Out of so many albums purchased in 2007, these are my seven favorite albums:

7. Call Me Irresponsible, Michael Buble. Buble steps even further out of his comfort zone with his third major-label release. Foregoing the easy crooner route, he ventures into previously uncharted musical territory and gets most of it right. The gem on this collection, of course, is Everything, an AC-friendly sing-along tune that is one of my favorite songs of the year.

6. Say It, Britt Nicole. Comparisons to Avril Lavigne notwithstanding, Britt Nicole was a breath of fresh air in a year of otherwise droll Contemporary Christian music. Powered by  smash Christian single You - the highest-ranked single by a solo female artist this year on the year-end Hot Christian Songs chart - and a moving follow-up single, Set The World on Fire, Say It is a fiery collection of musical genres that testify to the immense talent of this young superstar.

5. Dreamgirls Soundtrack. Technically a December 2006 release, Dreamgirls launched Jennifer Hudson to superstardom with her starmaking turn as Effie White. Late release nothwithstanding, impassioned performances from everyone on the cast, including Beyonce Knowles, Anika Noni Rose, Jaime Foxx, and Eddie Murphy, bring this soundtrack to life and much more. It’s Not Over is a masterpiece of recorded music.

4. Carnival Ride, Carrie Underwood. The American Idol Season Four winner followed up her stellar Some Hearts opus - the #4 bestselling album on the 2007 year-end charts - with a sophomore album that showcases Underwood’s growth as a singer, songwriter, and performer. Pushing aside sappy first single So Small, Carnival Ride is still a great journey, with More Boys I Meet, You Won’t Find This, and Crazy Dreams among the standout tracks.

3. As I Am, Alicia Keys. Alicia Keys has never disappointed me, and her latest release is an even more stunning release than its predecessor studio album, The Diary of Alicia Keys. A thrilling collection that folds stories of love and passion in old-school jams and contemporary hiphop beats, Keys’ skill as a singer and songwriter cannot be denied with this latest release. Simply irresistible.

2. Elliott Yamin, Elliott Yamin. Grammy snubs aside, American Idol Season Five also-ran Elliott Yamin has done us proud. The man who AI judge Simon Cowell proclaimed to have the finest male voice in the history of the popular competition released an album that showcased his voice in its finest form. Testament to his skill is the success of carrier single Wait For You, a certified gold single and one of the monster airplay hits of 2007.

1. True Beauty, Mandisa. Yamin’s fellow American Idol Season Five non-winner, Mandisa released a Contemporary Christian album so exquisite in style, quality, substance, and production, that it was nominated for a Grammy Award in the category of Best Pop/Contemporary Gospel Album. Carrier single Only the World was a smash hit; current single God Speaking is rising up the charts, and there are many other great tracks on this stellar release. An excellent addition to the pantheon of noteworthy CCM albums.

What are your favorite albums of 2007?

(For your listening pleasure, this blog post contains a stream of One Word by American Idol Season Five finalist Elliott Yamin, off his debut album Elliott Yamin. GannsDeen.com does not offer Elliott Yamin mp3’s for download. If you like what you hear, please leave a comment in the Comments box. Come back to GannsDeen.com for the latest and best in Christian, country, and pop music.)

I promise this will be the last Elliott Yamin-themed entry on GannsDeen.com for a long time. As a fitting conclusion to week-long coverage of Yamin’s Philippine tour, we are uploading Yamin’s new American single, One Word, for your consideration.

One Word is a slow-to-midtempo ballad much in the same vein of Yamin’s surprise hit, Wait For You. When Yamin tested One Word during his Philippine tour, it received quite a positive response, which could bode well for Yamin’s nationwide push when the single is officially released for airplay on October 16.

Listen to Elliott Yamin One Word mp3

Elliott Yamin One Word lyrics after the jump.

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Too much to say, too much to do, all is too much right now.

Gina, my Hyundai Getz, needs her 5,000km tuneup, I miss my wife and kids, but yesterday was all about one thing and one thing only, and I got it.

