Month: May 2010
He didn’t quite make it into Win, Place or Show. He finished fourth, but, considering that rumors abounded, early on, that he was going to be kicked off because his dad spilled the beans to the press (his mom works for the Orlando newspaper) that he was in the Top 24, (when all contestants sign agreements not to disclose such things), and considering the fact that 5 weeks ago the viewers voted him off but the judges saved him, Michael Lynche did pretty well….better than his brother, who finished high in the pack one previous year, I’m told. Big Mike almost made it into the Top Three, the ones whose home towns are visited by the “American Idol” cameras, and he was definitely a far better singer than Casey James, who was kept, instead.
Five weeks ago Big Mike Lynche was saved from elimination on “American Idol” by the one-time use of the Judges’ save. Was it any wonder, then, that he was the one eliminated on Wednesday, May 12, 2010 by the audience? Yes and no.
I’ve predicted for some time that American Idol’s Top Three were likely to be Crystal, Lee and Casey, but I also felt that Mighty Casey Had Struck Out after Sinatra night. It was not his singing prowess that kept him in the competition past that fateful night (Aaron Kelly was eliminated, instead). It was his “total package” good looks, guitar playing prowess, and the teen-aged girls voting from home.
This night Ryan Seacrest announced that a season high of 37 million votes was cast. Fantasia sang (wearing what appeared to be tights that you could go scuba diving in.) There was a Ford Fiesta commercial involving the remaining four contestants. (The pushing of the Prius-like start button on the car was repeated at least three times in the short commercial.) The contestants were all asked about their desires, at this point, and Big Mike said that he wanted to get home to his puppy, while Crystal said she would like to go home to Ohio to play with Frankie May, her bass player. Lee said, “I want that to be me,” of winning and Casey said, “Hearin’ a bunch of people saying my name would be nice.” (If so, Lee had a chorus of “I love you, Lee” girls in the crowd, so he realized Casey’s dream.)
Daughtry performed their song “September” and mused on his success, despite not winning the crown the year he appeared on “Idol” (Kat won). He said, of performing with his own band, “Daughtry,” “It doesn’t get old. It’s an amazing feeling every night.” Of the song “September” that his band performed he said it had to do with his childhood. “I grew up in a small town of 100 people. It’s about the simplicity of my childhood and how it made me who I am.” Randy commented, “I see that Chris is livin’ the dream. It feels good for us (the judges). I love it.” Chris Daughtry’s advice to the remaining contestants? “Stay hungry and stick with what’s true to you.”
After Daughtry, Bon Jovi took the stage and performed a song “Superman Tonight.” (Who’s gonna’ love you when you turn out the light. I wish that I could be your Superman tonight.”) The song sounded like a hit, to me, and I was particularly glad, since I have tickets to see Bon Jovi at Soldier Field in Chicago on July 30th. When asked about their longevity and success, Jon Bon Jovi said, “Hard work and good luck. We’ve crossed the generations now, at this point.” (Anyone who has seen the old posters of Jon Bon Jovi with the big hair of the ‘80s can testify to that.)
And then there were 3: Crystal, Lee and Casey. Michael Lynche said, “It’s been unbelievable. I just sit here right now and I think, I wasn’t even supposed to be here (referencing his “save” by the judges 5 weeks ago). “I came to ‘American Idol’ to take my family’s life to another level.”
Then it was time for Big Mike to sing his last song (which he performed brilliantly) and for the selected film clips, in which Simon said, “The best performance we’ve had on these live shows so far,” and Kara urged him, “Do not stop. Keep going. Write great songs. Record great songs. Go out and keep gigging, ‘because you’ve got it in you.”
Next week, the show will visit the hometowns of Crystal, Lee and Casey, which, if memory serves, are a town so small (80 people) in Ohio that it had no town sign until Crystal made it this far on “American Idol.” (Now, the sign says, “Home of Crystal Bowersox”); Mt. Prospect, a Chicago suburb; and Cool, TX.
Simon Cowell commented on Tuesday, May 11th’s “American Idol” that the duets were “one million times better than the solo performances.” Simon, who is British, knew very few of the movies, which was unfortunate, as the songs this night were from the movies and apparently Simon is either not that great a movie fan or has seen only British films. The other amusing part of tonight’s singing competition was Ellen DeGeneres’ response to the song “Have You Ever Really, Really Loved A Woman?” (from Don Juan DeMarco), which elicited guffaws from Simon and laughs from all others.
Considering how far along in the competition “American Idol” is, the performances, by and large, were really lackluster. Some of the blame for that can be laid at the feet of fairly lame song selections…or, in Lee DeWyze’s case, really difficult ones.
