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'Idol' 11: 'I Knew You Were Waiting' for the 80s
Apr 11 2012 Filed in: American Idol | Reviews
When compared to weeks prior, tonight’s “Idol” was lacking in a strong theme. Tunes were covered published in the last two years - and we had some mixed results. Here we go:
Skylar Laine
“Didn’t you know” was decent but not as good as the judges thought. She was under the notes in certain places and I’m wondering if we were listening to the same song. And no Randy, it wasn’t pitch-perfect - listen to it again. When people talk about how the judges are out of touch and cheerleading, this is why. Grade: B-
Colton Dixon
“Love the Way You Lie” was stellar. He was actually in tune, which says something for him. Good direction from Jimmy and Akon in coming out of the bridge, too. Sparsely arranged, and a nice departure from the heavily produced version by Rihanna. Kinda sleepy, actually, but I liked it overall. He, however, irritates the hell out of me - but at least we only had to hear “blessed” once in the piece before the performance. Randy was right about his unique interpretation of the song. Grade: B+
Duet: Phil & Elise
A forgettable song sung pretty well. Pretty good harmony but lacking in performance quality or chemistry. Grade: B
Jessica Sanchez
I feel like a broken record with her, but “Stuttering” was, once again, phenomenal. Each and every week this petite thing comes out on stage and knocks it out of the hall - and this week is no different. The emotion of this performance, too, is what will last far above her incredible phrasing and scatting. Incredible, awesome, one of the best of the season for its uniqueness. Grade: A
Joshua Ledet
For the record, Bruno Mars irritates the hell of me. So, Joshua “Mantasia” Ledet had a high bar to cross. Still, he did a great job - he brought Tina Turner flava to a super-ordinary joint. More than anything he SOLD the song in such an awesome way that he has way more believability than many of the other contestants. I like some of his other performances more than this one, but still, good job. Love his calm, cool and collected personae, too. Grade: A-
Duet: Colton & Skylar
Unlike that Bruno Mars song, I love the tune, “Don’t You Wanna Stay.” But this had more a feeling of a college assembly talent show than anything else - more because you just can’t cover Kelly Clarkson and get away with it. Skylar has not even close the range that Kelly does, so, yeah. Agree with Randy - just OK. Hence the grade: C
Hollie Cavanaugh
‘Fuckin’ Perfect’ is just not the same without the “F” bomb, and when you couple that with a performance that skirted along pageantry lines, it was just like, meh. I feel bad for this girl because she’s a good singer that seems out of place in certain situations. She seems timid and lacking that fire needed to go a long way in this competition. Grade: D+
Phil Phillips
Not his best. But he’ll sail through because the tweens will light up those phone lines like bad billboard in Vegas. “Underwhelming” is the right note from JLo, because the song choice was lackluster and didn’t show anything new. Grade: C-
Trio: Hollie, Joshua & Jessica
“Stronger” does not work as a trio. No, no, no. What the hell was Hollie wearing in this bit? there were some cool moments, but overall, it was stilted and strange. A duo would have been better.
Elise Testone
Elise has a great fan base because she’s a mad-awesome singer - and a beautiful girl. “You and I,” arguably Gaga’s best song, was a great choice for Elise. And she delivered it about 90% - it’s just the phrasing for it was just a little off. And that may be because Gaga’s phrasing is so singular that it’s hard to rise above it without sounding weird. The open was great and she showed her restraint that the song calls for, and it was current. Grade: B+
Best performances: Colton, Joshua and Jessica:
At risk: Hollie, Skylar, Elise (outside shot: Phil, for his lackluster choice and performance)
JLo fashion grade, mostly for the odd, S&M mesh thing: C-
See you tomorrow for screen caps, video & results!
