Hollywood Like You Should

(Like the Kool and the Gang reference in the title? Hollywood Swingin' for the uninitiated.)
First this: forget record sales and radio spins. The true measure of Adam Lambert’s stardom is this: signed underwear he gave to Ellen to raise money for Haiti were auctioned off for $8,500! There is no truth to the rumor that my wife bought them (“I love him and everything but I’m not buying his underwear.”)

So you know Idol season has officially begun when Diandra and I do an intense and critical fifteen-minute appraisal/comparison/debate about the pre-Idolists (only the finalists get the formal title of Idolist). So much so that we didn’t even talk about Ellen who I thought was fabulous ("Step forward. Step back. Step sideways."). And the fact that there were far too many weak singers who should not have been brought to Hollywood (later, Skii Bo Ski, baby).

Tonight was heavy on the talented females balanced out on the male side by hot, bluesy Casey James who sang I Don’t Need No Doctor. (Women everywhere are lining up to get a list of what his exact needs are.) On the female side we had more than credible versions of Aretha (Crystal Bowersox) and Ella (Lilly Scott) who were my standouts of the night along with Didi who Diandra thinks is good but will be annoying like Brooke White was in Season 7. Diandra seems to have far less tolerance for cute females than me . . . .

OK, my list, which is tentative given the trials and tribulations of the group round that lies ahead:
Katy – 17 year old with Idolist potential
Andrew – did an incredible re-arrangement of Paula’s Straight Up. Didn’t she used to be on this show? But is his voice going to be good enough?
Janelle – pretty and did a nice arrangement of American Boy
Rocker Mom Mary – good but more than a few women are better and the look is a gots-to-go situation
Lilly Scott – previously cited for her fabulous Ella and Lullaby of Birdland
Michael the big, new daddy personal trainer – I see some real potential there plus a lot of personality
Casey – impressive audition but is he talented enough to pull off all the genre switches or creative enough (like Daughtry and Carrie) to do his (bluesy) thing each week, anyway? The ladies will certainly like him!
Didi – singing a Kara song was my favorite of the night until . . .
Crystal – ARETHA!!!! Wow!! Whoa!! Whew!!

Group Night always sends some good people packing so tomorrow night will be interesting. Especially since I’m sure they have held back on some possible Idolists.

The Best Audition Show of the Best Audition Season

The resident geniuses at Idol outdid themselves tonight with easily the best audition show ever, likewise concluding the best audition season ever. Best, to me, meant they had an ideal combination of entertainment – the good and the tragi-comical – along with interesting stories and clever production. The use of guest judges during the audition rounds really “spiced” things up, too. Seriously, did you even give Paula’s absence a single thought?

Clearly tonight was a warm-up for Hollywood Week as we saw and learned about more talented singers than any prior show. This highlight reel from all the cities was a correct response to the problem of past years when the show moved to Hollywood and we saw a bunch of people we had no prior connection to.

There were many standouts tonight and the ones I had Diandra asterisk for me on her ever-present list were: Crystal Bowersox who sang Janis Joplin; Didi Benami who sang “Hey Jude” in honor of her girlfriend who passed away; and 16-year old Aaron Kelly that Diandra thinks sounds like Keith Urban. In spite of the country sound he goes into Hollywood as one of my favorites. Cute with a great back story and a great smile, the girls and ladies will love him meaning he will be a force to be reckoned with IF he survives the tortures of Hollywood. I’m rooting for him.

While we thankfully did not get a repeat of Bikini Girl, the producers evidently realized that having a Designated Drama Queen is money. So we get Amanda Schectman to play this year’s version of last year’s Tatiana who delighted me and horrified my mom. At least this year’s version is a better singer and she is destined for some serious airtime. Begin praying for my mom now.

Next week Ellen!!!! I CANNOT wait.

Somebody for me to root for

I really enjoyed tonight’s show a lot and while I am quite ready for Hollywood next week and the emergence of Ellen, I have liked this year’s audition season better than any. I think the guest judges have had a lot to do with that as well as their usual top notch and clever editing. Some random thoughts from the show in no particular order:

FINALLY an audition from somebody I really, really liked – Danelle Haley, single mom from Seattle who sang Melissa Etheridge. Dark, gravelly female voices e.g. Stevie Nicks, Pink, and last year, Allison, kill me. I am hoping she does well in Hollywood.

Nicci Nix, the cute young girl who flew in from Frankfurt by way of Florence, was adorable and has a nice, pop-oriented voice. Great name, too.

I still like the still waif-like Vicky Posh Beckham Spice as a judge and I liked the purple dress she wore. And when have we ever heard, “You have nice skin”, as commentary?

The DC guy badly misrepresenting us here in the nation's capitol. Diandra’s tweet: “Is this DC guy really murdering John Mayer???”

Not related to tonight's show – check out the free download of ex-Idolist Carly Smithson’s band We Are the Fallen. I still think she was the best singer of a strong, strong Season 7 group (in order David and David; Syesha Mercado; Jason Castro; Brooke White; and then inexplicably Carly).

Move quickly. Their last free download was only available for a short period of time. http://www.wearethefallen.com/freedownload /

Finally in Billboard Top 40 action, both Kris and Adam are enjoying success. Kris' Live Like We're Dying is #26 with a bullet. Adam's Whataya Want From Me jumped from 55 to #37 with a bullet.

Idol at the Grammy Awards

Last night was the Grammy’s which is one of my favorite nights of the year and the involvement of several Idolists is my excuse to write about it. The awards are often infuriating – I am STILL bitter about Mrs. Robinson beating out Lady Madonna for Song of the Year in 1969 (and last year "celebrated" the 40th anniversary of that nightmarish selection). And last night I was tweaked by U2 losing to Green Day for Rock Album of the Year and miffed that Taylor Swift – with no disrespect intended as I think she is great – beat out both Lady Gaga and Beyonce for the big one – Album of the Year.

