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RockGolf 
"1500+ reviews. 1 joke."
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 Posted - 02/22/2008 : 23:02:33
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There's something new with American Idol this year. iTunes is posting every performance for sale. If you have iTunes, go to the Store, then if necessary switch to the "United States" store at the bottom of the page.
Enter "American Idol Performance" in the Search key and all 24 performances from this week will appear. Then right-click on any of the column headings, such as "Name" or "Time". Select "Popularity" from the list of available columns. When it appears, click on the new "Popularity" column to sort in that sequence.
Two boys lead the rest of the contestants by about a 3-to-1 margin. Not. Even. Close. The leader is Jason Castro who currently holds about a 15-20% lead over 2nd place David Archuleta. With that kind of a lead in sales, I just don't see how they can be anything but the final two.
If you're a bettor, you've just been given an inside edge. |
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Joe Blevins
"Don't I look handsome?"
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Posted - 02/23/2008 : 05:33:54
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| I think hippy-dippy Castro and teen-idol-type Archuleta will be in this thing for a long while, but it's a little early in the game to be calling favorites IMHO. Idol is like a political campaign. You're not just singing; you're running for public office. The judges are like the press, and the results shows are the primaries. The candidates battle week by week until only two are left, and there are plenty of ups and downs along the way. A poor song choice (or wardrobe choice) here, some Internet rumor-mongering there, and your popularity could go up in smoke just like that. But some candidates/contestants manage to win the audience back after a wrong move. "Sure things" can end up tanking, and "long shots" last longer than expected. |
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Montgomery 
"F**k!"
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Posted - 02/23/2008 : 21:19:06
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My favorite is Michael Johns.
But I'm not going to buy his iTunes.
EM :)
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Conan The Westy
"Father, Faithful Friend, Fwiffer"
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Posted - 02/24/2008 : 03:46:55
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quote:
Originally posted by Montgomery
My favorite is Michael Johns.
Aussie, Aussie, Aussie! Oi, oi, oi! |
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ChocolateLady
"500 Chocolate Delights"
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Posted - 03/02/2008 : 09:30:38
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quote:
Originally posted by Conan The Westy
quote:
Originally posted by Montgomery
My favorite is Michael Johns.
Aussie, Aussie, Aussie! Oi, oi, oi!
Yes, well, it was actually "Oy, Oy, Oy VEY!" this past week for him. He was off key and off beat throughout the whole song, and was very lucky to dodge the bullet and get the chance to redeem himself next week.
But by now we all know that Archuleta is the one to beat and unless someone can equal his interpretation of Eva Cassidy's version of John Lennon's "Imagine", then the race is going to be only to see who takes 2nd place.
By the way, I'm hoping its that lovely Irish girl who gets to sing against Archuleta at the finale.
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turrell
"Ohhhh Ohhhh Ohhhh Ohhhh "
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Posted - 03/04/2008 : 18:45:05
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quote:
Originally posted by ChocolateLady
By the way, I'm hoping its that lovely Irish girl who gets to sing against Archuleta at the finale.
Carly - is really good - I can't believe how much her voice sounds like Celione Dion's in my mind - but like Celine she sometimes uses her considerable instrument for melodramatic cheesy songs, so she needs to pick the right songs each time.
I don't really get Castro - he seems liek a nice stoner with an ok voice. |
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ChocolateLady
"500 Chocolate Delights"
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Posted - 03/05/2008 : 06:12:55
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quote:
Originally posted by turrell
Carly - is really good - I can't believe how much her voice sounds like Celione Dion's in my mind - but like Celine she sometimes uses her considerable instrument for melodramatic cheesy songs, so she needs to pick the right songs each time.
Oh... now that you mention it... there is a slight similarity there, yes. I'd say she should choose from the best female singer songwriters such as KT Tunstall, Regina Spektor, Joni Mitchell, Joan Armatrading, Joan Baez, Ricki Lee Jones, Suzanne Vega, Carole King, Carly Simon, Janis Ian, and Tracy Chapman. She should stay away from Fitzgerald, Dion, Dido, Warwick, Houston and other such huge voice singers that writers like Carole Bayer Sager wrote for. |
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turrell
"Ohhhh Ohhhh Ohhhh Ohhhh "
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Posted - 03/05/2008 : 23:03:19
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| Ok Castro was really good last night as was Archuletta, and David Cook's rock version of Lionel Ritchie's "Hello" was a work of genius - not sure if that cover version had been done before but man that was good singing and song arrangement. |
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Montgomery
"F**k!"
