I took one of those BuzzFeed quizzes today, "Which 2000s Disney/Nickelodeon Character Mashup Fits You?" The answer I got was "You’re a combination of Ron Stoppable and Eliza Thornberry. Like Ron, you will do anything for your family and friends, even if that means putting yourself in danger. And like Eliza, you have a massive sense of adventure. You are strong, courageous, and passionate."
From reruns that I've seen of Kim Possible, I can live with being Ron. That seems kind of accurate, actually. I've never seen The Wild Thornberrys, but Wikipedia says that Eliza gets along with animals very well, which also sounds accurate.
Four years ago I posted the following Facebook statuses:
"How to find Ross Hall: It's pretty easy. Go all the way east on campus, and then it's the only dorm with a bathroom stall parked in front of the building."
This was part of some prank in a war two of the fraternities were having at the time. (GREEKS ARE STUPID.) But it fit life in Ross very well. Which is why I mentioned it.
"Can I write like some combination of Agatha Christie, Brad Paisley, Mark Twain, Philip Gulley, Keith Urban, Jan Karon, Harper Lee, Miranda Lambert, Leonard Kessler, Taylor Swift, William Goldman, Edgar Guest and Lucy Maud Montgomery, please?"
I think my style has incorporated a lot of these writers since, along with Wendell Berry, G.K. Chesterton, Flannery O'Connor and others I can't think of right now.
The CVS Scotch Tape Incident occurred six years ago today. It's really weird how often that night pops up in my memories. "The porch swing silence was my favorite part," Sam commented on the original Facebook link. That was a good part of the night. "'Dylan blandly buys the tape, likely wishing he didn't know any of us' is my favorite part. That's him all over!" Paige commented right below Sam's comment. What can I say? I know my friends.
Marie's arm was fine after the Red Rover mishap, just really bruised. Last anyone heard she got married a couple years ago, has a 2-year-old son and is currently pregnant with a daughter. Last anyone heard of Sam she was about to get married.
Courtney's visiting this weekend after working most of spring break, it's been nice to see her. We saw Black Panther again last night with Caleb, and I still didn't like it. I mean, it was fine, but 12th-15th in the MCU rankings. Courtney liked it a lot, which we figured she would. We went to the AMC theater in Tulsa Hills, first time I'd ever been there. It's really nice.
Caleb and I have been playing a lot of basketball in the driveway recently. In sports, Loyola-Chicago somehow made it into the Final Four, and the NASCAR Truck race at Martinsville this afternoon was postponed due to a blizzard.
We were just talking about how much Grandpa would've loved Courtney going to C of O, how he'd always be running up to Branson to see her. He always said one summer he was going to find work up there instead of at the river, live in the RV. She'll be working over the summer, which is good. He would've enjoyed the play, too, I think, and he would've been proud that I wrote it, anyway.
While they aren't as entertaining as Keith and Nicki's hijinks, Luke and Katy work well together on Idol. On Agents, FitzSimmons' wedding was spectacular, and the episode overall was incredibly emotional in the best way possible. Recorded a cover last week of Rascal Flatts' "Stand" because Amanda asked me to; mostly I've been playing a lot of ukulele recently.
Yesterday was National Puppy Day; which the dogs didn't really care about, but Rags and Timmy have been especially needing lots of attention this week. That can be kind of nice.
Showing posts with label American Idol. Show all posts
Showing posts with label American Idol. Show all posts
Saturday, March 24, 2018
Sunday, March 11, 2018
A Good Weekend
This week started out with the tension of anticipating the RSU Theatre Program's production of Texaco Mornings, to go along with the nervousness of phantom midterms. So there was a lot of anxious cleaning.
And then Tuesday morning I heard back from a job-application email the week before, which is rare and stressful, because A: you're talking to a stranger, B: on the phone, C: about yourself, and D: trying to make a good impression. I was basically hung up on, which is how that usually ends, but at least I heard back.
"Hey, I think I can actually make it! Like maybe Friday night." Ashland texts me somewhere early in the week.
Wednesday Caleb was supposed to start his first day working for Justin, except he couldn't get there because the truck broke down. (It's since been sort-of-fixed, I think.)
Crashed the youth group because I hadn't heard the end of David Platt's sermon series on "Angels, Demons and Spiritual Warfare" because my freshman year at NSU had already started. The sermon was interesting. And also, it was DC Talk Night in the Throwback Christian Music series, and I'm like the resident DC Talk expert.
Thursday night Caleb had a MEND fundraiser he was volunteering for, along with Hope, Mattie, Seth and Laura. That seemed to go well. Trevor and Amy had swimming, so everybody was happily busy. Wasn't able to make it to the opening night, but it's one of those things that couldn't be helped. The quiet house was nice;; read through a book of Billy Collins poetry from the OKC book sale.
Andrew said there was a great crowd; I know Debra and Cody both made it. "Proud of you, man!" Cody said. Dr. Dial-Driver wasn't able to make it, but she sent me a nice message, and she had everyone give her a report. ("I told her that even if you didn't know Wes wrote it, you'd know Wes wrote it," Dr. Mackie said).
Friday morning was a good day for blasting Jars of Clay while cleaning.
I missed the landmark 100th episode of Agents of S.H.I.E.L.D. that night, but it was totally worth it. Not every day your play is produced. (But IT SHOWED FITZSIMMONS' WEDDING, which I would have loved almost as much as Andy and April's or Ben and Leslie's. Maybe I'm okay with weddings as long as they're fictional?)
"Looks like I'll be seeing you tonight," Ashland texts me. She tackle-hugged me as soon as I'd gotten both feet into Baird Hall, pretty much. "I told people I knew you, and it was like, I knew a celebrity or something!"
About eighteen to twenty people were in the audience, which was a decent size. It was great to see Andrew, David and Dr. Mackie again. I also recognized a couple classmates I knew by sight. The Ruscos came, which I wasn't expecting. It was weird seeing the script performed, but the audience seemed to like it. The acting wasn't the best, but it wasn't awful, either. The actors missed or mangled about twenty percent of the lines, mostly skipping the dramatic parts. "This is a lot funnier than it should be," was all my brain registered in the moment.
We stopped by Taco Bueno afterward, and were quickly reminded neither of us liked it. But late-night conversations are always good, even if the food isn't great. Mostly the topic was INFJ-ism in the workplace, and commiserating the general difficulties of college and young adulthood "I was like, 'You okay?' You were really tense," she grinned once we'd gotten into dissecting the performance. (This didn't register at all.) We both graded it a high C, mostly because the actors who played siblings were obviously strangers, which was a little awkward.
Since it was going to be rainy, and because it was cheap and indoors, we decided to go to the Gilcrease Art Museum Saturday morning. It was fun. We rummaged through Indian artifacts all National Treasure-y, roamed through pretty much everywhere, and wished our photography skills were better. Since the temporary Norman Rockwell exhibit was still there, of course we had to see that - I kept a lookout for security guards while she illegally snapped photos to show her grandma. We didn't get caught.
Since it was beautiful weather, we prowled around the grounds outside taking pictures of the flowers and tree buds. We got some good pictures, and we also got chased by wasps for our troubles. Ignoring tradition, we actually got a couple good selfies this time.
We only got minorly lost on the way home, Taylor Swift blasting on Pandora, and we had lunch at Whataburger since she wanted to try it. The food was greasy and delicious, the convo was good.
A huge crowd showed up for Saturday night's closing performance; probably thirty-five to forty people. Talked to Brandon, saw Brittany on the other side of the room. Only about five percent of the lines were missing, and different moments were seen as humorous. Andrew did a great job directing. It got a high B grade.
The premiere of the sixteenth season of American Idol was tonight on ABC; the editing was unfocused, but it has potential. Luke Bryan, Katy Perry and Lionel Richie seem like they'll work well together.
And then Tuesday morning I heard back from a job-application email the week before, which is rare and stressful, because A: you're talking to a stranger, B: on the phone, C: about yourself, and D: trying to make a good impression. I was basically hung up on, which is how that usually ends, but at least I heard back.
"Hey, I think I can actually make it! Like maybe Friday night." Ashland texts me somewhere early in the week.
Wednesday Caleb was supposed to start his first day working for Justin, except he couldn't get there because the truck broke down. (It's since been sort-of-fixed, I think.)
Crashed the youth group because I hadn't heard the end of David Platt's sermon series on "Angels, Demons and Spiritual Warfare" because my freshman year at NSU had already started. The sermon was interesting. And also, it was DC Talk Night in the Throwback Christian Music series, and I'm like the resident DC Talk expert.
Thursday night Caleb had a MEND fundraiser he was volunteering for, along with Hope, Mattie, Seth and Laura. That seemed to go well. Trevor and Amy had swimming, so everybody was happily busy. Wasn't able to make it to the opening night, but it's one of those things that couldn't be helped. The quiet house was nice;; read through a book of Billy Collins poetry from the OKC book sale.
Andrew said there was a great crowd; I know Debra and Cody both made it. "Proud of you, man!" Cody said. Dr. Dial-Driver wasn't able to make it, but she sent me a nice message, and she had everyone give her a report. ("I told her that even if you didn't know Wes wrote it, you'd know Wes wrote it," Dr. Mackie said).
Friday morning was a good day for blasting Jars of Clay while cleaning.
I missed the landmark 100th episode of Agents of S.H.I.E.L.D. that night, but it was totally worth it. Not every day your play is produced. (But IT SHOWED FITZSIMMONS' WEDDING, which I would have loved almost as much as Andy and April's or Ben and Leslie's. Maybe I'm okay with weddings as long as they're fictional?)
"Looks like I'll be seeing you tonight," Ashland texts me. She tackle-hugged me as soon as I'd gotten both feet into Baird Hall, pretty much. "I told people I knew you, and it was like, I knew a celebrity or something!"
About eighteen to twenty people were in the audience, which was a decent size. It was great to see Andrew, David and Dr. Mackie again. I also recognized a couple classmates I knew by sight. The Ruscos came, which I wasn't expecting. It was weird seeing the script performed, but the audience seemed to like it. The acting wasn't the best, but it wasn't awful, either. The actors missed or mangled about twenty percent of the lines, mostly skipping the dramatic parts. "This is a lot funnier than it should be," was all my brain registered in the moment.
We stopped by Taco Bueno afterward, and were quickly reminded neither of us liked it. But late-night conversations are always good, even if the food isn't great. Mostly the topic was INFJ-ism in the workplace, and commiserating the general difficulties of college and young adulthood "I was like, 'You okay?' You were really tense," she grinned once we'd gotten into dissecting the performance. (This didn't register at all.) We both graded it a high C, mostly because the actors who played siblings were obviously strangers, which was a little awkward.
Since it was going to be rainy, and because it was cheap and indoors, we decided to go to the Gilcrease Art Museum Saturday morning. It was fun. We rummaged through Indian artifacts all National Treasure-y, roamed through pretty much everywhere, and wished our photography skills were better. Since the temporary Norman Rockwell exhibit was still there, of course we had to see that - I kept a lookout for security guards while she illegally snapped photos to show her grandma. We didn't get caught.Since it was beautiful weather, we prowled around the grounds outside taking pictures of the flowers and tree buds. We got some good pictures, and we also got chased by wasps for our troubles. Ignoring tradition, we actually got a couple good selfies this time.
A huge crowd showed up for Saturday night's closing performance; probably thirty-five to forty people. Talked to Brandon, saw Brittany on the other side of the room. Only about five percent of the lines were missing, and different moments were seen as humorous. Andrew did a great job directing. It got a high B grade.
The premiere of the sixteenth season of American Idol was tonight on ABC; the editing was unfocused, but it has potential. Luke Bryan, Katy Perry and Lionel Richie seem like they'll work well together.
Saturday, February 24, 2018
Happy Birthday, Blog
I created this blog on this day in 2012. I'd been thinking about it for a year or two, and it was the middle of a boring day in February with nothing else much to do. (Also, Facebook was going through one of its redesigns, and there was a rumor that the then-popular Notes section would be deleted, so I wanted to keep my favorites.) Mom was visiting with Trinnica, and everybody else was playing some kind of war game in the backyard with Jonathan.
Sometimes people wonder about how it got titled this way; so I put out an explanation of the title right up front. It's a Princess Bride quote, from the novel, not the movie.
The series finale of Parks and Rec, "One Last Ride," aired on this day in 2015. It's one of the most perfect series finales ever. I watched season 7 live, even though I hadn't really met anyone in Pawnee yet, because it was a way to stay connected with everybody at the NSU BCM. (Stephen, Elizabeth, Susan, Bucky and Daniel were especially fans of the show.) I'd just moved to Claremore and RSU, and the humor was a welcome distraction from the roughness of that semester. (There's good people there, but I'm not really a fan of the city of Claremore.) And it was good homework in studying camera angles and shot placement.
Speaking of NSU ministries, Tom Tucker finally completely retired from leading CCF a couple months ago. And Ryan Galdemez became the pastor of Grace Baptist after Geoff Brown left.
It's been raining and raining and raining some more all week - cold and gray and drenching weather is hard to be productive in. But at least there wasn't an ice storm, like it seemed there would be earlier in the week.
Mom, Amy, Trevor and I went to the Gilcrease Art Museum in Tulsa Friday night because there was a traveling exhibit of Norman Rockwell original art, behind-the-scenes photographs, sketches, and the actual Saturday Evening Post covers themselves. It was amazing.
The afternoon was spent running errands in Okmulgee, which was useful.
Being book hunters, once we heard about the Oklahoma City Library System's annual book sale at the state fairgrounds, Mom and I decided we needed to go. It was spectacular. I found some Faulkner, and a history of Broadway for Susan, and a handful of Shakespeare that matched good copies we already had. Mom found Peterson field guides and I don't know what all else. I found a lot of guides for writing different genres in the Fine Arts section; hopefully some of them will be helpful.
It was awesome. People were very polite; always apologizing after running into each other due to the intense focus of finding good titles. Going to Oklahoma City always feels a very long way away, when it's only about two hours west. Probably feels that way because the landscape changes a lot.
Caleb accidentally locked himself out of the truck while at a photoshoot with a friend, so we drove back home through Henryetta so he could get himself unstuck. That's the usual way to get to OKC, it seems like. Nice to drive through Henryetta again; felt like we should be driving back from a Knights ballgame. High school basketball playoffs started last week; it's a little weird to not be actively covering them.
Songs of the Day this week include Bowling for Soup's "1985" and Dustin Lynch's "Cowboys and Angels."
It's the final day of competition for the 2018 PeyongChang Winter Olympics. NBC's overage seemed a little lacking, mostly because there wasn't many of the inspirational stories shown, and because Bob Costas retired. Mike Tirico did better than I expected, but it still felt wrong. The Russian figure skaters had an epic battle in the ladies' event, and the Americans were all entirely without personality or talent. Snowboard cross was awesome, as usual, and snowboard halfpipe and the speed skating events. The commercials were amazingly inspirational. And the U.S. women's hockey team beat Canada in a shootout in the gold medal game, which is great.
The production of Texaco Mornings will be in two weeks. That's exciting, but also completely terrifying. It felt a little strange to write your own press release talking about your own play, though. But the Okmulgee Times people were happy to run it, and hopefully it will draw some more people to come see it.
