Yes America votes on who wins this show, I still say she was robbed!
With the beginning of a new round of American Idol comes the annual wake of Idol alumni hoping you still remember them from whatever previous season they came from. Amid criticisms of Idol losing its mojo and the recent commercial demise of previous winners (except Carrie Underwood) it may seem like a bad time to be a former contestant, but this years crop has generated some listenable moments so far.
First up, Melinda Doolittle, the ace background singer that gave flawless vocal performances every week until she was unceremoniously booted in favor of the more teen appealing Jordan Sparks. Doolittle specialized in a Gladys Knight sort of soul, mature classic R&B with a warm groove to work with outstanding control and timing. Following her run on American Idol she kept a low profile and it seemed she would just disappear. Now Doolittle returns with a new song that is a pretty good piece of retro soul that is made better by her emotive voice.
Melinda Doolittle "It's Your Love"
Second is Kelly Clarkson's new single, the appropriately titled "My Life Would Suck Without You". After her failed bid to move from entertainer to Artiste' with the crash and burn that was My December, Clarkson is ready to play the pop star game again. Her first offering is a song that seems as much a plea to her fanbase as it is a love song, "My Life Would Suck Without You" breezes by on a "Since U Been Gone" beat. Sure it's a sequel, but it sticks in my head just the same.
Kelly Clarkson "My Life Would Suck Without You"
Everyone loves a comeback story and now we have two people lined up to reclaim national attention. Can they do it? Clarkson is creating a buzz with "Suck" setting chart records, let's hope Doolittle can get some deserving attention too.
Tina Fey has always been funny, but this year her intelligent lacerating wit served with a smile seemed to strike a chord with people. Her career has been on fire this year and while I can't claim to be a die hard fan or anything like that, I've often enjoyed her humor. I played her SNL clips often as they were easily the funniest thing I saw this year. And this year some humor was definitely needed.
Entertainer of the Year - Tina Fey won the AP prize by having success on both the small and big screen during '08 and capped it with the most buzzworthy comic performance of the year as a certain Alaskan Governor.
Rorshach Test - A judge ruled in favor of Fox Studios that the Watchmen movie should not have been made without first being offered to them. The decision leaves the film up in the air about how or when or if it could be released. Bummer.
Radio Friendly Unit Shifter - A smashed guitar once owned by Kurt Cobain sold for $100,000.
Since U Been Gone - Kelly Clarkson's new single "My Life Would Suck Without You" is said to be coming out in January. Will she be able to comeback from the commercial disaster she pinned her Artiste' name on My December? It all depends on if Clarkson is willing to play the Pop star game this time out.
For Those About To Write - AC/DC frontman Brian Johnson is going to write a memoir. You mean AC/DC lyrics aren't autobiographical? Johnson doesn't spend all day drinking and ludely coming on to women? The illusion is shattered, my friends.
Purrr Batman - Eartha Kitt, a performer I mainly knew as Catwoman from the 60's Batman tv show, passed away on Christmas Day at age 81. I had no idea she sang "Santa Baby" until the news reported her passing.
Attention Wal-Mart Shoppers! - Bruce Springsteen looks to get in on the Wal-Mart cash cow by releasing a Greatest Hits exclusively to the department store chain. Isn't Wal-Mart the same place that had a problem with "Reno" from the Devils and Dust album?
Blue Morning, Blue Day - Bud Prager, the manager of Foreigner who played an important role in the forming of that band, passed away at age 79.
This Could Be The Right One - Canadian rockers April Wine are lined up for a 2009 Canadian Hall of Fame award just like contemporaries Loverboy. Yes!
Uprising! - Jennifer Aniston's hot streak continues, besting Brad Pitt at the box office with her movie Marley & Me.
Holy Bat Hype! - For a few weeks there's been a lot of buzz on whether or not The Dark Knight will dominate the upcoming Oscars in nominations. Can an Action film take home Oscar gold in a year with little competition? I hope it does, if only to drive a bunch of press about the "unwashed masses" over running the Academy. Should be fun.
