Copious Notes

I don’t belong here — Creep, Radiohead

Magni seems like a fairly humble guy, so the appropriateness of some of the lyrics to the song he chose to save himself from the ax may have been lost on him.

But voters, a question: Magni in the bottom three?! Here’s when Magni belongs in the bottom three: When there are only three people left. The one thing we can thank RockStar voters for in their bone-headed decision to put Magni in peril is giving us another great performance by the Ice Man.

Other than Magni, the bottom three were predictable (and can we say, Lukas must have one heck of a fan base). Patrice and Zayra worked hard to fight back fate, and Patrice avoided the trap door again with a blistering performance of Hole’s Celebrity Skin.  Zayra, well, I guess we’re on the record about her. But it was almost a little sad that she had to go out this week, because her original tune last night and rendition of Blue October’s Razor Blade tonight were probably her two best performances of the competition. You do have to wonder how the psycho-chick act of Razor Blade went over with Supernova. It was daring, but it also could have affirmed that talented as she may be, Zayra would never be a match for the band. 

We did get our first real taste of who would sound really good with the group, and as we’d expect, the best throats were Storm, Dilana and Magni. Bottom three. Please.

Hey, make sure to go over to Jamie Gumbrecht’s It’s All About for the Project Runway rundown.

First off, what was that? Was Supernova trying to tell us that they are sometimes going to play with a string section and make Gilby strum an acoustic guitar? If these three guys are trying to find a new singer for their ROCK band, what’s the point of having them audition with a bunch of folk and disco songs with a string section?

Here’s how weird tonight was: I thought Zayra did OK. Really, if you did the elimination solely based on last night, she should get another week. How come a searing hot pain just flashed through my fingers and up my arms?

But seriously. If you follow golf, you know that Saturday is often regarded as moving day in a tournament, when people either move into positions to win or drop out of contention. At just over the midpoint of RockStar: Supernova, last night may have been a moving night.

The biggest moves up were easily Dilana (left, last week with Gilby) and Ryan (lower right). Dilana followed up last week’s knock-out with the most searing performance of the night on that folkie classic Cats in the Cradle. She showed tremendous vocal range on the tune, and did the best job reinterpreting it as a rock song, despite all the hurdles. (Was that the point? Maybe.) After getting a bum rap last week and winding up in the bottom three, Ryan’s In the Air Tonight was also a solid performance, with a strong sense of drama.

So they’ll be contending for the encore Wednesday.

The golden children, Storm and Magni, had off nights. Magni’s version of David Bowie’s Starman just didn’t move the ball forward. Really, he had done the acoustic thing last week with Dolphin’s Cry. Storm’s stock actually fell though. Saddled with Gloria Gaynor’s I Will Survive, Stormie simply didn’t seem to know what to do with it other than add the word a– a couple dozen times and make it sound like a James Bond song. Supernova will never do James Bond songs. Storm has earned enough credit to avoid the chopping block though, and probably won’t be in the bottom three. But among the women, she did cede the creativity banner to Dilana, and she’ll have to work to get it back.

But sadly, Wednesday will probably be Patrice’s night to fall through the trap door. Why sadly? Because we like her. But she’s been in the bottom three too many times, and her Message in a Bottle was quite underwhelming. Clearly, she will never be a good fit for Supernova. She’s a good singer, but her future seems to lie more in modern rock than anything these guys will do.

Yes, the twin killing was the headline of last night’s RockStar, but first, a questions for RockStar voters: You put Ryan in peril over Zayra’s (left) joke of a David Bowie cover. What is wrong with you?! Do you just need comic relief? Is her verbal foreplay with the band worth the painful performances she’s delivering? Yes, Ryan’s Paint it Black performance was a bit different — I was wondering if he was aping Robert Smith from The Cure in Orange with the faux hair at the beginning of the bit — but it was fiery and soulful. Surely, it was not worthy of the bottom three.

Unfortunately, for Josh and Jill, they were, and both got the ax. Well, I won’t say they "deserved" to end up in the bottom three, but clearly they were not going to end up fronting Supernova. Now there are eight, and while some stand a better chance than others, all are serious contenders . . . well, as soon as they get rid of Zayra. 

