I’d like to start out with the guys this week, only because Lee Dewyze sang Fireflies. If you don’t recall – this was my song recommendation that I talked about only a few days ago.

I think Lee did a satisfactory job with the song, and obviously enough to get him into the Top 12 – but I seriously think that his look was enough to get him in there even if he’d done a worse job. But now that I’ve talked about Lee, let’s carry on with the rest of the contestants.

Ladies:

The only two worth mentioning are Crystal Bowersox and Siobhan Magnus. Crystal once again did a good job with her song and I still believe that she could be wildly successful as an independent artist. I really don’t see a value for her in going mainstream since that’s not the kind of singer she seems to be. Seeing her in a music video would feel like she was selling out. But she’s into the Top 12 and will likely go very far.

Siobhan, however…I absolutely adore her. If she cut her hair back into a mohawk, kept the nose ring and those delicious looking lips – she could rock out with the best of them. The caution here is that rocker chicks historically don’t do that well on Idol. Allison Iraheta was the only exception making it into the Top 5. Siobhan brings something fresh and new every week and she deserved her Top 12 chair.

Guys:

Again there are only two worth mentioning this week, and I’ve already mentioned one.

Lee Dewyze is hot, adorable, and as Ellen said she’s getting a lot of people telling her they are falling in love with him. He completely takes it in stride – doesn’t seem to bother him at all and he just keeps doing what he’s doing. The confidence is building and I think he’s going to be around for a while. If he’s in the tour – I’ll be there.

Big Mike is the second one that shined this week. In fact, compared to the other guys he hit it out of the park. If anyone deserved a Top 12 chair he did. He looked great, his personality is endearing, he worked that stage instead of standing in the same place for the entire song, and he brought a fresh and energizing feel to the show. Great job to him as well. But…I still feel like he’ll be the Reuben if he wins. Does he have mainstream appeal? Does he look like a pop star? No – but if Idol can get him where he wants to go then maybe he’s set.

Overall I still find myself insanely bored with this season. Back in February they announced that ratings had fallen for the first time in 6 years. Granted they were competing with the Olympics, but I didn’t watch those either. Everyone I talk to is feeling bored with this season, or annoyed, or confused. Some judges comments make no sense at all (nothing new there), and some of the song choices are just mind numbing.

There are no shining stars that have emerged for me yet – but I think Siobhan and Lee are the “dark horses” that may just surprise all of us. At least, I’m sure as heck hoping they will so I have a reason to keep watching.

Google has recently introduced Closed Captioning for YouTube videos. I think this is a fantastic idea for the hearing impaired, but it’s got a LONG way to go.

I decided to see just how far it has to go by testing out one of the 12 Days of Christmas videos that I put together last year. First I will embed the video so you can refresh your memory, and below it I will include the Closed Caption transcription.

You can judge for yourself just how close it got to what I was actually singing.

CC Transcription (each bullet item represents that “day”):

• on first for instance me of heart anger
• on this trees me wolf uh and they’ll archer it’s you know then years for any
• on their death occurs is update me for a French hands wolf uh and they’ll archer it’s you know then years for any
• or Chris me four it’s three French hands true the time uh at they’ll archer it’s you know then years for any
• on the trees day to me poll workers only words great French have uh stand up archer it’s you know mayor for
• on the sixth day of christmas it realistic to me poll workers only word great french have uh stand up archer it’s you know mayor for
• it’s Katie so that’s what’s for me well poll workers only words great french have uh stand up archer it’s you know mayor for a on the be day of christmas night reluctant
• to be ethnic the that’s what’ s happening well poll workers (repeats) uh stand up (repeats)
• christmas the truth that’s what’s for me well poll workers (repeats) uh stand-up (repeats)
• the of christmas like to look at terrible lovely thing well poll workers (repeats) uh stand up (repeats)
• on the eleventh day of christmas my to the gave to me eleven times responding to have more only thing well poll workers (repeats) uh stand up archer (repeats)
• it’s us all right well first round eleven responding and largely a well poll workers uh stand up on our that and it’s year i’ve had the air a harry korea a

Amazing technology really.

Instead of watching the Oscars yesterday (turns out it was a good decision because I heard from Bobby Rivers that the Oscars were a bit off) we watched The Best of YouTube. That being a random conglomeration of some of the most insane, wacky, and funny videos that get posted to YouTube in a week.

