Category: American Idol

By:

The Dude on the Right
I love Neil Diamond.  I’ve seen him in

1996,

1998,

2001, and

2005. I’ve taken some nice photos of the man, I’ve done some
cartoon
drawings of the man (scroll down for it), and I have even taken my Mom to his

concert back in 2001 which would have been a better experience for her (but maybe
not so much of a story), had I splurged on a limo.  He is a singer, he is a
songwriter, but hopefully for our last five folks in this contest it will be his
performing skills that he can impress on them.  We’ll have to see how that
goes as the show goes on, so let’s just get to it, and here’s how I thought the
five folks did…

ROUND 1
Jason Castro
 – Sings – "Forever in Blue Jeans"
 – Good choice for him.  It’s bouncy, light-hearted, and works with him
playing guitar, but he still isn’t being much of a performer. 

David Cook
 – Sings "I’m Alive"
 – Good, pick obscure Neil Diamond songs people don’t know by a performer who
most people know all of his hits.  David did good with the "I’m Alive"
song, but most people probably don’t want to hear Neil Diamond songs they don’t
know.  Quit trying to be so "original."

Brook White
 – Sings – "I’m a Believer"
 – "I’m a Believer" is just so wrong for a song for her to sing.  She
couldn’t hit the low notes, it might have been in the wrong key, and these
people playing their own instruments limit themselves because they are stuck
behind the mike and can’t actually work the crowd.  So far the performing
side of anything isn’t coming out.

David
Archuleta
 – Sings – "Sweet Caroline"
 – So David tried to bust out of his melodic groove with maybe the biggest
karaoke song in existence, and he didn’t even fill in the "So Good, So Good, So
Good" part.  He almost wanted to work the crowd for this song, but then
hunkered back to just singing, almost seeming to hope he wouldn’t forget the
words.

Syesha Mercado
 – Sings – "Hello Again"
 – It’s nice enough, but just seems to be lacking some kind of punch that Neil puts into it even though it’s a ballad.

On a side note, Paula Abdul has finally hit an all-time
high for being clueless.

ROUND 2
Jason Castro
 – Sings – "September Morn"
 – Yea, we get the performer you want to be – the laid-back, hippie dude. 
We get it, the dudettes probably like your laid-back attitude, and you picked
good songs this week even though I found you lame.  You’re lucky the chicks
probably dig you.

David Cook
 – Sings "All I Need is You"
 – Yup, another obscure Neil Diamond song, what the hell are you thinking? 
Sure, you might be trying to separate yourself and be original, but in a week
you had two songs to pick maybe you should choose an obscure one for the first
song (good choice though), and then bring reality back with a Neil Diamond
classic so everyone could remember that.  You’re probably lucky that you
are a pretty-boy, rocker-dude, because that is the only thing you bring.

Brook White
 – Sings – "I Am, I Said"
 – You know what, I hate the fact that the band actually joined in because for
her, doing this solo, on the piano, was really working for me.  The back-up
band ruined it, because as a solo song this was actually a song I liked.  I
still hate that she won’t shut up when the judges give her their critiques, and
I only wish I could see her do this song in a smoky bar, all alone on a piano,
just being herself.

David
Archuleta
 – Sings – "America"
 – I know you are young, but who in the hell is coaching you on the songs for
you to sing?  Of all of the Neil Diamond songs this is probably the worst
choice in my head for you.  I guess it sounded better for his live
performance because on my TV I didn’t like it at all.  Am I hearing
something different?

Syesha Mercado
 – Sings – "Thank the Lord for the Night Time"
 – She’s at least coming out of her shell and trying to also be a performer, but
I think it might be a little too late because, as I’m listening to her, Syesha
could have probably turned "Brother Love’s Traveling Salvation Show" into a
fabulous number, but the problem is the American Idol folks forced these people
to do two songs in an hour.

