Damien...

Edited: 5th December 2006

OMG, when I published this post, my post count was 666!!!!!

Ahh...hahahahahaha! See what I did there? I've put a picture of Damien from The Omen instead of this Damien (the actual subject of this post):

That's called an intertextual reference, kids, and I hope you write that down. It is oh so clever of me to do. You see, by making this intertextual reference I'm drawing attention to the double meaning inherent in the name "Damien." Apart from being a common boy's name it was also used to name the son of the devil in The Omen and has since been associated, in pop culture at least, with all things evil. And therefore by drawing attention to this particular reading of the name "Damien" I am making a connection between Australian Idol and Satan.

Pictorially it would look like this:

=

Except, as you would have hopefully gathered by now, I don't culturally or symbolically equate Idol with Satan. In fact, I really like Australian Idol and I don't really like Satan (well, you know, except at certain times, like Christmas). So what's with little evil Damien? Nothing. I just like that image, wanted you all to know that I know who won Idol, and wanted to seem all pop-cultural and intertextual. There, you got me.

OK, on with the wrap-up.

Very interesting year. Let me begin by saying THANK GOD IT WASN'T AS BAD AS LAST YEAR. I think that the four seasons of Idol have taught me one thing: Australian Idol voters generally vote on voice. Pretty much every year they've voted for vocal uniqueness and ability over "packageness" (Kate deRough kinda counts, it was an all-round dud year). I mean, really, they say its a singing contest, but because a) being a pop star isn't about singing, some of the biggest pop and rock stars can't sing, and b) being a reality show that shows more than just the stage performances, we are asked to judge them as 'people:' its not really just a singing contest. But it seems that that's what 'the public' want. They've voted the blandest, most unmarketable people as Idols pretty much every year, people that would NEVER GET A RECORD DEAL:

Christian, 'ethnic,' Fro, weird, No Personality = FULL MONG*

Socially stunted, 'ethnic,' overweight, didn't even want to be there really = FULL MONG

Overweight, bland, just...nothing = FULL MONG

Moves like a epileptic, foreign, bad teeth, bland = FULL MONG

Why? Because they can sing. And that's why I like Idol.

You see, Idol didn't wreck the music industry. It doesn't herald the pathetic consumer-driven post-capitalist state of modern culture that permeates into the decadent doomed nation of losers we all are. No, that's been happening for ages. The 'culture industry,' yes Adorno, has been operating for quite some time, and culture has been commodified for, I dunno, only MILLENNIA. Audiences have always been voting for their idols: by buying albums. With Idol, however, instead of getting to choose from a preset of choices determined by record executives, audiences get, to an extent, to pick people at grass-roots levels. And it seems they like the underdog with talent over pre-packageness. Predictable to an extent, but also kinda sweet.

Now, before you all start with the "But Stef, like, its a TV show, with its own agenda and how much control do we really have and its all still part of the system and, like, what about true artist who do it outside the system and make real music, blah blah blah..." Well, to that I say, each to his own. I don't believe that mass-produced music is overly damaging to other sorts of artists. Youth culture latches to all sorts of trends, mainstream and/or counter-cultural, and I don't see any of these practices dying-out. The only form of music I worry about is classical, which youth do seem to be rejecting. It's sad, because its my favorite, really.


Anyway, it was a funny night because all the past Idols and not-quite Idols sang (except, you know, the fat one) and they were lame and then Klancie rode a horse and there were medleys and stuff. It was ace:

Yo Yo Yo we's the Young Divas and we REAL girls with REAL curves. Bootylicious y'all!

Is it still a secret that he's gay? I can't keep up.

BAAH HAHAAAHAHAHAHAHAHAA!!!! HA!

Shannon loves his fans. Wouldn't you?

His guitar fretboard says "Lynyrd Skynyrd" for you kids playing at home.

Oh Bobby. Ahem. Excuse me for a moment...

You were robbed, Ricky. ROBBED I TELLS YA!

"Damo, has anyone ever told you you look like Pippin the mischevious hobbit from Lord of the Rings?"

"Yes, yes they have."

"You're even Scottish too!"

"Kill me."

So all in all, a good Idol year. We got Bobby Flynn, after all. And my deepest apologies (God, as if ANYONE gives two hoots) for only covering half the Idol year and also the lateness of this post. Its been a stressful few months, what with thesis and essays and boys and friends and Thailand. I promise soon I will be back to normal.

