The people you meet, Gap this and I loves my rehearsal wear...

 

Hey All!

It is early, early, early morn...and because of the time change I woke at like 6:45am. (I know if I put up a picture you will all know everything...and our Glee clubs are getting to sneaky and CSI-like...so...there it is...you gotta respect a bit of sneak!)

Gosh, Christian and I have done some traveling!

We are at the beginning of Week 5 and I cannot believe how fast it has all gone...one more week after this and then everyone goes to stage.

I am constantly amazed and inspired by the people I meet on this show...the people who will do something totally new, more than slightly terrifying and who will go right out of their comfort zone. We have heard that phrase a lot this year. A lot. "Right Out of My Comfort Zone."...and all of our people will try anything.

Yesterday, I gave a young man a solo line to try...he looked at me with terror and said, "I don't think this is for me."....and I put aside my music stand and said, "Why don't you try it anyway..." and he did...and he was awesome...just awesome...and the clapping and delight that ensued!!! Everyone else was inspired to try...how excellent is that?!

And it doesn't escape me that most of these people watched all of our brave first timers from last year, the Canada Sings Pioneers (who had no idea what it was the show was gonna be!)...the Cops, the Wolves, the Junkers, Scarborough,  Boilerhouse and the Energy peeps (and, of course, all of Scott and Kelly's wonderful teams) ...and thought...well, maybe I can do that!! So, again, thanks to the first timers!!

Now, I need to go watch a couple rehearsal vids and give a couple notes (you know who you are...) but before then....there are a couple of thoughts that I had this week and I wanted to pass them on.

Have you seen the new Gap Campaign "Be Loud"?

Well, the campaign...if it was being truthful...would actually be  

"Be Loud...

unless you are over a REAL size 14...

then, please be somewhere else."

Now, I don't have to tell most of you that I have been, and probably will be again, many sizes in my life. Many. Though you may look at me and see some extra pounds...and I never try to justify myself anymore in this vein...but for the sake of argument...I have physicals every year...I am in pretty awesome shape. You can ask my doctor...if devils her every time. 

The fabulous stylist, Lisa Williams, who does me up for Canada Sings, works very hard to style me in the manner in which I really want to dress. And I love her for it! AND THIS year is  super AWESOME!! Together, we did a ton of research online about stores in the GTA that want to help a gal who is curvy celebrate her style ( Gussied Up and Lola and Gigi, to name a couple)...and Magpie (who's dress is featured above!! LOVE!) and Rainbow have been super helpful. And, of course, the one and only Fashion Crimes will clothe me for the production week...as always.

But it is still hard for women of a certain size to buy fashionable clothes...and their is no bigger "We don't like big people" culprit than The Gap...because, you see...they used to have bigger sizes...I know it because I have the clothes...and can wear them.

But if you go in now, the sizings have all changed...for men and women.

There are no clothes for anyone over a real size 12, I reckon.

They used to go to a real size 16 for women.

And their men's XXL was true...no more.

Shame.

Shame.

Shame.

They sell basics...but not basics for all.

If and/or when I ever become a smaller size I WILL NEVER SHOP AT THE GAP AGAIN.

 

 

 

NYC...HERE I COME...IN THE FALL and some Canada Sings SEASON 2!!!

So, I have been waiting for the perfect opportunity to go back to NEW YORK CITY, people.

And now it has come...Autumn in New York...just like that fancy songs says...I had to learn that fricken' song in school...though I would never sing it because it ain't my style! 
Now, I cannot wait to tell you all about it...BUT this woman needs to book the rest of the tour first! (Yes, I am working backwards....)
But the dates all look to be exciting!!!
It is gonna be an exciting year for this globe trotting chick!!!
Starting with SEASON 2 OF CANADA SINGS!!!
The press release has gone out...we have a new judge...and CV and I are on the road, people!!! 

And now, off to nap (yes, I said nap...we rehearsed late and I had a business call early...so stop your judging)  before the last day of Week 3 ( I can't believe it is Week 3 already!!) with my team here in Beautiful Calgary, Alberta!!
That is our producer and friend, Maureen Riley!!!
And that is my dear partner, Christian Vincent...who you could put in a burlap sack, and he would look great. 
How is that fair.
The shoot/rehearsals are going VERY WELL so far!! 
VERY WELL!
So happy to be back with Christian...he is amazing...so happy to be competing against Scott and Kelly, again...those Minxes. (Hello, Kelly Konno.)
There are amazing new groups, filled with dedicated, hardworking and awesome people.
The mash ups and medleys are flowing...and we have already worked with groups in Toronto, Calgary and another place....hmmm.....
Next week we move on from AB to another province...and then another....and then another!!!
It is KOOKA!!
And this year...we mean BUSINESS!!!
(We also meant business last year...but I love to say it...)
Do you wanna come to a taping of Canada Sings...hells yes!! 
Come see me sit in the audience in a Fashion Crimes outfit (fancy, as always) and eat my heart out with nerves  as I watch my fabu groups do their things??
Here is the info...

