded parody. 

Thanks, Ethan! I've no problem with you leaving comments here. A note for other entrants: my recording was unintentionally bass heavy. If you have the means, adjust your EQ so the bass is nearly gone and the upper ranges are boosted: it'll sound much better.  :)

Just to say I've enjoyed listening to this month's lot - the musical purist in me wishes we could all produce backing tracks as beautifully as Rick, but hey, if there was no room for improvement, where would we go?  Anyway, votes as follows:

5 points - Red Ant's Foul Mouth
Brilliant - beautifully constructed, superbly executed, Dave.  All-round marvellous :D

4 points - Rick's pinned
One bit of advice I got from Eclectech when doing the recording for the "My Way" was that My Way is too slow and people'll get bored before the end - hence the double-speed, high-pitch variant you'll have been listening to... but that's my only real complaint with this.  A marvellously authentic C&W accent on this one: "thangs" make me smile, and I love Rick's voice on this one: I'd love to hear him tackle a Kenny Rogers song or two.

3 points - Ethan's Gerbil
Didn't take to this immediately, but after listening to the OS, I know *exactly* what he's on about.  Definitely bonus points for a super spoof.

2 points - Dave's bus-line scentence
Good recording over a fairly thin backing - not laugh-out-loud funny (sometimes I feel that Dave goes out of his way not to pick his best recordings for this compo.. but who am I to second-guess his decisions?)

1 point  - Matthias's naivété
Definitely one of those parodies that work better on the page - I think it's to do with how you get to stress the funny lines when you're singing: I missed quite a few of the jokes that I found funny when reading the parody.  I don't think I'm trying to blame Dave for a bad recording, it's just that especially singing over a karaoke backing, you don't get the chance to emphasise the bits you need.

Honorable mention: Charnstar's Spidey ballad
OD'd on echoes - sorry, but that definitely detracted from the overall effect.  But a good voice - I've no doubt we'll hear better from the Charnstar in the future (especially if he gets the hang of not having the mike right in front of the lips which'll reduce the pop on hard consonants)

One point goes to My Way (Great animation thingy)
Two points go to I'm Pinned Beneath My Things (Hilarious!)
Three points go to Who Wrote This, Your Gerbil (SO FREAKING TRUE)
Four points go to Smelt You On The Bus Line (I catch busses alot, I understand your pain)

AND THE BIG FIVER GOES TO...

RED ANT'S FOUL MOUTHED ME! Rap is always the hardest to parody, I've tried and failed. But Foul Mouthed Me was superbly written and recorded, and that's why it gets my five points.

Honourable mention to Are You Naive Round Gadgets. Sorry Matthias, it was good, but Ethan was write, sounded unnatural.

Well, I will leave my comments on here, because I don't want to go find each comment page;)

Thank you Kristof Robertson for hosting this for me this month. . .it allowed me to focus on other things and get my mind out from being wrapped around. . .well you know what was/is going on. . .anyhow. . .

HM to Matthias. . .Well, being the one that performed it, it was kinda an awkward piece, the midi didn't help me, but you know I won't trash myself or your lyrics, it's just not the best one to be performed, which is why from now on we are going to have to pick songs I know better, and that you've wrote better, both of which we have lots to work with considering the quality of your selection.

5th, 1 point Charnstar. . .I have to be honest here, if I was going only by the end result, Matthias probably would have gotten my one point, but you have A LOT of potential as a recording artist, your vocals are pretty good, and you managed to make it interesting, but if you are to sing over your own voice (which I admit I do) Make sure that it is in the OS or that it is perfect because I had trouble understanding you at several parts with competing vocals.  THAT SAID, very good job, and I really hope this isn't the last we hear from you.

4th, 2 points East Coast Parodies. . .another one that I performed, I actually LOVE this one, but this month is a tough month, I know how hard it was for me to pull this off.

3rd, 3 Points to Phil Alexander. . .I think I laughed more at the mouths with legs than the song. . .absolutely fantastic

2nd, 4 Points to Rick Cormier. . .The quality of your recordings, quite frankly, is astonishing, I think you could literally sing about anything, and impress me.

1st, 5 Points to Red Ant. . .Your first POTM, your very first. . .and wow. . .what an entry it was. . .may win from the looks of it.

This was a lot of fun! I had left some comments on the Amiright pages for some of these but, had trouble locating others so, I'll comment here:

Five points to Red Ant's "Foul-Mouthed Me". Excellent job on a tough song to parody AND record. Good to hear a recording by one of the top Amiright parodists.

Four points to Phil Alexander's ripping of Tony Blair. The video was great too!

Three points to Ethan's "Who Wrote This, Your Gerbil?". I love songs that bash the original artist and, this was done very well.

Two points to Dave's stinky bus line. Funny premise, well executed, Dave.

One point to Matthias' gadgetry. The backing track was a bit cheesy but, you still pulled it off.

Honorable mention to Charnstar. Keep at it, mate, you've got talent.

5 Points: Rick Cormier, This was a very, very, very good recording. It sounded like Weird Al quality, since the song was both hilarious, AND quality work. Fantastic job.

4 Points: Phil Alexander, If this was just the recording it was have gone lower, but the video saved you on this one Phil. The reason it would have gone lower was not because you did a bad song, but because I didn't really understand most of it, and it wasn't that funny compared to some of these others, but the video saved it, because the video was hilarious.

3 Points: Red Ant, Rap being the first thing you actually recorded?!?!?!?! And I was looking for an easy song to start myself out on, this takes not only balls, but emence talent as well, and I just have to give this to you, because I was completely shocked and amazed.

2 Points: Ethan and Dave, I'm giving this one to you, because this is such a tough song to do. Not only writing-wise, but recording-wise as well. It's fast paced, and sounds hard, because she's not even singing it's more like she's screaming lyrically.

1 Points: Below Average Dave, I think this should have won for the "Ages of Amiright: Transportation Event". This was by far the best of that lot, but as of this lot "Heard It On The Grapevine" is such an easy song... And although I see the differences of this from Weird Al's "Another One Rides The Bus". One is about crowds, the other is about smells, the only thing that is similar is the fact that they both take place on a bus, and they're recordings.

Honorable mention first: Charnstar, I can tell you have a really good voice and will make better recordings in the future. The duetting with yourself on a song that has but one vocalist was a novel idea, but the effect was simply too weird for me to get past. Had you been more in time and key with your backing self, the parody may have ranked in my 5. All said, a tough cut for a very good effort.

1 point: Matthias - This one turned out better on paper/screen than in the recording. Odd syntax really stuck out in places. Not putting you guys down at all, 'cause I liked it, and Ethan and Phil already said what I was thinking.

2 points: Ethan - I didn't get some of the lines here, but I do like song satires and this was well done. Dave doesn't sound like Anvil Latrine, which is a good thing. 

3 points: Phil - The decision to speed up the song and the animation had a 'Peter Gabriel meets South Park's Saddam Hussein' thing going there, which was cool. I think the song would probably lose out a bit w/o the video. Not knowing much about British politics didn't help me, unfortunately...

4 points: BA Dave - One of your better efforts, especially with the backing vocals. Not much else to say...

5 points: Rick C - I've been waiting for this one to be recorded for quite some time, and the performance did not dissappoint. Regarding the length, IMHO this one would be better if it were cut at ~ the 3:35 mark, a radio time edit, if you will. Still very funny work.