Post-American Idol Season 10 Review Blogs Coming!

Currently working on the first two of my series of post-American Idol Season 10 blogs. I will be doing an extensive series of looks in the form of "Top #" lists. I'm planning at least two or three. Right now, here are the ones I'm working on:

1) Top 50 Favorite Contestants

2) Top 40 Eligible Returning Contestants For Season 11

3) Top (Still Undetermined #) Contestants I Want To Collaborate With (and/or Cover)

That's it for now. Will be shifting my focus - until Season 11, of course - to The Voice, Platinum Hit, and The X Factor before January 2012. And any other shows that pop up in the meantime. Will also be shifting my focus to recruiting talent for various collaborations. Will be posting the occasional blog on this person or that person, or this related topic or that related topic about American Idol of course - but that will also hold true for the other shows too.

I'm also on an unofficial hiatus from my post at T1V2 Productions. Will be diving back into that as soon as I can. At any rate, that's it for now. Will be posting more things in the upcoming days. In the meantime, don't forget to follow me on Twitter!

Post-American Idol Finale Results Show Blog: A Day After Look

Another American Idol season is in the bag. And judging from preliminary reports, Scotty McCreery had last night's title in just that. So even after a last minute push of desperation on behalf of the judges and producers, Lauren Alaina was just unable to bridge the now confirmed wide gap between the two young country crooners.

As usual, there was a ton of pageantry and this was perhaps the glitziest Idol final ever, as well as one of the most star-studded. Everyone from Season 4 winner turned country superstar Carrie Underwood to Tim McGraw to Bono and The Edge of U2, Jack Black, Judas Priest, Tom Jones, Marc Anthony, Beyonce, Lady Gaga, Gladys Knight, and Kirk Franklin performed. And I'd be remiss if I didn't mention that their own Steven Tyler, legendary Aerosmith frontman, killed it as the final star encore with a rousing version of "Dream On" before finally moving onto the true business at hand. Tyler displayed some of his own overlooked musicianship by ripping up the keys as part of his sterling rendition of the famously awesome melancholic intro to the classic Aerosmith tune before abandoning the ivories for his trademark scarf-bandana-whatever-the-hell-it-is-that's-always-on-it microphone.

What really hit me last night that has often been lost on me, and probably millions of other viewers, is that the finale of American Idol every season truly is a celebration of art and music and about those who are already well established mingling with the those who are supposed to be ascending into their stratosphere of success, both artistically and commercially, and while there is a lot of typically overproduced theatrics and a lot of the actual music is not always so appealing, it does represent what is supposed to be not so much of a changing of the guard ceremonial quality to it, but certainly an initiation into a very prestigious fraternity of very special artists and collaborators.

This was definitely a season to remember, certainly after the expectation going into the season was that it'd be not just another season to forget after last year's mostly lackluster class, but also on the heels of Simon Cowell's departure, Ellen Degeneres (supposedly) resigning, and Kara DiGuardi being fired, that it would start to lose both its identity and steam. (You can catch DiGuardi, starting Monday at 10:00 PM on Bravo's new songwriting show Platinum Hit.) Perhaps our expectations were so lowered that the bar could only be met but the talent this year was in fact genuinely deep and unique. It's just a cruel irony of the season that two of the more stoic, albeit even more ironically because of their incredible youth, ended up being the two finalists. Of course, given how country crazy our country has become, it really should have surprised none of us that we ended up with two fairly safe country music singers.

I will be writing blogs over the next several days, and perhaps even weeks, about this incredible Season 10, the good and the worrisome, and what the finale means for the show going forward. For now, let us take pleasure in the fact that Lauren Alaina proved herself to be much more emotionally composed and gracious well beyond the call of duty in last night's finale, and that both of these kids have good careers ahead of them. Funnily enough, not even 24 hours since Scotty was crowned, I'm feeling far less convinced that either one of them will definitely be bound for superstardom, especially after hearing the sharp discrepancy of vocal range and talent between Lauren Alaina and her personal idol, the great Carrie Underwood, during their duet and it might have easily of inadvertently served as a harsh reminder of just how hard it really is to stay viable, current, and successful after an Idol stint is over. With Underwood you could see why she was able to make the transition from American Idol to where she is now. With this year's two finalists, it's not so sure, but I do think they both still stand to reason to have a much better chance than most to make it beyond the Idol stage. And both of them, albeit Lauren much more than Scotty in each case, still have some maturing to do; in general and with their voices.

Perhaps the singular moment of last night was not even on the broadcast itself, but online on American Idol's own website, where they showed the pre-finale red carpet show with former Idols Didi Benami and Brandon Rogers. As everyone was waltzing into the building before the show started, the show's handlers pulled the two young finalists over to their fellow Idols, for a quick interview and when the two had microphones in their hands, Lauren couldn't resist playing interviewer herself with Scotty. Finally, there was enough of that, or at least for their handlers, and you could see Lauren's handler pulling on Lauren's arm to get going. It took about 15 seconds for it to work and even on the heels of the biggest night of their life, the two teenagers, particularly Lauren, reminded us all that they are still indeed just that - kids. And for all the incredible star-studded performances last night, for me this fledging moment will certainly prove to be the most endearing one of them all.

May 25, 2011 Pre-American Idol Finale Results Show Thoughts

Since yesterday and last night's show I have, for the most part, steadily remained in Scotty McCreery's corner in terms of both my personal prediction at this point and who is the more deserving at this point. Lauren Alaina had a fairly strong moment last night with her "Like My Mother Does" cover of former American Idol Kristy Lee Cook but Scotty has, by far, been the more consistent singer. He has played it equally safe but truth be told, the true excitement will be in who is coming back to perform. I would fully expect to see Casey Abrams and several others onstage. As usual, the rumor mill is in overdrive, and we will soon get the unfiltered actual version.

Going to keep this short. Still predicting Scotty, but much more tightly than before. The show was blatantly trying to manufacture a narrowing of the public perception so a Lauren Alaina upset would not be as shocking as I would have envisioned it being just a couple days ago. In the end, Lauren probably needs it more than Scotty does and I think they both know that too. Carrie Underwood reportedly performing with Lauren tonight is no accident on three obvious fronts; Carrie is Lauren's personal idol, she's the Season 4 winner of American Idol, and she's a country superstar.

So now we must ask ourselves if Nigel Lythgoe has successfully bridged the perceived gap between the two teenage supestars. And will the teenage girls still vote for Scotty? And will their mothers now stop their boy-crushing and think more like, well, mothers again and vote for Lauren based on the show's shameless ploy to bait Cougar Country into voting as mothers?

I do think that the ploy will work but we will soon find out to what extent. Will Lauren's "dramatic" performance night (the whole laryngitis angle seemed to be vastly exaggerated for dramatic purposes) be enough of a countering of Scotty's seemingly unmovable momentum? It's all in Ryan Seacrest's hands and then win or lose, these two talented young singers' true fans will show their colors once their American Idol journeys come to an official end tonight.

Lauren Alaina Comes Alive But Is It Enough? Or Were The Judges' Persuasive Enough?

It is pretty clear, merits of tonight's performances aside, that the judges were trying very hard to push this competition to the brink of competitiveness. Lauren Alaina did a very solid job tonight and her moving (well, okay, it was fairly contrived as well) version of Kristy Lee Cook's "Like My Mother Does" could end up being the song that upends season long frontrunner Scotty McCreery for the crown.

Alaina, who outside of a couple performances here and there, has never truly lived up to her promising Nashville, Tennessee audition but tonight could have represented a full circle bookmarking of "The One" as described by an increasingly creepy Steven Tyler. It pains me to talk so disparagingly of one of the all-time gods of music and a personal music hero of mine, but at the same time he has clearly been in the corner of Lauren all season long. Well, okay, he's pretty much been in everyone's corner all season long but especially Lauren's.

Scotty McCreery was typically solid but we have become so accustomed to his dominating performances week in and week out that perhaps being very good will not do him any good when it matters most. The judges predictably called it a draw, with each round going to each singer after the first two rounds (and mercifully after no judge feedback whatsoever following the first round) but the inevitable "evening out" hype of Lauren was also much deserved as well. Lauren saved one of her best, and definitely her most dramatic performance of the competition, for last.

The cynic in me can't help but be more than slightly suspicious of the sudden drama playing out where Lauren reportedly had laryngitis and was almost forced to bow out, which would have given the competition a much welcomed jolt of Hayley Reinhart who would have been reinstated into the competition and apparently would have encored three Hayley staples and was reportedly rehearsing with the band while press was filing in. Nobody has won me over more and more as the season has progressed as Hayley Reinhart. The 20 year-old Wheeling, Illinois crooner would have given the competition a much need contrast; even if the end result would have ended up being Scotty's to win by a large margin. The margin almost doesn't matter when the result is being played out live. The aftermath of the vote differential is a much more introspectively important exercise.

So the question remains - is this still Scotty's title to win or lose? The answer is probably a very tentative "probably" but Lauren's game-changing momentum grabber at the end could also have a very ironic side effect and end up motivating the tween-cougar voting block Scotty has had all season long. And remember, Lauren has been in the Bottom 3 once where as Scotty hasn't at all. Will it be enough?

Finally, it is the finale and so no matter how hardened your opinion, or even how surefooted you are in your prediction, some last minute doubt always creeps into your mind so we will all find out in about 24 hours just how true or misleading it all is. And it is still a ploy, even if it happens to be true, by the people at FOX and American Idol as they obviously know that the perception is that Scotty has this to win or lose. In the end, it really doesn't matter who wins. They will each have good careers. Right now I'd only predict Scotty to have a great career but it is still so early on in the game for them, and that given their genre, unlike some of the other more fortunate few Idols who have enjoyed post-FOX success, to guess to what extent this will hold true.

Whoever wins tomorrow night will shift a change in direction for the show in a couple senses. One, is that the younger contestants will now be heralded as a breathe of fresh air (even more so than already which is almost literally impossible to fathom), and that the country genre is undoubtedly tops right now in the world of music. The two finalists come from fairly conservative and religious Southern families and they have very loyally powerful demographical fan bases. It could also be the beginning of the end of American Idol as we know it. If this trend continues, it could just trend itself to its own demise. Those less than impressed and frustrated with the lack of true non-country firepower will bolt to The Voice and The X Factor in even greater numbers without just watching a combination of the shows, or even all of them.

When it comes down to it, the real result will truly be realized once Season 11 builds its momentum and starts to gain steam as it reaches its own Top 24 live rounds and beyond. And on that note, we will see what lies ahead in tomorrow's results show.

May 24, 2011 Thoughts + Notes (Pre-2011 American Idol Performance Finale)

Well. Here we are. Finally. The 2011 American Idol finale - Performance Night. First off, I have been battling some health issues (won't disclose unless it turns out to be at least somewhat serious because it's way too much information) so my blogs have dropped in activity the past few days as a result. I still have some blogs to write and post.

Still need to do the following posts:
* Updated Himay Co. Services + Rates
* What's Wrong With American Idol (And How To Fix It)
* The Future of The Music Industry: A Quick Look
* Himay Co.'s Favorite Season 10 Idols

And of course I'll be writing a post-performance night and post-finale blog about this year's American Idol two night conclusion starting tonight. Speaking of which...

There is no doubt that this looks like a very boring American Idol finale going into tonight. This definitely is the Country Idol finale. Can't see Lauren Alaina pulling the upset tonight unless it turns out that Scotty's runaway season campaign is really more of a final two Pia Toscano-like mirage. As we all remember, Pia Toscano was a lot of peoples' pick to win it all until it turned out she never had quite the voting support steam to really win the whole thing. It would take that kind of revelation tonight in order to derail not just a Scotty McCreery win but a Scotty McCreery rout of Lauren Alaina. Still, the country support will be very strong and if Lauren's supporters vote in high numbers then it could very well be more up for grabs than initially anticipated. That would be extra true if Scotty's fans sit on their hands. The bad news for Lauren, however, is that if this truly is Scotty's title to win or lose then a fellow country singer will probably keep Scotty's supporters from remaining complacent. Still, it's also possible that they have become too overconfident, even arrogant, that they will inadvertently shift the momentum to Lauren at the last minute tonight to win it for her.

Going into tonight, however, I just don't see it. All those things are very possible of course but smart money still points to a Scotty McCreery coronation Wednesday Night. They already have announced the first singles they will release and Lauren's is supposedly a Kristy Lee Cook cover. We will see what will happen tonight and tomorrow night. Other important Season 10 finale intel for tonight also indicates that Season 4 winner Carrie Underwood will pick a song for Lauren Alaina and George Strait will pick a song for Scotty McCreery as well as both of them singing a song they have already performed this season.

One thing we do know is that the reigning American Idol winner will not be on hand to pass the torch. Not only that, but as Lyndsey Parker also predicts, that her own pick this year will not outsell her predicted runner-up in the long run. We'll see if Lyndsey turns out to be right. She does predict a much, much tighter race than everyone seems to believe it will be and she might very well be right. Read the blog; it's a good one - as usual. We both still think it's Scotty's to win or lose. One contestant who is already preparing to launch a single is fan favorite Pia Toscano. Ryan Seacrest broke this news today on his radio program but how will her Season 10 contemporaries do?

