American Idol really is not working for me this year.Last night I turned the TV on thinking I was going to be seeing the girls. But Crystal Bowersox was ailing badly, so the boys switched with the girls. And if Bowersox is still ailing tonight? I've no idea what happens.
One of Simon Cowell's repetitive critiques, and after so many years, they sure do get repetitive, is that this that or the other person is forgettable, not to be remembered 20 seconds later. I think that's a bit harsh, but I'm going to see, right now, how well I remember what I watched last night.
The night started off with that really big guy named Michael, who's sob story was being away from his wife whilst giving birth to his first. Micheal sang, the judges lavished praise. I found him boring.
I do not remember anything til Casey James sang. See, I actually remember his name. It may help that I am in North Texas, and so is he, and so he is mentioned in the local press. I thought Casey did really well, singing the most well known Jason Mraz song, you know, the one about being a prison guard's son, while playing the electric guitar.
The being very articulate, Randy Jackson, heaped praise, as did Ellen DeGeneres. But the self-proclaimed Cougar, Kara DioGuardi, turned all critical, to me, harshly so, telling Casey he'd taken 2 giant steps backwards. Simon seemed to agree.
While absorbing this, Casey was very amusing, making very appropriate facial expressions that to me said, "what the hell?"
The little 16 year old, Aaron Kelly, sang My Girl. I thought he did okay. We'd earlier seen Simon trying to bolster the nervous kid's confidence. I don't think the judge's were too mean to him, but I don't really remember.
The Korean, John Park, I remember his name and his face, but I've no memory of what he sang. The judges didn't like him. He's very bland.
One of the boys is a short, semi-pudgy guy with a tattoo on his neck. I don't care for him. Tattoos on the neck always get minus points with me.
A lot of the boys are very short, with some of them even being shorter than short Ryan Seacrest. Not there is anything at all wrong with being short. It's just an observation.
I believe the name is Jermaine Sellers. I don't remember what he sang, but I do remember it was very annoying, as if he was twitching all over the place. He has a weird hair thing going on, sort of stuck up to a point. He did way too much God saving him talk and I think he was the one who invited Simon to hear him sing in church. Simon accepted the offer.
Another one they did not like was Todrick Hall. He's the guy who butchered, literally, a Kelly Clarkson song last week. This week they said he butchered Tina Turner's What's Love Got To Do With It? I did not think it was so bad. One week they tell him to dance less and sing more. This week it was sing less and dance more. I think.
Alex Lambert, I remember, he with the short mullet and being very very nervous. I thought he did real well, as did the judges, for the most part. Ellen D. continued her banana metaphor with the boy.
Just reading the name Lambert sort of points to what is so boring with American Idol this year. There is no one remotely close to being as entertaining as Adam Lambert.
We seem to have a larger number than usual wearing being Christian on their sleeves. Tim Urban is another. He prays for God's help before he sings. Apparently ( I learned on Survivor Sucks, where I got the picture above ) Tim Urban works for some entity called something like American Models for Christ. Evidently the American Models for Christ do a lot of their modelling with their shirts off. Tim proudly proclaims to have never partaken of alcohol or canoodling with the opposite sex.
The last one I remember, and it makes sense that I remember, because he was last to sing, is Lee Dewyze. He also was nervous. I liked him okay, so did the judges, if I remember correctly. One of them mentioned he should stand up taller instead of slouching. He also had trouble keeping his pants up. Not a good look to have to yank your pants back up in the midst of singing.
Is it Paula Abdul gone missing that is throwing off the American Idol chemistry? Why do the critiques seem so much longer than previous years? With followup Ryan Seacrest questions.
And then there is the tone of the critiques. I mean, all this is is a singing/performance competition. Too often, to me, the critiques come off, stripped to their essence as "you have committed a crime against humanity with the way you utterly destroyed that song with your amateur skills and indulgent ways. You deserve, at minimum, a severe spanking, in addition to this tongue lashing."
And, on yet one more note, this week, to me, Casey James came across as the mature one, as he listened to the judging.
If tonight, with the girls, is another train wreck, I may be bailing on American Idol. Not the first time I have said that.
