American Idol Season 9 Sum Up

Welcome back to The Expressionist Magazine

This year’s finale had a lot of emotion.  For one, the legendary Simon Cowell will no longer judge the competition; the main voice of the panel giving criticism that made the show famous.  I mean come on, who didn’t watch it to see who Simon would rip apart.  I know I surely did.

This season also had a new judge, Ellen DeGeneres.  A woman who undoubtedly loves music, and dances to a new song each and every weekday on her show.  I thought she did alright for her first season.  I noticed the first 24 she seemed to mimic Randy’s criticism a lot, almost to the word.  I never really saw her disagree with Randy, except for one time with Tim.  Was she the most qualified?  Let’s see, Simon and Randy are two huge entities in the music recording field. Randy played bass with Journey, and Simon has produced some of the world’s top artists.  Kara was a Grammy winning song writer and vocalist.  Ellen?  She loves music.  Odd in many ways, but she did better than most thought.

The final episode of Season 9 didn’t have any gaudy lip-syncing, bikini flashes, or unnecessary hype.  Instead it was filled with great performances by Janet Jackson, Cristina Aguilera, Joe Cocker, Alanis Morissette, Chicago, Michael McDonald, and amazingly enough, the very lucky Bret Michaels.  It’s really what the show needed after last year’s debacle.

Season 9′s finalists were both chosen in Chicago.  You had Lee DeWyze, and Crystal Bowersox.  Each are completely different in sound and personality, but each knows exactly what recording artist they are.  Both Crystal and Lee were good choices for this year’s finale, and I still say both were a MUCH better choice than last year.  Over the past nine seasons, Idol has only given the world really four successful Idols, and five duds.  Sure, they may have had a little success, but the runners-up in that year have surely out performed them.  Reuben had some success, more than some, with most of it being in the gospel genre.  Fantasia and Taylor Hicks were complete flops.  It’s still a little too early yet, but I only heard Adam Lambert on the radio and nothing from Kris Allen.  Would this year be different?

If I had to compare these finalists to anyone, I would say Lee was a good example of David Cook, and Danny Gokey from Season 8, whom he has a striking resemblance to.  Crystal Bowersox would match well with the great Janis Joplin and sounded phenomenal in her duet with Alanis tonight.  Sure, each one has their strengths and weaknesses, but either way, I would enjoy this year’s winner over last year’s.

In the end, Lee DeWyze won Season 9 despite a weak performance in the final contest, and not being consistent all season.  He found his rhythm in the last few weeks which really was his saving grace.  Crystal never was in the bottom three.  She continued to blow the judges away week after week, and was the sure winner of this year, again another major upset.  I don’t know if people voted for Lee because of his good looks, or just because he was the underdog.  We’ll see if America picked them right, because on voting lately, America has let us all down majorly.  I don’t want to see a sixth flop and Crystal outdoing Lee in the long run.  I mean, the winner is supposed to be the best, the one that America is dying to see in the stores and will rush out to get their new release when the time comes.  Somehow that never seems to happen unless your Carrie Underwood or Kelly Clarkson.  Jordin Sparks has done well for herself, but not nearly as popular as those two.

Only time will tell, but I have a good feeling Idol will never be the same, and many will stop watching it next year.  I have seen LOTS of disgust over the winner; they like him, but they know Crystal is the better of the two.  There won’t be harsh criticism in there either unless Gordon Ramsay comes to judge Idol.  I think the show is in the books.  It will go down as one of the most popular reality shows in history, but like most, I won’t be watching next year unless they get one hell of a judge to replace Simon.

Congrats to Lee and Crystal.  We wish you all the best on your future endeavors.

American Idol Season 9 Top 12

If you didn’t catch American Idol last week, you would have seen some pretty great performances.  As usual there were some lacking luster, but they really did well their first time on a stage of this magnitude.  The crowds were bigger, the stakes higher, and the song choices more challenging especially with the Rolling Stones.

The Rolling Stones are classic. I don’t know anyone that hasn’t heard at least one of their tunes, and probably those that have know at least one song by heart.  They have been performing since the 60s, giving them more than 40 years of songs to choose from.  The problem with songs from this band isn’t the fact they are hard, but that the Stones are so famous that changing the song could be suicide.  And for those that do the song the way the Stones did, they will be compared to them almost like karaoke.

