A Sad Idol Day

**SPOILER ALERT AI-11 Top 7 parts 1 and 2 results are discussed below.***

I am heartbroken and shocked that Colton Dixon was voted off American Idol. He should have won. I couldn’t even vote for him because I couldn’t get through, which is normally an indication that a contestant will not be eliminated. Therefore, this is obviously a big conspiracy.

Colton could have at least been the traditional “shocking” Top 4 elimination, as Chris Daughtry was so many successful years ago. Colton certainly should not have been voted out at the Top 7 level. Last week, the judges were absolutely correct to use their save for Jessica Sanchez, because she and her massive talent also don’t deserve to be voted out this early. Since Colton was removed, I now believe that Jessica should win, with Joshua Ledet as the runner up, and Hollie Cavanagh in the Top 3 (since she has improved so much). Regarding Skylar Laine and Phillip Phillips, I do think they are quite talented; however, I’m simply not the biggest fan of either. I am a bit of a fan of Elise Testone, but I don’t think she is as talented as the rest of the Top 7.

Someone on the TV suggested that Colton was voted out because of his performance of Lady Gaga’s "Bad Romance," however, I loved that performance – I love what he did with what is probably Gaga’s best song ever. My guess is that the red blob he added to his newly blond hair might have had something to do with his removal. However, as I stated previously, his talent is so phenomenal that what he does to his hair is rendered less significant. Anyway, regardless of why he was (wrongly) voted out, it shouldn’t have happened, and I know that he will be successful. I very much look forward to buying his CD when it is released, for there is no doubt that there will be one to begin his (knock on wood) long and successful career, and that it will be amazing.

The dimly bright side to Colton’s elimination is that I can now go ahead and buy all of his things on iTunes. You see, I am not a fan of iTunes (I love Amazon MP3), so I was waiting until the season was over to go and purchase all the American Idol contestants' songs that I want, and thusly minimize my exposure to the dreadful iTunes. Since Colton’s are the only songs that I absolutely need to own, I will go ahead and buy his songs now. Perhaps I will make another journey to the iTunes hellscape at the end of the season for some of the other songs of the other contestants, but such a treacherous venture might not happen. I wish these things were not exclusive to iTunes, for Amazon MP3 is so much better.

UPDATE April 24, 2012

I saw Colton on the TV, and he has removed the red blob from his hair, so he obviously read my blog and took my implied advice! There is no other possible explanation! Woohoo! Unfortunately, however, his hair remains blond.

I was listening to one of Chris Daughtry’s Idol performances (his best one ever), and I realized that I love Colton the way I love Daughtry. They both have the kind of voice, emotion, and talent that reaches deep within my soul and brain, captivating me and causing me to mutter with admiration, “OMG, I love him so much.” While Daughtry’s effect is stronger than Colton’s, Colton’s effect is still undeniable. This provides further certainty that Colton will be tremendously successful.

UPDATE March 9, 2013
SPOILER ALERT: American Idol Season 12 Top 10 results are mentioned below.

It seems that my hopes and predictions were wrong, in that Jessica Sanchez did not win, but rather was runner up to Phillip Phillips.  I did end up venturing back into the iTunes hellscape to purchase some of Jessica's Idol songs, and I will likely buy her debut album when it is released this Spring.  Moments ago, I purchased Colton Dixon's album A Messenger, which is wonderful as expected.

If you're interested in my Idol thoughts regarding the 2013 batch, there are currently only four of the Top 10 who I really like, in the following order: Kree Harrison, Lazaro Arbos, Angie Miller, and Devin Velez.  While he is not in the Top 10, I also really like Charlie Askew, who has a wonderfully apt last name that appears to be real.  I hope he finds success and happiness.  Aside from talk of her last name or whether she is pleasantly askew, the same could be said of Aubrey Cleland.

Long Overdue Idol Thoughts

I’ve been meaning to make a few statements regarding American Idol this season, but I haven’t been very bloggy lately.

