#135 - ambiguity

how sad was that?? tell me that's not the saddest thing you've ever seen in the whole entire world. okay, so i've got a soft spot for pretty girls crying (just like ramiele), i liked brooke, but she was too much of a stylistic singer to really win, her voice was a little too weak to stay on the show until the end. still, she had some really good performances, my favorites were:

love is a battlefield -


let it be -


but back to people who are still in the competition... who would've thought that it'd be jason castro and syesha up for the last top 3 spot (i've already decided that the two davids will be in the finals)? seriously... what is it gonna take to get jason out of there? c'mon! he's weak! but then look at the audience that are voting, and not just "voting," but rabidly voting. i guess that's who he appeals to right?

anyway, have you noticed recently that american idol has gotten a lot more ambiguous about the results? i've been going to www.dialidol.com (not that i really believe their predictions, their idea works in theory, but really, there are way too many variables there for it to be a reliable measure, which it shouldn't be anyway because then what's the point of the show?), and according to them the contestants are really really close each week. but more than that, what i've noticed is that ryan seacrest never refers to anyone as having the lowest number of votes. when kristy lee cook got out (wow, does anyone still remember her?), ryan said america has decided that kristy "will leave us." and then when carly got out he said something similar. then tonight, he never even said that syesha and brooke were in the bottom two... he just said that the other three were safe (which doesn't mean they were the top three) and that either syesha or brooke were "out" (which doesn't mean that one of them got the lowest number of votes).

now i'm not completely calling it a conspiracy, because i really think that the producers of the show really have any reason to tamper with the results, the reality of the votes makes a storyline that you can't even make up, and that's the beauty of it. but i think that after 40-something million votes the viewers (and voters) deserve a little less ambiguity with the results, don't you think? well, that's still not gonna save brooke or carly or michael johns, but man what's gonna happen if the top three is david, david, and jason castro? or david, david, and syesha? well... it's gonna happen...

#134 - home improvement

remember "tool time" with "tim the tool-man taylor?" i never really liked that show but somehow it was always on so i ended up watching it a lot. now that sidekick guy is the host for the new family feud (a show that i liked to watch much more). anyway, i've been feeling kinda homely lately, and i'm a man of inspiration... meaning i don't do something until that spark of inspiration finally strikes, and then i'm full-force all the way. for instance, after i had put all that sod into my yard, i really wasn't feeling big on continuing the gardening. but then a couple of weeks ago i saw a home depot add with these bamboo borders, and i had been thinking that i wanted something to cover up that gap underneath my white fence (the cats/dogs/toads were getting in and leaving me disgusting little presents all the time), so this was perfect! but then i went and they were all sold out... so this week it was in the ads again, and on thursday (the day the ad came out) i went after work, bought 12 of them, brought 'em home and banged the yard out all in one afternoon.

sweet huh? so that's how i do things (wow, i was almost gonna write "that's how i roll," that would've been embarrassing). i don't got much motivation normally, but when inspiration hits i don't wanna stop or sleep until i get it finished, it's almost a compulsion, but at least i gets it done right?

next project... paint. i wanna re-paint, or at least add to the painting on the inside of my house... i'm thinking of continuing the gray color in my living room to the other walls and maybe switching out some of that green in my bedrooms. i'm not quite sure what to do yet, but now that i've painted once already, i've kinda got a better sense of what to do, and the best part about paint... if it comes out crappy, just paint over it!

#133 - a diamond in the rough

since i've been so into american idol this year, i've discovered fox reality channel. mainly it's just a ton of leftover reality shows like paradise hotel and foreign reality shows (there's one called "sexy cam" or something where something ridiculous happens, like some girl walks around with HUGE fake boobs and they have a hidden camera taping people's reactions). but among all that crap i've found an absolute gem.... MAN VS. BEAST!

hahaha! do you guys remember this show? i think it came out when we were in the dorms in college, it was the most awesome show, not only because it put hot dog eating man takeru kobayashi against a kodiak bear (the bear won), but because it did so with absolutely no hint of sarcasm... they did it totally straight-faced, complete with action commentary, stat reports, and post-match interviews. just in case you missed it the first time, here's what went down:

