Britt's On

American Idol: The Search for a SuperstarStarring: The Idol Crew + contestants from Season 1
Times Watched: I'll go with 3?
Genre: Music
Rotten Tomatoes / Metacritic: NA

Road To Ownership: Let me explain! Do you remember what a BIG DEAL Idol was in its first, and in particular, second seasons? It was the biggest sensation in town, hot on the heels of another summer reality sensation, Survivor. I was in high school at the time and received this DVD as a Christmas gift in a Secret Santa exchange.

The Plot: The bulk of the DVD is about an hour long, give or take, and basically gives you a rushed overview of the first season of American Idol. You get some glimpses of the auditions - including Kelly Clarkson's and a handful of the worst ones out there - snippets of the top 30 round, a week-by-week recap of the theme, eliminated contestants, and usually one or two of the top performances, and then at the finale you get to hear Justin Guarini sing 'A Moment Like This', plus Kelly's emotional rendition after winning (which is subsequently butchered by Nikki McKibbin or whatever her name was). There's also a few other features that mash together cast interviews, behind-the-scenes clips, and moments from the show.

The Good & The Bad: You know in retrospect, it would have been cool had Idol put this DVD together properly. They *rush* over all of the weeks so quickly, and include not one, but TWO Nikki performances, plus some of Justin and Kelly's worst performances (in the penultimate episode). It would have been nifty had they featured every contestant at least once, as well as at least three or four songs from Kelly - also, why no love for the 'Big Band' week, which in my opinion had some pretty great moments? Bah!

Er, anyway. Although there is some fun nostalgia with watching this DVD - a pre-groomed Kelly! A tiny set where security hazards (crazed fans) exist! Pre-crazy Paula! Brian Dunkelman? - it's ultimately a pretty disappointing recap of the first, great, socially phenomenal season of American Idol. Awhile back they reaired the season with commentary from the contestants and judges and it was way more interesting (when I caught a glimpse anyway) than this thing, although it made for entertainment while ironing when I watched it, I guess.

I just wish they'd done more performances, less recaps / talking. Like, did you need to include each competitor's goodbye video? That's one of the WORST filler-worthy parts of the show? Having every group number (and not just the majority) would have been nice as well, cause at the end of the day, seeing the singing is all I want to see! Plus it would have been nice to include some of the judges' more memorable critiques / reactions - like after Kelly's 'Natural Woman' performance. God I'm getting impassioned over this.

Best Scene: Kelly Clarkson singing 'Natural Woman' or her winning performance of 'A Moment Like This'. So ironic when you consider how vehemently she broke things off with the Idol crew after the series. But for reals, the latter was a pretty iconic pop culture moment in the 00's.

Worst Scene: Justin's performance in the penultimate show. Really producers, of all the performances, you included this one? I would have much rather seen "Get Here", which is what he was *known* for.

Best Character: Er...Ryan Seacrest does a decent commentary?

Worst Character: Brian Dunkelman. You got fired for a reason bro, and it's your fake tears after the gang's performance of 'That's What Friends Are For'.

Soundtrack of our Lives: The best of the 60s, 70s, 80s, big band...yeah you get it.

If You Like This You'll Like: Apparently there are other idol DVDs out there, plus I'm sure a good chunk of the show's breakouts have concert DVDs to their names.

GRADE: 1.5/5

Some various musings because none of these really deserve a full entry.

Another one bites the dust…
I’m a week behind in my Desperate Housewives because my PVR was replaced this weekend, unceremoniously, and with it, all my PVR’d programs. Regardless I managed to track down the first episode of the winter season that picked up right where the plane crash left off, and need I say more? WTF DH! For one, I’ve lamented on this before, this show has become so ridiculously soapy. It went from being a satire of the television housewife to a show that regularly incurs acts of god – from tornados to plane crashes – and increasingly ridiculous ripped from the daytime soaps plot lines. Beyond that, this episode pissed me off on many levels. Why did you have to kill Carl, and beyond that ruin my hopes for a shiny, happy future for him and Bree by doing that stupid dream sequence? It would have been more interesting to see that relationship play out imo, and him and Bree had crackling, unexpected chemistry. What kind of message are you sending out to show that messed up marriages lead to fatness (or in Susan’s case, a generic chubbiness that’s average by US standards) and skinniness is the only way (or not) to keep a man? I don’t have much to say about Angie’s dream sequence, other than I like her as an actress and I’m sad her storyline on the show seems super lame and detached from the rest of the ‘wives. Eva Longoria’s was also stupid and shows how irrelevant she’s been this season. And Lynette’s…I have mixed feelings. At first I was shocked that DH would tackle such a sensitive topic as a disabled child, and then I was moved nearly to tears by Lynette’s ‘make your own sandwich’ rant, and then I was like “Oh of course. This is la la land where your disabled child can turn out a-ok and graduate law school with practically no problems to be seen.” Frustrating! I’m shocked this show has still dominated the ratings as much as it has in the last couple of seasons as it’s moved increasingly into glib territory. Perhaps it’ll be the next daytime soap and run for decades and decades. At least Mark Cherry will have his pick of housewives to kill off as they get too old for TV.

An Ode To Epitaph 1
So I finally got around to watching last season’s finale on Dollhouse, and I suddenly *got* it. The episode was amazing – it bridged the gap between the creepiness of the first season and the (too) rapid movement of the second season, and showed that the ‘brothel’ known as the Dollhouse really only existed to fund research that would put Rossum in full control of minds around the world. The episode channelled the desperateness of films like Children of Men, but also made you care about the small cast of new characters introduced (including the lovable actress that played Vi on Buffy). You also got glimpses of where the show was going, which put a whole new spin on the progress made this season. If the show was always going to head in this direction – sooner rather than later granted, had Joss introduced this premise even earlier (or at least had the episode broadcast on TV) I think we’d be in a totally different situation. He also failed to fully connect the many personalities of Echo to the ‘person’ that Echo becomes. It’s also weird that Caroline eventually appears and seems to be the conglomerate Echo we’ve hung around with this season. Regardless, this episode made me truly sad the show is ending – but also aware of the flaws (hi, the first three episodes of this season still felt too much like the monster-of-the-week format that plagued S1) – and hopeful that Joss’ next project really takes off. The guy’s got a cult following and if networks give him a chance, he can make magic happen.

X Marks The Spot
I’m pretty sure I called this about three or four years ago, when the X Factor launched this massive winner whose name escapes me now (ha) in the UK when I happened to be doing an internship over there for a month at the BBC. I predicted, as I had stopped watched American Idol after the third season, that eventually Simon would bring the X Factor format over here to freshen up (or replace, as it did in the UK) the American Idol format. Sure enough, it’s recently been stated that Simon has signed on Paula for The X Factor, which he sure enough is bringing over here. Although AI is still a ratings juggernaut, it’s hardly producing megastars anymore – Adam Lambert is the freshest thing to walk off the show in years but I couldn’t name you a single song of his, nor imitate his voice, because he’s not on my radar at all. Carrie and Kelly still continue to dominate (and I still like em both) so that’s two stars out of something like seven seasons – it’s time for a change. For the record, my inbox featured an email from People with the subject line “What Is The X Factor?” In my own words – it’s nearly identical to AI but you can compete in three different categories: groups, older solo artists, and younger solo artists. This is the show that brought us Susan Boyle, one of the older soloists. Will I watch it when the show begins its reign over here? I’m sceptical, but maybe. Regardless, whoever airs this show is a smart cookie because it might bring back lapsed AI viewers (like myself), plus the huge AI fan base, for a fresh new spin on manufactured by the fans talent shows.

Those are my thoughts!

Britt’s On