‘Pants on the Ground’ Singer Strikes Chord

There was a lot of good talent on exhibit in Atlanta on the second night of American Idol this week but by far my favorite performer was General" Larry Platt:

“Everybody in America’s singing my song, ‘Pants on the Ground.’ I made that song up, years ago,” he said.

And he added that the song has a simple message.

“It’s about these kids and grown folk walking around with their pants down,” he said. “Get these pants up!”

His sudden popularity tells me he's saying something a lot of people have been wanting to say.

Loved it.

Rachel's American Idol Experience

I've downloaded all the pictures from my camera and cell phone and got the pictures that Uncle John took, so expect some more posts about vacation.

First up: Rachel's American Idol Experience.

If you're a fan of American Idol, you know the new attraction at Disney's Hollywood Studios is The American Idol Experience. Interest contestants can audition throughout the day for one of three slots in seven shows, with a chance to win a slot in the finale and have a crack at winning the golden ticket, which is a pass to the front of the line of a real American Idol audition.

Rachel saw that and was hooked. Could she she try? Sure, why not? We headed out what we thought was first thing in the morning but was actually closer to noon and got in the short line for auditions. Made our way inside and she got her chance to sing her a capella version of a pop song I'm not familiar with but which she sounded beautifully. Right on key to my ears. Rachel's always had the talent of perfect pitch. The screener gave her some tips, asked for some changes, and had her give it another go. Nailed it. But the screener said they only had 21 slots for the day and, unfortunately, they'd filled the ones they needed of her style. But she sounded and looked good, followed and applied directions well, and wished her luck. A nice let down. She'd gave it her best and, well, sometimes that's -

"Dad, if we came back earlier tomorrow, I'd have a better chance of getting in."

Well, I couldn't argue with that logic. And it was good to see her fired up so, why not? We scheduled another early rise and when we got back to the room that evening, she spent a good deal of time practicing for the next day.

Next day, we were up bright and early and in the park a little after opening. Same routine, got to the first screener, who was a nice lady from Texas, and who, again, was impressed with Rachel's sound and look and ability to follow and put into effect the advice she was given. On to the next round for her! Which was like a producer or something.

We cooled it for a while in the "red room," with Coca Cola logos emblazoned everywhere, and Rachel got a chance to choose her performance song from a list and listen to the track on an iPod and do some more practicing. We got called in and met the "producer," another nice, encouraging guy, and he had Rachel give her song a go with the backing track and watched her on his monitor. They have all sorts of videos throughout the process with Ryan Seacrest and the other Idols mouthing their lines and this time Seacrest came on and told Rachel she didn't make it to Hollywood but she did make it to a show later in the day! Woot! Her slot was for 5:00 and she was to show up an hour before, with her VIPs - Mom and Emily - to show up for special seats at 4:30. She leapt out of the room, waving her lanyard, just like in the TV show. I managed to catch her at a calmer moment:

We came back as instructed - since she's under 18, I have to be there for everything - and met her competition, a young man who is a theatre major in Pennsylvania, entering the National Guard in a month, and a young lady who had graduated with a theatre degree from New Jersey, who had competed two months prior and won her show but not the finale, wearing a red dress and nice shoes. Sigh. Well, Rachel was undaunted. She had time with hair and makeup:

Some time with a vocal coach, and then she cooled it for a while in the green room, which is actually more blue than green:

And we waited for rehearsal time. We were restricted from taking video and all I had was my Blackberry and I'd be stuck backstage during the performance but I would get a chance to see how things would go during rehearsal.

Here's the sign on stage:

They worked on coming out onstage and hitting their spots:





And then she ran through her performance:



Wow! The backing tracks really boomed through the auditorium and Rachel kept right up with it. Flawless, if you ask me, and it's not like I'm prejudiced or anything. The young man did Michael Jackson's I Want You Back - suck up - which was quite good, and the young lady did a soulful version of Natural Woman. Tough competition but Rachel was up for it.

Backstage again for us. We heard the audience come in, got a peak at 'em through the curtains - the auditorium held 1,000, not a huge amount but big enough - and Rachel managed to keep her cool.

