Some of the news that is fit to print: Fallen... yawn... Idol

The CJD playlist...

Ma Ya Hi
O-Zone: Ma Ya Hi
Yes, it is a silly dance song... from Europe someplace... but it is so fun! (****)
Party for Two' (with Mark McGrath)
Shania Twain: Shania Twain - Greatest Hits
The always hot Mark McGrath sings with Shania. Yummie! (*****)
Sunrise
Simply Red: Home
I actually got the CD-single (they still make 'em?) of both Sunrise and Home, which are tooo cool! (*****)
Accidentally In Love
Counting Crowes: Accidentally In Love
And yes, it is in Shrek 2, but... LOVE this song! (*****)
Something Pretty
Patrick Park: Music From the O.C. Mix 2
Yes, it is from The O.C., but... it is a great song! (*****)

Currently reading...

James B. Stewart: DisneyWar
Again, in process
George Crile: Charlie Wilson's War: The Extraordinary Story of the Largest Covert Operation in History
Just started it... more to come...
Dan Brown: The Da Vinci Code
Hmmm. A trend that I read books that everybody else has read? Still, I'm so enjoying this book. (*****)
Rowling: Harry Potter 3
Yes, everybody on the planet has apparently read it, but I have been LOVING it. I don't want it to end. But whatever you do, don't tell me how it ends! (*****)

Sites worth visiting...

Poynter
If it is about journalism, Poynter covers it.
CJR's Campaign Desk
The folks at Columbia Journalism Review blog the press's coverage of Campaign '04. Always worth reading.
Arts Journal
What's arts news? ArtsJournal has it
SJMN columnist Dan Gillmor's eJournal
Gillmor is one of the best tech columnists out there... and a great blogger.

2005.05.05

Fallen... yawn... Idol

First off, I have never been happier to be wrong then I was last night. Scott Savol was booted last night. Of course, on Tuesday, when Ryan asked him what he thought he was going to be doing on Wednesday night, he said, "Deciding what song I'm going to sing next week." Well, thankfully we are spared... and the votefortheworst.com folks are crushed. Will they rally behind Feteroff now?

For the record, they just listed the bottom two this week -- Savol and Feteroff.

But on to the real story... ABC News' PrimeTime Live's "Fallen Idol." I just had to wonder if Paula was going to sleep with somebody, couldn't she find somebody hot? Which actually raises the question: Who is the hottest AI contestant ever? Hmmm. A question to ponder. Thoughts always welcome. (Scott votes will be ignored -- no, deleted!)

It will be interesting to see how the public reacts to this story. I have said repeatedly that unless ABC found that AI was manipulating the vote count somehow, it just was going to fall short of "Quiz Show" proportions. My thought was, "So what?" So he gets coaching from somebody whose career was boosted by being an AI judge. By a person who just must have writers because nobody could come up with as many vapid comments on their own! So I was underwhelmed... entertained and interested, but underwhelmed.