Quick thoughts on the American Idol performances

The clear loser of tonight was Kara for writing that shitty coronation song. Wow. Terrible. I was embarrassed for both of them that they had to sing that.

Adam: "Mad World". This is one of my favorite Adam performances and I think he performed beautifully on it yet again. I did get a bit of a chuckle out of the trench coat and the dry ice, but it was still very good. Didn't quite pack the punch of the first time he did it (I'm not sure he connected with it as well), but still good.

Kris: "Ain't No Sunshine". I was so happy he picked this song. SO HAPPY! This was the song that made me fall in love with Kris in the first place and hearing it again was just magical. He sounded fantastic and it may have even been better than the first time he sang it. I just loved it to death! It may have been my favorite performance of the night.

Adam: "A Change Is Going To Come". This sounded really great too. I completely disagree with Paula that it was one of his best performances, but it was good. There were moments in there where his voice sounded a little hoarse and off a bit, but he connected with it for the most part. I really wouldn't have picked this song for him though and was kind of disappointed that we didn't get a "crazy" Adam performance tonight.

Kris: "What's Going On". This is where my extreme bias comes in, because I absolutely LOVE it when Kris does performances like this. I loved it when he did it with "She Works Hard For The Money" and "Heartless" and I loved it here. As soon as I saw Kris with his guitar, surrounded by percussionists, I was in heaven. He put his own spin to the song and added sufficient emotion to the lyrics (particularly when he stopped to sing the lyrics "war is not the answer"). I hated that Simon said the performance was "too small", because well, what the hell did they expect Kris to do with a low-key song like that? He didn't pick the song after all. I liked this a lot better than Adam's second song, but then again, I'm biased.

Adam and Kris: "No Boundaries". I'm doing them together because I don't really know what I can say about this song. Neither of them sounded very good. With Adam, he seemed to lose the lyrics a lot and was a bit "pitchy" as Randy would say. The range of the song was way too big for Kris and he seemed to really be stretching to hit some of those high notes. However, while Adam was more technically proficient with the song, Kris did seem to connect with it a little more and you could tell he was really, really trying. I can't fault either of them for their performances however, because that was just a shitty ass song that I don't think either of them could have done anything with. Can you please go now, Kara?

Overall, besides the coronation song, I thought this was a great finale, with both boys giving fantastic performances that they should be proud of. I can't wait for tomorrow no matter what the outcome is! Kradam has already won, ya'll!

American Idol Top 2 Finalists: We're all winners!

As I was reading through these articles about the adorable press conference Adam and Kris did yesterday (adorable video here), I was overwhelmed by the feeling that, well....I wish they both could win! Reading about how much these guys genuinely like and respect and support each other made me actually get a little emotional. Like they said repeatedly in those articles, they feel like they've both won, and you know, I feel like we've all won too! This sounds ridiculously cheesy, but I just love this finale so much. SO MUCH! And I can't believe we actually have it. A Kradam finale was just a small pipe dream I had when I started watching this season, and now it's a reality. I've felt beaten down by this season many times (I blame Danny...and Kara), but now I couldn't be happier. If Alan Sepinwall wasn't my favorite TV critic already, he would be after this article, which pretty much expressed my thoughts exactly: that in a season filled with unnecessary changes, manufactured drama, over-pimped contestants, attention-hogging judges, and a lesser focus on the most important part of the show, the contestants, we somehow managed to get one of the best, most interesting and love-filled finales this show has ever had (the fantastic website What Not To Sing also has a similar article about the awesome finale in spite of a weak season). You know, I hope somehow, someway, Kris and Adam get the same number of votes on Wednesday and they call it a tie and they both win the show and then live happily ever after THE END.

