American Idol Contest- Week 3

As I had a feeling yesterday, Didi sadly got voted off tonight. Not too many people saw this one coming before the top 12 started..

1. Matt Pollock- 20 points
1. Libre Pollock- 20 points
1. Justine Barbato- 20 points
4. Ross Pollock- 15 points
4. Mike Podhorzer- 15 points
4. Konstantina Barkas- 15 points
7. Diana Lorenzo- 10 points
7. Mitch Pollock- 10 points
7. Christina Maffa- 10 points
7. Liz Kaplan- 10 points
7. Sheila Pollock- 10 points
7. Ricarda Pollock- 10 points
13.Kathy Dragonetti- 5 points

Lost Episode 10: The Package

I’m enjoying some of these double and triple meaning titles that the writers of Lost are coming up with. Last night’s episode was titled, “The Package”. Now there were two clear references to a “package” in the episode. There was the package of money Jin was supposed to deliver to Keamy and never did, and there was the package being held on the ship which we find out to be Desmond. However there is also another possibly more important “package”. There has been speculation about which of the Kwon’s is the one written on the cave wall, signifying their candidacy. But maybe it isn’t one, maybe it’s both, maybe they’re a “package deal”. Kind of corny, but wouldn’t that make sense?

American Idol- Top Ten Performances

We’re headed for a very interesting results show tomorrow night. If Tim Urban survives, as Simon predicted tonight, then who will be sent home. We’re going to start seeing just how strong certain fan bases are. I’m also getting the feeling that the judges save will be put to use tomorrow night. Instead of giving my detailed reaction to tonight’s performances I’m going to just give each a letter grade along with their chances of getting the least amount of votes and the chances the judges will use a save on them.


Siobhan Magnus:
Tonight: C
Chance at being lowest vote getter: No chance
Will the judges use a save on her? Absolutely

Not a step in the right direction for Siobhan. Based on her reputation, there is no way she is going tonight even if she did get the lowest amount of votes.

Lost: Halfway through the Season

I know I’ve been slacking on my Lost posts, so instead of doing an episode post for the previous episode (and I’ll really try to take those up again starting this week), I’m going to assess where we are at the middle of the season.  While we have been presented with a few more glaring questions this season, last week’s episode, “Ab Aeterno” was instrumental in giving the season and the series purpose.

From what we saw in that episode, I believe the MIB is a devil-like figure, but not necessarily with the purpose to tempt people to do wrong—he tempts people to do his bidding, so he can get off the Island.  The Island is Hell in the sense that it is a holding place for the devil, but not in the sense that being there is a punishment.  In fact, as we’ve seen for many of the characters, being there was actually a blessing.  It gave them a chance to be better people, and most of them did—Jack, Sawyer, Sun and Jin, Charlie, even Ben (eventually). 

American Idol Contest- Week 2 Standings

The only mild surprise this week was Katie in the bottom three instead of Andrew. I'm surprised he still has a big enough following to keep him in the middle of the pack.

1. Matt Pollock- 20 points
1. Libre Pollock- 20 points
1. Justine Barbato- 20 points
4. Ross Pollock- 15 points
4. Mike Podhorzer- 15 points
6. Diana Lorenzo- 10 points
6. Mitch Pollock- 10 points
6. Christina Maffa- 10 points
6. Liz Kaplan- 10 points
6. Sheila Pollock- 10 points
11.Kathy Dragonetti- 5 points
11. Ricarda Pollock- 5 points
12. Konstantina Barkas- 0 points

American Idol- Top 11 Performances

Quick Thoughts on Tonight’s Top 11:


Lee Dewyze-“The Letter”: What a coincidecen that someone performs “The Letter” the same week Alex Chilton died. I don’t think it was done as a tribute since sadly, noone mentioned his passing on the show. I’m usually not a Lee Dewyze fan, but I thought he was very good this week. It was nice to see him tackle something different. Grade: B+

Paige Miles-“Against All Odds”: Have you ever heard Randy Jackson give such negative feedback? This was as awful as it can get at this stage in the season. I don’t know what Simon is remembering when he recalls a good Paige performance. Please let this be her last week. Grade: F

R.I.P. Alex Chilton (1950-2010)

I was always fascinated by just how diverse Alex Chilton’s contribution to music was. Most of the general public won’t recognize him by name. What they will recognize is his voice as the lead singer to the 60s group the Box Tops. His deep, soulful voice is cemented in many people’s minds thanks to “The Letter”. The first remarkable fact about Alex Chilton’s career is he was only 16 when this song was recorded. Here’s a teenager talking about flying back home to rekindle a relationship with an ex-girlfriend, and he sold just as well as any classic soul singer could have. If Alex Chilton never made another song after “The Letter”, his legacy would have been significant.


