Some people say you are what you eat. I say you are what you listen to.

My friend and pastor Rich Blaylock listens to podcasts from some of Christianity’s most electrifying apologists. That’s why he’s insightful and deep for his 24 years.

(Of course he also listens to really loud rock. This morning, I had to check my eye sockets, ears, nostrils, and mouth for signs of bleeding. I say he’s going to be the rock on which God builds His church.)

Another friend and co-worker, Mich, listens to a variety of musical styles, including alternative rock. That’s just about right; in case Rich isn’t the rock on which God will build His church, Mich is the alternative rock. She gets along well with a variety of people of differing ages and social strata; someone whose musical tastes linger on the wide gamut of musical personalities that make up alt rock would fit in, methinks, with all types of people.

My wife Cathy likes R&B-type grooves along the lines of Mariah Carey, John Legend, and Elliott Yamin. She needs music like this to handle the pressures of her job. R&B can also stand for riveting and beautiful, which she is.

I listen to pop fluff, so I’m fluffy. Analogical stretches aside, I go for anything with a tight sense of harmony. We Are The World-type songs, you know, or Barbara Ann (Beach Boys), The Lion Sleeps Tonight (The Tokens), even Hold On (Wilson Phillips). And of course, gospel and Contemporary Christian Music provides much opportunity for layers and layers of harmony.

This 2003 study says people are drawn to musical styles that reflect their personalities. According to the study, people who listen to “reflective and complex” music score well in tests that measure verbal ability, self-perceived intelligence and political liberalism; people who enjoy “upbeat and conventional” music score highly on extraversion, self-perceived physical attractiveness, athleticism and political conservatism.

What music do you listen to? Do you think it reflects who you are?

Jennifer Hudson sang her debut single, Spotlight, on Good Morning America late last month, but I learned about it only today, thanks to this Reuters article.

Jennifer Hudson is HOT! Spotlight is HOT!

Jennifer Hudson’s Spotlight Billboard positions the week ending August 23:

HipHop R&B Songs: #13 with a bullet
R&B Airplay: #8 with a backward bullet
Dance Club Airplay: #14 with a bullet (yeah, let the gay boys take JHud to #1!)

Spotlight, the carrier single of Jennifer Hudson’s self-titled debut album, has finally broken into a Billboard Top 10 chart, rocketing up five notches to number 7 on Billboard’s Hot Adult R&B Airplay chart. Jennifer Hudson’s Spotlight is also at #14 with a bullet on a very important chart, Billboard’s Hot R&B/Hiphop Songs chart, which is the premier R&B chart for the United States.

And to think she’s not even touring to promote it! When Jennifer Hudson goes on the road, it is going to be awesome! I have no doubt in my mind Spotlight will be a very successful single. Go J-Hud! Go Spotlight!

Today is starting out to be a great day. Witness, to wit:

I won Toni’s birthday contest! I entered a birthday contest from my good friend Toni at her website Wifely Steps, and to my utter surprise and glee, I won the randomly selected lottery contest! I never win at these things! Thank You, God! Thank you, Toni! (Now, how shall I spend my US$25 Amazon GC? Mandisa or Avalon? Argh, decisions, decisions!)

Spotlight’s breaking out! Jennifer Hudson’s Spotlight bows at #96 on the Billboard Hot 100 this week, three notches ahead of fellow Oscar winner Meryl Streep (Mamma Mia) and one notch behind fellow Oscar winner Jamie Foxx (Please Excuse My Hands, on which he and The Dream are featured artists with rapper Plies). Three Oscar winners, including Jennifer Hudson, all debuting on the Billboard Hot 100 at the same time? This is the kind of chart news I really enjoy! Go, J-Hud! Go Spotlight!

Oh, and for this week, here are Jennifer Hudson’s Spotlight Billboard rankings:
Hot 100: #96 (debut)
Hot R&B/Hip-Hop Songs: #16, up four notches (bullet)
Adult R&B Airplay: #12, same as last week (bullet)

I just played Lazer Tag! Some of the pastors and staff visited Lazer Xtreme at Market! Market! for 15 minutes of lazer tag. OMG, such fun! It was my first time to play, and I finished a more than respectable 5th out of 12. More importantly, Pastor Joey Bonifacio, who trash-talked me like there was no tomorrow, finished dead last. Hahaha, take that, Sir! (Just kidding. Please don’t fire me.)

