And the May Giveaway Winner Is.....

{{Drumroll please}}

Rebecca Graham!

{{Wild Applause!!}

I'll be sending you an email to let you know when to expect your Kindle to be shipped.

Thanks to everyone for playing.

For all her hard work reviewing my books, Paula Love wins a $25 Amazon Gift Certificate. Thanks, Paula!

Be sure to check back next month for a Romance Package giveaway worth more than $60. Unlimited entries! Also stay tuned for another big prize package that will be offered before the end of the year.

Congrats to our winners and thanks again to all who played. Come back next month and we'll do it all again. :)

May Giveaway: Kindle Package Worth Nearly $200!!

Okay, my lovelies. This is one giveaway you do NOT want to miss. I'll announce the winner of a brand new Kindle 3G reader with FREE 3G and Wi-Fi, valued at $189.00 to one lucky reader by the end of May.

As you may or may not know I have several ebooks available for the Kindle currently for sale at Amazon, so this month I want to award a book lover the opportunity to enjoy these ebooks and many others on the widely popular reader.

Since this is a big prize, we're going to play the game a bit differently this month. Everyone can earn one entry towards the grand prize by leaving a comment on this blog telling me the title of your favorite book.

If you want to earn additional entries, you may do the following over the course of the month:

RT this blog on Twitter to all your family and friends earns you one additional entry. Be sure to use @geevie in your RT so I can record it properly.

Joining my Fan Page on Facebook gets you another entry. If you're already a fan, don't worry. You can earn your extra entry just by leaving a comment on the discussion page for this giveaway.

That means everyone interested can earn up to three entries for this contest.

But wait. There's more.

Some folks think you can't enjoy Kindle books if you don't yet have a Kindle. Au contraire mon frere. Amazon allows you to download a program for free for your computer (PC and Mac) and your phone so that you may enjoy the ebooks available on Amazon. Should you wish to purchase one of the books I've listed below BEFORE the end of the month AND are generous enough to review it for me on Amazon, Goodreads or Barnes and Noble - I'll give you *5* - that's right, 5 - extra entries for each ebook you purchase/review.

Just leave a comment on this blog linking back to your review.

Not only will you be able to transfer your books over to the Kindle should you win it, any reviewer who wins this grand prize will get a $20 gift certificate to Amazon as a sign of my appreciation for your pre-win purchase.

All entries must be completed by May 26, 2011. I will announce the winner by the end of the month. Follow me on Twitter to hear how we'll be announcing the winner. :)

So that's it. Have fun and good luck!

Play Instant Win and win Sweepstakes

Here are my current available ebook titles:

Drama


Family/Kid/YA/Adventure


Romance





Suspense/Horror

And the April Giveaway Winner is....

Odds were REALLY good for the April giveaway as there were only a handful of entrants.

Due to some health issues I opted not to do a live drawing. Instead I assigned each entrant a number and asked my best friend, who does not know anyone involved nor the order of the names pertaining to their number, to pick a number. That was how we chose this month's winner.

Congratulations to LINNEA!!! :)

Send me your information via Facebook and we'll organize a time frame to get you your goodies.

Thanks everyone for playing!

BIG BIG BIG giveaway coming. Stay tuned. ;)

American Idol Season 10 Top Six Perform Songs from Carole King...

Or how we can take a perfectly decent season thus far and make it annoy and frustrate Geevie in one short episode with one of her LEAST favorite themes. Of all time.

I was SO unenthusiastic about this particular episode I didn't even bother doing a wish list. Out of the scores (?) of songs in Carole King songbook I like maybe three or four tunes, and none of those are actually performed by her. The earth does NOT move under my feet when I hear songs from "Tapestry," and in fact I wish it would go so far away.

It's just not my cup of tea. I don't listen to James Taylor or Carly Simon or any other of this genre.

So there was really no point in giving out a wish list when the deck is so stacked against me on a show that will no doubt bore me, frustrate me and otherwise have me with a quicker FF trigger finger than my ballad-hatin' hubby, Mr. Geevie.

Having said that, this review is based on maybe a couple of bars of different songs - most of which I sailed right on by. It may be unfair but there's really nothing you can make me do to go back and try to watch most of the performances in their entirety.

So nyah.

Jacob went first and sang "Oh No Not My Baby." I don't know who was styling Lusk this week, and I'm not sure whether to like it or mock it. On one hand it was quite shrewd to stand out, and with this bunch that is rather necessary. He's in the curse of first, with a long ass show (thanks to the premature finalist duet performances this season) it was necessary for him to do everything he could to stick into the audience's memory.

