Not much to say, not much time to say it, but here's the important part -- please review Danny Gokey's performance on youtube: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=qW7h3PZqFlk

It's been a crazy couple days, so this will be short -- but it was a pretty good episode, right?

Jamie Foxx gave great advice: they weren't singing songs, they were singing a lifestyle. That sounds like actor advice, right? Insightful though. Actually, he was a surprisingly good mentor. That makes two weeks in a row of surprisingly good mentors.

Kris gets a hell of a compliment from Jamie Foxx -- who saw that coming? He's Jamie's number one and he'll even cut an album with him? I hope he follows through on that, because unfortunately I don't think Kris can win this. If it were up to me, he'd have a shot at it. This is very good to start but there's a falsetto jump early on that isn't great. What's great about Kris is that he doesn't look like he's trying. He just sort of is what he is -- the judges throw the word "authentic" around a lot, but he's the only one that really is authentic (all credit to L for that insight). He's the opposite of Adam Lambert and Gokey, in different ways, in terms of authenticity. Adam is up front about being a totally constructed sex android from the future designed to destroy American Idol, and Gokey wants you to think he's really for real real, but is just as fake. I thought Kris was good. I'm with Simon -- not amazing, but very very solid. Great start to the night.

Seacrest gets snippy with an audience member during Allison's interview: "oh you're 17 too? Oh, well why don't we just stop the show and you two can go on a date?" Ha. That was great.

Allison sounds amazing in her preview. What a terrific song for her voice. She has the kind of effortless soul that Gokey wishes he had, and her extra gear is great. Beautiful dynamics. Overall pretty frickin' great. Her best so far, I think. Wow. I don't have a whole lot to say about this, but it was amazing in a way I didn't think she had in her. She is full of surprises. And she just turned 17. Life isn't fair sometimes.

It sure sounds like Jamie Foxx doesn't like Matt Giraud -- his "what are you worried about" comment followed by sending him away seemed pretty fakey, and then he called him back as if he felt bad about it. Interesting advice though to lower the key and full-voice the money note. Of course, the lower key is making the beginning part crappy, so he may have just tanked 90% of the song for that one note at the end. He's pretty shaky, and trying hard to sound like a rat packer, rather than himself. Weird enunciation on the rat pack sounding parts, but then he does some weird r&b runs that sound out of place. The full voice money note was good, but not enough to make up for general lameness. In a rare moment of disagreement, I couldn't agree less with Simon -- it wasn't authentic or brilliant, it was hack-y and unenjoyable. I don't know what Simon was thinking on that one, because he usually reads my thoughts. Maybe I left my tin foil hat on for that one or something and he couldn't get in.

Jamie Foxx getting in Gokey's face was hilarious. Gokey sounds exactly like you'd think, although I have to admit he brought it home for once in the end. And yet, I still don't care. Holy shit his Dad looks like Michael McDonald! Dude, then he made a heart sign with his hands. You know what? I'm just done with him. I don't even want to write about him any more.

Adam Lambert does Feelin' Good, made famous by the incomparable Nina Simone (echoes of Jeff Buckley again, who was hugely influenced by Nina Simone), but it's the Muse arrangement (thanks Sam), and Matt Bellamy is a great comparison for him I haven't heard before. He's rockin' the stairs and a really shiny white suit. I dig the arrangement, but then again I dig Muse; it's nice and rocking out in parts with plenty of room for him to exercise his ridiculously awesome voice. Holy hell was that ending sweet -- plus I have never heard the crowd go that apeshit before. They're super loud! I enjoyed Randy saying that complaining that Adam is theatrical is like complaining that a cow moos. Love it.

Overall, I think the only one I didn't like this week was Matt. I thought he was really not good, and I didn't get the talk about him being authentic, when I thought he was by far the least authentic of the five, and less authentic than he usually is. But whatever. Despite Simon's bizarre praise, I think he's going home. In fact, I'm so sure of it that I don't even care who's in the bottom three with him. It'll probably be Allison just because she's always there, and between Kris or Gokey ... I mean, it's probably Kris but let's pray it's Gokey. Man, a shock Gokey elimination this week or next would be so fun.

So because I didn't get around to blogging the top 7 last week, the Idol producers decided to do it over. Sorry everyone. Last week was pretty boring, though, all told, with each contestant doing pretty much exactly what you'd expect if you've been watching. Really, that was a good recap of pretty much everything, without actually being really good. Maybe the added pressure of the double elimination will make people step it up, but it is disco week (ugh).

Wow, they started really quickly this week. Quick intros, Adam Lambert in greaser mode with pointy shoulder pads (and we talk a lot about his look, but he's been a greaser like half the time), and then all of a sudden Lil is singing. I guess they realized they need to, you know, not screw around if they want to end on time.

Lil doing I'm Every Woman, OK, I keep saying it's make or break for her. So far she hasn't made but she hasn't broken either. Shows what I know. Her hair looks pretty great, and let's be honest, her booty is out of control. It's barely contained by black spandex, and you know what? Her butt is every woman. Not just every woman's butt, but every entire woman. It's powerful. I'm intimidated. Apparently, she's singing, though, and ... whatever, it's warbly and all over the place like usual. Kara says that America has been waiting for her to do a song by Chaka Khan ... or someone like that ... which means by a big black lady. Which, OK, fine. So the other judges talked and Lil blabbed again about how she had fun, and who cares what the judges think because she had fun. And when Seacrest asks her about her inner goddess, he means her behind. Instead she takes this as an invitation to keep yakking about how the judges are irrelevant, and Seacrest is like, whatever hon, you're done.

Kris has the guitar again, and isn't he made for the disco? Adorable, slightly feminine man, light, pleasant vocals that don't seem to stick with you for long, hard drugs (OK, not the latter, I'm guessing). I really thought he was playing the Doobie Brothers (without looove .... looooooo-oooo-ooove), but apparently it's the riff from that Doobies song over She Works Hard for the Money. You know, disco took a lot of non-disco songs and discofied them, so I respect the reverse-discofication. Plus, some rad basslines from Ricky. Why does that other dude always get to play the box onstage though? It's a box. He even gets to sit on it while tapping along. So as usual, I liked Kris a lot this week -- cool choice, very solid vocals, completely enjoyable, fun arrangement (even if it was a Doobie Brothers mashup) ... will people vote for him this week? I feel like he keeps failing to get traction with the voters, and I don't really get why. Seriously, this dude is what Danny Gokey would love to be. Or should anyway. Do they switch the votes for these two or something? It's criminal that Kris is in danger every week and Gokey sails through regardless.