But the Grammy's are a celebration of music and that's a party I always want to be part of. It is also a barometer - albeit faulty at times - of what and who is happening in the music biz. And for me it's fun following the industry trends and what they say about popular culture.

OK, enough philosophizing. Back to the Idolists with three thoughts. First, I love this picture (scarfed from Diandra) of two of my favorite people - Adam and Katy Perry. Adam was working the red carpet for Entertainment Tonight as their fashion correspondent.

Second, I find Ryan Seacrest (presented an award) amazing at the ease with which he talks to people in front of other people. He acts like he is walking into his living room and talking to a few close friends - except he is walking into and talking to millions of strangers. I think he is awesome - as we all can be when we are doing what we were given the gifts to be doing.

Finally, the very moving Michael Jackson tribute performance had former Idolists Carrie Underwoood and Jennifer Hudson. Carrie has, quite deservedly, fulfilled Simon’s promise that she would be the biggest selling Idol finalist of all time. But she may not want to be on the same stage as Jennifer Hudson any time soon. Carrie is the bigger star and quite the singer, but seriously, as a pure singer Jennifer is at another level.

Male judges and some talent

K.E. from Scottsbluff, NE writes, “So are there ever going to be some male guest judges?” (Translation: “Enough, already, with the Shania and Katy eye candy for Ray.”) I will leave it to K.E. to let me/us know if Neil Patrick Harris or Joe Jonas meet whatever criteria she has for determining their entertainment value. I will say that I liked NPH’s critical and take charge manner. And that I am enjoying the theme of professional criticism by all of guest judges in stark contrast to Paula’s gushiness, Kara’s semi-sweetness and Randy’s 150% dawg-ness.

We did get to see more talent this week than past weeks and I noted as noteworthy: big dockworker Lloyd (Stevie Wonder!); Kimberly and Todrick (sang originals), Meagan, and 16-year old Christian who sang Etta James (!) at the end.

I am also wondering how different my daughters' childhood development would have been if Barney had appeared with a Dominatrix.

I want to close with a shout out to my new friend Sheri who is joining the fray posting under Sweetest In the Gale. Diandra and I met her and her daughter at a David Cook concert and we found that we were not the only family with a serious and incurable music addiction. She is also an awesome poet. Check out her work at http://fledglingpoet.blogspot.com/. Welcome, Sheri and I look forward to your always taking my side in the debates this year . . . .

Curt, Catty, Cute, Katy

Yes, that’s me and my cool self hangin’ with my bud Jason Castro. Diandra and I saw him Monday night at Jammin’ Java, a nice, small local club. He did eight songs and was still his unaffectedly, goofy self. His last song, of course, was Hallelujah, and it was fabulous.

I really wasn’t prepared to say much about tonight but this was my favorite audition week. I never cease to be amazed at how they manage to go from 10,000 people to putting together an hour of entertaining television. And while I am REALLY looking forward to Ellen, I am also really enjoying the guest judges, ESPECIALLY Katy Perry:
“Do they frisk these people before they come in here?”
“This isn’t a Lifetime movie, honey.” (A cold dis of Kara)
“I’m going to throw my glass of soda in your face.” (another shot at Kara)

Diandra also kept her infamous notes, noting Andrew Garcia whose parents were in a gang; Tasha Layton, the personal assistant/pastor who sang Joss Stone very well; and Chris Golightly, the foster kid whose “Lifetime movie” back story didn’t move Katy Perry at all. I liked Andrew and Tasha and the mom who sang Pat Benatar very well (finally!) but needs to lose the faux rocker chick thing.

The Adam-Kris Conundrum

I'm almost famous!!!!! Hopefully this link still works which cited my "I'm Down off the Ledge" blog entry! http://idolblips.showhype.com/story/kris_allen_s_wedding_details_revealed/

Shania Twain. Still getting’ it done! A couple of good singers tonite. Now, moving on to a more interesting conundrum.

After Adam’s (totally awesome) appearance on Oprah today, there is really no more question of who is the bigger star as opposed to the biggest gatherer of votes from teenage girls and a cadre (cult?) of women in Scottsbluff, Nebraska. Not to mention who was #3 in MTV’s Man of the Year (after Lil Wayne and Jay Z). And how many artists are featured in both the Wall Street Journal and Psychology Today? Oh, did I mention that Adam’s album has sold twice as many as Kris’?

OK, enough of that. My interest here is to point out the rather interesting hurdles that each faces regarding their futures. Kris first. With Live Like We’re Dying on the charts for weeks and now cracking the Top Ten, Kris has a legitimate hit record. Now the bad news. The hit single isn’t getting anybody to buy the album, which is the weakest selling album by an Idol winner. Worse yet, he’s singer-songwriter whose hit song is a cover. So basically, nobody is buying HIS songs. What happens when the current hit song fades?

Adam, ironically, has the opposite problem. His album – really, really good by the way - is on its way to gold status without a true hit single. For Your Entertainment was a lousy first choice of a single (in my humble yet quite smart opinion) even without the AMA performance which made it toxic. Whaddya Want From Me is fabulous (in my humble yet quite smart opinion) but (mysteriously) not a big, i.e. Top Ten hit. So for Adam, the question looking ahead is whether he can continue to sell albums – when albums no longer drive the music business – without a major hit single when it’s the hit single that is driving the business.

Indeed, these are the kinds of strange things I ponder. Probably need to turn off iTunes and get out more.