My Name is Kris and I Blah-g

The day after… We’re still recovering from American Idol overload as is a lot of the world. Having just learned that last night’s results reduced my 6 year old neice to tears, I have gone in search of happy stuff in honor of her. Hopefully her Dad will see these and let her watch. David Archuleta really does have a sly sense of humor – it’s so subtle but endearing. 

Thousands of Utahns are feeling the effects of PTSS tonight. I am not among them although I admit that I was a little nervous for our local-boy David Archuleta today. It’s kinda like when your team makes it to the super bowl and they get this close and they end up losing anyway. Last time I felt like this the Titans were playing the Rams in the super bowl and Dyson was within inches of scoring the winning touchdown – his hand outstretched for the goalline. It was heartbreaking. I am not as heartbroken tonight as I was then. The cinderella season for the Titans was purely magical and they were destined to go to the super bowl and win it. Frankly, they were robbed and the Rams are a bunch of whiney butts..but I digress. Tonight David Archuleta did not win the coveted title of American Idol and that’s ok because he got the exposure he needs to become a superstar and the rest is up to him. He has the freedom to persue his dream should he choose to and the great thing about it is that he’s young and he’s got time to cultivate his talent. He’ll be A-OK.My beef with the outcome tonight was the blatant back-peddling by Simon Cowell prior to the results being delivered. He had made the media circuit earlier in the week telling not only Oprah, but Leno and Ellen that he thought Cook should and will win. Then on D-Day he rightfully praised Archuleta for his outstanding performances and then criticized Cook for his. Tonight he said he went home and re-watched the show and apologized to Cook for being hard on him and how he didn’t deserve it. Frankly, I didn’t think Cowell was that hard on Cook. His criticism was fairly benign and justified. Cook didn’t deliver stellar performances last night and he knew it. What won it for him were his past performances and the undeniable voting stamina of the Cookie followers. Kudos for them because they put their guy on top – by A LOT. It’s do or die for Cook anyway because by many standards he not getting any younger. The time is now. But Cowell makes these predictions every year and every year he right on. He was either sensing an “upset” or he was in the know about the results ahead of time. He needed to save face because heaven forbid that Simon is ever wrong. He lost tons of respect from me tonight. I am usually a big Simon supporter. I agree with most of what he says. He’s obnoxious but he knows his stuff and he’s not afraid to say what he thinks. But tonight was about as self-serving as you can get and it was shameful. He would have done a lot better had he just sucked it up and accepted the fact that he created the David Cook monster anyway by heaping praise on the guy during the competition and building him up for the past month in the press. The outcome was exactly what he professed to have wanted and it’s apparently what the producers wanted as well. Goodie for them.On a whole, the finale was entertaining. I had a good time watching it. I loved seeing Cook perform with the Amish rockband ZZ Top. That was most excellent. I enjoyed the Guitar Hero commercials with Archuleta and Cook dancing in their underwear – most funny and bound to be replayed on YouTube by every girl in America. I thought the shameless plugs for the Love Guru and that Ben Stiller movie starring Jack Black and Robert Downey Jr as a black guy were hilarious. I’m disappointed that they had to get all PC and give the boys hybrids. They both deserved Mustangs. My advice for Archie - let the folks drive the Escape and get yourself a FUN CAR with your first $million and preferrably not a Ford because they pretty much suck. I suggest a chili pepper red Mini Cooper because they’re awesome. Tonight we saw way too much of David Hernandez. Frankly, I am glad he won’t be on the tour. I look forward to more of Chikeze and Michael Johns. I thought Amanda Overmyer was about to lose her crap by singing those cheesey songs and dancing those freaky dances. She was so out of her element and she looked like she was being tortured. What was up with Randy’s Kaptain Kangaroo jacket? That was some bad fashion there. Paula’s dress was pretty from the waist down. She was having some interesting issues up top. I’m sure Simon loved it. I could have done without seeing George Michael. I can’t get the image out of my head that he was probably hanging out in a park prior to show time. He really is sleazy and he looks terrible. He didn’t sound much better either. I wasn’t too stoked about Donna Summer because well, it’s Donna Summer but the girls got to sing with her which is kinda cool and I got to see Amanda sing disco which really probably made her rethink her last career as maybe one she may want to stick with. I mean, seriously? Amanda sing disco? Priceless. Carrie Underwood looked great. It was nice that she waxed prior to the show otherwise we could have had a scandal. Her song was kinda weird – not one of her best but she rocked it like the star that she is. We got to see last year’s Idol, Jordin Sparks. Not much to say there. She’s tall. Why is she wearing 5″ spiked heels? I noticed that Ryan didn’t dare stand next to her. The Jonas Brothers sang. Or did they?  Bryan Adams is still alive and some guy on a piano sang a song I don’t know with David Archuleta. The rest of the night was mostly commercials and seeing past idols. I missed seeing David Hasselhoff cry. That would have been fun seeing again. Anyway, the season is over and it’s time to get back to our Idol-free lives. Be sure to catch my countdown to next season to the right.

