i’m getting bored with idol.
three or four weeks ago, it seemed that this was the best crop of talent ever. i was geniunely looking forward to the weeding out process.
but the song selection has sucked, for the most part. and not a single idol has progressed past the point where they started. each remaining idol sings just like they did when they started.
no growth.
and i haven’t been blown away by a single performance in weeks. when i say blown away, i’m talking at the level of fantasia singing “summertime”, which was for me the high water mark of idol performances. no one is even close to that this year.
hell, no one has even approached the level established by clay aiken when he sang “solitaire”. and that’s saying something, because i am not now nor have i ever been a claymate, and i laughed my ass off at his attempt to be a sincere neil sedaka. that performance though, in retrospect, seems toweringly godlike in comparison to what i’m suffering through now.
although i must admit i do find clay’s video chat escapades quite amusing.
so we are left with taylor, who i like quite a lot but needs to get serious and stop goofing around with crap like “play that funky music”. taylor, you need more tom waits and more ray charles, not more wild cherry.
and chris, who i have never liked. i like his voice but his phrasing drives me bonkers. and stylistically he just rips off so many people, and brings nothing original of his own to bear. it gripes me that no one calls him on this–so many of his performances have been rip-offs of lesser known versions of songs (red hot chili peppers, live, and the list goes on from there).
and catherine, who always sounds slightly off-key or pitchy to me, and is sometimes tolerable and once in a while pretty good. but then she stops singing and opens her mouth to talk and i just can’t stand her. i did like her second song on tuesday, though–the one with the drums.
and elliot, who please please please needs to stop looking at the camera in that amish-boy-just-off-the-farm way. he has zero charisma, or less than zero. if i close my eyes i love him. if i open them i’m aghast.
so i guess i’m left rooting for taylor, but only by default.
the final weeks? elliot goes next, then catherine, then taylor wins the taylor vs. chris showdown to be the next american idol.
but i have a feeling that people are really fickle this time, and a really crappy week or a brilliant week by anyone, but especially by taylor or chris, could dramatically change the balance.
oh by the way, here’s a great place to get caught up on your yiddish, if you don’t know what feh means.