So American Idol is sort of Disney-related, now that the AI Experience has opened at DHS. My husband thinks I should try out for this. My husband is too kind.* I mean, I can hold a tune. But I’m too old to try out for the actual show, so the idea is just sort of sad to me. I mean, what if you win the day and you’re told “Well, we’d give you this Dream Ticket, but since you’re old enough to have voted for Ronald Reagan we’ll have to keep it. There’s always America’s Got Talent – you could be Pennsylvania’s answer to Susan Boyle! Know anything from Les Miz?”
I freely admit that I love American Idol – I do admit that my interest wanes after the “audition” episodes until they narrow down the field to the top 20 or so. But I think one of the most entertaining moments in broadcast television in the last several years of had to be the season finale of AI where Katherine McPhee had to sing a duet with Meatloaf and she looked absolutely petrified the entire time that he was going to touch her. Or eat her. Did you know that Meatloaf has recently completed production on a movie called Burning Bright? This is the plot according to IMDB:
A thriller centered on a young woman and her autistic little brother who are trapped in a house with a ravenous tiger during a hurricane.
OMG, please let this be true! I cannot wait to see this! It will be broadcast on the SciFi network (sorry - I just can't get into the syfy thing), and it will be amazing!
Sorry. Got a little carried away. I took Heckle to the AI concert last year and we both enjoyed it immensely. They used to play at the Giant Center in Hershey, which is about 20 minutes from my house. Last year, I drove to Wilkes Barre, which is not. I won’t go there again. The hills on 81 are awful to drive. They are not mountains, which are fun to drive on and at least the fear of screwing the pooch on a switchback will keep you awake. No, these are six lane highways chock full of tractor trailers going 80 MPH and barreling down on you from all sides despite those caution signs that depict a truck veering off the road to oblivion. One of my co-workers poked fun at my complaints about the hills. He said, “You mean the mountains?” I said, “I’ve driven on mountains. Mountains are my friend. Those hilly objects in Luzerne County, sir, those are no mountains. “
Last nights venue was in Reading, PA. Anyone remember the band Live? They’re from York,PA and wrote a song about York called “S*&t Towne.” Live should write a song about Reading.
But the drive to Reading was only an hour and there were no 6% graded six-lane highway in sight. So an improvement. Last year’s American Idol concert clocked in at almost 3 hours. There are ten performers who sing an average of 3 songs each. The winner and also-rans sing a few more and there are usually a few group performances. Heckle’s favorite from last year was Jason Castro, who came in 4th. This year, she loved Allison Iraheta and was a huge fan of Adam Lambert. I think she’s still bitter he didn’t win.
So here is my mini-review of the concert last night. And after re-reading it, I realize it’s not so mini. My apologies.
Matt Sarver. Big guy. Decent voice. Better than he was throughout the season of the show. Like many of the top ten, he’d be a good studio musician. But there’s not much to gain from seeing him perform live. Diction could have been better.
Megan Joy. Still hasn’t learned how to perform on stage – she does this strange hip shaking thing that is just unnerving. Amy Winehouse lite. Her performance of Winehouse’s Tears Dry on Their Own just made me want to see Amy Winehouse perform instead, trainwreck that she is.
Scott Mcintyre. He was a big surprise for me – having toured all summer has definitely improved his control over his voice and it was much stronger than on the show. He stayed squarely in his wheelhouse, which is playing the piano (which he does very well). I can’t remember which songs he sang on his own, but a duet of “Tell Her About It” with Matt Giraud (complete with dueling pianos) was really good.
Lil Rounds. She has a decent voice. But just like on the show, she came off as a poor reflection of the original artist and there seemed to be no connection to the song or the audience. I was amused, however, when she told “all the single ladies” to swing their arms back and forth and Heckle joined in. Well, she is single.
Anoop Desai. It was disconcerting to hear the crowd murmur his name after each performance, because it sounded like he was being booed. He has a great voice and seemed comfortable on stage. But I had a hard time banishing the “college kid singing at the nooner” image from my brain.
Matt Giraud. I didn’t really like him that much during the season of AI. But he was really, really good. His voice is much better than I remember. He first sang “Hard to Handle” by the Black Crowes. I love the Black Crowes and saw them in concert in New Orleans ages ago. Matt’s performance was good and different enough that it didn’t make me long for the original. Man, but he can play the piano. He also sang, “Georgia.” Again, very good and it didn’t make me want to download Ray Charles the second I got home. He also sang “I found you” by the Fray – meh on the original so I was meh on this performance. He did a decent job, but it’s not a song that really shows off one’s vocal ability.
At some point there was a duet with Lil and Megan. They didn’t connect to each other, the song or anyone in the building. It was like listening to two people singing the same song in different showers.
*Because I wanted to earn a living as a waitress in LA, I studied vocal music and theatre as a double major in college. Then I decided I wanted to major in people watching, so I picked up a second baccalaureate in sociology. After a brief stint working for an environmental lobby in Baton Rouge, Louisiana, I decided to put my skills at play acting to work and went to law school. Being able to pretend that you know what you are talking about is really an invaluable tool when arguing before a judge that my client’s troubled childhood and obsession with Klingons are mitigating factors that should be considered at sentencing.