An entry I actually wrote last night

[cleolinda]

I know a lot of y'all think that American Idol is a crock, but I feel like rambling on about it anyway. I'm not saying it isn't, actually--to me, once you get past the embarrassment-squick cattle call auditions, it's a group of reasonably talented people doing orchestra-backed karaoke for an audience of 15 million people, which is totes okay by me. Carly Smithson, in fact, won me over early on by doing "I Drove All Night," which, as y'all may remember, is probably my most favoritest song OF ALL TIME. And then I went through her previous performances and found out she'd done "Crazy on You," which sealed the deal for me. I think David Cook had me at "Billie Jean," Chris Cornell arrangement and all. I know he Creeds it up a good bit--"stalker rock" is how I tend to think of it, although he actually seems like a really nice, laid-back guy. (Here's how pathetically supportive I am of David Cook: I even liked "Hungry Like the Wolf" this week--although, admittedly, the studio recording is a lot better than the live performance.)

Anyway, Kristy Lee Cook (no relation) and Brooke White seemed like nice people with a good sense of humor, except that Kristy Lee was stuck on the country track and Brooke had a meltdown so spectacular that my mother actually muted the TV for what turned out to be her last performance, "I Am, I Said." "I can't watch," she kept saying. "I'm just so scared she's going to mess up again!" The meltdown was when she stopped a full orchestra to restart "You Must Love Me" over again about three lines into the song, because she "lost the lyric." And then... there's Jason Castro, the pretty dreadlocked stoner boy who--and I don't care how many people thought it was brilliant--played "Somewhere Over the Rainbow" on a ukulele. Yeah, he did a great version of "Hallelujah" (and I actually really liked his version of "Fragile"), and he, too, seems like a really nice kid. All of the contestants this year seemed like generally nice people, really. But he was also responsible for the one-two punch of "I Shot the Sheriff" and "Mr. Tambourine Man" Tuesday night, both of which he performed as if he'd just learned the lyrics that morning, and the latter of which he actually forgot the words and mumbled through. I am completely convinced that he chose those last two songs as self-sabotage so he could just get off the damn show. He'd even told Entertainment Weekly the week before that he was "kind of ready to go home." Although, to be fair, anyone who thinks that "Sheriff" was THE worst performance in the history of the show has mercifully forgotten Sanjaya Malakar's "You Really Got Me," IMO.

(How it actually went down at Casa de Cleo: I was in the kitchen putting our dinner plates into the dishwasher--shut up! American Idol is how my mother and I bond!--and I can hear them going through the introductory clip for Jason Castro, and my mother calls out, "He's gonna do 'I Shot the Sheriff'?" This may say more about our relationship than anything else, but a shriek of "YOU HAVE GOT TO BE SHITTING ME" burst from my general direction. "No, that's what he said," my mother called back in a daze. It was so bad that when we got to round two, my mother took the dogs out front for a quick bathroom break rather than see what fresh hell Castro was about to lay down. She left me inside to take the bullet for the two of us.)

Anyway--it's obvious who I'm rooting for now that Carly is gone, but now that everyone left seems to actually give a damn, and none of them are going to break down on stage mid-song, I pretty much don't care, because they'll all get contracts of some kind. Just give me a couple of more shows with reasonably good karaoke and no freakouts, and I'll be content.

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Comments

[cattikins.livejournal.com]

I love Jason Castro.

[cattikins.livejournal.com]

Huh, that was supposed to say [small voice], but I typed < instead of [, I am dumb.

[greyduck.livejournal.com]

Pish posh. It actually came out kind of neat this way.

[padawansguide.livejournal.com]

I don't care how many people thought it was brilliant--played "Somewhere Over the Rainbow" on a ukulele.

He was just doing a cover of Israel kamakawiwo'ole's version of the song. Israel is Hawaiian, and he plays that song on a ukulele. His version is really beautiful. (It was at the end of 50 First Dates - I'm sure you can find it on YouTube.)

Anyway, that wasn't Jason's original idea, so he shouldn't really get condemned or overly praised for it. ;-)

I actually like Jason Castro - but he does kind of have just one sound. And I think he is super inexperienced at performing and with the stress those contestants are under each week, and the criticism of the general public, press, and judges - I don't know if I could withstand it!

I like Brooke too - and same goes for her as far as the pressure! I think both she and Jason suffered for it and go worse as they went along because of it.

Oh, and I love I Drove All Night too -it's one of my favorites as well! :-)

[maliekai.livejournal.com]

Thanks for saying what I was going to say. I keep hearing people bashing him for doing "Somewhere" with a ukulele, but I have to wonder what planet they have been living on for the past five years if they haven't heard Israel Kamakawiwo'ole's version. I mean, that thing is EVERYWHERE. I thought, personally, that it was an overly obvious choice for Jason to sing, but that he did an acceptable job, as he does of most things.

I LOVED him after the first week of Top 22, but since then none of his performances have really grabbed me. I think he is super adorable though, and I would totally hang out with him.

[cleolinda.livejournal.com]

I was aware that it was IK's version because they said so on the show, but no, it is perfectly possible to be a functioning member of society and never have heard that version before.

