Week 9 RS:S Elimination

Week 9 of Rock Star: Supernova, and everyone wants to know who’s still standing (especially certain friends on the left coast). Well, look no further! But before I get to the juicier bits, I’ll start by saying that tonight Brooke Burke was absolutely glowing. It is often said that expectant mothers have an inner radiance about them. Well, Brooke was rocking one of those “baby glows” tonight. I couldn’t tell you what was wearing, but she looked amazing!

In the behind-the-scenes video, The Final 6 Rockers speculated about who would end up in tonight’s Bottom Three. As the pressure mounts for the Rockers, I was happy to see their friendly camaraderie. Only three weeks left!

At tonight’s show, Dave told the Final 6, “Half of you will be singing for your lives tonight. You are all friends now. Clearly it will be hard to say goodbye.” Yeah, it will be hard for all of us tuning in, you know? But it’s been a great ride.

Dave asked Magni about this week’s photo shoot with In Touch magazine. Magni didn’t seem too thrilled about the process, and attempted a snappy comeback. As always, Dave gets the last word. “This is my show, suck up!” And we all laugh, as Dave continues, “You know what I said about not having anything to do with the voting? I lied, Son of a Bitch!”

[Folks, you can’t say I didn’t tell you so!]

For this week’s original Supernova song, Lukas performed with Tommy, Gilby, and Jason on “It’s On”. Lukas’ vocals were wide open, and he had great energy. It’s hard to judge an unfamiliar song, but it was solid, although not quite memorable. That could be due to the song, or the singer, or bits of both, so I’ll leave that alone.

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The winner of the MSN Live Spaces award was announced: Rob Carlos, also known as Colorsmith. Check out his winning MSN Live Space at http://colorsmith.spaces.live.com/

You can also check out my MSN Live Space at http://rockstarlifelessons.spaces.live.com/

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For the Encore, Toby did Rebel Yell, and he whipped the audience into a frenzy. He dressed very GQ tonight: black with a white tie peeking out of a jet black buttoned-down shirt. Very nice outfit, not overbearing at all. Just sexy like Toby. He went through the crowd, singing in all the corners, physically reaching the audience members in the back. And I mean waaaay back. Those fans appreciated that a lot. Shoot, I did too. What is it about Toby that the ladies love? Does it matter why? Oh yeah, he’s HAWT!

When it was time for Brooke to mention who was in tonight’s Bottom Three, it ended up being everyone BUT Magni. It was quite funny actually. His campaign for American fans apparently worked very well.

And the actual Bottom Three?

Ryan – Baba O’Riley

One of the things I love about Ryan Star is that he’s not afraid to stretch himself. Whatever his actual comfort zone is, I know he’s working outside of it. In addition to singing the song, he shook up, and exploded a bottle of champagne onto the fans in the audience, as well as Toby who was standing nearby to grab the bottle when Ryan was done. Of course, Ryan was also able to get some playful revenge for all the past pies in the face from Toby. Ryan made sure that Toby got a nice dousing of bubbly all over him. Toby took the bottle back to the Rocker Box, and drank from the bottle.

Ryan’s performance reminded me of past times when he did whatever he could think of to increase the energy onstage. Tonight he was swinging the mic, running around, and even got way on top of the stacked guitar amplifiers. It was a little too erratic for me, but he kept my attention. I don’t remember much about his singing tonight, but that probably wasn’t the point.

Storm – Helter Skelter

When Storm seemed excited about getting picked to be in the Bottom Three, Gilby asked her why. “Because I get to rock!” was her response. And rock she did. She rocked this Beatles classic hard, and made her way through the crowd like a Pied Piper, attempting to create a mosh pit out of the audience. She then went to Supernova’s Box, snag to them, and sat on Tommy Lee’s lap before continuing on. At the end of the song, the fearless Storm Large turned her back to the audience, and just leaned backward into the waiting arms of the audience who brought her back to the stage.

I love Storm because she’s fierce. She’s fierce, wise, sweet, and funny too. But aside from all that, she can ROCK. Go head on, Mama!

