AI

Something about the American Idol finale tends to turn my brain to mush, but were the Black Eyed Peas actually, sort of . . . good? What is this strange feeling I'm having?

Also, was it just me, or were there several seconds missing?

American Idol: Top 2

American Idol, final two. Okay, I actually like Kris a lot, but has there been a more obvious victor? Okay, Kelly-Justin and Fantasia-Diana were pretty obvious too. But regardless, I'm excited to see what they five us.

Adam Lambert. "Mad World." This was such a smart choice for Adam to make. Not only was this widely considered his best performance of the year, but most of the East Coast didn't even see it the first time around.

Kris Allen. "Ain't No Sunshine." I am not a fan of this song--at all--but I thought Kris killed it. I honestly think that might be the best I have ever heard that song sung, and I think this is the best Kris has sounded. I was really impressed with him, and I thought he sounded great on the piano too.

Adam Lambert. "Change is Gonna Come." I thought Adam did a great job with this. As for the judges: what is wrong with Paula's skin color? Has she voluntarily done that to herself? And Gobo wondered what the occasion was, to get Simon to get dressed up. He asked the question about ten seconds before Ryan pointed out Simon was "wearing buttons." And, shockingly, I actually found Ryan funny for those five seconds.

Kris Allen. "What's Going On?" It seems unfair for Simon Fuller to give Adam "Change is Gonna Come" and then give Kris this song. It's just inferior and is boring. I thought he sounded fine, but boring. It's a good thing he did so well on the first song. I hate that Randy's critique was about the song choice, and he made it sound like it was Kris' option.

Adam Lambert. "American Idol original song." God, I hate these. I hope they make them sing the same song. I hate the seasons where they give the contestants different songs. It was fine. He sounded good, but the song definitely wasn't great (not that we expected otherwise). Gobo thought Adam's performance was "very '80s." (Gobo is a big fan of the '80s.) Oh my god. I didn't realize Kara wrote the song. Yuck. I hope Simon rips the quality of the songwriting, because that sucked. Well...he did take a small jab. I guess it's something.

Kris Allen. "American Idol original song." Same crappy song. Kris is tiny. He is smaller than Ryan, and no one is smaller than Ryan. He sounds off-key at points. Oh well. And if Kara thought the song was too high for Kris, why did she write it that way? Kris must really be a nice guy, because not one of the judges had the heart to come right out and say he sounded awful (although it was pretty obvious).

You know what? I take back saying it was so obvious. Kris did a fantastic job on the first song. Adam is still the clear winner, but on that first song, Kris made it a bit of a race.

Brush With Fame -- D.C. Style

I just saw Barton Seaver at the farmer's market.

Also, peonies! Yay.

American Idol: Top 3

Okay, American Idol, top three, without Alison. :( Let's go.

Danny Gokey. "Dance Little Sister." Danny has never sounded more like Michael McDonald than he does on this song. Anyone who consistently reads this blog (hi Wilder) knows that I don't think this is a good thing.

Kris Allen. "Apologize." I am not a fan of this song, but Kris wasn't as good as the original. The high notes seemed to high. I do hope he advances instead of Danny.

Adam Lambert. "One." There is no question that Adam has a great voice, but I just didn't like that interpretation of the song.

Danny Gokey. "You Are So Beautiful." This song always makes me think of "Three's Company." I think there was an episode where Larry sang it to some woman he met at the Regal Beagle (maybe Greedy Gretchen?). Anyway, I don't remember the episode all that well, but I do associate the song with the show. As for Danny, I thought he sang it well, but it was really boring. Bleh. I don't get the intense amount of love from the judges.

Kris Allen. "Heartless." I don't know this song (does that make me uncool?). But I liked Kris' rendition. Gobo thought the high note was off, but I thought it sounded like it was probably right.

Adam Lambert. "Cryin'." I absolutely loathe the backup singer on the song--she's taking a ton away from Adam's performance, and their voices do not work well together. The arrangement also sucks--they cut and paste so many portions of the song together that it doesn't work cohesively at all. I thought Adam sounded good, although there were some points where he didn't sound as good as he normally does. But at the end of the day, there's no question that he should win the competition.

Seriously?

Okay, first off, I'm really embarassed that I still watch Grey's Anatomy. I pretty much hate it, and I hate myself for continuing to DVR it, but I just have a real problem giving up on shows once I start them (see, e.g., Heroes). In my defense, Grey's is pretty much the last show I watch--I only turn to it when I have exhausted all other possibilities.

