Ike Reilly is a fucking badass

Dig this: apparently Ike and Tom Morello (the man behind that unmistakable powerful and raw guitar sound of rage against the machine) grew up together in Libertyville Illinois (ike was also in the same high school class as Chris Farley, according to one sexy fan who is in the know). They have played together on occasion for years and the two will embark on a brief tour together in July. Unfortunately the closest they will be to the 612 is Detroit, but us minnesotans can catch Ike with the Assassanation at the cabooze June 29th. says Morello, aka The Nightwatchman, of the upcoming shows:

"When two Illinois rogues hit the road together anything can happen, and anything will. We are on a mission. It's like a Woody Guthrie/Pete Seeger combo for the new millennium. Fathers, hide your Republican daughters."

Reilly adds, "Hide ALL of your daughters."

Hells yeah.

no trey @ 10K

the car is the thing on the road that takes you back to your abode...

unfortunately, Trey Anastasio will be unable to perform at July's 10,000 lakes festival in Detroit Lakes Minnesota. It would have been his 4th appearance at the phenomenal festival, which is held at the soo pass ranch, where the infamous we fest is held each august. it is a spectacular venue and an outstanding lineup, even without Trey, yet he will be missed due to 'circumstances beyond control'. those circumstances are that he was stopped on a mid december night as he was driving and was found to be in possession of percocet and hydrocodone, which were not prescribed to him, as well as hashish and heroin. he also admitted to smoking hashish and was charged with DWI. in lieu of jailtime, trey will be required to complete a 12 month treatment program and, if he fails it, may do 1-3 years in state prison. it sounds like trey is committed to getting help for what he has himself called an addiction, and hopefully trey will be all good for next summers festival season. thankfully, he has already stated that he plans to be at next year's 10K. coming nowhere near filling the shoes of the guitar hero at the festival will be the techno/jamgrass outfit the string cheese incident, of colorado.

American Idol : The Finale Part 2

Well here we are folks, this is what the last five months has been leading up to. Who will be the victor in what the commercials billed as the 'ultimate showdown'?

first we get to see our two finalists (the best final two ever in my ever so humble opinion) sing 'when i saw her standing there'. perhaps we are being prepped for a paul mccartney appearance tonight with this song and randys jacket from last night, right off the cover of sergant peppers lonely hearts club band album cover. a cute little performance, there is definitely some chemistry between jordin and blake. they both seem like really nice people who could get along with anyone, but they look like they have genuinely grown quite fond of eachother.

seacrest kicks it over to gwen stefani who is on tour somewhere and is wearing a hideous puffy pink outfit that vaguely resembles a designer beachball. something about 4 in the morning, and i am not rushing out to see her in concert.

next is the spectacular kelly clarkson. ryan seacrest warns us 'shes a little ticked in this song...' boy is she ever. she sings with sharpness and conviction and i think she has one of the most distinctive (and cool) voices in pop music today. this song is fucking intense. her backing band sounds like it could be daughtry, and this is an exciting, emotional performance. wow. i would love to see daughtry do a song featuring k clark.

golden idol awards will not be covered in this blog.

they bring back all of the top six boys to do a smokey robinson song, and ladies and gentlemen, smokey robinson! wow, that is sweet but he has clearly had too much botox and plastic surgery over the years. his face looks like the skin has been streched one time too many or something, and it is fairly gruesome to look at. still he sounds good and it is a nice little medly where we get to rememebr the chris slighs and brandon rogerses of this season, like why did they go so early on when sanjaya malakar stayed so long??

next, after a breif explanation that some people expressed concern over the lack of beatboxing form blake in the first part of the finale, we are treated to doug e fresh and blake together onstage for a hot beatboxing match. blake can actaully hang with the old school great onstage, and it is a hip, flashy, and entertaining performance. blake is a really talented vocal turntablist and beatboxer, moreso than we have really had a chance to see all season.

top six girls are up and they bring gladys knight out and it is fucking awesome. she looks fantastic and rally happy to be there, especially when melinda and lakisha are on either side of her, looking on in admiration and taking turns singing, and i would buy a record put out by the three of them right now. i want that record right now! man that was sweet. fabulous guest stars already.

