American Idol (2008) - Week 5 - Top 3

1. I’m a huge Beatles fan
2. Thank goodness that atrocity is now over…

Memo to American Idol: please do not ever have a Lennon/McCartney catalog theme again - for the love of all that is right…

This week was a marked improvement over the last couple of weeks. We finally have the Top 10 and some of these vocalists actually stepped up and brought their A-game. Having said that, it was easy to pick the top two and a bit difficult picking someone for the third spot. This weeks top two were clearly far and away better than the rest of the field.

My top three, in order, are as follows:

1. David Cook
2. Michael Johns
3. Jason Castro

David Cook did a great rendition of Chris Cornell’s version of Billie Jean (originally by Michael Jackson). Very, very impressive and in my opinion the best performance of the night.

Michael Johns pulled off American Idol’s first ever medley with Queen’s We Will Rock You and We Are The Champions. Brave. Bold. Brilliant.

Jason Castro pulled off a difficult Sting song Fragile. Pretty much anything by Sting ought to win marks for difficulty alone. While it was a subdued performance and not exactly spot-on, it was still worthy of a top three spot this week.

Here are their performances:

David Cook - Billie Jean:

Michael Johns - We Will Rock You/We are the Champions:

Jason Castro - Fragile:

Ape 2 - Dentist 1

Woot!

The tooth has left the building…Trekked over to a friend from church who is an Oral Surgeon today and he pulled it without any issues at all. Otherwise, the little ghetto dentist place I went to was going to have me wait until April 2 just for a consultation. There was no way I would have been able to endure that long subsisting on soup, chocolate pudding, motrin, and percocet.

So yay for me - I’m feeling well enough to get back into blogging mode. It is weird how such a small little thing can cause such a huge disruption to your life. Anyhoo - it’s all better.

Who Is Jesus?: The Answers - Part 2

The second video, Who Is Jesus? - Part 2, asked three questions that I will answer. Feel free to chime in if you want.

1. What comes to mind when you hear the name Jesus? Many things do, but I suppose it would be best summed up by the Apostles Creed: [I believe in] Jesus Christ, His [God, the Father] only Son, our Lord:
   Who was conceived of the Holy Spirit, born of the Virgin Mary,
   suffered under Pontius Pilate, was crucified, died, and was buried. He descended into hell.
   The third day He arose again from the dead.
   He ascended into heaven and sits at the right hand of God the Father Almighty,
   whence He shall come to judge the living and the dead.
2. Do you think Jesus was God or just a man? Short answer: both.
3. What do you think Jesus looked like? Not a very relevant question in my opinion. I do not think it matters much what Jesus looked like. Although he most definitely did not look like the typical Western images of him - Caucasian, blonde, blue-eyed, etc.

American Idol (2008) - Week 5 - Top 3

One question: What was that?

Ok, so it appears that I am a bigger Beatles snob that I took myself to be. Seriously, that was sooooo bad that even Paul is rolling over in his grave and he’s not even dead yet.

Again, this week, there were five performers tonight that stood out and did a pretty good job. Only two of those five were in my top five from last week. But since this I only really post about who I think the top three are for this week, I’ll have to give the fourth and fifth spots honorable mention: Amanda Overmyer doing a terrific job on Back In The U.S.S.R. and Carly Smithson doing a wonderful version on the ballad Blackbird.

My top three, in order, are as follows:

1. Syesha Mercado
2. David Cook
3. David Archuleta

Syesha did an amazing job with the arrangement of a Beatles classic, Yesterday. She gets my high marks for this song for a couple of different reasons. 1. She took one that pretty much everyone in the world knows and changed it up just enough to make it work for her. 2. This song has been covered so many times (I believe it holds the world record for being the most covered song ever) that it is really hard to make something so saturated and put your mark on it no matter how subtle that mark is and still make it enjoyable to listen to. Brilliant job in my opinion.

David Cook once again ripped up the stage on Day Tripper. Definitely not high on my list of favorite Beatles songs, but he did enough with it that made it interesting and one that I would actually consider buying a single of if he recorded it like that. Also, the talk-box was genius on his part - loved that solo bit, it was a clever touch.

David Archuleta did arguably one of the more difficult Beatles tracks by taking on The Long And Winding Road. I was extremely pleased with his version of this song, especially after last weeks train-wreck. This returns him back to solid footing once again and, if he can maintain consistency, is once again the contestant to beat in this competition.

Here are their performances:

Syesha Mercado - Yesterday:

David Cook - Day Tripper:

David Archuleta - The Long And Winding Road:

Shining Up My Shoes To Kick a Falling Star (or Why I Don’t Like Michael Stipe)

I am not a big REM fan the reason why is Michael Stipe. There was a post regarding REM’s new album Accelerate posted over at PopCritics, and I sort of let loose on a tirade, a la Perry Cox, of things that I would rather listen to than REM. So one of PopCritics asked me why I dislike Michael Stipe so much and I am more than happy to share my opinion.

Very simply, he ran down the Beatles. He called them “elevator music” and pretty much denigrated their music and musicianship. The irony of all that is Michael Stipe wouldn’t be where he is today if it had not been for bands like the Beatles who helped forge the pop/rock music scene. But to be clear, it wasn’t so much his statement because everyone is entitled to their own opinion. It was more of an attitude issue that I had from it. Disrespect for previous bands that helped shape the current music landscape is what irks me. REM has had huge success, that cannot be denied. But to kick at the past bands who helped them achieve their success is utter nonsense and foolishness. It shows an ignorance of history pertaining to his own field.

To be fair, I don’t expect Michael Stipe to bow down and worship at the altar of the Bealtes, but to totally discount and dismiss them out of hand is extremely unprofessional and smug in my opinion and he deserves none of my money, respect, gratitude, or support. Now, to Michael Stipes credit, he has recanted his statement in a Rolling Stone interview given March 12, 2007. But for me, it sounds more like spin and excuse than an actual apology. He played the “I was taken out of context card.”

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