Yo, Aaron Kelly....

Kris Allen - Ain't No Sunshine (American Idol 8) [HQ] en Yahoo! Video



That is all 

KRIS

BUY KRIS'S ALBUM OFF OF ITUNES TODAY!!!!!

Link here: http://itunes.apple.com/us/album/kris-allen/id339251705

I don't know how many followers this blog has. I can guess that it probably doesn't have too many. But for those of you who have been following it, you probably have noticed that Kris Allen has been a bit of a theme around these parts. This blog has been a sort of ~evolution of my Kris stanning and while I know I've talked about many things on this blog besides Kris, I find going back and seeing how my obsession grew is one of the most interesting things. Because go back to the first time I ever wrote about Kris, and I was absolutely shocked at how much I liked him...and how he could have actually gotten me to pick up the phone and vote for him.

The best thing though? This post right here. I was convinced that Kris was going home. So convinced I swore to never watch the show again. Also amusing? This post. Where I also was convinced Kris was going home. It's funny to look back on because I never in a million years thought that Kris would win the show. I prayed every single week that he would make it just a little bit further every week, so that even if he didn't win, someone might see him and and see what I saw in him and give him a record deal. But then he kept making it every week. And then he was all of a sudden in the top 2. And then he freaking won the whole freaking show.

Kris, someone who I really truly believe in their talent, put out an album today. One in which he wrote the majority of his songs (including "Red Guitar" which he wrote all by himself), and one in which he should be very proud of. I've heard horror stories about Idol albums in the past, but this album I believe is really genuinely good. Do I look forward to his future albums a little more? Yes. As his career goes on, he is sure to get more creative freedom and will be able to write more on his own. But as for now, I am enjoying the heck out of this album and I can't wait until I get to see him perform these songs live. I'm really proud of him and I'm proud to call myself his fan.

Favorite tracks: Before We Come Undone, Bring It Back, Is It Over, I Need To Know

Ah god, I'm getting a little verklempt :')

Haven't posted in a while

Today I had a conversation with myself that went something like this:

"Self, you haven't posted to the blog in a while, and that's sad

"You're right self, I haven't. I should rectify that soon. But what to post? Mad Men finale reactions?"

"No. You will only embarrass yourself again. Leave that up to Zozizzle. She owes you an epic Mad Men finale post."

"Ah, good idea, self. Hm...Oh! I know! Let's make a post about Kris Allen! You're good at that!"

"Yes, self! Excellent idea! Kris Allen posts are pretty much the only thing I'm good at nowadays!"

Well, now that we've gotten the fact that I'm a crazy person out of the way, let's get to it! Kris has been doing a ton of radio concerts lately, including one on Sunday in Napa. He played an acoustic set, including this freaking awesome mashup of Heartless and Gangsta's Paradise (yes, you read that right):



If you still don't believe in Kris's talent after that, then I don't even know what to say to you. There may be something wrong with you.

He also did a Falling Slowly/With or Without You mashup that is really beautiful.

And guess what? Myself and The Derelict are going to be seeing Kris in Chicago on December 4th! I'm so excited I might throw up.

Oh, and I'm just going to throw this out there, AOL is streaming Kris's entire album on their site right now. I'm not going to go into what I think of it and all that now, I'll probably do that later, but in case you want to check out his new music, click the link. I'll say this though, I really really love it, and I'm so proud of him.

Sigh...such a fangirl.

Bust out yo cash!

All three of the (real and true) Top 3's new singles are finally all available for download on iTunes! Yeah! Go buy them, if you wanna. I listen to all three songs all the time, and I kind of can't decide which is my favorite. They're all so good! I'm so proud of them all. Hooray Kradison!

Live Like We're Dying - Kris Allen

Friday I'll Be Over U - Allison Iraheta

For Your Entertainment - Adam Lambert

This would never happen, but God, how awesome would a Kradison concert be? I would die.

