Following up on this. These are the ("new" release) albums/EPs that made their way into my library in the second half of the year...
In (approximate) order of release:
Court Yard Hounds, Amelita
Selena Gomez, Stars Dance
Aubrey O'Day, Between Two Evils
Arctic Monkeys, AM
Janelle Monae, The Electric Lady
Snarky Puppy, Family Dinner -- Volume 1
Mazzy Star, Seasons Of Your Day
Miley Cyrus, Bangerz
Panic! At The Disco, Too Weird To Live, Too Rare To Die!
Katy Perry, Prism
Brandy Clark, 12 Stories
Kelly Clarkson, Wrapped In Red
Julie Roberts, Good Wine & Bad Decisions
Mindy Smith, Snowed In
M.I.A., Matangi
Amy Jo Johnson, Never Broken
Leona Lewis, Christmas With Love
Beyonce, Beyonce
Jo Dee Messina, Me
Showing posts with label Meta. Show all posts
Showing posts with label Meta. Show all posts
Sunday, December 15, 2013
The Albums of the Second Half-ish of 2013-ish
Thursday, June 27, 2013
The Albums of the First Half-ish of 2013-ish
I still buy "albums" (do the kids still say "albums" these days?). These are the albums (including EPs) that found their way into my library between roughly Thanksgiving 2012 and mid-June 2013...
In (approximate) order of release:
Rihanna, Unapologetic
Solange, True
Ke$ha, Warrior
Dawn Richard, Goldenheart
Neon Hitch, Happy Neon
Kate Nash, Girl Talk
Ashley Monroe, Like A Rose
Orianthi, Heaven In This Hell
Megan Hilty, It Happens All The Time
Justin Timberlake, The 20/20 Experience
Kacey Musgraves, Same Trailer Different Park
Dido, Girl Who Got Away
Paramore, Paramore
Molly Ringwald, Except Sometimes
Fall Out Boy, Save Rock And Roll
Natalie Maines, Mother
Pistol Annies, Annie Up
Demi Lovato, Demi
The Goods, The Goods
LeAnn Rimes, Spitfire
Court Yard Hounds, Sunshine
Kanye West, Yeezus
Kelly Rowland, Talk A Good Game
If I find time, maybe I'll follow up with a twitter-like message about each...
Thursday, January 24, 2008
Sorry, No Idol Post Last Nite
Hi all:
I had unexpected work and personal time commitments last nite, and I wasn't able to blog American Idol. I apologize for any "inconvenience" [ha!!! -- Ed.] this may have caused anyone.
I'll probably be up with my thoughts about Wednesday nite's show later on Thursday.
ciaobaby
Saturday, December 1, 2007
BREAKING: Area Blogger Not Kidnapped By Aliens
We here at DHMBIB have been remiss about posting recently. In fact, we see that it's been 9 weeks since our last post. That was not our intention. It's just that we got caught up in other life events, like job-related things, moving-related things, blah-blah-blah-related things. And as such.
We are back, and we'll try to make it worth your while for occasionally stopping by and checking us out.
With regard to our "Best CDs of 2007" project, we plan to condense the remaining posts into more-easily-writeablereadable nuggets. And we are also planning on doing some nice, arbitrary "end of the year" stuff.
Thank you for your patronage.
Eds.
Wednesday, September 12, 2007
Video Of The Day: "IDK, my BFF Rose"
I'm normally not the kind of blogtard who would allow my blog to be used to shill for a commercial product, and that's not what this post is about.
But stick with me on this one. I do have some meta stuff I want to talk about.
Earlier this year, after completing their merger with Cingular Wireless, AT&T Wireless unveiled a series of commercials touting their wireless plans. One commercial [not included here] showed a "mother" chastising her "family" for "throwing away" their rollover minutes, represented in the ad by tiny analog clocks. A follow-up commercial showed a different "mother" chastising her "daughter" for running up the family's wireless bill through excessive text messaging:
This commercial, which has come to be known as "IDK, my BFF Jill", is probably the most polarizing commercial of the year. Everyone I know hates this commercial. Except for me. I love it.
Why? I use this kind of SMS shorthand all the time myself. Not usually in speech, sure, but that's the joke that makes this ad. No one "talks" like this. Now. But soon, we will.
In fact, it's already happening. Educators have already begun the teeth-gnashing and the hair-pulling and the whatnot over students who use SMS shorthand in essays. Some educators are even debating whether they should "teach" SMS shorthand as a way to control the monster that has already been unleashed. I'm not sure what they would "teach" exactly -- is it socially improper for youngsters to write, or say, "WTF" when communicating with their elders? -- but I'm sure we'll work it out. Whatevs.
It's okay, people. Calm down. Breathe. We'll survive this. INBD.
Anyway, most people hoped that "Mom" and "Beth Ann" had completed their nails-on-the-chalkboard reign over our airtime. But recently, AT&T Wireless unveiled a new add, "IDK, my BFF Rose". And, of course, it's my "Video Of The Day". NJOY:
* * * * *
Random thoughts about the above:
* The new [second] clip above was posted to YouTube by user "attmobility". So, AT&T Wireless. How do we feel about advertisers gettin' all up in OurSpace?
* The older [first] clip above was posted to YouTube by [presumably] a regular user. It and other clips of the same ad have already been viewed over 1 million times. Does that make my first question moot?
* The first clip is a rip from the teevee. The second clip comes straight from AT&T. The first clip comes with the Oasis sample still audible at the end. The second clip has the music excised. How do the Gallagher brothers and their record label feel about all of this?
* The actress who plays the "Mom" in these two adds is Orlagh Cassidy, who plays the character "Doris Wolfe" on the CBS soaper Guiding Light. [Don't ask me how I know that. Just know that whenever I see her on the show, I mumble under my breath, "Me paying this bill, that's what's S...NF".] Anyways, I've always been curious how much soap work pays. And how much commercial work pays. And now, how much AT&T Wireless had to pay to get her to come back for another go-round?
* * * * *
Bonus Fall Out Boy video, "Thnks Fr Th Mmrs":
[Note that the video is sponsored by Tag Body Spray. Sigh...]
Monday, July 23, 2007
The Year In Music, 2007: The Best CDs Of The Year [Part 1]
Okay, I've been promising and promising forever. I'm ready.
I've been working on a recap of the Best CDs of the Year. I'll be posting about these CDs chronologically based on their US release date. Most posts will discuss why I think the CDs stand out and will includes references to reviews and what other critics or blogs thought about the CD. Some will even have a couple of MP3's.
Of course, my tastes are not everyone's tastes. What I consider to be among the best, may be on your "Worst! CD! Ever!" list. I'll even talk about some of the CDs that recently disappointed me. I should get around to nearly every CD I bought this year, either in a "best of" post or in a recap of some "meh" CDs.
To qualify, the CD had to be released in the US for the first time on or after 1 January 2007. The CD also had to be composed of "new" material, so I will largely be ignoring "Greatest Hits" and other similar compilations. [Note: "CD" includes digital collections, and my evaluation may include "bonus material" available only in digital form.]
I hope to post about at least one CD every day/night. But please bear with me.
Thanks again for your continued support.
DHMBIB
Monday, July 16, 2007
Alright, Still...
Okay, seriously, I'm tired of not posting, and then wondering whether I need to apologize for...not posting...
[This is the point where we would probably insert a "jump" code, but that seems to be broken on Blogger right now, so you'll just have to imagine it. It seems that we've been gone so long that lots of things have changed on this site. Please give us "more time" to work these issues out. -- Ed.]
After American Idol wrapped, and I got 2-nights-a-week of my life back, I reconnected with some people in the real world. I also recently had started a new job, and I've worked some late hours recently -- including missing the AI finale due to work commitments. Also, I overcommitted myself on some personal projects. All of that contributed to me just not having a lot of time to post here.
Oh, and one more thing.