Why, Gokey, why? I mean, September is like a free pass, isn't it? Who doesn't love this song? I think even serial killers that hate everything are like, you know what, that's a catchy little ditty. But that's what Danny Gokey is all about -- the most obvious free pass song every week, sung in the most predictable faux-soul style, and of course he basically skips all the verses to just yell the chorus over and over. It's not an arrangement so much as turning a great song into like a Beyonce single -- there's no verse or chorus, just two parts that she screams over and over. And in this case, I don't even know what part of the song he was on half the time, and I know the song reasonably well. He could have been singing any song. He's just sort of Gokeying up there. His ceiling is a poor man's Michael McDonald. Maybe a homeless man's Michael McDonald.

Of course the Gokey sandwich is surrounded by my two favorite pieces of bread ... look at little Allison pulling off some crazy bedazzled vinyl dominatrix outfit with some kind of shoulder jacket. She is ferocious, and I'm enjoying her slowed-down rocked-out Hot Stuff. It's like if Heart covered the song, with maybe Carlos Santana playing guitar. I didn't love the "hot hot hot hot -- stuff" part so much, but that last note was pretty ridiculously great. She has crazy pipes, and pretty solid feel. Maybe she needs a bit of arrangement help, but you know she'll get a ton of that when she has a recording contract, right? I just hope she gets with the right people and doesn't get all cheesy like every single other Idol alum. Yeah, I know.

You know what's messed up? That commercial for that "Glee" tv show just came on, and I'm thinking I'd really like to sing that arrangement of Don't Stop Believin'. Yeah, I know I shouldn't admit that. But they sounded good.

So Robo-Lambert is doing If I Can't Have You (not the Alicia Keys song, sadly). I just read the 33 1/3 book on Jeff Buckley's Grace (highly recommended), and you know, I think Buckley is probably the best comparison for Adam Lambert. Buckley was a bit more rock and roll, but both of them are completely unafraid to channel some freaky lady-voice or just unleash whatever crazy-ass sounds want to leap out of their throats. And if you're not weirded out by that, it's pretty rad. I'm looking forward to hearing what his own actual music is going to sound like. We're going to hear it, right? He's so versatile that I have no idea where he'll go on his own, but I hope he keeps doing it all. Let's just agree not to let him swim in any rivers.

Let's see what Matt does with his second chance. Seacrest clumsily hints at Stayin' Alive before the commercial break, and yep, here it is. I was expecting to totally hate it, but you know what, early on it's pretty cool. The vocals are updated and a bit more ... I don't know, feisty through the verse. You know what? I don't think Matt needs to bring it anymore. It's already been brought. The last note almost goes wrong a bit, but sure. L brings up a great point that he might make one of the best recording artists in the group. Like a lot of similar-style vocalists, he's not always so good live, but with enough takes he's probably going to hit it out of the park. It's OK to be better on CD than live. That's how most people are going to hear you, anyway. (Well, outside of American Idol I mean.)

If Anoop is closing the show, that must mean he's going to be pretty awesome, right? They almost always save one of the best performances for last. Disco is right in his danger zone -- does he go for fun or for serious slow ballad? Or does he finally put together fun and awesome singing? Nope, looks like we're back in ballad-land, which is probably for the best. Although I suspect it's going to bust into disco -- there it goes. Sort of anyway. It's sort of OK, just a little boring. He's a terrific singer. (Although the last note -- as Z would say: "Oh. Messy.") I just don't know if that's going to convert anyone. I would have liked for the song to really bust out like I thought it would. I dig the facial scruff though so that's something. And then Ryan's all like, dude your eyebrows look like Groucho Marx, and you can see that Anoop is wounded inside. When did Seacrest get mean?

I liked Adam, Kris, Allison, and Matt, in roughly that order. Maybe switch the last two. I didn't like Gokey, but when is he ever not safe? I would put Lil and Anoop in the two elimination spots, and my initial hunch is that's what's going to happen. I'm worried that Kris and Allison are going to get forgotten and fall into the bottom with them. Kris was in the dreaded #2 spot, and both of them keep falling into the bottom except when they're completely awesome. When they're just really very good they seem not to get the support they deserve. This describes Matt, too, except that I'm not as into him so I don't care as much. Adam and Gokey seem to have built-in support no matter what they do.

Since I don't know how they're going to handle the bottom three with two eliminations, I'm going to rank them -- not how I would rank them, but how I think they'll do in the votes -- and place them in three groups:

Totally safe:
Adam and Gokey

Should be OK, but might slip to whatever bottom group we end up with:
Kris, Allison, and Matt

Should be worried:
Anoop and Lil

... I guess that means if there's a bottom three I think Matt will join them, and Allison would round out a bottom four, but the three in my middle group aren't far apart in terms of safety.

Of course, I'd put Gokey in the bottom three, but I'm clearly in the minority on that one.

These are my mostly-unfiltered thoughts, typed out while watching the show. I've rethought the bottom three a bit overnight, and I think some stupid eliminations are coming down the pike. Oh well.

I still love the light-up stairs that Seacrest walks down, and want to install them in my own house. And what the hell was that creepy dude in the audience who was staring straight ahead blank-faced?

The top 8 walk out and it's a sausagefest up there. Hey, super creepy wax figure dude in the audience again -- weird. (I was positive this dude was going to end up being a promo for some show or something, but nothing ever happened and we saw him a few other times. Everyone else was cheering or clapping and he was staring straight forward with an annoyed look fixed on his face. Really, really bizarre stuff.)

I am so sick of Danny Gokey and his entire family. I mean, they seem like nice people, but exactly the kind that I couldn't stand to be around. Whatever. Stand By Me. Of course. Lame that he gets to pick a cover that happened to come out in his birth year. I mean, say you wanted to do the Beatles' "Yesterday" -- no matter what year you were born, someone covered it in that year. Stand By Me isn't much different. And what is this, the Miami Sound Machine version? Wow is this corny. It's like begging to be turned into Muzak. Cheesy even by Gokey standards. I'm really shocked that they all liked it so much, but whatever. It's the Year of the Gokey.