And to make this post pretty:

:D I love them

Don't worry, this isn't a Kris Allen post

Except for how it totally is. Anyone who wonders, 'hey, why does she always talk about that Kris Allen guy all the time?', watch this. This performance is one of the many reasons why I love this guy:




And if you're interested in hearing 3 new songs he premiered off of his new album at the Dolphins Tailgate thingy this weekend, go here. I'll just say this, I knew I was going to like his album, b/c I'm a crazy fan and I love everything he's ever done, but I really genuinely love these songs and think they're really good. You have no idea how happy this fact makes me. Yay Kris!

incoherency at its best

OMG



















OMFG






















OMFGASDLFJLSADKJFEWOIRUPOWEIRUAOSKDNVLNCMSLFJPWEOIUQ


























This post has no point except as an excuse for me to flail. Zozizzle and Good Grief, NO COMPLAINING about this post! If you aren't going to post to the blog, then I'm going to make pointless posts about hot Kris Allen pictures, and you're going to LIKE IT!

There. Where were we? Oh...ALSKDJFEWOIUROP3W4UR54038WURASDJVKCNM;ASLJ'ALSDJTOEIUWSDFJ

I LOVE HIM

I LOVE HIM SO MUCH. WORDS...THEY CANNOT EXPRESS HOW MUCH I LOVE HIM. WHY DOESN'T EVERYONE LOVE HIM? WHY DOESN'T THE REST OF THE WORLD ACCEPT MY LOVE? I WANT HIM TO BE SO SUCCESSFUL AND HAPPY. I WANT HIM TO BE AROUND FOREVER. HE'S THE GREATEST PERSON TO EVER LIVE. I LOVE HIM. OH...AND BUY HIS SONG ON ITUNES. IT'S FUCKING AMAZING!

I AM NOT DRUNK, DAMMIT! WHY DOES EVERYONE KEEP ASKING ME THAT?

Kris Allen's New Single "Live Like We're Dying"

What? You didn't think I was going to post about this? Do you even know me?



*FLAIL* I think you might be able to guess how I feel about it.
What do you think?

This is a Kris Allen Post

You know what? We haven't had one of these in a while. No really, we haven't. What do you mean I bring him up in every post anyways? I don't know what you're talking about.

I know a while back I was going to write up a big post about Kris and what he means to me, etc. etc., but that would take me forever now, so let's just do an all encompassing, fun, 'I Love Kris Allen Post', yeah!

Hey guess what? I went to the tour! Me and Zozizzle turned into a couple of crazy Idol fanatics and went to the goddamn tour. And it was amazing. Matt Giraud touched me OMG, Anoop Desai impregnated me with his sexy, Allison Iraheta proved why she's the next Janis Joplin, I had a religious experience watching Adam Lambert do "Whole Lotta Love", and then Kris Allen came out and I died. I had to be brought back to life in order to write this post. I am now a zombie. Braaaaiiinnnss....

Do you want to see Kris Allen doing his thing in concert? Of course you do. Let me share:

Heartless
Different than he did on the show and in the studio. Totally rocking (and jeez louis could he hold that note on "soul" any longer?). I would post the video Zozizzle took at our concert, but all you can hear is me screaming and crying next to her. Also, link to his "unplugged" version he did on a radio station. So. Good. OMG.



All These Things That I've Done
I actually found a video from our show! Auburn Hills. This song replaced the masterclass of melody and lyrics, "No Boundaries". This was my favorite song from his set, and maybe of the whole night.



Bright Lights
This is actually a professional video from tour that you can buy off of iTunes, which means you should go buy it off of iTunes RIGHT NOW. Anyhoo, if this doesn't prove how talented his is, then I don't know what will. Piano and a kick-ass electric guitar solo? I love him.


And now, let's talk about November 17th. What's on November 17th you ask? What the hell is wrong with you, dumb bitch?! It's only the day that Kris Motherfucking Allen's album comes out! Gosh.