Don’t forget to check in on Jamie Gumbrecht’s Project Runway rundown at It’s All About.

RockStar: Supernova is reaching that point in a reality TV talent competition where the pretenders have been mostly weeded out, and we’ll start seeing people on the chopping block who did give good performances — though don’t interpret that to mean I thought Zayra’s All the Young Dudes was good.

Dilana started the show off with a bang doing The Who’s We Don’t Get Fooled Again with Gilby on guitar. Sometimes Dave Navarro’s shtick is a little trying — I’m so cool, barely holding my microphone as I pass judgment on these people — but he was right to point out how unbelievable it was everyone else passed on the chance to play such an awesome tune with Gilby. Dilana made the most of her opportunity. Encore! And Storm and Magni delivered their usual strong performances that showed the distance between them and the field.

Ryan did make some inroads though with his theatrical performance of Paint it Black. And Toby did the unreal in turning Talking Head’s Burning Down the House into a credible rock song (Sorry Dave, I know the bullhorn has been done, but Toby did it very well). The bottom three at the end of the show were Patrice, Jill and Zayra, and that felt right. Patrice’s Instant Karma had a lot of pizazz, and I like her with the black Gibson SG, but it’s not Supernova.

I started my career in Augusta, Ga., so I had a soft spot for Dana Andrews and was bummed to see she got the boot on Rockstar last night. I was out seeing Talladega Nights: The Legend of Ricky Bobby, and I forgot to set a tape, so I missed the show — I sooooo need TiVo. But I saw the performance clips on the Rockstar website, and Jill and Patrice did save their butts while Dana’s House of the Rising Sun wasn’t quite there. She came in a bit green for this competition, and though she was improving, it was hard to imagine her being ready to go toe-to-toe with Storm Large in a few weeks.

Still, how did Zayra manage to avoid the firing line after that goofball performance of 867-5309?

BTW, make sure to catch up with Jamie Gumbrecht’s It’s All About for the rundown of last night’s duo elimination on Project Runway.

Dear Tommy:

Hey man, I’m still digging the show, a you did a righteous thing for Magni offering to fly his family in from Iceland. But I have a request: If you get Zayra on the chopping block tomorrow night, which looks like a distinct possibility, please put her out of our misery. I mean 867-5309? In a cape? What the . . . Gilby’s comments seem to indicate you think she’s good TV, and in reality TV terms, she probably is. But the joke is getting old.

Not to be totally negative here, this is the week to break away from Storm and Magni for the encore. Ryan earned it with his piano-based rendition of Losin’ My Religion. As a big R.E.M. fan, I view their music as a bit sacred, but Ryan did a great job of dirtying it up while preserving the integrity of the song.

So there you go Tommy: More Ryan and say adios to Zayra. That’ll be a good show.

Peace,

Rich

A few weeks ago in the Herald-Leader, I wrote about my unfortunate fixation with RockStar: Supernova. So, if you have a blog and you’re fixated on a reality show, I believe the rules state, "Thou must blog about it." I will note here that I also follow Project Runway, but Jamie Gumbrecht’s It’s All About is the essential Runway rundown.

So, about tonight’s elimination episode: After Patrice Pike killed with Radiohead’s My Iron Lung, my dream duo of potential losers was on the chopping block: Phil Ritchie, who can’t sing, and Zayra Alvarez, whose attitude far outstrips her talent. She’s the one who told Tommy Lee and his Supernova cohorts she was in diapers when they were on the charts. Zayra did survive one more week, though it’s the only time I think Phil got a raw deal. His Failure cover actually masked his annoying slur and warble, while Zayra’s simpering effort on I’m Not an Addict didn’t merit any further consideration.

Really, it is all somewhat meaningless because the finale will be Storm Large (pictured to the left) vs. Magni. The band is clearly loving their work, and they are virtually the only ones that really look like they could front Supernova. Given the guys’ taste for the ladies thus far — Jenny Galt was the only female booted out of four now — you’d think Storm enjoys the advantage, even if her name sounds like something Yoda would say: "Hmph. Storm large this way comes."