The State of Allen Address

I was never thrilled with Allen being traded from Denver to Detroit early in the season. I knew things were not meshing well in Denver and I figured they never would, but, deep down,  I knew Detroit was not the answer for The Answer. Detroit is such an established team. A team, that up until next week, when they inevitably lose to LeBron and his "supporting cast" (his words, not mine), hasn't lost a first round playoff series in seven straight years. A team that had successful chemistry together for years, a team that only years ago were celebrated as the best team in the NBA. Key word: Team. Trading away the unselfish nucleus of that team (Billups) and getting in return a guy who doesn't exactly know what the word team means, can never mesh well. You see, Iverson employs the same logic as LeBron; he has "supporting casts."

And that is not to say that logic hasn't worked out in the past for Iverson and will quite possibly work out this season for LeBron (whose birth certificate I would like to see, I'd like a little proof that he is younger than me). If you look at Allen's career, the year he was most successful (00-01), was the year that the Sixers decided make him the star of the show. Get rid of the Jerry Stackhouse's and the Derrick Coleman's and add in players like Matt Geiger, Aaron McKie, Eric Snow and Raja Bell and all of the sudden, you have a "team." Players like Tashaun Prince, Rasheed Wallace and Rip Hamilton, guys who have more hardware than Iverson, just aren't as likely to be bit players in his million dollar movie. There in lies problem number one.

Problem number two; coaching. Iverson barely listened to Larry Brown, one of the best and most respected NBA coaches around, you think he is going to listen to Michael Curry? Yea, I didn't think he would either. And, what's worse, I don't think Curry had a clue as to what he was going to do with Iverson. He tried to put Rip on the bench, but like I said before, players like Hamilton aren't going to be cast aside without a fight. So Curry went to plan B, bench Iverson. This plan is also known as, end Iverson's career with Detroit.

This is where my disappointment with Iverson sets in for possibly the first time in his career. I know what you are thinking, weren't you disappointed when he threw his wife out of the house naked? Maybe a little bummed when he used the word "practice" 25 times in the span of a minute? Or possibly a little irritated when he put out a rap album. No, I'm sure his wife deserved it, and they shouldn't be talking about practice (that's hearsay), and if Shaq and CWebb can have rap albums, so can Allen. But, where I draw the line is his attitude in the past few weeks. Announcing that he would be sitting out the rest of the season and the playoffs with a back injury. An announcement that coincided with Curry's decision to bring Iverson off the bench.

I understand his frustration. I mean, here is a guy who has averaged 41 minutes a game for his career, 45 in the playoffs. Becoming a bench player is a difficult, but very real adjustment. Let's face it, he isn't 25 anymore and from the way he has played, his body has aged far past his 33 years. His chance to win a championship that he could take full credit for was in 2001 and it didn't happen then, and it sure as hell wont happen now. Here is a man who says that all of the other accolades don't matter, all he is looking for is that ring. But when a team asks him to do his part, to play his role, he decides maybe those personal awards mean a little more than he originally thought. 

I understand that he really does have an injury to his back. But come on, anyone who has watched Iverson in the past decade knows that he would play through anything, no matter the pain, as long as he believed in the outcome. In Detroit, he lost that belief and for the first time he missed a portion of a season with a bruised ego and a strained vagina (he must have gotten that injury from Chris Webber - that guy strained his vag more times than Jenna Jameson). I think it is pretty clear that Iverson will never wear a Piston's jersey again, and that is fine with me. But when the time comes to sign with a team for next season (and I really believe he will) he needs to be realistic and remember that the heyday is over, but his contribution to a championship can still be very real, it just may be as a member of somebody else's "supporting cast."

I definitely keep the faith alive that someday very soon, we will have moments like this again.

I have 13 words for you: Welcome to Studio 82

I know I deserve a slap on the wrist for my lack of blogging in the heat of the Idol season, but I was going through some personal issues; laziness. Now that I got that out of the way, I am ready to blog again. I will tell you though, not too much has changed for me in the world of Idol. I still hate Kara, maybe more actually (see title), Gokey makes my anger levels rise to that of CT from the Real World/Road Rules Challenge (see picture), and Adam is still so much better than anyone else that it hardly seems fair. 

We have said goodbye to some folks since I last blogged, but I have to say that the only one I really disagreed with was Alexis Grace. And not because I thought she could win the whole thing, but because I thought she deserved to tour before Michael Sarver. The rest were just a wash for me. I am proud to say that America is pretty much getting it right every week. But, don't forget, on the off chance America gets it wrong (ie: American finally wakes up and realizes Gokey sucks) we still have the judges save to look forward to. I honestly believe only a few people have a chance of being saved and I don't think those people are Anoop, Matt or Kris. That save is all about Lil, Adam and Gokey, otherwise known as the producers babies. 