Each performer brought their A-game to the stage, in hopes it would show.  For three performers their performances were far from perfect.  In the bottom three was Paige Miles who happened to be suffering from laryngitis but managed to belt out some pretty intense notes. In fact, many didn’t even know she was sick.  The others joining her were Lacy Brown singing “Ruby Tuesday” and Tim Urban singing “Under My Thumb.”

For me, I could see Tim being in the bottom three; I didn’t like his performance at all.  The vocals were all over the place, and he gave the song a Jamaican type sound which I usually applaud but this was a train wreck in my opinion. Knowing that Paige was sick, and couldn’t practice till she hit the stage, I figured she would be in the bottom three but felt she would be safe based on past performances.  Lacy, I was really surprised for, as she has had trouble finding herself in the competition, however, I really enjoyed her unique voice.  She was far better than Tim was that night and better than Paige, but for some reason America didn’t think so and voted her off.  This surprised Tim when he was the safe one in the bottom three leaving Paige and Lacy facing elimination.  I think he really expected to be going home as did I.

The judges decided not to use the save on Lacy, and sent her packing.  I knew they wouldn’t this soon in the competition.

As for the guest performances, I enjoyed the return performance of David Cook.  His vocals were hot, and he took the stage like we never have seen him do before on American Idol with his rendition of “Jumping Jack Flash.”  On the other side we had two female guest performers including Orianthi singing her hit “According To You,” which was another great performance.  She once played guitar for Carrie Underwood, American Idol Season 6 winner.  Then we heard Ke$ha sing her hit “Blah Blah Blah.”  For me, she looked ridiculous out there, and the song was horrible.  I don’t know how this song ever got on the radio, and how it boosted her to this kind of level in the music industry.  Shame on American Idol for this performance.  I was glad when it was over.

“Deadliest Catch” Phil Harris Dies

Wednesday, February 10th Discovery Channel lost one of its stars when Captain Phil Harris of the Cornelia Marie died after suffering a stroke.  

Captain Phil was out at sea fishing when he was struck with the fatal stroke, but managed to get medivac’d to the nearest hospital.  Phil actually survived the ordeal for a few days and looked as if he would be OK.  “Dad started to sit up and responded to us; he was able to grab our hands and fingers.” says his son.  “We really knew how tough he was, and thought he was going to be OK.”

Phil died from complications from the stroke on Wednesday. 

In the past season, Captain Harris was stricken with a blood clot that passed up his legs, through his heart and ended up in his lungs where it was successfully removed.  The doctors were amazed he survived at all; and warned him that going out to see, and having something like this happen again could prove to be fatal.  Phil was suffering from a genetic problem that caused these clots, his mother died young from the very same thing.

Phil was a fisherman through and through, he loved the harsh conditions of the Artic Sea, and loved fishing with his boys.  Its the reason he came back to work; something he’s been doing since he was 10.  At least he went doing something he loved with the boys he treasured.

The future of the Cornelia Marie is in the air, his eldest son was the captain of the ship on his first blood clot incident and may take over for his father.  They may decide to retire the ship all together; but that is still to be seen.

Captain Phil’s legacy will live on in the treterous waters of the Artic Ocean and forever play on the reruns of Discovery’s “Deadliest Catch.”

Simpsons Made A Lot Of Doh

It’s hard to believe that 20 years ago the Tracy Ulman show introduced the world to a crudely drawn, poorly animated cartoon that would forever change television.  It aired as a small filler segment for the show, but the popularity of The Simpsons spread like wildfire.  In 1990, 20^th Century Fox decided to take a gamble and make The Simpsons a primetime sitcom cartoon spearheaded by creator Matt Groening.  That gamble was about to make history.

The Simpsons are a disfunctional family by every stretch of the means.  Bart, the oldest, is a crude, sassy, back talking, and disrespectful troublemaker.  His sister, Lisa,  is a straight-A, liberal genius with a heart of gold.  Maggie, the baby of the family, will probably never grow up and never speak.   Then you add in a dimwitted, drunken father named Homer, and his wife Marge, who keeps the family a bit level headed.  With these kinds of characters, you have one of the funniest cartoons in the nation.