At the time of the Top 24 revelation, I erupted in “Woohoo!”s when Colton Dixon made it though. The judges had redeemed themselves from last year’s terrible lapse in judgment. When he made it through this year, I knew immediately that he would surely win!

When the Top 13 was revealed, I was happy with the contestants. I felt they were all good enough to be there, even if I didn’t love all of them. I was still sure that Colton will win, and it was clear then that the runner up would be Jessica Sanchez. In the following weeks, I concluded that Joshua Ledet would be in the Top 3. Thusly, my predictions were established.

I had become a big fan of Heejun Han, both for his funny and cute personality and his lovely singing; however, I sensed that he wouldn’t win. At the time of Heejun’s Billy Joel Week performance, I knew his Idol time was short. Jimmy Iovine had complained that Heejun was not taking the competition seriously, however, I believe he was; he took the singing very seriously, it seemed, but maintained a healthy sense of humor regarding the non-sing-y portions of the program. This changed with his Billy Joel performance, when his singing became a bit of a joke. The following week, he regained his singing genuineness; I was once again captivated by him as he sang beautifully. However, his humor was dampened, and I believe that is what led to his being voted out. I believe he could have lasted at least one or two more weeks if he had simply maintained the balance of serious singing and funny personality-ing.

I liked all the rest of the Top 13 contestants, with the exception of Deandre Brackensick. I don’t like his hair, and I am not moved by his singing at all. In the weeks following the Top 13, I found that his arrogance and something about the way he moves prevents me from liking him. His mediocre singing is, of course, also a factor in my disliking. Currently I am hoping that tonight will be the time of his out-voting, for regardless of my personal thoughts about his arrogance and distasteful hair, his talent is no longer up to the par of the other seven remaining contestants.

UPDATE April 6, 2012


***SPOILER ALERT*** Top 8 results are mentioned below.

Woohoo! Deandre’s hair was voted out last night! And Deandre's mediocre talent was voted out with it! I would take credit for this wonderful elimination, however, I posted this blog posting moments before the results show began, so obviously all the voting had long since ended. But I can still take credit for thinking and hoping that he would be voted out, and thus telepathically influencing the universe! Woohoo! I go girl! (Notice that I didn’t actually vote this time, so I can’t take credit that way).

I would like to take a moment to address another hairy issue: Colton’s hair. I love Colton’s hair, for it contributes to his rock-starriness. However, I’m not a big fan of the blondification of his hair. While he does still look (and sing) like rock star, and I still love him and want him to win, I simply prefer the previous state of his hair. I must emphasize, however, that I don’t hate it, and even if I did, his talent and voice are so amazing and beautiful that the other stuff is rendered far less significant. To conclude, I love Colton.

Poor Weiner

Well, it seems another politician has another sex scandal. Often funny and friend of Jon Stewart Congressman Anthony Weiner admitted that he sent a picture of his weiner in his undies to a woman on the Twitter. He says he meant it as a part of a joke, and that he has done other inappropriate things on the interwebs and the phone, both before and after marrying his wife. He also says he has never met any of these women in person, clearly implying that the hyper-flirtation only happened from very long distances.

I think that as far as political sex scandals go, this is really quite ethical, assuming that Congressman Weiner is not still lying. It’s really nothing compared to Eliot Spitzer and his adulterous use of hookers, or Bill Clinton and the jobs he had his interns doing while he was married. As Congressman Winkie, I mean Weiner (sorry, I had to) said, he didn’t break any laws, and he will cooperate fully with an ethics investigation insuring he didn’t break any House rules. He also didn’t make his wife stand there with him while he confessed as some Eliot Spitzers did. He mentioned that his wife understandably thinks he’s an idiot, but is not divorcing his dumb a**.

