"American Idol:" 10 Reasons I Think It's Harmless Fun

Julie over at BlogHer wrote a post, "10 Reasons Why I Hate 'American Idol.'"  In it she gives 10 points why she thinks "American Idol is contributing to the destruction of civilization as we know it.  As someone who's an "American Idol" fan and who writes recaps of the show, I beg to differ.  Go over and read her post and then come on back and read my point by point responses:

The Season of "The Ringers" On Reality TV

David Cook ruined this post.  Last week, just as I was predicting David Archuleta to win "American Idol," I had a post half written in my head about the season of "The Ringers" on reality TV. 

Think about it:  "Project Runway's" winner, Christian Siriano; "America's Next Top Model" winner, Whitney Thompson; "Dancing with the Stars" winner: Kristi Yamaguchi; and the final piece of the puzzle would have been the crowning of David Archuleta.

And maybe ringer is the wrong word.  What I really mean is, in each case it seems the contestant the producers and judges wanted to win, won.  "America's Next Top Model" wanted a plus-sized winner, they got one.  "Project Runway" wanted a hip, young winner with attitude, they got one.  "Dancing with the Stars" wanted a woman to win, they got one.

Not that any of these contestants weren't worthy, they were.  It's  just that it gets the conspiracy theorists out there buzzing when so many winners are winners that you know the producers were hoping for.

Kimmie at "It's All About" had this to say while the competition was still underway:

But ... I think Kristi Yamaguchi is a ringer, and I'll tell you why. She's got the lines and graceful movements that this competition thrives on. She's got the flexibility and work ethic that is required to win. She already knows the exact ... exact ... way to curtsy on ice, er, stage. Yep, she's a ringer. And I like it.

And she was very happy when Kristi won.

But that aside, the only producer/judge darling that didn't win was David Archuleta.  If he had won, wouldn't that have been one of the signs of the Apocalypse?   What do you think?

"Idol" Chit Chat: David Cook Is "American Idol" 2008

Even David Cook didn't look like he believed he heard right as Ryan Seacrest called out his name as the winner of "American Idol" 2008.

Like last night for the "Dancing with the Stars" finale, I popped in a out of the two hour show and for the most part, it looked very entertaining. 

After catching up on Grey's Anatomy in advance of tomorrow's season finale, I checked in on Idol as the winner was announced and then watched select portions of the show on the DVR.

There was Bryan Adams, George Michael, Donna Summer, ZZ Top singing with David Cook, Seal singing with Syesha, and Gladys Knight from "The Flip Wilson Show" circa 1969, singing with Pips Jack Black, Robert Downey, Jr. and Ben Stiller.

There was "The Love Guru," aka Mike Myers as Guru Pitka plugging his new movie.  His advice to David Cook to shave was right on the mark.  Guru Pitka even made a live appearance on the "Idol" stage.  "Mariska Hargitay," was his universal greeting.  His words for the judges:  "Randy, you are my dog.  Paula, I love you.  Simon, I love you even more."  And I nearly lost it when he called Ryan, "Mr. Seafoam."

Show Low Points:

*Last year's winner, Jordin Sparks' performance.  She sounded like a teenage Janet Jackson and that's not a compliment.

*That guy singing with the marching band.  Don't know who he was.  Don't care.

*Syesha not being able to keep up vocally with Seal.

*Kristy Lee Cook.  When will I have another chance to take a shot at her?

Show High Points: 

*Jimmy Kimmel's monologue.  Some of his best lines:

"I valet parked outside.  How much should I tip Sanjaya?"

"Paula sees the positive in performances no one else sees.  In fact if you watched a few weeks ago you know sometimes she sees actual performances that no one else sees."

"Once again Simon you have not been very nice to the contestants.  This year, I have to wonder what your parents, Rosemary and Satan Cowell think when they see their little boy saying such awful things to people."