Once Rachel headed back onstage, my only view was of the monitor. Thanks to my crappy Blackberry camera, I got some crappy pictures of the monitor and Rachel's performance:





They had three judges, just like the show: an amiable black guy, who liked what he saw and heard, a kooky gal, who liked what she saw and heard, too, and a cranky guy, who was mean and got lots of boos for his comments. The other two performed, the audience voted and. . .

The girl in the red dress won.

Dang.

They closed the show, everybody rushed on stage and congratulated her, the judges and Seacrest character came back and slapped me on the back, and everyone was just as nice as they could be. Rachel took her loss well and we chalked this one up as something we'd never done before and we were glad Rachel had done it. Proud? Oh, you can't imagine.

I think Rachel learned a little something about herself, about applying her talent, and overcoming her fears. Something you don't expect when you go on vacation. Beats another set of Mickey Mouse ears.

Lambert Gay? Shocking!

No, I'm not really shocked; no one should be:

“American Idol” runner-up Adam Lambert has landed the cover of Rolling Stone magazine, where he talks about sex, drugs and his “Idol” experiences.

The 27-year-old singer from San Diego acknowledges in an interview that he’s gay, and says it shouldn't come as a surprise to anyone.

“I’m proud of my sexuality,” he says. “I embrace it. It’s just another part of me.”

Interestingly enough, should Lambert's star begin to fall - and no doubt it will, in the world of fickle fame - it may not be due to his being gay but his otherwise less than wholesome image presented in this article. Sure, he's playing up to Rolling Stone's audience, and most of his mainstream fans may not read the magazine, but he was able to garner a lot of support from Middle America. Some of the others thing he has to say may be the actual turnoff.

As for me, my job is clear: go to every newsstand and remove the Rolling Stone issue with this news, to keep it from Emily. She refuses to believe it.

American Idol: Final Results

Told ya.

No matter the winner, amazing show, wasn't it? And if you thought dinosaurs no longer roamed the earth, well then, you didn't catch the show. I counted two contemporary artists - The Black Eyed Peas (and what was up with that blank screen while they were performing? Were they being naughty? Classy, guys.) and that guy that sang the bouncy reggae thing, who I liked. The rest of acts had their first hits over 30 years ago. Shoot, for Rod Stewart and Carlos Santana, their first hits were nearly 40 years ago. Still, I thoroughly enjoyed myself and having Kris named as the winner was just a bonus. That sound you heard when Adam sang Beth, before Kiss came out and joined him, when he was wearing that odd get up and the glittery guy-liner? That was the sound off people wishing they could change their votes for him. Oh, he'll be fine so don't worry about him.

I was glad to see all of the other cast off Idols and hear their duets and then the goofy awards thing with the memorable contestants. Almost felt sorry for bikini girl but then, no, I really didn't.

Seacrest says they'll do it all over again next January. I'll be counting the days.

American Idol: Finally, the Finale

Or would tomorrow's result show actually be the finale? Not sure. And I don't mean to give the impression that I'm glad the finale is here. Far from it. Seeing the clips at the end of tonight's episode made me want to start all over again, from the beginning, with the ending just about known. Sorry. I'm helplessly under this show's spell.

There's just no getting around that Adam outsang Kris but don't think I'm giving the title to him. Not just yet. Adam played it safe with his first number - my favorite of his, actually, and quite powerful - and though I had to miss Kris' opening number, I did see his recap at the end and I'd have to agree and give the first round to Kris. I'd give the second round to Adam if it weren't for his trademark caterwauling; what a fine song he had going there for a while, though. Kris' was too low key for the finale but on any other edition of the show, he would have shined (shone?). The final song was a draw: crappy song, good enough vocals, mediocre ending. Oh, and then there was Carrie Underwood and that redeemed everything.

We finally allowed the girls to vote - Emily cast hers for Adam and Rachel would've except she was holed up in her teen cave and missed her opppurtunity. We, uh, cancelled out Emily's vote, plus one. Sorry, Emily.

So, do I stand by my prediction? I do, and for the very same reason: Kris has a broader appeal. Don't worry. Adam will be fine.