Dilana – Psycho Killer

On one hand, I don’t think she should have been in the Bottom Three, but after the last two weeks, I’m not surprised if the fans decided to spank her a little bit. Still, I’m philosophical about the whole thing. In my opinion, Dilana has been on top since the very beginning, and the producers might decide that it’s boring for her to have an easy time of it every week. Dilana finally gets her turn in the Bottom Three, and the show gets even more interesting.

But I can’t help but feel that Dilana is still feeling the sting from last week. When her name was called, I realized how tiny she is. She just looked vulnerable, like a little girl, with her face an open book. I think Dilana was telling the truth when she said that she didn’t know how to lie. She’s not good at hiding her feelings, even when it’s a good idea to do so. Her eyes tell you everything, if you only look. She was scared and unsure, and we haven’t seen that before. I just wanted to give her a big hug, and say, “You’ve killed it before. You’ll do it again. Buck up!”

So when Tommy asks what song she’ll be doing tonight, she announces a last minute decision, Talking Heads’ “Psycho Killer”, “This is how life goes, and this is my redemption. I’m gonna dedicate it to myself.” 

She starts the song a capella, and of course she sounds great, and then she rocked it out, but she was a bit subdued. She usually gives a memorable performance, but tonight we missed her usual vitality. She jumped around a lot, and didn’t take me over the edge, as she usually does. I’d say that tonight was my least favorite performance of hers, but I know damn well that Girlfriend ain’t goin’ home tonight. Supernova is gonna chalk it up to a bad patch for Dilana, let her have this week to bounce back, and expect her to CRUSH us next week. And she will. I cannot wait.

And who went home? Ryan Star

Dave: “I’ve become a fan, and I’m sorry to see you go. You are the most evolved of everyone here. I know you’ll do well.”

Ryan, being Ryan, had his last word. To Supernova, he said (respectfully, I might add), “With me you could have had 20 more years on the charts, so I’m sorry about that. I respect your decision. I’m going back to being a solo artist. See you on the charts because that’s where I’ll be hanging out.”

Tommy Lee looked genuinely sad. He knows that more goodbyes are coming, and I get the feeling that being the “Hatchet Man” is not a lot of fun these days. But I agree that Ryan Star has stretched himself in all kinds of directions for the better, and this experience will give him the recognition (and fortitude) he needs to get that deal that could take him to the top of the charts.

I ain’t mad at ya, Ryan Star. You did great, and I’ll be looking for you back in NYC. See you at the top!

Welcome to Rock Star Life Lessons!

It took me a while to get my old blog entries copied and pasted from various websites, and I still have to flesh out the life lessons and headlines, but the blog is ready to go! Yeah!!!!!

And speaking of these Rock Star Life Lessons, this blog was originally inspired by Rock Star: Supernova while I starting writing commentary about the Rock Star: Supernova reality TV show. Although these lessons were, these tips are universal for musicians, performers, or anyone else interested in connecting with audience.

If you’re interested in learning more about making it in the music biz, you can also check out my eBook, The DIY (Do-It-Yourself) Guide to the Music Biz, which is available now at http://www.diyguide-musicbiz.com/.

See you at the top!

Carla

Week 9 RS:S Performances

As if we didn’t have enough drama last week, there was still a bit more to be enjoyed on Rock Star: Supernova!

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Don’t forget to check out my “Dark Horse”  entry into the Supernova MSN Spaces contest. Check me out at http://rockstarlifelessons.spaces.live.com/

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The lovely Brooke Burke took us to the videotape, which showed an emotional Dilana after last week’s spanking. After realizing how much damage her comments to the media caused, she spent much of the week feeling “week and vulnerable”. We see Dilana crying a lot with the other Rockers, while expressing her feelings. At one point, we see her sitting with Lukas near the pool, crying and talking. At one point, as Magni is coming over to chat, she loses her composure, stands up, and gives the ever-watchful camera two middle fingers. She walks off, but not before throwing her glass to the ground, which sent a shard of glass flying straight into Magni’s head. As she stormed off, she hadn’t even realized what had happened.

