I'm the party star, I've got my own car

[jlh]

So I'm definitely missing Nigel on this show right now, because he knew how to choreograph an elimination, and this year they've all been just sort of weird. And why was Ryan trying to talk to the bottom three before going to break and after Lady Gaga? Like, seriously, what the hell?

• The only thing I liked about the Ford music video was Kris's bizarre rapping—or was that lipsynching? I don't know, because Matt sounded like he was rapping? Anyway, the visual effects were badly done.
  
• However, the group sing of "Don't Stop Believing" was awesome, especially Scott on the keyboards. My memory of that song is singing it at junior high music festivals, so the whole piano part at the beginning is key.
  
• Cook was awesome, but the awesomest part was when he said, "Not as much as I love you" straight-faced, in an almost-but-not-quite sarcastic tone. I feel like that was his entire pose on Idol: taking it seriously, but at the same time not. Which served him very well indeed. Go platinum! (But lose that straight-from-1985 chain pin on your jacket, dude; you're not in the New Power Generation.)
  
• Lady Gaga was also awesome, but she usually is. I'm impressed that she was not only live on the show, but also singing live and dancing; go her. I also liked her outfit, her vogueing dancers that were in some time warp from the Blonde Ambition tour, and her zipper eyepiece that ali_wildgoose thought made her look like she was in the Borg. Oh, and also the lucite piano full of bubbles.

Okay, the elimination: I'm not sure why we had all that song and dance about three groups on the stage, when they ultimately didn't mean anything. I'm sad but not surprised that Allison was in the bottom three; despite her great performances she doesn't have a fan base and relies on people talking her up to get her across. This sucks, and has a lot to do with the usual ways that fangirls don't like girls, which is tiresome but I'm not going to get into that here. I'm going to vote for her like it's my mission from here on out, though, because I just don't think it should be all about the hot boys all the damn time.

I'm not surprised that Anoop was in the bottom, either, nor poor Megan, as I was back and forth all day about which of them would go. I had thought Anoop at first but changed my vote in my poll to Megan because I think Anoop has more of a fan base, and VFTW isn't the force it used to be.

Now, about the whole "we're not going to save you" thing. Obviously the person they would save was Allison, and frankly they should have, because it was their damn fault she was in the bottom three in the first place. And Simon had said something similar the night Alexis went home, implying that they wouldn't have saved Sarver. So what I want to know is, why the hell did they have a whole crazy debate about Michael last week, when they hated him and we all knew they wouldn't save him? Clearly since they went over time the producers were like, right, don't do that again.

While it's hard for Simon to be actually nice on cue in situations like that, because he finds straight-forwardness to be kinder in the end, I think he was trying, and when he told her to enjoy her moment, he meant it. And she knew, anyway, and got to have a nice goodbye. I'll just be glad to have the Megan-hate removed from the conversation; I hope it doesn't resettle on Lil or Allison now that Megan is gone.

Next week is songs from the year they were born. This is often a fun week, so my fingers are crossed. It's mostly mid-80s, with Adam and Danny early and Allison being this '92 outlier. Maybe Allison will sing Nirvana or Soundgarden or something.

Comments

[jenncho.livejournal.com]

I want Allison to sing "Blowing Kisses In The Wind" because it would be hysterical. She'll probably end up doing something like Under the Bridge though.

[jlh.livejournal.com]

God, "Blowing Kisses in the Wind" is a GREAT SONG. Also I don't think anyone has sung a Paula song on this show, have they?

But yeah, she'll probably sing some grungy song.

[jenncho.livejournal.com]

The comments alone that BKITW would inspire makes me happy. But I think she could probably really pull it off.

I think it would be less predictable.

Also: 10 fake dollars on Adam singing Tainted Love

[jlh.livejournal.com]

No bet, but I wouldn't wonder that he would decide that's too predictable. I'd love it if he broke out the Judas Priest or something because that would be hilarious on a lot of levels, but I don't think he'd go that far, and I don't think he wants to be that kind of artist despite his ability to hit those notes.

[lillijulianne.livejournal.com]

it does annoy me if allison isn't doing well because she's not a hot boy. she's better than scott or danny, who are not hot boys either, but they're getting the old-folks votes, so yeah, i can see where blame lies with fangirls.

i feel that my conscience is clear on fangirl failings in that i love girl contestants, and i have seen spats elsewhere on the net about hating megan because she's beautiful and i tire of that shit too, it's a kind of inverse sexism. frankly i think my katharine fandom exculpates me permanently on all that. i remember having a big annoying argument with some guy on a board who insisted the only reason one wouldn't like caldwell was envy and the only reason one would prefer k-locke over her was fat-chick solidarity against conventionally hot chicks. i pointed out that a) he must be deaf b) my favorite female, and favorite contestant, had originally been julia, and if he didn't think julia qualified as conventionally hot he must be blind. then there are the race issues- what about those of us who voted for tamyra or latoya? they were thin and beautiful, doesn't that count? and more importantly, how many african-american female semifinalists have there been who were thin and beautiful but NOT great singers? how many white? hmmm.

so anyway, for me after the very early stages megan never sang well, period. last year i said of kristy lee that i feared she was going to be the pickler, the haley and the sanjaya all rolled into one, and megan was like all four of them, with more sanjaya. the vftw thing still annoys me, which is part of it.

[jlh.livejournal.com]

Danny's also getting the country and regular-guy votes now that Sarver's gone. Scott's getting the boring people votes, which, whatever.

Megan had lots of reasons to be found annoying besides the hot girl jealousy, and yeah—when the hot girls are really good, like Kat was, people don't get too mad. I don't think anyone begrudged Kat staying as long as she did, except when Daughtry was voted off, and we all know that was a weird fluke. Kelly also wore a lot of belly shirts—she's not Britney, but she's not Kim either.

That said, the level of Megan hostility in some areas was a bit much, and that combined with the large number of boys, the Adam hysteria, and the ignoring of Allison, worries me a little for this season. There's a lot of Danny hate out there, too, from the young folks, but I can't imagine he's going anyplace until at least top 3.

God, I just read some fic where Adam helps Ryan realize he should come out and I literally do not know what to do with that. It's a good if weirdly melancholy Ryan—I'm not sure why people write him with so little agency.

[lillijulianne.livejournal.com]

oh, i always liked her cake stuff and i liked that story! yes, it's a very passive ryan, but it worked within what she was doing. it wouldn't work in your long-running stuff, where the meticulous way he's choreographed his life is almost a character in itself...

also, there is a deeply discomfiting way in which SCOTT reminds me of the haley types. he is a similarly pleasant, inoffensive, outclassed singer being paid a certain kind of...tribute. blows my mind.

[jlh.livejournal.com]

I don't want the fact that not many other people write Ryan or Simon to make me grouchy about how they do in some possessive way, rather than being supportive when they do, but perhaps it's more the OTP impulse. I did like the story, I just don't know how to comment on it. That said, there were plenty of comments so I probably needn't worry. And meanly, Adam being the gay fairy just made me irritable, if that makes sense.

Clearly I am a terrible self-centered person, and in that light, intrigued by: the meticulous way he's choreographed his life is almost a character in itself.

That's a very good characterization of Scott. He's pleasant and inoffensive, and hasn't yet run into a theme he can't find his way around to a certain extent. I fear the rock week will not go well for him. I'll be vaguely annoyed if he outlasts Matt, though at this point in the competition it doesn't matter all that much as they'll all be on the tour. I'll be quite put out if he outlasts Allison.