Testing TCB :)

Testing
TCB :)

FWD:Strawberries

First batch of fresh strawberries of the year!! Yummmm!!

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Top 9 American Idol Season 9 - Tues, Apr. 6, 2010

This week's theme was the Lennon/McCartney songbook, and it actually wasn't as painful as I thought it would/could/might have been.

Aaron Kelly "Long Winding Road" Yikes. I generally like his performances..he exudes a confidence that many of the other contestants have not yet gained even though he is the youngest. However, not a good way to start the show, and it was really boring for me.

Andrew Garcia Can't Buy Me Love" Good, but nothing spectacular.

Casey James "Jealous Guy" Loved the arrangement, felt the emotion in the song. Better than his performances over the past couple of weeks. And my favorite of the night.

Crystal Bowersox "Come Together" Everything Randy said…solid performance, not her best, but very likeable and fun. Janis Joplin song. Having said that, I liked her carpet that she brought on stage.

Katie Stevens "Let It Be" I didn't want to like this song, but I did. For the first time she really connected with the song. This performance will keep her around for a little bit longer, in my opinion.

Lee DeWyze "Hey Jude" The bagpipes were a little over the top, but it's hard to not like Lee. I actually like how he's a "bundle of nerves" before each performance because it allows him to give 110% each performance. It didn't top last week's performance but it was good.

Michael Lynche ""Eleanor Rigby" Initial thought: "Oh no." It had a more current sound to it, which is what the judges are looking for, but I didn't fall in love with it.

Siobhan Magnus "Across the Universe" Sleepy.

Tim Urban "All My Loving" Not bad, definitely one of his better performances, I still don't think he's on the right stage. He does have a great smile, though! :)

Bottom 3:
Tim
Andrew
Aaron

With Tim going home.

Lenses

This is what happens when I change lenses on the camera but forget to change the setting! haha

 

Top 11 American Idol Season 9 - Tues, Mar. 23, 2010

I'm changing up the format a little bit. Instead of listing the contestants in the order they performed, I will be listing them in alphabetical order and dropping the person who goes home each week. This will save tremendous amounts of time and energy that need not be wasted! :)

Re: the judges -- I wish they were rotating like they did last year, where Randy speaks first, then on the second contestant Ellen speaks first, and so on. I don't like hearing the same person start out the critiques every time. Also, I would like to hear Ellen's own opinion, not just an echo of what Randy says. It seems like more times than not, she just repeats what he says without the "it's too pitchy, dawg."

Also, I'm bringing back the Bottom 3 choices. I'll just be choosing who I would put in the B3. However, according to articles and blogs I've been reading, there shouldn't be too much of a difference! ha. ha. Feel free to add your choices!


Aaron Kelly "I Don't Want to Miss a Thing" I thought he was one of the better performers last week, showing more comfortability than some of the other (older) contestants. Too bad he was sick this week because it did hurt his singing, but it shouldn't hurt his chances of advancing.

Andrew Garcia "Heard it Thru the Grapevine" I think the backup singers through him off for a second, but just for a second. I had Andrew as one of the better performers towards the beginning of the show, but there's just something missing. I think last week he promised he'd bring something new, bigger, better to the table this week but he didn't. As much as I loved "Straight Up," I hate that he sang it, especially so early on. What's up, btw, with contestants saying they're gonna hit it out of the park next week? They should be hitting it out of the park in the here and now.

Casey James "Power of Love" I like him, but it's hard not to compare him to Jonny Lang, because of his voice and the guitar. Having said that, he doesn't hold a candle to Jonny Lang. And don't believe everything you hear--he's not ready to make a record.

Crystal Bowersox "Me and Bobby McGee" Nothing terribly wrong with it, and as of last week, I would put Crystal and Siobhan as the ones to beat. What I didn't like about Crystal's performance tonight was this: when I think of Crystal, Janis Joplin comes to mind so I wish she had picked another song besides an actual Janis Joplin song. Having said that, I liked her carpet that she brought on stage.

Didi Bonami "You're No Good" I saw something completely different from what the judges saw, because I liked the performance. I thought maybe I should watch it again since they were all in agreement, but decided not to. I like Didi's voice and I'm glad she's not crying every time she gets on stage (in the beginning I thought she might), but I think she's got to show more strength when she's on the stage.

