what a preposterous night on american idol!
the theme from american bandstand! (apparently my thought processes are too linear. "bohemian rhapsody"? i mean, really)
a ford focus commercial/skit that was like a monkees outtake!
r.j. is saved!
christina is eliminated from her death bed!
and now r.j. is probably going to last another week because he's not only adopted, not only a victim of a tragic stage fall, and not only from cumming, georgia, but now he's also a crier! a weeper! his tears will buy him votes! AGGGH!
posted by fred solinger 10:05 PM

 
for michael's bemusement, the ten words that appear in the most songs on springsteen's the rising:
10 times (out of 15):
"rise" and inflected forms.
7 times:
"blood"
"dark" ("-ness")
6 times:
"dust"
"heart"
"morning"
5 times:
"faith"
"fire"
"love"

five of these can be considered positive; four, negative. "morning" depends on its context.

"worlds apart" contains eight of these words, while "city of ruins" has seven. "let's be friends (skin to skin)" has none, but the theme of "skin" is a tacit element of the physical concerns of the album.
posted by fred solinger 8:07 PM

 
last night on american idol:
tamyra: was fantastic. she looked and sounded the part of big band singer. despite her talent or, perhaps, because of her talent, there's an aura of impenetrability about her and it wouldn't shock me to see her in the bottom three either this week or the next. (that is, if they continue with the bottom three format.)
nikki: i agree with randy: great shoes. she had the moves down and i even liked the song, but nikki hasn't sang a song that'd test her range since "unchained melody" and she missed a note at the end. it could be curtains for her...
christina: hey! whaddya know, she asserted herself a bit -- maybe she's been hearing from friends and fam about her reputation. might not be enough to move her out of the bottom three, but it could get her a contract regardless, if simon's crush hasn't already cinched that.
justin: i really wish he would stop dancing; i just can't bear to watch that hair flop around. does he use the motion of the hair to entrance our youth? justin always gives you just what you'd expect but nothing more, like the bar mitzvah entertainment that he is. the justin mafia, turned off by justin's bold assertion of his artistic vision (covering dony hathaway, or did he just go to an alicia keys show?), will return after taking the week off and he'll be back near the top.
r.j.: someone put him out of his misery, please. first off, he sings one of my favorite sinatra numbers like it was an o-town ballad; granted, the arrangement was atrocious. secondly, he exudes the same asexual air as modern-day jermaine jackson, a sort of plastic sheen that makes it look like he's smiling even when he's not (and antiseptic suits don't help things much). as one of the judges might say, we have no idea who r.j. is -- besides the adopted-one-who-fell-off-the-stage from cumming, georgia -- because he certainly hasn't demonstrated it through his performances.
kelly: i think kelly is my new crush. she looked like an andrews sister last night; better still, she didn't sing an aretha song and she didn't sing like re-re either. she's got the rootsy charm that the others lack: young girls will look up to her because she's more approachable, the britney to tamyra's christina a.

bottom three: nikki, r.j., christina.
loser: nikki, and i don't think simon will tell her to give him a call.

the real question is: what lame skits or production numbers will fox foist upon us this week in order to fill out the thirty minutes? "bohemian rhapsody," maybe?
posted by fred solinger 6:10 PM

8.6.2002