Falling Slowly

In the process of honing my admiration for the two entirely worthy American Idol finalists, I have been perusing You Tube performances by heartthrob Kris and rock star Adam. I came across this studio recording of Kris Allen singing Falling Slowly. Simon Cowell Called Kris's performance of this on the show "brilliant". Enough said.

I had forgotten how lovely this song is. It won the Academy Award for best song at the 2008 Oscars. It was sung in the movie Once, an unusual and entertaining love story about street singers in contemporary Dublin. It was written and performed in the film by Glen Hansard and Marketa Irglova who together form the group The Swell Season. Hansard is also the leader of the Irish band The Frames.

Here is a You Tube of The Swell Season perfoming the song on the David Letterman show.

In our audio visual collection we have the 2007 film Once. We also have the movie soundtrack (which I have checked out as of this writing). In coming months we will be acquiring more CDs from The Frames and The Swell Season. Look for them on the New CD list at the AV desk on the first floor.

Don't forget to come to the American Idol final performance party in the large meeeting room on Tuesday, May 19 at 7:00 pm. There will be prizes including ipod shuffles. Who do I want to see as the next American Idol? look at the top of the page.

American Idol Returns to Niles

It's baaack! The annual American Idol Elimination contest and Big Screen Final Viewing Party return to Niles Library. This year is shaping up to be one of the most dynamic American Idol competitions ever, and our roster of prizes for the contest and party are bigger and better than ever before.


Our contest starts when there are six contestants left on the show. For each of the final six weeks, you can win a newly released American Idol CD if you correctly guess which contestant is voted off the show that week. In the event of a tie, the winner will be determined by drawing. CDs include David Cook, David Archuleta, and as part of the grand prize, Kelly Clarkson's new release in a deluxe version with bonus tracks and a DVD.


In addition to the deluxe Kelly Clarkson CD, the grand prize winner will get a three DVD set of The Best and Worst of American Idol and, Dwag, a t shirt featuring the sayings of judge Randy Jackson. The grand prize goes to the person who made the most correct elimination picks (or through drawing if there is a tie).


Last year, we had such a great time at the final broadcast party that we wanted to extend the fun by adding some fabulous prizes. So come to the party for games, refreshments (junk food of course) and a chance to win one of two 2MB iPod Shuffles that clip on to your lapel in American Idol blue. Other door prizes include the best and worst DVD set mentioned above, the American Idol DVD karaoke game, Kelly Clarkson's new CD, and a Randy T.

Visit the AV desk on the first floor of the library for more information. Party space is limited, so sign up soon.

American Idol: The Last Group of 12

Tonight the last of the top 36 American Idol performers competed to determine which 3 the audience vote will send through to the final 12. Although I think that the women are generally stronger than the men in this competition, tonight I thought the men were better. No one really blew me away. They are listed in worst to best order.

12 Taylor Vaifanua sang Alicia Keys' "If I Got You". Off-pitch, forgettable, boring. The judges agreed.

11 Arianna Afsar sang "The Winner Takes All" by Abba (a lot of a's there), a horrible song choice. The judges though she was dreary. She has a big voice but I thought she lacked vocal control. All in all, a bad performance.

10 Alex Wagner-Trugman sang one of my favorite songs, "I Guess That's Why They Call it the Blues" by Elton John. I secretly love his dorky charm and enjoyed his performance, as did the judges. But I have to admit that he was amateurish and unpolished compared to the other performers.

9 Nathaniel Marshall sang "I Would Do Anything for Love". He isn't a bad singer, but he is ruined by his crazy image. He'll never make it as a performer without a complete make-over, and maybe not even then.

8 Von Smith sang "All You Need to Get By" by Marvin Gaye. The judges thought it was his best performance so far. I liked his energy, but thought he was shouty. He also makes annoying facial expressions.

7 Felicia Barton sang "No One" by Alicia Keys. She was eliminated from the final 36, rated #37, but brought back when another contestant was disqualified. I though her performance was annoying and self indulgent. The judges loved her. I don't think she has a chance of coming back.

6 Kendall Beard, a country singer, sang "This One's for the Girls" by Martina McBride. To me she sounded shrill, and the judges were not impressed with her vocals. But she is pretty and seems likable.

5 Jorge Nunez sang "Don't Let the Sun Go Down on Me" by Elton John. The judges loved him. I thought he was smarmy and tries too hard. I am going out on a limb to say that he won't be voted in. However, he is handsome with big brown puppy dog eyes. I don't want to underestimate his audience appeal.

4 Ju'not Joyner sang "Hey There,Delilah" by Plain White Ts, a pretty song. I loved him. He was sweet, soulful, and restrained. I predict that he will not win the audience vote, but I really hope that he will be a wild card.

3 Kristen McNamara sang "Give Me One Reason" by Tracy Chapman. She gave a strong, bluesy performance. The judges liked her, but did not like her song choice. I thought it was a good song for her. She does have image problems, though and badly needs a stylist. I would like to see how she develops as a performer.

2 Scott McIntyre sang "Mandolin Rain" by Bruce Hornsby. He has a sweet voice and has depth to his singing. The judges loved his passion. His being blind will not work against him.

1 Lil Rounds sang "Be Without You" by Mary K. Blige to the great praise of the judges. She is a strong authoritative singer, but, to me, not unique; just another R&B performer. But she was the best girl singer tonight.

Good Job American Idol Audience

Very pleased. They picked the right winners: Allison Iraheta, Kris Allen, and inevitably, Adam Lambert. Adam is a wildly talented singer, but his image is too slick (see photo above). I hope the AI stylists will help him. I'm in love with Kris Allen, think he's great, but he doesn't have a chance of winning AI. Since the 3rd choices have been men so far, I'm beginning to think that the judges will pick women as wild cards. From this group it will probably be Megan Joy Corkrey.

