Galveston

I watched the movie “Black Swan” last night. I gotta be honest here. I care about ballet about as much as I care about dryer lint. Natalie Portman isn’t one of my go-to actresses, and Mila Kunis playing a ballerina was really weird.

I didn’t care about the subject matter, I wasn’t watching to see my favorite actors, and I don’t like psychological thrillers all that much in the first place. The only reason I watched was to see what all the fuss was about.

I loved the movie, and I was genuinely moved by the ending. No, not the death trip, but how they could make some artless clod like me understand an art form I don’t care about. There is an Idol parable in there somewhere about connecting to your audience, but I don’t know how to explain it. Watch the movie. It’s terrific. Ok, where are we tonight?

Houston … Galveston? I don’t know, and I don’t care. It’s singers singing. Let’s do this thing….

The singers:

Skylar Laine, 17: Cute kid, decent singer; not an Idol contender with that accent after Scotty won last year. Did anyone else catch that moment with her sister, when Steven made sure that she was of age before he hugged her? Skylar is probably fodder for the next round, but she’ll have fun in Hollywood…….. Baylie Brown, 21: She made it to group night five years ago. She’ll make it past that this year if the spoiler is correct, but I don’t believe that she’s a real contender. She has a sweet tone and she can generate some power, but she doesn’t sing free and easy. She sings from the top of her head instead of from down inside. Pressure will create serious problems for a singer like that, causing her to shout or have noticeable pitch issues …….. Kristine Osorio, 28: She has a really strong voice with some character, but does she have any stage presence? She was a little sloppy with her phrasing too, in an “I know that’s when I’m supposed to bend the note, but I’m not feeling it” kind of way. I’m not sold at all…….. Linda Williams, 24: I’m with J-Lo on this one. If she was a cat I would have thrown a shoe at her. She made my ears hurt……

Cortez Shaw, 20: I was hoping he could sing better than he did because he is so likeable, but he wasn’t on par with the best of the past Idol contenders. He only missed a few notes, but they were notes a good singer never misses…… Ramiro Garcia, 28: Without the back-story he would probably have been borderline, but only a real cynic would crap on this kid’s parade. From no ears to making the cut on Idol? Priceless. He is obviously a huge longshot, but he does have some character in his voice that makes him interesting. If he had a falsetto to work with I would compare his voice to Chris Medina’s. Chris, in case you forgot, was the contestant from last season whose wife was severely handicapped from an auto accident. He was ousted right before the semis, and J-Lo famously went on a crying jag. I wouldn’t be surprised if Ramiro causes another crying jag when he is eliminated.

Idol video time….. I’m sure I’ll get a few catcalls for my next pick, but I can take it. This video plays over the ending credits for the movie “House Bunny”. I watched the movie for (cough) reasons that didn’t include “this might be a really good movie”, but it was terrific. I wouldn’t call it a chick flick, but its way more clever than the title would lead you to believe. Emma Stone was terrific in her first lead role alongside Anna Faris. Kat Dennings, who is famous now as the dark haired, shirt filling waitress on “2 Broke Girls”, had a supporting role (and she’s in the video, look for her). Kat McPhee was in the movie, playing a 9 months pregnant sorority sister. She does most of the singing in the video.

Any suggestions? Favorites? Love anyone? Hate anyone? Bored? Listless? Not sleeping well? Concerned that middle aged women are popping up all over TV talking about their bowel movements? Seriously, when did that become a thing?