Wednesday, April 21, 2010

$100 = TEN MOSQUITO NETS: Say what you will about American Idol, but what other show with its reach devotes two hours (almost) every year to the realities of global and American poverty and urges its viewers to give?

We'll talk about the results below the fold once they happen, and feel free to live-comment. But as Fienberg suggests, make a reasonable-sized contribution and you're morally clear to snark on the rest of the show as much as you want.

Bottom three: Casey, Aaron, Tim; Turban goes home. Regardless of what I said about his performance last night and his improvement overall, he did not come close to deserving to win this competition and I can't imagine anyone can complain about this. Next week -- the songs of (mentor) Shania Twain.

21 comments:

  1. Dear Idol,

    If you've got Steve Vai and Other Guitarists performing Stairway to Heaven, and it's time for the first big guitar solo, the answer to "who plays the solo?" is not Not Steve Vai.

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  2. I get your point, Adam, but Orianthi did do an awesome job on the guitar solo.  In Idol's defense.

    I started watching late, but what I've seen musically has been good.

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  3. Is it supposed to be going this long or is this a mistake?

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  4. Expected to go long.  Am glad to hear Elton John promoting condom usage to the Idol audience.

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  5. That first group song, I only knew it as an obscure song on the "Say Anything..." soundtrack.  Was it a bigger hit than I remember?

    I'm impressed that the first place they visited was Kentucky.  Poverty ain't just on other continents, in other countries, affecting people with skin darker than Ellen Degeneres's.

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  6. There does seem something vaguely wrong about eliminating someone the same night as IGB.  It's like "We are so inspiring!  And dream-crushing!  All at the same time!"

    And I'm not just saying that because it amused me to have people panicking about the risk of TUrban as the Next American Idol and it probably would have entertained me to have that risk present for another week.

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  7. I don't watch Idol, but it seems to me that "Songs of Shania Twain" isn't exactly fair to the remaining male contestants, given how many of her songs are expressly purported female empowerment anthems.  Now, Adam Lambert ripping through "Man! I Feel Like A Woman!" or " Any Man Of Mine" would have been amusing.

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  8. Steph9:40 AM

    Matt, the main problem with Shania's songs are that they're, mostly, not songs. Can't wait to read Jacob's recap on next week.

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  9. Genevieve10:10 AM

    But I would've liked to have seen Shania mentoring John Park -- too bad!
    I don't think Crystal or Siobhan is likely to sing "Man! I Feel Like a Woman!" either, though hopefully they can find something that works for them.
    And somehow this is reminding me of the Glee guys objecting to the Madonna assignment.

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  10. On the other hand, everyone thought that Mariah Carey week was unfair to the guys in Season 7, and it turned out that the two best-received performances were by David Cook and Jason Castro. 

    My favorite Shania Twain song is Forever and For Always.  Not sure if it would turn out to be a great Idol song---it's not exactly a vocal workout---but I do think that it's lovely.

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  11. I welcome submissions from the ALOTT5MA Folks Familiar With The Music Of America's (and Canada's) Heartland for song suggestions this week.

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  12. I am not the most knowledgeable about Shania Twain's work, as I started listening to country after she was already big, and her stuff is generally not my favorite.  But, I do have a few thoughts....

    I have trouble seeing Siobhan avoiding the catnip of The Woman in Me, even though I rather think that she should.

    There are some songs, such as Party for Two, that fit with Casey's usual barband stuff.  Maybe You're Still the One.  Not saying that's what he should do.  But definitely thinking that he'll gravitate toward that.

    Lee could give some thought to something like Forever and For Always---roughing it up with his rasp. 

    I could see this being a week when Crystal decides to try to show a playful side.  While I fully expect (and will be disappointed with Idol if I don't get) a group performance of Man! I Feel Like a Woman featuring the women in female-styled formalwear, I could actually see Crystal having some fun with that, or That Don't Impress Me Much.  While there are some songs in the Shania songbook that might be more natural fits, I think that, after this week's emotional People Get Ready, Crystal could use this week to throw a curveball.

