Late American Idol Update

You know, AI viewing is different for me now than it was during season 2 when I became a fan. Back then I simply just watched the show and voted, now it seems that I can (if I let myself) be completely distracted by it from Tuesday afternoon to Thursday morning.

Here's how it goes:

Tuesday afternoon: start checking TMZ.com and votefortheworst.com for the spoiler song list of what's coming up for each contestant this week.

Tuesday night: watch the show, tape everything, do some voting and then troll YouTube for the videos of that night's performances to see what other people are saying in the comments section. Inevitably, I leave my own comments.

Wednesday morning: read the hilarious votefortheworst.com notes on last night's show. Cruise on over to mtv.com to see what they had to say. Do a search online for any news and other funny commentaries. When Mom is here I read her the funny stuff and we crack up over coffee.

Wednesday night: watch the tape of the results show. This is always better taped because there's too much fluff, and I can't stand to watch the little group performance at the beginning. Poor David Cook looks so out of place bopping around to sissy songs.

Thursday morning: figure out which studio versions I want to download. Put something on the blog.

This week it was even more distracting, because I downloaded David Cook's 2006 album "Analog Hearts" from Amazon.com and had to listen to the whole thing a few times. Things that kept going through my mind: "How come he's not already a superstar?" and "Man, that girl that left him must be kicking herself now" (almost every song is about a broken relationship)," and "Take off the edge and there is a no.1 album in here," and "The lyrics are excellent."

My guess is that the AI executives are praying for a David Cook win. He's so marketable, seasoned, and talented, they are sure to take that boy straight to the bank. And he writes excellent songs. David Archuleta (gonna call him David Archuleather after this week) just won't be able to carry himself (and the money making train) very far on just that sweetie-pie voice, despite the strangle-hold he has on his fans

So, this week's best performance was Syesha, believe it or not. She still doesn't connect, and she still does too many vocal gymnastics, but it WAS Mariah Carey week, and she can do that stuff.



I'm a die-hard David Cook fan, but his performance was just OK for me this week. The best part came after the judge's comments. His brother, who is battling brain cancer, was able to attend the show. David winked at him and then started to cry. It was actually very genuine and nice. I'm sure it won him a ton more fans. Kudos to the AI producers who didn't even mention his brother's presence, as it would have been a little exploitive, in my opinion. All in all, David is much better on the studio version that can be downloaded from iTunes. His long rendition of "Always Be My Baby" is a real keeper. The ballad-esque delivery with a slight rock edge is perfect pop. He shows that he is really a good singer at bottom, and has nice falsetto part towards the end that is rich and controlled. He stays edgy, but not too much.

Now something for my other friends who write while taking care of children. How do you do it???? While I was writing this I was interrupted at least 30 times by the children. I'm at the point of thinking that it simply isn't possible for me to keep up a blog. When the kids are sleeping I have too much work to finish. When they are awake they constantly need stuff. I guess some people can balance those things, but I'm finding it really hard.