Last season I really got into Idol. I mean little Davey Archuletta was just so damn good, he made me want watch every Tuesday. (Ya, I know they're on other nights too but really folks, one night a week is more than enough.)
The previous season was good too.
But what happened this year? I mean, am I the only one who feels that there really isn't the talent pool this time 'round that they had in years past. It seems the ones I kinda think are okay, the judges uniformly rip apart, especially Simon of course. But the ones I have to turn the volume down on lest the neighbors think I'm trying to rape a cat, they all love! Even Simon!
Yo, yo Randy...listen up...I am not on the same wavelength this year, Dog! I just don't feel it.
Each performance seems kinda karaoke to me.
And tonight, they started the theme competitions like they do each year towards the finals. Each week they restrict the contestants choice of song to ones in a particular genre, or, like tonight, to the catalogue of one particular artist. Tonight it was the music of Michael Jackson.
I knew when they announced it I was in for an evening of disappointment. I mean, really, who can sing Michael Jackson better than Michael Jackson? Covers of him are so obvious since his voice is so distinctive and his musical style so unique that imitators only do it either as a total tribute act, dressed and made-up just like Michael, in which they hit each note and do each dance maneuver as close as they can to the King of Pop so as to amaze the audience, or they are a parody or farcical over-the-top comedy act. Neither style is appropriate for a competition designed to showcase the unique and creative stylings of up-and-coming new vocal superstars-to-be.
Most of tonight's contestants wisely chose less evocative songs from years staying away from the quintessential Jacksonian highlight era of the early to mid nineteen eighties. But one guy, ironically in light of the video below, who is of Indian heritage, actually "went for it" and dared to sing "Beat It".
Okay, I'll give you this, the kid is too young to remember those days. But do you remember when karaoke became popular what the most common choice was of every bad drunk singer in every bad karaoke bar in the early '90s? Do you remember one of Weird Al Yankovick's best parodies called "Eat It"?
He may as well have just done this:
At least then it would have been funny.
The previous season was good too.
But what happened this year? I mean, am I the only one who feels that there really isn't the talent pool this time 'round that they had in years past. It seems the ones I kinda think are okay, the judges uniformly rip apart, especially Simon of course. But the ones I have to turn the volume down on lest the neighbors think I'm trying to rape a cat, they all love! Even Simon!
Yo, yo Randy...listen up...I am not on the same wavelength this year, Dog! I just don't feel it.
Each performance seems kinda karaoke to me.
And tonight, they started the theme competitions like they do each year towards the finals. Each week they restrict the contestants choice of song to ones in a particular genre, or, like tonight, to the catalogue of one particular artist. Tonight it was the music of Michael Jackson.
I knew when they announced it I was in for an evening of disappointment. I mean, really, who can sing Michael Jackson better than Michael Jackson? Covers of him are so obvious since his voice is so distinctive and his musical style so unique that imitators only do it either as a total tribute act, dressed and made-up just like Michael, in which they hit each note and do each dance maneuver as close as they can to the King of Pop so as to amaze the audience, or they are a parody or farcical over-the-top comedy act. Neither style is appropriate for a competition designed to showcase the unique and creative stylings of up-and-coming new vocal superstars-to-be.
Most of tonight's contestants wisely chose less evocative songs from years staying away from the quintessential Jacksonian highlight era of the early to mid nineteen eighties. But one guy, ironically in light of the video below, who is of Indian heritage, actually "went for it" and dared to sing "Beat It".
Okay, I'll give you this, the kid is too young to remember those days. But do you remember when karaoke became popular what the most common choice was of every bad drunk singer in every bad karaoke bar in the early '90s? Do you remember one of Weird Al Yankovick's best parodies called "Eat It"?
He may as well have just done this:
At least then it would have been funny.