Talking about Mike and his death is awkward. I usually don’ t know how to bring it up without it sounding like I am looking for sympathy. I’m not. But I also need to talk about it. Frankly, it helps. Those who know me know what a nut I was when I was younger for famous people. I wouldn’t say I was as fanatic as some people but when I liked a famous singer or actor, I really liked them. One of my favorite topics of discussion as many of you who read this know is American Idol. I’ve been into it this year more than most other years (other than Season 4 which was fabulous) because we have a local boy who is in the competition. I admit that I get caught up in the excitement of it. Besides, he’s a cute kid with loads of talent. He’s a Cinderella story of sorts and it’s fun entertainment.Well, I frequent other blogs and watch the news stories and American Idol forums to see what other folks are saying. Today is what they are calling “D-DAY”. The finals are tonight and the David Archuleta fans are all in a twitter about whether or not their guy can pull it off. One moment they are totally freaking out and the next they are very confident. I feel like Sybil when I read their posts! It’s all in great fun, though.Well, get to the point, Kris. Right? I added fuel to the Idol worship fire this morning and posted “my story” on a very famous Idol blog. Now, my story is indeed true. Nothing in it is fabricated. But it’s caused a little bit of a stir. And now folks are asking if they can re-post my comments in other places. So, it may get out there. And perhaps people may start searching (or maybe the won’t – I dunno). But in case they do and end up here, please note that I welcome you to my little blog. It’s not much but it’s me. Thanks for stopping by.Here’s what I wrote:

