Quick Review: Amy

Amy Winehouse, gone way too soon, and the worst part is that her death didn't have to happen. Using never-before seen footage as well as interviews with people in her life (for better or worse), Amy documents her early life, career and, ultimately, her demise. And to see how so many people in her life used her, or otherwise utterly failed her -- her father, ex-husband and manager, in particular -- is heartbreaking. If there is such a thing as karma, they will someday, somehow pay for their transgressions. Her drug and alcohol abuse turned her from an incredibly talented singer-songwriter into a target for comedians and the paparazzi. I left the theater angry that we can no longer hear her voice. There should be a class for any young performers who are either attracting attention, on the verge of potential stardom or have gone the route of American Idol, The Voice, etc., and said class should consist almost entirely of this documentary. My grade: A.

A Thought On Adam Lambert

So by now you heard about Adam Lambert and his boyfriend being briefly arrested in Finland after a drunken brawl in a gay bar last week. While I am a fan of Lambert's music, and I liked how he handled the coming-out issue during and just after his "American Idol" days, and I was on his side when people (and TV networks) flipped out after his American Music Awards performance a couple of years ago, I find that I like him as a person less and less.

He seems to be rather arrogant, which isn't a big deal in itself. But when you're a celebrity, and you date another celebrity, and he happens to be a TV "reality" show star (in this case, the Finnish version of "Big Brother"), and you get drunk and get into a big fight, you can't complain about the media being interested in you, and you really shouldn't say that the media exaggerates...

...especially when at least one person has said she was accidentally punched while trying to break up the fight. After I read the tweet shown above I stopped following Adam Lambert on Twitter. Like I said, I'm still a fan of his music, and I'm looking forward to his second album. But his huge ego, combined with his whining about the media, is more than I can handle.

The Voice DID Wear Me Out

Another post I'm finally getting around to: it was almost two weeks ago that I accompanied my friend Kurt as he went to the New York auditions for season two of "The Voice."

The "New York" auditions that were held at the Izod Center at the Meadowlands complex in East Rutherford, New Jersey, that is. The ones that required he be there at 7 am. And, as we are both financially challenged, there was no realistic way to swing a hotel. So we took the Greyhound bus from Philadelphia to the Port Authority terminal at 3:20 am. I had gotten up at 9:30 am the previous day. With SEPTA's overnight service the way it is, I had to leave my house well before 1 am to get to the terminal and not be rushed. I didn't bother to even try to sleep beforehand, and I couldn't sleep on the bus ride either, as I was not comfortable at all. The bus may have had air conditioning but it wasn't hitting me.

We arrived around 5:30 am and then had to wait for the first New Jersey Transit bus that goes by the Meadowlands. That would be the 6:50 am bus. Our one advantage was that, by being there that early, we were at the front of the line to get on the bus, and it was packed. Many people were using this route to get to the Izod Center, but we got to sit.

At about 7:05 am the bus dropped us off. Not in front of the Izod Center. Oh, no. That would have been convenient, after all.

The X Factor: "Best Friends"

Simon Cowell is bringing "The X Factor" to the USA in 2011 to hopefully vanquish American Idol. (Okay, both shows will be on Fox so they can't air at the same time, but if X Factor turns out to be more popular...) Here's a video of two girls who talk about how close they are, but wait until the end of the audition...



I like the idea of auditions occurring in front of an audience, especially if they're really bad.

American Idol Likes/Dislikes

The overstuffed American Idol Season 9 finale took place tonight. I used my magical DVR to record and watch it. Some things I liked, some I didn't...

Like: The fact that I used the DVR instead of watching it live. It made it easy to fast-forward through much of what I dislike.
Dislike: Nearly all of the performances featuring this year's mediocre finalists. Since I forwarded through them, I have no idea what they sounded like. I'm just against them in principle. And the guest performers with them: Alice Cooper with all the finalists (looking ridiculous in school uniforms to sing "School's Out"); Aaron and Siobhan with the two surviving Bee Gees; Lee and Chicago; Michael Lynche and Michael McDonald; the male finalists with Daryl Hall and John Oates; Crystal and Lee with Joe Cocker...I love H&O but where did they dig up these ancient performers -- and more importantly, why?

Like: The Casey pairing with Bret Michaels. Not because I really listened to it, but wasn't Bret Michaels near death not long ago? Pretty amazing.

You Thought The Flyers Were Bad? Check Out This Guy

Tonight's 5-1 loss by the Flyers at Montreal was ugly. (The Flyers still lead the series 2-1, so no need to panic.) The Canadiens came out desperate and the Flyers were perhaps overconfident -- I think they've shown that tendency in the last 2 years, even with the wild inconsistency of this season.