On the other hand he looked like got lost on his way to Let's Make a Deal. Or Clown College.

Apparently he did really well. I don't know because even though I love Jacob I had to FF right on to the next performance, which was Lauren and her version of "Where You Lead." I noted that with this group, taking on an individual artist can be a positive because everyone has their own individual stamp on things. We can get gospel/soul, blues, rock and country all from the same songwriter just based on how the songs are arranged.

That's one of the few positives to this particular episode, and although Lauren is cute and talented, I'm concerned where her own insecurities will end up cutting her off at the knees.

She's sixteen, and this is a lot of pressure. Her downfall will be that she's not really sure who she is as an artist yet.

The same criticism does not apply to Scotty, who decided to go with "You've Got A Friend." I hear that he toned it way back and had one of his best, non-hokey performances. Sadly I couldn't tolerate much more than the opening note because I hate, hate, hate this song. I'm not going to add insult to injury by country-fying it Scotty-style. I'm sure he did well, and it wouldn't even matter if he didn't. The boy is finale bound. We'll get to that in a minute.

Speaking of finale bound, the judges loved how Durbin changed things up a bit with his own version of "Will You Still Love Me Tomorrow." This is one of the few songs on my "like" list. I also wouldn't have minded Pleasant Valley Sunday - which sadly didn't make an appearance from anyone... I guess there's always the group number. (Which, frankly, scares me more than it excites me.)

I loved what James did with it and as usual he managed to save the night for me entirely. Truth be told, his unpredictability and his showmanship is the only reason I didn't skip this episode entirely. Which thanks to a couple of the contestants, I was actually glad I tuned in.

The Old Casey was back in his bluesy form with "Hi De Ho." Like I said it was the versatility of these contestants that saved this from being a one-note kind of night (and not the note I usually like.) This performance proved he was well worth the save. Like Durbin he takes risks - and we're (usually) the better for it, "Smells Like Teen Spirit" not withstanding.

Haley sang "Beautiful," and like Durbin and Casey she really brought her A-game to the show last night. Of all the performers left I think she's grown the most, tied probably with Scotty (who, btw, would grow MORE if he was given more criticism like last week.) Her performance I sat all the way through and thought she could bring it to the top of the night, but given three of these folks are bound to hit the bottom of the pile I think Scotty will skate right into the top three performances of the night based on his fan base alone.

This doesn't bode well for Haley, who has ended up in the bottom three several times, most recently last week.

For me the top three were Durbin, Casey and Haley - which leaves the bottom three the contestants I couldn't even be bothered to sit through. (This says something in and of itself.)

I'm not sure if the duets were set to do anyone any favors. Fan/judge favorites were paired with those who might be the most in trouble, and I think Jacob being most oddly paired will be the thing that finally kicks him free of the competition.

Having said that I think the bottom three will be Haley, Lauren and Jacob, with Jacob going home.

American Idol Season 10 Top Seven Perform Songs of 21st Century

Since showtime is in about an hour and fifteen minutes we're going to make this short and sweet, kids:

We started off the show with an Idol first: The performance show showcased the castoffs in a rare, but grating, pre-finale musical number that made it all too clear why they were no longer in the running.

And this continual pimping of Pia is really starting to wear on my nerves. In fact, it's making me kinda start to hate her when I was content just to not like her before.

If the audience still wanted her to wail her way through songs, she'd still be there.

I don't care who she is dating, she really kind of needs to go away now.

KTHANXBAI

Scotty decided to go with "Swinging" - which wasn't all that contemporary when it was originally released in the early 1980s. The judges used rare critique, even Steven, to let Scotty know that while he's a solid contestant time was short for him to have his "big moment." Given this rather ho-hum performance, unusual judge critique and the fact he went first, if this doesn't land our good ol boy in the bottom three, I'll know for sure he's finale-bound. He's got the fan base to carry him through no matter what he does (or doesn't do.)

Durbin had a much earlier slot this week than he normally has enjoyed in the past, and he opted for Muse's "Uprising" for his song choice. I was good with it - I don't know much more about Muse than what I learned playing Guitar Hero... but what I have heard I liked. I would even go so far that his vocal (before the octave challenge change in the latter part of the song) was smoother and more melodic than the original singer. (No disrespect to any Muse people out there.)

That he made it much more of a performance means he'll most likely be safe, and it was definitely one of my favorites of the night. The hubby liked it so much he watched it three times in a row before he allowed the rest of the show to run.

