Saturday, August 12, 2006
A better way to spend Wednesday and Thursday nights
Take American Idol, and then remove all the things I hate about it. End result? Rock Star: Supernova.
First off, I hate Idol contestants like Kevin Covais and Scott Savol. On Rock Star, everyone's cool. Even jackasses are cool. Even Zayra Alvarez is...tolerable. I really don't know how they do it, but on this show, it's amusing when someone's being an asshole. Performance night definitely compensates, because 90% of the performances are good or awesome, compared to 30% of Idol performances (and that's usually because Daughtry is performing). Every week, I feel bad that someone has to go. I certainly wouldn't mind if Supernova up and decided to have ten lead singers instead (granted Zayra isn't one of them).
Secondly -- the judges, the judges, the judges! Those guys are the best. Jason Newsted (Metallica) is so awesomely multifaceted, Tommy Lee (Motley Crue) is hilarious and Gilby Clarke (Guns N' Roses) is the perfect foil to Tommyhawk's antics. No reptitive comments here, dawg. They have never ever described someone's performance as "pitchy." And there's irony in the fact that they're rock stars but they don't act as inebriated as Paula Abdul. Not that I'd mind if they were smashed, though.
Then there's the issue of the elimination process. Instead of cutting the contestant with the lowest votes, the bottom three of Rock Star have to perform, then Supernova will decide who to cut. It's way better because you can't complain. There's an explanation for everything, unlike on Idol where they just leave you hanging.
Best of all, this show has introduced me to some really fantastic music. Through Rock Star I discovered Live, a band I didn't think I would like until "I Alone" and "The Dolphin's Cry" came along. (If any of you know other great Live songs, let me know!) Other awesome discoveries? Stone Temple Pilots, Radiohead, K's Choice, Jefferson Airplane, the list goes on.
My only regret is not being able to catch Rock Star: INXS, because my brother said that all the performers were amazing, but at least I have a DVD of the highlights. Call it pluggage, call it silly fanaticism, but if you guys haven't seen this great show yet, I urge you to start watching ASAP! If you're thinking of checking out some performances on YouTube, I recommend "About A Girl" (Nirvana) and "High Road Easy" (Sass Jordan) by Dana Andrews, "Plush" (Stone Temple Pilots) and "The Dolphin's Cry" (Live) by Magni Asgeirsson, "Losing My Religion" (R.E.M.) by Ryan Star and "White Rabbit" (Jefferson Airplane) by Phil Ritchie featuring Jason Newsted, if only to catch Jason act so adorably after the performance -- yeah, "adorable rock star" is an oxymoron but you have to see it to believe it.
Oh, and my predictions for the Top 5? Here, in no particular order:
1. Magni Asgeirsson
2. Dilana Robichaux
3. Lukas Rossi
4. Storm Large
5. Toby Rand
[Rock Star: Supernova is aired every Wednesday and Thursday at 8:00 p.m. on Star World.]