    Mike:  I don't know.  Maybe From This Moment On? 

    Aaron:  Country week may be coming at a very opportune time for him, as he does have some country twang going on.  But I can't really think of anything of Shania Twain's that I want to hear him sing.  This may reflect that I have trouble thinking of anything that I would want to hear him sing.

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  13. Here's a question: if Aaron is the next to go, then for all the bullshit of this season will we have wound up with a final five that's both (a) justified and (b) perhaps as talented as any the show has ever had, insofar as there'd be no clunkers (though the ceiling may not be as high as Lambert's).  Though I suppose some of this relies upon valuing Siobhan at her peak level and not her overall merit.

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  14. You know, it's an interesting question.  I remember pondering how disappointing last season was, even though the top 5 was very justifiable, and it is unsurprising that the top 4 (for the first time ever) all got record contracts.  There was so much dreck last year, and this year, that it have ended up frustrated by both seasons.  Put another way, in terms of getting the right top tier, maybe the season is working out, but the middle and bottom tier of the finalists were pretty brutal.  And it took a judges' save to preserve Mike's chances of being in the top tier.

    As to whether this top 5 (assuming that Aaron goes home) is as talented as any the show has had---not sure that I'd go there.  Crystal, obviously, is great.  Setting her aside, though:  Lee is generally consensus #2, but I don't think that he's had a single performance that was free of pitch problems, and he's had several performances that were overflowing with bad notes.  Mike is probably the best pure singer of the guys this season, but his song selections vary wildly from genre to genre.  Siobhan is extremely hit or miss, sometimes in the very same performance.  Casey doesn't have much range, and while he has had 1 or 2 highlights (clearly Jealous Guy and, depending on who you ask, Heaven), has been otherwise meh (IMO).  I'd also say that only two of these singers---Crystal and Mike---have shown a lot of ability to command the stage and to display emotional connection to a song.  Siobhan often, to me, comes across as highly mannered, and Lee and Casey often display very little emotion on their faces while they sing.

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  15. Jim Bell1:27 PM

    I think you're spot on with the exceptions that I like Siobhan more than I imagine you do and Casey less.

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  16. Jim Bell1:40 PM

    Oh, and Math isn't my thing, but assuming Bill and Melinda have say 30 billion dollars, and that only 5 million of the 9 million children that die each year die of Malaria due to a lack of bed nets, doesn't it cost 50 million dollars to solve that problem based on their numbers and isn't that like 1/600th of their fortune.  I would give up 1/600th of my "fortune" to save 5 million kids.  Yes indeedy.  I think maybe I like that Melinda Gates.

    In other news I definitely like that Joss Stone.  I want her on my island.  And doesn't Annie Lennox sing like an angel? I think she may actually be getting better with age.  It was probably just me, but I didn't think Alicia Keys was very good last night. In fact, I can think of several Idol performances this year I enjoyed more than her performance including Chrystal the night before.

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  17. Fred App1:45 PM

    Speaking of math, did I hear correctly that Carrie Underwood was donating 36 cents for every ticket sold on her tour? Thirty-six cents? Really? That's the best she could do?

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  18. 36 cents is double-Chai, obviously.

    As for the Gateses, their foundation gave out $3 billion just last year.  They're doing swell.

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  19. Jenn.2:48 PM

    Mmmm.  My guess is that out of a concert ticket, the headliner is lucky if s/he gets, say, 10% in profit, after overhead costs of the tour, venue costs, agent's fees, maybe some money for the openers, etc.  36 cents (which I think is a reference to the song that she sang last night?) would be about 1% of a $40 ticket, so one-tenth of the max profit that I would think that Carrie Underwood can expect.

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  20. Genevieve3:42 PM

    Ditto, with the exception that I like Lee more than you do, and my views on Siobhan have been wildly divergent, to go with her performances - she had me firmly in her camp a few weeks ago, and now I might now miss her if she went soon. 

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  21. Genevieve3:43 PM

    <span>Ditto</span>

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