Land o'Lessa

Chris Daughtry posted on his blog about the article in the Rolling Stone, and how he’s just being honest!

The funny thing is, if you heard the whole conversation you would’ve heard all the good things I said about the show as well. Like for instance: How it’s an amazing platform to launch a career…..”If you take it seriously!!!!”

Chris goes on to say that the comments that were printed stemmed from the interviewer who asked about the AI Stigma – people tend to ignore the winners because they were on American Idol and consider them not to be ‘real artists’ because of their rise to fame.

So, I answered that I don’t feel that enough “artists” try out for the show because of how many people they focus on that are obviously there for comedic and entertainment value. And when you focus enough on people that aren’t serious about it then it’s hard for the audience to take you as an artist serious. And it’s also hard as a potential contestant to think it’s a good way to get seen because you’re afraid of being made a joke of. I also said I think it’s AWESOME that they are letting the contestants play their own instruments and that I feel that will show something in the contestants that people (the audience) never get to see….but that wasn’t printed. My long winded point is this….I was never trying to “DISS” the show or “BITE THE HAND THAT FED ME” so to speak. I was simply giving my input on what I think would spice the show up a bit.
Sorry for being honest. God bless!-Chris

It’s all good, Chris! I agree with him, and not just because he’s one of the hottest guys to ever grace the AI stage. It’s because he’s right. We the people, can be a fickle, fickle bunch.

I have to admit that American Idol lost it’s appeal for me several seasons ago – and it looks like I’m not the only one! It doesn’t help that it comes on the same time as other shows that I love ever so much more then Idol. Like The Biggest Loser.

Anyway, like I said, it seems like I’m not the only one who’s grown tired of the same ole same ole. On Tuesday night, Idol premiered with it’s lowest numbers to date, even though it still took it’s timeslot. Maybe people have just gotten lives, or something. Or maybe, just maybe, they still spend too much time on all of the William Hungs, and leave us hanging, wanting more of the Jordan Sparks.

Or we’re just bored of the whole concept. After all – none of the American Idol Winners have really done ANYTHING fantastic. They put out an album, it gets mediocre reviews and sales, and then they start to drop like flies, ala Ruben Studdard, Taylor Hicks and Katharine McPhee who were all recently dropped from their labels due to low sales. Often the 2nd, 3rd and 4th place winners do better, but even then they tend to fall by the wayside soon enough. For singers chosen by America’s Popular Vote, it would seem that we don’t know what we want, and we the people just don’t like to face that kinda pressure.

There are exceptions to the rule, of course, and a couple of stars have done remarkably well – namely Carrie Underwood and Chris Daughtry, and now Daughtry has come out to talk against the show that gave him his start. As he recently told Rolling Stone, American Idol is starting to lose it’s luster.

“It’s in a state of decline and if they don’t do something about it, it’s probably not gonna last too much longer. I’m sure that’ll be used against me, but that’s the truth, you know?”
[...]
Daughtry blames the show’s woes partially on its emphasis on untalented singers. “People get tired of seeing people that suck,” he says. “It’s funny at first, but come on. They spend three weeks on people that can’t sing, and that’s what they’re banking it on. [They should] find some people that you can really invest in.”

Though the show is slated to make some minor adjustments this year – allowing contestants to play instruments in early rounds, and de-emphasizing the celebrity judges to give more indepth contestant views – I’m not sure at all it’ll be enough to save the franchise. What do you think? Are you watching? Do tell!

Hi there! Long time no see. It’s like I forgot this page existed there for a few days, huh? Maybe that’s because I’ve been playing over here, and gearing up for a very busy February here and here! Or maybe it’s because I also have this here, and also – because I just don’t have enough to keep up with, I got a wild hair and have this HERE too! Add to that a returning client wanting a redo, a Comment Party over at Darkside Rainbow, (which Nana WON btw with a comment about BACON CEREAL which is 18 different kinds of brilliant – and so did I, I got one of the runner up prizes myself!) that took up some of my weekend, and then all the snow up there that is trying to freeze me out, and the uber cuteness of my kids at times and the 99% rottenness that is masquarading as that cuteness and…

Well. You can SEE why I haven’t been typing much around here, right? Right.

