'AGT' Semi-Final Week One Recap

This week's 12 semi-finalists | Photos: America's Got Talent

NBC's, arguably, most popular show is in its last month of competition.

America's Got Talent began its first of two semi-finals this week, pitting 12 of the best acts against each other with six moving on to the finals.

It was a - well - interesting night. There were many great performances and a few duds. Here's what I thought about each act.

Tone The Chiefrocca

I'm still shaking my head that judge, Mel B, brought these guys back as a wildcard. In case you haven't been keeping up, the duo sings one song - "B-DOUBLE O-TY" - which was hilarious the first time they auditioned but now it's just annoying. Have to give it to them, the guys are really funny and bring a lot of energy but this act is not good enough to move on.

Red Panda

One member of the acrobatic duo, The KriStef Brothers, experienced an injury that prevented him from performing so Howie brought in his wildcard pick, Red Panda. This is a balancing act of sorts where a woman is on a tall unicycle, balancing bowls on her foot and then flipping them up on her head. 

She flew into New York the morning of the show so she had little time to prepare. Despite that, she amped up her act and fared pretty well. She did drop a bowl while flipping them up to her head which could cost her. I still applaud her, though, because I know I couldn't even balance on the unicycle much less flip bowls onto my head.

Angela Hoover

The celebrity impressionist got some criticism that her material wasn't all that great during her quarterfinal performance. She definitely worked on it and was spot on in my opinion, with her impressions of Arianna Huffington and Sharon Osbourne - among others - being spot on.

Duo Resonance

Heidi's pick for a wildcard last week was this acrobatic/strength group. The act is great and I know I couldn't do the things they do but each performance is too lovey dovey for me. The two performers are a couple and each performance shows the beauty of the male/female relationship. 

Heidi preaches about having acts that she can take her children to. While this may be an "appropriate" act to do that I bet young children wouldn't really get the point of it. I'm 21 and I wouldn't pay a high price per ticket for a Vegas show to watch this for an hour or more.

Collins Key

I'm a little biased because Collins is my favorite on the show. The guy is only 17 yet pulls off magic tricks like a pro. His act this go 'round had the judges playing match maker, matching Collins up with the "perfect date."

Long story short, a young lady who had a special red card under her seat was pulled from the audience. Each judge had to choose a ball from separate bags naming a characteristic of his "date" - hair color, what she was wearing, shoes and a "wildcard."

Right before his act, America chose via Twitter hashtag where the newly formed couple would go on a date. Every single item selected matched the characteristics of the woman and Collins had the hashtag selection written on his arm. I'm still in shock every time I see one of his magic tricks.

Innovative Force

This dance team is pretty awesome. But tonight was interesting for the young girls. It seemed like everything on stage was a little too busy, taking the focus off the dance team itself. The judges echoed my opinion. Overall, they are still pretty amazing to watch.

Dave Fenley

I really liked how Dave decided to just be himself and sing with his guitar instead of some big getup.

That being said, I didn't like the fact that he went with a Spice Girls song. I guess it was an effort to impress Mel B - who was "Scary Spice." I liked the fact he threw in bits of beat boxing which was different for him but it was just okay for me.

Taylor Williamson

#Taylords unite! Taylor is a person who can turn pretty much anything into something funny. The comedian brought the house down with his simple, witty and awkward comedy. He's just a likable guy overall.

Jonathan Allen

This young opera singer has an amazing story of overcoming adversity in his life.

His family disowned him after he revealed he was gay. But that didn't stop him from pursuing his dream. He decided to cut down his performance to just himself and a piano. It was beautiful and showed a different side than just all power notes. Unfortunately, it was just okay for me.

Cami Bradley

She is already a star but I'm really glad she's on the show. Cami kept with the theme for singers tonight and did a stripped down performance of the Elvis Presley classic "I Can't Help Falling In Love With You" on a platform right in the middle of the Radio City Music Hall audience. 

There's really nothing more to say than wow! The only thing is I wish she would do a more upbeat song and not get content with doing these slower songs.

Catapult

This dance group brought something the show had never seen before: telling stories through shadows and dance. Although what the group does is amazing, I can't see myself paying a lot of money to sit at a show and watch the same thing over and over for an hour or more. Like me, the judges seemed to have also been confused as to what story the group was trying to tell. I think America will agree. 

Forte

Although it was harsh, judge, Howie Mandel, was right when he said that Forte booted Jonathan Allen out of the competition. The trio's rendition of the Righteous Brothers' "Unchained Melody" received the only standing ovation of the night from the four judges.

