Music Friday: You're Shining Like a Brand New Diamond in Bon Jovi's Country Favorite, 'Summertime'

Welcome to Music Friday when we bring you sensational songs with jewelry, gemstones or precious metals in the title or lyrics. Even though fall officially arrived on Wednesday, we're going to do our best to keep the summer alive with a fun song from Bon Jovi's 2007 chart-topping Lost Highway album.

It's called "Summertime" and includes this line... "I keep a postcard in the back of my mind / White sand, sunshine / And you shining like a brand new diamond."

Written by lead singer Jon Bon Jovi, lead guitarist Richie Sambora and producer John Shanks, "Summertime" blends the best elements of rock and country music to create a fun, sing-along experience that's sure to have Bon Jovi fans dancing in the aisles.

In the song, Bon Jovi describes how his girlfriend makes him feel like summertime. He reminisces about warm breezes, lazy days, beach blankets, a bottle of wine and his girlfriend shining in the sunshine like a brand new diamond.

"Like a first slow dance and a first long kiss," he concludes, "there ain't nothing, baby, better then this."

Lost Highway was described by Bon Jovi as an "album influenced by Nashville." The group's calculated maneuver into the country genre paid off big time as the album made its debut at #1 on the U.S. Billboard 200 chart. It was the group's first album to debut at #1 and was so well received that it went on to be nominated for Best Pop Vocal Album at the 2008 Grammy Awards and sold more than four million copies worldwide.

John Francis Bongiovi, Jr., was born in New Jersey in 1962. A blood relative of Frank Sinatra, the young Bon Jovi spent much of his youth skipping school to pursue musical activities. By the time he was 16, he was already playing in New Jersey clubs. A year later, while sweeping floors at his cousin Tony Bongiovi's recording studio, Bon Jovi got the opportunity to sing on a Star Wars Christmas album. His first official credit was on a song called "R2-D2 We Wish You A Merry Christmas."

By 1983, Bon Jovi had formed the group that bears his name. Over the past 30-plus years, the group has sold more than 100 million records and performed more than 2,700 concerts in 50 countries. Bon Jovi and Sambora were inducted into Songwriters Hall of Fame in 2009.

We hope you enjoy the video of Bon Jovi's live performance of "Summertime." The lyrics are below if you'd like to sing along...

"Summertime"
Written by Richie Sambora, John Shanks and Jon Bon Jovi. Performed by Bon Jovi.

Feels something like summertime
Top down and nothin' but time
Radio's on and your by my side
Feels something like summertime

These days life goes like this
Wake up, check that off of some list
Gotta be a little something more than this
The bottom of my coffee cup

I keep a postcard in the back of my mind
White sand, sunshine
And you shining like a brand new diamond
It's keeping me for giving up
Thinking like I had enough

You make me feel something like summertime
Top down ain't nothing but time
Radio's on and you're by my side
Feels something like summertime

Like a first slow dance and a first long kiss
There ain't nothing, baby, better then this
It's like a beach blanket and a bottle of wine
It feels something like summertime
Summertime

I was a warm breeze with a cool tan
Life mapped out on the back of my hand
When I was laughing I was making plans

But I didn't laugh when I found you
Theres a heaven baby your the proof

You make me feel something like summertime
Top down ain't nothing but time
Radio's on and you're by my side
Feels something like summertime

Like a first slow dance and a first long kiss
There ain't nothing, baby, better then this
It's like a beach blanket and a bottle of wine
It feels something like summertime
(Sum-summer-summertime)

Feel something like summertime Top down ain't nothing but time Radio's on for me and my valentine

It's like that first slow dance and that first long kiss
There ain't nothing baby better then this
It's like a beach blanket and a bottle of wine (Yeah)

Feels something like summertime
Top down ain't nothing but time
Radio's on and you're by my side,
Feels something like summertime
Just like summer time
(Sum-sum-summertime)
Something like summertime

Image: Facebook/BonJovi

Hidden Engagement Ring Pulled From the Ashes of Home Destroyed by California Wildfire

This past week, Eric Lopez, his girlfriend, Annette Perez, and their baby narrowly escaped a fast-moving wildfire that tore through their Northern California neighborhood and turned their home into a pile of ashes.

Later, the young couple returned to the rubble to see if any of their possessions could be recovered. Specifically, Lopez was looking for something very special he had hidden behind the television.

Although the TV was barely recognizable, a ring box and its contents had survived the firestorm. He opened the charred box to reveal a dusty — but otherwise undamaged — diamond engagement ring.