To say I'm excited about his album would probably be an understatement. You can pre-order it on Amazon if you want! I have. I have also pre-ordered it on iTunes. And I'm going to buy 5 copies of it when it's actually released. What? That's totally normal. His single actually should be released pretty soon and I'm shaking and crying with anticipation.

Want a little more info about his album? Well that's too bad because I'm too lazy to look up stuff right now, but trust me when I say he's been working with some pretty cool people (Mat Kearney and Joe King being the first to come to mind). Instead, I'm going link you to some of his pre-Idol stuff. He self-produced an album called "Brand New Shoes" when he was like 22 and it is FANTASTIC. For being that young and for self-producing, it's really really good. I listen to it all the damn time. Kris thinks the CD is "immature", and if this is what he considers immature, than hot damn, I can't wait to listen to his new CD. Download for ya, if you like.

My favorites:

Lovely
Beautiful. Gorgeous. Waltz-like. Just...OMG



I Was Played
Fun and upbeat and catchy


On Our Way
Inspirational. Yeah.


Wipe It Away
Kris's favorite song on the album. He said if he could rerecord one song for his new album, it would be this one (and OMG that would be amazing if he did)


So yeah, there you go. Maybe someone will find this post, watch the videos and become a fan! Or maybe someone will find this post, see how crazy I am, and back away slowly from this blog. Either way, I had fun putting this together.

And to be serious for a bit, it's been a long time since I've been this invested in someone before. Not only did Kris make me care about music again, but I really do look up to him as a human being. He's one of the nicest, most generous, talented people I've ever seen, and I'm really really proud to be his fan. I want him to be successful, but more than that, I want him to be happy, because he deserves it. I don't know if this is weird to say, but he means a lot to me. He made my depressing and boring summer a lot more fun. I can't wait until his album comes out and he has his own solo tour and I can follow his career, because I know I'll be a fan of his for a very very long time. /sappy

Oh, one more thing: Follow Kris on twitter! @KrisAllen4Real. You will not be disappointed.

Hey kids! It's an American Idol "rewatch": Country Week Edition

I know you're all sick of me talking about American Idol. I, however, am not sick of me talking about American Idol...and I'm not really sure when I'll be, heh. Please feel free to skip this post at your leisure.

It's rewatch time! Country week! I'm pretty sure I didn't watch any of this episode when it originally aired. I had, however, already watched Kris and Adam's performances on YouTube before this rewatch.

Anyhoo, here are the performances:
# Michael Sarver -”Ain’t Goin’ Down Til the Sun Comes Up” by Garth Brooks
# Allison Iraheta - “Blame it on Your Heart” by Patty Loveless
# Kris Allen - “To Make You Feel My Love” by Garth Brooks
# Lil Rounds - “Independence Day” by Martina McBride
# Adam Lambert - “Ring of Fire” by Johnny Cash
# Scott MacIntyre - “Wild Angels” by Martina McBride
# Alexis Grace - “Jolene” by Dolly Parton
# Danny Gokey - “Jesus Take the Wheel” by Carrie Underwood
# Anoop Desai - “You Were Always on My Mind” by Willie Nelson
# Megan Joy Corkrey - “Walking After Midnight” by Patsy Cline
# Matt Giraud - “So Small” by Carrie Underwood

While it was still pretty darn good, this wasn’t my favorite Allison performance, but jeez could she be more adorable? The little dance she did for Randy Travis? God, I love her so much. I also spent the entire time thinking about how much I covet her hair and outfit. Girl is hot! I can’t believe she was in the bottom 3 for this week :/

Damn, but Kris and Allison get paired up a lot, don’t they? Makes sense if you think about it…

I know Kris has said that he wasn’t a secret ~stealth contestant, strategizing all the time, but I kind of don’t believe him. Because this week, like many other weeks, was another example of him doing the exact perfect thing he needed to do. The boy clearly knew what was up. I have to point out the fact that this was the only time….let me repeat, THE ONLY FUCKING TIME, that a judge told Kris he had a shot of doing well in the competition. The judge was Simon, who genuinely seemed pretty shocked at his positive reaction to Kris’s performance (it’s probably my favorite judges feedback Kris received during the whole competition). It is still kind of astounding to me that this was the one time he ever got such feedback, but I’ll just ignore my bitterness and bask in the wonderfulness of “To Make You Feel My Love”. Because seriously? Gorgeous. I still kind of can’t believe how good his voice sounds on this song. If I had seen this performance when it actually aired, I think I may have just become a full-blown Kris fan right then and there. Sigh.

