Iron King

I've been watching the obscure Japanese series "Iron King" for the last however long it's been during my morning and evening exercises.

Gentaro has a weird way with women, hitting them, letting them be killed, putting them off, lying to them, etc. But he has one important mission, and that is protecting Japan against this endless procession of robots and terrorists. He can't be like Goro, his friend, a big softy ... except when he's the Iron King.

Yet for all of Gentaro's ambivalence in dealing with the opposite sex, they seemed drawn to him, much like they're drawn to Kramer, the lure of the wild, the kevorka.

Watching it tonight was nice, after the scam that American Idol is. It's good to have these shows where the good guy wins.

American Idol

Here's hoping that Adam Lambert pulls through OK tonight on the results show. I'm assuming he will. I'll be very upset if he doesn't.

But that means that one of these guys -- who both did pretty well -- Danny Gokey or Kris Allen -- has to be kicked out. I'm hoping it's Danny. Even though he's talented I've never warmed up to him.

Flip a coin, though, either one. Again, if it's Adam, the fur will fly. It better not be.

Heavy Metal Thunder

Ooo, I've been listening to the song "Born To Be Wild," as sung on American Idol last night by Adam Lambert. Caught it several times at You Tube and on my original tape. Pretty good, high energy, lots of action. 50 times better than the other snorers on the show!

Of course we all recall this song from a long time ago, and I believe it's been on plenty of commercials, including ones with children riding tricycles. There's someone out there who has plenty of albums for kids, like Beatles songs, Rolling Stones, Led Zeppelin, for children! I used to see them when I had a Napster subscription. So there's probably a very cute version of "Born To Be Wild" that kids like, or that is in a music box in a mobile over some newborn's bed even as we speak.

Personally, I'm old enough to remember the song when it originally came out. But, believe it or not, I've never seen the movie "Easy Rider." Bits of it like on movie shows, shows about movies, but never the film. I'm not a big movie guy. I just saw the movie "Midnight Cowboy" within the last six months. That's how far behind I am.

I definitely remember hearing it on the radio, by Steppenwolf. I liked a few of their songs, the ones I was familiar with. I hated "The Pusher," and still do. Yuck.

American (Adam Lambert) Idol

OK, I do like Allison Iraheta, always have. She's awesome, and only 16? Wow. But other than her, for me it's all Adam Lambert. I'm a huge fan. And probably if they had him in Tiger Beat, I'd be buying it again. Ha ha.

I love his normal look, the brushed down hair, the whole modern, cool look. And I liked the look tonight, like an Elvis look. The weird thing for me, though, with him and Elvis, is I think he looks more like Elvis with his hair as normal than he did tonight. But it was a very dreamy look nonetheless. But skip all that Elvis stuff, I like Adam Lambert for who he is all by himself. Time for a fan letter!

He did "Tracks of My Tears," since it was Motown night. He did it unplugged, a guy with guitar, a guy with bass, and a guy with a drum thing. I was thinking it might be too sparse for the judges but they turned out to love it. I'm looking very forward to getting the download from I Tunes, to hear it in greater clarity. Although they said tonight that the I Tunes songs would be the contestants accompanied by the original Motown instrumental tracks, so it seems like it'd have to be quite a bit different.

Except for Allison and Adam, I'm not enthused or interested in any of the other contestants. They each have talent in their own way -- more or less -- but they're simply like kindling wood before the real fire.

One comes in for the Boheme's severest criticism tonight, and that's Michael Sarver. He did "Ain't Too Proud To Beg," and he failed to get it at all. He said he was going to "church it up," which he didn't. The words to that song are profound and need to be said with conviction, like you are feeling it in the "pit of my heart." You don't sing "pit of my heart" stuff with a breezy indifference to the lyrics. In that case "churching" it up means having a sincere preacher's conviction. If you ain't got it in the vocal sincerity on that song, you ain't got it. And he didn't have it.

My Life Would Suck Without You

I love the new single by Kelly Clarkson, "My Life Would Suck Without You."

When I first heard of it a few weeks ago, I thought, yuck, what a title. I heard a few seconds at Amazon, but it must have been one of those days. Plus, I wasn't going to buy it, just to turn around and buy the whole album when it came out. So I only heard it those few seconds, then once on the radio. It sounded a little "paint by numbers" as a song, and I suppose it is.