I’m comfortable making these statements about Congressman Weiner’s relative morality, assuming that he is not still lying, because, like David Letterman, he took full responsibility for his immoral actions; he made a point to state that the woman who was the recipient of his bulging photo is not responsible for this at all, and should never have been dragged into this mini-scandal. His apologies, his remorse, his shame, and his tears seemed sincere to me. Of course, he could be a good actor, or I could be an idiot who feels bad when boys (or anyone) cry and take responsibility for their actions. Conversely, as much as I love Bill Clinton for his politics, his intelligence, and the nice things he does for the world, he is a good example of a disgusting immoral sex-crazed adulterer who tried desperately not to take responsibility for his actions.

Anthony Weiner didn’t admit to his tweet until, I assume, he realized his past inappropriateness was going to be disinterred. According to the NY Times blog, he made his announcement after another bout of inappropriate internet behavior from a month ago was revealed. Nonetheless, less than two weeks of lies followed by a full confession is really rather impressive for a politician.

If you’re sensing that I hold politicians to much, much lower moral standards than I hold normal humans to, you're absolutely right. Thanks to people like Bill Clinton, Eliot Spitzer, and probably millions more, I have learned to assume that all politicians are either evil in some power-hungry way, or are whores. Perhaps the hunger for power facilitates the slutty behavior, since the slutty behavior might simply be another way to gain or use their power. I don’t know if this hunger for power is a pre-existing condition for politicians, or if it’s something that happens after a person has been in politics and the power they are inherently given morally corrupts him…or her I suppose, but we never seem to hear about female politicians being adulterous sluts. Perhaps the direction of the power-politics causality depends on the individual.

Anyway, the point of all this is that while Anthony Weiner’s wife is absolutely correct in saying her husband is dumb, and while he clearly does have some moral issues, if he is not lying, it’s really nothing compared to the real sex scandals out there, and in my mind, it does not and should not affect his ability to do his job well, and to do good things for the world. If the far-more-sexually-immoral Bill Clinton could do it, then the much-more-moral-because-he-accepts-responsibility Anthony Weiner can definitely do it. I’m glad he is not resigning.

(Note: I added the link to Jon Stewart's coverage of this scandal after I published this blog posting.)

UPDATE June 14, 2011
Here's someone else who doesn't want Anthony Weiner to resign, and who also feels bad for the remorseful virtual adulterer.

UPDATE July 14, 2011


On June 16, Anthony Weiner unfortunately resigned.

Gaga Farming

My obsession with Zynga’s FarmVille has finally amounted to something undeniably worthwhile and wonderful, in that Lady Gaga and FarmVille have joined together for the best promotion ever. The awesome GagaVille promotion allows us farmers to listen to the whole Born this Way album three days early.

I absolutely love this album, and I think it’s the only thing I’ve been listening to for the past couple of days. About half the album made my brain rejoice immediately, and the songs that I didn’t instantly love grew on me very quickly. The songs range from good to amazing.

GagaVille itself is pretty awesome too; with all the cool crystals, unicorns, and electric roses, my Gaga-fied farm has become quite shiny, and the GagaVille farm is the most bizarrely beautiful farm ever. This promotion makes me wonder if Gaga farms too, and I bet she does! That makes me love her even more! It’s nice when two obsessions join together to form one ginormous sparkly obsession.

UPDATE: May 23, 2011

Now that this magnificent album has officially been released, I have discovered that what was streaming in GagaVille was not the whole album (that is if I’m remembering the stream correctly, which I might not be). Anyway, now that I have the complete album via my GagaVille game card (which also came with remixes of “Born This Way” and “Judas”), and now that I have the tracks rather than a trackless stream, I can tell you which specific songs are amazing, in my opinion. Yes, I realize I could have easily found the track listing and done this before, but I didn’t so stop complaining.