Big goings on promised for tomorrow. I'm atingle.

(We hung around for the premier of Glee, afterwards. My. I could get hooked on this one.)

American Idol: Final Two, Finally

Ahem. As predicted, the final two are Kris and Adam.

At this stage, though, it's hard to see anyone go and last night was no exception. Even without the poignancy of the story of his late wife, it was sad that Danny didn't make it. You get kind of attached to these people over the long haul and their fate becomes interesting to you. Oh, he's talented enough to find some kind of career after this - the world is filled with American Idol contestants who've done well for themselves even if they didn't manage to win the contest. He seems like a good guy and that means something, too.

Adam's not quite the juggernaut that everyone thinks he is. Despite the stupid cape worn by guest Katy Perry, and his loud supporters there in the auditorium, I thought his trip home best illustrated what his problem will be in winning: a loud fan base doesn't equate to votes. Though moving to see him visit his school and to hear him sing the national anthem - and he sang it beautifully - the crowds seemed underwhelming compared to Kris'. And what's with the hype about the topless fan rushing the stage. Looked like she was wearing a sports bra to me. Disappointing. But it goes to another point to be made about Adam's fan base. Kris' - and Danny's - seemed like an all-American, clean cut bunch of folks who would vote for either singer; Adam's was less so.

Kris was suitably aw shucks about the whole thing and I think people will find that attractive. (Not that Adams doesn't have manners; he's very polite and I'd forgotten to give him a shout out about his Tuesday's shout out to the other contestants. Good for him.) Prior winners have come from the south - heck, no one who's won has come from a state farther north than Oklahoma - and Kris' trip home showed they came out in force. I think he'll pull in far more of Danny's voters than Adam will. The added bonus: I like his music better than Adam's. Adam can sometimes thrill but Kris' music is nice. And there's nothing wrong with nice.

I may change my prediction as more information comes in but let me state it plainly now: Kris will win American Idol.

Can't wait for next week.

American Idol Final 3

There can be no doubt, after tonight's performances, that the three best performers have made it to the finals.

Danny's first song was surprisingly strong and he followed it up with a great version of "You Are So Beautiful," which, if I never heard again, I'd be just fine with it, thank you very much. But if I have to hear it again, I'm glad to hear Danny sing it.

Kris played it safe with his first song but it was a terrific match for his voice and style. I wasn't familiar with his second song but Emily said he did a very good job and on the technical side of things, I'll agree. I'm no Kanye West fan but I like Kris singing most anything.

So what's to be said about Adam? Word was one of the songs Simon might choose was Wicked Game by Chris Isaaks and I think that would have been the better choice. Instead, Adam was predictably unpredictable with his arrangement of One and he wasted no time in getting to her trademark caterwauling. Same thing with his choice of the Aerosmith song. For the first time, he played it safe, toning down his appearance and doing what was expected of him.

Oh, Adam will make the final, to be sure, so it's only a question of who he'll be up against. I'll say Kris, just to be different though I'll be happy with Danny. The surprise will be next week when either Kris or Danny spoils Adam's win. Adam has his fan base but he won't be able to attract enough of either Kris or Danny's fans to bring it home. Not that Adam won't have a career - yes, he's talented and that kind of talent won't go unrewarded. He just won't win American Idol.

Yeah, you heard it hear first. Remember that.

American Idol - Down to Three

So now we're down to three - Adam, Danny, and Kris. Too bad for Allison. Her farewell montage was a reminder of just how endearing the gal is. Talented, too. But it's not about how well they can sing - that helps - but more about attracting voters. That means appealing to the broadest audience possible and with her niche, she couldn't go beyond what she did.

I think that's what'll happen to Adam, too. He seems wildly popular now but I don't think he's going to get any more voters than he has. True, he may have enough to get him through and win this whole thing but I'm not sure he can take over Allison's base. Then again, Kris and Danny may split that broad audience vote which means only one or the other will be in final. Adam should be in the final, then, but that doesn't mean he can win it.

