This….. is…… American Idol! Sorry, I had to. I hadn’t done that yet this season I don’t think. Anyway, Season 8 comes down to this, the final six competition performances of the year. I’m sure it’ll be epic. Hmm.
Ryan reminds us to all fix our DVRs for the finale runover, but I will predict now that millions of people will still flock to message boards to complain. First up is…
Adam Lambert singing “Mad World” by Tears for Fears for his re-do performance. What’s up with the cape, man? Haha, and the dramatic fog screens going across the floor? This is over the top without even trying to be. But in all seriousness, this is good. I think it’s better than the first time he did it overall. There aren’t any small bum notes anywhere, which is always a plus. I’m not seeing the big twist that we heard he was going to do, but it was still good. Not your typical Adam Lambert here. Randy gave it an A+ and loved the fog machines, Kara said he is an incredible artist, Paula told him to bask in it, and Simon thought it was over theatrical like Phantom of the Opera. Next up is…
Kris Allen singing “Ain’t No Sunshine” by Bill Withers for his re-do performance. Kris has really nice parents, I really like them. I will probably miss them more than anyone this season, except for Allison. And Meghan. So nevermind. Anyway, this has been one of my favorite performances from Kris this year, so I’m glad he went with this one. It’s more understated than his other two, so it’ll be good to bring it back to the fore front. Great performance. This is more my kind of thing. Really good ending, too. Randy thought it was one of his best ever, Kara complicated his ability to make an intimate bond, Paula says something about “Allenizing” things, and Simon said he had doubted America’s choice last week, but now he takes it all back.
I’d have to give that round to Kris, and Simon agrees with me. I always knew Simon knew what he was talking about.
Adam Lambert singing “A Change is Gonna Come” by Patti LaBelle and Sam Cook for Simon Fuller’s choice. Wow, this is really good, I’ve gotta say. He’s hitting some big ole notes as usual, but it seems to work well for this song. I enjoyed this much more than the first one. It’s one of my favorite Adam performances of the year for sure. There’s more substance to it than usual screech fest. The judges pretty much all thought that it was his best ever, and Simon said he was definitely back in the game. Next up is…
Kris Allen singing “What’s Going On” by Marvin Gaye for Simon Fuller’s choice. This is very Kris Allen, to quote Paula. A very cool pop sound to this one, which is definitely what he should go with after Idol. I think this performance is proof that he has the most potential radio success after Idol from anyone this season. It’s not his best, but I could imagine hearing it on the radio. Randy thought it was a little light for him, Kara like the song choice and thought he delivered a message, Paula thought he “tore it up” and made Marvin Gaye proud, and Simon thought it was like 3 friends in a bedroom strumming along to Marvin Gaye and too laid back for a finale.
Simon gave that round a million percent to Adam. I think it goes to Adam as well, but not by a million percent.
Oh great, now the epic coronation song is up. I can’t wait to see that one. Not.
Adam Lambert singing “No Boundaries”, this year’s coronation song written by Kara DioGuardi. This song typical Idol cheese, limburger to be exact. He’s doing a great job vocally, though it gets a little shouty in the end. Not typical Adam “screech” just shouty. This song is going to kill Kris unless they allowed them to change it up. Good vocal for Adam, though not the most captivating performance. Randy thought it was pitchy, Kara gave herself a shout out for writing it (Come on Kara), Paula will forever be his fan, and Simon made fun of the song, but said Adam has been one of the best and most original ever. Next up is…
Kris Allen singing “No Boundaries” as well. Unless Kris can change it up it’s going to kill him. Well, the beginning was really good! In the middle it kind of fell a part a bit, but he got it back together. I actually really liked that. The song didn’t kill him like I thought it would. Adam’s always got him beat as far as range and ability, but Kris knows what he can do and does it really well. Randy thought the key was high, but said he was amazing; Kara said he is a compelling artist and incredible person; Paula said he’s done an amazing job this season and deserved every bit of it; and Simon said the first was his best, but watching him as been incredible because he has improved so much.
Now the real reason everyone’s watching American Idol tonight…
Carrie Underwood singing the good-bye song “Home Sweet Home”. Carrie’s looking great back on the Idol stage! Great performance of “Home Sweet Home” by Carrie. I think this just proves that she is the greatest winner of American Idol. She is one of the only people that actually sound better live than in the studio. I will always be a fan. I give the night to Carrie Underwood!
What did you think of tonight’s show? Who do you think will be winning tomorrow night?
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Thanks for participating!