Matt Groening is a genius.  He created a town called Springfield that is filled with so many characters of all nations, religions, and social statuses and then combines them into one town.   The jokes of the cartoon will offend probably just about everyone, so don’t feel singled out.  Despite the diversity, it allows us all to relate to someone in the cartoon.   Like it or not, the Simpsons family is a model of the modern American family; we just don’t want to admit it.  We all have a Bart or a Lisa in the family, and we all have a Homer too somewhere if you dig deep enough.

Want some more amazing facts about this series?  The Simpsons have completed this January, 450 episodes.  Each one of those episodes was completely different than the previous, and never overlapped a topic once.   The jokes are new each show, while maintaining the standard themes of each character.   I don’t know how the creators made that possible for all these years.   The show is also the longest running cartoon in U.S. history, and has won just about every award given including a Guilder Award.

Today, The Simpsons is a household name and the characters’ faces show up on just about every kind of merchandise you can imagine, including bottle openers.  Since the first show appeared, they have come out with two video games, the first which appeared in arcades and on the original Nintendo Entertainment System.  In 2007, the Simpsons family starred in their first ever full length motion picture.   Heck,  they are the only non-living actors/actresses with stars on the Hollywood Walk of Fame.

The Simpsons were considered vulgar back in the early ’90s and most stations boycotted them.   The current president at the time, George H.W. Bush, even mentioned them in a speech as something we should not model our families after. That would soon change as America grew more and more tolerant and what you see now on television makes the Simpsons look like saints.

To enhance the awe of this amazing show, some of Hollywood’s brightest stars have made guest appearances on The Simpsons, including Bill Clinton.  Everyone wants to be a character on the popular cartoon because if you land on the Simpsons, you’re one of the in-crowd.

This series has set a huge milestone for animation in general, to which many people have tried to match the bar The Simpsons have set.  Creator Seth MacFarlane of The Family Guy said he got a lot of inspiration from The Simpsons for his hit cartoon. If you watch the two shows you can see how similar they actually are.   Matt Groening states that the trick to the comedy is to “do what you think is funny, don’t worry about who you will insult or what others think because in comedy you always insult someone.”  That is the mantra that has made the success of these lovable yellow characters, and that mantra has oozed over into The Family Guy as well.

Love them or hate them, The Simpsons are here to stay, and will probably be here for another 20 years.   It wouldn’t be America without this family.  This is Homer’s world!

The Seasonal Magic Of Rankin and Bass

Around Christmas time or the holiday season in general, we tend to cling to traditions that were passed down through the generations probably because they help to preserve and recreate the magic of the past.  One of those traditions started in the 60s, which may be your generation or  your parents’ generation, but now is being passed on to your kids’ generation.  That tradition is gathering around the television watching Christmas specials with the Christmas tree a glow, lights out and sipping on hot chocolate or egg nog.  These seasonal television specials are a wonderful way to spend time with your family, sharing quality time and passing on a childhood memory to your children.

Since the mid-1960s, Arthur Rankin, Jr. and Jules Bass created these timeless classics. It started out with Rudolph The Red Nosed Reindeer,  which aired in 1964 on NBC.  The sponsor was General Electric (G.E.).  This doll like classic was narrated by singer Burl Ives, featured in the film as “Sam The Snowman.”  The series has several original songs such as “Silver and Gold,” “Have a Holly Jolly Christmas,” and “Rudolph The Red Nosed Reindeer.”  This mini special is the longest running television special airing every year for 45 years now.

The amazing success of Rudolph led to many other specials produced by the Animagic studio such as Santa Claus is Coming to Town in 1970, narrated by Fred Astaire, and Mikey Rooney’s voice was that of Kris Kringle. This special, like Rudolph, utilized the stop-motion production.  That process can be seen with the robotic or choppy like movement of the characters. Some other great specials produced by this studio using this same process were The Little Drummer Boy, The Year Without A Santa Claus, Nestor the Long Eared Christmas Donkey, and The Leprechaun’s Christmas Gold.

Rankin and Bass also used traditional cartoon animation to create a few timeless classics, one of their most popular being Frosty The Snowman in 1969.  Narrated by comedian Jimmy Durante, this classic has run every year since its creation, elapsing 40 years.  We all love watching this terrible magician, tread hell or high water to return that magic hat to his possession.  In the end, he does manage to retrieve the hat and temporarily kill Frosty, but Santa comes and saves the day.

