One Year Ago . . .

. . . today we were at the Josh Groban concert, at Key Arena, in Seattle. I can't believe it has already been a year! I wish I could go again because it was such an incredible experience.
I didn't have much time to blog then, but here are the links to my posts:

• To the Josh Groban Concert We Go!

• Josh Countdown: Minus Four Hours!

• We saw JOSH!!!

This is the photo I took of Josh as he went past us, down the center aisle, while singing "In Her Eyes." My hands were shaking so the picture is a bit blurry. My friend Lady Lori actually shook his hand! Lucky girl!


It was such an experience! Fortunately, I can sort of relive it with the Awake Live CD/DVD. I just wish we could live it all over again!

Here are the words to this beautiful song:

Awake
Written by Josh Groban, Eric Mouquet, & Tawgs Salter

A beautiful and blinding morning
The world outside begins to breathe
See clouds arriving without warning
I need you here to shelter me
And I know that only time will tell us how
To carry on without each other
So keep me awake to memorize you
Give me more time to feel this way
We can't stay like this forever
But I can have you next to me today

If I could make these moments endless
If I could stop the winds of change
If we just keep our eyes wide open
Then everything would stay the same
And I know that only time will tell us how
To carry on without each other
So keep me awake for every moment
Give us more time to be this way
We can't stay like this forever
But I can have you next to me today
We'll let tomorrow wait, you're here, right now with me
All my fears just fall away when you are all I see
We can't stay like this forever
But I have you here today
And I will remember
Oh I will remember
Remember all the love we shared today

Josh Groban News!

Baseball is my favorite sport in the entire world and tomorrow is the All Star Game! And I was excited to hear the news that my favorite singer, Josh Groban, will be singing "God Bless America" during the 7th Inning Stretch! Ahhh! I can't wait!!!!!!! You can read the news release here. Don't forget to tune into Fox for the game on Tuesday!

And in other Josh news, he's started a blog! You'll find it here!

Awake-Live!

I'm so very excited! Josh Groban's tour dvd/cd Awake Live will be out 6 May 2008!!!!!!!!!!!!

Lots more info here.

The songs on the cd/dvd are:

Mai / February Song / In Her Eyes / So She Dances / Un Dia Llegara / Pearls / Weeping / Machine / Awake

DVD:
You Are Loved (Don't Give Up) / Mai / Un Dia Llegara / Un Giorno Per Noir / Now or Never / So She Dances / February Song / Alla Luce del Sole / Aurora (featuring Lucia Micarelli) / Kashmir (featuring Lucia Micarelli) / In Her Eyes / Pearls (featuring Angelique Kidjo) / L'Ultima Notte / Remember When It Rained / Lullaby / Weeping / Machine / Canto Alla Vita / You Raise Me Up / Awake

You can be an "internet-only" edition here. If you haven't purchased a fan club membership, you can do it now and, if you pay a little more, also get the special cd/dvd. It is definitely worth it!

I am sooooooooooooo excited!

Here is the cover. Josh is wearing one of the shirts he wore at the Seattle concert!

Josh as Phantom?

Possibly?!?!

Josh Groban as Mr. Darcy!?!?

In my dreams! :) Over at one of my favorite blogs, Jane Austen Today, Ms. Place is having another fantastic contest: a Pride and Prejudice Musical Contest. This one is so clever and exciting!

Here is how to enter:

I have put together my ideal Pride and Prejudice musical cast. You can disagree with my choices. Just leave a comment suggesting other singer/s and in which role they should sing. You may make as many suggestions as you like, but all your nominees must be singers. At the end of two weeks (March 29), I shall place the names of everyone who left a suggestion in a hat and draw the winner.

Ms. Place has chosen my favorite, Josh Groban, as my favorite, Mr. Darcy, and Emmy Rossum, who was fabulous in The Phantom of the Opera, as Lizzie Bennet. Oh, and gorgeous Gerard Butler as Mr. Wickham! I can't argue with any of those choices! Use the above link to read the rest of Ms. Place's musical cast and enter your own! I know I plan to do so.

