Rock Star INXS 7/26

Cafe Society
1

Damn, I keep hoping someone else will start a thread. (Unlike, say, my jealous monopoly on starting the Apprentice threads.)

Jordis is so damn good – final four. As is Ty.

Suzie has hit her stride – I think her bad performances the first couple weeks were the anomalies (sp?).

Brandon can’t carry a tune. Alas, I’m an old-fashioned gal, and I think a lead singer should be able to. This will also disqualify J.D. (who’s a total tool, I’m ready for him to go).

WTF with Daphna’s gloves and ballgown thing? And WTF on “Rock the Casbah”? I didn’t even recognize the song till she got to the chorus. Dreadful.

2

JD totally blew it. I never saw anything like it and I worship at the altar of the American Idol.

3

JD wasn’t as bad as Deanna’s brutal slaughter of that Supertramp song. I was pleasantly surprised by Ty this week. He did good.

I was really, reall disappointed by Heather’s effort this week. I really think she could have done good with the Sheryl Crow, but it sounds like whatever she was sick with was really affecting her throat and voice. I hope she doesn’t get taken down for being ill.

4

Heh! I was waiting for someone else to start a thread, too!

OK, anyway…here are my impressions for Tuesday’s (7/26) performances:

Deanna: Deanna was kind of iffy this week, and quite honestly, I just don’t think she has the range to pull it off. She’s the type of singer that, in my opinion, is best served by writing her own songs, so she’s able to play to her strengths.

Brandon: Brandon sucked this week. Combined with his attempt with the guitar, I should think that this would kill his chances. I thought initially that he might have had a shot, but the performances combined with the interviews make he think he doesn’t have what it takes.

Jessica: Jessica also sounded weak in my opinion. I don’t think she has a shot. Then again, I didn’t think she had much of a shot from the start.

Suzie: Suzie has really surprised me. This was her best performance yet and she just seems to keep getting better and better. I’m glad they kept her around despite the early flub. I’d have to say that she’s one of the top two females now, along with…

Jordis: Jordis, as has been said before, can do no wrong. OK, so she did do wrong, by forgetting a line from the song…I’m actually kind of shocked at how casually the guys blew that off, considering how much of a big deal they made about Suzie’s flub earlier. Still, I think that Jordis right now has a pretty good chance, maybe the best chance out of all of the females.

Tara: Tara just doesn’t do anything for me. I just can’t see her winning.

Ty: Ty finally showed that he can handle a mellow tune. I’m guessing that the next thing for him to work on is going to be working within the band structure instead of being so completely out front. Other than that, he’s obviously got the pipes and the charisma to pull it off.

Marty: Marty really impressed me this week. I think he really nailed it. Glad to see that he didn’t do his little robot dance thing this time around. Might be one of the top contenders.

MiG: A really strong performance by MiG this week, I think. Another top contender, perhaps.

J.D.: Just go away, J.D. Seriously. You can’t sing, and you’re arrogant, selfish, manipulative…Oh, you sucked because your sister was there…? Oh, well that makes it all better! Let’s just hope that you never see someone you know at a real concert or you might curl up like a boiled shrimp and cry in the corner. Gah. I knew he couldn’t sing from practically the first performance, and I think that he was only around this long because (a) he was putting forth a lot of effort to do something different with the band each time out and (b) there were other people who sucked worse than him (Wil, Dana, Neal). Just go away.

Heather: Ouch, Heather. That was my heart breaking for you. I sure hope that you feel better now, because I think you may have to sing just to survive tonight. It was just bad. I remember thinking to myself, “What’s wrong with her? She can sing better than this!”

Daphna: She’s just too creepy. Despite what the band was saying, I thought she looked horrible, other than the good decision to keep her hair out of her face again.

So, I think probably the top two girls are Jordis and Suzie, and the top three guys are Ty and MiG…or Ty and Marty. Hard to tell, but right now I’d give a slight edge to MiG. Ty, in my opinion, should be a no-brainer unless some deep dark secret child porn conviction from his past comes to light.

Did anyone else think that the band suddenly seemed a lot tougher in their critiques this time around? I’m wondering if one of the producers told them to toughen up a bit or something. They certainly got a few boos from the crowd when they criticized some of them…

5

Mrs Gargoyle and I are loving this show…we are pulling for Jordis, she seems to be the only female with any range or control to her voice, and is damn cute in a Bjorkish sort of way.

INXS seems to be coming around more honest with their criticism, the first couple of shows they seemed genuinely awkward at having to give any negative feedback. They seem to have woken up to the fact that this is serious, however, just like an audition in the outside world.