But, now we are getting to the tough part of the competition. With only seven contestants remaining, it gets harder each week to weed out the crap (Lil) and keep in the talented and current artists (Anoop). I would say out of the seven left, I am only emotionally invested in three; Anoop, Matt and Adam. 

I have been saying it from the beginning, Lil Rounds is much too overrated and as we are finding out, yes she can sing (kinda), but she completely lacks the ability to infuse anything special into any song she sings. She is no Fantasia ladies and gentleman. In my book, she is out. 

I have had beef with Gokey from the beginning. I give him credit for realizing that showing images of your dead wife on national television will at first get you votes, but later lose you votes. I gotta believe this guy is reading the blogs and noticing the backlash. But now that we are past the mourning period, he has just entered an annoying period. I hate his dancing, I hate his outfits, I hate his smile. Again, like I said, when I see him, I finally understand how CT must feel when he arrives at the RW/RR challenges and feels the need to immediately almost kill someone. But, I am working on managing my anger and accepting that he may be in the finale and that I may develop a drinking problem. 

For me, Kris and Allison are great musicians and they have both had performances that I have loved, but I have no investment in them whatsoever. Which may be even worse than my hate toward Gokey, at least I have emotion towards him. I really enjoy Kris's Jason Mrazy like vibe, but I don't see a star. I see a guy who will have short lived popularity and then his perky wife will get preggers and demand he be home where they will retreat into domestic bliss wearing matching cooking aprons. Not that there is anything wrong with that, but that equation doesn't make an American Idol.

I am not sure where things go wrong for me with Allison. I really do like most of her performances and I think she is great at making a song her own, but something doesn't work. Maybe it's the forty year-old chain smoker that comes out in her. And it's obviously not working for just me considering the time she has spent in the bottom three. I do think/hope she will be the last girl standing, but I don't think she will be standing a lot longer.

With those four out of the picture, let's focus on what I hope will be the final three; Adam, Anoop and Matt. Each three have had one disastrous performance (Ring of Fire, Beat It, that Fray song), but beyond those performances, I think they have all be brilliant otherwise. I worry about the time that Anoop and Matt have spent in the bottom three/two, but I continue to carry faith that America will realize Anoop is much more than 30,000 votes better than Scott McIntyre. 

Right now this competition is Adam's to lose and I really don't believe he will. He has brought such originality and musicality to his performances that even middle America has been able to look past his nail polish and make-up (however, I'm not sure that his dad has) and keep him in this competition.

This coming weeks theme is Idol at the Movies and I think that gives everyone a great chance to do well. It's all been coming down to song selection and with Quentin Tarantino as the mentor it could be a great show or a real disaster. Let's just pray that they don't let him guest judge again. Lord knows we don't need another judge. 

A "Hero" Emerges

Last week's episodes of American Idol were the type of episodes that make you wish you never happened to have your television on Fox eight years ago. Because, if I wasn't so invested, last week's episodes may have not been as painful. But, I'm invested and those episodes gave me such great pain, that I believe I deserve the heavy drugs, you know, Paula's secret stash. 

All I could do was cringe. I cringed from the moment the show began with the dreaded Jackie Tohn; cut to Taylor Swift calling the cops on Stevie Wright for attempted murder on her song, still cringing; all the way to Danny Gokey being hailed as our nation's Hero, cringetastic. Not a single singer was performing at the level they should be at this stage in the game. And, note to the Three Stooges (Randy, Kara and Paula): it's important to remember that just because performers 1-11 blow it, doesn't mean that a halfway decent 12 deserves standing ovations from the three apes on the sidelines. Thank goodness for Simon who brought us back to reality. And it wasn't just Gokey who got ridiculous praise from the Stooges, what about Ricky Braddy? I could have lulled off to sleep during his performance of "A Song for You." I'm not saying he didn't hit the right notes or refrain from getting pitchy dawg, but the dude was SO boring. And given that he had this to live up to, I would say he failed miserably. 

Wednesday's results show wasn't much better. I believe Jason Mraz was holed up somewhere in tears after watching the group take on "I'm Yours." But, on to the results, Alexis Grace was the obvious female choice out of this group, but honestly that isn't saying much for her. There's a chance I could have made the top twelve with these singers. I am not feeling the Kelly Clarkson comparisons just yet, but I do think she has a fighting chance in cracking the top 6. With that said, we most certainly will not be seeing confetti fall on her this May. Mark my words.