Though stop-motion animation is what got Rankin/Bass famous, the traditional animation made a huge impact for them as well producing classics like Cricket on the Hearth, ’Twas the Night Before Christmas, and The Stingiest Man in Town (their version of A Christmas Carol).

Today, adults and children alike revere these classics close to their hearts.  When many people pick on adults for watching kids’ stuff on television, nobody will pick fun of you for watching these.  What’s even more magical is how they bring out memories of Christmas past for the viewers, as well as making the older generations feel like children again.  Honestly, ask anyone and they will tell you the same thing, “It’s not Christmas until I see Rudolph and Frosty on TV.”

When I was younger these shows used to play two or three times a year, but within the last four to five years you will find they play these specials one time, and usually right after Thanksgiving.  If you miss them you better go to the store to buy the DVD, because it won’t be shown again in the year.  If you want to see these shows, best advice I can say is to look at your local TV Guide the week of and the week after Thanksgiving and mark them down on the calendar.  They are seldom played close to Christmas. With DVDs out now, it’s more profitable for the studios to have you buy them than to play them on television.

For those who do watch these specials, they will tell you the same thing.  Watching them on DVD is great, but not the same because one of the things that makes them so special are the holiday commercials, something that definitely is not on the DVDs.   So share a piece of your childhood memories with your children.  Sit down in front of the TV, get out the hot chocolate, snuggle into your PJs, and watch the magic that Rankin and Bass can only make.  Watching the smiles on your children’s faces will be a new memory for you to remember for years to come.

Ellen DeGeneres: New Idol Judge

Let me understand this.  American Idol removed the multi-Grammy award winning, platinum selling artist Paula Abdul for Ellen DeGeneres, a comedian and talk show host?  I just don’t get it.

If you watch her talk show weekdays at 4:00 PM, you will see she enters in gallant fashion, a long dance to some new pop song that is rocking the charts.  It’s fun, and that is how DeGeneres is.  I wouldn’t expect anything less from a comedian.  However, on her show I have seen her sing over and over again, and she herself admits she can’t but tries, and I so agree.

So, where is the magic for her on American Idol?  If this was So You Think You Can Dance or Dance Your Ass Off, you know she would be a better fit.  DeGeneres will be the first to say music is her life, but is it the beat she likes or the careful ear to ensure it’s sung well.  I have a feeling it’s more the beat, but what do I know.

DeGeneres, I think, was brought to the show to ease some tensions a bit on the judges panel for the contestants.  You have the very truthful and downright nasty Simon Cowell.  There’s Randy Jackson, who is more smooth with his criticism but recently has been just as hard.  You also have Kara Dioguardi who can be sweet and encouraging one minute, but then turns into a raging bull the next minute almost to the point of being bi-polar.  And of course there was Paula Abdul.  It seemed that no matter how bad you were, she made you feel good about the performance in some way and gave helpful advice.  It balanced out the panel for contestants that just got their heart destroyed by the other three, so at least there was some solace in one.  DeGeneres has that same personality so I feel she will either ease the singers or unintentionally embarass them, as that is what comedians do.

Personally, I think this is showing how desperate and vulnerable American Idol is becoming.  They needed Kara Dioguardi to be in a two piece bikini with a contestant last year.  They lost their rock in Paula Abdul which really angered Americans everywhere. And then there are the accusations from past contestants and observations from the audience that the show is rigged.  If they don’t pull something great out of their dark abyss, American Idol may be in the history books after May of 2010.  At least you know Ryan Seacrest won’t be jobless.

I have no problem with DeGeneres; I think she is a wonderful person and humanitarian, however, the equation for this concoction just doesn’t compute.

The Secret Life Of The American Teenager

Originally when I saw the Family Channel promote this show almost two full seasons ago I thought, “Man, this is going to promote some serious promiscuous sex with teenagers.”  I was shocked that Molly Ringwold was taking part in it.  However, I changed my mind after watching this show.

The show is based on a sixteen-year-old girl who is a Straight-A student and band geek that gets pregnant on her trip to band camp one summer.  She returns home to face the scrutiny of her peers, feel the anger of her parents and then watches her life change before her very eyes.

