English: Mariah Carey performing live in Las Vegas (Photo credit: Wikipedia)
OK. So I threw this out there two minutes before Ryan Seacrest read the results of the votes. Why? I don’t know. I’m not really a fan of American Idol. I never really cared for the concept, from the get go. Too much Pop, too much of what they – laughingly – call “R & B”, too much Country, and not enough Rock, for my tastes. I rarely miss the show though, because it’s one of those spousal participation deals. My wife loves the show. She needs to have someone as a kind of a sounding board. That’s me.
Don’t get me wrong though. I have to give the producers a lot of credit, for the set up of the show. The huge cattle-call auditions in various cities around the country, showing a decent mix of young people with legitimate potential, and those quirky, deluded oddballs who have no business opening their mouths – let alone sing – makes for compelling television. Those first few weeks is their hook. (Even my son will watch – parts of the first few weeks – for the people who either totally suck, or are there for their 60 seconds of fame/infamy. And he call the show the musical holocaust!) They throw in some heart warming stories to endear certain contestants to the viewers. They play up some early favorites and point out the difficult divas, all to build up the notion of: We gotta vote for our guy/girl! . . . and hope that the other guys don’t get enough votes. I know they’ve generated tons of revenue for AT&T, Ford and Coca Cola!
The other thing they DID well was the judging system. I say did because this year the judging was unwatchable. Initially, they had the three judges, and it was largely a good cop/bad cop set up between Simon Cowell and Paula Abdul. Paula went out of her way to be nice to anyone who was even borderline talented, and Simon was brutally honest, to the point where he he’d infuriate a large portion of the live audience. I always found his honesty to be refreshing. Randy Jackson usually played the joker. After a number of seasons Paula left, then came back, then left again, and Simon eventually grew tired of the show and left. There were some decent replacement judges over the last few years, but it’s never really been quite the same since Simon left. J-Lo and Steven Tyler were entertaining as judges, and Randy even attempted to play the heavy at times, but I thought the show lacked legitimate criticism. Now, I long for those days.
This year they went with four judges, and the show lost its focus. I don’t know if it was all honest, or at least partially contrived, but the “feud” between Mariah Carey and Nicki Minaj was not even remotely entertaining to me. Not in the least. And, four judges is just too many. It seemed like two thirds of the show was the judges, and only one third was performance. That might have been okay had the critiquing actually been honest criticism, but it was generally over the top fawning over mostly mediocre singing. I thought all the guys basically stunk, and only a few of the girls could sing. Not surprising that the two I liked best – from day one – made it to the finals. There were a few times where Nicki would buck the nice-nice trend, and tell people their performances were weak, but that seemed to be more early on. Keith Urban was too much the pretty boy, loving the limelight, and telling everybody how special they were. Randy went back and forth from his usual Yo Dogs and She’s innit to winnit! to the occasional I wasn’t feelin’ it and It wasn’t your strongest performance. And for me, Mariah Carey was pretty much unwatchable, as a judge. She’s beautiful and a talented singer, and all, though not my style. But as a judge, there was way too much faint praise, the occasional gutter-sniping . . . retribution(?), and she just seemed to go on forever . . . and ever. Later on you realized that the main reason Mariah and Keith were there was to promote their latest CD/tour. Maybe Steven and J-Lo did the same thing, but they were a little more subtle about it . . . and they were just better judges.
Bottom line, there really were only two strong contenders, pretty much from day one. I liked them both, but grew a little cool to Kree when I thought she disrespected Harry Connick Jr. I thought Randy disrespected him too, but I think Randy was kind of trying to defend Mariah by arguing with Harry over his comments on just singing simply and not always doing runs. Then, you had a handful of pretenders, who showed occasional flashes of talent. The rest of them likely wouldn’t have made it through auditions . . . had Simon still been on the show.
Congrats to Candice Glover, though! She is a true talent, and deserved to win!
— YUR
Portrait of a Patriot – John McCain
Published August 26, 2018 Commentary , Current Events , News 7 CommentsTags: John McCain
The stabilizing voice of American politics – in the age of extreme partisanship – has suddenly fallen silent. We all knew that it was coming . . . but not sooner than later. He informed the world that he was stopping medical treatment for his brain cancer on Friday. And, shockingly, he died on Saturday.
As the flaming lifelong Liberal that I am, I disagreed with Senator McCain on a great many issues. Most notably on Defense spending, and the War in Iraq, and the broader “War on Terror”. But, I truly admired how he reached across the aisle, to get things done. Clearly, he was an old school conservative, but he wasn’t all about the money, as are far too many in politics these days. The McCain-Feingold Act was a game changer in campaign finance reform, at least until the Citizens United decision came down in 2010. He had the nerve and resolve to speak out against torture and “enhanced interrogation”. He called waterboarding what it is . . . torture. He thought we should close Guantanamo Bay, and transfer the prisoners to Fort Leavenworth to expedite their legal proceedings. He stood up to the religious right and called them “agents of intolerance”, and denounced their tactics as “division and slander”. He stood up to President Trump on more than one occasion, most notably against a bill to repeal the Affordable Care Act . . . without a replacement.
He did things, and voted, based on his conscience, and the belief that America should always set an example for the world. He didn’t care if that meant rankling those in his own party. He cared about his fellow Americans, and how the world perceives the United States of America. He believed in that “shining city on the hill”, and that the US should always be a beacon unto the world. As corny as it might sound, he had the old school values of the words to the intro of the old television show “Superman”: “Truth, Justice, and the American way!”
He often demonstrated that he had a fiery temper, but that just showed that he was a man of great passion. He also had a great sense of humor, and he often used it to make fun of himself. He refused to take the low road while campaigning, and was deferential and gracious in defeat. Those traits made him more human than most politicians. He was honest, and honorable, and noble. He loved his country, and devoted his life in service of it.
Proud: son, Navy pilot, husband, father, and dedicated public servant. He was all those things and more. He was a true lion of the Senate, and he will be remembered as a legend of the legislature. Our country is richer for having had his dedication to public service, but we’re now a little poorer for his passing. He may have graduated near the bottom of his class at Annapolis, but he reached the pinnacle of respect among his peers and countrymen.
God speed, John McCain.
— YUR