deeples

May 26, 2008

American Idol Finale (Subtitle: Punked. I guess you got me.)

I tell you this:  I am only writing this post about the finale because to not write ANYTHING would be like trying to hang up on someone when you are on a cell phone.  No more days of screaming at someone on my purple Princess phone and SLAMMING IT DOWN in a fury of plastic.  Now, one can only hit the “End” button on their cell. Harshly. Which means the only way to come even close to the classic release of pent up anger that was smashing a phone onto the cradle is to end the call when they are in mid sentence… and it’s so not the same. Used to be, you could hang up so hard the other person would actually have to hold their phone away from their ear… now the most you can hope for is a confused, “Hello? Can you hear me now?” when they finally realize you are gone.

I had 3/4ths of a blog written last Tuesday.  A torrent of anger at the injustice of it all…. that an ass-clown like Archubarfa would be the American Idol and that it would be so blatantly obvious from the production of the show and the judges comments…  and then on Wednesday’s finale and I sat through the yards of ridiculous bullshit to get to the verdict and this is what I hear:

Seacrest: “Ok, this is it.  I have in my hand the results of over 90 million votes. The next American Idol is…

And it’s over.  The DVR had stopped recording at that exact moment.  Kory and I stare at each other unable to believe that it actually stopped there… it almost seemed planned. One last final ridiculous blow to the American public after a finale of unfathomable suckitude.  [I will also remind you that I’d falled down the stairs earlier in the evening, so I wasn’t exactly at the top of my game.]  I limped over to the laptap to see, you know, just officially David Archuleta’s name as the next Idol… and there it was…

David Cook Wins Idol!

Wah?

How…is that… possible?

I won’t even go into the fact that I had ALMOST AN ENTIRE BLOG WRITTEN about how DAVID COOK DID NOT WIN because how could anything else even be possible after that show???  But… but… really?  And to not have actually heard Ryan say his name and see his reaction and the reaction of the judges and everyone else? It was like just hearing later that Gore didn’t win…

Wha?

How…is that…even possible?

  • The whole boxing theme was not only stupid and verging on jumping the shark, it was insulting.
  • It was sort of funny, actually, when the announcer called Archubarfa “100 pounds, soaking wet”
  • When they both posed at the end of the segment in their leather jackets, trying to make fists and act like they were punching each other, it was possibly the gayest thing I’ve ever seen.
  • I hate the Songwriters contest. I hate those stupid, graduation day songs about people being in their moments and living their dreams and realizing their fate and blah blah blah.  I hate the songs. I hate that they make them sing them.  Go ahead, put them on the next “Praise 11” CD, but PLEASE stop making the contestants sing them.
  • I got to hear my Collective Soul song!
  • I hate so much when contestants re-sing a past song. I was so proud of Cook when he said he believed the contest to be a progression and wouldn’t want to sing something he’d already done.
  • I love the songs that Clive Davis picks for the contestants.  It’s always a great choice and usually one of my favorite things they sing all season.  Of course, Clive Davis is an extremely powerful man and he makes artists and squashes careers all before breakfast.  In fact, I’m only writing this because I’m afraid Clive Davis will have me killed if I don’t.
  • NO ONE CAN SING THE PHONEBOOK. THIS TURN OF PHRASE MUST BE BANNED FROM THE SHOW!
  • Ryan Seacrest must stop tanning.  He is starting to look like an Oompa Loompa.
  • It was sure nice to see Michael Johns again.
  • Wardrobe people:  this is a totally serious offer.  Listen up! If you ARE EVER in the Minneapolis area, please contact me because I would like to take you all out for several dozen rounds of martinis and discuss *shrugs* just, you know, slightly… the wardrobe decisions for the finale.  Nothing big, just little things like…oh, say…. WHY BOTH THE DAVIDS WERE WEARING STARS (Cook: silver star necklace, Archie: Big star on shirt)… and WHY ARCHUBARFA WAS WEARING A SUIT COAT COVERED IN GROTESQUELY LARGE NAUTICAL ANCHORS?!! Just little things like that… over a few nice martinis. Yum, right?

It’s been a week…  I’m over it.  I’m happy(?) that David Cook won.  Maybe I’m just glad Archubarfa didn’t win?  Maybe that’s more accurate.  I’m glad that the talent won over the popularity contest.  Maybe it’s even a good thing that I can still be punked by Idol.  Good that I can’t see everything coming and know exactly how it all will end each season… because what fun would that be, anyway?

I wish I could muster more emotion, but it’s been a week and it’s been a hell of a week for me and… it’s just kind of over.  It’s like breaking up over email.  Or quitting your job by just leaving at lunch and not coming back.

I admit, there is a little lack of closure on it all.

But you know what?  Some time this fall, Idol, you can get wasted and drunk dial me and maybe we’ll get back together…

May 13, 2008

American Idol tonight – song choices *SPOILER ALERT*!

