Welcome

Thanks for reading our blog. We welcome comments. To comment, click on * (x) comments* following each post. A box will appear at the bottom of the post allowing you to share your opinions with us and the rest of our readers.

Thursday, January 20, 2011

Good Times Rolling

I love New Orleans. Seeing the footage made me want to return (I have only been there once). And drink some chicory coffee and have a beignet at Cafe du Monde and listen to some Dixieland Jazz.

To begin...some housekeeping issues. This is the third season of this blog which started after KK and Auntee had reviewed each episode of AI on our family website for a couple of years. Auntee came late to Idolatry (discovering the show the season of Sanjaya). KK has been a fan for much longer. Auntee's posts are in red. Kk's are in another color. Auntee wishes she were young in the big band era or at least when the Rat Pack reigned but has fond memories of the music in her psuedo hippie years of the late sixties and seventies. She stopped listening to top 40 music in about 1984. Which was when KK started listening to it. So...we bring two different musical perspectives to the blog. Probably where the different perspectives end because we are after all genetically bound. We are at times very uncivil but only when contestants truly deserve our scorn because of attitude, delusional beliefs of their own superiority or just plain unlikability. Judges, being public figures, are treated harshly when necessary. Lets just say our straight talk makes it unlikely that either of us is or was ever likely to win a Miss Congeniality award. We don't suffer fools or phonies gladly. Kumbaya is not in our nature. So you have been warned.

That said, I am going to say that I am feeling very positive about this season of AI...a shock to me. I'm thinking that losing Simon was a very good thing. As KK pointed out in her last post of last season...everything had become all about Simon. How bored he was, how the show could not survive without him, how Ellen hated him blah blah de blah Simon. It was no longer about the contestants. While I appreciate a dose of honesty when a contestant stinks as much as or more than the next person...Simon seemed to look for an opportunity to be Simon. Even Lee DeWyze was all about Simon.

The dynamics of this new group are different. They seem actually eager to focus on the contestants and make someone's dream come true. Steven Tyler is growing better looking by the minute to me as he is really rooting for these kids. If JLo isn't actually a pretty nice person, she deserves an Oscar for acting like one. And of course, there is Randy who is FINALLY saying a little bit more than yo dawg.

So..did we see the next AI tonight? Probaby not. We did see:

Jordan Dorsey who you had to love because he teaches kids and loves it. Although Jordan, you need to read Amy Chua the Tiger Mother. Those Chinese kids have to practice not just 5 times between lessons but no less than 5 hours per day. I think I will like him if he doesn't overdo the melisma and *changing it up* too much.

Sarah Sellers who I had to love because she has glasses like mine. Clear voice and a hard song to sing it seemed to me.

Govany who had to take his shirt off (thanks trashy Kara...men taking their shirts off is the only legacy you left to AI). At least Tyler and Randy made a joke of it. The song was in Spanish and since I didn't know what it was about it was hard for me to judge his talent. JLo liked it so I will defer to her assessment. (Big of me...I know).

When Jac*line the coach's niece came on with pictures of Randy, I sensed a disaster in the making. I liked her voice. I don't know if she is good enough to stand out among all the other belters she will encounter in Hollywood, but at least she is getting a chance to try.

Brett the Red Apple. Sob Story #1 of the night. He has been bullied. I'm not sure its a good idea for victims of bullying to be singing songs about putting bullets in people's heads. Something tells me he wasn't THAT bullied. He seems to love making himself different. Thats fine. I don't know about him. I'm not loving him right now.

I have to mention one of the bad contestants...Gabriel Franks. He was so pleased with himself you just knew it was going to be a big fail. Lady GaGa? At least he knew he was a joke contestant...or I hope so as the choice of song would make anyone's audition into a joke. (I loathe Lady GaGa).

As for Alex Itardo...I think if you have a child who wants to go to Idol Camp, you can probably save your money.

JC Badeau (I love his name which reminds me of Badass) could be a big favorite. If his voice doesn't change. He is 15 and it hasn't yet...its bound to do something soon. I'm all in favor of big-boned people with talent succeeding.

And, finally our 2nd sob story of the night (actually a low sob story count tonight..especially from New Orleans which the media has made the epicenter of sob stories) Paris Tisane. She may be the country contender. Would be nice to see a truly talented country singer as opposed to Kristy Lee Cook.

So...I think I'm going to stick with this for another week at least.