Top 10 Celebrity "Crushes" (female)

Time to embarrass myself to the masses. Note some of these are in order, but a few are interchangeable. Also note this is all based on my impressions and my opinions. I'm putting myself out there. I will be judging women here, that's the idea. So no, I'm not body shaming or anything. And I might do males too. And yes, almost all, if not all, of these females will be either white or Asian. Just the way it goes. For reference, Emma Watson just missed the list along with a few others. Now, here's the thing. My "crushes" rarely ever stemmed purely from looks, but rather their artistry (because all of them do some form of art), who they are as a person. I mean, I have those instances where looks can just do it, they could be a terrible person, and I'd still for some reason like them. But that's rare, so let's get into it starting with the honourable mentions.

Honourable Mentions: Emma Watson, Mary Pickford, Christina Grimmie, Halsey, Selena Gomez

10. Ashley Greene

Height: 5'5'' or 165 cm

Weight: 120 pounds or 54 kilograms

Birthdate: February 21, 1987 (age 30)

Birthplace: Jacksonville, Florida, United States

Occupation: Actress, Model

Known for: The Twilight Saga, Kristy, Rogue

Comments: She looked really good with short hair... now she doesn't have it. Well, that aside, she still looks really good, and can definitely play to the sexual side much better than Ariana. Alice was honestly, the only character I loved in Twilight. She's a very talented actress, able to play various kinds of roles. Decent height. Not too tall. Her age is a bit too high, and I miss her short hair. 

9. Hilary Duff

Height: 5'2'' or 157 cm

Weight: 120 pounds or 55 kg

Birthdate: September 28, 1987 (age 29)

Birthplace: Houston, Texas, United States

Occupation: Actress, Singer

Known For: Lizzie McGuire, Agent Cody Banks, Cheaper By The Dozen, Younger

Comments: Height's good, weight's good. She's a good actress, especially for comedy work. Her vocals are a step above Britney Spears, which isn't saying much. Two main problems: She's a bit too old, and the fact she's a mother. Look, Luca's cute. I just couldn't imagine having to take of care of children. Eh, at least it's still at the age before humans turn into assholes.

8. Park Gyu-ri (Gyuri)

Height: 5'4'' or 162 cm

Weight: 99 pounds or 45 kg

Birthdate: May 21, 1988 (age 28)

Birthplace:  Euljiro-dong, Seoul, South Korea

Occupation: Singer, Actress, Radio personality

Known For: Girl group Kara, song "Geudaeman Bwayo" (Look Only At You)

Comments: Is pretty attractive, and is a pretty talented actress and singer. Her work with Kara was pretty good, along with her solo work. My problems would be her age, mainly. She's also a little lighter than I'd prefer weight-wise. Also, while she's attractive as a woman... she's also really cute as a boy. Okay, kill me now. Where's the devout Christians to flog me like the heathen I am?

7. Megan Lee

Height: 5'2'' or 157 cm
Weight: 105 pounds or 48 kg
Birthdate: September 18, 1995 (age 21)
Birthplace: Los Angeles, California, United States
Occupation: Singer-songwriter, Actress
Known for: Make It Pop, solo music career, group XO-IQ
Comments: Oh look, another Asian. Surprised? Don't be. For once so far, her age is not a problem. Height and weight are both fine. She's pretty. I actually found her through YouTube before I saw her on Nickelodeon's Make It Pop. I haven't seen much of her acting, but she is a great singer. I hope she gets signed and becomes huge.

6. Sabrina Carpenter

Height: 4'11'' or 150 cm

Weight: 105 pounds or 48 kg

Birthdate: May 11, 1999 (age 17)

Birthplace: Leigh Valley, Pennsylvania, United States

Known for: Girl Meets World, song "Thumbs".

Comments: She's tiny. Which is great for me, being relatively small. She seems to be a nice person from what I know. She's a teen girl that actually looks like a teen girl. Doesn't look 25. Good. She also in Girls Meets World, portrays this more spunky attitude than I can see her being in real life, and I kinda like that.

