Posting daily at 1pm central about all kinds of things. One day it's dating, the next it's TV commercials. I hope you're entertained. Professional photos on SmugMug – https://benwilder.smugmug.com
It’s not uncommon to use they or them when referring to one person, generically. “If my child is sick, I get them medicine,” for example. But the rise of the they/them in contemporary society isn’t the same. Now it just shows that if any rule can be broken, why do we have rules at all? During a recent TV interview a woman explained that her pronouns were the singular they/them. So I’ve come up with a few other ludicrous oxymorons to show how silly this fringe part of our culture has become.
The red blue pen.
A truck trunk.
A feline dog.
Hot ice.
The bright darkness.
The square ball.
A happy emo kid.
A straight curve.
Straight guy dating a transgender woman.
Pan with an untouchable handle.
An altruistic politician.
A male ladybug.
Sunrise from the west.
A midnight solar eclipse.
A silent lol.
A bald guy selling shampoo.
Our culture is in a weird place. Sometimes it seems like we’re living in the upside down, doesn’t it?
Sometimes the Idol judges irritate me so much with their decisions. Last night included one of those moments, and I’m not talking about Katy’s dress that looked like metal manta ray. Or Lionel’s possible freudian slip after Kennedy’s performance… he said, “When we said ‘no,’ excuse me, when America said ‘no,’ you said ‘I don’t think so!'” Ummm, are judges and producers pulling the strings and fooling us all? This IS the channel that shows The Bachelor, the most scripted unscripted show ever.
Conspiracy theory aside, all 20 contestants performed again for the second day (the first ACTUAL live show of the season) and as the episode progressed, we learned who was moving on to the next round and who was sent to what Ryan called, “The Danger Zone,” meaning the singers who were not voted into the top 14 but still had a chance for the judges to save them. There would be 10 with the highest votes, and then 4 judge saves from the bottom 10. Spoiler alert, the judges saved the contestants in *bold from this group of 10.
Odell Bunton Jr. Jennifer Jeffries *Jordan Anthony *Nya *Roman Collins Ajii Kennedy Reid *Jayna Elise Mackenzie Sol Quintavious Johnson
Before the show aired I had picked Jordan, Nya, Jayna, Quintavious, KB, and Kayko as the ones to get eliminated. OK, OK, I was wrong! The judges had other opinions and as they called out their 4 saves, I was shocked, perplexed, and a little ticked off. How could they let Jennifer go? Odell! Kennedy and her catalog of styles (wigs). It was a travesty.
As my family and I watched we started researching contestants’ YouTube video view counts (from the previous night’s singing) and it was surprisingly accurate for who was safe and who wasn’t. Those with lower views were in the bottom half of the 20, and those with higher views were in the top. So it became very possible to predict the outcome as each name was called. Because of that, I can sort of understand why the judges saved who they saved, except for Mackenzie and Kennedy.
I still think they got it wrong overall, though. Neither Nya, Jayna, Jordan are going to win the show. That’s just the hard truth. I think the winning spot belongs to either Jack, McKenna, Triston, or Abi. The rest are just along for the ride… or however long the judges America wants to keep them around.
An old country soul is the best way to describe American Idol contestant Triston Harper, who’s just 15 years old. Someone check his birth certificate! In a recent episode he performed an original song called “H-O-P-E” and I’ve transcribed the lyrics below. I’m a little (a lot) embarrassed by whatever I was doing at 15 years old (sitting on the bench of my school’s JV basketball team).
“H-O-P-E” Triston Harper
Well, I’ve seen the pain and I’ve seen the sorrow. Well, I witness it every single day. It kind of makes me wish that there isn’t a tomorrow. Cause I’ve heard all the lies, back to back. Over and over again.
But it don’t ever end. No, it won’t ever end.
Hope stands for hold on, pain ends. Where’s the joy when you need it? It makes you want to get down on your knees and cry.
But crying don’t make it end. So why do you keep doing it? I’ve asked myself about a hundred thousand times.