So who will make it through? In no particular order, here are my top six:

Collins Key, Forte, Taylor Williamson, Cami Bradley, Angela Hoover and Dave Fenley

Watch to see who are the first six acts to move on TONIGHT at 9/8c on NBC. 

NMM: 75 Years In The Making

Fred Stobaugh and his wife Lorraine | Photo: Alltop.com

Fred Stobaugh can't sing but that didn't stop him from penning a song that was in his heart. A tribute to the love of his life.

The 96-year-old from Illinois decided to write the song to put both his grief and memories on paper after his wife of over 70 years passed away.  He sent the song into Green Shoe Studio's singer-songwriter contest,catching the eye of producer, Jacob Colgan, as the only snail mail entry.

But it wasn't just that. Colgan was so moved by Stobaugh's song and story that he decided to put it to music. Now, "Oh Sweet Lorraine" is a viral hit on YouTube and is also available on iTunes.

When the song was finished, Stobaugh said in a MSN Now article that it was great but a sad kind of great.

"I really, really miss her," he said.

Watch this amazing video from Green Shoe Studios which includes the song...

Review: Lee Daniels' The Butler

Eugene Allen (L) and Forest Whitaker (R) | Photo: Slate / Kevin Clark / The Weinstein Company

Forest Whitaker and Oprah Winfrey star in a film based on the amazingly true story of a butler who witnessed pinnacle moments in American history.

Whitaker plays Cecil Gaines - based on the real life butler, Eugene Allen. The opening scene shows a very young Cecil on a cotton plantation with his mother and father (played by Mariah Carey and David Banner, respectively).

Viewers get a taste of what life was like on the plantation when one of the white owners (Thomas Westfall, played by Alex Pettyfer) takes Cecil's mother into a barn where and rapes her. Cecil's father confronts him and is shot dead in cold blood right in front of Cecil and the other slaves. The matriarch of the home takes Cecil in to be a house servant, thus beginning his career as a butler.

The film continues to follow Cecil through his young adult years where he later takes a job at a ritzy hotel in Washington, D.C. His excellent work is noticed and he is offered a job at the White House.

Cecil worked in the White House for eight presidential terms - from Truman to Reagan - witnessing many historical events in U.S. racial history and the struggles for equality that ensued.

The film chronicles many events including the assassinations of John F. Kennedy and Martin Luther King, Jr., the sit-in at Woolworth's in Greensboro, N.C. and the March on Washington. Not to mention the violence and uproar that accompanied these trying times.

There are quite a few differences between the film and the story of the real butler, Eugene Allen. However, at its core, Lee Daniels' version of this remarkable story is filled with life lessons and opens viewers' eyes to the true volatility of this time in American history.

The Butler is arguably the best "mainstream" film this year and definitely deserves Oscars talk.

NMM: Rising Stars

Photos: Google Images

For this week's edition of New Music Monday, I decided to feature a few up and coming artists. 

First up is Ebon Lurks. The 17-year-old is fresh on the music scene and has recorded many cover vids on his YouTube channel. He recently released a debut single called "One Day" on iTunes and it's awesome.

Have a listen!

Next is a person many of you may know. Zendaya is an über-talented actress, dancer and singer. She stars as Rocky Blue on the hit Disney Channel show Shake It Up! and placed second on this season of ABC's Dancing With The Stars.

Zendaya has already scored a couple award nominations and is currently recording her debut album with Hollywood Records. In July, she released a track off that album called "Replay" and it sounds amazing.

Check it out!

Last but not least is Nick Tangorra. The 15-year-old is quickly gaining popularity. Nick is frontman of a trio, joined by his brother, Rafe, and their friend, Will Ahrens. The band just released a brand new album a couple weeks ago called Teenage Love & Other Stories.

One of the tracks off that album is "Beautiful Thing," an upbeat song with a positive message that's sure to get stuck in your head.

Listen to it here!

The Other 43 Pages

Photo: Takaaki Iwabu / Getty Images

N.C. Governor, Pat McCrory, signed sweeping election changes into law Monday even after admitting he had not read the entire bill. 

The bill is the strictest of its kind in the nation and has garnered much criticism, leading to the state being the butt of many jokes on political talk shows and late night television.

The 46-page bill was passed over concerns of integrity in the voting process; chiefly with regard to voter impersonation fraud. In all actuality, voter impersonation fraud is non-existent in North Carolina.

