~Misc Thoughts~
"Give me a laundry list and I'll set it to music."
-Gioacchino Rossini

It's great to see Guy being on American Idol 3. Who else has got a chance like that? Kurt Nielsen, who won World Idol, and Ryan Malcolm, who won Canadian Idol - a fellow North American - haven't had the chance to perform on AI3 and make it big in America, but Guy's gotten the chance to go on it - and go on it near the very end, when the audience is near its maximum and the show is near its climax.

It must be pretty hard to make it into America as a non-American - you don't hear about many Aussie singers making it into the American market - but I reckon Guy can do it. Things seem to go his way. It's great to see. ^_^.

Completely incidentally (well, because it's struck me that Guy seems to have special favour on him), it's cool and somewhat strange to think how many of the people who've been really successful on Idol are Christians: Guy Sebastian (plus Paulini), Clay Aiken, Gareth Gates, Fantasia Barrino (plus George Huff and the very cool Jennifer Hudson), and now Ben, the new New Zealand Idol.

Actually, I have been watching American Idol 3. I like Australian Idol a lot better, some reasons being:

-Dicko! By far the best, funniest, and most fair/astute judge out of the nine I've seen much of (I saw some of New Zealand Idol the other day)

-has a slightly more friendly, casual feel to it, mostly caused by the personalities of the competitors

-smaller and less 'flashy' stage; I think it makes the atmosphere better as the contestants more 'own' the stage, instead of seeming a bit insignificant compared with all the glitter

-nice to have two hosts; allows for funny banter etc... I like our hosts better!

-most of all, the clips before each performance, and Inside Idol were interesting - they really let you get a feel for the people and what the journey's like, a lot more than the glorified car commercials that AI3 has, though you can still get some feel for the contestants

-Guy Sebastian. Though I liked Shannon, Paulini and Cosima a lot, I think the show would have been a lot more flat without Guy; I can't get so into American Idol 3 'cos there's nobody I *really* care about winning.

-more variety of style (and better theme weeks); no two performers were alike; all had different styles; our top five, style-wise, were kinda like Jimmy Barnes vs Stevie Wonder vs Beyonce Knowles vs Celine Dion vs Ronan Keating. AI3 had *four* diva-type girls in the top 6...

-it *is* Australian, so we Australians can naturally better relate to the contestants, feel pride in them, vote for them, see them ourselves, etc; more of a connection.

On the other hand, to be fair:

-the AI3 show is slightly more professional; I think overall the talent was of better quality, though our top four were great.

-the AI3 contestants are a bit more professional and poised; you can more easily imagine them taking on the world stage (they even had several 16 and 17 year olds in the top 12, and they all seemed remarkably able to handle things).

-it has some nice ideas like guest judges, having contestants work with famous musicians, some funny byplay between their judges (I like Randy and Paula, though none of the AI3 judges compare to Dicko). They had disco and Latin weeks - which does disadvantage contestants who don't suit that style (I thought it was unfair of us to even have r&b week), but pleased me 'cos I like those styles.

-it's more unpredictable. Okay, that might be bad - for example, I thought Amy Adams, Jennifer Hudson and La Toya London should have all lasted a couple of weeks longer than they did - but you never know who will go; the bottom three/two are never the same two weeks in a row on AI3.

-the group performances were classier; better dancing, better choreography, better coordination of singing, etc.

Saw World Idol. Thought Guy was the best. Duh. ^^.

Well, Kurt, Kelly and Diana were also very good, but Guy stood out from the other ten because he was actually trying to entertain. Everyone else was pretty uninteresting, actually. 'What a wonderful world' is not really a stunning, 'sit up and take notice' song, but it is fun and he really poured heart and soul into it as much as he could, interacting with the crowd, moving around, *smiling* - wow, smiling, that's something you didn't see much of among those performances! None of the other performances, except maybe Kurt, had much animation, nothing to make you want to watch them again, although most of them were good singers etc, and probably would have been much better with another song.

Anyway, I don't somehow think he's gonna win, though he's in with a chance. I think he won't win because of his song choice - he chose to entertain and 'bring some joy' for Christmas rather than to stun 'em with 'When doves cry' or something, and that's okay I guess because it *was* enjoyable. I'm sure Kelly will win since she's already famous in some countries, or if not her, maybe Kurt (wouldn't that be cool? it'd show it was all fair and not based on looks and etc etc, and he seems like a nice guy, with a fab voice). But I still think Guy was the best, not that I'm biased or anything. ^_^.

I've got two good things out of Australian Idol. The first is that I've started listening to English music a lot more than Japanese stuff; started buying CDs, listening to the radio... right now I'm listening to Delta Goodrem, who is coolness. I've discovered lots of songs I like.

The second is to be less critical of famous people, particularly online where they could read about it; to remember they're all just normal people, that they could even some day read what you write about them, to consider even how people you don't know might feel about what you have to say of them. I dunno; I think I - and a lot of people - have a tendency to be a lot more critical of celebrities than of 'real life people' so it's a nice reminder.

Right now I'm downloading the original versions of songs that Guy sang throughout the competition, just out of interest. I like Guy's version a lot better in every single case. Except maybe Stevie Wonder's 'Ribbon in the sky'; I like it better 'clean'. But in fact, a number of the originals are, imo, not particularly good or interesting songs; interesting how he managed to choose them and make them all good. I guess that's why they kept on going on about 'making songs his own'; I didn't really know what most of those originals sounded like.