Agents of S.H.I.E.L.D. will be back from the Olympic break this Friday, and it will air their 100th episode March 9. It's been fun to follow their Instagram and Twitter for memories. American Idol returns for its 16th season March 11; I'm predicting Luke Bryan will be my favorite judge this season.
Sometimes people wonder about how it got titled this way; so I put out an explanation of the title right up front. It's a Princess Bride quote, from the novel, not the movie.
The series finale of Parks and Rec, "One Last Ride," aired on this day in 2015. It's one of the most perfect series finales ever. I watched season 7 live, even though I hadn't really met anyone in Pawnee yet, because it was a way to stay connected with everybody at the NSU BCM. (Stephen, Elizabeth, Susan, Bucky and Daniel were especially fans of the show.) I'd just moved to Claremore and RSU, and the humor was a welcome distraction from the roughness of that semester. (There's good people there, but I'm not really a fan of the city of Claremore.) And it was good homework in studying camera angles and shot placement.
Speaking of NSU ministries, Tom Tucker finally completely retired from leading CCF a couple months ago. And Ryan Galdemez became the pastor of Grace Baptist after Geoff Brown left.
It's been raining and raining and raining some more all week - cold and gray and drenching weather is hard to be productive in. But at least there wasn't an ice storm, like it seemed there would be earlier in the week.
Mom, Amy, Trevor and I went to the Gilcrease Art Museum in Tulsa Friday night because there was a traveling exhibit of Norman Rockwell original art, behind-the-scenes photographs, sketches, and the actual Saturday Evening Post covers themselves. It was amazing.
The afternoon was spent running errands in Okmulgee, which was useful.
Being book hunters, once we heard about the Oklahoma City Library System's annual book sale at the state fairgrounds, Mom and I decided we needed to go. It was spectacular. I found some Faulkner, and a history of Broadway for Susan, and a handful of Shakespeare that matched good copies we already had. Mom found Peterson field guides and I don't know what all else. I found a lot of guides for writing different genres in the Fine Arts section; hopefully some of them will be helpful.
It was awesome. People were very polite; always apologizing after running into each other due to the intense focus of finding good titles. Going to Oklahoma City always feels a very long way away, when it's only about two hours west. Probably feels that way because the landscape changes a lot.
Caleb accidentally locked himself out of the truck while at a photoshoot with a friend, so we drove back home through Henryetta so he could get himself unstuck. That's the usual way to get to OKC, it seems like. Nice to drive through Henryetta again; felt like we should be driving back from a Knights ballgame. High school basketball playoffs started last week; it's a little weird to not be actively covering them.
Songs of the Day this week include Bowling for Soup's "1985" and Dustin Lynch's "Cowboys and Angels."
It's the final day of competition for the 2018 PeyongChang Winter Olympics. NBC's overage seemed a little lacking, mostly because there wasn't many of the inspirational stories shown, and because Bob Costas retired. Mike Tirico did better than I expected, but it still felt wrong. The Russian figure skaters had an epic battle in the ladies' event, and the Americans were all entirely without personality or talent. Snowboard cross was awesome, as usual, and snowboard halfpipe and the speed skating events. The commercials were amazingly inspirational. And the U.S. women's hockey team beat Canada in a shootout in the gold medal game, which is great.
The production of Texaco Mornings will be in two weeks. That's exciting, but also completely terrifying. It felt a little strange to write your own press release talking about your own play, though. But the Okmulgee Times people were happy to run it, and hopefully it will draw some more people to come see it.
Agents of S.H.I.E.L.D. will be back from the Olympic break this Friday, and it will air their 100th episode March 9. It's been fun to follow their Instagram and Twitter for memories. American Idol returns for its 16th season March 11; I'm predicting Luke Bryan will be my favorite judge this season.
Thursday, May 11, 2017
Finals Week in Review
Time for a recap of this week, I suppose. It's Caleb's birthday, I think they went to the climbing gym, which is a blast. I spent most of yesterday packing. And last night was full of hymns for some reason, which is always nice. Sometimes you aren't exactly sure what words to pray, so you have to sing instead.
Monday afternoon was the Psych final, and Dr. Marrero walks in holding a piece of paper. "I've got the current grades right here," he says. "If you like yours, you can walk right out of here right now and that'll be what I enter into the system."
I had a 91.5, which equates to an A, so I gratefully bolted. "Meep meep!" I chirped, Roadrunner-like, as a smoke trail followed me out of Baird Hall.
It wasn't quite an all-nighter Monday night, but close. I had an essay due for Gothic Film and Lit, and an origami picture book to write/draw for Pop Market Tuesday morning. It was titled THIS Is How You Do That: The Essential Top Secret Survival Manual, complete with a copyright page and back-cover blurbs from famous people. For the blurbs, I mainly used characters that I've played - Matt Kojak, of course, is the host of the game show Go With the Flow, from our SWAT skits. Tyler Crickenburg, from Tent City, became a cable-celebrity dog trainer. And Nicole Martin, better known to her friends as Soda, is a novelist from my fiction, main character in a couple novels. (Her siblings are recurring characters in short stories.) About half the class listed the book in their favorites, which I was happy about. Coale said in his critique, "Nobody else but Wesley would even try coming at this project from this angle, much less pull it off so well. I loved it, made me smile." If I can think of enough examples, I'm going to keep working with this idea. The other half of our Pop Market final was a short story, and I was blank on good ideas. So I just condensed and tweaked part of the Panthers soccer story I wrote a couple years ago. I'm still planning on expanding that one, because it's such an awkward size right now at 9,000 words.
Dr. Mackie said my essay last week on the characteristics of Southern Gothic lit was one of the better papers I've done while here, which is good.
Dr. Dial-Driver ordered pizza and we had lunch during Capstone as our "final"; it was a good time to just hang out with everyone for a bit, though there were several comments of the "I feel like I'm forgetting iimportant homework of some kind" variety. Sitcoms were discussed, and we all listened attentively to weird Dial-Driver stories. Afterwards Lauren and I went treasure hunting through Dr. Mackie's piles of giveaway books in the office, where I found a collection of Hemingway's early short stories.
In TV news, ABC is bringing American Idol back next year (SQUEAL OF EXCITEMENT AND PULSATING GUITAR STRINGS). So....yeahhh, I might be a little excited about that. (Or still mad that I missed the apparently-series finale last spring.) So there's still a chance that I could try out. Also, Agents of S.H.I.E.L.D. was renewed for a fifth season this afternoon, which is really awesome. (The cast's acting ability is amazing - Mallory Jansen was the highlight this week, depicting the torrent of Ophelia's turbulent emotions.) Called Trevor afterwards, and we talked about the episode for about 45 minutes.
Helped out with the Chi Alpha pancake feast Tuesday and Wednesday nights at the Assembly of God, held in their gym, Tuesday night I worked as a server of meals, mixer of juice and chopper of bananas, while Wednesday night I was mainly behind the bacon grill.
Could never fall asleep Tuesday night, which was frustrating. But I was able to take an hour-long nap Wednesday afternoon.
The conference finals of the NHL playoffs are set - in the Eastern Conference it'll be the Ottawa Senators against the Pittsburgh Penguins, while the Western Conference will be claimed by either the Anaheim Ducks or the Nashville Predators. I'd really like a Canadian team to win the Cup, since it is their trophy and all, and they haven't won since Montreal in 1993. So for that reason I like Ottawa. But if we're going by jersey design, that'd be the Penguins, and then Carrie Underwood's husband Mike Fisher is captain of the Predators. And then the Ducks - hey, they're the Ducks. QUACK QUACK QUACK!
Hung out with Brittany this morning, which was cool. Crashed the Directing final this afternoon, because she'd suggested it several weeks ago. And also it was a way of supporting her efforts in that class, and Coale's, too. Plus it was a way to be encouraging to David, showing up to an even-more-niche-than-usual RSU Theater project - even one audience member is better than nothing. Brittany and Coale did well, both in directing their pieces and acting in other people's.
Everyone adapted the opening scene of Sophocles' Oedipus Rex, mostly sticking with the actual text, the way Joss Whedon's Much Ado does. (This opening scene is where the audience hears the prophecy about the imminent destruction of Thebes.) They were staged readings, since it was a class. There were a couple press conferences, while other scenes crafted it as coffee-shop gossip.or a conversation between stoners. Halfway through, however, a tornado warning was declared for Rogers County, and the sirens began wailing. Since the auditorium basement is one of the two shelters on campus, a never-ending stream of random people kept streaming through the doors and interrupting the scenes. But the show must go on, so the actors continued on anyway. It's an Oklahoma thing - weather is part of living, and unless it's necessary, life goes on as usual during a storm.
"Hey, remember that Texaco play you wrote about a year ago?" David asks me during while the actors are doing final troubleshooting rehearsal just before they got started. I remember it, sure, because I was proud of that one. (That usually doesn't happen with creative projects.) But I haven't had much time to work on it since, other than translating it into prose. "Okay, do you think you could revise it over the summer? I want to do an Original Recipe [program] for fall, but written by alumni. And I know you write well." So that'll be a project to work on coming up.
Today's "Article to Make the Reader Go 'Hmm...'" is from The Atlantic, trying to match social media sites with the Seven Deadly Sins.
I graduated from high school five years ago tomorrow.
Monday afternoon was the Psych final, and Dr. Marrero walks in holding a piece of paper. "I've got the current grades right here," he says. "If you like yours, you can walk right out of here right now and that'll be what I enter into the system."
I had a 91.5, which equates to an A, so I gratefully bolted. "Meep meep!" I chirped, Roadrunner-like, as a smoke trail followed me out of Baird Hall.
It wasn't quite an all-nighter Monday night, but close. I had an essay due for Gothic Film and Lit, and an origami picture book to write/draw for Pop Market Tuesday morning. It was titled THIS Is How You Do That: The Essential Top Secret Survival Manual, complete with a copyright page and back-cover blurbs from famous people. For the blurbs, I mainly used characters that I've played - Matt Kojak, of course, is the host of the game show Go With the Flow, from our SWAT skits. Tyler Crickenburg, from Tent City, became a cable-celebrity dog trainer. And Nicole Martin, better known to her friends as Soda, is a novelist from my fiction, main character in a couple novels. (Her siblings are recurring characters in short stories.) About half the class listed the book in their favorites, which I was happy about. Coale said in his critique, "Nobody else but Wesley would even try coming at this project from this angle, much less pull it off so well. I loved it, made me smile." If I can think of enough examples, I'm going to keep working with this idea. The other half of our Pop Market final was a short story, and I was blank on good ideas. So I just condensed and tweaked part of the Panthers soccer story I wrote a couple years ago. I'm still planning on expanding that one, because it's such an awkward size right now at 9,000 words.
Dr. Mackie said my essay last week on the characteristics of Southern Gothic lit was one of the better papers I've done while here, which is good.
Dr. Dial-Driver ordered pizza and we had lunch during Capstone as our "final"; it was a good time to just hang out with everyone for a bit, though there were several comments of the "I feel like I'm forgetting iimportant homework of some kind" variety. Sitcoms were discussed, and we all listened attentively to weird Dial-Driver stories. Afterwards Lauren and I went treasure hunting through Dr. Mackie's piles of giveaway books in the office, where I found a collection of Hemingway's early short stories.
In TV news, ABC is bringing American Idol back next year (SQUEAL OF EXCITEMENT AND PULSATING GUITAR STRINGS). So....yeahhh, I might be a little excited about that. (Or still mad that I missed the apparently-series finale last spring.) So there's still a chance that I could try out. Also, Agents of S.H.I.E.L.D. was renewed for a fifth season this afternoon, which is really awesome. (The cast's acting ability is amazing - Mallory Jansen was the highlight this week, depicting the torrent of Ophelia's turbulent emotions.) Called Trevor afterwards, and we talked about the episode for about 45 minutes.
Helped out with the Chi Alpha pancake feast Tuesday and Wednesday nights at the Assembly of God, held in their gym, Tuesday night I worked as a server of meals, mixer of juice and chopper of bananas, while Wednesday night I was mainly behind the bacon grill.
Could never fall asleep Tuesday night, which was frustrating. But I was able to take an hour-long nap Wednesday afternoon.
The conference finals of the NHL playoffs are set - in the Eastern Conference it'll be the Ottawa Senators against the Pittsburgh Penguins, while the Western Conference will be claimed by either the Anaheim Ducks or the Nashville Predators. I'd really like a Canadian team to win the Cup, since it is their trophy and all, and they haven't won since Montreal in 1993. So for that reason I like Ottawa. But if we're going by jersey design, that'd be the Penguins, and then Carrie Underwood's husband Mike Fisher is captain of the Predators. And then the Ducks - hey, they're the Ducks. QUACK QUACK QUACK!
Hung out with Brittany this morning, which was cool. Crashed the Directing final this afternoon, because she'd suggested it several weeks ago. And also it was a way of supporting her efforts in that class, and Coale's, too. Plus it was a way to be encouraging to David, showing up to an even-more-niche-than-usual RSU Theater project - even one audience member is better than nothing. Brittany and Coale did well, both in directing their pieces and acting in other people's.
Everyone adapted the opening scene of Sophocles' Oedipus Rex, mostly sticking with the actual text, the way Joss Whedon's Much Ado does. (This opening scene is where the audience hears the prophecy about the imminent destruction of Thebes.) They were staged readings, since it was a class. There were a couple press conferences, while other scenes crafted it as coffee-shop gossip.or a conversation between stoners. Halfway through, however, a tornado warning was declared for Rogers County, and the sirens began wailing. Since the auditorium basement is one of the two shelters on campus, a never-ending stream of random people kept streaming through the doors and interrupting the scenes. But the show must go on, so the actors continued on anyway. It's an Oklahoma thing - weather is part of living, and unless it's necessary, life goes on as usual during a storm.
"Hey, remember that Texaco play you wrote about a year ago?" David asks me during while the actors are doing final troubleshooting rehearsal just before they got started. I remember it, sure, because I was proud of that one. (That usually doesn't happen with creative projects.) But I haven't had much time to work on it since, other than translating it into prose. "Okay, do you think you could revise it over the summer? I want to do an Original Recipe [program] for fall, but written by alumni. And I know you write well." So that'll be a project to work on coming up.
Today's "Article to Make the Reader Go 'Hmm...'" is from The Atlantic, trying to match social media sites with the Seven Deadly Sins.
I graduated from high school five years ago tomorrow.
Tuesday, April 25, 2017
Tuesday Night
Brittany's choir had their spring-semester performance tonight, the auditorium was half full, which almost brought tears to my eyes because it was so good to see (though at the same time made me sad that theater performances don't get the same crowds). I got there at 6:40, because I had heard that it started at 7 p.m., so I missed the solos and ensemble pieces, which started at 6 p.m. No one had remembered to put that information on the posters advertising. That was very disappointing, particularly because I missed Brittany's duet of "Come Thou Fount" (that link goes to the Chelsea Moon version because it's great.) "Come Thou Fount" is one of my favorite hymns, and one of hers too. Texted her after the show because I didn't run into her in-person.
They started with the Pentatonix song "Run To You." A girl from Malawi arranged a tune a composer friend of hers had written, which was interesting to hear. "She Sings" was Brittany's favorite they did, one of the ones she practiced in the car. "Riversong" was my favorite from the program, because of the mandolin. I also thought it was interesting that they did sort of an adaptation of a gospel song by the Oak Ridge Boys called "Didn't It Rain?" The final song was another by Pentatonix, called "Light in the Hallway."
