Lee DeWyze Wins American Idol 2010 in an Upset

After an entire season of competition, it came down to 2 final contestants battling to become the 2010 American Idol. Both reside in the midwest.  Lee DeWyze from near Chicago and Crystal Bowersox from just outside Toledo. Crystal was the odds on favorite from day one. Lee grew week by week through the entire season. Lee was only “good” on the final night of competition, while Crystal was spectacular most every week and hit a high note on the finals night.

This year’s top 12 contestants teemed up for many solo, duet, and group songs. They were also joined on stage by past and present pop music superstars including Orianthi, Alice Cooper, Chris Allen, The BeeGees, Michael MacDonald, Christina Aguilera, Hall & Oates, Alanis Morrissette, Carrie Underwood, Brett Michaels, Chicago, General Larry Black, William Hung, Kelly Clarkson, Ruben Studdard, Fantasia Berino, Jennifer Hudson, Taylor Hicks, Janet Jackson, Joe Cocker, and numerous previous season runners-up.

Comedy breaks were used to roast Simon Cowell on his final night on American Idol. Dane Cook performed a “Simon’s Insults Song” and was cut short when a previous year’s disaster went on a rant and refused to relinquish the microphone.  Ricky Gervase added insults and Paula Abdul made an appearance.

It was announced that Lee DeWyze is the 2010 American Idol winner. He finished off the night by singing his soon to be released single “Beautiful Day”.

Crystal Bowersox Hometown Hero Week on American Idol

With only three contestants left in the 2010 American Idol competition, each singer got to sing two songs. The first was any song of their choice, and the second was a song chosen by the judges. The Idols went home for a Hometown Hero Welcome where they received a text message on their ATT cell phone telling them which song the judges picked for them to perform.

Casey James picked an unknown song, “O.K., It’s Alright with Me” and accompanied himself on acoustic guitar. The song was a safe and easy choice that displayed no vocal range at this point in the competition. The judges agreed that it was a poor song choice that was done well, but there was nothing he could have done with this unknown song to make it his own, because virtually no one had heard it before.

Crystal Bowersox selected “Come to My Window” while playing acoustic guitar and harmonica. The climax of the tune had her wailing in that bluesy voice we are so accustomed to. The judges agreed it was a good vocal and a good song choice, but did not blow them away.

Lee DeWyze chose “Simple Man” and stole the early part of the show by making an excellent song choice while playing acoustic guitar and giving an edgy vocal performance. The judges agreed that he connected with the song (and the audience) and was peaking at just the right time.

Randy Jackson and Cara DioGuardi chose John Mayer’s “Daughter” for Casey to sing. He showcased more of his electric guitar playing ability. The judges wanted him to display more of his artistic, sensitive, and vulnerable side. He just did alright.

Ellen Degeneres picked “Maybe I’m Amazed” for Crystal. She came out without an instrument and did a great job displaying her vocal range. Her voice displayed a tenderness and sweetness that we had not heard much of before. The judges agreed that she was “in it to win it”.

Simon Cowell had Lee sing “Hallelujah”. It was a great vocal and a stunning performance with acoustic guitar.

It is almost obvious that Crystal and Lee will be in the final next week. Casey just did not bring enough to the table to continue in the competition any longer. Crystal has been a strong performer since day one. She already knows who she is as an artist and has been perfecting her persona all year.  Lee has grown in leaps and bounds and has shown the most improvement all season long. The question is:  will Crystal become the next American Idol because she has been very good since the beginning, or will Lee become the next American Idol because he has the most momentum going into the final week, or will it be shocking when Casey becomes the next American Idol because he is a very good musician who is also very good-looking. The American voters will decide…

American Idol Results – Miley Cyrus/Billboard #1 Hits Week

Miley Cyrus mentored the American Idol Contestants, they gave their performances, and the people voted.  The bottom three included Tim Urban, Paige Miles, and Katie Stevens.  It was obvious that Tim and Paige would be in danger of being voted offf–they got the most criticism from the judges.  The surprise was Katie, as she was actually praised–I don’t know why.  She sang very well, but didn’t change a note of Fergie’s “Big Girls Don’t Cry” until the final verse and never attempted to make it her own.  That usually warrants bad comments from all of the judges–it didn’t happen.

