The Fray's new song's been found (along with a Lost teaser)!!

Finally! I had been anticipating this moment for more than a year: The Fray's first single from their second studio album made its debut last week! And what a debut it was!

The band's first song off their new record is called, as it was highly expected, "You Found Me" (formerly known as "Amistad") and it premiered last Thursday during a commercial break of Grey's Anatomy (Coincidence? I think not!) in a one-minute promo for the new highly anticipated season of another of my favorite shows, Lost! It was then streamed on The Fray's website and available on iTunes, which gave us the opportunity to take a look at the other tracks of the album that appears nothing but promising (can't wait to hear the official version of "Happiness", the song I had a crush on when the band previewed it during their Paris gig last year!). The album won't come out until February 3, 2009.

In the meantime, let's focus on "You Found Me". This song's amazing! I've been listening to it over and over again since I got it two days ago! It really reminds me of "How to Save a Life" for it has the same vibe, but yet sounds even more mature and achieved. Awe-some!

And since the song debuted during a promo for Lost, can I just say how amazing this teaser was!? Apart from the fact that the song is more than fitting for the show (Lost / Found, get it? Duh!), the first glimpse we caught of Season 5 made me want to be in January already!! I can't wait for the show to come back because it just seems that they are going to knock that new narrative dynamic out of the park!!

And when one of my all-time favorite bands comes back with a stunning new song to create a breath-taking promo for one of my all-time favorite shows, I can't do anything but applaud. And wait patiently until January (for Lost's new season) and February (for The Fray's new album).

Click here to listen to "You Found Me" and see it used in ABC's promo for Lost, Season 5 below:



Lost and insecure
You found me, you found me
Lying on the floor
Surrounded, surrounded
Why’d you have to wait?
Where were you? Where were you?
Just a little late
You found me, you found me
- The Fray, "You Found Me" (2008)

Snow Patrol, A Hundred Million Suns

One of my favorite bands, Snow Patrol, finally came up with a brand new album that's called A Hundred Million Suns.

The sound of this new record is typical of Snow Patrol and you definitely recognize their touch...

Best tracks of the album: Take Back the City, Crack the Shutters, Please Just Take These Photos From My Hands.

Take back the city for yourself tonight
I'll take back the city for me
Take back the city for yourself tonight
Whoa

It's a mess, it's a start
It's a flawed work of art
Your city, your call
Every crack, every wall
Pick a side, pick a fight
Get your epitaph right
You can sing, 'til you drop
'Cause the fun just never stops
- Snow Patrol, "Take Back The City" (2008)

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=lDGzB82bIZc

Grey's De-Gayed: Brooke Smith Axed!

What a disappointment! I was loving Grey's Anatomy so much this season but my enthusiasm was cut short when it was made public earlier this week that Brooke Smith (Dr. Erica Hahn) was being let go of the show! And that she had only one episode left (the one that aired last Thursday). Just like that!

Of course, this raised questions of whether it's her on screen lesbian romance with another character on the show - Callie Torres - that got her fired. Rumor has it that the network got cold feet over the "Callica" gay storyline and decided to put an end to it. On the record though, Shonda Rhimes (creator of Grey's) insists that Smith was axed purely for "creative reasons" and that it had nothing to do with the fact that she was playing a real lesbian (as opposed to Callie who seems to be more bisexual as recent storylines proved it). But Erica had the whole "I can see leaves" monologue in the last episode (I thought it was an amazing scene BTW; see video at the end of the post!) where she came to the realization that she was definitely gay.

But if she was not fired for playing a lesbian (the real first openly gay character on Grey's), then why didn't they end her relationship with Callie if the didn't like where this was going but kept the wonderful Dr. Han on the show??!

So I was disappointed with her departure especially because she wasn't written out proprely, it wasn't even made clear she was leaving - for good!

This doesn't mean I didn't like the last episode, I liked it a lot and I'm still really digging Season 5 but I'm just stunned they fired Smith. And I'm disappointed that her departure was so abrupt and was handled so poorly. She's a great actress and had been a wonderful addition to the cast and a great replacement for Burke (Isaiah Washington who was him fired for good reasons!)

But let's not assume that it is a trend and that gays are banned from Grey's: a new bisexual intern (and one of Mere's old BFFs) is set to start her surgical rotation at Seattle Grace as soon as next week! Let see how that goes... and Callie is still on the show! :)

Here are two videos: one is the aforementioned scene from last week's episode where Hahn realizes that she's gay (really great scene, well written and well acted!) and the other (also well-written but sad) is Hahn's last appearance on the show as it aired on ABC this week.

"You are glasses!" - Grey's Anatomy - 5.06 "Life During Wartime"

Erica Hahn's last-ever scene on the show - Grey's Anatomy - 5.07 "Rise Up"

Yes, We Can (And We Did!): Obama's Elected President!!

Wow, just wow, that's all I have to say!

I won't write tons and tons because so much has already been said about it (I mean, it's been on every single newspaper and all over TV and radio for the past two days...) but I just wanted to write a quick post about the election of the 44th President of the United States of America who was elected this past Tuesday: Barack Hussein Obama.

It's pretty difficult trying to explain how I feel since I don't quite understand it myself, but I've been overwhelmed with joy and hope. The funny thing is that I usually don't care that much about politics but this time it was different. This time, it felt like something different and good would eventually come out of it and that it was worth my attention. Because, no matter who of Obama or McCain won, it already meant something that was going to change no matter what: the end of the Bush era. And boy, isn't it something worth celebrating?!