And the next-to-last they did was "Hallelujah," which is one that it seems like everyone under the sun has covered at one point or another. (Jason Castro singing it on Idol is my favorite version of this song.) During Youth Tour, we found a piano in the hotel lobby and Tosh started playing it, so a bunch of us gathered around for an improvised choir performance of "Hallelujah." Then the manager came down and yelled at us, so we had to quit. But it's a good memory.
Overall, they sounded fantastic, and it was extremely peaceful to listen to a group of people singing together for forty minutes. It's proof of how much work went into practicing, how smooth it turned out. It's too bad there aren't more chances for people to sing together in everyday life.
The RSU concert band performed next, and they did mostly detective music - the main title and end title themes from the John Wayne movie The Quiet Man, the theme from Schindler's List, the music from the Whose Line Is It Anyway? sketch "Private Investigator," the theme from the BBC series Poirot. The other one they did was called "Slow Hot Wind," and it sounded extremely familiar, though I couldn't quite place it. The show was over a little after 8 p.m., so I had plenty of time to get back to my apartment and begin this post before 9 p.m.
The Thunder's season is over, they were beaten by Houston in a close game, losing in the first-round series four games to one. It was difficult with Kevin Durant gone, but we all knew that was eventually going to happen. They fought hard, did far better than they should've. Proud to be a fan.
Dale Earnhardt Jr. announced he will be retiring after this season.
Tonight's Agents of S.H.I.E.L.D. Framework-set episode was especially trippy, even by this show's standards. Tripp and Bakshi are both still alive, Mace is dead, Victoria Hand recruited Ward to S.H.I.E.L.D. instead of Garrett, Evil Fitz continues to be horrendously evil, Coulson got to deliver another rousing speech, and Skye paralyzed AIDA.
Called Trevor afterwards and we talked about the episode for almost an hour. He said Courtney got an interview next Friday with College of the Ozarks, which is amazing. Hoping she gets accepted.
A massive storm roared through town, sheets of rain and enormous lightning. That lasted for about forty-five minutes, was very beautiful to watch.
They started with the Pentatonix song "Run To You." A girl from Malawi arranged a tune a composer friend of hers had written, which was interesting to hear. "She Sings" was Brittany's favorite they did, one of the ones she practiced in the car. "Riversong" was my favorite from the program, because of the mandolin. I also thought it was interesting that they did sort of an adaptation of a gospel song by the Oak Ridge Boys called "Didn't It Rain?" The final song was another by Pentatonix, called "Light in the Hallway."
And the next-to-last they did was "Hallelujah," which is one that it seems like everyone under the sun has covered at one point or another. (Jason Castro singing it on Idol is my favorite version of this song.) During Youth Tour, we found a piano in the hotel lobby and Tosh started playing it, so a bunch of us gathered around for an improvised choir performance of "Hallelujah." Then the manager came down and yelled at us, so we had to quit. But it's a good memory.
Overall, they sounded fantastic, and it was extremely peaceful to listen to a group of people singing together for forty minutes. It's proof of how much work went into practicing, how smooth it turned out. It's too bad there aren't more chances for people to sing together in everyday life.
The RSU concert band performed next, and they did mostly detective music - the main title and end title themes from the John Wayne movie The Quiet Man, the theme from Schindler's List, the music from the Whose Line Is It Anyway? sketch "Private Investigator," the theme from the BBC series Poirot. The other one they did was called "Slow Hot Wind," and it sounded extremely familiar, though I couldn't quite place it. The show was over a little after 8 p.m., so I had plenty of time to get back to my apartment and begin this post before 9 p.m.
The Thunder's season is over, they were beaten by Houston in a close game, losing in the first-round series four games to one. It was difficult with Kevin Durant gone, but we all knew that was eventually going to happen. They fought hard, did far better than they should've. Proud to be a fan.
Dale Earnhardt Jr. announced he will be retiring after this season.
Tonight's Agents of S.H.I.E.L.D. Framework-set episode was especially trippy, even by this show's standards. Tripp and Bakshi are both still alive, Mace is dead, Victoria Hand recruited Ward to S.H.I.E.L.D. instead of Garrett, Evil Fitz continues to be horrendously evil, Coulson got to deliver another rousing speech, and Skye paralyzed AIDA.
Called Trevor afterwards and we talked about the episode for almost an hour. He said Courtney got an interview next Friday with College of the Ozarks, which is amazing. Hoping she gets accepted.
A massive storm roared through town, sheets of rain and enormous lightning. That lasted for about forty-five minutes, was very beautiful to watch.
Friday, May 20, 2016
Recapping Senior Year
Senior year has ended. It was exceedingly long.
Everyone freaked out (in a fantastically good way) about the future of October 21, 2015 actually being here. American Idol ended, which is awful. I starred in the RSU Theater production of Tales From Tent City, that was interesting. Got to see NSU BCM people(Bob and Deb, and Annie, Bucky, Daniel P, Ja Li Si, James and Jordan, specifically) at a conference last fall, which was fantastic.
Finished watching Friday Night Lights; which wrapped up great. Agents of S.H.I.E.L.D. kept Tuesday nights interesting(and occasionally maddening). Kept up with the Thunder when I could. Learned that I can quote the entire script of The Princess Bride from memory. Fuller House was a great update of 90's sitcom goodness.
Did lots of all-nighters to finish homework projects that needed to get done, which was immensely tiring and lonesome. Roughly one a week, sometimes two. Critiqued fifty-five poems written by classmates, and at least twenty-one short stories. Discovered that writing scripts is a very difficult branch of writing. Plowed through all of the Harry Potter books, which was frustrating. Watched much more Buffy the Vampire Slayer than I would have wanted to, since it was homework for Topics.
But mostly it was just staring at the blank Word doc in my very silent apartment and knowing something had to be turned in by deadline. That doesn't make for much of interesting stories. There was rehearsal for Tent City, which was almost like another class, in that you show up, do your job, and then leave. Songs of this year would be a lot of Avril Lavigne - "Everybody Hurts," "I'm With You," "Keep Holding On," "Mobile," "Tomorrow" all leap to mind - Laura Story's "Blessings," too. Not sure of any others at the moment.
Occasionally heard from Ashland, Amanda, Daniel, Dylan, Elizabeth, Jessica, Jon and Susan, which was helpful in finishing the semester.
Everyone freaked out (in a fantastically good way) about the future of October 21, 2015 actually being here. American Idol ended, which is awful. I starred in the RSU Theater production of Tales From Tent City, that was interesting. Got to see NSU BCM people(Bob and Deb, and Annie, Bucky, Daniel P, Ja Li Si, James and Jordan, specifically) at a conference last fall, which was fantastic.
Finished watching Friday Night Lights; which wrapped up great. Agents of S.H.I.E.L.D. kept Tuesday nights interesting(and occasionally maddening). Kept up with the Thunder when I could. Learned that I can quote the entire script of The Princess Bride from memory. Fuller House was a great update of 90's sitcom goodness.
Did lots of all-nighters to finish homework projects that needed to get done, which was immensely tiring and lonesome. Roughly one a week, sometimes two. Critiqued fifty-five poems written by classmates, and at least twenty-one short stories. Discovered that writing scripts is a very difficult branch of writing. Plowed through all of the Harry Potter books, which was frustrating. Watched much more Buffy the Vampire Slayer than I would have wanted to, since it was homework for Topics.
But mostly it was just staring at the blank Word doc in my very silent apartment and knowing something had to be turned in by deadline. That doesn't make for much of interesting stories. There was rehearsal for Tent City, which was almost like another class, in that you show up, do your job, and then leave. Songs of this year would be a lot of Avril Lavigne - "Everybody Hurts," "I'm With You," "Keep Holding On," "Mobile," "Tomorrow" all leap to mind - Laura Story's "Blessings," too. Not sure of any others at the moment.
Occasionally heard from Ashland, Amanda, Daniel, Dylan, Elizabeth, Jessica, Jon and Susan, which was helpful in finishing the semester.
Wednesday, April 20, 2016
Nearly the End of Another Semester
For most of last week, it seems like not much has gone quite right. Much too exhausted to be productive, but far too stressed to relax and rest. Frequently waking up during the night, turning sleep into a loose collection of half-hour episodes(typically featuring strange intense and instantly-forgotten dreams).
American Idol is no more. That really hasn't set it just yet. Trent won, beating La'Porsha, Dalton finished third, Mackenzie fourth and Sonika fifth.
Tales From Tent City turned out pretty well; the first night of the first weekend was a little rough, Friday night went spectacularly well, and Saturday night was a bit of a mixed bag. I completely forgot a line during the end of a key scene, but thankfully "Fine," if huffed in frustration, works well when ad-libbing at moving the scene along. Kessiah just ran with it and we finished the scene without trouble. What audience there has been have really liked it a lot; but there wasn't been that many IN the audience.14 people on Thursday, 23 on Friday and 13 on Saturday. We think the entire audience opening night was composed of friends-and-relations.
I wrote a promo piece to generate some interest, which I think worked pretty well. It's gotten 188 pageviews, at least, which for such a small local production isn't too bad. Maybe that played some role in the second weekend's audiences, which were (by Keirstine's count) 40-plus on Thursday, 35-plus on Friday, and 40-plus on Saturday. That second Thursday something was a little off chemistry-wise we couldn't figure out, but things improved the next night, and though I felt I did terribly on Saturday, overall it went well. In eight weeks, we went from reading the script to putting on the world premiere of that show, which is pretty amazing.
Crick was a very interesting character to play, but he was also an exhausting one. But I think the play overall really stuck with people, so that's what we were hoping for. The cast was easy to work with; I heard somebody report that the makeup artist said she'd never seen a cast working that well together the week before showtime. Everyone went over to Zach and Charli's apartment after the show on Saturday, Autumn and I being assigned a Reasor's stop for Coke and Dr. Pepper on the way over. Then we all played with their dogs Piper and Gruber/"Ranger" and watched the Tobey Maguire movie Cats and Dogs, which I had always wanted to see ever since it came out when I was eight. (I liked it as much as I thought I would.)
Friday morning I got this email from a girl named Kelsey I'd had a couple classes with before, asking if I'd help with filming a student profile that was part of the final project for Mr. Williams' documentary class. So we did that interview Monday afternoon, and it went pretty well, though it was strange to be on the lens-end of the camera.
Also got tired of people asking when I was gonna get a haircut, so I walked down to Supercuts and got a haircut Monday morning, which I'm not too thrilled with, but then again I dislike haircuts in general.
The weather has been extremely rainy, which has been kind of nice. Good weather to walk through. There was a Claremore-Pryor girls' high school soccer game at the field last night, so I watched the first half and listened to the parents talk amongst themselves. (Claremore was leading 4-0 by halftime, and it was a pretty dirty game.) Then I went to the Chi Alpha meeting, which was fine.
Last night's Agents of S.H.I.E.L.D. was another great (and very big) episode, as all three season's 17th episode have been, come to think of it. Things are coming full circle that started at the very beginning of the series, which makes me wonder what storylines will be explored in season 4. It's roughly two weeks until Captain America: Civil War, so that's pretty exciting.
American Idol is no more. That really hasn't set it just yet. Trent won, beating La'Porsha, Dalton finished third, Mackenzie fourth and Sonika fifth.
Tales From Tent City turned out pretty well; the first night of the first weekend was a little rough, Friday night went spectacularly well, and Saturday night was a bit of a mixed bag. I completely forgot a line during the end of a key scene, but thankfully "Fine," if huffed in frustration, works well when ad-libbing at moving the scene along. Kessiah just ran with it and we finished the scene without trouble. What audience there has been have really liked it a lot; but there wasn't been that many IN the audience.14 people on Thursday, 23 on Friday and 13 on Saturday. We think the entire audience opening night was composed of friends-and-relations.
I wrote a promo piece to generate some interest, which I think worked pretty well. It's gotten 188 pageviews, at least, which for such a small local production isn't too bad. Maybe that played some role in the second weekend's audiences, which were (by Keirstine's count) 40-plus on Thursday, 35-plus on Friday, and 40-plus on Saturday. That second Thursday something was a little off chemistry-wise we couldn't figure out, but things improved the next night, and though I felt I did terribly on Saturday, overall it went well. In eight weeks, we went from reading the script to putting on the world premiere of that show, which is pretty amazing.
Crick was a very interesting character to play, but he was also an exhausting one. But I think the play overall really stuck with people, so that's what we were hoping for. The cast was easy to work with; I heard somebody report that the makeup artist said she'd never seen a cast working that well together the week before showtime. Everyone went over to Zach and Charli's apartment after the show on Saturday, Autumn and I being assigned a Reasor's stop for Coke and Dr. Pepper on the way over. Then we all played with their dogs Piper and Gruber/"Ranger" and watched the Tobey Maguire movie Cats and Dogs, which I had always wanted to see ever since it came out when I was eight. (I liked it as much as I thought I would.)
Friday morning I got this email from a girl named Kelsey I'd had a couple classes with before, asking if I'd help with filming a student profile that was part of the final project for Mr. Williams' documentary class. So we did that interview Monday afternoon, and it went pretty well, though it was strange to be on the lens-end of the camera.
Also got tired of people asking when I was gonna get a haircut, so I walked down to Supercuts and got a haircut Monday morning, which I'm not too thrilled with, but then again I dislike haircuts in general.
The weather has been extremely rainy, which has been kind of nice. Good weather to walk through. There was a Claremore-Pryor girls' high school soccer game at the field last night, so I watched the first half and listened to the parents talk amongst themselves. (Claremore was leading 4-0 by halftime, and it was a pretty dirty game.) Then I went to the Chi Alpha meeting, which was fine.
Last night's Agents of S.H.I.E.L.D. was another great (and very big) episode, as all three season's 17th episode have been, come to think of it. Things are coming full circle that started at the very beginning of the series, which makes me wonder what storylines will be explored in season 4. It's roughly two weeks until Captain America: Civil War, so that's pretty exciting.
Sunday, February 28, 2016
American Idol 15.15 - Top 14
I got to watch in realtime Wednesday night! (And then I was too tired to write up a recap then, but....yeah.) So, anyway, the Top 14 performed, except for those who didn't.
See, it's like this: The producers ruled that if the judges could agree unanimously on any contestants, they would get a free pass into the Top 10, and whoever was left would be left for America to decide. So Keith, Jennifer and Harry got together and gave Fast Passes to Olivia(Yay!), Dalton(Yay!), Treny(Yay?) and La'Porsha(ugh). So that left ten singers fighting for the final six spots. What happened after that? Read on....(totally had Steven Tyler screeching that phrase right there) to find out.
Manny Torres performed Stevie Wonder's "Master Blaster," and the best thing I can say about it was that it wasn't very challenging rangewise. Also, that rhythm seemed really choppy, so maybe that had something to do with it. But it was extremely forgettable, though he seemed to have fun.
Gianna Isabella sang Annie Lennox's "I Put a Spell On You," which was boring. She was wearing a weird outfit, I was expecting an upbeat tonal shift which never happened, and then all the high notes just seemed to be jammed in there to say "I'm YELLING!" Not a fan.