As AI was wrapping, I decided I would post my thoughts on some of the best albums of the first-half of 2007. So I began spending all of my free time listening hard to the albums I had picked up, mentally drafting my posts as I went along. Then, as I was about ready to start posting these thoughts, I began to rethink how I wanted to do that. Anyway, I think I'm now ready to go. Check back here at least daily over the next couple of weeks, as I should have lots of interesting new stuff.
Thanks for your support.
ciaobaby
Tuesday, June 12, 2007
BREAKING: Area Blogger Posts Bloggosphere's 1 Millionth "Sorry For Not Posting" Post
Your long national nightmare is over.
Yeah, it's been three weeks. Three weeks during which you've not experienced the joy of reading our ruminations on American Idol [the finale sucked, big time! -- Ed.] and other things vaguely musical and whatnot.
But, we're back. Which is not to say that we were ever "gone". It's just that we had some day-job things suck up more time than we anticipated and blah blah blah.
Thanks for your continued support.
DHMBIB
Monday, May 21, 2007
META: Area Blogger To Post Photos Instead Of Half-Assed Thoughts, Readers Rejoice
I've been quiet for a few days. Mostly, it's because I have lots of photos that I want to post but have had difficulty figuring out how to post them in a way that would be not boring worth your time reasonably entertaining.
So, I worked it out mostly. And I'm about ready to go with a bunch of photos.
Don't Hate Me Because I'm Bloggerful!!!
Friday, May 18, 2007
BREAKING: Long-Time Music Blogger Knows Her Shit... [19 May 2007]
[image courtesy Fox via Idolator]
...or 75% of her AI-finalist-predicting shit, which is still pretty fucking awesome!!!
[sure, we coulda saved this for next week, but we're bored NOW, DAMNIT!!! plus, these were who's-gonna-make-the-top-12 predictions, not who's-gonna-win predictions, so, why not now??? -- Ed.]
I was blowing the dust off some old posts on my blog when I came across a link to a piece on Idolator in which Maura Johnston evaluated the AI-top-24 and made her predictions for the top 12.
And "Damn Girl" -- Maura needs to pat herself on the back big time.
Maura looked at the top 12 men and the top 12 women at the end of "the Hollywood round" and made a prediction about which 6 men and which 6 women would make it to the finals -- as well as a prediction about which 2-of-each would get booted in the first week of the semifinals.
Here's what Maura got right about the top 12 [in order of her discussion]:
MEN: Chris Richardson, Sanjaya Malakar, Chris Sligh, Blake Lewis, Phil Stacey
WOMEN: Melinda Doolittle, Jordin Sparks, LaKisha Jones, Gina Glocksen
Two words: WOW!!!
Put another way, here's Maura's top 12, along with their actual finishes:1-2: Blake Lewis, Jordin Sparks
3: Melinda Doolittle
4: LaKisha Jones
5-6: Chris Richardson, Phil Stacey
7: Sanjaya Malakar
9: Gina Glocksen
10: Chris Sligh
Leslie Hunt [17-20]
Rudy Cardenas [21-24]
Nicole Tranquillo [21-24]
And Maura's first 4 out:Antonella Barba [13-16]
Sundance Head [13-16]
Alaina Alexander [17-20]
"Shoeless" Paul Kim [21-24]
And Maura's "missing" 3 finalists:Haley Scarnato [8]
Stephanie Edwards [11]
Brandon Rogers [12]
And the rest:Jared Cotter [13-16]
Sabrina Sloan [13-16] [!!!]
Nick Pedro [17-20]
A.J. Tabaldo [17-20]
Amy Krebs [21-24]
This was all done the night the top 24 were introduced to us -- in some cases, with very little info to go on.
Kudos to Maura for nailing the top 7, and 9 of the top 10. That's a bunch of highlight-reel home runs, right there. Sure, there were a coupla big swing-and-a-miss-es there [2 of Maura's top 12 were out in the first week of the semi's], but, occasionally, the pitcher throws a spit ball [STEPHANIE EDWARDS] and the ump misses the call [SABRINA FUCKING SLOAN!!!]. Plus, every big home-run-hitter strikes out a few times -- BUT STILL, Maura bested even the bestest!!!
Congrats, Maura, on showing us how it's done.
Wednesday, May 9, 2007
Tonight In This Week In American Idol [9 May 2007]
Dear Faithful Readers:
Due to a scheduling conflict, I will not be around to watch tonite's results show. So, I won't be liveblogging it -- but that's really okay, because liveblogging the commercial-and-filler-filled results show is not very fun to do -- and the results aren't very fun to read. I will catch a replay of the show after the fact, and I'll probably post some thoughts later this evening.
I also plan to update my liveblog from last nite, so you may find it interesting to skim back through that later -- or, not.
Speaking of the performance show, when I told Faithful Reader and Dear Sister KM that I would be having dinner with friends, she thought that meant I would miss the show. So she graciously wrote up a report [an after-the-fact report, not a "liveblog" -- Ed.] of the festivities and passed it along with permission to reprint it here.
My sister has long been a huge fan of the music of the Brothers Gibb -- hey, shouldn't they actually be called the "Bees Gee"??? [we can actually remember a time when radio DJs thought that joke was funny -- Ed.] -- so her report is very thorough and knowledgeable and slightly less half-assed than mine.
Enjoy the sweetness after the jump...It's Top 4 night, three ladies, one man. (Wow, Blake is SHORT. Of course, he's standing next to Jordin, who's like 10 feet tall or something.) Ryan's in black suit, white shirt, skinny black tie. It's a good look for him. THIS is American Idol.
We meet the judges. Paula's the only one into the theme of tonight, wearing a feminine version of the Travolta white suit and black shirt, and a gazillion pearls. Seriously. I counted. Randy's in blue; Simon's in a white v-neck T-shirt. Put on your real shirt next time, for God's sake, Simon.
The schedule is tight tonight, Ryan says, and for once he's not exaggerating. We're almost at the three minute mark and we haven't even gotten to the intro of the mentor yet.
Our mentor tonight is Barry Gibb, founder of the Bee Gees, member of the Rock & Roll Hall of Fame and Songwriter's Hall of Fame, producer of about a gazillion diva singers' albums (Diana Ross/Barbra Streisand/Celine Dion are the three named; I can think of a few more), and--according to BILLBOARD--the most successful songwriter/producer ever. (What most people don't know is that the Gibb brothers surpassed Lennon/McCartney several years back as the songwriters with the most #1 songs on the Billboard Hot 100, and Barry alone topped L/M for most songs in a single Billboard Hot 100 Top Ten back in 1978, so for once TPTB aren't exaggerating in their intro piece.) We come from the past into the present with Barry Gibb leading Melinda/LaKisha/Jordin/Blake through "How Deep Is Your Love". Hey, anybody remember Blake doing the arrangement for his Hollywood group sing to "How Deep Is Your Love"? Remember how completely awesome that was? Remember that Blake's the only one of those guys left standing now? You will, because NOTHING like that's going to happen tonight.
Mentor introduction interview: Barry's had problems with his jaw in recent years, so he speaks very softly and sounds like Sean Connery with clenched teeth. That said, there's absolutely nothing wrong with his singing voice; he can still hit all those falsetto notes and all the mid-baritone notes as well. And he looks good for a guy in his 60s. He's excited about these contestants doing his music, and you can tell that he actually is excited...but he also looks a little nervous. (Justifiably so, as we'll see later.) Back in rehearsal-land, the group finishes "How Deep Is Your Love", and he praises them all. "Want to form a group?" he offers. (Now that's not necessarily a bad idea. They really do sound good together.)
Melinda's up first. She's doing "Love You Inside Out". LaToya did this in AI3, and I didn't like it then. Barry Gibb is skeptical, especially because the song is written for a man's falsetto, and Barry Gibb's falsetto is so high that a woman has to at least be able to get into the low-soprano range to match. That's not Melinda's strength, and Barry's advice is to "remember that I sound like a woman when I sing."
