thought of the day, 31: seriously planning ahead

I head off to Austin in a couple hours and the thought occurred to me last night that if my luggage doesn't reach me in Austin, I'd be totally S.O.L.

So I just packed a very full carry-on bag, with a set of interview-appropriate clothes, almost all my toiletries, my resumes, magazine, and book.

Eep.

AI Top 24: Ladies

I wasn't particularly blown away by anyone tonight. And yet, here are the ladies' performances, in order of my preference:

Syesha Mercado--up until her last note or two, "Tobacco Road" was fun and consistent. I didn't cringe during it, at least.
Carly Smithson--is a very close 2nd, with "The Shadow of Your Smile."
Alexandrea Lushington--surprised me with "What Goes Up." She seemed confident and sang well, despite obvious illness.
Alaina Whitaker--also blasted through us not knowing her at all from auditions with a very solid "More Today than Yesterday."
Ramiele Malubay's "You Don't Have to Say You Love Me" was not as good as I wanted it to be.
Asia'H Epperson sang "Piece of my Heart" with confidence but something about how she pronounced the words irked me, and she struck me as potentially inconsistent.
Brooke White is lovely and did a fine "Happy Together."
Amanda Overmeyer sticks out like a sore thumb, but I hope we see more of her, after her odd but on-pitch "Baby, Please Don't Go."
Joanne Borgella is beautiful and I wanted her to bust out, but her "Say a Little Prayer" left me unmoved.
Another three-way tie for last place with Kristy Lee Cook's "Rescue Me," which was sung solidly but unimpressively, Kady Malloy's horribly flat "Groovy Kind of Love," and Amy Davis's disastrous "Where the Boys Are." In fact, I left the room during Amy's song...

My predictions for eliminations are Kady, Amy (although she might get votes for being pretty), Jason, and Garrett.

The Unending Joys of Youtubing

This is why I love Sesame Street.

some notes on tonight's AI

Because it was requested and I do have time tonight, here are my thoughts on the first performances of Season 7 of Idol. (Not sure how often I'll be able to do this; next week, I'll be in Austin, so I won't be posting. Then, rehearsals start. Etc.)

BUT, these are the performances, in order of my preference:
David Archuleta--with "Shop Around." He has such control; I think he's going to go very far. And goodness, he's adorable, isn't he?
Jason Castro--we haven't seen him at all in the audition footage, but his lovely version of "Daydream" was definitely memorable and would have been even if he had sung earlier in the show.
Michael Johns--certainly wins the Hottie of the Season Award. Good solid "Light My Fire," albeit nothing special per se.
David Hernandez--was burdened with singing first and I initially had him much lower on my list. But this was a solid, controlled version of "Wait Till the Midnight Hour."
David Cook--I just dig this guy's vibe. He did well with "Happy Together," and his smile kills me a little.
Danny Noriega--his "Jailhouse Rock" was OK. Honestly, I'm not sure how well a contestant who is so fey will do in the competition.
Robbie Carrico--did fine with "One." I think he has a good ear, but I wasn't particularly moved.
Colton Berry--a fair "Suspicious Minds."
Chikezie--is a cutie, but I heartily agreed that his version of "More Today than Yesterday" was far too old-fashioned.
I think it's a three-way tie between Jason Yeager's "Moon River," which was just cheesy, Luke Menard's weak whatever it was he sang, and Garrett Haley's pretty pathetic version of "Breaking Up is Hard to Do" for worst of the night.

I'm eager to hear the girls.

I am a Pop Culture Genius, Vol. VI: The Deadwood Edition

This weekend, K came to visit and brought the entire first season of Deadwood. Aside from being one of the best acted and written series I've seen in a long time, it was pretty much a jackpot for use of my useless trivia. I think every male character actor that anyone has ever had a hard time placing makes an appearance in the series.

I recognized the actor playing Dan as Warren from There's Something about Mary; a tiny cameo by the guy who played the superintendent on Friends; another tiny cameo by the guy who played Joey Potter's dad on Dawson's Creek; a two-episode plotline featured Veronica Mars herself; the dad from Boy Meets World plays Alma's father in a couple episodes; and this guy is all over the place, but I still always recognize him from Square One TV. Anyone else remember THAT show?

first taste of Idol this year

For those of you who are already watching and are, like me, anticipating a great season of Idol this year, please check out more from one of the cutest contenders for the top 24: David Archuleta.

Watch all the clips. Or at least the first one. And the fourth. Incredible.

Keep a look out for my recaps, starting with the top 12.

i'm famous!

As most of you know, I'm a pretty devoted reader of EW.com. I especially enjoy their Popwatch Blog, and the writing on the internet magazine has greatly influenced this blog, especially my American Idol writings.

There is a column on the Popwatch Blog called Popwatch Confessions, in which readers are challenged with questions and asked for their own theories, embarrassing stories, lists of favorites, etc. I comment on this column now and then, and my first official comment has been published in one of their Readers 'Fess Up Photo Galleries!!

Check it out!