Rants from an Idol Addict: We Built This City on Rock and Roll

Posted on April 7, 2011 by Barbara McDowell

That’s right folks!  The AI theme this week is songs from the Rock and Roll Hall of Fame, which is housed in CLEVELAND.  For all the things we know are twisted, corrupt (shout out to our ongoing local political scandal), underutilized and brutal (like our 5-6 months of winter), nothing stops our Cleveland pride.  Yes, they may treat us like a stepchild and hold most of the inductions in NYC.  Whatever.  We fought and got the museum and it is cool. 

Back to the fun that is Idol.  With the Rock Hall’s full catalog of fantastic songs to select from this week, this should be a good show.  What?  Gwen Stefani has styled the contestants this week?  And Will.i.am is the music mentor?  I’m having a Randy Jackson moment … “Dude, I don’t think that’s going to be a good idea.”  I’ll give Mr. Black Eyed Peas kudos for his futuristic talent mixing it up in the studio.  In the studio being the key phrase there.  Like with auto tune. 

As for Gwen, could be good or it could be bad.  I generally like her style and think she’s a hip lady.  Ooo, now I’m opting for this is a bad, a very bad thing.  Looking at the contestants, it is obvious that she didn’t have an eye to be able to understand the different vibe (and body type) of each contestant and work accordingly.  They are awkward, misguided versions of her.

Jacob Lusk – Our resident male diva opts for a little Michael Jackson and sings “Man in the Mirror.”  From his intro tape, we learn he was first thinking of singing Marvin Gaye’s “Let’s Get it On.”  The evil child in me is chuckling at what a funny mess that would have been.  Can you imagine the twerky dance moves and him attempting to be sexy?  But I digress.  He was so right to balk at that song choice. 

In his intro piece he also wanders off into prophet land with mutterings about if he lands in the bottom three, it will be a result of America not being able to look at itself in the mirror.  BOOSH!  What is that sound? Well, it is Jacob tossing a bomb into whatever fan base he’s been building up.  It is true that, in the Idol viewer and voter population, there may be a portion of middle America that doesn’t get or like what he has on display—the tighter outfits, the faces he makes, the endless runs, the always present danger of veering off into 200% land with misplaced high notes.  However, prophesying with judgment will quickly piss off the others who would have voted for him. 

Yeah, he sings the song fine and Siedah Garrett, one of the song’s writers, is on backup.  It isn’t his best, most goose bump producing moment, but it is good and has a slower build that doesn’t venture too much over the top.  Yet I’m still stuck on his mirror comments and having a flashback to the pompous church attitude and “messages via song” that Mandisa brought Season Five.  Because of it, she was booted out earlier than she would have been and that will be Jacob’s fate if he doesn’t stop drinking his own Kool-Aid.

Haley Reinhart – Growly girl goes for Janis Joplin’s “Piece of My Heart.”  Dare I say it is ok?  I think this is because her big cat purrs and drunk-like staggering fit the sound and vibe of the song.  I imagine her in a late night set with a band, gripping the mic on a beer coated stage and just tearing into this song before teetering off the edge into the speaker wires. 

Casey Abrams – He opts to channel some Creedence Clearwater Revival via “Have You Seen the Rain.”  Like Jacob, this is good, but not exciting.  He is original and talented and now back to being pleasant to watch.  I feel like he is restraining himself for some reason and not going all in with audience connection.  Connection is there, but not mesmerizing like it could be.  Maybe the drama of the Judges’ Save moment has tweaked his confidence and nerves.  I hope he’s able to hunker down and find that spark he displayed in his first audition and through the semi-finals.

Lauren Alaina – The fact that she’s going for Aretha Franklin’s “Natural Woman” gives her an automatic three strikes from me.  Really?  Baby doll, you do not have Aretha-esque pipes.  Nowhere near.  Get away from Jacob’s Kool-Aid.  I immediately think of Kelly Clarkson’s version Season One and know that judge Randy is thinking it too.  Is this performance bad like what Naima did to “Umbrella?”  No.  It is good, yet I think Lauren could have selected a song that makes the qualities of her voice sound amazing versus this song that highlights, to me, some things her voice lacks.  The ill-fitting shorts over black stockings ensemble that Gwen gave Lauren makes me feel an ounce of sadness.  The blousing fabric makes her look like she’s hiding some farm supplies over her butt.

