Peter Kupfer’s American Idol Rankings: 04/01/2010

Last nights R&B show was a little disappointing. Either me or the contestants were the confused. I was expected songs from the at least the 90′s like songs by Usher or Kanye West (who I still do not like) or at least Luther Vandross. In any event I am prepared to release my first American Idol Rankings:

1. Crystal Bowersox — Crystal needs to make sure she stays true to herself or she is going to become the same as everybody and get based by more confident singers.
2. Casey James — Knows who he is and how to perform. He needs to work on more challenging songs.
3. Michael Lynche — I am not a huge fan of his, but the judges adore him and maybe I am not getting it.
4. Lee DeWyzee — Really good singer and he is willing to take risks with the arrangement. Could go deep and move to the top with some more poise.
5. Aaron Kelly –  Very talented, but very young. Time will tell if his voice can make the long haul.
6. Tim Urban — Good, we will have to see if he can expand his audience beside middle school girls.
7. Katie Stevens — Good singer. Not the best, but maybe she could move up.
8. Andrew Garcia — I like him sometimes, but he needs to be a little more diverse.
9. Siobhan Magnus — Had a rough week, so I this probably a little low, but I’m not sure what to do with her.
10. Didi Benami — I  think she is good, but if I have to pick a worst of the 10, it would have to be her.

Post-Script: I guess the smiling didn’t pay off for Tim. Too bad for Didi, I think Broadway may be calling her.

Popularity: 4% [?]

American Idol: March 30, 2010

Here we go with R & B Week. Ryan Seacrest did a very nice job with the opening for the week. It got me excited! Much better celebrity mentor this week. I am not a big Usher fan, but he is clearly a superstar and an R & B expert.

This week added backstage shots of the contestants which I enjoyed, it adds a little more personality to the show.

Siobhan Magnus — Through the Fire

Very sharp or at least off pitch through most of the song. It was very painful to listen to. I am not finding this to be a very Soul or R&B like song. I feel like this might be a case of the song just not sounding right on TV, because she is usually not this bad. I found the whole thing to be a little boring. She tried to sing her big notes like usual, but I don’t find that she really owns the stage by any means. (Randy agrees, yeah!)

Casey James — Hold On, I’m Comin’ by Sam and Dave

Really nice performance, you could feel the soul in the song which is the whole point of the night. Casey seamlessly adds in the guitar riffs like a seasoned performer. The song wasn’t horribly vocally challenging, but he owned the stage and had a great performance.

Michael Lynche — Ready for Love — India Arie

Michael sang this well, but again, I found it kind of boring. I guess I had a different expectation overall of Soul/R&B night from all of the high school dances I have chaperoned. I was expecting songs like what Usher sings. I think Mike living off of the sentimental guy thing is going to wear out soon, he needs to start with a different game.

I think it is ridiculous that Usher is wearing glasses indoors.

Didi Benami — What Becomes of the Brokenhearted — Jimmy Ruffin

This girl looks good and sounds great tonight. She has a strong, solid voice. The song is going a little fast for me, but I that makes it more exciting. I like the twist she put on the end for originality. I have a feeling she is going to get some more theatrical comments this week. (Did you notice how big her guns were?) I enjoyed this performance except perhaps how fast the song was. (Yeah, Ellen called it dramatic.)

It turns out that the reference Ryan was making to DiDi singing the some for someone was her best friend Rebecca who dies before she auditioned.

Tim Urban — Sweet Love — Anita Baker

(Teflon Tim, what is that about?) Tim’s got the part undone tie looking like he just got through a rough day which I think adds to the styling of this song nicely. He sings this song very well, but it lacks originality. It is time for the contestants to start taking this performances to the next level. If I wanted to hear the same as the original recording, I would just download that.

Andrew Garcia – Forever — Chris Brown

Independent of anything else, I give Andrew credit for trying to adapt the songs each week to fit who he wants to be an artist. I think Andrew does a good job. He seems to be in tune and he brings some energy to the song. I think it will be important for him to move around the stage more at some point so that he doesn’t get too stuck in this genre he is in. I enjoyed the performance and it was substantially better than the last two weeks. (The outfit was mad dope. I love Randy Jackson.)