Thomas Stringfellow did One Direction's "Story of My Life," which was fine, I suppose. It had nice guitar in the background. That hat was horrible, though. Couldn't pay attention between that and his hair, which was equally bad. The teen girls in the audience loved it, by the loud squealing which could be heard.
Tristan McIntosh did Rascal Flatts's "What Hurts the Most", which was actually first done by Mark Wills. It was weird hearing a girl sing this, like when Danny Gokey did "Jesus Take the Wheel." But it worked. What I scribbled down in my notebook: "Whoa. Terrific."
First off, I was distracted during Avalon Young's performance simply because she was wearing makeup. She looks like Elaine from Seinfeld that way. She did a Chris Brown song called "Excuse Me Miss," and it was weird, but it fit Avalon. She seemed nervous, though, and it felt like karaoke-good, not last-American-Idol-good.
Jenn Blosil managed to ruin Cyndi Lauper's "True Colors." I kinda thought that was one of those which it was hard to mess up. Her voice sounded worse than nails on a chalkboard, and those glitter eyebrows were the last straw. This was all-around terrible.
Lee Jean did another Ed Sheeran song, this one called "Make It Rain." I couldn't hear the guitar, but it was another nice Lee performance.
Sonika Vaid was next. She did Celine Dion's "I Surrender," because everyone has to do that at least once every season. There's something about her eyebrows.... and this was just such a boring song.
Jeneve Rose Mitchell surprised everyone by simply singing Johnny Cash's "Ring of Fire" without doing anything outlandish to it. It was weird, but interesting. And a little boring, because it was so subdued. Her voice was all over the place, but the emotion was there. "Did you like that?" Harry asked Jennifer. "Well....it was fun....?" she mumbled.
MacKenzie Bourg was the last contestant of the night, and he did an original song called "Roses." That was strange. The girls in the audience loved it. He seemed nervous and mumbling, but the guitar was played well. He also stole one of Jemma Simmons' shirts. (Agents of S.H.I.E.L.D. reference.)
I voted the maximum amount for Tristan and Lee, and then for Jeneve to try to keep her on there, with a couple online votes for Avalon and MacKenzie. And then I voted the old-fashioned way, by phone, for Tristan, Lee and Jeneve.
See, it's like this: The producers ruled that if the judges could agree unanimously on any contestants, they would get a free pass into the Top 10, and whoever was left would be left for America to decide. So Keith, Jennifer and Harry got together and gave Fast Passes to Olivia(Yay!), Dalton(Yay!), Treny(Yay?) and La'Porsha(ugh). So that left ten singers fighting for the final six spots. What happened after that? Read on....(totally had Steven Tyler screeching that phrase right there) to find out.
Manny Torres performed Stevie Wonder's "Master Blaster," and the best thing I can say about it was that it wasn't very challenging rangewise. Also, that rhythm seemed really choppy, so maybe that had something to do with it. But it was extremely forgettable, though he seemed to have fun.
Gianna Isabella sang Annie Lennox's "I Put a Spell On You," which was boring. She was wearing a weird outfit, I was expecting an upbeat tonal shift which never happened, and then all the high notes just seemed to be jammed in there to say "I'm YELLING!" Not a fan.
Thomas Stringfellow did One Direction's "Story of My Life," which was fine, I suppose. It had nice guitar in the background. That hat was horrible, though. Couldn't pay attention between that and his hair, which was equally bad. The teen girls in the audience loved it, by the loud squealing which could be heard.
Tristan McIntosh did Rascal Flatts's "What Hurts the Most", which was actually first done by Mark Wills. It was weird hearing a girl sing this, like when Danny Gokey did "Jesus Take the Wheel." But it worked. What I scribbled down in my notebook: "Whoa. Terrific."
First off, I was distracted during Avalon Young's performance simply because she was wearing makeup. She looks like Elaine from Seinfeld that way. She did a Chris Brown song called "Excuse Me Miss," and it was weird, but it fit Avalon. She seemed nervous, though, and it felt like karaoke-good, not last-American-Idol-good.
Jenn Blosil managed to ruin Cyndi Lauper's "True Colors." I kinda thought that was one of those which it was hard to mess up. Her voice sounded worse than nails on a chalkboard, and those glitter eyebrows were the last straw. This was all-around terrible.
Lee Jean did another Ed Sheeran song, this one called "Make It Rain." I couldn't hear the guitar, but it was another nice Lee performance.
Sonika Vaid was next. She did Celine Dion's "I Surrender," because everyone has to do that at least once every season. There's something about her eyebrows.... and this was just such a boring song.
Jeneve Rose Mitchell surprised everyone by simply singing Johnny Cash's "Ring of Fire" without doing anything outlandish to it. It was weird, but interesting. And a little boring, because it was so subdued. Her voice was all over the place, but the emotion was there. "Did you like that?" Harry asked Jennifer. "Well....it was fun....?" she mumbled.
MacKenzie Bourg was the last contestant of the night, and he did an original song called "Roses." That was strange. The girls in the audience loved it. He seemed nervous and mumbling, but the guitar was played well. He also stole one of Jemma Simmons' shirts. (Agents of S.H.I.E.L.D. reference.)
I voted the maximum amount for Tristan and Lee, and then for Jeneve to try to keep her on there, with a couple online votes for Avalon and MacKenzie. And then I voted the old-fashioned way, by phone, for Tristan, Lee and Jeneve.
Monday, February 22, 2016
AI 15.14 - Top 24, Part Two - Cutting the Field
And so we have to chop the field down to 14 by the end of the night....but first, let's have some duets with former contestants. We had David Cook, Chris Daughtry and Jordin Sparks all show up, which was cool. Not as cool is that it's Monday night when I am first watching these videos, but...oh well.
Jenn Blosil sang with Constantine Maroulis, they sang Frank Sinatra's "My Funny Valentine". It was extremely dull.
His other duet was with Shelbie Z on Queen's "Bohemian Rhapsody," which was fine.
Lee Jean was paired up with Chris Daughtry, which was awesome enough by itself. And then they do "Home," which is even better. This was fantastic - the only way it could be better is if it was a studio version.
Manny Torres was teamed with Jordin Sparks singing her song "No Air," and he looked a bit intimidated.
Amelia Eisenhauer and Kellie Pickler teamed up, and I bet they had a blast rehearsing. They did Sara Evans' "Suds in the Bucket," which is awesome, Amelia played her fiddle, and it was just terrific. Keith was singing along the whole way through. "I loved that and thought it was absolutely terrific!" - Harry.
Kory Wheeler and Haley Reinhart did Elton John's "Bennie and the Jets," one of her big songs from the show(one that I almost liked from her), but she's still annoying. He wasn't much better. The trouble is, I think, that he looks like Taran Kilian from Saturday Night Live, so I always expect sketch comedy. Anyway, it was fine for a duet, but really bland as a performance.
CJ Johnson was paired up with David Cook, so he got a boost in Wesley Points for that right there. They did a song called "The World I Know" by Collective Soul, and David forgot a pick during rehearsal. CJ just completely lacks star potential and emotion in his voice. David wins this duet by an embarrassingly large margin.
Tristan McIntosh was also paired with Kellie Pickler, I guess they figured, "Hey, Amelia and Tristan are friends, they already knew each other, go to the same high school, let's give them the same mentor from their backyard, pretty much." During rehearsal, Kellie said, "My husband never cries, all right? And your audition made him cry." They did Kellie's song "Best Days of Your Life," and it was pretty good.
Haley's other song was with Adam Lasher, they did Elvis Presley's "Can't Help Falling in Love," she was way better than he was. It's just a really lame song choice. I was laughing at how cheesy it was.
Jordin's other song was with Trent Harmon, and he said she was giving him advice like a mom, haha. They did "To Love Somebody" by the Bee Gees. It was pretty good.
Chris's other song was with Dalton Rapattoni, they did Stevie Wonder's "Higher Ground," and the band totally overpowered both of them, unfortunately. They both had fun out there, though. It earns extra points for energy.
The other person David was paired up with was Olivia Rox; they did his song "Light On". "The song covers a pretty large range from lowest note to highest note....I'm glad I'm doing a song with a lady, 'cause Olivia seems like she can do that," he said during an interview at rehearsal. I love both of their voices, because they can put so much emotion into lyrics, but except for a long high note where they meshed perfectly, there was this weird disconnect between them which shouldn't have been there. Thankfully the judges loved it.
I'd say the winners tonight were Lee, Amelia and Trent, with Olivia, Tristan and Dalton following.
Cut were Amelia(RATS), Kory, Adam, Shelbie(Yay!) and CJ. Except for Amelia, the judges got it right this week.
And out Top 14 is now Avalon, Dalton, Gianna, Jeneve, Jenn(Ugh), La'Porsha(Ugh), Lee, MacKenzie, Manny, Olivia, Sonika, Thomas, Trent and Tristan. Going live next week, and Kelly Clarkson will return to the show.
Jenn Blosil sang with Constantine Maroulis, they sang Frank Sinatra's "My Funny Valentine". It was extremely dull.
His other duet was with Shelbie Z on Queen's "Bohemian Rhapsody," which was fine.
Lee Jean was paired up with Chris Daughtry, which was awesome enough by itself. And then they do "Home," which is even better. This was fantastic - the only way it could be better is if it was a studio version.
Manny Torres was teamed with Jordin Sparks singing her song "No Air," and he looked a bit intimidated.
Amelia Eisenhauer and Kellie Pickler teamed up, and I bet they had a blast rehearsing. They did Sara Evans' "Suds in the Bucket," which is awesome, Amelia played her fiddle, and it was just terrific. Keith was singing along the whole way through. "I loved that and thought it was absolutely terrific!" - Harry.
Kory Wheeler and Haley Reinhart did Elton John's "Bennie and the Jets," one of her big songs from the show(one that I almost liked from her), but she's still annoying. He wasn't much better. The trouble is, I think, that he looks like Taran Kilian from Saturday Night Live, so I always expect sketch comedy. Anyway, it was fine for a duet, but really bland as a performance.
CJ Johnson was paired up with David Cook, so he got a boost in Wesley Points for that right there. They did a song called "The World I Know" by Collective Soul, and David forgot a pick during rehearsal. CJ just completely lacks star potential and emotion in his voice. David wins this duet by an embarrassingly large margin.
Tristan McIntosh was also paired with Kellie Pickler, I guess they figured, "Hey, Amelia and Tristan are friends, they already knew each other, go to the same high school, let's give them the same mentor from their backyard, pretty much." During rehearsal, Kellie said, "My husband never cries, all right? And your audition made him cry." They did Kellie's song "Best Days of Your Life," and it was pretty good.
Haley's other song was with Adam Lasher, they did Elvis Presley's "Can't Help Falling in Love," she was way better than he was. It's just a really lame song choice. I was laughing at how cheesy it was.
Jordin's other song was with Trent Harmon, and he said she was giving him advice like a mom, haha. They did "To Love Somebody" by the Bee Gees. It was pretty good.
Chris's other song was with Dalton Rapattoni, they did Stevie Wonder's "Higher Ground," and the band totally overpowered both of them, unfortunately. They both had fun out there, though. It earns extra points for energy.
The other person David was paired up with was Olivia Rox; they did his song "Light On". "The song covers a pretty large range from lowest note to highest note....I'm glad I'm doing a song with a lady, 'cause Olivia seems like she can do that," he said during an interview at rehearsal. I love both of their voices, because they can put so much emotion into lyrics, but except for a long high note where they meshed perfectly, there was this weird disconnect between them which shouldn't have been there. Thankfully the judges loved it.
I'd say the winners tonight were Lee, Amelia and Trent, with Olivia, Tristan and Dalton following.
Cut were Amelia(RATS), Kory, Adam, Shelbie(Yay!) and CJ. Except for Amelia, the judges got it right this week.
And out Top 14 is now Avalon, Dalton, Gianna, Jeneve, Jenn(Ugh), La'Porsha(Ugh), Lee, MacKenzie, Manny, Olivia, Sonika, Thomas, Trent and Tristan. Going live next week, and Kelly Clarkson will return to the show.
AI 15.13 - Top 24, Part Two
The second half of the final Top 24 ever on American Idol. It was a busy week/weekend full of homework, so though this was shown Wednesday, I only got to the videos on Monday night.
Shelbie Z - "Work Hard, Play Harder," by Gretchen Wilson - I've mentioned before that I really do not like her, yes? Nor do I like this song. And this was an extremely boring performance of it. "For me, you sacrificed the whole song just so you could have that big note at the end." - Keith.
Jenn Blosil - "Sorry," by Justin Bieber - In the first place, she's annoying. In the second place, there is something astonishingly creepy and terrifying about her. In the third place, this is a Justin Bieber song. Also, she was mumbling all the time. And then there was some weird yowling. "It was extremely out of tune." - Harry.
Kory Wheeler - "Let It Go," by James Bay - He looked petrified to be onstage, and weirdly out of place at the piano. And the song didn't really seem to be about anything. "It wasn't great. And the reason it wasn't great was because it wasn't special." - Harry.
Manny Torres - "Adventure of a Lifetime," by Coldplay - Uh....well, he had fun. I was distracted the whole time by the weird shirt he was wearing. And there was a neat continuous guitar riff in the background. "I don't think that was a good song for your vocal strengths, but it suited your spirit really, really well." - KU. Also, apparently he was a preacher's kid.
Lee Jean - "Runaway," by Ed Sheeran - He can do origami. That's cool. This was boring for a Lee performance, but the best of the night thus far. Eventually he's gonna run out of Ed Sheeran tunes, though. "Man, I don't know what it is about these song choices tonight..." Keith shakes his head. (And gets loudly booed by the crowd.) "He's right. Everybody's just not picking those big hits that everybody knows and wants to sing along to....and that's what you gotta do, you know, to get the audiences on your side. ...'Cause next week America starts voting." - Jennifer. Harry gave instructions on playing guitar more smoothly. "You're a talented guy, and fortunately, it was one of the better performances of the night."
CJ Johnson - "I'll Be," by Edwin McCain - Best song choice of the night, but he looked kind of constipated singing it. And it's one of those comforting songs that makes you sleepy. Felt like karaoke. At this point of the competition, that won't cut it.
Tristan McIntosh - "Good Girl," by Carrie Underwood - FINALLY! An upbeat song we know, sung fairly well! She started too low for her vocal range, and it pretty much stayed there the whole time...also, she can sing the alphabet backwards. Bonus points for wearing a jean jacket, but this was NOT one of her better performances. "I really like that song. I didn't like it for you, but you're gonna kill it when you find the right song." - KU. (I agree.)
Trent Harmon - "What Are You Listening To?", by Chris Stapleton - ...I'm sorry. That was just awful. And he said he stole his hat from some girl?
Adam Lasher - "Black and Gold," by Sam Sparro - Thoroughly forgettable, though it was upbeat, which was a rare feat indeed tonight. But it was bizarre, as were his shiny gold high-top boots. "I felt like you were a buoy on the ocean; just kind of wishy-washy. And it's hard for me to get past that." - Harry. "I couldn't get into the melody of it or anything." - Jennifer.
