BuzzSugar

American Idol Rundown: Mariah Times Seven

BuzzSugar — Wed, 16 Apr 2008 09:30:30 PDT

If you asked me if I wanted to sit through an hour of Mariah Carey karaoke, my answer would be an emphatic no. But there I found myself on Tuesday, watching the top seven American Idol contestants warble their way through the singer's catalog. Frankly, it wasn't as bad as I expected - mostly thanks to the guys, who had no choice but to change up their songs rather than go for straight-up Mariah impersonations.

Mariah herself seemed genuinely happy to be on Idol, and it was good to hear her giving actual constructive feedback to most of the contestants, asking them to change up the chorus or try some falsetto. Some took her advice and got good results; others ended up looking like poor Mariah imitators. Which contestants fell on which side of that line? Don't forget to vote for which singer you think is going home, and to hear my take, just

David Archuleta - This may be horribly unpopular, but the longer the season goes on, the more I wonder why Archuleta has such a teen following. He really isn't terribly charismatic, either when he talks or (especially?) when he sings. That said, this song was technically perfect, as virtually all of his performances have been; it's just a shame that it didn't make much of an impression otherwise. Randy said David can sing anything, Paula said he made Mariah proud, and Simon said he'd set the benchmark for the evening.

Carly Smithson - Her feedback from Mariah was that she needed to be confident singing "Without You," but when it came down to it, she still seemed to be forcing things. The lower notes at the beginning seemed to be hard for her (it was almost like she was trying to flee from that section as fast as possible), and the runs sounded good but looked so labored. Interestingly, the judges' comments were also mostly about confidence: Randy said she needs to trust her voice, Paula liked that she showed some restraint, and Simon said she was holding herself back and didn't meet the Mariah standard.

Syesha Mercado - Speaking of vocal runs, how much do you like them? Because if you love them, you probably loved Syesha's performance of "Vanishing," and if you hate them, well, there wasn't much in that one for you. She's likely lucky that she tried a lesser-known song, because I couldn't for the life of me remember how Mariah's version went and so it was harder to compare. Randy said it was a tough one but she pulled it off with just a few pitchy moments, Paula said she was wise to pick a relatively unknown song, and Simon disagreed and said the song choice was risky.

Brooke White - You know, I wish she'd stuck with what she was doing in rehearsal and performed "Hero" on the guitar. That would have at least changed it up a little, rather than make it sound like she was doing a pale imitation of the original. I keep thinking back to Brooke's "Love is a Battlefield" and wondering why she can't do that kind of thing with all her performances. Randy said he liked it up till the bridge, Paula said it was authentic, and Simon said it was like ordering a hamburger and only getting the bun because her voice wasn't strong enough to provide the meat.

Kristy Lee Cook - First of all, where can I buy that dress? As Mariah songs go, "Forever" was probably a good fit for her voice; she doesn't quite have the depth to pull off the chorus, which sounded somewhere between flat and screechy depending on the note, but she certainly sounded better than she did a few weeks ago - though it's hard not to think about what a stronger singer would do with that song. Randy said it wasn't great but she hit some of the tricky notes well, Paula was blown away, and Simon said that Mariah week was never going to be a great one for her so it's just good that she held her own.

David Cook - OK, now this was cool. David Cook singing "Always Be My Baby" took the silliest, poppiest song and made it into some kind of weird, dark stalker anthem. Voice-wise, the song seemed a little too low for him again, but he more than made up for that with a few Mariah-style glory notes and a pretty great chorus. He got so emotional after (possibly because of his brother being there) that I just had to root for him this time. Randy said David's the only contestant ready to make an album, Paula said it sounded like a movie soundtrack song, and Simon said it was like leaving "karaoke hell" behind for some fresh air.

Jason Castro - He also made his song, "I Don't Wanna Cry," into something utterly different from the Mariah version; I suppose his was the "barefoot on the beach version." It's actually pretty cool, very pleasant, and I want to steal Simon's "pleasant walk in the park" description of Brooke last week, because that's exactly how it felt to me. Randy thought it sounded like background music at a weird luau, which I don't think was meant to be a good thing; Paula responded that she'd like to be at that luau all night long (ew). Simon brought some sanity by saying it wasn't the night's best vocal, but it was very Jason.

My favorites: David Cook, Jason Castro

Bottom three: Brooke, Syesha, and Carly, with a possible appearance from Kristy Lee.

Going home: Carly. I don't think she was as bad as the judges said, but she seems to be struggling so hard each week that I think it's turned off a lot of potential fans.