Himay Co. asked that question of MTV producer Jim Cantiello on this American Idol website and once the transcript becomes available I will post what I asked him because he initially squirmed at the question. I will try to have it up by Wednesday afternoon or evening. It also depends on the news I get from the doctor and the severity of the news. Obviously if it is not good news then I will not be in too much of a mood to discuss unless I choose to vent instead.

Regardless, my prediction is still for Scotty McCreery to take it. It might be closer than anticipated, but unless he stumbles and Lauren Alaina is good enough, and I do believe she has to be near flawless tonight as well in all likelihood, then Scotty will have to lock 'em doors from all his female supporters trying to kick them down just to get a piece of him. I do think that Lauren will have more of a career than people think; whether or not Ms. Parker's assertion turns out to be true remains to be seen but I do think she'll be able to stay in music for a living at worst. At least one of them could, if not will, become a country superstar. Unlike some of the other genres, country is so strong that it has plenty of room for one or two more stars in its stable.

I do think Scotty deserves to win much more than Lauren. Scotty has been more consistent, hasn't stumbled, hasn't beaten himself up over details, hasn't made the same level of mistakes and then beaten himself up over it, and is clearly more mature and stardom ready than Lauren. However, if Steven Tyler's anointed "The One" performs very well and Scotty is either substandard and/or his fans get complacent, then anything can still happen.

We'll see.

May 20, 2011 Thoughts + Notes

Several things on tap for Himay Co. in the upcoming days and weeks. It's been a very busy time trying to get a ton of different things done and so here's a quick synopsis of what will be coming shortly.


On The Himay Co. Agenda:

Updating Services & Rates

What's Wrong With American Idol (And How To Fix It)

The Future of The Music Industry: A Quick Look

Himay Co.'s Favorite Season 10 American Idols

Just a reminder to check out some other recent blogs. Among the topics:

Himay Co. Services & Rate Update In The Works

Emily Valentine of "The Voice" Impresses This Blogger

Hayley Reinhart's Rise & (Literal) Fall And Possible Future

"Country" Idol Is The Final: Should We Be Worried Next Week AND Beyond?

The Finale Is Set: Scotty McCreery v.s. Lauren Alaina But Worries Abound About American Idol

I figured that there stood a good chance of an all country finale on American Idol this year but I've quickly gotten over it and have moved onto bigger and brighter things, like pondering the meaning of what an all country finale means for the show both for next week and beyond. However, more favorably I have already begun, quite sullenly, to contemplate what this all means for the quirkier and quite frankly, far more interesting Top 24 contestants, like James Durbin, Casey Abrams, Hayley Reinhart, Pia Toscano, and even Paul McDonald and Rachel Zevita. There were so many interesting and yet almost vindictively polarizing talents this season that the all out Twitter war that has been cranked up to stupid just the past few weeks alone has become an alarming battle cry for a return to more reasoned sanity between Idol viewers.

I can't help but be philosophical about what, where, and how the divide comes down. Is it geopolitical more than anything? Has it just become way too "I'm A Little Bit Country...I'm A Little Bit Rock" cliche or is it that it divides almost as much down red state/blue state lines as it does just musical taste? More accurately, is that the divide itself? I'd personally vote for the latter. I think. Unless Nigel Lythgoe has some compelling data on tap to counter my spontaneously spouted theorized assertion. Still, I have to imagine that there's at least more than just a grain of truth to that accusation. And I suppose it is just that - an accusation.

The show has been losing its core soul for some time now and I'd always been a very casual viewer up until a few years ago when I started taking it more seriously. However, I tuned back out for the most part sans a couple season finales and so now I have to watch past episodes online on very sketchy and barely reliable sites that clearly play Russian Roulette with your internet security apparatus and yet you still have no choice but to roll the dice if you are as desperate as I am for my pop culture fixes.

And then things changed. I started working for T1V2 Productions and suddenly these shows were also homework as much as anything else. They were research subjects, social marketing lab rats, and the audition and Hollywood rounds became must see television. The departure of Simon Cowell, once deemed as a potentially fatal blow to the show's viability then became a sideshow for me, as Jennifer Lopez and Steven Tyler were big enough stars in their own right, and my task at hand was now finding the best talent possible to recruit on behalf of T1V2 Productions (or even myself) to sign, cover, promote, or any other combination. Perhaps I'd even get to play with them on an album.

Steven Tyler has endeared me however in a way and realm not previously thought imaginable. He has turned out to be a hip grandfatherly type, albeit without the unconditional tough love to boot, but he has showed a softer side although his obvious flirtations with girls literally young enough to be his granddaughters has been rather unsettling at times but even then it's at least humorous that he can still pass as being young at heart.

And the kindler, more gentler Season 10 has actually produced some more artistically lenient results because of the judging panel restructuring. It's hard to fathom Simon Cowell allowing Casey Abrams, Hayley Reinhart, James Durbin, or even Naima Adedapo or Rachel Zevita the necessary room and space to breathe in order to function as blossoming artists. Does anyone really think that Paul McDonald would have been repeatedly advanced, including to the Top 24 live phase, on Simon's watch much less with any encouragement? Well, technically I can't speak for Simon on what his thoughts on Paul McDonald are or would be but conventional wisdom dictates that he'd probably be a very mixed bag for someone like Simon. He'd probably not love his voice per se but he'd probably respect, even if begrudgingly, his quirky artistry and persona.

And it became impossible for me to not become passionately involved and invested in the show and personal advancement of these candidates. I became far more tolerant of the singers of different tastes and musical appeals than I ever would have if not for my own place in the music industry. How could I rail against any potential meal ticket because of his or her genre(s) just because it didn't jive with my own personal music collection? How disingenuously ungrateful of me would that have been if I were to have immediately shut down when it came to certain singers?

I have been James, Hayley, Casey, and Pia all the way (especially with Rachel, Thia, and Paul's departures) but  to say that I haven't grown to really appreciate some of the talents of whom I normally wouldn't rush out to buy - say Karen Rodriguez, Ashton Jones, Jacob Lusk, or Robbie Rosen - would be a very obnoxiously unappreciative sentiment to express about people who have busted their asses to get to where they are right now. And even when the personality divide existed, I never stopped respecting the natural talent of those not particularly my favorite. I started to see pop music and pop culture itself again thru new eyes; a new prism and it was certainly a much needed jolt.

