TUESDAY APRIL 17, 2007...Country Western
WEEK #6...COUNTRY WESTERN THEME
Before I begin this weeks comments, let me tell you about Ryan Clark. Ryan was from our county and graduated from one of our local high schools in 2002. His mom is a school teacher and he has a twin brother and a sister. He was one month from graduating college with a 4.0 average with a triple major of Biology, English and Psycholgy and upon graduation was going to pursue a doctorate in Psychology. He was a proud 5th year member of his college marching band and was the Resident Advisor of the West Ambler Johnston Dormatory. He was one of the first two people senselessly murdered at Virginia Tech. His family doesn't even have the money to properly bury him and thankfully our community has set up a fund to help.
The good news this week for me was that Al Sharpton and Jesse Jackson have finally shut up. Typical news was that the whore/slut lying accuser in the Duke rape case was getting scholarship funds from Jesse Jackson. I thought those payments were called "fees" not "tuition," however, we all know that Jesse is rather imaginative with his "tax free" Rainbow Push Coalition gifts and personal welfare payments. Perhaps Senator Leahy of Vermont will explain this accounting to us.
Being a perceived redneck hick from Georgia, I also happen to love Country Music so Martina McBride and her type of music was a wonderful addition to the show for me.
The first country music I ever heard in my life was in early 1968 in Vale, N.C. after basic training and after finishing my various Army schools. I was driving my 1958 MGA from Stamford, Connecticut to Atlanta, Georgia for my final 3 months advanced training before departing for Vietnam. I stopped at a farm in Vale, N.C. to stay for a few days with an army buddy. I had never been on a real farm. I woke up in the morning to eggs and pork chops (not bacon). I couldn't believe it! Later on, I discovered that we were eating a pig from the yard...YIKES! We were eating eggs from the henhouse and for dinner (at 2:00 P.M.) we ate chickens that they killed during that morning. I was in the country and these were real farmers.
That Friday night I witnessed my first and only knife fight in a bar and we left the bar at 2:00 A.M. and got in someone's car that had bucket seats and 4 on the floor and a cooler full of beer in the back seat and drove all night to a place called Rockingham, N.C. and the only thing playing on the radio was COUNTRY MUSIC (not the wonderful sounds of Motown). I did not like the music compared to what I normally listened to (50's 60's Rock and Roll) but in the moment: country, pork chops, knife fight, beer, bucket seats, 4 on the floor, revving engine, etc....the music fit the moment in 1968.
I did not listen to it again until after I married the "Wicked Witch" 15 years later. We finished our trip at a dead end line of cars and trucks and camplers and more cars at 6:00 or 7:00 A.M. Our very drunk driver took an abrupt right turn down a hill and drove across a corn field (before Smokey and the Bandit) and came out of the field ahead of all the other cars (as is customary for me, I was not drunk but quite alarmed...they laughed and hooted and rebel yelled) and we proceeded thru a pay gate into the infield of a huge racetrack (Rockingham). I had never even heard of car racing nor had I ever seen a racetrack with banked roadways. Loud engines, motor homes, pretty girls...I thought I was in outer space. Who ever heard of Richard Petty in Connecticut?
I clearly remember my first exposure to country music and Rockingham (which got rained out after several hours) and my trip thru the cornfield on my way in and on the way out my trip back thru the same cornfield to avoid the traffic and a car full of drunken full blooded southerners...the 4 on the floor, the bucket seats...the country drunks...the pork chops...the dead pigs and chickens..."Jesus took the wheel!"
I had recently turned 21 and just months later I was in Pleiku, Vietnam sitting on sand bags near our shelter sipping beer and observing our returning dead body truck convoy getting attacked just 3-4 miles away returning from Kontum and Dak To near the Cambodian Border...every day. I lived thru it and returned home all grown up.
Again, "Jesus had taken the wheel!"
American Idol this evening gave us Phil performing great for him without his silly ear covering hats and Sanjaya turning in his worst effort ever.
#1...Phil Stacey...He sung a Keith Urban song and for once showed some personality and all 3 judges, the two baffoons and Simon, really liked him. Voters on Dial Idol had him in second or third place last week and yet he was in bottom two. Tonight he is the top vote getter BY FAR as of 1:15 A.M. Methinks his voting public does not know how to text and the text people are voting to keep the others ahead of him and he may have a telephone superiority and gets a lot of busy signals that don't hold up overnight. We are down to only 6 kids and one old lady so bottom 3 is easy for any of the borderline people to make. His performance does not justify him going there tomorrow. He may not be in the bottom 3.
#2...Jordin Sparks...She sung "Broken Wing" (or whatever the real name of ths song is) that Martina McBride made famous and as we say down here "She done it proud."