I’ve been reluctant to post about this because (1) I am 36. I thought I got over all of this years ago and (2) It’s deeply personal. But I had to ask myself how and why DA has touched my life. I don’t know him personally and I will likely never meet him and that doesn’t matter. I live in his neck of the woods and it’s an exciting time to be here. He is HUGE in the Salt Lake City area if not the whole state of Utah (and beyond, of course). But what was it really that drew me to him? A little back story…American Idol has been a guilty pleasure for my family. When the season started we would sit down weekly as a family to watch. How often does that happen? Parents and children gathering together for several hours a week to comeserate over a silly talent show? But that we did. It was family time – all of us, the young and old had a say and we enjoyed every minute of it. In January of this year just before the start of the season, my husband of 10 years passed way unexpectedly. American Idol was HIS show. He would start counting down weeks ahead of the season opener. He would be so excited for it to start. In his honor, my 5 year old daughter (Michaela) and I decided that we’d carry on our tradition of watching the show. My mother and sister joined our weekly viewings and it’s been a bitter sweet season. There has been a lot of fun and laughter. But for me, personally it’s been a difficult pill to swallow. Mike would be loving this year. I wonder who would be his favorite. It’s hard for me to figure because Mike’s taste in music was broad. He was a walking encyclopedia of music. I LIVED for it. At his funeral I actually got a DJ from a local radio station to give his eulogy. We knew the DJ well and Mike was very fond of him. I told the DJ that short of Casey Kasem giving the eulogy he was the next best thing. Mike loved music. The only music that Mike was NOT fond of was opera. He really hated opera. I am not a huge fan either but I LOVE LOVE LOVE Phantom of the Opera and he knew that. He put up with me and my daughter singing the music even though he despised it. When Andrew Lloyd Webber night came I was pretty excited and I hoped that DA would sing something from Phantom, particularly “All I Ask of You” because it is my favorite song from the show – a beautiful love song. But DA didn’t sing it. Instead he chose a rather obscure song from the show. The song is obscure because it’s not what I call a BIG number although it is beautiful. It’s the song that introduces us to Christine’s voice but it’s nothing that spectacular and I never once listend to the words. When David sang it I was pleasantly surprised. He changed the arrangement and in my opinion made it relevant. It could be played on the radio today. It was that good. But again, I paid no attention to the words. By now I was pretty much a DA backer. I downloaded DA’s performances to my iPod. One afternoon while driving around I was listening to the music and “Think of Me” came on. I was alone and for the first time I heard the words.———————–Think of methink of me fondly, whenwe’ve said goodbyeremember meonce in a while, pleasepromise me you’ll tryWhen you find,that once again you longto take your heart back,and be freeif you ever find a moment,spare a thought for meWe never saidour love was evergreenor as unchanging as the sea…but if you can still remember,stop and think of meThink of all the thingswe’ve shared and seen,don’t think about the thingswhich might have beenThink of methink of me waking, silentand resigned…imagine me, trying too hard toput you from my mind…Recall those days,look back on all those times,think of the thingswe’ll never do…there will never be a day whenI won’t think of youWe never saidour love was evergreenor as unchanging as the sea…but please promise me,that sometimesyou will think of me—————————David’s voice was singing but those words were coming from my husband. The past 4.5 months haven’t been easy. When something like this happens you question everything – your faith, what you’ve done and if there was anything that you could have said or done to make things different. I don’t claim to have the answers now in light of DA’s performances. I wouldn’t even say that he’s “changed my life”. It’s a bit melodramatic, I think. But I will say that he’s touched me. His pure voice, his humility and genuine ability to be in touch with his spiritual side, especially at such a young age is inspiring. His rendition of “Think of Me” brought me comfort and for that I am thankful. Learn more about my hubby: http://www.myspace.com/michaelfluck

I haven’t seen this much manipulation since the liberals voted to make McCain the republican nominee! More and more is coming out about how the producers of American Idol are manipulating the show. This morning Dean Kaelin was on the local Fox channel talking about last night’s performances. He confirms that the arrangement that David had been practicing for “Longer” was indeed changed last minute by the producers. He also revealed that the Aerosmith song was a song that David Archuleta was going to sing and had picked and reserved for himself 2 weeks ago. But the producers told him he couldn’t sing it and then turned around and gave the song to David Cook. Reportedly, Syesha had wanted to use strings (violins) in one of her arrangements but was told no. Instead the strings showed up in Cook’s version of Don’t Want to Miss a Thing. Something stinketh at Idol! Check out the interview with Dean on Fox.com.So what is the motivation? The season began with David Archuleta getting so much good press. As time went on it seemed like nobody could overtake him. Where’s the excitement in that? Bring on David Cook. He’s certainly has talent. Past seasons have proven that the public likes a rocker. He auditioned on a whim and he’s got a brother with brain cancer. What’s not to love? I don’t want to make light of his abilities but it’s just kinda wierd how all of a sudden he could do no wrong. Ratings are sinking. What could be done to get people to tune in? Enter “Dadchuleta-gate”…rumors had already surfaced that Jeff Archuleta was a “stage-dad” so why not go along with it? It generates interest in the show. Bad publicity is at least publicity. Could the show be building up one contestant in order to let the other make a dramatic come-back for the win? It’s just a theory but it’s possible…

Stumbled upon some interesting stuff this morning as I perused the web in search of all things Idol. Hey, work is kinda slow – sue me! On Idaho Falls’ z103 FM, the Brad & Jeremy show, they spoke with Richard Parkinson who has been David Archuleta’s arranger and producer for the past couple of years. He spoke about how he (Richard) was frustrated in watching David’s performances last night. First, he said that he’s been in the audience there at the studios and that it’s so loud that you can’t hear the band. He indicated that David struggled through the Chris Brown song (2nd one) because he was trying to hear the accompaniment. He says that the show won’t allow the performers to wear sound monitors because it “doesn’t look good”. I’m sure that is pretty frustrating but the most damaging part was what he said later about the AI producers. Much ado has been made this past week about Jeff Archuleta, David’s father. Nigel Lythgoe (what’s his name from AI who is one of the main producers) was quoted yesterday in an article with Entertainment Weekly:

