American Idol: Bye Bye Brooke
May 1st, 2008 | 5:30 pm est |
Stephen Thomas Erlewine
I’ve made it no secret that Brooke White was my favorite contestant this season of American Idol but my heart is not quite broken at her elimination this week. This is partially due to how the grueling grind of Idol wears down the viewers as well as the participants, slowly sanding away their initial charm — not just because we have to hear them all the time but because we have to see them jump through hoops like the group-sings, the commercials, the telephone Q&As, and theme night after theme night. Brooke wasn’t immune to this as all these performance gymnastics threw her off her game, choosing songs like this week’s “I’m a Believer” when she’d be better off with intimate songs performed with just her and a piano. Of course, American Idol isn’t about that kind of performance — it’s a “singing competition,” which means that the show pushes showboats, something Brooke is not. She is a singer/songwriter — albeit a mainstream one, one that emphasizes melody and feel over lyrics, which isn’t bad at all — and her album Songs from the Attic shows she has promise as a writer, too. The nice thing about her stint on Idol is that she’s now positioned to have a shot at the big leagues, and if history is any judge, she may have a better shot at success by not winning, just like Elliott Yamin a couple years back.
One final note: the producers are going to have to do a lot better job addressing the Paula snafu than brushing away the “rumors” surrounding her premature judging of Jason Castro’s second song. It’s a classic case of “Who are you gonna believe, me or your lying eyes?,” but that shtick is hard to pull off when there are millions of witnesses to the screw-up.
Andrew Leahey
Was anyone else hoping for a fuller explanation of Paula’s loopy criticism? She gave conflicting reports yesterday, first appearing on Ryan Seacrest’s radio show to claim that she’d mistakenly looked at her notes from the dress rehearsal (which begs the question: should the dress rehearsals really influence what the judges say?) and then telling Entertainment Weekly that she mistook her notes on David Cook’s performance for something pertaining to Jason Castro (which begs the question: why did she criticize Castro’s imaginary second song, only to subsequently praise Cook?). As is often the case with Miss Abdul, none of it made sense. But when last night’s show rolled around, Seacrest only briefly mentioned the mishap by claiming the “rumors” were wrong and asserting that everybody still loves Paula. Well, that’s great. Let’s all hug each other, legally download Paula’s latest single from iTunes, and forget that we’ve spent three months watching this show, voting for contestants, and striving to find some justification for the amount of energy we’ve spent on a potentially fabricated competition.
As for the elimination itself, Brooke’s teary exit was moving but necessary, since she really has no place in this competition after Carly’s dismissal. The same goes Syesha, who will outlast Jason Castro next week if Fox deems it important to have a co-ed Top Three. Otherwise, she’s the next to go, and American Idol will be one big dude-fest until the finale on May 21st.
Matt Collar
So, Brooke is gone and Jason lives on. I won’t be surprised if Jason makes the final three either as his popularity, unlike his voice, seems boundless. I was somewhat icked out by Natasha Bedingfield’s apparent muppet crush on David Archuleta. The moment made for great TV but reinforced my fear that the mainstream pop world is primed to embrace lil’ Archie like some kind of pop idol Pikachu they will coddle and feed until his vestigial tail drops off and he finally grows some musical genitalia.
Oh well, I still say David Cook wins despite the toddler hair and the unfortunate v-neck t-shirt.
“Musical genitalia?”. Ooh, icky.
i find it hard to blame paula for her rehearsal note-taking. the producers were the decision makers in throwing together a very tight–yet horribly organized–hour. paula has enough trouble formulating words on the spot as it is; you think she’s going to have the ability to write down notes and/or remember how everybody did for two songs during the rushed airing, when she’s usually too busy standing up and acting like a dancing street monkey during the live performances? yeah, paula’s cuckoo, but everyone knows that, and the producers’ actions were like telling a kid with learning disabilities to finish a test as fast as the rest of the class, then beating him for attempting to cheat.
This has been bugging me for awhile: what’s with Randy flashing pseudo gang signs whenever Ryan introduces the judges? He’s like a white kid from the burbs who sees Snoop doing Crip signs, thinks it’s cool, and adopts it in a nerdy attempt at being cool.
I picture him as being a band geek in high school, raised by adopted white parents.
Not that he’s not awesome in his own way.
I just had to get that off my chest.
Did anyone notice that when that blonde chick asked to say hello to “David”, as she was coming to the couch “cookie” actually stood!