next is tony bennett, who couldnt perform when he was a guest mentor earlier in the season due to illness. he magically still sounds like a pro, and i am not sure if this finale could get any more star studded.

melinda doolittle takes the stage with bebe and cece wyans, who she used to sing backup vocals for. 'wont you please america...hold up the light, save the world from darkness...' they sing. yikes, these people are incredibly hopped up on jesus.

next is a montage of higlights from this seasons ford commercials, set to 'time after time', and what a season of ford commercials it was.

carrie underwood is back with 'i'll stand by you' that great song from the pretenders. but why carrie, are you singing this song again, after singing it to the african children on the idol gives back special? dont you have some of melinda's god people writing songs for you? still, she sounds great and its hard not to like her.

clive davis comes out to toot his own horn about how many records the american idol franchise has sold, and encourages us to remember the talented people who actually write the songs that the idols sing. daughtry is given a shout out for being the #1 selling band in the last year, and carrie underwood is presented a plaque (thanks a lot) for selling six million records and making a whole lot of money for the producers of this show. i bet simon is feeling pretty good about himself right now for predicting early on in season 4 that not only would she win the competition, but she would sell more records than any other idol before her.

next is the african childrens choir and they are the happiest group of children i have ever seen and it is an absolutley touching performance. fucking spectacular.

now for the inevitable sanjaya malakar/joe perry of aerosmith/wind machine combination. too bad sanjaya couldnt learn a new song and does the one 'rocking' song he knows, 'you really got me' i swear its the exact same routine of running into the crowd and gving audience members high fives as he did before. only this time he gets to hover around joe perry like a groupie and joe looks a bit uncomfortable.

here is a surprise: green day singing 'working class hero' by john lennon. this is about the last band i would expect to see on american idol (remember that song american idot?) and the last song i would EVER expect to see on the fox network, let alone american idol. dig these lyrics yo:

As soon as you're born they make you feel small
By giving you no time instead of it all
Till the pain is so big you feel nothing at all
A working class hero is something to be
A working class hero is something to be

They hurt you at home and they hit you at school
They hate you if you're clever and they despise a fool
Till you're so fucking crazy you can't follow their rules
A working class hero is something to be
A working class hero is something to be

When they've tortured and scared you for twenty odd years
Then they expect you to pick a career
When you can't really function you're so full of fear
A working class hero is something to be
A working class hero is something to be

Keep you doped with religion and sex and TV
And you think you're so clever and class less and free
But you're still fucking peasants as far as I can see
A working class hero is something to be
A working class hero is something to be

There's room at the top they are telling you still
But first you must learn how to smile as you kill
If you want to be like the folks on the hill
A working class hero is something to be
A working class hero is something to be
If you want to be a hero well just follow me
If you want to be a hero well just follow me


that, folks, is the coolest thing i have ever seen on american idol, and quite possibly the coolest thing i have ever seen on television. fuck yeah. i cannot believe it but billy jo actually sang all of them brilliant lyrics, minus the curse words of course.

after a commercial break, taylor hicks comes out of nowhere and runs around the stage as he is inclined to do while singing, and does a nice harmonica solo at the end of the song, as if to plead with america, "look, i can do something special with my mouth too! palying a harmonica is like beatboxing into an instrument!"

Jordin's duet is next, and who does she get to sing with....ruben studdard! wow they are really taking advantage of those contracts that they make the idol winners sign, that presumably say 'you will perform whenever we want on our show'. where is fantasia? last i heard she is on broadway. anywhooo ruben sounds great and they do a mean duet.

taking over for celine dion after five years at ceasars palace in las vegas will be bette midler, and we get to hear her sing 'the wind beneath my wings'. splendid. this has to be one of the most annoying songs ever that everyone in america subconciously knows every word to. it is as bette is singing that i realize that the las vegas mafia has the children of one of the american idol producers tied up in a basement somewhere in the desert and that is why she is on the show right now promoting her upcoming casino gig. i wonder how many times she has sung that song and how many more times she will sing it during her in 10 shows a week at her endless ceasars palace show. as we check in on jerry springer for the 8th time tonight in the audience, we can see that he is truly inspired by this song.