More than 300,000 eligible voters - mostly seniors, people with disabilities and minorities - have no valid government I.D. and these changes will add yet another hurdle they will have to clear just to be able to vote.

The bill offers a "free ID" that can be obtained from local DMV offices. Although the IDs are free to the people who need them, the funding will have to come from somewhere.

Try over $800,000 for 2013 and 2014 and then over $24,000 every two years after, according to WRAL. Money that should be spent elsewhere. Additionally, in-state, college-issued student IDs will not be accepted at the polls.

But the ID provisions are just three pages of this 46-page bill. The other 43 pages focuses on even more unnecessary tactics.

These include cutting the early voting period by one week, eliminating programs that pre-register 17-year-olds to vote, cutting same day registration and opening the flood gates for special interests to give secret funds to groups influencing elections.

The only "good" thing to come out of this bill is a hotly contested provision that would have affected North Carolina students who decide to vote at their college rather than at their parent's residence was not included. Unfortunately, the bads - and there are many of them - out-weigh the goods and these new laws will only hurt North Carolina and its people.

We know what McCrory had to say about voter ID but we don't know what he thinks about the other 43 pages. He decided to cower behind a YouTube video.

He said we need photo ID to "board a plane or cash a check" dismissing the fact that flying on a plane or cashing a check are not guaranteed rights laid out in the Constitution.

As director of N.C. Policy Watch, Chris Fitzsimon, put it the people in power in Raleigh are not concerned with voter integrity. They know full well that their policies are unpopular among voters so they are rigging the system to make sure those who disagree with them can't do a thing about it.

There goes democracy in North Carolina.

Breakdown of the Bill from WRAL

Additional Read: UNC and Duke Students Come Together to Fight Voter ID Bill 

Fans Or Politics?

Photo: Billboard / David Bergman

What's up with state fairs lately?

First there was the Florida-Georgia Line ticket debacle at the North Carolina State Fair, now this.

Legendary band, Bon Jovi, had set up a headlining show at the New York State Fair in Syracuse but cancelled the appearance citing a "scheduling conflict." 

The conflict? Playing a private, $1,000+ a plate fundraiser for Governor Andrew Cuomo.

The band was scheduled to appear at the fair on Aug. 28 for an estimated 17,000 fans, projected to net $1.1 million in revenue. Instead, the concert was scrapped, leaving "a whole lotta fans a whole lotta pissed" as described by a report from Ultimate Classic Rock. 

A story on Billboard cited the Ultimate Classic Rock report, saying that "the decision to pull out of the State Fair appearance was in an effort to save political face as there would be a conflict 'playing a private show for the governor and three days later being paid $650,000 to perform at the fair.'"

So why is this a big deal?

Lee Ann Taylor, the morning show host on the Binghamton, New York, classic rock station, 99.1 The Whale, told Billboard the fair has been struggling as of late and this concert would have been huge for the area. 

She went on to say that "choosing politics over the people is becoming a disturbing trend with music artists...Upstate New York is hurting and Bon Jovi would have lifted her spirits."

You know, this is really upsetting. Gov. Cuomo is a Democrat but that really doesn't matter. Regardless of the political party, this is wrong! Here you have thousands of excited fans - some having followed Bon Jovi for several years - and the band up and cancels on them. 

As governor of New York, Cuomo should have insisted the band play at the struggling fair instead of his snoody fundraiser where half the people probably won't even know who they are.

I've always been a fan and had thought about getting tickets if the band ever came to North Carolina. Now I'm not so sure about that. 

The guys of Bon Jovi need to remember who got them to their superstar status in the first place: the fans.

Review: The Way Way Back

Photo: The Way Way Back

Rated PG-13 for thematic elements, language, some sexual content and brief drug material

Nat Faxon and Jim Rash pull triple duty as actors, writers and directors for The Way Way Back, a film starring Steve Carell, Toni Collette and Alison Janney.

The film follows a very shy teenager named Duncan (Liam James) who goes on summer vacation with his mom Pam (Toni Collette), her overbearing boyfriend Trent (Steve Carell) and Trent's daughter Steph (Zoe Levin). Duncan finds it hard to fit in anywhere and normally just stays around the house. 

We see how Trent treats Duncan right in the opening scene, giving him a "3" on a scale of 1-10 when referring to how Duncan is as a person. Trent's constant pestering gets to Duncan, resulting in him finding refuge in the Water Wizz water park and its manager, Owen (Sam Rockwell).

