February 21, 2008

Happy Together

On a whole, the girls were far better than than the guys, once again. However, I didn't really have a clear stand out. That said, my favorite performer was Brooke White, the girl with the really curly blond hair who, coincidentally sang "Happy Together" which my favorite male sang this week.

Other than her, Amanda Overmeyer didn't live up to the hype that I had placed on her, but she wasn't bad at all.

Kady Malloy really reminded me of Shannon from "Lost."

Syesha Mercado (poofy hair) was exciting, borderline over the top for me though.

Alexandréa Lushington (peace earing)... didn't really understand the praise from Randy and Paula. She CLEARLY wasn't strong when she left her normal singing voice range. Annoyingly weak. Sounded like a young Whitney Houston at parts.

Ramiele Malubay really has a nice big voice, though I don't know if she could be a successful American Idol winner.

Alaina Whitaker (Carrie Underwood clone) was decent though I don't know how I feel about clones.

Out of time, but the Britney Spears impersonator seems like she could be good.

We'll see who goes home tonight. Hopefully not my fave girl or guy.

February 20, 2008

American Idol (Guys)

Wow, its amazing what can happen in a matter of days in the world of politics. I have been abstaining politics for more than a week now simply because I got overwhelmed by the 2008 presidential election and am ready for it to be over. The whole thing. And I majored in government in college.

Anyway, something far more enjoyable that involves "America" and "voting" is our collective guilty pleasure, American Idol. As a loyal watcher of the show (with the exception of season 2 which I had banned because Tamyra Gray got voted off season 1... yes, I do that...) I will provide regular commentary on this here blog, but hopefully only as a side note. Note. Get it? Ok.

Based on last night's show, I can say that I am honestly disappointed because NOBODY really stuck out as all that good. I only start watching after the auditions so don't have their history on the show to judge them on. So based on my one shot view of them last night, here are my thoughts (with the Fox website open so I can remember their names):

David Cook (wore that skinny tie, sang "Happy Together") - The only person who I listened to that I can see liking. Wasn't the most amazing performance but I liked his vocal quality.

David Archuleta (the 17 year old) - Wow. How 17. How 13, actually. Really was very bubbly you couldn't help but say, "Awwwwww."

Robbie Carrico (the guy who always wears a hat) - Please stop being such a poser.

Chikezie (the guy with the colorful suit) - Top 24 first song and already you have an ego problem. Ready for you to leave. A real "soul" singer would be preferred to this quota filler.

Danny Noriegoa (the guy with many "colors" as described by Paula) - His whole "sassy girl" production was just really annoying.

Jason Castro (guitar and dreads) - Nice to have somebody play an instrument on this show which is a staple on the actual talent based music shows (see: Rock Star, Nashville Star) but really didn't hit me as anything beyond I'd hear at like a county fair.

Michael Johns (the guy with the accent) - First thing I thought was "Tom Brady." I know he is supposed to be good, based on his show closing number, but I just wasn't into it at all.

THE REST - No comments.

The girls are usually better (bias noted) so I am hoping for them to salvage this possible wreck of a season tonight. Based on their visuals though, it seems like they have their "Mandisa" and "Carrie Underwood" slots filled. Having not heard her sing AT ALL, I am hoping that Amanda Overmyer's look isn't just for show and that she has the type of voice I totally dig.

February 8, 2008

My 2008 Election Prediction

It will be a Clinton/McCain matchup.

Hillary Clinton/Barack Obama against John McCain/Mike Huckabee.

Clinton will unite the Republican party and McCain will be sworn into office in January of next year.

Reasons for the Democratic ticket - delegate situation, as posted yesterday. Hillary's superdelegates will give her the nomination, with the delegates from Michigan and Florida added to the mix after their previous banishment creating a much argued about majority.

Reasons for the Republican ticket - McCain would need a way to pull Southern support, and Huckabee proved that he could do it on Super Tuesday. Both men like each other, with McCain saying recently that he had, "the greatest respect and frankly some affection," for Huckabee. He'll stick it to Rush.

February 7, 2008

Not enough delegates for the Democrats

This is from a Washington Post chat that took place earlier today. Basically, the chances of Hillary or Obama picking up the needed delegates in the remaining primaries and caucus is virtually none, so its going to come down to the super delegates!

We've done a bad job of explaing this, but it is now basically mathematically impossible for either Clinton or Obama to win the nomination through the regular voting process (meaning the super-delegates decide this one, baby!).
Here's the math. There are 3,253 pledged delegates, those doled out based on actual voting in primaries and caucuses. And you need 2,025 to win the nomination.
To date, about 55% of those 3,253 delegates have been pledged in the voting process -- with Clinton and Obamb roughly splitting them at about 900 delegates a piece.
That means there are now only about 1,400 delegates left up for grabs in the remaining states and territories voting.
So, do the math. If they both have about 900 pledged delegates so far, they need to win more than 1,100 of the remaining 1,400 delegates to win the nomination through actual voting.
Ain't gonna happen, barring a stunning scandal or some new crazy revelation. So, they'll keep fighting this thing out, each accumulating their chunk of delegates, one of them holding a slight edge and bothing finishing the voting process with 1,600 or so delegates.
And then the super delegates decide this thing.
That's the math.

February 1, 2008

Do church and football mix? Not according to the NFL.

NFL Pulls Plug on Big-Screen Church Parties for Super Bowl

Battle between the F's and the T's

I watched most of the Democratic debate last night and have come to the following conclusion. Hillary Clinton is very knowledgeable about policy. Always answered questions in terms of what she had done in the past and how that would move her forward. Barack Obama was extremely visionary and focused more on how his actions would be based on principles, rationalizing his actions this way.

My theory is that, if you are familiar with the Myers-Briggs Type Indicator, Clinton supporters are more of the T(hinking)-type, whereas the Obama supporters are the F(eeling)-type.

I am speaking of the base of support here. This would not apply to strategy-minded people who simply support Obama because he is NOT Hillary since she would be the greatest unifier of the Republican party. It is the obsessed supporter types of which I speak. (i.e. Obama makes me feel so great!, or Hillary's experience is what we can count on!)