Thoughts and musings of Peter Kupfer

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  • Netflixitosis

    Posted on by Peter Kupfer Comment

    I, and my wife, have found ourselves suffering from a new disease I am going to call Netflixitosis.

    Definition

    This is a condition that arises from being conditioned by your DVR to sense when it is time to fast forward so that you do not hear even one bit of a commercial break.

    Symptoms

    While the condition can actually be beneficial while watching shows on a DVR (unless your son panics if you skip the AT&T “do two things at once commercial”), it can be detrimental when watching Netflix or a similar TV streaming service. The condition has been known to cause reaches for a remote that can either cause undue strain on the body or result in the pushing or an unknown button which may cause an unnecessary delay while re-buffering.

    Treatment

    No treatment is known for the illness at this time. Just choosing one source of entertainment could help, but is not a realistic option. Remembering that this is the definition of a “first world problem” also helps bear through the discomfort.

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  • American Idol — Top 2

    Posted on by Peter Kupfer Comment

    After taking a few weeks off, it is time for the finale. I still feel that James Durbin should have been in the finale, but these two are great. What is really great about Scotty and Lauren specifically is how much they have grown and changed over the season. It may be a product of their age or because they had Jimmy Iovine as a consistent mentor (which I think was a great move by Idol), but they have progressed more during the season than any other contestants I can think of. I never would have imagined Scotty with the confidence to pull off Gone during these or season or Lauren having the confidence to control the stage as well as she does.

    My initial thought coming in to the night is that Lauren should win because she is a better singer than Scotty. Now, it is difficult to compare an male vs. a female singer, but I will would rank Lauren above Scotty. That is a not a knock on Scotty, but rather praise of Lauren.

    Scotty McCreery — Gone
    Phenomenal! The first week he sang this song I think it solidified his role as a serious contender. Up until then he was a kid who could sing George Strait type songs really well. But, singing Montgomery Gentry’s Gone showed a whole new side to his talent. His encore of the performance was just as good if not better.

    Lauren Alaina — Flat on the Floor
    Great job! She was moving and jamming on the stage and belting out the vocals. The confidence in her growing throughout the season really comes out in this performance. It was a great performance, I would rank Scotty’s higher, but, again, not as a knock on Lauren but as a compliment to Scotty.

    Scotty McCreery — Check Yes or No
    Great song choice and great performance by Scotty. It reminds of the Are You Gonna Kiss Me or Not he sang earlier. He really is a great story teller as Jennifer Lopez says.

    Lauren Alaina — Maybe It Was Memphis
    This song highlights what I was trying to say earlier. When a female vocalist nails a song it is almost always going to better than a male. Lauren sings the snot out of this song and shows how talented she is. I don’t know if Ryan was over blowing the vocal cord problem, but it is hard to tell. If she is performing with only one vocal cord here, then I can’t wait until she has two.

    Scotty McCreery — Love You This Big
    Scotty looked very classy and made the least number of annoying facial expressions to date. This song was good for him and it will do well. He is going to a young entering a large field of talented male country artists and so he needs to stick to younger themed songs like this if he is going to be successful. I just don’t think he is quite strong enough to beat Lauren.

    Lauren Alaina — Like My Mother Does
    This song reminds me of something Taylor Swift would sing which is always a good thing in my book. Lauren nails this song and, if this were a strictly talent competition, nailed the title. The confidence to stare your mother in the eye and sing those wonderful things, wow, that takes poise. (Not to mention making it up and down those stairs.) While I don’t think Lauren is done improving, she is pretty far along and she will be a major contender as she matures as grows.

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  • American Idol — Top 5

    Posted on by Peter Kupfer Comment

    James Durbin — Good performance. I found the song a little boring, not necessarily the performance, but the song wasn’t for me. The problem for James is that he has to try to top himself each week which is a big feat. This was not his best performance, but it was still high-caliber.

    Jacob Lust — Bad choice to try to sing a duet by himself. I could feel the emotion and it was a decent performance, but it was fell short of the level it needs to be at. He was screaming at some points which made him a little off pitch and it just didn’t work out well.

    Lauren Alaina — This girl might have this thing figured out now. She took on the tall task of singing a song by someone who is as talented and well known and Carrie Underwood and was pretty close to meeting the task. She was loose on stage, had personality and wailed on that song. She really has grown tremendously over the course of the show and I’m going to be interested to see how this all plays out.

    Scotty McCreery –Wow, what a performance. Scotty unequivocally knocked this song out of the park. He stepped out of his comfort zone, worked the stage, nailed the vocals and it was just tremendous. I was ready to declare a James & Lauren finale, but now I don’t know.