[padawansguide.livejournal.com]

LOL!

You should listen, if only because it's really pretty!

Here's a version on youtube!

http://youtube.com/watch?v=2A2Jt4WOxN8

(The other funny thing is that I've heard Jason Castro criticized for screwing up the lyrics to the song - but he was singing the ones IK sings!)

[padawansguide.livejournal.com]

I agree with you - I really liked him at the start, but it was kind of diminishing returns. I really do think it was because of his lack of experience at performing. I read one interview that said he'd only been playing guitar for 2 years! (He started as a freshman in college and is now a junior.) And he'd never really performed, and he hasn't been singing long. So he didn't do badly for an amateur, and when he has more time and experience, he may improve as far as figuring out what he was to be musically.

[summersdaughter.livejournal.com]

Waaait a minute. The girl who plays Lavender Brown is 21? From that picture, she looks her age, so...are we supposed to think Lavender got held back?

[t4-flirt.livejournal.com]

I muted the television during Tambourine Man...I couldnt watch him murder it.

(This coming from a girl who didnt even watch until the Top 10 and only started watching b/c her sister emailed a YouTube link of the "Billie Jean" awesomeness that is David Cook)

[particle-person.livejournal.com]

Kristy Lee Cook (no relation)

Me no get?

[cleolinda.livejournal.com]

No relation to David Cook, that is.

[particle-person.livejournal.com]

Ahhh. I never noticed that. I kept trying to figure out how Jones = Cook. (Thanks.)

[biomekanic.livejournal.com]

We got Frank Miller's Spirit preview at this weekends Iron Man showing ( I'm going up to Portland, OR this weekend and will be watching it at another chain, so maybe I'll get to the that damn Batman preview ).

"The city is my mother... the city is my lover" I bit my tongue and did not yell "But is she your whore Frank?".
It was tough not to, let me tell you.

[greyduck.livejournal.com]

If you're at a Regal cinema, you may not get Batman. We didn't, anyway. (Mike Myers, yes. Adam Sandler, yes. Christian Bale, no. The gods hate me.)

[biomekanic.livejournal.com]

I think the one up there is a Regal... damn.

I've never been a big fan of Myers, and never really like any of Sandler's movies, except for... Little Nickie?

If they'd have dumped the ax murder plot and the poetry scenes from "So I married an ax murderer" and instead focused on his insane family, that would have been a good movie.

Ah well, so it goes.

[enid-keaner.livejournal.com]

You may get Batman. I saw Iron Man at a Regal and we got the Batman trailer.

[cleolinda.livejournal.com]

I was at a Rave, but it occurs to me now that maybe our theater thought that this particular Batman was too dark for a 2 pm matinee with lots of kids. Maybe that's what it was, and we would have gotten it if we'd gone later in the evening?

[enid-keaner.livejournal.com]

I was at a 1:30 show on a Tuesday. So, I dunno?

[enid-keaner.livejournal.com]

I went to a Regal and got Batman....

So. Embarrassing.

[halona.livejournal.com]

I go to SDSU. Most of the students seem to agree that the investigation was not handled well. Or rather, the implications this might have for the rest of the university were not considered. Graduating seniors (like myself) have to worry about how this looks to future employers. I personally am mostly concerned about finals next week and am annoyed at the distraction.

I also think it should be said that we have a student population of 34,000 and 100 students getting arrested is notable only because it's happening all at the same time.

[atmachine.livejournal.com]

Re the Iron Man trailers: I went last night (avoiding the rush) and saw it in digital projection at my local theater. We got Dark Knight at the start of the trailers, Caspian in the middle, and Indy 4 at the end. I guess there's something to be said for seeing films in high-def digital goodness besides the picture quality...

[glass-radical.livejournal.com]

Embarassingly enough, everytime we see the Indy 4 trailer, my friends and I all go "whoooooooo!"

[mercat.livejournal.com]

Search youtube for Izrael Kamakawiwo'ole's version of Somewhere Over the Rainbow/Wonderful World on uke. Beautiful.

It just got popular last year so I think that's probably he was going for, except I don't watch American Idol so I have no idea really. Let me know if you want a copy of the song, it's beautiful.

[modpixie.livejournal.com]

i remember hearing it five or so years ago! it got a lot of airplay on one of the radio stations out here, and a friend of mine used it in an animated short he made.

[falco-conlon.livejournal.com]

Oh my God. I could not be more stoked for that biopic. Oliver Stone + Josh Brolin + W = Epic Win.

[glass-radical.livejournal.com]

I'm actually surprised how much I want to see it. I mean, Toby Jones as Karl Rove? That's some genius stuff.

[joonscribble.livejournal.com]

I feel like I need to enjoy David Cook now while I can. Because I love his renditions (okay, most of which he cribbed from other places, but hey, he's bring 'em to me live on TV now) of old songs, but I have a sinking feeling I'll lose interest the second he does another album of originals. I heard his self-published one and yeah, not really doing it for me.

But still, on Idol? He made me love a Mariah Carey song. That's like Whoa Brainwashing powers.

[maliekai.livejournal.com]

Word, on Mariah Carey. His version was BRIL.