*Gladys Knight singing with her phony Pips.  Even though it was a goof, it was great hearing one of Gladys' classic performances of one of her classic songs.

*The George Michael medley.  It was actually better than George's performance, but part of that had to do with the fact that his classic songs were better than that new song he sang.

*Seeing Chikezie back on stage.  He's really very entertaining and I missed him.

*Paula Abdul having a grand old time dancing and partying in that snappy red dress she was sporting. 

*Randy looking like a tailored candy cane.

*ZZ Top and David Cook singing "Sharp Dressed Man."

*The Idol band rockin' through the whole show.  Every week they've done a fabulous job.

*Simon apologizing for "verging on disrespectful" to David Cook last night.

*David Cook crying so much he couldn't speak after being announced the winner.

*David Cook's brother saying into the camera proudly, "That's my brother," while David sang the winning song, "Time Of My Life."

Finally a message for David Cook, you weren't one of my favorites, and I do wish you would shave, but no one can say you didn't earn the title, so congratulations and good luck to you, dude.

See y'all in January.

Photo courtesy and copyright Fox Television

"Idol" Chit Chat: David Squared

David Archuleta and David Cook did battle last night for the title of "American Idol."

The first song choices were picked by record mogul Clive Davis.  For David Cook he chose "I Still Haven't Found What I'm Looking For," and for David Archuleta he chose, "Don't Let The Sun Go Down On Me."

Cook sang well enough, but as always, he didn't make me feel anything.  It's like listening to background music in a restaurant, as soon as he starts singing, I start thinking about something else I could be doing.

Archuleta did a better job with his song, but the choice of the song did half the work for him.  And he almost looked like an adult in that little corduroy jacket of his.

Afterward, I thought Randy was going to have a coronary during his "molten hot" critique.

The second song was chosen by the Davids from the top ten favorite songs entered in the song writing competition. 

David Cook chose a rocker-esque song about dreaming big, called "Dream Big," and David Archuleta chose a ballad about being in "this moment," called "In This Moment." 

Yo, Idol producers?  In future I'd like to ban songs with the words, "this moment" in them.  Enough already.

"Idol" Chit Chat: David vs. Goliath

Okay, now you're asking who's the David in my title, and who's the Goliath?   Take a wild guess.

David Cook, your little rocker butt is toast.

The David Archuleta runaway train has left the station and all David Cook can do is get out of the way.  Poor Syesha Mercado didn't have a chance, but I take solace in the knowledge that her performances the last few weeks will give her future singing career a very nice boost.

But take note.  No sooner did I mention the difference between the talent of a Fantasia Barrino and any of the other contestants this year, than the woman herself comes on last night's show and burns a hole in the stage.

As Sherri Shepherd said on "The View" this morning, her strutting, growling show stopping performance was like a cross between James Brown and Tina Turner.  Those sorority girls in the mosh pit didn't have to pretend to be excited, when Fantasia performed, they were excited.  I don't know what she was singing, I couldn't tell what the lyrics were, but I didn't care.  That's the kind of stage presence that's been missing from "American Idol all season long."

She even made me forget about that crazy ass hair color she was sporting.  What an amazing entertainer. 

Oh, and "Idol" ends next week...thank God.

"Idol" Chit Chat: Ho Hum Threesome

The most exciting thing about last night's "American Idol?"  The electric in my house has been fixed so my TV didn't go ker-fluey every five minutes.

The least exciting thing about last night's "American Idol?"  The show itself.

We're down to the final three, and to be perfectly honest, I'm bored.  Last night's performances simply reinforced everything I've been saying the last several weeks, so I'll try not to repeat myself too much.

I thought the song choices, except for Syesha Mercado's Alicia Keys' song and David Cook's "Don't Want to Miss A Thing" were awful.

The producers had David Archuleta sing "Longer," a song that has got to be the most sickening song ever written and David sounded sickening singing it.  That Randy would dare to say another "hot one from you," makes me think Jeff Archuleta's slipping him a little something under the table.  "Hot" would in no way describe David's performance of that song.

