American Idol (2008) - Week 10 - Top 3

Andrew Lloyd Webber week…really? I was definitely skeptical going into last nights show and wondering how some of the contestants were going to fair. Too my surprise, a couple did much better than I thought and the rest did just as I thought - not all that great overall. No doubt A.L.W. has skills when it comes to composition, but this seemed as an odd pairing from the get-go.

My top three are in the following order:

1. David Cook
2. Carly Smithson
3. Syesha Mercado

David Cook continues to impress and last nights belting of Music of the Night was no exception. Is anyone going to beat this guy? Incredible! Actually gave me chills…

Carly Smithson is in the two spot, although it truly was a toss up between her and Syesha. Carly sang Jesus Christ Superstar and did a really, really good job with it. Also impressive.

Syesha Mercado finally showed her personality and was feeling the song One Rock and Roll Too Many. She blew it up and this was definitely the best that I have seen her since she has been on the show. She can have a huge career in musical theater if she wants to - just amazing.

Here are their performances:

David Cook - Music of the Night:

Carly Smithson - Jesus Christ Superstar:

Syesha Mercado - One Rock and Roll Too Many:

American Idol (2008) - Week 9 - Top 3

Well, it was Mariah Carey themed week. I did not start the show as a fan and I did not end it as a fan. I guess she is ok. She definitely has proven herself with a slew of #1 hits, but it just is not my type of music that I enjoy. However, a five-octave vocal range is massive and anyone that can boast of that is truly talented.

My top three are in the following order:

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

David Cook rocked the joint with his own twist on Mariah’s Always Be My Baby. His arrangement was smoking hot and by far and away the best performance of the night. David is definitely in a league of his own right now and it appears that everyone else is battling for second place.

David Cook is also my number two of the night. Why? Because he was just that good tonight and everyone else was just that bad.

Jason Castro barely made took the number three spot. He performed Mariah’s I Don’t Want To Cry and did a terrific job with it. Actually, it was better than terrific, it was fantastic - probably the best he has ever done on the show. If he had not have done as well as he did, David Cook most likely would have taken this spot as well!

Here are their performances:

David Cook - Always Be My Baby

David Cook - Always Be My Baby [encore]

Jason Castro - I Don’t Want To Cry

Expelled: No Intelligence Allowed

Opening nationwide in theaters next week, April 18, 2008, is Ben Stein’s new movie Expelled: No Intelligence Allowed. This looks to be a good and entertaining look at the ongoing debate between the Darwinian Evolutionist camp and the Intelligent Design camp. With Ben Stein being involved, it will also prove to be somewhat funny as well.

The fact brilliant scientists are losing their jobs, being denied tenure, putting their entire academic careers on the line for an alternate theory is ludicrous, especially in this day and age. Unfortunately, the naturalistic evolutionists are the gatekeepers to upper echelons of the scientific community and therefore they wield a lot of power and can squash much of the counter-perspective brought against them. They say that the Intelligent Design group does not have any serious papers published in peer-reviewed journals, therefore their views and research cannot be taken seriously. But what most people do not understand is that those papers have to go through the evolutionists and they do the peer-reviews and they decide who gets published and who doesn’t. So the game is rigged right from the start because they control the peer-reviews, the access to get published by them, etc.

The unfortunate thing about all this is that there is some good research being done that has better explanatory power and scope over 19th century Darwinism. Just to be clear, I’m not claiming that all evolutionary theory is bad or incorrect. There is viable and valid aspects of what it has done and brought to light. But there are also many things that it is capable of explaining and it seems that there needs to be tweaks to the theories as well as alternate theories allowed the chance to come to light so that intelligent people can make up their own minds, do their own research, and be allowed access to grant money to help fund that research.

Anyway, I’m typically swamped with work, school, church activities and the like, but next week I plan on making time to catch this in the theaters.

Below is an extended trailer:

American Idol (2008) - Week 8 - Top 3

If I’m being honest, dawg, this week was a little rough for me. Not the best week for my front-runners - not really sure what happened…

Anyway, my top three, in the following order are:

1. Jason Castro
2. David Archuleta
3. Brooke White

Jason Castro broke out the Ukulele for Israel Kamakawiwo’ole’s version of Somewhere Over the Rainbow. This is perhaps my favorite version of the song. While I think he did an excellent job of it, I do not think it was as good as Katharine McPhee’s version from Season 5. Still, it was brilliant and better than anyone else tonight.

David Archuleta went pop on us tonight and busted out with Robbie Williams’ Angels. Great song, great lyric, and great performance. David is starting to get his groove back and is beginning to regain some of the ground that he lost in the past few weeks.

Brooke White did Carole King’s You’ve Got a Friend. Another solid choice and, as typical for Brooke, she turned in another solid performance and delivery. She is probably the best in the competition at connecting with the song and with the audience as well as being the most consistent with her singing and performances.

Here are their performances:

Jason Castro - Somewhere Over the Rainbow:

David Archuleta - Angels:

Brooke White - You’ve Got a Friend:

Tell all the Truth but tell it slant

Tell all the Truth but tell it slant -
Success in Circuit lies
Too bright for our infirm Delight
The Truth’s superb surprise

As Lightning to the Children eased
With explanation kind
The Truth must dazzle gradually
Or every man be blind -

Emily Dickinson (1830-1886)

I came across this poem while working on one of my papers this weekend and thought it was very fitting for what I was writing at the time. The paper had to do with the slow revelation that the disciples went through as they spent time with Jesus during his ministry. Their understanding of the term Messiah was much narrower than what Jesus took the term to be and over time you see this ever so slow expansion of understanding, until they achieved full understanding at Pentecost (Acts 2).

Anyway, I thought the poem was great and while I love poetry I had never come across this one in the past. I just thought I would share.

Next Page »