Idols Tour 2008

I am such a squealing fangirl right now, because in just a few short days, I get to see this up close and in person:




I will be the girl attempting to sneak on stage to hug David Cook...though I promised several of my friends that I wouldn't get arrested. Dilemmas.

Anyway, for the curious (and those who don't mind being spoiled) here is the set list for the tour.

Chikezie Eze:
"I Believe to My Soul" (Donnie Hathaway)
"Caught Up" (Usher)
"So High" (John Legend)

Ramiele Malubay:
"I Want You Back" (Jackson 5)
"Love Will Lead You Back" (Taylor Dayne)
"If I Never See Your Face" (Rhianna)

Michael Johns:
"We Will Rock You"/"We Are the Champions" (Queen)
"It's All Wrong, but It's Alright" (Dolly Parton)
"Dream On" (Aerosmith)

Kristy Lee Cook:
"Squeezing the Love Outta You" (Carolyn Dawn Johnson)
"God Bless the USA" (Lee Greenwood)
"Cowgirls"

Carly Smithson:
"Bring Me to Life" (Evanescence)
"Crazy on You" (Heart)
"I Drove All Night" (Cyndi Lauper)

Brooke White
"Let it Be" (Beatles)
"1234" (Fiest)
"Yellow" (Coldplay)

Jason Castro:
"Over the Rainbow" "
"Crazy" (Gnarls Barkley)
"Daydream" (Lovin' Spoonful)

Syesha Mercado:
"Umbrella" (Rhianna)
"If I Aint Got It" (Alicia Keys)
"Listen"

David Archuleta:
"Angels" (Robbie Williams)
"Apologize" (One Republic)
"Stand by Me" (Ben E. King)
"When You Say You Love Me" (Josh Groban)

David Cook:
"Hello" (Lionel Richie)
"Time of My Life"
"My Hero"
"Billie Jean" (Michael Jackson)
"I Don't Wanna Miss A Thing" (Aerosmith)

Katy Perry

I have sort of odd, random taste. To the point where I've stopped trying to explain to people how or why I like something. Often, there is absolutely no reason at all.

I cannot explain my love of Katy Perry. It just exists - and it's awesome. My roommate and I have been eagerly anticipating her first CD (which drops June 17) for weeks.

The video alone for "Ur So Gay" is beyond brilliant (and the song is just giggle-worthy and catchy as hell).



"I Kissed A Girl" is the single that's floating out there in Radioland now and garnering her some attention. It's danceable and fun and poses a scenario that men have been dreaming about since...well, forever.



She also does an absolutely fantastic cover of "Use Your Love" by The Outfield. But I'm going to make you Google it yourself...trust me, it's worth the time you'll spend.

New Kids On The Block had a bunch of hits...

My sister is seven years older than me, and when I was little I wanted to be just like her. This explains why, as a 6-year-old, I loved New Kids on the Block. I actually had an 11x14 poster pulled from Tiger Beat or BOP or some other teen dream magazine that I made my mother frame and put on the wall (I made her use the one that I had a Disney character poster in because I was “too big for it now”). And I kissed it every night before I went to bed, I’m not gonna lie.

15 years later, Danny Wood is still odd-looking and Joey McIntyre is still pretty.

Rumors have been flying all week, but this morning on Today the band announced that, after a 15-year hiatus, they would be reuniting for a new album and tour. My female friends and I are already making plans to buy tickets. The opportunity to see “Hangin’ Tough” live in concert is just too good to pass up…especially since the members of the band are in their mid-to-late 30s now (and a couple of them stayed out of showbiz completely following the breakup).

Stay tuned to see if a friend of mine has one of her dreams come true by being the girl pulled on stage by Donnie for “Cover Girl.”

Ahhh...nostalgia for the "oh oh ohhh oh oh."

I've succumbed to American Idol

Six seasons.

It got me. I'm so ashamed.

