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
Target is embracing a silly sketch from many years ago. It’s the Target Lady, who first appeared on Saturday Night Live nearly 20 years ago. If you haven’t seen those goofy clips, you’re in for a treat. Here’s the real Target ad (not a sketch) then scroll down for more info…
The Actress. The talented actress is Kristen Wiig. She was great on SNL and since then has been in quite a few movies from Walk Hard: The Dewey Cox Story and Ice Age to Bridesmaids and Wonder Woman 1984. Here’s a montage of a few of her iconic SNL characters, including Target Lady.
This is a fun idea from Target. Why not show a little levity when society and culture could use some laughter?
Plus, their image isn’t exactly spotless. It was just a few months ago when Target stores made a point to display LGBTQ+ (emphasis on the ‘T’) apparel for children. Backlash was almost immediate and although it didn’t rise to Bud Light levels of boycotting, a big chunk of consumers were not happy. This ad will do wonders in regards to not pissing people off.
I drove by a new GMC Hummer EV the other day and thought it looked alright. Aesthetically, it’s certainly an improvement from other models of the Hummer (yes, I’m talking about you H3 Hummer). Then I came across a recent GMC commercial and something dawned on me. Here’s the ad, the scroll down for the disappointment that washed over me…
I know there’s such thing as making a profit and on top of that, trying to increase profits. Making cars for the masses means making more money. It’s the American way. But how has the iconic Humvee gone from this…
It’s a national embarrassment! I’m so disappointed about the Humvees assimilation into the uninspiring, conveyer belt of mass-produced vehicles. It’s the same way I feel about Land Rover, actually. Incredible safari-exploring 4x4s with windows everywhere, no other SUV like them and now the most unique model (the Discovery) looks like a Ford soccer moms drive. Thank the Lord they decided to produce the Defender again… the new Defender design has an ounce of character. But besides that one, Land Rover caved to the suburban road-driving, hum drum of work commutes.
The Hummer is not far behind that trajectory. From the useless, hardly ever applicable ‘crab walk’ function to hands-free driving (what kind of real man is taking his hands off the wheel!? What kind of crazy woman is taking her hands off the wheel!?), I can hardly see the beasty reputation of the boxy, tough Humvee. Don’t even get me started on a truck being hands-free, I get all flustered. I wrote about it here, actually. And the crab walk? Give me a break. I don’t care if LeBron likes it!
The Music. The song in the Hummer commercial is called “Galvanize” by The Chemical Brothers. Here’s the full track.
“You went and saved the best for laaaast…” That Vanessa Williams song rings true for American Idol this weekend in Hawaii. There were two parts, Sunday and Monday night. The first half on Sunday (recap here) was rather dull with only a couple of acts I can even remember and it was only two days ago! Bummer. But then some real powerhouses showed up for part 2 on Monday night, featuring my top 2 favorites– Jack Blocker and Jennifer Jeffries— plus a host of great performers. Basically all of them were amazing. I can’t see any matrix of data points on a graph where the 4 who get eliminated next weekend aren’t from the first night of singers.
From Monday night’s episode, these three performances surprised me the most:
Kennedy Reid… such stage presence! I’m starting to think her first auditions were calculated. Just enough to get to the voting round. Now she’s leaving it all on the stage.
Emmy Russell… The most adorable of the group. She has a folksy voice that is hard not to like! This was her best performance all season. Great song choice, too, using a track from the up-and-comer Benson Boone and his viral hit…
Mia Matthews… a touching rendition of “Daddy’s Hands” and if you didn’t at least *almost* cry, you must be dead inside.
Honorable mention goes to Jelly Roll, the mentor of the night. I haven’t ever met him but he comes across as such a genuinely kind, and funny, man. He was so encouraging to the artists and I love that he embraces his darker past and even better, he’s left that life behind. He said something like he used to live to tear down but now he’s living life to build up. Very cool, sir!
Overall, a great episode that saw my favorites shine and a few underdogs who might be gaining momentum.
I don’t know if I’ll ever understand why the American Idol judges keep certain contestants that are so far outmatched, sending home singers that could actually have a shot at winning the entire thing. The phenomenon has happened on every season, I’m sure. Judges Katy, Lionel, and Luke narrowed the field down to 24 last week and last night, half of those performed for our votes. Overall, it was a rather lackluster episode. My criteria, and maybe this is too harsh, but I judge each song on whether we’ll be talking about it during the week or months afterwards. For example, last season almost every time Iam Tongi took the stage was better than the week before and wowed everyone… especially with his rendition of “Don’t Let Go.” So did the first voting round of season 22 blow me away? Not exactly. But there were 2 performances that stood out to me.
Abi Carter “Oceans (Where Feet May Fail)”…
McKenna Breinholt “The Story”…
The rest were good but nothing you’d write home about. I’ll just say it: Most were boooooorrrrrriing. Except for one. It was entertaining for all the wrong reasons and because of that, I need to compliment the judges. While I miss Simon Cowell is for his brutal honesty, current judges (who care about their own careers, too, understandably) take a different slant on critiques. This can make it hard when a performance is subpar. I applaud Luke, Lionel, and Katy for crafting their criticisms in a constructive way but deep down, I bet they want to say, “You kinda suck.” Or as Simon might say, “You can hear better singers drunk in a karaoke bar.” Yes, I’m talking about Blake Proehl’s performance.
I have no doubt that Blake was a hell of a football player. Making it to the highest level (the NFL) means only one thing: You’re the elite of the elite. That’s impressive, for sure. But just because you’re good at one thing doesn’t mean you’re good at something else, too. It still ticks me off that the judges selected him to be in the top 24 when Ziggy, Scarlett Lee, and 57.3 other singers were obviously so much better. Blake might get by this first round of cuts mostly due to his charm and good looks, but sooner or later (it’ll be sooner), his deficient singing ability will be too obvious to overlook.
Not ironically, this is also a list of my top 3 as we head into the live episodes where 24 contestants (or maybe there’s a wild card??) will sing for our votes. My top favorite is Jack Blocker, who famously got the golden ticket thanks to the crew of idol (not the judges, except for Luke). I loved his performance of “Your Cheatin’ Heart.”
My next favorite with her best performance so far is Jennifer Jeffries with an original song called “Change My Ways.”
Rounding out my top 3 is Mckenna Breinholt singing “When We Were Young.” Her low note is startling in the best way.
Honorable Mention (and maybe a wild card, I hope) is Ziggy pouring his heart out with “All I Want.” A sweet soul, apparently.
Who are your favorites? I’m sure I’ll have to update this list once tonight’s episode airs, the first that includes us, the audience. Come on Jack, Jennifer, and Mckenna… knock it out of the park!
Out of the Wilderness 