Let’s wrap this up…
As much as I love Neil Diamond I still have absolutely no idea why he was
involved in this show.  The crappy part is that our contestants didn’t need
to try and fit two songs each into an hour, they really needed just one song
each to fill in this hour – and perform the hell out of that song.  I hate
to say this but the "American Idol" folks haven’t seemed to realize why we love
this show, and it’s not for seeing people sing a verse and then a chorus and
then being judged by Randy, Paula, and Simon, clipped because of time
constraints.  Our time is precious, don’t let us feel cheated.

I’ve
pretty much given up on "Dancing with The Stars," and now I’m almost not caring
about "American Idol."  Idol Producers, at least let these people try to
sing.

That’s it for this one! 
I’m The Dude on the Right!!  L8R!!!

By:

The Dude on the Right
In Chicago Cubs’ lore there are many things that tickle the fancy of Cubs’
historians, but as the 25th anniversary of Lee Elia going ballistic approaches,
I give a salute

during this podcast to the fact that 15% of those without jobs pissed off
Lee just enough so that he gave us some of the sweetest audio ever.  A word
of warning, though, because my salute is uncensored, with no bleeping, with all
of the f-bombs in full glory.  And as much as Lee was a master of words, it
seems Carly Smithson wasn’t the master of music because she got booted from
"American Idol," and I have to say I’m not that sorry to see her go.  What
is exciting me, though, is that next week we get to see five people butcher Neil
Diamond songs, while I’m just hoping that he actually tries to teach some of
these people to be performers.

TV is back in full bloom and "Lost" returns,
again, Harold and Kumar escape from Guantanamo Bay this weekend, and I actually
have a Kenneth Keith Kallenbach story, he a wack-pack member of The Howard Stern
Show.  R.I.P. Dude who could blow smoke out of your eyes.

Happy listening!

That’s it for this one!  I’m The Dude on the Right!!  L8R!!!

By:

The Dude on the Right
So as a good American I suppose I should probably be hunkered down watching the
Pennsylvania Primary Results to see if Hillary Clinton somehow pulls out a
chance to solidly beat Barack Obama if only to further confuse who will be the
Democratic nominee for President, but, dammit, it is Tuesday night, it is
"American Idol" night, and there is more important voting going on in just about
an hour.  Sure, it is Andrew Lloyd Webber Week for A.I., and Andrew Lloyd
Webber is fantastic, legendary, a mega-force when it comes to musicals, and
fine, I’ll admit it, I’m a fan of "Jesus Christ Superstar" and "Cats." 
Hell, I even saw "Cats" on Broadway back in 1985, although part of it is blurry
as we took a high school bus ride from Ohio to New York City, and since I can’t
sleep on moving transportation and "Cats" was the first play we saw out there
the evening we arrived, let’s just say I was nodding off during part of it, at
least I think so.  Man, some of those memories are blurry now, and unless
my mind is really messed up, we also saw "Noises Off" out there, which I can
still watch today and laugh my ass off if done even close to right.  But I
digress.

So as much as I do appreciate the music of Andrew Lloyd Webber, maybe
the "American Idol" folks realize no one there has the personality/performance
quality to make it as a pop singer so they’re trying to see if they can make
some money with them on the Broadway stage.  Maybe Andrew Lloyd Webber will
actually get these shlubs to be performers, but I’m still praying for "Bruce
Springsteen Week" when he can teach this group about performing, and then Artie
Lange from The Howard Stern Show, now that he reneged on his resignation, will
have to answer to this equation:  Bruce Springsteen + American Idol = Ball
Shocking.

Enough reminiscing, enough praying, let’s see how our last six folks
sing…

Syesha Mercado
 – Sings – "One Rock ‘n Roll Too Many"
 – My prediction is that even though she sings nice enough, and she is trying to
perform it as if she were on stage, she’s the first singer of the night and only
her diehard fans will stick by and vote for her.  Sadly, or maybe happily,
she has shown she will be able to make it on Broadway, just not the pop/Idol
scene.

Jason Castro
 – Sings – "Memory"
 – This is not a song for "laid-back"-ness, which Jason Castro is all
about.  The thing is that people who know the song (like me), will probably
think it sucked, but fans who have no concept of the song might actually love
it.  He needed to hit the "Jesus Christ Superstar" soundtrack and become
Jesus, rather than singing anything from "Cats."  Horrible song choice.