But I have found something worse. Much worse. This "artist" named Travis Garland, who is being hyped by Perez Hilton, was "performing" on last night's American Idol results show. Why is this person being promoted by Perez Hilton, and why was he allowed on the Idol stage? I have no idea. I'll venture some completely wild and unsubstantiated speculation that transfers of money and/or sexual favors were involved. Watch if you dare...

Some TV Stuff: Glee, American Idol

I've got some thoughts on programs I watched this week for the first time in a while. I was going to also write about the finale of "Ugly Betty" but I'm going to save that for its own separate post, so stay tuned. ;-)

After what seems like years of hype, "Glee" returned to Fox this week with a new episode. You may recall that I tried to get into it back in the fall. It didn't take. With the confirmation that an episode devoted entirely to the music of Madonna was in the works, I figured I'd be watching it again at some point. Since they decided to start the Madonna party a week early, with the premiere of "Vogue" as sung by Sue Sylvester (Jane Lynch), I decided to watch it this week.

I loved the video -- a virtual remake of the original. The rest of the show? I still don't get it. I didn't dislike it. I'm glad the storyline revolving Will's wife and her fake pregnancy is over. Jane Lynch still delivers some delicious lines. But I'm still just as lukewarm as I was before. I wish I knew why. I did watch parts of the episode where Kurt became the football team's kicker and then came out to his dad. The coming-out scene at the end was very nice. The football game scene just before it (the team dancing to "Single Ladies" to distract the other team) was way too ridiculous.

Phillies: Here They Come To Save The Day

It's been a long, tough winter. Budget crises at every level of government, not to mention in millions of households. The absurd path to something resembling health-care reform. The Pope and his church continuing to minimize the importance of doing something about the child molesters in their ranks. The earthquake in Haiti. The horror that is this season's American Idol. A slut named Tiger Woods. "From Paris With Love."

And in more "important" areas locally, a pro football team that ended the 2009 season in heinous fashion and looks to spend 2010 falling fast into mediocrity, a pro basketball team that fell fast from mediocrity into incompetence (but no one cares anyway) and a pro hockey team that was touted as a championship contender, only to fall into a desperate fight to barely make the playoffs so they can be first-round cannon fodder. Speaking of stuff falling, let's not forget Snowpocaplypse, Snowmageddon and Snowverkill.

Enough bad news. Winter, like Donovan McNabb, is gone. Spring has sprung. You can tell because the Phanatic (as you can tell by the photo above, taken on Wednesday) has gone red for a week. The Phillies are back! The 2010 season starts Monday at 1 pm in Washington, with Roy Halladay making his Phils debut. Halladay! Celebrate! Now we've got Roy Halladay...and it's time to celebrate...okay, no more channeling my inner Madonna.

More Random TV Talk

Four more "singers" have been voted off the "American Idol" island. They won't be missed. Simon Cowell will be missed. His commentary is about the only thing keeping me watching. I suppose I should be shallow and say I enjoy contestant Tim Urban's shirtless picture. Perhaps if he showed some skin on the show he can hang around a few weeks more.

Meanwhile, tonight we were force-fed an appearance by Danny Gokey. He sang, which was bad enough (though, since I record it each week and fast-forward through the commercials, I also was able to forward past the song). Then he had to not only pimp his late wife (again), but also the fact that the song he sang was written by someone whose wife also died. I got this from Entertainment Weekly, and I'll probably have to say it until the day I die: put the GO in Gokey!

Thank goodness for the DVR. I also fast-forward through the filmed packages for each wannabe such as this week's inane "Something that America would be surprised to learn about me is..." followed by a totally unsurprising (and usually uninteresting) fact. Here's a clue, wannabes (and show's producers): no one's heard of any of you before this. I don't know ANYTHING about you. And unless you're going to talk about your nights at the local sex club either riding the sling or on your knees at the "milking station," I don't care.

Meanwhile, last week I worried that "Desperate Housewives" was hinting that Katherine would go lesbian with the stripper. I so hoped they wouldn't go there. They went there. Plus, apparently (suddenly) the gay couple on the block throw big parties all the time, but also (again, suddenly) are trying to adopt a baby. And Susan was an idiot (as usual). I seriously think I'm tiring of this show. The only question is, should I stick it out until John Barrowman arrives in April to do whatever he's doing that will lead to the end of the stupid Bolen mystery and Drea de Matteo's leaving the show?