Obama's victory sent a strong message of democracy to the entire world. It means so much on a political and historical point of view. Political because, obviously, things are going to change and for the better! Obama's ideas (with which I agree) are definitely going to be a complete 180 and a total departure from Bush's politics. So that's the first good thing. But Obama's victory is so much that just about politics. It's about reminding us that the American Dream still is alive and well; it's about hope and faith; it's a demonstration that all of our wildest dreams can come true. Yes, we can. It's America babe, everything's possible!

I mean, if someone would have told me a year ago that America would elect as a President an African-American whose second given name was "Hussein", I would not have believed it, not in a million years, and quite frankly, who would have? Who could have? This has never been seen before, History is being made right before our eyes.

From now on, to everyone who will criticize America to me for its political choices and for some of its values, I will play the Obama card, how unprecedented this is, and how we (as in France) are not even there yet! But you know what the good part is? I don't think I will even have to say that and "defend" America anymore. I feel like from the outside looking in, America will never be looked at and considered the same way ever gain. I mean, how could you not root for a people who had enough faith and trust in a guy like Obama to "dare" vote for him?!

I was reading an article of The New York Times today, written by economist and columnist Thomas Friedman, about Obama's victory and he said that this marked the official end of the Civil War. And that we can finally start to move on.

Now of course, a lot rests on Obama's shoulders, given the current state of the US and the world at large and expectations are immensely high, but maybe he can turn the situation into an advantage: the great challenges he will have to face may give him the opportunity to truly show his skills and what he is capable of. And who knows, maybe even make him one of the greatest Presidents. Only time will tell...

But for now, it's just about celebrating change and an historical landmark, that will, with no doubt, be written in history books as long as history books exist.

I'm back in the game!

Okay okay, I'm sorry for letting you poor readers down this past month as I've not been updating the blog! It's just that I've been (kinda) busy with school starting and everything, but you're right: it's no excuse!

So, from now on, I'll try to post more often even though I don't think I will be able to post as often as I originally wanted to, especially when it comes to all the television talk / reviews I meant to blog about but that's no biggie lol ;-) I'll stick with the most important and basic (short) stuff and save the more elaborate things when I got more time!

I just wanted to say, as a "welcome back to my blog" line that my school year kicked off to a great start, I like what I'm doing and I'm happy I've made the choice to go in that direction, it comforts me in my decision!

Other quick updates to follow up with previous posts:

- There have been TONS of new Tina Fey/Sarah Palin impressions on Saturday Night Live over the past weeks (the last one was this past weekend with the elections coming this Tuesday) and they are all just incredibly funny!! The real Sarah Palin, who seems to have a sense of humor, even showed up for a quick cameo one week (John McCain himself followed appearing in yesterday's show). Check those out at NBC.com you won't be disappointed!

- The Fray's second studio album finally has a street date: it will hit the stores on Feb 3, 2009! Can-not wait!

- I've been LOOOOVING the fall TV season so far!! Gossip Girl, Grey's Anatomy, Brothers & Sisters, Friday Night Lights, Dexter and others are just pure delight and better than ever! Special dedication to Desperate Housewives for its wonderful creative resurgence with the 5-year-jump that could easily have backfired but it turned out to be the best year of the show since its first season! Only disappointment: Heroes, which seems to be making everything up as it goes, with no general plan and no back meaning whatsoever, using cheap gimmicks and ridiculous plot twists too often. And it's becoming wayy too confusing! Only silver lining of the show right now: Kristen Bell!! :D Pleeeaaaase bring the old Heroes back before it's too late!

I'll try to post some pics later on but in the meantime, here's a fun one of me taken just two days ago at the Halloween Party hosted by McTalky !! :D :P

(Just so you know, If you can't tell, I went as Christmas-Mickey Mouse LOL :D :P Why the Christmas Mickey? Well, just because I didn't have the simple mouse hat with just the ears, I just had the Xmas one! :D)

See you guys in a few, have a great week!

Music: The Fray's new album is "coming soon"...

I've been waiting for The Fray's second studio album for a while now ("How to Save a Life" was released 3 years ago), especially since I had the chance to hear a few of their new tracks during their show in Paris last Fall; tracks that just blew me away once again.

Rumors had the new album coming out before the end of this year but some sources are now saying it will only be available at the beginning of 2009... One sure thing: this new record is "coming soon" according to the the band's recently-updated official website...

Only time will tell... In the meantime, Joe & Co have posted vlogs of their new tunes to make the wait a bit easier.

Where did I go wrong, I lost a friend
Somewhere along in the bitterness
And I would have stayed up with you all night
Had I known how to save a life
- The Fray, "How to Save a Life" (2005)

Sarah Palin's (or is it Tina Fey?!) SNL stints

Probably the most talked-about moment in last week's pop cultural events, Tina Fey's portrayal of Gov. of Alaska Sarah Palin in the season opener of Saturday Night Live was just plain HI-LAR-IOUS! Her costar and great comedic talent Amy Poehler as Hilary Clinton was also a knock-out but truly, what remains of this sketch is Fey's performance. First, the physical resemblance between the recently Emmy-winning actress and McCain's running mate is astonishing! And Fey's interpretation is so good that you really believe she's the real Palin! Second, because it's SNL, the script and the lines are just as sharp and funny and good as can be! The best line of the piece has to be the sure to become legendary "I can see Russia from my house!"
It is a real laugh-out-loud moment and if you haven't yet seen it, just click on the clip above and knock yourself out!

The second clip is from this week's SNL where Tina Fey reprised her role as Sarah Palin by popular demand for another hysterically funny sketch! Amy Poehler is still here as well but this time as a news anchor asking the Republican vice-presidential nominee questions about the campaign, the damaged economy and... you know... other real serious stuff... But Fey's/Palin's answers are truly priceless! So funny and yet so true... This is really good stuff here!

Live from New York, it's Saturday night!!!....