Category: Pop (Page 131 of 216)

American Idol: Some Surprises, Some Not Really

Last night’s “American Idol” was, as expected, a grueling one hour results show. And I was surprised by a couple of the contestants who were kicked off, but in the end, not really all that surprised.

First, they did some video montage to once again familiarize us with the final 24, because they kind of short-changed us in Hollywood week. I mean, there are at least five or six of these singers that I don’t remember from the initial auditions. What’s more, I don’t know how they got here because there were a ton of mediocre performances. But I digress.

Then there was the sixties medley group performance, and as always it was pretty ridiculous. Some of these kids dance about as good as me, which is saying absolutely nothing. I mean, I’m a slight notch above Elaine from “Seinfeld.” But I digress again.

After a replay of Tuesday’s guys’ performances, Ryan Seacrest invited Garrett Haley to join him on stage, and promptly booted him off the show. This kid showed almost no emotion, and on Tuesday had said he only auditioned because he was vacationing in San Diego with his family and was looking for something to do. But the weird thing is, this little Peter Frampton look alike can actually sing. I seem him fronting a rock band, like tomorrow.

Then the ladies were recapped, and Ryan asked Kristy Lee Cook to join him. We all knew she wasn’t really going home, so it was no surprise that Ryan declared her safe. Then he did the same with Amy Davis, and booted her off. America clearly got this one right, because Amy was horrible on Wednesday. It was even painful to watch Amy sing her way out.

Then came the video premiere of Paula Abdul’s new song, “Dance Like There’s No Tomorrow.” Good for Paula that she is making a comeback, but my favorite part was watching Randy Jackson play bass behind her. That dude is so talented and I think we all tend to forget that.

Back to the results. Ryan invited JoAnne and Amanda up front, and declared the rest of the girls safe.
Well, I had a feeling JoAnne didn’t do enough on Wednesday night, but Amanda? Clearly she had to have had the MOST votes, unless America doesn’t like girls who rock.

Then Chikezie and Colton were asked to join Ryan up front, and Chikezie threw up his hands in disgust. That dude has developed a really bad attitude all of a sudden, but it was Colton who was sent home. Let me say this…Colton should not have made it in to the finals, and Randy and Paula absolutely blew it by not letting Simon have his way on that decision. But America knew better.
What’s worse though, is that Simon took a parting shot, telling Colton to “get a real job and do singing on the side.” I mean, there was no reason for that.

So there you go. We should be weeding out more of the mediocrity next week, and then things will really get interesting. And remember people…..TiVo is your friend when watching these extremely long shows laced with too many commercials and too much fluff. See you on Wednesday!

American Idol: A Mostly Mediocre Start

Last night the ladies performed on “American Idol,” and most of them were as bland as the guys were the night before. Not that it’s ever easy to predict who is actually going to win this thing, but the last two nights definitely proved that there are quite a few pretenders this season, despite the “best season ever” hype they have been stuffing down our throats. Like we did with the guys, here are the good, bad and in-between from last night’s contestants:

THE VERY GOOD

Amanda Overmyer has at least two other lives–as a nurse, and as a biker. And she’s an old rocker soul at 23. Well, singer might be the one tag we’ll all be putting on Amanda if she keeps this up. For me, it was hands down the best showing of all 24 auditions. She avoided the stereotypical Janis Joplin and instead took on the classic “Baby Please Don’t Go.” Aside from some weird scat stuff, she just showed some phenomenal pipes. Randy loved it, Paula said it was authentic, and Simon said he really likes her too. Well, I’m here to tell you…she was better than the judges gave her credit for.

THE GOOD

Alaina Whitaker, who looks a bit like Carrie Underwood Continue reading »

American Idol: Aight Start

Last night’s “American Idol” had a bit of everything, but the 12 guys who kicked off the America voting portion of the season just didn’t blow everyone away on the first night as in previous seasons. Still, there were some standouts and some clunkers, some back-and-forth between judges and between some bitter contestants. As we have done the last two years, we’ll pick the good, the bad and the in-between. It was a ’60s theme, so all of the contestants were singing songs that were released before they were born. Here we go….

THE GOOD

David Hernandez kicked things off with “Midnight Hour” and to me appeared pretty confident and natural, and he definitely has a great voice. Randy said it was a good way to start, Paula agreed and Simon said it was better than he expected it to be.

25-year-old David Cook sang a rock version of The Turtles’ “Happy Together” and it wasn’t bad at all. In fact it was better than I anticipated. Randy said it was weird at the start but that David worked it out. Paula agreed (as she often does with Randy), and Simon said it was good except for some shouting in the middle.

David Archuleta is 17 and just has a natural voice and an innocence Continue reading »

Less Talk, More Music: Beastie Boys on “The Late Show with David Letterman”

All I’m saying is this: if you think you know of another talk-show performance that starts out in a more awesome manner than the Beastie Boys rapping their way up from the subway, down the streets of NYC, and into the Ed Sullivan Theater, I’d damned well like to see it. Until then, I’m gonna presume that there is no such animal and just tell you to sit your ass down and ch-check this shit out…

From Across The Pond: Scouting for Girls, “Elvis Ain’t Dead”

Might as well keep the pop love flowing, right? Last week, I spotlighted The Hoosiers, and while Scouting for Girls haven’t gone the collect-’em-all route for their self-titled debut, they’ve certainly got just as many hooks to their name. Like all the best bands these days, they found success via a substantial internet buzz – in this case, via IntoMusic – and you can easily hear why they’ve received the attention that they have. Why can’t the kids in the States get into music this good…?

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