Rockstar: Just declare Dilana the winner

Wherein Tommy Lee is about as entertaining as a syphilitic chancre sore


Rockstar, week something or other. I'm not enjoying this as much as last season. Partly because last season kinda snuck up on me and it took awhile before I realized how much fun I was having. Then there's the Supernova band. We know who the members are, but they haven't done a good job explaining what the Supernova sound will be like. At least with INXS we had a better idea of the target. I think this had left many of the singers floundering and trying to create a false image. Especially true with the women, most of whom seem to be going for the "flirty stripper" personae rather than just singing. A shame too, because vocally, they're probably stronger than the guys. Then there's Tommy Lee, the one person most likely to make me change the channel. I'm disinfecting the TV after every show.

For other reviews:

• Alan Sepinwall
  
• Throwing Things
  Life Around Memphis

My rundown:

• Patrice, Higher Ground, Red Hot Chili Peppers. I keep thinking maybe she'll be this year's Suzie McNeil: someone without a lot of personality who sticks around because of her ability until your forced to recognize how good she is. But with this performance I'm realizing just how inconsistent she is from week to week. This was just skreechy.
  
• Josh, Santeria, Sublime. Josh is an odd guy with an odd style--I think he's going for some sort of bluesy trip-hop thing; maybe something like Soul Coughing?. I think he's realized he isn't going to win, so he's doing what he wants to do. Last night was the first time he truly looked comfortable on stage and even though not one of my favorites, I disliked him less than I usually do. He'll probably survive a couple more weeks.
  
• Dilana, Can't Get Enough, Bad Company. Does anyone know how old she is? Looking at the bio Rockstar provides I'm guessing she's easily the most accomplished and professional performer on the show. I thought this was her least interesting and most workmanlike performance; yet she was still captivating and her moving through the crowd was completely natural. I'm completely sold on her and think she's made every song unique to herself, now I'd like to see Dilana really push her range and show what she can do.
  
• Toby, Pennyroyal Tea, Nirvana. I've never been much of a Nirvana fan and Toby made me think of a Jim Morrison impersonator playing Nirvana. Kinda sedate, not too interesting.
  
• Zayra, 867-5309 (Jenny), Tommy Tune. Freak, go home. My wife referred to her costume as a "superhero stripper" and Sepinwall echoes that.
  
• Magni, Clocks, Coldplay. Magni shows a lot of potential, he just needs a couple breakout performances in a row to move him ahead of the pack. He made the song better than it is, but still needs more.
  
• Jill, Don't You Forget About Me, Simple Minds. I think Jill is probably a great singer and this show has her completely twisted trying to figure out what to do. She's likeable, but she's shooting herself in the foot every week. Like many, she's guilty of oversinging, trying to "rawk" out. She needs to stop, step back, and find what she's good at: deep-throaty blues. Make the song work for her, instead of trying to work the song. I think she could have killed with "Santeria." Takes criticism too personally and is probably getting too frustrated and and self-conscious to last long.
  
• Ryan, Losing My Religion, REM. I thought this was appallingly bad. But even my wife disagreed with me on this. I thought this was an emotionally overwrought ball of cheese and Ryan's performance reminded me of Dana Carvey singing Chopping Broccoli and I couldn't stop laughing. Ryan is another guy who shows potential, just too hit and miss.
  
• Lukas, Celebrity Skin, Hole. I can't stand Lukas and his shiny ferret face, but he can sing. Tonight's performance was his first real misstep that we've seen. It's been obvious that Supernova likes him and he took tonight off. This exposed the fact that all his performances have been pretty similar and he hasn't demonstrated much range. He can captivate an audience, though his repetition is becoming boring.
  
• Storm, Changes, David Bowie. I don't get the Storm love and though last week's performance was horrid. She can sing, I just see more of a pole dancer performance than anything. Her whole act just comes off as an act.
  
• Dana, Baba O'Riley, The Who. One of her best and she's getting better. But she won't be sticking around for much longer. Her "I'm alternative rebelling because I'm getting my first tattoo" was hysterically naive. That's a big problem with this show--to show how edgy and alternative they are, they all wear the same costume.

Ryan will probably get the encore, so I'll have to leave the room for a few minutes.

Bottom three projection: Zayra and Jill, definately. Then either Josh or Toby, though Patrice wouldn't surprise me. Zayra stays around one more week, as Jill gets to go home.

Still haven't seen anyone close to the level of Dilana. Lukas has attitude and a bit of a voice, but I think he's being exposed for being one dimensional. I'd put Toby, Magni, Ryan, and Storm in the next group. These seem the ones making the biggest impressions, someone will just need to show some consistency to stand out. I like Patrice and Jill, they're not getting it done on this show, though.

Update: At Throwing Things, I think we've reached a quorum for Ryan hate! Yea! And at Sepinwall, I'm trying to form an even smaller splinter group for hating Ty's "No Woman No Cry" from last season.