Duncan gets a job at Water Wizz - unannounced to his mom and her boyfriend - and an unorthodox method of encouragement from Owen propels Duncan to come out of his shell. 

It's sad to sit there and watch Duncan get treated like he does. Throughout the film, viewers are found rooting for him and wanting to punch Trent - well at least I wanted to. Luckily in the end, Duncan fights back and Pam realizes how much Trent has changed her, wanting to go back to her old self.

With great bits of comedy and a touching, lesson-learning story line, The Way Way Back is one of the best movies of the year. Unfortunately, like The Kings of Summer, it'll get overlooked by other blockbuster films. 

A tagline for this film is "We've all been there." Although it's a fictional story, you can relate to it in some way. And that's what makes The Way Way Back a must see. 

NMM: Alexandra Lee

Photo: Alexandra Lee / Facebook

With a gift of telling a story through her music, Alexandra Lee is well on her way to becoming a star.

The Wild Blue Records artist is quickly making a name for herself on the country music scene. She released a self-titled, debut EP just last week and is already featured in the "New and Noteworthy" section of iTunes.

One of the songs on that EP is a duet with my friend, Tyler Barham. The song, called "You've Got This Hold On Me," is just flat out beautiful. The pair was put together by each other's management teams and it was undoubtedly the right move. 

Have a listen for yourself!

Experience Of A Lifetime

The Idol Finalists performing Phillip Phillips' "Gone, Gone, Gone" | Photo: Chris White

I had the opportunity to go to the American Idol Live! 2013 concert in Charlotte Thursday. Little did I know it would be the greatest experience of my life!

I purchased the VIP Meet and Greet Experience which included seats in the first five rows, a meet and greet with the Idol finalists, a pre-show soundcheck and some exclusive, VIP merch. 

The experience started about three hours before the concert where all the VIPs met at the arena box office for check-in and to receive instructions on how everything was going to play out. We were met by a tour rep - who was awesome I might add - and were led down to this lounge area where the Idol Finalists were. We met another tour rep, whom I remembered from the Idol Tour I went to a couple years ago, and he kept everything running smoothly during the meet and greet - while adding in a little humor as well. 

We first took a group photo and then we had about 30-45 minutes of "mingle time" with the Idol Finalists. I ended up getting to meet and get autographs from everyone. They were all so nice!

Group photo with the Idol Finalists | Photo: American Idol Live 2013 / Flickr

I loved meeting everyone but I have to say I was mostly excited to meet Paul Jolley and Devin Velez. They were my favorites on the show this year and were super nice. I wish I could have had more time to talk to them. I was so excited and nervous to meet them that I didn't tell them everything I wanted to; like how they were my favorites on the show and telling Devin I was one of the lucky fans he follows on Twitter.

It was a true honor to meet them!

Me with Paul Jolley (left) and Devin Velez (right) | Photo: Chris White

Like I said, everyone was so nice and I'm a fan of all of them. In past years, some of the Idol Finalists left the room after the group photo. Everyone in this year's group stayed to hang out and talk to us. I really loved that!

After the meet and greet, we were led into the seating bowl of the arena for the soundcheck. This was our breathtaking view walking in...

Photo: Chris White

The soundcheck lasted for about 20-30 minutes. I'd never been to a pre-show soundcheck before so this was an entirely new experience for me. It was awesome to get a little preview of what was to come during the concert.

The Idol ladies during soundcheck | Photo: Chris White

After that we were taken back up to where we started - right in front of the merch stand of course - where we could stock up on Idol Tour gear before anyone else. We were also allowed to stay inside the building until the doors opened about 45 minutes later. I ended up finding a great place to sit and got some dinner all before the doors opened. I thought that was an added benefit of the whole experience.

The concert itself was amazing! There was a mix of group numbers and individual performances with the winner of this year's show, Candice Glover, closing it out before a final group performance of Phillip Phillips' "Gone, Gone, Gone."

And speaking of Candice. I'm not positive on this but I believe her mom was sitting just a few seats down from me! There were these two women in purple "Candice Glover" shirts and one looked like her mom. Just an interesting tidbit!

I had a blast at this concert! I didn't want any of it to end. This whole experience was well worth my time and money for sure. I'll never forget this for the rest of my life!