I had a feeling all the voters in middle America would push Anoop out of my life so they could save their beloved "rough-neck," Michael Sarver. I don't think he had a horrible performance, but I can only hold him to past season's top twelve standards and he does not measure up when compared to this and this.  I am happy for him though and I think he will have a great time, a short time, but a great time. Expect to see him off the show second or third. And don't worry about my little Nooooopy, I will go all in and bet we will see him in the Wild Card. If you are currently missing the Noopster, please check out this, this, and this. I am currently Clef Hangers' #1 Fan.

Which brings me back to Gokey. I enjoyed the good versus evil battle the producers set up when the last spot came down between Tatiana and Danny. Obviously evil lost and didn't handle that loss too well, so once again, good prevails on the Idol stage. Of course I 

prefer Danny to Tatiana so I was pleased with the outcome, until......Danny's friend felt it necessary to hold up a picture of Danny and his late wife. I want to like you Danny, I really do, but you and your friends are making it very difficult for me. The bottom line is this, obviously the loss of his wife is very difficult for him and naturally he will miss her during this exciting time in his life, however, there is a huge difference between privately carrying a loved one's memory with you and exploiting the loss for your own personal gain. Unfortunately for Danny, that picture was one step too far in the exploitation department.  I hope he has learned his lesson and he eases up in the top twelve. If he doesn't, I believe we will see an early favorite make an early exit. 

Now, with the train wreck that was week one behind us, we can focus on a great week two starting tonight. Singing tonight are:

Adam Lambert

Allison Iraheta

Jasmine Murray

Jeanine Valles

Jesse Langseth

Kai Kalama

Kris Allen

Matt Breitzke

Matt Giraud

Megan Corkrey

Mishavonna Henson

Nick Mitchell/Norman Gentle

It looks like a pretty good group on paper, but remember, so did last week. Based on what we have seen so far, my favorites to go through are Adam Lambert, Matt Giraud and Megan Corkrey. Matt has been my favorite from the start and I think he has the ability to blow everyone away, including Simon. I expect great things from him tonight. 

Adam Lambert is definitely an interesting contestant. I recently found this footage of him singing "What's Going On" by Four Non Blondes (And yes, you heard right, Adam's gay, HE'S GAY). While it is a bit over the top, the guy has got an amazing set of pipes. He also seems to have a knack for taking classic songs and putting his own twist on them. And let's face it, this tactic has always seemed to work on Idol. I expect him to pick a song by a woman or a woman's group and breathe new life into it. Here's hoping he is not the next Danny Noriega.

My last choice is a real crap-shoot. We actually haven't seen a lot of these girls so I am basing my decision of Megan Corkrey off of what we have seen. I would hope that one or two of these other girls can really blow us away.

But, be on the look out for Kris Allen. From the very little I have seen of him, I think he has a chance to spoil Matt and Adam's party. Either way, I am expecting a much better show than last week and I am hoping group two can give the Idol singers (and not the Three Stooges) a much needed jolt. 

This is for all the guys who said I had to sleep with them to get a blog...

Hollywood week (or weeks, I guess) is over and tonight the real competition begins. Hollywood gave us some good memories and even better quotes from resident nut-job Tatiana Del Toro (ie: title of this blog). But, in the end I am fairly happy with the top 36. I think we all could do without the likes of Norman, Tatiana, Von "Shouty McShoutster" Smith and Nathaniel Marshall, but if there is any justice in the world of Idol, they will all be out within the next three weeks. I understand the producers are trying to give us a few crazies to mix it up a bit, which makes sense, but it is also heartbreaking for people like Jamar Rogers. It really surprised me when the judges said he just didn't stand out. I know the judges talk out of their asses a lot, but the guy had the second most screen time, next to his best friend (and possible gay lover), Danny Gokey. He obviously stood out to the producers when it came time to edit. I don't, however, think all hope is lost for Jamar. I will predict now that we may see him during the wild card round in a few weeks. In season 2, the judges invited Carmen Rasmussen to the wild card after she was eliminated in day one of Hollywood. So, if Carmen deserved a spot, then Jamar most definitely deserves a spot. Stay tuned.