Later Dilana was seen sobbing, big soul-wracking sobs with Storm. Hearing her gut-wrenching sobs, I couldn’t help but feel all the crap that she’s been through before she got here. Later we hear her crying to Magni, apologizing for what happened. It’s obvious that Dilana is having a bad week, and her pain stings like a mofo.

By the way, Ryan seemed to be back at his old tricks. First he’s shown saying, “It’s like she’s self-destructing” to Lukas about Dilana, and after the Magni incident, we see Ryan at Magni’s door practically begging to see the wound, and help clean it off. Magni refused the help, and couldn’t seem to close his door soon enough, perhaps because cameras were right over Ryan’s shoulder perhaps? If only to be a fly on the other side of the wall when Magni closed the door!! I’ve made peace with Ryan’s antics, but in that scene Ryan seemed a tad too opportunistic about the situation. But hey, that’s me.

At the show, Dave admitted that it was a hard week: “Nobody’s perfect” and offered that things would be better this week. As for the cut, Magni only said, “It’s a surface wound. I’ve cut myself worse shaving.” I don’t know if the makeup artist uses makeup on Magni’s bald head, but there wasn’t even a scratch to be seen. Magni seemed cool, and didn’t want to make a big thing out of it. Dilana also seemed hopeful: “I love my friends, and I’ll never, ever do anything to hurt them.” And things seemed okay for now.

This week was Fan Selection week, so each Rocker did songs that were chosen for them by the fans. After last week’s show, I felt that the Rockers were starting to understand where fans come into the picture. Dilana was especially sensitive: “I cannot let the fans down.” Everyone seemed aware of the importance and influence of fans, especially when it comes to the voting 😉

Lukas – Lithium

This week, we also got to see more of a personal side of the Rockers before their performances. When Lukas’ video is shown, he wants to show that he’s just a regular guy who likes to play pool and basketball. “I’m everybody else. I just wear more makeup than everbody else.”

But when we saw him onstage, I beg to differ. His vocals were awesome!! He arranged the song to focus on his vocals for the start of the song, which was a nice touch. He sounded clear as a bell, and he communicated well with the fans. He did his dance, was full of energy. Yeah, he killed it.

Dave: “You took a classic song, and rearranged it. It was awesome, Dude!”

Tommy: “That song was talkin’! That was real cool. Well done!”

Gilby: “That was your best performance yet!” 

And Jason was the most excited: “You opened up. That was freaking dynamite. A great way to start the show!”

I agree!

Magni – I Alone

For Magni’s pre-show video, he was campaigning for fan votes hoping to persuade the Australians that he’s better looking than Toby, and added that although Ryan is American, Americans can still vote for him instead. It was a cute bit.

Magni wore eyeliner tonight, which was a nice touch, although he kept his clothing simple. His vocals were great, as always, but I’m always looking for more energy from him. He makes his way around the stage, but a bit leisurely for my taste. He did go to the Supernova judge box, and sing to them, and Supernova seemed to like that.

Dave: “That was killer, Dude! There’s nothing I can say now. It’s all up to the luck of the draw now. It was awesome!”

Gilby: “Tonight you gave us that extra something. We know you want it. Great job!”

Ryan – Clocks

Ryan, at the grand piano, says “This is for the fans”, and begins the intro.  Before the verse starts, Ryan jumps over the piano to continue the song on the microphone – good move. We weren’t expecting it, and he’s able to work the crowd. In the middle of the song, he slid back over the piano to tickle the ivories for a little piano solo. Then he returned to stand on top of the piano to bring more drama and theater to the show. This might have been my favorite Ryan performance so far. Well done!

Dave: “This is going to be a tough night [for judging]. It’s great to see you willing to go there.”

Jason thought Ryan sounded good, but “when you go behind the piano, we lose the story a little bit.”

Gilby: “Nothing like watching an inspired performer. I thought you did great!”

Storm – Bring Me Back to Life

Before the her performance, Storm is seen bellyaching about the difficulty of this Evanescence song. Both Jill and Zayra did this song already, but so what? In my opinion, Storm has the best overall vocal chops in the house, so I don’t know what she’s worried about. The range of the song is different from some of her other songs, and she wasn’t totally familiar with the song, but Storm is a warrior, which is why I love her too. I know she’d sing the mess out of it.