WANT TO WATCH A TAPING OF CANADA SINGS?

The fun, loud and vibrant show Canada Sings is now in production for it's second season. This season brings 12 new and energetic teams as well as new judge, Laurieann Gibson! To celebrate we've got FREE tickets to be in the LIVE studio audience.

If you're looking for passes please email csings2@insighttv.com!

  

So, back into bed...dreaming of pop songs layered over one another...trophies...trips to NY and points beyond....life is grand...GRAND! 

POST SCRIPT

I hear that some of the Glee Clubs from Season 2 are reading my posts and think you know who our teams are...but do you really? Do you really? I like to be sneaky and send out misleading information. Ask my husband...that is how I have kept him on his toes for 20 years!!! BWAH BWAH BWAH HA HA!!! (That is my sneaky laugh...in case you were wondering!) SEE YOU ON THE STAGE!!!

Happy Valentimes to ALL!!!

Dear All Valentines 

and People who would like to be Valentines....

or have Valentines...

or find themselves giving up on the idea of being a Valentine,

I was feeling a little blue this morning because I am away from home...and my own Valentine.

One of my fave things he has ever said to me was on the day we got married... "Now, I have a permanent Saturday night date!"... love that...love him.

For our first Valentines he was in Edmonton and I was in Toronto...now, it is a bit reversed...but if I am not mistaken...and you all know how I am with dates and the such...it is our 20th Valentine's Day as a couple.

What the heck!!!

How time flies.

On that first Valentine's Day I received a box from Canada Post Express...and when I opened it...it had a live rose inside...that he had sent from Edmonton. He had picked the rose himself, packed it up carefully and sent it to me...and it was alive and gorgeous.

It was one of the most romantic things anyone had ever done for me...and still is...

My friend, Ash, who owns and runs the George Street Diner on the corner of Richmond and George St. (Our fave place for breakfast and brunch in the WORLD) found this posted on the side of her Diner this morn....

It made me have a tear up...it is true...so very true.

And though I can't be with my Valentine today...I just wanted to tell him...for all the world to hear...how I love him so. 

That I am still excited every time I know I am gonna see him...every time.

None of us should give up on love...no matter what kind of love it might be...except if it is gross or illegal...and who is to judge what gross really is in this case...so let us just go with illegal.

My husband sent me this pic on the old facebook this morn...

And I was in love...and then I saw that he was in the Shopper's D (we know how I love that place) on the end of my street...and then I wondered...who is holding the camera? He told me, as we spoke on the phone minutes later, that there is no lack of last minute Valentimers in the card section at the Shopper's D on Valentine's Day...one of the 45 guys there asked if George was buying the card...George said no...another asked if he could get a discount on the used card after George was done with it...another said he wasn't late because it wasn't 5:00pm yet. Oh, boys. 

So, the moral to the story today is two fold....

1. Don't Give Up On Love

2. Everyone in the card section at the Shopper's D on Valentine's Day is a Wise Ass.

Happy Valentine's Day TO ALL!!!!

Whitney Houston. How they did you wrong.

Look at how young she is...and she looks like a different person. Almost boyish.

She was Clive Davis' fair haired young lady...he built an entire empire and brand  around her...made millions off of her...and produced her wonderful voice...and as she was taken to the morgue and her room at the Beverly Hilton was cordoned off as a crime scene, his Grammy Party...at the same hotel where she was discovered dead...went on.

Here is an excerpt from Whitney's obit in the New York Times. 

"At Mr. Davis’s party, where Ms. Houston was a regular guest and performer, tourists shot cellphone pictures of a police crime laboratory van parked outside. But inside, the glamour of the event seemed undiminished, even if Ms Houston’s name was on everyone’s lips

The streets in front of the Beverly Hilton, already crowded because of the Grammy Awards party taking place there, swarmed with reporters and fans, drawn by the news of this latest high-profile pop star dying in Los Angeles.

Even after the news of Ms. Houston’s death had been released, celebrities and other partygoers continued to arrive for the Davis event, which went on as planned, while fans stood behind a rope trying to take pictures"

I read this and it made me sadder than I already was.

It is this business of entertainment and music.

And I love music and entertainment...I truly love it...but the business of it can be so insensitive, have such a short memory and be dismissive...and we all have to remember...it is a business and must continue to move forward...as businesses do.

That fact doesn't make the business of moving on any less gross.

The idea of a party thrown by Clive Davis continuing steps and moments from where one of the best voices  of our age (that he produced and profited greatly from) died could not better illustrate this grossness.

Whitney, indeed, was a grown person who made her own choices...some of them very bad...I have to say ( I secretly blame Bobby Brown for all of this...I can't stop myself...no matter how unpopular that opinion might be) the people around her...the people who made money off of her...probably did everything they could to keep her going...I am just guessing...I could be wrong...but do you guys think I am?