One of the featured videos was this one: Red Neck Waterskiing in South Carolina…

Now I’m all for a good time – and we did enjoy watching this video (especially when the kid became airborne) but it started me thinking, there’s some crazy stuff going on in South Carolina these days. Because it’s not just skiing around a mud puddle or even washing yourself off with muddy water…it goes beyond this popular sport and creeps over into race car driving too.

Well, go-kart racing. Or rather chasing. Or rather, being chased.

A man in South Carolina learned the hard way last week that go-karts don’t make the best getaway vehicles, after he was arrested on drugs charges after being chased down while driving a go-kart.

You can’t make this stuff up people.

Edward Matthew Sweezy was chased down by police on his stolen go-kart in South Carolina. No surprise, he was drunk (allegedly). And not only was he intoxicated but they found pills and a CRACK PIPE in the go-kart. Shoved in the glove box? Who can say but where else would you stash your crack pipe?

Amazing…what on earth is going on in South Carolina?

Here’s some other exciting news coming out of that great southern state:

• Midlands Most Wanted – look online to find out who you should be looking out for
• Yes, the team is called the Gamecocks.
• High school puts on a play…about gangs.
• Only “you and Jesus” will know you have a hair weave.
• Entertainment news they care about: Placido Domingo has surgery. Who knew that opera and tenors were so big in SC.

I would go on, but this rabbit trail is making me feel more and more numb. Thank goodness nothing like that ever happened in North Carolina.

I haven’t talked that much about American Idol this year. Usually I set up a dedicated page for all my Idol ramblings, and usually I’m pretty vigilant about giving a breakdown of each singer and how they did.

Not this time.

This time/season/year I am completely and totally bored. There are so few highlights in this group that I really struggle to have the energy to even write down their names much less the song they sang and what I thought of it.

This specific week, however, was a little bit different for one specific reason: Simon Cowell was playing with his right nipple on camera…in MULTIPLE shots. If you don’t believe me rewind your DVR’s. I can’t believe the producers didn’t catch it, but something about ladies’ night was causing him to get a little bit randy.

That kept me watching, just to see if he would do it again, but in the mean time I did get a chance to listen to some of the performances. (and then David said “Oh my gosh you HAVE to blog about that”)

Here are my highlights of the week:

Michael Lynche: He has a great story, but “heard it!” Let’s move on from the story and question whether this guy is just a great singer or really a star. At this point, he’s on the great singer side for me. And yes, he’s a great singer compared to the rest of them. He has charisma, a great personality and smile, and he’s likeable. Sellable yet? I don’t see it. He’s the Ruben of the year and we know how well that worked out.

Lee Dewyze: Maybe there’s something with guys who have a bunch of consonants in their last name with an E at the end. Lee is HOT. Lee is HOT. Yes, it’s important enough to say it twice and I won’t apologize for it. Great voice, and I’m already picturing him…(keep it clean people)…as the lead singer in a band. He’s got it all as soon as he stands up straight and gets a confidence boost just like Melinda Doolittle needed a couple years ago.

Crystal Bowersox: I like her look, I like her openness about her challenges, and I love her voice. Her issue, however, is that Simon NippleTweeker is right. I can see her performing in coffee shops and small venues as an independent artist (and I would go see her), but if she wants to be in the big time, she’s got to amp it up and become mainstream. I don’t know if she should though – because it might make her an artist that she doesn’t want to be.

Haeley Vaughn: Maybe if her name had been spelled Haley. But I’m not sure. I LOVED her look and her personality, but her voice was nowhere near the Top 24 requirements (but this can be said about a number of people). Too bad she can’t come back again since she’s already been on the show. I’d root for her next year.

Jermaine Sellers: It just goes to show that if you tell everyone you are “god fearing” and that “god is my homey”…your god doesn’t really like that and has you kicked off the show. That phrase “god fearing” always puzzles me – why wasn’t he down on the stage floor cowering in fear after his performance? I was waiting for a lightning strike.

Siobhan Magnus: I save her for last because…WOW. I am completely in love with this girl. Not because of her awesome name, but did you hear her sing on Thursday? Seriously, did you hear that note? I know it’s not all about one note, but damn. Every week she gives us something fresh and new (and yes I know we’re only on week 2). I can’t wait to hear more, and more of what she can do. Love her. Bring back the mo-hawk Siobhan!

And that’s pretty much it for this week. I’m trying to compress my Idol thoughts into fewer posts, since in past years I have gone hog-wild talking about the show. Hopefully next week one of the judges does something goofy again that keeps my attention.

Oh – and could someone please re-tape Kara’s microphone? We can see the tape. A lot. Isn’t anyone looking at the flippin’ monitor??