a tribute to sgt pepper is next, with joe perry and kelly clarkson returning to the stage to perform. quasi pshycahdelic muticolored lights flash about, and taylor is back into the mix, who passes the mic to carrie underwood, who passes the mic to ruben studdard, and if green day singing 'working class hero' was not quite surreal enough, i am almost certain that i am on acid when i hear ruben studdard singing 'lucy in the sky with diamonds'. wait, now i am positive that i am on something powerful as i witness the top twelve american idols singing in unison 'i get high with a little help from my friends'. whew that was intense.

with 74 million votes cast after the first part of the finale, and 609 million cast all season, seacrest asks the judges who they expect will take home the american idol challenge. randy, without hesitation, says that jordin outperformed her competitor last night, and simon concurs. paula, clearly still on the painkillers she was prescribed when she 'accidentally' tripped over her dog, cannot commit to putting one contestant over the other and bumbles on at length about how they are 'both winners'.

both winners they are not tho, and one of them will have to come in second. that person is blake lewis as jordin sparks, the mighty j-sparks, is announced as the winner of the sixth season of americn idol.



best finale ever, (even without prince or paul mccartney) best final two ever, and although i was a little skeptical of the top 24, best fucking season ever.

good luck jordin and i am sure blake will do just fine too. james out.

American Idol : The Finale Pt. 1

vs.



yall know where i stand.

our fianle is live at the kodak theatre, home of the academy awards, and it is a magnificent looking joint in hollywood with 3400 american idol fans.

my prediction remains that j-spark will win the whole thing. Of course we won't find out for sure until tonight, but I am confident that things went the way of Jordin Sparks last night.

Three songs each, one favorite, one they have not performed on the show, and the last song of the season for each of the two finalists is 'this is my now' the winning entry in the songwriting competition, written by two fellas from Seattle.

Speaking of Seattle, what a season of American Idol for that fantastic city I had the pleasure to visit in February! Not only did the two fianlists audition there, but the misfit sanjaya came from there as well, and this winning song, which we can only assume will be a winner.

ok on to performances:

last night at the end of the show blake won the coin toss to determine who gets to decide who goes first, and instead of making the decision himself, he asks jordin 'do you wanna go first?' she quickly and wisely said no, meaning blake is up first tonight and jordin will have the fortunate opportunity to close out the show and give the last performance of the finale. blake is probably regretting being such a gentleman already.

blakes first song is a remix of his remix of 'you give love a bad name', probably his best performance of the season, and definitely his best beatboxing ever on the show. he really made the vocal turntables fit into the song nicely and that little call and response thing with the drummer was brilliant. the crowd absolutely loves this performance again, it sounded better than the first time around, more rehearsed and refined, and he is off to an excellent start.

j-spark goes with 'fighter', from christina aguilera. i didnt recognize the song at first and wondered why she chose it, but then came the tough lyrics, and the sultry attitude and i think it was a wise choice. possibly directed at all the criticism she has faced through the season, when the judges thought she didnt have the chops to outlast melinda and/or lakisha:

'Cause if it wasn't for all that you tried to do
I wouldn't know just how capable I am to pull through
So I wanna say thank you

'Cause it makes me that much stronger
Makes me work a little bit harder
Makes me that much wiser
So thanks for making me a fighter
Made me learn a little bit faster
Made my skin a little bit thicker
It makes me that much smarter
So thanks for making me a fighter.

word, jordin may be young and sweet and innocent, but she is fuckin tough as nails too. thats my girl. she showed everyone she could do it and will do so again one last time before becoming the most popular person in america.

judges seem to concur that the first round goes to jordin, although at this point, everyones mind is made up and it doesnt much matter who sings what or what the judges say, the fans are not going to be persuaded to vote for anyone but their favorite. still the judges, and espescially simon, like to think they have some sway over the voters.