It doesn't mean that I will suddenly embrace most R&B and pop or even country for that matter, but it's more about the singing talent itself again and I can still respect and even enjoy the actual voices of Scotty McCreery and Lauren Alaina - and I do. I just think that they have a leg up on most of their Top 24 contemporaries. Talented folks like Tim Halperin and Julie Zorrilla were unmercifully cast aside without the American public really having a true say in the matter, so that still very much concerns me, but at least their footing is headed in the right direction. I just question whether or not 19 Entertainment and Interscope have foresight and initiative to make the still necessary adjustments and take things to the next level.

I see a future for all these singers. They are not all created equal in my mind but for the sake of the show itself and the long-term credibility of both singing shows and the music industry itself, let us hope that these shows and their production company labels start getting it right. Let us hope that new alternatives like The X-Factor and The Voice drastically improve upon the preexisting model which is badly damaged and bruised but not necessarily to the point of no return.

It's not too late for Jimmy Iovine, Simon Fuller, and Nigel Lythgoe and company to save their credibility-tarnished brainchild. They smartly snatched up Pia Toscano upon the public outcry to her shocking elimination and even my other favorite underdog Rachel Zevita now has a deal with 19 Entertainment. And that's an encouraging sign. They are investing in their talent these days, perhaps even better than ever before, and with Jimmy Iovine and Interscope at the helm it's not too late for it to be a brand new day and a brand new era. If the show is really about creating stars then it can, should, and must start by making what all these singers do after their season's stint is over relevant and start making who makes it to the finale much more irrelevant or else they will have to find something else to do with their time because everyone watching before dissatisfied with the status quo will certainly find something else to do with theirs.

What Should Be And Hopefully Will Be Too: The Rise (and Fall!) of Haley Reinhart

In what would probably constitute as a full circled love affair with the very growlingly charming Hayley Reinhart, this year's quintessential American Idol underdog, I have found myself fully in her corner with the sudden and most unwelcome expulsion of James Durbin, and turning my attention to rooting for her in the face of the longest of odds in her unlikeliest of journeys in her quest to become this year's American Idol winner.

Lyndsey Parker of Reality Rocks on Yahoo! Music wrote a a brilliantly summarized blog about why she'll make it to the finals in what has inevitably felt like a battle for the runner-up spot in anticipation of a Scotty McCreery rout of whichever of the young ladies makes it to the finale. The increasingly country-tanged teen-cougar voting coalition of American Idol has proven to be a devastating blow to both the non-country and non-male artists showcased as well as quite possibly the long-term viability of the show, especially on the heels of NBC's very threatening shot across the bow and even on its own network when former mainstay Simon Cowell brings the even more highly anticipated new singing competition to FOX.

Suddenly Haley Reinhart is in the cultural conscience of the American psyche, the Rocky of American Idol, where even if she goes home Thursday Night, has already surpassed any reasonable expectation of sustainability on the show. She has fought, clawed, and growled her way to the Top 3, bringing her incredibly Rasputin Idol candidacy to the forefront of pop culture and gathering social media backed steam in the form of endorsements of Twitter-obsessed former Idols Kelly Clarkson, Ashley Rodriguez, Blake Lewis, Adam Lambert, and perhaps gathering voting steam on the heels of her Idol predecessors' flattering endorsements; no small feat or matter since the Idol audience is crucially deferential to those who graced the stage before those who are still on it during any current season.

Hayley's song choices have been constructed, deconstructed, praised, and judgmentally demolished by both the judges and the show's faithful viewers and yet every single week when her number is supposedly up she continues to have moment after moment and whether it's "House of The Rising Sun", "Piece of My Heart", "Rolling In The Deep",  "Bennie and the Jets", "I Who Have Nothing" or last night's historic father-daughter live performance collaboration of sacred Led Zeppelin's "What Is And What Should Never Be" bringing down the house and raising the roof of previously harsh cohorts Randy Jackson and Jennifer Lopez, there is no doubt that at least the artistic and performance momentum has clearly shifted in the competition that even the otherwise snarly American Idol thumbing coverage of the institutionally iconic gold standard bearer of the music journalism world Rolling Stone unleashed praise on the now thickly skinned battled-tested Reinhart which means that even the elite critic establishment is now gushing over the bubbly 20 year-old Wheeling, Illinois native. (Even her father is an axe-wielding bad ass!)

Conventional wisdom still has this competition in the bag for Scotty McCreery. And the dynamics of who wins isn't so much in question as much as who wins after American Idol wraps this season up. Scotty McCreery is already a superstar. Lauren Alaina remains a question mark. So far the conventional wisdom is that neither Lauren Alaina or Hayley Reinhart will have much of a career once they leave the safety (and weekly voting danger of course) of the American Idol stage.

And why is this? In praise of my new singing competition sweetheart over on NBC I both reminded and cautioned about the post-competition pitfalls of the typecasting trapping with regards to the futures of these singers. And part of that problem is that they are singing other peoples' music, not their own. I will be writing about that at some point soon (on many journalistic and personally artistically creative levels) but for now the viewers and production labels of these shows seem to be coldly indifferent to their post-show career arcs.

And that's a shame because this season alone on FOX we have seen several artists who could become hugely successful, even if only in specific genres ranging from reggae singer Naima Adedapo to bigwig contestants Casey Abrams (jazz/rock), James Durbin (hard rock/metal), Jacob Lusk (gospel/soul), to country star shoe-in frontrunner Scotty McCreery and pop standout Pia Toscano. And the sooner the better because timing is everything in this industry, especially with the ever fading attention span of the "What's next?" minded public.

So why is this? It's tough to tell. This was the season that was going to change everything and instead it looks like The Voice is measuring up much more favorably and this is potentially fatal news, or at least long-term, to the show's durability, where new judges were a mixed bag but bringing in the much needed truth telling smackdown candor of Interscope's mastermind Jimmy Iovine was just the right dose of medicine the show needed. And that has really proven to be just another disappointing falsehood of an otherwise brilliant stage and career advancing forum. However, if it's not really advancing the careers of these extremely, and often far technically superior singers to even some of music's vocal legends, is both damaging to pop culture itself as well as more specifically to these singers and even 19 Entertainment and FOX's own brand. And why? It's so obvious and counter-productive it's just plain wrong and even tragically silly.

And when you have an incredible talent like Hayley Reinhart who has beauty, sexiness, charisma, personality, and a much more subtle than given credit for toughness, it is tough to argue against trying to create the new thing as opposed to the usual boring retread of typically junky pop garbage as exhibited by Beyonce herself in that just terrible song and video. If you're that reliant on dancing and being scantily dressed, there's something irreversibly wrong about your "art" and "creative" process. It hence renders it impossible to argue against keeping someone relevant that can be a hybrid of Adele, Joss Stone, Stevie Nicks, and Janis Joplin herself.

I don't know who will advance tonight to be perfectly honest; although it'd be astonishing if Scotty wasn't at least one of them. However, when you are knocking on the door of a career of an old school spirit of someone like the charmingly cutely precocious Hayley Reinhart, it's by definition insanity to not recognize that what could be is yes, what should also be too. So let us hope that her very literal fall last night isn't also foreshadowing of a more figurative one. And now, regardless of her final placing on American Idol, we find out if she has one more, and by far the most important, act of survival that it too will ultimately be up to and decided upon by a loving but equally unforgiving typecast-prone public.

And while we await the verdict on that, let's at least take comfort in the more optimistic parallel that when she fell last night she got up, did so right away, didn't miss a beat, and smiled about it while in the moment. And perhaps more importantly and telling than anything, everyone watching took notice. Hayley knew even in that moment that it perfectly summarized her entire mega-underdog music journey up to this point and at this point falling and laughing about it was her own version of a sympathetically defiant victory lap in the face of all her doubting critics and adversity she has battled up to this point. And perhaps that's what Hayley Reinhart herself was smiling about most of all.

American Idol Top 3 Night: Preliminary Review

The consensus going into Wednesday Night's was that it was a head-to-head duel between Lauren Alaina and Hayley Reinhart to avoid getting the axe and that the winner's prize would be the honor of getting routed by Scotty McCreery in next week's American Idol finale. Scotty's three performances were all very strong, particularly given that this still is his competition to win or lose and I believe that nothing has changed since the start of tonight's broadcast. Scotty did what he had to do - not screw up. He had three consistent performances and that very FOX forced father-son moment after Scotty's third performance was incredibly slanted and while there's no doubt that Hayley's usage of her own father playing a rather impressive lead guitar on Led Zeppelin's "What Is And Should Never Be" is as well, let's not kid ourselves that all things are equal. Scotty's not only in it to win it but provided he doesn't screw up so badly and/or renounce Jesus Christ as his savior to his Bible Belt-Cougar-Teenage Girl voting coalition, he has this made in the bag and it's really an inevitability at this point.

Lauren Alaina did a very nice job tonight; especially her second performance. That was the perfect song for her to sing and she nailed it but when Jennifer Lopez and Randy Jackson still said Scotty won the round, it probably nullified Steven Tyler's vote of confidence for Lauren Alaina and I can't imagine that even if she does make it to next week that she still won't go down in flames unless Scotty is epically upset this week. That would be an upset of monumental proportions and I just don't see it happening. Her third performance was solid enough but I just feel that her second performance was still her big moment and two out of three of the judges still went with Scotty.

It's an interesting dynamic playing out now in terms of the two country-angled remaining contestants. Lauren's going home means that Hayley has a chance to galvanize what's left of the underdog vote but she also runs the risk of being routed that much more in the finale by the voting bloc of Lauren's crossing over to Scotty unless Lauren's fans would be so incensed about Hayley taking her spot and they either rebel against Hayley or just don't vote at all.

So strangely enough Scotty's being upset tomorrow night would actually create the even more interesting dynamic along those lines. Scotty's crowning has been a near season long inevitability and his fans sure as hell know that. Their emotions would theoretically be the highest, most mixed, and most toxic to the entire voting process. Would his fans rebel against either of the girls or would they strongly pull together and vote for fellow country artist Lauren? Or would they blame both of the girls for the split and just sit out the race in its final lap. If the latter, or if they shifted their allegiances to Hayley in the final, it would almost certainly mean that Hayley would become the biggest upset winner ever -  perhaps even more so than Taylor Hicks.

And Hayley went out and absolutely nailed Led Zeppelin - no easy task to say the least. Just getting approval from the notoriously lease-stingy surviving band members is tough enough but to go out, do the song and the band justice, and make it the moment of the night and Hayley's new staple performance is an entirely different thing altogether. She's been the most beat up contestant by the judges all season long but she's also a survivor. The one thing that could wreck Hayley's chances of advancing past this round is the curious selection of Alanis Moirisette's highly sexually charged scorned woman's rocker anthem. I think this was the death knell. They picked three vocal titans of the music industry for her to sing and for the very reason why the level of difficulty should help her with a curve is the very same reason why she might not survive.

I strongly believe that Hayley deserves at least a shot in the final. Scotty has been the most consistent of the remaining three contestants with James Durbin now (shamefully) gone. (He should have won the whole thing - hands down.) And he deserves a chance. And Lauren has never truly recaptured her initial magic that the producers and judges keep trying to remind us on a weekly basis. And the "Lauren is back!" fatigue has hit new levels. The country block already fully committed to Scotty at this point might hurt Lauren but we'll see. They could still be stuffing the ballot boxes for both of them for one more week regardless of what happens.

I still think it's a coin toss between Lauren and Hayley for this week. My heart says that Hayley advances but my mind is the thing undecided. The judges kept saying that Lauren won the night but let's not kid ourselves - they want an all country final. I would be personally bored by that but outside of my own personal taste (hell, I'm bored anyways with James), America probably feels the same way. That seems to be the consensus. Will the judges' praiseworthy comments about Lauren propel her into the finale our will Hayley's supporters voice their outrage again after her incredibly strong night and raise some hell and help send Lauren, not the devil, back to Georgia.

May 18, 2011 Notes & Loose Ends

Woke up today around 11:10 AM after not falling asleep until about 5:30 this morning. I was finishing my blog about The Voice singer Emily Valentine and her internet show broadcast. I am very happy to report that she loved my blog about her. I'll be very interested to see how her battle round went and if America gets the chance to vote for her. I sure hope so.

In other news, I am in great personal debt and Capital One is currently dispatching its team of hired thugs and financial goons on my ass to collect money I don't have. What's in my wallet? Offhand I'd have to guess about four dollars and a four dollar balance left on my Starbucks gift card. As the kids like to say, I am F'd in the A. Well, okay, I love that expression too.

Tonight is American Idol night - which means that now that James Durbin is gone I am deeply saddened. I think that the judges have toyed with Hayley Reinhart long enough and I suppose I am now throwing my support behind her but I am not a Scotty McCreery or Lauren Alaina hater and I still think that this is Scotty's competition to win or lose. Plus, the Cougars are out and about in full force and you have to imagine that based on last year's ridiculous misjustice of Lee DeWyze "winning" against the superiorly talented and (clearly outperforming Lee head-to-head) that Scotty probably has this in the bag. James was the only threat to him in all likelihood.

