More AI

Sorry Colin, it’s still American Idol and not Artificial Intelligence. 😀

I’ve tried to match up the male and female singers according to my assessment of them:

• Gedeon & Ayla. Both are really good, solid singers, but something about them doesn’t smell like “winner”. But clearly very talented. They aren’t the frontrunners, that’s for sure. Could be earlier-than-deserved boots.

• Chris & Mandisa. Niche favorites gaining wider appeal as time goes on. Could be contenders. Haven’t had a single bad night yet. There is a sense they both have something in their back pockets that they are waiting to pull out.

• Kevin & Lisa. Precocious young people singing very well about things that feel too old for them that they clearly don’t really feel. Young it up, kids. Try to connect. Also don’t feel like winners, but will finish solidly in the middle of the pack.

• Bucky & Melissa. They both have husky, whiskey voices and sing interesting songs and seem to know their range pretty well. Haven’t had perfect, blow-me-away performances, but haven’t had crappy ones either. Not the obvious ones to go, but could be. Bucky is a dark horse to gain a lot of mometum and get to contender status, from what I hear. Melissa probably is not.

• Will & Kinnik. Will is competing for the same fan demographic as Kevin (actually, maybe not) and Kinnik is just as good as Kellie or Melissa, but neither of them have really wowed the pants off anyone and don’t have the intangible thing that will take them to the next round. Their performances have been noticeably shaky. I am not sure who has more fans, Will or Kevin, but Kevin’s spanking will prob bring in more defensive votes.

• Taylor & Paris. Lots of promise and early excitement, but no delivery for me. What they’ve been doing in the semis have really left me cold, even though I wanted to squeal over them. They are also contenders and no doubt will be in the finals.

• Elliot & Katharine. Solid vocals, amazing control, really know the nooks and crannies of their own voices and how to make the best of them. Pick great songs most of the time, with some faltering. Will definitely be in the finals.

• Ace & Kellie. Not the best singers. Ace is a better performer than Kellie, but still not great. Getting by on great looks and perceived personality as a “whole package” but clearly would not be where they were if they looked more average. I admit this is a part of AI, but still. So far, I’ve really liked only one of the combined performances for these two (Father Figure).

In the end, the only people really in it are Chris, Mandisa, Elliot, Katharine, Taylor, and Paris. My bet is either Elliot or Katharine win. Chris is fated to be my AI version of Rock Star: INXS’s Marty: 90s alterna-rock singing cutie who won’t win. Boo. His voice reminds me of a cross between Eddie Vedder and the guy from Live.

Inconsequential AI stuff

So feel free to skip this entry if you aren’t into AI! 😀

This week, I am all about the clichéd “song choice” criticism.

Katharine: I liked her for the first time this week and she didn’t make me grind my teeth with her chipper bordering-on-fake dorky self. Could be because I love Aretha Franklin so much and she didn’t just stand there trying to look all cutesy while singing. I felt like I saw for the first time the singer that she could be, able to engage the audience and really make them feel it. Her voice and control is undeniable, so she only needed to show she can engage.

Mandisa: Love her. She’s got more performance sense than anyone else on the show. Regardless of personal tastes, the very best kind of song to choose for this show is something that 1) is at least vaguely familiar to the audience; 2) has one slower part with one upbeat part so the song doesn’t feel monotonous; 3) has an line or two that you can really blow the pipes on; 4) makes people want to get up and clap or dance. Mandisa is either really smart or just naturally likes this type of music, so maybe I shouldn’t give her too much credit, but when it works for you, it does. And she’s sung such a variety of music that it’s hard to say what type of music is her type. So I tend to think she’s smart.

Ayla: I think she’s really great, but she’ll never get close to touching the winner’s circle if she doesn’t pick a song like I described above (she hit 2 out of 4, but it’s important to hit all points, I think) and if she doesn’t find a style that suits her and makes her feel comfortable. I wish she’d take off all that makeup and put away the tall shoes and come out in a kick-ass pair of jeans and stomping boots and sing something less… pretty and performance-y. Something… gritty, yet soulful & beautiful. I am not sure what. I really like her and think that she, above everyone else, has the ability to surprise me with how much she could evolve. But right now, she’s all great voice and nothing else. She doesn’t have the ability to bring people to their feet, to really pull them into the music like it’s breaking your heart, right now, right on the stage.