James Durbin – He smartly hops back to the Beatles with “While My Guitar Gently Weeps.”  For me, he is channeling Adam Lambert way too hard half posed on a stool with smoke swirled around the bottom of the stage.  Reminds me of Adam when he sang “Tracks of My Tears” down to the musician placement.  That said, I like the performance with the exception of the high note reach at the end.  He hit the note fine, but it threw the vibe off.

Scotty McCreery – He is “in it to win it,” as Randy says, because of his keen ability as a competitor to know what will appeal to the audience.  The key to this game is more than being the technical best.  Scotty goes for Elvis’ first cover song and single “That’s All Right.”  Well of course he does.  Elvis’ rockabilly sound sits on the edge between country and rock.  On Idol, guess what I hate as much as someone dong Lionel Ritchie (hey Stefano)?  Someone doing Elvis.  I hope Scotty’s pony doesn’t get hurt repeatedly doing that one trick.

Pia Toscano – I appreciate her sticking to the promise of delivering an up tempo number this week.  Now I won’t have to scream “liar liar pants on fire.”  She sings Tina Turner’s “River Deep, Mountain High.”  Full disclosure moment:  I HEART Tina Turner.  I’ve seen her three times in concert, watched her every time she came on TV back in the ‘70s and again in the ‘80s when her career rebounded and have two postcard sized photos of her hanging in my work office from her Hanes campaign. 

So when someone goes for a Tina song—just like if they aim for Prince, Michael, Bonnie Raitt or disco Donna—I give them the side-eye of “this better be good.”  Pia gives us a little screamy version of the song.  She sounds good singing up tempo just as she does singing ballads.  It is interesting that she still isn’t connecting so well to the audience for me.  This is a song written with a spirited meld between the British pop feel of that era and Tina’s soulful essence.  How can you sing it just walking around without even one twitch of dancing? 

I think J-Lo is aiming at saying this when she says she encourages Pia to study other outstanding performing artists and to push herself further.  She is fantastic in voice, but there is just that “thing” missing.  Great musicians take us in and on a journey with them.  We need to see their humanness.  We need to have a glimpse at their vulnerabilities to be able to relate and believe.  I so want Pia to get that.

Stefano Langone – When his intro says he’s going with Percy Sledge, I answer with “When a Man Loves a Woman.”  Yeppers.  Though I may be one of his few fans, he has had me since his gospel sing-for-your-life moment.  I saw glimpses of that in this performance.  While he can go off into the wilderness with song choice missteps, it seems that when Stefano knows he needs to tap down, he goes into a deep place and brings out soul you wouldn’t think was there. 

Paul McDonald – He sings “Folsom Prison Blues.”  Just get him gone.  Please just get him gone.

With the majority of the contestants being of good voice and giving us solid performances, getting to a bottom three guess is hard.  Based on the performances alone, my bottom three would be Paul, Scotty and Haley.  Fantasy on my part … like Scotty’s fans would let him get anywhere near the stools of doom.  Tossing in other factors—such as perceived fan base, song selection and voter alienation (I’m talking to you Mr. Lusk)—I think the voted bottom three may be Jacob, Stefano and a Haley/Paul toss-up.  They both have had brushes in the bottom and then other weeks of safety so that makes me think they may have whim voters, but not as concrete a base as the others. 

What do you think?

Posted in Thoughts on Life | Tagged , , , , , , | 2 Comments

Allow Me to Reintroduce Myself

Posted on April 5, 2011 by Barbara McDowell

In my season of planning time for what is important (my writing, reading, managing my social media connects and the gym), I caught up on the February Copyblogger post, “Is Your Low Social IQ Dooming Your Blog?”  Under the highlighted topic of authenticity, was a link to Corbett Barr’s fantastic post “33 Things I Have Never Told You” where he shares about being your true, full-rounded self online.

