Vote for Bon Jovi: Most iconic VMA performance

Jon Bon Jovi and Richie Sambora's iconic acoustic performance of Livin' on a Prayer and Wanted Dead or Alive at the 1989 MTV Video Music Awards led to the creation of the MTV Unplugged series.


Now you can vote for that moment in the Most Iconic VMA Performance poll. You have until August 24 and I think you can cast a vote every few hours.

Michael Jackson's 1995 medley is currently leading the way by a healthy margin, though I'm not really sure if that was an iconic performance in itself or if it just looked cool and happened to be the King of Pop. (Someone who was old enough to remember, or has a better grasp of music history might be able to tell me.)

Anyway, vote for Bon Jovi. (But please don't be rude to MJ fans in the comments, it's a bit distasteful.)

Poll results - New header up!

I recently ran a 10-day poll asking people what they wanted to see on Blame It On The Love. The results according to Blogger were as follows:



or if you can't see the picture:
New header image - 31 votes (63%)
Vlogs - 26 votes (53%)
Guest bloggers - 16 votes (32%)
Other - 4 votes (8%)

You may have noticed that the percentages don't add up to 100. I'm guessing that's because I allowed people to vote for more than one option?

The main thing is, most of you voted for the new header I've been promising since about November when I deleted the old one, so I hope you like what I came up with. The photos were all taken by Terri and I thank her for letting me use them. :)

Vlogs were also more popular than I thought they'd be. If you have any video blog post ideas, drop me a line. If they're not time-sensitive, I might save it until after the Bon Jovi tour, when things slow down a bit. Same with guest bloggers, which I think could be a good injection.

Got any thoughts? Leave a comment, tweet, or email me.

Poll: What do you want to see on Blame It On The Love?

I've currently got a poll running at the top of this page for the next 10 days. Just thought I'd get some input on the short-term future of the blog by asking you all what you'd like to see on here. Options are as follows:

1. New header image
I've received permission from someone to use their concert photos for a banner so it's just a matter of getting reacquainted with my old friend Photoshop and my inner designer.

2. Vlogs
I've always been a text blogger but it could be interesting to do some video blog posts, particularly in instances where the visual element would enhance whatever I'm saying.

3. Guest bloggers
This would basically involve inviting someone to write a guest post on here with their own insights and perspectives.

4. Other
If you have any other ideas or suggestions, feel free to leave a comment or e-mail me so that I can consider it.

Vote for Bon Jovi song at the Grammys - FINAL 3

The poll to select the Bon Jovi song to be performed at the Grammys has been whittled down to the final three:

Livin' on a Prayer
It's My Life
Always

Click here to vote.

Assuming our vote actually does count and Jon is up to the vocal challenge (which is questionable in itself if some of these promotional performances so far have been anything to go by), I would really love to see "Always" played. I mean, "Prayer" and "It's My Life" are played at every concert anyway, and "It's My Life" on far too many TV appearances... But "Always" is Bon Jovi's biggest worldwide hit and, until the Lost Highway tour, we didn't get to see it for five years (unless you include the This Left Feels Right version).

Vote for a Bon Jovi song to be performed at the Grammys

According to the CBS website:

Here’s your chance to pick what song Bon Jovi will perform live at the GRAMMYS®. Whether it’s the classic song ‘Livin on a Prayer’ or one of their newer hits, ‘Have a Nice Day’ the decision is up to you!

Here’s how it works: right now vote from the top six songs above*. Remember you can vote every day. Then on January 25th the list will be narrowed down to the top three songs with the voting continuing everyday. Then tune in during the GRAMMYS live on Sunday January 31st to see which song Bon Jovi will perform!

*The songs you can choose from are:
Livin' on a Prayer
It's My Life
Wanted Dead or Alive
Bed of Roses
Always
Have a Nice Day

Click here to vote. (Although it doesn't work for me because every time I enter the CAPTCHA, I get a message saying the security code I entered doesn't match even though it does.)

Personally I think it might have been more meaningful to have people choose between songs from The Circle, but oh well.

Poll Results: Favourite Bon Jovi album

The poll is now closed and results are as follows.

Bon Jovi (0 votes)
7800° Fahrenheit (1 vote)
Slippery When Wet (3)
New Jersey (15)
Keep the Faith (2)
These Days (11)
Crush (1)
Bounce (1)
Have a Nice Day (1)
Lost Highway (3)
Other (1)

This is only 39 votes and out of millions of Bon Jovi fans worldwide, so it's a very small sample, but the results came as a bit of a surprise personally. I knew New Jersey and These Days were fan favourites but I didn't think it would be quite so lop-sided. I thought Slippery might have received a few more votes, for example.
Lost Highway was a divisive album among fans but technically got the equal third number of votes.

Thanks to everyone for voting and of course for reading the blog. :)

Poll: Favourite Bon Jovi album?

There's a new poll up on the right hand side of this blog. Pretty straightforward question: What is your favourite album? I only listed the band's studio albums of new material, but there is an option for "Other" if you're a fan of This Left Feels Right or the solo albums or whatever.

Personally I'm a big fan of Bon Jovi's 90s output, both band and solo, and These Days is my favourite album by any artist. That's almost the cliche favourite among diehards, but to quote JD from Scrubs "If my heart could write songs, they'd sound like these." (Zach Braff's character was talking about a Dido album, but it's still a cool quote.) On the other hand, I've been a bit critical of Bon Jovi's work this decade overall, but Have a Nice Day was released at a pivotal point in my life and has a special meaning to me too.

Point is, Bon Jovi has been around for quarter of a century now, and has fans spanning at least three generations, whose tastes and experiences are vastly different.

PS - I didn't spell "favourite" wrong; I'm Australian, and we use British spellings. :P