Tuesday, April 08, 2008

I'm just travelin', travelin', travelin'... I'm just travelin' thru

Taking a few days off between tonight and the end of the week, and don't know how much blogging I'll be doing, in part because I don't know how much TV-watching time I'll have.

I'll almost certainly miss all three nights of "American Idol" this week (performances of "inspirational music" tonight, the Idol Gives Back charity telethon tomorrow, and the elimination show on Thursday). Feel free to use this space to comment on any and all things "Idol," and if you want analysis that reads remarkably like what I would have written if I were watching, Fienberg's usually pretty quick on the draw at Zap2It's blog.

I've already seen this week's "30 Rock" and will be reviewing it for Thursday's paper. I'll link to the review then, and you can use that post to comment on the episode (and, if I don't get a chance to see them live and blog on them, "Office," "Earl" and "Scrubs").

So we'll play it by ear and try to get through this brief bit of difficulty together, okay? Be strong.

18 comments:

Anonymous said...

You'll be around for Battlestar, I hope.

Alan Sepinwall said...

You'll be around for Battlestar, I hope.

If not right away, then later in the weekend. Again, my TV access is quite limited right now.

Nicole said...

Well you picked a good time to take Idol off because that was pretty boring. I liked Castro best, and even he pretty much did what he has done in previous weeks. I think Carly or Syesha will be eliminated this week, if there are eliminations.

Anonymous said...

Nicole's right, this week will be a bye, no one's going home.

Undercover Black Man said...

^ If I remember right from last year, they had the "elimination" on the same night as "Idol Gives Back," and did a big torturous tease before revealing, "Hey, we can't eliminate anybody tonight!" (Maybe I'm wrong?)

Therefore, the fact that they're doing a separate elimination show on Thursday must mean that somebody's going home. I mean, would they dare do a whole show on Thursday and not deliver a killshot?

Anyways, I co-sign Nicole's comment. I wasn't "inspired" by any of these songs. I liked Castro rocking the ukelele... but did he get some of the lyrics wrong??

Archuleta gets best-of-night by default... just based on the last five seconds of his performance, which were killer.

Anonymous said...

The best thing about tonight's "Idol": Jason Castro's serviceable imitation of the gorgeous interpretation of "Somewhere Over the Rainbow" by Israel "Iz" Ka'ano'i Kamakawiwo'ole (which means the original will probably be a big seller on iTunes tomorrow). It's been on a lot of soundtracks and commercials, but I bet a lot of people have still never heard it.

Here's the video (in a medley with "Wonderful World"):

http://www.youtube.com/
watch?v=Pe5p1BXNCQM

Anonymous said...

Undercover Black Man: The lyrics are a little mixed up in this arrangement, but I think Castro also had to cut some parts out to meet his time limit. As a result, some of the lines didn't even rhyme, which did sound kind of strange.

Anonymous said...

My TV access is quite limited right now.

Which is it, community service or rehab?

dark tyler said...

The best thing of the night was a reminder of how amazing Robbie Williams is. (Or used to be, whatever.)

I mean, come on.

K J Gillenwater said...

Yeah, the inspirational week was not very inspirational. My favorite, David Cook, did his worst performance ever....but I voted a bunch to make sure he stays into next week to prove he can bring it. I have no idea what song he was singing, and it was really all over the place. It seems he probably chose it b/c it talked about cancer, but the rest was just lost on me.

The only I really felt anything truly positive about was...oh I hate to say it...Kristy Lee Cook. I wouldn't say her singing was spectacular, but the song choice was a good one, and it was her best effort yet. I was happy for her to finally do well.

Michael Johns sang spectacularly...I mean, who knew he could do that incredible falsetto high? But the judges were right...that is not the kind of singer he is, so it just was a strange choice.

Please tell me they will pick a better theme this week.

Oh, and David A. was just not that great. He seems to be losing steam.

KrisMrsBBradley said...

I thought Jason Castro was the best of the night.

dark tyler said...

But the judges were right...that is not the kind of singer he is

Actually I think that's exactly the kind of singer he is, but the judges are trying to steer him clear of it because they already have their Rawker Du Jour and don't want the audience to be confused.

If dialidol is anywhere close the truth, then we can see clearly why the show doesn't want Johns anywhere near what Cook does; he could send him packing should he outsing him like that again.

Anonymous said...

Good point, UBM. You're right, someone is going home this week.

I think it's safe to say that no one but Steven Tyler can sing "Dream On."

The Blanks (Ted's band from Scrubs) also covered Israel Ka'ano'i Kamakawiwo'ole's arrangement of "Over the Rainbow" (also available on iTunes). They closed "My Way Home" with it.

Nicole said...

Here is the original version of "Innocent" by Our Lady Peace.

I was very familiar with the song, and as much as I like Cook, he just wasn't that great.

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=zZ8jCZQUWGw

I will admit that KLC was ok, and the Dial Idol numbers suggest that she is very safe this week. However, didn't her outfit seem familiar, like she's worn something like that earlier on?

Undercover Black Man said...

BigTed, thanks for the explanation re: "Over the Rainbow." It was definitely the non-rhyming couplets that threw me.

Also, I may be a lone voice, but I've had it with this particular arrangement. I first heard it on "ER" 10 years ago, and I keeps popping up in the culture.

Undercover Black Man said...

Please tell me they will pick a better theme this week.

My modest proposal: Songs of Anguish and Despair.

Nicole said...

I don't know if credit card donation was open to Canada last year, but since it was this year, I thought I'd give something. I do hope that the "stars" who participated also donated as well.

I was very impressed with the UK donation of $200 million.

The only performance of note so far was the Fergie/Heart/John Legend segment. And Ryan phone flirting with the women who call for him.

Dan Jameson said...

Will there be an Idol Elimination post? If not...I will vent here....

What an absolute crock of shit last night was. Michael Johns??? He was one of the 3 best contestants this season. I honestly cannot believe he got the boot before Syesha, Carly or Kristy of all people! What a total, absolute joke. I may not watch another episode of American Idol.