blakes second song, one he has not done on the show before, is maroon 5's 'she will be loved' blake, my man, what is this all about?! this has to be one of the most inapporpriate choices all season for blake. havent we had enough maroon 5 lately? he did maroon 5 last week, and although it sounded better than the lame ass radio version and maroon 5's lead singer's annoying high voice, why go back to the same lame pop band? the blaker girls are already voting for you, there no need to make the tweens cry anymore. again, blakes rendition was a better vocal than the original, but so what? this is the last chance to freaking DAZZLE the audience, and i dont think it worked. randy likes the lack of beatboxing, how he sang it 'natural and pure' like a good little popstar, but that aint blake yo! blake has more personality and more flavor that that song ever could and i think he really sold himself short with that one.

jordin's second song, her favorite performance of the season, is 'broken wing' that martina mcbride song she did a few weeks back. man she is phenomenal. really nails the last long note, and the whole place is as excited as i am for what jordin will inevitably become. she earns an extended standing ovation from the audience and unanimous praise from the judges. randy jackson even says it was better than the original version. haha i bet martina loved to hear that.

ricky schroeder is in the crowd tonight, on his feet for jordin of course, and unlike his foolish character on 24 who lost his sight because he didnt listen to jack, he can see that jodin shall become a superstar idol.

last song is 'this is my now' and blake looks mortified that he has to sing it. right from the beginning he looks as if he knows this song was not meant for him. he pushes through it tho, and i think this is embarrassing for blake, it is just not his kind of song and he knows it.

jordin on the other hand, absolutely wails on the song and even tho it is cheesy and the lyrics are dripping with sap, she makes it sound like it could (and probably will) be a #1 hit song. its like jordin understood the point anf the nature of the song, and she chokes up a bit at the very end of the song, as if she knows how much her performance blew everyone away. randy and simon concur that she has shown she is the best snger in what is, afterall, a singing competition. simon says jordin 'wiped the floor with blake' tonight and there is little doubt about who the judges think should win this thing. i am certain that her performance of that song sealed the deal. all three of jordins songs were flawless.

blake did allright tonight, but this competition belongs to j-sparks.

can tonights finale top last years when prince made a surprise last minute appearance?

American Idol : The Results 5/16

Tonights show begins with none other than Homer Jay Simpson doing the introduction. he is even wearing a suit, taking this gig very seriously. nice job homie.

later we will bid farewell to one of our top three, and i must say right now that whoever meets Jordin in the finale will be no match for her, and j-spark will be crowned the undisputed American Idol next week.

First some clips from when each contestant was permitted to return home for the first time since going to hollywood way back in, what was it, February? These competitors have been sequestered from their friends and family for so long, it must be overwhelming to get such a crazy welcoming party, and seeing thousands of screaming, adoring fans for the first time.

Jordin returned to Arizona and visited her high school and saw her best freind who clearly has missed her over the last few months. she looks like kind of a square which solidifies my belief that jordin is a virgin and does high school plays, but i love her anyway. later she sang that 'i who have nothing' song (yet again) in front of thousands of people who are just as tired of hearing that song as i am at this point, but they still loved to see their hometown hero and will be txting furiously next week to ensure her imminent victory.

Blake sings the national anthem at a Mariners game, goes to the space needle and remarks that he has never seen Seattle from there before, tries to stop his dad from crying and greets thousands of crying tweenyboppers along a parade route as he exclaims to his dad 'isnt this wierd?!'.

melinda doolittle is way too old to visit her high school. having graduated about 10-11 years ago, she is considerbly older than the 17 year old j-spark and the 25 year old blake. but she did recieve a warm welcome and there was a melinda doolittle day announced, along with 'melinda doolittle way', a quiet, humble street named to recognize nashville's soft spoken and humble american idol finalist.

elliot yamin comes by the show to sing something from his new album, which is actually getting very positive reviews, which is more than taylor hicks can say. why hasnt the soul patrol been back this season? anyway elliot looks a lot different, he has a nice big curly fro and got some work done on his teeth. he sounds outstanding, and for some reason the judges are critiqueing him, just for old times sake i suppose. after his performance, elliot offers some sound advice to the final three: get ready, this is just the beginning.

maroon 5 makes an appearance as well. this may be the first band that i have seen both on american idol and live, for they (inexplicably) were at the 10,000 lakes festival a couple years ago, the same year they had john 'lame ass' mayer as a headliner. actually i am positive that i didnt watch maroon 5 play, so never
mind that. the lead singer looks a bit creepy as he croons away, and i cant help but wonder how many 16 year old girls he has slept with. i bet lots.

