DODGERS AT HOLLYWOOD BOWL

Tonight my two favorite things about Los Angeles combined for a special show: The Hollywood Bowl celebrated the Dodgers' 50 years in Los Angeles.

It was a lot of fun, although it was hardly the musical experience we usually see at the bowl with our classical series tickets.

Randy Newman was present to sing "I Love L.A." He also conducted the orchestra for music from The Natural. Nancy Bea played the organ on several pieces, and Tommy Lasorda gave a great pep talk to the crowd, then led the 17,000 present in a rousing rendition of "Take Me Out to the Ballgame."

They also sang two songs I love; "It's a Beautiful Day for a Ballgame" and Danny Kaye's "D-O-D-G-E-R-S." Alas, it lacked the Lego animation, and the singer was really annoying and brash. Vin Scully read "Gibby at the Bat" (alas, he was in San Fransisco, so his performance was recorded).

The Dodgers beat the Giants today, and with the D'backs losing, that puts the Dodgers 1/2 game out of first place!

Interesting Article

Interesting article on CNN that includes samples of Aztec flutes that have not been heard in hundreds of years.

AMERICAN IDOL FINALE

I was at the Dodger game, so I was lucky; I watched the last 3 minutes of A.I.

The people ruled, and chose correctly. David Cook won in a landslide. The judges backpedaled, apparently suspecting that they were wrong last night. The only thing I missed by watching only the last 3 minutes was an explanation for why Randy was wearing Captain Kangaroo's jacket.

AMERICAN IDOL FINALS

The judges really, really want Baby Boy Archuleta to win. So much so that their accolades will almost certainly backfire and Cookie will win.

Archuleta was terrible all night long. His one strength was that he picked better songs. Elton John, John Lennon, and the hit-the-nail-on-the-head inspirational song were all better choices than Cook's. Archie did butcher Lennon's masterpiece, plus he had already sung it earlier in the season!

Cook had some weak moments in each song, but is much more talented. I think the judges are wrong to want Archie; obviously they thin he is more marketable. They might want to look at the sales figures on Jordin Sparks' album (last year's winner) versus Daughtry's. Cook will have a full career. Archie is a flash in the pan, and when he stops being "cute," all appeal is lost for him.

DialIdol predicts Cook by a significant margin. That doesn't include text messaging, which is a significant portion of the younger David's audience, so it will be hard to tell until tomorrow night.

PLAYTIME

Jacque Tati's brilliant film PLAYTIME screened at the Egyptian Theater tonight. This is a 70mm print of a film shot in 65mm and mixed in 6 channel sound. It's a restored print including a few new minutes of material not seen in almost 30 years. It's a film that is hard to write about because it is so unique. Tati's films have virtually no dialogue, and no plot. They are extremely visual, with a very creative eye. They are comedies, but they are so subtle that if you are not very carefully paying attention, you'll have no idea something funny is happening. Unfortunately, contemporary audiences do not have the patience for this type of movie.

The film is so good that after seeing it you want to watch it again immediately, and when you leave the theater, you will look at the world differently. If I had to pick a favorite film, this would be it.

The film is playing again on May 25th, at the Aero theater in Santa Monica. I
very highly recommend the film. It rarely screens, this may be your only chance to see it where it was intended, on the big screen.

AMERICAN IDOL 3 RESULTS

As expected, the black girl gets sent home, and the two white bread boys move on. It's too bad. I do hope Archuleta loses, it's like Barry Manilow and Liberace had a bastard step-child.

AMERICAN IDOL 3

Boy, oh boy, do the judges want Syesha out of the competition. The only problem with this is that it leaves David Archuleta in, who has a shelf likfe of about a year left before his white-bred performance goes stale.

It's hard to imagine that David Cook will not win.

AMERICAN IDOL 4 RESULTS

Jason Castro's singing may be half-baked, but he was totally baked on tonight's show, especially during his sing-off. At least the right person is going home.

Next week will be interesting. I think Syesha actually has a chance to knock Archuleta off.

AMERICAN IDOL 4

Not much to say here, except that it will be nice to see Castro finally go home. He should have left about 4 weeks ago. He was quoted in this week's Entertainment Weekly as saying he had pretty much given up and was ready to go. Forgetting the lyrics to a Bob Dylan song he had said was one of his favorites pretty much nailed the lid shut on his coffin.

David Cook continues to impress and may very well be their most successful find in the history of the show. Archuleta continues to un-impress, but the screaming teens may keep him on for the final two. Honestly, I don't think he belongs in the finals based on his vocals, Syesha is a much better entertainer, but as a black woman competing against a cute white bread boy, she may not have a chance.

