Amy Winehouse actually did something semi-music-related this weekend, when the above clip–of her plonking away on a guitar and mewling backing vocals while her goddaughter pretty capably sang Alicia Keys’ “If I Ain’t Got You”–was posted to Pete Doherty’s very active YouTube channel. But of course, it was another clip on Doherty’s video blog, titled “winemouse,” that got most of the attention and made me wonder one thing: How low could the Internet go?
In which we try to predict whether or not Randy’s dubbing Syesha “No. 3” of the final three American Idol contestants was some sort of astrological prediction written in the star-chart shirt he wore last night–or another piece of the mounting pile of evidence that the producers have been gaming the system for a David/David finale since the night Chikezie was eliminated. For anecdotal purposes, DialIdol ranks the hopefuls Cook-Archuleta-Mercado, while the top Idol-related search term on Google Trends is (ugh) “Switchfoot,” at No. 57. America: It can’t get enough of that post-millennial grunge! Vote after the jump.
I slogged through the first half of last night’s main-stage-closing set by Roger Waters–which was billed as “Roger Waters Dark Side Of The Moon“–partially out of masochism, partially in the interest of sociological research, and partially because I didn’t feel like dragging my ass over to the stuffed-to-capacity-all-weekend dance tent to see Modeselektor, who were the only other act playing for the first portion of Waters’ set. While it was interesting in a “so this is who he lured out to the desert” sort of way, it was also infuriating, and at one point a friend said to me, “I can hear your eyes rolling back from here.” But no portion of the evening filled me with more rage than the pre-show, which had as its visual an old-timey radio, a model airplane, and a tumbler of whiskey; every so often, a hand would reach into frame to change the station and/or refill the glass, and the stations that the hand hit on, for the most part, had a playlist that lulled the classic-rock fans in attendance into a state of self-righteousness: Bob Dylan, “Hound Dog,” and “My Funny Valentine.” There was also a “humorous” bit when the radio somehow was all-ABBA, all the time, and hand man couldn’t escape from the tyranny of radio! ABBA! I mean, could you believe the nerve!
Earlier this month, I posted about my difficulty enjoying the work of R. Kelly in the light of his “alleged” sexual misconduct. Now that I’ve finally listened to the first single from his new album (the brilliantly titled 12 Play: Fourth Quarter), “Hairbraider,” I’m speculating that my moral dilemma may no longer be a problem: This song sucks. Disagree? Vote after the cut.
Despite what I might have said earlier, MTV has hit gold with Rock The Cradle. The show itself isn’t terribly interesting to me, especially since most of the celebrity parents. weren’t that interesting to me anyway (the less I have to think about Dee Snider, the better, frankly). However, the program has done us all one huge favor… introducing the world to Al B. Sure!’s son, the impeccably named Lil’ Al B. Sure!
That’s right, Lil’ Al B. Sure!
Although any name with the prefix “Lil'” is nomenclature gold, I have to think there were other options. Vote for your favorite after the cut.
So Blu-Ray has won out over HD-DVD in the future-of-how-we-rent-movies-for-home-viewing technology sweepstakes. Since I have no horse in this race whatsoever–I’m still behind watching all the movies I DV-R’ed from TCM’s month of Oscar-winners–I mention it only as the pretext to an Idolator poll. Not the critical kind–the kind where you, the reader, answers a broad, sweeping question that’s been nagging me for the past few, well, years: Who, precisely, watches the bonus DVDs so many current pop albums come with?
A tipster just sent us a YouTube clip for a Wrigley’s gum ad that aired during last night’s episode of American Idol, wondering if the droll singing voice coming out of the actor’s mouth was none other than the Magnetic Fields’ Stephin Merritt. It sure sounds like a Magnetic Fields song that just happens to be about the American Dental Association–right down to the plinky (but charming!) piano on the backing track–but the performance is a little too polished to quite convince us it’s the man himself. Merritt’s obviously cool with selling his distinctively froggy pipes to ad agencies, but clearly we need a second through sixty-ninth opinion here, so decide for yourself after the jump.
jess@idolator: Nothing going on this morning, eh?
maura@idolator: Ugh. Just the [alleged] Gene Simmons sex tape. [Ed. Note: Link not safe for ANYTHING, let alone work.]
maura@idolator: Did you hear what song was playing in the background?
maura@idolator: (I didn’t watch; I just read about it.) [Ed. Note: Riiiiiiight.]
jess@idolator: I did not, no.
maura@idolator: “I Want To Know What Love Is”
jess@idolator: Well I mean who hasn’t “made love” to that?
maura@idolator: I wonder what else gets Gene in the mood?
Good question, Maura! (Even if normal folks would rather imagine the family members of their choice getting it on atop a pile of newly dead bodies than think of Gene Simmons in (makeup-free) flagrante.) Since “I Want To Know What Love Is” clocks in at around 5:00 and the tape lasts a respectable (if not Sting-level) 10:00, one must assume that Gene had a second song picked to round out his 1/6th of an hour spent in the act of physical love with his Australian energy drink spokeslady. But what was it?
As many of our readers noted, the video for Kanye West’s “Flashing Lights,” which debuted yesterday, just sort of… stops, even cutting off before the song it’s promoting comes to a close. Surely its Kanye-gets-beaten-with-a-shovel ending isn’t, well, the ending of the video, right? I mean, it looks gorgeous–even through heavily buffered Flash–but something tells me that this clip has to be some sort of attempt to bring serialization into the world of single music videos. After the jump, we come up with four possible scenarios for part II of the clip; vote on which one is your favorite, or tell us your own plot for the minute and change that follows Kanye being whacked with a shovel for the last time.
Judging by the reactions from my living room, my instant-messenger conversations, and the comments section on our Grammy liveblog, people were more than a little surprised when the Album Of The Year winner was announced… and said winner wasn’t Kanye West or Amy Winehouse, but Herbie Hancock, whose Joni Mitchell homage River: The Joni Letters took home the night’s final prize. I actually wasn’t too surprised by Hancock’s victory–to quote myself, “if you didn’t at least think that Herbie Hancock paying tribute to Joni Mitchell would sway at least half the people who voted for Steely Dan over Eminem a few years back you haven’t been paying attention”–but apparently a lot of people were! (Perhaps they forgot that Norah Jones and Corinne Bailey Rae and Tina Turner and Leonard Cohen were also on the album.) So let’s put it to all of you: If you had a vote in the Grammy balloting, what would you have chosen as this Grammy year’s Album Of The Year? Poll after the jump.