Haley chose an Adele number, and while I'm not familiar with her music I really liked Haley more this week than pretty much any other. She wasn't relying on kitsch and actually performed like she meant it. She connected to the song in such a way that I believed it entirely and felt bad about suggesting something more low-brow and one dimensional.

This was Favorite Performance #2.

Jacob had a rough start but pulled it together to sing "Dance With My Father" by Luther Vandross. It was probably too easy to call, but he did well enough with it that even I welled up with tears on the sentiment of the song. I really think he's going to have to dig much deeper to make it more exciting - because he hasn't been able to match the moment he had during Motown week. This could land him in the bottom three.

Casey opted for Maroon 5, which wasn't half as much fun as the Blue Man Group song would have been. This is the drawback of trying to handicap what songs would work out best for them - if they go off the beaten track the disappointment can overshadow the performance, even when it's pretty good.

Problem was, it wasn't anything *special* - even with the stolen smooch at the end.

He was also wearing plaid.. which is the Geevie Kiss of Death.

S-Teflon-o sang a Neo song that was upbeat and contemporary, but I still would have liked to see him do Justin Timberlake. I don't see the whole flirty/woman's man thing but apparently enough women do - Twitter was aflutter last night after his performance.

Lauren brought up the rear of the show in the much coveted pimp spot and chose to sing a country song... sadly it wasn't the kind of fun one that I wanted and I thought the judges and Jimmy actually had a lot of insight as to why the performances have lost some of their luster. She feels intimidated, and understandably so. She's very young so she may equate those big voices as better than her... and it can't have escaped her notice that as one of the few girls left in the competition she really has to bring it.

Personally I don't think she's as compromised as she thinks she is. I can totally see the top three coming down to Lauren, Scotty and James.

At least it better.

As for the bottom three I think this is where we break down between the top three and the bottom three and have the unenviable choice given to one contestant to choose between the groups.

I predict it'll come down something like this:

James, Lauren and Scotty in one group...

Stefano, Haley and Casey in the other...

Jacob gets to choose but it doesn't matter where he goes (though it's pretty obvious he'll try to go to he first group)... because he'll be the one going home.

American Idol Season 10 Top Seven Last Minute Songs of 21st Century Wish List

When I first learned the new theme for the week was Songs from the 21st Century, I thought I'd skip this part of the proceedings altogether. I'm not that familiar with a wealth of music from the 21st Century - or so I thought - and so I felt woefully and unusually ambivalent.

By about Sunday I perused through several "Top 100" song lists through the new century and feel at least somewhat qualified to make a few recommendations and interject my overweening ego into song choices that were probably picked two weeks ago.

But when has that ever stopped me?

It would tickle me silly for Jacob to pick something more upbeat and playful:



But that's a bit risque and he's already made it plain he prefers more inspirational stuff. So he could add a little gospel the following, which - as sung originally by a female - could actually be bent a little more interestingly to fit his particular style.



Another who may pick that song would include Lauren, even though I think she'd play to her strengths (and her audience) by revving up the fun again with:



(Or is that too obvious?)

(Still be fun though...)

Speaking of country, I'm not too familiar with the new songs and acts from today's country megastars, but I wouldn't mind seeing Scotty singing something along the lines of:



He could also pick something a little more mainstream like:



I don't know much about current heavy metal but my sons would absolutely flip out in metalhead glee if Durbin picks the likes of Bullet for My Valentine. I wouldn't mind something like Velvet Revolver. Again, with James I'm pretty content to let him pick whatever he thinks would be best. My only request? Don't sing this:



As for Casey and his Bassy, he could bring out something a little harder with:



Or stay eclectic with the likes of:



Which would pretty make both the hubby and me freak out in BMG fanboy and fangirl glee.

I think S-Teflon-o should stay true to his boy band roots by bringing sexy back with a lil JT:



This would give him the opportunity to scratch all the jazz hands and Broadway arms with an actual contemporary pop performance.

Somehow, though, I fear he'll pick something more obvious like:



Haley can also benefit from something more contemporary, and since she has that whole sex kitten thing going on some of the more risque music would play to her strengths. These are half-joking, half-serious suggestions:





But she could also add a lil sauce to:



or



Or all seven can do songs I've never heard before - and the odds of that happening this week are fairly high.

In fact... finding that one nugget of a song I'm familiar with may indeed be the treasure hunt of tonight's show.

I think I'm ready....