Performance: It's not bad. It's a little jazzy. It's kind of funky in a good way. It's also kind of funky in a bad way. I can't listen to this song without remembering that the original lyrics, according to the late, great Maurice Gibb, were "Love you inside and out/Backwards and forwards with my cock hanging out..." Seriously, listen to the recorded version sometime. If you wonder why the word "heart" sounds so much like "hot" or "hock" in some of the chorus renditions, it's because Maurice was being naughty on practically every take.
What was that? How did Melinda do? Sorry, I got distracted. That's because, even though her voice is nice, she sounds incredibly dull, and she's taken the key down because she can't hit the falsetto notes. Somewhere, Maurice Gibb is spinning in his grave. AI needs to bury this song and take it out of the rotation; Idol contestants are now 0-2 singing it.
Judges: Randy really hates it, and you can tell because he's trying so hard not to tell The Great Melinda that he hates it. Paula falls back on the "hard to judge" excuse before she finally says that she didn't like it. Simon declares that it was "more like a backing vocalist's performance" and hated it. Ryan cuts off his comments, which really makes Simon mad. You can tell because he takes it out on the next contestant every time he gets cut off.
Next up: Blake, who takes on "You Should Be Dancing". He plans to beatbox part of it, like last week. Barry Gibb approves wholeheartedly. This SHOULD be right in Blake's wheelhouse...
Performance: ...except that once again, Barry Gibb's falsetto is REALLY, REALLY good and REALLY, REALLY hard for a guy not used to singing falsetto to hit properly, as Blake proves fairly quickly. Barry Gibb has a remarkable voice range and his falsetto is as strong as most singers' normal range voices. This is where the problem lies tonight, because Blake's falsetto is not strong AT ALL, and none of the other contestants, with the exception of MAYBE Jordin, can hit the notes with enough power to not lose their pitch. Blake especially has this problem--he's about a half-step flat on virtually every note, and getting outsung by the backing vocals. When he breaks into the beatboxing, this should be his home-run swing, but it's not: Some of the beatboxing is behind the beat, and he's STILL off-pitch. Then, remarkably, about halfway through the beatboxing bridge, he finally gets on beat and comes on pitch. But it doesn't last, and this performance is just really embarrassing.
Judges: Randy hated the beatboxing and practically begs him not to do it ever again. Paula thought his pitch was off, which is like saying the Titanic may have gotten off-course when it hit the iceberg. Simon said it was "unique" and "terrible", and he's absolutely right on both counts.
Ryan says you can "Tex-ex-ex-ex-ex-ext" the vote in a beatbox rhythm. Scarily, it's better than Blake's BB so far.
Next, LaKisha is taking on "Staying Alive". She's slowing the beat down and staying in alto. Barry Gibb isn't wild about the fact that she's staying so low that her voice bottoms out on the chorus. He sings the chorus and his falsetto is still just as beautiful as ever. He tells her not to be afraid to go up and hit the top notes, because he thinks they're in her range. She sings it with him, just to prove that she actually CAN hit the notes, and then says she'll follow his advice...
Performance: ...and then, as usual, completely ignores the mentor's advice, staying fully down in her alto, then bailing out on the singing completely when the melody gets too low, riffing on the chorus while the backing vocalists do all the heavy lifting. This, folks, is absolutely dreadful. She truly sucks. "Staying Alive" has been successfully updated by rappers and R&B singers before, but this just isn't working. The end-of-show rehearsal clip shows that during rehearsal, she tried a little falsetto, but then bailed on it almost immediately, making it sound really bad. She's having throat problems, as we discover later in the show, but nobody's voice at this stage of the competition is at its best, and that's not a good-enough excuse for this performance.
Judges: Randy thought it was way too disjointed when she would stop singing during the chorus. Paula says the crowd was on their feet when she came out, but then she slowed the tempo down, which didn't work: "They want to DANCE!" Simon says it's a good thing they're all singing two songs tonight, because this one was just "terrible" and that she's regressed in her style and is now back to "shouting". Damn, Simon, that was cold-blooded, harsh, and RIGHT ON POINT.
The show goes to commercial. Rob and I exchange a phone call at this point, and we both agree: This first half sucks so far. I remind him that AI2 did Bee Gees night and it went over great, with Josh and Clay doing dueling "To Love Somebody" versions and Ruben getting a good groove on during "How Can You Mend A Broken Heart?" Rob wonders if this is a Barry Gibb vs. Robin Gibb thing--Barry with his mid-range baritone and high falsetto; Robin with his mid-range tenor and lower falsetto--and I disagree. It's true that every song chosen so far is a Barry Gibb song--that is, Barry sang lead--but that doesn't excuse the contestants failing to completely grasp any of the melodies so far. He thinks it's because the songs are 30 years old. I think it's because this is a relatively weak group of contestants and none of them have the right voice ranges for these songs. Again, AI2, Clay Aiken's nearly 2-octave range and Josh Gracin's strong tenor voice had zero trouble, and even 1-octave Ruben found a song that worked for him. The only one who struggled that night was Kim Locke, and that's because she has the same basic limitations as Kiki and Melinda: She's an alto with a weak soprano range and a tendency to bottom out at the lower end of her range. Phil wouldn't have had nearly the issues with tonight's theme. Neither would Haley. Chris Sligh would have rocked it. Heck, even Sanjaya could have found a song in the Gibb Brothers' massive song library. What do all those contestants have in common? They have big voices (except for Sanjaya) and broad ranges. That's what you need to have to carry off a Bee Gees song.
Return to show. Ryan and Jordin in the "Coca-Cola Keepin' It Real" section, with a "question" about how what she's learned so far. Wisely, she does not mention posing erotically at war memorials (SNAP!) or wearing as little clothing as possible onstage (SNAP-SQUARED!).
Jordin's singing "To Love Somebody". This, and "Words", are my two favorite Barry Gibb songs ever. What they both have in common is the blue-eyed soul and a range that goes from mid-falsetto to mid-baritone. And, guess what, Jordin's range is at least close to that. So this song is actually a perfect match for her. Barry looks unsure at first, but eventually comes around, especially when Jordin starts soaring into her upper range. "A couple of hundred people have recorded this song," he says, "but I've never heard a better version than Jordin's."
Performance: Jordin is the first one tonight to get the Gibbs' blue-eyed soul right. The best version of this song I've ever heard recorded was by the Bee Gees in a live concert in 1976 (seriously, get "Here At Last...Bee Gees...Live", and hear these songs when all three brothers were at their finest), with Barry Gibb giving it the Otis Redding treatment. (FWIW, Barry and Robin wrote this song for Otis Redding. He died in a plane crash one day before he was supposed to go into the studio and record it.) The second best was Clay Aiken in AI2, doing his best Barry Gibb impersonation (and I've always felt like Clay should have recorded this for one of his albums; it's that good). This version, by Jordin? The third best.
Judges: Randy loved the Mariah Carey vibe. Paula declares it the best vocal so far. Simon agrees with both judges.
First half is over, and the rankings:
Jordin
(gap)
Melinda
(enormous gap)
Blake
(small gap)
LaKisha
Kiki's in real trouble here, folks. She knows she's on the bubble and needs a real killer performance here, and the only thing she's killed so far is the first song. Blake's not any better, and this is the first real sign of weakness Melinda's shown.
Back for the second half, starting with the Coca-Cola segment, where Ryan asks what the first tape or CD Melinda ever bought for herself was. Melinda says it was a tape and reminds everyone that she's OLD (bad move, MindyDoo), and that it was Michael Jackson's "Bad", which her mom crossed out on the inner liner and wrote "Good" instead. MindyDoo is so adorable.
Melinda's second choice is "How Can You Mend A Broken Heart". This is a song better suited to Melinda's range. Barry doesn't like the fact that she keeps reworking the chorus to remove the part "How can a loser ever win", but Melinda explains that she's trying not to jinx herself with "loser" or words like that. Barry laughs and agrees that's not a bad answer.
Performance: Outstanding. She doesn't sing the "loser" line, and she turns it into a bluesy jazz club tune. Fantastic. Her key change is phenomenal. This is a song with a fairly small range and it's been remade a gazillion times by R&B artists, so it's not hard to get a version of it that practically anybody can sing. That said, she's just amazing.