He had the gall to think it was him she was going for?! Wow, just when I was coming around, his ego stumbles worse than Paula’s mouth.
Todd makes a good point about Tuesday night’s episode. The poor production and Paula’s inability to pay attention were a recipe for disaster. I think we all wanted a better explanation and in their own bad planning I think the producers had an out. They could easily have explained that only because of the quick show schedule they let the judges watch the rehearsal. They could have made it seem like a one time thing (which it isn’t), and then promise it will never happen again (which it will). But they couldn’t even come up with a decent lie, which makes me think this could spell the end of IDOL. It won’t be quick, but the diminishing ratings will disappear more quickly next year.
The “rumors” Ryan seemed to be referring to were “rumors” (which I certainly didn’t see or hear about) that Paula would be fired for her Tuesday snafu, and reassuring us that the producers still consider her an important element of the show, one of the “family” in an OLIVER sort of way. At least that’s the only context in which what Ryan said makes any sense at all. Basically they seemed to be pulling a Cheney and instead of answering anyone else’s questions about what really happened, they made up their own question and answered that instead.
But didn’t it seem vaguely suspicious that Jason Cook’s fate was revealed first, and he was rushed to the couch, as if to say “See? The producers DON’T have it in for him!” It’s highly unlikely they rig the vote, since that’s sort of a punishable by law offense in what’s effectively a game show, but it’s been pretty apparent for a couple years now that someone has been trying to steer the vote. It’s been evident with the universal judges’ praise for Archuleta’s twee mediocre performances, and the Paula/Jason thing only capped it.
I would have to slow down the closing credits to be sure of this, but I’ve heard more than once that there is a disclaimer crammed into the closing seconds of the show that indicates the producers do have a say in the outcome. This would technically allow them to avoid a legal scandal like the game show controversy in the 50s.
With that in mind, I’m sorry to see Brook go, but it was inevitably going to happen by someone’s hand. And is it just me, or did David Cook’s consoling arm gesture look like he was pushing her toward the edge of the stage? I love the “toddler hair” comment. I’ve been trying to figure out how to describe that ‘do for weeks now.
Cook’s arm gesture toward Brooke was awkward and just plain weird, like most of this season. No one singer has really stuck like velcro, unless your a female under fourteen. There is no way that David Archuleta loses this. He’s a dream for Clive Davis in more ways than one.
As a viewer from the UK I have to say that we Brits manage to cover up our bloopers on the our equivalent of American Idol (Cowell’s hand is up our skirts too!). Pity, ’cause your show is much more entertaining. Let’s hope they don’t sack Paula Abdul. Best car crash TV I’ve ever seen.
“Toddler do” - that’s great. How about “rocker comb-over?”
It was hard not to feel sad for Brooke’s breakdown when Ryan announced she is leaving the show last Wednesday — she looked fragile and a little like Cate Blanchett at times. I am not sure if she really got the lowest votes among the remaining finalists because the AI conglomeracy will never ever be transparent with these things (i.e. actual figures, statistics). When Ryan informs us that 45 million votes were cast, it sorta give the impression that 45 million people really participated even if we know that one crazed fan may have sent 300 (or more) votes alone. What if there are only a handful million viewers rather than the gazillions reported everytime? Not that it matters, but it is interesting to see how the show derives its odd appeal and staying power (or maybe some of us may add “but not for long after Paulagate”). Anyway, here’s what I thought of Wednesday’s show: Natasha Bedingfield’s flirtation with David A. amused me for 4 seconds then it got uncomfortably embarrassing for everyone; the phone-ins are devised to make Paula answer questions in moments of lucidity (I actually thought Paula sometimes really nails some observations in performances with an unerring precision more than Simon; can’t say I have anything good to say about Randy); I agree that Syesha is becoming the Rodney Dangerfield of the show; the on-set chemistry among finalists is tense and exudes a nervous and negative vibe. As though caught in a liminal space of wanting to still win or just quit this season’s show that is careening out of control and dangerously showing some curious imperfections.
I’ve said it in other places, but I’m resigned to David Built-By-Geppetto to take this thing. (Particularly after seeing the middle school gymnasium full of pre-teen girls positively swoon over his schtick.) But how sweet would it be for Syesha to win it all at this point? Frankly I’m bored with them all, and Syesha with her good-not-great voice winning would make the most shocking Idol ending ever.