After tonight's installment of American Idol, one thing became very clear: Stephanie, Jordin, LaKisha, Sabrian, and Melinda should be in the finals. None of the other five women is a better singer than the worst one in this group. Which means that those five other women are fighting for the last spot.
Of those five, I think Gina is the only one who'd be able to keep up, and even then not for long. Were I picking who to cut, I'd go with Alania and Antonella, neither of whom improved much over last week. Haley and Leslie weren't much better, though I think they were marginally better than the other two.
The requests were less odd than last night, with the strangest being Alania dedicating "Not Ready to Make Nice" to her mom. There's a story there, and I'm sure Access Hollywood or the like will pick it up should she last much longer.
Wednesday, February 28, 2007
Tuesday, February 27, 2007
Stepping Out, Indeed
Dropping from 12 to 10 seemed to wake the guys up on American Idol tonight, and while they didn't match the level of performance that the women put up last week, they made up a fair amount of ground.
The lone exception would be Sanjaya Malakar, whose version of "Stepping Out" was straight out of a junior high talent show. I know he's got an entire demographic to himself, being the only teenaged male on the show, but the combination of a bad show and looking like the lost DeBarge child should mark the end of his run. He really should have waited about three years before trying out.
As for the other cut, there are three or four guys who could go based on being OK but not particularly memorable. The wife thinks Brandon Rogers will go, as the former backup singer has had two fairly marginal weeks. I could also see Nicholas Pedro getting sent home; his rendition of "Fever" was a marked improvement from last week, but he's patently unmemorable. He's the sort of guy you watch and think, "Is that Nick from Sales? Or is it Accounting?"
The theme of the night was to dedicate songs to people who inspired the contestants. Which is how we got Jared singing "Let's Get it On" to his parents and Chris doing "Geek in the Pink" for his grandmother. For those not familiar with the song, consider both the double entendre of the title and these lyrics:
"Well,I could be the one to take you home
Baby we could rock the night alone
If we never get down it wouldn't be a let down
But sugar don't forgetin' what you already know
That I could be the one to turn you out"
That is one messed up family right there. And Simon thought Chris Sligh was odd for singing "Trouble" for his wife, with its chorus telling of being saved by a woman. I assume he wasn't listening to the other guys.
Anyway, I'm going to second the wife's choices for who gets sent home. The fact that Sundance Head doesn't appear among them is a testament to the restorative powers of "Mustang Sally."
The lone exception would be Sanjaya Malakar, whose version of "Stepping Out" was straight out of a junior high talent show. I know he's got an entire demographic to himself, being the only teenaged male on the show, but the combination of a bad show and looking like the lost DeBarge child should mark the end of his run. He really should have waited about three years before trying out.
As for the other cut, there are three or four guys who could go based on being OK but not particularly memorable. The wife thinks Brandon Rogers will go, as the former backup singer has had two fairly marginal weeks. I could also see Nicholas Pedro getting sent home; his rendition of "Fever" was a marked improvement from last week, but he's patently unmemorable. He's the sort of guy you watch and think, "Is that Nick from Sales? Or is it Accounting?"
The theme of the night was to dedicate songs to people who inspired the contestants. Which is how we got Jared singing "Let's Get it On" to his parents and Chris doing "Geek in the Pink" for his grandmother. For those not familiar with the song, consider both the double entendre of the title and these lyrics:
"Well,I could be the one to take you home
Baby we could rock the night alone
If we never get down it wouldn't be a let down
But sugar don't forgetin' what you already know
That I could be the one to turn you out"
That is one messed up family right there. And Simon thought Chris Sligh was odd for singing "Trouble" for his wife, with its chorus telling of being saved by a woman. I assume he wasn't listening to the other guys.
Anyway, I'm going to second the wife's choices for who gets sent home. The fact that Sundance Head doesn't appear among them is a testament to the restorative powers of "Mustang Sally."
Friday, February 23, 2007
And speaking of back from the dead...