That's how long it took for American Idol to finally grab me. I stubbornly avoided watching the show since its debut in 2002. I'm not sure exactly why; I've always had a bit of a "holier-than-thou" attitude toward reality television for no good reason. It's sort of like my snobbish refusal to shop at Wal-mart: there's no logical, good reason for my avoidance...I just kind of see myself as "above" it.

To be fair, like most reality competition shows, after the first season or two it descended from greatness and started kowtowing to the masses in ways that made a non-obsessive fan roll their eyes and groan. All of the outlandish camera hogs, the people in costume, the over privileged hometown singers who've never heard the word "no" before...American Idol (in the various clips I've seen over the years) sort of turned into a parade of much of what is shameful about America.

But here's the thing: it may be outlandish and silly and sometimes annoying, but holy crap is it hysterical. My biggest reason for avoiding American Idol is my tendency to over sympathize. In general, I cringe at embarrassment humor. I feel SO badly for the people who are terrible (even the people who know it) that I find it hard to watch them.

My new roommate loves every second of it. I'd never lived with an Idol fan before and when I heard her laughing hysterically every five minutes during the first week of tryouts, my curiosity was piqued. I literally spent the first two episodes peeking around the corner of our apartment, watching a few seconds, then running back around the corner, embarrassed for the people who were terrible and earned laughter and derision from the judges. I graduated in Week 2 to sitting on the couch wrapped in a blanket, which I used to cover my face during the absolute worst auditions.

By Week 3, though still occasionally embarrassed for the people who are just ear-splittingly awful (a feeling I don't think will ever completely go away), I managed to watch like a normal person. Because when it comes down to it, the cringe-worthy performances are worth suffering through to hear the undiscovered people who are actually really, really good. And for Simon Cowell. Oh, Simon Cowell, I kind of love you and your ridiculous V-neck t-shirts.

Oh, Simon Cowell. Where do I begin?

I know auditions aren't over yet, but I already have a favorite. I am in love with David Cook, the slightly punkish dude in the argyle sweater who rocked Bon Jovi's "Livin' on a Prayer." More, please.

I have no idea what I'll think of the next stages of American Idol, post-auditions. I actually don't even know WHAT comes after that part of the competition. But, for the first time in six years, I'll be watching to find out.

Staples Center. Friday night. Garth Brooks.

So…where were you Friday night?

I was somewhere I never, ever expected to be.

At a Garth Brooks concert.

He's adorable. No, I'm not crazy. Leave me alone.

My mother called me up the previous Tuesday and, in her sugary sweetest “favor” voice (everyone’s got one and I can pick hers out within the first two syllables that she speaks) asked me to accompany her to the Staples Center on Friday night to see one of the five benefit concerts – for the firefighters and families affected by the California wildfires last year - that Brooks was “coming out of retirement” to play.

With very few exceptions, I cannot STAND country music. In fact, if I hear a song with any of the following things in it, I run as fast as possible in the other direction:

- faded blue jeans
- a cheatin’ heart
- Texas
- a fiddle
- drinking troubles away
- a tractor
- a horse
- the first wife

However, she IS my mother and it WAS the week of her birthday, so I agreed. I promised to go in with an open mind; but the thousands of people in cowboy hats, boots and more leather than I’ve ever seen worn outside a rodeo made it difficult. So did all the crazy drunk, fake blonde, middle-aged women showing WAY too much cleavage. But, you know, I persevered. Because despite having unfortunate taste in music, my mom is pretty awesome.

I sat through the first few songs wondering why the hell all of these people were on their feet screaming and whooping like Garth Brooks was musical Jesus. Yes, the opening number was pretty rockin’ and had a serious beat – but you kind of HAVE to open with a number like that (and everyone seems to have one - except, perhaps, Sarah McLachlan). I entertained myself by looking around and internally giggling at the craziest fans and thought about counting the minutes until my suffering was over.

But then a funny thing happened.

I actually started to enjoy myself. By the time he brought out Huey Lewis (HUEY FREAKIN’ LEWIS!) bearing a harmonica to duet on ‘Workin’ for a Livin’” I’m not gonna lie, I was standing up and dancing.

A man who can play the harmonica is one you want to keep around...