After Miley Cyrus, Joe Jonas & Demi Lavato sang their new songs, the drama continued.  Katie was immediately returned to safety while Paige and Tim waited to see who would make the top ten tour and who would go home just one spot short of the summer tour.  It was announced that  Paige had received the fewest votes.  Judge Simon Cowell announced that although Paige could be saved by singing one more time.  The judges unanimously agreed that she had no chance, and was sent packing.

Next week, the theme will be R&B and Soul with Usher as mentor.

America’s Got Talent Tuesday 6/23/2009

Simon Cowell and friends are looking for talented people in America who have the potential to capture an audience for a one hour show in Las Vegas as the grand prize. Some contestants are serious, some are not. Some may not be able to fill a 5 minute show and some could go on for hours. The judges critique the contestants with help from a live audience. At the end of the season, the winner gets $1,000,000 and a contract to appear on the strip in Vegas.

The 2006 winner, Bianca Ryan, was the “11-year-old red head with the voice of a 40-year-old black woman” has fallen off the radar. Terry Fator, the ventriloquist winner from 2007, has parlayed his opportunity into a $100,000,000 five year contract at the Mirage Hotel and Casino. 2008 winner, Neal E Boyd, is an opera singer whose debut album is scheduled to be released this week.

Once again this year, the contestants are being judged by Piers Morgan, Sharon Osbourne, and David Hasselhoff.  During the performances, the judges can show their displeasure with the act by pressing a big red button that emits a buzzer and lights up a red “X”.  Three X’s and the guest is done.  Each judge then gives the person a bit of advice and they go home or move on to the upcoming next round in Las Vegas.

The new host is Nick Cannon. He was the lead actor in the movie “Drumline”. He is an accomplished actor, comedian, rapper, and TV personality.

If you want to have a chance to win, you need to have honed your act to become a better song and dance guy, family singing troupe, dance group, accordion player, singer, keyboardist, animal caller, freak show, comedian, yodeler, acrobat, bagpiper, or impressionist. If you want to gross out your audience, take your freakish body and insertions and make it entertaining.

The acts that are moving on include the Footwork Kings fast stepping dancers, Peter Peterkin the Obama impersonator, the Black Fire Percussion group, Annointed X beatbox percussionist, Unexpected Step Team dancers, Tony Hoard and Rockin’ Rory the Frisbee dog, Brad Byers the fishhook anchor guy, EriAm singing sisters, Urban Nation Hip Hop Choir, Draconic fire and whip act, David Johnson the comedy singer, Bruce & Simone aeriel acrobats, NYC Gay Men’s Choir, Parodys of Dance acrobatic dancers, and Voices of Glory young singers/harmonizers.

My favorite act was Peter Peterkin. He nailed his impersonation of our President, and he took it to the next level when he made the President do an impression of James Brown. He was unique, funny, and very entertaining. I hope to see him in the top 10.

Watch them all at NBC online. I’ll be watching them from the comfort of my couch on the big screen at the Munro House in Jonesville.

Adam Lambert on American Idol -9- The Final Performances

This is the last night of the season that decides who will be the newest American Idol. Kris Allen won the coin toss and elected to go second. It is almost always a good choice to go second in this competition. The second performer knows what it will take to beat the first performance. The final performance is almost always the most remembered.

Ryan Seacrest announced that each contestant would perform 3 songs–their favorite previously performed song from this season, a song chosen by Simon Fuller–the creator of American Idol, and the AI single co-written by American Idol judge Kara DioGuardi. The AI single is almost always sappy and geared toward a female voice.  With 2 guys left in the competition, it will be amusing to hear the Idol song for the first time.

Adam started with his favorite song–“Mad World”. He walked through the stage fog wearing a long trench coat, dressed completely in black, and was outstanding–the judges agreed, except Simon Cowell who thought it was too theatrical. There was no doubt that the vocals were right on. The performance was even more haunting than the first time he did it.

