I just watched American Idol...blindfolded. If you happen to stumble across this blog and are wondering if I'm sippin whatever Steven Tyler is, you're wrong. I wrote an entry last night that led up to this decision. I really was interested in how my views on the contestants would change if I did not know what they looked like. Overall, I thought there was a ton of talent in tonight's episode.
Blindfold Experience Notes
-I can say that I was most definitely less distracted. I wasn't thinking about J.Lo's outfit or if the contestants were wacky. No cute boys could make me suddenly like their voice a little more. Just pure raw vocals for me.
-I may spell people's names wrong. When I blogged about Idol for the Detroit News I had to make sure everything was right- name, age, hometown. This time I just took a guess. I have no idea if the first dude with the sister spells his name Kory or Corey. I'm gonna go with Kory.
-Whenever there was just music, I knew in my head they were probably showing scenes of Austin or the crowd, and I was kind of all "yeah yeah get on with it let me hear someone sing". Also, when 17 year old Holly sang, and was apparently quite broken up, I had a hard time sympathizing with her because I couldn't see her crying. I heard her sniffles but was urging the judges not to give her a second chance. In the end I was glad I did, because she did much better on her second song (why did it have to be a Miley song, though?) They also did a montage of "heartbroken" contestants, and again I couldn't really feel for them..at all. I usually feel bad for those people seeing their red eyes and shaking hands...but not tonight.
-Because I already know what Ryan + The Judges look like, I could picture them in my head as they talked. Everyone else, I tried to create on my own. For most of the girls I got young and blond. Boys, tall and rugged.
-I am going to try my best to not find out what they look like until I see them again in Hollywood...I won't seek out their auditions on MJ's or youtube, but I do love watching Idolooonies so that could present a challenge.
-They showed a few really amazing auditions where they didn't introduce us to the contestant. If I had not been blindfolded, I would have seen their names on my screen. But I couldn't. One of them was a guy who was freaking outstanding. I have no idea what his name was but he sang "Rusty Cage" and killed it! He was one of my favorites and I can still hear it in my head. Whoever mystery dude is, I hope he makes it.
Other General Thoughts
-I liked that John Wayne dude. He's got some STRONG country vocals. My only concern is that he won't be able to step outside that box.
-Courtney Henry, the one in love with Ryan Seacrest...made me laugh so hard. I liked her voice (and choice of song), but she was a little too generic.
-"Idol's First Power Couple" (which by the way, everyone knows was actually CAKE. hahaha). They were both pretty good! The girl (Jacquelyn, I think) sounded like Megan Joy from Season 7. Unique voice. Guy (Nick) was good but boring.
-I didn't take many notes on Janelle but from what I remember she sounded a bit like Carrie. I liked her.
-Last audition was Casey Abrams, he did that freestyle thing that I LOVED. He was a little screamy but his voice was NUTS!! Wow he was good.
-RANDY. STOP. YOU ARE NOT SIMON. NO ONE IS ASKING YOU TO BE SIMON. WHY YOU GOTTA BE SO MEAN?
Favorites- Mystery man, Janelle, and Casey.
So, did watching Idol blindfolded change my life? No, but it did make me really think...it allowed me to take a step back and not get caught up in all the production and just listen to the voices. I didn't judge based on appearance, I didn't see crazy costumes. I just heard some good singing...which is what this show is about.
My goal for the rest of this year is to try and stop myself from judging based on what I see. I think doing this little experiment tonight was a good first step. I will try and blog about my progress, or things I notice. Who's with me? Let's make 2011 judgement free :)
Have a great rest of the week friends.
3 comments:
"Hard to feel for" the contestants because you couldn't see them?
Hmmm . . that's interesting.
Normally, I'm really attuned to vocal inflection, and that decides what I feel for someone, if I think they're being truthful, or just melodramatic.
I spell a LOT of names wrong too. :-) But your comment makes me wonder . . do you mean they write the contestants' names on the screen?
I was going to mention that you might be "biased" if you knew what someone already looked like, but since you already wrote down your thoughts, I don't see anything wrong with looking at the contestants now.
Heheheh. "mystery man" I have a lot of "mysteries" for lack of being able to see, names of contestants, "call the number on your screen", what movie is on the satellite and how long it's been on or what's coming up next, etc. The Internet has made things a lot better, but there are definitely still many "mysteries."
Jena- It surprised me too, about not feeling for them. I thought I'd have the same feeling...maybe overall I'm just over the tears :)
Yes, when a contestant walks in the room to sing in front of the judges, they show their name, age, hometown, and occupation on the bottom of the screen. They do this throughout the whole season, once it gets down to top 24 they show their name when they first start, and then at the end with the number to vote.
I hope Mystery Man makes it! :)
I just would like to say, I can not stop reading your blogs. Thanks for sharing! : ) Also, I love the "Rusty Cage" guy, too!
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