Watching Emily's live show last night inspired me to brush off my personal discouragements of my own early Blog TV trial and error webcasts that I am still too embarrassed to post a link for. Most people don't like to see or hear themselves recorded but I absolutely hate it. I both look and sound very young for my age. Still, I need to get back on that horse sooner rather than later.

I will be posting my post-Idol blog from tonight's broadcast on later tonight but make sure you also catch Emily's live webcasts at 10:45/9:45 EST/CT (and 7:45 PST) here!

Speaking of American Idol, I have exchanged some tweets with this former Idol and I must say that he is one cool and righteous dude. Wish him luck with his next endeavors and trying to costar with this impressive young super cool Canadian actor.

At any rate, that's about it for now. Please be sure to follow me on Twitter!

The Voice Produces Again But Emily Valentine Steals The Night For Me

She's covered in tattoos. She told me, um, us that Simon Cowell was really nice to her during her American Idol audition. And she's not afraid to involve her own mother in her live broadcasts. The great thing about the reality show singing competitions is that you are introduced to next door neighbor types, earnest go getters just trying to better their lives by pursuing their passions and their natural talents. Almost all of them are likable and are at worst pleasant enough and people you can respect, even if you do not care for their actual talents. However, very few actually have that thing. That thing that helps keep people in the spotlight, keep them relevant; you know - water cooler fodder.

There are some people who are just so beautiful and talented, even pioneers for what they do - Kelly Clarkson certainly qualifies and Carrie Underwood is right there beside her. And even if Carrie's husband Mike Fisher wasn't playing for the Nashville Predators (via the Ottawa Senators), we'd still know Carrie because of her own accomplishments, not because of who she is married to.

Sadly, outside of a handful of examples, such as Kelly, Carrie, Jennifer Hudson, David Cook, Chris Daughtry, and perhaps even Adam Lambert, the post-reality show staying power for these aspiring singers is very limited and they are cornered by the cruelest form of collusion; a typecasting audience and growth-stifling suits who are even too dumb to at least see the wisdom in enhancing their own bottom lines.

If there's anything I've learned about the dismembering of a once proud music industry, it's that they will shove any suit-manufactured pop fluff crap down peoples' throats without any regard whatsoever to creative integrity and creative freedom and in the age of the rise of social media prowess, very few true artists are able to escape that ugly paradigm. And why is it? And why are the people out there who are actually very media savoy and/or too charismatic to be ignored being just that - ignored?

All of which leads me back to the one and only Emily Valentine, currently on NBC's The Voice, and more specifically Team Cee Lo. As a newly minted freelance music consultant on the outside looking in, and just as a musician and artist myself, I respect and embrace any free spirited fellow creative type looking to both harness and stick it to the very system that has forsaken true individuality in the name of just mass producing anything that can sell right away to the pre-teen girls and culturally susceptible teenagers of America. And Emily proudly, but in a very slyly understated manner, is a very worthy poster child of that rebellion.

As part of my duties for T1V2 Productions in Willingboro, New Jersey (about 20 miles from where I live in my hometown of Lawrenceville, New Jersey), I compile and track the social media apparatuses of every single reality TV singer/contestant I can get my hands on as part of an effort to recruit more singers for the music production company I do work for. T1V2 Productions already has former American Idol Cheyenne Lavene under its belt and those I work with and for have connections to some of the biggest names in the industry, including Robin Thicke, Macy Gray, Vanessa Williams, Jill Scott, Ryan Leslie, and indirect ties to one of the five biggest artists in the world right now but am probably not at liberty to disclose - yet. (And on a personal note my brother and I went to high school with country superstar Dierks Bentley.) I've also been in some direct on and off negotiations with an American Idol contestant from this year and I've had plenty of interaction with many others as well.

So I am always looking for new talent to scout out, recruit, or just take under my wing as willing guinea pigs as I look to make my own mark in the music business as a freelance music creative services consultant as well as a Cameron Crowe like one man Rolling Stone social media operation in a very Almost Famous kind of way of course. In this day in age, we're mostly past the point of playing in clubs while hoping for a talent scout from a label to notice you playing but it cuts both ways. It seems to also be that it has had unintended backlashing consequences as well and those we learn to embrace on these shows become fleeting memories once their time on them is over.

And that'd be a shame because there are some interesting personalities out there and I can't think of a more apropos example of a could be shinning star who should be embraced by the ever changing music and cultural landscape than the very socially accessible and charismatic Emily Valentine. In addition to having a tremendous voice, her own willingness to start her own little TV companion show to the one she's actually on nationally is an endearing quality when you realize how willing she is to break down her own propped up profile on the show and to just undo the grand scale build up that a major television network has suddenly enabled her with and yet her own earnestness tells her that it's not enough. There is no settling with this little NBC show that is certainly attracting anywhere between 20-50 million viewers a week right now and so she plunges herself into the live internet show world that has seemingly exploded rather thunderously in recent years.

With just anywhere between tens and low hundreds of viewers tuned in, Emily opened up about her day-to-day live, more joyfully and humorously than otherwise, and with her mother in the background apparently taking a bath but very aware of what her daughter was up to. Just going about her night, and with two of her best friends just dropping by with no heads up that they'd soon be on a live internet broadcast feed, she just naturally with no hesitation incorporated her friends, mother, and even her unusual choice of take out food (seaweed) into the live broadcast equation.

Emily Valentine promises to be online on her web broadcast every day at 7:45 PM (Pacific Time) to talk about whatever is on her mind and to get any kind of additional exposure she can. One of her friends, Thomas, is in a boy band and she name drops that he's in a band under the care of one of Lady Gaga's producers. (I think I have that right - I'm sure I'll be corrected if that's not right.) She handles the live comment feed with grace and humor, even though many, as is often the case with predominately male viewers on these sites, contain incredibly inappropriate and rather crude commentary.

Valentine is no fool. She confidently acknowledges that she expects her audience to be overwhelmingly male and without skipping a beat, confesses that she hasn't learned quite yet how to ban the perverts, jerks, and all-around idiots from her broadcast. Not only does she not dismiss them, she feverishly encourages them to stick around and then breaks out a very well rhymed verse about the haters ("See you later, hater" was the gist of it when the worst offender finally leaves). Quick on her feet, and very quick witted, she has the smarts, the charm, and the social media awareness to succeed on The Voice and beyond.