* Courtesy Kyle Sandilands

Australian Idol - The 4th Judge #6

To honour the severity of this unforeseen tragedy* I will not post a round up this week. Its too hard.



This is right up there with the Ricky-Lee debacle of '04.
















* And also because I can't be arsed.

Australian Idol - The 4th Judge #5

What is it you groovy bloggers say? Ahh yes, "Le Sigh."

Its a week late so the moment has passed. I'll quickly blog some random thoughts on the action of the last week's events:

- James and "G" wore the same jacket but in different colours. I would make a gay joke here, but, you know. Meh.

- Overall a really strong night. Highlights include Chris performing what I think was his best performance yet, "Play That Funky Music." Confident vocal and appealing tongue-in-cheek vibe. Also strong were Dean (complete with acrobatics) and Jessica (complete with animal print).

- Lavina looked super fat. BAD DRESS.

- "G's" body language towards Dean is super-telling. BUT I'M THE PRETTY ONE DAMNIT!

- Ricky, you keep letting yourself down with song choice. I'm afraid you're not very well liked. This is a shame because I really like what you do vocally. I do like that song though.

- The night was quite strong, apart from two disasters.

1) Lisa singing Blondie. Now, if she had attacked the song I would've let it slide that its not strictly disco. Instead though she continued to act like a spoilt, attitude-sprouting first class bitch. The thing is, Lisa, if Bobby wasn't up there kickin' it every week, using the talent he has to manipulate the music to his liking, you might be able to get away with the whole "this is so, like, not my thing, like, I need my guitar, like, totally" thing. And if Jessica wasn't up there being sweet, gracious and down-to-Earth, you might be able to get away with that rotten attitude. But as it stands, I hate you. You seriously need to go. Your original stuff wasn't even that good.

2) Damien singing "Celebration."In case you missed it, words can't really describe this performance. Instead, I'll use the magical powers of YouTube:



Obviously that's not quite accurate. Damien wasn't as good as that.


- Bobby Flynn. Bobby. Flynn. Flynn of the Bobby. Flynn. Bobby. Bobby. Flynn.
See, its all because of this guy:

The whole alternative vs mainstream debate. In the circles I travel in, its only cool to like Idol in a postmodern-ironic (Did I just link to wiki for postmodernism? Can you tell I'm going insane this month?) way or as a "popular cultural phenomenon" to study way. I like it in both these ways, aren't I cool?, and also genuinely. But generally, its not cool to like Idols. Especially if they are 'mock alternative,' as Lee is. And I agree, last year was a joke. The talent was rank. A couple of good voices with bland personalities and a few posers.

It would seem the producers (and their accountants) of this year's Idol agree, and so they decided to let 'real alternative' acts into the competition. And by 'real alternative' acts I mean people with guitars. Who were willing to enter. Now, people like Lisa and Dean and Damien I would've expected - corny singer-songwriters who really just want to be pop stars. But in amongst it came a real talent. Someone who clearly just thought, "I'll give it a go." They weren't snobby or too cool, they just wanted to try. Kind of like Casey Donovan. Or Guy Sebastian (who, when we think about it, is hardly mainstream). What I've loved about Australian Idol is the way voters haven't gone the predictable way (except for season 3 - maybe Kyle had something to do with it) and have supported all kinds of "wrong" acts. Lets hope Bobby Flynn is the next success story. Wouldn't that be something? It may even break the divide between alternative vs mainstream which is, of course, not as solid as some people think. After all, there are lots of people out there like me, who read things lots of different ways. Ken Gelder thinks its because if some sort of musical ability that's kept Bobby popular. this may be true, but I like to think its more that Australians love a "genius full mong."

Results: Chris, Ricky and Lavina in final 3. What a joke, Lisa needs to GO DAMNIT!

Bye Lavina, it wasn't that nice knowing you, you're as up yourself as your sister and you annoyed me. But whatever, you were never going to win.

Watch this space...

I will add my Idol round up sometime this week. It was a great episode and I have lots to say...but you know.... busy busy busy.

Don't fret.

Australian Idol - The 4th Judge #4

Note: This may be the worst wrap-up ever. Its a day late, my video isn't original (Damn you Rach!) but I sware I found the video on my own, I couldn't be bothered doing the video links, and yeah...its just crappo. Enjoy!

This week's Australian Idol - The 4th Judge is brought to you by...George Washington.