Dalton Rapattoni - "Rebel Yell," by Billy Idol - This was sung with great intensity. Keith and Jennifer were singing along; JayLo squealed. "I thought it was absolutely tremendous." - Harry.
Olivia Rox - "Confident," by Demi Lovato - She rocked it. "Annnd the show starts now...." Keith laughed.
Amelia Eisenhauer - "Wake Me Up," by Avicii - That was awesome. "I think you need to find stuff that's a little bit quirkier. Because you're a little bit quirky." - Harry. She laughed, "I can see that."
Olivia, Amelia and Dalton won the night, in that order, and Tristan and Lee didn't do great, they were the next-best. Everyone else was just atrocious.
Shelbie Z - "Work Hard, Play Harder," by Gretchen Wilson - I've mentioned before that I really do not like her, yes? Nor do I like this song. And this was an extremely boring performance of it. "For me, you sacrificed the whole song just so you could have that big note at the end." - Keith.
Jenn Blosil - "Sorry," by Justin Bieber - In the first place, she's annoying. In the second place, there is something astonishingly creepy and terrifying about her. In the third place, this is a Justin Bieber song. Also, she was mumbling all the time. And then there was some weird yowling. "It was extremely out of tune." - Harry.
Kory Wheeler - "Let It Go," by James Bay - He looked petrified to be onstage, and weirdly out of place at the piano. And the song didn't really seem to be about anything. "It wasn't great. And the reason it wasn't great was because it wasn't special." - Harry.
Manny Torres - "Adventure of a Lifetime," by Coldplay - Uh....well, he had fun. I was distracted the whole time by the weird shirt he was wearing. And there was a neat continuous guitar riff in the background. "I don't think that was a good song for your vocal strengths, but it suited your spirit really, really well." - KU. Also, apparently he was a preacher's kid.
Lee Jean - "Runaway," by Ed Sheeran - He can do origami. That's cool. This was boring for a Lee performance, but the best of the night thus far. Eventually he's gonna run out of Ed Sheeran tunes, though. "Man, I don't know what it is about these song choices tonight..." Keith shakes his head. (And gets loudly booed by the crowd.) "He's right. Everybody's just not picking those big hits that everybody knows and wants to sing along to....and that's what you gotta do, you know, to get the audiences on your side. ...'Cause next week America starts voting." - Jennifer. Harry gave instructions on playing guitar more smoothly. "You're a talented guy, and fortunately, it was one of the better performances of the night."
CJ Johnson - "I'll Be," by Edwin McCain - Best song choice of the night, but he looked kind of constipated singing it. And it's one of those comforting songs that makes you sleepy. Felt like karaoke. At this point of the competition, that won't cut it.
Tristan McIntosh - "Good Girl," by Carrie Underwood - FINALLY! An upbeat song we know, sung fairly well! She started too low for her vocal range, and it pretty much stayed there the whole time...also, she can sing the alphabet backwards. Bonus points for wearing a jean jacket, but this was NOT one of her better performances. "I really like that song. I didn't like it for you, but you're gonna kill it when you find the right song." - KU. (I agree.)
Trent Harmon - "What Are You Listening To?", by Chris Stapleton - ...I'm sorry. That was just awful. And he said he stole his hat from some girl?
Adam Lasher - "Black and Gold," by Sam Sparro - Thoroughly forgettable, though it was upbeat, which was a rare feat indeed tonight. But it was bizarre, as were his shiny gold high-top boots. "I felt like you were a buoy on the ocean; just kind of wishy-washy. And it's hard for me to get past that." - Harry. "I couldn't get into the melody of it or anything." - Jennifer.
Dalton Rapattoni - "Rebel Yell," by Billy Idol - This was sung with great intensity. Keith and Jennifer were singing along; JayLo squealed. "I thought it was absolutely tremendous." - Harry.
Olivia Rox - "Confident," by Demi Lovato - She rocked it. "Annnd the show starts now...." Keith laughed.
Amelia Eisenhauer - "Wake Me Up," by Avicii - That was awesome. "I think you need to find stuff that's a little bit quirkier. Because you're a little bit quirky." - Harry. She laughed, "I can see that."
Olivia, Amelia and Dalton won the night, in that order, and Tristan and Lee didn't do great, they were the next-best. Everyone else was just atrocious.
Friday, February 12, 2016
AI 15.12 Top 24, Part One - Cutting the Field
WE HAD SCOTTY MCCREERY RETURN TO IDOL! Yes, that totally deserved all-caps. There was also a lot of other duets, none of which were as cool as Scotty's. And five of the contestants were sent home by the judges.
James VIII teamed up with a guy named Caleb Johnson, who is a rocker dude who won Season 13(which I did not watch.) Their song was "Gimme Shelter" by the Rolling Stones, which was just a lot of shouting. Caleb Johnson was the better part of this duet.
Jordan Sasser was paired with Fantasia(winner of Season 3), they did her song "I Believe", and this was A MESS. He kept crossing over into her space when he was singing, and it was just awful wailing like dogs howling at a police siren. Jennifer looked like she wanted to cry. "Be careful about upstaging the person you're on stage with," - Harry. "Yeah, when you sing a duet, do it together," Jennifer added.
MacKenzie Bourg had to sing with Season 10 runner-up Lauren Alaina, unfortunately. (I STILL REALLY HATE HER. I'll think of a reason later.) Anyway, they sang Lee Ann Womack's "I Hope You Dance", and it was appallingly bad. Like, I texted Mom saying I didn't realize you even could mess up that song.... I linked to the music video so that y'all can wash the nasty taste out of your ears. Anyway, Lauren....was herself. It made him extremely uncomfortable. And he wasn't used to singing coutnry, so he repeatedly messed up lyrics. "That might be the first time I've ever seen Lauren blush," Keith commented. "That girl likes you....I mean, I'm just sayin'..." "In case he didn't notice?" Jennifer laughs. "Sparks were flyin'!"
Emily Brooke also sang with Lauren earlier in the night sometime, they did Carrie's "Flat On the Floor", which is one of my least-favorite Carrie songs, and it was certainly one of Lauren's worst performances(of which there were many). I'm really glad I missed seeing this one on TV.
Gianna Isabella sang with Nick Fradiani, winner of Season 14(which I didn't watch). They did a song of his called "Beautiful Life", I don't think I would have voted for him. She looked like she was singing something from High School Musical.
Stephany Negrete was paired with Ruben Studdard, winner of Season 2. They sang something called "Superstar" by a group called The Carpenters, and it was so exceptionally dull that I was reading an ESPN article the whole song. (Failed the Louise Test.)
Avalon Young was also paired with Ruben, they sang his song "Flying Without Wings", which was apparently his winning song. It was fine for a duet, but not great, and a little awkward, like most of them tend to be.
Thomas Stringfellow was the other person Nick Fradiani sang with, they did Michael Jackon's "Man In the Mirror." There have certainly been better Idol versions of this song. Besides, "This is awful!", the first things I noticed were that Nick Fradiani was wearing leather pants, Thomas was wearing suspenders, and you could clearly see all the hair on the back of Thomas's neck, which was yet another strange thing.
La"Porsha Renae was Fantasia's other contestant, they did "Summertime" by Ella Fitzgerald. I didn't like it much.
Sonika Vaid also sang with Caleb Johnson, they did the Adele theme to Skyfall, the newest James Bond movie that came out a couple months ago. (I don't understand all the fuss about Adele.) It was weirdly theatrical, but she does have a nice voice.
We're finally to Scotty's duets! (He was the winner of Season 10, quick history lesson.) He sang first with Jenna Renae, they did his song "See You Tonight"(link because it's such a cool video.) This was terrific in my opinion; Keith had the goofiest grin on his face the whole time.
Scotty's other duet was with Jeneve Rose Mitchell, and they did Montgomery Gentry's "Gone", which was one of his top performances(out of many). Click here. Anyway, Jeneve is crazy, so it was a little bizarre, but it was kind of enjoyable. It was also a bit of a train wreck. Keith couldn't even find words to describe it. After sputtering for several moments, he just said, "Look, I like you. I'm just gonna forget that performance ever happened."
So those safe were La'Porsha(Rats, but I knew it), Avalon(which I was happy about), Sonika(still not sure), MacKenzie(okay), Thomas(SMH), Gianna(Meh) and Jeneve(Yay, I think?).
Getting cut were James VIII(YAY!!!!), Jordan(YAYY!!!), Jenna(Rats; but I knew it), Stephany(Why was she even here?) and Emily(Too many teens with more talent).
Next week we see Dalton, Tristan, Olivia, Amelia, Lee and Trent; and then during duets on Thursday night Chris Daughtry AND David Cook are back!
Other notes: Keith and Scotty both had awesome leather jackets, and Harry has an excellent poker face.
James VIII teamed up with a guy named Caleb Johnson, who is a rocker dude who won Season 13(which I did not watch.) Their song was "Gimme Shelter" by the Rolling Stones, which was just a lot of shouting. Caleb Johnson was the better part of this duet.
Jordan Sasser was paired with Fantasia(winner of Season 3), they did her song "I Believe", and this was A MESS. He kept crossing over into her space when he was singing, and it was just awful wailing like dogs howling at a police siren. Jennifer looked like she wanted to cry. "Be careful about upstaging the person you're on stage with," - Harry. "Yeah, when you sing a duet, do it together," Jennifer added.
MacKenzie Bourg had to sing with Season 10 runner-up Lauren Alaina, unfortunately. (I STILL REALLY HATE HER. I'll think of a reason later.) Anyway, they sang Lee Ann Womack's "I Hope You Dance", and it was appallingly bad. Like, I texted Mom saying I didn't realize you even could mess up that song.... I linked to the music video so that y'all can wash the nasty taste out of your ears. Anyway, Lauren....was herself. It made him extremely uncomfortable. And he wasn't used to singing coutnry, so he repeatedly messed up lyrics. "That might be the first time I've ever seen Lauren blush," Keith commented. "That girl likes you....I mean, I'm just sayin'..." "In case he didn't notice?" Jennifer laughs. "Sparks were flyin'!"
Emily Brooke also sang with Lauren earlier in the night sometime, they did Carrie's "Flat On the Floor", which is one of my least-favorite Carrie songs, and it was certainly one of Lauren's worst performances(of which there were many). I'm really glad I missed seeing this one on TV.
Gianna Isabella sang with Nick Fradiani, winner of Season 14(which I didn't watch). They did a song of his called "Beautiful Life", I don't think I would have voted for him. She looked like she was singing something from High School Musical.
Stephany Negrete was paired with Ruben Studdard, winner of Season 2. They sang something called "Superstar" by a group called The Carpenters, and it was so exceptionally dull that I was reading an ESPN article the whole song. (Failed the Louise Test.)
Avalon Young was also paired with Ruben, they sang his song "Flying Without Wings", which was apparently his winning song. It was fine for a duet, but not great, and a little awkward, like most of them tend to be.
Thomas Stringfellow was the other person Nick Fradiani sang with, they did Michael Jackon's "Man In the Mirror." There have certainly been better Idol versions of this song. Besides, "This is awful!", the first things I noticed were that Nick Fradiani was wearing leather pants, Thomas was wearing suspenders, and you could clearly see all the hair on the back of Thomas's neck, which was yet another strange thing.
La"Porsha Renae was Fantasia's other contestant, they did "Summertime" by Ella Fitzgerald. I didn't like it much.
Sonika Vaid also sang with Caleb Johnson, they did the Adele theme to Skyfall, the newest James Bond movie that came out a couple months ago. (I don't understand all the fuss about Adele.) It was weirdly theatrical, but she does have a nice voice.
We're finally to Scotty's duets! (He was the winner of Season 10, quick history lesson.) He sang first with Jenna Renae, they did his song "See You Tonight"(link because it's such a cool video.) This was terrific in my opinion; Keith had the goofiest grin on his face the whole time.
Scotty's other duet was with Jeneve Rose Mitchell, and they did Montgomery Gentry's "Gone", which was one of his top performances(out of many). Click here. Anyway, Jeneve is crazy, so it was a little bizarre, but it was kind of enjoyable. It was also a bit of a train wreck. Keith couldn't even find words to describe it. After sputtering for several moments, he just said, "Look, I like you. I'm just gonna forget that performance ever happened."
So those safe were La'Porsha(Rats, but I knew it), Avalon(which I was happy about), Sonika(still not sure), MacKenzie(okay), Thomas(SMH), Gianna(Meh) and Jeneve(Yay, I think?).
Getting cut were James VIII(YAY!!!!), Jordan(YAYY!!!), Jenna(Rats; but I knew it), Stephany(Why was she even here?) and Emily(Too many teens with more talent).
Next week we see Dalton, Tristan, Olivia, Amelia, Lee and Trent; and then during duets on Thursday night Chris Daughtry AND David Cook are back!
Other notes: Keith and Scotty both had awesome leather jackets, and Harry has an excellent poker face.
Thursday, February 11, 2016
AI 15.11 - Top 24, Part One
I missed last night's episode, so I had to piece it together from YouTube clips. But hey, that's better than nothing.
La'Porsha Renae - "Proud Mary" by Tina Turner - Not a fan. I fell asleep during the opening, and then I hate this song, anyway. But even on Idol, there's been better performances.
Jeneve Rose Mitchell - "Angel" by Sarah McLachlan - She can apparently play fiddle, mandolin, guitar, bass, harp, flute, French horn, cello, banjo, ukelele, piano, trumpet and kazoo. (Can you top that, Keith?) She played the harp, which was odd, and it was an extremely subdued performance. It wasn't bad; just really hard to know how to critique it. Maybe a bit dull. "You're extraordinary. You really are. And I love the way you take risks." - KU. Jennifer got "goosies," which is a good thing.
Stephany Negrete - "Mamma Knows Best" by Jessie J - So....did she decide, "Hey, I can't sing that well and I won't get the pretty vote, so I'll just dance around onstage in leather pants and hope that's good enough?" Cause....it wasn't.
Sonika Vaid - "Safe and Sound" by Taylor Swift and the Civil Wars - Huh. She collects sheet music, but she plays piano by ear. (Also, how great of a name is "Sonika" for a singer?) I think this song was written for one of the Hunger Games movies? That's a really ugly dress. This song was pretty good, but in a Disney-cover type way. My opinion after comparing this to Taylor's original is that Taylor wins hands-down.
Avalon Young - "Love Yourself" by Justin Bieber - A Bieber song? Really? It actually wasn't that bad. Avalon just seems like she'd be cool to hang out with; and then she can sing, too. That was a really cool hoodie she was wearing.
Jenna Renae - "My Church" by Maren Morris - She'd barely even started when Keith whoops and hollers, "I love this song!" It was almost all right, there was just something a little off about this performance...and the Carmen Sandiego fedora didn't help. And the all-black made her look a bit witchy. She looked like she had fun, though.
MacKenzie Bourg - "Say Something" by A Great Big World - That is a tiny guitar. And he just looks weird - like Kris Allen mixed with Peter Parker. But his voice is really good, in an unusually quiet way.
Thomas Stringfellow - "Creep" by Radiohead - Weird title for a song. He is extremely fluent in Pig Latin. None of this performance seemed to fit together, from the all-the-way-buttoned-up flannel shirt to the floppy farmer hat to the strangely-finished guitar to the extremely jerky strumming motion. I couldn't understand hardly any of the lyrics because of the wailing falsetto. I just didn't get it. The audience and the judges loved it.