We don't know her battle round result (supposedly against Curtis Grimes) but for her competition's sake they better hope that she didn't advance to the live rounds. Whatever you might think she is on the surface, whatever you might think of her physical appearance, her tattoo covered body, she is anything but chopped liver and those who underestimate her are the ones in for a rude awakening. I've already started to formulate my own opinions, theories, and predictions about who will win the whole damn thing on this show but despite my newfound affinity for some of her competition like the ultra social media shrewd and mature beyond her years Casey Weston, Emily Valentine has already emerged as both a potential dark horse and a strong contender. Those on and off the show overlooking and looking past her will do so at their own peril.

Towards the end of her broadcast, Emily realizes that she is starting to lose viewers. In the background is her mother, recently out of the bathroom, dispensing wisdom to her 23 year-old daughter in Hollywood, California (fittingly enough as it is in its own right) that the first rule of show business is to keep the audience wanting more. She sweetly obliges and within the next minute informs her viewers that she's going to be going now. Her mother's right though. It's true - and it's worked - at least on me. And I think that given the opportunity, it will on America as well.

She might be on the hottest new show on NBC, if not television in general, but tonight at least she's still been canceled by her own mom. Tough, sweet, charming, smart, and overall just an infectiously under the radar personality, her uniqueness is her biggest asset and most dangerous weapon to her competition. And that's exactly why she just could win this whole damn thing.  It's late in the morning and as I check my Twitter account one more time before going to bed, a tweet I posted while Emily was broadcasting gets a response from her fellow The Voice singer Lily Elise about something I said to her about one of her own tweets. Lily auditioned and had to be given a second chance after Christina Aguilera openly regretted not selecting her right away during the blind auditions. (She was able to rectify that during the callback stage.) These singers are talented. They are everywhere on Twitter and Facebook right now. They are playing the game right now. And they are already very effective salespeople. I'm already sold; this Emily is certainly my new artistic Valentine. And I believe if given the chance, she'll be America's too. And that's just that much more reason to keep tuning in.

(The Voice appears on Tuesdays at 10 PM on NBC.)

Follow Emily Valentine on Twitter at twitter.com/TheEmilyMachine

Follow Lily Elise on Twitter at twitter.com/LilyElise

Follow me (Jamie Cole) at twitter.com/HimayCo

To email me (and/or contact me and/or to inquire about my professional services), please contact me:

jcole@himayco.com.

Here is some additional social media intel for Emily Valentine:

www.nbc.com/the-voice/artists/emily-valentine

www.facebook.com/EmilyValentineTheVoice

twitter.com/TheEmilyMachine

Himay Co. Services Update

Currently updating services, rates, and packages for Himay Co. artist and business packages. It should be done sometime on Wednesday, May 18th, 2011. If you are a current, former, or even future American Idol, X-Factor, The Voice, or any other reality TV singer/contestant or just a local artist or business from wherever, please consider Himay Co. for creative promotional services! Will be posting a blog once ready for all to see on Twitter (and eventually Facebook once that mess is untangled) and eventually on the URL site (when that SUPER mess is untangled).

Here's a sneak peak of the type of services I am providing and/or will be providing in the future:

UPDATED 2011 HIMAY CO. RATES & SERVICES (AND PACKAGES)

ARTIST BASIC PACKAGE SERVICES

Profile

Articles

Interviews

Discography

Calendar

Booking Availability & Pricing/Booking

Management Intel & Contact Information

Awards & Accolades

Artist’s Prerogative

Social Media (Setup and/or Running)

• Facebook
• MySpace
• Twitter
• URL (s)
• Reverb Nation
• Band Mix
• YouTube
• Blog(s)
• Song Player & Video Player
• Links

PREMIUM

Ad Writing

E-Newsletter(s) (Weekly, Bi-Weekly, Monthly, Annual, or Occasional)

Press Release Authoring

Membership Directories

Gathering & Posting of Testimonials

CD Sampler & Promotion Services

Research

Typing

Writing/Authoring & Speechwriting

Freelance Investigative Journalism

Publications/E-Publications

• Guide(s)
• Proposals
• Programs

BUSINESS BASIC PACKAGE SERVICES

Profile

Article(s)

Interview(s)

Body of Work (w/Time Stamps)

Calendar (w/Promotional Time Table)

[Key] Products & Pricing

Management Intel & Contact Information

Links & Video Links

Awards & Accolades

Business’s Prerogative

Social Media (Setup and/or Running)

• Facebook
• MySpace
• Twitter
• URL (s)
• Reverb Nation
• Band Mix
• YouTube
• Blog(s)

Ad Writing

E-Newsletter(s) (Weekly, Bi-Weekly, Monthly, Annual, or Occasional)

Press Release Authoring

Membership Directories

Gathering & Posting of Testimonials

CD Sampler & Promotion Services

Research

Typing

Writing/Authoring & Speechwriting

Freelance Investigative Journalism

Publications/E-Publications

• Guide(s)
• Proposals
• Programs

Was Ryan Seacrest Trying To Hint To Us To Help James Durbin Wednesday Night?

We're all somewhat shocked by James Durbin's Thursday Night elimination but something I initially picked up on live on Wednesday Night didn't truly ring true to me or raise a red flag of any sorts until I did my weekly encore viewing of each night's broadcasts late night Friday. It should have, and it started to for a few brief seconds, but they ended up being very fleeting ones and my failure to trust my instincts was the reason why I didn't make a bigger stink about it at the time. Now granted, it was already all hindsight at that point during my second viewing of it but I did feel that even at the time that I found it tellingly interesting how Seacrest felt inclined to remind viewers that this was the point of the competition in which they lost the now established rock star Chris Daughtry of his namesake band Daughtry. As if that wasn't too subtle, a nod (both figuratively and literally) aimed at James Durbin himself (fellow rocker + 4th Place!) was enough of a tip off that we all should have recognized at the time as foreshadowing of things to come and/or at least enough of a heeding that it was no time for complacency to become en vogue if a James Durbin booster.

It stands to reason that the roughing up of Hayley Reinhart by Randy Jackson and Jennifer Lopez, although primarily Jackson, is a huge reason that it was not Hayley (once again) packing her bags to go home, and not just for the quite over the top but very in-style American Idol homecoming they reserve for the Top 3 finalists every season. It's quite possible that Hayley's now presumed sympathy vote tally elevated her enough to propel her into the Top 3 whereas it would have normally been her going home, or even Lauren Alaina. Hayley's first performance indeed wasn't anything short of disaster and had the now re-sensitized American Idol viewing audience not been initially volatile in reaction to Randy Jackson's actual critique of Hayley Reinhart's first song tanking, things very well might have taken a different turn and thereby sustaining James Durbin's spot on the show instead of Hayley's.

