A couple of things…

A Couple of Things…

I missed this yesterday–another dress rehearsal report from the Gray Charles mole.  Speaking of which, if you hurry up, you can enter this contest at Gray Charles and win a “Taylor designed” hoodie from the folks at neighborhoodies.  Today is the last day for entries.

A belated thanks to Tina and Angela for posting dress rehearsal reports in comments yesterday.

“Warm, cheesy — right when you need it”

Here’s a NYTimes article about americanidol.com.  Where, yours truly, I’m proud to say, is bleeped like a dirty word.  Hee!

“But the Web site, like the Fox Reality show, is only a footnote to the masterwork, “American Idol.” The site is useful only insofar as it illuminates the main event. Of the two theories of “American Idol” — that it is gaudy evidence of psychosocial decline or that it is a reactionary return to the Lawrence Welk era of wholesome family entertainment — the second is more enlightening. But the Web site suggests that the decline idea should not be dismissed out of hand.

Web extras, after all, are still mostly another gimmick by which a franchise can lure would-be advertisers to pay the platinum prices it commands for advertising during the show. Those who advertise on a Web site are generally the ones who are most susceptible to the uncertain allure of a multiplatform deal — along with, in this case, an advertiser that really thinks it has a product that fits the die-hard “Idol” viewer.

Is it Gap or Target or Ford, companies that suggest a thrifty and sensible American viewership? Not at all. Instead, it’s Kraft’s Easy Mac Cup, a microwavable plastic container of a sticky, lumpy orange paste for people who find the boiling of regular macaroni too time-consuming. Easy Mac consumers, as depicted in the advertisements, are a slobby set of layabouts who will eat anything, including spoiled milk and coffee grounds, and thus will also gobble down Easy Mac.”

Last Supper

Here’s an article from MTV.com about the Idol’s Wednesday night “kiss off” dinner.

“The remaining contestants, and sometimes their families, attend the dinners, along with staff members from the show who work closely with the singers. Simon Cowell and the other judges aren’t invited — after the Paula Abdul/ Corey Clark allegations last season (see “FOX, ‘Idol’ Launch Formal Probe Of Paula Abdul Sex Scandal”), the producers set a rule forbidding contact outside of the tapings.

As a group, the singers choose the restaurant, which varies each week. (They hit Los Angeles’ trendy Whisper Lounge for Ace Young’s going-away fete.) Then, before the meal comes, each contestant stands up and talks about the one heading home.

‘It’s just a time for fellowship, ‘ Paris Bennett explained. ‘You actually hear all the emotions that people have felt since you’ve been around them. They just voice their opinions on you — how they first felt about you and their opinion of you now. It’s a great time to hear what the contestants want to tell you and they can never tell you because we’re always just moving. You never really have that time to tell them.'”