Kris actually seems like someone I would hang out with. I'm just going to put that out there. Man-crush? Bromance? Call it what you will. Cool, he gets to be in the pit like Matt was last week. All She Wants To Do Is Dance? Interesting. I mean, it's pretty good. A little generic. Can't hear his guitar at all. Fun arrangement, and mildly entertaining overall. I can't disagree with Simon that it was a little forgettable, and that it was not a good song choice. I don't think it was self-indulgent. I don't think they know what that means. I think Randy is on to something that the arrangement ended up being more interesting than his singing though.

Get this -- Lil's name is actually just Lil. Stunning. Way different. I wonder how many people really thought that her name couldn't possibly just be Lil? I mean, my name is just Jake so maybe I'm preconditioned here, but that this could be a giant controversy never crossed my mind. Of course her mom pronounces it "Leel" so maybe that IS different. Tina Turner ... and not just any Tina, but What Love's Got To Do With It -- this is a make-or-break, isn't it? The beginning sounds a bit shaky, and the chorus isn't a ton better. I don't have much to say about the vocals, so let me just say: I'm not a fashionista, but putting some serious gathers (ruffles? whatever) right on top of that booty is an interesting stylistic choice. She could be in a lot of trouble. I think she needed to nail this given the choice of song, and I think she failed there.

Anoop promises not to sass anymore, but I can't even remember why he was talking back to Kara. Literally no memory of it. Why bring it up? Well, we're back to good singing Anoop -- but can he also be engaging on stage? Audience response says yes, and he hasn't put those two things together yet. It sounds pretty good to me, but I think he's a touch under pitch a lot, and it's not as good as a couple of his other performances. Or so I think. I don't know, pretty good, but nothing super exciting for me. I honestly have no idea if the judges will love it or hate it. Paula points out that it fits his voice well, and he's been terrific at picking songs that fit his voice. A few other contestants suck at this.

Little Z is trying to stick pretzels between his toes and feed them to himself, and I find that more entertaining than Scott right now. You know, the little guy is pretty good at this. Prehensile toes. Maybe he really is a monkey. But hey, Scott has a guitar. He's not playing it yet, and as usual he picked something that sounds the same as every other corny song he-- wow that guitar sounds horrible. Really clanky and inappropriate tone for the song. Plus it's all pointy and sparkly, and with a Van Halen amp? Whatever they've done with his hair looks great, I'll give props there. I don't really get why he's on the show. Well, I get why, but I don't get why he's still there. Boring. Lipstick all over Paula's teeth: not as boring. Did Scott just try to pull a Jedi mind trick on Simon? Simon is immune, padawan.

So there's some kid screaming in the background during Allison's interview with her parents. Classy. That's the best take they have? Anyway, I actually like the concept of Allison singing Bonnie Raitt -- or at least I Can't Make You Love Me. What a terrific voice. She's dialed back the growl but left in a lot of smokiness, saving the grit for a few select spots. It actually feels like she's feeling this complex song, and she's way too young to really get it. I really liked that take. You know, Simon's right about working on her image. I think she's hiding behind this weird facade, and she needs to just chill and be comfortable up there. When that happens, she's going to connect like crazy. Until then, she is going to be just a bit behind the other frontrunners. She absolutely could have a career, though, which is more than you can say for most contestants on this show.

Part Time Lover is a terrific song for Matt, and for the first time in a while he sounds great right off the bat. I mean, he's doing it exactly like Stevie, so the comparisons are inevitable, but it's really solid. The one "yeah yeah" was pretty rough, but the rest of it was pretty cool I thought. I haven't liked a lot of his other stuff, and this was his best performance to me. I don't think it was unbelievable like the lady-judges said, but it was very good.

ZOMG Adam Lambert dressed up like a vampire as a kid. This just in: water is wet. Also: the sun is totally like a giant ball of fire. Wow, so this show is way over time -- thankfully we can retroactively tivo the next crappy show (Fringe). Anyway, several minutes over time, and I'm digging the background music for his package. Banjos and electric guitars are a combination I dig way more than you might think. Wait, he likes putting on costumes and getting attention? That's completely surprising. Wow -- terrific song choice! How did this come out the year he was born? The way this is lit you can't see his chair from the front -- it's like he's squatting on a beam of light. Anyway, this is pretty rad. This is not an easy song to sing, and could easily be completely boring. I might go so far as to say that this is more interesting than the original. I haven't heard it in ages, and I'd have to compare to say that for sure, but it's in the frame. Maybe I'm thinking more of the version that was in Donnie Darko than the Tears For Fears original? Dunno. Whatever, that was really really good.

My favorites: Allison and Adam. I liked Kris because I always like Kris. Matt and Anoop were solid too.

I guess that leaves Lil, Scott, and Gokey. No way in heck Gokey's in the bottom three, so I'm going to say Kris, Matt, or Anoop -- none should be there, but someone has to. If there's any mercy in this world, Scott will take his pointy guitar and go home. I'm going to say Anoop will be the bottom three contestant but not bottom two. No way in hell they save Scott or Lil, but they might save anyone else if there's a surprise.

Updated: the more I think about it, the more I think Lil is safe. I don't think she should be, but I think she will be. Anoop, Kris, and Matt have all been in the bottom at times, and let me just say I'm very worried about Kris this week. I think Matt's the safest of those three (with Scott a near-lock for bottom three). Kris was so good last week, but other contestants seem to get more support even when they're not awesome. Will the judges consider saving him? I think they might. The way it's set up, I seriously doubt anyone could change enough for their singout to make the judges save them, though. Fingers crossed for Kris, and hoping it's Scott's week to leave.

Hey, we're finally at the good stuff, right? The top 36 seems like a lot. I liked last season where they started with 24 and knocked out 4 people a week until they got to 12. This season they're picking the top 3 from each set of 12 with three wildcards ... which, I mean, you could be totally hosed by being in an awesome group of 12, right? I'd like to think the producers split up the groups reasonably, but I'm not so sure they did. Then again, we haven't really heard all of these people. It'll be interesting to see who strategizes properly -- with last season's war of attrition, you just had to not be one of the two worst of your gender. This season you're going to have to stand out. The difference between needing to get a lot of votes vs. just not finish in the bottom two is actually significant.