JD was one hell of a train wreck. That he tried to use his sister as an excuse is even worse. Everyone seems to be seeing through his facade though, so I don’t think he’s going to be around much longer.

I think Ty has serious potential, but only if he can turn down his showtune vibrato and give some actual emotion into his singing.

There were a lot of train wrecks this week though, I think the song selection was deliberately challenging though, there didn’t seem to be a “gimme” song in the bunch.

6

I thought this was Marty’s weakest performance by far which means it was still better than most. He sounded good on the chorus, but not on the stanzas(?). Anyway, he’s got this in the bag.

7

I think Deanna has the most interesting voice of all these people, but I don’t think she’s the best singer.

Marty, MiG, and Ty were my tops for the night. Jordis is a good singer and might win, but she leaves me feeling so blah.

I had loved Heather, and I would like to love Heather again. But last night wasn’t good, and my loathing for Sheryl Crow taints everything that touches her. Blick.

8

Regarding JD and arrogance as well…

To me, JD seems to be the only one viewing this as a real competition. He screwed up tonight with his song choice, and trying to excuse his lack of justice to the song by his little reunion speech about his sister, but apart from that he really seems to have been the one who got the idea of this being a challenge, more so than the others.

As much as I have the love for Jordis, Heather and Ty, like the others they all seem to have this ‘circle-jerk’ mentality, and everyone’s giving love and sloppy blowjobs to everyone else, even if they did something that royally stunk. Sometimes it’s refreshing to see JD being an ass, in order to try and raise his own profile as a rock star.

9

Jordis is still my favorite, not just for the fact she’s a local too. The only problem is, I have a hard time looking at her and hearing her sing pop music. She’s got “indie cred” all over her. Still, I’m behind her.

Marty (AKA Thomas Hayden Church) seemed to pull off Nirvana.

Ty’s “Everybody Hurts” was horrible. He was somehow channelling Bob Dylan and it needed to stop.

Tara, who seems like the cool girl in the office who gets drunk and tells off the boss, just doesn’t have the “rock” vibe. Then again, neither does INXS anymore.

Mig and his amazing toy soldier jacket did an alright job. But I wanted tights. And some amorous hippos.

Heather’s Sheryl Crow song never really hit the notes. I dig Heather, I really do. She reminds me a bit of Patty Griffin.

Deanna did alright. The biggest problem with the song was that she seemed to de-crescendo the whole song. Like a flan in a cupboard it went down instead of up. The band was right that she has a lot of power and needs to trust her voice.

JD (AKA Scrappy Doo). First, I have to say, I LOVED LOVED LOVED Jordis’ look when he was on stage. That polite smile coming from her had me repeating it on the DVR a couple times. Second, the “reunion”. Shut up. Go see your sister on your own time and stop trying to find a human component to your ego. Third, the singing. He didn’t have the voice for the song and he quickly knew it and know we know it.

Daphna, well, I can’t stand the Clash. Never have never could. Pair that with a dress that makes me wonder if you’re hiding a pregnancy and twirling like you’re Stevie Nicks to a “punk” song and you’re off on the road to boredom.
Dave Navarro. Shut up. If I could punch the screen and have him feel it, I just might. At least he and the band have toned down the “perv factor” as they make rude, lude, and lascivious comments at the women. That was really starting to bug.

10

I have to disagree with the idea that JD is the only one seeing it as a competition and so forth…or at least the idea that it’s refreshing to see him being an ass. You see, so many other reality shows out there show backstabbing and manipulation and people being jerks and everything…to me, it’s more of a breath of fresh air to see a show where people are actually being nice to each other. My thinking is, they aren’t competing with each other in so many ways as they are competing with each other and whatever ideals that INXS has set up for them. I honestly think it looks bad for JD when he tries to tear down the other for not loving the INXS songs as much as he does, or tries to make excuses because he saw his sister there in the crowd…and did anyone notice his lame come-on to Jordis during the Monday show? “After this is all over, I’d like to get to know you as a person” or whatever he said, followed by Jordis’ well-executed eye roll…and I’m sorry, even if he is right in treating the whole thing like a cutthroat competition, the man cannot sing. And he does this thing where he shakes his head around when he hits certain notes (or tries to hit them, as the case may be) and it just looks silly to me.

All that being said, I can see how nothing but compliments all around can get annoying, too. I just want them all to be genuine, whether they are critiques or compliments. I don’t get “genuine” from JD at all.

Can you tell I’m not a big JD fan?

I was reading the singers’ blogs earlier. I was really kind of shocked at how surprised they all were at Neal being voted off. I thought it was pretty evident from the last two songs he sang that he can’t carry a melodic tune to save his life.