5. Miranda Cosgrove

Height: 5'5'' or 165 cm

Weight: 120 pounds or 54 kg

Birthdate: May 14, 1993 (age 23)

Birthplace: Los Angeles, California, United States

Occupation Actress, Singer

Known for: Drake & Josh, iCarly, Despicable Me

Comments: She was my childhood "crush" before I knew what crushes were. What can I say? Decent singer, and actress.

4. Kirstin "Kirstie" Maldonado

Height: 5'3'' or 160 cm

Weight: 145 lbs or 66 kg

Birthdate: May 16, 1992 (age 24)

Birthplace: Fort Worth, Texas, United States

Occupation: Singer

Known for: Pentatonix

Comments: Well, she's the only one of three women here to be engaged. Another being Ashley Greene, and the other one coming up later in the post. She looks good, she's actually almost overweight apparently, and looking through pictures of her, I don't see it anywhere. But since she appears to have a curvy or so figure, it probably went to hips, thighs, etc. If I was a typical male, I would like that quite a bit. But since I'm not, I'll take it or leave it. She has amazing vocals.

3. Carly Rae Jepsen

Height: 5'2'' or 157 cm

Weight: 115 pounds or 52 kg

Birthdate: November 21, 1985 (age 31)

Birthplace: Mission, British Columbia, Canada

Occupation: Singer-songwriter, Actress

Known for: "Call Me Maybe", "I Really Like You", and 'Grease: Live'

Comments: The oldest celebrity on the list, yet she actually looks young for her age. She could say she was 25 and I'd believe her. She's the cute, girl-next-door type, at least it seems that way. And the blue eyes are quite pretty (yes, I'm a sucker for blue eyes). She's nice and petite. Would I care about her age though? Maybe, can't say. And she's apparently engaged I think that's what her Facebook said, I know she's dating someone... but congrats to her!

2. Suzuka Nakamoto (Su-Metal)

Height: 5'1'' or 154 cm
Weight: 82 pounds or 37 kilograms
Birthdate: December 20, 1997 (age 19)
Birthplace: Hiroshima, Hiroshima Prefecture, Japan
Occupation: Singer, Idol
Known for: Babymetal
Comments: Yet another Asian. What are the odds? She's Japanese. Need I say more? I mean, she's super light, but that's common for Japanese people. She's cute too I guess. She's one of the few within my age range as well. She also seems, like Carly Rae Jepsen, pretty approachable.

1. Taylor Swift

Height: 5'10'' or 178 cm

Weight: 120 pounds or 54 kg

Birthdate: December 13, 1989 (age 27)

Birthplace: Reading, Pennsylvania, United States

Occupation: Singer, actress, former child model

Known for: Various songs. In acting, The Lorax, Valentine's Day, and The Giver

Comments: Okay, here are the more big "crush" moments. For several reasons. One. She is far too tall for me, I would never in my life date a woman who's 5'10'' (at best, I'm only 5'8''). Two. She's almost ten years older than me. Three. I prefer the teenage version of her over the more adult version (the hair especially). And oddly enough, I wouldn't even care. She's beautiful in my opinion, she's a very good songwriter, good at instruments. And seems like she's someone with a good heart. Wear heels if you want, Taylor! You rock 'em!

And yeah, that was my most embarrassing moment of this blog. If anyone does read this, especially if they get to the end, don't make fun of me too much, okay?

Fearless by Taylor Swift - Album Review

The stellar country pop release from Taylor Swift released almost a decade ago, getting only my second 10/10 so far on this blog. 