And yet it’s what Alex Chilton accomplished after The Box Tops that earns him a spot as being one of the most important figures in rock music. As leader of the power pop band Big Star, Alex influenced a whole generation of musicians. So much so that the Replacements even recorded a tribute song to him called fittingly, “Alex Chilton”. Big Star’s lack of popularity is one of the biggest shames in rock and roll. Unlike other alternative bands that came after and before, Big Star wanted to sell many records. Their group name wasn’t meant to be ironic. They truly wanted the fame and popularity. Big Star wasn’t a cult band by choice. Unfortunately, they arrived in the early 70s when a rock band built on Beatlesque melodies were a bit passé.

American Idol Contest- Week 1

The biggest disappointment for me is learning they brought back the judges' save. If Paige had been the one voted off, Simon would have probably wanted to use it immediately on her. I have tow issues with that. One, she isn't worth it. Two, it would have robbed 15 points from some of us who had her going home 12th! as it turns out, I get zero points anyway since I thought Lacey would stick around for awhile. If Tim can avoid being in the bottom two after last night's performance then he might be sticking around for a lot longer than most of us thought. Here are the standings after Week 1.

1. Mike Podhorzer- 10 points
1. Diana Lorenzo - 10 points
1. Justine Barbato- 10 points
1. Libre Pollock- 10 points
5. Matt Pollock- 5 points
5. Ross Pollock- 5 points
7. Mitch Pollock- 0 points
7. Kathy Dragonetti- 0 points
7. Christina Maffa- 0 points
7. Liz Kaplan- 0 points
7. Sheila Pollock- 0 points

American Idol Contest- Everybody's Picks

It looks like we have a lot of Bowersox fans! I'm sure we're going to look back at a lot of our picks at the end of the season and laugh. Here are everyone's picks...

American Idol- Top 12!

Quick thoughts on the top 12 since I have work that awaits me. Overall, I think this was a somewhat surprisingly good start to the final round. I’ll group contestants into categories based on tonight’s performances:



Top Of The Class:
Siobhan Magnus
Crystal Bowersox

I’ll post everyone’s Top 12 predictions tomorrow night, but for now I’ll just say I’m happy I have these two as #1 and 2 right now. I completely agree with Kara that Siobhan brought the Adam Lambert treatment to that song, and how that may not be a compliment for some people. I thought it made her stand out in a good way tonight. My one problem is with that high note towards the end. I kind of saw it as an overly calculated attempt to recreate her previous “moment”. When it happened on “Think” it felt natural. This time, it felt forced and actually sounded too much like a scream. Other than that, go Siobhan!

American Idol Contest

It's time for the second edition of the American Idol contest! It's free to join. The grand prize is bragging rights for a year.

Rules: Put the contestants in order of how you think they'll finish this year. Email picks to mitchpollock@aol.com, send me a message on facebook, or drop the sheet off in my school mailbox. I'll email Christina my list tomorrow to ensure I did not glance through everyone else's first!

Scoring:

25 points= picking the winner
15 points= picking the top male singer
15 points= picking the top female singer
15 points= predicting the exact finish of a contestant.
10 points= coming within one spot of predciting a contestant's finish (for example, if you think Crystal will finish in 8th place and she comes in 7th or 9th, you'll get 10 points)
5 points= coming within two spots of predicting a contestant's finish.

American Idol Semi-Finals: Cumulative Grades

Here’s how it works. I calculated a numeric grade for each contestant based on all the letter grades I’ve given over the three semi-final weeks. Since singers are supposed to improve each week, I progressively increased the value of each round. For instance, the first semi-final week is graded out of 20 points, the second is out of 25, the third is out of 30.This gives each singer a score that is out of 75 points. I came up with a scale to determine how many of the remaining 25 points each singer should earn so that the score is out of an even 100 points. For instance, if a singer earned anywhere between 59-61 points out of 75, they will be rewarded 20 points out of the 25 that was left to earn. I also gave an extra credit point to each performance I gave an A- or better. The complete number system will be included at the end of this article.
Final grades (out of 100)
Guys:
Alex Lambert- 88
Michael Lynche-85
Casey James-84.5
Lee Dewyze-81
Tim Urban- 81
Aaron Kelly-77
Andrew Garcia-76
Todrick Hall- 76

American Idol- Top 8 Guys Performances

What an exciting night of American Idol! It’s not that the performances were spectacular; in fact, most of them did not rise above the “good” rating. What’s interesting is that the two contestants who were set to make the final semi-final elimination night fairly predictable gave two of the best performances of the night. And while I agree that this should not be solely a what have you done for me lately competition, it certainly makes me rethink what Tim Urban and Todrick Hall are capable of doing on the show. I can’t believe I’m thinking about Tim Urban in such a positive way! What made this such a memorable night was also the worst performance of the night. In fact let’s start the recap with the once untouchable Andrew Garcia.