The Show (The Year You Were Born):

Damien Leith
Its like the George Michael version. I love this song, its one of my favorite Elton John songs - but the arrangement was weak. It was very daggy, he looked very uncomfortable. Not his best.

Ricky Muscat
He's singing "I Come From the Land Down Under" with a Jamaican/American accent. Stupid. Great vocal otherwise. Good choice of song in terms of vote pulling. It could go either way. Ricky is showing that terrible ignorance when it comes to music before 2001.

Jessica Mauboy
She seems to breathing shallowly. And the tempo seems a bit stagnant. She's distracted. And yeah, she's holding back a bit. Oh well.

They're getting longer time to sing. And the theme of the night is crappo.

Bobby Flynn
Ooh! Eye makeup! I LOVE YOU BOBBY FLYNN EVEN THOUGH YOU LOOK LIKE LURCH FROM THE ADDAMS FAMILY! The pointing thing is funny. He's great. I think he is both a full mong and the biggest star in the world.

Lisa Mitchell
The cute thing is not doing it for me anymore. She over plucks her eyebrows big time. Nuh, I'm totally over it. Joke's over, go away. Kyle's right about the ballet flats, not stage wear. She needs to grow up.

Dean Geyer

sings

BON FUCKIN JOVI!
Its all just so right: I rock, but I have great hair.
If this guy wins I'll be totally upset.
He's not shouting "SHOT THRU THE HEART," he's singing it. Its laking energy.

Mutto
This guy is just so lame. I don't get it at all. He looks like a married guy. You know those guys...they're all like, married and shit. What a crap song choice. I'm so over mid-tempo rock ballads.
As much as I hate Kyle and everything he stands for, what he said about Triple J listeners holding onto their youth is almost right.

Lavina Williams
She's nailing it better tonight than ever before. Awesome. She's a bit annoying and lacks a warmth. "Getting Mutto to paint on your tats before the show..." That's funny. Damn you Kyle.

Chris Murphy
Good song choice. Best song choice of the night. That scream he does is killer. Did he just sware? HOW'S THE FUCKIN' BAND???!!!! I'll tell you: They consistently are lackluster.

Love Actually is on next. I'd rather pull my own hair out strand by strand that watch that sexist rubbish. It astonishes me that this movie is popular, it is the most transparent piece of misogyny I've ever seen. In a movie full of women, the only two women with any agency are Linney and Thompson. And they don't get a happy ending. To be a chick who gets a happy ending in that film you have to be: 1) Incredibly but effortlessly beautiful, 2) Passive, 3) Have no job, or if you have one be a servant to a man. Yeah girls, take your boyfriends. Its a great date movie, if you're Ike and Tina.

ROMY AND MICHELLE IS ON!!!!!! Love Actually, take note bitches. Keira Knightly...gross, give me Mira and Lisa anyway.

Pretty shit night, mostly due to a crap theme.

Verdict:

Wasn't home last night, so I know this because a girl in my cinema studies class told me. Thanks to her...don't know her name - isn't that terrible.

Mutto, Lisa and Jessica in the final 3...


...YES! MUTTO THE LAMO - MUTTO DRESSED AS LAMB - SUCKO MUTTO IS GONE!!!!

Hooray!

Go Bobby. The girl and I were sharing our love for Bobby. He seems so out of it, like he's wandered onto the set from outside or something.

Australian Idol - The 4th Judge #3

This week I was thinking of writing a bit about high/low cultures, left-wing subcultures, and Australian Idol...

.....I couldn't be stuffed. But trust me, it would've been great.


Show (#1 Hits):


Klancie Keough
Ugh, weak vocal entry, quite pitchy and too breathy. Mr Myagi is playing guitar. She looks preggers! This performance is really laking oomph. Just really crappy all round, and I really don't like her. Terrible song choice. There is nothing more daggy than her. God I love Mark. God I hate Marcia and he-who-shall-not-be-named.

Damian Lieth
"If Tomorrow Never Comes." Diction's not the best. He's breathing the ends of phrases. My friend and I had a discussion about Damian, she reckons he's ugly and his teeth are "fucking bad." I don't think they're "fucking" bad, and the addition of the 5 o'clock shadow is working for him. His speaking voice is that of a jockey. Sad for him.