Release date: 11 November 2008

Record label: Big Machine Records

Genre: Country pop

Best songs: "Fifteen", "You Belong With Me", "Love Story", "Forever and Always"

Worst songs: "The Best Day" (if I had to pick one)

Rating: 10/10

See, I was only 9 in 2008, so I really wasn’t too much into music, and what I grew up was Usher, TLC, 90s-2000s R&B, along with a bit of the classics like The Beatles. Taylor Swift was one of the mainstream acts, one of the first, that I got exposed to. Granted, I didn’t put it together, because again, I was 9. But I loved “Love Story” and “You Belong With Me” as a kid, such excellent songs. I didn’t know who they were from - I never kept track of artists. Skip to 2012-2013, and we had “We Are Never Ever Getting Back Together”. Arguably, her sellout anthem that everyone I knew hated, and to be honest, I hopped on the bandwagon. Not knowing that the teenage girl I used to love listening to turned into this. So, we get 2008’s ‘Fearless’. Her best-selling album so far, and getting pretty good reviews. Does it hold up past nostalgia?

Well, it definitely does. I always went back to listen to the two aforementioned singles. But, then I got into “Fifteen”, and it made me want to go back and look at the whole record. And it holds so well. You get the Romeo & Juliet referenced “Love Story”, the friendzone anthem of “You Belong With Me”. Sure, she did it with “Teardrops On My Guitar”, and while that song is good, it came off as a bit petty compared to this one. And the fact I can kind of sympathize with this song (not the having a crush on a jock part as referenced from the video), but feeling that you could be a better match for the one you love. Although, this is where my bit of a crush on Taylor comes in, because who the hell would friendzone Taylor Swift? Like, seriously? Personal feelings aside, it has a surprising bit of energy and a nice build-up behind the melody. Then you get the advice song that is “Fifteen” saying that you may not know who you’re supposed to be, that life hasn’t truly started even though you may think so. And that boy you may love may not be the right one, being told from her own high school experiences. And that’s where she definitely shines on this album. Her charisma, her relatability. This is why I don’t feel good about bashing those who have teenage fanbases, especially when they’re teenagers themselves. If she can emotionally connect with them, then that’s pretty good. The breakup anthem of “Forever And Always” abou Joe Jonas has some good energy and is more a question of why this went wrong. The nice ballad of “White Horse” doesn’t get boring, where she realizes that this boy won’t be sweeping her off her feet, he’s a different person than she thought. And hell, while I can’t relate to the love part, and certainly can the misconceptions about a person. It shows that she can move on pretty well, while other songs show a bit of difficulty at times, this pulls it off really well with a nice guitar melody.

If I had to pick a song I don’t like, it would be “The Best Day”. While it does do a nice sentiment, a song about her growing up, the composition is so basic and dull. It gets boring really easily. Something that doesn’t happen with songs like “Tell Me Why” or even the ballad “White Horse”.

But really, I had to be forced to nitpick at one song specifically, and there’s not really any overarching problem. I love this album, I guess I’m a bit biased as a fan of Taylor Swift and someone who’s also 18, like she was on this album. I didn’t think a musician barely considered an adult could impress me so much, but she showed strength in songwriting, that was at times sloppy, but honest. I had a ton of charm and personality, it had a nice country pop sound, the production was done pretty well. And while Swift doesn’t do much range wise, her charisma sure makes up for it. 10/10.

Ariana Grande - Artist Review

Artist grade: B+

Vocal grade: A-

Vocal range/type: Soprano, D3-E7 (Four octaves, one notes)

Best album(s): Yours Truly

Worst album(s): Dangerous Woman (though it's not really bad)

Best song(s): "The Way", "Love Me Harder", "One Last Time", "Emotions", "Into You", "Boyfriend Material", "Jason's Song (Gave It Away)", "Baby I"

Worst song(s): "Bang Bang", "Side To Side", "Focus"

Positives: Very good vocal range. She can go pretty low despite being a soprano. While it is the weakest part of her range, she can still get there. Great vibrato and melismas. She also has a good whistle register. Brings presence on both stage and in the studio. Comparisons have been made to Mariah Carey.