Rick
Fringe “Bad Dreams” Recap
This week, I’m adding a new show to the list of shows that I recap, and it’s a good one: Fringe! Fringe is one of my favorite shows that airs on Fox at 9 PM Eastern on Tuesdays following American Idol.
A young lady is strolling her child down the subway tunnel to catch the next train, while she is reaching for the balloon her daughter accidentally let go of, she is pushed into the oncoming train by one of the main characters of Fringe, Olivia Dunham (Anna Torv). Agent Dunham wakes up from her dream, but sees the young lady from her dream on the news while she is having breakfast. Apparently, she had committed suicide by jumping out in front of an oncoming train.
Agent Dunham asks her superior at the FBI if she can have special privileges into the case because it’s of special interest to her. While there Agent Dunham and her partner and friend Peter Bishop (Joshua Jackson) find the red balloon still floating in the ceiling. The young lady’s husband tells Dunham there is no way it’s a suicide, though the video tape from the subway tunnel clearly shows the young lady throwing herself in front of the train without the help of Agent Dunham. Dunham is still convinced she played a part in her death, and Walter, Peter’s father and a scientist (John Noble) assures her that if so, it will happen again.
That night, Agent Dunham dreams that while she is eating supper, a woman grows angry with her husband and holds a knife to him. Agent Dunham walks up behind her, grabs her arm, and forces the knife into her husband’s stomach, dropping her glass in the process. Dunham wakes up and alerts the authorities of the murder. She talks to the woman the next day and finds out the details of her dreams were accurate once again.
On a trip to the restaurant where the crime occurred, Olivia finds the same cup broken on the floor and asks the manager who was sitting in that seat. He describes a man with blonde hair and a scar on his face, who Dunham recognizes from the subway surveillance video. Back at the lab, they find the man that was described in the subway video. Walter thinks that Olivia is dreaming as if she were the scar-faced man, and that in reality she had nothing to do with the crimes.
When the head of her division of the FBI hears of the feud at the restaurant, Agent Dunham requests permission to investigate into the mysterious man. Agent Dunham and Peter travel to the mental hospital where the man, named Nick, had been staying. The director of the mental hospital tells the agents that Nick was convinced he had been recruited as a child for a battle against a paranormal universe. Upon further analysis, they find that Nick has the same birthday as Agent Dunham.
Agent Dunham believes that Nick has a “contageous” mood. For example, when he walked down the platform, he may have been feeling suicidal, which may have prompted the young woman to throw herself in front of the train. Agent Dunham reveals that she may have been treated with Cortexiphan as a child, the drug that Walter believes has a lot do with the problems.
Agent Dunham is put into a machine induced sleep, where she is able to walk in Nick’s shoes. Olivia (who is really Nick in the coming scenes) takes a dancer from the club into his apartment or hotel room. His ability to transfer his feelings in an extreme way allows him to make the dancer feel miserable and depressed, just as he does. This prompts her to break a glass and slit her throat with it. Agent Dunham (who is still walking in Nick’s shoes), then walks home, which allows the FBI to know the location of his home.
The FBI visits his home, where they find a wall of articles about the testing of drugs on children. At the same time, Nick is walking down the streets of the city. People walking down the sidewalk are drawn in by his emotions, and they follow him as he walks. Nick leads the pack of followers to the roof a building, where they will all jump to their deaths. Since Olivia was also treated with the drug as a child, she is resistant to Nick’s extreme emotions. On the rooftop, Nick expresses joy in seeing Olivia, or “Olive”, as he calls her, but she can’t remember her time with him. Nick pulls a gun on Agent Dunham, but turns it around to face him. He demands that she shoot him to end all of the deaths he is causing. To show that he means it, he “pushes” (with his mind) a woman off the ledge where she lands on a car with a loud bang. This prompts one of Walter’s signature, funny-in-a-weird-way lines, “I sure hope she meant to do that”. Olivia shoots Nick at his request, which saves the lives of all those that followed him to the roof.
It is then revealed that Nick is in a drug induced coma “indefinitely”. In the final scene, Walter is shown watching a video with his voice playing through the speakers. In the video, there is a smll girl in the corner of the room. Walter is trying to console her (but it’s all just creepy) and then addresses her as “Olive”.
4 of 5 Elephants
That’s all for tonight’s episode! Leave your comments on tonight’s show below or send an e-mail to theconservativejournal@gmail.com. Don’t forget to subscribe to the RSS Feed here, or sign up for the daily e-mail newsletter here.
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Rick
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