Do you feel like a winner today?

Jennifer Hudson looks AWESOME! Check this out!

According to Mark Malkin, this photo has not been retouched a la Mariah Carey. That’s her waist! Can you believe it? Jennifer Hudson is HOT.

Listen to Jennifer Hudson’s Spotlight again, okay? It’s SWEEEET.

Oh, here’s a Jennifer Hudson Spotlight remix, featuring a Canadian rapper named Mint. I think it’s pretty good.

Here are the latest Billboard positions for Jennifer Hudson’s Spotlight:

R&B/Hip Hop Songs: 22 (up 11 notches)
Adult R&B Airplay: 14(up one notch)

Thanks, Jax, for the heads-up! Neil Patrick Harris is AWESOME!

Official website here, Twitter here, fansite here. Support How I Met Your Mother people! LOL

(And as an aside, in the course of researching about Dr. Horrible, I learned that the Whedons are working on Dollhouse, starring the most beautiful woman in the world, Eliza Dushku! MY EYES! MY EYES! God, You are so working overtime to bless me today! Hahaha! Thank you, Lord!)

You have got to listen to Plumb’s In My Arms! Lifted off the new Plumb album Blink, In My Arms is an absolutely spectacular piano-driven track that will minister to any Christian who’s ever experienced parenthood. The melody is memorable, the lyrics poignantly sweet, and the production topnotch. I like this song, Tiffany! Way to go!

Making In My Arms even more tempting is the spectacular Bimbo Jones remix now available on Plumb’s MySpace page. I’ve also included the In My Arms’s lyrics in this post.

Listen to In My Arms mp3 by Plumb

Listen to the In My Arms Remix mp3 by Plumb

Plumb’s In My Arms lyrics after the jump. Read more

My Chris Sligh CD has arrived! Yay! Will listen to Running Back to You now and post a review by tomorrow morning at the latest. Thanks, MusiChristian.com; you’re blazing fast!

Can Third Day topple Needtobreathe off the top of the Billboard Hot Christian Singles chart? Will we see a new #1 on the AC charts, where Jeremy Camp has had a foothold since we can remember? What new songs are going to make splashes at Christian radio? All that after the jump. Read more

This week on American Idol, the remaining eight finalists sang the Darlene Zschech/Hillsong Australia chestnut Shout to the Lord. In trying to stay PC, instead of directly using the name “Jesus,” they sang “Shepherd,” but referred to the Christian God throughout the song otherwise.

Non-Christians have reacted negatively, with one particular blogger commenting that he is both offended and angry at the religious overtones of that particular song choice, saying that saving people in Africa and New Orleans has nothing to do with the Christian God. Methinks it’s relative. That particular blogger loves Carrie Underwood, and you didn’t hear a peep out of him when she released Jesus Take the Wheel. He didn’t say he was offended by Kristy Lee Cook’s Amazing Grace. Nor was he particular incensed by several Christmas albums released by various American Idol alumni, many of which sang directly of the birth of the Son of the Christian God. (Even now, he’s linked to the Shout to the Lord track on ITunes. He’s gonna make money off this song through referrals.)

While we can’t fault these people for feeling this way, I, for one, think the situation’s a little tempest in a teacup. Know your market, and American Idol knows its market. Who are voting for these wannabe superstars? They’re the Southern Baptists, the western evangelicals, the northern liberal believers. Come on, David Archuleta is Mormon, you don’t hear anyone questioning his faith, but he sang Shout to the Lord anyway. Tickle your audience in the right spot, and you’ll have them reaching for their wallets, credit cards, and telephones in a heartbeat.

I know it’s quite cynical, especially coming from a Christian. I’m a Christian marketer and PR guy. In my eyes, from a strictly industry-based standpoint, choosing Shout to the Lord was a brilliant tactical move. The offense it stood to generate doesn’t even come close to the goodwill it would generate in the eyes of its core audience.

Non-Christians can - and should - look at that song in the context of its simply being a song. In this show, people sing songs they dislike all the time. At the end of the day, they’re raising money for good causes. It’s still a heckuva lot better than three years ago, when no efforts were made at all. Come on.