October 20, 2004

Up Close and Personal was dull. The only interest was in the contestant's song choices, which I'll list for you in a sec, and in one question asked of Courtney, which was a variation on Marry, Shag, Kill - or whatever kids are calling it these days.

Basically, he was stranded on a desert island with the judges, and had to decide who to eat, who to sacrifice to the gods, and who to keep alive. He chose to eat Dicko for his fat arse, to keep Marcia alive for 'entertainment' (and I don't think he got why the crowd reacted to that) and to sacrifice Mark, also for entertainment.

The rest of it was dull. James said he'd wear culottes at the Final, all the of the contestants were surprised to be in the final five, etc. Dull. They even had a large orchestra, made a special point of it - and then only gave the contestants, like, 90 seconds to sing in.

Anyway, Hayley sang Dido's 'Here With Me', and sounded exactly like you'd expect. Chanel sang Joni Mitchell's 'A Case of You', and kept it low on any theatrics, just did it for fun. Oh, she also mentioned her influences included Frida Kahlo and PJ Harvey when asked, so, y'know. Bonus woo points from us fans. Anthony sang the Backstreet Boys' 'A Perfect Fan', for his mum - appropriate, as the song is about singing to one's mum, if I understood the lyrics correctly. He's learning to work with lower notes more and is being self-depreciating, but he dodged the question of the qualities he looks for in a woman quite inexpertly. Casey sang Metallica's 'Nothing Else Matters', and it wasn't spectacular but was her standard high quality. No surprises in her interview or performance - rats names are 'Ratty' and 'Patty', etc. Groundbreaking stuff. Courtney got to be funny. He also sang something really obscure by a guy called Blue, and was actually a bit better than usual - though I could practically see the pint glass in his hand as he sang, he was such the pub singer.

Then Guy Sebastian was up next, so I stopped watching.

Just to add - Chanel, Hayley and Casey are my preferred final three, but the guys have too much support. I'm hoping one of the two goes next week, but I suspect that my wishes are never granted in this area, and a final two of Courtney and Anthony is in the offing. To which I say, pfeh. I hope I'm wrong.

Unless Anthony could be persuaded to perform Toni Braxton's 'He Wasn't Man Enough For Me'. I think he'd cement the respect I've had for him since his 'The Prayer' if he did that. But the guy's our Will Young - he'll only come out after the competition, if at all. I'm not even fully on the 'Anthony is gay' train, but everyone has a friend of a friend who knows for certain, so, eh.

Oh, and: your Arias recap was fantabulous.

I also forgot to mention that I take personal responsibility for Chanel not being in the bottom three this week, as I watched the performance after a very good night out and therefore drunken dialed. More than was healthy, I'm sure. I had no idea the idols record their own little voice message for you on their number! Chanel called me handsome!

But I also wanted there to be some real questions asked of the Idols. For example, Anthony should have been asked whether if he thought being gay would hurt his chances - he's the dullest of the contestants, even moreso than Hayley, and he really needs to demonstrate a personality beside the perma-grin of pageantry. I would have liked to know whether Chanel really does want to win the whole thing, or whether she agrees with the people I know who like to talk about this stuff who say she shouldn't win because we want her not to have to release a piece-of-crap album she'll have very little creative control over. It's the 'not voting for her for her own good' theory, which ... has its points. Stupid restrictive contracts. I would like to know whether Casey has any embarrassing musical loves in her past, such as the younger sister of a friend of mine who, before she became all skater-punk hardcore was the biggest Hanson fan you'd ever meet. I would like to know whether Courtney had, in fact, eaten all the custard pies. No, actually, I'd like to know if Courtney was ever going to perform a song on Idol that wasn't from his own record collection. And I want to know if Hayley made her Barbie Band have any rock star orgies, because I want to hear something even a little weird and odd from her.