I just skip Lil’s performances. I’m terrible.

I…still don’t know what to do with “Ring of Fire”. I like that Adam took risks, and I even think that the arrangement of the song is pretty cool, but the performance….I don’t even know. I still kind of just sit there slack-jawed every time I watch it, and then kind of nervously giggle after it’s over. Adam just has that effect on people I guess.

Scott makes me so happy. Just…Scott! Every time I see him I smile. I kind of think he has a terrible voice, and he probably only made it as far as he did because he’s blind, but he’s just so funny! I kind of can’t wait to see him on tour.

Alexis picks the best songs. And actually, I was expecting her to sound worse because it was her elimination week, but I didn’t think she sounded too bad. There were certainly people who were worse than her this week (like Michael on whatever stupid song he sang). Still, I don’t really like her personality. She’s got a lot of attitude and comes across kind of annoying to be honest.

Danny has a good voice but is a terrible singer. Terrible. He’s either breathy and pitchy when he’s singing softly, or he’s shouting as loudly as he can. There’s no middle ground with him. Which makes all of his performances sound-alike and unsubtle and icky. He was not "brilliant" either, Paula jeez.

‘Noop was good this week. His voice is so pretty, if a little bit boring.

I’m pretty sure this was the best Megan performance of the whole competition. I legit think she sounded kind of really good and cool here. She has a very interesting voice. She often flounders in her live performances, but this week’s was nice.

This was Matt’s best performance ever. If Matt had been able to sustain this level over the whole competition he would have gone way further. I actually just went and downloaded his studio recording because I liked this performance so much. I feel really happy for him watching this, yet at the same time kind of frustrated because I don’t think he ever matched this performance.

Things that are making me LOL

• AwkwardFamilyPhotos.com - An example:

• MyLifeIsAverage - Much funnier than FML. I have a really weird sense of humor

• ontd_ai - A cracktastic American Idol LJ community. This place is HYSTERICAL! I spend far too much time here than I should

• Kris Allen on Twitter - Follow him! He hasn't had it for too long, but he tweets pretty frequently and is absolutely adorable and kind of hilarious. He's also following Adam, Allison, Matt, and Anoop. Follow them too! (Yes, I did get a Twitter solely for the purpose of stalking Kris Allen. Don't judge me!)

Things that are not making me LOL:

• Vitolio and Karla got eliminated on So You Think You Can Dance. I don't really care that much about Karla, but VITOLIO! Vitolioooooooooooooo!!!!!! I will miss his dorky enthusiasm! (we were so close to getting rid of 2 of my 3 least favs, Kayla, Phillip, and Jeanine, too!)

• I can't believe I'm saying this, but why do I have to wait until August 26th for the American Idol Live Tour?! Especially because it's starting this Sunday (OMG SO EXCITED!) and I now know what Kris and Adam and Allison's sets entail and they're all going to be so awesome and I don't want to wait! God, I'm such a loser...
  

Once

I'm really really bad with movie reviews (See: my Hangover review), but I had to make a quick post recommending one of the best movies I've seen in a while, Once. True, I'm late to the bandwagon and only really watched it now because of Kris Allen (omg stop talking about American Idol!), but it doesn't mean I didn't enjoy it any less. It is a brilliant little movie with fantastic actors, amazing songs, and an ending that made me cry like a baby! I actually just went and bought the soundtrack and now I can't stop listening to it. It's a quiet, passionate movie that really speaks to the power of music and how it brings people together.

