My Kind of Reality TV

This week we added Dancing With the Stars to American Idol so that pretty much lays out our Spring TV viewing.  Here's what I thought this week.  Feel free to disagree - my husband does.

American Idol

Erica is the clear winner this week.  Loved her makeover, loved her song.  She put the appropriate grit into New York State of Mind.

A close second was Joshua who did his usual phenomenal job, I just wished he had chosen a more well-known song.

My choices for bottom three were Skylar, Heejun and Colton.  Here's my reasoning:  Skylar should have listened to the pros - both in wardrobe and singing.  She has a nice voice but tends to try too hard to always be a powerhouse and it verges on screaming.  Heejun sang My Life, which is one of Billy Joel's best, but he killed it - and not in a good way.  The key was too low, which gave him pitch issues and there was no passion.  If you're gonna sing a song about telling the world where to get off, you need to have some fire behind it.

And, yes, Colton.  The judges raved and Dave gave him the top spot but, while I can't deny that Colton's an incredible musician, he could have taken a lesson from JLo.  She talked about how Billy Joel writes his life into his songs and they need to be sung with the appropriate emotion.  Piano Man is the story of a piano player in a bar, playing for "the regular crowd".  The mood of the song matches the mood of the bar - laid back, simple, perhaps a little melancholy.  Colton's version took that mood out of the song and that ruined it for me.

One final note:  Why, oh why, did only a couple of the contestants listen to the fashion advice they were given?  This is Tommy Freakin' Hilfiger!  He might know a thing or two about fashion.  And you'll avoid wearing a dress that makes your hips look like an artichoke.

Dancing With The Stars

This is going to be an amazing season.  There were really no bad performances on the first night.  I was amazed by Jaleel "Urkel" White's musicality and showmanship.  I'm going to enjoy watching Melissa Gilbert square off with Max.  She handled Nellie Olson - Max will be a cakewalk.  And good golly, Miss Molly, but Gladys Knight can still move!

But the guy who gets my vote is Jack Wagner.  Doesn't matter if he spits on the judges and falls on his face, he's still Frisco Jones (General Hospital 1983-1995).  Gotta vote for the 80's heartthrob!