Lavina Williams
Lavina is looking very Missy Elliot in her rehearsal getup, its a terrible look. Mehates it. Her song choice is too "disco," and "Marcia Hines" - what will she sing in the disco week? Its also dated and she's laking the intensity and oomph of previous weeks. Stupid key changes for the sake of them really annoy me. MARCIA STOP IT WITH THE JIVE TALK! Everyone goes on with how good is the band is - they could be better, they can be seriously bland.

Chris Murphy
Pretty good song choice, "Against All Odds" is a guilty pleasure song for me. Its a pretty lackluster arrangement, and I'm not feeling it from him either. His voice is thin by nature, but I'm feeling it's not really enough. Phil Collins is a very emotive writer and singer. Its lacking. I hate how Marcia thinks a singer can "defend" themselves by saying how they "thought is went." Hello? Who gives a shit what they thought?

Dean Geyer
I really don't like this kid. I really don't like this song either. I feel a bit cheated by him. He presented very 'real' in early auditions, and he's turned into Anthony Callea v.2.0 - "Mr Slick." However, this was his best performance. Well done Dean, I gotta hand it to you. Except I really hated the dance moves. Everything else I can't fault. Damn.

"Mutto"
I'm sorry, did you sing something?

Jessica Mauboy
OH GOD PLEASE LET THIS BE A TOUCHDOWN! - before performance
No, no it wasn't. How so not a touchdown, the band are so lackluster - After performance
Or maybe it was - After Mark
She may now win. TDs do great for the win factor. And it was a great comeback to the "jelly belly" comment. Good on you Jess, still my favorite.






Except that dress made her look fat.

Bobby Flynn
Great song for him. You Rock Bobby. He's mumbling a bit. He's doing it "Bobby Style." As much as it's fun being done Bobby Style, its not working. It wasn't Bobby Styled enough.
Marcia, you are not a therapist. I wouldn't talk to you if I was on an deserted island and the only way I could get off said island was to decipher your talk and relay it through a transistor radio. Same to you Kyle. As if Bobby's going to talk on national TV about his personal problems.

Ricky Muscat
Hate the keyboard. I really like his ends of phrases - its different. There's really not much to
fault there. I disagree with Mark. I thought he controlled it pretty well.

James just mentioned "Idol Bloggers." Yay.

Lisa Mitchell
My mum calls her: "the one like every other 16 year old girl in Australia who talks her way through songs."
GREAT SONG CHOICE FINALLY MOTHERFUCKERS!
Still hate the way she doesn't finish words. She's just so apathetic. So "Hello Kitty."



All in all, Mutto should go. Or Klancie - she's crappier than crap. dean improved this week, as did Jessica and Ricky. I hope Bobby is safe.





Verdict:



Doing this from Uni so I'm relying on the message boards for info.



It seems Lavina, Dean and Klancie are the final 3.



And Klancie has gone. The hooker-with-a-heart-o-gold, poster girl for the Nationals, has been rejected by the Aussie public.


*single tear of pride/joy*


Good. Very good indeed. Thank you and goodnight.


Silly how Dean had a good week and was bottom 3 and Mutto and Lisa are safe. Not cool.


Its hilarious how quickly this idea is running out of steam. It reminds me of my childhood and everything was started enthusiastically and then ran out of steam. In fact, nothing has changed.

Next week: Song from year of birth. Wow, Lisa can sing Groove is in the Heart. Awesome. I bet she WROCKS it.


Bye bye for now.

See! Preggers.

Source: Australian Idol Website

Australian Idol - The 4th Judge #2

Source: Telegraph

I reckon Idol's got it tough this year. It has to follow Meerkat Manor. On Meerkat Manor, I get to watch baby meerkats run around and cower from owls. That's pretty hard to beat.

Tonight is rock night. I predict Mutto and Chris will do well, and hopefully Bobby and Ricky will perform well. I also hope little Jessica shines. The rest could die from syphilis, I wouldn't notice.

As a tribute to this show's superior lead-in, I will be grading tonight's performances out of 5 Baby Meerkats:

Show (Rock):


Ricky Muscat
He looks good, I like the T-Shirt. He's very strong on stage, and he's got a really cool voice. He's also showing a good level of versatility. But he should watch his dynamics. He starts at about 8-9 and has little to go. I think he was told that in the semis. He overkills at times. But I really like him and it was a good start to the show. Nice song choice too.
4 out of 5 Baby Meerkats.