ABC has announced that Six Degrees will be returning to the airwaves in March with a Friday at 9 pm (Eastern) time slot. That might not be a bad time, as there's bugger-all on Friday nights outside of the CBS lineup. And there's only so many times during the week where ABC can rely on Grey's reruns.
I don't expect that this will do much more than burn off whatever's left, which is good given that it's a chance to provide some sort of wrap-up. Assuming you can remember what was going on when the show last aired, which I mostly can't (outside of Hope Davis's character getting a kiss from her boss - her female boss). I assume we'll learn what's in that box, but part of me wants it to stay secret and have it wind up on Lost somehow. JJ Abrams would find a way to make this work.
I don't expect that this will do much more than burn off whatever's left, which is good given that it's a chance to provide some sort of wrap-up. Assuming you can remember what was going on when the show last aired, which I mostly can't (outside of Hope Davis's character getting a kiss from her boss - her female boss). I assume we'll learn what's in that box, but part of me wants it to stay secret and have it wind up on Lost somehow. JJ Abrams would find a way to make this work.
Are there sharks in Elliot Bay?
I don't think too many people are going to need help figuring out when Grey's Anatomy finally went around the bend. If it wasn't last night's episode, it will never happen.
(Unless Mere winds up being a surrogate for Yang and Burke's baby, but let's not plant seeds, so to speak.)
If it's not enough to have a near death experience, throw in the scene where Mere gets validation - and instructions to run away from the light - from her freshly-passed mom. Then throw in the amount of time Mere was down and how she's apparently suffered no signifcant injury (I know, hypothermia does wonders, but that was extreme). Oh, and then have the Izzy and Denny "reunion" at the end.
It makes one forget about Yang's odd trip to the dollar store and Sloan's 60 days of chastity in a bid to win Addison over.
And while speaking of Addison, I will say that I am completely in favor of the planned spin-off around her character - as long as she keeps her specs on. Not only can Kate Walsh act, but she knows how to wear a pair of glasses.
(Unless Mere winds up being a surrogate for Yang and Burke's baby, but let's not plant seeds, so to speak.)
If it's not enough to have a near death experience, throw in the scene where Mere gets validation - and instructions to run away from the light - from her freshly-passed mom. Then throw in the amount of time Mere was down and how she's apparently suffered no signifcant injury (I know, hypothermia does wonders, but that was extreme). Oh, and then have the Izzy and Denny "reunion" at the end.
It makes one forget about Yang's odd trip to the dollar store and Sloan's 60 days of chastity in a bid to win Addison over.
And while speaking of Addison, I will say that I am completely in favor of the planned spin-off around her character - as long as she keeps her specs on. Not only can Kate Walsh act, but she knows how to wear a pair of glasses.
Thursday, February 22, 2007
It Didn't Take Long
The first woman to sing on American Idol last night was better than any of the guys. So was the last one. And so were at least 2 or 3 others. At the end of it all, Randy Jackson said if he had to choose a final 12 now, he'd have 8 women and 4 guys.
I think he's at least one guy heavy.
In any case, it wasn't perfect, as there were plenty of glory notes and unnecessary vocal pyrotechnics, but it's pretty clear that this year's winner is going to be a woman.
As for who will be the first two women cut, one has to be Antonella Barba, whose rendition of "I Don't Want to Miss a Thing" was on (sub)par with Sundance Head's performance the previous night. Both were the last person to make the semifinals for their gender; nice going, judges!
With the other cut, there are 4 or 5 women whose names I can't remember and who I can vaguely tell apart. It could be any one of them. My suggestion would be Nicole Tranquillo (I had to look her up), who seemed to be on St. Joseph's Chewable Meth or something. Very odd energy to her performance, which was marginal at best.
I think he's at least one guy heavy.
In any case, it wasn't perfect, as there were plenty of glory notes and unnecessary vocal pyrotechnics, but it's pretty clear that this year's winner is going to be a woman.