- takeru kobayashi lost a hot dog eating contest to a kodiak bear
- a US navy seal won an obstacle course race to a chimpanzee
- 44 midgets lost a tug-of-war contest (they pulled a jet) to an asian elephant
- an olympic sprinter won a race with a giraffe but then lost to a zebra
- a sumo wrestler lost a tug-of-war contest with an orangutan
MAN 2, BEAST 4

and that's just man vs. beast 1... then there was man vs. beast 2! haha, good stuff, can't believe i forgot about that. i think my favorite part was the race between the sprinter and the zebra, first they did "keys to the match," the sprinter's keys was like "get a good start," and the zebra's keys was "realize it's a race." HA! awesome.

PS - as i was writing this post i was watching idol, by the way, i like the one-hour results show this season, so much better than the 30-min ones, those are always rushed at the end and i like having actual artists do live performances (even though i had absolutely no idea who tonight's person was, she wasn't that good either). anyway... WHAT THE HECK IS IT GONNA TAKE TO GET JASON OUTTA THERE?! poor carly, i liked carly, i even voted for carly, i guess my vote counts for squat. and even though i'm glad brooke and even syesha are still in there... poor carly! do you think no one's voting for her because she's irish and not actually "american?" right, that's dumb though because unless your american indian no one's american (and then even they came from somewhere else eh?). anyway, poor carly, i wanted to keep seeing her on the show, she was so happy everytime she was safe and everything, i could do without seeing syesha and i DEFINATELY could do without seeing jason castro... seriously, not that he's a sanjaya or anything, but c'mon, the other people are so much more deserving to stay on. grr. oh well, what am i complaining about, it's america voting (or it's a select group of americans with computerized dialing programs voting). either way, that's the name of the game/show, so really i can't complain unless the producers start fixing the results, otherwise fair's fair right?

still... poor carly...

#132 - kokua

kokua was awesome! the concert was great, the atmosphere was great, even the nutty health food was pretty great. but what made it even greater was that it almost didn't happen... here's how the story goes...

i got my ticket from spencer (thanks spencer), but four of my friends who i was meeting at the shell had bought theirs on ebay, for like $105. so we all went down to the shell on saturday, i caught a ride with my co-worker and we met my other three friends there. we get there early, stand in line fully expecting to be in there early, get a great seat on the lawn and camp out for the whole afternoon. then my friend looks at her ticket... it says SUNDAY! the lady standing in line in back of us says, "that sucks, sorry." haha. then we panic. after a bit of that we compose ourselves again and go up front to the ticket booth to see if there's anything that can be done (my ticket was for saturday, but then i'd have to ditch my friends, plus, she was my ride home). so after an hour or so of comtemplating leaving, trying to find someone to trade sunday for saturday tickets (which didn't really make much sense because no one there would be like, "oh you want me to give you my tickets and then i'll go home and come back tomorrow? sure!"), thinking about buying some scalpers' saturday tickets and then scalp the sunday ones ourselves, we finally got real proactive and asked one of the shell ticket guys (who looked pretty local and lax) if there's anything he could do... we kept talking to this guy because he actually seemed interested in our sob story, and finally, after the crowd died down and most people were inside already, he swapped our sunday tickets for "jammin' hawaiian" concert tickets (the concert was last weekend but i guess since the date was past already then the ticket scanners could beep it as we went through the gates). so there we are, trying to rush through security and the ticket scanners scaredidly, me with my saturday kokua ticket and them with their jammin' hawaiians tickets for april 12th... and before you knew it we were through! it was awesome! and look what was waiting for us on the other side...

before the music on the main stage started jack played a little mini-concert for the kiddies on the back stage. it was cool. anyway, the rest of the night went pretty sweetly. i had a black bean hummus pita that was yummy. lots of $7.75 beer. almost had a drunk dude fall on me (he missed me and landed flat on his back on our backpacks and stuff, then just kept staring up blankly at the sky like nothing happened). smelled tons of pot. saw a super-stoned dave matthews. met a lady from new york whose daughter was here because of the make a wish foundation (her wish was to meet jack johnson, so they had dinner with him before the concert), she was also drunk, she was standing in front of us in the beer line. it was sweet.

anyway, on a semi-related note, i've decided that i need to like more things. well, i had that resolution before, but i think i need to reaffirm it every now and then because it can get kinda lost. so, more positive posts from now on, let's start with....

