American Idol Episode 4 Recap – Do You Know Your Enemy?

Let’s just go ahead and say the obvious: Alyssa Raghu should NOT have auditioned the way she did. I know the temptation must’ve been strong but it’s as simple as saying, “No thanks, this is my friend’s moment.” I can’t see how Alyssa and Julia’s friendship stays in tact and as one person on YouTube restated… with friends like this, who needs enemies?

When You’re Here, You’re Family. The Olive Garden slogan apparently doesn’t apply even though the judges say time and time again that Idol is a family. What Alyssa did to Julia is worse than anything my wrestler brother did to me in high school. And yes, the cross-face cradle still keeps me up at night. The Raghu sauce is bitter and now that she’s on her first second third attempt on American Idol, combined with the dirty treatment of Julia, Alyssa’s future is as good as doomed.

The Good. Episode 4 had some bright spots, though. I’m thinking of the auditions from Quintavious Johnson, Dave Fio, and Reagan Mills. If I had to pick a favorite from this episode it would be Quintavious for his take on “Alabaster Box.” Another highlight was Katy Perry’s moo. Heaven’s to Betsy, I was NOT expecting that! Very impressive.

Adam’s Apple. Another peculiar contestant is Amari. I couldn’t find the adam’s apple but something about this contestant had me suspicious. Three things confirmed that Amari is a trans woman…

1. Her (his) voice.

2. Katy Perry fawning over her (him).

3. Amari eventually said she (he) is trans.

Well, guess who’s getting a ticket to Hollywood now? What’s it called when you’re afraid of being labeled transphobic? That’s what most people in the media suffer from, not transphobia but transphobiaphobia. The judges on American Idol are really no different. There might be backlash if someone in a fringe group of people don’t get everything they want exactly how they want it… so unfortunately for Amari, sexual preferences got in the way of showcasing a good voice.

The unwritten rule is that if you’re trans, gay, or have a tragic backstory, you’re assured a spot in Hollywood. Another case from this episode: Michael from England. He has a good voice and seems to be a good entertainer, but he didn’t even need to sing. After hearing the story of his dad’s early death and how Michael has so many feelings about that relationship, just send him to Hollywood already, right?

Sus. One suspicious audition was Athena Jett and her younger sister, who was there with her for support. The quiet, shy, polite sibling stood by while Athena performed “Somebody New” by Sophia James. Judges were sort of indifferent about it until younger sister boldly interrupted the them WHILE THEY WERE SPEAKING to lobby for her sister. I call BS. Feels like a set up. It’s one thing for an outgoing adult to disrupt a conversation between A-List entertainers but for (who seems to be an) introverted child to do this, I smell a ratings stunt. On top of that, Athena’s next performance, as requested by her sister-with-newfound-courage, was “Never Enough” from The Greatest Showman soundtrack. Maybe producers thought this would be a home run because most viewers would remember it fondly from the movie. The only problem? Athena sounded worse in this song than her first. Orchestrated stunt to draw out empathy (and ratings?) or a genuine moment… we might not ever know.

Overall, it was a good episode in spite of some tactics that may or may not have been planned ahead of time. Still, there haven’t been auditions nearing the talent in the first episode or two and yes I’m referring to the original song by Jennifer Jeffries, who might be my pick to win it all.

-Out of the Wilderness

Conall Gorman “Backseat” Original Lyrics on American Idol

One contestant who might shine if he makes it through Hollywood is Conall Gorman. He looks like a young Elvis and has a recognizable singing voice. His audition featured an original song called “Backseat.” Here’s the edited clip then scroll down for the lyrics…

“Backseat” by Conall Gorman

Wedding day, Chevrolet cans
Dragging down the street.
She fakes the smile walking down the aisle
She could barely breathe.
Seven months two more to come
Another mouth to feed.
Nineteen, knocked up, it’s just a bad dream
Oh…

Take me back to nineteen,
Wish this was a bad dream.
Take me back to nineteen,
In your backseat, in your backseat.

-Out of the Wilderness

Danny Gokey “Peace” Music Video – The Locations, the Ice Cream, and More

American Idol season 22 is in full swing and has a quiver full of great singers already, like my early favorite Jennifer Jeffries. When she makes it to the voting rounds and ultimately finds her way into the top 5, she’ll be another great performer in a long line of Idol alumni that did really well on the show. Segue alert… Danny Gokey. He finished 3rd on season 8 behind Kris Allen (winner) and Adam Lambert (2nd place). Top level talent right there! The cream always rises to the top, doesn’t it? Speaking of cream, and no I’m not referring to the Prince song, it’s ice cream sharing the limelight in Danny Gokey’s new video called, “Peace.” Take a look then scroll down for more…

What’s the Flavor? Danny performs in front of Lolly’s Creamery in Virginia Beach, Virginia. I read some of the shops history and it warms my heart almost enough to melt an ice cream cone when talented people take a chance and have success. That’s the story of this place so if you’re in the VA area, swing by for a scoop!

Dog’s Day. My sole encounter with Danny Gokey was when my dog got snippy with his dog. More about that here. Nice to see he’s still a “dog guy” with the inclusion of pups in the video. And Danny, if you’re reading this, I’m STILL sorry about the dog park skurfuffle!