The announcement of Kris' safety wasn't entirely a surprise. His iTune download numbers showed he was on the rise where the others had flattened and or actually gone back. If that's true, that may indicate a surge in his popularity and he may be the one to end up in the final two. His talent is no match for Adam's but Kris has something that Adam lacks: the cuddly factor. Adam is a machine, a creepy machine, whereas Kris isn't.

Next week is the trips to their hometown and then they sing two songs each. Can't wait.

American Idol Rocks!

Or tries to. Of course, it's not a rock show; it's a pop music star they're looking for and rock is only one of the genres they put the contestants through so the rock performances are no more genuine than any other of the genre performances. I don't mind that. What counts is what the contestants make of it. Overall, I'd say they did a pretty good job. The biggest surprise? Slash as their mentor. Who woulda thunk he'd be a fan? Who'd tweet about it? See, hardcore rockers are just like you and me?

Adam started, of course, and won the praises of the judges but I wasn't thrilled. He'd either knock it out of the ballpark like he's done before or take too much of a chance and go down in flames. He did neither. The girls weren't watching with us so I don't have anything to judge against but for me it was just more of the same ol' Adam. Oh, sure, he's very good, but he also creeps me out and he was pretty high on the creep out factor.

Alison did quite well. Once again, it's hard to believe she's only 17. Could she have picked better songs? Maybe. Joplin was the obvious pick as would have been her other pick, Jefferson Airplane's Somebody To Love but, well, what can you do? It's not like there are a lot of female rock singers out there to emulate.

Kris chose poorly. The Beatles Come Together has been done well only by Aerosmith and though he did well enough, this was out of his league.

As was Danny's take on Aerosmith. A good song but clearly not his genre.

Not to say I was disappointed with the performances. I enjoyed all of them and I'd be hard pressed to choose who's going home. But I'll take a chance and say Adam will, based on his ranking last week and his non-new groundbreaking performance from last night. He may have peaked and may not have been able to attract new voters.

An aside - odd, wasn't it, that the rock songs they chose to perform were, in some cases, 40 years old? Imagine a pop singer in 1968 crooning a popular song from 1928. Have there been no decent rock songs released within, say, the last 10 years?

American Idol’ Gets Down to Final Four

So it's so long, Matt Giraud. He had a good run but of the remaining five, he was my least favorite. Not to take anything from him - they're all astoundingly good and though none of them are Carrie Underwood, I have to agree this seems to be the best batch American Idol has fielded ever. It's all about votes and I think Matt split the "cute guy" votes with Kris and Danny. Alison has the rocker chick vote so I don't think she'll last for much longer as Matt's voters run to either Danny or Kris. I dunno what group votes for Adam - Rachel and Emily squeal for him and though I don't like him I have to say he brings something interesting to the table. I'm not sure if his being in the bottom two was hype or true but it was another surprise from a show that always delights.

Natalie Cole looked as hot as she ever does. Good to see Taylor Hicks looked fit and trim and working it out; it's too bad he hasn't been as popular as the other winners. Missed Jamie Foxx's performance - had to dash out on Dad duty - but somehow I survived.

Didn't catch next week's theme but I'm already counting the days.

Lackluster Night for American Idol Lacks Luster

Quite a let down on American Idol this week. Where just about everyone nailed their song choice last week, just about everyone missed it this week. The problem: they sang songs they liked rather than songs they could sing well.

My man Anooooop let me down. Good enough, I suppose, but his desire to be a hip-hop artist leaves me cold it's like he's trying too hard. Same for Matt. He was just trying to impress me and I wasn't. Maybe this'll be the week that Megan goes home because this was just another in her string of lazy performances. Danny finally opened it up with a good performance of a song I liked. Allison was only so-so, her first slip, in my view, but I thought her outfit was kinda cute. Shame on Randy for bringing it up. Scott was okay but I wonder if he wasn't blind if he would have made it this far. Still, I liked the song and I like him, blind or not. Poor Li'l is just not living up to her potential. Didn't like the song, didn't like the way she sang it. On the other hand, I don't like Adam but, boy, did he knock it out of the park last night or what? Again! Darn him. And, finally, Kris' version of Ain't No Sunshine was a good take on a good song. He did himself proud.