Corbett asks:

“How do you convey your full personality through words? It’s not an easy thing. How do you show that you’re passionate, gutsy, funny, provocative, dynamic and vibrant like your friends know you to be? How do you let people know your full values, traits and even quirks through writing? … I’ve fallen prey to the old media line of thinking that you should be ‘professional’ and serious in public settings.”

I’ve been blogging since July 2010 and while I feel I’ve been authentic in presentation and voice, I do think I’ve been a bit of what Corbett calls “mono.”  Have touches of my quirky sense of humor peeked out?  Yes.  Have I shared some of my random takes on celebrity nuttiness?  Sure.  Yet I sense—no I know—that I’ve censored out some of the edges.  Maybe out of fear of alienating readers, maybe out of fear of being “exposed” for all of cyberspace to see or maybe fearing that no one wants to hear my mundane rambles.  Regardless, I’ve scurried around the corners of some topics—such as politics and the psycho stories that dart about in my family—and totally ignored others like the touchy topics of religion and any of the ‘isms (race, class, sex, etc.). 

Maybe I’m afraid that button-down folks will run away and not like me?  But the truth is, eventually the close-minded, judgmental or unforgiving of any type reader will bail when they inevitably see something that I write or like that doesn’t square with their universe.  Someone might deem me a donkey head and not be able to get past the fact that I’m an Idol addict.  They might peep me out to be a deviant for liking a perv like Prince.  And if anyone starts analyzing and spinning my Goodreads reading interests, they might give me a side-eye glare. 

I carry in my purse the quote from William Penn that starts “I expect to pass through life but once.”  So in this virtual world, if one of my blog posts passes through a reader’s eyes “but once,” I hope they’ll get a peek and connect with the fuller me.  Hi, my name is Barbara and I’m a writer, trainer/developer, former modern dancer, crocheter, sister, daughter, friend, etc.  To follow Barr’s sharing spirit and get a bit naked on the screen, here’s a list 25 more tasty tidbits:

