Brooke's fashions have gotten excessively boring now that her pregnancy has started to show. Tommy Lee's pink cowboy hat is more exciting. Maybe she should talk to Heidi Klum at Project Runway.We waste fifteen minutes playing practically the entire reality episode. We find out that Magni cuts himself worse shaving than the cut he received after Dilana broke the glass, and Dilana says that she's going to rock the [expletive deleted by CBS] out of the place tonight and that she'll never speak badly about her friends again. Dave says it's time to move on. Which, you know, this show won't do. [Edited out by CBS, according to people at the taping: Jason saying that he calls "bullsh*t" on the whole reality editing of Dilana's mistake, because he was there and he knows what really happened; Storm saying that this should be a rock show, not a soap opera; and Lukas saying that he feels bad that the show felt it had to splash Dilana's pain on national TV. Guess what, folks? It's a reality show. This is what you signed on for. Deal with it.]
Tonight the singers are all performing songs that were chosen by their fans from a list specific to each singer: three songs were ones the singer had done before, and one was a "wild card" song that was performed by some other singer on the show. Needless to say, the "wild card" songs were the ones that were chosen for each person.
Lukas Rossi (sings Nirvana's "Lithium"): In a pre-taped segment, Lukas tells us that he's just a hard-working musician who likes basketball, video games, and drinking beer, and that he used to flip chicken wings at Hooters. Yeah, great resume, dude. That said, I like this arrangement of "Lithium." It's not better than Dilana's version at the beginning of the season - just different, with a softer edge on the verses, thanks to a new keyboard part. This is also arguably Lukas's best performance to date, with (shock!) some decent enunciation, at least until the last chorus, when he reverts to "rowr" mode and sticks out his tongue. Put it back, please. Dave says he's awesome, Tommy was captivated, Gilby calls it his best performance so far, and Jason thinks it was dynamite.
Magni (sings Live's "I Alone"): Magni wants people outside of Iceland to vote for him because he looks better than all the other men left (but presumably not the women). As for the song...I don't know. I don't like this particular song, because it basically relies on screaming the chorus, but I guess he performs it well, based on the reception by the crowd and Supernova. He's back to being a little bland as a performer for me, although walking up to Supernova and screaming "I alone!" in Tommy Lee's face was giggle-worthy. Dave (who is playing the Paula Abdul role tonight) thinks he was "killer," while Gilby says that Magni finally gave them that "extra something" he'd been asking for (I guess Gilby really wants to scream at Tommy, too). Tommy wishes that Magni had gone all the way to the back of the room to sing when he was meandering in the crowd, but Magni says that the lighting back there was too low for that. Okay, he's got some sense. Unlike...
Ryan Star (sings Coldplay's "Clocks"): Ryan refers to his "dark horse" status (courtesy of Dave) and says he's coming into his own. Um...okay. On to the singing, which is typical Ryan anger-face angst-boy. I've never quite been sure what this song is about, but I'm reasonably sure it has little to do with jumping up and down on top of a grand piano and later slithering across it on your belly. Ugh. Between the guitar throwing last week and this week's piano leaps, I would say Supernova shouldn't hire this guy because they would have to replace half their instruments every night. Dave predictably thinks the "dark horse" of the competition was "killer." Gilby calls it a great performance. Jason, in the first semi-critique of the night, says that he "kind of lost the plot" when Ryan got out from behind the piano. He's roundly booed for this statement, then shakes his head like the audience is insane. They are, Jason.
Storm Large (sings Evanescence's "Bring Me To Life"): Oh, dear. Why was this even on the list of songs for her? She's never sung it before, she's uncomfortable with it, and it's not suited to her deeper voice at all. Plus she makes the mistake of allowing Toby to sing the guy's part, and he's much more interesting than her. Folks, go to youtube.com and look up "Storm Large" and see one of her many concert videos, because those are far more representative of what she can do than this song and because you probably won't see her again after the elimination episode. Dave thinks she pulled it off, while Gilby thinks that Jill's previous performance was much more memorable. Jason gives her an A for effort. Ouch.
Toby Rand (sings Billy Idol's "Rebel Yell"): Toby says he's the joker at the mansion, which we all know. And, unlike Lukas, he knows how to enunciate the words to this song. In fact, he sounded a heck of a lot like Billy Idol, and after all the anger and heavy singing so far tonight, I'm grinning and nodding along as he bops around the stage. Then, because he cannot seem to get through a song without some sort of gimmick, he pulls a bunch of girls on the stage and lets them dance around him and paw at his shirt. I hate this, but I recognize it as a smart move because that's the sort of thing Supernova (or specifically, Tommy Lee) likes. Dave says he "believed" Toby. Gilby claims Toby took his performance to a whole new level. Tommy just wants him to take the girls back to his dressing room for a party, and Toby wisely points out that they'd probably have to check some I.D.s first. Heh.
Dilana (sings Tracy Bonham's "Mother, Mother"): Dilana is determined to do well for her fans, and she certainly delivers. I haven't seen that much raw passion in her since her first performance on the show. Whether that's a good thing or not, I'm not sure - I mean, does it take having a breakdown for her to bring that intensity to her performances? - but it's either very compelling or very scary, depending on your point of view. She even plays guitar (a guitar that's almost as big as her tiny body), and, unlike Ryan, she treats the instrument with respect when she puts it down. Thank you. I really did want to run on stage and push the hair out of her face, though. It was like she was behind a multi-colored mop. Dave says, "That might be my favorite performance in both seasons." Tommy has to bring up her press snafu again, but at least it's by acknowledging that he's the king of mistakes and that it's "a lesson in life." Gilby says there wasn't a bad part in the performance, and Jason thinks it was really good.
My ranking:
1) Dilana - I wouldn't call it perfect, but it had the most believable passion of the night. I'm thinking she's too good for Supernova.
2) Toby - All-around fun. He would have tied with Dilana if he hadn't brought the girls on stage.
3) Lukas - His best performance so far. I would like to hear his arrangement of the song with Dilana on vocals.
4) Magni - Not compelling, but better than...
5) Ryan - Angst works better when you don't resort to theatrics
6) Storm - Ugh. Sorry, sister.
Preliminary voting showed that the bottom three were Storm, Ryan, and...Lukas? Well, that won't last. He's got one of the biggest online fan bases, so they'll pull him out of there. My guess is that Magni may end up being there instead, or even Dilana if the whole reality stuff has really damaged her. But I will giggle when Lukas finally has to stand. Hee.
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