Brook White
 – Sings – "You Must Love Me"
 – Does "forgetting the song" lend her to the bottom of the pack?  Does
singing a Madonna song save her?  Once she got over forgetting the lyrics
she did okay, but the performance aspect waivered.  Paula seemed crushed,
Simon was correct about the stopping thing, and now we will see how strong her
fan base really is.

David
Archuleta
 – Sings – "Think of Me", I think.
 – So Andrew Lloyd Webber gave David the best bit of advice ever – to open his
eyes, and yet he can’t.  I guess he’s a squinty dude who can sing well, but
still lacks the performance skills because if the dude just approached the front
of the stage, worked the girls in the front row, he would have shown everyone
that he is better than just a good singer.  Simon again is correct. 
David has to break out his shell and be a performer – quit standing in the
center of the stage.

Carly Smithson
– Sings – "Superstar"
– This song fits in her wheelhouse, but there is still something about her that
makes her "over-the-top" for the show.  She still shouts too much, she
still seems to have this attitude of "I deserve to win this," and this song was
probably a better choice for her, even though I still didn’t like it that much.

David Cook
 – Sings "Music of the Night"
 – Yea, fine, you could be on Broadway, too.  You will probably stick
around for another week, and at least you seem to try and work the crowd a bit,
but you have shown that there isn’t a pop-idol in this group.

Let’s wrap this up…

Great, this week has shown that we’ve got six people who could probably be on
Broadway, but not one of them has shown that they have the star power to be a
pop singer.  Sorry, but I really don’t care that much about these people
anymore.  We don’t need Mariah, we don’t need Broadway, now we just need to
see if these people can perform, and as I have been re-iterating from week to
week, we really need a performing mentor for these folks.

That’s it for this one! 
I’m The Dude on the Right!!  L8R!!!

By:

The Dude on the Right
I used to be a fan of Mariah Carey back in her singing days, when she was
soulful and just different enough from Whitney Houston to make me like them
both.  Now she seems to be a lot more about club and dance music, but I guess
that’s where the money is at.  She’s the mentor of this sad-sack of
singers, and, fine, most of them aren’t sad sacks, but most of them really need
to learn how to perform because they can already sing.  I wonder if Kristy
Lee Cook will turn a Mariah song into a country song… I guess we’ll find out
as the show goes along.

Let’s go…

David
Archuleta
 – Sings – "When You Believe" by Mariah/Whitney?
 – Mariah thinks his singing is just beautiful, and David keeps things slow,
which has become his forte.  Nice leather pants, he knows his element and
is working it (though I would like to see him branch out and try to rock). 
Right now the biggest problem I have with him is he can’t open up his eyes
enough to look like he is confident.  He’s a squinty guy.  Hopefully
being first won’t hurt him so people don’t forget about him by the end of the
night.

Carly Smithson
– Sings – "Without You" by Badfinger/Harry Nilsson
– She covered up the tattoo, which is nice, and she picked a song that isn’t
really a Mariah song which lets her sort of get out the shadow of Mariah for us
older folks.  She did good, looks better tonight as a singer, but this is a
song that needs a performance, which she didn’t give.  Her hope is that
Mom’s are remember this song from its original heyday, and vote for her.

Syesha Mercado
 – Sings – "Vanishing" by, well, Mariah Carey
 – Sings nice enough, but this song doesn’t lead one to be a performer.  I
think I’m stuck on the performer part because so far, for the many weeks, no one
is looking to be one.  She’s "whoa, a whoa, a whoa-ing" all over the place,
but even though she sang nice enough, where is the being a star?

Brook White
 – Sings – "Hero" by, umm, Mariah Carey
 – Boo hoo, so your sister didn’t plan her wedding properly to not interfere
with your being on "American Idol" plans.  She kept it in a key she could
sing, did the smart thing and stuck herself at the piano, which I liked but
don’t know if the public will like it.  She sang nice enough, but there are
only a few piano players who can connect with an audience, and she’s not there
yet.  And she still won’t shut the hell up when the judges give their
opinions, and now there is some kind of reference to a juicy burger in a bun. 
Hmm?