Last night I watched the most recent episode, and as the Meredith, Izzy or Christina would say, seriously? Spoilers ahead, but Izzy is dying, and so Meredith decided to allow Izzy and Alex to replace her and Derek at what was supposed to be their wedding. Okay, a little unconventional, but fine, I can buy that. But Izzy then fit into Meredith's dress? There is no way in this world that Katherine Heigl and Ellen Pompeo wear the same size. It was particularly obvious, because the ballgown dress was totally filled out on top. Was Meredith planning to stuff socks into her bra?

Ridiculous.

American Idol: Top 4

I can't believe Slash is the celebrity mentor this week. I rarely watch the celebrity mentors, but I am obviously watching all of the clips with Slash. Unbelievable!

Adam Lambert. "Whole Lotta Love." If Adam ever did well in one week, this would be it (same for Alison). This should be interesting. Actually, it wasn't as great as I thought it would be. Sure, he sounded good, and I can't think of any other Idol contestant who could have pulled it off, but it was such a faithful rendition that it didn't really do much for me. The thing about Adam, is that he totally should have been on Rock Star. Can they bring that show back? Surely Slash needs a lead singer.

Alison Iraheta. "Crybaby." How cool is it for the singers that Slash plays guitar with them when they are practicing? At this point, I don't understand how there can be any question that Alison and Adam belong in the top two. Her performance wasn't super exciting, but I thought she did well.

Kris and Danny's duet. This is something new! I have about zero interest in a Kris and Danny duet, but I think that Alison and Adam together will be great. Kris and Danny didn't sound bad at all, and they harmonized well. (Were the backup singers helping?)

Kris Allen. "Come Together." Kris sounded good--he has a nice voice. But it wasn't at all exciting. Kris' best trait is that his voice would probably be very pleasing on the radio.

Danny Gokey. "Dream On." I love that Slash said it could go either way. Gobo said that he thinks Danny's vest tells us everything we need to know about how this song is going to. (And he is not a fan of the vest.) I would have loved Adam to have sung this song, but alas we are stuck with Danny, and it just isn't that good. He was absolutely awful on the high note, and the rest of the song was no good either--they seemed to be dropping octaves when they normally wouldn't, and it was just bad. Bad, bad, bad. Randy said this isn't Danny's genre, and Gobo asked what Danny's genre is. Answer: Michael McDonald and songs about dead lovers. What is Kara smoking? She told Danny to sing early Aerosmith, like "Crazy" and "Cryin'." Does she think that "Dream On" came after those songs?

Adam and Alison duet. It actually wasn't as good as I was hoping--they certainly didn't harmonize as prettily as Danny and Kris, but it's not like they are pretty singers. Nonetheless, it was entertaining, and I think Alison is surprisingly comfortable on stage for someone of her age.

And yet again, the show stopped short for me. Isn't Ryan in charge of making sure the show runs on time? Why can he not do his job properly?

Top two: Adam, Alison.
Bottom two: Kris, Danny.
Going home: Danny.

Important Question

I have 21 unwatched episodes of Heroes on my TiVo. Is there anything worth watching in there?

Feeling Good

In honor of tonight's American Idol, I thought I'd post this awesome video of Nina Simone's "Feeling Good." Clearly, she kicks Adam's ass, but I don't know how she'd look in a shiny white suit.

Feeling Good, Nina Simone
by mrfnk

American Idol: Top 5

Sorry for the Idol absence the past few weeks; I hadn't been watching on the day of the episode. But tonight, I decided to cap off a fabulous night of watching the Caps beat the Rangers in game seven by watching Idol, so I'm back.

Kris Allen. "The Way You Look Tonight." Didn't like his version of the song. It was too slow and drawn out, and it wasn't anything we haven't heard before. From the judges' table, I hadn't realized this before, but Kara really sounds like she is reciting something from memory. I'm sure she is, but couldn't she act less wooden?

Alison Ireheta. "Someone to Watch Over Me." I really liked Alison's rendition. It was a little bit different, but still faithful to the song, and her voice sounded great. She did a really, really good job. And Randy's right, she does look like Brittany Murphy.

Matt Giraud. "My Funny Valentine." This should be a night that is good for Matt. Unfortunately, I think this pales in comparison to Melinda's version two years ago. And I hate the glory note at the end.

Danny Gokey. "Come Rain or Come Shine." I'm just not a Danny fan. I thought there were uneven parts, but I actually thought the ending was strong.

Adam Lambert. "Feeling Good." Except for the really high note, I thought it was off-night for Adam. And Randy saying he's sounding like a broken record was pretty funny. He's always a broken record. His vocabulary consists of about 12 words.