I think it is a shame that Ryan has not won an Emmy or something because he does a phenomenal job in his job. Bringing out Andrew’s mother was hilarious.

Katie Stevens — Chain of Fools — Aretha Franklin

Wow, I didn’t expect this strong of a performance out of Katie. She tried a high degree of difficulty and did a really nice job. She had some attitude, was into the song and head bobbing on stage. She was on pitch and really did the whole thing well. She actually brought some soul and R&B love to the soul and R&B week which I can’t say for all of the contestants. Really good job.

Lee DeWyze — Treat Her Like a Lady — Temptations

I’m liking Lee’s rock like version of this song. This seems like a song that could be on the radio. Major props here for the original arrangement and the good vocals. Maybe a little more motion on stage would have been nice, but he really rocked this song out!

Crystal Bowersox — Midnight Train to Georgia — Gladys Night and the Pimps

Very excited for the big surprise! I think she missing the point of the judge’s comments if she thinks playing the piano addresses their concerns. They want her moving around the stage and not thinking. We’ll see how it goes. She sounds nice, but I don’t think her eyes came up at the camera once while she was at the piano. Every other contestant got advice from Usher to look up to make a connection, but she doesn’t do that. Good for her that she can sing. So, she gets up from the piano and still doesn’t move at all. This performance is not anywhere near as good as last weeks. (I really liked Simon Cowell’s comments about not abandoning what she had been doing.)

Aaron Kelly — Ain’t No Sunshine — Bill Withers

He needs to lose the Alf Alfa spike in his hair, it is distracting. Really excellent vocals from the kid here. I liked the arrangement of the song, and the “I know” part really worked well. I don’t think he moved more than about 6 feet the whole song which something I would work on. Good vocal, performance could be better.

If I had that much confidence when I was 11, How old are you? — Classic Ellen DeGeneres

Popularity: unranked [?]

Grayslake Parks: Mill Creek Park

Mill Creek Park is one of the Grayslake Park District’s must full featured playgrounds (As you can see from the picture at the bottom, Isaac gets a little overwhelmed there.) There is one large structure as shown below on the left. The side of the structure with the large red twisty slide is well suited for intermediate climbers and is relatively safe without too many places to walk off. The piece on the left with the straight slide, after the gazebo, is very difficult to access unless you are an advanced climber so the play structure offers fun and challenges for all climbers.

The pictures on the right above are of the smaller play structure adjacent to the larger one. The small structure is good for youngsters who have just started moving. If they can crawl or get up stairs, then they can have fun. If nothing else, parents can help the tykes on the small structure and let them go down the slide. Isaac really enjoyed this area when he was 1 because he do almost all of it on his own and it has a steering wheel on it, which he always likes.

Another nice feature of this park is the picnic pavilion. This is located very near the play area so you could have a large outing here and still be close enough to supervise young children. The picture on the left below shows the pavilion, the picture in the middle shows Isaac trying, unsuccessfully to climb up the harder side of the play structure, and the picture on the right is Isaac making his way to the twisty slide.

The park also has swings (I think two baby and two regular) and is adjacent to several soccer fields.

The park is easy to get either by car or by bike. Continue Reading…

Popularity: unranked [?]

Grayslake Parks: Cullen Park

Cullen Park holds the distinction of being the Grayslake Park District”s only all metal park. It is located off of 120 in the Grayslake Apartment area. There is one large play structure there with slides and areas for both little and big ones so multiple kids can be entertained in one place. The pictures here show the large twisty slide on the left side of the structure and the smaller straight slide on the right. (You can see Isaac in action on the slides in the pictures at the bottom.) You can also see the chain link ladder in the right that can give the more skilled climbers a good challenge.

The park also includes two real swings and two baby swings along with two bouncy animal things (picture below on the left). The other feature that sets this park apart is that it has a half basketball court (which you can see in the picture on the right below and in the map below). Now, this can be a mixed blessing. One of the times we were there several guys were playing basketball and swearing quite a bit. It wasn’t anymore than you would hear in a YMCA gym pickup game, but I wasn’t a big fan of it with Isaac near by.

One of the things Isaac likes best about this park is that he can smash and bang on the metal parts (either the slide of the tube) to make lots of noise.

Continue Reading…

Popularity: 3% [?]

Americal Idol Recap: Top 11 — 23 March

So for the Top 11 we have Top 100 hits. I am surprised and a little disappointed that American Idol brought in Miley Cyrus to be the guest mentor. I guess she has some successful records but I wouldn’t have thought of her as someone who could coach someone in how to sing better because she is not a particularly talented singer. I mean you’re going from Rod Stewart to Neil Sadaka to … Miley Cyrus, very odd.

I like the little love fest between Ryan and the judges each week. I like the judge mix right now. They all have a little bit different voice and they are all very lucid.

Before I get to the contestants, I will say that I am surprised at the song choices tonight. Very few of them chose songs from the last 10 years. It was almost like oldies night on Idol, and the contestants are not showing themselves as contemporary. Hopefully they start to step it up soon, but there don’t seem to be as many musicians this season as we have seen in prior seasons. Now, for the contestants:

Lee Dewyze
Singing Letter with some big band love behind him. I like the arrangement, but I don’t know how contemporary it would be for the radio. It was very Sinatra like and I could see it as part of a concert as the opening song, but I don’t see it in the radio. Pretty good though. (Yeah, Simon agreed with me.)

Paige Miles
Sang Against All Odds by Phil Collins which is a song a really like. Started off really too airy and wispy but then she starts into it really strong and ends air and whiny. It’s like she wasn’t sure what she wanted to do with it. Not good. (Judges agree, I forgot Mariah Carey did that song, bad choice for Paige.)

Tim Urban
Singing Crazy Little Thing Called Love. It doesn’t surprise me that Miley’s best advice for Tim was just to add riffs, she’s got nothing else. You can tell Tim wants to connect and have energy, it is just not natural for Tim. He looks like he is all up in his head. He slid and then went out into the crowd but it just isn’t working for mew. It reminds a little of early Carrie Underwood, she always looked a little uncomfortable on stage, but she could sing a lot better than Tim.

Aaron Kelly
Sang Aerosmith’s I Don’t Want to Miss a Thing. My inital thought is that he can’t handle this compared to Steven Tyler. Starts off Smokey and brooding doing good. The best thing I can say is that it sounds a 16 year old singing a song he can’t handle. It was okay but not real good, it’ll he much better in two years.

Loving the awkard look between Simon in Miley after he told Aaron to give her a call and she shakes her head no.

Crystal Bowersox
Singing a Janice Joplin song I have heard before but don’t know the name. She has got to be the favorite right now. She has one of strongest voices, confidence, and is a good performer. Really great performance. She needs to maybe have a little more personality, but that will hopefully come. (Ellen agrees with me, Woot!)

Michael Lynche
Singing When a Man Loved a Woman to “all of the lovers out there.” This guy is a performer, he gets how to connect and sell a song’s emotion. Plus, he can sing and has a baby face. He is like a slightly more fit Ruben Studdurd. Sweet Idol love with the falsetto, nice.

Andrew Garcia
Singing I heard It Through the Grapevine. He is not really bringing anything new to the song. I am surprised in general that the performers are not picking more current songs. It was sung well enough but nothing to get me excited. He did a couple of dips but it was safe and boring He is lucky that people earlier did so bad.

Katie Stevens
Singing A Big Girl Now (?) This was okay. I was not blown away or anything. I think it showed that she could sing. I was happy she chose a song from the past decade. She showed she was young and fun. She is not the best vocalist but she could grow as the show goes on and make some noise towards the end. (I think Simon’s comment about her meeting Miley being great is true.)