Gianna Isabella - "I Put a Spell On You" by Annie Lennox - She really loves reading. "Now I'm really into horror books. I love the goriness of it all...but I'm not a serial killer, I promise." I haven't quite figured her out yet. Sometimes she seems like a goofy teenager, other times more like Haley Reinhart.
Emily Brooke - "I Am Invincible" by Cassdee Pope - Her guitar has autographs from Taylor Swift, Leann Rimes, Rascal Flatts, Lady Antebellum, the Eli Young Band, Steve Wariner and many, many more. If it was me, I would never play that guitar ever. It would just be an amazing decoration. Anyway, it's really weird, but I supposed fitting in a full-circle way, when Idol contestants do songs from The Voice's singers who have done well. Anyway, she looked petrified and it felt like a high school talent show. It was all over the place, which was ironic given the lyrics she was supposed to be singing. And while the dancing wasn't Megan Joy Corkrey-level awful, it wasn't good, either.
James VIII - "Love Lockdown" by Kanye West - Okay, that was cool. He got his guitar(which is awesome-looking) by earning his Eagle Scout rank in Boy Scouts. This was my favorite performance from him, but he's still really creepy. The judges were bored.
Jordan Sasser - "All By Myself" by Celine Dion - Good news: He got a haircut finally. Bad news: He's still intolerable. This was just....weird. "I felt it was a bit too theatrical for me, and I missed the heart." - KU. "That first 'all by myself' should have broken our hearts. Instead I was wondering about the key you picked to sing it in....I shouldn't have been thinking about that." - Jennifer. "You have a great voice, but that was real showoffy for me. Just sing the song!" - Harry.
Keith's jacket was awesome, and it looked like Jennifer was going with an Attack of the Clones Padme Amidala look, maybe. I guess I liked Avalon and MacKenzie the best of the night.
La'Porsha Renae - "Proud Mary" by Tina Turner - Not a fan. I fell asleep during the opening, and then I hate this song, anyway. But even on Idol, there's been better performances.
Jeneve Rose Mitchell - "Angel" by Sarah McLachlan - She can apparently play fiddle, mandolin, guitar, bass, harp, flute, French horn, cello, banjo, ukelele, piano, trumpet and kazoo. (Can you top that, Keith?) She played the harp, which was odd, and it was an extremely subdued performance. It wasn't bad; just really hard to know how to critique it. Maybe a bit dull. "You're extraordinary. You really are. And I love the way you take risks." - KU. Jennifer got "goosies," which is a good thing.
Stephany Negrete - "Mamma Knows Best" by Jessie J - So....did she decide, "Hey, I can't sing that well and I won't get the pretty vote, so I'll just dance around onstage in leather pants and hope that's good enough?" Cause....it wasn't.
Sonika Vaid - "Safe and Sound" by Taylor Swift and the Civil Wars - Huh. She collects sheet music, but she plays piano by ear. (Also, how great of a name is "Sonika" for a singer?) I think this song was written for one of the Hunger Games movies? That's a really ugly dress. This song was pretty good, but in a Disney-cover type way. My opinion after comparing this to Taylor's original is that Taylor wins hands-down.
Avalon Young - "Love Yourself" by Justin Bieber - A Bieber song? Really? It actually wasn't that bad. Avalon just seems like she'd be cool to hang out with; and then she can sing, too. That was a really cool hoodie she was wearing.
Jenna Renae - "My Church" by Maren Morris - She'd barely even started when Keith whoops and hollers, "I love this song!" It was almost all right, there was just something a little off about this performance...and the Carmen Sandiego fedora didn't help. And the all-black made her look a bit witchy. She looked like she had fun, though.
MacKenzie Bourg - "Say Something" by A Great Big World - That is a tiny guitar. And he just looks weird - like Kris Allen mixed with Peter Parker. But his voice is really good, in an unusually quiet way.
Thomas Stringfellow - "Creep" by Radiohead - Weird title for a song. He is extremely fluent in Pig Latin. None of this performance seemed to fit together, from the all-the-way-buttoned-up flannel shirt to the floppy farmer hat to the strangely-finished guitar to the extremely jerky strumming motion. I couldn't understand hardly any of the lyrics because of the wailing falsetto. I just didn't get it. The audience and the judges loved it.
Gianna Isabella - "I Put a Spell On You" by Annie Lennox - She really loves reading. "Now I'm really into horror books. I love the goriness of it all...but I'm not a serial killer, I promise." I haven't quite figured her out yet. Sometimes she seems like a goofy teenager, other times more like Haley Reinhart.
Emily Brooke - "I Am Invincible" by Cassdee Pope - Her guitar has autographs from Taylor Swift, Leann Rimes, Rascal Flatts, Lady Antebellum, the Eli Young Band, Steve Wariner and many, many more. If it was me, I would never play that guitar ever. It would just be an amazing decoration. Anyway, it's really weird, but I supposed fitting in a full-circle way, when Idol contestants do songs from The Voice's singers who have done well. Anyway, she looked petrified and it felt like a high school talent show. It was all over the place, which was ironic given the lyrics she was supposed to be singing. And while the dancing wasn't Megan Joy Corkrey-level awful, it wasn't good, either.
James VIII - "Love Lockdown" by Kanye West - Okay, that was cool. He got his guitar(which is awesome-looking) by earning his Eagle Scout rank in Boy Scouts. This was my favorite performance from him, but he's still really creepy. The judges were bored.
Jordan Sasser - "All By Myself" by Celine Dion - Good news: He got a haircut finally. Bad news: He's still intolerable. This was just....weird. "I felt it was a bit too theatrical for me, and I missed the heart." - KU. "That first 'all by myself' should have broken our hearts. Instead I was wondering about the key you picked to sing it in....I shouldn't have been thinking about that." - Jennifer. "You have a great voice, but that was real showoffy for me. Just sing the song!" - Harry.
Keith's jacket was awesome, and it looked like Jennifer was going with an Attack of the Clones Padme Amidala look, maybe. I guess I liked Avalon and MacKenzie the best of the night.
Wednesday, February 10, 2016
American Idol Season 15 - Top 24
Here we go....the final Top 24 American Idol contestants have been revealed.
So, who are they? What are my opinions on them? Who am I definitely going to be pulling for from the start? Read and find out...
Okay, that was a really over-the-top Ryan Seacrest thing to say. I guess I'll organize it alphabetically by first name, since that seems easiest.
Adam Lasher
I honestly cannot remember a thing about this dude. Probably not a good sign....
Amelia Eisenhauer
The ninja fiddler. She's funny, can sing well, and connects well with fans. She's one of my favorites.
Avalon Young
Entertaining klutzy tomboy waitress with a pretty good voice, but not quite superstar level.
CJ Johnson
He's pretty good(as he should be, being a professional musician), but he's not that "final Idol" great. He's actually just kind of boring.
Dalton Rapattoni
Dallas chill-rocker dude; part of Chicken Noodle Soup's feud with Envy on Group Night. One of the guys who has a real shot at winning.
Emily Brooke
Blonde teen with a pretty good voice, but there's simply too many talented teenagers for them all to get through. She'll probably miss that cut.
Gianna Isabella
Her mom was a pop star in the 80's and is now micromanaging every aspect of her daughter's career. If Mom would just leave, she might have a chance. Unless that happens, I don't think she'll get very far.
James VIII
Someone please explain how he even got to Hollywood, much less this far.
Jeneve Rose Mitchell
She's this year's Casey Abrams; you have no idea what she's going to do beforehand, or even while she's onstage, but after it's over you shake your head in puzzlement and say, "That.....was bizarre. But it kinda worked. I don't think I really liked it much, but I want to see more." Besides, you don't see people play cello while singing very often, especially if they're remixed country hits.
Jenn Blosil
Still too....whatever indefinable character traits to follow; all the way since auditions.
Jenna Renae
She's a little boring and forgettable, but her voice is good, and she plays piano well. She's just not instantly-recognizable; which is a big problem at this juncture of the competition.
Jordan Sasser
I don't quite understand what the judges see in this guy.
Kory Wheeler
His voice is all right, but he's just so forgettable...
LaPorsha Renae
Her hair is AWFUL. Her voice isn't very pleasant to listen to. At all. But she'll likely get black votes.
Lee Jean
One of this season's friendly teens, of which there's a lot. His style is laid-back, but really interesting. Definitely one of the top guys this season.
MacKenzie Bourg
Poor guy's got to be getting all kinds of teased about his name. Mostly known for his medley of judges' songs during auditions.
Manny Torres
Funny dude. Has a decent voice; may get a good ways through because of his personality.
Olivia Rox
She just has stage presence. That's hard to judge or quantify, but she has it. She looks comfortable performing and has fun doing it. And she can sing and play guitar! Really hoping she does well.
Shelbie Z
Annoying. Talkative. Strong-willed. Can't sing well enough to justify everything else.
Sonika Vaid
Really loved her audition, but the Group Night antics as part of Envy took major points away.
Stephany Negrete
I don't really remember her at all, but she was part of the group Envy, so that's not a good sign.
Thomas Stringfellow
His voice is awful, but there's an unusual quality to his performances that's interesting enough that he got this far. Might get the female teenage voting bloc, if Mackenzie doesn't.
Trent Harmon
The R&B farmer who caught mono during Hollywood Week. Hoping he does well.
Tristan McIntosh
Funny, awkward teenager from Nashville; she and Amelia go to the same high school. Known from auditions as the military daughter; she does well at interacting with fans, too.
Of the guys, I want Dalton, Lee Jean, Mackenzie and Trent to do well, of the girls, I'm cheering for Amelia, Avalon, Jenna, Jeneve, Olivia and Tristan.
So, who are they? What are my opinions on them? Who am I definitely going to be pulling for from the start? Read and find out...
Okay, that was a really over-the-top Ryan Seacrest thing to say. I guess I'll organize it alphabetically by first name, since that seems easiest.
Adam Lasher
I honestly cannot remember a thing about this dude. Probably not a good sign....
Amelia Eisenhauer
The ninja fiddler. She's funny, can sing well, and connects well with fans. She's one of my favorites.
Avalon Young
Entertaining klutzy tomboy waitress with a pretty good voice, but not quite superstar level.
CJ Johnson
He's pretty good(as he should be, being a professional musician), but he's not that "final Idol" great. He's actually just kind of boring.
Dalton Rapattoni
Dallas chill-rocker dude; part of Chicken Noodle Soup's feud with Envy on Group Night. One of the guys who has a real shot at winning.
Emily Brooke
Blonde teen with a pretty good voice, but there's simply too many talented teenagers for them all to get through. She'll probably miss that cut.
Gianna Isabella
Her mom was a pop star in the 80's and is now micromanaging every aspect of her daughter's career. If Mom would just leave, she might have a chance. Unless that happens, I don't think she'll get very far.
James VIII
Someone please explain how he even got to Hollywood, much less this far.
Jeneve Rose Mitchell
She's this year's Casey Abrams; you have no idea what she's going to do beforehand, or even while she's onstage, but after it's over you shake your head in puzzlement and say, "That.....was bizarre. But it kinda worked. I don't think I really liked it much, but I want to see more." Besides, you don't see people play cello while singing very often, especially if they're remixed country hits.
Jenn Blosil
Still too....whatever indefinable character traits to follow; all the way since auditions.
Jenna Renae
She's a little boring and forgettable, but her voice is good, and she plays piano well. She's just not instantly-recognizable; which is a big problem at this juncture of the competition.
Jordan Sasser
I don't quite understand what the judges see in this guy.
Kory Wheeler
His voice is all right, but he's just so forgettable...
LaPorsha Renae
Her hair is AWFUL. Her voice isn't very pleasant to listen to. At all. But she'll likely get black votes.
Lee Jean
One of this season's friendly teens, of which there's a lot. His style is laid-back, but really interesting. Definitely one of the top guys this season.
MacKenzie Bourg
Poor guy's got to be getting all kinds of teased about his name. Mostly known for his medley of judges' songs during auditions.
Manny Torres
Funny dude. Has a decent voice; may get a good ways through because of his personality.
Olivia Rox
She just has stage presence. That's hard to judge or quantify, but she has it. She looks comfortable performing and has fun doing it. And she can sing and play guitar! Really hoping she does well.
Shelbie Z
Annoying. Talkative. Strong-willed. Can't sing well enough to justify everything else.
Sonika Vaid
Really loved her audition, but the Group Night antics as part of Envy took major points away.
Stephany Negrete
I don't really remember her at all, but she was part of the group Envy, so that's not a good sign.
Thomas Stringfellow
His voice is awful, but there's an unusual quality to his performances that's interesting enough that he got this far. Might get the female teenage voting bloc, if Mackenzie doesn't.
Trent Harmon
The R&B farmer who caught mono during Hollywood Week. Hoping he does well.
Tristan McIntosh
Funny, awkward teenager from Nashville; she and Amelia go to the same high school. Known from auditions as the military daughter; she does well at interacting with fans, too.
Of the guys, I want Dalton, Lee Jean, Mackenzie and Trent to do well, of the girls, I'm cheering for Amelia, Avalon, Jenna, Jeneve, Olivia and Tristan.
Monday, February 1, 2016
Screen Crushes of My Teenage Years
Well, I figured if I took the time to list out screen crushes from childhood, I may as well do the same for the teenage version of Wes, too... I'll try to make this roughly chronological.
Belle - Beauty and the Beast
Why? -
Not many women love reading as much as Belle does. She's very observant, kind, and a little strange, in a good way. She'll launch into musical numbers for no reason. She's a storyteller who finds the beauty in the world whenever she can. And she hates Gaston.
Lola Bunny - Space Jam
Why? -
She's athletic. She's Bugs Bunny's girlfriend. She's opinionated and spunky. And competitive! (And she has bangs.)
Buttercup - The Princess Bride
Why? -
If Westley could endure being captured by pirates, becoming the most legendary pirate on the seas himself, freeclimb up the Cliffs of Insanity, defeat Inigo Montoya in a fencing match, best Fezzik at wrestling and outwit Vizzini in a Battle of Wits, then survive the Lightning Sand, the Flaming Geysers and the ROUSes in the Fire Swamp, and THEN be imprisoned in either the Zoo of Death or the Pit of Despair(your choice), and THEN be put through the MACHINE in order to ride off happily into the night(or not; again, your choice), then wouldn't you say she was some special girl?
And that's not even getting into all the things William Goldman said about her....
Mary Jane Watson - Sam Rami Spider-Man trilogy
Why? -
Tobey Maguire's Peter Parker is such a good character, you instantly fall in love with MJ, too. She sticks by Pete and Harry through everything in their crazy lives, and works her way up into Broadway.
Kristy Lee Cook - American Idol Season 7
Why? -
The field was absolutely loaded with talent this season, but it's hard not to love an Oregon cowgirl who sold her horse to pay for plane fare to auditions in Philadelphia. (She got the horse back.) And she sings country. (This clip is actually "Faithfully" by Journey, but the tone is the same, anyway.) I was extremely displeased when she got booted out of the competition in seventh place, which Damon, Trish and the rest of the AI discussion group could tell you..