As for who will be the first two women cut, one has to be Antonella Barba, whose rendition of "I Don't Want to Miss a Thing" was on (sub)par with Sundance Head's performance the previous night. Both were the last person to make the semifinals for their gender; nice going, judges!
With the other cut, there are 4 or 5 women whose names I can't remember and who I can vaguely tell apart. It could be any one of them. My suggestion would be Nicole Tranquillo (I had to look her up), who seemed to be on St. Joseph's Chewable Meth or something. Very odd energy to her performance, which was marginal at best.
Wednesday, February 21, 2007
Best Talent Yet? Right.
While the claim that the new season has the best talent yet is as much an annual rite as the bad auditions for American Idol, I don't think anyone left last night thinking that this was true. After a dozen largely uninspired performances, this group of guys is giving the first season a run for its money.
There were a couple of decent performances, but for most the strategy was to try not to fail. Which makes for some compelling TV, especially when it's as ad-stuffed as the early Idol shows are.
Were I picking the bottom two, one spot would clearly go to Sundance Head (seriously), who did a number on "Knights in White Satin." It was painful to watch, but perhaps not unexpected from a guy who made it to the semifinals based largely on his initial audition.
The other spot could go to any of about eight guys. I would most likely tab Rudy Cardenas, whose performance suggests that he feels that "Free Ride" is constrained by too many consonants, given how many of them he didn't bother to pronounce. The judges were pretty harsh on Sanjaya Malakar's performance of what was, I think, the only Stevie Wonder song not previously performed on the show. I didn't think it was that bad, and given that Sanjaya is pretty much the only guy younger than 25 I think he'll squeak through.
The only other notable thing from last night was Chris Sligh being goaded into mocking Simon for producing Il Divo and Teletubbies albums. It made him look like a jerk, which is impressive when being held in comparison to Simon.
Anyway, women tonight, with hopefully less suckage.
There were a couple of decent performances, but for most the strategy was to try not to fail. Which makes for some compelling TV, especially when it's as ad-stuffed as the early Idol shows are.
Were I picking the bottom two, one spot would clearly go to Sundance Head (seriously), who did a number on "Knights in White Satin." It was painful to watch, but perhaps not unexpected from a guy who made it to the semifinals based largely on his initial audition.
The other spot could go to any of about eight guys. I would most likely tab Rudy Cardenas, whose performance suggests that he feels that "Free Ride" is constrained by too many consonants, given how many of them he didn't bother to pronounce. The judges were pretty harsh on Sanjaya Malakar's performance of what was, I think, the only Stevie Wonder song not previously performed on the show. I didn't think it was that bad, and given that Sanjaya is pretty much the only guy younger than 25 I think he'll squeak through.
The only other notable thing from last night was Chris Sligh being goaded into mocking Simon for producing Il Divo and Teletubbies albums. It made him look like a jerk, which is impressive when being held in comparison to Simon.
Anyway, women tonight, with hopefully less suckage.
Wednesday, February 14, 2007
The fall of the Fall Season?
While Fox has been able to find success juggling its schedule around all of the baseball it shows in October, taking that idea in another direction - a "fall season" that ends with October sweeps and picks up again in February sweeps - doesn't seem to work as well. At least not where Lost is concerned.
As most folks know, Lost returned last week after a three month hiatus which was supposed to launch the Taye Diggs drama Daybreak in its old spot and ramp up viewer demand for Lost's return last week.
Whoops.
Not only did Daybreak tank, Lost returned to series-low ratings. ABC killed the goose that laid the golden eggs, and then got salmonella from eating it.
Lost isn't in any danger of being cancelled, but with its new time slot and a series of weak sitcoms as lead-in, I don't expect a quick recovery.
The second test case for the "fall season" is Jericho, which has been gone for a couple of months, and will return tonight with a catch-up clip show. The next new episode is next Wednesday, where it'll face American Idol in full effect. Jericho wasn't putting up Lost numbers to begin with, and in the face of new competition, it has less margin for losing viewers.
