Monday, April 19, 2010
WE STRAIGHT UP TRAPPED IN A BEAR CAVE, YO:I don't think there was much to say about last week's SNL, which now drops behind Doctor Who for essential viewing on Saturday nights (seriously, for whatever doubts I had about Matt Smith, he was awesome), but I wanted to talk a little about Ke$ha's first performance--to me, I was reminded of nothing more than a bad middle school talent show--awkward choreography, over-enunciated vocals, strange costumes that appear to have be cobbled together for $9.95? Seriously? Let's let Beyonce and Brittany from Glee show you how it's done.
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I'm from Nashville, as is Ke$ha. I listen to her songs, and then I think of all of the really talented people I know who have been slaving away for years just to get some sort of break in the music business. And it makes me really sad.
ReplyDeleteThe whole stars-and-stripes-and-lasers was pointless "symbolism" which wasn't actually about anything, making clear yet again how much better Gaga is at doing what she does.
ReplyDeleteI liked the Larry King cold open, and God help me am a fan of the recurring "white dudes tell stories, then sing the chorus" skit.
In the wake of Kesha's SNL performances, I've seen a number of people refer to her as a "commercial construct," which seems about right, down to the inclusion of random, unnecessary symbols seemingly calculated to draw outrage (Native American headdress during Idol performance, American flag cape during first SNL performance, cross drawing on body suit during second SNL performance).
ReplyDeleteWell, at least I now know the answer to "Who is Ke$ha?" And "How do you pronounce 'Ke$ha?'" And "Who sings that song that's on every time I flip past the dance station on the car radio?"
ReplyDeleteI'm torn on Ke$ha's name, since her real name is Kesha and therefore slightly inside the "man, what's with the fake name" construct that so annoys me (Gaga, I'm looking at you). But, that "$" also annoys me in the same way the spelling Extreme with just an X does, so she still gets dinged for points for the name,
ReplyDeleteWhat, you expected me to critique the music? Fine, it was music in the same way that whatever Ryan Phillipe does can be considered acting. Not B-level by any means, but also not at Freddie Prinze Jr. levels of lame suckiness.
Matt, anything to say about Doctor Who? (any chance you'll be posting about it regularly?) Would love to hear your thoughts in more detail. I thought the show was excellent, though I've only come to Dr. Who recently.
ReplyDeleteI may post about Who from time to time (I'm a late comer as well, having only started with Eccleston), but (as usual with television) Alan has everything, including some thoughts from me on the parallelism between Moffat's stuff and another ALOTT5MA favorite.
ReplyDeleteShe's going to kick 'em to the curb unless they look like Mick Jagger? Now that's creepy.
ReplyDeleteThat line has always confused me as well. Does she mean present-day Mick Jagger? Jagger from 40 years ago? I'm not convinced she knows who he is.
ReplyDeleteF--n blankets, how do they work?
ReplyDeleteI live in Nashville also. I remember reading a story about a month ago in the Nashville Scene (the local alt-weekly) where people were defending her by basically saying, "Yeah, her stuff is crap, but she realizes it's crap so she's in on the joke." Does that somehow make it better? I'd rather someone failed while making an earnest attempt to produce good music rather than be cynical enough to laugh all their way to the bank after cashing on something they knew was dreck.
ReplyDeleteSo that's <span>Ke$ha. Aside from the previously mentioned deficiencies, she's also failed hairography 101. If you want fake white-girl rap I still recommend Stereoliza: Corporate Logic.
ReplyDelete</span>
I'm not convinced that Kesha knows who she is, much less who Mick Jagger is.
ReplyDeleteI think it's a bit insulting to Lady Gaga to liken Kesha to her, as much as I suspect that Kesha's handlers like that comparison. To me, Kesha is the poor man's Britney Spears. The very, very, very poor man's Britney Spears.
Thanks, Matt! I'll check Alan out, and see what you had to say.
ReplyDeleteI only started with Tennant, and only BBC America reruns of Tennant (so I've seen some Rose and some Martha and some Donna episodes, but not all of any of them). Love Tennant, and am DVRing his Hamlet on Great Performances next week. But I really enjoyed Matt Smith as the Eleventh Doctor, and the character of Amy/Amelia Pond.
Ke$ha's performance was probably the funniest thing of the night though. At least it was when I laughed the hardest...after I stopped trying to figure it out.
ReplyDeleteI can't forget to point out that Ryan Phillippe is hot.
ReplyDeleteConsidering all the analyzing her performance got across the vast interwebs, I think Ke$ha made more of an impact than even she intended. FYI -- according to Hollywood Buck, it's pronounced "Key-dollar sign-HA!"
ReplyDeleteonly memorable thing in the show. Laughed my butt off.
ReplyDeleteI watched the video they spoofed, also funny, but SNL does get props for making it funnier.
(The original, called Miracles, includes the line 'Magnets, how do they work?')
The problem is that she is a BAD commercial construct. Brittney was/is a commercial construct, but whoever was managing her and styling her and choreographing her--they knew what they were doing. (Plus I think she's probably a better singer than Ke$ha.) Ke$ha is a mishmash of bad iconography, bad styling, bad singing, bad choreography. She looked like a deer in the headlights on SNL--"middle school talent show" perfectly captures the mood of the room.
ReplyDeleteShe's made a really catchy song, with awful lyrics--she could have leveraged that into more than 15 minutes of fame. If someone styled her consistently, played up her niche in the popular culture (trashy white girl coopting black slang and behaving badly), she might have a shot at about a year of touring and fame. After seeing her lameness on SNL, I can't imagine anyone wanting to see her live show.
That makes sense. But then I also pronounce "Numb3rs" as "num-three-ers."
ReplyDeleteI was just stunned to learn that the MacGruber movie poster I saw on the WFU campus last week wasn't a joke.
ReplyDeleteI am from Nashville also and hooked up with Kesha about a year ago. She had the worst body I have ever seen. Her tits were literally like tentacles. Clearly some kind of deformity. I have since learned she had implants put in over the Xmas holiday before the Grammys.
ReplyDeleteGood for me she was so insecure about her body that she was a freak in the bed. Very dirty and talked so dirty that it made me a bit scared.
She is pure trash and will be forgotten by fall 2010 only to be reminded in 10 yrs when vh1 jokes about the worst songs on 2009 & 2010.