The theme is "Rat Pack" this week on American Idol. This is going to separate the men from the boys, vocally-speaking. It is very easy to do a bad karaoke version of a standard and it's very hard to do an original, great interpretation of an old overdone song.
Since Abby will be out of town and not live-blogging, and I'll be in Vegas so I can't do it, I will provide my predictions/advice:
Matt is going to love this theme. He's a piano bar guy and as a piano bar guy, I'm sure he has a couple Sinatra songs in his pocket. He's going to think he owns this one. He'll probably do a really popular song like My Way or New York, New York or Fly Me To The Moon. And I can pretty much guarantee it will be awful. But he'll be totally comfortable behind the piano and he'll make it look easy, so all the judges will love him, until it comes to Simon who will tell it like it is: a crappy karaoke-style piano-bar rendition. I predict he might even say "wedding singer".
Kris and Danny Gokey are in serious trouble this week. Neither one has a chance of doing a subtle interpretation of a great song. If Kris can do something slow and quiet, like maybe Try A Little Tenderness, he could maybe pull it off. But I see both of these guys doing stuff like Lady Is A Tramp or Everybody Loves Somebody and being terrible.
It will be very interesting to see what Allison does. I don't have much hope for her, either, but I think she has a slim chance at doing something very good. What I'd like to see her do is an Ella-style up-tempo song, like Devil In The Deep Blue Sea, though I don't think she really has the chops for it. She's probably better suited to a dark Billie Holiday-style number, like a What's New or a darker take on Someone to Watch Over Me.
Saving the (potential) best for last, I really think Adam has a chance for his big signature moment this week. If he can just calm down the histrionics and sing a song straight, he could easily kill on pretty much any song. He has a much better chance of singing a slow one straight (like his "Mad World"), so hopefully he won't go crazy with a That's Amore or something dumb like that. He should just do All The Way, completely straight, kill the high notes at the end, and win it all.
We'll see if any of them follows my advice, or destroys great songs like I expect...
(PS - Cole Porter and George Gershwin, I hope there's lots of spinning room in your coffins...)
Some tidbits about the red-hot Red Sox, winners of 10 in a row...
- This is the longest win streak for the Sox since June, 2006, which I remember well, because it happened just as I headed out on JoshTrek and listened to every game on my XM radio in the car as I headed across the country.
- The Sox went from 2-6 to 12-6 and there are now only 3 teams in baseball with better records (the best is only 1 game better at 14-6.) During the streak, the team is leading baseball in batting average, on base average, and slugging percentage. Which means we're scoring a ton of runs: 8 runs per game, also best in baseball.
- Mike Lowell (our #7 hitter, by the way) was named American League Player of the Week for last week. And have I mentioned how he's even a better human being than he is a baseball player? He has a 10-game hitting streak now.
- Jacoby Ellsbury stole home yesterday. And did you know he still hasn't made a single error? Ever. In his whole career.
- It was clear that our bullpen was going to be a strength this season, with new guys Saito and Ramirez added to Papelbon, Okajima, Masterson, Delcarmen and Lopez. Well, guess what? They have the best ERA in the majors, at 2.41. (Ramon Ramirez has thrown 11 innings so far and hasn't given up a run yet.)
- Kevin Youkilis is no longer just Greek God of Walks. Now he's god of hits and extra-base hits, too. He's leading the majors in batting, on base, and slugging. He's hitting .439, best April batting average in Sox history if he can keep it up for 3 more days. (Of course, the leader until this year has been Ted Williams, who hit .422 in 1957 (at age 38, no less.))
- Ortiz started slowly, but he's batting over .300 in a 6-game hit streak he's got going now.
Hey everybody, it's time for another 80's music quiz, care of your host Casey Kasem. I just listened to an old American Top 40, from April 19, 1986. (To get in the mood, the #1 movie at that time was Police Academy 3: Back In Training.) Here are quotes from Casey's intros -- you fill in the artist or song or album. The answers are in the comments...