Lee started the evening off on Songs from the Movies night singing Seal’s Kiss from a Rose, which is a tough song to sing well under any circumstances.
Randy said, “For me, you did nothing with that song. It was just okay. It didn’t work for me.” Randy suggested that a better song choice might have been something like Bon Jovi’s “Blaze of Glory.” Ellen said, “You’re so good. I loved it,” but she, too, seemed underwhelmed. Kara, after talking about some out-of-tune issues, said, “You are still great.” Simon agreed with Randy, called the song “verging on karaoke” and said, “If you’re choosing the T-shirts, you’ve gotta’ take the one that says ‘Contestant.’”
That last remark was a reference to the night’s mentor, Jamie Foxx, who had brought black tee shirts, some of which said “Artist” and some of which said “Contestant.”
Following Lee came Big Michael Lynche of St. Petersburg, Florida. Prior to his performance, Jamie Foxx said, “Once he lets go, I think that’s when he’s really gonna’ shine.” Earlier, Jamie had said, “Music is everything. It really is the soundtrack of our lives.” Big Mike’s remarks from the judges were: Randy – “Once again, I didn’t love this. You’re a rhythm and blues kind of guy, but it was just all right. It started out kind of wrong.” Ellen said, of Mike’s performance, “You are consistently good but a little bit predictable.” Kara said, “I want to have goosebumps. I didn’t feel that from you.” Simon became very confused about the movie from which the song was taken (Free Willy) and finally commented, “At least you gave it 100% and I kind of felt that you meant it.”
After Mike’s performance, Crystal and Lee sang together. All the judges loved the duets. Randy said, “A great song by two great singers. That’s how you do it!” Ellen said, “You’re like the new Captain and Tennille. God, that was great!” Kara called it, “One of my favorite moments of the season.” Simon said, “Not a good song: a fantastic song.”
Casey James performed next and selected the theme song from The Graduate, “Mrs. Robinson.” It was an odd choice. Randy called it “curious.” Ellen made a humorous comment about the small guitar Casey accompanied himself with saying that she wished they had given him “ a big boy guitar.” Simon said, “That song was not the substance I expected from you. It was a little bit lazy. I think you could have made more of an impact. I think there have been some very strange song choice tonight and that was one of them.” (Hear! Hear!)
Since none of the first three had done that well, Crystal Bowersox’s rendition of “I’m All Right” was a better performance than any sung by the men. Randy said, “You are definitely an artist. Nice job.” Ellen said that she had “taken that song and made it better,” something she called “crystallizing it.” Kara echoed Randy’s comments about Crystal’s being an “artist.” Simon said, “You, Crystal, are back in the game after that performance.”
The final performance of the night was the duet by Big Mike and Casey and the song’s title (“Have You Ever Really, Really Loved A Woman?”) brought the funny remark, from Ellen, “As a matter of fact, yes, I have loved a woman.” Randy said, “Loved the guitar playing. You guys sounded really good.” Kara said, “The duets were better than the solo performances.” Simon agreed and was the one articulating the idea that the duets were “one million times better than the solo performances.”
Jamie Foxx urged all the contestants to change from “caterpillar to butterfly” as they face the elimination of one contestant tomorrow night. Big Mike and Casey are the most vulnerable, as they have been all along. Stay tuned for further developments tomorrow night.
Taylor Swift played the Civic Center in Moline, Illinois, on Saturday, May 8th, at 7:00 p.m. bringing one of crossover country’s hottest acts to the U.S. Cellular Center (formerly the Mark of the Quad Cities.) Swift is so hot, that the state of Illinois even proclaimed it “Taylor Swift Day.” Grammies, American Country Awards, you name it: she’s Forbes magazine’s 69th most influential celebrity endorser of 2009 and earned $18 million last year, not only with her songs, but with endorsement deals with such giants as Sony and Toyota.
Opening acts were “Gloriana” and Kellie Pickler from “American Idol.” (On her album notes, Taylor calls the slightly beefed-up version of Pickler “you’re the sister I never had” (Ms. Swift has a brother, Austin, who is going off to Notre Dame in the fall.)
Ms. Pickler was dressed down in a pair of tight black spandex pants that displayed her Jennifer Lopez-like derriere assets and a blue top, which she had worn in her concerts in Minneapolis and Des Moines. Those concerts preceded the one in Moline, which sold out in 8 minutes.