"Falling Slowly" is maybe one of the greatest songs ever. The scene where they learn it together gave me goosebumps, and it playing over the end of the movie was pretty much the reason I cried so hard. Here's a link if you want to listen to it. (Oh, and uh, here's a link to listen to Kris's version. IDK it's pretty good I guess...). I also really like "If You Want Me", but all of the songs are great!

The movie is definitely an "indie" movie so I understand if it might not be for everyone, but I have to urge you to give it a shot. I really think it has a lot of interesting things to say about relationships and music, and I was really really glad I watched it, even if it did make me cry.

Disco sucks

So, I said I was going to post more. And here I am, posting more! There's randomness ahead!

Zozizzle, this post is for you! I've come to the realization that Zozizzle is a closeted Kris Allen fangirl. She'll never admit it, of course. Oh no. She's way too highbrow for American Idol, but I know the truth. Girlfriend enjoyed when I forced her to vote for Kris during the finale. I know you can't wait to see him on tour Zozizzle, you scoundrel! Anyhoo, I'm planning on doing an ~epic~ Kris Allen post at a later date, but for now I'm posting the best Kris interview I've seen so far (and I've seen...a lot). I cannot for the life of me figure out how to embed this video (damn you, EW), so here's a link:

'Idolatry': Kris Allen on obscure songs, matching aprons, and the coolest thing he's ever done

Watch all 5 epic parts of epicness! I've expressed my love for 'Idolatry' in the past and Michael Slezak and the team just continue to be amazingly awesome. I loved being able to hear Kris answer intelligent questions about the show, instead of all this inane "culture war" shit he gets asked in other interviews. Kris comes across as someone who really loves music above all else, and I love that he's such a "lyrics guy" who thinks about the meaning of the song over everything. He also comes across as charming, funny, nice, and totally hot (ahem). Slezak is also such a fanboy in this it's ridiculously endearing, heh. My favorite part however is when Kris talked about how pissed he was after his duet with Danny. Even though he's trying to be nice, you can tell how the guy really feels about the whole thing. I love it because I felt the same way! Thinking about Rock Week still makes me so flippin angry, ugh. Anyhoo, what I really want to do is show this interview to all the (lame-ass) Kris-haters. I think it would change a lot of people's minds about him. Watching this again, it's just reminded me how deserving he was of winning and how proud I am to be his fan. I can't wait to do my epically self-indulgent post about him later!

(As an aside, everyone should definitely check out the other 'Idolatry' episodes from the season along with the other interviews. The interviews with Anoop, Matt, Allison, and Adam are all really funny and insightful. The interview with Danny is extremely awkward and uncomfortable, but that's just because Danny is an extremely awkward and uncomfortable human being. Whose performance spot on tour is designated for my bathroom break!)

Hope you enjoyed that, Zozizzle! Step out of the closet, fangirl!

What now?

I have to admit to being a little depressed that the television season is "over". Yes, I know TV still airs during the summer, but it's not the same. American Idol was my last finale this year, and now I feel kind of...lost (I seriously got depressed today when I realized AI wasn't going to be on. I can't believe how much that show got to me this year). Not to say that there aren't shows on that I watch during the summer. I will probably be watching So You Think You Can Dance (not the audition shows though. Too much second hand embarrassment). Speaking of embarrassment, I will also be watching True Blood when the second season premiers June 14th. That show is SO trashy and kind of bad, but I can't help it, I can't stop watching it. Also, Project Runway comes back this summer, but we are going to have to wait until August for our Tim Gunn fix :(

Still, TV is my main "fandom" and I had a moment earlier when I thought, "now what am I going to talk about on the blog?" But then I realized that this blog was never supposed to be only about television! There are plenty of things floating around in mind grapes's mind grapes! So while TV will still be the main focus on the blog, you will start to get a broader variety of things that make me happy. I am planning on doing an end of the season recap post, where I talk about which show's had the overall best season, favorite episodes, best finale, etc. But I also will probably start talking more about the Red Wings as they get closer to the Stanley Cup finals, I'm already imagining multitudes of Kris Allen posts, and you're probably going to be hearing A LOT about the Harry Potter movie before and after it comes out. And who knows, you may even get some more podcasts!