Kristy Lee Cook
 – Sings – "Forever" by, let me guess, Mariah Carey
 – What the hell kind of hug was that, the one she gave to Mariah?  The key
seems to be to sing songs no one knows on Mariah Carey night, which makes us not
give a damn.  You know what, we want to compare these people to Mariah
Carey, and we want them to sing Mariah songs we know even if they are from over
ten years ago.  She still looks good, the performance was bland, but I
don’t mind her sticking around because, well, she is purty and probably has a
nice career ahead of her on the country side if she doesn’t screw it up.

David Cook
 – Sings "Always Be My Baby" by damn, Mariah Carey, again.
 – Yup, the dudes do have it easier this night because there is no way we want
to compare them to Mariah.  His problem is the key seems wrong, just a tad
too low, so he can’t punch it up to the level this song could be.  He tried
to do it at the end, but it’s either too flat or too sharp (I always had
problems figuring that out).  Sorry David, Daughtry would have done this
right.  I guess it sounded better in the studio because Simon, Paula, and
Randy loved it.  I found him droning. 

Jason Castro
 – Sings – "I Don’t Wanna Cry" by, who would have guessed, Mariah
Carey.
 – Good enough, especially for the last song so everyone will remember him, but
as nice as it sounded I found him boring as hell.  It must sound better in
the studio than on TV because even Simon like him.

Let’s wrap this up…

I’m
past the singing part because all of us know these folks can sing otherwise how
in the hell did they get here, and thankfully Kristy Lee Cook seems to have
gotten over her "not being able to sing" stage and is starting to dress hotter,
but the bad part about this year is none of them are transforming themselves
into performers.  The other crappy part is that they don’t need a singing
mentor, like Mariah Carey, pimping her new album, nope, these boys and girls
actually need someone who can teach them to the next level, of how to touch the
audience, and as much as I’ve been pimping Bruce Springsteen showing up on
"American Idol," I’m thinking Neil Diamond, who has a new album coming out that
he can promote, might not be that bad a choice, either.  Skip the "Here’s
how to sing" crap, let’s get to "Here’s how to perform."

That’s it for this one! 
I’m The Dude on the Right!!  L8R!!!

By:

The Dude on the Right
Just in time for a vacation hiatus for The Howard Stern Show, Artie Lange has a
meltdown, resigns, quits, and may or may not be going to Amsterdam, because of
many reasons people are surmising/assuming (even myself) especially since there
are no real updates, anywhere, and not ever here,

during this podcast, though I do talk about it.  There will probably
never be another day when "Artie Lange" and the "Stern Fan Network" share the #1
and #2 position on Google Trends, especially when Tiger Woods and The Masters
would normally be the Google interest of the day.

So even though I wonder,
during the podcast, if Artie will come back to the show, wonder if Tiger Woods
can win The Masters and the Grand Slam of golf, I also report that during my
extensive studying of my TiVo’d episode of "American Idol" from Tuesday, there
does not appear to be a nip-slip by Kristy Lee Cook.  And trust me, I
studied that area as extensively as I could once I heard the rumor.  We’ve
also got this week’s inclusion of "Paula Abdul Clips of the Week," where if
anyone was close to a nip-slip during Tuesday’s "Idol," it was Paula, but no,
that didn’t happen either, as I studied her as well.

Happy listening!

That’s it for this one!  I’m The Dude on the Right!!  L8R!!!

By:

The Dude on the Right
Because this is the week we are supposed to give money to the "American Idol"
crusade of "Idol Gives Back," to make them look or maybe just feel better about
themselves even though the Idol folks, Fox, and AT&T are making boatloads of
money off of us just by our watching and texting in our votes, (can you sense my
bitterness at their crusade), this week our contestants will be singing
"Inspirational Songs."  I’m wondering if one of them will really put the
concept over the top and sing "You’re the Inspiration" by Chicago.  I’ll
guess we’ll just have to wait and see and then, tomorrow, give all of our money
to "Idol Gives Back" instead of paying our mortgage, because who pays their
mortgage nowadays even though they have a big-screen TV to watch "American
Idol."  Can you still sense my bitterness in their having a charity and
asking us to give them money?