Here’s the thing. I still, in general, don’t like country music. But damn can that man put on a show. People LOVE him. Hell, I kind of fell in love with him a little bit on Friday.

I’ve seen my share of concerts. I’ve seen a few GREAT concerts. But I’ve never seen a performer who genuinely enjoyed himself as much as Garth Brooks. A lot of artists, no matter how good they sound live, seem to treat concerts as just another part of the job. I’m not one to use this expression lightly, but there was sort of a magical thing going on Friday night. Brooks was so happy to be performing for his fans and seemed sincerely awed and touched at the raucous, enthusiastic response he got from the crowd.

His joy was infectious and really shone through in his performance. There was a great energy throughout and it was damn near impossible for even the staunchest of country haters (me) to not have a good time.

It takes a lot for me to admit this, but…Garth Brooks is kinda cool. *sigh*

Billy freakin' Joel

So, I have a confession to make.

I'm not a HUGE music person. I mean, I love it. I love singing at the top of my lungs in my car, dancing about my apartment to "Footloose" (among other things) and I go see Broadway musicals like it's my JOB...but I don't consider myself a music connoisseur by any stretch of the imagination. The "Big 3" in entertainment pretty much rank as follows: Television, Television, Movies/Music.

That said, I love concerts. I've seen my favorite band multiple times. I try and see bands I like when they come through town if I have the money and someone to go with me. But, up until this weekend, I'd never really traveled to see a band or artist. You know, gotten in the car (or on a plane) and actually driven incredibly far for the sole purpose of seeing a concert.

And then I went to Vegas to see Billy Joel. I don't think I'll ever be the same.

I don't know if there's anything quite like getting dressed to the nines to walk into the concert hall of the MGM Grand and spending two-and-a-half hours listening to the Piano Man do his thing. I was in the "nosebleed" seats, but I didn't care. He opened with an amazing piano instrumental that segued into "Angry Young Man" and then just didn't stop rocking. By the time he got to "We Didn't Start The Fire" (which was only a few songs in) we were up and dancing in the aisles in dresses and heels. A Frank Sinatra impersonation, several Elvis songs and one joke about Elton John later, he closed with "You May Be Right" and encored with the following:

"Scenes From An Italian Restaurant"

"Only The Good Die Young"

"Piano Man"

It was one of the most fantastic nights of my life. There's nothing like a show in Vegas (and traveling for five hours in a car with seven of your friends to get there)...especially when you're rocking to Billy Joel. I highly recommend that if the right band comes along, you hop in your car, take the 10 to the 15, stop in Barstow for some food and then concert it up in Vegas.

Because, you know, when the show is over, you're still in VEGAS, baby.

Wannabe what, exactly?

When I was 12 I was in love with the Spice Girls.

*waits for the laughter to die down*

You all be quiet. When "Girl Power" was still a novel idea, the Spice Girls were good, clean fun for the tween set. Before the boy band era blew up, we had Scary, Sporty, Baby, Ginger and Posh (oh, Posh). In your little group of girlfriends, everyone got assigned one of the "personas" (my self-preservation instinct has just kicked in, and is preventing from disclosing which one I always wanted to be) and you danced about and sang and flashed your girl power peace sign.

Or maybe it was just me. *ahem*

This is what they used to be about:



Recently, a new music video for one of their new songs made the rounds online:



Ladies, what happened to the fun? What happened to the smiles (okay, from everyone but Posh)? Why are you sitting around in your lingerie looking pouty? Are you trying to prove how grown up and (still thin and hot, thankyouverymuch) you are?

I was way more excited than someone my age should be that you were reuniting for a World Tour. I wanted to get tickets in the worst way (the 12-year-old inside of me occasionally still runs the show...usually when we're talking ice cream or superheroes).

But if this tour is going to be 90 minutes of the women I see in the second video with none of the bubbly effervescence of the original incarnation...I'm going to have to give the whole thing one big pass. I'll stick with my awesome memories of dancing around my living room pretending to be Scary Spice (damnit, I gave it away).