American Idol: Big Girls DO Cry!

It takes a big man to cry.
It takes an even bigger man to laugh at that man.
-Jack Handy

So, I had a pretty heartless Idol experience yesterday. I was wiped out and I think it left me feeling like it was a bland week. Well tonight after watching Idol and getting teary eyed I realized I was either heartless last night or too emotional tonight. I was watching the Ford commercial, which I never do, but I had some video ideas so I watched. Anyway, I started thinking how much I liked the top 5.

Even though I don't like Adam, still he doesn't ruin it. These top 5 contestants are talented, fun, and interesting. While watching the food fight I was reminded how they all felt like normal people; down to earth. Even though I am sure that food fight was prompted by producers, it was a real food fight, total mess and real competition. I like that. (The whole give them the bill thing was silly. I could have cleaned that fight up and replaced broken items for 2,000; those maids were a rip off!)

As they all talked about what a great top 5 it was I just kept agreeing. When Matt left I was sad. Watching his video I got a little misty. No tears rolling down my cheek, but I was choked up. I guess I am enjoying this season more than I expected. I guess I will feel loss when everyone gets voted off (except Adam, that would be sweet justice.) By the way, how great was it seeing Adam in the bottom 2! I had my fingers crossed. Maybe next week he'll get the boot! Either way, next time I'll bring tissues.

American Idle

For me it wasn't a very exciting week, just kind of bland. I love standards but nothing gripped me.

Kris- Not your best night, but not bad. This wasn't your genre.

Allison- Showing off the pipes, but I agree that you don't display confidence when you sing.

Matt- I just didn't care for it. Sorry, just not that good. Simon was wrong.

Danny- This was right in his wheelhouse. Just fun, good energy.

Adam- Ridiculous close with that note, that was nuts. It's still just not someone I want to keep hearing. I feel like I'm never surprised by his performances.

My friend said "Adam Lambert win Dramatic Lighting Idol", in my opinion that's all he deserves.

My hope is Matt goes home, my guess is Allison.

I love classical music.

enough said.

A weird combination...

17 Again

State of Play

both seen the same day, back to back.

Now this is a random pairing, I know. If you've been reading for any extended time you know that I lead a pretty random life. It was late in the afternoon, I'm sitting on my friends couch and we all turned to each other and said, let's see a movie. Within 15 minutes we were at the theater buying tickets to State of Play. It seemed like an interesting movie with some great stars.

I wasn't disappointed, the movie was intriguing and kept me guessing till the very end. While I wasn't blown away because in many ways it felt like a combination of a few films from the past. But it was still entertaining, a great little movie that did its job of entertaining and making me think.

An hour and a half later I found myself sitting in the Arclight in Sherman Oaks to see 17 Again. Now a few hours earlier I didn't push my friends to see 17 Again, I lobbied to see the political thriller. Looking at the posters and ads for this movie, well it didn't seem like my kind of movie. As the movie started I was nervous about the impending doom. Within the first 3 minutes the following things happened.

1. Zac Efron was shooting free throws with his shirt off.
2. Zac Efron did choreography in his basketball uniform before the "big game".
3. Zac Efron said "We're in this together"; a line that is frighteningly close to a lyric.
   

What had I gotten myself into. If it weren't for my friends that picked the movie long before I was invited, I would have let this movie pass me by. But sitting in a row of girls surrounded by teenage girls, I was wishing I wasn't there. At the end of the film I was thinking about how thankful I was that I'd seen the film because I really like 17 Again. In fact, I enjoyed it more that State of Play. Now it's comparing apples and oranges, sure but 17 again was one great apple.

17 Again didn't take itself too seriosly, played great to its genre. Even though this whole man in a boys body has been done many times, it didn't feel copycat. They didn't go for the easy jokes. It also never got too creepy with Efron's 17 year old character (really, a 37 year old), dancing with his friends mom. It had a cute story, it was simple and ended the way you expect it to. It wasn't the premise or the ending that was fresh and new, it was the supporting characters.

Zac was great and never seemed like a distraction, other than the first 3 minutes which I forgave. But the best part of this movie was the surrounding Characters. The mother/wife, the best friend, the principal, all played by talented actors. They played basic characters but had great comedic timing and felt grounded in reality. And this is a Zac Efron movie about transformation. The best example was Thomas Lennon (Reno 911, The State) who played the nerdy best friend. His nerd moments were great and he made me laugh in nearly every scene he was in.

Overall, I'd reccomend both films, State of Play is a fun political thriller that says some great things about corruption and journalism. WIth that said, the movie that earned the stronger endorsement is 17 Again. If you want to laugh the way you did at Big when you first saw it, spend the money and enjoy.

Disco Idol

It's disco night on Idol!

So, I watched this weeks online and then directly looked up the results. Here's the play by play...

