The Quiet Pool Perspective

Wednesday, March 25, 2009

Motown Idol

Get Them Outta Here

Scott MacIntyre- (You Can't Hurry Love) Why didn't he sing Stevie Wonder or Ray Charles? Scotty went with the Supremes and sounded just as nasaly as ever. Vanessa Olivarez was eliminated on this song so let's hope Blindy is too.

Michael Sarver- (Ain't Too Proud To Beg) It was weird seeing someone sing this song and not start it by stealing the microphone from somebody. God this was karaoke. Where's Leon when you need him? Next.

Wow, who cares?

Lil Rounds- (Heat Wave) This week it was upbeat AND a powerful vocal and it still bored me to death. Is it the song choices or just her (lack of) personality?

Megan Joy Corkrey- (For Once In My Life) Her dress matched her colorful tatt oo! Okay so I can see that her voice really doesn't work for some people, but for some strange reason I enjoy it. That being said, this was less than stellar.

Decent, but worse than usual

Allison Iraheta- (Papa Was a Rolling Stone) "That was Dennis's voice on Cloud Nine!" Although the judges praised her up the wazoo, this didn't really work for me. Maybe Kara thinks that if the producers put someone in the last spot, it is automatically going to be unbelievable. Unlike her previous performances, this was a little too sound alike because Dennis had the raspy, rocker thing down.

Danny Gokey- (Get Ready) It is tough to do The Temps not only because they were unbelievable, but because they had Eddie on falsetto, Mel on the bass and Otis, Paul and David with the normal voices. Both Allison and Danny tried to emulate this entire group. It didn't work in either case. The only thing I loved about Danny's work was when he jumped in on the dance move with the back up singers.

Not just good, but Great

Anoop Desai- (Ooh Baby Baby) Smokey explained that this song came about at the end of a Miracles concert when he just started singing 'Ooh Baby Baby' out of nowhere and they then turned it into a song. This was the second straight week of impressive work by Kutner. I never knew he had this falsetto in his back pocket.

Kris Allen- (How Sweet It Is) This was very refreshing for me. It was a combo of the JT and Marvin versions with his own Jason Mrazy vibe to it. His vocals didn't knock me out of the park, but he has a unique sound and the performance was a great choice to do with his guitar.

Matt Giraud- (Let's Get It On) His vocals seem to get better and better every week. His range and riffs are fantastic. He started on the piano and stood up as the pace of the song picked up. Loved the transition, only wish he had stayed on the piano a little long as his take on the song via the keys was fantastic.

Why don't we just give him the trophy?

Adam Lambert- (Track of My Tears) If it gets a Standing O from Smokey, it gets a Standing O from me. (And some of you may know my ethics involved in standing ovations)

This is what Adam did this week...he took all of the criticism from the judges, media and me that said he went a little crazy last week and thought about it. He then got rid of his black nail polish, cut his hair and threw some product in there, put on a suit, and then picked a classic song, put his own spin on it and knocked it out of the f'in park. Everyone else, good luck trying to beat him.

Monday, March 23, 2009

Raftery With The Smooch

After what most people are billing as an uneventful first four days of the NCAA Tournament, I would tend to disagree with them. Just because there weren't a lot of huge upsets doesn't mean it wasn't exciting. There were many close calls with Memphis and even Pitt in the first round. I like to see the sleepers win a game here and there, but I'm glad to see all big names in the Sweet 16. The fact that we are blessed with these kinds of match-ups this weekend is awesome.

-Pitt v. Xavier
-Villanova v. Duke
-UNC v. Gonzaga
-Syracuse v. Oklahoma
-Memphis v. Mizzou
-UConn v. Purdue
-Mich St. v. Kansas
-Louisville v. Arizona

Sure I would've liked it if West Virginia, Marquette and Wake were there for bracket benefits, but no biggie.

The best part of the tournament, as always, was Bill Raftery.

-To the big fella
-The little guy
-With the kiss
-Onions, double order
-Little lingerie on the deck

It's all gold but what got me loving him to death was sometime back in high school when someone hit a bank shot on the first play of the game and he goes with, "A little smooch early."

My favorite of all time was in college when a dude banked a shot but it circled around the rim, hit the board again and fell in. Raf goes with "Oh with the double smoocharoo!"

