Wednesday, April 4, 2012

80's Night on Idol

I wrote a post of random thoughts before I wrote this drivel. Scroll down and read that instead. You've been warned.

I wasn't going to blog. I still have notes from this past week (Yes, I take notes. Yes, I'm a nerd. Did I ask you?) and haven't blogged those (yet?). Maybe I will. Don't know. But ANYWAY. As I was saying . . .

I wasn't going to blog. But it's 80's night and Gwen Stefani is the guest mentor, so that clinches it. I'm blogging. I LOVE THE EIGHTIES.

Wait. That's very important. So, I'll repeat it.

I LOVE THE EIGHTIES.

I love the 80s. I love the music. I love the books. I love the pop culture. I love the TV shows. I love the leg warmers. I love the actors. I LOVE THE EIGHTIES.

Every time we hear the radio and they play an 80's song, I'm usually freaking out about what a great song it is and how THAT is when music was really good. And I usually yell out, "I LOVE THE EIGHTIES!!"

So, are we clear? Say it with me now. I love the eighties.

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Forget it. The night stunk. It's like they took a gigantic list of 80's songs and picked all the crappy ones. So, now, I don't feel like blogging about it. Just quick snippets. Here goes.

DeAndre was good. I like his falsetto. But he touches his hair too much.

Elise sang a crappy song. She must have heard wrong. Elise, honey, it was "80's night." Not "dress like an 80-year-old night." She was off, too.

The southerns (Colton and Skylar) sang a duet. "Islands in the Stream" (from the catalog of More Crappy 80's Songs). Also? Colton creeps me out a bit. The way he stared at the camera was just icky.

Damn. I love the Eighties. The music was so great. Why are they picking such sucky songs?

Phillip sang "That's All" by Genesis. It was out of his range and he looked sickly. I'm disappointed, because I love this guy. He's better than this.

Another duet - Hollie and Deandre sang "I'm So Excited" from the catalog of The Suckiest 80's Songs Ever. I HATE this song. (And that's not something I say often when talking about an 80's song!). The psychedelic background and pyrotechnics did not help this duet.

Tommy Hilfiger was conspicuously absent and all the girls were wearing the same silver eye shadow. Coincidence? I think not.

Filler . . . filler . . . filler.

Joshua sang a good 80's song and slowly built up energy and passion throughout the song even though it started with a choir. He's crazy talented. "It wasn't too much over the top and it was too much over the top. So, it was perfect," said Steven Tyler, half-sedated from some long-ago drug trip.

Jessica has an alter ego who sang a song and stunk it up. Her alter ego hit some WONKY notes. She was off. I don't know what the judges are hearing. Bet you Jimmy disagrees tomorrow in his commentary during the results show.

Filler . . . filler . . . filler.

Hey, I know. How about a 1.5 hour show and less stupid banter?

Another duet, only this one was excellent, because it was two very mature and seasoned singers (Elise and Phillip). GREAT job on a Tom Petty and Stevie Nicks number.

Hollie sang another crappy song, but she looked adorable and let loose more, which they've been telling her to do. And it was really good! Only the judges aren't hearing the same thing we are - she WAS on pitch, whereas Jessica was not. Ugh.

Another duet. Because, you know, they kept it as a 2-hour show even though they only had about 12 minutes of actual singing competition. This duet was fantastic - great song, great duo. Joshua and Jessica sang "I Knew You Were Waiting for Me" by George Michael and Aretha Franklin. It was awesome.

Colton sang "Time After Time," which is actually a really GOOD 80's song. Love how Gwen Stefani said it's the song you hear and wish you'd written. It really is a great song with great lyrics. The song begs for harmony, though. Cool arrangement, but whatever.

Skylar told us she missed her 4-wheelers and guns, which just make me think again how the South just makes me sad, and then sang "Wind Beneath My Wings,' which was only marginally more tolerable than her original choice of "9 to 5." I think I got goosies. Well done.

But, overall, meh.

Thanks to the tone-deaf judges, Hollie will probably be going home. Joining her in the bottom 3 will be Elise, who doesn't take criticism well, and DeAndre, because he sang first. Or maybe Jessica, because she was off and we heard it even if the judges didn't.

Tonight was so sucky that I might just blog about the Billy Joel songs from two weeks ago to make myself feel better.

4 comments:

Dr. Mark said...

I fear that as the contestants get further and further removed from actually hearing the songs of the 80s the less likely they are to pick a good song. I had WAY higher hopes for this week. Throw a dart at this list and you'd get a better selection.

Excellent review, though.

Dr. Mark said...

Oh, and I loved the comment on Elise's wardrobe and her theme confusion. So perfect.

Anonymous said...

"...which just make me think again how the South just makes me sad."

Oh man, that's some great writing! If nothing else, at least Idol provides you with some great writing material. Thank you.

Boquinha said...

Oh bless you both. The timing and content of your comments is just perfect with regard to conversations I've had about writing and getting published. You've inspired me without even trying. Thank YOU.