I'm still new to this blogging thing, and half the time I still feel like I'm really only doing this for myself more than anyone else, but that's ok. Because it is extremely fun and I'm not going to quit anytime soon. I hope our dear readers continue to come along for the ride! What we lack in smarts and coherency, we make up for in randomness and fun!

OH. MY. GOD.

KRIS WON AMERICAN IDOL!!!!!!!!!!!!!

I can't believe it! I'm so so happy and so proud of this guy! And Adam too! Adam is awesome and fantastic and is going to have a fantastic career and I love him almost as much as Kris. But holy crap KRIS WON! No one ever thought this would happen, but it did. Is it the biggest upset in Idol history? I don't know and I don't care, I'm just so unbelievably proud to call myself a Kris fan! What a season! Amazing! Thank you for all of those people who voted for him! The Derelict, Zozizzle, Good Grief, Mom! You guys helped too! I cannot wait to buy my first Kris Allen CD! And Adam CD! And Allison CD! And....god, I don't know, this is just so fantastic! *group hugs all around*

*WTF my font size got all messed up but I don't care!!!!! as;lkdfj;saldkfjals;dfjs;aldkjf;asldkjf;asdlkfjas;dlfalfjk

OMG we're podcasting again?!

Ashitakas Angels Podcast #2 - Ashitakas Angels

Yes! We are podcasting again! Why? Because we like the sound of our own voices! Today's installment features:

1. Office finale squee!
2. 30 Rock finale hilarity!
3. Talk of the Detroit Red Wings and their domination of all other teams!
4. Mentions of Kradam fanfic. Be warned.
5. Musical interludes!
6. A serious message for Good Grief.
7. A discussion of the Grey's Anatomy finale and its weirdness. Plus: Does Kevin McKidd = Marian Hossa?
8. Did we mention Kradam?
9. Insanity + Kris Allen outro

~mind grapes and zozizzle

American Idol PSA

America,

Please. I'm begging you. Do the right thing. Make this happen:


















As the folks at Entertainment Weekly would say: Put the 'Go' in Gokey!

Signed,

A concerned fan


As an aside, it's up in the air whether I'll be able to watch the show tonight, which pains me more than you know (Sigh. How did I get to this point?). I'm going to try and vote, but I'm still nervous as heck for my dream final three. Now, I've shared my disdain for Danny before on this blog so you might think I'm just trying to spite the guy, but I really want an Adam/Allison/Kris final three because I truly believe they are the most deserving contestants. Adam may be one of the most talented contestants this show has ever had, and Allison and Kris have advanced on this show based on their amazing performances alone. Neither of them got screen time at the beginning of the show and neither of them have ever been pimped by the judges or the producers. I still kind of can't believe they've made it this far with all of those things working against them.

For the (two) people who read this blog, you might be under the assumption that I'm some kind of hardcore Idol fan. The truth is, I have never been into this show. I'm interested in pop culture in general, so I always sort of follow it every year. I can name all the winners and the majority of the notable contestants. I've also watched all of the finales and have caught episodes here and there. The truth is however, I've always kind of resisted American Idol. I perceived it as over-produced, manipulative, money-grubbing schlock that only appealed to teenage girls and rewarded contestants for "yelling" rather than singing. I always sort of made fun of it from a distance. Yes, I'd watch the finales, and yes I had my favorites, but I've never picked up a phone to vote for this show, and I always swore I never would. I never cared about it, never got connected (I was really upset when Clay didn't win in Season 2 however, but that was a long long time ago and I'm still not really sure what I was thinking).

