American Idol Season Six, Week Alpha

And what a week it was ... at the conclusion of Hollywood week, it looked like the boys were set to be the class of the show, just like the past two seasons. There's a guy who carries an odd likeness to Jack Osborne*, an incredible R&B/soul crooner who had already sung background for the likes of Christina Aguilera, a guy who calls himself Sundance, an Asian guy, an Indian guy who looks like a lock to play the Anthony Federov cuteboy role (drawing 90% of the 12-and under vote), etc. Twelve fairly distinct characters, all somewhat developed before the show had even properly started. In contrast, the girls' side had a couple of potentially show-stealing divas (shades of Season Three) plus quirky/skinny white girls A through G.

But as everyone now knows, the tables have turned completely ... the boys looked bland, ordinary, and indistinguishable from one another, while the girls were simply sensational in pulling off the best collective round-of-24 performances in the history of the show. Then there's Antonella ... needless to say, when I saw the headline "Racy photos linked to Idol contestant", there was no doubt in my mind who the culprit would be ... and I'm starting to smell a rat. AI is edited with scalpel-like precision. They air exactly what they want us to see and nothing more. Any scene that makes the final broadcast is a measured attempt to manipulate the viewer into forming a specific opinion about a contestant. During the group phase, they made a big deal of showing her flirting with boys instead of rehearsing. They never showed her doing anything remotely remarkable onstage, in fact, they took the opposite tack by showing her forgetting her words (a sin which got about ten others kicked out before her) and generally making her look untalented compared to a more polished singer once it was down to the final two hopefuls from the final forty. FOX has gone out of their way to portray her as the age-old reality show villain/bitch, and now we're supposed to believe that they knew nothing about her racy past despite having done a thorough background check? Many times in past seasons, we've seen AI gauge the internet/gossip page reaction and feed those storylines back into the show itself. In this case, I have a feeling that they're manufacturing their own controversy by trying to stir up a grassroots campaign to get Antonella kicked off the show, only to have her notoriety keep her on air as people flock to their phones in droves to keep the girl they love to hate on their TVs.

As always, I'm amazed that people are stupid enough to sing dreary ballads in their first week on the show, but what about those who get their song selection exactly right? Antonella somehow succeeded at this task -- one that many other Idol contestants consistently fail to do properly. "I Don't Want to Miss a Thing" is perfect for this stage of the competition**. 1) everybody knows the song, 2) it's a sweeping power ballad with a huge chorus that you can really belt out, 3) it was originally sung by Stephen Tyler, who can be easily outsung. Many contestants appreciate #1 and #2, but #3 is always overlooked, as evidenced by the number of Stevie Wonder and Aretha Franklin songs that are performed each and every season. A good performance of a song by an average singer will almost always sound more impressive than a very good-to-great performance by an outstanding singer -- for example, look at the guys' side, where Blake sang Keane, barely broke a sweat, and still smoked the rest of his field (I doubt we've seen 1/3rd of his potential thus far ... there's little doubt that he's going deep this season).

* wait a minute, did Chris Sligh really leave a comment here: http://diaryofmusicalthoughts.blogspot.com/2006/05/american-idol-gala-extravaganza.html

** as is "Brass In Pocket" ... which turned out to be another lost opportunity

Surprises and disappointments, starring Jesu and Explosions in the Sky

There are two kinds of music fans -- people who treat their favourite bands like their favourite sports teams, and those that don't*. Both groups root for their bands to keep releasing great albums, but the differences arise when they fail to do so. Let's say you root for a band and then one day they spit out the musical equivalent of signing Gil Meche for 50 million dollars. What do you do? If you're a Kansas City Royals fan, you have to convince yourself that it's OK, they're still your team and you love them no matter what. But as a music fan, you're not obligated to continue your support.

Take Jesu. I was never a big Justin Broadrick fan. The next thing I knew, he was blowing me away with a brilliant album ("Jesu") and an even better EP ("Silver"). On the latter release, he perfected the industrial-shoegaze-metal genre, which we all agree has the potential to be the greatest genre in the history of music. The man was on a serious roll and making the best music of his career, so of course I had high hopes for the quick follow-up "Conqueror". But what's this? Decipherable lyrics? Decidedly un-dense guitar lines? Quicker, non-sludgy tempos? "Conqueror" sounds like a more ordinary brand of doom-metal -- certainly not a bad thing in and of itself, but not what I'd come to expect and hope for from a new Jesu album.

Concerning Explosions in the Sky, it really didn't matter to me at all if they put out good music at this point. I'm rarely in the mood for extended post rock symphonies these days (Godspeed burnout, or something) so their ability or lack thereof to create listenable music is a non issue for me now. But I'll be damned -- "All of a Sudden I Miss Everyone" is sensational stuff, like the first triumphant fifteen minutes of the aforementioned GYBE's "Levez Vos Skinny Fists ..." (the best 15 minutes of their career on record), complete with celebratory, almost cheery, major key melodies. Naturally, the usual quiet/loud pattern is featured here, but they made the album short enough (just over 40 minutes) to say what they needed to say before the shtick gets boring. After skimping on the uber-depressive clangs of imminent doom and lightening the mood considerably, I find myself wanting to hear the album again and again, as opposed to their other records where I feel I've gotten the point after one or two listens.

* yes, I know that lots of people exhibit traits of both groups, depending on which band they're dealing with. I'm writing something here.