With Hollywood behind us, I am looking forward to see how my favorites fare in the most important portion of the competition thus far. In the past four seasons the top 24 has been split up into boys and girls and the singers were given three weeks to showcase their talent to America. Tonight, Idol goes vintage (like someone else) and returns to the old format last seen in season three. Three groups of twelve will sing and the top three (top boy, top girl and next best vote getter) from those groups are into the Top Twelve. After three weeks, the judges pull together another group of twelve for the wild card. The wild card has produced some really great Idol talent, such as Jennifer Hudson, Clay Aiken and Kimberly Locke, so I think it was a great choice by the producers to bring it back. 

The twelve singers taking the stage tonight are:

Alexis Grace

Ann Marie Boskovich

Anoop Desai

Brent Keith

Casey Carlson

Danny Gokey

Jackie Tohn

Michael Sarver

Ricky Braddy

Stephen Fowler

Stevie Wright

Tatiana Del Toro

That is quite the group. I would say the other contestants are thanking their lucky stars they didn't get stuck in this group. There are a lot of camera favorites in there, which means a lot of these singers already have a built in fan base, which is bad news for Ricky Braddy, the only one of this group who has had no camera time. However, Paula has been talking him up in the media so I look forward to seeing if he can actually sing or if it's Paula's pills that make him the best singer in the world. The great news from this group is that Tatiana is out after Wednesday and I never have to hear that crazy laugh ever again. Or so I pray. 

The three I predict to come out of this group are Danny Gokey, Anoop Desai and Ann Marie Boskovich. Danny is a no-brainer. He has had the most camera time and he has been successfully using his wife's death to his advantage for his sob story. A sob story that he most certainly doesn't need and actually the reason I will not be voting for him any time soon. The rules of Idol are simple: if you can't sing very well, come up with something painful from your past to earn you votes. If you can sing, hide painful things from your past until you need the votes. The guy can sing so if he was following the law of David Cook, he would have waited to give the producers home video footage of his wife when he was in the top four. Fool.

Anoop is definitely one of my favorite contestants right now. He can really sing, but I just like him. He is not pretentious at all and I really appreciate the fact that he seems so laid back about the whole thing. What I appreciate more is the fact that he was in the University of North Carolina's acapella group called The Clef Hangers (Andy Bernard anyone?). I love him even more after I saw this.

The third spot is a real toss-up, but I am giving Ann Marie the edge on this one. We haven't heard too much from her, but what I have heard, I have liked. I will expect to see most of the rest of this group in the wild card though, so I urge fans of Stephen Fowler and Michael Sarver not to get to upset if they don't go through. Oh, and don't be surprised if I quit this blog if Tatiana or Jackie go through. I just couldn't handle that pain. You understand.

So, here is to tonight and to hopefully some really great performances!

Vintage Iverson

I'm missing the cornrows a little bit, but it is nice to see him looking the same as he did when I first fell in love with him. It really rekindles our romance.

It's not just me...

I swear she put this on herself.

I'm Going to Hollywood

I have been holed up for the past three weeks watching hours and hours of Idol audition footage and I am actually really hopeful for Season 8. The producers made a great choice in cutting out a good amount of the really unfortunate auditions, making this part of the season a little more bearable. I am looking forward to two whole weeks of Hollywood and seeing which of my favorites succeed and which fail. But before we can get to Hollywood, here is a recap of The Good, The Bad and The Scary from the 2009 auditioning season.

The Good:

Beginning Montage From Episode One: Montages really are the way to my heart and when you include Claudette Yamin (Elliott's mother) in that montage then you can expect me to shed some tears. What a great way to pump the audience up!

Emily Wynne-Hughes: She chose a really difficult song with Heart's Beracuda and she sang it really well. I will put money on the fact that we will see her in the latter rounds, if for no other reason than to see her awkwardly tell her band that all her dreams are coming true, while their dreams come to a crashing end. It's just good T.V. people. Update on Emily: Ms. Hughes will apparently be wearing a SCRAM ankle bracelet during Hollywood week after a November arrest for a DUI. Only time will tell if that will be enough to get her booted fro

m the show.

Deanna Brown: Loved her rendition of Sittin' on the Dock of the Bay. She has a great smokey tone and to top it off, she actually has the look too. I predict that we will see much more of her.

The Castro Brothers: If Whitney Port can get a show, these two should

definitely get their own reality show on MTV. They can call it High Times. I just love these guys. They don't try even a little bit, but it seems to work out just fine for them. I hope if Jason becomes a surgeon, Michael doesn't employ the same logic of "if J can do it, I can do it." All I know is that I would like to have a little bit of whatever they are smoking.

Anoop Desai: A little eyebrow waxing and a wardrobe makeover and we may just have our very first Indian (dots, not feathers) Idol. 

