Category: Television Shows

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!!!

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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!!!

By:

The Dude on the Right
So it is "Songs the Year You Were Born" night.  Oh, goody, it is "Songs
When I Was in College" night, or thereabout.  I’m sure flashbacks will be
in order, but I’ll only type about them if I think they will be okay for my Mom
to read.  Here we go…

Ramiele Malubay – Born in 1987
– Sings – "Alone" by Heart
– A song I totally love, but man she doesn’t have the pipes to pull off the
chorus for this song and the bombastic sound the Wilson sisters had. 
Totally wrong song choice, and I’m sorry she is sick.  Ramiele, quick
shaking hands with people and then touching your eyes or picking your nose. 
That’s how you get sick.

Jason Castro – Born in 1987
– Sings – "Fragile" by Sting
– Does a good job by playing the guitar, it keeps him behind the mike and not
having to perform.  The singing is good, the song is sort of boring, but it
should be enough to keep him going, especially because I think the dudettes dig
him.

Syesha Mercado – Born in 1987
– Sings – "If I Was Your Woman" by Stephanie Mills, I think.
– A really nice R&B performance.  Vocal range was good, performance was
good, and this was a great performance that should keep her to the next week.
– What the hell is with all of these 21 year olds?  I remember, sort of, my
21st birthday, and I wasn’t singing in 1988.  Thankfully the picture people
supposedly took of me on my 21st birthday has disappeared, I hope.

Chikezie
– Born in 1985
– Sings – "If Only For One Night" by Luther Vandross
– Chikezie is showing he might be the next R&B singer to blow up across the
Universe.  From week to week he shows differences he can tackle, and he
actually needs to lose this competition to make his own career, a la Daughtry.

Brooke White
– Born in 1983
– Sings – "Every Breath You Take" by The Police
– How boring can you get.  Sure, it’s nice on piano, and she screwed up the
start, but unless she does something special to get her butt off the piano
stool, or straddles it like Tori Amos, as much as I think she is purty, sings
purty, and has talent, this week wasn’t her best.  So much potential that
went away.

Michael
Johns – Born in 1978
– Sings – "We Will Rock You " by Queen
– Only a few words need to be written – You are no Freddie Mercury.  I
guess a few more words are needed – the band didn’t help.  I don’t know
what the judges heard, but he just doesn’t seem to have the persona to be
Freddie, at least on TV I guess.  For whatever reason I thought he wasn’t
that good.  Maybe I should just wonder what is wrong with me, or I need to
be there, live.
– I was 10 or 11 when this song came out, the first album I ever bought was
"Night at the Opera," and I found "News of the World" fantastic as the years
went on, especially with the album art.  I always loved reading "No
Synthesisers!"

Carly Smithson – Born in 1983
– Sings – "Total Eclipse of the Heart" by Bonnie Tyler
– A simple choice for her, but for me it just brings back flashbacks of high
school.  Ugh!  Okay, singing wise Carly was good, but she just seems
to be singing, not performing, and for Jim Steinman songs, as much as it is
about the song, it’s more about the performance of the song.  She just sang
it, whereas Meat Loaf knows how to perform.  She needed to really find Jim
Steinman history and how Meat Loaf made those songs performance art.  That
is what Jim Steinman did.

David Archuleta – Born in 1990
– Sings – "You’re the Voice" by Farnham Johnny?
– Is he just trying to get other people money by singing obscure songs? 
That said, I really like the song, like the performance, and I was graduating
college when this dude was being born.  He tried to branch out, but I’m
guessing in 1990 there are better songs, that people might actually know, that
he could have really blown out of the competition.  We’ll see if his good
looks still keep him in the competition.

 Kristy Lee Cook – Born in
1984
– Sings – "God Bless the U.S.A." by Lee Greenwood
– Gosh girl, I like you, but how the hell did you get this far in the
competition.  You sing nice enough, at least this week, sort of, but you
aren’t a performer in any sense of the word.  Thank your lucky stars you
got to the final 10 to go on tour because a lot of other singers are better than
you.  And from the judge’s comments, what the hell am I not hearing nor
seeing on my screen tonight.

David Cook – Born in 1982
– Sings – "Billy Jean" by Michael Jackson
– Nice change of a Michael Jackson song.  If anyone ever says "How do I
make a song my own?" this is the performance they should show.  He works
the stage, he sings like a rocker, and if he doesn’t win he will probably have a
fantastic career anyway.  He actually got in touch with a song with the
year he was born, and if I had a dollar I might actually download that song
version from iTunes. (Dude note: As I laid in bed last night I couldn’t sleep because
I just had to figure David’s version probably wasn’t his own arrangement. Sure enough,
I did some quick research this morning and guess I missed at the beginning where
they said it was Chris Cornell’s version. Thought he did a good job, anyway. DOTR)

Let’s wrap this up…

From a lot of the comments I’m guessing that the performances came off a hell of
a lot better live than on my TV because, well, when I thought some of them
didn’t do well, Simon-Paula-Randy thought they were great.   I know
live is better than TV, but is there that much of a difference.  If the
"American Idol" folks want to prove it to me, fly me out for next week’s show,
otherwise, I don’t think anyone did that well this week except David Cook.

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