Lisa Mitchell
"My style is...um...like...cute and stuff. I dunno. Like, folky and stuff."
Did she miss her entry? It was a very timid first few bars. She has a goofy "this is so embarrassing guys, OMG!" look on her face while singing. So immature. I really don't think this girl is up to this competition. Metamorphasise? Marcia, please, I could be wrong, but that's not a word. Don't start with this crap. God she (Marcia) annoys me. Lisa can't take this criticism, she's acting like a spoiled brat up there. "Well, what can I do?" she asks, defiantly. The answer is nothing. She's really too immature. Its not happening.
2 out of 5 Baby Meerkats.


"Mutto"
Why is he singing another mid-tempo rock ballad? He should've taken this week by the balls. Just because Mark says you're intense and vulnerable doesn't mean you should do that all the time. Oooohhh, he can't make the pitch up high. Yikes that's ugly. Bad stage movement at the end. He's likable. Don't make excuses for him Marcia! I'm really going to be hating Marcia tonight, she's really shitting me more than usual. Did he just "God bless" the audience? I disagree with the judges, not the best song choice, too safe. And I'm not crazy about the vote grabbing.
2 1/2 out of 5 Baby Meerkats.


Klancie Keough
Ahh, my favorite. What kind of a name is "Klancie?" Singing "Keep Your Hands to Yourself." She sounds breathless, shaky, bad eye contact with audience. Isn't breaking her voice strongly enough for me to be convinced it's intentional. And she still looks cheap. I think she will always look cheap. Great song choice. Pity the band sound crap! Mark is right about her not being contemporary enough. I'm really unconvinced with the true quality of her voice. She's picking safe songs for her and only just scraping through vocally. She'll crash and burn. I hope.
2 1/2 out of 5 Baby Meerkats.


Bobby Flynn
Cool! He' a werewolf! Oh, no he's not. Damn, that would be cool. Like this arrangement a lot. Wow, I actually really liked that. I liked that better than last week. He's not hit top for me yet, but I like contestants who are really gutsy arrangers (unlike Mutto who rearranges very predictably).
3 1/2 out of 5 Baby Meerkats.


Reigan Derry
She looks dead inside tonight. Sounds a bit Christian rock. What was that at the end? Damn, that sounded crapola. I feel like an idiot, because I don't know that song. She was a little pitchy, but she looked great. Mark's right, she didn't nail it. And it was a pretty crap song choice.
2 out of 5 Baby Meerkats.


Damian Leith
GREAT SONG CHOICE FOR YOUR VOICE DAMIAN! Why are you slurring into the chorus? You're lucky you're so well suited vocally to this, because you're not performing your best. You didn't need to falsetto that last bit. It's getting tired. Mark's right, he's holding notes for too long. Kyle, why do you feel the need to be the style council, you're a tool.
3 out of 5 Baby Meerkats.


Jessica Mauboy
She's a cutie. A bit of a safe choice, and she's mimicking the sound of Clarkson's voice. She's doing that thing I hate and singing just like the record, showing no musical initiative, aside from the old vocal run. But I still like her, and she nailed that high note, unlike Reigan. In fact she was quite on pitch the whole way. I HATE when Marcia talks jive. GO JAMES! GO ANDY G! Defending that puppy fat. They're puppy fat knights! Jess was good but safe.
3 1/2 out of 5 Baby Meerkats.


Jack Black Chris Murphy
Good song choice. Not liking the left hand out flat like that, though. He's so Jack Black. He should sing "Tribute" one week. Yeah, he's good and all, but IS IT ENOUGH?? We'll see.
3 1/2 out of 5 Baby Meerkats.


Lavnia Williams
She looks hawt. Interesting song choice, too bad I fucking hate Evanescence. She is so much cooler than Emily. I liked that, balls to the wall sound. She did seem to strain a little. But she did it, she got it done. I don't like her "mm hmms" though. So fucking cliche. I reckon she and Marcia could have a whole conversation without using vowels. "Mmmhhmm Dhhrrrlnn."
3 out of 5 Baby Meerkats.


Dean Geyer
Why are they ending with this guy? He's so "meh" musically. Oh that's right, they've been shoving him down our throats BEFORE THE SHOW EVEN STARTED. HE WAS ON THE BLOODY ADS SINGING HIS CRAPPY LITTLE SOFT ROCK. He's practically already won. He looks a bit like James Marsden. PITCHY! He's fucking pitchy. For Christ sake (heh, quite literally), he's almost out of tune. Liked how he pointed to the drummer, though. Mark and I agree again on the pitch. Marcia's a joke.
2 out of 5 Baby Meerkats.