My only real request with any of the contestants, aside from the Darkness prohibition I mentioned above, is that none of these folks should even THINK about doing songs released by prior Idols.

Instant Zeros for any JHud, Carrie Underwood, Kelly Clarkson, Daughtry or a host of others who launched their claim to fame on the Idol Stage.

Trust your Idol Mama... and just say no.

American Idol Season 10 Top Eight Perform Music from the Movies

Like I predicted in my Wish List blog, the music for last night's movie theme was wide open with songs no one could really fully accurately anticipate (except for Scotty doing country... that was pretty much a given.) Despite that, except for a couple of notable exceptions, the night was rather ho-hum.

Paul went first and selected "Old Time Rock and Roll" - which I had kinda really wanted Casey to do. Instead of doing something more acoustic and songwritery like "Everybody's Talkin' at Me," he opted for something that would get his feet moving.

With Paul, this is not always a good thing.

The performance in and of itself wasn't bad, and for the most part his crazy, spastic Paul dance wasn't as awkward as I remember it being. The problem as I see it is that it wasn't anything spectacular and he had the misfortune of going first. As we learned from Jacob last week even someone solid can make it into the bottom three just by bad placement.

Lauren went next and sang, almost predictably, a Miley Cyrus song. I've never seen a Miley Cyrus or Hannah Montana movie (aside maybe from Bolt) so I would never would have been able to make this call. Having said that, this MC song doesn't make me involuntarily gag, especially when someone OTHER than Miley sings it. And Lauren has more talent in her little finger than Miley does in her entire body, so it was a shrewd move to actually take a song from a lesser singer and sing the heck out of it.

Better than that, at least for me, was the way she connected with the song. I believed every single word that came out of her mouth - something I wasn't quite sure she could pull off before last night. Everything worked, her look, her sound, her song choice... it was just a win all the way around. Girls may be a dying breed in American Idol Season 10, but I think she cemented her spot in the Top Seven with that performance.

Stefano/S-Teflon-o came out and predictably sang another ballad. It was a boy band cheese fest with Boys II Men's "End of the Road," and it pretty much illustrated why Stefano will not win American Idol. He was meant to be part of a group - not a solo performer. After last week's near miss, he might escape the bottom three tonight by sheer bounce-back alone... but the performance, while not necessarily bad, wasn't as stellar as the judges would have you believe.

In fact, it almost felt like the judges were using reverse psychology by overly gushing on *everyone.*

The lovefest continued with Scotty, who returned to his country roots with a George Strait song. Personally I never knew that he left them, this boy could perform a rap hit and it come out more Hank Williams than 50 Cent. The judges all crowed about his staying true to himself as an artist and never really encourage him to branch out and do more.

Some may think that this is unfair since these are the same judges who clamored for Pia to try something other than her successful ballads. I don't know how valid a criticism that is for the judges because I kinda see what they were going for. Despite her vocal prowess she was pretty one dimensional as far as a performer. It may all be country what Scotty does but it isn't all the same type of song. He can do something upbeat, he can do ballads... he's at least trying to own the stage in a way I'm not so sure Pia ever could.

Pop is a mix of ballads and of upbeat, peppy stuff. Just like Barry Manilow can do "Mandy," "Weekend in New England," and "I Write the Songs" he also pulled off "American Bandstand," and "Copacabana."

Keep it interesting. Mix it up.

The fact is according to producer Nigel Pia was never in the top no matter how much acclaim she got from the judges... so there's the huge possibility that the criticism she got wasn't just from the kind of song she was singing. The judges couldn't put their finger on why the performances, while technically good, left them cold.

Therefore it was as warranted as some of the criticism pseudo-judges like me level on the likes of Stefano that basically says, "Give me more than what you're giving me."

Note even when she sang that upbeat song Pia still got criticism from JLo. It wasn't just the ballad thing.

Although that certainly didn't help.

Casey brought his bass and a jazzy rendition of Nat King Cole's "Nature Boy" to the stage. It immediately had me wishing he would have stayed with Phil Collins' "In the Air Tonight" or a variety of other songs I picked for him in my Wish List blog. I had a sneaking suspicion that he would pull something relatively obscure out of his arse for the occasion and he most certainly did. The crowd loved it, the judges gave him a standing-O but frankly the whole thing left me absolutely cold. I'm not a jazz fan to begin with; it sounds a bit like they're making it up as they go along and I never could fit it in my head. I think this was a risky move for him in that his fans will no doubt love what he did with it but those he has yet to win over might opt for something a little more mainstream. That his fans may think he's safe from the positive reaction he got from the crowd and the judges, he needs every last one of their votes.