BONES!! haha, okay i saw my second episode ever tonight, i really liked it! it was funny. y'know just this afternoon i was watching commericals of live comedy shows and people laughing their asses off in the audience to really lame jokes. and it got me thinking, do people at those things just put themselves in a frame of mind where everything anyone says is gonna sound tremendously funny and then they'll just laugh their brains out after each line? because really, not every single line is funny (and mostly, i think maybe only 5-10% of those stand up comedy acts are really worth laughing at). but i think people go with the flow and allow themselves to laugh more easily at those kind of things, like show and movies. if i was watching even a very funny movie by myself there are very few instances when i actually laugh out loud (usually it's at really dumb stuff, like that "man who's scared of plants" bit on that christopher walken snl i posted a while ago), although i do notice that now that i'm living alone i tend to laugh out loud a little more (also talk to myself a little more, but that's a post for another day).

anyway, my point is that i actually laughed out loud during BONES today, which is something that very few tv shows are able to do, so i give them a lot of credit and will watch it again next week... hmm, i may have just found a monday night replacement for "terminator" and "heroes."

also, i like those mac ads. y'know the one with those two guys, pc and mac. i like the pc guy. i don't think i'll ever buy a mac (although i've been flirting with the idea of finally buying an ipod recently), but i do like the light-heartedness of those commercials. cool. well, maybe i'm being swayed by my attempt to like more things, but that's not a horrible thing right?

#131 - goodbye kristy

finally! well, actually, normally i would say "it's about time," but really i thought she had improved a ton since that first horrendous eye-bulging song from the top 24. she does have a nice voice, just needs to learn how to use it right. i thought that this last performance of "forever" was her best, and she had been getting better week by week. good enough for previous seasons of idol for sure, but not good enough for this one. too bad. that's what makes it kinda sad. oh well, i was afraid brooke was gonna go and i want her to stay another week so it worked out.

but... since everyone from the top 8 were all good, i guess this time i'll give the loser some youtube props:

by the way... i'm loving how on itunes you can get the whole studio version of the songs that get sung each week (instead of just the little minute and a half version from live tv). i don't buy music much so i'm telling myself that i can waste a few dollars on some of this stuff... next week though? not too excited, andrew lloyd weber? blah..

#130 - mariah carey night

so... no one took my advice huh? haha, well i'm pretty surprised actually, i thought that they would try to stay away from all the well-known songs, but only syesha and jason castro went for less popular ones. here's what i thought:

david archuleta - safe choice of a safe pop song, sure it's a hard song to sing, but even when sung nicely it still sounds like just a good pop song. and he did sing it very good, but i absolutely think that he's gotten kinda dull, predictable, i thought this week would be a great time to show something more than just pop sing-ability, that's why i really wanted him to sing "vanishing," but i guess syesha got to it. also, maybe "i'll be there" is a jackson 5 song and not a mariah carey song. either way, he's gotta do something different. i think this season of idol really is a battle between the performers (michael johns, syesha, carly, kristy lee cook) and the "songwriters" (david, david, brooke, jason castro). but david's early songwriting style (that he showed in "imagine" and "another day in paradise") has faded away to just pop performances and i think he's gonna start having trouble keeping that top 3 spot very soon... still, safe for this week

carly smithson - not a great choice for her i think, i also really wished she had sung something with a little more grit (like "vanishing" or something less popular) because her voice is a little more unusual. pretty good, but i think people will forget her performance (especially since she was second) and she'll be in the bottom 3 this week and may be going home

syesha mercado - GREAT choice! but she sang it just like mariah carey sang it, no different. fortunately, i think not a lot of people know this song so they'll think it's very good i bet. i think she'll be safe this week

brooke lee - poor brooke, she was so nervous you could see her shaking. and then i think she knew she was messing up and then she got all off-tempo and started rushing. too bad, she should've had someone play the piano for her. still, i like her style and i hope she'll stick around... but she'll be in the bottom 3 this week and may be going home

kristy lee cook - i didn't think it was that great, just because her song was all big high notes, which were good, but boring when the whole song is all big long high notes right? still, i think people are gonna look at this and last week's performance as a mini-comeback from her and i think she'll be in the bottom 3 but safe (i hope she goes home though...)