Generally, a weaker night than last week. I would've liked some more ROCK. None of this soft indy stuff of the last 10 years. No one rocked. Not even Chris, he chose rock parody. Ricky's still my favorite. I like Jessica and Bobby's improved in my eyes, I hope he continues too. Still can't warm to the bush trash loser that is Klancie. Dean's an idiot, so's Mutto. Marcia's a tool.

Once more:

Verdict:

I wonder if they will sing another medley tonight. I love those medleys, they're that really embarassing type of entertainment that makes you kinda cry.

This backstage preview is making me really like Bobby and Chris. James Mathison swings for me, sometimes he's ok, sometimes he's really annoying. He screams "scruffy boyfriend of a friend," one you know wont be around for long.

Yay! Guy. The original Christian Virgin (TM) and the best. Dean should bloody watch and fuckin' learn. Even though he's a Christian and, even worse, a virgin, and he verges on the preachy, he's still my favorite ever. I wonder if he's still a virgin?

Group performance is really showing the weakness of the girls. Dean, stop pointing at that goddamn camera. Yep, tears are swelling it's so uncomfortable. What's funnier: Bobby trying to dance, or Lisa trying to sing? Bobby, methinks. But in a good way.

"Oh Lord, give me the strength to not sleep my way to the top."

Source: Australian Idol website.

Reigan's out. That's too bad, she had potential. But she was never going to win it. What is fucked is the final 3: Mutto, Reigan, and RICKY. My favorite, one of the best performances of last night. What a joke. My bottom 3 would've been Dean, Lisa and Klancie. That result scares me a little bit, I hope the voters wake up. They pick favorites early on and are hardly swayed. Yikes. That song of Reigan's was pretty bad.

No. 1 Hits next week. How ironic (in the Morrisette usage) Reigan misses that. I hope it's better than this week.

Australian Idol - The 4th Judge #1

Well, the finals have begun. Australian Idol Season 4 has, so far, appeared an improvement on the 3rd season disaster of these as the final 3:

Source: SMH, Australian Idol Website.

I mean, it wouldn't take much. Yes, I do believe this season is on the up. The producers seem to have got what we mindless plebs want: more "stupid" auditions at the start, but not include them in any further episodes, less "semi-finals" with the shit top 30 where we already know who we want to vote for anyway because of advertising showing us our "favorites" before they've become our favorites, and more "quirky" contestants, and by "quirky" I mean guitar-playing songwriters. Of course.

So despite the presence of James Mathison, Andrew G, Marcia Hines, and Kyle Sandilands (I love love LOVE THAT IDIOT MARK HOLDEN! I want to make him my lady) I'm watching this series with guarded apprehension. There's still a chance it could run out of steam, and I was a bit disappointed Chris Graffiti didn't get in, but there's enough there for pointless good blog fodder.

On with the judging!

Show (Contestant's Choice):


Dean Geyer
Dean Geyer is a Christian Virgin (TM) and South African. That means he talks funny. He also is a weak singer-songwriter, and one of the weakest vocally. But he's also pretty. Too pretty. Its like the producers said "Hey, you know who was cool? Guy Sebastian. But he was ugly. Lets get someone pretty this time." He sang a song that was well suited to his image: soft, solo male pop-rock. Teddy Geiger. His voice sounded thin and he had pitch issues. But boy were those eyes pretty. At this stage I'm predicting top 3 at least. Less class than Sebastian.

Joseph Gatehau
He's gone. He shouldn't even be there. He can sing, but not mature enough. Richard Marx deserves better. Poor poor Richard Marx, so misunderstood. <----that's a joke.

Jessica Mauboy
Sung "Stickwitchu." What a beautiful title for a song. I know when I'm writing a song, I like to pretend I'm writing a text message with limited character space. She's got a nice, solid voice. That's promising. She's a bit too "cute." And Kyle was right, she did look Target. I predict a middle-of-finals exit.

Damian Leith
U2 (get it? He's Irish!) "With or Without You." He's got an amazing voice, with great falsetto, but he should watch for the overkill. He wont win. He may get top 4. He's not nearly as ugly as Kyle and Mark say.

