American Idol

Well Folks, I missed the show tonight. I got called into work last minute and then went for dinner. The AI site does have the performances online yet; hopefully I can catch them tomorrow before the boot show.

Last week I was on the edge of my seat. I could not believe that Allison was in the bottom 3. It should have been Matt. I do not look at their performance in isolation, I think you have to consider what the contestant has done throughout the competition. Therefore; Matt should have been back in the bottom 3. It all worked out in the end, with Anoop and Lil leaving the show.

Lil is a good singer, but there is something missing. I cannot put my finger on it. I just don’t get into her performances. I find myself wandering off to do the dishes. Anoop, well he was so hot and cold it was time for him to hit the bricks. Even though I have not seen the performances, I think the bottom 3 should be Matt; my beloved Allison and Kris. Of the three Matt should go.

I’ll watch the videos when I can and if I change my mind, I’ll let you know.

Tonight on American Idol

Who was up first? Give me a minute…oh right Lil Rounds, a totally forgettable performance. I got about 3 or 4 contestants down and thought who was first? Oh right…wait a minute who was it again?

Kris was great; I really do enjoy his singing. He makes a song his own and of course, he is easy on the eyes.

Danny was not on it tonight. I thought he was boring, although I would not put him in the bottom 3. I guess Disco is just not his thing.

Adam. Wow, what can you say? Nameless summed it up with “this is a competition for second place”. Adam is so far ahead of the pack that if he stopped and sat around for 2 weeks it would make no difference. The rest of them will never catch up.

Allison is just awesome. She can do no wrong. If I were 16 I would be all over her, if she said yes of course. She looked great, put on a good act and she always goes for it. Cara no one cares that Donna Summer won a Grammy for that song. What has that got to do with anything? Sum up Allison's performance and let us move on.

Matt, not bad tonight, much better actually. The scales are tipping between Matt and Danny tonight.

Anoop. I agree with Simon, Anoop just does not cut it. Nameless asked the question, what do the other judges hear? There is a clear bottom 3 and it is no different than last week. I must add here that I did like Anoop’s new look. However, it was a bad performance, he blew and I am left wondering who votes for him. Not many with all those bottom 3’s but he hasn’t been booted yet, perhaps Wednesday night?

Overall, I am glad all the judges are back. It makes a huge difference to hear them all, even though Randy and Cara don’t often say anything. Just lots of blah blah yadda yadda. Paula is not far behind, but I like her and she looked great tonight. Simon, is always bang on. He tells the truth and offers some credible feedback.

So, tonight’s bottom 3:

Musical interlude

This is a great song. Nellie has a great voice, so does James.

I must admit I also like Britney. Well, I like some of her songs. Circus is a pretty good one and so is If You Seek Amy. Apparently, this means you want to get fucked. I am not sure how "if you seek amy" translates into that but I was told that by someone in the know. Maybe someone can explain that to me.

Now lets see, what other songs can I put here for your musical pleasure.

Elton John. Tiny Dancer, what a great song. Most Elton songs are great. Here is another one, This Train Don't Stop There Anymore. This classic EJ and I love this song. Of course, I cannot mention EJ without having a link to Bennie and The Jets. Great retro video from Soul Train. This song is from the move Aloha Bobby and Rose. My sister Chana and I sat through it several times, we loved the movie and the song. We also sat through Death Race 2000 several times. I am not sure what this says about us but we don't care we will always have those two movies and that song.

Okay, a couple of final tunes I have to get to bed. This song is by Linkin Park. It is called In the End and it is true. This live version is not the greatest but it gives me hope; I think I could be a Rap Artist! Here's a tune you may not know. It is from a band called Chalk Circle. I liked them and I actually met the lead singer in a poetry class I took in the 80's or maybe it was the early 90's. Check it out, This Mourning. This last one is a romantic song, it plays to that side of me. I am really a hopeless romantic. Years ago I heard a song and watched the video and it was called Walk Away Joe. I loved the song and honestly I have no idea if this is the same song but it will do. Trisha Yearwood - Walk Away Joe.

