An “American Idol” rant
Okay, yes, we watch “American Idol.” We don’t vote, because we watch it more for the entertainment value – mostly watching the Munchkin dance to the songs the contestants sing. But we also have our favorites – I like Carrie, the Webmaster likes Bo, and we both like making fun of Constantine.
Last night’s theme was musical numbers – and I was stunned to hear how many of these 20-somethings (most of them within my peer group) were saying, “Gee, I just didn’t know what to sing because I don’t know many musicals, so I called my mom.” For crying out loud!! I grew up singing musicals from records. My mother took me to see “Annie” twice when it came out as a movie in 1982. I wanted to be redheaded in a bad way after that movie. That desire continued right through “The Little Mermaid” and ended with “Beauty and the Beast” because Belle was a bookworm and a brunette.
Anyway, to say that you have NO IDEA what to sing because you don’t know musicals?? Most of the great ones were made into movies, and you’ve NEVER seen them?? Ack. I have a few suggestions for the girls.
First, Carrie sang “Hello, Young Lovers” from “The King and I” and she did very well. I think she would have done better singing “Hopelessly Devoted to You” from “Grease” or possibly “Wishing You Were Somehow Here Again” from “The Phantom of the Opera” or “Till There Was You” from “The Music Man.” Vonzell sang “People” from “Funny Girl” and sounded like a hacked version of Barbra Streisand. For the record, I don’t like Barbra Streisand, and I think the only decent movie she was ever in was “Hello, Dolly!” Vonzell would have done much better with “Memory” from “Cats” or “Climb Ev’ry Mountain” from “The Sound of Music” (instead of the horrible job Anthony did with the song). Nadia sang a song from “Oliver!” which escapes me at the moment. Her performance kind of faltered at the end (and I have to confess that “Oliver!” is a musical I’m not really familiar with – and I’m betting a LOT of the target demographic doesn’t know it either), and I think she would have done better with a more familiar ballad-type song – perhaps “Memory” or “Music of the Night” from “Phantom.” Out of the three girls, I think Nadia is probably the next to go, but not this week.
My predictions for tonight: not sure who will be in the third slot, but Anthony and Scott will definitely be in the bottom three. I’m leaning toward Anthony getting voted out, though I think Scott needs to go asap, especially with his recently-revealed (though apparently disclosed to the producers of the show when he started) conviction (pleaded guilty to disorderly conduct) from 2001. “American Idol” is as much about image as it is about talent, and his talent isn’t all that great, either. So stay tuned – I’m sure it will be interesting tonight.
Update: Well, the bottom three were Vonzell, Nikko, and Scott, with Nikko getting the boot. I still say Scott’s days are numbered. And I think that the only reason that Anthony is still in is because of two words: teenage girls. The ones who aren’t attracted to Constantine’s smoldering pouts.
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