Before I get to that, I feel that I should address the “Express Yourself” similarity of “Born this Way,” since it was just brought back to my attention by Weird Al Yankovic’s wonderful and funny parody, “Perform This Way.” I have noticed that at least one other song on Gaga’s album also sounds reminiscent of Madonna’s “Express Yourself,” and I think that elucidates the probable intentionality of Gaga’s invoking of that song. A large part of Gaga’s message is to be yourself, to show the world who you are, and thus, to express yourself. Gaga was very obviously influenced by Madonna, and I had assumed that was the extent of the “Express Yourself” similarity, but hearing Weird Al’s allusion in the context of his parody somehow crystallized for me that the similarity is likely not accidental. I heart Weird Al, and I heart Gaga.

Getting back to my thoughts regarding the Born this Way album, the following songs are amazing, and I think they are the same ones that my brain loved instantly. I will parenthetically refer to track numbers on the regular edition (the special edition comes with three additional songs and some remixes):

“Marry the Night” (Track 1)

“Government Hooker” (Track 3)

“Judas” (Track 4)

“Americano” (Track 5)

“Hair” (Track 6)

“SheiBe” (Track 7)

“Bloody Mary” (Track 8)

“Highway Unicorn (Road to Love)” (Track 10)

“The Edge of Glory” (Track 14)

That leaves the other songs that I either instantly thought were really good, or that grew on me to become really good. These opinions obviously refer to how I feel now, and that could obviously change in the future; as I listen to these songs ten billion more times, they might grow on me more to become amazing (or I might get sick of them). Nothing on the album sucks, or is even less than really good. That said, these are the just-very-good-right-now songs, in my arrogant opinion (just kidding, it’s humble):

“Born this Way” (Track 2)

“Bad Kids (Track 9)

“Heavy Metal Lover” (Track 11)

“Electric Chapel” (Track 12)

“You and I” (Track 13)

The three additional songs on the special edition version seem to fall under the “just really good and not yet amazing” category, which might be why they are not on the regular edition.

“Black Jesus + Amen Fashion” (Track 9 on Special Edition)

“Fashion of his Love” (Track 11 on Special Edition)

“The Queen” (Track 15 on Special Edition)

I heart Gaga.

Musical Mediocrity

I’ve been doing a lot of complaining about today’s music, and in doing so, I have addressed the quiet lack of passion in some of it, and the tween-specificity of another sector of it. What I will discuss here resonates with those aspects of the crappy music of today, but also addresses an issue of mediocrity.

Why on earth is Train so successful? That is not to say that I think they’re bad or that they don’t deserve their success. They are probably good people and they do have some good music and talent. However, they are not, in my opinion, as great as everyone seems to think they are. Their songs are either kind of nice until you get sick of them, like "Calling all Angels," or not so great and I was somehow sick of them instantly, like "Drops of Jupiter."

One of their more recent songs, “If It’s Love,” seems to be a list of clichés that are almost chanted and that sound very much like the list was thrown together nonsensically, amidst very catchy choruses and a handful of meaningful lyrics. I'm not suggesting that clichés never belong in songs. When used well, a cliché can provide deeper meaning than new phrasing could, such as Jay-Z's modified use of "If you can make it in New York you can make it anywhere" in "Empire State of Mind." Phrasing that sentiment without the use of the cliché wouldn't have the same potent meaning that it has. Train on the other hand, uses countless clichés in “If It’s Love” to create a meaningless list. Clichés should be used wisely and few and far between (see what I did there hahahaha).

Perhaps the catchy choruses are the key to Train’s success. Britney (Spears) had that song, "Womanizer," that seems to be nothing but a catchy chorus repeated incessantly, and people appeared to like that a lot. I didn't; I liked the chorus once or twice, and then could no longer tolerate it for the duration of the song. Therefore, Train's insertion of lists of clichés between catchy choruses in “If It’s Love” is definitely an improvement compared to Britney's abuse, I mean use of the catchy chorus, which makes the former tolerable and at times even enjoyable. However, by no means is it a great song, nor are they a great band; they are merely good.

