Voce Existe Em Mim (Live)...

I've got to admit that for me, the highlight of the "Straight to You" tour was seeing Voce Existe Em Mim live.

While I quite liked the song on the CD, nothing compares to being there live and feeling Josh's energy and that of the band.

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(And if you've a good connection speed, make sure you watch it in 1080p HD.)

Ok, so now over to you. Leave a comment letting me know what your favorite song was on the "Straight to You" tour set list.

Private life...

Hi everyone

I just wanted let you know that I've made a decision not to post anything in relation to the person Josh is reportedly seeing at the moment, even though there are now numerous sites that have pictures of them walking together on different occassions.

While Josh is a celebrity and does gets photographed by the paparazzi, as a personal decision, I will not post anything in relation to this until such time as they are seen together officially at an event, or we get some other form of confirmation that they are in fact 'an item'.

I hope you understand and respect my decision.

At the end of the day, my hope for Josh is that he is happy!!!

Thanks for your understanding.
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They weren't a joke...

OMJ!!! Can't say I'm a fan of the Buddy Holly glasses. Josh is at the OneXOne event in San Francisco. I'm planning to post a longer entry about this later on, but I couldn't resist posting this pic now!


- Posted using BlogPress from my iPhone
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Remember (Pt. 2)...

Ok, so just over a week ago I posted an entry remembering Josh's contribution at the Stand Up 2 Cancer event in 2008. (The entry can be viewed here.)

Anyway, I just wanted to say that Josh's tweet from today made me so happy...

Having a family member currently battling her own personal battle against this horrible disease, it great to see Josh's continued support for this cause. After all there would be very few people in the world that don't know someone who has had this awful disease.

It's one more thing that makes me so proud to be a fan...

Edited to update -
The "Stand Up To Cancer" twitter page posted this:

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If you're on Twitter....

Follow me @ http://twitter.com/IHeartJG

(Well if it's good enough for Josh.... LOL)
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Josh inspires us (again)...

It's not all about the music.

When I talk to friends and colleagues about being a Josh Groban fan I sometimes struggle when trying to explain that it involves so much more than just him and his music.

Apart from the awesome friendships that are formed around the world (which most of the time are initially via the wonders of the worldwide web), it's also the inspiration we as fans are given to 'give back'.

Last weekend, Josh was inducted into the Hollywood Bowl Hall of Fame. Sadly I couldn't be there, but Josh was well represented by an extremely large contingent of fans who traveled from all across the US and internationally to attend this one night only event.

A large group of fans weren't just content on only attending the concert and instead used the event as an opportunity to help others...

An extremely dedicated group of fans organized a "Meet & Greet" event as a way to get together, have fun and at the same time raise funds for the Josh Groban Foundation and they raised an incredible amount of over $20,000 through auctions and the sale of merchandise...

In response to this amazing effort, Josh posted the following response on twitter-

@joshgroban: remarkable...thank you! RT @Nessuria Hollywood Bowl Meet & Greet raised $20,420 for the @joshgroban Foundation!! so proud to be part of that

Additionally, a group of fans, inspired by Josh's appearance at the Feeding America rally earlier this year, donated food, goods, cash and more importantly their time to volunteer at the Los Angeles Regional Food Bank on the morning of the concert.

So, it's not just about the music and I just want to say-

"Thank you Josh for inspiring your fans to give back... I'm so proud to say I'm a fan!"
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The Grammy's...

I'm not really sure what to say...

Obviously I'm bitterly disappointed that Josh didn't win his category of BEST TRADITIONAL POP VOCAL ALBUM for "Noël" (instead it went to "Still Unforgettable" by Natalie Cole)... But we know that Josh has said many times that he isn't in this business for the awards and accolades. That said, it would've been nice to hear him introduced as "Grammy award winning artist... Josh Groban!!!

But as a dear friend of mine reminded me, this is the same organization that awarded the Best New Artist Grammy to Milli Vanilli in 1990 (and yes, I know it was revoked after it was revealed that the actual vocals on the record were not their voices, but they still gave it to them in the first place)... LOL

And as the saying goes, there's always next year... There's no doubt that the fans will be there to support Josh 100%. After all, without the fans "Noël" wouldn't have been the biggest selling album for 2007 !

But in other news Ric Rubin who's producing Josh's next album picked up the Grammy for PRODUCER OF THE YEAR, NON-CLASSICAL...

First ever "LIVE" webchat...

Josh has just completed his first ever "LIVE" chat with fans.

This chat was announced less than 24 hours before it went live, and was restricted to FoJG. It took place at 11am PST (which for me in the land down under was 5am Saturday morning - YIKES!!!!!!) Only for Groban would I ever set my alarm for 4:45am on the weekend. LOL

There were a few small technical glitches early on, but it went a lot smoother than I'd anticipated. For the next one, they'll need to work on how to switch between the chat rooms, but apart from that, I thought it all went quite well.

I for one was glad we finally heard the story about the "Life is a Masquerade" song with Ben Folds... And yes, he confirmed it was a joke (and they were in fact aiming for the worst song ever written!!!).

