Hell- I mean Hollywood Week Begins!

Well it has been quite a while since my last post - but the rest of the audition weeks for "American Idol" were terrible.  It is one reason I don't care for the show.  It definitely is not my favorite singing competition on television.  You may ask "What is your favorite?" and my answer would be "The Voice" - there's a lot more singing (and good singing).  Then you may ask "Why don't you write about 'The Voice' instead of writing about 'American Idol' then?" - Great question.  Here's my not-so-great answer:  While I love watching "The Voice" it's an entertaining show for me - not one I'm going to really write about, because frankly I think that writing about would A. Do it no justice because it's too damn good to write about I'd just end up reiterating every word the coaches say, and 2. Would not be as entertaining to read because everyone knows it's more fun to read about the bad stuff - you all thrive off gossip and scandal, don't pretend otherwise.

Anyway, now that we have seen the first week of Hollywood Week on "Idol" I have more to discuss.  Hollywood Week is basically Hell Week.  All of the contestants have to jump through hoops in order to make the cut.  First the contestants must all re-audition on stage in front of the judges and other contestants.  They are brought up in herds of ten and Ryan Seacrest tells the folks watching at home through a voice-over that half of the contestants will be weeded out in this stage.  This isn't all that exciting.  I only have two people to report on as far as singing goes.  First, wedding singer Erika Van Pelt impressed me with her cover of "Glitter in the Air" by Pink.  I love Pink, and of the 5.5 million views her performance of "Glitter in the Air" at the 52nd Annual Grammy Awards has on youtube, I probably account for a million of those views.  Okay, that's an exaggeration, but I have watched it a lot.  Once already this morning, in fact.  The second singing performance that I wish to highlight is that of seventeen-year-old ladies man David Leathers, Jr. who decided to pick a very BIG song to sing.  You have to really be talented to try and do Celine Dion.  David belted out a fantastic rendition of "Because You Loved Me".  He'll be one to watch in my opinion as long as he can make it through the groups.  I feel like he is the kind of contestant that will surprise us viewers when it comes to taking on the challenging categories the contestants receive in the later weeks.

In other audition news, however, young Symone Black fell off the stage in the last minute of this week's first episode.  It was a scary moment made even more strenuous by the combined knowledge of not knowing what had happened until the next episode and the choice of the producers not to use any music or ominous tones during the scene.  The silence seemed to make the moment more real.  I even heard Nigel Lythgoe calling out for the medic.  I would know that man's voice anywhere.  Good news is that we find out in the second episode that Symone is fine as she returns from the hospital and moves straight into finding a group for the second challenge of Hollywood Week.

Group Round is my favorite part of Hollywood Week.  I love to hate how stupid people are and I literally count divas.  Do it.  It's fun.  Tally how many men are divas versus women.  My numbers amuse me, but see for yourself.  Once again, as seems to be the case for every Hollywood Week in the history of the show, people got sick.  This isn't hard to predict, people.  There are hundreds of people from all over the country coming together to gather in rooms packed with one another and they all sing in warm germ-breeding environments - of course people are going to get sick.

My favorite group to watch named themselves The Betty's.  Why do I like the Betty's?  Well it definitely is not because of the diva action, that's for sure.  It is because of Gabrielle.  Gabrielle, a member of the five contestants that make up the group, caught the "idol bug" as Ryan calls it.  She was vomiting but that did not stop her from rehearsing with her group.  Above that her group even seemed good with it and very supportive, despite the bag of puke in her lap.  That could not have smelled good.  I guess it was just lucky that none of her fellow group members are reactionary pukers.  Still, Gabrielle has a nice voice (at least from what I heard of them rehearsing).  It's raspy and different.  I like different.

 Apparently the groups have twenty songs on a list to choose from for this round of the competition...but I did not hear twenty songs.  I put the songs I heard into the poll so unfortunately you all have a limited selection this week.  These polls will be better once theme weeks start...and I can't wait!  Until then I'm going to find out how many shoes it will take to cover my stairs.  Enjoy whatever you are doing instead of doing what you're supposed to do!

This.....is an "American Idol" post.