UPDATE July 21, 2012

I heard a new Train song and I liked it!  It’s “50 Ways to Say Goodbye,” and while it is yet another list of things rattled off to a catchy tune, I actually like it!  I like the Phantom-of-the-Opera sound in the verses, and I like the Mariachi-band sound in the chorus.  I often enjoy merging genres, and this quasi-merger of show tune, pop, and Mariachi created a nice, strange sound that I find myself enjoying, and I’ve only heard it once so far.  Of course it helps that I rather enjoy the occasional funny song.  Well done, Train, you’ve risen above your mediocrity for this song, despite maintaining what appears to be a lazy approach to music creation.  Please note, as a person who is incapable of humming in tune, let alone creating music, I am not one to judge.  But I will anyway.

(Later that day…)

In a flash of glorious, wondrous, and grossly exaggerated epiphany-imbued brilliance, I suddenly understood where the band name Train must have come from!  It very obviously refers to their sometimes-used style of music writing.  The lists of things are but a train of thought!  Get it?  Train of thought…Train…Get it???  I know, I’m a genius.  Thank you for your kind applause.

I feel that I should defend Train.  I have never purchased their music except for “50 Ways to Say Goodbye” and I think I might have purchased “Calling All Angels” at some point.  Thus, I have never purchased nor heard their non-radio songs.  It is therefore very possible that what doesn’t make it onto the radio could be better-than-mediocre.  I have noticed that some non-radio and otherwise less popular songs of other artists are billions of times better than some of the most popular and radio-friendly songs.  For example, Kelly Clarkson’s “Addicted” is vastly better than her “Stronger,” though I do enjoy “Stronger” as well.  Therefore, there does exist the possibility that while Train and perhaps other mediocre bands and singers are great at appealing to popular tastes in mediocrity, they might in fact be great composers and songwriters with depth beyond their shallow puddles of popular music.  Perhaps the real question is: why do popular audiences prefer so much mediocrity?

Turn Down That Incessant Quiet Music!

I’m officially an old lady since I turned 30 almost a year ago, and I can therefore say that I don’t get the music these kids are listening to these days.

The not-so-good music these days that these kids today like seems to involve a folksy quality that I find boring. It doesn’t all suck entirely, but the hype surrounding how allegedly great some of these artists are is entirely unwarranted. A lot of this stuff that they love so much, like John Mayer, Jack Johnson, and a few years ago those Moldy Peaches from the movie I didn't see (Juno) and probably other stuff I can't think of right now, seems to lack the passion, the enthusiasm, the emotion, and the musickiness that I personally love in music. What do I mean by “musickiness”? I don’t know, that’s why I made up a word. It's a lot of dull, quiet, singing, perhaps with some potentially profound lyrics, which I only say because I vaguely remember hearing some lyrics that sounded pretty good in the midst of some painfully boring music. I have no problem with quiet, but I do have a problem with nearly monotonous or otherwise repetitive music. Perhaps I'm being too harsh.

I don’t hate music by any means; in fact, I love it and can’t live without it. Really, I think my brain would revolt if I didn’t feed it music through my ears, or “listening holes,” as we called them in my day. Please note, I have stolen that construction from Grandpa Simpson on The Simpsons (or maybe I was just inspired by him).

Some of the old lady music that I do enjoy includes Metallica, Beethoven, Evanescence, and Shinedown. I also like a lot of present day music, such as Lady Gaga, Carrie Underwood, Three Days Grace, and Green Day (are any of those still present-day?). I also like that Christina Peri song ( “Jar of Hearts” ), and not just because she is the sister of a guy from Shinedown. It’s funny to hear about the guy who goes around collecting a jar o’ farts. Hahahahaha, but seriously, I do really like the line “You’re gonna catch a cold/From the ice inside your soul.” It’s simultaneously simple, profound, and cute. This song nicely demonstrates that quiet music and good lyrics can exist within the realm of good music that involves enthusiasm, emotion, and passion conveyed by a great voice, great song-writing, and tremendous talent.

