| by Diana Hartman "This is absurd, this hero's welcome for a box, not for my love There's no way you're not coming back, I know you'll be coming home My knees are weak, my heart is heavy. The sun beats down my mood When are you coming home my love? The shots rang out at half past noon" |
by John Spivey I've read much commentary over the years about the state of education in our country, most of it voiced by politicians and citizens who've never taught and some of it voiced by frustrated teachers. I've never read an account, though, by someone who has taught at a highly successful school. I did, so I want to stop and tell you about Santa Barbara Middle School. |
TV Review: American Idol 2006-Winnowing Down to 12
And so it begins.
The Fox network has created the largest reality show ever in terms of viewers and publicity. American Idol has consistently, for four complete years and now into its fifth series, garnered national interest and creamed the television competition.The show has evolved with such popularity that even the tryouts across the land have become widely watched, beating out such media events as the Olympics and other opposing televised programs.
Such is the world-wide popularity of the series, there is now even an Arab version of the competition, perhaps the first time many in this region of the world have been introduced to pure democracy as the selection of American Idol purports to be.
I've watched several of the tryout shows and again Fox has figured out what appeals to the mainstream American public. For the tryouts are cleverly clipped and quipped to guarantee a continuing viewer interest and amusement.
In this late February in this year of our Lord 2006, the tryouts are done, the Hollywood finalists have been culled and we're down to the final 24-twelve females and twelve males. On Tuesday 2/21/06, the final twelve female contenders showed the voting viewers their stuff.
Out of the twelve I managed to eliminate down to three the female contenders that I feel certain will make it into the top six. I've also pegged a few that also show potential.
Let us move on to a quick and dirty recap of the contenders that began their quest to be the fifth winner of American Idol in the 2006 competition.
Another Blogcritic wrote up a review of the first night of the competition. I agree a bit with her conclusions but yon reader might want to compare.
We begin with Mandisa. That's right, her name is just "Mandisa" and this shtick is catchy. Cher did it. Can Mandisa pull it off?
I was very impressed with Mandisa's performance and immediately considered that she will move on to at least the top six, if not the top three, of the female contenders. Just as soon as I made the note that Mandisa was potential finalist material I fretted that I might find all twelve good enough to be finalists, risking my entry into the Paula Abdul wing of the blogosphere.
In fact, after Mandisa, I was mentally eliminating almost every singer of the evening.
I did cull the contenders down to three I consider definitely finalist material, with two others very possible, and so we move on.
Ayla Brown is 17 years old, from Massachusetts and plays basketball. Oh, and she can sing too. Her voice was strong and sure and she projected a star quality that at her tender age can only grow with experience.
Paris Bennett is also 17 young years of age. She was dressed in a snappy and stylish fashion and yes, she's got star quality all over. Paris sang "Midnight Train to Georgia" and I could see this child holding a pencil for microphone and singing and swinging this song in her living room throughout her young life.
When her chance came to do it on stage Paris was ready to go. Years of practice and dreams were reflected in her performance. Paris will definitely make the top 6 and I see her as a real contender for the winner.
The final singer of the evening, a Katharine McPhee, was another competitor that seemed a real contender for the prize. For this particular evening, I'd still consider her a dark horse to the three picked above.
Kellie Pickler, 19 years old and a sweet country bumpkin, wavered on some high notes and was a bit pitchy. The judges seem to like her but as sweet and dopey as Kellie is, I don't see her winning this thing.
Beck O'Donohue didn't seem to have much of a voice, at least compared to the others. The judges complained there was no wow factor and I'd have to agree.
An opera singer an Idol competitor? Indeed Stevie Scott is a trained opera singer and she sang, yes she did, an opera song. First, get real. An opera singer is not going to win American Idol unless said opera singer can sing today's pop songs. No matter how varied and diverse the contest claims the singers are, in the end the audience is looking for pop singers not of the opera kind. Scott's performance, even with the advantage of singing in her genre, was breathy and not appealing at all.
Brenna Gethers performed just okay, by me. Evidently Brenna is viewed as some sort of street-smart gal and brings a cockiness to the contest that the judges liked. Only Gethers sang "You Are the Sunshine of My Life", a song the judges called "too sensitive" for the very insensitive Brenna. Smashing street attitude or not, I don't see Brenna beating out my top three.
Heather Cox has a husky deep voice and my immediate thought is that her song choices would be limited. Indeed Cher managed to create a singing career with a range of about three notes but the American Idol isn't about husky voices with limited ranges.
A Melissa McGhee performed and my notes indicate I considered her a possible top six and that she gave a good performance. Still, a dark horse as I see it, to my top three.
