Happy 1st Birthday, Daijams! Check out the Top 5 posts of Year 1!

I was raised on music. The nineties, ie the time I spent between ages of 3 and 13, were a blur of Dave Matthews, the Smashing Pumpkins, and the Red Hot Chili Peppers, among many others. In 2010, my parents even started a Facebook community dedicated to posting YouTube videos of their favorite artists and songs. It's like a hereditary disease of the best variety.

A year ago today, I realized my friends (particularly my beloved but beleaguered roommates) were fed up with my constant babble about the live music videos I was collecting in my YouTube "Favorites" file. The videos were, at that time, heavily influenced by my budding Weezer obsession, and my roommate Allie took to asking whether I was going to listen to the "SWEATERRRRRRRRRR" song again tonight, or if she could go to sleep in peace. I took that as a sign that I needed some sort of outlet, beyond my parents' celebrated Facebook community. I wanted to create a searchable library, a canon of good live music, along with (of course, as I am a narcissistic writer, and this is just what we do) my own commentary.

So one year ago today, this blog was born.

In fact, the very first video posted here was a Weezer/Sara Bareilles collaboration. I began that post thus:

"The inaugural video on this blog is one that I have not been able to get out of my head for seven days. Seven. Full. Days. It's actually the reason I'm starting this blog: To try to get this song out of my head. I figure if I post a new live music performance every day, eventually, maybe in four or five years, I'll get this song out of my head."

Here's the video that started it all, in case you don't want to click through:

Happily, that song has been out of my head for approximately 11.5 months, thanks in large part to this blog. The daily chore of writing posts has turned into my favorite daily task, thanks in large part to the growing readership (YOU!) that has not only interacted with me via comments and Facebook postings, but in real life: The other day a friend texted me that she was sitting on a plane next to a woman actively engaged in a creepy vocal fry, which I'd written about a few days prior in a post about everyone's favorite white female rap-talk-singer, Ke$ha.Thank you again to everyone who has read and responded, or just read and enjoyed privately. If you've ever actually watched one of my videos all the way through, you're my best friend.

In an act of sentimentality, today we look back at the five most popular posts in this blog's first year of life. Let's dig in:

5)  Kelly Clarkson: "Express Yourself" and "Already Gone" (posted July 13, 2011)

In this post from last July, I mused over the talent of the only artist (save maybe Carrie Underwood) to have truly transcended the American Idol stamp on her career. Kelly Clarkson is wicked talented, and the post included two videos: her 2002 audition video and a 2009 live studio performance of her then-smash hit, "Already Gone." The progress was striking. Thank God her career didn't end with From Justin to Kelly.

4) The Rolling Stones: "Time is On My Side" (posted February 2, 2012)

After a run-in with Bill Murray at the end of January 2012, I felt the need to delve deep into this song and its history, as well as the Rolling Stones' start on the coattails of the Beatles, their progression of live show style (they got a LOT more outgoing), and the artists who did this song before the Stones made it famous.

3) Nikki Yanofsky: "Lullaby of Birdland" (posted May 19, 2011)

This then-17-year-old jazz singer has a voice beyond her years, and you guys seem to agree. Her phrasing and confidence still takes my breath away. Originally posted in May 2011, this song was in the lead for a long time until the next two artists completely obliterated her pageviews.

2) Hanson: "Thinking 'Bout Somethin'" (posted December 1, 2011)

The Hanson brothers are proof that if you're talented, and you stick together long enough (as family is hopefully apt to do), you're going to find not only the slow-soaking success that is the Holy Grail of the music industry, but also that people will really dig it when their favorite band from 5th grade is still awesome. More than three months after I posted this, and I'm still obsessed with this song.

1) Pink: "Bohemian Rhapsody" (posted November 29, 2011)

After only three months, and with more than three times the pageviews of the runner-up, Pink's version of "Bohemian Rhapsody" is by far the most viewed post on this blog. I'll credit Freddie Mercury's fashion sense, Pink's gusto, and our country's undying love of all things Queen.

Thanks for sticking with me through Year 1! If you're just joining us, Year 2 kicks off tomorrow with a post celebrating a bevy of my favorite musicians from all over the spectrum -- pop, blues, rock, even rap. Why? Because tomorrow is my birthday, and I can do whatever I want!

Until next time -- jam on!

Guy Sebastian: "Happy Xmas (War is Over)"

As we wait for the worst winter ever to hit Chicago, we're heading down under for today's installment of Daijams' 12 Days of Christmas. Aussie pop star Guy Sebastian was the winner of the first ever Australian Idol in 2003, and he's kept pace with his American counterpart, Kelly Clarkson, who kicked off the talent show era of reality television in 2002. In a matter of less than 10 years, these artists have each released five albums, toured the world, and become household names in their own countries. Life's good for the Idol contestants -- the ones with the grit to make it, at least.

I hate too much "Beyonce-ing" of a song -- you know what I mean, when a singer will tack on about 15 extra notes to every single word -- and Sebastian is certainly capable of Mariah-style runs, but he does so tastefully, leaving us wanting more. This song is all about building drama and dynamics; key changes are incorporated into every verse and chorus, ramping up the excitement and then bringing it back down again. (Seriously, John Lennon was a genius of a song writer.)