So what changed this year? For some ungodly reason I started watching this season since the auditions. I don't know what compelled me. I'm still trying to figure it out. I also ended up watching all 3 of the semifinal rounds (Zozizzle has a fabulous post about Group 3 here). So because I was familiar with the contestants, I continued to follow the competition. I very rarely watched the episodes, but I did check up to see who was doing well, who was doing poorly, and who was getting eliminated. Through all of my following online, I was led to believe that Adam Lambert and Danny Gokey were the only two contestants who mattered, and all of the other contestants should just give up because there was no way they could beat them. It was with that in mind that I sat down to watch my first uninterrupted episode of American Idol this season during Top 9 week. I resist front-runners. Don't like them. I've already said that I think this show is manipulative, and pimped front-runners are the worst example of that. So I watched the episode and to no surprise, found the two front-runners not exactly living up to their hype (Adam's performance was good, but strange. "Play That Funky Music"? Really?). So it was to my surprise that the last performer of the night, Kris Allen, a guy who I remembered liking from the semifinals and had been reading some pretty good press about but for the most part wasn't really on anyone's radar, came out and totally won the night. His "Ain't No Sunshine" was hands down the best performance of the night, much better than the front-runners', and it has stood up as probably my favorite performance of the whole season (watch video of it here). At first I was pleasantly surprised (there was genuine shock in my reaction post), and then I just got angry. I was angry that this guy wasn't pimped like the other contestants even though he was so good. I was angry that the judges just said that the performance was his best, but not the best of the night. So I did what any normal, sane person would do, I picked up the phone and voted. Only one time, but I voted. Kris ended my Idol-voting-virginity. I was ashamed of myself, but I felt like I had to right some kind of injustice or something. I then found myself doing crazy things, like watching all of his other performances on youtube and buying his studio versions off of iTunes. I started clearing my Tuesday nights so I could power vote for him and I TiVo-ed Lost so I could watch the results show live, because I had to see if he made it another week. Kris turned me into an Idol junkie! And I couldn't be happier.

American Idol is still over-produced, manipulative, and money-grubbing, and they still reward people for shouting (see: Danny), but it also shows off week after week, genuine talent from some extremely cool kids. It's exciting to see what they're going to sing every week and how they're going to do. And while the judges can be attention-hogging at times, the show is still more than anything, about discovering undiscovered talent. Kris is the kind of musician who I can see myself listening to. He doesn't have the "biggest" voice in the competition, but that's precisely why I like him. He doesn't shout and power his way through a performance, but instead is always subtle, nuanced, and controlled. You really believe that he thinks about the songs before he sings them, and as such, creates an emotional connection to the lyrics he's singing. He has come up with some extremely creative arrangements and is the only contestant to ever play two instruments on the show. I think he's given some of the best performances of the season (Besides "Ain't No Sunshine", my other favorite performances are "To Make You Feel My Love", "Falling Slowly", and "She Works Hard For the Money"), on top of being an extremely nice, humble, cool guy. I sincerely want him to be successful, and whether that's in winning this show or in getting a recording contract after his journey ends, it doesn't matter. I think he deserves all the best, and heck, they all do! I know I said I don't like front-runners, but I genuinely like Adam a lot (watch his "Mad World" performance. Amazing), and I absolutely adore Allison. True, I don't like Danny, but I think the guy is a great singer who does appeal to a lot of people (just not me).

So why am I writing all of this now? Mostly because I'm bored. But also because I'm super nervous and antsy about tonight. I wanted to get this out there now because as much as I hate to even entertain the thought, I have a feeling Kris could be leaving us soon, and as such, my Idol journey this season will be over also (well, I'll probably tune into the finale to see Adam win). I'm not going to say you should vote for Kris. If you are the voting type, vote for whoever you want! All my votes will go to Kris however, and I hope that maybe, just maybe, someone will read this and throw a few votes his way. Even though I am nervous, I'm still really genuinely excited about rock week. I think it's going to be awesome and I will definitely be posting my reactions, I just don't know when exactly I'll be able to.

So to wrap this all up, vote for Kris/Allison/Adam....and put the 'Go' in Gokey! :)