Lisa Tucker, a very pretty young female, performed and affected so many voice effects in her song that I zoned out halfway through the performance. I look for singers who have a broad range, carry a certain star quality, and appear born to perform. Simon liked Lisa's performance so maybe I've pegged her wrong. Voice effects do not turn me on.
IF American Idol had a Miss Personality award, I daresay it would go to Kinnik Sky. During her pre-performance vignette I was impressed by how personable she presented herself. As for her performance, Kinnik did have a deep rich voice but for whatever personal reasons, she did not appeal to me.
On Wednesday, 2/22/06, the twelve final males will perform and on Thursday 2/23/06 two will be eliminated from each group.
For now, I predict Stevie Scott the opera singer and Heather Cox will get the boot.
More TV Reviews HERE
Will the Female Vote Pull Drew Through?
The audience demographics are not in yet but we’ll go out on a limb here. The two contenders to win ABC’s Dancing With the Stars are Stacey Keibler or Drew Lachey. By me, Stacey has worked very hard and is, all things taken into account, the best in this competition. Which is not to say that Drew Lachey didn’t also expand much effort and it’s also not to say that this man doesn’t have a certain masculine fluidity that is admirable.
I’m betting, however, that this series is watched mostly by women. Now I could be wrong here and hesitate to insert my own anecdotal evidence. Which includes a survey of the one male in the household,- sensitive but very much a guy type in the most dopey meaning of the phrase, insert wink here- mine own husband. Who wouldn’t tune into dancing with anybody much less stars he’s never heard of. But I have a son-in-law who is quite the dancer but again, he’s not going to tune in for this show because, well because he told me. Which is why I suspect Drew might pull off the win due to the women who watch him.
Indeed this past Thursday, 2/16/06, Drew and Stacey tied again as they had the week prior. On this evening and at this stage in the competition, the dance teams had to perform two dances.
Stacey and her partner performed a quick step and a cha-cha for their two dances. For both dances Stacey and her partner performed, to my untrained eyes, perfectly. Their footwork was always in time and for the cha-cha Stacey performed some head swinging that gave me a headache.The judges were not overly impressed. For the quick step the judges admonished Stacey that she should take more risks. For the cha-cha, one judge announced that Stacey’s arms were “too stiff”. Stacey and her partner’s total for the evening was 55 points out of a possible 60.
Jerry Rice, a sentimental favorite of mine but no winner as I see it, used props during his dances this evening. For the first dance, a tango, Jerry and his partner used a broom. A judge said Jerry’s posture was weak and another didn’t like the broom prop at all.
For their second dance, Jerry and his partner performed a rumba and again they used a man’s coat jacket to begin the routine. Again the judges didn’t seem to like the dance or the prop. In fact, one judge told Rice, perhaps fortuitously, “against the others, you’re the worst”. Rice and his partner did receive that evening’s lowest score, a 41 out of 60.
Lisa Rinna of the luscious lips has shown amazing improvement over the life of this competition but I don’t see her as challenging either Stacey or Drew for the win.
For the evening Lisa and her partner performed a foxtrot and a rumba. I thought the foxtrot was very boring to watch and while the cha-cha was a better visual, damn it Lisa’s just not in the same league with Stacey and Drew. One judge announced that this team had a “wonderful chemistry”. Lisa and her partner were awarded 53 votes, impressive but still not up there with Drew and Stacey.
Drew Lachey and his partner performed a foxtrot and a rumba. For the foxtrot Drew wore a handsome double-breasted suit that added to the charm of the dance. One judge “loved it”.For the rumba, goodness they won me over just with their choice of song, one of my all time favorites- “Total Eclipse of the Heart”. That was the sexiest dance of the entire series and Drew has talent, it’s there for all the world to see. One judge announced that this was “the Drew we love”.
Drew and his partner received a total of 55 votes out of 60, tied with Stacey Keibler.
The following night the elimination show was aired. It was quite a surprise to discover that Lisa had been eliminated instead of Jerry Rice. Although hey, I like Jerry but can’t shake the feeling that he’s not only not better than Lisa Rinna, he’s nowhere near a winner in this series.
The big question now, with three left, is, will Stacey with that perfect body and beautiful legs manage to impress the primarily female viewers to vote for her? Or will the somewhat short but impossibly cute Drew be pulled through to victory as many claimed that same demographic did for Clay Aiken of American Idol?
I’m going with Stacey as the winner but put it this way: if Drew Lachey wins, I won’t be disappointed.
The final three now are:
Jerry Rice
Stacy Keibler
Drew Lachey
The first review of this series posted on 1/10/06. The second review posted on1/15/06.
George Hamilton and his "packet", is a must-read. The most recent posted 2/9/06, was when the competition was down to five. Four left and on to the finals.
More TV Reviews HERE
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