Let me also say that this format of interviewing the contestants' parents ... wow, that's seriously boring. Plus, doesn't anyone have a job to be at? I'm sure my parents would be like, yeah, sure ... um, I have to be at work though, so good luck. Maybe they'd come one week. I would complain that they only give them 1:20 to sing and then waste 7 more on these interviews, but let's be honest, I really only need to hear 20-30 seconds to form an opinion.

Anyway, looks to be an interesting group, with one of my favorites going in (Anoop, who I pegged as an a cappella dude right off the bat based on what he wore to his audition), one of the favorites they've been cramming down our throats (Danny, who to be fair, I like a lot so far), and possibly the most irritating person ever to be on the show (like you don't know who I mean -- and what more needs to be said about her?). Plus a few people I swear we've never seen before.

OMG Kara's first show. She's so nervous. I would have thought she'd know how to talk into a microphone, but apparently not. I think the sound guy is cursing at her every time she eats the mic. Paula says they have to make magic happen in a minute and twenty seconds ... just like prom night! (Thank you, please try the veal!) Randy's wearing a scarf. Indoors. And isn't even in Vampire Weekend.

Jackie Tohn is up first, and wow, that's a bold outfit. Holy crap, was that a bizarre song choice ... weird arrangement, and then she started prancing around like ... I don't even know what to do with this. Very prancy, very talky, and then she got very yelly. Not only did I hate the vocals, I hated her personality. Plus she said "boy" like Rosie Perez would. You're from New York. I get it. I've been there. Wow, that sucked. I can't believe the judges are praising her, but notice they're all talking about her performance (which I hated too, but if you have to pick something ...)

Ricky Braddy's up next, and they make it sound like he made some huge sacrifice by quitting a crappy food service job to be on the show. Now I see why we haven't seen him before ... he's coming across like a shot of NyQuil. That said, what a terrific voice! Excellent singer, too (yes, those are two different skill sets). Great control, the song went somewhere, and I liked his stage presence. Simon isn't wrong that he needs to show some star power, but I think that's possible. I think it's mostly his offstage persona that needs work, more than onstage. Good stuff, though.

I never really was into Alexis Grace, but OK, willing to give her a shot. I'm not so into the trailer look, but I thought it was funny that they basically told her to act sluttier. Actually decent advice, but still funny. So I think this song chewed her up and spit her out. Not a good choice for me. I mean, she has some soul, but that's the kind of song that requires a fifth gear, and I don't think she can get past third. It just kind of never went anywhere, and the high loud "yeah yeah" parts were actually a little bad. Hoarse, or something. Anyway, meh. I won't be mad if she moves on, but I don't care much either way.

Brent Keith -- wow, are all these guys boring off stage? Another bad song choice ... it's not that it sounds bad, but the song really doesn't go anywhere, so I still have no idea if he's really good or just OK. He doesn't suck, except for a few lines in a verse that are too low where he goes way off-pitch. My biggest issue with him is that he looks like an awkward karaoke singer, making self-conscious hand gestures and closing his eyes and looking down when singing hard. No connection with the audience. Lame.

Stevie Wright seems like a nice girl, and she has plenty of time to improve, so I'm not going to say much here -- but let's be straight and admit that her performance was flat-out bad. The only reason you'd compliment that performance is if you were trying to pick her up at the weekly karaoke contest she just finished sixth in. I love that her mom is like, duh, she sang a young song, why didn't they like it? Um, because it was bad. I really disliked that Jackie hugged her (and then her mom!) like ... hey, is the camera over here? Sweet.

Anoop Desai has a surprising voice, doesn't he? I love that he sang My Prerogative in Hollywood. Hilarious. I really think that the good collegiate a cappella groups are great proving grounds, and a way to get a ton of great performance experience in a short period of time. I think what I like most about him is that he's completely un-selfconscious about singing songs that should be ridiculous. I didn't love this song choice (a little boring?) but I really think he should sail through to the finals. It sure seems like the judges were way more complimentary of much worse singers, so I hope it's clear that he was way better. As L pointed out, though, he should have done My Prerogative again.

Casey Carlson ... wow, is she made for TV or what? Interesting song choice, great stage presence ... I don't think it suits her voice one bit. It made her sound thin and kind of boring. Her high notes didn't sound pretty at all. Yeah, I'm surprised, I thought she was going to be one of the contenders. Now I'm not sure she'll make the next cut. If she does it won't be for that performance. Wow, I thought she had a big head start on a lot of the other ladies, but she dropped the ball big time. Here's the thing ... you have this huge opportunity to sing in front of millions of people. If you don't pick the absolute best song for your voice, one that you know you can nail, then you are completely wasting your big chance. I don't get why so many of them screw up something so obvious.

Michael Sarver has picked a great song (I Don't Wanna Be), but unfortunately one that's been done a few times on this show, and way better. This is actually a pretty forgiving song, one that's not hard to sing well if you have a good voice. I thought he had some interesting soul earlier in Hollywood, though, and here he's coming off as a decent bar singer. He didn't even try the high note, either. It's not bad, it's just middle of the road tonight. I still like him, but I wouldn't fight for him.

Ann Marie Boskovich is another one that I remember liking from her initial audition. You know who should sing Natural Woman? Nobody should. She said she was going to put her own twist on the song, but I must have missed it. I mean, it was OK, and the finish was probably the best part, but that doesn't seem like the right kind of song for her kind of voice. I don't remember her voice being right for that from what we've heard. It was just sort of plain and generic.

Stephen Fowler is the dude who totally bombed his last performance in Hollywood. I'm a little surprised he survived that, but that must mean he showed something serious before that. Michael Jackson is always a brave choice on this show. His Sideshow Bob hair is distracting me a bit, but he sounds okay. It's a little bland, and it feels like he's slightly behind the rhythm (or maybe he's just that cool and I don't get it). L and I are not sure this song works with such a laid back vibe. And wow, that high bit near the end kind of sucked, huh? I think he was going for smooth and cool but all I got was lackadaisical.

Fuck. Tatiana Del Toro probably just put in the best performance of the girls. Not that it was great, it's more of a function of the rest of the girls totally screwing up, but dammit. She might have beaten the other girls. I'm not pleased.