And in a sexy red dress, she did just that. Toby sang the guy part while Storm rocked the house in the front, but yeah, something was missing for me tonight.

Dave liked her but thought that Toby singing backup might have stolen some of her thunder via his success with the ladies in the crowd.

Gilby: “I still remember Jill doing this song. I don’t think I’m going to remember this performance.” Ouch.

Jason was a lot more optimistic: “In my book, effort counts for a lot,” and he gave her lots of credit for that. But goodness, if I got that comment, I wouldn’t be too happy. Storm, as God as my witness, you better bring it tomorrow night!!!

Toby – Rebel Yell

Toby was shown as the prankster of the house in his video, often smooshing cake in Ryan’s face and running off. He said that he wants to work hard, but he also wants to be seen as someone who can have fun and laugh at life. That attitude will take him far.

For tonight’s “Rebel Yell”, he CRUSHED it. He wore eyeliner too tonight, by the way. This song was perfect for him. Great vocals, and his energy was dead on. He pulled up a couple of girls onstage, and a few more girls joined them, because they could, and Toby looked like the ultimate rock god with groupies ready to go. This performance was the BEST I’ve ever seen of him. Surrounded by his harem, Toby had Tommy Lee giving a standing ovation from the judge box. It was great!

Dave: “Wow, Dude! I believed you. The crowd interaction was real strong.”

Gilby: “You took this performance to another level.” 

Tommy: “You got other people running around naked. You got girls coming up on stage. God bless you!”

Dilana – Mother Mother

Of course, fans choosing “Mother Mother” for Dilana was interesting. No one mentioned the connection between the song, and Dilana’s estrangement from her own mother, but I think it was an influence. But no matter, Dilana was ready. With last week on her mind, Dilana was ready to regroup: “It’s okay to mess up. It’s how you handle it.”

For Mother Mother, Dilana played electric guitar at the beginning, slung low, like the Rocker she is. There she goes, playing her guitar, and flipping her hair everywhere. Full of energy, she works the stage. At one point she stands on the drum riser, and slings a leg across the shoulder of one of the guitarists in the House Band. In my opinion, she seemed a little subdued after last week’s emotional punch to the gut, but she’s still the frontrunner in many people’s eyes. Good for her! 

Dave: “It’s been two seasons of Rock Star, and this might be my favorite performance of all two years! And I can’t think of anyone who hasn’t said anything in the press.”

Tommy: “Say hello to the ‘King of Mistakes’! We make them. We learn from them. We don’t make the same ones, and we move on.” 

Gilby: “That was an emotional song. There wasn’t a bad part of it. Good job!”

Jason: “That was really good. Thank you!” 

So Dilana is back in good graces, I imagine 😉

And if you’re interested in the Bottom 3 as of the first five minutes:
Storm
Ryan
Lukas

If you remember, there are only three weeks left. I predict that more than one person will go home tomorrow. If not tomorrow, it will happen net week. Time is running out. Tune in tomorrow!

My Rock Star Fan Site on MSN Spaces Has Been Submitted Into the Contest!

It has been a looooooong day, getting my new MSN website ready and entered into the MSN Rock Star: Supernova before the 11:59pm deadline. It’s hard to tell if my site was actually added to the sites that will be voted on by Supernova, but at least this baby is done!

As if my MySpace and Xanga sites weren’t enough, MSN does have a lot of functions that I like. And as soon as I can add my own music to this site (under my own publishing copyrights, of course, thankyouverymuch), world domination will be mine! Mwahahahahahaha (evil villain laugh 😉

Thanks for coming to My Songs of Love Show!

Thank you for your support with last night’s Songs of Love fundraising performance at The Cutting Room. Thanks to your generous donations, two chronically ill children will receive their own personalized songs from the Songs of Love Foundation, which was my original goal. But even better than that, I was absolutely tickled to learn that some of you even volunteered your voices and resources to Songs of Love directly, to create additional song CDs. Wow!!! Music has an incredible power to heal and inspire, and these songs mean so much to these children. The results of last week’s show were better than I hoped, and I couldn’t have done it without your support.