Well it's that time of year again: "American Idol" is back on television.  Returning judges from last season Jennifer Lopez, Steven Tyler, and Randy Jackson - who, of course, has been on the show since the beginning - are back to give their unique opinions on this year's crop of singing hopefuls.  In honor of the eleventh season I have decided to write a semi-weekly blog series to follow the progress of the show.  Something I have always done while watching the show is pick out which songs I would have picked to sing each week, so I'm going to incorporate that into these posts in two ways:

1. I'll tell you what I would have picked and maybe say a little bit about why I would pick it.
2. I will post a poll with songs sung by contestants (maybe I'll even include my song) and you can pick your song from that list.

So the first week of auditions is over with three - yes, three - episodes.  This is the first time I can remember the show being aired on a Sunday.  Then again I didn't watch much of the early stuff for the last few seasons.  It was definitely an interesting turn of events.  The contestants gathered in San Diego, California, Savannah, Georgia, and Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania to audition for the three opinionated judges.  First, let us start with the San Diego auditions.  Who in God's name holds auditions on an aircraft carrier?!  The U.S.S. Midway was the location of the San Diego auditions and the crew soon recognized their error in judgment.  Auditions had to be stopped or delayed from the noise pollution from the harbor.  Air planes, boat horns, sea gulls - how could the judges make sound decisions with all of that noise contaminating their atmosphere?  This is one of those moments where the producers have to make a choice between big extravagant settings and reasonable working conditions.  Apparently going bigger was more important than the amount of time and film they were about to waste trying to get a good run-through from each contestant.

The other two venues were more what you would expect from the audition rooms.  Steven Tyler was his regular crazy self, Jennifer Lopez was gorgeous as usual, and Randy Jackson looked ready to reopen the Dawg Pound and invite in some new members.  So what are the highlights from the first three episodes?  Well I'm glad you asked!  Steven Tyler made an inappropriate comment about one of the 15-year-old contestants to her own father, no less.  When asked by former St. Louis Cardinals pitcher Joe Magrane about how things are in 'Beantown' Steven responded with "Hot, humid, and happenin'.  Just like your daughter."  The entire room went silent.  My mother and I agreed that this would have been a different situation entirely if Steven had just eradicated the word humid from the list.  Humid just gives off a certain shall we say 'sexy' type of connotation which should not be used in reference to a 15-year-old girl.  Censorship still seems to be Steven's weak point on the show, but at least most of the time it is something laughable.

Another moment to remember was something I'm sure many people were talking about the next day at work - Jane Carrey.  Daughter of iconic funnyman Jim Carrey, Jane came to the San Diego auditions to show off her chops for the judges.  There has been speculation of whether or not Jane was given a ticket based on her father but I would like to clear something up right now - She has a decent voice.  She was no worse than other contestants who made it through to the next round.  In fact, I thought the judges were a little too lenient on who they let through to Hollywood (in Savannah especially).  I have to agree with Randy's assessment that Jane has potential, and you can tell her voice has some good qualities to it.  If anything she's just a little raw and there's nothing wrong with that.  This show often shows people coming into their voices during the season.  Jane has as good a shot as any to make it through the next round.

The final audition moment I would like to reflect on is the Dixon audition.  Schyler Dixon came to the Savannah auditions with her brother Colton, both of whom auditioned last year for Season 10.  Colton came close to making it last year, but this year he had decided not to audition.  When Schyler told the judges that he was there but not auditioning they promptly demanded that she go outside and retrieve her brother.  The judges then seemed to focus more on Colton than Schyler.  Was this fair to young Schyler?  I don't think so.  If Colton did not want to audition than I don't think they should have forced him to, but I especially do not think they should have interrupted Schyler's moment do make him audition either.  That was the bigger problem.  They should have focused on Schyler's audition and then asked Colton in to see why he was not auditioning this season.  Schyler sang her own rendition of the song "Breakeven" by The Script and Colton chose my favorite David Cook song "Permanent" on the spot to sing for the judges.  As a majority, the judges seemed to think Colton was still the better singer but I would have to respectfully disagree.  I thought Schyler's voice was unique and interesting and I thought overall her audition went better than Colton's.  In the end both siblings left with a golden ticket so now we'll have to wait until Hollywood to check back in with how they feel about the competition now with what happened in the auditions...and believe me....it will come up.