david cook - half of it i really liked, and half i didn't like. still, he's doing exactly what he needs to do, be different and good at the same time, something david archuleta was at the beginning, but everyone else has caught up to his level so now i'm putting the two davids in the final... well, he's safe for this week anyway

jason castro - what's it gonna take to send this guy home? i love the song he picked (although i really wish david cook had sung it instead), but he's just not a good singer! right?! what am i missing here? whatever, he'll still be safe though...

so, i'm predicting carly, brooke, and kristy in the bottom three... and i hope kristy finally goes home, but mostly because i want those other two to stay.

all that being said, i really liked everyone's performances tonight, it's about time they had a contemporary artist, someone who performed in our lifetime (and the lifetime of the contestants), so we finally know all the songs they sing, haha. man, comparing this idol to all the idols past, phew, any one of the performances would've been huge on any of the previous seasons right? good stuff.

ps - did you see ramiele in the audience? she's a cutie...

#129 - i'm famous!

random pic from when i went to the water park this spring break... if only i had a quarter...

do you think that the reason why people get so excited about meeting celebrities is because when you're around famous people you tend to think that you yourself are famous? it makes sense, if they're famous, and you're with them, then you must be famous too right?

i don't think that applies to me though, whenever i have the chance to meet someone famous (which, in my life is really just meeting local "celebrities"), all i think is "what the crap do i say so i don't look like a complete dork!?" in fact, i find myself often thinking about ways to get out of it because i don't know how i'm gonna react when i meet someone famous. i don't wanna talk about their famousness because i'm sure everyone does that. but then it's not like i have anything else to talk about so i'm stuck with awkwardness.

anyway, this weekend i had that chance. my tennis coach has mad connections and he coaches a celebrity and his sons, so he asked me if i could play a match with one of his sons. it was pretty cool, they were totally nice. his son was like 11 years old though so it was a bit embarrassing for me, but whatever, it was kinda fun anyway. i did get a picture with him and his son, but i didn't think it'd be too cool to post it on here... not that anyone really reads this, but y'know. anyway, i'm sure that the like all two of you who read this i'd probably see within the next week anyway so i'll show you the picture in person. here's a hint though, it's one of the guys from lost, cool huh?

oh but here's something i might have learned from all the tennis i've been playing lately... i think i have no competitive edge. i don't think i like winning. i get all nervous. like in lucky drawings, i get nervous that my number's gonna get called and then i'll have to go up and accept a prize. and it's not that i have a problem getting up in front of a lot of people, that's not it at all, i think i just don't like winning, maybe because i think other people besides me deserve to win, maybe because i feel guilty about winning, i think mostly it's because i just don't know how to react to good news, or compliments for that matter. like y'know when you hear people call in on radio shows to win tickets or whatever, but then have like no reaction, i'm always afraid if i was in that situation i'd be the same, i'd have nothing to say and wouldn't be able to show my happiness or appreciation.

anyway, getting kinda sidetracked, basically it was just kinda cool that i met someone famous for a meaningful purpose (giving his son some practice) and i wasn't a complete dork.

