CD Review: Kris Allen’s KRIS ALLEN

When Kris Allen was on American Idol, it took him a while to make an impression on me. He didn’t stand out at first but then he started making bold choices like acousticizing Kanye West’s “Heartless.” By the end, I was voting for him over the louder Adam Lambert.

His album, titled Kris Allen (dropping Tuesday), is a mixture of low-key and rousing numbers, resulting in a package that’s pleasant enough even if none of the tunes really stuck with me. His voice is in good form, aching and cracking on ballads like “I Need to Know,” rocking on the energetic “Alright with Me” (the disc’s most catchy tune) and “Can’t Stay Away from You,” and a bit smoky on “Heartless.”

Allen co-wrote nine out of the thirteen tracks, alternates between playing the guitar and piano so he’s certainly talented. But even after multiple listens, I had a hard time telling one track from the next (except for the aforementioned ones) and identifying which cuts would make good singles. It’s more like a batch of songs that blend well together and if you’re having an afternoon party, this would make nice background music as your guests are mingling. It’s a solid, well-crafted album but is as modest as its namesake.

Nerd verdict: Pleasant enough tour through Allentown if nothing to write home about

Music Review: GLEE soundtrack

Oh man, I’m so excited to be able to access my blog again. I had some weird issue with WordPress for the last two days and was unable to edit or write any new posts.

But I’m also happy because I’ve been listening nonstop to the Glee soundtrack, Glee: The Music, Volume 1, which dropped this week. I’ve been dancing around my room, singing along at the top of my lungs (I think neighbors called animal control) and now I’m writing about it in case you’re still not sure what all the fuss is about.

First, let me say I usually like musicals about as much as I enjoy eating a bag o’ glass with a Tabasco chaser. It annoys me whenever the narrative comes to crashing halt for some guy to burst into song in a cornfield because he just figured out he’s in love.  Go find her and tell her already! In the four minutes it takes him to sing and prance about with a hoe to represent the object of his affection, the girl could be accepting a job in a foreign country or marrying another guy. Come on!

Despite this, I love Glee and look forward to it every week. I even get grumpy when it gets pre-empted by baseball (the show returns next Wednesday, November 11). That’s because the musical sequences are cleverly worked into the plot so they don’t slow down the pace. The recent dance number featuring the entire high school football team doing Beyonce’s “Single Ladies” on the field? All part of an exercise to loosen them up. And a teacher twirling in a wedding gown, singing “I Could Have Danced All Night” from My Fair Lady? She was testing if she could actually move in her dress to the song she wanted for her first dance.

But the reason I’m addicted is the phenomenal cast. When Lea Michele, who plays Glee Club diva Rachel, opens her mouth, pure magic comes out. Her voice can probably cure illnesses. Matthew Morrison, who plays the love-torn music teacher, Will, busted out in the last episode,  performing “Bust a Move” while showing off eye-popping dance moves.

That song’s included on the soundtrack, which features some of the show’s most memorable numbers to date (Volume 2 comes out December 8). My faves: “Don’t Stop Believin’ ” (might as well download it directly into my frontal lobe), “Somebody to Love” (I think Freddie Mercury would’ve approved), “Take a Bow” (defiantly sung by Michele) and “Sweet Caroline,” which seduced me completely when Puck (Mark Salling) sang it to Rachel though he’s usually an ass.

In the time it took me to write this, the disc has looped around twice already and I ain’t stoppin’ it. The neighbors might have the cops bust down my door, but first, I’m gonna bust a move.

Nerd verdict: C’mon, get Gleeky

Michael Jackson’s THIS IS IT

Watching This Is It, I felt like a cave person being exposed to fire, thinking, “Fire. Good,” because I lacked the vocab to adequately describe what I was seeing. This documentary of rehearsal footage for Michael Jackson’s tour-that-never-was gives an idea of how incredible the spectacle would have been. The pyrotechnics, props, and dancing are eye-popping, but the most amazing special effect is MJ himself.

The man was a genius. He was not only able to visualize things most people can’t imagine, he had the talent and means to bring them to life. His passion for entertaining is obvious, the stage truly his home. It was moving to see how kind he was to his crew and how much he inspired them, how they loved him for it, and what a perfectionist he was without being a nightmare. He worked harder than anyone and the few times he disagreed with his musicians or director Kenny Ortega, he was respectful about it and always right.

My favorite numbers were “Smooth Criminal” and “Thriller,” which incorporated Jackson into filmed segments leading into live performances. For “Criminal,” Jackson inserted himself into that signature scene from Gilda with Rita Hayworth singing “Put the Blame on Mame” and stripping off her gloves (Jackson catches one). For “Thriller,” he was reinventing the video in 3D. After more than 25 years of watching countless others perform that infamous monster dance, it’s quite, well, thrilling to behold the mastermind himself doing it again and see that he’s still got it.

And that’s the thing—at 50, Jackson still had It, the ability to wow me and turn me into a little kid again. I can’t think of many entertainers from my childhood who can still impress my more cynical adult self. The sense of loss is slightly mitigated by the realization that Jackson will probably be with us for a long time, like Elvis and Marilyn. People will continue to organize “Thriller” dance-a-thons and new generations will attempt the moonwalk. The documentary’s title notwithstanding, I don’t think this is it for Michael Jackson.