Photos courtesy of Fox

Every Product You Need For Your Memorial Day Trip

Jessica Cruel — Mon, 21 May 2012 09:50:00 PDT

Prepare for Memorial Day with these travel beauty tips - Styleite
Get trendy geometric nail art in seven steps - Stylelist
Need a career makeover? Try these changes before your next interview - Refinery 29
Estée Lauder's granddaughter's new lifestyle line is about to launch - HuffPost Style
Update your Spring makeup bag with these drugstore buys - InStyle
Learn stage makeup from the broadway musical Anything Goes - Beauty Sweet Spot
Find a makeup remover that cuts through all the gunk - Makeup and Beauty Blog
Top sunscreen picks from a dermatologist - Real Simple
Can you pull off this colorblocked lip look? - Beauty High
These mini-me beauty products will help you breeze through airport security -The Frisky

7 Brands (and Products) Curly Girls Need to Know

Jessica Cruel — Thu, 17 May 2012 05:00:00 PDT

Curly hair textures need a little extra love. Although no product is perfect for every curl type, we rounded up seven must-try brands that target everyone from the loosely waved to the kinkiest naturalistas. Expand your hair care horizons - and curly hair repertoire - with some of our top picks.

7 Money Mistakes Women Often Make

LearnVest — Fri, 04 May 2012 00:15:55 PDT

We all make mistakes - we're all human after all. LearnVest shares some of the common money mistakes that women often make so readers will learn not to make them, too.

Some of us handle our money flawlessly, perfectly, brilliantly, all of the time.

But most of us don't.

Most of us make mistakes here and there. We make some mistakes more than others, because of our personalities, or our upbringing . . . or sometimes even our gender.

It's ridiculous, but true.

We've heard it firsthand - from our readers. In fact, we went through hundreds of reader submissions and found examples of the most common stories that cross our desks every day.

Let's be clear: Not all women make these mistakes. Not all men avoid them. But in our experience, these are a few female financial problem areas that can lead to major debt and lots of stress.

RELATED: Are You a Social Shopper?

Ever bailed out an ex? Indulged in a little more retail therapy than you meant to? Or woken up one day and realized you didn't know as much as you thought you did about managing your money? You just might recognize yourself.

Of course, if you don't, good for you. We're just saying, bad money snafus happen to good people. But read on: We'll show you the top seven mistakes women make - and what to do instead.

Feeling Guilty

"When we were together, I let my ex stay with me rent-free until he found an apartment, lent him my furniture and paid for every date because I had a job and he didn't. When I lost my job, he paid for my rent for a few months and bills, etc. Now that we're broken up, he wants me to pay him back for the rent he insisted on covering. I am still on unemployment and barely getting by. I feel so guilty because we didn't end up as the forever couple and while I can't (nor would I . . . ) calculate all of my assistance getting him settled in NYC, he can quite easily."

A 2011 study from Eversave.com found that 67% of women have felt guilt about a purchase. But that's not the only opportunity for guilt: There's also staying in a job you feel guilty about abandoning, giving someone money because you feel guilty about their situation and, oh, doing the opposite of what you want when it comes to working after having children because you feel guilty about being a good mom (more on that here).

This guilt effect might not be limited to finances, either. Some studies suggest that women are more inclined than men to feel any kind of guilt. And we'd argue, more likely to bail out their exes, too.

Read on for more.

7 Easy Ways to Wake Up Scrambled Eggs

Lizzie Fuhr — Thu, 03 May 2012 07:00:58 PDT

I'm a big believer in the power of a plate of perfectly scrambled eggs. The methodical process of re-creating your go-to scramble moves can be both soothing and delicious, but if you want to spice things up this Spring, the kitchen can be a great place to start. If your scramble is feeling a little (or very) tired, here are seven fresh and simple ideas to help wake your eggs up.

Make a sandwich. An easy and delicious way to switch up your standard scrambled egg routine is to construct a perfect sandwich. We're partial to our version of the hangover remedy: the Stanwich from the folks behind Blue Ribbon restaurants.
Stuff a pepper. I love this idea for bringing extra color to your plate! After putting together your favorite scramble, tuck it into one half of a sliced pepper, top with your favorite cheese, and bake it all together. If you're just too hungry, leave out the baking step and enjoy an extra crunch of a fresh, crisp pepper.
Wrap it up. You may think that breakfast burritos and wraps are only for restaurant dining, but they're easy to enjoy in the comfort of your home. Fold up some tasty scrambled eggs into a beautiful tortilla wrap, and you'll be prepared for true breakfast bliss. This breakfast burrito recipe is a great place to start, but feel free to experiment and toss in whatever you're working with in your fridge.