But seeing/hearing it on American Idol, and now with the CD, hearing it over the speakers and especially on the earbuds, it's a beautiful song. I love the sentiment and the fact that it's romantic and also admittedly dysfunctional. It's easy to identify with that in our ordinary relationships, because we know where all the bodies are buried. Nothing's perfect, but still, I can say to her, "My life would suck without without you!" In fact I can say that a lot more honestly than some of the other romantic songs that don't allow for ambiguity.

I'm old enough that I actually remember when people started using the word "suck," and it wasn't a part of normal conversation. You wouldn't say it if a teacher was in the room, let's say. But as time went on (stroking my very long gray beard), Beavis and Butthead, then kids saying it about everything, now it's something you can hear in church, "The offering sucked today." Heh, I don't know about that last one. So when I heard the title, I thought yuck.

But it's a great song. I love it.

By the way, it's a lot better listening to it up close with earbuds than over the speakers. It's a lot more involved sounding with background stuff that you miss over the speakers.

Tatiana! - Final Edition

Well, that's it. She bombed out. No more Tatiana on American Idol. I liked her too, the whole drama queen reputation, the good voice. She was fun to watch.

But when you get one more chance, you have to do something with it. I myself wasn't keeping track of the songs everyone sang, so it's all the same to me if you do the same song over and over. I'm not occupying my memory with such details. But the judges were keeping track, and they didn't like the fact that she did the same song three times. Three times??

Simon might have sounded harsh, but it was right on. Was she planning on doing the same song every show. Even I might have noticed if she did that!

I cannot believe, that given that one great, last chance, that anyone would put so little effort into doing something dynamic. You could pick a song off the top of your head in about 10 minutes. Then they have people there to get it arranged, all that. I'd like to see the behind the scenes stuff to see what opportunities they have. Do something with the chance you get.

So now we're without Tatiana. Alas. I was looking forward to seeing her on there. But it was her own fault, at least from where I sit.

Tatiana!

Tatiana was picked among the eight wildcard singers on American Idol. I was surprised, mostly for this reason, that I had entirely forgotten about her.

If you're out of the public eye for a couple weeks, that's all it takes. They had the whole group of potential picks sitting there and I didn't even notice her. Then when the judge said her name, she seemed to come out from behind someone else, and I suddenly remembered ... oh, her, how could I forget her?

She was very emotional, very happy to have this last shot. It's going to be a tough competition. I would guess they have to pick, arrange, and practice a completely different song in the next 24 hours. That's going to be very rushed. But there's no way, I would imagine, that they'll just have them do the same song. No, because they were even saying something like, "Pick the right song."

This whole process would be interesting to see, be behind the scenes of.

As for the ones who didn't get picked ... oh well. Some looked like they'd be worthy of another shot, some didn't.

American Idol - Results, Round 2

Well, I was very happy, since Allison Iraheta and Adam Lambert were my favorites from the round 2 performances. They both went through to the final 12.

Hearing Adam Lambert do "Satisfaction" again tonight, the guy is simply amazing. I can't believe the voice on this guy. And Allison did a great job again too.

It was great seeing Brook White again at the piano, doing her new single. Hmm, I didn't know she had a new single. So maybe I need to listen to the radio more. Nah, I might listen all year and not hear it. Hearing it on the show was very good. She looked good too.

The other guy who made it through was Kris Allen, doing "Man In The Mirror." I used to like this song. I used to have a Michael Jackson CD single of it. I don't know if I'm too whoopie on it anymore. I wasn't exactly enamored with Kris Allen either. But when he sang it tonight it sounded pretty solid. I'm noncommital on whether I like him especially. He's probably a nice guy. I was surprised that Megan didn't get picked, but I didn't care for her all that much either. I guess it's good that Kris made it, since there weren't really any of the others I was especially rooting for.

I also liked the "Wonderful World" montage. Nice to see Taylor Hicks again.

American Idol

For the most part, I'd say obscurity is better than notoriety.

I really think I'd rather be an obscure hotel singer with a steady job that to be someone who went on American Idol and bombed out first thing.

The way they have the format this year, bombing out first thing is what's going to happen if you just happen not to be that great. The TV doesn't obscure the facts; it accentuates them.

Then you have blog after blog rating you on the disaster of it all. It has to about be too much for a young person, 21-26, who thinks he or she is really something.

The ones performing last night, with few exceptions, were pretty bad. I wondered if they would be, because the first one, Ms. Tohn, didn't seem bad to me. Then the guy following her, Mr. Braddy, wasn't terrible, just boring looking. Then the next singer, Alexis Grace, I thought blew it away in a great job. After that it was smooth sailing downhill, except for a couple of exceptions or half exceptions.