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OD’d on PC

This past weekend, I wore my nerd badge proudly and indulged my reading, TV- and DVD-watching, M&M-eating, CD-listening, pop culture-loving tendencies. Here’s what I covered.

DVD — Chéri

Photo by Bruno Calvo

Michelle Pfeiffer stars as Lea de Lonval, an early 20th-century Parisian courtesan who takes Chéri (Rupert Friend), the teenage son of a former rival, under her wing to teach him the ways of the world. A weekend turns into a six-year affair which ends when the boy’s mother (Kathy Bates) arranges for him to marry a girl closer to his age. Lea and Chéri pretend they’re okay with moving on until they realize they can’t.

Pfeiffer is as radiant as ever, showing the vulnerability beneath the proud and elegant facade. Friend’s titular character, however, comes across as a spoiled rich brat and borderline stalker. I didn’t get a sense of true love from these two; it’s more like Lea just doesn’t want to grow old alone and Chéri only wants what he can’t have.

Lea’s gowns are resplendent and Alexandre Desplat’s score is melodious as always, but I expected more from director Stephen Frears and screenwriter Christopher Hampton (adapting stories by Colette), both of whom had worked with Pfeiffer on the superior Dangerous Liaisons. Nerd verdict: Respectable in parts but not that endearing.

CD — Pete Yorn & Scarlett Johansson’s Break Up

Last month, my friend Tomas made me aware of this album over at his blog, make.see.eat.do, and I finally had a chance to listen to the whole thing. If you were envious of Johansson before because of her bodacious looks and acting skills, you’ll positively want to push her down the stairs after hearing her sing. Because she can, quite impressively. Her retro smoky tones blend well with Yorn’s emo voice on this album of mostly catchy, toe-tapping, folk-rock tunes. This isn’t some misguided star trip a la Don Johnson or Bruce Willis; Johansson (who was asked by Yorn to collaborate) is better than some “singers” out there and should do more albums.

Don’t believe me? Watch the video below for the first single “Relator” (you’ll need surgery to get it out of your head afterward), then go to www.lala.com and register to listen to the entire album for free by entering the actress’s name in the search window. (This only works for U.S. visitors. If you’re overseas, search YouTube for other videos like this one.) Nerd verdict: A recommended Break Up.

TV — White Collar & Grey’s Anatomy

White Collar, USA’s latest original series, stars Matthew Bomer as Neal Caffrey, a convict who excels in the kind of crimes for which the show is named. In order to stay out of jail, he makes a deal with the FBI agent who finally nabs him to let him help solve cases, using his expert criminal mind. Bomer is handsome with his piercing blue eyes and does a capable job, but he lacks the extra oomph that makes an actor a breakout star. Tim DeKay is solid as Agent Stokes, the straight-up guy who’s frustrated by and a little envious of Caffrey’s lifestyle. The show doesn’t offer anything new but I might tune in again if I’m home on a Friday night and there’s nothing better to watch. Nerd verdict: Lightweight criminal.

Over on ABC, this week’s Grey’s Anatomy episode had the kind of action-packed, pulse-quickening drama that called to mind the show’s best episodes from seasons past (i.e. the “Into You Like a Train” crash ep in which two people were impaled on the same pole and the doctors could only save one). A patient dies amidst the chaos in the ER after a nearby fire and Chief Webber interviews the doctors to determine who’s responsible. The camera swirls like a Tasmanian devil through the scenes, throwing the viewer into the confusion and leaving no time for the kind of angsty stuff that can drag the show down. The Rashomonian element of the doctors telling conflicting stories about the same events made it fun to try and figure out who made the fatal mistake. It also made me hope that Izzie never returns. I didn’t miss her at all and found Alex’s repeated phone calls to her super annoying. Nerd verdict: Heart-poundingly good.

Book — Daniel Judson’s The Violet Hour

This noirish thriller, set in the Hamptons, unfolds over three days as auto mechanic Cal tries to hide his pregnant former boss from her abusive husband while searching for his friend, Lebell, who has gone missing after leaving a trail of blood in his apartment. Cal wants nothing but an orderly life to prove he didn’t inherit criminal tendencies from his father and brother, but as he gets more involved in his friends’ crises, he wonders how far he’s willing to go to keep them out of trouble and even save their lives.

Hour grabbed me from the first minute with its mysterious opening paragraphs about a deadly female assassin. The pace is non-stop, the language rat-tat-tatting through one plot development after another. This book reminded me a little of Charlie Huston’s debut, Caught Stealing, another crime noir with a lean style in which an innocent bystander is driven to violence after inadvertently crossing paths with bad guys.

The novel isn’t perfect; it’s a little too coincidental that all the bad stuff happens to different friends of Cal’s on the same weekend. Judson also has a tendency to overuse commas by inserting adverbs and prepositional/adverbial phrases in awkward places, disrupting the flow of his sentences. Witness:

Closing her eyes, she held still for a moment, or tried to, ended up, despite her efforts, wavering a little.