WOW! WOW! WOW! Simon ended the rave reviews with "You could win American Idol."
#3...Sanjaya Malakar...Simon said it best "UTTERLY HORRIBLE!"
I think that Sanjaya, whom I really like (however I don't want him to win American Idol) is taking his newfound success wrong. In other words, this week showed us that Sanjaya's success has gone to his head like his hair. He has finally become so cocky that his song choice was foolhardy and improper. There was no way that he could sing the song so it sounded TERRIBLE and his amateur cuteness is now successful cockiness. I don't think his fans will appreciate this type of arrogance (and he needs fans to go along with his other non fan voters). At this time on Dial Idol, he has finally lost his customary "safe" place near the top of the standings and is DEAD LAST; however, Lakisha is in her near last place where she usually resides.
HE SHOULD BE GONE!!! I SAID IT HERE! I have been his apologist until tonight. I think arrogance did him in!
#4...Lakisha...Country Music may have taken out one of the good ones and one of my Fab 3 this evening. Maybe not tonight, but the seed is planted. I think Sanjaya is going home, but Lakisha has not been doing as well as people think these past several weeks. She has been moving downhill since her opening few weeks and tonight was no exception. She oversung the Carrie Underwood song and at times was "SHOUTING" 'Jesus Take the Wheel.'
We just celebrated Jesus rising from the grave and now Lakisha is yelling at him to "take the wheel." As much as I like Lakisha, she may be taking the wheel herself and driving herself home soon if she continues to make these poor song choices.
The Dial Idol vote predictors have had her in last place or next to last place for the past two weeks. However, the text message votes have kept her out of the bottom three. In the past, the Country Music genre has set a tone from a poor performance that hurts a decent singer later in the competition. This could be the case with Lakisha.
#5...Chris Richardson...He sung "Mayberry" from Rascal Flats and tried to explain the nasal tone as "on purpose." Simon said the performance was "insignificant." As usual, I thought Chris' performance was horrible. I know the guy is cute and has a great personality, but I beg you, get rid of this everybody wantabe...I know that Sanjaya earned his walking papers this evening, but please, dear God...send Chris Richardson packing...He is no Idol. He is a nice boy with a cute smile and personality. Hire him as a singing birthday card telegram boy!
This one ought to get me hate mail. Chris is the #2 vote getter, according to Dial Idol, just behind Phil and both ahead of Jordin. Only women and girls could possibly be voting for this guy. They should lose their right to vote! (smile)
#6...Melinda Doolittle...She found an old country song. Last week, she chose a song that was 50 years old. In my opinion, this song choice was fitting for this contestant...OLD and BORING...Yawn! I know that Melinda is the favorite singer among the judges, among this blog, among my friends, among the back-up singers, and among the nation...I may be the only one that hopes she makes it to the final two and then LOSES! My apologies to Jersey Girl. I don't think American Idol should be for old professional boring, meely mouse singers. Tonight she sung a song really well, as usual...I could care less. For once, the Dial Idol voters seem to agree and instead of leading the vote getters, she is in 4th place behind Phil, Chris (horny women/girls), and Jordin, out of 7. God forbid someone makes her sing a modern song from 10 or 20 years out...She may have a panic attack and go berserk. However...to the glee of all of you...She is safe!
#7...Blake Lewis...He is not a fan of this genre, but took a stab at a slow song and did O.K. Hopefully, he will survive until next week. I still think he can win this thing, unless Jordin or Melinda take it. My only worry for Blake is that except for last week, when he may have been the top vote getter, he does not score overly well each week. This week, Dial Idol says he will be in the bottom 2...Except for lowly Sanjaya, Blake is only 1% ahead of Sanjaya and Lakisha is almost tied with Blake.
He is in deep trouble unless text messages bring him ahead of Sanjaya and Lakisha.
Lakisha seems to do well with the texters. Blake does not appeal to women and young girls. I guess it is a gay thing? How else do you explain it? Rarely is talent measured and voted on this year.
Summary: Finally, I believe Sanjaya is gone. If not Sanjaya, then I believe Chris should go, but Dial Idol tells me I am wrong and I have been wrong before, but they are wrong almost every week. Lakisha sung country and got burned. In the past, good singers have been sent home after Country Song Week. I find it hard to believe that Lakisha could go and Sanjaya could stay. Arrogance trumps innocence and I believe that Sanjaya was arrongant and terrible...He should go. I will miss him, but I never miss arrogance.
Blake may be the most overall talented person in the competition. Jordin is the most exciting and would make the best long term American Idol.
Melinda will most likely win it, but has been a back-up singer for 100 years for a reason...Lack of ambition, DULL, BORING, SNOOZE...however, NICE, KIND, DROP DEAD GORGEOUS...The end.