The Secret Life of the American Teenager does depict an unwelcomed scenario in a typcial modern family, but the show goes a bit further.  It puts the parent and teenage viewers in this family’s shoes.  You see the struggles she deals with, and how her parents react.  You see how hard it was for her in school, and how the pregnancy impacts her entire life.  You walked with her while she debated adoption, abortion, or whether she should keep the child.  In the end, what you see is the perspective of the parent and the teen played out before your eyes.

In this particular show her parents forgive her and support her keeping the child and all her friends volunteer to help. Unfortunately, that doesn’t always happen.  This season a new pregnant girl comes to the school, whose parents disowned her and kicked her to the curb, bringing back some reality and the other end of the spectrum to the show.

The Secret Life of the American Teenager also encourages abstinence, and sends the message that teenage pregnancy is a choice which can be avoided.  However, it points out the intense peer pressure our children are under in school to have sex and to be popular through sex.  It wasn’t always like that in school, but it has become more and more prevelant even since I been in high school back in the mid-90s. 

This show accurately shows the reality of peer pressure in schools among peers.  The show is a great eye opener for parents, and a tool to show how “unglam” it is to have a child while still a child.  If you can’t talk to your child about teenage sex, sit with them and make them watch the show.  It’s a great show, with good values.  It will give you a chance to spend some quality time with your children and have some fun doing it.

Monday night at 8:00 PM every week this show airs.  It is an hour long, so get your popcorn ready and spend some quality time teaching your children by example.  And don’t be afraid to talk to them afterwards about what you just saw.

Monk Solves His Last Case

For the last few years we watched the OCD obsessed cop turned PI Adrienne Monk solve case after case with the most obscure detail that no other person would ever see.  Last season he solved his 100th case, a mile stone in the San Francisco area, except the only thing he can’t solve is the death of his own beloved wife Trudy.

After Trudy’s death, he went insane and had to leave the SF Police force; it enhanced his OCD and his brilliance as a PI.  This season, Monk will solve the case that has baffled him for years and can finally put Trudy’s fate to rest.

While doing so, each week, we find him getting better and better with his OCD and Mr. Monk is actually cutting loose.  So is USA, cutting loose their #1 hit series with the conclusion of the last episode of the final season.

Hells Kitchen Season 6 Week 5

After the men slaughtered the women last week, they really needed to come out this week and do one bang up job.  Ramsay’s challenge this week was to make two entrees and one appetizer that did not exceed 700 calories combined.  The women came together and put together an impressive menu, and destroyed the men on this challenge.  They won all three plates, and those plates would be on the menu that night.

The punishment for the men was to prep each kitchen with the ingredients of the winning plates, then go to the store to get some fresh ingredients.  While the women were out on the beach learning volleyball from a US Olympic volleyball medalist, the men got on a crazy looking bike and had to peddle their way to the local market.  When they returned, Robert about collapsed.  He was white and light headed and thought he was going to vomit.  The medical staff for the show immediately rushed him to the hospital for treatment, especially with his heart condition.  The men were now down one team member.

Dinner started off good for the women as they pounded out the appetizers, while the men couldn’t get the risotto right leaving them in the red team’s dust.  However, the red team had troubles of their own.  Tennille couldn’t get the portions right making Ramasy irate.  He asked her to hit the road, when she lashed back at him.  Ramsay got in her face and offered her the chance to leave or get back in the kitchen.  She wisely chose choice number two.

The women also ran into a problem- the pork chops they cooked were raw, and so were the lamb chops.  It was not looking good for the ladies.  While on the blue side, Jim couldn’t cook the meat at all; it was mess up after mess up.  Finally, Ramsay threw in the towel, shutting the kitchens down.

He was disgusted with both performances and said both teams lost.  The streak for the ladies is not looking good as they only won one time so far.  Each team was to chose one person for elimination.  The red team chose Sabrina because of her meltdown on the meat station, although she has been one of the most steady performers.  Tennille was another candidate because of her insubordinance towards Ramsay.  The men thought they would get a reprieve and nominate Robert who missed the dinner service.