    Haley Reinhart — Hailey sang this well. I didn’t care for the song but she sang it decently. It got a little boring and repetitive towards the end. She can sing well, but when she has to compete against Lauren I think she will always come up short.

    Rank of the 1st Performances

    1) Scotty
    2) Lauren
    3) James
    4) Jacob
    5) Haley

    James Durbin — This was a better performance by James. The emotion and soulfulness of the performance really makes this. He was a little off pitch in the low range in the slow part, but he brought this home. The little pause at the end was awesome and gave me chills. What a performer!

    I agree with Randy, it is his competition to lose.

    Jacob Lusk — Again, this was an okay performance. Jacob is just being out shadowed by James and Scotty. He has a big range, but he over performs and he is clearly a diva. he emotion and connection with the audience was really nice at the end and he makes a good effort, but I don’t think it is good enough to beat the other three. As a diva, I always feel like he is a little aloof and disconnected from the populous.

    Lauren Alaina — Irregardless of her amazing singing, I have to really give Lauren credit for taking on two huge songs tonight. She doesn’t seem to be in time with the music here, or something seems wrong. I am nearly as impressed with this performance as the first. It really almost seems self-indulgent. There were none of the big notes I expected and it didn’t really add anything to the song. I was hoping for a lot more from that song. You can tell the judges feel the same, but are just scared to blast her.

    Scotty McCreery — Another great performance by Scotty. What a great night for him!

    Haley Reinhart — What a great performance by Haley. This song was written for her as Jimmy said. Such great emotion and story telling while highlighting her vocals. This performance should push her over Jacob for another week.

    Part 2
    1) Haley
    2) James
    3) Scotty
    4) Jacob
    5) Lauren

    In the end, either James or Haley should be eliminated

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  • American Idol Top 6

    Posted on by Peter Kupfer Comment

    Carole King theme week? This is the top 6 and they are forced to sing songs from 1970′s to show how good of a contemporary artist they are? Really!? This seems silly.

    I really like when they start performing the duets at this point in the season.

    Jacob Lusk — Oh No Not My Baby
    I’m not sure whose outfit is goofier, Jacob’s blue and yellow bow tie get up or Randy’s or “R” sweater. Jacob does a nice job with this performance, but this song is not really contemporary at all, which isn’t really his fault, it is a Carol King song so that will happen. Jacob did a great job moving on stage and using his whole vocal range. I think it is too late for him to make a big move here, but you never know.

    Lauren Alaina –
    Lauren is definitely seeming more at ease each week and it is improving her performances. I like when Babyface asked her if she ever didn’t hit a high note she tried for and she said, “No.” Then, she went out on stage and nailed the big notes. Again, I’m not a big fan of the song, but she nailed it. She moved on stage, went for the big notes and really solidified her place in the competition. I think is neck and neck between her and Scotty for the third place now.

    I’m not a big Miley Cyrus fan, but I think her advice to Lauren about their always being haters was very helpful.

    Haley & Casey — I Feel the Earth Move
    If the rumors of them dating aren’t true, they did a heck of job acting like they are in their little video. Great choreography by this two in this performance. I really liked this performance by the two. They looked extremely relaxed on stage and they complemented each other well. I liked Casey’s little diddy at the end and Hailey keeps getting better. They both did themselves justice in this performance and it should help them in the end.

    Scotty McCreery — You’ve Got a Friend
    Scotty can’t help but sound country. So even when he tries to sing something else, he still sounds country, which isn’t a horrible thing, just an observation. Scotty forces the start of this song too much. He went too slow just to try to force emotion. I don’t know if a 17-year-old can convey enough emotion in this song as James Taylor did. By contrast, he makes the end too big, again trying to force the emotion. Having said that, I think that if he worked those out, he could record that as a single now. He sings the song really well and he wants to work hard and do a great job. He needs to let the song develop by itself and not force it.

    [adsense]

    James Durbin — Will You Still Love Me Tomorrow
    I don’t want to overstate my feelings of this performance, but I think that minimally it secured James a place in the finale and may have won him the show (I typed it before Randy said it). The first 30 seconds of the song alone makes me want to vote for him. I was a little surprised that he went as pop with the song as he did. I know he was trying to get away from the wild performances, but this was really far the other way. If he had an album of rock songs, that would seem out-of-place. However, that performance was good enough to be a single. I don’t know if it was contemporary enough, but again I won’t blame him.

    Me and Steven seem to be in agreement on this song.

    I haven’t said it as much this season as last I think, but Ryan Seacrest is really phenomenal at what he does. James mentions the Idol forums and he doesn’t miss a beat with a witty plug for the sponsors. Likewise, when he pulled the boy who Lauren serenaded up on stage to interview him, that was great. And, when Jame’s guitar starts making noise, “A superstar wouldn’t let that happen”. He just understands his role and how to host the show. I do miss the exchanges between him and Simon Cowell.