Negatives: Her whistle register is not easy to control, she isn't much of a songwriter. She can be a little too feminine for someone's taste. Her words are not sometimes easy to understand, such as in "Dangerous Woman", and "Break Free". Like stated before, the biggest thing holding her back is probably her lower range - it's unsupported because of her high tessitura. And there is a lack of breath support.

Other comments: She often plays better to a sensual, rather than complete sexual side. She can also be good at portraying innocence. She could also do better with more emotional territory, rather than just straight (sometimes formulaic) pop songs.

My profile - a bit about me.

Here's a bunch of pointless info about me for people who are probably not going to care.

Birth date: 15 March 1999 (age 18)

Height: 171.5 centimetres or 5'7.5''

Weight: 52 kilograms or 115 pounds

Gender: ...

Nationality: American

Ethnicity: Mixed (Asian, white, Pacific Islander for simplicity).

Political ideology: Often described as liberal.
Religious ideology: Anti-theist, atheist

Vocal grade: D+

Full vocal range/type: Tenor, F2-F6 (Four octaves)*
Modal range: E2-C5 (Two octaves, five notes)

Positives in vocals: With falsetto/head voice, range extends to F6. Lower range (primarily the 2nd octave) carries a masculine, dark tone, while starting in the 3rd octave, voice loses weight and brightens a lot (which is interesting considering the speaking voice sits around the upper third octave). Voice is comfortable up to B4, and down to F2.

Negatives in vocals: Terrible intonation. Falsetto/head voice, is thin.  Upper 5th and 6 octave notes are really strained. Androgynous/feminine sound in the upper range. Inconsistent timbre. The upper range can be airy. Lack of breath support leads to low stamina and running out of breath quickly. Can be off-key and sing harmonies not even written into the music being performed. Practically no vibrato.

Interests: Performing arts, video games, history, culture, film, anime

Anything else you wanna know? Do you actually care? Comment then I guess. Thanks for reading!

Drake Bell - Artist Review

Artist grade: B+

Vocal grade: B

Vocal range/type: Lyric Tenor, E2-G#5 (Three octaves, two notes, and a semitone)

Best album(s): It's Only Time

Worst album(s): Ready Steady Go! (though it's not really bad)

Best song(s): "Makes Me Happy", "In The End", "Found A Way", "Bitchcraft", "Big Shot", "Down We Fall", "It's Still Rock And Roll To Me", "Bull", "Somehow"

Worst song(s): "Melina", "End It Good", "Back Of My Hand"

Positives: Charismatic vocals, can portray emotions easily, which is likely helped by his acting career. His voice brings a lot of presence, drawing attention to a song. Sporting a good lower range for a tenor, as the typical tenor range only goes down as far as C3. Able to utilize different sounding voices, allowing for his voice to fit in several genres such as rock and pop. Has received acclaim for what is often mature songwriting for his age, having even won an award from ASCAP. Writing can range from depressing and sad, to happy, showing to be a versatile writer. Can play several instruments, although his primary instrument is the guitar. Refusal to use a ton of vocal effects is appreciated (he even recorded an entire album live).

Negatives: His more rougher sounding vocals he usually presents may not be to everyone's tastes, he can come off as too "try hard" with emotion. Live vocals are often not powerful enough it seems to go through the instrumentation, though that could be due to bad recordings rather than quality of voice. Some songs' compositions can sound similar, though this may be artistic choice. Also, he will occasionally not distance himself enough from his influences, and may come off as an imitator. 

Taylor Swift - Artist Review

Artist grade: B-

Vocal grade: C-

Vocal range/type: Soprano, C3-A5 (Two octaves, five notes)

Best album(s): Fearless

Worst album(s): Red

Best song(s): "Love Story", "You Belong With Me", "Our Song", "Picture To Burn", "Style", "Back To December", "I Heart?"