Andrew Garcia- Genie In A Bottle: We have a great American Idol tragedy in the making. A great, early front runner is in position to coast into the top 12 and beyond until the judges unfairly criticize him week after week because he can’t duplicate one of the finest performances ever in the 9 seasons of American Idol. At first, the comparison to Straight Up was only annoying. I didn’t think it would have any lasting effect on Andrew. Since then, the constant comparison has led Andrew on a quest to find another “moment”. It all culminated with tonight’s train wreck. To say Andrew was trying too hard is an understatement. Simon is quick to take all the credit for Tim Urban’s turnaround, but he’s even more responsible for Andrew’s collapse. I’m hoping there are a few more chapters to Andrew Garcia’s American Idol story. Grade: D

Lost Episode 7: Dr. Linus

Have I ever said how much I love Benjamin Linus/ Michael Emerson? Because I really do. The man is half of the reason I watch the show. This past episode was definitely my favorite of the season so far (although I did love the Locke one too). It’s the first episode where something positive has happened on the island since the Oceanic six returned last season. Island Benjamin Linus has actually shown a little bit of goodness and decency inside that character of manipulation and deceit. And seeing the characters joined together in the end gave me that feeling that, yay, everything isn’t hopeless on this island with crazy Mr. Smoke Monster ruining everything. The good guys are building their own army that’s going to beat him down!

American Idol- Top 8 Girls Performance Night

1. 

Welcome back to the competition, Lacey and Didi! Prior to tonight, I would not have cared too much if either of them were voted off. Thursday night will be interesting. I feel there are two clear cut choices for who should not make the top 12. But as we’ve seen many times on Idol, who should go home is not always who does go home.


Katie Stevens- Breakaway: Katie has had enough chances to give a wow performance or at least perform a song that gives me some idea that she’s somewhat close to being a star. This was just a safe song choice with a not so great vocal performance. Grade: C-

Avatar vs. The Hurt Locker

Usually the question “Which film deserves to win Best Picture?” is very easy to answer. Just pick the best movie. However, this year’s race between The Hurt Locker and Avatar raises a philosophical question that hasn’t had to been asked in a long time. Is there more to a Best Picture winner than the quality of the movie itself? The debate hinges on a presupposed notion. The Hurt Locker is the better movie, but Avatar is the highest grossing film of all-time and has a chance to completely alter the movie-going experience. Should this year’s race be determined by which was the better movie or which plays a more significant role in movie history?


One theory is that Avatar will win because it is the highest grossing movie of all-time. The Academy will reward its dominance over pop culture the same way the Academy crowned Titanic Best Picture of 1997. To see if this is true, let’s take a look at all the movies which previously held the “Highest grossing movie ever” title since 1939:

Gone With The Wind (1939)
The Exorcist (1973)
Jaws(1975)
Star Wars (1977)
E.T. (1982)
Titanic (1997)
Avatar (2009)

Lost Episode 6: Sundown

“We’re all mad here.” – Chesire Cat in Alice in Wonderland

Mad in the crazy sense.  It's kind of sad to watch.  All of the characters on this show are one by one crossing the border between sane and insane (at least on the island).  The Alice in Wonderland connections are becoming more and more relevant because the longer you stay in this world the crazier people get.   Claire, Locke, and now Sayid have all gone off the deep end (which all of the actors do a great job portraying).  Kate, Jin and Saywer are all cautiously but voluntarily following them. I wonder if this means that these characters won't end up survivng on the island.  Even though I have no clue where this is all going, this episode was entertaining to watch and I think the writers have recovered from that problematic third episode.  I'm really looking forward to the rest of this season.

American Idol- Girls' Top 10 Performances

As Christina said in her comment on last night’s show, the guys are so far behind the top four or five girls right now. And while there were some bum performances in the bunch, none of them reached the pitiful levels of John Park, Todrick Hall, and Jermaine Sellers. Last week, we started to get a glimpse at some potentially great singers who got little camera time in the ore-recorded part of the season. This week was about separating talented from the less talented. With that in mind, I’m going to do a recap based on tiers instead of chronological order.


Go Straight To The Finals:

Crystal Bowersox- “As Long as I Can See The Light”- Last week’s “Hand in My Pocket” was solid but predictable. This week Crystal proved she’s more than just a folksinger. What a great, powerful voice. Grade: A

American Idol- Top 10 Guys

Although tonight didn’t feature any outstanding performances, there were more hints that some of the male singers could get to that point during the season. They theme of this week (and last week) is nerves. It seems like more than any previous season, singers are visibly nervous on stage. It got to a point where Simon had to end the show by telling Lee to get over it. If you’re going to be a frontman, you’re going have to overcome it. While these types of feelings can be expected from a show whose goal is to take unseasoned singers and turn them into professionals, the inexperience can negatively affect the quality of the performances. I think the best singers tonight were the ones who started overcoming their anxiety issues. Here are my grades for the week:

Michael Lynche: “This Is A Man’s World”- This was definitely a “I’m going to go for it and show that I’m serious about winning” choice of song, and I think he did a very nice job with it. I disagree with the comment that he’s potentially a great artist, but I see him potentially being a good singer for awhile on American Idol. Grade: B+