12.6.13 Glee Tidbits

       Happy Friday! everyone!      

        
       

    

 

   OMG! love this pic...awesome..       the winner is ... Adam Lambert ...

     


     yay!!  

   

ladymaserati8

YES....
He...IS... our winner...

edit:  ps... that is one of my fav AI performances ladymaserati8...had to listen not once but twice...

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As an aside: since this is titled a Glee thread...I viewed and fast forwarded through Glee ...
At times I thought I was listening/watching to an ADULT "comedy" review...(played by the NYC crew)! 

And what is the demographic bracket for GLEE?  
Seriously...I really do not know.  It sure struck me as the episode was pushing and  stretching boundaries.

Pretty OT, slightly mean-spirited rant. Scroll is your friend. 

But, seeing as we were discussing The Sound of Music and Carrie Underwood (tangentially related to Adam due to Idol, perhaps), I became interested in what the response was from critics, the media and the viewing public. Consensus is, Carrie can't act. Carrie can sing. It was live... what do you expect? Carrie is not Julie Andrews, but who is? Bravo to Carrie for making the attempt. That took guts. 

I can see the similarity to comments that Adam is not Freddie. Except that Adam COULD sing the hell outa the Queen songs. He could own the stage. He was DIFFERENT from Freddie. Audience members might prefer Freddie's style or mythology to Adam's. But Adam gave an incredible set of performances. On the other hand, Carrie was not exactly credible as a lead actress in an iconic, much loved musical, whether one was comparing her to Ms. Andrews, or to Mary Martin, or to the other two female leads in the production tonight. Her singing, while not cringe-worthy, was not up to the par one hears in professional musical theater.

What ticked me off was the "pretty good for a live performance where anything could have gone wrong." Artists on Broadway and on stages across the country perform musicals LIVE eight shows a week. I have never seen a NY critic say, "The acting was poor, some of the singing was disappointing, but, hey, it was live, so you can't expect great acting and singing."

Even worse to me were the "Bravo for the attempt" comments. WHAT? It reminded me of the infamous Danny Gokey "Dream On" debacle. Instead of telling Danny that his scream made tooth fillings ache and fall out around the country, the judges praised him for going for it. Why the condescending pat on the head? Why the "free pass" for an inadequate performance? 

Why do some performers get raked over the coals and lambasted while others get excused and presented with a ribbon for showing up? If we were talking about community theater, well, okay. I get it. These are your friends and neighbors doing their best to entertain and have a fun time. If we were talking about kids in a school play or recital, the fact that they just made it thru a scene or a song deserves an ice cream sundae after the show. If it's the Special Olympics we cheer and cry for the athletes for their extraordinary effort. 

This is prime-time, national broadcast television. "Good try" doesn't cut it. Carrie, do what you do best: sing country music. If you want to challenge yourself to do something new, something outside of the box, do it privately, or be prepared to have it critiqued honestly and even harshly. Critics, do your job, not based on whether you personally like the performer, whether you think they are sweet or nice or weird or wear too much make-up. Base your comments on the performance and the standards for shows of that caliber. 

Okay, I am thru with my rant. Maybe I should go back to discussing Adam singing Christmas carols?