It’s time for the nitty gritty. In my opinion, American Idol starts when they get down to the top 12. Season 7’s top 12 starts Tuesday and Double G, Double Bri, and Double J have a preview Idolcast up with opinions and predictions.
You’ll hear the opinions (or non-opinions) on every singer, predictions for winners, and whether or not Eddy Zucko’s real name is Eddy Zucko.
You can listen below, or right click and save to download.
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This review was originally posted on Epinions.com.
While I was sitting in the theater waiting for Semi-Pro to start, I had an epiphany. I should’ve figured when the trailer for Will Ferrell’s next movie about step brothers came on, that this wasn’t going to be a great time at the movies. In that one trailer, I remembered what I didn’t like about Ferrell and feared that I’d see a lot of it in Semi-Pro. I had a right to be scared. Semi-Pro double dribbles, travels, and commits heinous fouls all over the court. Directed by Kent Alterman and co-starring Andre Benjamin (Andre 3000 from Outkast) and Woody Harrelson, the premise gives it promise. I’m sure the script was very funny. But the execution was terrible.
Will Ferrell plays Jackie Moon, a singer who has been living off Love Me Sexy, his hit song. Because of it, he was able to buy the fictional ABA team, the Flint Tropics. He also plays for the Tropics, but they are the worst team in the league and business isn’t necessarily booming. Moon is a wacky promoter though, in the vein of former crazy Chicago White Sox owner Bill Veeck. He uses crazy promotions to try and bring fans into the arena to see the club play, like him wrestling a bear. The ABA is about ready to merge four teams into the NBA, but the rest of the league will fold. To Moon, the Tropics are his life and he fights the league commission because the Tropics aren’t the four teams selected. He argues that it should be the top four winning teams in the league and the rest of the owners agree. The Tropics have a chance!
His name is Michael Miles. He’s the nephew of the historical Young Randall. He’s young, cocky, naked, and reads from queue cards.
We’ll see if he can get his speedo to San Jose on Memorial Day to back up his talk.
Does Eddy Zucko accept the challenge that I gave him last week? Or does he just decide to wear a cowboy hat for no reason?
This review was originally published on Epinions.com.
Blake Lewis is the most creative and ambitious American Idol contestant ever. But in the game of pop music, where creative and ambitious take a back seat to catchy hooks and showy vocals, his style isn’t suited to sell tons of records. He could’ve actually tried releasing You Give Love A Bad Name, which was one of the top downloads on iTunes via his EP, but he went left. He didn’t take the easy way out. His style isn’t one you can put in a box, but that’s also part of the reason the album isn’t what it could’ve been.
A.D.D. stands for Audio Day Dream and it aptly describes what the album is. With the Euro-pop synth heavy feel, the album is a myriad of sounds that keep your ears open and listening. The lead single Break Anotha hits hard and he uses gimmick vocals by doing the rap/sing style that’s popular today and it works. But it’s one of the only songs in which he uses hip hop as a way to showcase his talent. Know My Name features the cool Lupe Fiasco and he echoes his vocals, but it’s boring and old in comparison. Gots To Get Her is interesting because of it’s inspiration. It tries to be a 2007 version of Puttin’ On The Ritz, which is just smooth enough to work. What’cha Got 2 Lose is what Justin Timberlake would sound like if he were paired with Roger Troutman. It’s one of Lewis’ most inspired vocals. Because I purchased this one on iTunes, Human was added on as a bonus track and it features the best hook on the entire album.
When he goes away from the upbeat stuff, he turns into a pop singer, which isn’t his strong suit. Songs like How Many Words and Surrender (which are pretty much the same song) are hurt because of the lack of strength in his voice. Lewis isn’t good enough yet to get away with it. He mimics Adam Levine in Hate 2 Love Her and Prince in She’s Makin’ Me Lose It, and while both songs feature enough in the funky production to make them work, they don’t because the vocals don’t even really sound like Lewis.