LUCK BE A LADY TONIGHT? Blah, blah, okay but indulgent, very good, pretty good. Send one of the first two home, but what's striking to me at this point (especially after these past three theme weeks in a row) is that whatever's going on in terms of the internal Idol competition, they're doing a lousy job at making anyone believe that one of our remaining five could be the next American pop superstar. Much like America's Next Top Model, succeeding in the challenges which comprise the show does not necessarily make you suited for achieving the goal denoted by the show's title, and I'm not terribly inspired by our final five at this point.
Added, OOF! "The Top Five American Idol performance show last night drew the reality giant's smallest audience since the the first season, which aired in the summer of 2002."
It's like they've had two kinds of themes: ancient and amorphous. That's not entirely true---Shania week was not truly either, but it's way too close to true. And this week, by limiting or eliminating the ability to rearrange, they kept the theme even older.
ReplyDelete1. Big Mike. His singing may not be my thing, but man, can he sing. Very nice phrasing.
2. Lee. I didn't like the last big note, but otherwise, very nice, and about as current as anyone managed tonight.
[gap]
3. Crystal. Simon was right---this started a bit off, and then got better. Also, she needs to talk back less.
[Rather large gap.]
4. Casey. Baaaaaaaaaaaaaaa.
5. Aaron. Ugh.
The judges and producers still couldn't get this quite into 60 minutes with only 5 songs. We have officially lost a song this season, relative to Season 7, and smart money says we lose more. Bah.
It's like they've had two kinds of themes: ancient and amorphous. That's not entirely true---Shania week was not truly either, but it's way too close to true. And this week, by limiting or eliminating the ability to rearrange, they kept the theme even older.
ReplyDelete1. Big Mike. His singing may not be my thing, but man, can he sing. Very nice phrasing.
2. Lee. I didn't like the last big note, but otherwise, very nice, and about as current as anyone managed tonight.
[gap]
3. Crystal. Simon was right---this started a bit off, and then got better. Also, she needs to talk back less.
[Rather large gap.]
4. Casey. Baaaaaaaaaaaaaaa.
5. Aaron. Ugh.
The judges and producers still couldn't get this quite into 60 minutes with only 5 songs. We have officially lost a song this season, relative to Season 7, and smart money says we lose more. Bah.
Ack. That was me. Both times. My iphone was acting weird and said it could not post the first time. D'oh.
ReplyDeleteI find Lee DeWyze more irritating each week, with his mumbles and his perma-drunkface and his own personal time delay on life. But he also looks more like the Next American Idol each week: the judges praise him and the audience shrieks for him in a way I find perplexing.
ReplyDeleteI hope Crystal is there to the end, she's still, by far, the most interesting to me. Although the feather earring was distracting, I initially thought it was a wayward lock of someone else's hair.
Hubby and I find it amusing that this program is supposedly all about finding the next pop superstar, and they are singing....songs from 50 years ago. I love Sinatra's catalogue, but geez, were they boring tonight or what?
ReplyDeleteI hope they liven things up in the next few weeks, because I'm very bored in general this season.
We've taken this season off of Season Pass. Didn't watch either of the last two weeks. The only other episodes that we've deliberately skipped since the beginning of Season 1 were the post-Daughtry Ai5 episodes. Man was this a boring season.
ReplyDeleteNote to Lee: Just because Harry Connick is your mentor doesn't mean that you have to dress like him.
ReplyDeleteI don't know about America's next "idol" (how many superstars has this show actually spawned?), but I can see Big Mike and Lee having successful recording careers, I could see (much to my chagrin) Aaron carving out a niche as a tween favorite, and maybe even Casey finds a Bo Bice- or Bucky Covington-type audience. Ironically, the one artists I think who would struggle being successful commercially is arguably the best performer there, and that's Crystal.
I think we can comfortably list Underwood, Clarkson and Daughtry as superstars, with Cook, Lambert, Barrino, Sparks, Pickler (?) and Aiken on the next tier down.
ReplyDeleteIn which tier would you put Hudson? She seems above the next tier down, if not superstar.
ReplyDeleteAdam, I'm with you on Underwood, Clarkson and Daughtry. And maybe I agree with the next tier down, but the next tier down is not "superstar," and that was the question that you posed initially: Which of the remaining five could be America's next pop superstar? I don't think anyone this year will rival Underwood or Daughtry, but I can see some of them achieving the same level of success as Sparks or Cook or Pickler.
ReplyDeleteI'm not saying they will. Just that's it's conceivable.
Mmm. I don't see any of this crop outdoing Sparks in terms of singles sales or Cook in terms of album sales. The Pickler is kind of sui generis---while I could see one of this crop managing to do what Kellie Pickler has done (moderately good singles and albums sales, combining to a nice sales record), none of them will be the Pickler. Although, honestly, is this world really ready for more than one Kellie Pickler?
ReplyDeleteI think that no one really knows how to rank Jennifer Hudson. It depends on how much weight you give the Oscar and movie success, rather than her good (but not superhigh) album and singles success. (Although she did get a Grammy, too.)
Lambert has done fine, but I'd actually put him a notch below the Pickler and others in that second tier that you mention. His sales and radio play to date have been fine, but to date, he's no Justin Bieber, which is, of course, not the benchmark one wants to have, you know?: Also, I think that the Squeakquel soundtrack is outselling him. No, I'm not kidding.
Anyhoo, here's one publication's thoughts on the top 24 Idol alums. Ouch for Allison's album sales. I actually think that it's the best of the lot from Season 8.
Ack. Anonymous was me. My computers are forgetting all of my login stuff.
ReplyDelete