Worst song(s): "Bad Blood" (ft. Kendrick Lamar), "I Knew You Were Trouble.", "We Are Never Ever Getting Back Together", "Shake It Off", "I Don't Wanna Live Forever" (with ZAYN)

Positives: Charming, charismatic voice with a lot of personality. Can portray emotion very well through vocals. Despite being a soprano, sports a very good lower range, and has a relatively low tessitura. Has songwriting talent, and writes often basic, but very good sounding compositions.

Negatives: Relatively poor range, has a tendency to be off-key during live performances. And again, despite being a soprano, her upper range is pretty poor, often having to rely on her head voice. As shown in her live performances, her breath support isn't great, as she often sounds tired after a song or two. No vibrato. Despite her songwriting talent, it could be argued her compositions and lyrics are very "safe", with her public presence and mainstream support, she can afford to take risks, and has the potential to do so... but doesn't. Her change to pop has been criticized, as her songwriting seems to have lost a bit of that authentic feel often portrayed in her work prior to the Red album.

Yeah, Taylor Swift. This review was finally put up. I can't give her higher than a B- for now. While she has a few positives, her negatives often outweigh that. Her charisma does help a lot, and the fact she's such a talented woman, to take the sellout switch to pop was disappointing, to say the least. Next, I will be looking to do an anime review, but next on the artist review chopping block is Drake Bell, so stay tuned.

Pentatonix - Artist Review

For my first artist review, I will discuss the a cappella group Pentatonix.

Artist grade: A-

Vocal grade: A

- Avi Kaplan (Bass). Range: E1-C5 (3 octaves, 6 notes)

- Mitch Grassi (Countertenor, Male Alto). Range: F2-B7 (5 octaves, 2 notes, 1 semitone)

- Scott Hoying (Baritone). Range: G1-G5 (4 octaves)

- Kirstin Maldonado (Mezzo-Soprano). Range: E3-B7 (4 octaves, 4 notes)

- Kevin Olusola (Tenor/Percussion).
Genre: A capella, pop, R&B
Best songs: "Daft Punk", "Hallelujah", "Let It Go", "Misbehavin'", "Water", "Radioactive" (ft. Lindsey Stirling), "Imagine", "Boogie Woogie Bugle Boy"
Worst songs: "Gangnam Style", "Cheerleader", "Rose Gold"
Best albums: 'That's Christmas To Me', 'Pentatonix', 'PTX Vol. IV - The Classics'
Worst albums: 'PTX, Vols. 1 & 2'

So... Pentatonix. The most popular a capella group around today. And you can see why. Let's start with the bass, Avi Kaplan. He sports a decent range, and he often provides the "backbone" for the songs. He's more of a backing vocalist, but does sometimes step up more in some songs. While he likely has the weakest range in the group, his voice definitely provides a lot of power. Next, Mitch Grassi. Who often sounds like a female to a lot of the listening public, and, I could confuse him for the Mezzo Maldonado sometimes. Sporting a range of over 5 octaves, Grassi is definitely the most diverse singer in the group, and he could probably do female parts for alto easily. And the fact he can utilize the whistle register is amazing, something I wished I could do. Scott Hoying, the baritone, is arguably the lead singer, and to be honest... I would prefer Grazzi. Hoying isn't bad, it's just preference. He does have a lot of presence, I can say that, but he has a thin falsetto and he has less range. Kirstin Maldonado, the mezzo-soprano, is pretty good, being able to do both alto and soprano sort of parts. Kevin Olusola, who's range I couldn't really figure out due to him not vocalizing often. He often does percussion and beatboxing, and is definitely a huge asset. 

Their music in general, well, they can actually be really good, as they can cover all vocal types for some awesome harmonizing. They started off as more of a gimmick and nothing else, but they definitely grown to be one of the best a capella groups I've ever listened to. Overwhelming Christmas releases though. I get it's where they're most popular, but it's exasperating to hear so many. I still like it, but would like more original material. And as such, I'm giving them a A-.