Syesha was as good as she can be, but the problem is that's only a fraction of how good Fantasia or Kelly Clarkson are, and those are the comparison's she's up against.  David Archuleta tried to be hip with his own song choice but failed miserably and David Cook played Rocker Boy like always.

The best part of the show was they kept it to an hour.

Predictions:

Should Go Home:  David Archuleta.  Syesha's earned her way into the final, David has not.

Will Go Home:  Unfortunately, America will want to see the Battle of the Davids.  Syesha Mercado.

"Idol" Chit Chat: Can David Archuleta Win Without Dad?

This weekend the Associated Press reported that David Archuleta's dad, Jeff has been banned from rehearsals backstage at "American Idol." According to an article by Lynn Elber:

Jeff Archuleta was told this week by producers that he can no longer join 17-year-old son as David as he prepares for the show, the person familiar with the matter told The Associated Press.

Jeff Archuleta pushed the producers into action because last week his actions cost them money:

Despite a warning, Jeff Archuleta insisted on altering "Stand by Me," one of two songs his son sang on the show Tuesday. By adding a verse from Sean Kingston's "Beautiful Girls," the father incurred additional costs for "American Idol," the person said.

Now, I'm not a big David Archuleta fan and never have been for several reasons.  Check out my "Idol" Chit Chats if you don't believe me. Number one, the kid is technically a very good singer, but he has zero presence on stage. He's still "Junior Star Search," but this is "American Idol" and supposed to be the big time.

Plus the producers and the judges have tried to shove this kid down our throats as the de facto winner for weeks now and the truth is, he's not that good.

If Jeff Archuleta, who's been rumored all season to be the worst stage dad ever, is the puppet master pulling little David's strings, it'll be very interesting to see how Pinocchio does this week without Daddy's heavy handed influence.

Via Yahoo

Cross Posted At Video Runway
 

"Idol" Chit Chit: Syesha Survives

The dreads and the pretty eyes finally stopped working for Jason Castro and not a moment too soon.  If somehow America had decided to keep him around instead of say Syesha Mercado, I would have had to fly through the television set, I would have been so outraged.

But luckily for everyone, that wasn't necessary and all is right with the "American Idol world.  Remember, just a few weeks ago, after Michael Johns was ejected, I'd basically said the competition was over for me.  Well, Syesha has changed my mind.  She's now given me someone to root for and I couldn't be happier for her, or for me.

If she can pick three good songs next week and perform the heck out of them like she's been doing the last couple of weeks, the Davids better watch out because America loves an underdog.

Good luck girlfriend!

Technorati Tags: American Idol,television,TV,Syesha Mercado,Simon Cowell,David Archuleta,David Cook

"Idol" Chit Chat: Syesha Rising

The electricity in my house has been going ker-bluey the last couple of days and the result is that I missed the first half hour of tonight's "American Idol."  Eeek.

Though, based on the recap at the end of the show, I don't feel like I missed much.  I will however have to get a copy of Syesha's performance of "Proud Mary" 'cause that's the only one I'm interested in seeing.

Best Of The Night:  Syesha Mercado.  I came in on Syesha's second number, and based on that alone, I'm calling Syesha as a dark horse who can win this competition if David Cook and David Archuleta split the teeny bopper vote.  Syesha's been tearing it up the last few weeks, showing the personality she should have been showing all along, and putting in some amazing performances.

Worst Of The Night:  Take a wild guess.  How is it possible that just a few short weeks ago, I thought he was cute.  Now he absolutely annoys the heck out of me.

Still Wildly Overrated:  I feel like a broken record---at least when there were records---David Archuleta.

A Lock For The Final Two:  David Cook.  He seemed like his usual pseudo-rocker self.

Predictions:

Should Go Home:  Take a wild guess.

Will Go Home:  Take the same wild guess.

Anybody know a good electrician?