UPDATE July 19, 2011

Well, it seems that Evanescence lead singer Amy Lee reads my blog and was influenced by it. I say this because that is the only plausible explanation for her stating that music of late has been lacking in terms of rock. Anyway, I’m glad my blog (or perhaps not my blog) has compelled her to bring more rock back to help fill the quiet void.

Where are the 2012-ers?

DISCLAIMER: I absolutely do not intend to be insensitive or offensive to anyone or anything. Any statement that appears insensitive or offensive is intended as sarcasm and/or hyperbole (an exaggeration to make a point; I am providing that explanation so you don’t have to Google the definition as I once did). If anything offends anyone, I apologize sincerely in advance.

With all that’s going on with the 9.0 magnitude earthquake, tsunami, and radioactivity in Japan, where are all the people who have been insisting that an apocalypse is coming, particularly the ones who say it’s coming on December 21, 2012, or as my sister called them just now after I brought this up with her, the 2012-ers (patent pending…in my dreams!).

After other major disasters, such as Katrina and the Haitian earthquake, the 2012-ers and other Armageddon-ers were so quick to say those were signs of the upcoming apocalypse. However, the current Japanese disasters that are of much more Biblical proportions don’t seem to be generating the same apocalyptical warnings. Where are you, fear-mongering 2012-ers?

The current disasters seem so much more extreme than the previous ones, particularly since this time, nuclear radiation is involved, which could mean the beginning of some crazy genetic mutations, assuming humans survive at all. These disasters are far more doom-ridden than a mere ginormous hurricane and a mere 7.0 magnitude earthquake that happened in different locations.

I wonder if the difference is the perceived blasphemy happening in the location of the disasters. Maybe it’s only a sign of the apocalypse if the people are not strict Christians, like the blasphemous New Orleans people with their Mardi Gras and their New Orleans Voodoo, and the Vodou wielding Haitians. I’m pretty sure Christianity has infiltrated Japan, but then again, there must be lots of blasphemous Buddhists there too, so I really don’t understand where the Armageddon-ers are.

I found some 2012-ers when I googled for them (here is one example). It’s nice to see they are out there, mongering their fear, but they are not doing it loud enough, because I had to seek them out. Previously, they made themselves known, and I heard about them on the TV. Some religious extremists such as Glenn Beck are doing their traditional Pat Robertson-like blaming of the blasphemous, but there doesn’t seem to be enough Pat Robertson-like talk of the end of the world as we know it.

Come on, 2012-ers, you’re here, you fear, get loud about it!

UPDATE April 10, 2011
Finally, someone (that I’ve seen) made the connection between the 2012 apocalypse that the Mayans predicted and all the bad things happening now. And of course, it was that fear-monger (satirist) Jon Stewart! He also alluded to it during his beautiful farewell to Glenn Beck. Thank you, Jon Stewart!

Update May 7, 2011
OMG, I just discovered some relatives of the 2012-ers, and they are crazy – I mean they are May 21, 2011-ers. If you click on the “listen” thing here, you will hear that some of the May 21-ers sound like they are on drugs – seriously, their voices sound drugged to me, though I obviously make no claim regarding whether they actually are drugged. These people have left their families and quit their jobs because they are awaiting the rapture that will come on May 21, 2011. They explain that if you’re still here on May 22, then you are in Hell. I bet they will be in Hell, since they will have left their families and jobs for nothing and will then be left to either mend their burned bridges or find some way to move on from them, at least for the next 153 days, since that is when the universe will cease to exist. Maybe they can all join together and form a cult, or maybe they already have. Am I being too judgmental about the impending Judgment Day believers? Then I guess I’ll see you in Hell! Hahahahahahaha! Just kidding.

