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pika- 08-02-2006
August 1 - Little Less Sixteen Candles, Little More Touch Me
Rock Star: Supernova, August 1 - A Little Less Sixteen Candles, A Little More Touch Me by Jenn Brasler -- 08/02/2006 This week’s selection of songs features some unexpected tunes like “Don’t You Forget About Me,” “Can’t Get Enough,” and “867-5309.” (Yes, you read that correctly.) Will the singers rock them or leave the arrangements untouched? Which singer leaves the band speechless (and not in a good way)? And what surprise will Magni (right) be getting from Supernova? Thanks to the reader who pointed out that the show is NOT taking place at the Mayan. I guess I’ll just call it the Aztec from now on. Brooke’s hair is straight and her outfit is a weird black dress with a lace-up top. Hi, Supernova. Hi, Dave. Tommy’s drum set is on the stage, so he’ll be playing tonight. This week Magni is the focus of the mansion footage. He gets a video message from home and sees his child walking (apparently those were the baby’s first steps; it’s pretty sad that Magni had to miss them). He says that if he didn’t feel 100% sure of what he was doing, he would go home. Being there makes him realize what he’s doing. During song selection, the singers learn that Tommy will be playing drums on “Higher Ground.” Josh quickly announces that he wants the song, as does Patrice. Josh admits that if he did it, he would be more Stevie Wonder than Red Hot Chili Peppers. He interviews that Supernova would expect him to take the easy way out. So instead, he decides that he’ll do Sublime’s “Santeria.” Quite a change from two weeks ago when he grabbed “Come as You Are” and wouldn’t let go. Patrice interviews that she can’t have fear; she has to just take the song and go. However, she’s wondering if she needs to be under a bigger microscope after being in the bottom three last week. Later, Patrice runs into Ryan in the mansion and he simply says, “Tommy Lee.” Patrice perceives this as some sort of psych-out method and tells him she doesn’t want to hear about it. They start bickering, and after he leaves the room he calls her something naughty. Bad Ryan! Indeed, Patrice has “Higher Ground” and Tommy will be accompanying her on drums. In the spirit of full disclosure, I mostly associate this song with the movie Center Stage. I know, that’s sad. I don’t blame any of you for not admitting the same. Tommy decides to play without his shirt. I’m not that impressed, actually. Patrice’s hair is all weird, in a bunch of ponytails on top of her head. I think she’s picked a key that’s a little too low for her. But she’s bringing the rock like it’s her last chance. I think being in the bottom three last week really scared her and she’s doing a good job making up for it. Tommy gets a manic drum solo at the end, and Patrice finishes off with some really scary eye action. Her fellow singers look really proud of her. Dave says it was a great way to kick off the show. Patrice’s vocals were great and she had a lot of power and energy. However, she’s confirmed his fears - he thinks that about eight of the singers will “literally disappear” with Tommy playing drums behind them. Dave, please don’t say “literally” when you don’t mean it. He adds that Patrice is definitely changing it up now from week to week. Tommy says the performance was fun and Patrice tells him she loves him. Tommy says it’s hard to judge the performance because he was in his own little world at the drum set. Instead, he asks the audience how it was. They say, “Yay!” Tommy says, “Yeah, I was awesome, too.” Aww, is someone not feeling like the center of attention? Gilby says it took guts for Patrice to do this after last week. Patrice agrees. Gilby says she stood her ground and did it; she did an awesome job. Josh has chosen “Santeria” by Sublime. Joshua. This is NOT what Supernova wants from you. I am disappointed. Also, the hat? No. Oh, dear, he’s beat-boxing. I’m scared. If this weren’t a hard rock competition and the band didn’t keep saying they wanted Josh to bring it, I would really enjoy this performance, as Josh’s vocals are, as usual, on. But instead, I’m distracted by worrying that they’re going to yell at him again. Josh apologizes for missing the beginning of the song. I didn’t even notice. Dave says it’s not a problem. There’s some discussion about drinks with umbrellas. Whatever. Jason says Josh has high-caliber musicality. He hopes he continues bringing his “thing” to this because he really liked him tonight. See? Everyone likes Josh. Brooke wonders if Dilana is satisfied with her own success. Would she be dissatisfied? Be quiet, Brooke. Dilana is doing Bad Company’s “Can’t Get Enough.” I wouldn’t say this was the last song I ever expected to hear on this show, but it’s certainly up there. Dilana does her thing, working the audience and rocking everything. She rides on the shoulders of some guy in the audience. Tommy’s on his feet. It’s a typical rocking Dilana performance. I don’t really know