I think some of these guys might be suffering a little bit from LADS (Lousy Artist in Denial Syndrome). That’s the afflliction that makes horrible singers try out for American Idol. Now, most of the singers here are much better than the average American Idol contestant, but if they are unwilling to take criticism, they are doomed.

11

Ugh…I meant “they aren’t competing with each other as much as they are competing against themselves and whatever ideal INXS has in mind.”

12

Heh. Not many people are big JD fans. I seemed to get the impression, from the first couple of episodes at least, that the band seemed to like JD. From the start I liked him, and a bit of assholishness hasn’t really turned me off.

I get what you’re saying about it being nice to see people being nice and supporting each other, but by the same token there’s being nice, and there’s the mutual handjob society that seems to build up each time more than one of them is in the room, and it gets kinda barfy to see them all giving love and kisses and “You totally rocked tonight girl!” all over the place, when they didn’t at all.

But then I’m also a schadenfreude type of person, so I guess I’m looking for the conflict and assholishness that JD is bringing to the group. The rest of the lovey-huggy just makes me want to yawn.

Amen to that too. I’m surprised by how often they were getting away with those comments. These girls are trying to prove themselves as rock stars, and they’re being broken down and judged on how much tit they flash (though some do flash a lot. Tara, I’m looking at you. Put 'em away, luv).

13

Um, I thought Marty sounded really good on the verses, & lost on the yelly bits. He did pretty well last night. He’s still not INXS.

the good:
Top two: Ty & Jordis.
Third: Suzie
Next level: Deanna (sweet voice, & no yelping this time!) &** MiG** (man, if the Kinks need a lead singer, great. but is he INXS?)

the middle:
Jessica’s got a neat voice, but no power. I’ve liked her with my eyes closed for a while. I’m rooting for her, not to win, but to realize what she needs to do to improve.
Marty is good for a certain kind of rock. Had a good night. We can keep him around another week before sending him home to the Lovehammers, but he’s not going to win.
I thought Heather might be intoxicated. Turns out she was sick? Hmmm, sounded really strange & weak, but still sang in tune. A trouper.

the subpar:
Brandon finally came out of his comfort zone. Not all that impressive. Pitchy.
Tara doesn’t seem to be the obviously wrong fit for the band that some people in this competition seem. She just suffers by comparison to the competition. I tire of her.

the awful:
J.D. had a really bad night, but his track record deserves a little consideration. Boy does need to grow up, I grant you.
Daphna hasn’t been impressing me overall. Lousy this week. Bottom 3 & maybe out, baby!

14

Eh, let me modify that. She didn’t seem that way at first. Now, she really seems like a freakin’ vapid amateur.

15

It took me freakin’ FOREVER to figure out that he was the guy from the Lovehammers. I saw them once at Schubas because the band are kinda friends of a friend. The first couple of weeks of the show, it was killing me trying to figure out where I recognized him from.

16

spoilers!

Whoa. Didn’t see that coming.

17

My tape ran out before the results show aired tonight. (Must admit: I was WATCHING So You Think You Can Dance.) Can somebody please post a brief synopsis of the results show with, of course, the name of the person who was eliminated?

18

Heather, Daphna and Jessica were the low vote-getters. In a surprise move, Jon Farriss decided to sit in on drums with the house band, and Garry Beers joined in on bass as well.

In a surprise move,

BOTH Daphna and Heather were axed.

Marty opened the show after being asked to do a reprise of what I thought was a lukewarm rendition of Nirvana’s “Lithium.”

19

The three low scorers were Jessica, Heather, and Daphna. Daphna had to sing “What You Need,” Heather had to sing “By My Side,” and Jessica had to sing “Elegantly Wasted.” All of 'em seemed kinda weak to me again, although Heather sounded better than last time. However, when it came time for the elimination, Tim Farris told Melissa that she would stay and sing another day, but that both Heather and Daphna were gone! Shocking! Lots of crying and some boos from the audience.

Still, what the audience and the singers need to remember is, this isn’t American Idol, and it’s not a quest to find the absolute best singer, either; it’s a tryout for a particular band. Although it seems harsh, I can understand why they might want to just say goodbye to both of them at once; if they already know that they don’t want Heather or Daphna, why drag it out?

I was kind of surprised that J.D. wasn’t one of the bottom three. It would be kind of funny if he was a plant by the studio to try and shake things up or something.

20

Oh for fuck’s sake. Of those three, Jessica was absolutely the worst, weakest and most pathetic of the lot last night. She has no talent whatsoever, and sounds like every other bimbo-rock-chick out there. At least Heather had an interesting sound. I haven’t seen the elim show, but that bites monkey arse.