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Posted - 03/12/2008 : 15:06:11
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quote:
Originally posted by ChocolateLady
quote:
Originally posted by Conan The Westy
quote:
Originally posted by Montgomery
My favorite is Michael Johns.
Aussie, Aussie, Aussie! Oi, oi, oi!
Yes, well, it was actually "Oy, Oy, Oy VEY!" this past week for him. He was off key and off beat throughout the whole song, and was very lucky to dodge the bullet and get the chance to redeem himself next week.
But by now we all know that Archuleta is the one to beat and unless someone can equal his interpretation of Eva Cassidy's version of John Lennon's "Imagine", then the race is going to be only to see who takes 2nd place.
By the way, I'm hoping its that lovely Irish girl who gets to sing against Archuleta at the finale.
Thank you for acknowledging that Archuleta's interpretation is actually an Eva Cassidy version. Not many know of Eva's work, therefore singers like David A. And McPhee from last season, do a version like she did and get credit for being different. Uh-uh! They're doing her versions of songs. Don't get me wrong. I like David and think he is a good singer. But, that wasn't his version of the song. It was him covering her version of the song.
EM :) |
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Montgomery
"F**k!"
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Posted - 03/12/2008 : 15:08:50
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Last night I liked: again -- David Cook and Amanda, I thought was good, too.
I didn't think my other favorites: Jason, David A., and Michael Johns did as well. But we voted for everyone we liked a few times just the same.
And we voted for Carly, too. She was good.
EM :) |
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ChocolateLady
"500 Chocolate Delights"
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Posted - 03/30/2008 : 06:14:07
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Okay, now I really have to ask the Americans out there this. Remember, I'm originally an American myself, and I realize being an ex-pat does put a slant on things, but...
When Kristy Lee Cook sang that song this past week about the U.S. of A. and etc., did they coach the judges (and Simon in particular) to make sure none of them slammed the song? I mean, really, that was the most disgustingly sappy piece of flag waving I've ever seen! I was totally cringing when I watched. The lyrics were inane, the tune was boring and yet Simon called it "brilliant". They told him to be nice to the song, didn't they? They had to, or else they would have gotten tons of hate mail from all the ultra-right wing conservatives, right?
Please?
Someone?
(PS: I feel better now. I just found out that "Vote for the Worst" is pushing for people to vote for Kristy Lee Cook!) |
Edited by - ChocolateLady on 03/30/2008 07:22:09 |
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duh 
"catpurrs"
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Posted - 03/30/2008 : 08:19:34
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quote:
Originally posted by ChocolateLady
Okay, now I really have to ask the Americans out there this. Remember, I'm originally an American myself, and I realize being an ex-pat does put a slant on things, but...
When Kristy Lee Cook sang that song this past week about the U.S. of A. and etc., did they coach the judges (and Simon in particular) to make sure none of them slammed the song? I mean, really, that was the most disgustingly sappy piece of flag waving I've ever seen! I was totally cringing when I watched. The lyrics were inane, the tune was boring and yet Simon called it "brilliant". They told him to be nice to the song, didn't they? They had to, or else they would have gotten tons of hate mail from all the ultra-right wing conservatives, right?
Please?
Someone?
(PS: I feel better now. I just found out that "Vote for the Worst" is pushing for people to vote for Kristy Lee Cook!)
I don't follow American Idol, but your post got me curious, so I looked up Cook's performance: http://youtube.com/watch?v=4EIRRSNYm54
The song is too sentimental for my taste, but the audience appeared to enjoy it. Perhaps you and I are just more sophisticated than the typical Idol fan?
Reading the lyrics, I really don't object to the song; I simply have no preference for it. It doesn't compare, for instance, to This Land is Your Land which has such broad appeal that it has been adapted to be sung in praise of numerous other countries.
However, the last verse of This Land is Your Land is usually left off:
In the squares of the city - In the shadow of the steeple
Near the relief office - I see my people
And some are grumblin' and some are wonderin'
If this land's still made for you and me.
