Procrastinating (Not really)

[lls_mutant]

48 words into my pinch hit for remix- whoohoo! (Actually, I know exactly where I'm going. And it's gonna be SO obvious it's me. But I don't care.)

Oh. My. God. I just got the most EVIL idea for Accidentally In Love ever. Whoa. Cool. (Actually, it's not that huge. But it's still pretty funny to me.)

Anyway. Toby is not in good graces, having overturned an entire bowl of tomato soup and not eaten anything for lunch. Ugh. I don't think he feels great, but I think it's teething related. He's been eating even worse than usual yesterday and today, and I've noticed he's cut three of his four molars, but not fully. Poor kid. Plus he's snuffly and yesterday, all he wanted was to be cuddled.

I watched American Idol last night. I've been lukewarm on this season because man- this is the most boring, vanilla batch of contestants they could have ever round up.

On the subject of Sanjaya... wow, I feel for the kid. He seems like a nice, mildly geeky, warped sense of humor 17 year old kid. He's not ready for this competition by any stretch of the imagination, but his voice isn't as bad as people make it out to be. Hell, he can still carry a tune far better than I can.

I have two theories on why he was put through to the final 24: either the producers/judges thought that he would go early, giving some of the more marketable contestants time to find their footing, or that he was put through as the "someone to laugh at." If you've ever seen American Dreamz, there's a great little speech Hugh Grant's character gives about the kinds of contenstants they need to make good TV. I don't remember all of it, but I do remember he said that America wants someone to look down on, someone to laugh at, and someone to masturbate over. Regardless, I think AI underestimated the tween vote or something, because whoever was voting for him in the beginning got him to the final 12. And for the record, it wasn't Vote for the Worse. VFTW championed Sundance and Antonella until they were kicked off. There is something bigger than VFTW keeping Sanjaya in the competition, and I think it's the tweens who sit in their rooms and vote as often as possible in the two hour time slot.

ANYWAY. The poor kid has been made into a national joke. I can't help but think he's now going along with it. (It would explain the ponyhawk.) And I'm getting to the point I can't help but cheer for him every time he tries to do something a little crazy, because if AI is really so upset by him, they never should have put him through to the top 24. Honestly, I can't believe out of the hundreds of thousands of people that auditioned, the 24 they picked were the total tops for talent, anyway.

But enough of that. The other thing that really gave me pause last night was Chris Richardson. After he sang (and then got critiqued), he put in an awkward but genuine sounding statement about praying for the people at VT, and mentioning he has friends there. I'm debating what I make of it, and my conclusion is bad timing.

On the one hand, Lord knows I can agree with his sentiment. But moreso, he's from Virginia, and VT is a state school. He's also 22. So I don't doubt the veracity of his statement. If it had come from ANY of the other contestants, I'd go with my other gut reaction. But I believe him.

However, to say it RIGHT after getting a bad critique from the judges just had a calculated element about it. I realize that there wasn't really a better time to say it. He isn't given a chance to speak before he starts singing, and he isn't really given a chance to speak before the judges say anything. He is in a position to say something important to him in a national venue, and I can't fault him for that. And it's not like he could have dedicated his song, or anything.

You know, as I think about it more, I think he handled it as well as he could. ::Sigh::



Okay. I'm having WAY too much fun with this pinch hit already. Way. too. much. fun. Hehehehehe. :)

Comments

[topaz-eyes.livejournal.com]

I don't watch AI, but I always manage to catch Sanjaya's performance somehow (don't know how I do it). He's being an incredibly good sport about all of this. I heard on the radio today, that a whole stadium (43,000+) booed him when his picture came up on the Jumbotron at a game in LA. I felt bad for him, being publicly humiliated like that. He doesn't deserve that.

The internet "vote for Sanjaya, vote against AI" movement is because of a perception of AI not promoting talent as much as "package." I agree, if AI is upset about the Sanjaya phenomenon, maybe they shouldn't have promoted him at the outset. But then they get the benefit of viewer ratings.

I'm most impressed by Sanjaya's remarkable maturity and poise in his position. Even Simon could take a page from Sanjaya's book. /soapbox

Now I can't wait to read your pinch hit. Why can't Sunday be here already?

[lls-mutant.livejournal.com]

You know, despite the Vote for the Worst, I don't think that's where Sanjaya is getting most of his votes. I think it's tweens. The 11- and 12- year old girls who find him non-threatening and very cute (in a sea of not-so-cute performers this year.) Those are also the ones that will sit there and vote for the entire two hours solid, whereas older people might vote a few times and then go do something else.