This entry is a page-saver until I can elaborate more, hopefully by tomorrow.

Meanwhile, my mission for yesterday, to get Elliott Yamin to sign the special Elliott t-shirt I made for Cathy, ended on a happy successful note. I made a complete ass of myself in front of hundreds of people as part of a screaming bunch of groupies known as the Yaminoys (shout out to all us cool Elliott fans!), but I got it. One week of total Elliott Yamin madness, leading to this moment.

T-shirt signed, CD signed, body completely exhausted.

When I gave the CD booklet to Cathy, she smiled and congratulated me. When I gave her the t-shirt, which said “To: Cathy, Elliott Yamin,” her eyes opened wide, she broke into a beautiful grin, and shrieked, “You did it!”

Fewer things make me happier than making my wife so happy.

Elliott Yamin’s final Ayala Mall tour performance is scheduled for tomorrow at the Alabang Town Center.

I failed to get his photo with Cathy at the Glorietta press conference. I failed to get his photo with Cathy later that day at TriNoma. I cannot fail now. I just can’t! Wish me luck!

Tourism Link of the Day: Tropical Casablanca Hotel in Playa del Carmen, Mexico. It’s a lovely Playa del Carmen hotel that is both charming and hospitable. Excellent diving opportunities abound, and the sights and sounds are unforgettable. Get best rates on the official website of this delightful hotel in Playa del Carmen.

Shortly after Elliott’s TriNoma concert, Cathy and I bumped into the sister of one of her friends. That sister was with a friend of her own. The conversation went like this:

CATHY shows off her I *heart* Elliott t-shirt.

CATHY’S FRIEND’S SISTER: Ay, nanood kayo! (Oh, you watched!)

CATHY’S FRIEND’S SISTER’S FRIEND: Nagtataka kami kung bakit andaming tao, tapos naalala ko, andito nga pala si George Eliot! (We were wondering why there were so many people here, then I remembered, George Eliot is here!)

GANNS and CATHY look at each other, stunned.

GANNS: George Eliot??

CATHY: (trying not to laugh, to her friends) George Eliot is the author of Middle March. We were here to watch Elliott Yamin, the American Idol finalist.

Mistaking George Eliot for Elliott Yamin. Sheesh. Who’s next? T.S. Eliot?

Last night featured the most horrific series of dreams. The most disturbing of all of them? Elliott Yamin joins the Yaminoys on a tour of a revamped Puerto Princesa Crocodile Farm, and is gobbled up by a 15-foot crocodile! I was so disturbed and distraught by that dream that I woke up soaked in my own sweat. Of course, true to my PR background, all I could say in the dream was, OMG, what are the Yaminions and E-Trainers going to say?! The last thing the Philippines needs is to be the venue of a high-profile celebrity death! Ack!

Seriously, major major Elliott Yamin overload these past three days. Cathy and I have been eating, sleeping, and breathing Elliott day and night. The only two other CDs that have managed to squeeze Deen family airplay since Friday are High School Musical and Putomayo’s African Playground, both of which are Nathan’s favorite CDs,and were played in honor of his fourth birthday. If it weren’t his birthday, Nate would probably have to deal with One Word, our latest favorite Elliott Yamin song.

The Yaminoys are planning a major Elliott Yamin push on the 28th at the Alabang Town Center, the final leg of his Philippine mall tour (incidentally, his first promo push outside of the United States; I guess he didn’t push through with the UK?). I excused myself from work last Friday to make it. Should I become the ultimate journalist fan-boy and accompany my wife there too?

Oi vey, decisions, decisions. I’m so verklempt!

Cathy and I covered the press conference of American Idol finalist Elliott Yamin (woohoo!) at the Glorietta Activity Center yesterday at 12NN for fudge magazine, one of the country’s leading music and pop culture publications. Suffice it to say that we had one of the most enjoyable, thrilling - yeah, we’re easy to please that way - two hours of our lives. Elliott was THE MAN.