Well, they've really pushed Danny Gokey on us all season so far, but to be fair, he has a really interesting voice and good chops. Fifteen seconds in and he has this locked up, doesn't he? I mean, this group is absolutely there for the taking, so he doesn't even need to be that good, but he's working it out. He's had the only two "whoa" moments this week. I love that Simon is there to bring things back to earth and give some good advice -- there's still plenty of room for growth there, but he's justified his pre-season favorite status.

Wow, so do we really have to keep three of these people? Danny was head and shoulders above everyone in this group, and Ricky was probably second best (vocally, maybe not performance wise) with Anoop in the mix. I think Tatiana was the best girl this week, as much as it pains me to say it. So I'd pick those four (with Anoop being a "judge's choice" wildcard) if it were up to me. Maybe I'd put through Alexis just because I couldn't handle putting Tatiana through, but I really didn't like any of the girls this week.

So who will actually get through? Danny's obviously a lock, and I think Anoop has a valid shot at a spot in the top 3. But which girl will win the most votes? Man, I have no idea right now. Does Casey pull in a bunch of fans even though she wasn't good? Ann Marie? Will people vote for Tatiana? (Vote For the Worst?) Did people like Alexis a lot more than I did? I have to think about this. More later.

... to post the day 2 and 3 Lollapalooza recaps. And I barely edited them, either. But bookings for Lolla09 are just starting to trickle out (Kaiser Chiefs so far), so here's hoping for a great lineup next year.

Day 3 -- once again, beautiful weather. Really, the whole weekend was not too hot, although we had lots of rain right before the fest and a scary-as-hell thunderstorm the day after. Thanks for looking out for us, God. Nice work.

We started out at Ha Ha Tonka. 11:15 AM. Yup. They were pretty outstanding. I'm often a little skeptical going to see a band that has intricate vocal harmonies, because you never know if they will reproduce it live. These dudes nailed it. They even have one song ("Hangman") that is 100% a cappella, and all four of them are dead on. While that kind of tightness comes from a ton of practice, you also need to start with four dudes who can really sing. So I thought it was cool how they all took turns singing harmony on different songs, and when all four of them kick in together (like in their single "St Nick on the Fourth in a Fervor") it's pretty sweet. While I'd hoped for a rumored cover of "I Am a Man of Constant Sorrow" their cover of Black Betty was way fun. And these guys are very humble, constantly surprised at how many people came out to see them. One of my favorite sets of the weekend.

We headed over to catch a bit of the Blakes. I liked the sample track I found of theirs. Live I was underwhelmed. It was fine, if you like generic loud distorted basic rock songs with mediocre singers. I'm sure some people are into that sort of thing.

While procuring sustenance, we caught a little of Kid Sister (she sounded fun, but it seemed like she had 20 minutes of material to stretch into an hour) and What Made Milwaukee Famous (I'm still not sure). We caught the beginning of the Whigs, too, who I was slightly more intrigued by than the Blakes, but ended up similarly disappointed by. In this case I think poor sound was partially to blame, but they seemed unenergetic and unmemorable. I'd give them another chance, though. Probably not the Blakes.

Right before Tally Hall started one of the other Camaro dudes from Chicago arrived, and since we had his wristband we had to meet him outside. It took a little while to get back in, and I now have a very low opinion of the front gate security people. My artist wristband got me in every other entrance I could find, but the guard was like, no you can't come in here, you have to go over there to the VIP entrance. What the fuck is the point of VIP access if you can't get in the normal entrance? No? I have to walk over there so someone else can check my wristband? I don't think I'm being a spoiled artist here. That was stupid. That, combined with the fact that they confiscated Zeke's baby food on Day 1 (which C3 already admitted to me was a mistake), makes me think they're morons.

Anyway. So I missed the two Tally Hall songs I was most excited about (Welcome to Tally Hall and Greener), and that may be why I was a little disappointed in the set. That said, like Ha Ha Tonka they rely on a lot of vocal harmonies, and I thought they were a little weak live. I also really like about half their material and think the other half is a little fluffy. I can see how they're the darlings of the boarding school circuit, and I'll absolutely give them another chance, but they were one of my top 5 going in, and they were just OK. I had fun, don't get me wrong, but I wasn't overly impressed. And no hard feelings towards Andy, who had helped us out by lending us his wristband while he was at a wedding Saturday.

Right after Tally Hall we rushed to see Nicole Atkins and the Sea. I was a little torn up by the overlap (15 minutes) but decided that ends of sets are usually better than beginnings, so skipped the beginning of this set. Ronak had camped in a chair and we found room to sit down in the shade near him, which was a totally appropriate setting for her music. It's a little gloomy, with powerful, emotive female vocals with lots of reverb on them. She's from the Jersey shore, and her tunes really make me think of walking around an abandoned Boardwalk amusement park, where you know people once flocked to and had a great time ... but its time is past. It's a little nostalgic, a little haunting, and a bit David Lynch-ian. Plus she has a terrific voice, and her band is solid. This is so different from what I usually like that I'm surprised how much I loved it -- but then again, it's so different from really anything else out there. I need to see them do a full set sometime.

Right after that set, our maniacal scheduling slowed down, and I got a text from the other Chicago Camaro guy that he was coming in, too, although he hadn't thought he could make it. The bad part about this is that we'd have to give his wristband back, so Lindsay wouldn't have an artist wristband anymore. So we headed back for a last artist area hang-out while listening to the end of Brazilian Girls (meh ... and the singer is scary, not hot) and Chromeo (sounded like lots of fun; didn't need to see the big hairy dude with his shirt off). We head for our hidden VIP portapotty spot, and they're missing. Weird. We look around ... and oh my god, they finally realized they needed to put bathrooms inside the artist lounge area. This was massive for us, because up until then you had to leave the lounge to go pee, meaning once we gave up the artist wristband, Lindsay wouldn't be able to get back in. Now that that was no longer an issue, we could go in and stay in (food being a slight issue, but I'll get to that). So our VIP swan song turned into an all night party, with the only downside being that we couldn't get out to hang with anyone else.

It was way more crowded back there, but we commandeered a couple benches, with the help of the Chicago Camaro guys and some friends they made (a photographer, some C3 ladies, etc.). We didn't get to see a ton of music the rest of the night, but we heard G-Love (blech), Gnarls, and Kanye very well, and Mark Ronson reasonably well. Totally worthwhile tradeoff.