Before I begin this weeks comments, let me tell you about Ryan Clark. Ryan was from our county and graduated from one of our local high schools in 2002. His mom is a school teacher and he has a twin brother and a sister. He was one month from graduating college with a 4.0 average with a triple major of Biology, English and Psycholgy and upon graduation was going to pursue a doctorate in Psychology. He was a proud 5th year member of his college marching band and was the Resident Advisor of the West Ambler Johnston Dormatory. He was one of the first two people senselessly murdered at Virginia Tech. His family doesn't even have the money to properly bury him and thankfully our community has set up a fund to help.
The good news this week for me was that Al Sharpton and Jesse Jackson have finally shut up. Typical news was that the whore/slut lying accuser in the Duke rape case was getting scholarship funds from Jesse Jackson. I thought those payments were called "fees" not "tuition," however, we all know that Jesse is rather imaginative with his "tax free" Rainbow Push Coalition gifts and personal welfare payments. Perhaps Senator Leahy of Vermont will explain this accounting to us.
Being a perceived redneck hick from Georgia, I also happen to love Country Music so Martina McBride and her type of music was a wonderful addition to the show for me.
The first country music I ever heard in my life was in early 1968 in Vale, N.C. after basic training and after finishing my various Army schools. I was driving my 1958 MGA from Stamford, Connecticut to Atlanta, Georgia for my final 3 months advanced training before departing for Vietnam. I stopped at a farm in Vale, N.C. to stay for a few days with an army buddy. I had never been on a real farm. I woke up in the morning to eggs and pork chops (not bacon). I couldn't believe it! Later on, I discovered that we were eating a pig from the yard...YIKES! We were eating eggs from the henhouse and for dinner (at 2:00 P.M.) we ate chickens that they killed during that morning. I was in the country and these were real farmers.
That Friday night I witnessed my first and only knife fight in a bar and we left the bar at 2:00 A.M. and got in someone's car that had bucket seats and 4 on the floor and a cooler full of beer in the back seat and drove all night to a place called Rockingham, N.C. and the only thing playing on the radio was COUNTRY MUSIC (not the wonderful sounds of Motown). I did not like the music compared to what I normally listened to (50's 60's Rock and Roll) but in the moment: country, pork chops, knife fight, beer, bucket seats, 4 on the floor, revving engine, etc....the music fit the moment in 1968.
I did not listen to it again until after I married the "Wicked Witch" 15 years later. We finished our trip at a dead end line of cars and trucks and camplers and more cars at 6:00 or 7:00 A.M. Our very drunk driver took an abrupt right turn down a hill and drove across a corn field (before Smokey and the Bandit) and came out of the field ahead of all the other cars (as is customary for me, I was not drunk but quite alarmed...they laughed and hooted and rebel yelled) and we proceeded thru a pay gate into the infield of a huge racetrack (Rockingham). I had never even heard of car racing nor had I ever seen a racetrack with banked roadways. Loud engines, motor homes, pretty girls...I thought I was in outer space. Who ever heard of Richard Petty in Connecticut?
I clearly remember my first exposure to country music and Rockingham (which got rained out after several hours) and my trip thru the cornfield on my way in and on the way out my trip back thru the same cornfield to avoid the traffic and a car full of drunken full blooded southerners...the 4 on the floor, the bucket seats...the country drunks...the pork chops...the dead pigs and chickens..."Jesus took the wheel!"
I had recently turned 21 and just months later I was in Pleiku, Vietnam sitting on sand bags near our shelter sipping beer and observing our returning dead body truck convoy getting attacked just 3-4 miles away returning from Kontum and Dak To near the Cambodian Border...every day. I lived thru it and returned home all grown up.
Again, "Jesus had taken the wheel!"
American Idol this evening gave us Phil performing great for him without his silly ear covering hats and Sanjaya turning in his worst effort ever.
#1...Phil Stacey...He sung a Keith Urban song and for once showed some personality and all 3 judges, the two baffoons and Simon, really liked him. Voters on Dial Idol had him in second or third place last week and yet he was in bottom two. Tonight he is the top vote getter BY FAR as of 1:15 A.M. Methinks his voting public does not know how to text and the text people are voting to keep the others ahead of him and he may have a telephone superiority and gets a lot of busy signals that don't hold up overnight. We are down to only 6 kids and one old lady so bottom 3 is easy for any of the borderline people to make. His performance does not justify him going there tomorrow. He may not be in the bottom 3.
#2...Jordin Sparks...She sung "Broken Wing" (or whatever the real name of ths song is) that Martina McBride made famous and as we say down here "She done it proud."
WOW! WOW! WOW! Simon ended the rave reviews with "You could win American Idol."