I just watched this video again and it really is not romantic. I say we get a gang together and hunt Joe down. We can kick him around a bit before we get all mushy and sappy and forgive him and go through it all again. What sorry saps we are, well most of us anyway. It brings back the memory of my walk away Joe, the Bastard. They say it is better to have loved and lost than never to have loved at all. I say poppycock to that. I prefer the saying:

If you love something set it free; if it comes back it's yours. If it doesn't, hunt it down and kill it!

Enjoy the tunes and maybe be tell me one or two of your favourites.

American Idol...bad save

They used the save! What a waste. I would have held off until next week; next week is the critical week. They had the right bottom 3 this week, losing any one of them would not have hurt the competition. Next week the bottom 3 would have been a bit more difficult. My guess for next weeks bottom 3 would have been, Anoop, Lil and Kris. But let’s say it ended up being Danny? Danny would be a far better choice to save. In the end it may not matter because we may end up with the same bottom 3 as tonight. We will lose two of them and continue on. Poor use of the save, they may have well just used it on Scott.

I also think that Cara and Paula should at least pretend that are impartial. They are supposed to be judges and I think their antics influence voters. Randy and Simone play it cool while the woman sway and swoon. Pull it together! Having said that, I read and agree with an article arguing that the new arrangement in judging does not work. Simone is the only judge that has something valuable to say almost all the time. His assessments can make or break a competitor. The way it rolls now it works against the competitors that Simon does not judge and is even unfair. The better solution is to tell Cara, more so than Paula, to shut up. I have no doubt Ryan can handle that. I also support the bandwagon to ditch Cara. she lost my respect very early on and usually has nothing of value to offer.

This “boot” show is too long and boring. Last night I joined Skype and at least had the company of “Nameless” via videoconference. We both agreed that we could do without all the other acts. She switched over to Lost during the singsongs. I say cut the show to 30 minutes and get to the point. Do the Ford commercial, because I understand they need to generate revenue for the show and Ford! Then sit someone on the metal stool then do the big show tune number and then sit two more. One more commercial break and then cut the person lose and let us go to bed. That way I would be spared sitting through Myley’s tinny thin little sing along. What has any of this got to do with the picture of Kris? Well, if you have to ask why I would post a picture of Kris, you are either straight or blind!

Finally, I am not sure the save rule makes any difference. I thought I was there to save a competitor that was voted off for some unknown reason. Example, everyone figured they were safe so they did not bother to vote. That wont matter until the final 4 or 5 so having the save rule that is must be used before the bottom 5 made it redundant. This coming week will be interesting as 2 will be leaving. It should be some combination of last night’s bottom 3 but who knows….

People At Large

I was heading home after work and I saw this guy walking through the PATH. I attempted a picture so he could grace the pages of my Blog but I was not prepared. I captured this blurry image we I can now refer to as art.

Once I was outdoors I spotted this guy and thought he would make a great replacement for the first guy. I thought they both looked great from behind. The bald guy looked like a tough guy (I caught a glimpse of him) but who knows. Anyway, they both dress better than yesterdays Person at Large.

For one final picture I thought I would capture Adelaide Street looking eastbound at around 4:50pm. Funny thing is without my knowledge Nameless (you know my friend from the AI Recaps) and yet another friend of mine were on the other side of the street. They could be in this picture somewhere…

The Top 7

Wow, Adam can perform. That guy really takes it to another level. Consider Anoop’s performance and then consider what Adam did. No comparison. Adam is an example of making a song your own. He is also a great example of taking a risk and having some fun. Why play it safe? No reason. Adam will no doubt be in the top 3. What I cannot figure is why the other contestants haven’t caught on. They do the same old same old. How many singers sit at piano, it’s been done do not do it over unless you make the song your own. That is the key.

Kris is really very good. I liked his song. I think it is because he doesn’t try. He is just a great singer. Randy is off base. Although maybe for him it didn’t work, fair enough. Still, Kris made that song his and did it without waving it in your face. I still think either way, Kris will be safe because he is cute.
I also have to say that Lil blew it. Despite her attempt at the end there to recover her performance does not cut it. That song is a powerhouse of a song, which, I think, only Janis and Bette can perform, certainly not Lil.

