Thanks to my friend Keen for the link to a hilarious article at the Washington Post about last night's Idol. Their summary is much better than mine—especially the goodness about Hannah Montana deflowering David Archuleta (don't say I didn't warn you!)—but I'll still give you my recap.
OK, first of all: NEIL NIGHT ON IDOL. And they each sang two songs! Awesome. Second of all: absolutely none of my predictions/requests were correct. Take my crystal ball away now. Third of all: Paula Abdul gets crazier each week! Fourth of all: I wish the show could have been 1.5 hours as it felt really, really rushed to cram the performances and judging into an hour.
Here are my thoughts, going out to OTRgirl of Sojournering and her husband Jrex, who I have turned into fans despite themselves. I revel in my power.
Jason: Why did you not choose to perform Red, Red Wine? For the past couple of weeks, your song choices have been weak and you've shown a kind of rude innocence about the theme. Last week you didn't know that Cats was about cats, this week you brought the wrong lyrics to your session with Neil . . . pull yourself together! Sloppy. Bottom two.
Brooke: "I'm a Believer" gave me flashbacks to Kristy Lee Cook's awful Beatles-go-country performance. Eek! And your shiny blue pants scared me. That said, I loved your version of "I Am, I Said." I'm a little embarrassed to admit that it made me tear up a little.
David C.: I did not know either of the songs you chose, but I sure liked your performances of them. There's really nothing left to say about you. You're definitely bound for the top two, and likely to win it all.
David A.: Yes, you're a little Disney and yes, choosing "America" gave me another Kristy Lee Cook flashback, but I cannot help myself! I love you! And let's face it, Disney or not, your voice is amazing and your musical timing impeccable. You have a way of holding on to notes just a little longer than I think you should, but then coming off them and making the phrasing something really dramatic and emotional. I see you in the top two as well (battle of the Davids!), and with your huge teenage girl fan base, you could take home the gold.
Syesha: The same, always the same. Good—very good, even—but nothing that has ever moved me. Bottom two, especially after the influential Mr. Cowell pronounced that you were "in danger."
Subscribe to:
Post Comments (Atom)
Posts
15 comments:
I'm not an idol watcher usually, but I had to watch for Neil night. David Cook was totally awesome. I love some of Neil's less known songs, and it was great that he made them his own. I think Jason will go. Nothing good there, very weak, and boring really. Brooke's second song was awesome, but the first laughable. I couldn't get past that song on Shrek! David A... I really don't get him. He sings well, but does NOTHING for me. But I'm sure he'll stay in. I'm just not sure why. Syesha I loved, but her songs fit her too well. She's got talent but doesn't push any edge. I think to show her talent she needs to move outside the comfort zone a bit.
I feel compelled to say that I watch because my wife watches. Anyway, that out of the way, I liked Jason's first song quite a bit, and I thought that it was much better than the judges (or certain bloggers...) think.
David Cook was great, and that guy has some real talent. He can take anything and make it modern. No matter what he does, he makes it seem like he's an established artist promoting a new song or cover. You know how when you watch the winners come back and perform on Idol a year later, and they all have amazing polish and confidence? That's what David Cook seems like already.
The others' songs didn't do much for me. David Archuletta looked like an earnest kid, singing in some Broadway show. And I hate Broadway shows. My impression of Broadway shows is that there's a play and then someone FEELS COMPELLED TO SIIIIIIINNNNNNGGGGG!!! David A. picked songs that take a really big voice and presence, and that's not his style. I mean, come on, if you're going to pick America, you should be able to belt it out. What really amused me was Simon's comments at the end. He basically said that David A. picked songs (wittingly or not) that will play right to his fan base, and when Simon didn't say a single good thing about the performance, other than playing to his callers, I thought that spoke volumes.
Snick, I have to respectfully disagree about David A. He can sing, yes, but David C. really has the whole package. He is really the only reason I'm sticking with Idol this season. He's extremely entertaining EVERY week!
Totally agree with you about Jason Castro, though. I think he's good enough to impress whatever college girl he's trying to woo at the coffee house down the street, but not good enough for Idol. I hope he goes this week.
Oh, glad you enjoyed the Post column. It's the first thing I look for in the paper on Wednesday mornings. (The Hannah Montana thing...I know.)
I loved Neil night, but I must confess I was just a teeny bit disappointed, and that was because I was thinking that if they'd only sung the songs you predicted, the night would have been even better. I mean, Jason Castro singing "Red, Red Wine" would have been awesome! I was looking forward to that so much that in my mind, it was a given. Ah, well.
Hi--I just found out about you and your blog. I am also a widow from that horrible disease called pancreatic cancer. My husband died in October 2007 and I have two young children. I have a blog called A Widow for One Year. Feel free to check it out. I would like to stick around and maybe write about your blog, if that's ok with you.
OK--I'm back with another comment. I have been reading your blog, and I think we have lived parallel lives. I didn't think there was another person in the world who understood everything we have gone through and continue to go through.
Love reading your Idol assessment. Probably because I often agree with you - though I tend to gush on about David C a bit more. I can't decide if I want him to win or pull a Daughtry and produce what he wants to produce and become famous that way.
I haven't watched the show this year, but my parents do. I was at their house and had pretty much the same reaction as you. Battle of the David's! Although when I saw David A.'s 2nd performance, I actually said, I feel like I'm at Disneyland.
If you think that Washington Post piece is funny, you gotta start reading the Idol re-caps on Television Without Pity. The writing is brilliant and often laugh out loud funny. Once you get over the embarrassment of reading 8 page analyses of lowbrow TV, you'll be hooked!
How did Paula not know the guy only sang once?
How did Paula not know the guy only sang once?
I wonder if:
A) The judges saw the contestants rehearse, and she was commenting on that, but then tried to pretend that she hadn't seen the rehearsals; or
B) The songs were not done live (as I've heard is the case when they had people call in and ask questions).
FYI, Lisa de Moraes, who wrote that Post article, writes one of those after every Idol show, and also writes a more in-depth version on the Post TV blog (www.washingtonpost.com/tvblog). I read her recaps after every show on the blog. They are hilarious.
Jason should have been the one to go home... but we all know that sometimes it is not about singing cause if it were michael johns and carley would still be here in the top 4 with the davids.
JMHO
Again, I watched nothing.
HOWEVER, my students informed me that David A sang "Sweet Caroline" because HER sister's name is Caroline and her sister LURVES David A so she felt as though he was singing directly TO HER. Classic, shit, I tell ya!
I LOVED Sweet Caroline and Neil, in general, growing up because my Mom was in love with him and played his stuff all the time. I also LOVED the movie Beautiful Girls - they SANG that song in the movie. VERY good times.
I know David A has a good voice, but he gives me the creepolas. For real.
I didn't get David A's Sweet Caroline performance at all. He not only changed the arrangement, but I also thought that he changed the entire melody. I didn't even recognize the song until he hit the chorus and I realized what he was singing from the words...
IMHO, David A's saccharine sweet... sweeter than sugar but leaves a nasty aftertaste. His feigned "humbleness" makes me sick. He is usually a pretty good performer. I agree with an MSNBC commentator who called his America performance "cruise-ship". I was really expecting Simon to openly lambaste him. Instead he just did the snarky calling him "smart" like Kristy Lee thing.
David Cook RULES!!!!!
Post a Comment