There's no doubt there'll be some angst that it was restricted, but the mods on the jg.com boards have promised that "This is the first 'test run' for many future chats with Josh. We're looking at what format will work best. Sorry we couldn't include everyone this time."

My take is, one the one hand, I can understand that when you pay to be a member of a fan club, there is an expectation that you'll have access to exclusive content, after all that's what they promise, but I can also understand the disappointment of those who missed out because they aren't a member.

And with this type of thing, they'll go into it knowing they'll never be able to please everyone with there being so many variables such as the time differences around the world or the fact that people have to work, go to school, have a life etc, regardless of how much notice is given...

Hopefully the video will be up for everyone in a day or two, and if they allow it to be embedded on other sites, I'll post it here.

Anyway, here are a couple of tidbits to keep you going (my internet connection was very ordinary, my fault for reaching my limit for the month), so I've only got a couple.

• He's starting to record some album demos next week. He anticipates being in the studio for about 5 months of recording with the tour to start about 2 months later (so it could be winter or early 2010) - in other words, start saving NOW!!!
• PBS Soundstage - in the process of editing and he's hopeful it will air sometime in February or March
• Favorite food - Japanese
• He'd like to do some small shows in New York while working on the album
• He sometimes checks out FoJG and loves how a thread develops
• The Simpsons - Josh had spoken with Nancy Cartwright backstage while on tour. A script was sent to him with the concept, which Josh of course loved. He gave permission for the songs to be used, and Josh thought it was hilarious. Someone asked if Lisa Simpson was his new girlfriend and he said "Maybe? Creepy..." He even mentioned that it might open a door to an actual appearance down the track (how cool would that be???)
  
• He talked about working with Rick Rubin
• Plain or Peanut - he said peanut. Not that he was really sure what this one was about. He'll be out and about today when M&M's will pop into his head
• "One of the best things about traveling is making kids...I have 100's." (and yes that was a joke too...!)
• He'd love to do SNL and hopes they'll be able to organise that during the promo of the new album
• Chris has finished a short film "Another Day" and Josh did the music for it. He'd like to see if he can get it posted somewhere on-line (fingers crossed for that one)
• Josh knew there was a thread on FoJG that was trying to find him in this photo of the inauguration. He even gave a few hints (to the left of the tv tower, towards the back, in a seating area) as he didn't think anyone had found him yet, but he was surprised at the number of look a likes that had been found.

*** EDIT - The following update has been posted on FoJG "The webcast recorded, but for some reason the audio is out of sync. We're re-editing the video and should have it up soon."

C'mon Groban - it's time to update your blog...

It's been two months since your last video blog, and surely you've learnt by now that we're not all that good at the whole waiting thing.

What happened to the blog you recorded with Placido Domingo? Surely it's not too much to ask to post that and it'll keep us happy (for a few moments anyway)... That way you can do one while in the UK and then of course, one for Christmas.

You know what happens when the Grobanites get restless, so please post soon...

Anyway, have fun in the UK and Europe.
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Patience is a virtue...

...but unfortunately when it comes to all things Groban I have a tolerance level of about zero. So like a lot of fans around the world I'm playing the waiting game and to be honest it's not going very well.

My friends think it's a little weird that I'm so excited about this release, particularly given that the only 'new' song on the CD is "Anthem" from Chess. But for me, it'll be well worth it for this song alone. (Now we just need some details of when the Chess in Concert DVD will be released - but that's a whole other story - LOL...)

"A Collection" was released in the Netherlands on Friday, but I won't have it in my hands until next Saturday (if everything goes to plan). Unfortunately for our UK friends, the release date seems to have changed a million times, and it looks like it's now December 1st.

Just think of the problems that could've been solved if there was a single worldwide release date... Oh well, a girl can dream.

Anyway, this might help to pass the time until 9am next Saturday morning...

(Is it Saturday yet???)
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Talk about confusing…

Seriously, how hard can it be to get consistency or accurate information in relation to the release date for “Josh Groban – A Collection”…

Let’s just put into perspective some of the conflicting information:

On JG.com
There are two posts “Josh Groban – A Collection” and “Josh Groban In The UK” which state that “Josh Groban – A Collection” will be released November 10th.

On FoJG
Again two posts, but this time, the “Josh Groban - A Collection” post has a release date of November 10th, while the "Josh Groban in the UK" post has the release date as November 17th.

On the UK website of the Noble PR Consultancy firm, the release date is stated as December 1st. From this website there's a link to www.joshgrobanmusic.com, which has the release date back to November 17th. Can anyone see a pattern forming here (in that no one really knows what's going on)???

Warner Brothers Australia has confirmed November 15th as the release date for ‘down under’.

And here’s a few on-line websites with their release dates

BOL (Netherlands) - November 7th
Take2 (South Africa) - November 10th
Chaos (Australia) - November 17th
CD Wow (UK) - November 17th
Amazon (UK) – December 1st
HMV (UK) – December 1st
Play (UK) – December 1st
CD Universe (USA) – December 2nd

So, I guess that sometime between now and Christmas we can expect that the CD will be released.

