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  • Vital Idol: It’s On Like Donkey Kong

    We’re down to the final three and I feel much like I did last year. All three contestants are strong, yet none of them seem like can’t miss prospects. When Fantasia won Season 3, I felt like if she hadn’t been on Idol, but had received some of the same publicity, record companies would be lining up at her door ready to sign her. I think all three of the contestants this year are capable of being decent recording artists, but has anyone seen CD sales recently? Decent just doesn’t cut it. I hope I’m wrong as all three contestants are very likable, but I can’t say that I’m going to be looking out for their album come release date like I was when Kelly Clarkson and Ruben Studdard released albums.

    I wouldn’t go as far as to say American Idol sucks (though my partner in crime would), but let’s just say that this hasn’t been their best year. Declining television ratings say so as well.

    It’s time to get on with the show.

    – Before we go on, was it just me or were Simon, Randall, and Paula pushing heavily for a Big Dave Archuleta and David Cook final? Poor Syesha wasn’t getting any R-E-S-P-E-C-T. Sock it to me, sock it to me, sock it to me, sock it to me. Sorry, I got a little carried away.

    – The threesome do Ain’t No Stoppin’ Us Now and Big Dave Archuleta wasn’t feeling comfortable on that dance floor. I think he’s going to have nightmares about dancing for about the next fifteen years.

    – Speaking of Fantasia, she’s back and singing live. She has bright red hair, tight pants, is screaming her head off, and is shaking that junk in the trunk while singing Bore Me. Simon looked confused, especially after the ending of the song was an ode to the JB’s and Funky Good Time.

    – Ryno introduces each contestant, shows a 5 minute video package of them going home, and then another 2 minute video package of how they got here. Let’s just say that I’m doing lots of fast forwarding on the DVR.

    – If you’re going to base your vote on the video packages, David Cook wins hands down. His was most compelling, including a story about how he was just supporting his brother at the Idol auditions and he was pressured to try out.

    – Ryno says that Big Dave Archuleta is going to the final next week as is David Cook. That means Big Rube is going to celebrate Syesha home. Ashley Banks did good y’all.

    – I just saw David Cook whisper to Big Dave Archuleta, “It’s on like Donkey Kong.”

    Next week it’s the final that the judges wanted.

    Until next week, I’m out like gout.

  • Revisiting: Darius Rucker

    Hootie & The Blowfish were one of those bands that I always wound up buying records from, but couldn’t figure out *why* I bought them. Because, let’s face it, Hootie’s material was pretty forgettable (in an enjoyable bar-band kind of way). A greatest hits album from those guys is generally all you need.

    I must admit that I was quite intrigued when I found out that Darius Rucker, the band’s lead singer, was releasing a solo album. I was even more intrigued when I found that he was abandoning Hootie’s generic rock/pop sound to embrace a funkier, more soulful vibe.

    The album that resulted, 2002’s “Back To Then”, wasn’t a superb album. Hootie sounded a little at sea sharing mic space with the likes of Lil’ Mo and Snoop Dogg (who will apparently rap on *anyone”‘s album. However, there are a couple of songs on the album that soar enough to make it worth a purchase-especially nowadays, when you can probably find it dirt cheap.

    I’d known for a while that there was a video for “Exodus”, the album’s second single and my favorite track on the album by a fairly wide margin. I couldn’t find it anywhere, until the song popped into my head last night and I decided to check (again) on Youtube. Check the video out. You might be surprised at how good the song is.

    For the record, I think that’s Garcelle Beauvais-Nilon (AKA Fancy from the Jamie Foxx Show) in the video, and Musiq Soulchild and Kenna (who’s gonna get a spot on his own in this blog soon) sing background vocals. The video, if I’m not mistaken, was shot in South Africa. What a beautiful song. Of course, after this album flopped, darius went back to Hootie and THEN started making shitty Burger King commercials.

  • "Idol" Sucks

    No other way to put it.

    Granted, this is only my third season of even watching one episode, but damn if this isn’t the sorriest crop of contestants I’ve ever seen in my life! Was I spoiled by Season 5? ‘Cause damn, I’d take McPhee, Bennett, Daughtry, Yamin and Taylor over any of this year’s final three.

    David Cook is bland beyond milquetoast, David Archuleta is a pretty-singing cipher, and Syesha is in a bit over her head.

    Moreso than the blandness of the finalists, though, this season’s episodes have had the slightly sour air of a fix. The product placement is amazingly obvious, and this episode seemed as much of an advertisement for Switchfoot and Diane Warren as it was anything else. (Is it me, or does it seem amazingly obvious that Cook has won this competition?-or at least that the judges are pulling ridiculously strongly for him?). This just feels a little preordained for me, and it makes me feel more than a little uncomfortable. Not like I should care at all, but still…