Judges: Randy loved it. Paula think she's a great throwback but wants her to be less technical and more emotional. Simon notes that Melinda looks like she doesn't understand a word of that. Then he tells her that the second half of the song probably put her into the semi-finals (top 3). I agree that this punched her ticket to next week, but she's in real trouble after that. I think she'll get sabotaged by either Clive Davis, the judges, or both, to make room for Jordin to make the finals instead of her.
Blake's second choice is "This Is Where I Came In", one of the Gibbs' late career songs. I really like this song, and it's one of the last ones the three Gibbs recorded together before Maurice's death. Barry thinks it's a really odd choice, because it's a relatively unknown tune, and notes that he thought it could have been a huge hit when it was first released. "I still do," he continues. "Maybe this version will be the one."
Performance: Blake's boy-banded the backbeat and is doing the argyle sweater look again. He's really getting into it and mixing both great vocals and beatboxing to great effect. Compared to the first song, this is out-freaking-standing.
Judges: Randy liked it better than the first song but thinks it would have been better without beatboxing. Paula likes that Blake is the "contemporary rebel" of the competition and that, more importantly, he stayed on pitch throughout the song. Simon hated the song (because he doesn't know it), thought it was a bad song choice (because he doesn't know it), and thought Blake really stumbled tonight, especially with this song (because he doesn't know it). Sensing a theme here?
Ryan vamps in the audience with Judge Judy (!) and Simon's mother, and pimps the songwriting competition. Thought we were tight on time tonight, Ryan.
LaKisha's second song is "Run To Me". I like "Run To Me" (from the early 70s), but again it's not one of the Bee Gees' better-known tunes (it's from their transition from 60s Brit-Pop to 70's blue-eyed soul, and it's got a little bit of both styles in it). Barry once more tells her to stop hanging around the alto range and actually go up and hit the big notes.
Performance: This time, she listens to Barry and actually does strike some of the higher notes during the chorus and key change. It's miles better than her first one...until the last note, which she totally biffs because she's blown her voice out. Don't worry, KiKi, you're going home tomorrow night anyway, so you'll have time to rest before the tour.
Judges: Randy really liked it and says "Don't worry about that last note". KiKi tries to thank him and her voice really is gone. The words are raspy and hoarse. Paula tells her that she did great and not to beat herself up over the last note. (Translation: Look, audience, LaKisha's blown her voice out! She can't go on! Won't you send her home and let her rest?) Simon puts forth TPTB's official message tonight, which is that "you and Blake are very vulnerable tonight".
Nine minutes to go. Will they make it without missing the upcut to HOUSE?
Back from commercial, and it's Jordin's last go-round. She's doing "Woman In Love". O.K., this is a guaranteed ticket-puncher to next week if she can pull it off. She's already proven she can do this kind of song before with "I Who Have Nothing". Barry Gibb is practically offering to produce her first album for her. She really does sound great in practice.
Performance: Simple, beautiful, rich-voiced. Everybody says never take on Streisand on this show, but actually for a contestant with a range like Jordin's, Streisand is the perfect performer to take on. Babs has MAYBE an 11-note range, so all of her songs are arranged to take maximum advantage of that. This song is actually one of the few Babs songs that pushes her range to its max, and that's why it was such a huge hit in the late 70s--it didn't sound ANYTHING like what Babs had ever done. Jordin, wisely, sticks to the basic arrangement, hits every note beautifully (she does shout a little bit near the end), and just blows everybody out of the water tonight. She's got a real young Mariah Carey look and sound to her tonight, and she's wearing a gorgeous full-length dress with lots of cleavage showing.
Judges: Randy thought it wasn't her best, but it was great, and offers "props to Barry Gibb for a great bunch of songs tonight" (Translation: The Gibbs have 40 years worth of material to choose from and y'all chose THOSE? Damn...). Paula can't bring herself to criticize Jordin, but neither can she form a coherent sentence. Either her happy pills finally kicked in, or she's been told not to praise Jordin to get her some sympathy votes (and either one is possible, frankly). Simon brings out the "pageanty" hammer and the "you're so young but you sound so old" slam to make sure the take-home message is transmitted correctly: "Jordin sang great, right? But the judges hated her! You've got to vote for her en masse!"
Recap. They miss the 2100 EST5EDT upcut, as usual, this time a little over 30 seconds into the recap before they run over. (I'm betting money ABC is already preparing their FCC protest, as they've done this all season long and it cuts into the turn-over rate to DANCING WITH THE STARS. I'm sure that's just a coincidence. Only, not.) The rehearsal clips show Melinda sounded good, Blake sounded a LOT better in rehearsal, KiKi sounded a lot WORSE, and Jordin was excellent.
And then...the show turns awesome. We get our first "Seacrest--OUT!" of the entire season at 2102 EST5EDT. That made the entire evening worthwhile...almost.
My order from first half to second half didn't change, except Jordin's lead over Melinda is bigger. Blake and Kiki will probably be the bottom 2, and it'll be Kiki going home because of Blake probably picking up most of Chris' fans (and some of Phil's, too).
Now, for my biggest bugaboo about tonight's show: SONG CHOICE.
Remember at the beginning of the show, when we learned that Barry Gibb's in the R&R HOF, the Songwriter HOF, most successful songwriter/producer combo ever, etc.? None of those are exaggerations. The Bee Gees catalog from 1975 to 1979 ALONE has enough awesome material in it to fill a half-dozen AI shows. Let's think about what we didn't hear tonight:
-- "Emotion", most recently by Destiny's Child.
-- "Islands In The Stream", Kenny Rogers/Dolly Parton.
-- "If I Can't Have You", Yvonne Elliman, whose range is very similar to Melinda and KiKi's. Ditto "Love Me", also recorded by Elliman.
-- "I Just Want To Be Your Everything", Andy Gibb (written by Barry).
-- "Rest Your Love On Me Awhile", Olivia Newton-John.
-- "More Than A Woman", Tavares
-- "Nights on Broadway", which Ruben--RUBEN!--did in AI2 and Constantine did in AI4, both very well.
-- "How Deep Is Your Love" (though they might be saving that for the group number).
I could list about two dozen more and still not run out of material. Why, in the name of all that is good and holy, didn't they pick one of THESE? Instead, we get one real uptempo tune ("You Should Be Dancing"), two disco dance tunes turned into slow grooves ("Love You Inside Out" and "Stayin' Alive"), and the rest were ballads. BALLADS. Think about this for a minute. You have as your "mentor" the songwriter whose mid-70s catalog virtually DEFINED "disco" (in fact, IIRC, "Jive Talkin'" was the first #1 song on the newly-lauched Billboard Disco chart in 1975), he's giving over his entire catalog to you, and all you can pick are BALLADS? Whiskey-Tango-Foxtrot, with a capital "Foxtrot", is going on here?
And finally, a check of DialIdol. DI this season has been more indicative of trends than predictive. Over the past few weeks, Melinda's been sinking loike a rock, Jordin's rising, and Blake is hot on her heels. DI, so far this season, has not had ONE contestant whose MoE kept them in the "safe" range, get voted out. NOT ONE. So, at 0300 EST5EDT DI had this to say:
1. Blake (22.4, MoE 2.6)
2. Jordin (22.2, MoE 2.6)
(Meaning, in essence, they're tied, and so far ahead of the 3-4 spots that neither is in any danger.)
3. Melinda (12.0, MoE 2.7)
4. LaKisha (11.6, MoE 2.8)
(Meaning the judges may indeed get their "shocking elimination" yet this season, because MindyDoo going out in 4th would be huge. We're talking Chris Daughtry huge, people. This is your front-runner and best performer, and she's on the verge of elimination. Wow.)
--Kimberly Murphy -- kimmurphysmith@yahoo.com
http://stores.ebay.com/kimberlyknits-fashion-boutique?refid=store
Saturday, May 5, 2007
BREAKING: Area Blogger Having The Best Week Ever [5 April 2007]
DHMBIB is having the Best Week Ever!!! VH1 is planning a new show focused around us and all the love we're getting from the bloggosphere. Full details after the jump.
