Rock Star: Supernova - Week seven
Goodbye, Zayra. Zayra Alvarez was finally eliminated from Rock Star: Supernova, a number of weeks after she was expected to be. INXS would have eliminated her at least three times by this point. Her performances on the show were often bizarre renditions of classic rock selections, sometimes bordering on camp. I think everyone was well aware that there was no way Zayra would fit into Supernova in a million years.
So, why am I so sad to see her go? This may be the first time since week one that I hated to see someone go this much. Say what you will about Zayra, but she was never boring. For better or for worse, she has been a standout contestant every week. I am totally going to miss her strange-yet-sexy stage presence, and her way of rethinking songs. Granted, she lasted as long as she did for entertainment purposes. But now that she has been sent packing, Rock Star will be a bit less entertaining in the coming weeks.
But I doubt that Zayra is very sad to go. In my view, she was not in this competition to win; she was in it for TV exposure to launch her own career. And I would say she got full mileage out of it. Besides getting to party in Vegas, she also got to perform an original song of hers on TV. “Lluvia De Mar” was the name of her pretty Spanish-language pop song which she performed on Tuesday. It was far from rock and roll, but she may have a future as a Latin pop star. On Wednesday’s elimination show, she did what I hoped she would do: she chose an obscure song (“Razorblade” by Blue October) and gave a thoroughly riveting performance. I wouldn’t be surprised if Mark Burnett is waiting to sign her to his record label.
I’m a bit surprised that Patrice was not the one to go. Don’t get me wrong – I like her a lot. She managed to do a passable rendition of the Police’s “Message In A Bottle” on Tuesday, and Police songs are not easy for a singer to interpret (see Chris Pierson’s disastrous performance of “Roxanne” from the first week). But when she sang Hole’s “Celebrity Skin” on Wednesday, the necessary intensity was missing. The problem wasn’t her voice – heck, she’s a much better singer than Courtney Love – it was her stage presence. Patrice has been a remarkably consistent performer, but the remaining contestants outshine her in the TV eye.
What on earth was Magni doing in the bottom three? “I don’t belong here” is right! His Tuesday performance of Bowie’s “Starman” was nearly solid, except for one flubbed line which was easy to overlook. His Wednesday performance of Radiohead’s “Creep” was also a knockout, easily outshining Lukas Rossi’s, as well as Marty Casey’s from last year. If he had been sent home, I would have spit at the TV screen.
Speaking of Lukas, I still fail to see the appeal. His performance of Chad Kroeger’s “Hero” was one of his better ones, and I didn’t mind that he sat down for it. But I think the Wednesday performers demonstrated how overrated Lukas is. Like I said, Magni’s performance of “Creep” put Lukas’ to shame. And Patrice’s less-than-stunning performance of “Celebrity Skin” outshone the one Lukas gave. What do Supernova and the voting viewers see in this guy? I just don’t get it. I guess you have to be there.
Storm really let me down this week. If she had just been her old energetic self for her performance of Gloria Gaynor’s “I Will Survive”, she might have ripped it up and turned it into something special. But her contempt for the song was her undoing. She was intent on destroying it (a la Cake), and nearly destroyed herself in the process. Don’t get weird on me, babe! I definitely don’t share Supernova’s effusive enthusiasm for Dilana’s rendition of Harry Chapin’s “Cat’s In The Cradle”. It was an odd choice for her, but even after I got around the weirdness of her playing the dad, I thought she oversang it a bit. The stanzas sounded fine, but it was a bit much when she turned it up a notch for the choruses, and she let go too much at the end. I wasn’t impressed.
Ryan continued to use emotional expressiveness to his advantage, giving two commanding performances of “In The Air Tonight” from Phil Collins’ first solo album. Toby also did well with “Solsbury Hill” from Peter Gabriel’s first solo album. (No, I’m not reading anything into this). Toby’s voice added unexpected flavor to the song, and his use of bongos was a nice touch. I could have done without his lyric changes, though.
And, what do you know! We even got to see Supernova perform this week. They chose Dilana to be their singer (for this week, that is) when they performed an original song on Wednesday. It was, um, okay. It was the second time this week that I wasn’t particularly impressed with Dilana (or maybe it was the band who wasn’t doin’ it for me).
But Supernova are already making their big plans, with an album release date scheduled and everything. We can even pre-order the CD on the official site already. Thanks, but I’ll hold off for now.