Film Music Article

I'm quoted several times in this Arizona Republic article about film music. It's pretty introductory for anyone who knows anything about film music.

AMERICAN IDOL 5 Results

No surprise that Brooke finally goes home. I wish Castro were next, followed by Archulta, but I suspect that Syesha will be next.

AMERICAN IDOL 5

Perhaps the most interesting thing on the show tonight was Paula, who thought she heard Jason Castro sing two songs when he had only sung one, and who called Syesha "Brooke." (I'll cut some slack on the first mistake, they do a run-through before the airing, which the judges listen to, and she was probably remembering that.)

As for the contestants:

Jason Castro was terrible. I'd expect him to be in the bottom two except his history has been great due to teen chicks. It's nice to see that DialIdol has him listed last for one. However, one can never underestimate the text messaging of obsessive teens.

David Cook was great on his first song,and fooled the judges on the 2nd song; he's still the man to beat.

I like Brooke, but she was also very weak. She is always nervous, and she picked too low of a key for the Monkees song. I would expect her to be in the bottom 2.

David Archuleta continues his progression towards king of the Disney Cruise line. He gets worse each week, but he'll be fine, again thanks to teeny-boppers.

Syesha was great on the 1st song, good on the 2nd, and in theory should not have to worry, except that she's the only black person left, and a woman, which would normally put her near the bottom. DialIdol has her at first, but again, the text votes should drop her down.

AMERICAN IDOL 6 RESULTS

Juan Castro should have gone home, but he wasn't even in the bottom two, thanks to his hair and 13 year-old girls.

Carly's days were numbered anyway, she would have been gone in another week or two anyway. So it's not a huge loss.

AMERICAN IDOL 6

Andrew Lloyd Webber week... another reason NOT to watch A.I., but I'm stuck with it.

David Cook was a little weaker than the judges said, but he'll be fine.

Syesha was not as good as the judges made her seem, but she was still one of the best of the night.

Jason Castro was so awful he should be the one going home, but I think he's safe.

Brooke was nowhere near as bad as the judges made her seem for her false start.

Carly was not perfect but gave an excellent performance. Webber saved her ass by making her change songs.

David Archuleta was as vanilla as usual, but he's safe.

Castro should go, but it may be Brooke because of her false start and weak critique from the judges.

Sampling Rates

I've frequently mentioned in classes the lack of double-blind testing on sampling rates, which has led many people to assume "the higher the number, the better it must sound."

Paul Lehrman has written an excellent article on sampling rates, including the results of the first extensive study I've seen. It can be read at Mix Magazine's web site.

AMERICAN IDOL 7 RESULTS

VoteForTheWorst.com has once again proved its irrelevance; Kristy Lee Cook finally went home. It was her time weeks ago, and I'm glad to see it.

AMERICAN IDOL 7

Kristy Lee Cook should have been eliminated weeks ago; her singing is weak and, frankly, annoying.

Carly Smithson gave a very weak performance. She embellished a melody that didn't need it, and did so by forcing her register. She was flat and grating throughout. She could be in trouble.

David Archuleta continues his drive to be America's best Disney Cruise singer.

Brook White gave her weakest performance yet; she should have used the band to back her on the bridge, and was extremely nervous and shaky. However, I think she will survive.

Jason Castro was good, but the congas did not belong in the song.

Syesha Mercado gave an absolutely amazing performance, one of the best this season.

David Cook is the man to beat.

NAB

Not really a lot new at NAB that I had not seen already. The new Digidesign Icon looks really hip. they've integrated three PT systems into one controller surface, so you can control any system from any part of the surface. The controller is expensive, $100k for just the controller and not including the PT HD hardware, but it's definitely a huge step forward in controller surfaces.

AMERICAN IDOL 8 RESULTS

Quite a shocker this week that one of the better singers, Michael Johns, was voted off. The worst singer by far, Kristy Lee Cook, was not even among the bottom three. Unfortunately, Michael, at age 29, is an old man compared to the obsessive adolescent voters who are text messaging in their votes, so it really shouldn't be that big of a surprise.

Congratulations to ME!

At 7:22 PM last night, an American Idol fan from Wichita, Kansas became the 10,000th visitor to my blog. His visit may have lasted less than a second, but it still counts!

I started this blog a year and a half ago as a way to communicate with students. It didn't work; instead I get baseball fans. Oh, well, it still works out to about 20 visits a day, and even excluding immediate family, that means I'm popular. Not enough to sell ads, but popular enough that I continue to write baseball updates.