    Lauren and Scotty — Up on the Roof
    Putting the two youngsters/country singers together makes sense and should be interesting. This was not nearly as impressive as Casey and Haley but it was okay. You could see clearly in this performance that Lauren is a stronger singer than Scotty. That is not to say that Scotty did a bad job by any means, but Lauren is just a better singer. In my mind, this helps differentiating between this too a lot easier.

    Casey Abrams — Hi-De-Ho
    You gotta love Casey’s outfit during the jam session: black tennis shoes, hiked up white socks, plaid shorts, and a blue sweatshirt. You can tell he is a musical genius who isn’t worried about matching. :-) I love the opening helping on the piano. I don’t always know what to do with his performances. He is living “on the edge of creativity” as Jimmy said, but that doesn’t always result in songs that make sense. I’m trying to put this singers in context and figure out if they can be stars on the radio or not. Randy is correct and saying that is “entertaining” but I don’t know if he is the American Idol.

    Haley Reinhart — Beautiful
    This is kind of boring song by Haley. I felt that her duet performance was better than this one. The slow bridge in the middle was the best part of this performance. She sang the song well and moved around on stage well, but it was just kind of boring. As I keep saying, she has improved tremendously as an artist over the past 4 episodes but I’m not sure where she is going to go.

    Jacob & James –
    Great duet by these Jacob and James. In a very good way, it was reminiscent of a great Broadway performance. There was a lot of energy and a lot of good vocals. It was a lot of fun and why I like duets.

    Tonight’s Performances
    James Durbin
    Lauren Alaina
    Casey Abrams
    Scotty McCreery
    Haley Reinhart
    Jacob Lusk

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  • American Idol Top 7

    Posted on by Peter Kupfer Comment

    Scotty McCreery -
    This was probably Scott’s best performance to date. I love how he work the stage horizontally and vertically. He showed his personality and I liked it. (Except of course for his facial expressions, he’s almost doing it on purpose now.)

    I don’t know what Jennifer and Randy’s problem is. They blast good performances and praise bad ones (like the opening number.) As much as I praise artists stretching themselves, Scotty did in this case. He doesn’t often sing the upbeat moving around songs like that. This was a stretch for him and he did bring it. Ugh!

    James Durbin
    Great performance. He is the best contestant right now, but the question is can a rocker win?

    Why don’t the judges blast James for staying in the same genre? GKup thinks it is because the judges have a bias against country. Perhaps.

    Hailey Reinert
    Nice performance by Hailey. I didn’t care for the song myself so it was a little boring at times, but ever since she picked a style, she has gotten a lot better. Time tell if she has the votes. GKup say she looks like Minnie Mouse, ha!

    Jacob Lusk
    Decent performance from Jacob. He may have peeked a few weeks ago and is now playing it safe to stick around. I would have to agree though, he is a diva. (There was something wrong with the track. Suck it up.)

    Casey Abrams
    Wow, Casey is back with a vengeance. Casey showed what a great artist he was and showed why I had thought he was so great since the auditions. More importantly, perhaps, Casey showed that he could be musically relevant in today’s market, and kept his grunt. At this point, it is a race between James and Casey.

    Stefano Langone
    Stefano gave one of his weakest performances of the season. I am not sure what Randy heard, but that was bordering on bad karaoke without a doubt. He was hoping to rely on one long note at the end and his weak range failed him. I can’t tell if the judges are just trying to spare his feelings, or if I just don’t get it. How does Stefano get props and Scotty gets nothing?

    Lauren Alaina
    Great job by Alaina. She did seem to ignore the crowd and get into the song. She was jumping and dancing on stage and really getting into the song. I have been saying for a while that she could win if she got over her age and got comfortable and it is starting to happen.

    That was perhaps the most useful critique from the judges all season. I especially like Steven’s idea of Lauren singing Allison Krause.

    Tonight’s Ranking
    James
    Casey
    Lauren
    Scotty
    Hailey
    Jacob
    Stefano

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  • American Idol Power Rankings — April 14th, 2011

    Posted on by Peter Kupfer Comment

    Decent night for the singers. Another poor night for the judges.

    These aren’t necessarily predictions, but rather my opinion of what should happen. I’m pretty confident about the top 4 guys and fairly confident Lauren won’t be eliminated, but the other three I don’t know. A lot of it depends on how whoever was voting for Pia decides to go. (Assuming they keep voting.) Usually at this point in the season we still have a couple of ballad blasting females with Pia was really the only one, so it is anyone’s guess where those votes are going to go.

