Troubled Hollywood

It seems we’ve been fighting to keep you in the contest since the beginning, and I’m sure you feel the same. For you it has gone on for a few years years, as first a visa was stopping you, and now it’s hard to figure out what it was that stopped you, but when it comes down to it, I think it was none other than trying too hard to be what you thought we wanted.

What we want, as American Idol fans, is for you to be yourself. We don’t want that diva-ish stuff you sang in the beginning, as you were hoping to show us your talent. We know you’re talented, and if you would have just sung stuff that meant something to you and/or that you had fun with, we all would have enjoyed ourselves much more, and in the process we would have found your talent.

From the very beginning I have sounded like a broken record as I begged you to sing music that is closer to your heritage. What I wouldn’t have given to hear you sing a Van Morrison tune. Since we’ve never heard any of his music on American Idol before, other than Jon Peter Lewis’ audition, I’m thinking the show can’t get clearance for his music. However, there has to be some Irish folk rock music somewhere you could have gotten your hands on. I think you would have brought the house down. Read more »

I have no idea why I was once again so short-sighted, but I have once ago bought decaffeinated tea. Why do I keep doing that to myself? Thankfully, today is such a gorgeous day out there that that alone is keeping me awake. Before I go out and enjoy the day, let’s dish a little.

In Massachusetts to film The Proposal with Ryan Reynolds, due next year, Sandra Bullock and her Monster Garage husband Jesse James were the passengers in an SUV, and a drunken driver in a station wagon crossed over the center line, hitting the SUV. The vehicles are both totaled (maybe Jesse can make something of them now), yet no one was hurt. The drunk driver, identified as Lucille Gatchell, had a blood alcohol level more than twice the legal limit at .20. The driver of the SUV should have put Sandra behind the wheel to reenact her Speed experience.

It’s hard to say exactly what Ray Charles’ descendants have on their mind, but it’s not Georgia. They’re accusing Charles’ manager of mismanaging his estate and trusts and tarnishing his legacy. This comes about because of the release of two posthumous CDs that Charles’ children claim he never would have approved of. Didn’t he make them to begin with? They claim that in a 2002 family meeting, Charles told them of the trusts he was arranging for them, and he hinted there could be more “down the line” for them. They figured that meant they would have control of his likeness, instead of his manager. His will doesn’t mention his likeness, and in fact doesn’t mention the manager at all. The children, of course, feel they are entitled to the proceeds from the two CDs, figuring this is what their father was hinting at in the family meeting. Read more »

I think tonight was pretty deliberate of The Powers That Be at American Idol. After they surprisingly lost yet another guy last week in Michael Johns, well before his time, leaving them with just three guys, and four girls whom many think have lesser talent to the remaining guys, they’re stuck with a pre-planned Mariah Carey week. And it’s well-known that the first performer every night is in a very vulnerable position, while the last position is the most charmed, as that’s the one people are left with. So let’s examine the order and what we are left with.

Our lead off man tonight is David Archuleta. In the most vulnerable position is the guy that is widely known to be leading the contest. For one, you can tell by the fangirl screams in the audience, and for another, he’s damn good for a 17-year-old kid. If there was a guy on the show this week that could pull off Mariah it would be him, both in vocal and sappiness. He did pull it off, save for a major crack at one point. The show knew no matter where they put this kid, he’d be safe, so they left him in the most vulnerable position of all.

Next up was Carly Smithson. In the second most vulnerable position is the female that has the most powerful voice there, yet she keeps landing in the bottom three. They show us Carly talking about missing Michael Johns, seemingly just so we can connect her to the guy we miss. The judges want to keep making comparisons between her and Kelly Clarkson, which I understand a little, yet also think there isn’t a comparison. Tonight, she took on a song that Kelly sang in season one, with so much power and emotion, Without You. Here’s Kelly’s version … you tell me if it compares. Read more »

Right now my face looks like Paula Abdul’s, with my chin literally on the ground. I was hoping you’d make it to final three, but I wasn’t too sure. Regardless, I never would have thought you’d go this early. I thought for sure you’d be here until at least final five or six. This has me absolutely blindsided.