If you follow the news, you'll have heard that President Obama is pulling all American troops out of Iraq by December 31, putting an end to a war that began with our invasion in 2003 -- the same year these pop stars were neophytes singing on a talent show. In the ensuing eight years, nearly 4,500 American lives were lost and another 30,000 were wounded, according to the Washington Post.

President George Bush showed us in 2003 that when you say the war is over, that doesn't necessarily mean the war is over, or the mission accomplished. The war may never be over, but peace is being sought, and for that I'm proud to be an American.

Here are the lyrics:

So this is Christmas and what have you done,
Another year over, a new one just begun.

And so this is Christmas, I hope you have fun,
The near and the dear ones, the old and the young.

A very merry Christmas and a happy New Year
Let's hope it's a good one without any fear.

And so this is Christmas for weak and for strong,
The rich and the poor ones, the road is so long.

And so happy Christmas for black and for white
For the yellow and red ones let's stop all the fights.

War is over if you want it, war is over now.

Kelly Clarkson: "Express Yourself" and "Already Gone"

This clip is of inaugural American Idol winner Kelly Clarkson's first audition in 2002. Almost 10 years and 10 seasons later, the landscape of reality TV -- particularly talent shows -- has completely changed. AI paved the road for shows like So You Think You Can Dance, now in its eighth season, and America's Next Top Model, 17 "cycles" and still going strong, plus dozens more. And it makes sense: The joy of these shows is that you may be witnessing history unfold. To watch a young Kelly Clarkson, bubbling with personality, wearing a shirt she made herself out of a pair of jeans, standing out as something special almost instantly, is to appreciate her journey to becoming one of today's best-selling pop artists. She was even named by Billboard as the #14 artist of the decade. Not bad for a giggly girl from Texas.

In the summer of 2007, I spent 23 hours on a bus (each way) to visit my friend Bethany in Pennsylvania. I was only there a few days, but we managed to fit in a tour of historic Philadelphia, including a few National Treasure reenactments; a visit to the Jersey Shore, pre-Snooki; and a day-long American Idol audition experience. Bethany's pretty much the best tour guide ever.

Held in the Wachovia Center, the Philly AI audition drew some 20,000 hopefuls to gawk at Ryan Seacrest and audition for season seven. (By contrast, only 10,000 auditioned for all of season one.) Bethany and I spent the day wandering the sports center, making friends, getting free makeovers, and listening to people show off in the acoustically (but not necessarily aesthetically) pleasing bathrooms. Neither Bethany nor I were terribly serious about the audition, and we didn't make it past first round. But it was a memorable day, if for no other reason than I could check that off my life bucket list of stuff to try.

The newest talent contest reality show, The Voice, is holding auditions in Chicago this weekend. Since I've started taking music performance slightly more seriously, and because I really really want to make skin contact with Adam Levine (another bucket list item), I signed up. Unfortunately, life got in the way, and I won't be able to make the audition. There's always next year. Until then, I'll just have to keep practicing, daydreaming, and making friends with my local karaoke joint bartenders.

And maybe I should work on my sewing.

Haley Reinhart: "What Is & What Should Never Be"

I have not been watching American Idol. The last time I watched American Idol religiously, a cute but powerful thing named Kelly Clarkson won. I struggled through season two, never really caring too much about anyone in particular; tried out for season seven (but didn't meet Randy or Simon or Paula, what a tease); and haven't thought much of it since.

I have a lot of respect for the talent that has come out of American Idol. Carrie Underwood has already been celebrated on this blog, and Jennifer Hudson's got some serious skills. But the show itself feels like a factory, churning out trendy, poppy artists that seem to grip the 12-to-22-year-old market for a few months and then drop off the face of the earth. (Hi, Clay!) That's fine, because at least they can sing a bit, so even if they inevitably become one-hit wonders, it's all better than...people who can't sing who make music anyway.

So last night we had a wonderful roomie dinner -- both of them are moving out on me this summer SADFACE -- and we turned on Idol because Brittan watches it. Stuffed full of grilled summer splendor, we settled in to pass judgment on the final three contestants of season ten. Little Scotty McCreery crooned a guttural country song, and he did it well because that's what he does. Lauren Alaina sang...I don't remember what Lauren Alaina sang, but that go-go-inspired top with the white cowboy boots was at once distressing and fearless. She did fine, but her voice doesn't really push to the limit. It's too safe.

Then Haley Reinhart slithered onto the stage, lingering over the first few notes of Led Zeppelin's "What Is & What Should Never Be." Oh. My. God. This girl has a voice I've never heard before. There are foreshadows of it in Janis Joplin and Stevie Nicks and Alanis Morissette and even Adele. She's what I imagine when I use the words "raw talent." Her voice is throaty and gritty and effortless and perfectly pitched and absolutely beautiful.

And then, after FALLING ON STAGE (talk about embarrassing), she rips out with this scat singing while her father shreds the guitar on stage next to her. That had to be one of the best moments of her life. This performance is incredible, and (spoiler) I'm truly in shock that she got voted off. Scotty and Lauren, sorry kids, but you are not going to have the career of Ms. Reinhart.

I hope she gets a good agent and becomes the first Idol contestant since Kelly whose debut album I've bought. Enjoy.