This review was originally written on Epinions.com.

Katharine McPhee is known as the runner up to season five winner Taylor Hicks on American Idol. The 22 year old singer utilized her good looks and fantastic voice to overcome a lack of “it” factor to go far on the hit TV show. She comes from a musical background as her mother is an accomplished cabaret singer and she was the most veteran singer of the Idol group despite her young age. Katharine McPhee, which is her debut release, features help from a heavy hitters like Babyface, Walter Afanasieff (think Mariah Carey), The Underdogs, and Timberland buddy, Nate “Danja” Hills, who produces eight of the twelve tracks. It was rumored to be rushed after missing several release dates, and though at points it does sound so, for the most part, it feels complete.

Because of her vocal background, I expected this album to be full of Barbara Streisand like adult ballads in addition to being a borefest. Fortunately it’s not, and there is a lot to like on the album. For starters, the first song, Love Story is an awesome way to start the album and really sets the tone. Produced by Nate “Danja” Hills, it features a creative background of peppy instrumentation and shows McPhee as someone who is not only young, but hip, which you didn’t really see on the show. If anything, on the show she was an old soul in 22 year old skin. With Love Story she fits right in with the younger singers in the R&B genre. Initial single Over It is very much so a pop song that you’d expect from any of the young pop singers and while it doesn’t show any of her strengths as an actual singer, it will get onto the iPods of young teenage girls, which I think is the point.

She’s going to be compared to Christina Aguilera throughout her career just based on her powerful voice. Vocally, unless you listen very closely, you may think you hear Aguilera. Home doesn’t try to shy away from that. In fact, it welcomes it with open arms. Co-written and co-produced by Kara DioGuardi, Home piggybacks Aguilera’s own Beautiful both in production styles and how McPhee sings it. She also channels her inner Aguilera on the Afanasieff helped Ordinary World. She seems to embrace the Aguilera style in everything from how she sings the chorus to her runs and everything in between. Not a bad person to be compared to if you can step up to the plate. She doesn’t yet emote like Aguilera, but Aguilera didn’t emote like Aguilera until her last two albums. Each Other is her We Belong Together slash Be Without You song except she never told her man to call the radio if he can’t be without his baby.

While the attempt to be Christina Aguilera 2.0 is a mixed bag just because she’s a hard person to be compared to, the album does a good job with the faster tempo songs, which aren’t always a strong point from someone with such a good voice. Not Ur Girl (again a Danja track) has a nice groove to it with a simple drum beat and McPhee shines on a track that Gwen Stefani would’ve muddled up with her rap singing. McPhee gets to show off a little bit on the chorus, but if anything, she holds back on the vocals for most of the album. Not all the faster paced songs hit though as the Underdogs produced Do What You Do tries to show her off as this diva like B-girl, and it’s a laughable attempt. Dangerous brings it back a little bit with an anthem for girls to watch out for dangerous boys. Open Toes will probably be successful for her just based on it’s silliness and the ability for it to connect with females. And it features a beat seemingly created by someone’s fist and a park bench in an ode to Jam Master Jay.

Open Toes

With her voice, you’d think that her calling card would be the ballads, but it’s on the ballads where the album slows down. While the production on the songs that have the pepper are creative and hot, the production on the ballads are just the opposite. She sounds like every other singer in the genre and only gets by because of her voice. Better Off Alone sounds like a song that Christina Aguilera would’ve left on the cutting room floor even on a double album release. Neglected is Danja’s one misstep as he produces a slow and plodding beat that isn’t saved by McPhee and her uninspired chorus. Babyface teams with McPhee on the last song, Everywhere I Go and ‘Face allows McPhee to finally show off her pipes. It’s your usual Babyface ballad, but you’re not someone until you have one.

Katharine McPhee’s first album isn’t going to make people think she’s the next great female singer, but there’s enough positives in it to believe that one day she’s going to be able to put together one hell of an album. She may still not have that “it” factor, but Katharine McPhee has enough good material on it to where I wouldn’t be surprised if it sold it’s share of copies.

I’m a bit behind on my Hogan family.

The show starts as Nick and Brooke go to a liquor store to get some food and directions and they can’t find anyone who speaks English because everyone is speaking Spanish. Brooke says that she doesn’t even feel like she’s in her own country anymore. I guess she only speaks blond.

Hogan says the universal language is friendship. Rock on! Linda decides that everyone should take Spanish classes. Hogan says when people call him “numero uno”, he understands that he’s the greatest. Then they start to go crazy.

Linda asks her house cleaner if she has any friends, as if all her friends clean houses. Surprisingly, this woman calls some friends. Linda also wants them to come clean her house every day.