I even like Guy's versions much better than the 'legendary' singers'. Like Sinatra's 'The way you look tonight' was just kind of smarmy and too show-bizzy, compared with the tender way Guy sang it. And 'When doves cry'; I finally heard the original and didn't even like it that much. (And it turns out that line goes "don't make me chase you; even doves have pride!" Ehh, I thought it was "don't make me change" and I thought that was the coolest line ever. ^^.)

My conclusion is that if he can kick the butts of all these really famous, lasting people, he *must* be an enduring star. ^_^. I know I'm certainly not the most objective person to say this but would *anyone* think that Thicke's 'When I get you alone' was better than Guy's? Or that his 'Can't take my eyes off you' didn't totally whup the original? You know what I'm sayin' (even if you don't agree ^^.).

I still haven't got sick of listening to Guy's songs yet. Now that I've learned 'The Love You Save' I've unfortunately got it stuck in my head more or less constantly; either that or Hidden Agenda or Angels or The Way You Look Tonight... how many times have I sung them in the last fortnight? More than my family wants to know about... ^^.

I'm so pleased Guy won. It's really cool to hear him on the radio and so on. I wish they could bring out some singles by Shannon and Paulini and so on, at the same time, but if there were only one person to get a single I'm glad it's Guy.

It also feels nice to actually back a winner. ^_^. It means he was there for the whole contest, and now I'll really enjoy "the winner's story" since it's about the guy I was following all along. (Plus it'll be fodder for loads more pictures for this site. ^_^.)

I think he's very good at what he does. I don't mean just the performing, but other things: his obvious enjoyment at giving his all for the crowds, his ability to keep going when he's sick and sleep-deprived, his ability to work under pressure and even be creative, his love for music and for creating it, his general groundedness, his ability to do photo shoots well (and enjoy doing them) as well as video shoots (nailed 'Angels' film clip on the first take, remember?)... no doubt about it, the guy's got all the qualities needed for this kind of position.

I hope he continues to enjoy it and not feel too pressured by the crazy time schedules, mad crowds, weird rumours and gossip, and other pressures and hassles. I mean, I don't want him to have found this victory to be one long line of stress - just hearing about his schedule makes me feel tired! So all the best to him, yeah. ^_^.

And yay, the world will get to see Guy. Now my American friends can see what I've been rambling on about. ^_^.

I support the Australian Idol contestants but I'm beginning to wish that didn't involve having to support the Australian Idol show. There are a few things I haven't liked about it lately.
a) the debut single - which needs to sell pretty well - isn't a very good song*
b) allowing so much voting time and charging so much for each vote so they rake in mega bucks, none of which is seen by the Idols
c) the Idol won't make money on their album until they pay off the million; so they could do heaps of work for nothing - surely some of the millions raked in by votes could be used to fund the initial million, so that they'll make at least a little money right from the start?
d) driving the Idols so hard and allowing them only a couple of hours of sleep a night - I mean, how can people keep going so hard for so long without getting sick or having their voice suffer? I know they necessarily have lots of commitments but they could give them a couple of extra hours a night somehow, surely
e) putting them on a lie detector** (okay, this wasn't the idea/fault of the show as such but just a particular publicity thing)... I mean, what a violation of privacy! I figure both the guys are pretty honest generally but there are things you don't want to have to say; the thoughts inside your head, you should be allowed to keep secret if you want, I think.
f) making them go to a strip club or whatever it was -_-.

*I know I keep going on about this, but you know, this is the single marking the start of their professional career. Actually the song has grown on me somewhat since I first heard it; who knows, by the time it comes out I might even kind of like it. It totally sticks in your head; I'm singing it incessantly. ^_^. Not totally sure if I'll buy it, but probably (if Guy wins), just to support Guy.

**I thought Guy handled it pretty maturely - didn't say too much, didn't lose his cool or offend anyone, but was clearly pretty unimpressed. ^_^.

I was watching through my Australian Idol video (50% Guy, 50% everyone else ^_^.) and you know, his voice really does melt me; they make one feel kind of tender inside. There are few if any performers who can do that melty thing. I think it's partly because you have a bit of a feeling for who he is and can sense the purity of heart coming through the songs.

The very best one is where he is rehearsing 'The way you look tonight', and singing very gently, with nothing but a soft piano accompaniment. It's one of the most beautiful things I've ever heard.

Adelaide's media seem to like cottoning onto the whole 'Guy the Christian' angle. It's kind of funny; Guy's only mentioned once or twice on the whole show that he's actually a Christian, right near the beginning of the series. Then you read The Advertiser and it's about people from his church, about how the final is the 'devout Christian verses the country larrikin', etc; the radios have interviews with his pastor etc; Today Tonight shows him singing at church, that sort of thing.

Of course, it's an angle; Paradise is a big church in Adelaide; Guy is from Adelaide; Adelaideians are interested in the local angle, and it is kind of how he got his singing start. It's just interesting that pretty well everyone knows Guy's a Christian though he doesn't really parade it around or anything. I think that's very cool.

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