On a more serious note however, I will be voting the four hours for Kris tonight, heh. After the results show last week, I was just so excited Kris made it into the finale that I went on and on about how I didn't care who won. And reading all this lovely Kradam press recently made me feel the same way. But when I really thought about it, deep down inside, I do want to see Kris win. I've been voting for Kris every week since Top 9 week, fully expecting every week for him to go home. But he didn't, and we finally got him into the final 2, and well, I'm not gonna stop voting for him now, heh. I think if "Heartless" showed us anything last week, it's that Kris wants to win this, and thinking about what his face would look like if/when Ryan announces his name as the winner of American Idol gives me a happy feeling inside (although Kris always looks so shocked and amazed every time he makes it through, the poor kid might pass out on stage if he wins, hee!). Now let me clarify for all the Glamberts out there, that I would be extremely happy if Adam were to win as well. Like I said, both of these guys deserve to be in the finale and truthfully, if we're basing the win by pure, God-given singing talent, then Adam probably deserves it more. No one can hit the notes Adam can (I love Adam's voice, I just prefer Kris's more). In fact, I think Adam will probably win, but I do think it will be closer than a lot of people originally thought (only a million votes separated the two last week).

Although, you know what I want the most? I want both guys to just go out there and do their best. I don't want the producers or the judges ruining the finale by manipulating anything. No bussing, no pimping, just let the performances speak for themselves. I want the show to just let both of these guys go out there and do what they do and hopefully have great nights. Remember, in a Kradam finale, we all win!

*Be back later with thoughts on the performances

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

You see, I'm not the only crazy one...

Even TV Guide can't deny the epic bromance that is House/Wilson:

Hee!

Source

Speaking of bromance, I have one thing to say about Heroes last night, (SPOILERS!)  if Hiro really killed Ando, I am done with this show.  Done.  I lost the majority of my love for it last season so this would be the last straw.  Not only would it be killing off my favorite character, but it would completely destroy Hiro's character and I could never be sympathetic towards him again.  Please make it not be real!

OMG IT'S RENESMEE!

I had to mention this for Zozizzle and Good Grief:

On tonight's Fringe, the episode started out with a woman who all of a sudden got pregnant with a baby that GREW UNNATURALLY FAST, and thus KILLED THE MOTHER FROM THE INSIDE, which then had to be CUT OUT OF THE WOMAN'S STOMACH!

So apparently, in the world of Fringe, half human/half vampire mutant demon babies do exist!

Be afraid.  Be very afraid... (Whatever you do, don't imprint on it Good Grief!)

In more 'on topic' news, I thought this episode was really really good, better than the Pilot.    Although, if the show is going to keep up it's extreme gross out factor, I don't know how much more I can take, because 'ew'.  Even so, I think I may have liked it better than House!  Especially with House's depressing ending, which went a little like this:

Wilson (to House):  "We're not friends anymore..."

Me:  "We're lovers!"

Wilson:  "...and I'm not sure we ever were."

Me: :(

Don't fight, you guys!  It makes me sad, remember?

House premiers tonight!

 epic love

What I hope to see from House this season:

• More Chase!  I missed him last season.
• Less Thirteen!  She's the less interesting, more annoying version of Cameron.
• House/Cuddy!  Because I know the show will never conceivably go for House/Wilson, as much as I really really want it to.  So if I can't get the epic romance that is 'Gregory House and the Oncologist who loves him', then I'll have to make due with the love/hate relationship of House/Cuddy.  At least it's better than House/Cameron, or *shudder* House/Thirteen.
• No prolonged breakups for House and Wilson!  I don't want them to be fighting for too long over what happened at the end of last season.  It makes me sad to see them fight.
• Some kind of resolution to Chase/Cameron.  They hardly mentioned that relationship last season and so I was always kind of confused about whether they were together or not.
• More Kutner!  For he was my favorite of the new additions last season.
• Less Foreman!  Or at least a more likeable Foreman.  I haven't actively liked Foreman since season 1.  In fact, I'd say that I kind of hated him in season 3.
• An all around better season.  If you couldn't already tell, I didn't really like season 4 that much.  So I'm hoping things will get better this time around!

Also on tonight?  Fringe!  Let's see if this is a show worth following.