Other musicians were out in full force back there, and it's really bizarre seeing people you recognize walking around as if they are a normal person. Because while people would go up and say, hey, nice set today, it wasn't like anyone was fawning over anyone else (for the most part). My favorite celebrity encounter was near the end of the night when I was fairly drunk and doing a look-around-for-celebrities sweep. Newton Faulkner was right behind me, walking by (he's hard to miss with his red dreadlocks), and I kind of nodded at him and extended a fist-bump. He reciprocated, followed up with a chest-thump (Sammy Sosa style), and I just turned back around. Never stood up. Because it is totally normal for me to see someone I have watched on TV and fist-bump them. I talked to the bass player from Black Joe Lewis and the Honeybears for a while, and introduced myself to a couple bands I really liked (Ha Ha Tonka especially). I really wanted to meet Nicole Atkins and her band, but the few times I saw them they were already talking to people or she was on her cell phone or something. I was drunk enough to be all about talking to random people, so I did. And it was fun. The vast majority of people were pretty cool.

I may have mentioned that most of Bang Camaro piled onto Kyle Gass' tour bus on Friday (the dude from Tenacious D) and shot a weblog video that's all over the internets, signed his guitar, did a song with him, etc. Andy, one of the Chicago dudes who was there, felt bad enough that he force-marched me over to KG's tour bus, talked to his publicist, and got me to sign the guitar and take a picture with KG. That was pretty cool. You may have seen the picture on my Facebook page. KG's a pretty cool dude.

I would have liked to have seen Gnarls, but the whole evening was pretty fun regardless. I may have inadvertently made it harder for me to enjoy future Lollapaloozas. Will I have to shell out for the VIP passes next year? Would that be as satisfying? Shit, we'll just have to figure out how a posse member can play again next year. Anyone have any ideas on that?

I left out my awards for Day 2, so I'll just compile them for the whole weekend:

Best sets from non-headliners: The Parlor Mob, Ha Ha Tonka, Nicole Atkins and the Sea
I am intrigued enough to check out further: Holy Fuck, Dr Dog, Black Joe Lewis and the Honeybears
You don't fuck with: Sharon Jones. You could maybe get away with fucking with the Dap-Kings though.
Glad I can say I saw: Rage Against the Machine. And now I don't have to do it again. (It was good, but insane.)
Bummed that I missed: Girl Talk, most of Jamie Lidell, CSS, Gnarls from up close. There are only so many hours in the day though.
Times people asked me if I had weed: 5 (4 backstage)
Times I had weed: zero
Awesome fistbumps: one
People I went to middle school with spotted in VIP: one

Day 2! Fight! (I wrote this right after Lolla08 but forgot to post it until now ...)

We started out with Chicken on a Stick and Witchcraft. Witchcraft are a doom/stoner metal band from Sweden. The singer does his thing in English which is really rather good, but sounds a little goofy. So it was like if Ozzy had only a slight accent and over-enunciated everything. But the music was pretty solid, and doom metal is great when it's hot out. You just end up headbanging slowly. I enjoyed it, despite the singer being kind of goofy and almost operatic. It was endearing. I was like, aww, metal dudes from Sweden. How sweet. I did see them backstage later and gave them an awkward thumbs up. They seemed surprised.

We caught a little of Margot & the Nuclear So & So's on the way to the Ting Tings. I don't know, it was OK I guess. The extraneous apostrophe in their name kind of bugs me though. You know, extraneous apostrophe would be a better name for a band than M&tNS&S's anyway.

So the Ting Tings were indeed better than expected, as K alluded to. I have a big issue with them, though. First, K gave a shout out to their bass player -- but they have no bass player. They have nobody playing about 75% of what you hear, in fact. The dude definitely drums live, and Katie definitely sings, but I have a sneaking suspicion that her guitar wasn't amplified and we were hearing recorded guitar too. But she's very magnetic on stage and prances around adorably. I just feel like, yeah it's cool you recorded all that with sampling, but if you want to play live, bring a band. Otherwise it's kind of like karaoke.

During that set we went back for free drinks, and L pointed out a guy -- hey, he must be in a band. I didn't recognize him, but based on his attire (ill-fitting dress shirt and vest, ill-advised skinny jeans), I said he was probably a keyboard player. It turns out he was in fact the keyboard player for the Gutter Twins. He didn't look quite as stupid onstage.

Met up with K&A&Jason briefly during Dr Dog. I was looking forward to them, but their live sound was kind of uncompelling. That's not a word, and I don't care.

Heard some of Foals while we were getting our snack on. (I think this was when we tried the fried twinkies -- not bad, but not amazing. Somehow the frying process makes the filling taste better though.) Also checked out Chicago 2016 tent and got some wristbands. They had them in the five Olympic colors. Cute. L got blue and I rocked black. You know, to match my soul. I thought that Foals sounded kind of interesting and will check them out further.

The Gutter Twins were boring so we opted for refreshing free beer. Saturday's schedule was the least compelling for me going in, so it was a good thing I'd borrowed an artist wristband for L so we could have somewhere to chill all day. After a quick freebie, we actually went home for a bit to catch up with my parents, see the little man, and, er, take a nap. Rock star style.

Came back for Jamie Lidell, who was pretty cool. K covered the set at least as well as I could, so I'll just mention my slight discomfort with the sax player's mock-Chinese outfit. I was digging the bassist/guitarist's Evel Knievel-style fringed jumpsuit though. I would love to find myself one of those. Probably a little warm though.

We heard a little of Lupe while heading to Sharon Jones, and it was nice of him to start off with his big hit. I guess he knew we'd only get to hear one song. The little we heard of Broken Social Scene while eating was fine, I guess. Not really festival-friendly. I think I'd need to know their stuff a lot better to dig their set, but from what I hear even the hardcore fans thought it was just meh.