Apart from this – there are quite a few other Josh-related items on the agenda. Here’s my quick summary (apologies now if I've missed something, but as you can see, there's quite a few things on the cards):

CD

• Brian McKnight “I'll Be Home For Christmas” – Josh duets on "Angels We Have Heard On High". This CD is currently available. (**This song also featured on Josh's CD "Noel")

• Charles Aznavour “Duos” – Josh joins Charles to sing "La Boheme". Release date December 5th.
  

• Placido Domingo – In his “Late Night Kitchen Time” video blog, Josh shared that he had recently recorded a duet with Placido Domingo. CD title and release date unknown. Update - the title of the CD is "Amore infinito. Canzoni ispirate alle poesie di Giovanni Paolo II - Karol Wojtyla" (the English translation is Endless Love. Songs inspired by the Poetry of John Paul II - Karol Wajtyla). The (Italian) release date is Nov 28th.

DVD/CD

• "Hit Man: David Foster & Friends” – Josh performs Alla Luce del Sole; Bridge Over Troubled Water with Brian McKnight and You Raise Me Up. Release date November 11th. (It appears that the three songs will be on the DVD, and Bridge Over Troubled Water will appear on the CD)

• Live From Abbey Road: The Best of Season 1 – release date November 11th ("February Song", "You Are Loved" and "Machine")

• Chris Botti “Live In Boston” – CD release date November 18th/ DVD release date March 09. Update - the release date for the CD has been pushed back to February 09.
  

DVD

• Chess in Concert - unknown release date.

TV

• Indina Menzel PBS Special from Rose Hall NYC – January 15th 2009

• Josh Groban PBS Special from Rose Hall NYC – date to be confirmed

• Chess in Concert – date to be confirmed

Ok Groban, I think it's time you passed me a beer and maybe then it'll all make sense…

[Of course, the dates above are accurate at time of posting, but I guess we all know that they're bound to change, so I’ll update when (and if) further information is made available.]
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A busy couple of days...

After a busy weekend that included appearances at fund-raisers for OnexOne and the Carousel of Hope it was great to see a more 'casual' Josh taking to the stage at the Bridge School benefit. Anyway, here's a quick run-down of the various events Josh attended over the last weekend.

ONEXONE (San Francisco) - Thursday 23rd October
IMO, the red-carpet look wasn't a winner. The jacket just looked plain wrong (maybe it would've looked better if it had been un-buttoned), but I don't mind the hair cut. There was word that he wasn't feeling 100% so that might explain it...

Hmm, I wonder what he sang with the African Children's Choir???

CAROUSEL OF HOPE (Los Angeles) - Saturday 25th October
I'm liking this look a lot better than the OneXOne look, but then again, you can't really go wrong with a nice black suit. Also it looks like he made good use of some product in his hair this time around(LOL).

BRIDGE SCHOOL BENEFIT (San Francisco) - Sunday 26th October
I really liked the casual approach to the wardrobe today. And to see Josh sing in his glasses was a nice and unexpected treat.

In what was a bit of a surprise, Josh joined the Smashing Pumpkins on stage to do a version of their classic song Disarm. Of course there are some SM fans that weren't that impressed, but I thought it was great...

Josh's set included You Are Loved (with an amazing new ending), February Song, a song by the Great Lake Swimmers called Changing Colors, America and then Harvest Moon with Neil Young.

From all reports, Josh was one of the few artists who took the time to interact with the kids who were on stage. As Chescaleigh said "You win at life..."

(BTW- To keep the size of this post down, I haven't included any of the amazing clips from this event that are up on YTube, but keep watching for my next post.)
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Josh Groban - A Collection...

There are no words - except this has to be one of the best album covers ever...

Post edited to add this-

Could someone please pick me up off the floor... (BTW - don't you just love photoshop?)

Josh Groban - Funny, you betch ya...

So I've been reading (O.K. some might call it trawling) through various sites all over the net to read about the post-Emmys buzz / reaction to the Classic TV Themes medley performed by Josh. I guess I wasn't all that surprised at how many of these critics and bloggers were apparently amazed that Josh Groban was funny and not an uptight / serious "opera" singer. The way some of their stories read it's almost like he grew a personality overnight.

I think Homer Simpson says it best...

Well I guess there are many people out there that are finally coming to realize what we've known for ages. Oh well, I guess it's better late than never. So as a bit of a tribute here are some of my favorite Groban funny moments thanks to YouTube...

Who knew that Josh moved to Antarctica and lived with the penguins...


What can only be described as probably one of the most bizarre rides Josh has ever taken from one radio interview to another...


We find out what Josh really feels when people want to touch his curls...


Don't you just hate that damn wind...


Who knew that Josh liked a good bake-sale...


After Loveline, we (exclusively) find out the craziest place Josh has ever made out (OK maybe not) and yes I'd pay $40 to be your friend...


Thanks Josh for sharing your drinking song (I must remember it next time "I'm a little bit drunk")...


And finally, you've gotta have nothing but admiration for a guy who'd sing a love song to Pandas...


And just because I heart 'goofy Josh' here are just a few of my fav. goofy photos...

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