the voice

The kid's new favorite show (and mine, too) is The Voice. It has so much more personality than juggernaut American Idol. It had me at Cee Lo, but I like rest of the celebrity mix. They seem a lot more invested in the singers' success, and seem to like each other more than the Idol judges, who only seem there to hawk their latest album or book deal. Not that I don't enjoy Steven Tyler, I do, but he is entertaining just standing still. If he ever does that.

I think the main reason that singing shows do so well is that almost anyone can sing  — along to a song on the radio or in the shower — not necessarily well, but the majority of the audience can at least relate to singing in some way, as opposed to the dancing shows, which requires a lot more physical skill and training.

I'm not sure where The Voice will go after it's opening "blind taste test" gimmick. The "deathmatch" preview seems even wackier than the celebrity spinning chairs, but I'm interested and willing to find out.

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he can't believe it

The video on this Gawker post pretty much sums it up (more than the post, actually.) It was a completely insane show, with Queen, Kiss, Steve Martin, Fergie and the Black-eyed Peas, Cyndi Lauper and all sorts of horrible singing by the almost-made-its. My favorite high/low light was definitely Norman, who sort of set the tone for the season. How else to explain the "awards" other than an excuse for an ask-back for Norman? But we didn't turn it off, either. I can't feel bad for Adam, because at least now he's not contractually obligated to sing that aaawwwfffuuulll Idol song...

there can only be one

As with Highlander, in Idol there can only be one. My five-year old doesn't get this, she wants everyone to win. Last night wasn't even a contest singing-wise, so tonight should just be like watching a landslide. Except the votes are always kept secret. So there is always the air of b.s. floating...but who cares, like all things Hollywood it is all glitz and tinsel. So let's get all shiny and enjoy. Congrats, Adam, whatever happens, you were what was worth tuning in for.

p.s. and there really always was just one Highlander for me, Adrian Paul. As cute as Christopher Lambert may have been, when he spoke, he always sounded like Ren of Ren and Stimpy to me...

danny boy

I haven't been a fan of Danny Gokey since the start of this season's AI. There's always been something too smug about his demeanor and dorky guy dancing for me. Whenever he was on it really was just a karaoke show. And as much as he had the tragic back-story, there was always something a little too calculated about how that was presented.

Gokey and Adam Lambert are definitely two of the most intelligent contestants ever on this win-yourself-a-singing-career game show. In Gokey's case, he very smartly chose a narrative arc - the tragic demise of his young and lovely wife - and played that theme to the (his) bitter end. I don't doubt that he deeply loved her. But I also watched him carefully choose, week after week, a song to sing to her, to constantly remind us of his story.

Adam Lambert - "Mad World" (American Idol Studio Version)

I don't think anyone was more surprised than Gokey when his name wasn't called last night. No, not even Kris. But he proved himself a consummate professional by not letting his frustrations show as he did an even better performance than the previous night's of the Joe Cocker classic, You Are So Beautiful. He still kept to his theme of course, but it was a great performance.

Kris remained sweet and baffled. My five-year-old daughter summed up his appeal: "Don't yell girls, he belongs to me!"

Provaca-tease Katy Perry showed up with her latest naughty song. I'm still on the fence as to whether I find her totally annoying or want to download her stuff. But I have to applaud a gal who wears her heart on her mini Vegas Elvis-meets-Evel Kneivel-meets-drum majorette cape.

Adam should sail through next week's final. I know some find him odd, or too over-the-top, but I just love the guy, because aside from the fact that he can sing like hell, he's also very, very smart. Just when you think he can only do rock 'n' roll screeching, he softens it up with a Tears for Fears classic. He can also Disney-fy his "do" and channel Zac Effron from Hairspray. I think Simon's choice of U2's One was as inspired as Adam's rendition, and can see him doing a lot of music in this vein. No appearing in the latest casting shuffle of Grease for him. Not that there's anything wrong with that. And Gokey might just do the perfect rendition of Sandy.

will Norman save or sink American Idol?

Yes, I watch it, get over it. I will admit that I started watching the show after an evening of cruising past my 100+ channels and coming up with absolutely nothing to watch. When I flipped for the third time past "the singing show," my then two-year-old started to squeal with delight and dance. I can't hide behind her anymore, however, as I'm still watching and I control the remote, at least for now.

Last night, as Norman did his cabaret act, I was wondering, not for the first time this season, if he had an agenda to bring the whole juggernaut to a screeching stop. He was hardly the only one from the auditions this year whose motives seemed suspect. Besides the usual goof-offs who just want to get shown on television, Season 6's "vote for the worst" Sanjaya debacle may have also spawned numerous folks just dying to vie for this year's anti-votes.

Watching Simon cringe as Norman performed was as amusing and entertaining as Norman. Although Simon claims that his resistance to Norman's charms stems from the fact that he doesn't think this contestant is taking the competition seriously, I think it is more that Norman doesn't fit into the pop product mold for which this show is designed. Norman is actually more on point than Simon, who has ceased to realize that ultimately, the judges opinions mean nothing when America votes for such diverse people as Taylor Hicks, Clay Aiken and Carrie Underwood. America doesn't seem to care about musical style (rock versus pop), or sometimes even talent, as long as it is entertained. So maybe Norman will have the last laugh - if he gets the votes. Two of the judges, Randy and Kara, are at least willing to be entertained. And maybe Norman is just being true to himself, with his disco-ball shirt (although he should ditch the shorts.) Maybe this isn't about his fifteen minutes. Maybe he just wants to be a star.