    1. 1. James Durbin (1) — Another great performance from a guy who knows how to perform. There is a lot of parody in the field, but James stands out with weekly consistency at a high level.
    2. 2. Casey Abrams (3) — Casey is a great artist with a charismatic personality. I will be interested to see what kind of commercial success he will have.
    3. 3. Jacob Lust (4) — One of his best performances to date. It was calm and showed off his range.
    4. 4. Scotty McCreery (5) — Nice change of pace. Scotty is like a peanut butter and jelly sandwich, you always know what you are going to get, and you always like it, but it isn’t as good as a nice steak.
    5. 5. Lauren Alaina (6)– Another solid performance from her. She may have hit her ceiling because of her youth and inexperience but she may have a few surprises left.
    6. 8. Haley Reinhart (9) — She has figured out who she wants to be, and it shows. This was one of her best performances and if she keeps growing she could upset one of the guys.
    7. 7. Stefano Langone (8) — Good performer, not a strong enough singer.
    8. 6. Paul McDonald (7) —He has hit his ceiling. He has had a few niche little performances along the way, but he is not going to be the winner of this show. That is not say he won’t sell some records, but his time should be over.
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  • American Idol Top 8

    Posted on by Peter Kupfer Comment

    It will be interesting to see if the judges say anything critical after last weeks love fest. There was not a single critical comment last week, except for a few constructive comments for Pia. I don’t even Jennifer and Steven don’t know enough about music to be critical because they can just do it, or if they choose to not be critical. The judges need to realize that when they are not critical, (when it is appropriate) that they are not helping the contestants get better. The contestants this year are not that much better this season to be above constructive criticism as opposed to the gushing praise for all show we had last week.

    Paul McDonald — Old Time Rock and Roll
    This song was wedding singer quality at best. He digressed from any level of quality he had raised himself up to over the past few weeks. the judges can talk about letting go and his abandon all they want, but I would like to see him pull that in and actually sing the song. He was starting to grow on me, but he lost me with this performance.

    Lauren Alaina — The Climb
    Lauren sings the song the way it should have been sung in the first place. She was poised, confident, and belted out the vocals. I grow continually frustrated with her refusal to move on stage. I agree with the producer guy that she definitely could steal some of those Pia votes. She is growing and doing well, but she needs to keep pushing herself. The judges comments aren’t helping her push herself, so hopefully she is finding that internal motivation to grow.

    Stefano Langone — End of the Road
    Stefano is becoming one of the best story telling singers on the show, but sadly he can’t back up with stellar vocals. He has this tiny little range of notes he can sing and he can’t nail the big notes. He puts the effort in and he can perform the songs, so I feel bad for being critical, but he just doesn’t have the talent the other singers have. I agree with Randy Jackson that they may be Stefano’s best vocal, but it is still not good enough, and I don’t think he can physically do any better.

    Scotty McCreery — I Cross My Heart
    Good performance by Scotty. I liked a slow song from him and he sang it well. Not much more to say other than that he needs to remember what the TMZ guys says and work on his facial expressions.

    [adsense]

    Casey Abrams — Nature Boy
    I didn’t get Casey’s performance. Gina says she would like to listen to it in a coffee house, but this is not Coffee Shop Idol, this is American Idol! I like Casey, and he sang it well, but it wasn’t really for me. I guess it could go on a jazz type album like Randy says, but I don’t know if everyone is going to get it.

    Haley Reinhart — Call Me
    Good performance by Haley. I would agree with her that she is growing as a performer. This is one of her best performances thus far and she is settling into a style of rocker girl type singer and it is working for her. This performance should be good enough to keep her out of the bottom 3 and get another chance to shine. Gina says that the boots along should get her some votes.  So, now Randy is going to criticize her performance, but praise Paul? It’s like they just jump on the band wagon, once one of them says something negative, they all follow along.

    Jacob Lusk — Bridge Over Troubled Water
    Jacob is taking on a song that Clay Aiken ruled with and it is an interesting choice. This is one of Jacob’s most seriously and believable performances to date. He did an excellent job showing off his vocal abilities and his ability to emotionally connect with the audience. It sounded a lot like he was singing in a church choir at times, but this came out a lot better than I expected. I’m still not sure if I could hear him on the radio, but that was a good performance.

    James Durbin — Heavy Metal
    James rocked the house again. I don’t know if a rocker can win this show, but he could be the first. Not much more to say, he is really good.

    Ranking of Tonight’s Performances

    1 – James Durbin
    2 – Haley Reinhart
    3 – Scotty McCreery
    4 – Casey Abrams
    5 – Lauren Alaina
    6 – Jacob Lusk
    7 – Stefano Langone
    8 – Paul McDonald

     

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