UPDATE May 20, 2011
When I wrote the previous update, I felt bad for the extent of my harshness, particularly the part about seeing ya’ll in Hell. However, I now feel better about that, since Stephen Colbert said the same thing, after providing a moving recap of Earth’s history. Thanks, Stephen Colbert!

UPDATE May 22, 2011

So, here we are in Hell. Hell seems an awful lot like Earth in the pre-Rapture days. The only apocalyptic sign that I witnessed was that in the part of Hell where I live, it was a beautiful sunny day until it suddenly became cloudy and rainy within an hour of the time of the Rapture, and the sun came back about an hour after. I guess G-d was being subtly apocalyptic. I didn’t see anyone floating up to the Heavens, but if you witnessed any floating virtuous people, feel free to comment below, Fellow Hell-dwellers.

UPDATE August 23, 2011


The 5.9 earthquake in Virginia that I felt in NY and that others felt throughout the Eastern part of the country (according to my Myface newsfeed and the CNN part of the TV) is clear and undeniable evidence of the apocalypse! This is particularly obvious since we are rapidly approaching December 21, 2012 and even more rapidly approaching October 21, 2011, Harold Camping’s new judgmentally apocalyptic prediction! Run!

Idol Post-Predictions

My DVR decided to not have enough room to record all of the first American Idol results show of the season (though I was sure it did), so I didn’t see most of the watered down wildcard portion of the program. I saw through Stefano Langone’s rather impressive performance, and then read about the rest here and here.

As I mentioned, the wildcard process this year has been grossly diluted in that the judges chose wildcard contenders only from the Top 24 they had selected previously rather than from all the contestants thus far as I recall they have in the past. By only selecting from the 14 contestants that America chose as losers, they are implying that only America could have made a mistake, and that the judges are infallible. However, it is clear that as a group, their judging skills are tepid at best, paling in comparison to those of a judging group containing both Simon Cowell and the somewhat Cowell-esque Randy Jackson. Of course, Cowell is not perfect either, and I certainly didn’t always agree with him, but I did always respect his opinion because he always had one other than “wow you’re spectacular.”

I’m not just saying these things about the new wildcard process because it inherently removed any possibility that I could be right about who the wildcards would be, or because it inherently meant that the two pre-Top 24 contestants I was most hoping to see as wildcards, Colton Dixon and Chris Medina, couldn’t possibly be selected. It is the arrogance implied in the new wildcard process that bothers me most.

With all of that being said, I am generally happy with the Top 13. The Top 24 contestants that I loved most made it through (Thia Megia, Lauren Alaina, Scotty McCreery, and James Durbin). A couple of the contestants that I liked made it through (Naima Adedapo and Jacob Lusk), as did the contestant that I newly like, Stefano Langone. I was sad though not heartbroken to see Brett Loewenstern and Rachel Zevita go. I was obviously thrilled to see the evil and untalented Clint Jun Gamboa get voted out. Finally, of the Top 13, I only really dislike two contestants, Paul McDonald and Ashthon Jones.

While Paul McDonald simply has the kind of voice and musical preferences that don’t generally appeal to me, Ashthon Jones is just not that good in my opinion. I admit that she is all right, maybe even sort of good, but I really don’t like the tone of her voice, and I find her arrogant attitude absolutely irritating. The judges think she is confident, but in my opinion, she ran past confidence a long time ago and resides deep in the depths of arrogance. I might like her a little better if she realizes she’s not as great as she thinks she is.

SPOILER ALERT – Glee Season 1 is briefly mentioned below.