Keep reading for four more ways to wake up tired scrambled egg recipes.

Avery Island, Part Deux: Boils, Bottles, Bloodies & Boudin

OnSugar Blog — Thu, 03 May 2012 05:45:45 PDT

If you're itching for a culinary adventure, there's no need to leave your home! Escape to Avery Island for a crawfish feast with Food Orleans.

This was my lunch. I ate it all.

Avery Island is a gorgeous place; it's surrounded by a long lace of bayous, has plenty of wildlife roaming around freely (deer, bears, raccoons, alligators), and houses the beautiful Jungle Gardens and Bird Sanctuary. You can spend a full day there soaking up the splendor, especially if you pack in a trip to the Tabasco factory.

We had a lovely, long ride down the bayou to the McIlhenny family's trapper's camp, just so we could get in some air boat rides (FUN!) and a little of this:

My favorite lunch in the world! These fellas were HUGE.

I'm only partly responsible for this amount of crawfish carnage. Let's just say that my tablemate, Cecil, is one fast picker.

Earlier that day, we had a tasting of all seven flavors of Tabasco sauce, led by CEO and Chairman of the Board Paul McIlhenny. His chief flavor developer, Charlie Chang, who has worked for the McIlhennys for over 30 years, was also present at the tasting. It was fascinating listening to the two describe how certain flavors were inspired, or how they were refined to become what they are today. I have to say, my new favorite hot sauce is Tabasco Habanero. It's Jamaican inspired and has a lot of fruit flavor to it, plus it packs a slow, intense heat that hits you at the end. For the tasting, we had saltine crackers and softened butter to help us tolerate the high amounts of heat in some of the sauces. I discovered that a saltine cracker spread with butter and topped with a little Habanero sauce is extremely delicious--like eating a wicked little butter cookie. I'm in love.

For more on this tasty adventure, plus a Tabasco-inspired mixology lesson, keep reading!

5 Fitness Myths That Mess With Results

Prevention — Mon, 30 Apr 2012 04:31:20 PDT

We are pumped to share one of our fave stories from Prevention here on FitSugar!

By Jenna Bergen, Prevention

With so many people offering advice on weight loss, it can be hard to separate fact from fiction. All too often I’ve overheard a hardworking gym-goer sharing a well-meaning but ill-informed tip with another exerciser. And I’m not the only one who’s heard fitness folklore being swapped on the training room floor. I spoke to top experts in the field to find out the common fitness myths they hear from clients. From the pseudo miracles of the "fat-burning" zone to the misguided magic of working out on an empty stomach, these fitness falsehoods should never be followed.

Nine Exercise Moves You're Doing Wrong

Myth No. One: Keep your heart rate in the fat-burning zone

If you've been exercising at 60 to 70 percent of your maximum heart rate in order to shed flab faster, you could be slowing your slim down. "The fat-burning zone is a complete myth," says Wayne Westcott, PhD, Prevention advisory board member and fitness research director at Quincy College. "While it's true that you burn a higher percentage of fat calories when exercising at a moderate pace, you burn fewer calories overall." For instance, if you get on a treadmill and walk at a 3.5 mph pace for 30 minutes, you might burn 250 calories. If you raise the speed to seven miles per hour, you’d burn 500. Bottom line? "It’s much better to go at the faster speed." Prefer the elliptical trainer? Make sure you're not making one of the top 10 elliptical trainer mistakes.

Myth No. Two: Boosting cardio is the best way to bypass a plateau

"The most effective way to lose weight is to include both cardio and weights in your routine," says Jari Love, star of the Get Extremely Ripped: 1000 Hardcore DVD. "One study found that when individuals cycled for 30 minutes a day, they lost three pounds of fat and gained a half pound of muscle in eight weeks. But individuals who cycled for 15 minutes and weight trained for 15 minutes a day lost 10 pounds of fat and gained two pounds of calorie-burning muscle."

Try This Workout to Drop Two Sizes by Summer!

Keep reading! We bust three more myths after the break.

7 Strategies to Build an Emergency Fund

Kiplinger — Mon, 30 Apr 2012 00:15:32 PDT

Build up your emergency fund with these tips from Kiplinger.

You know you need an emergency fund - easily accessible cash to pay for unexpected expenses. Without one, you could find yourself looking around the house for valuables to pawn, racking up credit-card debt or maybe even considering a payday loan to cover the costs of an emergency.

