Tuesday, September 12, 2006

Rock Star: All over but the squealing

Final "Rock Star" performance show evaluation post-haste...

I get that the producers and the record people want the originals to be drilled into people's heads, since one of them will most likely be an early Supernova single, and I know they did it this way last year, but did we really have to get the same four originals two weeks in a row? I dig "Throw It Away" and I'm already close to sick of it.

More interesting to me was how much interaction there was between the contestants tonight. At this point, I think everybody knows that Supernova has made up its mind (whether it's Lukas or Toby), so there's no competitive disadvantage to sharing the spotlight with one of your friends (or providing support to one of them), and after all the Dilana drama (much of it no doubt crafted by the editors), it was nice to see some sportsmanship on a Burnett competition show. In order...

Toby, "Karma Police" & "Throw It Away": My Radiohead knowledge pretty much begins and ends with "Creep" (feel free to mock me in the comments if you must), so I have no idea how well Toby sang "Karma Police," whether he rearranged it at all, etc. But I liked that he showed a different, dare I say Lukas-esque side of himself with a much more introspective number. And while the vocals on "Throw It Away" were a bit lazier than they had been the first two times, the interaction with Magni was awesome, especially Magni threatening to hit him with the guitar and then Magni kneeling before Toby and letting him play a few chords.

Side question: Paula Abdul is in the audience?

Lukas, "Fix You" & "Headspin": The House Band really did the heavy lifting on the Coldplay song. Lukas' falsetto was really shaky, but when they kicked in after the first verse, both with the instruments and the harmonizing, the whole thing took a quantum leap. I don't exactly love "Headspin," but I think I prefer the acoustic version to last week's.

Dilana, "Roxanne" & "Supersoul": Hey, Chris from episode one: this is how you try to tweak The Police. Dilana's a crap songwriter and sometimes doesn't even understand the lyrics of songs she's performing, but when she's on, vocally she's my favorite performer this season. (And, yes, that includes Storm.) By the way, what's the FCC fine for a diminutive South African headcase with Medusa hair and multiple piercings showing the world her vagina on multiple occasions during one set?

Second side note: The judges have been inconsistent in their critiques all season, and now we have Navarro -- who, two weeks ago trashed Storm for putting Toby on stage with her -- raving about Dilana's ability to get the guys to sing back-up. Huh? Wha?

Magni, "Hush" & "When the Time Comes": See? When Magni plays guitar, he seems like somebody Supernova could actually use. (If nothing else, he'd allow Gilby to go back to what he's actually qualified for, which is rhythm guitar.) When he puts it down, not that memorable. But he and Rafael played off each other beautifully.

I'm waffling back and forth between Toby and Lukas for the win. At the moment I'm leaning towards the Glam Hobbit. Toby's a better match for the band, but Tommy's man-love for Lukas just seems way too strong.

What does everybody else think?

8 comments:

Alan Sepinwall said...

Also, what is the point of the voting this week? If Supernova's choice is in the bottom two at the start of tomorrow's show, the other person goes home. If the person they don't give a toss about (Magni) doesn't make the bottom two, they just get rid of him in the next cut. Just an attempt to drum up MSN's traffic.

Anonymous said...

Not just the voting (which puts money in Verizon's pocket), but everything about tonight's show seemed entirely superfluous. Nothing else that these four are going to do is going to change Supernova's decision.

Toby's cover of "Karma Police" was relatively faithful. They cut out the second verse and half of the first chorus (for time). The only major change in arrangement was the band breaking for Toby to continue singing in the chorus. I thought that he sang it well, but something about the way the House Band plays Radiohead songs just doesn't quite work for me. It's less so the singing than the playing that doesn't quite fit. Maybe if the arrangement was very different rather than generally faithful, it might work better for me.

No mocking here, but The Bends and OK Computer are two of the seminal rock albums from the 90's and are among my favorite albums.

Anonymous said...

Seems they've gone one show too far. It wasn't a good one. No rock n roll moments to speak of.

But weird ones.

That David Blaine guy shows up again, and despite his angry expulsion speecha couple of weeks back, makes nice, kisses Supernova's butt and then flashes his own butt crack. AGAIN.

New paid models in the audience. Not the typical blondes, but strange character models who stick out.

Toby asks Magni onstage with him, then insults him by writing on the back of his head with a Sharpie.

Magni responds by kneeling in front of the guy and holds his guitar.

Dilana humiliates the male contestants by turning them into a boy band, strolling onto the stage with microphones, harmonizing background vocals to a POLICE SONG.

The rockers agreed to impersonate N*Sync.

While Paula Abdul is in the audience.

In the end, Baby Brando seems a lock. He's the only one who looks comfortable in the eye shadow and glitter.

(And I read that a judge today ruled the band can't use the name "Supernova"...)

Anonymous said...

"Head Spin" bores the crap outta me. I feel like we're being force-fed it for a future release. What was the deal with Navarro slamming Idol w/the Paula banter? Kinda like comparing apples and oranges if you ask me. 'Sides, I'm no Idol fan but if it weren't for Idol, I doubt there would be a RockStar show...

Philip said...

I agree about the Lukas v. Toby thing. Toby should win. BUT Tommy Lee's Unit will ache for Lukas and he'll win.

Does anyone else think that Lukas was that real big dork in school that kept to himself? Everyone else seems like they were a genuinely cool person. Lukas seems like the kid that nobody noticed. Why else would he need all that damn makeup?

Anonymous said...

I'm SO glad I didn't watch last night's show judging by what some folks have said about it. I instead watched all of the bonus features on my "The Office, Season Two" DVD. Made for a much more entertaining evening, it seems.

I actually liked Ryan's performance last night (the minute I saw before turning on The Office), even though I couldn't stand him most of the season.

Anonymous said...

None of the singers who attempted Radiohead this season have nailed the songs. I don't know if it's that Radiohead's sound is so specific to Thom Yorke's vocals, or if the singers on RS:We Need A New Name simply suck at interpreting Radiohead. Oh, wait, I *do* know the answer to that!

Okay show, kinda boring, and I still think they will go with Toby over Lukas, though with the tongue-bath they were giving Dilana, she might pull out the win.

tabloidbaby said...

From the start, there were only two obvious choices.

And both made it to the final two.

After Dilana's implosion, little Sal Mineo had it sewn up.

Great show! No suspense, though (and no Americans in the final four).

(How did gossip Janet Charlton get the word he'd won a few weeks ago?)