Speaking of over-praised contestants, I’m rather puzzled by the judges’ reactions to Pia Toscano’s rendition of “I’ll Stand by You.” I thought it was good, but not great, and I really can’t understand what greatness they saw in that performance. I think Pia’s standing ovation might have been a delayed reaction to Thia’s performance, since the mix-up is understandable considering the rhyming names. However, assuming the ovation was intended for Pia, perhaps my perception is unfairly biased. I was not only comparing Pia’s performance to the original Pretenders version of “I’ll Stand by You,” but I was also comparing it to the greatest version of that song that I ever heard: Cory Monteith as Finn singing it to what he believed was his unborn baby on Glee. If that is in fact why I stared stolidly at the TV during Pia’s performance, then the TV has gone full circle and has begun to eat itself. American Idol gave rise to Glee, and Glee has reduced what might have been a great American Idol performance into a somewhat-better-than mediocre one. Perhaps this is a sign of the Apocalypse.

UPDATE March 9, 2011

Well, it seems that Ashthon Jones took my advice and tried to show a less arrogant version of herself tonight…and now I like her even less.  Her attempt to soften her image came off as blatantly fake, and her arrogance still seeped out from her essence, along with her obscene lack of talent.  I don’t think she sang a single note on key, and I’m pretty much tone deaf.  The judges frantically tried to make sense of their horrible decision to keep her in the competition by praising her alleged ability to find her way back when she went off key, and they tried so hard to make that sound like a good thing.  I suppose it is a good thing, but I don’t think it’s so great when she had to spend the whole song doing it repeatedly.  If she had any real talent, she wouldn’t have had to spend more time finding her way back to the right notes than she did on the actual notes.

Idol Thoughts and Predictions

WARNING: The following contains mildly explicit language. Viewer discretion is advised.

In my previous blog posting, I wondered if American Idol will have wildcard contestants this season, and I suggested two potential candidates. Idol confirmed tonight that there will be wildcard contestants. I think they will be Colton Dixon, Chris Medina, and either Ashley Sullivan or Jessica Cunningham the 7-timer.

As I implied in the blog posting I mentioned above, I think they kicked the former two out before the Top 24 for publicity – to get people talking about them and about American Idol in general, and then they planned from the start to bring them back as wildcards. Time will tell if I’m right.

To further my predictions, I am guessing that Jennifer Lopez will choose Chris Medina (because of all her tears for him), Steven Tyler will choose one of the girls, and Randy Jackson will choose Colton Dixon because he is the best judge we have right now and must surely see the talent they passed over. Alternatively (and to increase my chances of being right lol), Steven Tyler might choose Chris because he clearly hearts Chris and his fiancé.

I’ve become very much disappointed in Steven Tyler as a judge. On tonight’s episode he just loved almost everyone, just as J-Lo did – even when certain contestants were just horrible. I’m not as disappointed in J-Lo as I am in Steven Tyler because my expectations of the former are significantly lower than they are for the latter because I don’t believe J-Lo has much musical talent and because I think at times, she tends toward fakeness. I was relieved that Randy Jackson showed some judging balls, proving that he does belong in the Cowell position…ewww, that sounds inappropriate lol.

Getting back to the singing people, my favorite male contestants other than the two mentioned above are James Durbin and Scotty McCreery, and to a lesser extent Brett Loewenstern and Jacob Lusk. Of the females, I might only like Lauren Alaina, but to be honest, I hardly remember the rest of them. Perhaps I will like s’more of them tomorrow.

UPDATE March 2, 2011

Well, it seems that I do like a few of the female contestants. In addition to the previously mentioned Lauren Alaina, I also like the contestant with the cartoon character name Thia Megia, and to a lesser extent, Naima Adedapo and Rachel Zevita. If the people I like don’t make it though, it will be entirely my fault, for I have not been voting this season.

I remain baffled at the level of praise given to most of the contestants.

UPDATE: March 17, 2011

I’m happy to see that the judges’ judging has improved somewhat, based on last night’s episode. Obviously, that can only mean that they have all read my blog. Perhaps a portion of their improvements reflects a shift in my perception, in that my expectations of all three judges have been lowered. I no longer hold any of them to the Cowell standard; instead, I regard the revelation of any glimmer of a critical thought as a sign of improving judging skills.