Filed under: American Idol,Television — Tags: , , — denise @ 10:22 am

Do not read below if you want to be surprised (and actually, the list is incomplete so there are still surprises to be had…)

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David Cook

  • Simon Cowell chose: “The First Time Ever I Saw Your Face” by Roberta Flack
  • David chose: “The World I Know” by Collective Soul
  • The producers chose: undetermined

Syesha Mercado

  • Randy Jackson chose: “If I Ain’t Got You” by Alicia Keys
  • Syesha Chose: undetermined
  • The producers chose: undetermined

David Archuleta

  • Paula Abdul chose: “And So It Goes” by Billy Joel
  • David chose: “With You” by Chris Brown
  • The producers chose: “Longer” by Dan Fogelberg

Should be very interesting… for the record, I’m a HUGE Collective Soul AND Dan Fogelberg fan so tonight should be fun.  The mucky on the street is that whoever gets Paula as their song-chooser always finishes in 2nd or 3rd… so I’m crossing my fingers that it remains true.

April 30, 2008

American Idol Top 5 (Subtitle: Paulagate ’08)

Filed under: American Idol,Television — Tags: , — denise @ 2:49 pm

I was in a big hurry watching Idol this week, so I was fast-forwarding like a banshee through anything that wasn’t one of the Idols with a microphone.  It’s because of this that I initially missed “Paulagate ’08“.

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My friend Julie says to me, “Oh my God, can you believe Paula last night?”

And a tiny volcano of panic goes off in my head that I might have missed some critical Paula moment.

“Shit!” I say, “I was fast-forwarding!  What did I miss?!”

Oh. MY. God.” Julie begins… and then tells me about how Paula critiqued Jason’s first AND second performance when he’d only sung one song from notes she appeared to have scribbled on a Kleenex with her eyeliner pencil.  

Later that morning, a reader sent me an article on Paulagate and video of the actual moment.  (Thanks Alison! Thanks Ryan!)  I have a hard and fast rule that I never read other A.I. blogs before I write my own because I’m afraid I’ll taint myself or steal from other people because, let’s face it, I’m as likely to taint and steal as the next guy…  but these were exclusively about Paula and the gasp that was heard around the world. 

The following are currently conspiracy theories and my own thoughts:

1.  Paula took notes during the dress rehearsal and was reading those. (Conspiracy theory)

2.  Paula was reading notes that the producers told her to say and she accidently read ahead. (Conspiracy theory)

3. Paula was actually reading David Cook’s notes, not Jason’s second song notes. (What Paula claimed)

4. Paula is a time traveler. (Seacrest)

5. Paula is a total nut-job.  (Me.)

I think we can immediately discard #4, because a time traveler would just find out who will win the next Superbowl or what last week’s Powerball numbers were and be done with it… and let’s face it, Paula is confused by doorknobs and clocks… so we know she isn’t deftly moving through the space-time continuum.

#3 is equally unlikely as the comment that he’s “losing his charm and isn’t fighting hard enough” are SO JASON and not at all David Cook (especially since she told David he was “fantastic!”)

#1 -Paula is writing notes during rehearsals – this one is really disturbing to many of the noted Idol bloggers out there who feel that the judges should not be privy to any rehearsals or song choices, etc, prior to the live show.  I have to admit, this doesn’t bother me at all.  Paula has said many times in the last 7 seasons things like, “I heard you sing that perfectly earlier…” when referring to someone’s nerves getting the best of them, etc.  So, I don’t see how it can be any big surprise that Paula, at least, has been sitting in on rehearsals.

#2 is the most disturbing – that the producers have their favorites and have given the judges pre-packaged blurbs to say about each performance.  It’s possible.  It’s reality TV, kids, and we must accept that there is no such thing as unscripted reality in the television world.  I have thought many times, myself, while listening to the judges gush and froth over Archubarfa that they can’t all really love him that much… that Simon can’t really be that enthralled with the Fire and Ice themepark performances he gives every week… can he?   Or is someone handing him a cue card that says,

Sell David A.  Tell the American people this is what they want.  They will listen to you. Sell! Sell! If we can convince them to buy Fords, we can convince them to buy ANYTHING! You sold them 4 swarthy Italian opera singers! You can do it!”

Finally we come to #5.   Paula is a nutjob.  This is less a theory than a factual statement served up as a symptom that explains a dilemma.  Should she really be allowed to judge these kids?  Are her comments actually harming their growth and development?  Do the American people deserve a non-crazy person judging their idols?!!

Honestly…. I’m cool with it.

I love Crazy Paula

I love when I see her with her hair all whacked out and falling down and weird inexplicable jewelry because I know it will be a good show… Crazy Paula always looks like she just accidently ran through a car wash and then fell in the bargain bin at Claire’s.  Contolled Paula always looks sort of put-together and calm… but Crazy Paula – she straps on the bling and busts out the AquaNet and lets it all hang out.  Crazy Paula is going to be standing and boogyin’ down the whole show, she’s going to forget their names (she called Syesha, “Brooke”), she’s going to be a garbled, mush-mouthed, sweaty, fantastic MESS…. and that’s… ok.

Last night’s show was ridiculously frenzied and badly produced.  No one seemed to know what was happening, Seacrest was reading off numbers like it was a cattle auction, the kids weren’t on stage when they were supposed to be half the time…   directions kept changing and I think we all know that this is not a good climate for Crazy Paula.

And me?  I love every minute of it.

Performance critiques to come…

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