The Teenage Girl in Craig Morgan's "That's What I Love About Sunday" Music Video
Why? -
Nobody ever said these make sense....I just thought she was pretty. Besides, it's such a great true-to-life song. And the video was played almost-nonstop on The Country Network all the time.
Shawn Johnson
Why? -
Gymnasts are graceful. And focused. And the Olympics comes around so rarely, you got to support the people from your country. (Plus Canada, being a neighbor, and Australia, cause of the cool accents, and sometimes Great Britain, for the accents.) And she's a little more than a year older than I am, so that made it less weird than most screen crushes are. (It's just a bizarre concept, when you think about it....)
Siobhan Magnus - American Idol Season 9
Why? -
She was quirky. And her voice was different, but not bad. She was my favorite girl this season.
Natalie Portman
Why? -
She's pretty in an everyday way, not a "I'm-a-Hollywood-movie-star" way. And in interviews she seems very down-to-earth. Plus she's just a good actress.
Gwen Stacy - Amazing Spider-Man movies.
Why? -
Gwen was about the only watchable part of these movies. She's smart(valedictorian of her class), resourceful, and she's a bit of a dork.
Hollie Cavanagh - American Idol Season 11
Why? -
She can sing. (This clip is the first song I could find on YouTube.) And she's pretty in a Natalie Portman type of way. And the way her accent shifts from Texas drawl to classy British English and back in midsentence was hysterical. She was funny.
Belle - Beauty and the Beast
Why? -
Not many women love reading as much as Belle does. She's very observant, kind, and a little strange, in a good way. She'll launch into musical numbers for no reason. She's a storyteller who finds the beauty in the world whenever she can. And she hates Gaston.
Lola Bunny - Space Jam
Why? -
She's athletic. She's Bugs Bunny's girlfriend. She's opinionated and spunky. And competitive! (And she has bangs.)
Buttercup - The Princess Bride
Why? -
If Westley could endure being captured by pirates, becoming the most legendary pirate on the seas himself, freeclimb up the Cliffs of Insanity, defeat Inigo Montoya in a fencing match, best Fezzik at wrestling and outwit Vizzini in a Battle of Wits, then survive the Lightning Sand, the Flaming Geysers and the ROUSes in the Fire Swamp, and THEN be imprisoned in either the Zoo of Death or the Pit of Despair(your choice), and THEN be put through the MACHINE in order to ride off happily into the night(or not; again, your choice), then wouldn't you say she was some special girl?
And that's not even getting into all the things William Goldman said about her....
Mary Jane Watson - Sam Rami Spider-Man trilogy
Why? -
Tobey Maguire's Peter Parker is such a good character, you instantly fall in love with MJ, too. She sticks by Pete and Harry through everything in their crazy lives, and works her way up into Broadway.
Kristy Lee Cook - American Idol Season 7
Why? -
The field was absolutely loaded with talent this season, but it's hard not to love an Oregon cowgirl who sold her horse to pay for plane fare to auditions in Philadelphia. (She got the horse back.) And she sings country. (This clip is actually "Faithfully" by Journey, but the tone is the same, anyway.) I was extremely displeased when she got booted out of the competition in seventh place, which Damon, Trish and the rest of the AI discussion group could tell you..
The Teenage Girl in Craig Morgan's "That's What I Love About Sunday" Music Video
Why? -
Nobody ever said these make sense....I just thought she was pretty. Besides, it's such a great true-to-life song. And the video was played almost-nonstop on The Country Network all the time.
Shawn Johnson
Why? -
Gymnasts are graceful. And focused. And the Olympics comes around so rarely, you got to support the people from your country. (Plus Canada, being a neighbor, and Australia, cause of the cool accents, and sometimes Great Britain, for the accents.) And she's a little more than a year older than I am, so that made it less weird than most screen crushes are. (It's just a bizarre concept, when you think about it....)
Siobhan Magnus - American Idol Season 9
Why? -
She was quirky. And her voice was different, but not bad. She was my favorite girl this season.
Natalie Portman
Why? -
She's pretty in an everyday way, not a "I'm-a-Hollywood-movie-star" way. And in interviews she seems very down-to-earth. Plus she's just a good actress.
Gwen Stacy - Amazing Spider-Man movies.
Gwen was about the only watchable part of these movies. She's smart(valedictorian of her class), resourceful, and she's a bit of a dork.
Hollie Cavanagh - American Idol Season 11
Why? -
She can sing. (This clip is the first song I could find on YouTube.) And she's pretty in a Natalie Portman type of way. And the way her accent shifts from Texas drawl to classy British English and back in midsentence was hysterical. She was funny.
Thursday, January 28, 2016
AI 15.8 - Hollywood: Group Round
This is where things get hectic. Ladies and gentlemen: the infamous Group Night!
Some people made it through more than others. (The judges, particularly Harry, had a rough day.)
"They gotta figure out which song they're gonna sing, they got to figure out the choreography they're gonna use, and they gotta figure out how to not kill each other tonight," Keith observed.
We started the day with 108 contestants. The casualties began even before the performances; as Po Scott dropped out of the competition completely; leaving Dalton Rappatoni and Kassy Levels scrambling to find a third member for their group(Chicken Noodle Soup) to be legal. (They had to be either three or four members.)
Malie "Miss Alaska DJ" Delgado, Manny Torres and Christian Eason were left as a threesome after La'Porscha dropped out; they had to pull together a new song and everything, so they changed their group's name to Rebirth while they were at it.
Team Blue Eyes was made up of Jordan Sasser, Kory Wheeler, Jenna Renae and some girl named Kelsie Watts, who had Allison Iraheta-red-dyed hair. They sang a Bruno Mars song called "Treasure", and they were all safe.
Milk and Cookies, composed of Jenn Blosil and Sara Sturm, together with a black girl named Bri Ray and a tall blonde named Lynzee Fraye, rehearsed in the bathroom for lack of anywhere else with enough space to practice. Besides Sara, I hated everyone, but they were all through...
There was an entertaining montage about what a chocoholic JayLo apparently is, after she tries to steal some of Keith's food like Nicki used to. "Ya know, she looks thin, but she eats about six and a half pounds of chocolate a day," Harry quips. "No, it's more like eight pounds," Keith answers, grinning. She protests. "Would you like some sushi instead? I'm having some delivered..." (Smart guy, eating snacks like sushi and trail mix to keep Jennifer and Nicki from eating all his food.)
The next group was Ooh X2, made up of Tristan McIntosh, Amelia "Mystery Samurai Fiddler" Eisenhauer, Lee Jean and some blonde girl whose name started with H. "That sounded like you all were an actual vocal group!" Keith praised them. They were all through, which was awesome. Jeneve Rose Mitchell was also safe, from a different group.
Next up was Just Trent, the Group Round's first-ever group of one. (Mono is apparently contagious, and the producers wanted to keep the other contestants as healthy as possible.) He got through.
The next group was called Singing Out Loud, made up of Michelle Marie, Lindsey Carrier, Ashley Lusk and Shelbie Z. Their song was Carrie's "Undo It", and it was awful. I would have been just fine with everyone in this group packing their bags, but only Lindsey was booted out, which was even worse because she was the team's leader.
Elvie Shane, John Wayne Schulz and Jessica Cabral were a group, and they were visibly exhausted. "You're genuinely exhausted by this point, but you still gotta perform. Welcome to your career! It's gonna be like this all the time. The only thing is, you gotta hide that tiredness from me." Keith critiques helpfully. Elvie was cut.
Also cut was Ashley Adams-Soderbergh the weird Hawaiian misfit, and Cameron Richard. Mackenzie Bourg was safe.
It wouldn't be Group Night without some Drama, right? That came in the form of the rivalry which quickly developed between Envy(Sonika Vaid, Stephany Negrete and Andrew Nazaberkian the Tall Russian) and Chicken Noodle Soup(Dalton, Kassy and a girl named Anatalia Villaranda). Anatalia was an alto stuck with the three sopranos of Envy, and they literally abandoned her in the hallway. Since Chicken Noodle Soup needed a third member, she was drafted, and there was plenty of fireworks the next day between the two groups. All members of both groups advanced, and Sonika crossed the line into "I can't vote for her" territory. Dalton still gets cool points.
His former rival Jackie Butler(with the green hair) and obese Brian Dale Brown were both cut, as was Josiah Siska(rats!).
Trick or Treat Try was another one of those groups who practiced in the bathroom; their roster was Kayce Haynes and three guys we'd never heard of named Marcio Donaldson, Jon Klaasen and Kylle Thompson. Their song was "Uptown Funk" and they were all safe. (I would've booted them all out...bow ties are stupid.)
"If you could have any talent in the world other than singing, what would it be?" Harry asked Jennifer. She thinks a minute. "Painting." "Really? Have you tried it?" "Yup. I'm awful at it." "Well, what'd you try? Oils? Watercolors?" "Crayons, everything!"
The roster of LOUD Joy Dove, Daniel Farmer and Lindita the Personal Trainer made up the group known as Smooth Soul, doing Katy Perry's "Teenage Dream," of all things...Daniel was cut.
Las Orinquas was Gianna Isabella, some girl named Dana Ordway and a bossy girl named Eliz Camacho. Eliz was eliminated after Harry said "There were two 24-year-olds in this group. And you were outsang by the 15-year-old." (Gianna does a happy dance here.)
The Good Vibes were four "Who?" contestants; a redheaded guy named Joe Kahlman, another dude named Anesai Talai, a girl named Olivia Thai and a nerdy girl named Jessica Paige, who was the only one to advance. "Guys, you look like your dog just died," Harry was really at his wit's end by this point.
CJ Johnson the Memphis musician, another guy named Zach Joseph, a blonde ponytailed girl named Jess Kellner and another blonde girl with a headband named Jessica Baker were another group, and Zach was the odd one out here.
Thomas Stringfellow was part of a group with Bryson Dunn, Thomas Hendricks and some guy with the last name Muglia; the Thomases were the lucky ones. "You guys are all absolutely great solo artists....but that was really average." Harry complains.
Then it was Rebirth's(Malie, Manny and Christian) turn....they did "Stayin' Alive," and it was pretty good. "Best group of the day, don't ya think?" JayLo asks the guys.
The Three Sistas were La'Porscha and two girls named Marlena Johnson and Tonie Starr, Shelbie Z was originally part of this group before defecting to Singing Out Loud. So she was replaced by La'Porscha, who came in from Rebirth, and they also did "Stayin' Alive" as one of the last acts of the day. Everyone forgot the lyrics. Aggravatingly, they were all safe. "That's how you forget the words!" Harry laughed, applauding. "That was like watching Dreamgirls or somethin'," Jennifer said.
The Soulcats were the last group of the day, composed of Jonathan Arthur Greene and three people we'd never seen before: Lauren Wright(not the friend of the Hankinses who went to church camp), Marshall Cunningham and some guy named Dylan. Lauren and Marshall were safe, the other two weren't.
Some people made it through more than others. (The judges, particularly Harry, had a rough day.)
"They gotta figure out which song they're gonna sing, they got to figure out the choreography they're gonna use, and they gotta figure out how to not kill each other tonight," Keith observed.
 |
| This is just a stock-type picture I took of my guitar a long time ago. I got tired of using the same AI logo all the time with these posts. |
Malie "Miss Alaska DJ" Delgado, Manny Torres and Christian Eason were left as a threesome after La'Porscha dropped out; they had to pull together a new song and everything, so they changed their group's name to Rebirth while they were at it.
Team Blue Eyes was made up of Jordan Sasser, Kory Wheeler, Jenna Renae and some girl named Kelsie Watts, who had Allison Iraheta-red-dyed hair. They sang a Bruno Mars song called "Treasure", and they were all safe.
Milk and Cookies, composed of Jenn Blosil and Sara Sturm, together with a black girl named Bri Ray and a tall blonde named Lynzee Fraye, rehearsed in the bathroom for lack of anywhere else with enough space to practice. Besides Sara, I hated everyone, but they were all through...
There was an entertaining montage about what a chocoholic JayLo apparently is, after she tries to steal some of Keith's food like Nicki used to. "Ya know, she looks thin, but she eats about six and a half pounds of chocolate a day," Harry quips. "No, it's more like eight pounds," Keith answers, grinning. She protests. "Would you like some sushi instead? I'm having some delivered..." (Smart guy, eating snacks like sushi and trail mix to keep Jennifer and Nicki from eating all his food.)
The next group was Ooh X2, made up of Tristan McIntosh, Amelia "Mystery Samurai Fiddler" Eisenhauer, Lee Jean and some blonde girl whose name started with H. "That sounded like you all were an actual vocal group!" Keith praised them. They were all through, which was awesome. Jeneve Rose Mitchell was also safe, from a different group.
Next up was Just Trent, the Group Round's first-ever group of one. (Mono is apparently contagious, and the producers wanted to keep the other contestants as healthy as possible.) He got through.
The next group was called Singing Out Loud, made up of Michelle Marie, Lindsey Carrier, Ashley Lusk and Shelbie Z. Their song was Carrie's "Undo It", and it was awful. I would have been just fine with everyone in this group packing their bags, but only Lindsey was booted out, which was even worse because she was the team's leader.
Elvie Shane, John Wayne Schulz and Jessica Cabral were a group, and they were visibly exhausted. "You're genuinely exhausted by this point, but you still gotta perform. Welcome to your career! It's gonna be like this all the time. The only thing is, you gotta hide that tiredness from me." Keith critiques helpfully. Elvie was cut.
Also cut was Ashley Adams-Soderbergh the weird Hawaiian misfit, and Cameron Richard. Mackenzie Bourg was safe.
It wouldn't be Group Night without some Drama, right? That came in the form of the rivalry which quickly developed between Envy(Sonika Vaid, Stephany Negrete and Andrew Nazaberkian the Tall Russian) and Chicken Noodle Soup(Dalton, Kassy and a girl named Anatalia Villaranda). Anatalia was an alto stuck with the three sopranos of Envy, and they literally abandoned her in the hallway. Since Chicken Noodle Soup needed a third member, she was drafted, and there was plenty of fireworks the next day between the two groups. All members of both groups advanced, and Sonika crossed the line into "I can't vote for her" territory. Dalton still gets cool points.
His former rival Jackie Butler(with the green hair) and obese Brian Dale Brown were both cut, as was Josiah Siska(rats!).
Trick or Treat Try was another one of those groups who practiced in the bathroom; their roster was Kayce Haynes and three guys we'd never heard of named Marcio Donaldson, Jon Klaasen and Kylle Thompson. Their song was "Uptown Funk" and they were all safe. (I would've booted them all out...bow ties are stupid.)
"If you could have any talent in the world other than singing, what would it be?" Harry asked Jennifer. She thinks a minute. "Painting." "Really? Have you tried it?" "Yup. I'm awful at it." "Well, what'd you try? Oils? Watercolors?" "Crayons, everything!"
The roster of LOUD Joy Dove, Daniel Farmer and Lindita the Personal Trainer made up the group known as Smooth Soul, doing Katy Perry's "Teenage Dream," of all things...Daniel was cut.
Las Orinquas was Gianna Isabella, some girl named Dana Ordway and a bossy girl named Eliz Camacho. Eliz was eliminated after Harry said "There were two 24-year-olds in this group. And you were outsang by the 15-year-old." (Gianna does a happy dance here.)