so since i've had this mini-epiphany, i felt this would be a good day to try some self-improvement. so in the interest of being more open and accepting of the good things in the world, i've decided to watch a new tv show tonight. haha, yup, this is a big deal for me. i'm very selective about the tv shows i choose to watch because i have little patience for crap. well, in general, but more so in tv shows because i feel like they should put the effort into it that i devote to watching diligently. also, i generally try to avoid prime time tv shows on network channels because they get way too much "buzz" and a monkey-buttload of commericals that reveal the whole episode and then tell you "it's a episode you won't believe!" i hate that. but, it's monday and i've got nothing to do tonight and nothing else is on so i watched:
BONES! haha, when this show first started up i thought i might be interested because the main character is that guy from "angel," but it looked like a CSI wannabe and i don't like CSI so i didn't watch it. and for the most part, it is pretty CSI-y, but it's also got the kind of dumb, don't take the genre too seriously humor that i liked so much about "buffy" and "angel" and "firefly," so i kinda liked it. i didn't realize that this was the 3rd season already, so i don't know how it would have been had i started watching two years ago, but the characters are a bit too stereotypical. i definately think they could be a little free-er in their characters, the nerdy forensic guy don't have to be speaking in physics and geek talk the whole time. but i thought the main characters showed some flexibility. all in all, i won't be watching this show weekly, but if there's nothing on tv on a monday night, i'd pass the time pretty well with it.

speaking of tv... tomorrow's american idol is with mariah carey. is it wrong that i'm very excited about that? i think it is. but who cares, i'm letting myself flow with the hype. i think i like mariah carey so much because she was like the first adult singer that i ever listened to. right about the time she came around was when i stopped listening to disney soundtracks and started listening to the radio (i didn't have a radio until the summer before my 7th grade year). her first album was my first album (on cassette), and the very first music videos i ever saw was probably "someday" (can you tell i was VERY influenced by my sisters whilst growing up? yeah, it's embarrassing...). so listening to mariah carey was kinda my introduction to the world of real music (plus, she came out right as NKOTB and all the milli vanilli crap was dying down so she was the first "real" singer that i listened to). i liked her 90's style songs... can't say that i really followed when R&B started getting hot but i still like her stuff good enough to not flip off the radio. anyway, since i'm bored and feeling idol deprived until tomorrow night, here's what i think everyone should sing, haha:

syesha mercado - can't let go
carly smithson - vanishing or my all
brooke white - love takes time or all i've ever wanted
kristy lee cook - butterfly
jason castro - anytime you need a friend
david cook - i don't wanna cry with a rock spin or you need me
david archuleta - vanishing or i'll be there

i don't think anyone should do "hero" or "without you" or "vision of love." just let those lie. but i'm very skewed towards her 90's music, so i'm sure someone's gonna wanna to "we belong together" or "shake it off" or something and i think that'll be a HUGE mistake and i think if anyone picks one of those they'll be out for sure. why do i know so many mariah carey songs? how embarrassing...

#128 - i'm a loser baby...

ever feel like you've gotten yourself to a point where you do good enough and good enough all up to a point but can never cross the threshold between almost making it and finally making it? i'm sure all those guys voted off of american idol feel that way about now. so this is the thing about winning... there's only one winner. one "real" winner. i'm sure all those top 10 guys will be able to make careers out of music (if they really wanted to), but there's still only one winner. it's very hard to win.

i kinda feel like the era that i've grown up in and the society that has formed my thoughts and such has been one that endorses being great but endeavors to negate losing. and i think that's faulty. winning is a rare and elusive thing. but what we've (or i've) been brought up to believe is that trying your best and doing (your idea of) your best is akin to winning. which is a good thought, but not accurate. there's a reason why the gold medal is such a big deal.

so here's the scoop on american idol... michael johns has got to feel awful right now. it was a horrible week for a lapse in judgment. with the whole "idol gives back" thing going on that means a whole lot of new people tuning in, people who didn't see his great performance last week and people who probably haven't seen him all season. so for them all they see is a wannabe rocker trying to karaoke aerosmith, and it didn't work. even though i don't like jason castro, he picked the perfect song for him and even kristy lee cook choose a good country song to match her style. the two davids were pretty locked so they could do some safe songs (but yeah, david archuleta definately needs to sing a fast song next week). everyone pretty much played to their strengths, which is great i think, except for michael johns, and that's why he left. i'm pretty disappointed, because i really like his last week's performance, i like that style a lot, but i guess over the course of the show that was really more of an exception where the rule were those rock-wannabe songs so i guess it's best that he's out anyway.