Quentin Tarantino, I truly respect his ability to provide meaningful feedback to the competitors. Consider Randy Travis, a nice guy but all he kept saying was “wow you sang that really well, you are going to blow them away”. Now give me a hug. Well, thanks but it does not help. Telling someone they are great is nice and it is safe but it is also useless. Providing feedback based on your expertise is valuable, and it is why you are there, and Quentin offered his feedback without hesitation or apology. Good for him. Had Anopp taken his advice, his performance would have been far superior. As a footnote, Quentin seems embarrassed to be on camera.

Picking the bottom 3 is getting a bit tougher…but here it is:

Pants or Sacks?

What's with this guy's pants?

In this picture you cannot appreciate the sagging ass low riders that these pants are. I do not get it. I must be getting old, however, I say that and I don't mean it. I could never wear my pants down around my ankles, I would have serious crotch burn!

As with the first picture this one shows the turned up cuff. Is this cool now because back in the day someone would have hit this guy. Not that that is a good thing, it's not really. I understand clothing "faux pas" abuse first hand. My Mom made me an outfit and, unknown to her, against my will I wore it to school. I think just for her, I did for her. I was called Pajama Kid within 5 seconds of hitting the play ground. I was hurt and wounded and wanted to defend my Mother's attempt at making me clothing. I didn't I just never wore it again. I wonder what my Mom thought...God love her.

Okay, final picture. I like this shot because it looks like he is going to pick his bum (or he just did). It also gives a better idea of how low his pants are. Plus you can see that both cuffs are turned up, so it is no accident.

My final thought on this it, wow what kind of day did I have that I was taking pictures of some guy in pants! It's fun though. I tried to get a look at his face to gage his age, but he went North on University and I kept heading West.

Ideas

What a day. I am now at home sitting at my computer and up to this moment I was wasting some time. I am waiting to leave for the airport; I am picking up a friend that is flying in from Vancouver. I attempted to download Microsoft’s Virtual Earth but for some reason the download failed. So, I cannot mess around online looking at the world from a million different angles. What next?

I was thinking back to some ideas I have had. Some of the ideas are my own some are generated with friends. Ideas are great things and I have been told that I have great ones, however I do not follow through with them. Right, well some of them I don’t want to follow through on.

A while back a friend and I were going to launch a website called, if I recall correctly, 101011. It was going to be about the end of life as we know it. One of those doomsday prophesies. We wanted to see if we could generate a following and at the time I think we came up with some funny ideas for the site. We also want to make money so we were going to sell T-shirts. Everyone wants a doomsday T-shirt. The idea died as we continued on in our routine daily lives.

Today I experience the rebirth (pun intended) of having children. An idea I had when I was 19 and then again an idea yet another friend of mine and I explored. It came up today when my friend whose womb is pulsating (I have an amazing array of awesome friends) told me she was looking into the cost of In Vitro Fertilization. I offered to be the sperm donor. I was and am serious. I think it would be great to have children and I think my biological clock is telling me to get my genes out there; time is ticking for me too! I have some deep notion to keep my Father’s name going, our line. I am not sure where that comes from, having such a basic almost primal desire to keep it alive. It does, however, cross my mind that if I do not I represent an end of sorts. I imagine that line on the family tree coming flowing from my parents to me but not past me, nobody to carry on for me. No immortality for me. I also have this idea that a child, or children, would give me the reason I need to be fully me and to realize all my dreams.

I have lots of other ideas that really do not matter. They cannot matter until they are acted upon. Ideas are really meaningless until someone pulls them together and creates a result. I like I have an idea for a clothing line and an idea for a line of “bling” for dogs. But, who cares? No one. It is after all just an idea. I also have an idea for a novel but it never materializes because I also have the idea that I cannot write, a novel. It occurs to me that Ideas can be wonderful things that create library systems for a continent or destructive things that prevent you from taking the step. How interesting. That actually gives me an idea….

How the LA times sees it

I just stumbled onto this article. Scott is seriously disabled? I have a friend that would argue that.

The journey of the Scottsdale, Ariz., native was one of the most heartwarming spectacles of “Idol’s” eight seasons. A gentle, perpetually smiling 22-year-old, MacIntyre made his time on the show notable for his good humor and a sense that despair was unknown to him, even as he struggled to perform in his final weeks.