#3...Sanjaya Malakar...Simon said it best "UTTERLY HORRIBLE!"
I think that Sanjaya, whom I really like (however I don't want him to win American Idol) is taking his newfound success wrong. In other words, this week showed us that Sanjaya's success has gone to his head like his hair. He has finally become so cocky that his song choice was foolhardy and improper. There was no way that he could sing the song so it sounded TERRIBLE and his amateur cuteness is now successful cockiness. I don't think his fans will appreciate this type of arrogance (and he needs fans to go along with his other non fan voters). At this time on Dial Idol, he has finally lost his customary "safe" place near the top of the standings and is DEAD LAST; however, Lakisha is in her near last place where she usually resides.
HE SHOULD BE GONE!!! I SAID IT HERE! I have been his apologist until tonight. I think arrogance did him in!
#4...Lakisha...Country Music may have taken out one of the good ones and one of my Fab 3 this evening. Maybe not tonight, but the seed is planted. I think Sanjaya is going home, but Lakisha has not been doing as well as people think these past several weeks. She has been moving downhill since her opening few weeks and tonight was no exception. She oversung the Carrie Underwood song and at times was "SHOUTING" 'Jesus Take the Wheel.'
We just celebrated Jesus rising from the grave and now Lakisha is yelling at him to "take the wheel." As much as I like Lakisha, she may be taking the wheel herself and driving herself home soon if she continues to make these poor song choices.
The Dial Idol vote predictors have had her in last place or next to last place for the past two weeks. However, the text message votes have kept her out of the bottom three. In the past, the Country Music genre has set a tone from a poor performance that hurts a decent singer later in the competition. This could be the case with Lakisha.
#5...Chris Richardson...He sung "Mayberry" from Rascal Flats and tried to explain the nasal tone as "on purpose." Simon said the performance was "insignificant." As usual, I thought Chris' performance was horrible. I know the guy is cute and has a great personality, but I beg you, get rid of this everybody wantabe...I know that Sanjaya earned his walking papers this evening, but please, dear God...send Chris Richardson packing...He is no Idol. He is a nice boy with a cute smile and personality. Hire him as a singing birthday card telegram boy!
This one ought to get me hate mail. Chris is the #2 vote getter, according to Dial Idol, just behind Phil and both ahead of Jordin. Only women and girls could possibly be voting for this guy. They should lose their right to vote! (smile)
#6...Melinda Doolittle...She found an old country song. Last week, she chose a song that was 50 years old. In my opinion, this song choice was fitting for this contestant...OLD and BORING...Yawn! I know that Melinda is the favorite singer among the judges, among this blog, among my friends, among the back-up singers, and among the nation...I may be the only one that hopes she makes it to the final two and then LOSES! My apologies to Jersey Girl. I don't think American Idol should be for old professional boring, meely mouse singers. Tonight she sung a song really well, as usual...I could care less. For once, the Dial Idol voters seem to agree and instead of leading the vote getters, she is in 4th place behind Phil, Chris (horny women/girls), and Jordin, out of 7. God forbid someone makes her sing a modern song from 10 or 20 years out...She may have a panic attack and go berserk. However...to the glee of all of you...She is safe!
#7...Blake Lewis...He is not a fan of this genre, but took a stab at a slow song and did O.K. Hopefully, he will survive until next week. I still think he can win this thing, unless Jordin or Melinda take it. My only worry for Blake is that except for last week, when he may have been the top vote getter, he does not score overly well each week. This week, Dial Idol says he will be in the bottom 2...Except for lowly Sanjaya, Blake is only 1% ahead of Sanjaya and Lakisha is almost tied with Blake.
He is in deep trouble unless text messages bring him ahead of Sanjaya and Lakisha.
Lakisha seems to do well with the texters. Blake does not appeal to women and young girls. I guess it is a gay thing? How else do you explain it? Rarely is talent measured and voted on this year.
Summary: Finally, I believe Sanjaya is gone. If not Sanjaya, then I believe Chris should go, but Dial Idol tells me I am wrong and I have been wrong before, but they are wrong almost every week. Lakisha sung country and got burned. In the past, good singers have been sent home after Country Song Week. I find it hard to believe that Lakisha could go and Sanjaya could stay. Arrogance trumps innocence and I believe that Sanjaya was arrongant and terrible...He should go. I will miss him, but I never miss arrogance.
Blake may be the most overall talented person in the competition. Jordin is the most exciting and would make the best long term American Idol.
Melinda will most likely win it, but has been a back-up singer for 100 years for a reason...Lack of ambition, DULL, BORING, SNOOZE...however, NICE, KIND, DROP DEAD GORGEOUS...The end.
posted by Roger | 11:31 PM
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