TV

American Idol Season Five starts tonight. I've decided not to watch. As it turns out, I went through the first two seasons without ever watching an episode. And I think it's best for me to return to that simpler time. Chris Daughtry's loss last year just broke my heart, and I think that maybe web sites like votefortheworst.com are really having an impact. Besides, that's two nights a week I'll have to do other things.

Speaking of TV, I watched the Golden Globes last night. It was a big night for big girls. Jennifer Hudson (of A.I. Season 3) and America Ferrera both won Globes, plus Ugly Betty won best comedy series. That was pretty cool - Betty and Grey's Anatomy (which won best drama) run back-to-back on ABC on Thursdays and are the cause of my sleep deprivation Friday mornings (I tape them and watch both at 11:30 after I get home from work at watch The Daily Show).

And that's all I have to say about TV for right now. I have decided to finish the 2006 scrapbook-o-cruises tonight. Wish me luck!

The Best One Yet

You know what was great about the Idol finale last night -- besides the random performances -- the fact that I didn't have to worry whether or not my pick would win. Though I had a glimmer of hope that Taylor and Katharine would be standing there and Seacrest would announce that Chris had won, I knew Taylor far outshined Kat in the final competition and that he'd win... but if he didn't, it wouldn't have been a big deal.

Besides, Chris had more face time than almost any of them last night. I should've taped it so I could watch him again and again. Of course, my favorite two moments of the night involved some audition losers -- the singing cowboy and his two comrades in 10-gallon hats came back to sing Mamas Don't Let Your Babies Grow Up to be Cowboys, and the Clay Aiken wannabe started to sing and almost shat himself when the real Clay walked out on stage. They actually had to get the kid a stool. And it's a good thing they cut his microphone off, because he kept going "oh my GOD!!" over and over again.

Anyway, I've got three Chris songs on a CD I burned for myself, and that should tide me over for a while (although I need to download his "Dead or Alive" from the Idols CD that just came out). And we should all be free of Idol-mania until January.

See you then!

Downloading Daughtry

Great news for all you Idol fans out there! (ok, great news for me!) For a limited time only ('til May 24), each of the Idol finalists has downloads available. That's right, for $.99 each (same as most songs on Napster), you can own your favorite performances forever! (ok, you can own some of the performances) I'm making my list now!

Even without buying the music, this is a great way for those of you who said you were going to watch, but never quite got around to it, to know who the players are. You can preview the songs and really get a feel for whose music you'd want to hear on the radio and whose you wouldn't. I'm definitely buying two of Chris's songs - Hemmorhage and Walk the Line, and Katharine's Someone to Watch Over Me (more for the song than the artist).

As promised, I didn't post at all about this week's shows. I won't say that I was right about Elliott going home. And I won't mention that though I thought he should've left a long time ago, I was sorry to see him go.

Heartbreak Hotel

I looked at Scott at the end of American Idol tonight and told him I don't want to even watch anymore. Why would I? Chris is gone.

Elvis week was cruel to the Idols, somehow putting Kat and Chris in the bottom two, leaving Elliott and Taylor sailing into the semi-finals.

This isn't just "my pick to win is gone" sour grapes either. I feel heartbroken, disappointed, and completely SHOCKED by the loss of my favorite Idol.

This is worse than two seasons ago when LaToya was voted off and Jasmine stayed. This is worse than last season when Anwar left.

I don't even care who wins. Sure, I'll watch, but I won't vote. And I'll keep my fingers crossed that Chris somehow gets picked up by a label and makes a great album that I can buy.

Anyway, here's my prediction for the rest of the season: Elliott gets voted off next week when America realizes that they were stoned while dialing his digits this week, and Kat sails through the finals when Taylor can't pull off the sappy American Idol ballad (like Bo and Carrie last year). And then they'll go on tour for the summer and then disappear forever.

And in other disheartening Idol news, it seems Lifetime is producing the Fantasia Barrino biography, "Life is not a Fairy Tale." Why won't SHE just go away?

Well, that's it for my posts on AI Season 5. I'm sure when I wake up tomorrow I won't be bitter. After all, I already know I'm bitter about a stupid reality TV show. So please, be gentle in your comments. It's my blog and I'll whine if I want to.

Ameircan Idol - Final Six

I finally voted last night. Multiple times. While packing boxes.

Chris Daughtry is far beyond anyone I've ever seen on the AI stage before. He's been in the bottom three for the past two weeks, and I'm worried about that. So I voted. Multiple times.

Ask Scott - when he sings, I swoon. I've never swooned over any Idol contestant before. I want him to win, and I will buy his album.

Last night, they were working with Andrea Bocelli, and his manager(?) told Chris he was singing from the throat too much, and had him lie on the floor so that he'd be forced to sing from his diaphragm. That one lesson really made a difference in his performance last night - more control, more power, more swoon.

And so I voted.

(oh yeah - there were five other performances last night. Taylor and Kellie were not very good. Paris and Katharine were their usual good quality, and Elliott was pretty good too. Chris was still the best)