I won’t give full details of Elliott’s Philippine press conference (you can read my article in next month’s issue of fudge, as well as a full-blown piece on www.GannsDeen.com, but I will say the following:

> Elliott Yamin was funny and candid. His rapport with Philippine press conference host Ryan Agoncillo was both charming and amiable. Ryan taught him some Filipino words, which Elliott then brandished with aplomb that same night at his TriNoma mall tour concert. (More on that tomorrow! Super sulet!)

> Elliott Yamin was honest about his life and American Idol experiences, which was truly refreshing. Among his more choice revelations: he showed the audience his insulin pump and he admitted he could probably take Taylor Hicks in a fistfight to a draw.

> The food was catered by the Hotel Intercontinental, which housed Elliott Yamin and his band for their Philippine tour stay. Cathy says the food was good; I didn’t get to eat because I planned my questions.

> I was the first journalist (yeehee!) to ask questions; this was no time to be shy. Elliott answered all my queries, including:

• his unique marketing strategy (i.e., MySpace and bonus track albums);
• why Wait For You was such a huge airplay hit;
• his interaction with his Philippine fans, the Yaminoys; and
• how he feels about the changes in his life now.

Some notes for those of you planning to watch Elliott Yamin’s Philippine tour stops: every Ayala mall tour has different rules. At TriNoma, it was first-come, first-served for seating passes, with a limited number of the first arrivals receiving rights to a signed photo. A purchase of Elliott Yamin from Odyssey Record Bar entitled a limited number of fans to a meet-and-greet pass, which entitled them in turn to a photo op, but no autographs or CD booklet signings. A third option: if you were lucky to purchase the CD and receive an MCA pass, you could then get your CD booklet signed, but you would have to line up again to get that; furthermore, your CD would be signed, but you would not get a photo opportunity. (YES, it was that strict, that confusing, and that frustrating. The real fans - and we met many of them, some lined up at the mall as early as 5AM - did not get autographs and photo ops.)

Oh, and before I forget, welcome, members of the eTrain and Yaminions.com! We’re so pleased you can drop by. Do leave a shout-out for Elliott’s Philippine fans - myself included! - in the comments!

Other Filipino Elliott Yamin fan blog entries of their Elliott Yamin experiences at Trinoma:

My Elliott Yamin Experience (must read! This is my wife. hehehe) | Elliott Yamin at TriNoma Mall | I saw Elliott Yamin at Trinoma Mall | OMG! Elliott Yamin at Trinoma! | The Elliott Yamin Experience | Elliott Yamin | Elliott Yamin at Trinoma | The Fall Out Boy and Elliott Yamin Experience | All I can say is he’s amazing |In Love With ‘E’ Forever | Elliott Yamin’s Philippine Mall Tour | Mahal Ka Rin Namin, Elliott! | Elliott Yamin Reciprocates | Elliot Yamin at Trinoma | Elliott/Russell Mania | I *heart* Elliott Yamin!!! | 2007_09_21 Elliott Yamin @ TriNoma | Elliot Yamin Live at Trinoma | Elliot Yamin at Trinoma | Wait For You: Elliott Yamin @ Glorietta | Singing It Like He Owns It | Elliott Yamin! | yummy Yamin!!! |

(Are you going to the Glorietta, Alabang Town Center, Market Market, or Cebu shows? Send me an email with your blog entry and I’ll link you up!)

Click after the jump to see exclusive GannsDeen.com photos, taken by my beautiful wife, Cathy, who, for some reason, took amazing shot after amazing shot of Elliott Yamin in the Philippines. Iba talaga kapag fan. (It is different when you’re a fan.)

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Having purchased American Idol Season 5: The Encores, I have to say the quality of this season’s batch is certainly formidable, and for the quality of three tracks on this album, the soundtrack is definitely worth purchasing.

The review that follows comes from the perspective of a 30-year-old with adult contemporary preferences. It’s posted on Amazon and Superblessed as well to maximize distribution. Cheers.

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