If I stop watching both "DH" and "Idol," and with "Ugly Betty" ending next month, I won't have many shows to watch on the "big four" networks -- "The Simpsons," "Family Guy," and "Bones." I'm sticking with "The Amazing Race" at least as long as Steve Smith is still on. On cable, there's also "RuPaul's Drag Race" and "Be Good Johnny Weir" but there aren't too many episodes of those shows so they won't be on much longer. "Mad Men" and "Robot Chicken" are in between seasons. I've been watching "Southland" since it moved to TNT. They've got some new episodes now, so we'll see if TNT wants to continue running it. I like it but I'm not sure I love it yet. Oh, and I musn't forget my daily dose of TMZ.

I know there are a lot of shows that are popular and/or critically acclaimed, but as I've said before, something needs to hook me in order for me to even try to watch. So if I've got some more empty time slots in the coming weeks I doubt they'll be filled by other shows.

Random TV Talk

I've been writing about "The Amazing Race" regularly because of the presence of ex-Phillies coach Steve Smith, but I don't want to do similar updates for every show I watch. However, there are a few things on my mind about some TV shows, so I thought I'd just do a little summary here, and perhaps do it on a regular basis.

Earlier tonight I watched the first live "American Idol" of the season, featuring the 12 female singers performing. As usual, I saw nothing that made me think I'd ever buy one of their records. It was pretty mediocre, at best. If anything, the judges (other than Simon) were too nice at times. I wasn't overly impressed with Ellen, and Kara and Randy were their usual dimwitted selves. There was weak singing, there were poor song choices, and the whole thing really seems like the same old, same old (except now there's no potential Paula loopiness). And that's bad since I only started watching regularly three years ago. I'm about 99.9 percent sure that once Simon leaves I won't bother to watch again, but I don't know if I can sit through this season any more. I'll watch the guys perform this week, but after that?

I continue to enjoy "RuPaul's Drag Race." The challenges are surprisingly clever -- this week the queens trying to become America's Next Drag Superstar had to impersonate a celebrity. And the "Untucked" companion show, featuring the behind-the-scenes cattiness, is juicy. My only quibble with this season is that I haven't really developed any favorites yet. It would help if I had someone to root for, the way I was rooting for Ongina last year. There's still time for someone to step up, though.

On the other hand, I may finally be getting over "Desperate Housewives." This week was yet another of those episodes that revolves around one person, in this case the stripper who moved in with Susan and Mike. There was a little story involving each of the housewives, and at the end she was out, in and out. As in, moved out of Susan and Mike's, moved in with Katherine, and came out as a lesbian to Katherine. And they seem to be hinting that Katherine might be...exploring her options in the dating pool. It felt sort of icky, to be honest. There are still some funny lines here and there, but for the first time I'm wondering if the late Mary Alice should just go into the light once and for all instead of sticking around to narrate her friends' foibles from the great beyond.

Perez Hilton: No Trolls Allowed

So it seems that a trio consisting of Perez Hilton, American Idol creator Simon Fuller and someone I've never heard of are doing a search for the "next" boy band. Apparently there's a gap in the entertainment industry that needs to be filled. (Damn you, recently reunited Backstreet Boys, for not being big any more!) Males age 13-21 are eligible to be part of this contest. But...

Hilton encourages everyone to try out, but he does have strict guidelines as to who they’re looking for. “We don’t want any ugly ones,” he says. “We don’t want any Joey Fatones, if you know what I mean. So it’s not going to be easy. That shouldn’t discourage people from auditioning. We really wanna see everyone. [But] we don’t want anyone that’s, like, hideous. We want five Justin Timberlakes.”

"That shouldn't discourage people from auditioning"? What I'm hearing is: "If you have superstar talent -- voice, dance moves, even songwriting ability -- but you're not pretty enough, you can audition if you want but you'll be wasting your time!" Yes, let's send the music industry spiraling into oblivion even more quickly.

The following has presumably been done many millions of times since Perez Hilton started his blog but hey, even though I'm a latecomer I'm still entitled to one:

My Idol Fling May Be Ending

Last night, the 9th season of American Idol premiered. For most of the early years I never watched the show. I've always held on to my view that most of the contestants aren't exceptionally talented or worthy of being referred to as an idol, that truly gifted singers who work at their craft get discovered and earn careers without such a shortcut. This isn't to say that no one from Idol deserves success; I have some admiration for Kelly Clarkson and I love Adam Lambert. But come on -- Taylor Hicks? Jordin Sparks? Kris Allen? Yawn. I just think there's too much self-serving hype from the show itself.