Danny: Great great great, I really enjoyed it. I liked it, the most I've liked Danny in a while. It was like a modern Michael McDonald, and I love me some Michael McDonald!

Anoop: It was a different arrangement and he has a good voice (though his last note was all over the place) but he is just hanging on, not a contender. Ouch, Simon drops the bomb on him.

Lil: Okay, America, this needs to stop. I am embarrassed when I hear the crowds cheering because it indicates that we have no musical taste. OUCH, judges are working her, and saying what needs to be said. I think the judges may have put a fork in her... she's done.

Matt: Now, this was a fun performance. Good arrangement with a Michael Jackson vibe. (Though a little reminiscent of the lounge band in Swingers, but that too makes me happy.) He definitely laid it all out on the floor tonight.

Allison: Ok, this girl can sing... she looks ridiculous, but her vocals are amazing.

Adam: I just feel like I start to like his voice and arrangement and then he starts squealing. Come on dude, really.

Kris: GREAT IDEA... it felt like I was at a Mraz concert and he was doing a cover. That's the kind of thing crowds just LOVE... I enjoyed it immensely...enough to download. I know he's my favorite so I'm biased, but he wins the night. WOW!

Ok, not surprised and downright happy with the results. That's exactly who needed to go home. Lil dug her grave by being Karaoke and being arrogant. Simon has a lot of pull, his words matter.

Okay, good stuff. I have a little bit of Idol fatigue, so give me some feedback if you're liking the posts... agreeing or disagreeing.

Last Minute Idol Blog

Google "American Idol Blogger" and this is one of the first images you'll find.
If this represents other people that blog about Idol...well,
one of these things is not like the other, and I am that one thing.

Okay, so I wake up this morning to an email from a complete stranger. Andrea found thoughtsoftrent.com from a friend (another person I don't know), and she was disappointed to not have my weekly post. She did some hunting and found a site that had clips of the show. Big thanks to Andrea for making this post possible.

-trent

Danny- Um...not bad. Simon's notes of that being a bit boring but still showing his good voice. It was touching when I realized he was thinking about his wife and I respected him even more when he didn't state the obvious.

Adam- He just yells and does what he does... no big woop for me. Paula said, "you dare to dance in the path of greatness" and it was the most ridiculous thing I've heard in quite sometime. Simon was right on, and I wasn't won over at all by this squeal session. I know he'll be in the top 3, but I still don't have huge buy in. I listened to last weeks after listening to the version was covering and I was reminded how he didn't do much different. Not as amazing as most think he is.

OKAY SIDE NOTE: What's with only 2 judges talking??? There are plenty of other places to trim the show back... not here.

Kris- Okay, I never say this but OMG! My favorite contestant sings one of my five favorite songs from the last 5 years. I watched this twice, I LOVED this. He kept the best parts of the original and made it his own ballad. More performing in a large hall than singer songwriter in a piano store in Ireland, but that's great. (By the way, have I told you about "Once", it's amazing...I blogged about it, right? Ahhh, I need to make a master list of the things I blabber about.) If he's really not in the top 3, then I will not be happy.

Allison- Just whatever, there are people that still need to go before she does, but I am not thrilled. She needs to grow up and live some life so she has layered emotions to sing about. Oh, side note: her hair is just silly, take that hat off. Oh, and fire the person that puts you in those clothes.

Lil- This was really boring, and if they didn't say it would take a gospel turn, I'd of probably turned it off. Then when it took a Gospel turn, it didn't feel like a young marketable artist doing a throwback to gospel. It felt like this copycat artist, just mixing up styles. I am ready to move on from Lil, I hope she goes. DON'T ARGUE WITH SIMON... YOU LOOK RIDICULOUS!!!

Anoop- Thanks for the flashback to 6th grade. Gosh, there was nothing Hollywood about these performances (other than Kris and Adam so far) that captured the feel of the film. I don't know, they could have had more fun with this. Anoop didn't sound bad here, but he's still Anoop. Ok, judges agree but clearly in their tone they are saying that he won't last. Also, worst jacket EVER!

Matt- Uhoh, those aren't good choices when it comes to tweaking the melody, it sounds off. You sound horrible, oh dude, not just a worn voice... Okay, I get why you got voted off only to be saved by the judges. Wow, great notes from Randy, he always surprises me in moments like these where he has good feedback.

So, a little bit of a let down for Hollywood week. Now, with the Judges save used, and Disco week this next week, well anything could happen. It should be interesting. I hope TiVo is more agreeable.

American Idol is thwarted by technology...

Okay, I am SO ANGRY at technology. I am living in a new place and don't have cable set up to the TiVo yet. American Idol isn't available online so when my back up DVR failed again and missed the recording of Idol, I was none too happy. I just looked it up on Wikipedia and found out Matt got saved. I didn't hear his performance, but I will say GOOD JOB AMERICA!

