are YOU the froggy peat?



I can't barely write nothing today because guess what! Today is spring! And today is the first day in a long time I don't feel sick! And so I am going to go outside and get up close and personal with mother nature and her minions!



By the way, did anyone watch American Idol last last? God, it was impressive. My God, there were some really great people up there. Strictly in terms of vocal quality, my fave was the IHOP waitress from Hawaii with the rusty scratchy thing goin on, who sang "Son of a Preacher Man." Delicious, delicious. But then in terms of genuine eccentricity and flava, I had to go for Fantasia and her kinda classier Macy Gray thing-thing. But then in terms of true blue wide-open heart, I had to go for George Huff. He actually made me burst into tears. I could feel his need to be loved--everyone's, really. Then again, for just earth-mother soul, ancient and so damn fertile, I had to go for Jennifer Hudson. I have never heard anyone on this show (or any other?) sing an Aretha Franklin classic and not sound like a complete tosser. You just can't do Aretha--no one can. But she did "Baby I Love You" and she did it so her own way, I believe Aretha would have been proud.



And then there was the judges' favorite, LaToya, who reminds me so much of Mary J. Blige--but kinda busted out a rock, Tina Turner vibe last night that was also totally genuine and sexy. She probably deserves to win it, yet I feel that she is the one who needs it least.



Jennifer and Fantasia are my favorites. They both come from poor families and neither has ever been to a real concert, yet they both carry within them this insane musical wisdom, as if they had somehow inherited or absorbed the soul of all their ancestors. It's church. That's how it happened.



Fantasia gets grief because she talks black and she talks ghetto and she said she wants to work on her grammar. Fuck that. Grammar is a beautiful math but we don't need pop stars to talk white.



The best part last night--see, my friend Lauren has gotten me into reality TV shows a little bit--anyway, the best part was flipping back and forth during American Idol's commercials (and the boring boy-singers) with America's Next Top Model and High School Reunion.



The reunion show sucked because the girls were all phony cows and everyone was way too "hot."



The model show, however, is truly winning. I have to support this show. What's great is that even though these are ostensibly megababes, the reality is that they're just girls and they're really not that sexy and definitely not confident. The show is a deconstruction of all the smoke and mirrors of the fashion world. Plus, Tyra Banks is a cool cat. She should think about not becoming a pop singer but instead having her own talk show. She's got a kind of native Angeleno vibe that cuts through the crap. Plus, as you know, she went to my crazy high school.



But anyway, I'm not kidding, you guys. American Idol last night was for real!



Ok now I'm really truly going to go outside and commune with God!



Love,

Kate

Comments

Popular Posts