Adam Lambert: Simon said Adam's rendition of Bohemian Rhapsody was theatrical, but I just didn't see that. I think his mistake was telling the producers that he was a stage actor. As long as the judges don't continue to ride the theatrical train, I think he has a great chance of breaking into the Top 12.

Brent Keith Smith: Good singer + good looking = great chance at winning, right? No, just ask Ace Young.

Matt Giraud: The dueling piano players rendition of I Don't Wanna Be was one of my favorite throughout the entire audition process. I am almost guaranteeing an appearance in the Top 12. He is my new Elliott.

LeNeshe Young: I could have done without the sob story about her homeless family that, based on the pictures, is comprised of 20 children, but I thought she was great. The homelessness and the fact that her original song was really well written makes her audition reminiscent of Josiah Lemming's audition, which means, it won't end well for LeNeshe.

Utah: Utah actually gave us some great talent. The night started with David Osmond, who had a pretty good voice, but I think his back story was better. He is an underdog, but there is something about him that I like and I kind of root for him. I really enjoyed Frankie Jordan and her Amy Whinehouse-esque vocals. However, she did seem a little bit over-confident for this stage in the game. I have a feeling she will get some wind knocked out of her sails in Hollywood. A little less confident was Megan Corkrey who had a very interesting voice. Time will tell on how far that quirky voice will take her. I am not sure yet if her voice will translate well into the pop genre, but she definitely deserves a shot in Hollywood.

The Bad:

New judge Kara DioGuardi: I am most definitely not a fan of the new judge. First of all, I never thought adding a new judge was necessary or a good idea. If the producers wanted to add new life to the show, start with getting rid of the old fashioned theme nights or washed up mentors. Don't add a judge who is full of herself and who is going to take away all of my precious Randy time. I just don't handle change well 

so this is my petition for Idol to go back to the way things were. PLEASE.

Bikini Girl: On one hand, ew, on the other hand, Bikini Girl gave me the opportunity to see what it is I don't like in the new judge. I really didn't care for Kara's attitude with her. Look, I don't love bikini girl, but the judges are not there to out-sing the contestants. That said, I don't understand this girl. She actually had a decent voice and she most likely would have gone through to Hollywood if she was fully clothed. However, to her credit, she got people talking. What I definitely could have done without? Her awkwardly making out with Seacrest.

High Five: Speaking of Seacrest. Just when you thought he won the award for most awkward moment with BG, he decides to top it. After Scott Macintyre got through to Hollywood on an okay version of And So It Goes, Ryan goes to give him a high five. However, Scott is blind and so obviously he unintentionally leaves Ryan hanging. Not embarrassing at all Seacrest, not embarrassing at all. Side Note: I do predict that we will see much more of Scott. And I will note it here that my dear friend Patrick has chosen him as the winner already. Let's see if that pans out.

New York and Puerto Rico: The last episode of the audition process and you give us shitty leftovers? Damn you, Idol. There was not a single person on this episode that we will see again, guaranteed. 

The Scary:

Michael Gurr: He is the reason why I don't particularly enjoy this portion of the audition process (I guess it's just the Paula in me). I mean, poor kid is only 17 and now he has to go back to high school knowing that all of his friends have seen it. And what's worse than a horrible audition for all to see? Passing out afterwords.

Kara's Number One Fan: Lea Marie Golde, I dislike you for so many reasons. First, who is seriously Kara's fan? Who even knew who she was four months ago? The fact that this girl is her fan just proves to me what a loser Kara is. Did I mention that I don't like the new judge?

Von Smith: REALLY? This guy is going to Hollywood? From his stupid hat, to his horrific shouting of Somewhere Over the Rainbow, this guy needs to be as far away from Hollywood as possible. And he actually looked so proud of himself when he was done singing. Oh Von.

Tatiana Del Toro: The girl from Puerrrrrrrto Rrrrico who is an actor, model, assistant director, singer - basically she is a slashy and a raving lunatic. I am actually afraid of her and what scares me more is that she is going to be in Hollywood. I am begging the producers to never show her laughing again.

I am glad this portion of the Idol season is behind us and we can move forward to seeing who will be a part of the Top 12. There was definitely some great talent that was shown and I am sure there is a lot more that wasn't shown (26 people got through in New York and they maybe showed five - all of which shouldn't have gone through). I am really excited to see what is next and that is more than I can usually say at this stage of the game. I will be back next week recapping the first week of Hollywood, but if you need something to hold you over, Allen will be playing the Cavs Sunday on ABC at 11:30 am.