So, you ask, how’s the whole ‘Better Lessa Through Apathy” thing going? Eh. Allright. Week one, and I weathered the Caffeine withdrawal headache and now hardly ever think of my beloved diet crack coke (twitch). Week two and I started keeping track of what I was eating, just to see where I fell on the ‘eat this much to LIVE ya fool’ scale of things. Surprisingly, given the size of my ass, I’m having a horrendous time eating ENOUGH calories on a daily basis. I know! Whod’a thunk it?

So this is week three, and I had something planned for this week too, but ugh. I r sick. And I feel like crap. And I just wanna lay down under my blanket and forget the world exists until I feel better. So, it’s week two, redux, and another attempt to eat ENOUGH and rev up a sleepy metabolism. We’ll see how I’m feeling after that.

Course, I’m also peeing every 2.5 seconds, because of all the water I’m drinking to make up for the lack of my beloved DC…. makes sleeping a pain too. Heh.

And that’s all there is going on in LessaLand at the moment. How bout ya’ll?

Or at least cook like one? Bravo recently announced that there will be a cookbook on the shelves soon, featuring 100 recipes from the first 3 seasons of Top Chef! From Quickfire to Elimination rounds, soon you’ll be able to whip up the yummy concoctions in your very own kitchen!

Top Chef: The Cookbook will be published by Chronicle books and packaged by Melcher Media, and who else but Tom Colicchio could possibly introduce the book? Along with the recipes, it’ll also include discussions with the contestants, judges and crew to give an inside look at Top Chef and what happens behind the scenes – including pictures of some of the best moments, sites, and of course – the food!

The cookbook is slated to hit shelves in March, to go along with the new season premiere, Top Chef: Chicago.

At the ranch, Jillian and Bob are shocked to find the Brown team, Curtis and Mallory had been eliminated last week. They both said, after a round about explaination, they realized that it’s Game on. Mark says he knows its a game, they’ve been playing since the beginning.

Jackie and Dan were the weighin winners for the second week in the row, and as a reward, they have to hike to the top of the mountain (hill!) and retrieve their prize. There are three envelopes – family, gameplay, or luxury. They have to chose one of them, and discover what they win. They debate all the way up the hill. THey decide to choose the gameplay option, and discover…

…a commercial. As usual.

Back again, and Jackie and Dan have won the chance to cast two votes at the elimination this week. They’re both happy for that, for sure. Dan is hoping that some of the biggest competitors fall below the yellow line. They checked to see what they passed up – a family member visit for 24 hours, and free massages for them and another team. They’re happy with thier choice, and started back down the trail.

Back at the Gym, Bill and Jillian say they’ve been thinking about the numbers being so low last week. Bob knows the body will do what it wants to do, but Bob and Jillian are going to step it up. Everyone needs to take a look to the left and the right and ask if they’ve done better then those people. Everyone is there for themselves. Bob zeroes in on Amanda, who didn’t lose anything last week, then makes his way to others and encourages them to work harder then they have yet.

Bob talks to the girls about snacking and to start thinking about what it’ll be like when they go home. He tells them to use gum (Extra) to help them feel like they’re chewing without adding calories. Then it’s back to the gym. Bette-Sue is feeling exhausted and is having a hard time, and Bob is trying to tap into their competitiveness. He sends her walking with 20 pounds, and she tells us she couldn’t believe it, after all she’d already done- but she does it.

And Jillian is focusing on Neil again, and Amanda defends him to us. He admits he doesn’t handle change very well, but he’s getting more comfortable, and Jenn is sure he’s fooling people and they all see it. Bob catches him holding on to the bar on the tredmill and makes him hold the weights. And he stops walking. Jenn is frustrated with it.

Read the rest of this entry »