The winner gets a cd copy of "Pride and Prejudice, the Musical" by Rita Abrams and Josie Brown. You can listen to clips by visiting Ms. Place's post for the links.

I will post my cast here and in the comments on Ms. Place's post after I have thought about it for awhile.

Good luck!

Josh Groban as Mr. Darcy?!?! Oh la la!

And the Winner of Awake is . . .

The winner of the copy of Josh Groban's cd Awake is . . . Melissa S.! Congratulations, Melissa! Please send your mailing information to me at TheLadyJane@gmail.com and I will send the cd to you sometime this week!!!!

Thank you all for entering! I had so much fun reading all your responses, your thoughts on Josh, and your thoughts on what Jane Austen would have thought of Josh! I hope you will all come back soon and visit!

Thanks to Ms. Place of Jane Austen Today for so graciously advertising my contest!

And last of all, Happy Birthday, Josh!

Happy 27th!

Happy 27th (Golden!) Birthday to the always amazing Josh Groban! Your music is inspiring, gorgeous, and exquisite! May God bless you with many more years of music, joy, and laughter, and may you continue to inspire us Grobanites for decades to come!

Happy Birthday, Josh!




And Happy Birthday to Josh's brother, Chris Groban!

May God bless you with many more birthdays!

You are loved, Josh!!!

You can buy a copy of Josh's latest album Awake here or enter to win a copy tonight on this blog here.

Calling All Grobies!

So, I'm a huge Josh Groban fan and his Golden Birthday is coming up later this month (he'll be 27 on the 27th). In honor of his Golden Birthday, I have decided to give away a copy of his latest (well, not the Christmas one) cd, Awake! It's gorgeous.

Here are the rules:

• Write a comment on this post between today, Valentine's Day, and Josh's Birthday, 27 February 2008.
• I will pick a name (randomly) on the 27th at 9pm and post the winner.

That's it! You don't even have to know who Josh Groban is (yet, though you will become a life-long fan) to enter. Go ahead and enter, even if you've never heard a single of his songs.

Tell your friends! Enter! And maybe win . . . :) Most of all, enjoy Josh's music! And while you're here, go vote for Josh's performance of "The Prayer" with Andrea Bocelli as your favorite Grammy Performance!

Awake in Park City

This is new at Josh's MySpace profile and is so beautiful!

Awake - Josh Groban live from Park City

Add to My Profile | More Videos

Some JG Interviews from Sundance!

Great Josh Groban interview at Entertainment Weekly. He's at the Sundance Film Festival and talks about his fans and their support and how Noel was "a gift for the fans, a chestnut I recorded for them." Lovely! Thank you, Josh!

And another from the Hollywood Reporter (with video!) where he says his next album might have an "acoustic feel." Oooh! And better yet, he said the album might be out late 2008 or early 2009!

*Thud*

I just came across a post at the FOJG forum with a link to a YouTube video of Josh Groban singing "Not While I'm Around" from Sweeney Todd. The special thing is that it is from the Seattle concert which I went to and whoever took the video was right in front of Josh. Literally, right in front of him as he sat on the edge of the stage. It is gorgeous! Have a look!

Josh's Cute Problem

I just came across this and it is so cute that I had to post it!

Josh Groban's Hair Problem

Josh Still #1!

From E Online: Groban's Gain, Blige's Pain on Charts---

Queen of Hip-Hop Soul, meet the King of Christmas.

Mary J. Blige's Growing Pains stood out as the final marquee release of the year, but Josh Groban's record-breaking holiday run proved to be the soul singer's spoiler. For the week ended Sunday, Groban's Noël bounced back Blige and extended its chart-topping reign to five straight weeks selling another 757,000 copies, according to recent SoundScan numbers.

Groban now claims the year's second-best sales week, trailing only Kanye West's 957,000-copy Graduation bow, and the album's current 3.5 million tally keeps Noël on target to become the bestselling album of the year. The singer also extended his record for the most consecutive weeks at number one with a holiday album, having already broken Elvis' 50-year-old record of three straight weeks.

(Emphasis added)

Congratulations, Josh! This is absolutely extraordinary!

