Tuesday, September 12, 2006

Rock Star: All over but the squealing

Final "Rock Star" performance show evaluation post-haste...

I get that the producers and the record people want the originals to be drilled into people's heads, since one of them will most likely be an early Supernova single, and I know they did it this way last year, but did we really have to get the same four originals two weeks in a row? I dig "Throw It Away" and I'm already close to sick of it.

More interesting to me was how much interaction there was between the contestants tonight. At this point, I think everybody knows that Supernova has made up its mind (whether it's Lukas or Toby), so there's no competitive disadvantage to sharing the spotlight with one of your friends (or providing support to one of them), and after all the Dilana drama (much of it no doubt crafted by the editors), it was nice to see some sportsmanship on a Burnett competition show. In order...

Toby, "Karma Police" & "Throw It Away": My Radiohead knowledge pretty much begins and ends with "Creep" (feel free to mock me in the comments if you must), so I have no idea how well Toby sang "Karma Police," whether he rearranged it at all, etc. But I liked that he showed a different, dare I say Lukas-esque side of himself with a much more introspective number. And while the vocals on "Throw It Away" were a bit lazier than they had been the first two times, the interaction with Magni was awesome, especially Magni threatening to hit him with the guitar and then Magni kneeling before Toby and letting him play a few chords.

Side question: Paula Abdul is in the audience?

Lukas, "Fix You" & "Headspin": The House Band really did the heavy lifting on the Coldplay song. Lukas' falsetto was really shaky, but when they kicked in after the first verse, both with the instruments and the harmonizing, the whole thing took a quantum leap. I don't exactly love "Headspin," but I think I prefer the acoustic version to last week's.

Dilana, "Roxanne" & "Supersoul": Hey, Chris from episode one: this is how you try to tweak The Police. Dilana's a crap songwriter and sometimes doesn't even understand the lyrics of songs she's performing, but when she's on, vocally she's my favorite performer this season. (And, yes, that includes Storm.) By the way, what's the FCC fine for a diminutive South African headcase with Medusa hair and multiple piercings showing the world her vagina on multiple occasions during one set?

Second side note: The judges have been inconsistent in their critiques all season, and now we have Navarro -- who, two weeks ago trashed Storm for putting Toby on stage with her -- raving about Dilana's ability to get the guys to sing back-up. Huh? Wha?

Magni, "Hush" & "When the Time Comes": See? When Magni plays guitar, he seems like somebody Supernova could actually use. (If nothing else, he'd allow Gilby to go back to what he's actually qualified for, which is rhythm guitar.) When he puts it down, not that memorable. But he and Rafael played off each other beautifully.

I'm waffling back and forth between Toby and Lukas for the win. At the moment I'm leaning towards the Glam Hobbit. Toby's a better match for the band, but Tommy's man-love for Lukas just seems way too strong.

What does everybody else think?

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