on to results. after teasing each contestant earlier in the show & pretending the results might actually be reported before the last two minutes of the show, seacrest finally gets on with it and reveals that jordin sparks is safe, and has earned a spot in the finale. word.

asking melinda to step forward, seacrest then says that almost 60 millioon votes were cast this week, but doolittle has come to 'the end of the road'. melinda will go back to nashville sooner than she had hoped. excellent.

this is as it should be and all is right with the world of american idol.
i dont really think anyone would argue that meliinda was not the best singer this season-she consistently performed well and the judges almost always had nothing but compliments for her. she was, however, never very much fun to watch and didnt ever really do a very good job picking songs that were interesting or exciting. also, if you are like me, you grew weary of her endless humility and think every american idol, every pop star, needs a bit of liam gallagher in them, a la 'i am the best fooking thing that ever hapened to rock and roll and if you dont like it go fuck yourself' kind of attitude. a messiah complex, a tendency towards self destruction, something to make it exciting. melinda had the opposite of all of those things, and also she is ugly. so thats why she got the boot. she just wasnt fun or exciting or good looking. no big surprises there, but the audience and simon cowell himself seem shocked that this could happen.

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so the two part finale will consist of blake lewis and jordin sparks. as much as i enjoy blake's style and modernity, i think he's gonna have a very tough time against j-spark. plus, how could i not be rooting for a chick with such a fucking cool name!?



jordin sparks = sexy, sassy, & unstoppable




blake lewis : my man is dope, but jordin's got this one locked down.

see you at the finale.

American Idol : The Final Three

Tonight the contestants will sing three songs each: one of the judges choosing, one of the producers choosing, and one of their own choosing.

first is jordin singing 'wishing on a star' a boring song that simon chose and nobody has ever heard before, but jordin again proves that she could make just about anything sound good. not a bad start but it was almost as though simon chose that song to slow jordin down, all sabotage like. i think he wants goodtwoshoes doolittle to win, just so he can tap into the christian record market.

paula abdul chooses the first song for blake, and its 'roxanne' - an absolutley brutal choice. it is at this point i realize that the contestants are surely cursing the judges for their indulgent and 'expert' picks. all season long we hear about how important song choice is and this is what the judges choose for the final three?! roxanne is a classic song and all, but there is just not much that can be done with a song that everyone has heard a million times and is probably a little annoyed by. nontheless blake does all he can to make it interesting and mercifully he does not attempt to sing it all high and crazy sting etyle, or to add crazy vocal turntablisms.

melinda doolittle gets a whitney houston song from randy jackson, but its one that no one is familiar with and of course its a snoozer. she sang it well, but its like, so what? randy compliments her on it but i think he just wants to make it sound like he picked a winning song. all about the judges egos this round i guess.

will the 'producers choice' round be as much of a failure as the judges round?

jordin gets 'she works hard for the money' and all signs point to yes, it will be at least as bad as the first round. what kind of choice is this for a sweet innocent 17 year old girl? she looks like she is not very interested in singing this particular song but will do so anyway, because she has to. it was ok, but simply not jordin's style. rough.

blake gets to sing maroon 5's first smash hit 'this love' which is probably the best thing he could have hoped for from the producers. it fits his style and he rocks a song that doesnt rock. he could totally have a number one single with this kind of bland pop stuff, even tho hopefully he will come up with something much cooler when he stars recording.

melinda gets 'nutbush city limits', an ike and tina turner joint, and it may well be her best performance ever. its as though she watched some old videos of tina turner after being compared to the legend several times this season and took some pointers from her. she seems more confident onstage, moves around with more ease and clearly knows that she can get down with this song. the second solid performance from melinda tonight but i think shes gonna have to up the ante for the last song if she wants to make it to the finale next week.

contestants choice round, and this may be the most important song choice of the season, for it will be te last thing people remember when they cast their votes after the show.

jordin picks 'i who have nothing', a song she did earlier in the season that blew everyone away. a safe choice, something she could be sure would amaze everyone. she was right about that, but it would have been nice to see someting new and shocking from her.