So, in the early years, my only real experience watching the show itself was in season 3's audition round, the one which featured the infamous William Hung. The freak show aspect was being hyped in Fox's promos at the time, and that's why I watched. However, I just didn't care after that.

In season 6 (the year of Sanjaya!) I finally watched an entire season from beginning to end. In part it was because I wanted to see what the fuss was about, and in part it was because I was reading recaps of the show online (EW.com, for one) and didn't enjoy them as much since I hadn't seen what I was reading about. I watched most of season 7, but with season 8 I didn't begin watching until Motown Week, when they were down to the top 10, and after that I was mainly interested in Adam Lambert.

While the show is entertaining on some levels, it also annoys me in a lot of ways. The editing process, as with many "reality" shows, truly warps what actually occurs in shows that aren't live broadcasts. People can be made to look good, or bad, depending on the whims of the producers. Controversies can be manufactured as needed. The emphasis on the feel-good or hard-luck stories, families, the self-congratulations about the vote totals, the product placement, Ryan Seacrest's "America has voted...and you are...not...going to..." lines...all of this grates on me.

Then there are the judges. The three originals -- Randy Jackson and all of his "dawg" shtick, Simon Cowell's acerbic crankiness, and Paula Abdul's lovable (substance-enhanced?) daffiness -- and the newbie, Kara DioGuardi, who struck me as sometimes vapid, sometimes obnoxious, always unnecessary. Often the criticism of the judges is contradictory from week to week or from contestant to contestant ("you made the song your own" vs. "you changed a great song" or "this is a singing competition" vs. "you sound fine but you look ridiculous"). At least Simon tends to be more honest, and Paula, in her way, tried to make the contestants feel good. If Randy and Kara got lost in the Bermuda Triangle I wouldn't be unhappy.

Unfortunately, the reverse is happening. Paula is already gone, and this is Simon's last year. We have to wait until we see how Ellen DeGeneres, Paula's replacement, works out. For the audition rounds they added guest judges. Last night it was Victoria "Posh Spice" Beckham. Who knows what happens next year?

The whole show last night just left me kind of bored. I wasn't paying much atttention by the last 15-20 minutes. Everything about the show -- the awful and awfully strange auditions, the people who take offense when they don't get a ticket to the Hollywood round, the human-interest stuff (grandma with Alzheimer's, cancer survivor) -- it all had a "been there, done that" vibe. I didn't think anyone had a particular star quality, and with Posh Spice in Paula's place there was little coming from the judges (other than Simon) that I cared to hear.

I'm still planning to watch tonight, but I'm not sure whether or not I'll stick it out through the entire season. Certainly when Simon is gone, I think the show will take a real dive unless the producers do a major reboot. I'm not sure I can wait that long to jump off the Idol train.

Adam Lambert: Going Down?

Since I was watching the football game last night, I missed Adam Lambert's performance on the American Music Awards when it aired, but caught up with it via YouTube. Watching it on the computer was not the best venue, but from what I've read the sound mix on the TV broadcast was poor so it certainly wasn't improved by listening through my PC's speakers. Having said that, between last night and the times I've seen him on American Idol, that was the weakest vocal I've heard from Adam Lambert. The rest of it -- the simulated oral sex (pictured) and the rest -- was just so over-the-top that it wasn't sexy, which was what he promised it would be.

I'm not complaining about it, unlike the assorted prudes and right-wing nuts. I just wasn't that entertained. Considering that this was his first major post-Idol performance, I can't help but think it wasn't the best route to promote the new album. On the other hand, it makes the Out magazine editor who felt Adam wasn't being gay enough look like even more of an idiot.

Entertainment Weekly had two different takes on it, both pro and not-so-pro.

Oh, those crazy Canadians!

Here's a YouTube video of Adam Lambert, "American Idol" runner-up, having a sex toy thrown at him while singing Led Zeppelin at the Idol tour show in Hamilton, Ontario. Forward to the 2:10 mark if you don't want to listen to the entire song:



See, this is what happens when we Americans try to spread culture amongst the savages in foreign lands. Keep "American Idol" in America, dammit!

American Idol's Kara will be back! NOOOO!

Hasn't the show suffered enough? Four "American Idol" judges were too many last year. Since Kara DioGuardi, whose awful song was sung by the finalists last season, is returning for another season, this means one of two things: either they're going with four again, or Paula Abdul isn't returning. It'll be a mess either way. At least Paula's loopiness can be kind of entertaining. Kara adds absolutely nothing. I've only watched semi-steadily the last 3 years, and mainly because of the craptacular factor. With Kara, the "-tacular" part of the factor disappears.