Kill Rock Star!

I'm really getting bored now.

But of course I keep watching. I still feel like I have to. If only to torture myself and then ramble about it here.

I don't like the weird thrashy goth voice that Lukas Rossi takes on most of the time. It bugs me. And it just sounded like a silly sullen teenaged boy on "Bittersweet Symphony." The end, the big finish as they say, was good. Jason Newstead was right on about him needing to open his throat. That's it exactly. And by now his look is kind of old to me.

Zayra Alvarez has to go. You could really hear the way her accent affected her voice in "Call Me." I've never heard so many overpronounced RRRRrrrrrs. "When you'RRe ready, we can shaRRe thee wine!" And she was off key. She should get some more training, because she does have a cool instrument there if she was using it better. She certainly already has her rock star wardrobe. She looked like a Barbarella Beatle.

Dana Andrews. Oh god. Nirvana? "About A Girl"? I was scared. It seemed almost put on at first, but it was good! Oddly enough, it sounded like she was trying to be a little bit like Dilana, but she was different. Her voice is more complex. It's really cool that she can make it scratchy, because usually if you have a smooth voice, you can't scratch it up like that without hurting yourself.

Why is Patrice Pike always grinning like an idiot? With that, the "Come on, yeah!" and "Let's go!" crap interjected, and the weird countryish throaty singing, I was barely even able to concentrate on the total performance of "Remedy." It was like something you'd see on a dusty third stage at the county fair.

It's the stuff like Toby Rand that is most boring. Blah. He's got a good voice, but eh. I don't think "White Wedding" is a very good song to pick and perform the way he did. Boring outfit, boring moves.

And then another face-maker. Great. Why do you snarl and sneer when you're talking about wanting to swim like dolphins can swim, Magni? It wasn't until he got to "And you will be queen" that he even got close to doing justice to "Heroes." Then he really sounded passionate. I enjoyed that aspect of his performance. It's important. But if he wants to be a rock star, he has to do something about the duds and the charisma.

Ah, "I Alone." Hard to compete with Live---god, Ed Kowalczyk's voice is amazing! But we have Ryan Star instead. He managed to make the song sound more like it was fueled by empty anger, and he went a bit off (not necessarily key, but music entirely, I think---it sounded a little talky at parts). But he got excited and went crazy. That was entertaining! Finally someone being a little off the track. Thank god. And unlike Storm's ending dive, it didn't seem totally planned as a 'rock star move'.

Having to see Jill Gioia every week makes me angry. Well, apathetically angry. But I'm angry that she got to sing with Gilby Clarke backing! He practically had to feed himself to her to get her to start some interaction onstage. She should have paid way more and totally different attention to him. Did she never see a rock band on stage? What the hell was she doing? She's got a good voice, nice and soulful. But she acts and dresses like a cheap Hooters waitress. No offense to Hooters waitresses. Okay, so maybe strip joint cocktail waitress?

Phil Ritchie can go now also. It's the same shit every week. Sneery, sulky vocals with a generous sprinkling of nasality throughout. Poppin' the head, poppin' the head. Looking nervously toward the judges as if he suddenly remembered he did or didn't do something. Stiff-legged zombie backwards dancing. Half-closing his eyes as he gives the audience the totally transparent "rock stars are condescending and that's what makes'em cool, right?" condescending looks. And then he pops his head again. I'm over it. If he wanted to sing, he could sing, but he's too busy trying to be someone or something he's not. He's so aware of being judged, it makes me uncomfortable. He did a decent job with a freaky choice of "One Headlight," though.

Speaking of freaky song choices---"Time After Time"? Dilana did a good job, though. It was like Heart singing Cyndi Lauper. Even the outfit. I think she did a damn good job with it. She also seems like a really cool person, and is totally relaxed with herself. Unlike Phil Ritchie, she is utterly at home with being that self on the stage. She doesn't constantly have to think about who's watching.

Josh Logan's cut show performance was decent. I will admit. It wasn't painful. But "No Rain" was kind of a mess. Once again, he mimicked the original singer's performance (movements too), and he didn't do anything special to make the song his. OH so bad. Embarrassing. They should have gotten rid of him last week.

Storm Large is consistent. I think her physical performance (including her facial expressions) takes up more attention than her vocals, but they're still fine also. I thought the stage dive was rather silly and cliché. What would be interesting would be for her to just do a song straight, without all the stage show and caricature faces. For her to be serious, actually feeling and thinking about what she's singing. I don't think she ever does that. She's like one of those little clockwork birds on an old music box. "Anything, anything!" Wind it up, watch it twitter and flutter prettily. She acts the passion, but it doesn't seem like a soul is pouring through her and out of her mouth and body.

I think Supernova has dug itself quite the little hole here. I don't really see any of these folks fronting the band Supernova supposedly wants to be. The only possible people I can see them picking would be Lukas, Dilana, or Magni. I'd like to see what they'd do with someone like Dana, but I doubt that would work. They can't choose Storm, because she's her own thing. She's performing for herself up there, not to join a band. So of those three possibilities, I'd prefer Magni. He's more mature than Lukas, and he'd have more breadth than Dilana.

I guess I'm counting my rock stars before they've hatched, though.