Katie Stevens "Big Girls Don't Cry" She annoys me. (Remember, she's one of the contestants that's still in high school so she meets the main qualification needed to annoy me.) For the first time, she impressed me last week. I thought it was cliche for her to sing "Wild Horses," but I thought it was a great song to showcase her voice. She had the crowd in her side tonight. It wasn't the best or her best in my opinion, and the song was a too big for her, but it wasn't awful.

Lee DeWyze "The Letter" Great way to start the show! He is definitely progressing from where he was a few weeks ago. I hope he continues to come out of his shell a little more and continues to build his confidence.

Michael Lynche "When a Man Loves a Woman" Big Mike is letting his head get too big. I'm liking him less each week. But he's got a great voice--no denying that.

Paige Mills "Against All Odds" Poor Paige...Miley told her it was a good thing that she was singing softly and not belting it out, and gave her the "benefit of the doubt" that her voice was still recovering from last week. And this is why 17-yr olds shouldn't be mentors.

Siobhan Magnus "Superstition" I have to get this out of the way first. If you watched last week and thought I missed the point where Kara compared Siobhan to Adam Lambert, don't worry--I didn't miss it. I would like to point out: 1)There ain't nothing like the real thing, baby. 2)I think Siobhan is doing just fine, doing her own thing week after week. 3)At this stage in last year's game, Kara still "didn't get" Adam, thought he was too "theatrical," and thought he needed to connect more with the songs. Tonight--good way to end the show.

Tim Urban "Crazy Little Thing Called Love" Someone please put him on Broadway, or on the big screen in musicals. Also, can someone please tell the contestants not to reach out and high-five the girls screaming in the front row so early on in the competition? I actually agreed with Kara that he isn't established and it's not the time/place for that.

Bottom 3:
Paige
Tim
Andrew

As much as I would like to see Tim go so he can get started on his Broadway career, I think his fan base will vote to keep him alive. I think this is Paige's week to go.

How Adam Lambert and John Mayer Destroyed American Idol

I got to know the music of John Mayer sometime around 2002, approximately, rough-guessing. I'm honestly not sure how I found his music, because I did not like his song "No Such Thing" ... one of those songs that gets way too much airplay! But somehow I started to like his music. On his website, to make things even better and yes I mean better, he had a disclaimer of sorts, saying that he didn't care how his music got out, just that it got out. So I headed over to Limewire and got my hands on anything labeled "John Mayer." It was the exact style and type of music that I had been looking for at that time. One of the contributing factors that led to my crazy enjoyment of his music was that I was able to get a hold of live recordings, and he would perform the songs with added twists so that they were different than what they were on the record. I love that, because if I'm going to see someone in concert/live, I want to know that they know what they're doing and I want to get more out of the performances that what I would just by listening to the songs at home. Thanks for spoiling me for the past 8 years, Mr. Mayer!

Fast forward a few years to a little show called American Idol, specifically Season 8. I've tuned in enough each season to know who a lot of the contestants are. Not until Season 8 had I tuned in for the entirety. As the auditions came and went and Hollywood Week rolled around, this guy named Adam Lambert appeared. He sang Cher's "Believe" and it blew me away. As week passed by, he never disappointed. He set his bar high from week to week, but not so high that he wasn't able to jump it the next week (ahem, Andrew Garcia). And he made me want to tune in week after week, and more importantly, tell people to tune in. He proved himself week after week. And he excelled show after show. It was more than just a karaoke contest with him. He brought stage presence, energy and excitement. Thank you too, Mr. Lambert, for spoiling me! :)

This year, I'm uber-critical of the contestants, and they're just annoying me to no end for the most part. I especially enjoyed, and no I really don't mean enjoyed, the girls this week who sang what the judges told them to sing. (Lacey-"Kiss Me" and Katie-"Put Your Records On"). I'm going to take a break until the Top 10 (or 12, whichever it is this year) are narrowed down and hopefully come back with a better attitude. :) To those of you who are watching straight through............good luck! :)

Top 10 Girls American Idol - Tues, Mar. 3, 2010

I haven't even watched the results show yet, but here's what I remember:

Crystal was great, Lilly was good, Siobhan hit a crazy note, and Paige's hair looked a lot better than last week. That's all I've got.