Sharon Jones and the Dap Kings were pretty sweet. The Dap Kings were incredible, and the bass player was unbelieveable (and the bandleader -- as it should be). The guitar player -- whose name I believe was Binky -- took a good three minutes to announce Sharon Jones. Everyone should be announced with twenty awesome titles and nicknames by a dude with a cool voice backed by a funk band at least once in their lives. Sharon Jones is a force of nature. She invited dudes up on stage twice to sing to them, but when the second dude hopped up on stage again later, we learned an important lesson: you do not fuck with Miss Sharon Jones. She was not pleased, and let him know. He got the message pretty fast and ran offstage. She continued to rant for the rest of the set about how the stage was her home, and if she invites you in you are welcome, but if you come in uninvited she will whup your ass. Then she felt the need to do a gospel tune to calm herself down. Overall, pretty solid set, and the awesomeness of the band made it even better, although I went from "I would love to play in her band" to "I bet these guys look back fondly on when they were backing Amy Winehouse instead". You could just tell that she yells at them all the time. Demanding woman.

One great thing about Rage headlining on the other side of the fest is that the north side was empty. If I was into Wilco at all that would have been awesome. So we headed back to the artist lounge to listen to Rage. It was far more crowded than it had been on Friday for Radiohead. By getting up on a hill all the way to the side of the lounge, I could see the occasional arm or guitar headstock, but even better was watching the sea of people. It didn't look too violent from where we were, but that side of the crowd must have been the mellow part. I feel unqualified to comment much on the show, having not experienced it fully, but I'll just say it was pretty solid, and you could still feel the energy even way over where we were. Plus, they were tight as hell. Sounded like they'd played together every night for the past ten years.

Kind of an uneventful day, but it was good to rest up for Day 3 with all my sweet celebrity moments ...

It took me a couple weeks to recover from the three days of insanity that was experiencing Lollapalooza with an artist pass. Here is my traditional long-winded, overblown recap, for both of the people that ever check in on this blog (if I post more, maybe I'll get back up to my peak readership of 6!).

I met the three other Chicago Bang Camaro dudes at 8:15 am (which is just not a rock and roll time of day) so we could meet up with the band for load-in/soundcheck at 8:30. We headed over to the artists' entrance and found a security dude. The conversation went something like this:

"Hey man, where's load-in?"

"Um, you can pull in your trailer right over there"
(never mind that we are four dudes clearly not in possession of a trailer)

"Yeah, the other guys are coming with the trailer now, and we're meeting them at load-in"

"Um. Uh, what stage?"

"Myspace."

"Just go to the stage and meet them there, I guess."

So noted for future years. Could just be that it was the first day and they didn't have the routine down, or it could just be that I look the part (ha).

Anyway, it's a little surreal to walk around a nearly-empty Lollapalooza, even more than a half-constructed Lollapalooza. I'm fascinated by spaces that are normally packed when they are completely empty. It's like a postapocalyptic thing.

There was a bit of a line for trailer parking, so we had some time to kill and walked around a bit. I thought the portapotty by the sound stage would be pristine, but I guess that's the one everyone uses during setup. It was like day-2-level nasty. Not quite day 3, but still not awesome.

We met up with the dudes and hung out while they loaded in. I offered to carry some stuff because I would have felt like a jerk just standing there, but apparently they have a whole routine, and they don't even let some of their vocalists touch anything. So we hung in the shade a bit, checked out the Lolla trailer/green room (blissfully air conditioned), had some VIP cans of soda, and eventually did sound check. Actually, first they forklifted in our very own portapotty. That's VIP treatment right there.

Soundcheck was cool, just being on the giant Myspace stage is pretty awesome, surveying the empty field. One of the other dudes had a camera and took some pictures which I'll get sometime soon. Also it was nice and shady on stage and there was tons of space to hang out even when we weren't on. After soundcheck we got our credentials (sweet artist wristband) and meal tickets (breakfast, lunch, and dinner -- thanks, Perry!).

There was a dude hanging out backstage pretty early on who kept walking past the Camaro area and was carrying around a Rock Band guitar. Every time he walked past he looked all giddy but he was way too shy or whatever to actually come talk to anyone. You know I empathize with the socially awkward. Nerds are my peoples. I don't think he ever did talk to anyone, but he ended up front row center for the set.

We walked around the artist areas for a while -- walked through the Lollalounge VIP, which was very nice (but apparently our artist wristbands weren't supposed to get us in), and they have fancy air-conditioned bathrooms with real toilets and stuff. Finally found the artist lounge, which didn't open until 11 (it was about 10:40, and we needed to be back at 11:15), then found catering nearby but had missed breakfast. So we hung out and drank coffee and vitamin water and diet coke. VIP baby!

Anyway, we got back to the stage having failed in our quest to find beer. I mean, sure it's well before noon, but we're artists. We need beer to function. Since we were on in 5 minutes, and there was a beer stand just around the corner outside the artist area, I said, hey, let's give this a shot. The four of us went out there and said, hey man, where can an artist get free beer? They said, the artist lounge is way over there. We said, yeah, but we go on in five minutes. They said, ok, here, have a free beer. We said thanks, and enjoy the show. Of course when we got back, all the Camaro dudes were like, hey, where'd you get the beer! We shared our hookup, and everyone was happy. That's right, I hooked up the whole band with beer. I'd like to think it improved the show.

We went on and it was awesome. Apparently they opened the gates a little late, so there was literally nobody there 15 minutes before we went on. Actually that's not true, the dude with the Rock Band guitar was there. But anyway, they opened the gates and people came sprinting towards us. Most of them kept sprinting to camp out for Radiohead, but a few of them stayed to watch us. By the end of our set, I think there were 2000 people watching us. Someone else said 3000. I was all the way stage left, on the side near the entrance, and when we went all the way to the front of the stage for some group clapping, I had to lean out a bit to see the edges of the crowd. It was pretty cool.

L took some good pictures (they're on my facebook page) and one of the other Chicago dudes took a bunch of pictures from the stage that I'm looking forward to seeing.

Afterwards the Camaro dudes split up to do an interview at the Hard Rock, do an autograph signing session, and I think one other thing. You can split the Camaro up and do 3-4 events at the same time, and still have 5 guys at each. I went off to meet up with the family. Little Z enjoyed the show, clapped along, and tried his best to fist-pump. He'll learn.

We caught a bit of the Holy F*ck set that was on the nearby stage. Sounded like fun. Z was totally into it. Then my parents and Z left, and L and I had our first Chicken on a Stick (COAS) of Lolla08. With noodles of course. Strong. Seriously, I think I missed COAS.