And thanks to the Songs of Love team, who invited me to sing their “NASDAQ Song” with them during a recent NASDAQ Closing Bell Ceremony on August 18th. That was fun!

For more information about Songs of Love, please visit www.SongsofLove.org

Tonight’s the Songs of Love Fundraising Gig!

In case you’ve forgotten, tonight I’ll be performing at NYC’s The Cutting Room, to raise money for the Songs of Love Foundation, which creates personalized songs for chronically ill children. This organization does such amazing work, and I’m proud to be a part. Hope you can come out!

Week 8 RS:S Elimination

Patrice Pike Goes Home from Rock Star: Supernova

Another Elimination night for Rock Star: Supernova, and the pressure is on! Before I get to the backstage drama, I have to send more good wishes to the lovely Brooke Burke, who was rocking her new engagement ring. Go on, Miz Thang!

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I’m currently building my own “Dark Horse” entry into the Supernova MSN Spaces contest. Check me out at http://rockstarlifelessons.spaces.live.com/ where I’ll be hosting a Supernova Smorgasbord of Rock Star: Supernova commentary, headlines, life lessons and more! When you see my site listed on the contest page, please vote for my site at http://www.spacesrockstarcontest.com/vote.asp! I wanna go to LA to see the finale! Thanks!

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In addition to the usual commentary, I’ve also been tracking related stories in the media during the run of Rock Star: Supernova, which will also be available via links from my MSN site. You’d be amazed at the amount of press that’s been generated by RS: Supernova Rockers, Supernova themselves, plus Dave and Brooke during this time. Also interesting are the stories coming out on former bandmates and significant others during this time, so you want to be sure to visit this site. My MSN site is a work in progress, and not yet entered into the contest, but that will change in the next 48 hours. As Brooke says, there’s four more days to enter this contest, and I’m up to the challenge. Between my gig this Friday night at NYC’s The Cutting Room, the blog commentary, AND this MSN site, things are nutty this week. Next week will be better for responding to the reader email I’m getting from you these days. I appreciate the support, and I look forward to having some time to breathe next week.

And before I forget, I also want to send apologies to “Anna Without the Blonde” on the other coast. As slow as I type, my MySpace commentary still goes out before the show airs in her side of the world three hours later, giving her the extra edge over her friends who don’t know about this column. As cool as that is to hear, I’d rather not spoil the fun for you all (Sorry, Anna!). So I’m going to type at a less breakneck speed, and not be in such a rush.

I’m also stalling because there were parts of tonight’s show that disheartened me. At the top of the show, when we see the behind the scenes video, Dilana tells Ryan that, thanks to the House Band, he sounded great. That was a backhanded sounding compliment if we ever heard one, and Ryan called her on it. He asked if she had to word it that way, making it sound like the House Band did all the work. She refused to change her statement, and it just looked very uncool. Then she said something later about “I’ve been giving my all since the beginning of the contest”, and the other Rockers didn’t seem to be feeling that either.

I read a news story a few weeks ago where Jill Gioia said that the producers weren’t fighting enough. I would prefer to think that Dilana is simply playing the game, but I did not like this side of Dilana. The next scene showed the Rockers looking at the MSN fan sites in the competition, and one fan said that she’d like to see Dilana AND Ryan front Supernova, if that were possible. Dilana’s response: “Me and Ryan both fronting the band? Over my dead body!” Ouch.

There’s a quote that goes something like “It’s better for people to wonder why you didn’t speak, instead of why you did.” Dilana, you know I love you, but this was one of those times. The pressure in the Rocker Mansion must be thick, but it’s time to rise above the pettiness.

Back at the show, Dave calls Dilana on her comments about sharing a stage with Ryan. “I’m shocked by your attitude. That was your fan’s idea,” and he reminded her that the fans are the ones who buy the tickets. “Are you threatened by the Dark Horse?”