Ricky Muscat
My brother's favorite. This kid's got a strong vocal talent and a nice energetic presence, but he can overkill a little on the "R&B Coolness." Nevertheless, he's a strong contender and has a likable style, and I'd like him to go far. Not sure, he's not quite pretty enough for me to predict a top 3 position, but we have to wait and see. Downside: he did sing Craig David.

Lisa Mitchell
The downside to promoting singer-songwriters is that you'll attract immature performers who are unable to break away from what they know and adapt their talents to a mass media form. Talents like Lisa need to work up their own narratives slowly so they gradually mature into fame. She's got limited vocals and an annoying (Missy Higgins anyone) diction habit, which she admirably holds onto but may alienate viewers after a while. Crowded House was a smart choice, but "Fall at Your Feet" was not. Casey Donovan got away with her awkwardness by being able to sing, Lisa may crumble.

Lavinia Williams
Not nearly as incredibly infuriating as her nasty (seriously, what a mean looking girl Emily was) and predictable sister, she has a class about her that I dig. Great song choice, I actually think Alicia Keys writes strong R&B pop, and has a shit-hot band but is not a good enough singer for them. Alicia's voice weakens under pressure. So it was nice to hear a confident, solid black voice sing her songs like they're meant to be sung. She wont win this competition, but she'll provide some nice renditions along the way. And kudos for the "puffin muffin" comment Holden. Comedy gold. Its so predictable who Kyle's going to rip into for style disasters, too.

Chris Murphy
I didn't like how the band and Chris inserted a snatch breath before and landed hard on the chorus of "Wish You Well." Mathison said the same joke that Jay and the Doctor said to Fanning at the Top 100 party earlier this year: "Why did you give up on Miso soup?" It wasn't funny then, and its still not. I can't believe that won top song of the year, I mean, its cute and whatever but not the best. Ahh Triple J, how I hate you more than ever lately. Still, a safe choice for Murphy, who I like with his Jack Black shtick and all. But he wont win.

Klancie Keough
Beware super harshness:
I HATE her. Hate hate hate. Here's the thing: I love country music. Love it, its one of my favorite genres. Its not a guilty pleasure because I actually think its a fucking kick-ass musical landscape, with some really beautiful artists and songs, one being "Jolene" and Dolly Parton. Klancie, you are a wet fish. You looked like a hooker with your flat stringy hair and $20 dress. You seriously looked totally trailer-trying-to-be-classy and I hated it. Cheap and dirty. Your voice lacks the resonance for pure country singing, and you just held it together pitch-wise. Unstable, ugly and annoying. I hope you're out next week. But you have the whole Australian-rural-land thing happening and I'm scared you'll attract the Shannon Noll crowd. Hate it all.

"Mutto"
I like you but you shouldn't be on Idol. Too old. And you're gutsy in a really safe way. That Eskimo Joe song you did a while ago was good but in a really un-risky way. I don't really get your appeal with the judges.

Reigan Derry
You're cute and you have some ability. But this is the second time you've chosen a song that you like to sing along with in your bedroom. Sometimes that's ok, but 1) you should remember that you're on a TV show, and 2) YOU AIN'T NO NOONAN. Seriously, Casey Donovan only just got away with it, and her voice was naturally suited (plus that song really resonated with her personal struggle), but I can hear your technique working really hard. Noonan has natural talent and technique, and she's very hard to match. Kyle, you make me sick. The fact that you don't know "Breathe in Now" or "Diamonds on the Inside" is beyond pathetic. But you are continually shot down from many angles so that's ok. Reigan will not win.

Bobby Flynn
Weirdness, you are. While you clearly can sing and write and have a lovely stage presence, and clearly have the maturity and cleverness for this competition (cf Lisa), I'm unconvinced of your genius. I like you, I like your open mind to the competition, your honesty, and you're sunny nature (Brisbane boys are cuties!), but the whole trying to coolify the competition and daggy songs thing may start to get old. Jury's still out, we'll see.

Frontrunners: Dean, Bobby, Damian, unfortunately Klancie.

Personal faves: Ricky, Jessica.

Embarrassment: Lisa, Klancie, Joseph, Dean.



Verdict:

Source: Australian Idol Website

Joseph's out. Thank God. He was so incredibly uncomfortable it was painful. Glad I don't have to sit through another one of his performances.


I think next week's theme is "rock". Gee, can't wait for Klancie and Lisa to shine.


See ya then.

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In other news, meeting with my supervisor wasn't too bad. Phew.


Happy Birthday cutie!