well, that's the tough part huh? you feel like you're doing good, and you're happy with your accomplishment, but there's only one winner right? i feel like that's been happening in my life too, i keep losing! dammit! haha, well, i've been losing my tennis and volleyball matches even though i feel like i've been playing pretty well. then you start thinking, am i really playing well? or do i just have an unrealistic view of myself? don't you guys think that we've been raised with an unrealistic view of self-esteem and performance? i can remember many many times in my childhood when i was praised for things that i thought weren't all that great. which begs the question, do i expect the same level of praise (which perhaps translates into winning) from all of my efforts? and then is that unrealistic?

that also brings up the issue of entitlement. recent media publications seem to think that our generation is a generation of entitlement, we feel that we deserve all that we get (and perhaps more). i agree. i think this is what we've been raised with, that if we work hard we'll see the rewards. great in theory, but not always in practice. then we start thinking, as long as i try my best i'll see the rewards, and you may see rewards, but they may not be the rewards you were seeking. hard to see the distinction sometimes. and hard to come to terms with the realities as well.

so what's the solution? expect less? i dunno. my philosophy was always been that natural consequences are the best teachers so maybe we let ourselves take the lumps. it's rough though...

#127 - idol gives back

oh absolutely i meant it and yes it was racist. i don't deny that. c'mon, all those creepy choir children, remember? when they were jumping around the stage with those creepy smiles singing that song? plus it's even creepier when you've got randy jackson with pounds of diamonds around his neck walking around a dirt village passing out schoolbags to some kids who probably just want a cookie or maybe a vaccination. okay sure, how else can that scenario play out? it would be awkward in any situation except if randy stripped down, sold his clothes to buy food and passed bowls of stew out butt-naked to everyone in the village, but then it would be awkward in a different way. they've got to do it somehow, and it's gonna probably come off a little self-righteous and hypocritical, but the end goal is a good one so there's nothing else to do but poke fun at it and then say "good job."

but anyway, why is "racism" a negative word? because it's been given that slant through history and the word "racism" itself has taken on much more meaning than merely the semantics of the word alone. because really, what it boils down to is just xenophobia... fear or contempt of that which is unknown. so why isn't that word so hated? not that it should, it should not be a negative word. evolutionarily speaking, xenophobia kept you alive, if you weren't familiar with something, being cautious kept you from getting into somewhere you shouldn't. Of course, too much of that isn't good either (you'd miss out on new plants to eat or things to learn from new people), but that doesn't mean that initial fear was a bad thing.

likewise, racism is just categorization, if you're a caveman living with your clan and some new tribe comes strolling into your nut and berry patch then you'd better be wary and learn what you can about those guys... and once you have, wouldn't you try to apply what you've learned to each tribemember you see so that you know how to deal with them? a more current example, i work with a large population of people from the marshall islands, i've learned some general traits about their culture and that has helped me to work with them and their families and taught me what to expect and what not to expect from them. Does that apply to every single one of them? Of course not, but it's a good place to start isn't it? c'mon this happens a million times a day, whether it be skin color, nationality, culture, wearing glasses, having a tattoo, smiling without your teeth, or walking an ugly puppy, judgments are made based on certain traits because those traits MAY lead you to some useful generalizations. categorization helps people get through the day... going beyond categorization helps people get from day to day. should you stop at those snap judgments? of course not, but we can't deny that they happen and we shouldn't deny that they're necessarily a bad thing.

my pet peeve is how touchy society has gotten about "racism" and "fighting" racism. my philosophy is don't make it such a huge part of your life. does it exist? absolutely. is it bad? not the point. the point is that it's a part of human society and cannot be extinguished, so just learn to live with it and if you don't like it, then don't let it affect you. make it a neutral word. as harmless as "table" or "walking." people are different, this is true, if not in one way then definately in another.

therefore... i think those african kids are weirdos. are they starving? i guess so, but that doesn't make them any less weird.

that being said... one could argue, well if it was american children would that be different? again, not the point, are there starving people many places in the world? of course, all over the place. american idol chose to give support to africa. if they had chosen the poverty stricken children of papua new guinea i'd probably be saying "now i have to watch those papua new guinean weirdos."