Dilana said absolutely not, and that she just didn’t want to share frontperson responsibilities with anyone. I hear what she’s saying tonight, but the tale of the videotape paints another picture, definitely dipped in wrong sauce. When Dave asked her is she still thought that Ryan was helped by the House Band, she said yes again, although she quickly recanted, saying that wasn’t what she meant. But any of you who study Freud psychology may feel that her first answer was the most honest.

Next, Toby played the next original Supernova song. His vocals and energy are awesome, and the ladies love him.

Then we return back to the tape, where the Rockers are being interviewed. From the start, Jason Newsted is already on the prowl to watch the Rockers. “When you talk negatively about a person in the press, there are consequences”. Ryan was being asked by a reporter if Dilana has the edge in the competition, and he agreed and was very positive about it. Jason also happened to enter the room as he was being asked this question, but even if Ryan wasn’t being watched, I think he is too smart to say something dumb on camera.

Then we see Dilana, who’s being asked about the other Rockers in the house, and which of them might be going home soon. God help me, but she basically dissed Lukas, Toby, and Magni in her interviews. She told one reporter that she wanted to save Lukas, and when Dave asked her about that, Dilana said that they had similar backgrounds, and she feels like a mother dove to him, and wanted to take her under his wing. Dave asked Lukas his opinion on that, and Lukas responded, “I don’t need a dove. I’m bigger than that. I have to live with it. Evs!” By the way, we learned last night that the EVS on Toby’s chest was the Australian way of saying “whatever”.

Dave asked Dilana, “What the hell are you thinking? I’m speechless!” Dave said that he’s made the same mistake in his own career, and it always came back to bite him. Dilana answered, “I’m not a professional person. I’ve been a singer all my life. I’m too honest. I don’t know how to lie I messed up badly, and I apologize to everyone in the house.”

Dave was satisfied with her apology, and added, “You’re going to have to get a thick skin. All of us up here walk around with targets on our back. Just look at my man Tommy Lee! Here you all are, competing to be a lead singer on a reality show. You’re going to be a target too. This is a good time to develop a thick skin.”

All of my rants about how the Bottom Three of Life has made Dilana into this caring, loving person, and I feel like we saw someone else this week. On one hand, the pressure has to be unimaginable for her right now. She’s on top and everybody’s watching her every move. Those of us watching from the outside have no idea what things are like for those in the house, so I’d like to chalk this up to a bad week for Dilana. On the other hand, we’re starting to see a bit of Dilana’s ego rise, which is a bit unsettling.

I’ll only say this before moving on: The music business has plenty of liars, and just because a reporter asks you a question does not mean that you MUST answer with your truth, or else. Media questions can be answered in positive ways that lift up everyone involved, instead of tearing them down. Something like “I’m competing with myself, and I’ve made some great friends in the process” works well, and hurts no one. Questions that cut too close to home can be deflected. Politicians and professional athletes are trained how to deal with the media, and perhaps a media coach should be dispatched to the Rocker Mansion asap.

Now we finally get to the Bottom Three performances. For the rest of the show, I’ll probably keep my elimination night critiques to a minimum – unless I really can’t help myself. The stakes are high, and it’s really up to Supernova (the band, not my new CD) now, vote or no vote.

Magni – Fire by Jimi Hendrix

Great job vocally, and he was on. Will it keep him from elimination? We’ll see…

Patrice – Middle of the Road by The Pretenders

Patrice was really comfortable on stage, but for a Bottom Three performance I’d like to see a little more discomfort from her. When Patrice feels the heat, she turns things up, and I don’t feel like she did that tonight. But her voice sounded great.

Toby – Plush by Stone Temple Pilots

I love this song, and Toby sang the mess out of it. He had great energy, and performed mostly from the front lip of the stage platform. While watching him, I actually realized that Patrice spends a lot of time closer to the House Band, and away from the edge. Hmmm. Anyway, Toby was all over the stage, and had people singing with him in the microphone. Toby is the crowd pleaser, and that’s why we love him!

When it was time for Tommy to make his “Tommy-hawk chop”, he covered his face and looked to floor while telling Patrice that it was her time to go. Dave congratulated her for lasting this long in the competition.

Patrice, professional as always, responded, “So many amazing things have happened in my musical career, and this experience is on top. Thanks!”