He said, How long till you give up, quit, and just lay down and die? Lay down and die Lay down and die Lay down and die.
Hope stands for hold on, pain ends. Where’s the joy when you need it? It makes you want to get down on your knees and cry. But crying don’t make it end. So why do you keep doing it? I’ve asked myself about a hundred thousand times. He said, How long till you give up, quit, and just lay down and die?
Emmy Russell is gaining momentum if YouTube views are any indicator of such a claim. Her latest American Idol performance has over 76K views at the time of this post, only eclipsed by powerhouses McKenna Faith (80K) and Abi Carter (82K). She may be shy and unassuming, but it appears as though voters like her endearing demeanor. She made it into the top 20 (short recap of the episode here) and performed an original song called “Want You.” The lyrics are below, followed by the video. I think Loretta would be proud!
Emmy Russell “Want You”
Don’t want your empty words, your fake diamond dreams. The way you talk about forever, don’t think you know what that means.
Don’t want a grand gesture, just be here with me. You and me, baby, yeah that’s all I need.
I want you to want me like I want you, I want you to need me like I need you. If you’re going to leave me then cut me loose, I want you to want me.
I’m breaking your heart and you’re breaking mine, I say I need space, you say you need time. I don’t even know if we’re keeping score. All that I know is I love you more.
I want you to want me like I want you, I want you to need me like I need you. If you’re going to leave me then cut me loose, I want you to want me, like I want you. You… Like I want you, Like I want you.
The best performance of last night’s episode goes to Abi Carter, performing her version of “Welcome to the Black Parade.” Accompanied only by the piano, I heard the song in such a different way…melodic and heartbreaking in just the right way. It reminded me how much I like when singers completely change a song (ie. Phillip Phillips doing Michael Jackson’s “Thriller”)…
Another singer at the top of the group is Triston Harper. This was definitely his best, most commanding performance all season and I might be coming around to his talent. I’ve sort of thought he’s too country for his target audience (15 to 20 yr olds) and too young for country music fans but maybe I’m wrong. His original song was well-written and more like something you’d hear from someone who’s been touring for years. It was a thrill to watch this one!
And then there’s McKenna. Yikes, she’s good. Her delivery is so professional, her voice so pleasant.
As you know, the top 24 were whittled down to 20 last night. I don’t think it was surprising when we finally found out which 4 contestants are currently in front of the hotel as we speak, waiting for their Uber to the airport. It still ticks me off that Ziggy was left out, a fantastic singer who would’ve done well in the voting rounds. I’m going to keep bringing up this judges’ mistake, I guess. But the 4 who got cut were KBlocks, Elleigh Marie, Blake, and Hailey. Not terribly surprising although my prediction was slightly off. Grrrr!! I thought Roman would be a surprise elimination but I’m happy for him to make it to the next round.
Tonight, though, it’s a lot more difficult to guess who will be packing their bags to go home. I’ll start with my list of 12 who could be in danger. Then I’ll do my own whittling, thank you very much! Here are those 12…
Odell Bunton Jr. Jennifer Jeffries Jordan Anthony Nya KB Roman Collins Ajii Kayko Kennedy Reid Jayna Elise Mackenzie Sol Quintavious Johnson
To help sort out the list, I’ve grouped Quintavious, Roman, and Odell together. Similar gospel styles. Jordan and Mackenzie might be splitting votes, similar styles and both from outside the U.S. Jayna and Nya might also be similar, which means one will go home sooner or later. So here are the 6 who I believe will be eliminated… in bold.
Odell Bunton Jr. / Roman Collins / Quintavious Johnson Jennifer Jeffries Jordan Anthony / Mackenzie Sol Nya / Jayna Elise KB Ajii Kayko Kennedy Reid
Quintavious doesn’t have the gritty soul displayed by Roman and Odell. Jayna and Nya don’t stand out in a crowd. Jordan is a fine singer but Mackenzie has more to offer vocally and with his stage presence. KB, I’m sorry to say this but she cries too much. Kayko, judges love him but his vocals are kinda boring.
Out of the Wilderness 