The buses left flooded Nashville (Swift donated half a million dollars to flood relief there, just as she donated $100,000 to Cedar Rapids, Iowa, after their 2008 record-breaking flood) and drove 12 hours to Des Moines to perform on May 6th. The 126 roadies and musicians finished reloading the impressive act, left Des Moines at 3 a.m., arrived in Minneapolis at 7 a.m., and began setting up all over again. After Minneapolis, Moline was the final stop on Swift’s “Fearless 2010” tour before a return to Nashville.
Taylor emerged dressed as a majorette to sing “You Belong With Me,” her face projected on a giant screen behind her. She followed up with “Our Song” and “Tell Me Why,” with the word “Why” projected on the screen behind her multiple times. “Teardrops on My Guitar” and “Fearless” were next with “Forever and Always” following.
Then came “Hey, Stephen,” which had, as its setting a giant schoolroom set, where Taylor complained about how Stephen didn’t know she was alive in high school, but would talk to her—about his girlfriend. “Fifteen” followed and “Tim McGraw,” an early Swift hit, came next.
“White Horse” with its lyrics (“I’m not a princess; this ain’t a fairy tale”) allowed the dancers and Taylor to dress in period costumes with a castle-like background. “Love Story (Romeo and Juliet) was, again, grist for the castle backdrop, but, at a certain point, the elaborate period costume Swift wore was removed, onstage, to reveal a simple white gown beneath.
“The Way I Loved You” brought yet more costume changes: glittery silver dresses, glittery purple dresses, glittery red dresses, guitarists with hair like Adam Lambert’s. “You’re Not Sorry/What Goes Around” followed “The Way I Loved You” and then “Picture to Burn.”
A humorous video was shown on a flat screen TV off to the side during one costume change, and it featured 3 male actors trying to impress upon the audience that they weren’t really Steven and/or Drew. Tim McGraw even appeared in the funny video, saying that Taylor’s early song about him had “plucked him from obscurity.” That got a big laugh. Screams were ongoing throughout the concert from the young set present. Taylor also sang “The Best Day” from a stage at the opposite end of the arena, reworking the song so that it honored her mother, Andrea, on Mother’s Day. (Mom did not know that the lyric “I have an excellent father” would be changed to honor Mom this night).
After “Picture to Burn” (see burning stage special effects) the encore set featured “Today Was A Fairytale” and “Should’ve Said No,” which featured Taylor walking through an artificial waterfall (water is caught in an absorbent mat) that has actual words appearing within the water.
Taylor ends up drenched and, usually, greets her fans backstage wet, with special heating devices employed to keep her from chilling, but, this night, she was flying back to Nashville on her private jet, so no backstage passes for the youngsters in the crowd. But plenty of guitar picks featuring Taylor’s lovely face, thrown to the crowd by the guitarists.
A 2-hour show from great seats (courtesy of the daughter on the tour bus).
At the top of the “American Idol” elimination show of May 4, 2010, Harry Connick, Jr., said, “Music has to be truthful, to me, and that’s what this show is about.” Connick was the mentor this week, and he did a great job. He also sang “And I Love Her” on this night’s show, nattily attired in a black-on-black ensemble, after mugging for the cameras and saying, “It’s not about them, it’s about me.” At one point, still horsing around, Connick said, “Try to keep it on me.” A funny guy. He also worked in a joke, saying, “It’s been a great honor to be a part of ‘American Idol’ and to work with the judges, with the exception of Ellen.”
Another amusing piece of film showed Connick chatting with young Aaron Kelly and asking him how he liked singing with a three-piece combo, including a clarinet, backing him. Aaron, of course, liked it and Connick said, “Well, don’t get used to it. I can afford it. Why? Because I’m extremely famous.”
Lady Gaga did one of her characteristic outrageous performances, with many half-dressed writhing male dancers in a sort of “Eve in the Garden of Eden” motif and then the top and bottom groups were announced, with Aaron Kelly and Mike Lynche the lowest vote-getters.
In light of the horrific performance turned in by Casey James on Tuesday night, it was surprising to see 17-year-old Aaron Kelly—a very likeable young performer who had done well on Tuesday night—be the one sent home this night. It was also surprising that Big Mike Lynche, who, arguably, performed better than anyone on Tuesday night (The judges were more sold on Lee DeWyze, but I would say it was very close.) was in the bottom two.
Having said that, I’ve been predicting that the good-looking Casey “had it all” as the package that “American Idol” likes to promote. Big Mike is…well…too big. Aaron was too young. Lee and Crystal remain the front-runners, and, apparently, my earlier predictions that Casey had the best chance of finishing in the Top Three was not that far off the mark.
But, for the record, based on his performance on Tuesday night, I still think that Mighty Casey struck out.