Farewell, Patrice! Find your own star, and we’ll see you at the top!

Week 8 RS:S Performances

Can you believe that there are 3 weeks left to this competition? Things are getting tight…

At the top of the show, after Brooke Burke draws us in with her lovleliness, we see a recap of last week’s performance of Supernova with Dilana, who can taste the gig. She was the first one to play with Supernova on an original tune, and “now I can’t imagine anyone else” fronting the band.

Then we see Song Selection, which featured TWO original songs for the Rockers. Storm and Ryan went to bat for the first one, and Storm offered to put on gloves and box Ryan for it. Ryan didn’t want to fight her, but if you ask me, I think Ryan knew that he’d be in for a hurting if he accepted. In the end, Ryan got the original, and Storm told him, “You better kill it.”

For the other original,  Patrice was fighting for that: “I will stand up for two days, and not eat or sleep.” Magni felt that Patrice should have it because she’s been in the Bottom Three the longest. Storm didn’t push, so Patrice got it. Storm ended up picking “Cryin'” by Aerosmith, which was a song everyone else was avoiding due to its difficulty. She agreed on Cryin because it was the song that “everyone else is afraid of”.

Next was “Every Breath You Take” that Toby and Dilana both wanted very badly. This time, Toby told Dilana that she would have to run around the pool naked for the song. And she did! For a moment, can I say how much fun these Song Selection challenges are becoming? Between Toby and Dilana running around naked, I’m having a great time howling at my TV. My neighbors must think I’ve lost my mind!

When we get back to the studio, Dave asks Storm about giving up on the songs again. She said that she loved the Rockers, and wanted to see them rock out too. Being a nice person was good, “but in a competition, it’s not so good.” But Storm is a sweetheart, and she’s talented. She’ll be okay.

Gilby also brought his dog, Chopper, to the Supernova judges box, where he stayed for the whole show. Did anyone see Tommy Lee licking tongues with Chopper at the end of the show? Chopper was cute and well-behaved, I’ll give you that, but I’m not sure that I’d be french kissing Gilby’s song unless I was trying to do an original tune for Song Selection 😉

Patrice – Beautiful Thing

Patrice’s original song was a rocking song, but it didn’t grab me. Choosing an original song is a risk, but I wasn’t sure if I could see Supernova doing it. Regardless, performing an original tune on international TV is an awesome opportunity.

Dave: “Congratulations for kicking off the show with an original tune. Great song, but I’ll say what I said to Zayra. If that’s the kind of music you want to do, you should try for a solo career.”

Tommy: “It was slightly happy for us, but we have the technology. We could work with that.

Jason: “How was it to showcase your original song for the largest audience ever?”

Patrice: “Amazing…Thank you!”

Magni – Smells Like Teen Spirit

Power. Power. Power. Voice! Well done, Magni!

Dave: “Awesome Job. Vocally it was great. What I love about you is that you know how to show angst when a song calls for angst.”

Jason: “How did it feel? The energy coming from the stage was great!”

Tommy: “Why didn’t you play guitar?” Magni’s response was that he wanted to move around on stage more, and Tommy replied, “You can play it, smash it, get rid of it, and move on.”

Dave liked that idea: “Before the season is over, I want to see something broken!”

Ryan Star – Back of Your Car

Okay, I knew Ryan would throw his guitar. And then he whipped the crowd into a frenzy. Ryan learns fast, and that’s why we love him. Ryan is always calculating, always adjusting. He’s just really smart at playing this game.

Dave: “Dude, where the hell did THIS guy come from? You ditched the guitar. What happened? 

Ryan: “I got laid” [Tommy Lee gave him a standing ovation for that, of course]

Ryan also explained that his song was about the end of the world.: “Some people are in church. Others are screwin'” Can’t really disagree, so I’ll move on…

Storm – Crying

Storm killed the vocals, but something was missing from her usual awesome performance. Perhaps there was so much emphasis on the difficult range of this song that there wasn’t much left for the performance? No matter. I doubt she’s going anywhere this week.

Dave: “That is a difficult song. You did awesome. This was 1000 times better than last week.”

