Back from New York City!

Following up on my post about my NYC trip, I'm back! I ended up seeing 6 shows in total, which, if I'm not mistaken, is a new record for me. In addition to the six, which I've written up reviews about, I went to Harry Potter: The Exhibition, a collection of costumes and props and such from the movies... which was GREAT. SO much fun seeing items from movies that I will never forget. Each item had a little sign next to it, identifying what the item was... is it bad that I didn't need the little sign for probably a vast majority of the items? 

Anyhoo, if you're interested, my reviews are after the cut!

American Idol S10: The Finals

Haley :-(

Now, I know my prediction last week was off. I know I changed my initial prediction of a Lauren/Scotty finale to a Haley/Lauren finale.... but I'm still going to pat myself on the back. I never wrote about it (yeah, yeah, what of it?), but I read a spoiler late last year that someone named Scotty McCreery made the top 40, and that he was a country hearthrob. I watched a couple YouTube videos and agreed - this kid had to be a frontrunner. I've documented my choice of Lauren - from the moment she started singing with Steven Tyler in her audition, I figured she could be in this spot (and given how she was hailed as the second coming of Kelly Clarkson and Carrie Underwood, I knew it would be). 

I also know that this isn't exactly a popular finale. Are Scotty and Lauren the two most talented artists on Idol this year? Hard to determine, really, but I'll say no. Are they the best contestants on the show? Nope, not at all. How are they here? Probably more luck than anything else, with other perceived favorites falling on their faces more often. Whatever the case, this is one of the very few finales where both finalists have a legit chance of being successful in mainstream music (yes, haters, country is a mainstream genre of music). 

Without further introduction.... the finale.

American Idol S10: Top 3

re: last week.... BRAVO, AMERICA! The right person went home last week, if you ask me, regardless of what the judges were trying to force. 

If you told me back when I started my weekly recapping of Idol that Haley would be top 3 at worst, I would have laughed at you. The girl has turned it on over the course of the competition, choosing great songs, ripping into them like nobody's business. These last two weeks are typically very tough, since the judges give absolutely no help (less so than usual!).

These weekly Idol promo shots are humorous. Could they be wearing any more makeup? Or is it airbrushing? Either way... too much.

Anyhoo, onto the top 3!

American Idol S10: Top 4, Songs that Inspire and the Songs of Leiber & Stoller

 

I don't have anything to say about last week's results show other than, simply... perfect final four.

Also, I don't know why I never put a picture on my Idol posts. #timmfail, I guess. Perhaps I'll go back and add them, to pretty up my blog. Perhaps.

Tonight... more tired Idol themes! Seriously, is it so difficult to find new themes? While they've only done one specific "Leiber and Stoller" week (season 4), their songs are absolute staples of Motown Weeks and 60s week and 50s week and Elvis week and others. Been there, done that. And inspirational songs? Done 3 times. Where is One Hit Wonder week? Songs by the Opposite Gender? Songs from James Bond movies? Songs Never Before Done on American Idol? 

Ah well.... you know the drill, after the jump. 

 

American Idol S10: Top 5, Songs from Now and Then

Casey finally got the boot last week. What was a surprise was the "bottom three"... that wasn't really a bottom three. Seacrest never said that the three remaining were the lowest vote getters, which reeks of producer manipulation. I'd be willing to bet that Scotty's vote totals weren't as high as the producers liked, so by having him appear to be in trouble, they can encourage voting. They do this pretty much every year... it must work, or else they wouldn't do it.

Anyhoo, this week... now and then. Everybody gets two solo songs, one contemporary, one from the 60s... though looking at some of the song choices, apparently "1960s" was just a guideline. Either way, should be interesting... I'm watching via rickey.org, so I don't have the judges comments... though I did get running commentary from Rachael during the show (thanks!) and was following along on Twitter, so I got the gist of everything. My thoughts, after the jump!

Jon McLaughlin in Concert

Last night, Marissa and I went and saw Jon McLaughlin in concert in Brighton. Seriously, I don't know why this guy isn't far bigger than he is. Just a truly fantastic acoustic set.

See the full gallery on Posterous

Nearly an EPIC #timmfail

I try to travel to New York City for a mini-vacation once every 6 months or so, when my bank account allows. I went in early November... it's now May. My sanity is slipping, so I need to get away. So, trip = go.

First thing's first, I figured out what shows I wanted to see. Spider-Man, Book of Mormon, Priscilla: Queen of the Desert, How to Succeed in Business Without Really Trying, Anything Goes, The Normal Heart, Catch Me If You Can, Sister Act, War Horse... all shows on my list. I looked for discounts, plotted out performance schedules, all that good stuff. I settled on May 16th - May 19th. 

Here's where the #timmfail starts.

A few days passed, then I set out to purchase tickets. First, Spider-Man. I found a discount for balcony seats that weren't terrible, so I looked for what performance could get me the best seat. May 17th gave me a third row seat, but Mar 24 gets me first row center. Why couldn't I go a week later? That's fine. Booked. Then came The Normal Heart. I pull up my discount code.... and I was reminded why I picked the 16th-19th. The code expires Sunday the 22nd. However, #timmfail averted. I simply shifted the dates from the 22nd - 26th... with a bonus being that I can see an extra show. I was annoyed with myself, but in all, it works out. I got a front row mezzanine ticket for The Normal Heart, and I'm set to go.

At that point, it hit me that I was doing things in the wrong order.... place to stay first. I go to my usual hostel.... and no vacancies. Ruh roh. #timmfail. But, again, EPIC qualification avoided, since I found another place to stay that wasn't horribly priced, a place that actually works pretty well. 

All these #timmfails got me thinking... why else did I plan on the 16th-19th? I didn't have any other discounts or anything, but I had a feeling there was something else pushing me away from the last week in May. Then it hit me.... the Glee season finale is scheduled for May 24th. Fail. Oh, and the American Idol finale is the 25th. EPIC fail. That said, both those are easily fixed... Glee can be watched on Hulu, Idol on rickey.org. I'm making it a point to be home and in front of my TV for the final results show on the 26th. Can't miss that.

Hopefully this trip doesn't turn out to be doomed like the planning process has been. If it does.... I may be taking a prolonged absence from NYC for my own sanity!