I don’t get this, I really don’t. He was an average singer and although he was having fun and it showed, so what? The other Top Ten are doing the same thing – ok except for Megan that had some kind of ego explosion. I appreciate in the face of being blind he is forging forward but what he is doing does not strike me as a huge overwhelming incredible achievement. No more so than the other contestants and what about the one that lost his wife (was it Danny or Matt?) weeks before he auditioned? That seems to have faded into the background.

The first comment on the piece sums it up almost perfectly.

It's sad, but he wasn't good enough. End of story.

Almost, because I do not think it is sad.

I must be feeling bitchy...

I missed Tuesday nights show. I know, how could I miss it? Let’s just say I had a friend in need and that overrides TV. Even AI!

The elimination show tonight, my immediate reaction. The 8 of them singing together – terrible! It gained some strength as it went along, but man oh man if it wasn’t for my Allison and Adam “The Screecher” Lambert it would have been a total wash.

They sucked in the Ford commercial, ‘nuff said there.

The bottom 3 tonight was bang on. I think the huge debate about saving Scott was an effort to make him feel better about getting the boot. Compared to those who are left standing there is no way the save can be used at this point. Frankly, I would have lost respect for the judges if they had used it. Scott is an okay singer. I would listen to him in a bar but would I pay big and watch him at the ACC, nope. I imagine his career will be in writing music not so much performing. I also think whoever is responsible for “styling” him should be fired. That hairdo is all wrong. A friend of mine read, or is at least quoting, another Blog that said “Scott’s hair is reminiscent of the Golden Girls”. True, very true.

To wrap up this AI recap I have to wonder what is going on in Paula’s pretty little head. Gloves? I love you Paula, don’t ever do the glove thing again. Flo Rida was excellent. Great performance, the total package there. Kelly Pick what who?

Another one bites the dust. So, America voted and it paid off. Megan Joy is gone. Not as in dead just as in gone. Buh bye! I have to say I think she earned it. Her ego grew much faster than her singing voice. “I loved my song and I know my fans did too”. Who the hell is she? “I love Simon but I don’t care”. Yeah right, so why the tears? My nameless friend who I will refer to only as Nameless had this to say.

“Megan Joy. Her bad singing voice, bad attitude, bad 80's jumper are gonzola!!”

Simon kind of hit the nail on the head when he served her words back to her. We don’t care either my dear, it’s over for you. Her last song was terrible and what’s with those dance moves? What dance academy did she attend, the Elaine Benis School of Dance?

I did have some stress tonight watching the bottom 3. My Allison was in it! What’s that all about? It is not American Fashion Idol, so what about her choice of dress. She can sing. She out sings both Anoop and Scott. The next couple of weeks are a no brainer. Scott goes and then Anoop goes or the other way around works for me too. There is no way they can make up all the lousy songs they have sung. The rest of the gang simply have not blown it enough to leave before those two.

Allison above, is saying "Hey Roy, I don't get it either, me in the bottom 3? It makes no sense." And, she is correct. It makes no sense.

Now I must ask, what is up with Lady Gaga? Not only did she look into the camera, (was she taking pointers from Adam backstage???) but also, she sucked. I like that song on the radio and on Youtube but hearing it live made me scrunch up into a little ball and beg to be released from the pain. I’ll be happy to miss her concert tour.

I can rest now for another week knowing that the gang is intact. The righteous voted, the Gods came together and Simon called it yet again. Paula looked fabulous tonight which is a switch for her. Don’t get me wrong, I love her, but if anyone needs a fashion overhaul it is her. In closing I will pass along something else Nameless had to say. “Adam needs to brush his tongue! That is just gross. If you are going to stick out your tongue you should brush it off!” I must admit I agree.

Footnote: I should actually have said; Nameless you called it again! Nameless did, on Tuesday in an e-mail.

Detroit

A friend of mine sent me this link. It is good to see that there are some creative people out there. When you set your mind to it, and stop making excuses great things can happen. I know, shut up.

Artisits sought to rebuild

Artist Gina Reichert and designer Mitch Cope bought a foreclosed home and turned it into both an experiment in operating off the power grid and a centre to link artists and the local community (CBC)