blake goes for something more adventueous and different, no surprise there, and good for him. robin thickes 'when i get you alone'. a fantastic choice for blake, as it provides ample beatboxing opportunities in appropriate places within the song and he gets to showcase his vocals too. this was an impressive song that reminded the audience how innovative and stylish blake is. just what he needed to do.

melinda goes back to the old and trusty 'i am a woman' that she did earlier in the season. its also a great song to show off her vocals, but it seemed tired, and all i can think is 'we've heard this before, what else u got??' not bad but it certainly didnt blow me away.

so considering all three songs from each contestant,
jordin had two duds and one spectacular performance

blake did excellent on the last two songs, while the first one sucked,

melinda had, of course, three solid, good performances. she is consistently good, but in my opinion never all that great or entertaining, and that is why i think we will say goodbye to melinda this week. then again, anything can happen, and she may even take home the trophy. i sure hope not tho.

American Idol : The Results 5/9

Only four left and this is when it gets tough to see people go home. Everyone who has made it this far has obvously worked very hard and sacrificed a lot to be here. Of course, anyone who has made it this far can pretty much bank on a record deal and not having to ever work a regular job again.

Before we find out whos going home we need to hear Barry Gibb sing. He is old now, and just cant sing the way he used to. His song is not exciting disco era shake yo money maker style groovy at all, in fact its quite boring. He is far past his prime, but at least he had nice things to say about the contestants and was an adequate celebrity mentor for the final four.

a medley of non-beegees barry gibb songs follows, and it is equally painful to watch as the man himself. disco just aint the same without the drugs i guess.

also pink is performing tonight? man i have always hated her. why is she even still calling herself pink? that was an obnoxious name even when she had pink hair. her song is terrible, its totally overproduced and sounds like it was created entirely by machines.

the contestants form a tight group hug when its the moment of truth, refusing to speculate on who may be going home and refusing to part from eachother, but as seacrest begins his scripted goodbye, they let loose a bit and show themselves to the cameras. jordin and melinda are the first to learn they are safe, and then...

lakisha is named the one who will go tonight. Tough break, but she had an outstanding run. she was a fun contestant to watch, but just was not consistently good enough to compete with the others. its sad to see her go, but she and her 3 year old daughter will be ok, for there is a nice record contract around the corner for her. im sure there are producers waiting outside the stage door to offer her lots of money. on her way out, lakisha belts out stayin alive again, this time with more force and conviction and some of the old unstoppable soul power that we all loved lakisha for some weeks back. "I think people have more confidence in Kisha than Kisha has in herself" she says in the montage showing her rise to idol prominence. thats too bad, she was (is) really talented and its sad when people lack self confidence like that. i would definitely buy a record from 'kisha long before any of the other idols from this season. we'll miss you lakisha



like the infamous paula abdul said, "youre still a champ"

next week there are three and we will bid farewell to melinda. thats right- im calling it a week in advance yo.

American Idol : The Top Four

+



the beegees were the most recognizable band in disco and made the saturday night fever soundtrack the best selling movie soundtrack in the history of this funky universe. barry gibb was the pimary songwriter for the beegees, and is also the most successful songwriting partner ever, having temaed with barbara striesand, destinys child, diana ross, dionne wawick and kenny rogers. tonight, each contestant will get two chances to conquer beegees tunes. lets hope they have disco fever

melinda doolittle is first up, and 'love you inside and out' is her choice, barry was a little skeptical but seems to think she could pull it off. i thought it was boring. the judges werent really impressed and already i am concerned that this may be another failed theme week.

blake is singing 'you should be dancing' like a beegees cover band lead singer on ecstacy. he cant quite hit the notes like the gibb brothers, but hes sure tryin. like a wierd discoteque in some foriegn country, says randy, paula is babblin on about unique and simon was unimpressed as well.

stayin alive is lakishas song and it actually sounds kinda cool, a little slowed down and funked up. judges dont go for it but i thought it was ok.

jordin sparks is still in high school, getting a's and b's. "i know a couple hundred people that have sung this song but i have never heard a better version", says the man behind millions of record sold. as soon as the song starts you know jordin is the one to beat tonight, and possibly for the season. i would put money on jspark to win this whole thing now.

doolittles secong attempt at beegees falls as short as the first one. its a slow yawner but the judges seem to think it was good.

thats a bit of a shock says barry gibb when blake announces hes going to sing 'this is where i came in' 'the contemporary rebel' says a wasted paula, simon didnt like it and thinks he had a bad night. i thought it was great, he kept his style as much as possible but this is s tough theme this week, and nobody seems to be doing very well.