what else to say. Dave likes Dilana’s pants, which look like half leather and half… panty hose? Dilana says she thought of Dave when she got them. Dave replies that she killed the song; it was a great expression of her voice and talent. Tommy pronounces it “tight.” Gilby says that the challenge for Supernova is imagining each singer with them, so it was genius of her to put herself right in front of them. Jason encourages more audience cheering. This week’s requisite Nirvana tune comes from Toby in the form of “Pennyroyal Tea.” Did the show purchase Nirvana songs in bulk? Considering Lukas’ song choice, maybe they cut a deal with Courtney Love. This version is dark and intense, and Toby sounds almost like Lukas on it. He hangs out in the audience a little, hugging some girl. Lukas looks pensive. I wonder if he thinks Toby is moving in on his territory. The performance is mostly average. I’ve come to expect more from Toby, so I’m honestly not that impressed. Dave says Toby had some good vocals, but going into the audience after Dilana was a little anti-climactic. Toby says he wanted to get across the aloneness in the song. Dave notes that he did that, then went into the audience and became a “man of the people.” Tommy greets Toby with an, “‘Ello, mate.” Toby refuses to take the bait this week and just says hello. Tommy thinks it’s good that he keeps changing things up. Jason likes that he let the audience in. Toby confirms that he just met the girl in the audience that he hugged; Jason says that was perfect. Zayra is singing… hee hee hee… sorry. Zayra is singing… ha ha ha ha ha! Sorry. Okay. Zayra is singing Tommy Tutone’s “867-5309.” Hee. And she’s wearing a cape. Hee hee hee. Hardly anyone calls me Jenny, but I’m choosing to take this song choice as a shout-out. Zayra apparently thinks she’s a matador. Strangely, her voice sounds better than on most of her performances (well, for the most part), but I’m so distracted by the song choice that I have to overlook at. It’s, you know, a Zayra performance. Pretty much what you would expect. She’s trying too hard and everyone is scared. Jason is clearly saying, “Whoa!” Yeah, that’s about it. Dana says Zayra is having fun. Instead of giving feedback, Dave laughs and says, “I’ll need a minute to process what I just saw.” Hee. Brooke asks if everyone needs a minute. Tommy needs six. Brooke decides it’s a good time to go to a commercial break. When we come back, Dave says that there was some controversy last week about Phil going home over Zayra. However, Zayra changes things up every week and gives us something to look forward to. WHAT? Dave is obviously high. I wouldn’t call sucking in a different way every week “changing things up.” Gilby says Zayra’s vocals were off but they’ve been keeping her around to see what she’ll do and see if she should head up the band. I think I can help out with that: NO. Gilby adds that he won’t be wearing leopard pants to match Zayra’s… loincloth? What is that? Tommy invites Zayra to mud wrestle in the blow-up kiddie pool in his dressing room. Dave says he’s good and Zayra asks if he’s serious. “I mean, I’ve heard,” Dave replies with perfect comic timing. Hmmm, maybe that’s the reason he and Carmen broke up… Magni is going mellow with Coldplay’s “Clocks.” It’s sped up and more rock than the original, so points to Magni for that. Unfortunately, I think his vocals are off. Also, him singing, “Home, where I wanted to go,” especially right now, is a bad choice. Not the best Magni performance. I’m wondering if his heart isn’t in this anymore, despite what he says. Jason says Magni has pure talent through and through. He’s setting the bar for the competition. Gilby says Magni is awesome and Tommy says the performance was excellent. He wants to know what it was like for Magni to see his baby’s first steps. Magni thinks he’s showing that he really wants to be here, because if he didn’t, he’d be gone. Tommy can sympathize because his kids are there. He says Supernova appreciates Magni’s sacrifice to be there. As an added bonus, they’ve decided to fly Magni’s family out to see him. Awww! Magni bows deeply, clearly touched and appreciative, and says he’s going to head off to cry. Jill pulled a cheap trick last week, but she’ll be singing a song by a different ‘80s band, Simple Minds’ “Don’t You Forget About Me.” Speaking of songs I didn’t think I’d hear on this show… Hold on, I have a sudden urge to go watch The Breakfast Club. Okay, I’m back. Jill screams her way through the song and it’s pretty unmemorable (or possibly memorable in a bad way). I’m really sick of her. Toby looks almost disgusted, which makes me laugh. What is keeping Jill here, other than sex appeal? Dave says there comes a time in every rock show when people take a break. In this show, that would have been the time. Amen. Tommy loves the low register in the song; it makes it sexy. But when Jill sang it high, it was too much. Great point. Gilby thinks Jill oversang the song; it was uncomfortable to listen to because she’s