Next week is “Request Week”, or “Fan Selection Week”, where we get to vote on the website for the songs that we want the contestants to perform next week. It seems like quite a non-event, but if everyone votes for the “wild card” selections, the results could be somewhat interesting.
Official site:
http://rockstar.msn.com
So, why am I so sad to see her go? This may be the first time since week one that I hated to see someone go this much. Say what you will about Zayra, but she was never boring. For better or for worse, she has been a standout contestant every week. I am totally going to miss her strange-yet-sexy stage presence, and her way of rethinking songs. Granted, she lasted as long as she did for entertainment purposes. But now that she has been sent packing, Rock Star will be a bit less entertaining in the coming weeks.
But I doubt that Zayra is very sad to go. In my view, she was not in this competition to win; she was in it for TV exposure to launch her own career. And I would say she got full mileage out of it. Besides getting to party in Vegas, she also got to perform an original song of hers on TV. “Lluvia De Mar” was the name of her pretty Spanish-language pop song which she performed on Tuesday. It was far from rock and roll, but she may have a future as a Latin pop star. On Wednesday’s elimination show, she did what I hoped she would do: she chose an obscure song (“Razorblade” by Blue October) and gave a thoroughly riveting performance. I wouldn’t be surprised if Mark Burnett is waiting to sign her to his record label.
I’m a bit surprised that Patrice was not the one to go. Don’t get me wrong – I like her a lot. She managed to do a passable rendition of the Police’s “Message In A Bottle” on Tuesday, and Police songs are not easy for a singer to interpret (see Chris Pierson’s disastrous performance of “Roxanne” from the first week). But when she sang Hole’s “Celebrity Skin” on Wednesday, the necessary intensity was missing. The problem wasn’t her voice – heck, she’s a much better singer than Courtney Love – it was her stage presence. Patrice has been a remarkably consistent performer, but the remaining contestants outshine her in the TV eye.
What on earth was Magni doing in the bottom three? “I don’t belong here” is right! His Tuesday performance of Bowie’s “Starman” was nearly solid, except for one flubbed line which was easy to overlook. His Wednesday performance of Radiohead’s “Creep” was also a knockout, easily outshining Lukas Rossi’s, as well as Marty Casey’s from last year. If he had been sent home, I would have spit at the TV screen.
Speaking of Lukas, I still fail to see the appeal. His performance of Chad Kroeger’s “Hero” was one of his better ones, and I didn’t mind that he sat down for it. But I think the Wednesday performers demonstrated how overrated Lukas is. Like I said, Magni’s performance of “Creep” put Lukas’ to shame. And Patrice’s less-than-stunning performance of “Celebrity Skin” outshone the one Lukas gave. What do Supernova and the voting viewers see in this guy? I just don’t get it. I guess you have to be there.
Storm really let me down this week. If she had just been her old energetic self for her performance of Gloria Gaynor’s “I Will Survive”, she might have ripped it up and turned it into something special. But her contempt for the song was her undoing. She was intent on destroying it (a la Cake), and nearly destroyed herself in the process. Don’t get weird on me, babe! I definitely don’t share Supernova’s effusive enthusiasm for Dilana’s rendition of Harry Chapin’s “Cat’s In The Cradle”. It was an odd choice for her, but even after I got around the weirdness of her playing the dad, I thought she oversang it a bit. The stanzas sounded fine, but it was a bit much when she turned it up a notch for the choruses, and she let go too much at the end. I wasn’t impressed.
Ryan continued to use emotional expressiveness to his advantage, giving two commanding performances of “In The Air Tonight” from Phil Collins’ first solo album. Toby also did well with “Solsbury Hill” from Peter Gabriel’s first solo album. (No, I’m not reading anything into this). Toby’s voice added unexpected flavor to the song, and his use of bongos was a nice touch. I could have done without his lyric changes, though.
And, what do you know! We even got to see Supernova perform this week. They chose Dilana to be their singer (for this week, that is) when they performed an original song on Wednesday. It was, um, okay. It was the second time this week that I wasn’t particularly impressed with Dilana (or maybe it was the band who wasn’t doin’ it for me).
But Supernova are already making their big plans, with an album release date scheduled and everything. We can even pre-order the CD on the official site already. Thanks, but I’ll hold off for now.
Next week is “Request Week”, or “Fan Selection Week”, where we get to vote on the website for the songs that we want the contestants to perform next week. It seems like quite a non-event, but if everyone votes for the “wild card” selections, the results could be somewhat interesting.
Official site:
http://rockstar.msn.com
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