PS:  This morning (5/7/08) I saw a tape of Syesha's "Proud Mary" performance and the girl's looking like a real winner.  I hope all the voters at home took note.

"Idol" Chit Chat: The Last Girl Standing

And that ladies and gentlemen is Syesha Mercado after Brooke White was ejected from “American Idol” last night.

The first shock of the night, the fact that Jason Castro was the first to be told he was safe. Those dreads and pretty eyes are really working for him, because if all was right with the “Idol” world, he’d have been taking his dreads on the road.

The next shock of the night was Ryan announcing that “the rumors” about Paula were all wrong. You know, those rumors that were running rampant after Paula critiqued a song that Jason didn’t sing last night. Like she was drunk, or on drugs, or this close to being fired. Ryan made it clear that Paula wasn’t going anywhere and just to seal the deal Randy and Simon gave her hugs and kisses.

Next to move to the safety couch or chair, or whatever kind of seating it was this week, was David Archuleta, then David Cook. So that left Syesha and Brooke, and after another twenty minutes of filler and Neil Diamond, Brooke was history.

The most emotion I’ve felt from her during the whole season was when she did her sing out of “I Am, I Said” while crying through most of it.

She was sweet, she was sunny—especially when singing “Here Comes The Sun”—and she’ll do very nicely as a traveling folk singer somewhere in the midwest. Good luck, Brooke.

Cross Posted From Video Runway.

"Idol" Chit Chat: A Rough Diamond

This was a night I was not looking forward to.  Neil Diamond has some decent songs, but not nearly enough for five Idols to sing two each without putting most of the audience to sleep.

It must have put Paula Abdul to sleep as well because when it time for her to critique the first set of songs, she thought Jason Castro had sung two songs when he'd only sung one.  Very, very strange.  Anyway:

Best Of The Night:  Syesha Mercado.  "Hello Again" was very sweet and she sang it very well.  The second song was also quite good and allowed her to be sassy.  I love it when she's sassy.  I just hope she hasn't left it all a little too late.  Simon said she was in trouble and hopefully that "Simon kiss of death" is exactly what will keep her around.  By the way, she looked like a star in the very cute dress and lovely hairstyle.

Worst Of The Night:  Jason Castro.  Who needs Sominex when you can just play back Jason's two songs?  Is he trying to get voted off?  'Cause after tonight, I'm thinking he is.

Still An Amateur:  David Archuleta.  He's out of his league and these songs showed that.  And I don't know what Randy Jackson is listening to, but I'm sick of his "you're the bomb" business where Archuleta's concerned, 'cause dawg, he's not.

Excellent Song Choices:  Brooke White.  She couldn't really lose with "I'm A Believer" because it's such a good song.  And for once she got to do something peppy and fun.  Then on "I Am, I Said," she was just what she needed to be. 

Best Neil Diamond Impression:  David Cook.  I wasn't very entertained by his two songs, but he did them well enough.  The first song was better than the second.

Should Go Home:  Jason Castro.

Will Go Home:  Jason Castro.

Megan's TV Recap Update

If you're a loyal Megan's Minute reader, you know that I've written full length recaps of "Desperate Housewives" since the beginning of the 2007-2008 TV season.  During the writers' strike, I began recapping "Lost" and picked up my recapping of "American Idol" from last year.

I now find myself over extended.  I continue to write weekly posts for Blogher.com (which I love), and daily posts for Video Runway (which I also love), and am trying to keep the quality and frequency of posts at Megan's Minute as high as always.

Well, I'm only half succeeding.  My priorities have to be Blogher and Video Runway since they're helping keep Daisy in dog food, and me in fancy handbags, but I'm determined to keep Megan's Minute the blog that I started and get such joy and pleasure from writing.  So something's gotta give.