Okay, so there's no VH1 show about us in the works. But we are having the Best Week Ever, thanks to some love we're getting from two of our favorite blogs.
Last week, Maura Johnston over at Idolator saw something that she thought was interesting in our liveblog of the 24 April edition of American Idol -- she had to read all the way to the bottom to find it, so she's obviously mentally disturbed a big fan -- and used it in her own write-up of the show, giving us our broadest exposure yet:
And earlier this week, we pointed our readers to a sweet post from one of our favorite bloggers, Kelly Ann Collins. KAC caught our post and put this up on her Long Live The Plastics site, which just about made our heads explode:
Please forgive us if our heads are oversized the next time you see us. And remember to give Idolator and Long Live The Plastics plenty of love...
Also, KAC -- our offer still stands...
*****
Bonus "This Is Why We Love Kelly Ann Collins"...here [P.S. we do not endorse the opinions of the Wonkette editors and commenters on this matter -- we actually loved KAC's WaPo LiveOnline piece...and, of course, we love KAC -- Ed.].
Tuesday, April 10, 2007
This Week In "This Week In American Idol" [10 April 2007]
[image courtesy AmericanIdol.com, obvs]
[last week, Haley Scarnato was in the "bottom 2"...how much of her "top 2" will she show this week in an effort to stave off elimination???]
* Press play:
The DHMBIB war room recently acquired TiVo-esque capabilities. This will allow us to make our AI live-blogging more accurate not-funny-but-stupid enjoyable for you, Dear Readers. We still plan to live-blog, but we will go back and watch the proceedings again and add even more snark after the fact [and, yes, we will indicate that we have updated the blog].
You can thank us later.
* [Still thinking of a clever title here... -- Ed.]:
Due to Fox trying to cram in records amount of commercials during the Wednesday results show, they have paid short shrift to things like, oh, the IDOLS, and the judges, and such. Even the "group song" has disappeared!!! All of this has made live-blogging the results show in any entertaining or informative way an exercise in impossibility. We have been reviewing changing the way we blog the results show, and we may experiment with some of those changes this week. Also, our new TiVo-esque capabilities should help. And finally, this is the week that the Wednesday results shows expand to 1 hour in length -- more Jennifer Lopez this week!!! -- so that should ease congestion somewhat, as only 35-40 minutes or so of that will be commercials and promos for Idol and Fox.
* Maybe Chris Richardson really is "the next Justin Timberlake"??? After all, he is "bringing D-List-romance back"...:
If you care about such things, JT-lookalike-but-not-singalike Chris Richardson has recently been linked to both AI6 semifinalist Alaina Alexander and The Hills star Lauren "LC" Conrad.
Monday, April 2, 2007
Video Of The Day: This Is Why We Still Love Alanis Morissette [2 April 2007]
We here at the DHMBIB bar social club were big fans of Alanis Morissette's angsty Gen-X post-feminism 10 years ago. Sadly, she lost us with her last few albums, but we still from time-to-time wade into our CD collection to give Supposed Former Infatuation Junkie another spin [that CD was awesome!!! -- Ed.].
We also loves us some Fergie. Shut up. [pun completely intended -- Ed.]
So, it's not surprising that our hearts and ears and eyes were warmed today when we came across this video of Alanis channeling Tori Amos in a cover of the Black Eyed Peas' "My Humps".
Seriously. We could not possibly make this up...
[Alanis: "Hey, Fergie! Tori! Go down on THIS in a theater!!!"]
Now, we're sure you're asking yourself, "How did DHMBIB possibly discover this gem???"
We were first tipped off to this by the fine folks over at Idolator. After watching it, we searched some of our other favorite music blogs to see if they had it too. Both Stereogum and Pitchfork have it as well.
Time stamps on blogs are notoriously unreliable as indicators of when a post was "posted", because some blogging software programs allow the blogger to "set" a time, and some blogs use the time of the host server, which may be in a different time zone from the blogger. So, determining who had this first is difficult to ascertain. Stereogum credits Pitchfork's "Forkcast" as their source. Pitchfork credits "[a tip] in our mailbox" as their source. Idolator credits "YouTube" as their source.
We're not sure which is funnier -- this video, or the idea that the Idolators -- and perhaps the Pitchforks and Stereogums -- possibly spend their day searching for the following tags on YouTube: " 'Alanis' 'Morissette' 'My' 'Humps' 'Black' 'Eyed' 'Peas' 'Fergie' "
YMMV
Thursday, March 22, 2007
META: This Week In "This Week In American Idol" [22 March 2007 Edition]
Join us for a quick wrap-up of this week's American Idolatry, after the jump...
TUESDAY: Sanjaya Malakar is so bad, he even makes little girls cry:
After butchering "Ain't No Mountain High Enough" during last Tuesday's "performance show", most viewers assumed hoped that Sanjaya Malakar could not do any worse.
After the 'fro-and-break-dancing-filled bastardization of Modest Mouse's "Float On" during last Wednesday's "results show", most viewers assumed hoped that Idol could not do any worse.
Sadly, we gave neither Sanjaya nor Idol enough credit.
Sanjaya on Tuesday put on what I am calling the worst performance I have ever seen in the Finals. In case you missed it:
I'm sorry. I'm truly, truly sorry.
My theory has been that Sanjaya knew he was "on the ropes" and decided to "go for it". And I applaud his energy. But that vocal???
Put simply, that vocal was an aural "fuck you!" to his critics, which is pretty much everyone.
Here is what some of the other Idol watchers thought about that...that...[shiverzzzz]:
" If last week's Ford-sponsored bastardization of Modest Mouse's "Float On" delivered a point-blank gut-shot to popular music vulnerable belly, then Sanjaya Malakar's (whom we previously believed to be just a harmless, tone-deaf--yet alarmingly well-coiffed!--kid, but now realize is the earthbound emissary of some vengeful god sent to destroy us all) Tuesday night Idol performance of The Kinks' "You Really Got Me" stood astride its body as it lay bleeding in the gutter, rolled it over so that it could bite the curb, and then delivered the swift kick to the back of its head that finally ended its suffering. The strong of stomach can relive the harrowing ordeal through the clip presented above, in which an adorable little girl's salty tears stood in for those streaming down the collective cheeks of America on the night of music's grisly televised execution. "
Sanjaya Malakar And The Death Of Music [Defamer]
" WITH DIAMOND DAVE AS PETER NOONE: Okay, let's get this out of the way right off the bat: Sanjaya was terrible. He performed the Kinks' "You Really Got Me," only it was more like the Van Halen version of "You Really Got Me," only it was really more like what Velvet Revolver's version of "You Really Got Me" might have been like if Weiland was actually an overexcited teenager who liked to stick out his tongue a lot. Sure, he made that one girl cry (nice homage to the Ed Sullivan days there!), but we didn't exactly have dry eyes, either, because we know that he's going to survive for at least another week, thanks to Randy and Paula being charmed by all the "fun" he was having. "
Idolator's American Idolatry: The Little Girls Are The Only Ones Who Understand Sanjaya [Idolator]
" Contrary to what the cynics say, some people on American Idol can actually sing. That gal Melinda Doolittle can sing the lights out. But the Sanjaya Malakar Era needs to come to an end. Tonight. This has become an urgent national priority. His performance last night should have ended with an arrest. Animals have perished with more harmonious death rattles. Chickens who have been captured and beheaded on stumps have showed better dance moves.
" The deeper philosophical question: Can a person sing so badly as to ruin the original? Or has "You Really Got Me Now" been slimed forever? "
Bring Me the Head of Sanjaya Malakar [WashingtonPost.com]
Not everyone thought it was that bad. WaPo teevee blogger Lisa de Moraes -- who definitely should know better -- thinks this was one of the better performances of the nite:
" Noone tells Sanjaya he looks more like a Herman's Hermit than a Kink and if he wants to win the competition he should sing "I'm Into Something Good," only then he says maybe Sanjaya had better sing "You've Really Got Me" by the Kinks. Sanjaya sings the Kinks' song and, while we know saying this probably means we need to adjust our meds, Sanjaya's performance is one of the better ones of the evening. "
No Sir Paul, but Plenty of Nostalgia on 'Idol' [Washington Post]
TUESDAY: What was the deal with that crying girl???