Storm: “And even while wearing your corset!”

 Dave: “Yeah, I’ll have to get that back from you.”

 Tommy: “It was great. I want to see less of you.”

Dave: “I’ll make that easy for you. Storm, I’ll take that corset now, Honey.”

Storm: “Honey? Come up here and take it, Bitch.” Yeah!!

I LOVE Storm Large, can I tell you? She’s quick-witted, and gets away with all kinds of snappy comments. And I’d like to make a quick shout out for Storm’s fans in Portland, OR. Her hometown paper reports a “Storm Watch” to track her weekly progress in Rock Star: Supernova, and it’s easy to see why they love her too. And after Dave called last week’s blonde violinist “Honey”, I love that Storm is keeping it real for the women. Spank ’em, Storm!!!

Gilby: “You handle challenges well. You’re a strong singer, a strong performer. Now I’m looking for memorable performances.

Jason: “Glad you made this song into your own.”

Dilana – Every Breath You Take

Dilana sounded great, but this wasn’t my favorite performance by her. She wore these hot pink extra long fake eyelashes, and I was a bit distracted. Her vocals in the verse weren’t as strong as the chorus and climax, when she could belt the notes, but probably not worth nitpicking on. During the refrain, she led the crowd in singing “Dilana”, so she had them exactly where she wanted them.

Gilby: “Your instincts are so good. Whether it’s a fast song or a slow one.”

Jason: “Why would you run around nekkid for this song?”

Dilana: “I haven’t spoken to my mum in years, and this is her favorite song. I have a lot of bittersweet memories of this song. I hope that she learns that I did it.”

Wow. Of course, that changes everything. Or perhaps I should say that that explains everything. Or at least a great deal. What did I tell you about the Bottom Three of life? No fairy tales around here…

Toby – Layla

Toby starts the song wearing a hoodie. The first verse was just confusing to me, and I forgot what song it was supposed to be until the chorus kicked in. Later he pulled off his hoodie, showing the letters “EVS” scrawled on his bare chest, and ran to the Rocker Box to sing from there. Vocally he sounded great from the mid-point on, but I was just confused overall.

Dave: “That was entertaining, and I really thought you brought it.”

Tommy: “I’m sure the ladies loved the performance. Well done, Mate!”

Gilby: “I don’t really care for the arrangement, but you made up for it in the performance. Your performance was amazing.”

Lukas – All These Things That I’ve Done

Lukas looks and performs great. He did a couple of little things that I thought was cool, like starting the song with sunglasses, then shaking them off via passionate singing. And later he pretended to check his hair in the reflection of the guitarist’s shiny guitar while doing his thing on stage, but I couldn’t understand him clearly. But hey, he’s still sexy.

Dave: “Unbelievable. Great job!”

Tommy: “Two words. Check. Please.” and throws down his mic.

Gilby asked why Lukas turned away from the audience. Lukas explained that he was interacting with the band. “For two and a half minutes, they’re my band, you know?,” Lukas responded.

Gilby: “We want to see you. From now on, we have your back. Don’t worry.”

Jason: “Great energy overall. Killer!”

And the Bottom Three after five minutes:

Patrice
Toby
Zayra

 Fooled you! Zayra wasn’t really in tonight’s Bottom Three, but I’m so used to seeing her name there that I can’t remember who was really in that spot at the end of the show. It’s only the first five minutes of voting anyway, and I don’t take it seriously, so Zayra will have to do. See you tomorrow night for elimination!

Today I Sang at the NASDAQ Closing Bell Ceremony!

Today was a nice treat. The Songs of Love organization was chosen to ring today’s closing bell for NASDAQ in NYC. AND they asked me to join them to sing a special NASDAQ song on TV with them for the occasion. I haveto admit that I’ve often dreamed about closing the markets, so this was a dream come true. Not bad!!!

See?! Your mother was right. Do nice things for others, and often, it comes back to you.

I’ll add pic later.

Week 7 RS:S Elimination

Zayra Alvarez Goes Home from Rock Star: Supernova

Tonight was Zayra’s night to go, and I’m very sad.

Where are my tissues when I need them?