Tatiana wasn't herself, the herself we've come to know. Danny Gokey did good.

What I Learned Today

I was reading some stuff on American Idol, since I watch it.

Kelly Clarkson says she's not a lesbian. I had no idea this was an issue, but apparently some people have greater access to her than I. I wouldn't know how to find out stuff like this, but somebody can. She says she's never been in love, but does prefer boys. So there.

I wonder how old this information is. Maybe it's old but I just saw it. I say that because this same site said that Elliot Yamin's mother died, no details. So I looked it up at other sites and it turns out she died, must have been sometime in March 2008. I've really been out of the loop, I guess, since that's almost a year ago and I didn't hear a word about it. His family said they wanted privacy ... and as far as I'm concerned, they got it.

One of the other American Idol stars reported that he was gay. Which one? I'm thinking it said Clay. I wasn't watching it back then and don't know much about him.

David Cook's album went platinum, meaning a million units sold. That's interesting. I have it but have not heard much about it around. Have there been big hits off it, except for the coronation song? The fact that I don't listen to the radio means this is something else I don't know.

Taylor Hicks has a new single. I would like to have it. But probably won't buy it. Since if I buy whatever album would later come out, I don't want to buy the single twice. I haven't heard much about him. He seems to be an idol that American Idol never mentions.

Bikini Girl Kartrina something (Darrel?) was kicked off the show. Good riddance. She was worthless and shouldn't have been there in the first place. Entertaining in a drama queen way. That Tatiana is another one. Weird bird.

American Idol Starts Tonight

I'll probably watch it. I'm debating watching it.

Last year it seemed to drag somewhat. Someone was talking about how media savvy the contestants were, and adept at not doing weird things to give themselves bad publicity. But we want drama, mistakes, blowups, then also the super performances.

They've got some different things going this year, including a new judge. Plus, it appears, there are a few more landmines for the contestants, which I hope will make for more drama.

I'm hoping to go out to eat, which might mean watching it later. That's part of the reason I wouldn't watch it, the waste of time it is when it's all said and done.

I Was Wrong, Thankfully

This is embarrassing. I wasn't too accurate yesterday in my assessment of David Cook's chances on American Idol. Even tonight I was thinking he was going to lose, which would have left David Archeleta as the winner. But that wasn't to be, and it was the best outcome.

Not that it matters too much to me personally. Both will have recording contracts, red carpet treatment, brunch at the finest hotels. And I'll still be sitting here in my underpants, occasionally looking out the window, watching for my ship to come in. I keep saying if I sit here long enough, singing in the shower on bath day, Clive Davis will come to my door.

As it is, actually, is I don't sing well. I'm like Frank Sinatra in that I have lost my range with age. The big difference between me and Frank is that my range was already very limited. A few octaves lower than dog whistles and a few octaves higher than a low rumble. Middle C. That was the one note I could hit. And now even that's gone. My singing is essentially that one day, Mondays, when I shower.

I like to sing the song "Supper Time," an old church song. I don't know if you know it, but I have expansive gestures for it, especially two parts. It goes, "When I was but a boy in days of childhood, I used to play till evening shadows come." Then the next line has my hand going back and forth in about a three foot alternating wave: "Then winding down an old familiar pathway." And the next line has me miming big elephant ears, each two foot wide: "I heard my mother call at set of sun." Of course the chorus is so familiar it need not be quoted.

As for David Cook, a Kansas City boy, yea! Kansas City! The Plaza! Westport! Crown Center! Other things, what's that big farmers' market, City Market!

American Idol

"Let's get ready to rummmmmmbbbbbbble." That guy was on American Idol tonight. Did you know he has that phrase copyrighted, has the rights to it in some way, maybe like a trademark? And that he probably does make a fine living going around to events saying it?

They had a whole boxing theme, as it was David Cook vs. David Archuleta in the finale. The finale competition, that is, because the finale-finale is tomorrow.

Then it was time for the singing, and our favorite, David Cook, let us down. Since it was a boxing theme maybe he took a dive for some reason. His first song sounded pretty good (and actually I preferred each one to David Archuleta's songs), but David A. had the advantage in sounding more popular, more mainstream. Also David C.'s songs, except the first one, didn't seem to have that special quality in touch with the evening. They just sounded like typical songs, and David A.'s songs sounded like they were meant to convey something about him, about the competition, and about his feelings.

So Simon Cowell had it right, that it was a knockout on David A.'s part. It could be David C. sees some advantages to coming in second. One of those theories. But who knows.