Thanks to the Idol Finalists - Aubrey, Kree, Curtis, Devin, Paul, Candice, Angie, Burnell, Amber, Lazaro and Janelle - for all the memories and for being so awesome at the meet and greet! I'm looking forward to watching you guys accomplish great things in the future! 

Also, thanks to Time Warner Cable Arena, American Idol and everyone who works on the tour. It really does take a lot and I respect each of you for your tireless work to put on something like this concert.

You're Out

From left: Arnold Schwarzenegger, Sylvester Stallone and Bruce Willis | 

Please pardon the baseball reference as this Oops Award has nothing to do with baseball.

Sylvester Stallone and other execs for the new film The Expendables 3, currently filming, ousted one of their stars over a money dispute.

Bruce Willis was reportedly offered $3 million for four days of filming but didn't like the offer and countered with $4 million. That's right. He wanted $1 million per day to shoot the film.

Co-star Arnold Schwarzenegger took to social media, calling Willis "greedy and lazy" and saying his actions were a "sure formula for career failure."

It didn't take long - 72 hours to be exact - for Willis to be replaced by Harrison Ford. 

An insider told The Hollywood Reporter "I think [Willis] was pretty surprised he was replaced in 72 hours by Harrison Ford - a better actor, a much nicer person and a more interesting direction for the film."

Full Story

Concert Sellout Angers Fans

The Florida-Georgia Line concert sold out within five minutes. | Photo: Facebook/N.C. State Fair

The North Carolina State Fair hit a sour note with thousands of fairgoers trying to buy tickets for its headlining concert this year.

Fans were looking forward to buying tickets for country superstar band, Florida-Georgia Line's, concert on October 20 at the Dorton Arena in Raleigh but were surprised to find the show had already sold out within five minutes of going on sale.

Tickets for all concerts at this year's fair went on sale Thursday at 10 a.m. There was a presale for those in the band's fan club on Wednesday. The presale had a limited number of tickets available for purchase with more than 4,000 being saved for the public sale.

With measures in place to curb scalping and tips given on the fair's Deep Fried blog, it seemed as if things would go smoothly. That didn't happen.

The problems began during the Wednesday presale. Ticket website, Etix, reported that it had issues with its Google Captcha system. Fans reported other issues through Facebook and many fan club members were left without tickets. This was only the beginning.

Tickets were released promptly at 10 a.m. for the public sale on Thursday but, once again, hundreds of fans reported issues they were having with the Etix site on Facebook.

Some fans reported having tickets in shopping carts and the system timing out well before the 15-minute time clock expired. Others said they logged on at 10 a.m. and were left waiting for a long period of time, being told tickets were unavailable by the time they were able to get through.

Meanwhile, tickets appeared on Stubhub and other sites for multiples of the face value - $10 - before the show had even sold out. Some even selling for a whopping $900 each, a 9,000 percent markup.

Here's the story from WRAL.

Unfortunately, selling tickets online for a ridiculous markup is legal in North Carolina and other states.

According to NCGS § 14‑344, Internet sites can sell tickets above face value without a cap unless specifically prohibited by the venue. The reseller must also provide a guarantee that the buyer will receive a refund if anything goes wrong with the ticket purchase or if he/she is denied admission into the venue - which most secondary ticket sites offer.

I contacted the N.C. State Fair and Etix and received conflicting reports.

When pressed about problems of this magnitude not really occurring at venues smaller than Dorton, an Etix rep said via Twitter that shows at those venues didn't "draw in the same numbers" of people as the fair.

On the contrary, The Durham Performing Arts Center drew in around 10,000 interested buyers for its Jon Stewart show alone while, according to Etix data reported by fair officials on Facebook, 10,000 buyers logged on for all 11 concerts combined.

But then, a rep for the North Carolina State Fair said in an email that 10,000 people logged on just to get tickets to the Florida-Georgia Line concert. Very confusing indeed.

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

My Thoughts: Unfortunately, my grandma and I were among the disgruntled fans who couldn't buy tickets. We go to at least one of the Dorton Arena shows each year. We were both ecstatic that Florida-Georgia Line was coming and even my dad, who's never interested in the concerts at Dorton Arena, wanted to go. The other concerts the group scheduled in North Carolina were not headlining shows and tickets for the fair concert were dirt cheap compared to the others.

On Thursday I, like many others, logged online to the fair's website and waited patiently for the clock to strike 10. As per the guidelines on the fair's website and blog, I refreshed the concerts page which took a full two minutes to load again (10:02).