Even though I usually prefer the men singers, in this season I think the women are stronger.

American Idol: Second Group of 12 Ratings

These rankings are a compromise between who I really liked and who I think the audience will pick. They are in order of worst to best. All in all, I thought this week's batch was worse than last week's.

1 Jeanine Vailes sang This Love by Maroon 5 horribly. She was off-key, unpolished, and unconvincing. The judges hated her. This was an easy pick for worst.

2 Matt Giraud sang Viva La Vida by Coldplay. The judges liked him slightly more than I did. I thought he sounded whiny, and his movements were jerky. I also hate this song.

3 Kai Kalama sang What Becomes of the Broken Hearted by Jimmy Ruffin, a poor song choice in that it sounded dated. He has a weak voice and horrible facial expressions. His tempo sounded off as did his phrasing. The judges thought he was ordinary.

4 Jasmine Murray sang Love Song by Jasmine Bareilles. I liked her better than the judges did. She seems like a good, basic r&b performer. The judges thought she was off pitch and too young for the competition.

5 Matt Breitzke, the welder, sang If You Could Only See by Tonic. Totally mediocre and forgettable.

6 Jesse Langseth sang Bette Davis Eyes by Kim Cairns. This was one of my favorites. I love her voice, but she doesn't have a chance. The judges thought she was forgettable.

7 Mishavonna Henson sang Drops of Jupiter by Train very nicely. I liked her a lot, too. She was very self-assured for an 18 year old. But her performance left the judges cold. They thought she was too serious, and that is probably the kiss of death for the audience vote.

8 Nick Mitchell the comedian sang And I am Telling You. This was a very entertaining performance, and he has a great voice. I would love to see how he develops as a performer. All the judges but Simon were entertained by him, but none thinks he will go on.

9 Kris Allen sang Man in the Mirror by Michael Jackson in a polished, confident manner. His cuteness might get him through.

10 Megan Joy Corkrey sang Put Your Records On by Corinne Bailey Rae. The judges love her and think that she's saleable. I thought her voice was weak. She is also amazingly beautiful and will probably be put through.

11 Allison Iraheta sang Alone by Heart in strong rocker fashion. The judges loved her. She is a wonderful singer but an awkward personality.

12 Adam Lambert sang Satisfaction by The Rolling Stones, also in strong rocker fashion. He is a sure winner, but thinks a little too much of himself. The judges thought well of him too.

Ryan Seacrest finally explained the judging set up. The boy and girl with the most votes will go though. The next biggest vote getter, of either sex, will also go though. Later the judges will pick three wild cards to make up the 12 finalists.

I Got it Right - Almost

Alexis Grace and Danny Gokey made it into the top 12. In my opinion these were far and away the best performances of the night. To my surprise, Michael Sarver also made it. He is one of the dullest AI performers I have ever seen, but maybe he has in -person charisma based on the judges favorable reaction to him. I am not sorry that my number 3 pick, Jackie Tone got sent home.

I must have the rules wrong though. It looks like the audience voted for the top three performers. The judges must have a wild card pick coming from each group to round out the final 12. I predict that their wild card from this group will be Anoop Desai. Do you agree, disagree? Comment and let me know.

American Idol Top 36: Rating the First 12 Performances

In this year's American Idol format, the finalists have been narrowed down to 36. They will compete in 3 groups of 12. Each group will have one girl and one boy winner selected by audience vote and one wild card winner selected by the 4 judges. Last night the first group of 12 sang for their place in the final competition of American Idol, Season 8. Since I have authorial rights in this blog, I figured that I could rate them. Tah Dah! Here are my rankings of the contest among the first 12, listed from worst to best:

12 Casey Carlson sang "Every Little Thing She Does is Magic" by the Police. Eww! It was horrible. Her movements were jerky, she looked like a Barbie doll and sang like Barbie would if she could sing.

11 Stevie Wright sang "You Belong to Me" by Taylor Swift. More likable than Casey Carlson, she was awkward and had no vocal control.

10 Roughneck Michael Sarver sang "I Don't Wanna Be" by Gavin DeGraw. Good voice, colorless performance. The judges liked him a lot more than I did. He could be a wild card.

9 Rick Braddy sang A Song For You by Leon Russell. I thought his performance was forced, puling, and insincere. The judges liked him.

8 Afro topped Stephen Fowler sang "Rock With You" by Michael Jackson. I really wanted to like him, but agreed with the judges that it was a mediocre performance and a poor song choice.

7 Brent Keith sang "Hicktown" by Jason Aldean. An OK country performance, not my favorite genre.

6 Anne Marie Boskovitch sang "Natural Woman" by Aretha Franklin, a bold song choice. The judges didn't like her, but I did.

5 Likable Anoop Desai sang "Angel of Mine" by Monica. Both the judges and I wanted to like him more, but it was a solid R & B performance, if not stellar.

4 Drama queen Tatiana Del Toro sang "Saving All My Love for You" by Whitney Houston. This contestant could not have been more obnoxious during the previous phase of the competition. But what a great voice. A solid performance too.

3 Jackie Tohn sang "A Little Less Conversation" by Elvis Presley, and she channeled the King. Impressive and entertaining performance, but this girl has a little too much personality. See drama queen above.

2 Alexis Grace sang "Never Loved A Man" by Aretha Franklin. Stellar!

1 Danny Gokey sang "Hero" by Mariah Carey superbly. Toss up between him and Alexis. The judges liked him better.

Well, did I get it right? What do you think? Let me know in the comments.