am i unsympathetic? duh, how long have you guys known me? i've got plenty more unsympathetic theories if you'd like to hear them, but why share those? no need to, just my thoughts (probably not very good ones at that, but most of them deal with natural selection and the way nature always finds a way to adapt to maintain homeostatis) and they will stay within my brain, where they belong and where they will stay. but i take offense to being called insensitive and uneducated. then again, those are just words too so why should i get bent out of shape out it? i guess i shouldn't, so i won't. anyway... jason castro!? are you kidding me? ewww... but i did hear those rumors about david's dad, no wonder he looks so scared after he's done singing and stands before the judges, haha, he's scared he's gonna get whipped.

one thing i will say about "idol gives back," it's about time someone in america got all these great music stars and actors, etc to do something together. aside from awards shows (which are huge ego-fests anyway), this is the only media event that can draw so many stars and acts together, and to top that bring them together for a good cause. i've always thought, if america has such great musicians and stuff, then why don't we have things like this more often? like in japan how they have that red & white songfest every year, why can't americans do stuff like that? because we're all too individualistic? so it takes something like this to make it happen, well at least it's happening, right?

ps - i love how they brought on the "so you think you can dance?" contestants too, i like that show too, they have really likable people i think. in general i think i like seeing past contestants of this show and other shows, it shows that getting voted off of these shows doesn't doom them to obscurity for the rest of their lives (although y'know perhaps it really should for some of them...).

#126 - weekly idol

quickie post before i go to bed... this week's american idol:

1. michael johns - okay, i loved his performance last week, this week was a cop-out. the good news, he kinda sounded like that huge-mouthed aerosmith guy, the bad news, he kinda sounded like that huge-mouthed aerosmith guy. i never thought of "dream on" as an inspirational song, but it was a total copycat act, so sad because his performance last week was so good, but oh well. NO VOTE.

2. syesha mercado - poor syesha, why does she choose such songs? first whitney now the winning song from the 3rd season of idol? why put yourself in that postition? that sadder thing was that she sang it pretty well, but it didn't matter how good she sang it, she's still gonna be compared to the winner of the other idol, so no good can come of that. NO VOTE.

3. jason castro - well, at least he picked a song that matched him (any more instruments and you wouldn't be able to hear him anyway), but i still don't think he's anything great at all... except for the fact that he looks like this ridiculous dog (by the way, the dog is awesome)! NO VOTE for jason... 1 VOTE for the dog.

4. kristy lee cook - haha, she lives on! i'm actually starting to root for her now, not that i like her, but she's survived this long, who knows how long she'll last?! but it was kind of a sweet, nice song, and her voice is pretty good, but still... NO VOTE.

5. david cook - this was a total flub. NO VOTE.

6. carly smithson - i still like her, i really liked the first half of the song, but the second was kinda frantic. still, i hope she stays on... 1 VOTE.

7. david archuleta - little bro still got it, best performance of the night and a good song too, see? but if you look him up on youtube, actually he's performed a lot of these songs before, on local tv shows or in live performances, he did "imagine" and this "angels" song before... but, can't fault him for that, if you can do it and do it good, what's wrong with doing it again? 3 VOTES.


8. brooke white - i really like this girl, and despite what the judges said, i really liked this performance too. 2 VOTES.

now i have to watch that retarded "idol gives back" with all their african weirdos tommorrow and wait until thursday for the results? man. well, i think it's gonna be between kristy and syesha going out (although i really wish they'd get rid of jason castro already). who knows though???

#125 - funny

this is the funniest thing i've seen in a LONG time... haha, can't tell if that guy is acting or if he is really crazy... and by now everyone who casts him in movies expects him to be that whack-o guy so i guess he realy doesn't need to act, just be himself reading cue cards badly and being old, sweet deal.