In any case, I humbly ask the networks to put this idea on a high shelf in the back of the closet.
As most folks know, Lost returned last week after a three month hiatus which was supposed to launch the Taye Diggs drama Daybreak in its old spot and ramp up viewer demand for Lost's return last week.
Whoops.
Not only did Daybreak tank, Lost returned to series-low ratings. ABC killed the goose that laid the golden eggs, and then got salmonella from eating it.
Lost isn't in any danger of being cancelled, but with its new time slot and a series of weak sitcoms as lead-in, I don't expect a quick recovery.
The second test case for the "fall season" is Jericho, which has been gone for a couple of months, and will return tonight with a catch-up clip show. The next new episode is next Wednesday, where it'll face American Idol in full effect. Jericho wasn't putting up Lost numbers to begin with, and in the face of new competition, it has less margin for losing viewers.
In any case, I humbly ask the networks to put this idea on a high shelf in the back of the closet.
Monday, February 12, 2007
The End is Nigh: Awards Season
We got to whet our appetite for the Oscars with last night's 3.5 hour Grammy telecast, which I suppose isn't derided for its length given that we get live musical performances rather than stultifying montages. That being said, I think there was certainly room to trim a half-hour off of the show. But I'll get to that.
Not much notable about the show per se, other than it was a very good night to be a Dixie Chick or Mary J. Blige. Speaking of the former, how did I not know that Natalie Maines is married to Adrian Pasdar? That seems like something I should know.
Anyway, things I liked about the program:
* The Police reunion was entertaining enough, and there wasn't a lute in sight.
* No host, rather voice-overs linking presenters. The Oscars does this from time to time, and I still think it's an idea worth pursuing. Though it can be awkward, as seen when Scarlett Johansson just kind of grabbed the microphone and told everyone the show was over.
* Outside of Mary J. Blige reading the phone book, acceptance speeches were, for the most part, short and coherent. The Dixie Chicks seemed to run out of things to say (ironically enough), but at least they were smart enough to make notes during the show.
* For the first time in what seems like forever, Neil Portnow, the president of NARAS, didn't demonize unpaid music downloads during his speech. Rather, he focused on what his organization was doing to promote music in public schools, a topic of importance that didn't drag the show down.
* There was a smaller stage from the main stage where some of the presenatations took place, closer to the nominees. It was a much more elegant solution than anything the Oscars came up with to shorten the walk to claim an award. I assume it's easier to set up on the blank canvas of the Staples Center than in the Kodak Theater.
* The awards crawl, while sometimes moving too fast, is a nice way to recognize all the winners. Not only does it highlight some categories I never knew existed (Hawaiian music?), but you get to see some oddities, like Jimmy Carter bagging a spoken word Grammy for Our Endangered Values. Of course, this was also the mechanism by which we learned that the Black Eyed Peas won a Grammy for "My Humps."
Less entertaining:
* Given that they do this show live every year, some of the transitions to and from commercials were rough, especially towards the end of the show.
* And given that the Staples Center has hosted the show since 2000, can we do something about the sound? It was, for my taste, too uneven for a music awards program.
* We got three songs performed in honor of Don Henley, who is not dead. We got one song for James Brown. They closed the honor roll of the dead by draping his cape over a spotlit microphone, which was nice, but I'd have rather seen three songs in memory of the Godfather of Soul and one song for the guy who gave us "All She Wants to Do is Dance." If that.
* Scarlett Johansson is recording an album? That trumps the "My Humps" thing as the least positive news of the evening.
* The "My Grammy Moment" promotion, where one unsigned singer got to perform a duet with Justin Timberlake, was a nice performance, but seemed kind of underwhelming as a concept.
* I'd have liked to have seen more singing from Chris Brown, whose performance was mostly dancing. Though it did mark a clean break between him and his co-performers, Smokey Robinson and Lionel Ritchie.