Hulk tries to order a sandwich with double the turkey and the woman making the sandwich thinks he wants two sandwiches. She does finally get his sandwich right. He tries saying goodbye in Spanish to one woman, and she actually speaks English.

He then goes into a GNC and has problem ordering product because the woman speaks Spanish. I’d bet Hogan could shop at GNC with his eyes closed. Then he asks the lady for any product that helps with sex and in showing her what he’s talking about, he flexes his bicep. That must be the universal language for sex. Rather than the old finger going in and out of the circle motion. He buys some products to make his “cobra” bigger.

Linda puts the cream that Hogan bought for his “cobra” on her head and Nick asks who puts “weiner” cream on their forehead. Hogan says he’s now ready to learn Spanish and wants someone to come to the house to teach them.

Hogan is such a mark for himself that he wears this bright red and yellow Hulk Hogan jersey. They invite a woman over to their house to help them “understand the locals” and “communicate with the employees (house cleaners).

Nick wants to understand how to say, “I got a disco ball in my mouth.”

Hulk calls Linda “el stiffo” for her lack of sexual drive.

They decide to go to Little Havana and use their new language skills. Hulk buys a big hat and some cigars and becomes Tony Montana. Linda asks Brooke if she wants to take cooking lessons and Brooke asks why they should do that, when they can just be cooked for. Yep, she speaks blond.

Nick tells his Spanish teacher that he tried to order sandwiches and tested out his Spanish. But then he had to go find something else to eat because it just didn’t work out.

Hogan asks her how to say, “Whatcha gonna do, brother?” in Spanish.

Linda has an idea. She wants to cook Spanish food for her family as long as they will only speak in Spanish at the dinner table. Linda says that if Brooke doesn’t speak Spanish, she will ruin her night.

Hulk says, “Por favor jabrone” to Nick as if to say, “Please jabroni”. Linda doesn’t cook the chicken all the way through and Hogan can’t think of how to say “Booshit” in Spanish. But Brooke does say that the chicken is “mierda”, which pretty much means it’s like feces. Then Hogan says “Whatcha gonna do, brother?” in Spanish again. And then he says it again.

That was a fine episode.

This review was originally published on Epinions.com.

Sylvester Stallone has always given a lot of credit to Bill Conti and how his music has perfectly supported Stallone’s Rocky movies. And while Stallone’s Rocky movies weren’t short on dialogue (except Rocky IV, which not only did Conti not work on, but it was also one long music video), there were many unspoken scenes where it was just Rocky and Conti’s musical pieces. Many of the best story telling in all six movies are when it’s just music and action telling the story. Rocky has always been uplifting and inspiring just based on the idea that every underdog has a chance. The training scenes, which are spliced together with Conti’s triumphant horns, are some of the best scenes in all the movies. During my viewing of the newest film, Rocky Balboa, most of the crowd sat on their hands until Gonna Fly Now came through the speakers and he started his training. One man even threw his fist in the air and screamed, “Yeah!” In order for the movies to work, the music was key, and Conti was the man behind it.

But Conti wasn’t the only one behind the music. There is this little song called Eye Of The Tiger that a group called Survivor wrote and performed. Stallone asked them to do something with this line that he was going to use to surround Rocky III and hence an anthem was created that stood for that killer instinct in all of us. Conti wasn’t around for Rocky IV but there were other songs created for inspiration by Survivor, Robert Tepper, John Cafferty, and none other than James Brown.

The Best Of Rocky Balboa takes what was done on The Rocky Story, which was a soundtrack released in 1991 that took songs from some of the films and combined them on one soundtrack, and does it much better. The Conti songs are here as well as the songs that he didn’t have anything to do with that are memorable for Rocky fans. Sadly, Go For It by Joey B. Ellis and Measure Of A Man which were done for Rocky V are nowhere to be found. Ok, maybe it’s not that sad, but if I have any qualms with songs missing, those would be it. Maybe Take You Back by Sly’s brother Frank also needs to be included.

All of the really good stuff is here. Alongside Gonna Fly Now, Going The Distance, Redemption (the song during the beginning of Rocky II, where Rocky and Apollo head to the hospital), Fanfare For Rocky (which is sounds like a march towards war if you ask me), the fabulous fight song Conquest, and even the song simply titled Overture (which takes a weird electronica twist about 2 minutes in before it becomes normal again) are all here.

The songs from Rocky IV are all pretty good in their own cheesy and inspiring ways. Rocky IV used more Eye Of The Tiger like songs because Conti wasn’t composing the soundtrack in that film. Survivor comes back with Burning Heart which is only classic for the lyrics.