Okay, Sanjaya didn't actually make that girl cry because he was terrible. That girl actually was crying because she loves Sanjaya.
No, seriously.
The Los Angeles Times tracked down that young lass. She is 13-year-old Ashley Ferl. Ashley and her family were in town to attend the taping of Are You Smarter Than A 5th Grader?, but their passes also got them in the audience at Idol's afternoon dress rehearsal. Ashley cried there too, and the producers decided they needed to bring her back for the live show for dramatic effect.
Ashley's favorite Idol contestant: "Sanjaya, Melinda, Gina and Jordin". Awww, but only one can win -- who do you want it to be? "All four: Sanjaya, Melinda, Gina and Jordin".
WEDNESDAY: Time for the "results show". Wait, you mean it's over already???:
Did you catch the "results show" on Wednesday? Well, if you blinked, you probably missed some key parts of the "show" -- but you most likely did not miss any of the commercials.
Veteran Idol watchers surely noticed that two staples of "results show" nite were missing from Wednesday's show -- the opening "group" number, and the "last hurrah" number from the departing contestant. In shows past, only booted contestants who had performed atrociously on the "performance show" were not allowed to sing one more time before a national audience [IIRC, Kellie Pickler was once such contestant]. But last night, they seemed to have legitimately run out of time. [I address the lack of a group number below.]
How did they run out of time? Even Ryan quipped that they might not be able to get it all in last nite.
WaPo teevee blogger Lisa de Moraes breaks it down for you here. The long-story-short: commercials. de Moraes tallied up a full 15 minutes of commercials in last night's broadcast -- and de Moraes rightly counts towards that number the "music video" [Ford commercial], the Brad Garrett shtick [Fox commercial], and the "Idol Cares" and "Idol Challenge" bits [commercials for Idol/Fox]. Toss in 2 mentor performances -- twice the usual number -- and there's not much room for, ya know, the Idols themselves.
Fox knows that they have an audience of about 30 million people watching, and if Cingular and J.C. Penney insist on paying Fox a lot of money to sell goods and services to those people, I can't begrudge Fox for taking the loot. But c'mon -- HALF THE DAMN SHOW???
THURSDAY BONUS #1: Fox, Idol, still pissed off at Paul McCartney, blame Heather Mills:
[This item contains a lot of "rank speculation" and should be taken with a whole lotta salt -- Ed.]
Tuesday night's theme was supposedly "The British Invasion", although that misnomer is a little misleading. Tuesday's set list included: 3 songs from Shirley Bassey [LaKisha, Jordin, Melinda], whose "invasion" of the U.S. was not very successful; 2 songs from The Zombies [Blake, Chris S.]; and 1 song each from The Exciters (not even British!!!) [Haley]; Peter Noone / Herman's Hermits Gerry And The Pacemakers (sorry -- Ed.) [Chris R.]; Dusty Springfield [Stephanie]; The Nashville Teens (actually British!!!) [Phil]; The Kinks [Sanjaya]; and The Rolling Stones [Gina]. Notice a big whole in that set list???
Tuesday's theme was supposed to be "The Music Of Paul McCartney", and the mentor was supposed to be Paul McCartney. These things normally need to be scheduled some time in advance, of course. So what happened on Tuesday?
Here's my theory. ABC, which planned to debut the new season of Dancing With The Stars the nite before Paul Mac was scheduled to be on American Idol, decided that a great way to goose ratings would be to talk Heather Mills into appearing on the show. Paul knew this would get a lot of ink before his big nite and peevishly pulled out at the last minute. And, he not only took his ball -- he took his songs with him. This forced Idol to scramble to come up with a last-minute theme-and-mentor replacement. Who might be available on such short notice? Peter Noone! LuLu! If Paul pulled out within the last week -- after rehearsals had already begun? -- Idol might need 2 mentors to lighten the mentoring load on the compressed time frame. That would also provide an explanation for why there was no group number on Wednesday -- there was no time to rehearse.
Fox is peeved at ABC for their success with DWTS -- this is supposed to be Fox's time of the season [pun intended] -- and they're possibly also peeved at ABC for driving Paul away. So how will Fox get back at ABC? Fox has announced that next Tuesday's "performance show" broadcast will run from 8:00 PM to 9:07 PM, cutting 7 minutes into DWTS's first "results" show of the season.
Niiiice!
This week's mentor is Gwen Stefani. I have not seen an announcement of a "theme" -- "the music of Gwen Stefani" would not be a good idea. Gwen and Akon will perform "The Sweet Escape" on Wednesday.
It should be an interesting week.
THURSDAY BONUS #2: 14:59...14:58...14:57...:
Ashley Ferl began her post-Idol media blitz today with an appearance on The Today Show. Defamer has a brief clip, but it's not embeddable here. If you care to see it, head here.
Friday, March 16, 2007
META: This Week In "This Week In American Idol" [16 March 2007 Edition]
On further review of this week's American Idol episodes -- Tuesday's performance show and Wednesday's results show -- there are a couple of things I want to talk about a little more.
* TUESDAY: Haley Scarnato has a McPheever:
For some reason, this didn't really register with me on Tuesday night. On Wednesday, I read a few other wrap-ups that commented upon Haley's dress. So I went back to the AI site to check out the photos, and my jaw hit the ground...
...in the good way, mind you. Nevertheless, I had the distinct feeling that I had seen something like this before...
It seems to me that Haley knows that she has failed to make much of an impression in the competition so far, and was the "last woman in" [6th place out of 6]. And it seems she decided to pull out all the stops. She came out Tuesday in full-on Katharine McPhee deploy-all-of-your-assets mode.
Even "fuller" in fact. Observe in the montage above that even though Kat would occasionally "bring out the backup singers", she never exposed as much leg as Haley's mid-thigh dress did on Tuesday. And despite her clear sex appeal, Kat was fashionably covered more times than she was exposed as above. [In fairness to Haley, I must add that Kat's style a year ago may have been influenced by her fuller figure.]
But on Tuesday, Haley brought it all -- the decolletage, the long sexy curly hair, and those legs that didin't quit. And it seems to have worked. Despite a subpar performance in which she forgot her lyrics and missed the pitch a few times [she cried and called herself a "schmuck" for forgetting the lyrics], Haley -- consistently in the bottom of the group for the last few weeks -- finished above the Bottom 3.
Will Haley stick with this "new approach"? Will it buy her some extra time to gain the confidence she so desperately needs?
WEDNESDAY: Ocean Breathes Salty, Music Bloggosphere Breathes Fiery:
Many people were quite offended by Diana Ross's wrap-thingy and her vote-off-worthy performance of "More Today Than Yesterday". But what really lit up the bloggosphere on Thursday was the Ford commercial "music video" the Idols made set to Modest Mouse's "Float On".
Where to start with this monstrosity? The zombified choreography? Chris Sligh's is-it-real-or-is-it-a-wig "afro"? Blake Lewis' breakdancing??? That ugly-ass orange car???
I know that most "music bloggers" are all about cred and authenticity and "not selling out" and shit, and that Modest Mouse are beloved punk rockers from back in the day. But seriously, I can't remember the last time I saw rants this full of bile and hate -- and sadness -- from so many different sources -- and trust me, the comments sections are worse than the bloggers' rants [as always].
[we think some of it is pretty funny, too, but YMMV -- Ed.]