* Speaking of Smokey, he needs to lay off the Botox. I think he blinked three times during his entire song. And even then, it looked like he was blinking in slo-mo.
* Did I mention that "My Humps" won a Grammy?
* Oh, that half-hour savings. I'd have cut the Henley thing down to one song, dropped at least one promo for the "My Grammy Moment," and have let Smokey do a song without the tenuous tie-in with Ritchie and Brown. I'd have also cut the performance of "Hips Don't Lie," though I'm biased here as there are few, if any, artists I care for less than Shakira. Take out some of the promos for shows CBS is going to cancel anyways (hello, Rules of Engagement) and there you go.
Not much notable about the show per se, other than it was a very good night to be a Dixie Chick or Mary J. Blige. Speaking of the former, how did I not know that Natalie Maines is married to Adrian Pasdar? That seems like something I should know.
Anyway, things I liked about the program:
* The Police reunion was entertaining enough, and there wasn't a lute in sight.
* No host, rather voice-overs linking presenters. The Oscars does this from time to time, and I still think it's an idea worth pursuing. Though it can be awkward, as seen when Scarlett Johansson just kind of grabbed the microphone and told everyone the show was over.
* Outside of Mary J. Blige reading the phone book, acceptance speeches were, for the most part, short and coherent. The Dixie Chicks seemed to run out of things to say (ironically enough), but at least they were smart enough to make notes during the show.
* For the first time in what seems like forever, Neil Portnow, the president of NARAS, didn't demonize unpaid music downloads during his speech. Rather, he focused on what his organization was doing to promote music in public schools, a topic of importance that didn't drag the show down.
* There was a smaller stage from the main stage where some of the presenatations took place, closer to the nominees. It was a much more elegant solution than anything the Oscars came up with to shorten the walk to claim an award. I assume it's easier to set up on the blank canvas of the Staples Center than in the Kodak Theater.
* The awards crawl, while sometimes moving too fast, is a nice way to recognize all the winners. Not only does it highlight some categories I never knew existed (Hawaiian music?), but you get to see some oddities, like Jimmy Carter bagging a spoken word Grammy for Our Endangered Values. Of course, this was also the mechanism by which we learned that the Black Eyed Peas won a Grammy for "My Humps."
Less entertaining:
* Given that they do this show live every year, some of the transitions to and from commercials were rough, especially towards the end of the show.
* And given that the Staples Center has hosted the show since 2000, can we do something about the sound? It was, for my taste, too uneven for a music awards program.
* We got three songs performed in honor of Don Henley, who is not dead. We got one song for James Brown. They closed the honor roll of the dead by draping his cape over a spotlit microphone, which was nice, but I'd have rather seen three songs in memory of the Godfather of Soul and one song for the guy who gave us "All She Wants to Do is Dance." If that.
* Scarlett Johansson is recording an album? That trumps the "My Humps" thing as the least positive news of the evening.
* The "My Grammy Moment" promotion, where one unsigned singer got to perform a duet with Justin Timberlake, was a nice performance, but seemed kind of underwhelming as a concept.
* I'd have liked to have seen more singing from Chris Brown, whose performance was mostly dancing. Though it did mark a clean break between him and his co-performers, Smokey Robinson and Lionel Ritchie.
* Speaking of Smokey, he needs to lay off the Botox. I think he blinked three times during his entire song. And even then, it looked like he was blinking in slo-mo.
* Did I mention that "My Humps" won a Grammy?
* Oh, that half-hour savings. I'd have cut the Henley thing down to one song, dropped at least one promo for the "My Grammy Moment," and have let Smokey do a song without the tenuous tie-in with Ritchie and Brown. I'd have also cut the performance of "Hips Don't Lie," though I'm biased here as there are few, if any, artists I care for less than Shakira. Take out some of the promos for shows CBS is going to cancel anyways (hello, Rules of Engagement) and there you go.
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