Kris chose “Ain’t no Sunshine” and accompanied himself on piano. He was outstanding and the judges agreed. He chose the right song and performed it flawlessly. I thought the competition was even after the first song, Simon gave round one to Kris.

Simon Fuller chose Sam Cooke’s “Change Is Gonna Come” for Adam. He came out in a silver suit and gave an emotional performance.  It was definitely a challenging song for Adam’s style, and he knocked it out! The female judges said it was his best performance and interpretation of the season.

Kris got Marvin Gaye’s “What’s Going On” and accompanied himself on guitar. The judges were not unanimous about his interpretation and performance. It was just good.

Adam did the best he could with the Idol song, “No Boundaries”. It is an awful song that we had to suffer through. I disregarded the performance completely.

Kris sang the same Idol song, “No Boundaries”. He did a better job, but it’s still horrible.

The judges had to compliment the song due to peer pressure. They disregarded the performances of the final song and hoped that the fans would base their votes on the quality of the entire season’s work. Adam Lambert has been a star since the beginning. Kris Allen has steadily improved to star quality. It could be a close one.

I’ve been sitting on the couch at the Munro House with an ice cold beverage in my red Coca-Cola judges glass, watching Glee, and trying to vote.  Ninety minutes of mostly busy signals. Only one vote logged so far.

American Idol Coca Cola Judge’s Glasses

Back in the 1970’s, I worked for Pepsi Cola for almost 5 years.  I was a route salesman back in the days when 16 ounce returnable bottles was the packaging of choice.  The pop itself was very inexpensive, but there was a  bottle deposit of 10 cents each that was added on.  Our annual big sale event offered eight 16 ounce bottles (1 gallon) of Pepsi products for 89 cents at retail.  We sold a lot of pop.

During this era, I moved 300-400 cases per day.  I had to lift it off the truck, wheel it into the store, and stock the shelf.  With 24 bottles in a case, the total weight was about 60 pounds per case.  We could get 5 cases on a hand cart, so that was 300 pounds per load that we had to handle twice.  300 cases times 60 pounds times 2 handlings equals 18 TONS per day.  Needless to say, I had forearms like Popeye!

At one point, the constant lifting gave me back troubles.  At that time, our company doctor gave me muscle relaxers and pain pills and sent me back to work with a herniated disc to do some more heavy lifting!  My back was ruined and I left that job of heavy lifting with no compensation.

30 years of chiropractic care keeps me functioning.  But I’m blaming it all on my company doctor and am getting even, one twelve pack at a time, by purchasing Coke products.

Coca Cola, Diet Coke, Sprite, and Dasani Water  are always in my refrigerator.  When the idea of offering points to loyal consumers came around, I started saving bottle caps and 12 pack codes from Coke products to earn enough points to get some cool stuff for free by going to MyCokeRewards.com.

I save thousands of points each year and redeem them around the first of the year.  Mostly, I get magazine subscriptions.  We own the Munro House Bed and Breakfast in Jonesville, Michigan.  We like to offer current magazines as an amenity in our guest rooms.    Food Arts, Good Housekeeping, and House Beautiful are a few of the magazines that are a good fit for our business.  For variety, we also get Flying, Popular Mechanics, GQ, Fitness, and Cosmopolitan along with several others.  Our peeps seem to like them.

As I was looking through the magazines, I noticed that they were offering those red Coca Cola glasses that the judges on American Idol use–a real piece of pop culture.  I had seen them last year, but by the time I saved up enough points, they were sold out and did not reappear.  So when American Idol returned this season, I saved back some points to purchase some of those cups from My Coke Rewards for when they became available again.  Note that one cup is 150 points, but you can get 4 for 425–a sweet deal.  Get them while they are still available.

My 4 red cups arrived today.  I saw the carton by the mailbox with a red and white return address label and knew immediately what was inside.  I excitedly ripped open the boxes and found four red plastic cups that gave me geat joy. 

The next installment of American Idol is coming up on Tuesday.  My wife and I and (maybe) some of our guests will be sporting our own judges cups while we watch Simon Cowell, Paula Abdul, Kara DioGuardi, and Randy Jackson rate the performances.  We do not always agree with their comments, but as cruel as he seems, Simon is almost always right.