Category: Popular Culture

Any American Idol fans out there? What did you think of last night’s finale? Who are you rooting for to win tonight?

I have my fav—David Cook. Do I think he’ll win? Not really. I’ll be very surprised if he does, and, frankly, I’m just glad he made it to the finals. As much as I admire Big David’s singing, I think it’s pretty difficult to come out on top when you’re up against a teen phenomenon like David Archuleta. American Idol is known for producing (or at least choosing as winners) pop singers over rock. And I do think Little David is talented, but I can’t imagine buying his debut CD. I’m past the age where I want to listen to ballad after ballad. Had enough of that with Barry Manilow and Elton John (now I’m aging myself, LOL).

My take on last night’s finale—I loved both their first performances. For the second song, I was thrilled that the producers didn’t make them sing the same song from the finale-song contest. I know the judges thought Little David killed it with his performance, but I was groovin’ on DC’s tune. The last round, I loved that David Cook didn’t do a repeat of an earlier performance, even though I did love his rendition of Billy Jean. I think Little David’s version of Imagine is beautiful, but I bore easily, and I would have rather he sung a song I hadn’t heard him sing before.

That’s my take, anyway. How about you?

“Stories don’t always end where their authors intended. But there is joy in following them, wherever they take us.” Beatrix Potter in MISS POTTER.

Isn’t that the truth?

(There’s also aggravation in following them, but I’m trying to remain upbeat.)

I had the very great pleasure of watching MISS POTTER over the weekend. Has anyone seen this movie? Were you lucky enough to catch it in a theater? What did you think of it? I totally adored it. I’m not a raving Beatrix Potter fan (as a preschooler, Dr. Seuss was more my speed), but I am a raving fan of this movie. It’s a true writer’s movie. I think that’s why I loved it so much. Starring Renee Zellweger as Beatrix Potter and Ewan McGregor as her publisher and suitor, not only does MISS POTTER have excellent characterization and breathtakingly beautiful cinematography, but the way it portrays the writer’s imagination—down to the details of her stories coming to life before her eyes—well, to me it was bang on.

I watched this movie alone, which, in my opinion, is how it deserves to be watched. Especially if you live in a testosterone-driven household and are usually subjected to hockey games and super hero films. Well, I wasn’t totally alone. Allie McBeagle was sleeping on my lap (being a “yump,” as she puts it)(translation = “lump.”) My dog, um, figures predominantly in my imagination. I won’t go into exactly how (although I may have already…), because then I’ll have made public several reasons to have me carted off to the loony bin, which my children are already threatening to accomplish when I’m eighty. However, let’s just say I totally identified with Miss Potter’s feelings of affection for her creations, and the romance and tragedy of the story also swept me completely away.

Rent. Or Buy. This Movie.

Watch it with your favorite beagle—uh, bunny.

No Regrets. I promise.

(Fine Print: Promises made on this blog are not legally binding. If you buy or rent this movie and don’t love it as much as I did, no, I won’t reimburse you, and, honestly, you should think about developing better taste).

Was anyone as surprised as I was to see Michael Johns voted off American Idol last night? I picked him as one of my personal front-runners, along with David Cook, from early on in the series. Out of the two, however, I’d rather have seen Michael go for the simple reason that David seems much more certain of his direction as an artist. But I would have expected Kristi Lee Cook, Syesha Mercado, and Carly Smithson to leave before Michael.

It might be a good thing for him. It was for Chris Daughtry, another of my past favs. Of course, Bo Bice and Taylor Hicks were favs of mine, too. I bought the post-Idol CDs of all three, and only Daughtry’s didn’t disappoint me, yet he didn’t make it to the Final Two like Bice and Hicks. Both Bice’s and Hicks’s CDs sounded to me like some record producer’s idea of what they should sound like to appeal to the broadest spectrum of buyers. I understand Hicks has been dropped from the post-Idol record label, and I caught a recent interview with Bice where he mentioned getting back to his own style of Southern rock with his second album. I might have to give him another chance, because the first album didn’t “sound” like the Bo Bice I’d come to know on American Idol at all.

This is where I confess I’m not a fan of the American Idol voting format. I much preferred the format in the Rock Star series, where the public narrowed the choice to the bottom three every week and then the judges decided who got the boot. How about you? Do you prefer the Idol voting system, where it’s the calling-in public’s choice? Has your favorite been given the boot yet? Who do you think should go next?