How did she end up on all of those world stages in such a state?

How?

Singing in an exhausted voice wracked by drug use and sadness.

I couldn't watch any of those youtube clips where people giggled at her bygone talent and pointed out how she was trying to resurrect her career...and tittered.

The mob of public can be so callous. So very bi polar....so embracing and then disgracing.

They love you when you are up and love to make fun of you when you are down.

And then...when you die...they celebrate you again.

Lord.

Now, I don't mean ALL people...but look at youtube...I love watching Youtube myself... and giggling at some peoples misfortune...we have all done it...let us be honest...but there are times when it moves to a whole other level of mockery.

There are people who cannot wait to capture or watch a moment of someone who is 'great' or 'celebrated' as they tumble down the ladder of celebrity...to the TMZ level.

The truly gross level.

I guess I look at that picture, above, and think of how much promise she had there.

Anything could happen.

And did...the best of the best...and the worst of the worst.

In front of the world, for all to see...and we felt like it was our right to see it.

The 'Being Bobby Brown' reality show.

Their visit to the Holy Land...yes, I remember it all...because I watched and read about it, too.

(Not the Being Bobby Brown...it made me too sad...and mad)

I guess I hoped that she might find herself some how and age in grace...or reality...or something...I don't know...but I hoped for peace for her...

Hopefully, she has it now.

Wherever she might be.

I don't know her...but I admired her....god, how I admired her

Here are some of my very fave clips of Whitney...the fact that they are from Youtube is not lost on me. 

She was one of the first cassette tapes I bought.

All I wanted was to sing like her.

She led the way for Beyonce, Alicia Keys, Pink, Shania...you name them...

She was an amazing vocalist.

May she well and truly be at peace.

Singing 'Home' from the Wiz on the Merv Griffin Show in her earliest days.

Singing with a gospel choir in her teens.

Whitney singing THE BEST version of the Star Spangled Banner at the Superbowl...she seemed confidence and grace personified.

Whitney rehearsing "All the Man I Need" for SNL...she seems so relaxed and she sings the shit out of this.

POST SCRIPT!!!!

And then the Grammy's put fucking Chris Brown on...it is hard to be the Grammy's...they are the victim...WHAT THE FUCK??!?!? Read the blog below...

Having Chris Brown on the show tells every woman that has been abused that after a few years...it doesn't matter...get over it.

Jesus Wept...

http://ohnotheydidnt.livejournal.com/66508442.html#ixzz1mHATmzjA

Me and George and the National Post!

Thanks to the National Post (and sweet Grant) for this awesome article about how George and I met!!! Featuring a picture where my hair was dyed brown. Or something...

 http://life.nationalpost.com/2012/02/11/the-one-sharron-matthews-and-george-masswohl/

AND CV and I are on the move ACROSS Canada meeting and working with teams for Season 2 of Canada Sings...but had time to stop for this photo shoot on CV's bday...it was a very glam show at a VERY GLAM location!!! Where are we NOW!?!?!?

So, it is like the worst secret in the land...but I am on a cross Canada tour, working on SEASON
2...yes, I said it...Season 2 of Canada Sings! WE gotta another season, people!!!

A: Super Excited about getting Season 2 of this show!!!

B: Super Excited about going across CANADA and meeting and working with new people...of every shape, description, background, and vocal experience!!! LOVE IT!!

C: Doesn't "cross Canada tour" sound fancy?

D: I love that I never have to wear my down coat because someone drives us to and from work...I am sorry...yes, I am bragging...BUT nothing lasts forever and you gotta love it while it is happening people.

E: The groups I have already worked with are SUPER DUPER awesome...so excited...and hard working...and filled with sass.

F: I can't say where I  am but the pic above is the view out of my hotel window... it is minus 8 million degrees...and sunny as hell.

G: Christian Vincent and I are rocking it...together again! He is so handsome...it is like looking into the SUN!!! THE SUN I TELL YOU!!! And the best part is he is such a dear that his handsomeness is nothing compared to his heart. What an awesome thing to be working with my talented pal again.

H: Kelly and Scott are somewhere else in Canada right now...trying to beat us...huh. Well, Kelly Konno and Scott Henderson...LET US DO THIS!!! SEASON 2!! WE HAVE ALL SET THE BAR HIGH!!!

I: I was reminded yesterday how lucky I am to have such an amazing, creative job. To be doing this for a living. Meeting and working with all these dedicated and fearless people...they humble and inspire me on a daily basis.

J: I am ALSO reminded how blessed I am to be working with Insight and Shaw, again...thanks to you Insight and Shaw. AND our amazing production team!! This is one of my fave parts...seeing the same fabulous people everyday. When you work on your own shows, working with a large group of talented, wonderful people everyday is such a joy.

K:  I am gonna go start my day! HAVE A WONDERFUL DAY ALL!!!