  1. I turned 39 in January.  (Gasp.  The inner critic protector is screaming, “why’d you start with that one?!”)  I hate telling people my age not because I’m having meltdown moments about approaching the media labeled land of the “cougar.”  It is because people judge others on all kinds of crap and age is a big one.  “Oh, you’re (insert age)?” is how it starts followed by questions aimed at what the person thinks I should have done by now or be doing based on my age.  I also don’t feel anywhere near my age (most days I feel 25 in spirit) nor do I limit myself to experiences, venues or interests that are based on what marketers think appeal to generational groups.  Which takes me to #2.
  2. I’m not married, have no children and have no immediate plans to be married and/or have any children.  Am I anti either of these?  Nope.  I’ve just dated guys who weren’t “the one,” then ended up buried in my career (and then changing careers) for a period of time.  When I came to back in ’06, I realized that coming upon “the one” in very married Cleveland might now be a challenge. 
  3. I heart the genres of horror, crime-drama and thrillers.  I’ll take it in my reading, writing, TV shows and movies.  I danced around with joy on Sunday with I saw the Scream 4 movie trailer.  April 15 – woo!  One of my minors is Sociology and I’m fascinated by the twisted actions of individuals and groups as well as how those behaviors are then handled in societies.  Due to that minor, I know tons of random tidbits about serial killers.  For entertainment, I find the cheesy stuff of the horror genre to be more comedy then scary, but the original Halloween, The Exorcist and a few Criminal Minds and Law & Order: SVU episodes do manage to creep me out. 
  4. Spiders also creep me out.  As do the squirrels with good aim that throw nuts down at me in my backyard.
  5. I was a reluctant Twilight reader, but then became hooked during a vacation in March 2009 and read all four books in a week. 
  6. My favorite movies include Silence of the Lambs, Willy Wonka and the Chocolate Factory and The Wiz (for Michael of course).
  7. I learned to crochet in sixth grade.  I find it relaxing, but have a few abandoned projects (like the Martha Stewart Coming Home poncho design).  I’m adding planning crochet time into my weekly life.
  8. I love to dance and do so every morning to “hit of the moment” songs on the radio.  Usually during the in between time of brushing my teeth, showering and getting dressed.  And I’ve got some wicked moves.
  9. Growing up, I wanted to be a triple threat like Debbie Allen and move to NYC to be a Broadway star.  I danced, even belonging to a dance troupe, through high school.  I also racked up multiple summers of musical theater camp and was a member of acappella choir and theater ensembles while in high school.  The comfort on stage comes in quite handy for the work world.
  10. In sixth grade, my best friend at the time and I declared we wanted to be go-go dancers.  We meant like Goldie Hawn on Laugh-In, but soon learned folks thought we wanted to be strippers.
  11. I was raised in a strict, Baptist household, but I don’t consider myself Baptist.  I see myself as non-denominational.   I think that some of the doctrines and practices of organized religious groups are downright hypocritical, vicious and divisive.  I also don’t get how people essentially believing in the same higher being can be so violent to each other.  Focus on the spiritual practice versus the external trappings and ego-driven rhetoric.  Oh, and go crack open, read and interpret whatever your literature is for yourself.  Don’t take someone else’s word for it.
  12. The inner critic is antsy about #11.  She’s heading off to have honey ginseng green tea to soothe her nerves.
  13. That’s me circa the mid-’90s in Puerta Vallarta.  I’ve got this thing about people taking my picture.  No, I’m not a vampire.  I like pictures, but just don’t feel the need to see myself in them.  I’ve gotten better about that in my older age.
  14. In college, I was a crazy, guns blazing, dangling off the left branch, liberal feminist.  I wore all black, piles of eclectic jewelry and “revolutionary” boots.  Boyfriends were both intrigued and scared.  I even helped organize a protest rally during my junior year.  That’s toned down a bit.  But she’s in there if so provoked.
  15. My fave Hendrix song is Hey Joe and yes I know that doesn’t gel with #14. 
  16. I don’t have much of a relationship with my father.  He’s tossed out the “I love you” words a handful of times, but his ignoring actions all my life don’t bear it out.  (And with that, my inner critic is heading to the roof to jump.)
  17. Regarding #16, when people hear me say that, they jump in and say “yes he does care about you he just doesn’t know how to show it.”  Poor excuse.  It is what it is folks.
  18. I have three “best friends” met in second grade, eight grade and my freshman year of college.  They get me and know most of the deep stuff.  And I know theirs.  Bwahahahaha.
  19. When I was in ninth grade, some days during lunch I’d light up wads of paper stuck in Coke cans in front of the high school.  Purely for the amusement and shock value of my friends.  Thankfully, I was never busted for it.  I’d probably still be grounded.  See #11.
  20. The only thing I light up now is incense sticks and cones.
  21. I love coffee.  I love coffee shops.  I love the smell of coffee beans.
  22. Instead of getting a teddy bear as a child, I received a stuffed musical bunny.  I took Bunny to college and by then his music box played a warped, eerie lullaby leading some to say he was possessed.  Bunny was subjected to several pranks like the one pictured above. 
  23. I like watching conspiracy theory specials and reading some of the theories online.  Sometimes the research and facts make me wonder.   I also like to learn new things.  See #25.
  24. I love beaches and cruises.  I have thoughts set on Hawaii as my next excursion.
  25. I consider myself to be a lifelong learner.  Things I want to do in the future include getting an MFA (via a low-residency program) and learning to play the guitar.  I fancy myself hunkered down at some café’s open-mic night, strumming away singing Bonnie Raitt songs and rambling some funky poetry.

Thanks for reading.  I trust these bits will give you a better perspective of the me you are meeting in this virtual world.  If you have a moment, tell me a little bit more about you.

Posted in Writing Life | Tagged , , , | 4 Comments