Paris: Why are she such an old lady? And if she is gonna be such an old lady, can she please go back to the type of old lady that loves Billie Holiday? Please? Because her audition songs were so awesome. Her voice sounds like a saxophone. Make use of it. Man, could you imagine a Paris & Elliot jazzy duet? Yum. But seriously, she’s got mad talent, so why is she boring me to death?

Melissa: This isn’t about song choice. I think she isn’t going to win, but I think she’ll be eliminated too early. Like this week. I think her voice is great and the tone is interesting and pleasing to listen to. I think she even chose a great song. But I don’t see her potentially making the leap like Ayla could later in the competition. I do think she’s right about getting shafted for screen time, but she won’t make it past top 10 at best. Also: stop dressing like a college girl on Spring Break. It makes your unique voice seem generic as a whole package, which sucks. Don’t cheapen your talent.

Lisa: Wonderful. Also, snoozy. Too old, like Paris, except Lisa is more confident, middle-aged woman who has finally really found herself rather than old lady with old lady tastes. I have no idea what would suit her. She really is great but so Star Search. Who would go to her concerts? I have no idea.

Kellie: I can’t stand her singing. She doesn’t change up the dynamics during the song, so it’s all at the same volume, same intensity all throughout, and it bores me. Her voice is decent, but probably near the bottom of the current group. The thing that is supposed to make me love her is her personality, but if she were someone I knew in person, I’d leave the room as soon as she opened her mouth. So utterly annoying. And it’s NOT because of the country aspect of things. It’s just that she seems to fake with her “I am so adorable but I don’t know it” schtick and it makes me gag. It’s like all her life, people had told her how cute she is and she noticed that they like it better when she pretends she doesn’t know, so she’s always pretending. Strange, because her male counterpart, Bucky, no longer has my intense disdain, which is why I don’t think it’s the country aspect of things. He’s managed to grow on me, not enough to root for, but enough not to glaze over when he’s on screen.

Kinnik: Sorry to say good bye, Ms. Producer Designated Cannon Fodder. It’s a shame because you are pretty good but things never seem to fall together for you. She reminds me of the older blonde woman (not Suzie) from Rock Star: INXS who made it pretty far into the competition, in that she’s reasonably skilled and good at both the singing and performance aspects, but you listen to them and you never think of gasping at how great they are. Or remember what they did 10 minutes later.

I guess that’s all of them. My guess is Kinnik and Melissa will go home but I wish it was Kinnik and Kellie, who is FAR less talented than Melissa (also designated cannon fodder). I agree with Becky about Lisa. She stirs up admiration but there is no soul in her singing, which makes it feel like that Sharon Apple or whatever singing robot it was in Macross Plus. Or maybe it was not Macross Plus. She’s an empty, hollow, great-sounding recording for me. The person at risk of a shock boot would be Ayla. I hope not.

Anchorwoman

So the person who did my makeup consultation sent me the “before & after” pic today, so I passed it around to Uyen, Lindsi, my sister, and my mom.

The concensus seems to be:

• Skin looks really great
• Blush looks great, but actually too subtle
• Lip color is nice
• Lashes look great (my sis said it should be fuller)
• Eye makeup is just not right for me
• General look is too “old”

It feels like the eye makeup makes me look like an Asian woman trying to look like a white woman. I simply have no eye crease, but the makeup artist tried to make the appearance of one, and in my opinion, that’s not the best way to deal with the situation. I don’t want to pretend like I have a crease where I don’t. Ok, so I want to pretend to have mega lashes even though I only have puny ones. Heh. Even though I think she’s a fantastic makeup artist and really delivered on the natural looking coverage that stayed on for hours (literally 6 hours, with no smudging or smearing or caking), I think I might forfeit my deposit and try to find someone else.

Frankly, I want to look like a Korean pop star, not like Connie Chung, which is who Seppo said my makeup reminded him of, effectively sealing the deal. Heh.

kimchihead

Way back when, in April of 1997, in my second blog-like entry ever, I “blogged” about a guy whose website was called The Twisted Kimchihead. A few weeks ago, I started subscribing to a blog linked by some other site. I think it had to do with activism or food. He covers both, so I’m not sure which reason I subscribed. Anyway, I just read an entry from his feed and realized that his blog is called The Kimchihead and that he is in fact the same Twisted Kimchihead that I “met” 9 years ago.

Weird.