This past weekend near the end of the Pitt/Ok State game a Pitt player went to the bench and an assistant coach leaned over and kissed him on the top of the head. There was a bit of a pause in Verne's commentary before Raf comes in with the emphatic "The Kissss!" Unbelievable.

Here is a clip of Ian Eagle talking about the origin of Raf's "Onions!" call. Audio Clip

And finally a little enjoyment from Raf himself calling a Gonzaga v. OK State game from a few years ago.

Friday, March 20, 2009

Female Movie Characters: 10-1

10. Lucy Whitmore- Drew Barrymore in 50 First Dates

9. Jules Harbor- Amy Smart in Varsity Blues

8. Padme Amidala- Natalie Portman in Revenge of the Sith

7. Emily Friehl- Amanda Peet in A Lot Like Love

6. Becky Jackson- Julia Stiles in A Guy Thing

5. Rosalee Futch- Kate Bosworth in Win a Date With Tad Hamilton

4. Claire Cleary- Rachel McAdams in Wedding Crashers

3. Nancy Hayes- Sara Foster in The Big Bounce

2. Rachel Jansen- Mila Kunis in Forgetting Sarah Marshall

1. Andie Anderson- Kate Hudson in How To Lose a Guy in Ten Days

Wednesday, March 18, 2009

Grand Ole Idol

First things first, Simon's word of the season is indulgent. The problem is he doesn't use it correctly. Three or four times this year he has called someone's performance indulgent and this makes no sense. Their performance was giving gratification? To who? the audience? They should thank him for such a nice compliment. I guess they don't understand English over there in England, because what he means to say is that the performance was self-indulgent, as in it is gratifying to the person singing. And that it is all about them. Now continue making a fool of yourself Simon.

On to Grand Ole Opry week of Idol...

God Awful

Michael Sarver- (Aint Goin' Down til the Sun Comes Up) I never thought someone would equal Josh Gracin's terrible performance during country week of season two, but the big guy pulled it off. He chose the same God awful song as Gracin and did just as terrible. At least he didn't lose his breath half way through because he ran up and down the stands.

Scott MacIntyre- (Wild Angels) This blind guy's voice just sounds weird. It's not pleasant. His falsetto is really bad, but he picked a likable song so he has that going for him.

Blahh

Lil Rounds- (Independence Day) I've never been so bored during a performance by someone with such a powerful voice. Question. Is Lil short for Lilian, or is it short for Little like she's a hip hop artist? Simon and I both thought it was L'il but some are claiming it's an actual name like Lilian...interesting.

Alexis Grace- (Jolene) Somebody did this last year during Dolly Parton week. Although she outperformed whoever that was, it was still very bland for me. This song just isn't good.

Megan Joy Corkrey- (Walkin' After Midnight) What happened to how she was singing it during the video? She sounded awesome in that warm-up. During her performance it was much more nasally, due to her sickness I'm assuming. In general I like her sound, but nothing especially.

Kris Allen- (To Make You Feel My Love) Enjoyed this smooth ballad, but didn't bring anything great to the table. I preferred him last week.

Crazy

Adam Lambert- (Ring of Fire) In the past he's gone crazy and it worked, this week the nutbar went out of control and it didn't work. Maybe he's getting a little too big for himself now. As awful as this was I still kind of enjoyed it. If anything for the entertainment value of him being a psycho.

Good, Not Great

Anoop Desai- (Always On My Mind) This is the Dr. Kutner I thought we were getting during Hollywood Week. Instead of imitating a song that he likes, he took a different song

and made it sound like him. Slumdog really saved himself this week and might be back in the mix.

Allison Iraheta- (Blame It On Your Heart) Solid performance. She seems to take any song and turn it into something different solely because of her rocker chick voice.

The Best

Matt Giraud- (So Small) This seemed spectacular because of the rest of the performances tonight. He, unlike Scott, gets something extra from his piano playing. When they zoom in on the keys you can see how ridiculous he is. His singing was real solid and again he killed it with the falsetto.

Danny Gokey- (Jesus Take the Wheel) Both dudes that killed it picked Carrie Underwood songs...hmmm. Again this felt unbelievable because of the other jokers couldn't pull off country. He just comes to play each week, without the freakishness you will get from Lambert.