Casey James
Singing the Power of Love from Back to the Future (love that movie). Casey is a powerful singer and should go far. He did a good job with the song but it sounded just like the original. It will get him through a few rounds, but I would like to see him be a little more original. (Yeah, Simon agrees with me again. I would like to know how Kara thinks he made it current, it was no different.)

Didi Benami
Singing You’re No Good with a lot of sass, I like it. She has a Taylor Swift vibe going on in both appearance and dancing with the bass guy. Very nice arrangement and performance. Probably my favorite of the night. Crystal was probably better, but I thought she great. (I guess I can see where the judges are talking about a musical, but I thought it was good.)

Siobhan Magnus
Singing Superstitious. Pretty good start. She sings with a lot of passion and energy. She moved around the stage very well and has a lot of courage. The end was very good with the big notes at the end.

Overall, not one of the best nights of Idol. I would be surprised if Paige didn’t go home after this, most everyone else was at the same level. Although, I would definitely put Crystal and Casey a step above followed by Siobhan. I guess we will find out tomorrow and get to hear Miley perform!

Popularity: unranked [?]

Grayslake Parks: Antler Park

Antler Park is located in Hainseville, IL and is part of the Grayslake Park District. This park is small, but has some nice features. The one thing this park offers that others don’t is a tire swing. The tire is horizontal to the ground and is suspended from three chains so it rotates and swings. IK is still too small to ride it, but I had fun on it. The park has two main play structure, one big and one small. As many parks have, the big structure is almost impossible for a small child to climb on to which is nice for safety purposes. The park also has full size swings and baby swings. Here is a picture of the smaller play structure and the child swings.

You will probably not stumble on to Antler Park unless you are really off the beaten bath. It is in a subdivision off of Rt. 120 or off of Hainesville Road. You can access it from the city bike paths along Washington Road, but there is not good way to get out along Rt. 120 or Hainesville.

So, if you are up for a little bit of a ride and would like a nice simple park, this is a fine place to visit. You can bring your young kids and older toddlers here and both will be amused. I would think much over five and you would want to find a slightly more challenging and exciting park.

Popularity: 5% [?]

Question about Social Protocol and Cutting Through Yards

Last week during the first week of the spring Isaac and I went out for our first bike ride of the year. We went around town and  ended up at Antler Park. It is not a real exciting park, and it is kind of out of the way for us, but it is simple and enjoyable. The biggest problem with the park is that it is tough to get to by bike.

Well that problem might be solved. While at the park several middle school type kids came by and walked into and out of the woods nearby. Different kids came out then went in so I figured it wasn’t a drug dealer or anything. I also knew that if there was a trail back there it would lead in a very useful direction for me to get home but I had never seen a trail coming out where it would have to come out. I know where pretty much every trail in town is, so I was a little confused.

After we finished at the park, Isaac and explored this potentially new trail. It turns out that it comes out in a person’s backyard/in between two houses. There is a very worn path in the one backyards from so much traffic that it was almost like a hiking trail. Once you got to front yard the path was not clear anymore but you could get right on the driveway. The picture below shows a blue circle where you can see a worn path in the park itself and the red line roughly traces the path through the woods in the backyard and out to the road.

Now, I was raised to not cut through people’s yards and so I felt guilty the whole time and after but this path seems so well warm that it makes me think the owners don’t care (or have given up).

So, my question is, if I am going to be a conscientious neighboorhood, can I take this shortcut?

My first thought was that I should just go over and ask the owners if they mind people cuttimg through. Although that would seem a little creepy to me. I personally would hate people coming through my yard all the time and I would have done what my Dad did and installed a fence to stop people from cutting through. My biggest concern about people cutting through would be re-sale. I can imagine the sale, “what is that path?” “Oh that is where a bunch 13-year olds walk through everyday.” Customer leaves.

On the other maybe they don’t care. It is clear that this path is well known and well used (given the level of erosion on it and the number of kids I saw walking through), so maybe it is okay.

Anyway, any thoughts would be appreciated.

Popularity: 3% [?]