And the bummer of it all is you were coming off your two best weeks, and last week was just incredible, showing us what we’ve been begging for all season. That bluesy feeling with lots of soul, like you walked right out of the movie The Commitments. I like you on the Queen, Beatles, and Aerosmith stuff, but when you do the bluesy soul stuff, you blow me away.

Maybe that’s what killed you this week. You built all of us up. We were so thrilled to finally hear what we’d been waiting to hear from you all season. Had you found a bluesy song that had the inspirational feel to it for this week, you would have taken our breath away. Dream On is great in lyrics, but it doesn’t have the emotional pull we wanted to see from you. Read more »

Last year’s Idol Gives Back extravaganza had a specialness that seemed to be lacking in the show from last night, but I can’t seem to put my finger on exactly what was missing. It had all the star power of the last and just as many sad stories, but it didn’t feel the same. I didn’t jump off the couch last night aching to do something to help.

True, there was one major bit that just didn’t work. That whole thing with Teri Hatcher, Carrie Underwood, and the plumber just didn’t work. If you’re going to steal my man, I’m going to steal your song? Plus she was terrible singing. Well, in comparison. Put her on a stage with other mortals, and she’d do fine, but on the Idol stage amongst Carrie Underwood and Mariah Carey, it just came off as bad.

In contrast, the bits with Robin Williams as the Russian Idol and Jimmy Kimmel roasting Simon Cowell came off much better. Then again, Robin Williams comedy always works, especially when he’s escaping into a character. It could have been better, though, had he been allowed to just … go. You could tell it was all scripted. Simon seemed to get a little irked at the Kimmel roasting with all the comments of his nipples and man boobs, but even he had to laugh eventually, the more Kimmel just kept going. Read more »

It’s an interesting assignment American Idol had this week, finding inspirational songs. It seems to mean something slightly different to everyone. While last year many of the Idols relied on songs of the overall theme, such as making the world better, and a few looked at personal inspiration, nearly all the Idols tonight looked at personal inspiration. A few of them still didn’t seem to get it, and some you would think would struggle did quite well.

It’s not that I don’t think Syesha Mercado feels the words she was singing in Fantasia’s I Believe, but who among us didn’t know she would do something from a diva? Every week she takes on something bigger than her, whether it’s Whitney Houston or a past American Idol winner. Randy Jackson talked about the 6000 songs they had to choose from tonight, but Syesha seemed to start from a much smaller list, songs that are sung by divas in major situations that are inspirational. Knowing this very much took away from any inspiration I could have been feeling.

Carly Smithson didn’t seem to do enough research finding her inspirational song, as she chose Queen’s The Show Must Go On, and it was a song that was written when Freddie Mercury was dying of AIDs. It can be argued that everyone interprets a song the way they want, and if it meant something else to Carly, that’s all fine and well, but Simon Cowell is absolutely correct that it came off very dark and depressing and angry, working against the overall theme of the show. If it truly meant to her that it’s about carrying on no matter what, she shouldn’t have sung the song in this matter with this arrangement. Read more »

As if we needed further proof after last night of Dolly Patron’s talent, it was her music this week that finally weeded out some of the talent that was a little overdue in leaving. The Beatles music couldn’t do it, and neither could music from the year they were born, but Dolly could.

Most American Idol fans are probably quite happy after tonight’s results, that is if you aren’t a member of Ramiele Malubay’s family. Again, we know she’s a good singer, otherwise she wouldn’t be there, but she was failing to show us that week after week. She seemed to always pick the wrong song for her. And in a season like this one, with the level of talent we have, there just wasn’t room for Ramiele to make mistakes week after week like that. And I know she’s quite young, but the pouting thing got old told quick, whether she was being sent to the chairs or getting bad critiques from the judges.

It seemed to lead to a great evening, for as much as results shows seem to be wasting time until the last five minutes, we really didn’t have too many minutes to spare this time. It seemed to be a jam-packed show. Read more »

… I never promised you a rose garden.

Okay, really bad country music joke, and I apologize. But sometimes when it’s there, you just have to use it.

