American, Idyllic

Admittedly I've been a little delinquient on my Idol postings. My excuse: during our jaunt to Hong Kong, I had no real access to A.I. or American TV; since we came back, Danny and I have been busy settling back into life here in the in the mainland (getting ready to resume teaching, visiting old friends, &c). We're readjusting nicely, so I've had some time to view the results of the last two weeks. (Btw, the title of this posting alludes my appreciation of being an American in the idyllic Chinese countryside. Life here is pretty slow, even by L.A. standards. [People in L.A. think life there is crazy and hectic, but anyone who's been to New York, Beijing, or Tokyo knows otherwise.] Anyway, I'm digging the slower, leisurely pace.)

It's crazy to imagine anyone back home in America is getting his or her information about American pop culture from a guy who's spent the last three months in China, but just in case my blog is your only window into the world (and merciful heavens, I hope for both our sakes it isn't!):


























Above are the four contestants voted off March 1. Clockwise from top left: Alaina Alexander, AJ Tabaldo, Nicholas Pedro, and Leslie Hunt. I was sad to see AJ go because he's Asian, and because he really has a nice voice. It was also a little disappointing to see Alaina go because although she does not have a nice voice, she's easy on the eyes. I can't say that I will miss Leslie, though. Her scatting reminded me of scat (animal feces); I'm just not a fan of that musical form (and I'm stretch the definition of music pretty wide to include the noises she made.) Neither will I miss her shorts-over-leggings look. Leslie, Leslie, Leslie. If the scatting didn't do you in, it was definitely the wardrobe.

Below are those who got the boot March 8. Clockwise from top left: Jared Cotter, Sabrina Sloan, Antonella Barba, and Sundance Head. Jared, your hand motion over your face like a Phanton-of-the-Opera-esque mask was original; I will miss it. Sabrina: not to kick a girl(?) when (s)he's down, but has anyone ever told you that your resemblance to a drag queen is uncanny? [Readers, who agrees? Take a look at her photo. I think it's the heavy eye makeup (not really apparent here), the long false eyelashes, pencil thin eyebrows and wig-like hair.] Antonella: you're definitely the best looking of the contestants this season—but when your competition resembles RuPaul, I'm not sure that's saying too much. PS, did you really think those old porn photos of you wouldn't surface if you made it to the top 24? Sundance: I was never really a big fan.



























I know this is going to be misconstrued (or perhaps correctly interpretted) as schadenfreude, but take a look at how bizarre/pathetic/insane Sabrina looks after hearing the results (at about 0:27 into the clip). I'm really glad someone posted this on the 'Tube, because no one would believe me if I tried to describe what appears to be the sudden emergence of a cancerous, bitterness-and-malice-filled cyst inside Sabrina's bottom lip when she hears the bad news: