Top 5 Recap: Crooning The Rat Pack

I had a late night catching Billy Elliot on Broadway for the 2nd time. Get tickets if you can, because the show is a true gift in these down economic times. It is a story of redemption in an era when the main livelihood was wiped away, and entire communities had to reinvent themselves. I will save my Billy Elliot review for a future column. But here's a suggestion, for those who have the extra spending money...buy tickets to the one current show that is an absolute must-see. It has electricity to spare.

Back to American Idol, I saw something blatant last night that totally annoyed me. Simon Cowell is (more brazenly than usual) using his influence to advance those he wants, and sabotage those he doesn't. It is beyond obvious that he does not want Kris and Allison in the top 3. Both were brilliant on the Rat Pack edition. What's infuriating is that the other judges could not give either higher praise, which then got fully dismissed with a condescending Cowell remark.

Kris took a song I love and owned it. "The Way You Look Tonight" show me that Kris Allen is the king of easygoing, natural ability. He isn't a belter, just a multi-talented performer. Because Idol producers have never touted him, he is, as Kara says, the dark horse in the competition. He solidified his status as my favorite tonight, but what Cowell did was disgusting. He basically told Kris and Allison that they don't think they can win the competition. His comments were rooted in....what, exactly? Yet, Jamie Foxx said Kris is his #1 precisely because he sells songs with emotion not vocal histrionics. That is the way I feel about him.

Allison did "Someone To Watch Over Me" and it was terrific. She still sometimes swallows her words and did not have the life experience to totally sell the song's message (it's not a song about one's family). I put it a notch below Kris tonight.

Matt Giraud was, for me, the weakest of the night. I didn't connect with him. Judges seemed to agree, but then Simon came in and pronounced that he acted like he could win it. It was a not so subtle dissing of Kris and Allison. It actually seemed calculated. He wants to control the top 3, that he sees as Matt, Danny and Adam. If that happens, we know who controls this show.

Danny Gokey was okay for me. I didn't need to hear some of the growling but "Come Rain Or Come Shine" was fine. I had no quarrel with it. I still feel he is relatively the same each week.

I was listenening to Mad World on my IPOD on my train ride home. I like Adam Lambert, but I think he is better off being a runner-up. Like Daughtry, he is too unique to be IDOL-ified. I think of Idol career moves as hit and miss. Some of the winners have been deserted (Ruben, Taylor), some have fallen in and out of favor (Kelly), some have had solid careers (Carrie, Kelly) and, for others, the jury is still out (Jordin, David). His performance of "You Know How I feel" was okay, but it did not blow me away. I was a bit disappointed, because it came in the pimp spot.

Here are my top 5 and predictions for the night:

1) Kris: Jamie Foxx gets him...3 judges get him..Simon wants more drama. And he picked one of my all-time favorites. Delivery does not get more sincere than that. Grade: A

2) Allison: There are many good people in the competition tonight and I think Allison was understated and tender. I still don't think the song was the best choice, even if she was supposedly singing about her family. Grade: B+

3t) Danny Gokey: He was good, just more of the same. He has a wonderful voice and I like his song. But I want to applaud loudly at the end. Grade: B

3t) Adam Lambert: He would have been better singing a ballad tonight. With his voice, he could have made magic. I did not like the arrangement, but there is no arguing his talent. Grade: B

5) Matt Giraud: Melinda Doolittle blasted this song out of the park. Matt had an infield single. Simon would like to see him make the top 3, but his was the most disconnected vocal of the night for me. Grade: C

There was a clear bottom tonight, Matt. But Simon did his best to save him....unless his fans think he is safe and don't over-vote.

I think Matt will be going home.

The Art Of Surfing

I have never been one to ride the waves of Jones Beach in New York, let alone Hermosa Beach, California, but I am very good at finding some fascinating sites on the web.

The problem with the net is that there are so many quality sites, growing in artistry by the day, that it can be overwhelming. You sometimes need to get pointed to one that would tie-in well with your interests. I often use Cool Site of the Day archives as a way to explore what is out there. They get grades by those who visit each selected site, so if you choose to explore the sites that rank the highest each month, you are bound to find something worthwhile and useful. You can also scan the titles to sort out your particular interests. Plus, you get to cast you own vote for the site's daily selection.

The Webby Nominee site is another place to uncover amazing places. Just go to the 5 nominees for each category. They are all usually extremely well-done and interesting. There is a lot of competition out there. The sites that get nominated are normally excellent, and the winner is usually an especially good site to bookmark and have.

For more superb sites, check out previous winners and nominees, going back to 1997. If you are looking at the yearly science nominees, for example, this is a way to get a roundup of the best science sites out there. Or at least the ones that look the best.

For the next week, you can actually vote for the people's choice winner (judges hand out their own award). Here is the link to the current voting. You'll need to register. I still prefer the ever-changing cool site of the day archives. They have been doing it since 1994. It is fun going year by year, to see how the web has evolved. Many of the earlier sites are no longer around, but there is a great way to view them as they were.

The site, The Internet Archive Wayback Machine, is an invaluable resource. Simply type in the url of the site, and it will give you a list of dates when they indexed the site. You can then see an exact representation of the page, the way it was. You may not have full functionality, but you get to see what the sites offered and what made them special.

My new favorite search engine index of the moment is Addictomatic.com. It has 24 categories of engines to choose from. Each of those sites.. then lists what their top 5 stories, images, or videos are.

Want to always be hip to what's the most talked about stuff on the web at any given time? Go to the 'popular' icon and click. You'll find the current top 5 in digg, mixx, Yahoo! Buzz, to name a few. You'll also see the daily top-rated photos and videos. If you would like to be part of what people flock to on the net, you will find this site unparalleled for steering you there.

The nice thing is you set the parameters. You tell the site what interests you, and it gets tailored to your tastes.

In the future, I will turn you on to some of the most interesting sites I have found, that I think you might enjoy. Expect to see some in the coming days.

Happy surfing.

American Idol: Disco Week Results Show

I have a confession to make. I cannot watch American Idol without my DVR. I often reserve it for the production numbers, which are excruciating. They were harder to watch when Scott McIntyre was still one of the finalists and American Idol producers walked on eggshells trying to figure out how to make it work.

This week, Paula Abdul choreographed the contestants, and I thought it was worth giving it a looksee. You know, it wasn't half-bad. Taking into account, the weird sunglasses and the obvious lip-synching, I thought the group showed that they could groove, even if it was to moves folks haven't done for about 30 years. It wasn't the dancing that caught my attention, however. What really struck me was that, in their comfort zone, all of these finalists can sing.

Look at it this way. If you can say that of the 7, Lil Rounds is the weakest vocalist, that is saying a lot. The guys, in particular, handled a difficult Jacksons song (originally performed by Michael and his brothers) really well. So what if it was lip-synched. there were some good vocals tonight.

Next up...product placement time. Especially morbid on a night with a double elimination, the Ford commercial was performed to "I'm Good, I'm Gone." That certainly puts a cheery spin to the night, doesn't it?

And...master of giving cringe-worthy results, Ryan Seacrest gets the ball rolling. Let's see how bad he can make the finalists feel this week. How many will he deke out, announcing who's safe and who is not so good and gone?

First up, Lil Rounds. Bottom 3. Any other result would have been one of the greatest shocks of the season. But, right off the bat...her elimination is announced. This is the result everyone expected. Rounds performs "I'm Every Woman" and it actually isn't as annoying as it was the night before. It was the best she sounded since the semi-finals. Where was this person hiding? Maybe because the pressure is over, she could just let it out. Good for her.

I should say that, in posting on forums on the net, I had predicted her to get the definite boot. I also thought the other person to go would be either Anoop, Matt, or....(drumroll) Danny. Danny would be a stretch, but I thought he might have a chance to make the bottom 3. From what I could see on the various forums, his fan support seems to be slipping.

It's disco medley time...ouch...Freda Payne sings "Band Of Gold." She forgets, at one point, that if you put the mic down, your voice disappears. I guess this isn't lip-synched. Thelma Houston is up next and doesn't know when to start singing and leaves out the first words of the song, starting mid-verse. Harry "KC" Wayne Casey of KC and The Sunshine Band is next and...oh my...this is looking more and more like a Saturday Night Live routine. At one point, in the early 80s, he had a bad car accident, leading to a pinched-nerve, partial paralysis (for 6 months) and massive weight gain. He did not look totally comfortable, even surrounded by 4 backup singers, and he was the most off vocally of the bunch. But, I will say, the end was better than the beginning.

Yes, it was nice to see it come to an end. There are some still top-notch disco performers that might have sounded better tonight. Donna Summer has been on Idol in the past, but she is in especially good voice these days. So is Gloria Gaynor and France Joli, to name just a couple of others. But, alas, they did not apparently get the call.

When you stretch the results show to an hour, there is a lot of filler time. See why I like the DVR?! It helps me get past the Simon/Paula craziness and Simon/Ryan nastiness.

Back to the results...Kris Allen, my favorite contestant this season, is safe. Adam Lambert, the overall favorite to win, who I also like (just not as much as Kris) is...also safe. No kidding.

It's Danny...will he be a 'surprise' in the bottom 3? After Simon makes an unnecessarily nasty comment to Ryan, Danny is told he may be clumsy, but he is safe.

Anoop is next...short and sweet...bottom 3. But now, the surprise of the show...Matt is in the top 4, and, a real surprise, Allison is in the bottom 3. Man, she does not deserve to be there. Dial Idol had her at the bottom, based on the busy signal, but they also had her with the biggest number of votes, having increased substantially over the week before. On the Vote Number 1 website, which is a more accurate predictor (over 6 million unique votes...no excess voting...Allison was a solid 3rd). If Anoop does not get the boot, I will be very surprised. Although, having a 16-year old sing "Hot Stuff" while dressed in something out of the Frederick's of Hollywood dominatrix line might have unsettled some socially conservative voters.

While we wait to see if it becomes the '5 guys' competition...my favorite finalist from last year, David Archuletta, is back to perform. His latest single is "Touch My Hand." It starts out a bit weak, but has a nice hook. Not as good as his first hit, "Crush," but Archuletta shows a strong falsetto in this one, doing a decent job. Funny, but at the end he closed his eyes...which he got razzed about all last season.

After the song, Ryan walks Archie to the 'L' corner to give advice to Allison and Anoop. He was very classy and complimentary and told them that, even if it ends now, the doors are open for them. He's right. Just think of Jennifer Hudson, or Chris Daughtry. Neither of them made the top 3 (Hudson didn't even make it to the top 5).

Finally, the other shoe...the second elimination...Anoop. They must be running late, because the judges don't get to say anything to him. Who said life was fair? At least, Simon doesn't say something to rub salt in the wound. Anoop was in (almost) great voice. Once again, his last note eluded him, but otherwise, a really nice job.

The show ends with the double goodbye footage and we get a sense that this group of finalists is especially close with each other. Nice to close the show that way.

Welcome to my entertainment blog

After spending many years as a radio personality on Long Island, I thought it was high time to start an entertainment blog. At my last station, WALK-FM, I had one, and it's a fun way to interact. I hope you enjoy it.

At this blog, you can expect to see entertainment reviews and previews, catch some of my broadcast interviews, and learn about current and future projects. I'll also share some of the amusing things I find as an avid web surfer. Those who know my show, know trivia is key with me. I hope to include some fun trivia quizzes as the blog grows.

If anybody would like to contact me personally, my email address is scottmillerproductions@gmail.com

Thanks for stopping by!