To recap, the week's Top 10 were as follows:

1. Noël, Josh Groban
2. Growing Pains, Mary J. Blige
3. As I Am, Alicia Keys
4. Long Road Out of Eden, the Eagles
5. Hannah Montana 2: Meet Miley Cyrus, Miley Cyrus
6. Now That's What I Call Music! 26, various
7. Carnival Ride, Carrie Underwood
8. Taylor Swift, Taylor Swift
9. High School Musical 2 soundtrack, various
10. Exclusive, Chris Brown

Josh Breaks Elvis' Record!

Congratulations, Josh!

He's on the front page of Yahoo with this headline:

E! Online: Groban Grabs Elvis' Holiday Crown---

Holiday sales might be depressing, but it's no blue Christmas for Josh Groban. He just broke a chart record Elvis set back when Eisenhower was President.

Josh Groban's Noël claimed an unprecedented fourth straight week at number one, a feat never before accomplished by a holiday album. Elvis Presley set the previous record, three weeks, half a century ago with 1957's Elvis' Christmas Album.

For the week ended Sunday, Noël topped the chart and rewrote the record books by selling an incredible 669,000 copies, according to the latest Nielsen SoundScan numbers.

Groban, whose single "I'll Be Home for Christmas" topped the AC charts this week as well, has sold nearly 2.8 million copies of Noël in its 10-week run. That puts Noël in the lead as the year's bestselling album, and if the trend holds, it'll become the first holiday album to top year-end sales in the SoundScan era.

Furthermore, the disc's 669,000-copy week is both a career-best for Groban and a 2007-best for a nondebuting album. Even factoring in first-week debuts, Noël chalked up the fifth-biggest sales week of the year.

Though his sales will drop sharply once Christmas Day hits, Groban still has a full shopping week to try to extend his number one run and further cement his place in chart history. His biggest challenge next week comes from Mary J. Blige's Growing Pains.

If you haven't already, go buy Noel! It is gorgeous!

Joyful & Triumphant!

Marketwire: Josh Groban Fans & Warner Bros. Records Joyful and Triumphant as Holiday Season Brings Explosive Sales to Artist's Huge "NOEL" Album---

NEW YORK, NY--(Marketwire - December 10, 2007) - Josh Groban's faithful fans are growing by the millions; it was confirmed today by the news that copies of his Christmas album "NOEL" are flying out of record stores in unprecedented numbers. The runaway success of Groban's magnificent collection of holiday classics will be Groban's fourth multi-platinum album in a row. "NOEL" sold well over one million copies in the last two weeks and remains the Number One album in America after eight weeks on the pop charts.

"NOEL" is also the first Christmas album to reach No. 1 in 13 years with industry buzzing that it may be one of the biggest-selling albums of 2007 and the biggest Christmas CD of all time. The album is also the No. 1 Digital album, the #1 record at Amazon and the No. 1 record at Barnes & Noble.

According to Chuck Gorman, vice president of music for Barnes & Noble, "Josh Groban's 'NOEL' has already sold more copies than any holiday CD in our history. The numbers are staggering."

With upcoming TV appearances -- "Rachael Ray" on Dec. 20th, a re-airing of "Oprah Winfrey's Favorite Things" show on December 24th, "Larry King" and "Good Morning America" both also on December 24th and the "Disney Christmas Special" December 25th -- Groban's sales are expected to continue at this pace through the end of the year and may reach a record-breaking four million units.

"Josh Groban's talents continue to grow along with the quality of his work as an artist. His last album 'Awake' and the new one 'NOEL' are both masterpieces. The entire Warner family is so proud of this success," stated Warner Bros. Records CEO Tom Whalley.

(emphasis added)

Oh! Makes me so very joyful and triumphant! Noel really is the most beautiful Christmas album! Josh's voice is so rich and exquisite. If you haven't got it already, rush out and buy a copy or 10!