So three performance I really liked, one I didn't at all and the rest merely okay. Let's see what the voters say.

American Idol: Down to Nine

Not entirely surprised that Michael was sent home but I was disappointed Megan didn't even make the bottom three. Someone else said "What does Megan have to do to deserve the bottom three? Club a baby seal on stage?" That pretty much sums up my feelings about her.

Michael wasn't meant for the final and it was only a matter of time before he left. Looks like that time came sooner than later. Matt was a complete surprise and his poor showing was entirely undeserved but who am I to say? It's not like I'm voting or anything. But right now it's about attracting the largest following - oh, who am I kidding, it's always about attracting the largest folowing - and the same fan base that's attracted to Matt is likely attracted to several of the other men so that coalition is split. It'll consolidate later but for now it puts those of Matt's ilk in danger.

The song Smokey Robinson and Joss Stone sang was kinda meh. Quick, whistle the melody. See? And though it was good to see and hear Stevie Wonder, what's up with the Obama shout out? All right, Obama's President, and you're glad, we get it Stevie. Sheesh.

I didn't catch what next week's theme will be but, man, I can't wait.

American Idol

Dang dang dang dang dang. Adam was good. Real good. And for once he didn't creep me out with his look. Channeling Kurt Russel by way of Elvis looks to be a style that works for him. I may have to re-think my position on him.

My man Anoop did well enough that he oughtta be safe this week. If it weren't for all of the other powerful performances, he would've shined brighter. As it was, he got kind of lost back in the middle of the pack.

As for the rest: Kris and Matt started the show off well but Scott brought things back down to earth. He wasn't bad, he just wasn't as good as the two that preceded him. Poor L'il took her chance and squandered it, though she looked good doing it. My least favorite, Megan, was awful and for the very reasons I don't like her: she appears lazy. She's got a good enough, and quirky enough, voice and style but it always sounds like to me she's counting on getting by with just her looks. Last week she had the flu. This week, meh. I have no opinion about Michael. I enjoyed his performance well enough and I think the judges were too harsh on him. Another once who was just plain out-performed by the others.

And by outperform, I mean Allison. Holy frijoles, that girl has it! Great song choice - when I heard what she was going to be singing, I thought it was perfect and I was right. Rock it, girlfriend! But her rockingness may be her downfall. Rockers on this show rarely have the fans to support them through to the end. I hope this time it's an exception.

My prediction: same as my hope, Megan goes home.

‘Idol’ Sends a Favorite Home

American Idol can still shock:

So much for that story about “American Idol” already being decided.

It didn’t take a genius to see that Alexis Grace was one of the judges’ early favorites, and a New York Daily News report this week had her already ticketed for the final four. But a funny thing happened on the way to that perch. She received the fewest number of votes this week, and when the judges failed to save her, she became the third finalist voted off the show.

She was a favorite of this house - she's so cute! - and we thought she did well enough to stay around for a while. We were wrong. Guess we should've voted.

(The girls love - ick - Adam.)

But it's a solid bunch this season so more shocks are bound to come. And, in a way, it's good to see the show still has some surprises up its metaphorical sleeve.

Oh, and did you see Carrie Underwood? Wonderful!

New ‘Idol’ Rule Doesn't Save Departing Singers

Nor could you expect it to, this early in the game; what's the point of saving someone now when we have weeks to go? No one let go now doesn't deserve it. It's the mid to final weeks that'll count and then this rule might come in handy but until then, meh.

I'm sorry to see any of the contestants go and I don't think it was quite time for Jasmine and Jorge but they couldn't last so, well, so long. My vote out would have been the blonde girl with the sleeve tattoo or one of the blander boys but this will work for now. Poor Jorge looked utterly wounded and beautiful Jasmine was in tears. I wonder if they ever dreamed it would come to this.

But my man Anoop is still standing. He's gotta do better next week. Dweebs of the world are pulling for him.

Oh, and it was Rachel who pointed out it was Carrie Underwood singing the buh-bye song. Yay, Carrie!