Skylar Laine
“Didn’t you know” was decent but not as good as the judges thought. She was under the notes in certain places and I’m wondering if we were listening to the same song. And no Randy, it wasn’t pitch-perfect - listen to it again. When people talk about how the judges are out of touch and cheerleading, this is why. Grade: B-
Colton Dixon
“Love the Way You Lie” was stellar. He was actually in tune, which says something for him. Good direction from Jimmy and Akon in coming out of the bridge, too. Sparsely arranged, and a nice departure from the heavily produced version by Rihanna. Kinda sleepy, actually, but I liked it overall. He, however, irritates the hell out of me - but at least we only had to hear “blessed” once in the piece before the performance. Randy was right about his unique interpretation of the song. Grade: B+
Duet: Phil & Elise
A forgettable song sung pretty well. Pretty good harmony but lacking in performance quality or chemistry. Grade: B
Jessica Sanchez
I feel like a broken record with her, but “Stuttering” was, once again, phenomenal. Each and every week this petite thing comes out on stage and knocks it out of the hall - and this week is no different. The emotion of this performance, too, is what will last far above her incredible phrasing and scatting. Incredible, awesome, one of the best of the season for its uniqueness. Grade: A
Joshua Ledet
For the record, Bruno Mars irritates the hell of me. So, Joshua “Mantasia” Ledet had a high bar to cross. Still, he did a great job - he brought Tina Turner flava to a super-ordinary joint. More than anything he SOLD the song in such an awesome way that he has way more believability than many of the other contestants. I like some of his other performances more than this one, but still, good job. Love his calm, cool and collected personae, too. Grade: A-
Duet: Colton & Skylar
Unlike that Bruno Mars song, I love the tune, “Don’t You Wanna Stay.” But this had more a feeling of a college assembly talent show than anything else - more because you just can’t cover Kelly Clarkson and get away with it. Skylar has not even close the range that Kelly does, so, yeah. Agree with Randy - just OK. Hence the grade: C
Hollie Cavanaugh
‘Fuckin’ Perfect’ is just not the same without the “F” bomb, and when you couple that with a performance that skirted along pageantry lines, it was just like, meh. I feel bad for this girl because she’s a good singer that seems out of place in certain situations. She seems timid and lacking that fire needed to go a long way in this competition. Grade: D+
Phil Phillips
Not his best. But he’ll sail through because the tweens will light up those phone lines like bad billboard in Vegas. “Underwhelming” is the right note from JLo, because the song choice was lackluster and didn’t show anything new. Grade: C-
Trio: Hollie, Joshua & Jessica
“Stronger” does not work as a trio. No, no, no. What the hell was Hollie wearing in this bit? there were some cool moments, but overall, it was stilted and strange. A duo would have been better.
Elise Testone
Elise has a great fan base because she’s a mad-awesome singer - and a beautiful girl. “You and I,” arguably Gaga’s best song, was a great choice for Elise. And she delivered it about 90% - it’s just the phrasing for it was just a little off. And that may be because Gaga’s phrasing is so singular that it’s hard to rise above it without sounding weird. The open was great and she showed her restraint that the song calls for, and it was current. Grade: B+
Best performances: Colton, Joshua and Jessica:
At risk: Hollie, Skylar, Elise (outside shot: Phil, for his lackluster choice and performance)
JLo fashion grade, mostly for the odd, S&M mesh thing: C-
See you tomorrow for screen caps, video & results!
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Why Does Facebook Hate Charity Fundraising?
(ATLANTA - 25 October 2011) “Too big to succeed.” And no, I’m not talking about AIG or Morgan Stanley.
Those horrible four words could be the new-new-new-new Facebook tagline. As the social-networking giant has grown exponentially, it has changed UIs (user interfaces), bells and whistles, functionality, and security preferences more than Tara Reid has changed boyfriends. While Twitter has streamlined and improved without blowing up their core product - and spawning a cottage industry of top-notch Twitter clients - Facebook has seized on an ill-perceived need to change, change and change again.This issue came to a boiling point while running ARTvision Atlanta - which, smart as it was at the time, has a Facebook page for the sole purpose of expanding our earnings reach and branding. As many folks have noted (here and here), love it or hate it, Facebook is a critical element in growing exposure to charitable causes.
Among the myriad challenges that charities face, spending time fixing a fatal code bug on a Facebook page shouldn’t be one of them. (My Googling shows that this is a widespread and as-yet unaddressed issue.) Alas, this is the case with our page now. Without getting into the geeky-gritty of it: Facebook has inexplicably violated its own TOS (terms of service) by allowing administrators to inadvertently change the name of a group with 100+ members by indicating the location of said group. So now, ARTvision Atlanta - which was closing in on 500 members - now reads as its beneficiary, Positive Impact, and the name cannot be changed back.
A group’s name is, last time I checked, the very foundation on which fundraising stands. Our AV page has three years of activity, history, photos and proven sales history that we have abandoned for a new page until Facebook gets off its ass to fix the issue. Sending bug reports, posting on help pages and other pleas for assistance have been systematically denied - because, well, Facebook is just too damn big. At last count, the site has 800 million users and they, by sheer volume, cannot address everything individually.
But is that a good enough reason to refuse help when charitable funds are at stake? This bug rises to a different level entirely when we’re talking about charitable giving. We depend on the networks and reach of Facebook to get word out, and this fatal flaw in their code - being no fault of any user - must be addressed now. Lest the company go down in history as the giant who got too big for their britches and couldn’t care properly for their philanthropic micro-communities.
When it comes to charitable giving and fundraising, a different urgency should rise through the ranks. And if this post helps to fix the overall bug itself, fine by me. In the meantime, please visit our new Facebook page and forgive the occasional grumble from me. - WP
Big HT and shout out to WannaBAuthor for the awesome devilish FB image.
Blogger’s note: I will be blogging at the ARTvision site from here until the end of the year.
UPDATE: After hitting hard, Facebook came back and addressed the Group name issue. We now are back in business as ARTvision Atlanta on Facebook! Of course, they attributed it to our mistake. But I don’t care... as long as we have the real name back.