Colors of the Wind. Danny shoots a few clips in front of The Pink Dinghy, also part of the ViBE district in Virginia Beach. Looks like a really cozy place to get seafood, drinks, and hang with old friends and new… which is just what the folks credited with starting the diner would want.

St. Andrews State Park pier
fishing through fog

The Music. I’m not typically a fan of radio-friendly Christian music, it’s all just a little mellow and cheesy for me. I care a lot about lyrics, melody, and the ViBE (how about that slick call back to Lolly and The Pink Dinghy 😎) –the vibe of this song is so great. Plus, I sort of forgot how good of a singer Danny is. He’s got soul. And the lyrics offer, not a way to have peace, but THE way to have peace. I totally agree even if some days I don’t feel very peace-y. That’s not Jesus’ fault. Along with peace there’s also grace, forgiveness, love, joy, happiness, among other things. But aside from spiritual stuff, this is a pleasant song to listen to because of Danny’s voice. The video was fun to watch, too. I appreciated the man on the street style of shooting, the blocky editing (for lack of a better phrase), and the scenery. I had no idea Virginia Beach was so beachy. I might need to plan a trip up there to add to my camping stories!

What did you think of the video? Let me know a few things you liked or things you’d do differently with the filming and/or editing. I’ll leave you with a few of my favorite beach photos from My Online Gallery.

-Out of the Wilderness

Daylight Savings Time Is A Hoax

Daylight savings time is a hoax and I there’s proof. I have a high-maintenance dog but not the kind that needs medical attention or requires a special diet. She’s the type that wants what she wants when she wants it. Some might call her a diva which is synonymous with beagle. Here’s Piper!

She’s 14 years old so we’ve had plenty of time to establish routines, update songs where I replace all the words with her name, and play hide and go seek and by hide and go seek I mean she runs away and I have to go seek her. Another routine is her meal schedule. Her servant (me) feeds her dinner around 4pm every day. I won’t even get into the morning mealtime because it’ll just shock you too hard. Dinner, though, yes it’s at 4pm. So naturally when the time springs ahead one hour for daylight savings, you’d think her new dinner time would be 5pm because her body still is on that schedule and thinks it’s 4pm.

But… no.

Without fail, when it gets to 4pm (which should feel like 3pm right?) she hops around like the Easter bunny. It’s a good thing her whimpers, her cute little face, her wagging tail are so darn adorable because the schedule she has me on can be exhausting. I was so looking forward to a later dinner because of the time change (and ultimately, a later breakfast, too), but unfortunately she outsmarted the world yet again. Therefore…

Daylight savings time must be a hoax.

Kinda like birds. We all know birds aren’t real. What a hoax!

-Out of the Wilderness

Dylan Mulvaney’s Music Video – Ironic Lyrics, Disabled Comments, and… James Charles?

Dylan Mulvaney is back in the limelight! This time he’s in the music video we always knew we never wanted. Because of lies like this one from Joe Biden, a lot of us have grown up thinking we can be anything we want to be. A pro baseball player. An astronaut. A woman.

This lie is part of the reason we are where we are with Dylan. A couple of years ago Dylan took on the role of a lifetime… pretending to be a woman for the rest of his life. Robin Williams must be turning in his grave! Even Euphegenia Doubtfire was more believable than Dylan’s less-than-mediocre impersonation.

Watch along and decide if Dylan sounds like any woman you’ve ever known or sounds like a dude imitating what he thinks we think a woman is. Jared Leto and all the male actors who’ve portrayed women before, watch out!

Singer/Songwriter… ish. Dylan’s parlayed his gender dysphoria into a cute little song about being a girl. And by cute I mean about as cute as Robin Williams dressed as an old woman with saggy boobs. Just from a songwriting and performance standpoint, with a line like “Girls like me gotta learn the basics,” in a cringey, exaggerated falsetto voice makes the whole thing as bad as you probably expected. Another disappointing aspect is that as a man, Dylan’s singing voice was really good.

Another line, “Boys on the dance floor it’s time to clear, the patriarchy’s over you can hold our beer,” is pretty ironic since the last time I checked Dylan still uses his father’s surname. So much for dismantling the patriarchy, huh?

And The Winner Is… I guess this is the new worst song ever. For a while, playfully, it was “Friday” by Rebecca Black. Remember that one? So bad it was good. Then came along Everleigh’s “Like Taylor Swift”… a great example of why rich people should be taxed more. But gosh, now I want to listen to either of those just to get Dylan’s none-hit-wonder song out of my head. Everything about it is so unappealing in every possible way.

But On The Other Hand. In the most simplest way, Dylan’s just a gay man using women as a costume. But there’s another gay man who actually has singing talent worth paying attention to and without all the confusing pronouns. I’ll admit that when my teenager niece wanted to show me this song, I had only planned to listen to make her happy. It’s James Charles, the makeup-wearing YouTuber who actually has a hell of a song here.

Proof Is In The Pudding. When YouTube comments are disabled you can pretty much guarantee the video isn’t going over well. So guess which one, Dylan or James, has disabled the comments. That should tell you all you need to know about how people are reacting to these two songs. One is pleasant to listen to and the other is Dylan’s.

-Out of the Wilderness