Oh No! American Idol gets it wrong...again!

Well, Melinda Doolittle was eliminated from American Idol tonight in favor of perky Jordin Sparks and the Howard Jones of beatboxing Blake Lewis. Doolittle had been the front runner throughout the season as she delivered one impressive performance after another. Doolittle had excellent vocal control, tasteful (some might say too tasteful) song selections and a craftsman approach to her performances (she understood the songs she sang, portrayed the emotion she needed to project and had a nuanced style to her singing). Plus, she was genuinely nice to others and took criticism well. So what went wrong?

What went wrong was, through no fault of her own, she was too perfect. Doolittle never had a bad performance, never trashed others or had any scandal. This made her very easy to admire but impossible for America to love. America likes comeback stories they can identify with and if you never fail you have nothing to comeback from. The remaining Idols performances veered from pathetic to mindblowing while their open personalities won fans. In Rocky IV terms, they were Rocky to Doolittle's Drago.

So Melinda Doolittle goes the way of Latoya London,a great singer who loses because of too much talent and not enough personality. Even when her elimination was announced, Melinda Doolittle was gracious and then delivered another impeccable performance. As great as her performance is, a few months from now people will forget about her. It's sad to say, but if Melinda had thrown a petty fit and then cried her way through the last song she would have become a star. And if she had done it a few weeks ago, she would have been the next American Idol!

A last note, I hope this ends the "this is a singing competition" claim American Idol makes every year because it is so clearly not. I'll watch the finale, but let's face it-this contest is already over.

Number 51

It's been kind of a dead week in the world of pop culture, so now seems like a good time to resume my favorite CD countdown. My 51st favorite CD is:

Bob Marley - Legend (1984)

I think it was Bono who said about Bob Marley, "Prophet. Soul rebel. Rastaman. Herbsman. Wildman. A natural, mystic man. Lady's man. Island man. Family man. Rita's man. Soccer man. Showman. Shaman. Human. Jamaican!" It was a great description of the man and says a lot about what he meant to people, but to be honest I just like his music. I've never been into reggae and my appreciation for it pretty much stops after Bob Marley and UB40. However, Bob Marley's music transcends the genre for me.

Legend culls what is recognized as Bob Marley's greatest hits onto one disc. Marley's music has a sense of hope that runs through it, even when he is singing about shooting sheriffs or deputies. To an outsider of the music, reggae often seems like one repetitive groove over and over (as most music you are not into sounds to a non listener) yet Legend has a variety of material. There are upbeat dance tunes such as the relentless "Exodus" or the song Eric Clapton made a #1 hit, "I Shot The Sheriff." His music could be seductive on slower numbers, like on "Stir It Up" or "Waiting In Vain." And in an unusual style for any lasting popular artist, Bob Marley could sound really happy as with "Three Little Birds" or "Satisfy My Soul". Usually happy songs are written off as being shallow and are often unappreciated yet Bob Marley's music is so infectious it doesn't matter.

There is definitely some rebel spirit to Bob Marley as his classic "Get Up Stand Up" demonstrates and he could translate his yearnings into spiritual quests as with "No Woman No Cry". But my favorite is the simple folk ballad "Redemption Song". It is an acoustic ballad that carries emotional power of a person quietly fighting for freedom with heavy resolve.

Judgement Day in LA

It was a sad week in the City of Angels this week, as it was revealed that Paris Hilton will do 45 days in prison for disregarding some laws that have to do with driving with a suspended license. OK, maybe not quite sad, replace that word with "funny". While I have nothing against Paris Hilton, it's almost a sitcom setup to think of a spoiled rich girl will be spending time in the pokey. Sort of like Private Benjamin (1980), except replace the Army with prison and Goldie Hawn in her prime was cuter. Then again, maybe Paris will be on the survailence cameras long enough to make a sequel to Linda Blair's Chained Heat (1983). Cool! Or, is that hot? The Stars may be Blind, but Lady Justice is not! Ok, I'll stop now. It's not nice to make fun of the mild misfortune of others who are infinitely more wealthy than you.

In other LA news, Chris "nasal is a singing style" Richardson and Phil "Uncle Fester" Stacey were voted off American Idol this week. Finally, some of the deadwood is being cut away leaving the talent that has carried this season. Bon Jovi is a long time favorite of mine and it was great to see him coach the performers with actual constructive criticism. Blake Lewis transformed "You Give Love A Bad Name" into an 80's dance mix while Melinda Doolittle showed her range by performing "Have A Nice Day" with Tina Turnerish conviction. Meanwhile, Jordan Sparks coasted through a ridiculous performance of "Livin' On A Prayer". Sorry Jordan, you're cute but that prayer up and died.

Bon Jovi also gave a performance of his new song "You Want To Make A Memory". The tune is a slow moving ballad meant to fit in multiple radio formats coinciding with his rumored Country tinged album Lost Highway (2007). It's a decent song that grows on you after a few plays but I think the commercial aspects of this is iffy. If you're going to make a slow moving Alison Krauss style ballad...well, it helps if you're Alison Krauss. I do like the song though and if you'd like to check it out, here it is!



(Big thanks to my wife for showing me this trick!)



I saw two movies this weekend that also had to do with Judgement, they were Series 7: The Contenders (2000) and Girl On A Bridge (1999). Series 7 is about a fake reality show where the contestants sign up to literaly kill each other. Shot with unerring precision in the reality television style (shot on video, know it all voice over commentator, dramatic re-enactments, video vigenette profiles of the contestants and their back stories) Series mercilously makes it's point. The show represents the unending bloodlust, voyeurism and thirst for dramatic conflict of the television viewing public. Can we be far off from a show that literaly does this? Well, yeah we are but something close to it will probably pop up eventually.

Girl On A Bridge is a French film shot in glorious black and white about a washed up knife thrower who talks a girl out of commiting suicide on a bridge and becoming his assistant. Both actors (Daniel Auteli and Vannessa Paradis) give empathic performances as two hard luck losers bound by an indominable streak of good luck. Girl is a magnetic, facinating look at two people who need each other to fend off their self destructive patterns. And the sexual metaphor of knife throwing has never been more palpable than it is here.