The first Quad City Book Fair, to be held May 8th from 10 a.m. until 4:30 p.m. inside the River Music Experience at 2nd and Main Street in Davenport, Iowa, will offer something for everyone. Local author Sean Leary will M.C. the presentations from the stage of Mojo’s Café.
First up at 10 a.m. will be Chicago author Lawrence Santoro. Larry is a multiple Bram Stoker nominee and frequently called upon to record other authors’ works. He will read from his new novel Just North of Nowhere immediately after Mary Ellen Chamberlin’s opening remarks to the 40 Midwestern authors assembled.
Following Larry’s presentation will be Cindy Puck, who will talk about “Teens and Money” at approximately 10:30 a.m.
Eight-year-old Anna Shammus of Riverdale Heights, who has written 8 books, will follow Cindy, reading from her works and answering questions until 11:15.
There will be a short break for AV set-up, from approximately 11:20 to 11:30 a.m.
At 11:35 a.m. local author Connie (Corcoran) Wilson, recent winner of the David R. Collins’ Writing Award at the Midwest Writing Center’s March 20th banquet, will present professionally made trailers of her most recent books, including the three-book trilogy set along Route 66 (Ghostly Tales of Route 66, Vols I through III, www.ghostlytalesofroute66.com) , the short story collection Hellfire & Damnation and her first novel Out of Time (www.outoftimethenovel.com).
At noon, the 40 participants at this first Quad City Book Fair event, some from as far away as Oklahoma, will be welcomed by local politicians, including Mayor Bill Gluba of Davenport and State Representative Jim Lykum.
Karen Craft will follow the dignitaries with her presentation on “Animal Communication” from 12:15 to approximately 12:30 p.m.
At 12:30, the three student winners of the Midwest Writing Center’s essay contest will read their winning 500-word essays on the topic, “My Favorite Book and Why.”
A 40-minute lunch break will follow Ms. Craft’s presentation, from ten minutes of one until 1:30 p.m. (Box lunches will be available inside the RME).
At 1:30 p.m., Muscatine native and author of the graphic novel Road to Perdition Max Allan Collins will speak about writing collaborations. Mr. Collins and his wife have collaborated on several books, and Mr. Collins also was involved in the Dick Tracy comic strip narrative. Collins has been a frequent presenter at the Midwest Writing Center’s summer workshop and at other conferences throughout the nation.
Another well-known author who will be present throughout the day, signing her books at the Barnes & Noble table, is children’s book author, Jill Esbaum, author of Ste-e-e-e-eamboat A-comin’! and Stink Soup.
Cartoonist Steve Lackey will give a 15-minute presentation on cartooning from 2:15 to 2:30 p.m., after which live music begins onstage at Mojo’s Cafe within the River Music Experience and continues until 4:30 p.m, the end of the book fair day.
KUUL radio will be outside the River Music Experience, broadcasting live for three hours in the morning and awarding prizes. Within the RME throughout the day there will be interactive activities for children and adults, alike, with prizes awarded every 15 minutes.
Stop by and meet the 40 authors present for the Quad City Book Fair, being held at the same time as the Beaux Arts Fair in downtown Davenport. When the shopping for jewelry and pottery and other crafts takes its toll, come to the River Music Experience at 2nd and Main, pull up a chair, meet the 40 Midwestern authors present and enjoy.
It’s raining in Tennessee and the severe weather and storms hadn’t let up as of 5 p.m. CDT. Local papers in Nashville said it was the worst flooding since 1974.
According to the Channel 5 news in Nashville ([email protected] and the newspaper the Tennessean, there is a tornado watch for most of southwest Tennessee until 6 p.m. Six inches of rain fell Saturday night, and another 4 inches is expected by late Saturday. At 4:45 p.m., rain was still falling.
All high school proms were being canceled. There were 88 reports of road accidents and 30 people reported being stranded in their homes or cars. I40 in southwest Tennessee was shut down and I40 was shut down at 
the 59-mile marker on Saturday morning.
In the photo to the left, the black car belonged to a friend of my daughter’s and was parked in the Belmont University parking lot in Nashville. It was totaled.
In Memphis, the Interstate was closed. Franklin, where many rich and powerful stars reside (Nicole Kidman, Keith Urban, et. al.) was flooded. The Nashville Sounds baseball game was canceled.
This photo was taken by a friend from his window.
Tornado warnings had been issued for southeast Davidson County, eastern Williamson county, northern Rutherford, and western Wilson County. The Tennessee Department of Transportation canceled all roadwork on I440.
Another friend sent the picture below of her Nashville front yard under water. (Good thing the daughter lives on the third floor; many of her friends have 3 inches of water in their basements!)
Message: My front yard! Totally freaked out.
