Idol recap

I'm a few days late to the internet Idol recap party, but none of you watch Idol anyway, so I guess it doesn't really matter.

As you may have heard, paint store clerk Lee Dewyze beat out single mom Crystal Bowersox (this is the way they were both referred to all season) for the title of Season 9 American Idol, no doubt thanks to the millions of tweens and divorcees who voted early and often for Lee over the more talented Crystal. Really, it was the best possible outcome for the Idol producers as well, because in Crystal they have a talented artist who can become a marketable performer in her own right, and in Lee they have a likeable guy with a pretty face and a nice smile who they can label as the next American Idol and make a few bucks off of along the way.

Here's a few best of's for Season 9:

Best Performance:
3) Crystal and Lee, "Falling Slowly"- from Songs from the Cinema week, this Oscar winning song from the movie Once fit them perfectly and showed a ton of chemistry between them
2) Lee, "Hallelujah"- as posted previously, a haunting version of a great song
1) Casey James, "Jealous Guy"- I wasn't a Casey James fan at all, but I've got to give him credit- this was a beautiful performance, both on vocals and guitar, and the best of the year by anyone

Best Celebrity Mentor:
3) Adam Lambert- Helped that he was only a year removed from being in the same situation
2) Usher- Terrific- first of the mentors to actually offer constructive advice and tips on style
1) Harry Connick Jr- Head and shoulders above the rest. His ability to work with the contestants, along with his wit and charisma, make him my vote to replace Simon next year

Best Contestants Not To Make It To The Top 3:
3) Aaron Kelly- Kid's got chops. Huge voice, and may still have a career ahead of him. Eliminated at the Top 5.
2) Katie Stevens- I was surprised she didn't go further. I think she too is young enough and talented enough to have a career. Eliminated at the Top 9.
1) Lilly Scott- Huge surprise that she didn't make the finals, to no one more than her. She had a unique voice and style that I thought would take her pretty far in the competition, but perhaps her Patsy Cline song choice did her in. Eliminated at the Top 16.

Best Song Choices:
3) Crystal, "Me and Bobby McGee", Billboard #1 week- Kind of her stereotypical song, but fit her so well that it was easy for her to crush it.
2) Casey, "Jealous Guy", Lennon/McCartney songbook week- see above
1) Lee, "That's Life", Sinatra week- The perfect Sinatra song for him- meant to be a little free form and throaty. I think it's the song that sealed the victory for him.


Glad to have my Tuesday and Wednesday nights back, but I am sad to see Idol go. Truly surprised at how invested I became in the show and its contestants. Not ready to go buy a Ford just yet, but I am excited already for Season 10.

Back to the Future

Hard to believe it was 2 years ago (almost to the day) that I posted about signing up for Twitter. After the first few test tweets, I decided that it would be fun to tweet in haiku only. Made for some fun and interesting tweets (sample: At a conference/ on physician leadership/ bad coffee, free pen!) but I went through long lulls in my creativity that limited my efforts. With the arrival of my new phone and the ease of tweeting and texting from it, I'm back on the Twitterwagon.

As with this old rag, there will no doubt be spells of inactivity in my Twitter entries as well. If you're in the Twitterverse, come follow along at @finkfpdoc. Or just read along on the newly re-established Twitter feed on the right. Not waxing poetic anymore, but can't rule out the occasional haiku if the mood strikes.

And then there were two

Missed seeing this week's "Idol" live on Tuesday- we were out for a family dinner at a Japanese steakhouse. Sidebar- there's a story itself. Not the cheapest night out, but for dinner and a show, you can't beat it. Kids love watching the flaming onion volcano and the corny accented jokes of the chef. Brendan caught a shrimp in his mouth before realizing that it was a shrimp- he probably wouldn't have eaten it otherwise- and loved it. Maybe the only way to get him to try new foods is to toss it into his mouth from 6 feet away.

Back from the digression. Watched the Top 3 show last night off the DVR. Others have written that the producers seem to have stacked the deck in favor of Lee, and it's hard to disagree with that point. Everything from the judges' song choices to their word choices in their critiques to the order of performances in the show worked in Lee's favor. Maybe there isn't a level playing field for all the contestants.

But that performance of "Hallelujah" by Lee on Tuesday night was hands down the best performance of the season. Strip away the lights and the orchestra and the choir, and you're still left with a passionate, intense vocal performance that was so good, I went and bought the single off iTunes within 15 minutes of hearing it. (The live performance is actually better than the studio single on iTunes, but the studio version is still fantastic.) Granted, the song lent itself to a lot more passion than the John Mayer song that Casey was handed, and I might be a little biased because I love that song to begin with, but you have to give Lee credit for taking a fastball down the middle and slamming it out of the park.

Watch it, if you haven't already, and see if you agree:

Just a suggestion

One of the greatest things about The Google is how it helps finish your thoughts. There are entire blogs dedicated to this tremendous power and its hilarious results. Tonight I was looking up how to get my new phone to sync with iTunes. Started to type "how to sync htc incredible with itunes", got two words into it, and found out what Americans really want to know how to do (in the order they appeared):

• how to tie a tie
• how to kiss
• how to lose weight fast
• how to get pregnant
• how to get a girl to like you
• how to make it in america
• how to solve a rubiks cube
• how to lose 10 pounds in a week
• how to train your dragon
• how to make a website

By those results, it appears that millions of people are looking to trim down, dress up, hook up, get the job done and advertise it all on the interwebs. The rest of them are home playing with their Rubik's Cube while watching animated dragons.

Friends and Family Plan

Busy time here in Finkland. Spent Saturday in NYC for the wedding of Dan and Jen (aka Puddin' and Jello). Dan's my oldest friend- known him since the first days of kindergarden. He's a regular at Finkbowl and a fellow Met sufferer, and is one of the most laid back, easy going people I've ever known. Had a great time at the celebration, not knowing until the next day that we were only about 8 blocks from an SUV filled with explosives. Crazy world.

Left Manhattan late Saturday and trekked north for the Sunday celebration of my nephew's first communion. Had a blast as always with my sister and her family in their great home nestled into the foothills of the Catskills. Long trip home, but well worth it to see the cousins enjoying each other.

Barely unpacked our own bags from the weekend when it was time to get Steve and Dolores from the airport yesterday. They arrived for a two week stay out east, spending a week here with us while Erin recovers from a second foot surgery then moving 90 miles south to the District for some time with Lady V and her folks.

Not much time to play with the new phone, but as I'm off this weekend again for another wedding, there may be some time then to road test it a little more.