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(For your listening pleasure, this blog post contains streams of Blake Lewis’ This Is My Now, sung at the American Idol 2007 finals.

It also contains Blake Lewis’ This Is My Now lyrics.

Christian artist Scott Krippayne wrote This Is My Now, a winner at the American Idol songwriting competition, with New Day Church pastor Jeff Peabody.

GannsDeen.com does not offer Blake Lewis mp3’s for download. If you like what you hear, please leave a comment in the Comments box. Thanks to Rickey for the mp3s.)

Listen to Blake Lewis This is My Now

Blake Lewis This is My Now lyrics after the jump. Read more

(For your listening pleasure, this blog post contains streams of Mandisa’s Only the World, off the Mandisa album True Beauty. It also contains Mandisa’s Only the World lyrics. GannsDeen.com does not offer Mandisa mp3’s for download. If you like what you hear, please leave a comment in the Comments box.)

American Idol Season 5 finalist Mandisa Hundley’s new single is titled Only The World. The Only The World CD single will be available for purchase online May 22 via Sparrow Records. Mandisa’s debut album, True Beauty, follows on July 31.

Fans will remember Mandisa for her off-the-hook performances of I’m Every Woman by Chaka Khan, Never by Heart, and I Don’t Hurt Anymore by Dinah Washington. The Season 5 finalist competed alongside eventual winner Taylor Hicks, and other finalists Katharine McPhee, Elliott Yamin, Chris Daughtry, and Paris Bennett.

Mandisa’s Only The World debut single has already been serviced to contemporary Christian radio. The Only The World CD single out on May 22 will include the title track of Mandisa’s debut album, True Beauty. Producers who worked on Mandisa’s debut album include CCM hitmaker Brown Bannister, most popular known for his work with Avalon and Steven Curtis Chapman; Andrew Ramsey and Shannon Sanders, whose roster of musical talent includes India.Arie; Christopher Stevens, most renowned for his TobyMac production; and Shaun Shankel, collaborator of Amy Grant.

Mandisa performed at the 38th Annual GMA Dove Awards April 25 with Kirk Franklin and TobyMac on Lose Your Soul. She is scheduled to perform at several major summer Christian music festivals.

We also encourage you to purchase Mandisa’s Only The World legally on iTunes or your favorite digital single store. Visit MandisaOfficial.com or www.myspace.com/mandisa for more information.

Listen to Mandisa’s Only The World mp3

Mandisa’s Only The World lyrics after the jump.

Looking for the lyrics to Mandisa’s True Beauty? Click here!

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American Idol Season 4 winner Carrie Underwood has set a record with the debut of her single, I’ll Stand By You, sung live during the American Idol Gives Back television special. The digital single debuted at #6 on the Billboard Hot 100, making it the first iTunes exclusive to debut in the Billboard Hot 100’s Top 10. I’ll Stand By You, a revival of the Pretenders original, is Underwood’s second Top 10 single, after her #1 debut single Inside Your Heaven.

I’m still hoping Before He Cheats, her third single from Some Hearts, will be able to rustle up enough airplay to reach the Top 10. It peaked at #11 last week.

The version of I’ll Stand By You we’re streaming for you isn’t exactly Carrie Underwood’s iTunes version; it’s a high-quality grab of the audio played during her video segment that night (which I imagine is still the version downloadable from iTunes). It’s still of excellent quality. Thanks to rJ for the song.

Carrie Underwood’s I’ll Stand By You mp3

Last night, I witnessed something I had never seen on American Idol before, courtesy of contestant Blake Lewis.

The Seattle native took Bon Jovi’s You Give Love a Bad Name and spun it completely on its head. Lewis changed the tempo. He changed the way it was sung. He beat-boxed. He popped a totally different sound and showed himself to be more than a one-trick pony.

In going with this arrangement, in going with this idea, in taking this risk, Lewis elevated himself above the glorified karaoke contest that American Idol has become in the past few weeks. By far, Blake Lewis’ You Give Love A Bad Name has become arguably the most original take on any song in the history of American Idol.

For this version alone, which we know was Lewis’ brainchild, with little prodding from producers or coach Jon Bon Bovi, Lewis deserves to be in the Final Two. Lewis adds a feeling of down-home reality and charm, and he will definitely add an unpredictability to the finals. Like Elliott Yamin before him, Lewis is not afraid of taking risks, and obviously puts a lot of thought into his song choices and arrangements. Barring the Simon-anointed final of Melinda Doolittle and Jordin Sparks, a Lewis-Doolittle or Lewis-Sparks final will be mouth-watering.

(We assume, of course, hehehe, that the dreaded fourth-place elimination shocker will have Lakisha Jones’ name on it. After her past month’s performances, we would welcome it.)

Read related posts:
Thirteen Reasons Why Melinda Doolittle should not win American Idol

Watch the video of Blake Lewis’ You Give Love a Bad Name, complete with judges’ comments, after the jump: Read more

I’ve always loved Sharing the Night Together. This lovely little song holds many memories for this child of the 80s, and while the song never really meant anything to me (read: never had anyone to ’share the night’ with while that song was popular), the tune and the lyrics always bring a pleasant little smile to my face.

Imagine my shock and utter glee when I learned that Elliott Yamin actually has a version of this song! Elliott’s Sharing the Night Together improves on the original in my opinion, infusing a soulfulness that adds new meaning and listening value to the song. Amazing work, Elliott! My wife is going to flip! Lyrics after the jump.

Do you like Elliott’s version of Sharing the Night Together? Leave a message!
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Fresh on the heels of my personal favorites for Idol’s best performances is my Top 10 least favorite American Idol (semifinals or finals) performances, inspired by this article. While everyone is entitled to her/his opinion, especially on this blog, I respectfully ask that, if you disagree, please do so in a relatively civilized way, especially since my reasons for selecting the 10 songs below are more based on performance, not a dislike for the singer. And, oh, I hadn’t seen every episode of Seasons 1 and 2, which explains the lack of performers for those two seasons. I heard Ryan Starr was atrocious. Read more

After reading MSN’s Top 10 American Idol performances of all time, Cathy and I got to talking about our Top 10 favorite American Idol performances.

She’s making her list, and I’ve made mine. See how different my choices are from MSN’s.

Oh, and feel free to post some of your favorite AI moments directly in the Comments, or leave a link to your blog where you posted it.
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