'simon cowells evil twin', according to seacrest, is judge judy and she makes an unwarranted visit to the show. splendid.

lakisha sings 'run to me', an interesting choice that will be a challenge says the gibbster. it wasnt bad but it was pretty boring and the best thing she hears from the judges is that was better than the first and "youre still a champ". simon thinks lakisha doesnt deserve a kiss tonight and unfortunately we may be seeing the last of lakisha tonight.

jodin 'is going to be one of our greatest female recording artists' says an admiring barry gibb. i thought it was an absolutely fantastic performance, blew everyone else away. i loved it, but stunningly the judges did not like it. they are all whacked out on something, because that was outstanding.

so nobody really had disco fever, and whoever makes it to next week besides jordin will be lucky.

Arctic Monkeys : Pop Idols Extraordinaire

its been years since i was at a sausage party of this magnitude. really surprising, i thought, seeing as how the lads have to be among the biggest heartthrobs in europe right about now. perhaps the american women simply havent caught on to what hundreds of blokes seem to know: he actic monkeys fucking rock. that was without question one of the coolest shows i have ever seen. ever. that is not something i say often, or without good reason. the band had so much energy, alex turner, the lead singer, ripped through his quick tonguetwisting lyrics at breakneck speed, changing up his delivery of lyrics a bit now and then, i then just for his own amusement. they tore through song after song, alternating between the new record and the first. all but one of the songs in their hour or so set were from one of their major releases. i recall at one point thinking that ive had enough of the old stuff (stuff that was released less than a year and a half ago- not so old i guess) and that i wanted to hear them play the new record (like two or three times) buti needed to hear several songs from that first record: get on your dancing shoes, i bet you look good on the dancefloor, still take you home, view from the afternoon and certain romance, of course. the english rugby team was about 60 deep in red shirts, some the size of alex t, some the size of my cousin that used to be a bodybuilder. across the street at the irish pub, odonovans, i was a bit startled to see so many football hooligans, they are an intimidating bunch. you see several dozen of them at the local irish pub and you take notice. if youre smart, you take cover. there were 'undreds of blokes in attendance, and the rugby team seemed as though it was itching for a rowdy brawl. i knew i was not the only one who was slightly discomforted by their presence when i heard a young american dude (again-total sausage party) say "those brits are gonna get mean tonight". as it turns out the blokes behaved themselves, save for the occasional show of force when moving in packs of about six to the middle of the vry crowded dancefloor. i suspect they were intentionally bumping yanks out of their way, and i was glad that none of us americans got in therir way too much.

anyhow it was a spectacular show, the lads being very business like and having fun at the same time. noone appeared drunk, although it was the drummer's 21st birthday and they are one of the most popular bands in the entire world right now, so it seems only natural that they would be ingesting that rockstar lifestyle in the form of party favors.

Enter the Arctic Monkeys Phase Two

Tonight the Arctic Monkeys play FIrst Avenue. Their first time in Minneapolis falls on the 21st birthday of drummer Matt Helders, and also the day when Queen Elizabeth visits the U.S.and A for the firt time in like 15 years. It will be quite a show. They are scheduled to headline one of the biggest festivals in the world, Glastonbury, this summer, and are the bigggest band in England right now, so seeing them at First Avenue will be unbeleivable. The show sold out afterall, no doubt after this excellent piece of writing hit the streets.

http://www.citypages.com/alist/detail.asp?EID=155363

The first record was absolutely brilliant, and this second record, which came out 13 days ago and which i have listed to probably two or three dozen times, is flat out astonishing. I do not recall being more into a new record in...i dont know how long. I wake up with alex turners clever, infectious lyrics in my head and that just dont stop. All day long i'm hearing those wicked heavy giutar riffs and pounding drums. This is the most excited I have been for a show in some time, and it is definitely the biggest mismatch of a band/venue i have ever witnessed in my life. This band could sell out any venue in Europe within minutes, yet it took weeks, maybe even months, to sell out First Avenue. This will be one for the record books indeed.