Everybody reunites

The Police are engaging on a world tour beginning later this spring, and used their prime performance spot on the Grammys to unofficially announce that they are back together for the time being. I admire these guys (and must avoid being cynical) because I assume they're doing this for fun and enjoyment because they certainly don't need to do this for the money. Sting has been doing just fine on his own for a long time and doesn't need to lasso himself back into his old group unless he really wanted to strike a return to old friends and simpler times (you know, the days of power trios rather than 15-piece ensembles complete with African drummers). Copeland and Summers obviously have long gotten over the "I'm too good for you two guys" snub from 20 years ago (not to mention that they've been plenty busy since then as well) and are back on board looking for adventure, cash, and musical fulfillment. All three have looked past all the old hurtful feelings. Everybody does. Everybody reunites.

The Pixies hated each other for 15 years and still reunited. They had every right to be cynical and do the whole thing for the money, considering how much of it was out there for the taking. Dinosaur Jr REALLY hated each other for 15 years -- see nearly every Lou Barlow interview ever -- and still got back together. The Velvet Underground REALLY hated each other and were led by legendarily stubborn assholes and THEY still got back together. If these bands (and countless others ... Culture Club?!?) could do it, then everybody can. It's practically a law of nature.

People have been waiting for the Smiths to reunite practically from the day they broke up. Each band member is on record (multiple times) saying that it won't happen. That it will never happen. Trust me, IT WILL HAPPEN. Bank on it. Too much money, too much of a legacy, too much of an oppurtunity to return to the headlines. Wait, you say, what about the bitter lawsuits, the Johnny Rogan book, Moz's new Latino fanbase, Marr's arrogance, the ego clashes, everything. Fuck that shit. Smiths reunion. It will happen. Probably within five years. Everybody reunites.

The only band I'm worried about is Spacemen 3. Jason and Sonic not only hate each other's guys but literally haven't spoken a word to each other since 1990 or so. Even Reed and Cale used to speak once in a while, perform together onstage once in a blue moon as a favour to friends, and go right back to hating each other, "Sam and Ralph"-style. Also, reunited bands tend to do so because they had better financial or creative/critical success with their old bandmates, whereas I believe both Jason and Sonic have done better separately, on both counts. Fans can continue to hope and dream, and S3 look cooler and more ahead of their time with each passing year, so who knows ... but it really doesn't look good.

News of the Police and the Grammys (which I unfortunately didn't see this year) reminded me of how out of touch with parts of the real world one can get when caught up in stuff like Pazz and Jop madness. Stuff that 99% of music consumers couldn't care less about. I'd forgotten that the Dixie Chicks had such a great year, and hadn't fully grasped the feelgood aspect behind MJB's latest comeback (aren't all of her albums hailed as "finally, the return of a true original, the #1 R&B diva goddess"? Never mind). However, the logic and sense-defying continual popularity of Red Hot Chili Peppers has NOT been lost on me, and yes, the mind still boggles. How? Why? Just break up and reunite in ten years already, like you should have ten years ago (just like Jane's Addiction ... no, I didn't just say that ...)

Prince and the Superbowl Halftime Show

The praise keeps rolling in for Prince's performance, and although I can see where these accolades are coming from (Prince certainly kills live), I can't say I enjoyed it much more than any other halftime show of recent memory. The Superbowl Halftime Show, like the Royal Rumble, is really tough to screw up. The game happens only once per year, even fairweather fans get pumped up for the event and it would take an unmitigated disaster to ruin that mood. The star plays three or four hit songs that everyone in the country knows and loves, and all of the usual concert quibbles go out the window. Are you really going to complain about the setlist ... for a 15-minute set? Complain that Prince didn't have time to let that guitar solo breathe? Like the Stones closing with "Satisfaction" last year, can you really argue over the choice of "Purple Rain" as the closer, regardless of whether you're bored* shitless by that song by now? The amount of money (enough to send a man to the moon), preparation time (ditto), and gimmicks (lights, fireworks, wacky camera angles) see to it that all the stops are pulled out in order to ensure that everyone watching at home thinks to themselves "wow, that was a good show". I think the halftime show gets as much pre-event advertising time as the game itself, and is probably the most watched portion of the entire broadcast.

Unlike, say U2, Prince strongly unites both the fan and critical spheres (devoted and casual people in both cases). In other words, so many people are praising the show because nobody hates Prince. And for his biggest devotees, the importance and success of the event is a vindication of his under-appreciated talent as an incendiary concert performer (AKA everybody enjoys being correct). Professionally, it's great to be Prince these days. He looks fantastic for Age 48, he can still play the shit out of the guitar and bring the goods onstage, he's come out of the shell that consumed him for most of the 1990's and has helped rescue his legacy with several outstanding TV performances (Grammys 2004, American Idol 2006, Brit Awards 2006, now the Superbowl), looking proud to be playing his biggest hits again (after shying away from them for many years) and armed with solid newer songs to boot.

To contextualize the "best halftime show ever" proclamations, take a look at all the past SB halftime show performers. No wonder I can't remember any of the shows from when I was a kid -- the NFL didn't pull in A-list entertainers until the early-90's. This not-coincidentally happened around the time FOX started broadcasting games, NFL TV contracts became stratospherically more valuable than those in any other American sport, and football tightened its stranglehold on the title of America's #1 sport. I vividly remember the hype leading up to Michael Jackson's performance -- bringing him in felt like a huge coup on the part of the NFL and they haven't looked back since, consistently attracting the biggest names in music to play at the halfway point of football's biggest game.

* I will never get bored of hearing "Purple Rain", and I realized it when he used it to close his 2006 Brit Award performance with a rendition that nearly stopped my heart.