When the red team told Gordon Ramsay who they chose, there was no rebuttal from the chef, however, he was not too pleased when the blue team nominated Robert.  He said that if Robert misses another dinner service he will be eliminated, but he will deal with that if and when the time comes, instead it’s not fair to place him up for elimination based on a performance that couldn’t be judged.  So, they chose to put Andy up who also had a ghastly night in the kitchen.

Ramsay said the one going home was an easy choice, so both Sabrina and Andy bowed their heads awaiting their fate. However, Ramsay said the one going home would be Jim and pulled him out of the safe line.  He told Jim there was no fire, no passion, and it’s just wasn’t going to happen.  Jim was okay with that, stating he is a pacifist and if that didn’t stand to Ramsay’s standard then that was okay because he didn’t falter from who he was in the end.

Hell’s Kitchen Season 6 Week 4

After a close finish the week before, the women lost the dinner service and were forced to lose a team member; however in doing so you would have thought it would be a blessing, especially since they sent Lovely home.  They now had to come out and prove themselves, work as a team and show Gordon Ramsay that they mean business.

This week’s challenge was a unique one.  They were planning a welcome home party for a soldier returning home from Iraq after 13 months.  The chefs met his wife, who was planning the surprise party, to discuss her husbands likes and dislikes.  Gordon chose two chefs, one from each team, to sit down in private with his wife and himself to discuss his likes and dislikes; Ramsay chose Robert and Suzanne.

In Gordon’s office they discussed the plan of action.  She told them he loved Lobster and that had to be on the menu.  Robert piped up and said “does he like southern homestyle cooking?”  She said absolutely, that’s what they were all about.  Robert’s specialty is just that, southern homestyle cooking.  Finally they wrapped up, Robert and Suzanne would now have to convey what they learned to their teams.  This was to test their ability to work together as a team and communicate.  They had 45 minuets to prepare 2 entrees and 1 appetizer that would fit the war hero’s fancy and the likings of his wife.

Robert got together told them what they liked, and that they like homestyle southern cooking, spicy and surf and turf.  Suzanne made up her own menu and told her team what she wanted to prepare.  Tennille asked to do some kind of gumbo type dish, but Suzanne absolutely denied her.  On the blue side, Robert let the guys all have input and agreed upon it if he thought it fit in the realm of what the family wanted.

The 45 mins were up, the first dish to be tried was the appetizer.  The red team won this dish, being a shrimp salad, with a Caesar style salad.  The men won the second dish, the first entree.  A surf and turf lobster tail and NY Strip steak.  It came down to the last dish, both were very appealing to his wife, but she fell in love with the blue team’s second entree; giving the blue team the win.  Angered and frustrated the women went back to the dorms to prepare to redecorate the dining room for the celebration.  They were very upset that Suzanne didn’t listen and decided to do her own thing, because what she saw win on the blue side, they also suggested to Suzanne.

For the dinner service, the men completely ate up the women.  Before the women had their last appetizer out, the men were already half way into their entrees, and none came back.  By the time the women were getting out their first entree, the men were done and the women still couldn’t get one entree served.  Ramsay asked the men to go and get the entrees out for the women to satisfy the rest of the party.

Disgusted in the women’s performance, and citing how Tek completely destroyed the service, and how the women could not work together as a team, he chose them as the clear cut losers.  Each one, had to come to a consensus on who would be put up for elimination.  Tennille got the opportunity to announce who was to be put up on the line, the team chose Tek and Tennille.  Tennille was very upset with the decision and told Ramsay so.  He asked her to step forward with Tek, then asked who she would put up for elimination; without hesitation she nominated Amanda.  Gordon asked Amanda to come up, and asked Tennille to do the team a favor and step back into the line.

Tek pleaded for her chance to stay, and so did Amanda.  Gordon kept grilling into Amanda that he saw no more passion.  ”I look into your eyes and I see the fire is gone.  Your done madam.”  Amanda started to break down but fought back that was not the case.  It looked like Amanda was going home, but Ramsay decided to give Amanda another chance and eliminated Tek.

We also learned why the season came so fast after the last season just ended.  Normally the show starts in January, but Ramsay’s new restaurant will be in Vancouver, and will be one of the prime spots for the 2010 Olympic athletes and bigwigs.  If the show started in January, they wouldn’t have a chef in time for the Olympics.

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