“The TV was still standing and I see a little box on top of it, so I said, ‘Oh, that’s the ring!’" Lopez told the local ABC affiliate KGO. "I cannot believe it. I can't believe it's in the same spot I left it."

Lopez had been thinking about the ring since the Valley Fire forced him, Perez and Eric Jr. to evacuate with barely the clothes on their back.

“Pretty much all week, that's what was in my mind, 'The ring, the ring, hopefully it's good,'” said Lopez.

Upon seeing her new ring for the first time, Perez was overjoyed. "It is so beautiful," she said.

Lopez placed the engagement ring on his girlfriend's finger, but clarified that a proper, formal proposal will be coming at a later time. Lopez said he wants to make it special.

Although the blaze was likely as hot as 1,100 degrees Fahrenheit, the metal ring box did an admirable job of protecting the gold and diamond ring. Even without the box, the white gold and diamond ring should have faired well because the ignition temperature of a diamond is 1,652 degrees Fahrenheit and the melting point of the precious metal is about 1,800 degrees Fahrenheit.

The Valley Fire has been burning since September 12 about 80 miles north of San Francisco. President Barack Obama signed a declaration Tuesday to release federal funding to help battle the blaze that has charred 118 square miles, consumed 1,050 homes in Lake County and forced some 12,000 people to evacuate.

Images: Screen captures via abc7news.com.

Georgia Bulldog Linebacker Surprises Girlfriend With a Post-Game Proposal on the 50-Yard Line

After tricking his girlfriend into believing that she was simply participating in a post-game "Senior of the Week" celebration, middle linebacker Jake Ganus pulled out a ring and proposed to Peyton Thomas on the 50-yard line after Georgia's 52-20 throttling of South Carolina on Saturday.

Ganus had been planning the proposal for months with the help of his head coach, teammates, family and the University of Georgia Athletic Department. The ruse was that Ganus had been named "Senior of the Week," an honor that allows for photo ops on the enormous "G" logo at midfield of the 92,000-seat Sanford Stadium.

To add extra credibility to the story, the girlfriend of sixth-year offensive tackle Kolton Houston texted Thomas to affirm that she participated with her boyfriend the year before and the experience was a lot of fun. In a press conference after the game, Ganus admitted that there is no such thing as "Senior of the Week."

Ganus had told his coach and teammates that he would only go through with the proposal if the Bulldogs were victorious. On Saturday, as he came off the field with five minutes to go and his team well ahead, he started to get very, very nervous.

“I’m like, 'Oh man. I’ve really gotta do this,'” Ganus told dawgnation.com. “My stomach started getting in knots, people started coming up to me, nudging me like, ‘Alright man, alright.'”

When the moment of truth arrived, the 6'2" Ganus was on his game. With the ring box hidden in his left hand, he proudly escorted his girlfriend to the center of the big "G." She said she was a little suspicious when a throng of photographers came along.

"All of these cameras were following us, and I was kinda freaking out because I didn't know what was going on," Thomas told Bleacher Report. "He grabbed my hand and started telling me how much that he loved me, and I started crying because I knew what was happening and it hit me all at once."

Then the strapping 230-pound defensive dynamo, still wearing football gear, settled down on one knee and proposed to the girl he's loved since their high school days in Chelsea, Alabama.

Of course, she said,"Yes." The couple embraced and were greeted at midfield by friends, family and the rest of the Bulldog football team, a group of guys Ganus calls his "brothers."

The halo-style engagement ring seems to be designed in white gold or platinum and features a round center stone and a diamond-accented split-shank band.

The romantic moment has become a sensation on television, the internet and social media.

“I didn’t really expect it to turn out like it did, go viral and all that,” Ganus told dawgnational.com. “But it’s crazy. I just wanted to do something special for her and it turned into something a lot more.”

"His family was in on it, my family was in on it, coach [Mark] Richt was in on it, the players were in on it," Thomas said. "I had no idea."

The couple is planning a July 2016 wedding.

Screen captures via Vimeo.com; Twitter/JakeGanus; Twitter/PeytonThomas; Twitter/GeorgiaBulldogs; Instagram/JakeGanus_51; Instagram/PeytonThomas.

Professional Regurgitator Swallows $500,000 Ring and Brings It Back — Attached to a Lock — on 'America's Got Talent'

What do a lock, a key, a billiard ball and a $500,000 diamond ring have in common? They were all in and out of the belly of "Professional Regurgitator" Stevie Starr on Episode 17 of America's Got Talent.