Although Guthrie wrote the song near the end of the Great Depression, that verse would seem just as relevant now.
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ChocolateLady
"500 Chocolate Delights"
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Posted - 03/30/2008 : 10:48:23
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A hell of a lot more relevant than:
If tomorrow all the things were gone,
I�d worked for all my life.
And I had to start again,
with just my children and my wife.
I�d thank my lucky stars,
to be livin here today.
�Cause the flag still stands for freedom,
and they can�t take that away.
And I�m proud to be an American,
where at least I know I�m free.
And I wont forget the men who died,
who gave that right to me.
Yeah, at least he's free to sleep on the streets, go without health care and maybe get food stamps since the economy is so shot he can't even buy food while 4000 (and counting) American soldiers died half way across the world in a war that his President put them into through total deception.
When it comes to that kind of freedom, I can only be reminded of Janis Joplin's line "Freedom's just another word for nothing left to lose".
(What, me bitter?)
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duh
"catpurrs"
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Posted - 03/30/2008 : 19:51:27
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quote:
Originally posted by ChocolateLady
Yeah, at least he's free to sleep on the streets, go without health care and maybe get food stamps since the economy is so shot he can't even buy food while 4000 (and counting) American soldiers died half way across the world in a war that his President put them into through total deception.
When it comes to that kind of freedom, I can only be reminded of Janis Joplin's line "Freedom's just another word for nothing left to lose".
(What, me bitter?)
I am reminded of a fundy Xtian friend I used to have who once said something to the effect of how she thought of how she might have been born into poverty in an underdeveloped nation and then she praised God for his generosity.
I was dumbstruck at the egocentricity of that remark.
---
Where does love of one's home end and nationalism begin? Could one say that Israel was founded from a seemingly irrational sense of nationalism or religious pride or ethnicity? Does everyone in Israel enjoy a comfortable and no-cost level of living provided by the work of other people?
After having traveled to some 'underdeveloped' countries, my husband says that our poorest people in the US are better off than most of the residents of those places.
I can't say that I am personally acquainted with anyone who is as destitute as your hypothetical citizen, Chocky. In the community I live in, there are support services for everyone, including my mentally ill cousin who lives comfortably on government handouts. My mother's family were 'poor white trash' (some were alcoholics) who frequently required welfare.
My parents were children during the Great Depression of the 1930's and the horror stories they have to tell of life in those times is enough to make me realize that as bad as the economy is now, it hasn't yet gotten as bad as it was then. Mom and her sisters each had only one pair of underwear, no shoes, and frequently had nothing at all to eat.
My mother and her oldest sister were hard workers and they stayed sober and made good choices for themselves and their families. My mother made an excellent choice of man to marry (my dad) and the two of them worked and stayed together even when it wasn't fun.
Whereas, my mom's next older sister and younger brother took to drinking and whoring and partying.
So many immigrants have come here with nothing but their work ethics and became successful. As I see it, people in the US rarely have anyone but themselves to blame for their own bad choices in life.
I'm not defending or criticizing the US or any place else; just offering my limited perspective.
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MisterBadIdea 
"PLZ GET MILK, KTHXBYE"
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Posted - 03/30/2008 : 22:58:39
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quote:
The lyrics were inane, the tune was boring and yet Simon called it "brilliant".
Let me say that I love this country, in a way that only someone who comes from a political refugee immigrant family can. I love America, unashamedly. That said, I hated that performance, and the song is banal and dull. That's not to say that Cook performed it badly -- it's probably her best performance of the finals -- only that I hated that she chose to perform it.
But Simon was absolutely right when he called it brilliant. It was brilliant. But he, and I, meant it in a completely cynical way. It was pandering, and it was done brililantly. Cook has been picked as the worst in the competition for weeks, and this was a great way to pull in that cheap patriotic vote. Simon clearly recognized it too. |
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duh
"catpurrs"
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Posted - 03/31/2008 : 01:08:36
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quote:
Originally posted by MisterBadIdea
But Simon was absolutely right when he called it brilliant. It was brilliant. But he, and I, meant it in a completely cynical way. It was pandering, and it was done brililantly.
AHA! Thanks for the explanation. |
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Your American Idol winner - Jason Castro