Anyway, let’s go…

Michael Johns
 – Sings – "Dream On" by Aerosmith
 – Good song choice for him, but he’s no Steven Tyler.  Any singing issues
could get tossed aside if he was a better performer, with a better outfit. 
He so needed to work the crowd better, somehow.  And Paula won’t shut up. 
Please let her keep it up, this could be a banner week for Paula quotes.

Syesha Mercado
 – Sings – "I Believe" by Fantasia
 – So, let’s suck up based on a previous Idol contestant, that I would say a
majority doesn’t know her music anyway.  Again, singing well enough, she
did hit the high note, but I don’t think she performed or connected with the
crowd the way she needed to in order to make her a star.

Jason Castro
 – Sings – "Over the Rainbow" the

Israel Kamakawiwo’ole version.
 – I’ll leave out the "Meet Joe Black" reference, and the fact that I know the
version he is doing first because of the radio dude
Steve Dahl, and the fact that
you would never picture a dude like
Iz
singing this song, which is actually wrapped with "A Wonderful World," but Jason
did a version consistent to the surfer dude he portrays, and Iz would probably
be proud.  Too bad he didn’t have enough time to do the full version Israel
does – do yourself a favor and get Israel’s version from his "Facing the Future"
album on iTunes.  Make sure you get the right version with both songs.

Kristy Lee Cook
 – Sings – "Anyway" by Martina McBride
 – Sticks with the totally country side, which works for her, but unless the
country fans rally behind her, this song might be her downfall because she still
doesn’t perform.  She sings well, she looks well, but I don’t give a crap. 
I guess I had to be there because she didn’t come off as a performer which is
where I think all of these folks need to now work now.

David Cook
 – Sings "Innocent" by Our Lady Peace
 – Can these people pick any more obscure songs?  What the hell are you
doing?  He’s probably got enough of a fan base to keep him here, but this
is a song that is all over the place musically, the band and singers had no clue
how to pull it off, and maybe it’s one of his favorites, and I will give him
credit for probably being the best performer so far, but this was just too all
over the place.

Carly Smithson
– Sings – "The Show Must Go On" by Queen
– First off, how do you not tell the history of this song when Freddy Mercury
was dying at the time he sang it.  Sure it’s inspirational, but Freddy’s
story about this song is more inspiring.  She’s a singer, she knows what
she’s doing, and she’s got a fan base.  This will keep her floating around
for a while, she overdid it, but if you want to know about this song, and the
ending days of Queen, head to

the Wikipedia article.

David
Archuleta
 – Sings – "Angels" by Robbie Williams
 – I’ll give the dude credit for pulling out songs that people won’t really
remember until the chorus, and then singing them nicely, and this week he almost
put an "Elton John" vibe into his performance thanks to staying at the piano. 
The thing though, is if you look at his eyes, he still looks a little lost, in a
"How and why and I’m here?" mode.  With this performance, though, he’s back
to being the one to beat.

Brook White
 – Sings – "You’ve Got a Friend" by Carol King
 – She sings purty, she looks purty, and you can connect with her.  It was
a nice, slow song, but she still doesn’t shut up when the judges critique her. 
There still seems to be the lacking of performance with her.

Let’s wrap this up…

The week was about inspiration, no one sang "You’re the Inspiration" or a song
from a Rocky movie, and for the most part, none of them, sans David Cook, seems
to know how perform outside the safety of the microphone stand.  Carly had
a chance but she blew it, and if David Archuleta wins, I don’t care what any
commenters post, he seems to be trying to set himself up as the next Josh Groban
instead of, well, being better than Josh.  Rumors give David’s life a
complicated story, which is perfect for "Oprah."  His goal should be to get
there.

Real singers show up on tomorrow’s "Idol Gives Back," or at least popular
singers, and then we are back to these people who sing nice enough but can’t
perform.  Now I’ve got to go back to my TiVo to see who got booted from
"Dancing With the Stars."

That’s it for this one! 
I’m The Dude on the Right!!  L8R!!!