'Songland': will.i.am chooses Adam Friedman's song 'Be Nice' as the winner, but not all fans like the changes he made
After numerous competitions like 'America's Got Talent' and 'The Voice' for singers, NBC finally came upon the idea of creating a new series solely for songwriters.
'Songland' premiered last week on NBC, and it was an instant hit with fans and viewers. Revolving solely around songwriters, the series features four to five budding songwriters each week who battle it out hoping the guest artiste who appears in each episode will pick their original song. They will then be filtered down to the Top 3 contestants and will work with each mentor who will help them fine-tune their song, improve the lyrics, etc. The judges/mentors are Ryan Tedder, Ester Dean, and Shane McAnally.
The four songwriters who competed this week were Josh Logan, Charisma Dixon, Ray Goren and Adam Friedman. Black Eyed Peas frontman will.i.am was this week's guest judge. The 28-year-old singer, Friedman, emerged as the winning songwriter this episode with his original song 'Be Nice' which will now be the new song of Black Eyed Peas.
Hailing from Phoenix, his song 'Be Nice' was written as a response to the stressed-out world. It is a funky song filled with rap and overall has a nice groove and sound to it. Working with Dean as his mentor, she helped him fine-tune his song. Though it did still sound a bit cliched, Dean revealed they left the song open for changes and will.i.am's opinion too because it is all about collaboration.
In the end, the award-winning singer chose Friedman's funky song as the Black Eyed Peas' next. After will.i.am revealed that he chose Friedman's song as the winner, he went on to add that he chooses the other two songs from Dixon and Logan as well to be featured in his new album.
After hearing the good news, fans were thrilled that all three songs were picked.
"Will I am is so nice!! Picked all the songs!! Blessed to be a blessing to others!!" wrote a fan on Twitter. "Absolutely what shoulda happened! I’m partial to “Be Nice” but when first presented and during the development of each song, I could hear all three as BlackEyedPeas songs! Congrats all!" said another fan.
But as excited as fans were for will.i.am picking all three songs, they revealed they did not like the changes he made to 'Be Nice.'
"'Songland" is a pretty interesting show, but disheartening to watch them take an artist's song and make it unrecognizable, especially when the original is better like in the case of "Be Nice.'" wrote a fan on Twitter.
While another added, "Watching #Songland - tonight's episode features Will I Am.... he's ruined every song with "his changes". His lyrics suck. -smdh." Adding to that another fan said, "Why did they change it. I prefer the original. Yall stay wilding. WILL had the perfect song and decided to f**k it up. Sorry but i ain't listening or buying this. I will listen and play the original on youtube tho #icanteven #Songland."
Last week when the series premiered, EGOT winner John Legend was the guest artist and he chose Tebby Burrows' 'We Need Love' as his new song.
'Songland' airs every Tuesday night on NBC. Check your local listings for more information.
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