At #38, they used to be a 5-man vocal group, but now they're four, singing "A Little Bit of Love", here's ____________.
Here's the 3rd Top-40 hit from the English band _____________. They've had "Smooth Operator", "______________", and now coming in at #37, "Never As Good As The First Time".
Now at #36 is a debut by the Texas trio ______________, the third single from their album Afterburner -- "Rough Boy".
Here's the biggest female artist of last year, ______________, debuting at #35 with "Live To Tell".
Here's the song that superstar Elton John took to #1 in five countries: West Germany, Holland, Belgium, Portugal, and Switzerland. Here in America it reached #7. Now falling from #17 to #32, it's "_____________".
At #29 is the follow-up to Mike and the Mechanics' Top-10 hit "Silent Running". Here's Mike and the Mechanics with "__________________".
Last week, the latest Top-40 hit from ______________ climbed from #30 to #24. This week, it holds at #24, here's "Overjoyed".
At #23 this week, here's the recent #1 song from Heart, "_____________".
_____________'s fourth Top-40 hit (and all four from the #1 LP in the nation, "_______________") is at #22 this week and moving up. It's "Greatest Love Of All".
There are 12 acts from England in the countdown this week, including this one, ______________, from Liverpool. They move up 6 notches this week to #20 with "If You Leave" from the movie "______________".
Up 5 notches to #18, here are ___________________ with "Bad Boy". All four members were born in Cuba and they all grew up in Miami.
Billboard says the current hit by __________________, her 10th Top-40 outside of Fleetwood Mac, holds at #16 this week. Here's "I Can't Wait".
Here's the current hit by ________________, the fourth hit from his Grammy-winning album "_______________". He's had "One More Night", "Sussudio", "Don't Lose My Number" and up 5 notches this week to #14, "Take Me Home".
Up 2 notches to #13, from England, here's The Outfield and "______________".
In Rolling Stone magazine, critic Debbie Miller wrote "doo wop hip hop is what they call their sound -- a blend of sweet 50's harmony singing and 80's dance rhythms." With a sweet slow dance, here are _______________ at #10 for a second week, and "Tender Love".
Originally from Pasadena in southern California, here's _______________. They leap from #12 to #9 with "Why Can't This Be Love?"
The latest hit by __________________ stretches the span of time that they have been hitting the Top 40 to over 21 years. Phenomenal. From "Tell Me" in 1964 to #8 this week with "Harlem Shuffle". (FYI - only the Beach Boys had a longer span of Top 40 hits.)
After a week at #5, the Australian band _____________ drops a notch to #6. From their album "Listen Like Thieves", it's "_______________".
#5 is "West End Girls" by The Pet Shop Boys.
After 3 weeks at #1, this smash drops to #4. By ___________________, who makes his home in his hometown Vienna, Austria, it's "_________________".
Robert Palmer moves from #6 to #3 this week. He's been in the countdown 7 weeks with "________________".
Coming up are the two top songs in the land, both written by the same man, and he sings one of them.
Up a notch at #2, ________________, the four-woman band who critics say have taken the 60's pop sound and given it an 80's attitude. Their first hit is a smash, "_________________".
The songwriting (for that last song) is credited to someone named "Christopher", but that's just a play name for ____________, who also wrote the song that hits #1. The most popular song in the land is by him: "__________".
This was a tough one, I think. The answers are in the comments below. And remember, keep your feet on the ground and keep reaching for the stars!
Say what you will about her looks, you have to admit that Susan Boyle has great personal style.
...How successful Joan Rivers has been at turning herself into Kira the Gelfling from The Dark Crystal?
Here are some pictures from the golf tournament I went to yesterday. The golf course was at the top of the hills on the east side of San Francisco Bay. From certain holes, you could see all the way from San Francisco to San Jose. The on-course scenery was nice, too. Beautiful hilly course, cut into the natural terrain -- typical rock-strewn grassy California hills and the state flowers (California Poppies) are blooming...