We did the Parlor Mob next, and met up with K. They were on one of the side stages, which were beautifully set up this year, nearly entirely in the shade at the expense of room for a crowd. They booked it well, though, as there was nearly always enough space there (Girl Talk on day 3 being a massive exception). Anyway the Parlor Mob always put on a great show and they did not disappoint. They rock out. I'm a huge fan. They also boast a sweet collection of ill-advised 'staches. (Ill-advised if you aren't a rock star, that is.)

Next up: the Go! Team, on the main north stage. It was pretty hot in the sun and of course I'd been there since way early, so we didn't get as into it as we did in 06, but they put on a pretty solid show. I still think Ninja is one of the best lead singers out there. I don't always love when the other two ladies sing, though. Oh, and they were super-loud, but our new earplugs are amazing. They just bring things down to a reasonable level without distortion, and you can hold a conversation with them in just fine. Etymotic Research FTW!

We were still pretty mellow so we went to check out Duffy. I'm sort of a fan because she is Welsh (my adopted semi-nationality), and because she seems like she really has to work hard to have any idea how to act on stage. My theory is that she's a completely reclusive dork who just happens to have a really cool voice (once again, my peoples!). Her band is great, and she sounded pretty good, and we were a little in the shade so it was fun.

Since we've seen the Black Keys about a bajillion times, I didn't feel the need to get way up close for them, which is getting harder and harder anyway. On top of that, I feel like they're the kind of band you need to be able to see to appreciate. L is always worried that the drummer is on the verge of collapse due to dehydration. Really, she's constantly surprised that he can walk off the stage under his own power. Anyway, we decided to listen from afar, and in the meantime hang out in the shade of the Playstation 3 stage nearby and watch Cat Power set up. The Black Keys were the Black Keys. They always do what they do. We caught the first three songs of Cat Power, which was enough to know that I'd probably dig her album. The live show was a bit mellow for me at that point in the day, especially for standing on hot asphalt, so we bailed to check out the free artist dinner.

On the way there we heard a little Mates of State. Let's just say we walked a little faster. I'm sure they're lovely people and that lots of people like their music.

Catering was set up buffet-style, and it was okay. They had some pretty tasty smoked brisket, and the salad and veggies were surprisingly edible, but it didn't come anywhere near the perfect union of protein, carbs, and flavor that is COAS. It was cool to be in line and look over at a table and think, oh, hey Go! Team. They were even pretty energetic while eating dinner. I guess it's just how they do. So we ate, and then headed into the artist lounge for some free beers.

The artist lounge was pretty cool. They had a tent with a bartender station (serving only Tito's handmade vodka, vitamin water, and Sweet Leaf tea in whatever bizarre combination you could justify) and two beer stations (Bud, Bud Light, and Bud Lime -- if you can't find the latter just tie a Clorox wipe over the top of a Bud Light and drink it that way). A bunch of tables were set up outside the tent, and padded benches inside the tent. Decent amount of space, just behind and to the side of the main stage, so you couldn't see anything, but could hear pretty well. They had a little tent up a hill with two Rock Band setups. My major goal (unfulfilled) was to play Rock Band with Cee-Lo.

We listened to Bloc Party from there (better than expected), then were too lazy to go to the Raconteurs or CSS. One of the other Chicago Camaro dudes went to the Raconteurs, and got someone to drive him there on a golf cart. That was super smart of him. Nice work, Andy. He even watched part of the set from the side of the stage. Part of the reason we couldn't leave is that I had to sneak L in to the artist area -- we'd get two or three of us with artist wristbands to walk in with her in the middle and go quickly. I think the guards knew what we were doing, and kept asking to see her wristband too, but we pretended we couldn't hear (hey, we're artists, we're all hard of hearing) and they didn't press the issue. We had to do this a lot because they didn't have any bathrooms inside the artist lounge. Poor planning there. But hey, rock stars break rules, so fuck your rules, C3. Yeah. J/K I love you C3.

Radiohead was pretty good. I'm not a massive fan, but apparently everyone who is a massive fan thought they were amazing, and everyone swore they cried and stuff. There was a fortuitous moment when the Bears event in Soldier Field sent up some fireworks that worked out pretty well with the music. Maybe fireworks make people cry. I don't know. Apparently I either hate music or I'm dead inside.

I would have liked to have heard the Raconteurs and/or CSS and/or Stephen Malkmus, all of whom apparently put on great shows. But you know, I got there before 9. It's a miracle I made it all the way through the day. A Lollapalooza miracle! I attribute it to COAS, free beer, and being a rock star.

The best stupid little perk of having an artist wristband is that they let you in or out of any entrance you want. Actually, they were assholes to us at the main entrance (they actually confiscated sealed baby food we brought in for Z -- inexcusable), but super cool everywhere else. So getting home was a breeze. And one great thing about Lolla being over so early is that you can actually get a lot of sleep if you want to without missing anything, because recuperation is key to a successful day 2 and 3. As we all know, it's a marathon, not a sprint.

Biggest surprise of Day 1: Holy F*ck. And that my mom kind of liked Holy F*ck.

Artist I felt a little bad for: Sofia Talvik, whose audience couldn't possibly have heard the first half of her set over us. Both of them were probably a little pissed. (OK, I keed, there were more than two people there, google her and you'll see why.)

Artist I am sad I missed: Gogol Bordello. Apparently it was epic. I'm apparently going to have to check them out live some other time.

Favorite Day 1 celebrity sighting: three way tie -- Duffy in a golf cart, Wayne Coyne wearing his signature white suit (no hamster bubble), and the Go! Team at dinner.

A little intimidated by: The drummer from the Black Keys. Hung out right next to us for hours. Should have said hey, or at least asked if he'd replaced his electrolytes.

Perry sightings: At least three. He's like a mischievous little elf.

Christie's is auctioning off an ancient d20 -- said to be from the second century AD. It's kind of nice, too! If only I had enough money that 18 grand was nothing to me, I'd buy this and keep it in my dice pouch. Does anyone know how to say "natural 20!" in Latin? Did they play with paper and pencil or was it all stone tablets? I'd make a joke about rolling up some Visigoth characters, but I'm pretty sure the Barbarian player class hadn't been invented yet.

I could go on all day, folks, but I'm pretty sure that nobody else thinks this is funny.