What I'm going to do, starting with the 4/13 episode of "Desperate Housewives" is write shorter recaps, or what I call "Snap Recaps" of "DH" for the rest of the season.  I will continue to write full length "Lost" recaps---I realize I'm still two episodes behind on those, but I'm working on it---and when the season is over, I'll reassess where I'm at in time for next season.

I will however, no matter what, continue to write full length recaps of "Damages" whenever it returns.  (The latest estimate is January of 2009.)

So please bear with me as I try and get this time management thing down, and I hope you continue to come back often and enjoy Megan's Minute as much as I enjoy writing it.

"Idol" Chit Chat: Carly Smithson Dumped By Screwy Vote

Just when you thought this year’s “American Idol” voters were humming along very nicely, voting just the way they should, kind of like in the presidential election, they go and throw in a Ralph Nader.

Instead of ditching Brooke White like I told them too, or at the very least, Jason Castro, they put Syesha Mercado and Carly Smithson in the bottom two. And then they sent Carly home.

Now honestly, I’m not going to lose any sleep over losing Carly, but her performance last night did not deserve a ticket home. Is it maybe a foreigner bias? Remember Aussie Michael Johns?

What does make me nuts is last week, I wouldn’t have cared if Syesha was in the bottom two because she hadn’t really done anything exciting up to that point. But last night’s performance was first class.  No way should she have been in the bottom two.  Syesha may be in for another week, but that vote doesn’t bode well for her “Idol” future.

As for Carly, she’ll get another recording contract and maybe this time she’ll sell more than six copies.  Good luck, Carly.

 

"Idol" Chit Chat: Syesha Sizzles!

It was Andrew Lloyd Webber night on "American Idol" and the songs made for some entertaining numbers.

Best Of The Night:  Hands down, Syesha Mercado.  Where's this Syesha been all season long?  That performance of "One Rock And Roll Too Many" from "Starlight Express" put her back in the contender column.  She was sexy, she was sassy, and she looked like a long time pro.  She was very, very good. 

Second Best Of The Night:  Carly Smithson.  She should send Sir Andrew (or is it Lord Andrew?) some chocolates for talking her out of singing  "All I Ask Of You" in favor of "Jesus Christ Superstar."  What is with these singers, that they can't figure out, even a little bit, a good song choice and a bad song choice?  I guess it's inexperience, but it's infuriating.

Worst Of The Night:  Brooke White.  This'll probably be it for sweet Brooke.  First, she had to start over because she forgot the words, but the other problem?  It was another bad song choice.  About the do over, Paula said, "You must never start and stop."  Paula said that. That's the kiss of death. 

Second Worst Of The NIght:  Jason Castro.  The only reason Jason didn't make my "Worst Of The Night" was because he didn't have to start over, but honey, he was a mess.

Least Likely To Make Michael Crawford Worry:  David Cook.  Really, David?  "Music Of The Night?"  You should have stuck with something by Che from "Evita."  I didn't buy it and I thought it was boring as hell.

Still Most Forgettable:  David Archuleta.  It was a nice version of "Think Of Me," but that's all it was.  He didn't do anything with it.

Predictions:

Should Go Home:  Brooke White.

Will Go Home:  Brooke White.

"Idol" Chit Chat: Kristy Lee Cooked

Kristy Lee Cook was finally sent home from "American Idol."  She started her sing out with a special serenade for Simon Cowell.

Mariah Carey sang, but because I was watching part of the Clinton/Obama debate and also flipping back and forth to "MI-5," I didn't watch that part.  Time to make the results show a half hour.

For the elimination, they did the "split everybody into two groups of three and then put the sure fire keeper, David Archuleta in the middle," then ask him to pick the group that was also staying.  I hate when they do that stuff.  David took a page out of someone else's book from a previous season, whose name I can't remember, and sat down in the middle.  Ryan then had him scooch over to the group that had Jason, Carly, and David Cook.  They were all safe.

That left Syesha, Brooke and Kristy.  Syesha was safe and then so was Brooke.

See you later Kristy.  It was fun while it lasted.