American Idol : The Results 5/2

Due to an unfortunate DVR malfunction, I was unable to watch last nights episode, so I promptly went online to determine which two of our remaining six got the boot. The two young guns, Phil Stacey and Chrid Richardson, were the two lowest vote getters over the last two weeks, and must head on home. I guess that soundtrack wasnt as popular as Bon Jovi's other material, like that smash single 'have a nice day'.

If only they could have combined their talents into one supercontestant: A military man with a pretty good voice who missed his daughters birth due to the competition who looked like Chris Richardson would have been difficult for anyone to beat and may have gone all the way. A nasally singing gollum, on the other hand, certainly would not have made it past the auditions.

That leaves Blake and the 3 ladies. This will be interesting.

American Idol : The Top Six / Bon Jovi

Please, if you are going to force our poor contestants to sing Bon Jovi songs, let's call it Bon Jovi night, and not 'rock night'. That said, lets get this travesty going. its double elimination this week, so eveeryone better have their game face on.

Phil's first, and he predictably picks 'blaze of glory'. not a bad rendition, but i just dont beleive phil as an outlaw cowboy badass for one second, even tho he has been practicing the song for fifteen years. (he says he was the kid in front of the mirror singing with the brush. i wonder how long ao he stopped that)randy cant help but mention that he played bass on the studio recording of the song, and simon thinks phil may indeed be going out in a blaze of glory.


jordin goes for 'livin on a prayer', all glammed up like. jon bon thinks its a tough song, indicating he is scared for her, and when she begins singing, she seems a bit defeated, like shes knows it aint going so well. the judges express doubts about the performance and jordin agress, it was rough. not my favorite song from jordin but she did allright i guess.

Lakisha is amart and picks a deep track that nobody has heard of, 'this aint a love song'. just because you have to sing bon jovi doesnt mean you have to sing a song everyone knows and loves and/or hates. she absolutely nailed it it was one of the most powerful performances by her ever. simon is so moved that he says he could kiss her. seacrest, of course being the excellent imporivsor he is, brings lakisha to the judges table and makes it happen. is there any such thing as impartiality from the judges at this point?

blake picks 'you give love a bad name' and jon bon jovi seems skeptical of the crazy way blake is going to sing it. he will no doubt blake-ify the song and it makes jon a bit nervous. people like it the original way, he warns. but when he gets going, damn- blake is a master of innovation and the chance he took really paid off. it was outstanding and really entertaining. my prediction: that is his first single. top performance of the night, what style that dude has.


chris richardson takes on 'dead or alive', after seacrest calls him justin timberlake. chris looks pissed and is clearly fearing for his competitive life as he stumbles through a 'i just try to have fun' moment when seacrest asks himn what he thinks about before going onstage. he acknowlages that he has his work cut out for him after chris daughtry performed the same song last season to stellar reviews. hard to top daughtry, yo. nonetheless it was one of c-rich's stronger performances and he gets some due praise from the judges.


doolittle picks (what else) 'have a nice day' and tries to look serious as a rocker. jon bon tells her in ausitions that he'll teach her how to rock but instead tells her to 'testfy' and makes a couple other vaguely offensive remarks. i totally predicted that she would pick that song, simply for the title-what a square. she sang it ok but hopefully america has grown weary of her non-rocking ways. the judges seem to have enjoyed it, randy and simon even comparing her to tina turner. what a crock.

for as lame as jon bon jovi is, this wasnt a bad night. nobody did poorly, so its anyones guess whos going home. it just wont be blake or lakisha.

oh yeah, and george and laura bush invaded my favorite show to thank countless americans for donating countless dollars to a cause that the president should be addressing more effectively than ryan fucking seacrest, but sadly our president has done for the poor except make them more poor.