better than that. Well, that’s debatable. Ryan has taken Supernova’s advice to change things up very seriously. He’s stripped down REM’s “Losing My Religion” and is accompanying himself on piano. It’s just him, no backup singers or house band. Now that’s a risk. And… wow. It’s a raw, intense, dark performance, and the arrangement fits it. He puts his entire self into it and infuses it with passion. It’s completely un-Michael Stipe and doesn’t remind me at all of the original song. This is absolutely what Ryan needed to do, especially at this point in the competition. Dave says that was phenomenal. He compliments the performance and musicianship. Jason thinks this was Ryan’s best performance yet. Tommy says he wrote a piano song for Supernova and can totally hear Ryan’s voice on the track. Interestingly, the editors insert a shot of Lukas. Tommy says that performance will get Ryan laid. Dana cracks up. Maybe Dana knows something we don’t know? Lukas has been successful save for some criticism of his vocals. This week he’s doing Hole’s “Celebrity Skin.” Hey, someone listened to me! I requested this song back when Jill did “Violet.” Thanks, Lukas! He sounds like Billy Idol this week. He’s also unintentionally funny when he sings, “It’s too early for this dress.” Gilby looks less than thrilled. Jason looks confused. It’s not…great, but not too bad. Not Lukas’ best performance, but still entertaining. Dave says this was his least favorite of Lukas’ performances. He has, admittedly, built up a lot of credit with Supernova, but this wasn’t his best. Gilby says that Lukas always brings his star quality to the stage, but he spent most of this song with his back to the band. Lukas says something about being comfortable with the lyrics and learning from experience. I don’t know. Gilby tells him to remember those words. Storm is taking a page from Ryan’s book with a stripped-down version of “Changes” by David Bowie (though it’s not nearly as stripped as Ryan’s song). Her voice sounds beautiful. One of the many things I love about Storm is her ability to appear so honest and real with her performances. I never feel like she’s putting on an act. This is the real Storm. I love this arrangement, despite the fact that it’s, you know, not hard like Supernova wants. But like Lukas, she’s built up enough credit that she can do something like this and not be in any danger of Supernova chastising her. This is Dave’s favorite Storm performance. It wasn’t anything crazy, just her singing a great song and doing it amazingly well. Gilby thinks it was risky for her to strip down with just her and the microphone, but it was really great. Jason would trade Storm’s overdramatic performance last week for her “classy” performance this week any day. Last week the student became the master when Dana sang the crap out of “About a Girl.” This week she’s doing the Who’s “Baba O’Riley.” This is one of those songs I keep forgetting I know; I recognize it when I hear it but I can never remember the name of it. I think Dana chose it mainly for the line, “I don’t need to fight to prove that I’m right / I don’t need to be forgiven.” I also think it’s interesting that the youngest singer in the competition would sing a song with the line, “It’s only teenage wasteland.” Anyway, Dana does pretty well. Not as well as last week, but still much better than a lot of her performances up until now. And she’s definitely listening to Supernova and taking their advice to heart. Dave compliments Dana’s song choice. He admits that when he heard she was doing this, he was worried that she was being a little ambitious and would showcase how much she needed to grow, but she sang really well. Tommy wonders why Dana chose “Baba O’Riley,” since she was a teenager just three years ago. Dana says the song is a classic and would allow her to deliver a physical performance that Supernova might need. Tommy says there’s hope. Gilby notes that the song is about rebellion. Is Dana ready to be a rebel? She replies that she’s getting a tattoo tomorrow. Hee, Dana’s awesome. Time to vote! Oh, no, the early bottom three are Toby, Zayra, and Jill! Not cool. Part of me is relieved that Josh is safe (at least right now), but I can’t help worrying about Toby. Surely Supernova wouldn’t get rid of him before Zayra or Jill. Right? RIGHT? I guess we’ll find out tomorrow. http://www.realitynewsonline.com/cgi-bin/ae.pl?mode=4&article=article9799.art&page=1

Matt- 08-02-2006
Re: Zayra
I've come to the conclusion that Zayra could come out and simply whistle a tune for 2 minutes and still not get eliminated. It's clear the band is keeping her around from one week to the next just to see what she does next. It's sad that she's outlasting more talented people. But then again, it gives the viewers a great reason to tune in the following week. The most shocking thing that could happen in the next couple of weeks is if Zayra gets eliminated. I honestly don't expect it to happen for a while.

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