Here's Alex at BestWeekEver:
" For me, American Idol has always been kind of like Uggs Boots: annoying, ridiculous and counfoundingly popular, but relatively easy to ignore. Last night, however, a line was crossed when Ford Motors sponsored a commercial featuring the finalists’ douche-chill-inducing Kids Incorporated-inspired music video rendition of Modest Mouse’s hit song “Float On”, featuring Zombie dances and trashy convertible Mustang 5.0’s that are orange. Now, I realize that this song - and the album from whence it came - outgrew Modest Mouse’s long-held punk rock ethos long ago, but this - this was like the modern musical equivalent of the Kennedy Assassination, Watergate and and Jack Nicholson getting killed at the end of Easy Rider, all happening in front of us, at the same time, set to the soundtrack of Avril Lavigne covering ABBA’s “Dancing Queen”. In short, sensory rape. "
ICYMI: The Day the Music Died [bestweekever.tv]
Here's Scott and/or Amrit at Stereogum:
" Post Puppet Show, we waited on line with the rest of Austin for Blonde Redhead at Emo's. Things were looking dire, until we got word via BBerry that Simon, Randy, Paula, and Ford Fusion had a treat waiting on the Internet for us. Yes, American Idol's top 12 gave “Float On” the silly costume and synchronized dance treatment for a Ford promo. Modest Mouse wouldn't be our first choice for breakdancing, but if anything this makes us appreciate Isaac's voice more. Nice afro too. Sigh. If only Antonella Barba were around to lip-sync Amy Winehouse next week. "
American Idol Gets Its "Float On" [stereogum.com]
[Antonella Barba singing Amy Winehouse? we'd paypal-donate just to see that -- Ed.]
Here's Mark and/or Seth at Defamer:
" If you caught last night's American Idol elimination round, you may have experienced what could only be described as the kind of fever dream Paula Abdul has after taking one too many daytrips on the Percocet-Mezcal Express. What you were witnessing, however, was no opiate-induced hallucination, but something far more sinister: A Ford Motors-sponsored "music video", featuring the contestants--set adrift on a concept best described as "Let's dress you up as disco and old school hip-hop dancers! That'll be a fun kind of thing!"--performing "Float On" on the Fox backlot. It could have only been less deferential to the source material if producers has opted instead to have their budding superstars encircle Modest Mouse lead singer/songwriter Isaac Brock, beat him unconscious with a variety of blunt objects, then spin around to lower their bellbottoms and tracksuit pants and relieve themselves, Final 12-style, on his broken, bruised body. "
'Idol' Finalists Already Making Astounding Contributions To Awful Music History [defamer.com]
Here's Kelly at Dandelife:
" But Ford has crossed the line with their latest. Getting 12 idols to do a rock video for "Float On" is just silly. It looks silly. It sounds silly. And frankly, I don't feel it. Anyone of any age could have prevented that from happening. While Modest Mouse surely has profited from it, I'm sure they were given the chance to opt out, but why? They should live in a world where ripping, mixing and burning is something fans should be free to do. They should also live in a world where corporations and their partners in marketing know the difference between fan-driven homage and dollar-lusting kitsch. Nobody was fooled and we're all just Sad Sappy Suckers. "
Modest Mouse on American Idol - Rocksploitation Case Study [dandelife.com]
Here's Brian and/or Maura at Idolator:
" Judging by Internet/blogosphere reaction, last night's American Idol rendition of "Float On" is clearly the most disturbing thing to ever happen to our country's yup-rock taste-barons--more disturbing than Vietnam (the war) and Vietnam (the band) combined. But the Idol singers weren't the first youth-skewing group to cheese up Modest Mouse:
" Which version of "Float On" do you prefer?
" a) The Kidz Bop kids' version
" b) The American Idol kids' version
" c) Please just shiv me in the back and be done with it. "
The Cover-Song Showcase Showdown: Which Version Of "Float On" Floats Your Boat? [idolator.com]
THURSDAY BONUS: Clay Aiken and his new "beard":
No, "really".
Sorry, Claymates, He's a Nerd [mollygood.com]
Tuesday, March 6, 2007
META: Ask, And Ye Shall Receive...Maybe
Some of my faithful readers recently commented to me that my posts were so long that it was difficult for readers to scan through to find particular posts of interest. For some time, I have been wanting to enable "jump" capability to cut down on the lengthy posts taking up so much space on the main page.
After much frustration and testing, I'm proud to announce this new functionality on DHMBIB.
Enabling this functionality was much more difficult than it should have been. Blogger was not very helpful, unfortunately, as their HowTo article works only for the old version of Blogger, and not the "new" version I'm using.
After much searching, I found some very helpful instructions on how to enable the "jump" functionality on Ramani's Hackosphere blog. These instructions worked like a champ! Thanks, Ramani!
I'll be re-editing some of my older posts -- this hack requires code in each post, as well as in the site template -- to enable this functionality in those posts, to make the site more readable.
Of course, I'm open to feedback from my readers. Please let me know your thoughts.
ciaobaby
Tuesday, February 27, 2007
META: What Is A Live Blog?
Recently, I posted two entries that I labeled as "live blog" entries:
Liveblogging The 2007 Grammys
Live-Blogging The 2007 Oscars: The During
Put simply, a "live blog" is typically a blog of a live event -- such as an awards ceremony or a speech -- that is updated in real time as the event unfolds. Construed most strictly, a "live blog" post should end when the event ends. Many live-bloggers adhere very strictly to this idea of live blogging.
I have taken the editorial liberty with my live blog posts to go back after the fact and make changes to already-published entries. I have always noted that I have done this, but I rarely highlight specific entries that have been changed [or even added]. Does this mean I'm not really "live-blogging"???
Live-blogging is difficult -- much more difficult than creating a traditional blog post. Events unfold dynamically and quickly, and there is usually no time to step back and "add something that I forgot to add" or take a big-picture view of the event being blogged. Also, the mere fact that the blogger is adding to the post makes it very easy to miss new developments in the event.
I am not a fast or completely-accurate typist -- and my accuracy declines as I attempt to type even faster. My brain works faster than my fingers, and I find that in the heat of the battle I make a lot of spelling and grammatical errors, and I substitute words from my head with different words on the screen that I did not intend. When I have time to review my posts, which might be during the event or at the completion of the event, I see many errors I wish to correct. I consider these kinds of corrections harmless, and I don't hesitate to make them.
Live-blogs have two potential audiences. The first audience is composed of readers who "tune in" to follow the live blog in "real time". This audience is constantly "refreshing" the blog to see new entries. This audience probably wouldn't care very much if the blogger went back and changed -- or didn't change -- a few spelling errors.
The second audience is composed of casual blog readers who will read the live blog as just another post on the blog, perhaps the next day, the next week, or six months later. This audience obviously also wouldn't care very much if the blogger had "gone back" to correct errors. Indeed, this audience's opinion of the blog would suffer if it appeared riddled with obvious spelling and grammatical errors.
But I have acknowledged that my edits of my "live blogs" go even further. I not only go back and fix spelling errors, I go back and add new content. Sometimes, this is something that popped into my head a few minutes after the appropriate "time" to write it had passed. Sometimes, though, this is "supplemental" information to which I did not have access at the time. Frequently, this includes links to external sites, or photos and video clips from the event that might not be widely available until the next day. Given enough technology, the blogger can have access to these things in real time, and thus blog them in real time. But I don't have this technology yet.
I add these things because I think they make my blog post more enjoyable, and the reading experience a better one for my audience. The "live blog" audience may object to this because it brings into question the whole label of "live blogging". The more casual audience may also be bothered by this -- for the same reason -- but I believe the extra context adds extra value both for the casual audience and for the live audience who may return for a second look.
I will continue my practice of "updating" my live blog posts unless I hear overwhelming objections to the contrary. I acknowledge that I should probably clarify what I am doing -- and when I am doing it -- and I pledge to make that clearer. This will include making it clear that I may add content after-the-fact, and that "live blog" readers are encouraged to check back the next day for additional information.
I hope you enjoy my blog. Please keep reading, and please feel free to leave me feedback in the comments or at my contact addresses above.
ciaobaby
Thursday, February 15, 2007
This Week In American Idol: Post-Hollywood Meta Edition
I suffered some unfortunate problem with my internets last week, and then some other business got in the way of posting about American Idol's last audition show from 7 February. Although I did take some notes about that show, it would seem a tad outdated to post them now, what with Hollywood Week already over and everything. 'Tis a shame really, because I actually found a whole bunch of people out there in the MySpace and such.