There have been reports that Jeff Archuleta was banished from backstage, but then David’s vocal coach gave a radio interview in which he said that wasn’t the case. What light can you shed on this?NIGEL LYTHGOE: “Banished” is a terrible word, isn’t it? It sounds like we’re in some far-off kingdom. He has been asked not to participate in the choice of music with David or be in the room when David is working out his routines that he wants to sing. He’s fine to be in the studio — nothing wrong with that. We just want David to be able to be free like everybody else to get on and do what they want to do.- Entertainment Weekly

So, they wanted to let David be free to what he wanted to do and what David wanted to do was to change up the Dan Fogelberg song “Longer” to a more uptempo hip hop version – hence, make it relevant, to use Simon’s terminology and not “predictable”. The producers told him to keep it a straight cover. This stinks! Take a listen to the interview below:[MEDIA=1]

Well, call me underwhelmed…again. Vocally, David Archuleta and Syesha were the strongest. But David Cook got the best criticism. Go figure. Cook’s vocals were all over the place tonight and again his songs featured a slow build up to him screaming the big note at the end. Is that Idol material? I don’t know. It’s the same from him every week. That could be said about Archuleta who can master any ballad. He sings a lot of slow songs which is true. But why not sing to his strengths? It is a competition after all and what sense would it make for him to sing something he’s not comfortable with? Then there is Syesha and for her it’s the same, too – it’s more about acting out the song rather than sing it. And frankly, she could SING it if she weren’t so caught up in herself and her choreography with a chair. What the?! It’s manipulative and obnoxious. She’s so out of there. And not a moment too soon. Putting her through to the finale would guarantee the title to any one of the Davids.So, let’s talk about the songs… And So It Goes actually turned out pretty good and the best performance of the night for David Archuleta. I wasn’t looking forward to this song because the Billy Joel version is so slow and drawn out, it’s almost painful to listen to which is sad because Billy Joel is usually great. But I was not a fan of this song. David A. chose to sing a portion of it acapella which was great because it really showcased him as a vocalist which compared to the other two contestants, he’s the best one. His other performances – Chris Brown’s With You was “fun” and he sounded pretty good. But it wasn’t what I’d thought it’d be based on the buzz that the song was getting on certain blogs and forums. So, in that sense it was a let down. Longer was pretty just as I thought it would be. Dan Fogelburg is great but I would have preferred to hear Leader of the Band instead. I’m not sure what the producers were smokin’ but their choices pretty much sucked all around.Syesha sang some Alecia Keys song which she was conveniently happy about. Ugh. Then she sang Fever and was more excited about dancing around a chair than singing the song. Call me crazy but that girl has an ego bigger than all the contestants combined. Her last song was another producer doozie. The song was from the movie “Happy Feet” and I can’t even remember the name of it – totally forgettable and so was her night. She’s heading home.David Cook sang First Time I Ever Saw Your Face or whatever and of course it was a stretegic choice by Simon to give him this song which of course he would change up to fit his style..he started off nice and slow and low and then of course you could hear the band build up and Cook start to growl the lyrics until he finally hits the last note with his mouth so wide you could see Jimmy Hoffa hiding behind his tonsils. His second song was some song I have never heard of. Just as it was starting to get going it was over. I was wondering what had just happened. Did he just make that up or something? It wasn’t good, dawg (gag). Cook’s final song (and producer’s choice) was Don’t Want to Miss a Thing (by Aerosmith). Wow. That one was a shocker. The song was pimped out with a bevy of violins that overplayed Cook’s vocals which were low then high and kinda sharp and then kinda flat. But it doesn’t matter what he sounded like because the drums started to beat, the guitars started to wail and Cook started to build up his trademark growl at the right time. Simon declared him an Idol Rock God and set him up to be the one to beat next week. So all assumptions of the past month or two were proved true and we’ll see a David vs. David finale.