The 52-year-old Scotsman has dedicated his life to swallowing — and regurgitating — a wide variety of items, from coins and lightbulbs to balloons and goldfish.

During his America's Got Talent appearance, Starr asked to borrow judge Heidi Klum's $500,000 diamond pinky ring. A reluctant Klum reminded the performer that the ring was borrowed from celebrity jeweler Lorraine Schwartz and needed to be returned "without a scratch."

Starr placed the ring between his lips and sucked it down his throat and presumably into his belly. All we know for sure was that it was gone in an instant.

Then he produced a small padlock and key, and asked judge Howie Mandel to confirm that the lock was firmly closed. Once again, Starr placed each one into his mouth and sucked them down.

Starr earned a standing ovations from three of the four judges when — after doing some stomach contortions — he was able to regurgitate the ring now secured in the lock. Starr convinced the audience that he used his stomach to unlock the lock with the key, put the ring in the lock, lock the lock, and regurgitate the lock with Heidi's ring around it.

Then, if that wasn't amazing enough, Starr dislodged the key that was still "stuck" in his belly by swallowing a yellow billiard ball. Starr said that the ball allowed the key to float up so that Heidi could unlock her ring. He later regurgitated the billiard ball.

The spectacular performance helped propel Starr to the finals, where he finished in fourth place.

Remarkably, the Professional Regurgitator also placed fourth on Britain's Got Talent in 2010. There, too, he performed the ring/padlock routine with the bling reluctantly donated by actress Amanda Holden.

It's hard to believe that the items that Starr swallows actually get into his belly because they are bone dry when they are regurgitated. Critics contend that Starr is an illusionist and nothing is ever swallowed. Still, it is hard to explain how he could put a billiard ball in his mouth, make it disappear and then have it emerge from his mouth on command.

If you didn't see the show when it first aired, here's a second chance to be astonished...

Screen captures via YouTube.com.

Flawless Blue Moon Diamond Expected to Break Two Pricing Records at Sotheby's Geneva This November

Watch out, Graff Pink and Zoe! The 12.03-carat Blue Moon is looking to break your pricing records at Sotheby's Geneva on November 11. Sotheby's believes the internally flawless, fancy vivid blue diamond could sell for as much as $55 million, or $4.57 million per carat, when it hits the auction block at the Magnificent Jewels and Noble Jewels sale.

With Sotheby's pre-sale estimate set at $35 million to $55 million, it looks like the cushion-cut Blue Moon has a strong chance to make auction history. If the diamond sells for more than $40 million, it will break a record for the highest price ever paid per carat, which currently stands at $3.3 million.

If it exceeds the $46 million mark, it will break a second record for the highest price ever paid for any diamond of any color.

The current price-per-carat record holder is The Zoe Diamond, a 9.75-carat internally flawless vivid blue gem that was once part of the estate of Rachel "Bunny" Mellon. Back in November of 2014, a private collector from Hong Kong outbid seven suitors at Sotheby's New York to snatch the coveted diamond.

The Graff Pink currently owns the record for the highest price ever paid at auction for a diamond. Laurence Graff of Graff Diamonds won the 24.68-carat beauty at Sotheby's Geneva in 2010.

Among the largest known fancy vivid blue diamonds, the Blue Moon demonstrates the highest possible color grading for blue diamonds. Its name is a subtle reference to how often these extraordinary diamonds come along, as in “once in a blue moon.”

A GIA Monograph grading report described the hue of the diamond as “likely to have never before been seen within such a large diamond, or any gemstone.”

"The Blue Moon diamond is a simply sensational stone of perfect color and purity," David Bennett, worldwide chairman of Sotheby’s International Jewelry Division, said in a statement. “Blue, for me, is the most mysterious and magical of all the colors of diamond, and the Blue Moon will now take its place among the most famous gems in the world.”

Blue diamonds get their color from trace amounts of boron in their chemical makeup. Colorless diamonds, by comparison, are pure carbon with no trace elements.

Unearthed in January by Petra Diamonds Ltd. at its legendary Cullinan mine in South Africa, the 29.6-carat rough was heralded at the time as “one of the most important blue diamonds ever recovered” by Petra chief executive Johan Dippenaar. In February, luxury jeweler Cora International purchased the rough gem for $25.6 million. Six months later, the company unveiled its 12.03-carat internally flawless cushion-cut blue masterpiece.

Credits: sothebys.com; video captures via corainternational.com; graffdiamonds.com.