Wow, did this week's show seem rushed? Usually, the show is waaay too long (with, of course, too many commercials), but this one seemed like there was a fire alarm going off in the building or something. Poor Michael Johns. He barely got a, "I think you did a g......". And then it was on to Hell's Kitchen, or whatever was on next.
It would have been nice to see Dolly actually working with the contestants. Which I'm sure she did. But in the editing, it seemed like they each sang a couple of lines, she hugged them, and then it was on to the next contestant! That would have been kind of a let-down for them, if it had really transpired that way. (For some reason, I'm reminded here of Andrea Bocelli - I think? -a couple of seasons back, making poor Chris Daughtry lie on the floor and sing - ha ha ha!)
As for the performances themselves, well, Dolly is a great songwriter, but I don't know what happened. Most of the contestants were boring.
Again, I must (begrudgingly) give the nod to Little Archie for probably the best performance of the night. I (don't think) I'd ever heard that Dolly Parton song before, but it makes me kind of want to search it out, to see if I might want to download it. Arch sang it with a lot of feeling, so good job, Little Archie!
The others that are even worth mentioning were David Cook ("Cookie" - you GO, Cookie!), Jason Castro, who I think did a fine job with the song he chose, and it was an excellent choice for him, regardless of the judges' comments. What was he supposed to sing? "Love Is Like A Butterfly"?? For pete's sake. Also, I liked Carly's rendition of, "Here You Come Again", and I'm no Carly fan.
I'll stop here to mention the fact, however, that Simon was reading my mind. As Carly was prancing around the stage, I thought, ick, her ensemble is pretty bad! I mean, c'mon! They must have some sort of clothing budget on that show. If she's really hard up, I could maybe dig through my closet and find something to lend her that looks way better than what she was wearing. And believe me, my clothes are nothing to write home about.
And, if you're thinking about going into Show Bizzz, you might want to get a tattoo that's a little less conspicuous. But I suppose she's competing with her husband's face.
I also thought Michael Johns was really goo........Oops! We're out of time! Anyway, I like the blues and I thought that he did a really good job with the song. (I wrote that really fast.)
As far as who goes, I don't really give a rip if it's Ramiele, Syesha, or Kristy. They're all really boring, but at least watching Kristy is like watching a train wreck. You don't want to miss whatever really bad thing is going to happen.
But all is well that will end well with Kristy, whether she goes this week or the next. I'm sure some record label in Nashville will sign her, because she has "the look". And that's all you need, really. Either "the look" or "the personality". Kellie Pickler has "the personality"; Kristy has "the look". We'll worry about "the voice" some other time.
Hey, I thought the contestants were supposed to get better over time!
What the hell happened this week?? Granted, they had to choose songs from the year they were born. And I guess it's not their fault that they were born in crappy years. Still.....
But then, who am I to talk? If I had to sing a song from the year I was born, it would be, apparently, either:
The Yellow Rose Of Texas Autumn Leaves Rock Around The Clock Love Is A Many-Splendored Thing
or my two favorites:
The Ballad Of Davy Crockett and Sixteen Tons "You load sixteen tons; whaddya get? Another year older and deeper in debt"
Yea, let's do that one!
And in a Tennessee Ernie Ford deep bass voice. With, of course, the finger-snapping.
So, in retrospect, I guess the songs they sang this week weren't that crappy after all.
But I digress.
I'm not going to give a rundown of each performanzzzzzzz..............Oops! Because, most of them were snoozers.
But let me highlight a few things that I noticed this week.....
Jason, Jason, Jason........You gotta step it up, kid! What the heck? Did you take some Nytol before your big number? I was afraid you were gonna slide off that stool; you were so sleepy.
I like Jason as much as the next person. I think he's got a goofy, Vinny Barbarino-type personality. You be the judge:
But, c'mon, Jason! You can do better, so DO BETTER!
And now a word about Kristy Lee Cook. Yes, Simon was right; she did make a very clever song choice. Hey, if you're on the ropes, go patriotic! However, she frankly didn't do a very good job on the song. I think, to sing that song well, you need to have some power in your voice. She didn't, really.
Compare:
The other thing that was impossible to miss, during the show, were the BLINDING WHITE LIGHTS!!! while Michael Johns was performing (!)
My eyesight still hasn't quite returned to normal.
So, I guess they were really pushing Michael this week, you think? YIKES! But, to me, while he sang on key and everything, he seemed to be saying, "See what a good singer I am?" I'm reminded of the line that Simon used awhile back, addressing a different contestant; "You're not as good as you think you are."
Which leads me to..........DAVID COOK!!! Give it up!! I pegged it awhile back, before all the hype and hoopla, so props to me! I'm glad others have come to realize how good he is!
In conclusion, the best performance this week occurred during the results show.
I didn't know anything about this artist, because I did not watch Season 2 of AI, but I was mightily impressed.
Here's Kimberley Locke:
(P.S. This could be recorded as a modern country song.) EDIT: Oops, I guess it HAS been recorded as a country song. What do I know? I don't listen to the radio. Sorry.
Hey, I'm sticking to that. Really. I mean it. At least today.
The thing is, you just get caught up in it. It's Topic A at work. Everyone's got their opinions, their favorites. It's no use arguing with them. I will say, though, that most people are wrong.
Ha Ha - I'm just kidding.Okay, no, I'm not really kidding. It just sounds kind of rude to say that most people are wrong. Even if they are.
But anyway, I watched this week's episode today (yes, I am behind the curve, but there is actually a good reason why I can't watch the show "live".)
And, even this early in the competition, I have settled on my favorite. I was a bit on the fence before today. I liked this person before ~ this person is original. This person has a great voice. I guess what I was on the fence about was this person's personality. Oh, let's face it, we want to like the person who's delivering the song. That's a big part of the overall entertainment experience.
I didn't know much about this person, in the few performances I'd seen. But now I know that this person is humble, and funny.So, great voice, originality, humble, funny. I've settled on my favorite.
DAVID COOK
Oh, and by the by. Those people who are wrong, and have picked your favorites for all the wrong reasons......Ask yourself, would you buy a CD from your favorite? No? Okay. Then you agree that I'm right. All righty then.
P.S. My second favorite is Jason Castro, but he won't win, of course. But what a breath of fresh air this kid is.
