American Idol: Top 13

So here is the Top 13. I am not freaking out like most people seem to be over the 13. At least there are now 13 people.

S0 I am tired, feeling sick, ready to just go to sleep. Hey, there's Idol on the TiVo. Okay, I will watch a few contestants. WHAT! Michael Jackson Night!!! I am in it to win it. I really love the King of Pop, so I will blog and watch moment by moment. (Please note, it's moment by moment, so I am not just writing down what the judges say.) For those of you that have been asking lately, THIS is when my American Idol blogging kicks into gear. For those of you that hate this time of year when it comes to my blog...sorry, deal with it.

-Lil Rounds: It sounded like the original arrangement of the song... I disagree with the judges saying it's original because it wasn't. I am not freaking out about this contestant. I am wondering when the hype will die down.

-Scott MacIntyre: Not a fan of this arrangement at all. It feels like a track I would buy in 1991 to a MWS song at Valley Book & Bible. That reference may go over your head, but let's just say its bad. Everyone is applauding his story, not his performance. How long will that last? And here we go, Simon drops the truth on everyone. Great job Simon.

-Danny Gokey: P.Y.T.: I am all about this song. Just hearing the title gave me the chills. He really owned the stage and then he danced like a mid-west church employee. Hopefully he doesn't keep dancing. Paula is drunk. Simon is calling him out on his lack of dancing. I voted for Danny.

-Michael Sarver: Nothing special, you'll be back working the oil rig in the next 3 weeks...sorry man.

-Jasmine Murray: I think she is over-rated. Wrong song choice, you're gonna be compared with Mariah and you don't match up. Boring, Boring, Boring.

-Kris Allen: Watching his intro I think, who is this guy? I am not sure if my love for MJ is making me like this guy more than he is deserving. He's definitely trying to be noticed by his arrangement. I liked his guitar. Awww... can't go for the big note, nice cop out. Paula is WAY drunk. Seriously, it's time for her to be done with this show. Ok, I will remember this guy now. I voted for Kris.

-Allison Iraheta: What's up Latina Pink! Seriosuly trying really hard to copy that artist. I guess that made me bored. I wasn't thrilled.

-Anoop Desai: Messed up the words, boo on that. This wasn't a very fresh performance, to pull a Simon quote "It was a bit Kareoke." And then, PAULA said it. I think he's going to stick around, but then when they made him out to be the guy that eeked in, America may give him the bounce.

-Jorge Nunez: Wrong song dude, wrong wrong song. This song played to his weaknesses. I don't care for this guy to be honest. He's just an average voice, has an 80's vibe, and is only here because he's a personality. Simon says "you sorta did" and I errupt in laughter. Wow, I'm right on point with the judges. (Maybe it should be Me, Kara and Simon next year as the judges.)

-Megan Joy Corkrey: Well, this girl is really pretty thats for sure. I was really sad watching her intro video with her son, It broke my heart. I don't know what I think of this song choice. I mean I like the song, but it's a little 50's and doesn't show the edge that you want to see from this girl. She sang it well, but I just don't like the vibe. Little pitchy on that last note and then a "ka-ka", that was silly.

-Adam Lambert: So, this is the guy lots of people are freaking out about and I am just over him. He's cross between an 80's hair band and Broadway as a vocalist with an Emo hair cut. Stop squealing and sing the melody. He clearly is confident on stage. Paula is talking about how great it is that he's seasoned. I don't care for that actually...I think its like cheating. I disagree with Simon here...it wasn't that good. It's not that current! AHHHH....get over it people.

-Matt Giraud: It was neat to see his dad get all broken up, good story. Let's see if he has the chops to back it up. I love this song so so much, I really enjoyed his performance. It made me want to learn to play piano even more. I really liked it. It's a bummer the judges are rushing through his critique... because I like this guy. I voted for him.

-Alexis Grace: Apparently this is the season of Single Moms, I love love love this song. Side Note: I really like the screen between the judges and the main stage... great idea. Okay, back to this song, you've got to have soul and passion to sing this song and she just had pep. She's a cute girl, and will probably make it through based on that. Wrong song.

Prediction of who is gone...
Jorge Nunez & Michael Sarver (Maybe Anoop)

Adele is a delight.

Seeing this pic makes me want to go hang out in Britain and wear scarves.
I'd probably have a lame fake accent, but I'd enjoy myself.
Please make donations to the "Trent to the UK fund"

A friend made me a mix tape for my birthday, and it had a single song from Adele. (Side Note: I am surprised mix tapes, or mix discs aren't as popular as they were back in the day.) I couldn't get the song out of my head. I not only bought the song, I bought the whole album based on the 30 sec previews of 3 songs. It was so very good.

Within a few days of listening to her non-stop, I sent a "strong-recommendation" over Facebook to a few friends who share a love of good good music. My friend Jessica One responded that she'd check it out, the other sent back a reply within a few minutes and said that SHE LOVED HER. We both raved over how she has a rich and soulful voice and shows a maturity beyond her 19 years. Its so much fun when you share a moment like that. Well, this friend is a kindred musical spirit and did me a huge favor. She got me tickets to see Adele live in Concert!