If they didn't bother because they thought he was safe, this could be Casey's swan song.

Haley tried to get funky with a Blondie tune, the sexy anthem from "American Gigolo." It just really couldn't get more perfect as far as a song choice goes. It suited her sex siren style, although last night it was more Debbie Harry than Marilyn Monroe (and that's a good thing.) Not to mention she looked sensational in her purple go-go boots I immediately coveted, though I could never look as good in them as she did.

Unfortunately for Haley those boots may have been made for walking because her off-key rendition of a rock classic was almost painful to grit my way through as a listener. I've come to grudgingly like Haley over the last few weeks but last night was not good - so not good it earned her the rare judge criticism heard through last night's praise-o-rama. It also no doubt earned her a spot in the bottom three, although it will depend on Paul's and Casey's fan base to decide whether she stays or goes home.

Jacob went next and was immediately reprimanded for the cocky statements he made last week by the love'im or hate'im Jimmy Iovine. He was also cautioned away from the cheesy songs he had chosen to sing. Duly chastised he gave in and decided to sing "Bridge Over Troubled Water" - which is a very difficult song for me to hear on a good day, due to some intensely personal memories I have with it.



For that reason alone I can't really say whether I liked it or not. He did very well, and made it his own - but it still felt like an emotional kick in the gut. In fact the better its sung the worse it hurts, which makes the entire thing bittersweet. I do think he earned his way out of the bottom three, though.

Durbin (which I've decided to call him now because he's just too badass to call just "James" anymore) closed the show - again - with a song I wasn't all that familiar with: Sammy Hagar's "Heavy Metal" from the movie of the same name. I was EXTREMELY pleased by the promise of such a title, though, and quite annoyed when Jimmy tried to talk him down from the choice that he made.

Again I wanted to shout at the TV to let the man do his thing. I've come to trust him over these past many weeks, you'd think that some of these folks who work with him week in and week out would do the same.

Lucky for us Durbin stuck to his guns and made it happen no matter what opposition he faced. He was determined to continue on with his crusade for America to "Give Metal a Chance!"

Nothing could have prepared us for how this show would end, or who would help Durbin in his noble quest.

None other than guitar god Zakk Wylde graced the Idol stage with a WICKED guitar solo in a pre-finale Idol FIRST that nearly had me come out of the seat, horns thrown and head banging away. It was the most exciting thing we've seen on Idol thus far this season without a doubt:



Now there are those who might say the producers are pimping Durbin with this unexpected boost to his performance, and in fact many people may have been so blown away by Zakk's solo that the vocal - which is supposedly what Idol is based upon - got lost in the mix. Maybe there were some folks who thought that they were voting for Zakk when they called in on Durbin's number.

Either way, it WORKED. This is what being an Idol is about IMO and it saved an otherwise lackluster Idol from being just another ordinary episode. I immediately went on Twitter and tracked Durbin down to follow him, whereupon I learned that he would love to do a Journey song (squee!) but unfortunately Steve Perry won't release any for the show. (Really, Steve? Don't force me to watch Glee to see people perform my favorite band's material... I beg of you.) He also said that Perry was one of his vocal influences, which endured me to him even more.

So if this is what it takes to make Idol exciting and bring about a finale that rivals - if not beats - Adam Lambert's season... COUNT ME IN.

That performance right there just sold a ticket for the summer tour.

For me the top three: Durbin, Lauren and Jacob.

I predict the bottom three will be shared among Paul (curse of first,) Casey (and his Bassy) and Haley.

It's not looking good for a girl to be in the bottom three this season, but it also could be the night that the lights went out in Nashville - or at least Paul McDonald's smile.

Personally I think Casey may have the highest probability to go, given the more obscure nature of his performance and song choice.

(Granted heavy metal can be equally as off-putting, but Durbin's performance was way more grab you by the throat and throttle you into rocking out than Casey's more subtle choice... and by sheer excitement alone will win over an audience it may not ordinarily have had.)

I really don't want *anyone* to go necessarily, as I kind of like most of them enough to want to see what they do next week.

But that is the yin and yang of Idol... and we're all just kinda along for the ride.

Thanks to Durbin (and no doubt Steven Tyler,) this year I can hear a lot of music that I wouldn't normally hear courtesy of American Idol.

For that I say...

\m/(><)\m/

GIVE METAL A CHANCE!