#124 - i'm sad

okay i'm totally bummed that ramiele is gone now. sure she was kinda junk with the song picks and performances recently, and even though she had a kinda good voice, she didn't really do very much to show it off, so i guess that was her downfall. plus, i think she just got kinda lost in all the other contestants, they're all just a little more iconic than her, people probably kinda forgot about her. i remembered though because i thought she was a little hottie. plus she made all those cute sad expressions and i'm a total sucker for pretty girls who cry.

but the good news is look how much i care about someone who got voted off 9th? i guess that really does mean this season is pretty loaded, even i was kinda bummed that chikeze (rewards come easy) was off last time. and if kristy lee cook (finally) gets off next week i'll be a bit sad too because she was a survivor man! wasn't she like in the bottom whatever every single show so far, including the very beginning ones? hey, do you remember when kimberly locke was like in the bottom three for the whole first half of that second season, and then all of sudden she came in 3rd? well, i don't want that to happen again with kristy, but gotta give her credit for hanging in there... somehow. there's only one person that really needs to leave and that's creepfest whisper "singer" jason castro. there was this one segment when they interviewed all the contestants in some garden and there was like a gnat or fly or two flying around everyone's head, and then they showed dread-head and he had a whole swarm flying around him. gross.

but, i'm sad, poor ramiele. i'm gonna miss her hottness. at least she gets to go on tour...

#123 - weekly wrap-up

so since we're getting down to the good stuff of this show, i think it's time to take a closer look at each of those american idol guys...

1. brooke white - i like her style, tonight's song was pretty straight, but i think that's probably what she does best, little instrumentation, simple melody, i like it great, the only thing i wonder about is how that's gonna hold up when she's forced to sing something outside that

2. david cook - i like this guy's voice, okay maybe his style is all copied from other rockers, but he does it well, kinda cocky sure but oh well, again, i don't know how he'd do when he can't rely on those killer arrangements

3. ramiele malubay - too bad, i thought she'd be more of a contender, but i think she's just about out of her depth, can't make arrangements, just does simple karaoke versions, good voice in parts but not all the way through

4. jason castro - seriously? this guy? i wanted this guy out from the very first week! really, i can burp louder than this guy can sing

5. carly smithson - i thought she did really good tonight, i like her a lot, and i think that she would do well with whatever crap song they'd give to the final contestants, so i hope she continues on

6. david archuleta - still way the best i think, go little bro

7. kristy lee cook - poor girl, she does have a nice country voice, but why do all her songs have the corniest jug and banjo background beats? like tonight's song, it could actually have been a very nice slow song, but it was all fast-beaty and crappy

8. syesha mercado - i feel sorry for her too, she just picks songs that do absolutely nothing for her, i actually liked the first part of her song tonight, but the rest of it was just "not as good as the original," which is like what she's been doing all season

9. michael johns - surprised me tonight, i really liked the bluesy kinda vibe, i thought he sang real nice, that's why he gets my youtube shout-out tonight:


so now i think i've got all of my top five youtubed on this blog so far, and not intentionally either, which i guess just goes to show how diverse and really good this season is. but, i think that depth and diversity is also its downfall, because you know that when they get to the final two contestants, they're both gonna have to sing some horrid song from their "compose your own song" contest and they're not gonna be able to tweak it and arrange it how they want. that's why i think only david archuleta and carly (maybe michael johns) has a shot at winning the whole thing. remember last year? both jordin and blake were pretty cool, but with at horrendous "this is my now" song (i mean seriously, "this is my now, and i am really in the moment?" what can you do with that?), only jordin even had a chance, and it still sounded crappy. remember katharine mcphee and taylor hicks? that godawful song was disaster for katharine and then crappy-ass taylor hicks won. so really, even though i think american idol is getting better at being less "pop" and more "music," they've still got a long way to go.

now of course all that discussion brings up the question, "do i watch too much american idol?" probably, but y'know i see this as that one thing that i do that completely surrenders myself to mass hysteria and popular culture and i embrace that. i allow myself to become influenced by the media in just this area because it's fun, and i acknowledge that, so it's kind of like my one guilty pleasure. also, i seem to have an embarrassingly good memory for stuff like this so i remember all the seasons and compare and make judgments a lot, which is kinda fun too.

anyway, i think ramiele, kristy, and syesha are gonna be in the bottom 3 with kristy finally getting the boot (even though i kinda like her for surviving so long, haha). but really, jason castro needs to leave like now... who is still voting for him? weird. and creepy.