How Bruno Mars Turned Me into a Cougar

This is a love blog. I hesitated posting it because my stone-cold crazy is on full display here. Alas, I decided that you, my friends, have to accept me as I am, fanatical obsessions and all. And I'm far too consumed with Bruno Mars of late to pretend otherwise. I apologize for the length, but mine is a verbose love. :-)

Simply put, Bruno Mars is my new obsession. I am totally in love with him! If you’re not familiar with his music, allow me to introduce you. He currently has the number one song in the country (sophomore hit "Grenade); his solo debut "Just the Way You Are" also still lingers in the Billboard Top Ten. Before stepping in front of the mic, beautiful Bruno (with his team) wrote & produced several hits for other artists. They did "Right Round" for Flo'rida, "Nothin' on You" for B.O.B (Bruno sang the hook on that one), "Billionaire" for Travie Mccoy (again Bruno sang the hook), and "F**k You" (aka "Forget You") for Cee-lo. “Glee,” like me, has Bruno fever too. The wedding episode “Furt” featured the kids performing “Just the Way You Are" (Finn sang it to Kurt at the reception) and "Marry You" (the wedding party sang & danced their way down the aisle). He is also the proud & deserving recipient of seven Grammy nominations, second to only Eminem with ten, I think. Bruno is blowing up like a grenade! (You know I can't resist a pun.)

Let’s trace my love affair with him:

Subconscious exposition: I totally dug the hooks on “Billionaire” & “Nothin’ on You.” Didn’t really care for the rap part, just the hook. What a cute, catchy melody, I thought. What a nice voice. Didn’t care enough to find out who it was or anything though. I mean, those guys are a dime a dozen. Doesn’t mean they can carry a whole song or have a real career. (Think the guy on that Shaggy song, “It Wasn’t Me” and the like).

The impetus: I found myself involuntarily singing along to the pretty little ditty called “Just the Way You Are.” Such beautiful lyrics, such a pure vocal. A song you want a guy to sing to you (assuming he sings like Bruno Mars, of course). So I decided I needed to know who sang this gorgeous song, not that there was a chance in hell of him sounding like that live…

Adding fuel to the fire: Oh, goody. Bruno Mars on SNL. Let’s hear it live—what the heck?! OMFG—best live vocal I’ve heard in forever. Such an ethereal voice. How does he sound that good live? I think I like this better than the recorded version. How can that be? In a music world populated by Katy Perry, Rihanna, Ke$ha, etc, popular singers can't actually sing anymore. Around this time, I also found out Bruno was the man behind those catchy hooks on "Nothin' on You" & "Billionaire." The more I learn, the more impressed I am with his "vocal stylings" (I've always loved that term, and how often do you get to use it?).

Surrender: Heard that “Glee” (aka my favorite show since “Lost” & “24” ended last year) did a couple of Bruno songs. Ooh, let’s see how they did with “Just the Way You Are.” Nice job, Finn. Let’s check out this other song they did…OMG, what a cute song “Marry Me” is! This Bruno Mars may be worth further investigation…

YouTube Onslaught: That’s when I developed a little problem. Went to YouTube to check him out and found several live performances. OMFG—is he getting hotter? First time I saw him, I thought he was kinda funny looking. But the more I watch him sing, the more I start to think he’s sexy as hell. Am I crazy? (According the legion of fanatics on YouTube, I am not. I’m in good company, as long as crazy fanaticism is good company.)

Bruno is beyond amazing live. He's actually better live than recorded. You don't actually realize how ridiculously gifted he is until you hear him live, preferably with minimal musical accompaniment. He's better acoustic than with all those distracting instruments. Bruno, a guitar and maybe a keyboard equals magic! I am smitten, enamored, obsessed. His voice makes me melt, and I could listen to him sing 24/7 (and I pretty much have the last month or so). Can't get enough of him. And he gets hotter & hotter. His cute little lips, his perfect white teeth, his dimples, his Asian eyes (he’s Filorican, or Puertopino— ½ Filipino, ½ Puerto Rican, all hotness).

I'm full on crushing on him! Like a frickin' teenage girl (though I’m old enough to have been his teenage mother. LOL.) Hence the "Cougar" in the blog's title. I listen to the cd in the car in the morning; get in a quick listen on the computer as I head off to lunch; immediately start jamming to the cd in my classroom after the kids leave; watch a few youtube videos before I head home (I can blast them up on the big projection screen that way!); listen to the cd in the car on the way home; then watch a good hour or so of youtube performances every night. I need live Bruno every single day!!! Since we've been on Christmas break, make that a few hours of youtubing a day, and I've branched out beyond performances to interviews (he is funny as hell!) & unreleased demo songs. In addition, I must admit to checking his official website, facebook & twitter pages daily. I even have a picture of him as wallpaper on my new computer. Everyday. I am beyond smitten. Best thing since sliced bread, fo' real! It shouldn't be this exciting to discover a new artist, but he's a rarity: a popular singer who can actually sing live. And sing flawlessly with unbelievable range. Plus he writes and arranges music, and he plays guitar, piano & drums. He is a musical godsend. (You know I love multitalented musician types--cough, cough, Prince. Bruno is even short, like Prince.)

My favorite Bruno song of late is "Marry You." I'm attaching links to a few of my other fave Bruno clips. Maybe you can catch the fever, too. :-D

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=tkuoRGig4Cs ("grenade" acoustic)

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=3FZtN7T5PXM&feature=channel ("lazy song" acoustic)

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=2hAPCPTjO10&feature=watch_response ("just the way you are" acoustic)

I think part of why I like these best is because they are studio-like performances and professionally recorded, so it's quiet--unlike the amateur concert footage, where you hear the people screaming, drowning out my baby's majestic vocals. I still watch those though (that's all that's available for "marry you"). There are several cool intimate radio show performances online, as well. They tend to have very small crowds that don't make a lot of noise either, so you can hear him. And he does some cool and fun covers, usually just snippets ("baby" by justin bieber, "eye of the tiger," and he does michael jackson's "the way you make feel" in the most to-die-for way). He's so dreamy...

So there it is, my secret shame on display for all to see. Don't judge me too harshly. I'm powerless against a voice & a smile like that. It's a killer combo. So I'm just gonna let my cougar flag fly.