Idol Goes Country

Yee haw yawl! I’m just feeling a little country fried after watching the American Idol wannabes attack country music last night. I had a revelation. Country night on AI doesn’t have to be appallingly bad. I was entertained. The budding Idols must have made peace with the stylists and hairdressers. They looked incredible. Once again, the celebrity mentor lectured the virtues of connecting to the audience and telling a story through song.

Martina McBride had the honor of coaching the potential Idols on this challenging week. I’ve noticed that this year’s celebrity coaches seem to be fans of the show. While extremely polite and encouraging, they have a lot of knowledge of the contestants and past shows.

Here’s a recap:

Phil-Where the Black Top Ends

Who would have known that inside that grisly exterior laid a personality? Not the most captivating personality but a personality none the less. This was the best he has sounded but that number one position and past performances make him vulnerable.

Jordin-A Broken Wing

Teeny bopper Jordin pulled out another fantastic performance. Despite a few ill-timed smiles, she performed with great emotion and energy. She’s definitely in the running for the title.

Sanjaya-Something to Talk About

This is a great AI song that up until last night, I thought was impossible to destroy. That was until pretty boy Sanjaya donned a bandana and made uncomfortable banter with a clearly amused background singer. He looked like he was playing Bernardo in a grade school production of West Side Story. Horrific!

LaKisha-Jesus Take the Wheel

Kiki’s performance spiraled out of control as she over sang the song. The lyrics were enough but her inner gospel diva took control and drowned out the emotion and sentiment of the song.

Chris-Mayberry

The title says it all. It’s hard for me to imagine that this is the best Rascal Flatts song he could find. Not good at all and sounded even worse during the recap at the end. Time to say adios.

Melinda-Trouble is a Woman

Don’t know where the hell she pulled this song but she vamped it up the way she should have last week. She would have been great on anything but sparkled on this old time honky tonk song. Her hair and outfit were beautiful. Like Jordin, what she wears is almost as important as what she sings.

Blake-When the Stars Go Blue

Sounded like a beautiful song but it had me wondering how the original sounded. I don’t get Blake’s appeal. He’s not hot, cute or even adorable to me and his singing is less than spectacular.

The bottom three should be Phil, Chris and golden boy Sanjaya.

What did you think?

Leg Watch: Week 5

I was going through my regular reading this morning when I came across two interesting articles in USA Today. The first was close to my heart because it talked about Dancing with the Stars maven Heather Mills or as I like to call her the dancing troll. (Side Note: Her leg didn’t pop off but she did fall over. Am I horrible to root for her leg to come off?) Forgive me. While I applaud her courageous task, I can’t get over her goulish looks and garish clothes.

The article brings up a valid point about using DWTS as a public relations/marketing tool. Read here. It might work for Ian Ziering but there is too much water under the bridge to save Mills’ tattered image in her native England. She means nothing to me and I’d like to think I’m indifferent but I do cast a suspicious eye on her relationship and divorce from Paul McCartney. Even my 70-year-old mother had harsh words for her and she probably didn’t know who she was before DWTS started.

This just illustrates the importance of great personal public relations and image building. She was never able to establish herself as genuinely in love with the Beatle before she was thrust in the hot spotlight and branded a gold digger.

The second article was about my other guilty pleasure – American Idol. Read here. It brings up the valid point that it is easier for Idol alumni to succeed in country music. Every season, except the current, has a resident country gal/guy - a Martina McBride/ Faith Hill warbler. Last year we were graced with two. Lucky us.

I’ve always thought this was a great disservice because no one can sing a Martina song better than she can and AI is supposed to be a pop music competition. Simon Cowell was famous for stressing that AI was looking for a pop idol. Remember poor Josh Gracin and the lashings he received for his country leanings. That went out the window the minute he saw Carrie Underwood and the cash register started to ka-ching in his ears.

I know what you’re thinking. What about the rockers and R & B talents? Very true that they aren’t considered pop but they still get plenty of play on pop radio. Pop radio pulls from hip-hop, rock, alternative and R & B not country. Country music crosses over to adult radio but not Top 40. The only crooner with a twang to do that recently was Shania Twain. Even Martina, Faith and Carrie are relegated to country radio or easy listening stations.

It’s easy to explain why country Idols do so well - the fan base. Country music has the most devoted fans next to soap opera fanatics and trekkies. Country doesn’t have to compete with other genres or jockey for position in the record stores. Did I just date myself? There’s no such thing as records anymore unless you’re spinning at a club but CD store sounds just as bizarre. Okay, music store. Either way, thanks to the AI publicity machine country contestant do well.

What are your thoughts?