It took another minute (10:03) for the page to load where I could select the number of tickets. I was then placed "in line" where it was another five or six minutes before the system took me to the tickets review page (around 10:10). By that time it was apparently too late as I received multiple messages saying there were no tickets available.

There have been grumblings on social media asking why WRAL even treated this as a viable story. Most of those came from people who had already scored tickets or who had a free pass into the show to begin with.

WRAL found it to be newsworthy as it affected people not only in the Triangle-area but in North Carolina as a whole. I applaud reporter, Julia Sims, and WRAL for being the only local news team to cover this.

I'm not stupid. I know that tickets were not solely purchased by scalpers and people who wanted to resell them but something has got to be done to fix this problem. Here are four suggestions.

Lower the Limit: The ticket "limit" placed on this show was way too high. Fair officials placed a limit of 10 tickets per order while most venues put a limit of four or five, at most, especially for high demand shows.

I ordered tickets for the Hunter Hayes concert in Greensboro during a presale and there was a strict limit of four tickets per order. Once the public sale went on the limit was increased to six. Ticketmaster clearly stated it would cancel any order that exceeded these limits and/or cancel multiple orders associated with the same name, e-mail address, billing address, credit card number, etc.

Go Old School: Revert back to the old school way of distributing tickets. That's right, have fans line up outside the arena the day of the show - don't allow camping out - and distribute tickets based on the number in one's party. One ticket for one person, etc. This may limit online scalping and could leave just "street scalpers" who are subject to stricter laws than online resellers.

My mom and grandma both remember a time when it was free to get into the Dorton Arena concerts at the fair. The catch was you had to line up early if you wanted a good seat. Just because the Dorton concerts were free back then didn't mean the entertainment lacked. In fact, the entertainment was just as good - perhaps even better - than now.

Looking at past fairs, Dorton has played host to Garth Brooks, Patty Loveless, Clint Black, Travis Tritt, Chubby Checker, Alan Jackson, KISS and Emmylou Harris, just to name a few.

Use a Different Ticketing System: Many people have had good experiences - up until this - with the Etix ticketing system. Quite honestly, it's not all that great in my opinion. I've always had little issues here and there when ordering fair tickets and I think this debacle shows that a sale of this magnitude cannot be handled by the Etix system. I'm not saying other ticketing systems are perfect either but this should definitely be looked in to.

Stay Local: Many venues have also implemented a policy that limits online sales to just residents of the state in which the event is being held. This policy is already in place for most shows at the Durham Performing Arts Center.

The whole situation is unfortunate. Judging by social media - especially Facebook - there were many other fans who experienced the same problems and made their voices clear to the N.C. State Fair, Etix and Florida-Georgia Line.

Unless you experienced this situation first hand you really don't know what happened.

My grandma, dad and I are still contemplating whether we're going to the fair at all this year. If we do, we've decided that we will not be attending any Dorton Arena concert, opting for the free entertainment instead.

NMM: A Little Country, A Little Alternative

Rachel Holder and Jackson Guthy | Photos: Google Images

Today's New Music Monday features two rising stars in very different genres of music.

First up is Rachel Holder. The 18-year-old is well on her way to super stardom.

At just the age of 15, she attended an intimate Vince Gill concert in Chattanooga, Tennessee. In between songs, Rachel raised her hand and boldly asked the country star if she could sing a duet with him. Gill agreed and the pair brought down the house with a performance of "Oklahoma Swing." Since then, Rachel has proven that she is a fearless artist. 

Last week, Rachel released her latest single, "Lord Help Me," which is actually an old demo written by Carrie Underwood that received new life. Rachel picked it up, put her own spin on it and recorded it in what should be a solid hit for her. 

The song is so new that there is not a video out yet but it is on SoundCloud. Have a listen!

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

Next is Jackson Guthy. If this name sounds familiar, he's the son of Bill Guthy, who runs the direct-marketing company Guthy-Renker, and businesswoman Victoria Jackson, CEO of Victoria Jackson Cosmetics. 

At just 17-years-old, Guthy has already made a name for himself. He recently released two songs off an EP called Launch, due out later this year. In April, Jackson performed those songs on The Ellen DeGeneres Show to rave reviews. He's been out on the road this summer as the opening act for Big Time Rush and Victoria Justice's 38-city "Summer Break Tour."

One of his latest songs is "Roll" a tune with a different flavor than mainstream pop. With amazingly-written songs and a silky-smooth voice, Jackson is well on his way.

Have a listen here!