But you may be wondering how you can find enough spare cash in your budget to set aside for a rainy day. If you’re living paycheck to paycheck, I’m sure the thought of saving up enough money to cover six months’ worth of expenses (as is usually recommended) is especially daunting. The good news is that you don’t have to stash that much cash at once.

The key is to start setting aside a little each month to build your emergency fund. And that doesn’t require a big salary. After all, saving is a function of discipline, not income.

Here are seven ways to find enough money - and motivation - to create an emergency fund.

Save - don’t spend - your tax refund. About 75% of taxpayers received a refund last year, and the average amount was $2,913. A refund of that size can get your emergency fund off to a great start. Open an interest-bearing savings account and have the money directly deposited into it so you won’t be tempted to use it.

Pay yourself first. Rather than wait until next year for another refund to stash in your emergency fund, adjust your tax withholding by filing a revised W-4 form with your employer (see How to Adjust Your Withholding). This will put more money in your paycheck each month, and you can set that amount aside in your savings account so it can earn interest and grow. (That money won’t be earning any interest during the year if you leave it with Uncle Sam.) If possible, have your employer deposit the designated amount directly into your savings account so you don’t see the money in your checking account and aren’t tempted to spend it.

Read on for more.

Hollywood Secrets For Long, Lean Legs!

Self — Wed, 25 Apr 2012 04:30:18 PDT

We are pumped to share one of our favorite stories from Self here on FitSugar!

Angelina Jolie, Jessica Biel, Cameron Diaz . . . Who hasn't watched their favorite movie stars walk the red carpet and grown a little envious of their mile-long legs? Granted, most leading ladies are blessed with superior DNA, but that doesn't mean you can't score long, lean gams too! "What is possible for others is possible for you," says Barry's Bootcamp cofounder Barry Jay, the celebrity trainer behind Eliza Dushku's, Stacy Keibler's, and Juliette Lewis's fit physiques. "But be patient! If you want legs that look like Jessica Biel's, do the work!"

That means ditching the late-night pizza runs and sticking to a healthy diet. Also remember to maintain proper form during those calorie-torching sweat sessions or all of your hard work will be for naught. "Form is everything," says Jay. "Don't just do it. Do it right!"

To get started, incorporate these three moves using a set of five- to eight-pound hand weights (or set a timer for one minute per exercise if hand weights are unavailable) into your regular routine twice a week. "Good legs are important because they help your whole body change," says Jay. "You burn the most calories when you work out your legs. They are the foundation of your body, a gift, and they deserve to look their best!"

Read on for the workout.

7 Workouts to Help Achieve a Toned, Tight Tummy

Michele Foley — Tue, 24 Apr 2012 02:03:30 PDT

It's getting hot out there, which means many of you are busting out the bathing suits, crop tops, and waist-skimming bottoms. If you're not quite ready to bare your midriff, we've got just the thing for you! Here are seven ab-focused workouts that'll have your tummy tight and toned by the time Summer rolls around.

We are all about total-body workouts, but sometimes it's nice to give a little extra attention to the midsection. For those moments, turn to our comprehensive all-abs workout, where you'll find the best moves to tone your upper abs, obliques, and lower abs.
Pictures don't lie: Lady Gaga is definitely sporting a six-pack. To get results like Gaga's, follow this workout plan created by her trainer Harley Pasternak.
Just because it's quick doesn't mean it won't do wonders for your belly. All you need are four minutes to do our short, sweet, and complete ab video workout. It's the perfect way to spend a commercial break during your favorite show.
Yes, crunches are the go-to exercise for working your core, but they aren't so good for posture. Skip them altogether, while also giving your body a bigger challenge, by doing our favorite crunchless ab exercises.
Yoga not only relaxes the mind, but it also helps tone the tummy, something Jennifer Aniston knows all too well. In this short video, watch as celeb trainer Mandy Ingber takes us through three poses she uses to help sculpt Jen's midsection.
Another celeb with a set of drool-worthy abs is Minka Kelly (she was voted one of Esquire's sexiest, after all). Her trainer Gunnar Peterson shared one of the actress's fitness secrets with us: standing ab work! Grab a dumbbell and get set to follow along with this video workout highlighting Minka's ab routine.
Skip the Spanx and tone your way to a midsection you'll be dying to show off - even in that dreaded pooch area. To help work that lower ab section, Amy Dixon, group fitness manager at Equinox in Santa Monica, developed this workout to target the lower abdominal muscles. You'll work with a stability ball to challenge your core even more.