I took some notes about Hollywood Week, nite 1 [Tuesday 13 February], but my efforts at noting last nite's show were thwarted by Idol's let's-hurry-up-and-get-this-over-already attitude.
So instead of partial notes about old shows, I've decided to do a meta post wrapping up some of the recent developments in the AI-verse.
* Breaking: Maybe J.Hud really was a good choice for that whole "My Grammy Moment" thing after all:
In my recent Grammy wrap-up [scroll down], I commented that it seemed odd that the Grammy producers had AI3 seventh-place finisher [oh, yeah, and Oscar-nominee] Jennifer Hudson present the winner of Grammy's AI-style "My Grammy Moment" contest [wherein the winner got to perform onstage with Justin Timberlake], especially considering that there was an actual AI [and Grammy] winner in the house in the person of Carrie Underwood. [N.B.: I should also note the real possibility that CBS had leaned on the Grammy producers to select Jennifer Hudson for this duty as a way to pimp the upcoming CBS telecast of the Oscars.] I might not have been bugged so much by this if Jennifer Hudson's stumbling intro had not been anti-climacticized by her talk of "second chances" for the non-winners [Jennifer, why don't you brush that chip off your shoulder???].
[N.B.: I should also note here -- keep reading -- that this entire contest, except for the "final" voting done via AI-style text message, was conducted online at Yahoo! Music. Oh, yeah -- also, the winner of the contest, in addition to getting to sing with Justin Timberlake, was to win a Chevy vehicle. Unlike, say, on Idol, where the winner gets a Ford vehicle.]
Here's the video of J.Hud's poorly-executed introduction and winner Robyn Troup's excellent good performance.
But maybe J.Hud was the "right" choice for this after all. As her words were more prescient than the viewers realized.
Undisclosed to the voters viewers -- apparently for NDA reasons -- was the fact that contestant Robyn Troup had auditioned for American Idol this season and was one of only 172 contestants who made it to the Hollywood round. Robyn was shown performing on Tuesday nite's AI during the "group performances" stage in a group that included eventual semi-finalist Sundance Head. As far as I can tell, this was the first time Idol had identified Robyn Troup in the contest this season. She was cut in this stage, as the field was being winnowed to the top 136.
Here's Robyn's group performance from Tuesday:
The Hollywood round of AI had been filmed, and the cuts had been made, prior to Sunday's Grammy telecast. Or, in other words, at least Robyn already knew that she had been booted from Idol before she won the "My Grammy Moment" contest.
Sorry to get all Jack Shafer up in everyone's grill and shit, but I have a few questions here:
1) As far as I'm aware, Robyn could not be NDA'd from discussing anything that had already aired on American Idol -- though she had not personally been identified on any of the Idol episodes that had aired by Sunday, she was free to tell people she had made it to Hollywood [N.B.: after her victory, she would only confirm to MSNBC.com that she had auditioned for Idol]. There are lots of competing big media [and car] companies potentially involved in something not-completely-transparent here. What, if anything, did the Grammy producers and/or CBS and/or Yahoo! and/or GM/Chevy know about Robyn's involvement in Idol [on News Corp.-owned Fox]?
2) If Grammy et al. knew that Robyn had made it to Hollywood -- or had even auditioned for Idol -- why wasn't this disclosed to the viewers?
3) If Grammy et al. knew about this, did they also know Robyn had already been booted from AI?
4) How can we be confident Grammy et al. didn't engage in a little vote-tally manipulation hanky-panky -- and News Corp./Fox & Ford nose-tweaking -- to ensure the AI castoff would win this "contest"?
Do you think this is all a little too inside-baseball??? Am I being a little too tin-foil-hat about all this???
And yes, I can GUARAN-DAMN-TEE you that Fox saw this and went back and re-edited Tuesday's episode of AI to highlight Robyn Troup's performance. This could have been either to say, "hey, we had her first, and she wasn't good enough for us", or just to subtly raise these questions in the minds of people like me. AND I HAVE ABSOULTELY NO PROBLEM WITH THAT, as Robyn had already been booted -- that result did not change.
Regardless of all of this, "congratulations" to Robyn Troup for "winning" the "My Grammy Moment" "contest". Robyn also has "won" the right to say to all of the other Idol contestants -- except for the 6-or-so who will get contracts and release actual CDs -- "Bitches, I got my contract and my car, and I got to sing with Justin Timberlake. So suck it!!!"
* Breaking: Nigel Lythgoe <3's Baylie Brown too:
In the same recent media relations teleconference in which Idol Executive Producer Nigel Lythgoe all-but-spilled the beans about an upcoming "Michael Jackson event episode" of Idol, he made cryptic statements about a contestant that had been booted:
" During a recent media conference call, Nigel Lythgoe revealed that his favorite had been cut from the competition. Lythgoe said “There is one young lady in Hollywood who I would have said would have been in the top five this year that got cut purely and simply because she couldn’t remember her lyrics in a group. She just “Ma, Ma, Ma,” for the whole of the song. It broke my heart. But they have to have reasons to cut you, and that was the reason that this young lady will disappear off the show.”
" When asked to reveal who his favorite was, Lythgoe replied “I can’t name my favorite. It is a girl; I’ve got to be honest with you. Hopefully, she’ll come back next year. I certainly don’t want to compromise her with anybody else if she comes back in further years. ‘Wasn’t that Nigel’s favorite? If she gets through It’ll be she gets through because she’s Nigel’s favorite.’ So I wouldn’t do that.”
" When Baylie Brown was mentioned and Lythgoe was asked if his favorite contestant was from Texas, Lythgoe said “Hmm. I really hope that -– please trust me when I say that I don’t want to say anything regarding an individual, or name somebody, because it could affect them in the competition should they return.” "
[source]
These comments went unreported at the time, as most AI watchers viewed the Jackson story as the big takeaway from the presser. But after Baylie Brown was booted from Hollywood in the Tuesday 13 February episode, everyone returned to these comments and read them in a whole new light.
I also really liked Baylie Brown -- she was easily one of the "top five" [thanks, Nigel -- Ed.] in the audition rounds, and she absolutely nailed Faith Hill's "Stronger", a favorite of mine. As I wrote in my last episode update:
" Simon commented that Baylie was exactly what the record labels were looking for in new talent, by which I think he meant that she's a great singer, she's very attractive, and she has a nice personality [Simon also told Baylie she was "'commercial' with a capital 'c'" -- Ed.]. Baylie Brown will go far in this competition. Write that down. [*cough* Carrie Underwood *cough*] "
I didn't say she would go far this season [ahem].
In any event, there seems to have sprung up a "Bring Back Baylie" movement on the internets. Most people seem to want her back either because she's very talented or cute-as-a-baby-kitten-playing-with-rainbow-colored-yarn, or possibly both. Plus, there's that whole "she got screwed by being grouped up with the mean girls" thing. But there is a substantial minority of people who point out, well, she flubbed the lyrics.
Got an opinion???
* Breaking: Long-haired no-good-niks ain't got no chance on no American Idol no-how:
Sean Michel, the "Fidel Castro of American Idol 6", was sent home in the Tuesday episode of Idol. There was a rumor floating on the internets ahead of Tuesday that Sean had been cut because he refused to cut his hair and beard. Do you believe that?
* Odds & Sods -- AI Meta Edition:
* Here are the top 24.
* Idolator has already made its predictions on the final 12.
* What song will Idol use this year when it whacks contestants [last year, it was Daniel Powter's "Bad Day"]? Leave a note in the comments if you have a good idea.
* Just because...
This has nothing to do with Idol, but....Here's the super-awesome Cat Power [Chan Marshall] doing an excellent cover of Grammy Record Of The Year winner nominee "Crazy" in Berlin in late 2006. Enjoy!
Cat Power - Crazy [mp3, via YSI]
Cat Power - Crazy [mp3, via zShare]
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