Delaney Bramlett - A musician and songwriter who was a fixture in the classic rock scene passed away at age 69. Bramlett co-wrote Eric Clapton's "Let it Rain" and the classic ballad "Superstar".
Second Time Around - All my favorite shows are going into reruns until February. Time to catch up on DVD watching.
No Tube - Warner Bros. pulls their music vids from You Tube over contract negotiations.
Is that The Spirit? - Commercials for the new movie The Spirit features that Frank Miller graphic novel on film look (a lot of black, white and grey tones and what's that called...chiarosquiro (sp?)...lighting enhanced by CGI) that Sin City popularized a few years back. While I thought Sin City was great, I have to admit I'm finding this stylized look annoying in other movies. Probably just me though.
Last Christmas - Every year a certain Christmas tune seems to get played, or maybe I just notice it, more than the others. Last year Paul McCartney's "Wonderful Christmastime" was omnipresent on the radio and shopping malls. This year was filled with various versions of Wham's "Last Christmas". None of the remakes can top the original though, so here's Wham!
This week was a big week for women in rock. I saw the second round of VH1 Rock Honors, the first one being a hard rock tribute featuring Judas Priest, Def Leppard and Kiss along with newer bands covering their classics. It was an entertaining show that played on VH1 Classic about every 20 seconds every day for a few months. Now there's a second one which I was really looking forward to because it sounded like my high school cassette tape collection: ZZ Top, Heart, Genesis and Ozzy. I grew up listening to all these bands, except Ozzy who I only have a mild liking for.
I was really looking forward to watching Genesis reunite with their classic 80's touring lineup (go Chester Thompson!) and they were solid but the band I really enjoyed both in performance and tribute was Heart. The Wilson sisters cranked through "Crazy On You" with the power and grace they've shown throughout their career. I've liked "Crazy On You", "Straight On" and "Barracuda" since I was a kid who didn't know it was all the same band. In the 80's,I played their Heart (1985) and Bad Animals (1987) tapes to death with great power ballads like "What About Love" and "Alone". At the start of the 90's I lost track of the band though I've enjoyed a few television appearances the Wilsons made since then.
But the one performance that blew me away more than any other musical event this week is Alice In Chains with Country star Gretchen Wilson and Heart's Nancy Wilson. Alice In Chains rendered a slightly grungy, hard charging version of "Barracuda" with Gretchen Wilson wailing like the Ann Wilson of the mid 70's. Gretchen Wilson's voice had a touch of country to distinguish it from the original, but the sass and gut bucket fury matched Ann Wilson's to a T. Add Nancy Wilson with her famous "rocker" poses and leg kicks and you've got the most potent rock performance so far this year. This unlikely combination of performers brought down the house with a sound that was driving, technically brilliant (Jerry Cantrell's solos were astounding) and pretty damn sexy (Redneck woman Gretchen Wilson belted with intensity in her tight jeans while Nancy Wilson bounced around like it was the "Never" video).
Another strong performance came from Kelly Clarkson on American Idol. The more I hear her new song "Never Again" the more I think eh...but it sounds like her support for the new album is wearing on her voice. While this may not be good for her pop stuff, Clarkson's rocker side benefits from the raspiness and limited vocal power. Clarkson sounded dead on like Pat Benatar raising a mediocre song to new heights. Lots of rumors about the quality of Kelly Clarkson's new disc being bad in the press, I hope the rumors are false with performances like this one!
Oh yeah, Jordin Sparks won American Idol. Sparks seemed nice and talented, yet I just don't care.
Oh well,maybe Sparks can duet with Clarkson on "Heartbreaker". The Pat Benatar song, not Led Zeppelin or Dionne Warwick. Keep rockin and enjoy VH1 Rock Honors. Fast forward the Bam Margera parts. I know I did :)
Yes America votes on who wins this show, I still say she was robbed!