Well that is all I have to say for now.  Please vote in the poll to the right for your personal pick for an audition song.  I'm curious to see what you all pick.  Don't forget to tune in to Fox tonight for the next episode of "American Idol" and remember - procrastination is just another way of saying 'rebooting my brain'.

10 Questions for 2012

So I decided to do something I don't normally do yesterday morning: read the paper.  The Entertainment section of my local paper had a list of twenty questions they hope will be answered in 2012.  The writer was highly opinionated in his offerings and I was stunned by a few.  Honestly I don’t care if the Kim Kardashian-Kris Humphries 72-day marriage was a scam.  I do not follow Hollywood couples because I associate them with falling into one of these categories: 1. A scam – either for publicity, promotion, or just plain vain.  2.  Love – and if so good for them.  3. Rebound – which could be classified as a scam I suppose, but not in my book, and again this could be for publicity reasons as well.  4. Movie Chemistry – this would be a couple that plays as a couple on a tv show or in a film and become attracted to one another as a result of the roles they have played.  Thus I do not care who marries whom.  Chances are it will be over soon enough.  If not, great, but really not my business.

So I decided to make my own list, but mine will only have ten points because I would like to keep this brief:

1.   Will they really make a “Mass Effect” movie?  We’ve been hearing talk about this for years but still little is known.  First the debates were on whether there would be a female or a male Shepard, a reasonable question with the choice the game gives you (and believe me, it makes a difference).  But now with the new plot line setting the film back when humans first discovered the mass relays there is no worry about the Commander Shepard gender issue.  Still IMDB has no more information past a small blurb about the plot and the name of the screenwriter.

2.     Will this be the year that a show about super humans/super heroes makes it past the first season?  With recent shows in this category falling victim to the first year cuts (like “The Cape” or “No Ordinary Family”) will “Alphas” be the show to break the losing streak?  Tune in this summer on SyFy for the outcome.  (Note: IMDB has a listing for the first episode of Season 2 in July – Good news?  I think so!)

3.     Will the “Avengers” movie be all that it promises to be?  Come on – with Robert Downey Jr., Chris Evans, Chris Hemsworth, Scarlett Johansson, Jeremy Renner, AND Mark Ruffalo how could it not?

4.     Who will end up as Kelly’s new host in place of Regis Philbin?  I would like to cast my vote for Neil Patrick Harris now please.

5.     Who will be the next President of the United States?  Come on – this is probably the most important thing for the most people that I’m going to put on this list – yet my local paper didn’t think this was a worthy question?  The election should count in Entertainment. 

6.     How many movies will be deemed the “Best Film of the Year” before we actually find one deserving of the honor?  I mean, how many times can they get it wrong?  You know what really bothers me?  When I see ads for the first movie of the year saying it is the best of the year.  If they mean the best so far well then duh!  It’s the only movie of the year so it has to be the best by default – which would also make it the worst by default if you follow that line of logic.  If they mean the best of the whole year to come then those reviewers are either psychic, hopeful, or just plain stupid.  I’m sorry, but rarely does the best movie of the year come out in the first week of the year.  It’s just plain fact.  Don’t believe me?  Go find the release dates for the last 20 Best Picture winners from the Golden Globes.

7.    Who will be the best J. Pierrepont Finch:  Daniel Radcliffe, Darren Criss, or Nick Jonas?  I’m just sorry I won’t be able to answer this one myself – but it is far too expensive and time consuming to go see the same play three times.  I’ll settle for one, and I’m hoping to see Darren – no offense to the other two, but Daniel is leaving soon and I love Darren’s voice (as well as thinking he is a good actor) so it was an easy pick for me.

8.     Who will win the most medals in the 2012 Olympic Games?  GO USA!!

9.      How many movies will we see in theatres based on books?  I can already name a few.  This trend seems to get more popular every year….maybe it is because I’m just more well read every year…but I doubt it.  Do you think this trend is because people love to see their favorite books visually acted out for that extra dimension, or is it because people would rather watch moving pictures than actual read a story?  My hope is that it is the first, but my practicality says it is a little of both.

10.   How many celebrities will be arrested this year?  Okay, I don’t really care about this one, but I figured I should throw in a gossip note for all you people who just love to creep on celebs.

Well there you have it - My top ten questions to be answered this year.  Or, more accurately, the first ten questions I thought up.  Enjoy your pondering!