The Good Vibes were four "Who?" contestants; a redheaded guy named Joe Kahlman, another dude named Anesai Talai, a girl named Olivia Thai and a nerdy girl named Jessica Paige, who was the only one to advance. "Guys, you look like your dog just died," Harry was really at his wit's end by this point.
CJ Johnson the Memphis musician, another guy named Zach Joseph, a blonde ponytailed girl named Jess Kellner and another blonde girl with a headband named Jessica Baker were another group, and Zach was the odd one out here.
Thomas Stringfellow was part of a group with Bryson Dunn, Thomas Hendricks and some guy with the last name Muglia; the Thomases were the lucky ones. "You guys are all absolutely great solo artists....but that was really average." Harry complains.
Then it was Rebirth's(Malie, Manny and Christian) turn....they did "Stayin' Alive," and it was pretty good. "Best group of the day, don't ya think?" JayLo asks the guys.
The Three Sistas were La'Porscha and two girls named Marlena Johnson and Tonie Starr, Shelbie Z was originally part of this group before defecting to Singing Out Loud. So she was replaced by La'Porscha, who came in from Rebirth, and they also did "Stayin' Alive" as one of the last acts of the day. Everyone forgot the lyrics. Aggravatingly, they were all safe. "That's how you forget the words!" Harry laughed, applauding. "That was like watching Dreamgirls or somethin'," Jennifer said.
The Soulcats were the last group of the day, composed of Jonathan Arthur Greene and three people we'd never seen before: Lauren Wright(not the friend of the Hankinses who went to church camp), Marshall Cunningham and some guy named Dylan. Lauren and Marshall were safe, the other two weren't.
AI 15.7 - Hollywood: Lines of Ten
Dim the lights, please....
We're in Hollywood now. This is where the pressure ramps up exponentially, drama is captured onscreen, and the field is winnowed down to a manageable number. 190 people were given Golden Tickets, but many of them would see their dreams shatter in the opening of "Hell Week," as it's been called frequently in the past. First up, the Lines of Ten(which is exactly what it sounds like). Everyone sings, then the field is weeded. Those who survive advance to the Group Round.
The first thing we learned was that Dalton Rappatoni and Jackie Butler were rivals on the Dallas alt-rock scene; they both survived into the Group Round, as did Jordan Sasser.
The next row included Jenn Blosil(ew), Thomas Stringfellow and Olivia Rox, all of who escaped unscathed. (Go Thomas and Olivia!)
Jessica Cabral(who I don't really remember much), Melanie "Model Eyes" Tierce and Sonika Vaid were all in the next line, and sadly, Melanie was cut.
In the fourth line we saw, La'Porscha "HORRIBLE PERM" Renae got through(BOO....), while Harrison Cohen was dropped. His answer to the interview question, "What're you gonna do now?" was "Well, I guess fill out some college applications..."
Manny "Crush on Jennifer" Torres, Daniel "Crush on Jennifer" Farmer and Sara Sturm all made it through in one piece.
Lee Jean got through, which was cool. Shelbie Z the Hairdresser advancing was not. With that, the first day of Hollywood Week ended, and people got an anxious night's sleep.
When Day 2 opened, Jeneve Rose Mitchell(Off-the-Grid Cello Cowgirl) played a funky version of Little Big Town's "Boondocks" well enough to get through, and then there was a funny montage of the parents watching; Jimmy Kimmel running into Ryan, and contestants freaking out about One Direction doing a soundcheck across the street.
Gianna Isabella and Tristan McIntosh(with the army mom) were both safe; Tristan sang Carrie's "Something in the Water."
Kyrsti Jewel "Superfan" Chavez wasn't able to keep going, but Cameron Richard was, and frustratingly, Michelle Marie was allowed to keep going.
Creepy Kerry Courtney, Sand Springs plumber Jake Dillon, Melany Huber the girl with cancer and Ethan Kuntz all were sent packing.
Trent Harmon the R&B Farmer got mono, but somehow powered through to last another day. Po Scott had a Princess Leia hairdo going on, which maybe intimidated the judges into sending her through, and Emily Brooke also advanced.
108 contestants remain....
We're in Hollywood now. This is where the pressure ramps up exponentially, drama is captured onscreen, and the field is winnowed down to a manageable number. 190 people were given Golden Tickets, but many of them would see their dreams shatter in the opening of "Hell Week," as it's been called frequently in the past. First up, the Lines of Ten(which is exactly what it sounds like). Everyone sings, then the field is weeded. Those who survive advance to the Group Round.
The first thing we learned was that Dalton Rappatoni and Jackie Butler were rivals on the Dallas alt-rock scene; they both survived into the Group Round, as did Jordan Sasser.
The next row included Jenn Blosil(ew), Thomas Stringfellow and Olivia Rox, all of who escaped unscathed. (Go Thomas and Olivia!)
Jessica Cabral(who I don't really remember much), Melanie "Model Eyes" Tierce and Sonika Vaid were all in the next line, and sadly, Melanie was cut.
In the fourth line we saw, La'Porscha "HORRIBLE PERM" Renae got through(BOO....), while Harrison Cohen was dropped. His answer to the interview question, "What're you gonna do now?" was "Well, I guess fill out some college applications..."
Manny "Crush on Jennifer" Torres, Daniel "Crush on Jennifer" Farmer and Sara Sturm all made it through in one piece.
Lee Jean got through, which was cool. Shelbie Z the Hairdresser advancing was not. With that, the first day of Hollywood Week ended, and people got an anxious night's sleep.
When Day 2 opened, Jeneve Rose Mitchell(Off-the-Grid Cello Cowgirl) played a funky version of Little Big Town's "Boondocks" well enough to get through, and then there was a funny montage of the parents watching; Jimmy Kimmel running into Ryan, and contestants freaking out about One Direction doing a soundcheck across the street.
Gianna Isabella and Tristan McIntosh(with the army mom) were both safe; Tristan sang Carrie's "Something in the Water."
Kyrsti Jewel "Superfan" Chavez wasn't able to keep going, but Cameron Richard was, and frustratingly, Michelle Marie was allowed to keep going.
Creepy Kerry Courtney, Sand Springs plumber Jake Dillon, Melany Huber the girl with cancer and Ethan Kuntz all were sent packing.
Trent Harmon the R&B Farmer got mono, but somehow powered through to last another day. Po Scott had a Princess Leia hairdo going on, which maybe intimidated the judges into sending her through, and Emily Brooke also advanced.
108 contestants remain....
Wednesday, January 27, 2016
Final American Idol Auditions. EVER.
It was a really, really strange experience watching last Thursday's episode of American Idol. Because, sure, we've known all along that this is the final season, but this was another moment of realizing what that really meant. And AI is just...special.
It opened with a stillshot of a Lewis Carroll quote: "In the end, we regret only the chances we didn't take." (To which I add Wayne Gretzky's saying that "You miss 100% of the shots you don't take." I tried the longshot online auditioning once I realized the cattle-calls were over, but I knew it wasn't going to work out. At the same time....I'd always said that I would try.)
We started the last journey in San Francisco; Jessica Cabral was from Brazil, she had a nice voice, but I would have said no. The judges loved her.
Cody Ostrenga was the world champion of horseback shooting, apparently. He also belly danced. His voice sounded like karoke, and it was the awful "Proud Mary", but he enjoyed dancing. "That was the singular weirdest collection of talent I've ever seen." - Harry. "Everything was good - except the singing." - Keith. "My belly dances, I guess....but I'm not a belly dancer." - Jennifer.
Brian Dale Brown was obese. And he had a girlfriend who was 15 years older than he was. AND he auditioned eleven times. His singing sounded more like anguished groaning. And then he did Scooby-Doo impressions? "I've never been more offended, callin' Danny Elfman a musical genius..." Harry huffed. The judges' critiques were theatrical, but quite thorough.
Gina Baez brought her Jack Russel terrier Tinkerbell into the audition with her. "Don't ya just love the entertainment business? You can come into a job interview with a dog and wearing a sparkly dress with stars on it," Harry comments to Keith and JayLo. She did the Meghan Trainor song "Lips Are Movin'" and had way too much fun. She had a big voice, but like Keith said, it wasn't "deeply interesting."
With that, the auditions moved to Philadelphia, where there was an awesome "Eye of the Tiger" montage. Melany Huber sang a boring Bruno mars song, with a resonator guitar. It was dull. But Keith said she had a "good storytelling quality to your voice," and she was through. She also had cancer, which made Rachel Platten's "Fight Song" playing over her celebration just perfect.
Rachel Karyn had her Grandpa Steve playing the guitar for her, she sounded nice from what little we saw of her.
Caroline Bryne had her brother playing guitar for her, she also sounded nice.
Bianca Espinal's dad was her guitar player, and she was all right.
Justin Sullivan was obsessed with Kelly Clarkson. It was right on the line between hilarious and incredibly creepy. He sang "Stronger," of course, and his vocie was pretty good, but not great enough. He was cool with that decision, too, which was good to see. And he looked a lot like NASCAR racer Kyle Larson.
Dylan the Helium Dude was bad.
Chyna Sherrad did an Ariana Grande song called "One Last Time", and proudly announced that she was going to represent her home state of Connecticut. "...How do you represent Connecticut?" Harry wondered. Keith's opinion was that it was "laid back and chill. It was great." The finish was extremely worn off her guitar.
Switching to Atlanta, the crew threw harry a birthday party, where he received a tiny squirrel-sized monkey that he and his daughter had wanted. Jennifer was terrified by it, which was hilarious.
Lillian Glanton could be this year's Hollie Cavanagh or Skylar Laine, which would be awesome. She was from Alabama, and she sounded like it. Grew up on a poultry farm(this is good....Carrie also had a ruralish background), she sang an original called "Country Boyfriend", which was great! It totally could be on radio right now. She was friendly, too. Keith was a huge YES, Harry had no idea what he was watching, and finally Jennifer let her through. (I cheered loudly.) Then she asks, "Can I take a selfie with y'all?"
Kayce Hughes was from Talladega, he was a former druggie alcoholic. His song was something by Needtobreathe, and it was pretty good, though weird. Like if you mixed the voices of David Cook and Kris Allen. Harry thought it was a mix of Jon Bon Jovi and Bono. Anyway, he got through, which was cool.
Zach Person sang the blues really well. "You're from another time," Jennifer said in her critique.
Tomboy waitress Avalon Young seemed nice. Her song was stupid,
I missed several contestants in a row here. Then there was a fire alarm for twenty-five minutes, which I wasn't too happy about.
Jackie Butler had green hair and was in a punk band that lived at her parents' house. She was just....different. I didn't really care for the performance. But she got through.
Manny Torres was unimpressive for being the final audition ever. "You're Puerto Rican?! It's a yes already!" Jennifer laughed. He had a big crush on her.
To someone - "How did I know that was gonna happen?" Keith asks.
To someone else - "Never play guitar again. In public, or ever." - Harry.
And then the lights dimmed for the final time, and an era of television history came to a close. It's so sad.
It opened with a stillshot of a Lewis Carroll quote: "In the end, we regret only the chances we didn't take." (To which I add Wayne Gretzky's saying that "You miss 100% of the shots you don't take." I tried the longshot online auditioning once I realized the cattle-calls were over, but I knew it wasn't going to work out. At the same time....I'd always said that I would try.)
We started the last journey in San Francisco; Jessica Cabral was from Brazil, she had a nice voice, but I would have said no. The judges loved her.
Cody Ostrenga was the world champion of horseback shooting, apparently. He also belly danced. His voice sounded like karoke, and it was the awful "Proud Mary", but he enjoyed dancing. "That was the singular weirdest collection of talent I've ever seen." - Harry. "Everything was good - except the singing." - Keith. "My belly dances, I guess....but I'm not a belly dancer." - Jennifer.
Brian Dale Brown was obese. And he had a girlfriend who was 15 years older than he was. AND he auditioned eleven times. His singing sounded more like anguished groaning. And then he did Scooby-Doo impressions? "I've never been more offended, callin' Danny Elfman a musical genius..." Harry huffed. The judges' critiques were theatrical, but quite thorough.
Gina Baez brought her Jack Russel terrier Tinkerbell into the audition with her. "Don't ya just love the entertainment business? You can come into a job interview with a dog and wearing a sparkly dress with stars on it," Harry comments to Keith and JayLo. She did the Meghan Trainor song "Lips Are Movin'" and had way too much fun. She had a big voice, but like Keith said, it wasn't "deeply interesting."
With that, the auditions moved to Philadelphia, where there was an awesome "Eye of the Tiger" montage. Melany Huber sang a boring Bruno mars song, with a resonator guitar. It was dull. But Keith said she had a "good storytelling quality to your voice," and she was through. She also had cancer, which made Rachel Platten's "Fight Song" playing over her celebration just perfect.
Rachel Karyn had her Grandpa Steve playing the guitar for her, she sounded nice from what little we saw of her.
Caroline Bryne had her brother playing guitar for her, she also sounded nice.
Bianca Espinal's dad was her guitar player, and she was all right.
Justin Sullivan was obsessed with Kelly Clarkson. It was right on the line between hilarious and incredibly creepy. He sang "Stronger," of course, and his vocie was pretty good, but not great enough. He was cool with that decision, too, which was good to see. And he looked a lot like NASCAR racer Kyle Larson.
Dylan the Helium Dude was bad.
Chyna Sherrad did an Ariana Grande song called "One Last Time", and proudly announced that she was going to represent her home state of Connecticut. "...How do you represent Connecticut?" Harry wondered. Keith's opinion was that it was "laid back and chill. It was great." The finish was extremely worn off her guitar.
Switching to Atlanta, the crew threw harry a birthday party, where he received a tiny squirrel-sized monkey that he and his daughter had wanted. Jennifer was terrified by it, which was hilarious.
Lillian Glanton could be this year's Hollie Cavanagh or Skylar Laine, which would be awesome. She was from Alabama, and she sounded like it. Grew up on a poultry farm(this is good....Carrie also had a ruralish background), she sang an original called "Country Boyfriend", which was great! It totally could be on radio right now. She was friendly, too. Keith was a huge YES, Harry had no idea what he was watching, and finally Jennifer let her through. (I cheered loudly.) Then she asks, "Can I take a selfie with y'all?"
Kayce Hughes was from Talladega, he was a former druggie alcoholic. His song was something by Needtobreathe, and it was pretty good, though weird. Like if you mixed the voices of David Cook and Kris Allen. Harry thought it was a mix of Jon Bon Jovi and Bono. Anyway, he got through, which was cool.
Zach Person sang the blues really well. "You're from another time," Jennifer said in her critique.
Tomboy waitress Avalon Young seemed nice. Her song was stupid,
I missed several contestants in a row here. Then there was a fire alarm for twenty-five minutes, which I wasn't too happy about.
Jackie Butler had green hair and was in a punk band that lived at her parents' house. She was just....different. I didn't really care for the performance. But she got through.
Manny Torres was unimpressive for being the final audition ever. "You're Puerto Rican?! It's a yes already!" Jennifer laughed. He had a big crush on her.
To someone - "How did I know that was gonna happen?" Keith asks.
To someone else - "Never play guitar again. In public, or ever." - Harry.
And then the lights dimmed for the final time, and an era of television history came to a close. It's so sad.
Subscribe to:
Posts (Atom)