Is it East versus West?
Or man against man?
Can any nation stand aloooooooonnnnnnneeeeeee?

This wasn’t scientific here. Stallone did single-handedly end the Cold War in Rocky IV as it were. Probably the best song from Rocky IV is by little known Robert Tepper called No Easy Way Out. It was played during a montage where Rocky was driving his Lamborghini down the street shifting about 10 times while reminiscing about his career. That’s probably the best scene in the entire movie.

Maybe the most interesting addition to a Rocky soundtrack is James Brown’s Living In America. It also might be the most out of place scene in any Rocky movie. You have Apollo Creed being fed to a monster Russian fighter. But before he fights, he dances on stage with James Brown. James sings name drops a bunch of cities in the song and at the end says, “Eddie Murphy, eat your heart out.” Just very odd. But back in 1985 this song was all over the radio and I remember taping it a hundred times on my tape player.

An interesting little factoid is that originally, Stallone had said that there would be two soundtracks released. This one, and a separate one for Rocky Balboa. This is only interesting because none other than Natasha Bedingfield was tapped by Stallone himself to do the song that was going to be released as a single from the film’s soundtrack. So far, this soundtrack was the only one released to my knowledge (believe me, being the Rocky freak I am, I’ve looked) and Bedingfield’s song, which isn’t even distinguishable in the actual movie, is only in the UK released version of this album. Also, there is only one original song from Rocky Balboa on here and it’s a marble mouthed rap song by Three 6 Mafia called It’s A Fight which is also Mason “The Line” Dixon’s entry music. The other song is a remix (and no, P. Diddy not only didn’t produce this one, but he didn’t invent the remix either) of Gonna Fly Now. It’s mysteriously called the John X remix and is produced by both Conti and Natalie Wilde. It includes a mixing of the original song with wacky dialogue. The line my kids love is when Rocky says, “Hey, you gotta boyfriend?” And then they scratch in the announcer from Rocky III saying, “Ladies and gentlemen”. It’s just wacky and should’ve have been anywhere near this album.

There are added soundbites from the movies in between the music and though they didn’t get all the great soundbites, they did get a few of them. There’s the line at the end of Rocky II where he put the word “Yo” in everyone’s vocabulary (“Yo Adrian, I did it!”). There’s also the line where the just out of coma Adrian tells Rocky to win, but it’s sorely missing Mickey’s line where he says, “Well what are we waiting for!”. But maybe the best line that’s included on the soundtrack is when Rocky announces to a once booing Russian crowd that if he could change, and they could change, everybody could change. This line was even made more classic in the movie because there was a Russian translater in the background, saying Rocky’s Cold War ending lines in Russian. When I would impersonate this part of Rocky IV, not only would I do Rocky’s lines, but also the Russian translated lines. Sadly, in this soundbite, the translator is nowhere to be found.

If I Can Change …

Obviously, if you’re not a fan of the movies, you probably won’t like most of the music. But if you are a fan, this is the single must buy soundtrack of them all (if you can still find the others). I played my original Rocky album until the vinyl fell off and did the same with my Rocky III and Rocky IV records, but this one takes the cake. It’s pretty much a workout tape on it’s own.

Even though running really is for dummies, I wasn’t that dumb this weekend. On Wednesday, I started to feel a bit stressed out and seemingly then caught a bug or something. Thursday I started to actually feel sick and Friday it was all over. Thankfully, I had done two out of my three runs on Wednesday and Thursday but my big four mile run scheduled for today was scratched because I didn’t want to end up with pneumonia. So without much to say (because I didn’t get to watch any football today while running), I decided to ask Eddy Zucko how his training was going.

He basically told me that he was feeling great and that a 10K was probably a little beneath him but because he enjoyed the competition, he would run it at full strength. He did let me know that if he was ahead of me at the event, he’d run the last mile backwards. He said that if I beat him, he’d walk around Young Randall and HJ’s house naked and call himself “Big Poppa Pump”.

Thankfully, I walked out of the conversation before it became a bit more graphic and just chalked it up to overconfidence.

Interestingly enough, I still can’t find a time and date for the 10K that I want to run. I’ve searched about every week and still nothing. Hopefully I didn’t decide to run it a year too late.

I hope to start feeling better because it will be a hard climb back up that mountain if I take too much time off.

It gives me great feeling, all time all my life to let you know that Beverly Hills 90210 Season 2 is not only going to be released DVD on May 1, but it also now has box art and a set of features. Emily Valentine some 15 years later? I’m not sure if I’m excited or mortified.

You can read more at tvshowsondvd.com.