Funguzz Vizzion: 08

Wednesday, February 27, 2008

American Idol and Wildcard Talk

American Idol refugee Kyle Ensley

At this juncture of the American Idol season, frankly, things are looking a bit predictable. The two leading contestants seem to be David Archuleta and Carly Smithson, and it seems extremely unlikely that anyone is going to knock them off their pedestals. But that begs the question, is there a possibility that some of the contestants we heard so much about in the earlier shows, but didn't make it to the top 24, be brought back in a wildcard scenario?

Well, after doing a bit of research I learned that their hasn't been American Idol wildcard since season 3, and that the conventional wisdom is a wildcard would be highly unlikely because of the scheduling of the show. (source: americanidol.com/myidol/forums) But there seems to be a few things a bit unusual about this year's show so far, if this cw is correct. Why was so much air time spent on telling the stories of contestants who were just going to be sent home?...(unless there was some plan in the works to bring them back at a later date). I am specifically talking here about Kyle Ensley and Josiah Leming who have a huge fan base despite being sent home by Randy, Simon, and/or Paula. And why was a newspaper photographer allowed to snap a picture of the top 24 making an American Idol music video before America knew who the top 24 were?...(unless these weren't the REAL top 24). Hmmmm...Makes ya say, "hmmmmmmm..."

Will there be a wildcard? We will just have to watch and see.

Kyle Ensley's audition posted by ringgtoness:

Josiah Leming

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Sunday, February 17, 2008

American Idol Memories: Carrie Underwood

Oh, yay!, it's time for some of those wonderful American Idol memories. "Why?" you ask. Well, as Karen Carpenter once responded when someone asked her why she plays the drums,... "Why not??"

Let's take a look back at Carrie Underwood's wonderful version of Donna Summer's legendary "MacArthur Park", famous for it's super cheesey lyrics "Someone left the cake out in the rain/ I don't think that I can take it/ cuz it took so long to bake it/ and I'll never have that recipe again." This really brings back some tingly feelings of American Idol nostalgia; I don't think I realized how special this performance was when I first watched it. Here is the footage posted by youtube user vsef lian:

I know Macarthur Park has been performed on American Idol more than once. Can anyone tell me who else has performed it?
http://www.carrieunderwood.fm/
http://myspace.com/carrieunderwood

UPDATE 4/03:
Since Idol Gives Gives Back Week is coming up I thought I would also include this other memorable Carrie Underwood vid in this post, so here ya go:

Wednesday, February 13, 2008

American Idol: The Contenders

Brooke White sings a song off of the legendary "Tapestry" album. Simon tells her she's got a Carole King/Carly Simon thing going on. In my opinion she should at least make it to the top 5. (posted by nmrgonline)

Josiah Leming is overflowing with both talent, and emotion. The question is, is his talent overwhelming enough to overcome his inexperience? (posted by II3orn2dance)

After an initially shakey audition, Carly Smithson has her A game back on. She may be the favorite to win. (posted by americanidolfan5)...

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Tuesday, February 12, 2008

AMERICAN IDOL FANS DON'T VOTE FOR THE WORST!

WARNING!! : I went to that dreadful, infernal website http://votefortheworst.com/, and not only is it oozing it's usual hate filled, sliming vitriol, but they are actually giving away who was kicked off American Idol, and who wasn't before it is actually aired!!! So unless you want to totally ruin the show for yourself, stay the holy heck away from that web site!!! Not that we would want to go there anyway, because we all know that votefortheworst.com is not only an arch enemy of the goodness and purity that is American Idol, but it is a website run by people even creepier than this guy ....

American Idol tonight 2/12/2008

Well, it appears that the producers of American Idol have taken the advice of last season's contestant Chris Sligh, and have allowed the performers to play instruments (at least some of the time). I think this is a great idea to transform the show, and this year's American Idol seems to be seeking to discover, not just a singer, but an all around star...a singer/songwriter in the mold of a young Elton John ,or Carole King. I think this might not only transform the show, but breathe some life into the American music scene in general.

I'll tell you exactly who I'm talking about... Brooke White was even compared to King, and Carly Simon by the judges, and Josiah Leming, the teenager who was living out of his car, is a versatile performer with the capability to write his own material (however, he must learn to stop crying...LITERALLY.) Carly Smithson, is more of a straight singer, but also is clearly a leading contender. There's been some controversy that's she's not really an amateur, that she's a professional who's had her shot (so it is claimed); but, if you've heard her sing, it's easy to understand why she is on the show.

It's potentially one of the best seasons of American Idol ever, so stay tuned...

Who is Nick Drake?

"Who is Nick Drake?" , you may be asking. Well, don't worry because I will tell you!

The other day while visiting a store selling music I was intrigued by the cover art on a CD by an artist named Nick Drake. I wondered why I had never heard of this artist who's hairstyle and dress seemed to indicate he belonged to the 70's. Well, after doing some research I discovered why I had never heard of him...he suffered from severe depression most of his short life, and died young. Introverted and soft spoken he was reluctant to do interviews, and shied away from performing live. In fact, if I am not mistaken, no surviving footage of him performing even exists. Though luckily we still have his music, and when one of his songs "Pink Moon" was used in an automobile commercial posthumously, he began to garner some of the notoriety that eluded him during his life. A myspace page is set up in his honor at http://myspace.com/nickdrake.

Pink Moon(From: wordgirldlw)

Chris Humphrey Gives Us Answers

Chris Humphrey gives us some words of wisdom in his response to "the Davos Question." If you don't know what that means, Davos is some town in Switzerland where really important people like Cher and Donald Trump meet to try to solve the world's problems or something. (Let's not get into that right now, it isn't what this blog is about really.) But anyways, here are some of the highlights of Chris' statement:

"Start treating people's lives as something precious and irreplaceable. It's that simple,...and everything else follows from it: (1.) Protecting the environment, so that we, and everyone else can live in a world that is green and beautiful. (2.) Helping to stop disease in all of it's forms, so people can live happy and healthy lives. (3.) Helping to end war, and the bigotry and greed that leads to it; and realizing that no war is worth the cost..."

In yet another video (pictured below), Chris Humphrey responds to hater criticism about his appearance by draping himself in a burkha:

Sound Opinions on Conan

Last night, well-known music critics Jim Derogatis and Greg Kot appeared on Late Night with Conan O'brien. Derogatis is well established, but I only became aware of him when he began hosting a music review show on PBS a few years back. I have been reading Greg Kot for years in the Chicago Tribune, and his music tastes are a bit on the fringes at times. I remember once pointing out how odd it was that he always gave Yoko Ono's albums better reviews than Paul McCartney's. I don't know if Derogatis and Kott's tv show is still running, but us ordinary Joe Sixpacks can listen to them anytime at http://soundopinions.org/. Thanks to youtube user vksdlacpsdd for posting the footage

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