Hopefully next week Lil Rounds AND Anoop will get the boot.

I'm gonna start hunting online to find the performances.

-trent

not that far off...

This video was posted by my friend Darin and it's pretty good. Definetely where we are headed.

A slightly disappointing week on Idol

The top 8 from season 7 seemed more memorable.
I'm not sure I will remember half of the top 8 from this year.

This week, I'm blogging while I watch.

Danny Gokey- A little pitchy at the start. I hate this arrangement, it feels like something I'd of heard in my orthodontist office in 1991. It was just lacking for me, let's see what the judges think.

Kris Allen- "The instructor of the ferris wheel" someone can't speak properly. Not a huge fan of the horn section, I really like this song but this doesn't seem contemporary! Another thing, please have them perform on the stage, not on the floor. It feels silly.

Lil Rounds- Seriously, when are we going to stop this. Same thing every week, no one will buy a record from her. Judges agree.

Anoop Desai- forgetable, I mean not as bad as the past weeks but not good.

Scott MacIntyre- LAME! Stop stop stop stop voting for him America.

Allison Iraheta- I cracked up laughing when her dad seemed so uninterested in what her mom was saying. Very funny. Atleast she tamed her hair this week. Song wasn't bad, but Simon gave some really great advice.

Matt Giraud- I liked the song a lot, good version of a great song. It really showed off what you do well.

then, my DVR cut off, I thought there was at least one more and I realized it was Adam Lambert, so I googled it and found a copy of the performance online. Because the show ran WAY long (why?!?) the only judge that responded was Simon and he gave a standing ovation.

Now, I enjoyed this the most of any performance he's ever done. But It's just a great and amazing song. He did a really great job tailoring it to his voice and style. I don't like him after this, but I liked that performance.

Ok, American Idol producers need to get it in gear and get the show to not run too long. And everyone needs to step it up, this week was a bit of a let down. Come on NEXT WEEK!

AI quote

"if Broadway had a baby with an 80's hair band, it would be Adam
Lambert"

-trent

Sheep are fun...

usually, they are stupid but this video shows how they can be fun when you use TECHNOLOGY!

Beware of Dog

Don't mess with Disney Characters. Lesson Learned, tough stuff.

The original "The Office"

Best Dance Ever (in the non-child category) goes to Ricky Gervais.

Any astute viewer of "The Office" on NBC knows that this show started across the pond on the BBC and was created my Ricky Gervais and Steven Merchant. While the first season of the US series was nearly a direct copy of the UK version, eventually the network allowed the writers to pursue their own vision of the show and it became wildly popular. Before that, it was a good show, but not a great show. That doesn't mean that it was copying a bad show, it just means that trying to be a direct copy isn't a good idea.

With that said, I am a big fan of the original British version, but that doesn't mean that fans of the NBC series are guaranteed to like the BBC version. David Brent (the equivalent of Michael Scott) is a much darker character. Carrell's character is well intentioned and a genuinely sweet guy and Gervais' character is more arrogant. The supporting cast isn't explored as much in the BBC version but this is likely due to the fact that they only have 2 seasons and one special (a totaly of 14 episodes.) Television in the UK is more crass than in the US so that makes it feel more like an HBO show, than a network series. The series ends in a great and artistic way, and has a satisfying revisit of the characters in the Christmas Special.

I really loved watching the show these last few weeks. It is so horribly awkward watching the socially inept boss, played perfectly by Gervais. He speaks in such a confident manner but is so clearly weak, and is the best car wreck to watch. The dynamic between Tim & Dawn just as endearing as that of Jim & Pam. The UK Dwight, known as Garth is not as quirky as Dwight and seems a little more grounded. If you even slightly like British Comedy, then check out this version. It's hard to write a series review, but I will say that this series is hilariously uncomfortable.

Possibly the best dancing kid EVER!

watch and enjoy the whole thing.

Okay, maybe it was because my good friends just had a baby that I am wanting to be a dad more than usual. But, really I think it was watching this video and the prospect of video taping my own offspring doing awesome dance moves. Yeah, that was it.

I watched the whole thing two times in a row, the kid is AMAZING and working it! Low low low low low low low low.

bye bye pretty lady...

America proves that song choice wins out over hotness.

She's beautiful and she seemed to be really goofy tonight, but she just kept making bad choices. When you have an opportunity to pick nearly ANY song (Top 40 week), you don't go with a little known Bob Marley/Lauryn Hill song. Kara's advice was right on. I think Megan self-destructed; she knew she wasn't going to win, and missed her baby.

It was time for her to go, not based on her talent, based on her giving up. Anoop is next on the list and then Scott needs to leave. After that it will get interesting.