I'd tried to get tickets months in advance, but it didn't work out and then she asked a friend at work the week of and got 2 tickets. I was extremely grateful to be asked. That really is the best. So, we saw the concert at the Wiltern. It was a blast. We were 2nd from the last row, but that didn't matter. There's this point where if you aren't in the first 10 rows, well, any other seat is a good seat. The show was a lot of fun. It was only disappointing on one front, it was EXACTLY like the album. She sounded great, but didn't explore the music as much as I'd hoped she would. That's what I always want, is to see what an artist does musically. There was one awkward transition between two songs where the band just didn't click but other than that she'd start a song and the band would completely stop and it sounded just like the record.

With that, this is a good album to hear live. You should go buy it. Give a few songs a listen on her website and myspace...remember myspace? When I listen to the song, "Make you feel my love" I get chills thinking about hearing it live. It was ridiculously good. I'm grateful for good friends, good shows and good music. When the three come together... super success.

Go check out Adele and tell me your thoughts.

go see this movie.

watch the trailer, if this move has zero appeal then I got to say, I think you have zero taste.

When I first saw this trailer, it gave me chills. Liam Neeson has never struck me as an actor star, but he sounds so intimidating and driven in this scene of the film. The movie has a European feel to it and at times this can be a little bit campy. But those lacking moments are more than made up for. This father hunting for his daughters captors is driven and it made me feel driven. I found my hands balled up into fists a few times while watching. It broke my heart and made me want to put the smack down...what a great combination.

I wasn't driven to see this film, but a buddy of mine was willing to see it a second time. He pointed out that the movie makes you escape. It's just popcorn, it's not like its an award winning film. But let's be honest, Popcorn sometimes is just downright tasty. See this movie in the theater, because it will help encourage the studios to make films like this. Hey, I'll even go see it again, it was that good.

Have you seen it? What did you think?

do not see this movie.

You have some generally funny actors surrounding Dane Cook who has consistently struck out in movies (except for "Dan in Real Life"). Alec Baldwin is a funny dude, and he's in this. My friend said they liked it a lot, okay Red Box, I'll watch this. MISTAKE. I really will never trust this friend's judgment. OH MY GOODNESS, this was horrible. Not funny, predictable, trying to be shocking but just flailing. Boo.

Okay, so I am not trying to be a hater, but I'd like to save my friends the time and money this film takes. I spent 100 minutes and $1.07. I will never get it back, and it was a loss. I looked and Dane Cook doesn't have any films coming up; Good.

Flipping Out...

I LOVE A GOOD FREAK OUT! I don't know what it is, but I just can't help but love these clips. They are weird people at their best. Last week I talked about the Meltdown of Joaquin Phoenix. When it was turned into a bit on the Oscars it got a lot bigger. So, with that, here are some great clips from some great flip outs. The italicized descriptions are directly from the Daily Beast article. My own comments are below the videos. Enjoy.

Crispin Glover’s Epic Letterman Meltdown
It doesn’t get any better than this: In 1987, an agitated Glover, appearing on Late Night with David Letterman, rambles about press coverage, challenges Dave to an arm-wrestling match, then nearly kicks the host in the head before the segment is abruptly ended.

I now fully understand why they didn't use him in the Back to the Future Sequels.


Jim Everett Tackles Jim Rome
In April 1994, New Orleans Saints quarterback Jim Everett appears on Jim Rome’s ESPN 2 talk show to confront the smartass host who constantly taunts him with the nickname “Chris Evert.” Let’s just say Rome falls.


This ones a classic. Good for Jim Rome to be willing to take a punch in order to keep your word. Even if you fell like a sissy, you kept your word. (I'd fall like a sissy too, by the way.)


Rosie vs. Hasselbeck
Meltdowns don’t only apply to guests—sometimes hosts get in on the act. In this 2007 episode of The View, co-hosts Rosie O’Donnell and Elisabeth Hasselbeck get so enraged that the producers go to a split screen, to ensure every second of insanity is captured for the home viewing audience.


Ok, I loathe The View, but this is a great example of hurt people not listening to each other. I love how the director had the split screen ready to go. I also love the other host yelling at the director to go to commercial. The whole time, the producers are saying in the booth..."STAY ON THIS, THIS IS GOLD." That show isn't about discourse, it's about fights and people talking over each other. Ok, ewwwww, The View is gross...let's move on.

Geraldo Fights Nazis, Loses
In the classic Geraldo episode from 1988, Geraldo Rivera gets his nose broken and, arguably, his career made.

I love love love how everyone is so shocked a fight broke out, this is just plain ridiculous. Watch how some of the audience is ready to brawl too. Nazis may be crazy but they still have friends to come fill the studio audience. I did want to see that guy give that uniform wearing buffoon a beating, so maybe it is good TV.

Tom Cruise Exposes Need for Psychiatrist
Back in 2005, we got our first glimpses of Tom Cruise’s descent from matinee idol to maddening enigma when he called Today’s Matt Lauer “glib” and went on a condescending tirade about the history of psychiatry. Makes you nostalgic for the Oprah couch surfing, huh?

Ego + Sci-Fi Religion + Soap Box= Tom Cruise Circa 2005
or to put it simply... Tom Cruise= Crazy
Dear Tom:
It's nice to see that in the last 6 months, your new PR firm has reigned you in and you're now whipped, but Tommy Boy, I do miss your crazy tirades but I miss even more the days when I could watch great films like Top Gun, A Few Good Men, and Jerry Maguire, without thinking of the fact that you're nuts.


If you want to see more... go to The Daily Beast for the first article, and the second.