Simon Cowell made a very interesting point tonight on American Idol, despite him being the ultimate of crabbiness. We forget how great of a songwriter Dolly Parton is. I like country music, but I’m not as familiar with it as I am rock, so I always choose to listen to rock instead. Yet the songs that have been crossover hits into pop I’m familiar with, such as 9 to 5, Here I Go Again, and I Will Always Love You. Listening to the Idols sings Dolly’s songs tonight, and do pretty well overall, you have to agree this woman is talented.

Even the people that were the worst tonight weren’t that bad. And the worst still seemed to fall to the usual suspects. Ramiele Malubay was better than she has been, yet she sounded constantly out of breath, and knowing this little girl can power it when she wants, it had me jumping up and down wanting her to really punch this song. And as is the case with many of the mentors on the show, Dolly was too nice to tell these people what she really thought, not offering up much as far as constructive criticism. All she could seem to say about Ramiele was that she was little. Bully for her.

Kristy Lee Cook was bound to do better this week, as this is her genre. She still had a few clinker notes, but she did sound good other than that. However, she didn’t seem to emotionally connect to this song at all. It just didn’t seem like she realized this song was about a mother that did absolutely everything she could for her kids, and them not realizing they didn’t have what others did. And even if you sound good in your genre, if you can’t connect to the words, what’s the point? Read more »

Claudette Yamin is a pseudo celebrity because of her dedication to following her son’s career. She seemed to be a permanent fixture in the American Idol audience during season 5. Watching her ride in the motorcade with her son during his “home” visit as final three, nobody could be more proud.

Today, the American Idol community has received the news that Claudette passed away last night after being admitted to the hospital over the weekend. She was 65. No cause of death has been identified yet. The news was posted to a fan site dedicated to Elliott, asking for privacy for the family. In lieu of lowers, donations are being accepted at the Richmond, Virginia chapter of the Juvenile Diabetes Research Foundation.

From Elliott’s song, I’ll Make You Dance,

I’ll make you dance

Dance all night

If you want me to

Just give me the chance

To make it right

We can find a groove

I’ll make you dance,

Dance all night

Something tells me Claudette will be dancing her way through Heaven, listening to her son’s music.

Photo courtesy of MSNBC Media.

I was kind of hoping while I was on vacation that the celebrities would behave themselves, but of course this didn’t totally happen. I could sit here this morning and do a bunch of April Fool’s posts, but I’m not one to start gossip, just spread it. So, let’s dish a little.

Hopefully Jessica Simpson is on the mend. She was admitted to Cedars-Sinai with a “minor kidney infection.” Boyfriend Cowboy QB Tony Romo is not by ther side, according to In Touch, but they report there aren’t any problems in paradise; he simply had other commitments. Probably, but I’ll be keeping my eye on them.

Jessica isn’t the only one in the sick ward, as Adam Sandler broke his ankle this past weekend playing basketball. According to the Associated Press, he still went on to win the game. He’s currently filming a Disney film, Bedtime Stories. The AP said the injury won’t affect production, but honestly, how could it not, unless the film is all about him lying in bed telling stories?

We can all rest easy now. Anna Nicole Smith’s son did indeed die of an accidental overdose. I know I’ve been losing sleep over that for a year and a half.

To settle another thing keeping me up at night, Jennifer Love Hewitt is not PG. She was attacked for wearing a bikini without having a totally svelte figure before, and when she’s wearing the style of tops that are now in, blousy things that are loose in the midriff, everyone calls her pregnant. It can’t be easy. Jen, women across America can certainly sympathize with you, and if they’re the ones criticizing, shame on them.

What kind of a jerk tries to gain fame off rumors of his dead nephew? Heath Ledger’s uncle is saying when Heath was 17, he had an affair with an older woman who later gave birth to a child after they broke it off. Apparently this isn’t the only troubling news surrounding Heath’s will. Not only was it written before his known 2-year-old daughter’s birth, but Heath’s uncles think his father is ill-equipped to oversee the estate, and indeed he was removed from overseeing his own grandfather’s estate by the Supreme Court.

After today, my vacation is officially over, and so am I.

Photos courtesy of aolcdn.com and celebrityhookups.wordpress.com.