And that might not have even been the point of disintegration for Durbin's Idol stint at that point. It's very plausible that the audience really didn't turn on Jackson (and even Lopez for that matter) until Randy rather rudely and even unprofessionally answered Seacrest's question of who was singing the best after Round 1 with his obnoxious quip about it being a three-way tie (sans Hayley of course) - when we were down to the Top 4. And I am a huge Randy Jackson fan; make no mistake about it. I love the Dawg but his piling onto Hayley instead of shortening his critique to more concise, summarized points was nothing short of emotional abuse of a frequently criticized contestant while others have gone unscathed due to blatantly vicious double standards of judging week in and week out. So every week Hayley has surprised us by outlasting someone, she has perhaps gained the support of the previous contestant's voting block for the next week. Now I would venture to guess that James' voting block will be that much more all in or all out with her now because they might not want to go country but they might not want to reward the very person they might (again, rather unfairly) scapegoat as the reason why James Durbin is home with Heidi and Hunter right now minus the ticker-tape parade and key to the city. Or they could surprise us again and either divide right down the middle or just sit on the sidelines out of sheer protest.

And it could also be that while a good portion of viewers turned on Hayley for giving what was really some much needed and even more deserved sass right back at Jackson and Lopez (where was the criticism of Scotty McCreery for hardly ever mixing it up or not showing off his admittedly underrated range?), it also endeared her to just as many others, if not many more. She might have also earned a lot of respect and admiration - and more importantly, votes - from people who actually realized that Hayley Reinhart is not the "Queen B" type her detractors are wrongly vilifying her for being but rather the America's Sweetheart type singer who has morphed into the Rocky contestant of the season and would probably become the greatest upset winner ever on the show with the possible exception of Taylor Hicks.

Hayley Reinhart is an attractive 20 year-old with range, personality, charisma, and a knack for chopping block survival and outside of back-to-back off first performances the past two weeks, has peaked at the right time in the home stretch of the competition. The combination of this and the quite possible taking for granted voting contingency of James Durbin helped form the perfect storm for Durbin to be unceremoniously discarded too early.

Casey Abrams was eliminated twice with the most interesting range of the competition. James Durbin had the craziest range of all the competition. And Pia Toscano had the most beautiful range of all the competition this year. They were all voted off prematurely (Casey twice - although he had some growling issues each time at least) and when executive producer Nigel Lythgoe immediately pounced on the boisterous backlash over Pia's ousting, it was with the news that Ms. Toscano never had the traction and polling we had all led ourselves to believe she had. It's still Cougar Country and the words cougar and country are very much relevant to the competition these days. America screwed it up royally last year when the very affable and nice but ultimately bland Lee DeWyze outlasted the more perceived aloof but vastly superiorly talented Crystal Bowersox (for any doubt, please consult the Tuesday Night broadcast of last year's season finale in which Ms. Bowersox wiped the floor with Mr. DeWyze).

Lee's a good guy. And Crystal's not the distant personality she's made out to be. However, the voting patterns on American Idol in recent years have definitely been trending towards the personality and preferred personal genre tastes of the voting viewers rather than who actually deserves to win the show and James Durbin's ousting is a harsh reminder of this disturbing trend. I will be writing soon about why the show needs to be very worried about The Voice and this trend is another reason. Of course, those same cougars and teenage girls could very well be depriving talented young acts like Casey Weston and Casey Diamond on NBC in the weeks to come. (Casey Weston by the way is my new personal favorite; she's already very social media savoy, she is extremely gracious with Facebook postings and Twitter messages - and yes, I already speak from experience. And make no mistake about it - the mature and social media savoy 18 year-old high school senior is playing the game quite shrewdly already just like Scotty McCreery is every week on FOX.)

And all this leads back to the end of Wednesday Night's broadcast. Ryan Seacrest will never cop to it, whether by free will or by pressure of those who pay him his staggering annual salary, but it's also quite possible he subconsciously hinted towards the one man who really did deserve to win the show from the very beginning when the measuring stick is what it's supposed to be: talent, range, artistry, and consistency, consistency, and more consistency. (And his back story! Where's the overly emotional Idol audience on that one?!!)

Ryan's seen this movie before a million times - and he's privy to the results before they air them and he probably sees the trends of voters. Many people already felt that the producers wanted the Scotty-James showdown everyone felt was going to happen (especially with Casey and Pia out of the way to help pave the way that much more) and instead, barring complacency on Scotty's fans' part and/or a split in the country vote with Lauren Alaina, we now have the clear runaway winner waiting in the wings in two weeks in Scotty McCreery.

The slamming of Hayley, although deserved, and although the same audience critical of the judges for not being just that - more critical this season - performed their own double standard and overcorrected Jackson's initially dead on and perfectly civil critiquing of Hayley Reinhart and instead lumped that into his more obnoxious follow up comment and probably helped Hayley get enough support to live another day - again.

Of course, it probably would have stood to reason that it still was her time to go and yet we are bidding adieu to James - and hopefully just for the show because he actually has much better than most post-Idol viability if developed correctly - and fast - i.e. Pia Toscano. And as James sang "Maybe I'm Amazed" one more time on the stage, the song title finally rang true the first time around and perhaps we were all amazed that he was the one going home but perhaps Ryan Seacrest was amazed too and that he saw a writing on the wall that had nothing to do with voter backlash, judges' comments of a competing contestant, hurt feelings, hyper-sensitive oriented viewers, self-contradictorily natured voters becoming as schizophrenic in their voting patterns as the judges are with their judging standards for all the contestants, and the whole nine yards before any of us did and that he was amazed that we didn't heed his warning in the guise of subtle but powerfully direct verbal cues and a physical gesture lost upon an increasingly less music-sophisticated voting audience and American music listener.

I'm Back

So it's been almost two months since my last posting and I apologize for this but I have been recovering from two recent health scares and my attention has been diverted for other reasons as well. I have been able to finally Skype with Darrell Hays of T1V2 Productions in the meantime and we talked about both our separate agendas as well as our collective agenda too. I will be announcing some new initiatives and projects in the coming days and weeks. I have several talent recruitment initiatives to undergo as well recruiting more recognizable names for some more high profile projects. I will also be blogging my initial thoughts about "The Voice" which I strongly believe should be worrying Simon Fuller, Nigel Lythgoe and company. Plus, I will be trying to do some reporting/covering of some of my favorite Idols of the season with a couple ones popping  into my head right away. At any rate, that's all for now.