One of the reasons I love Noel so very much, other than Josh, is that Josh chose to record mostly traditional, classic Christian carols, which really bring the Spirit of Christmas alive. His voice would be wasted on songs like "Rudolph the Red-Nosed Reindeer" (though I do enjoy that song!). You can hear a couple of the songs and send a Christmas e-card at JoshGroban.com/Noel.

And congratulations, Josh!

Josh Groban TV Appearances

Josh Groban will be making a lot of tv appearances soon, to promote his cd Noel (if you haven't already, go get it!).

Here's a list. (UPDATED)

From FOJG.com:

11/27- Oprah Winfrey Show - Behind the Scenes of Oprah's Favorite Things on ABC
11/28- Christmas Tree Lighting at Rockefeller Center on NBC
11/30- Good Morning America on ABC
12/10- Regis and Kelly Live on ABC
12/17- Oprah Winfrey Show (Re-Airing of Oprah's Favorite Things) on ABC
12/22- Good Morning America on ABC
12/24- Larry King on CNN
12/24- Oprah Winfrey Show; "What's on Your iPod?" on ABC
12/24- Good Morning America on ABC
12/25- Disney Christmas Special on ABC

Check your local listings for showtimes.

Exciting!

A Week Until Noel!

Only a week left until Josh Groban's first Christmas CD Noel comes out! I just got an FOJG e-mail containing information that the cd is available for advance purchase on JoshGroban.com or FOJG.com or Warner Brothers and you can only buy the special edition ornament on one of those sites. It is a very beautiful ornament, so if you are a Josh Groban fan, I would get one!

Here is part of the news release:

Recorded in LA and the famed Abbey Road Studio in London in between performances of the 26-year-old Groban's "Awake" Tour, the collection of holiday songs on 'Noel' includes such classics as "It Came Upon a Midnight Clear" with Josh on acoustic piano, "Silent Night," "Little Drummer Boy," "The Christmas Song," "O Come All Ye Faithful" with the Mormon Tabernacle Choir and "Ava Maria." Groban duets with Faith Hill on "The First Noel," with a choir under the direction of gospel legend Kirk Franklin. In addition, singer Brian McKnight adds his vocals on "Angels We Have Heard On High" and the haunting version of "I'll Be Home For Christmas" features messages from troops stationed overseas.

I think it is wonderful that Josh put messages from the troops in that last song. What a beautiful tribute to the men and women who are fighting for our freedom around the world.

I cannot wait for this cd to come out! Only one more week and it will be in stores. Here are the different versions/sales:

For all of Josh's international fans, Noel will be available in November in all countries that carry Warner Music product.
Noel - The regular edition CD with 13 tracks will be available at all retailers on October 9th, 2007.

Noel - The Special edition CD with 13 tracks and DVD "the making of the CD" footage will be sold exclusively at Target Stores available on October 9th, 2007

Noel - Two versions available only through the Warner Bros. Records online store, FOJG and JoshGroban.com. The regular edition CD with 13 tracks selling for $14.98 plus s&h and also a “special packaged” regular CD with custom holiday ornament which will be available for pre-order soon. Both available to ship on October 9th, 2007.

Don't forget to buy a copy (or three!) on Tuesday!

Here is the cd with the ornament:




UPDATE-3 October 2007:
Barnes&Noble.com has sound clips from the cd. Gorgeous!!! You can listen to them here!!!

Isn't He Amazing?

I know Awake came out last November, but I just came across this and I'm in a very Josh Mood and had to post it. I will get around to writing about our awesome experiences at the Josh Groban concert this week. It was just too amazing and I can't sit still to write it yet!

So, enjoy . . .

We saw JOSH!!!

And Lori TOUCHED HIM!!! Just got back and can't believe what a beautiful concert it was! We are still completely stunned and breathless. And then, Aj saw him at his bus!

Will we be able to sleep?

More later! (And pictures!)

Josh Countdown: Minus Four Hours!

Lady Lori and I are in Seattle at my lovely cousin Lizzie's house and are getting ready for the Josh Groban concert! We are so excited! We will be meeting Aj at the concert, after a lovely dinner at an Irish Pub near Key Arena. It was just raining, but the downpour appears to have stopped.

Josh, here we come!