And:

It took a moment for her eyes to adjust, and when they did, she saw, beside the house, in its shadow, both the motorcycle and the Lexus.

But Judson’s characters are dynamic and his plot riveting enough that I was willing to overlook this quirk. Not only that, I now want to read Judson’s other novels, too. Nerd verdict: Hour goes by fast and is time well spent.

What did you read/see/hear this weekend?

AMERICAN IDOL Season 8 Finale–The New Idol Is Crowned

I can’t believe Kris won! Whoo-hoo! I don’t think I’ve been this pleasantly surprised in the eight years I’ve followed this show. I’d accepted that Adam would win since everyone keeps saying he would—the judges, Entertainment Weekly, his vocal fan base, many of my friends, etc. That, and the fact I only had time to vote for Kris 10 times last night made feel like he’d have to settle for second place. But I kept my fingers crossed, just maybe…

And the impossible happened! When the confetti rained down, it was Kris who was the new American Idol. He even received a little trophy in the shape of a microphone, which is a new thing this year. Only drawback to winning was he had to sing that lame song, “No Boundaries,” but he sounded much better than last night.

This result is rather shocking because I didn’t think much of Kris at all for much of the early competition. I couldn’t even remember his name since his shy, unassuming ways made him blend into the background. But as the fat started getting trimmed from the competition, this quiet boy gained confidence and started making such daring, innovative choices (“Falling Slowly,” “She Works Hard for the Money,” “Heartless”) that I had to take notice. I’m glad he won because I love an underdog story and it made for good TV!

The show was better than I thought it would be. I let the DVR get ahead an hour and 20 minutes before I tuned in ’cause I figured I’d have to fast-forward through lots of filler but ended up watching and enjoying much of it.

I liked the Kris and Keith Urban duet, “Kiss a Girl.” When they first announced Urban, I thought, “Oh no, country music,” which I do not like. But the song was upbeat, their styles blended well and the duet sounded cohesive. It was a performance that seemed rehearsed instead of thrown together at the last minute.

Other things I enjoyed: seeing Alexis Grace again, Jason Mraz, the Lionel Richie/Danny Gokey pairing, Allison and Cyndi Lauper doing “Time After Time,” Steve Martin playing the banjo while Megan Joy and Michael Sarver sang Martin’s song, “Pretty Flowers” (though Megan sounded a little wobbly), Rod Stewart doing “Maggie May” (with his 1978 hairdo intact!), and Adam and Kris dueting with Queen on “We Are the Champions.”

Moments I thought were awkward, embarrasing or downright disgusting: The Golden Idols, which wasted time on obnoxious, talentless people desperate for attention (I refuse to mention them by name); the Lil Rounds/Queen Latifah duet of “Cue the Rain,” which was a huge mess; and most of the group sing-alongs, especially “So What.” They need to brush up on their dancing and choreography skills before they start the tour.

What I Both Liked and Hated: Kara getting to show her singing prowess (she’s awesome!) and hot bod (did you see those abs?!) but having to share the stage with that skanky, porny girl.

What were the highlights for you? How do you feel about Kris winning? Whose album will you be buying? Will you be seeing the top 10 on tour?

AMERICAN IDOL Season 8: Final Competition Night

This is gonna be a tough call. I thought both Adam and Kris performed well, but neither was perfect and they have such different styles it’s like comparing bears and chickens.

Each performer had to sing 3 songs. The first would be their favorite from the season; second would be chosen by the show’s creator, Simon Fuller; and third would be the “winner single,” co-written by Kara.

Adam went first and sang “Mad World.” I liked it, as I usually do when he shows some restraint. He gave the song a haunting lilt. Kris sang “Ain’t No Sunshine,” accompanying himself on piano. It was a heartfelt performance and both are off to a strong start.

Fuller chose Sam Cooke’s “A Change Is Gonna Come” for Adam’s next song and Adam put on his shiny suit to sing it. He hit every note and was technically perfect but I didn’t get real soulfulness from him, more like affected anguish.

Kris updated Marvin Gaye’s “What’s Going On?” and while I appreciated his Jack Johnson-esque take, I like the smooth groove of the original melody so much I don’t think it needed all the changes. So, both did well again but neither performance was eye-opening.

Then came the dreaded “winner single,” which is cheesy and tedious every year. If I were one of the two finalists, I’d almost want to throw the competition just so I wouldn’t have to record it. This year’s song, called “No Boundaries,” was no different and was written by Kara, Cathy Dennis and Mitch Allen.

Adam went first and the song seemed to be in the right key for him. But when he got to the chorus, I couldn’t understand what he was singing because he went for the volume and blew the words into oblivion. Not that I cared, since the lyrics to these singles are always insipid.

Kris didn’t do any better. The key was way too high for him, he strained through most of the song to hit the notes and didn’t always succeed. His face at the end showed that he knew he didn’t do as well as he’d hoped.

Based on the final performances, I think Adam’s got the edge and will win. But whatever happens, these two will most likely get recording contracts, make completely different albums for their separate fan bases and no one will have to argue again over who’s the better performer.

Who do you think will be crowned the eighth idol tomorrow night?