Idol Thoughts: The Winner of American Idol Is…

I just finished watching the finale of American Idol (warning: spoilers ahead!) – my nap time ritual for the past several months. I think on the whole that Idol did a good job filling their two hour time block – it could have been cut shorter for sure, but there were some amazing and memorable performances filling those two hours.

Some of my favorite moments of the night:

Mariah Carey’s performance was one of my favorites – I love that she did a bunch of snippets from older songs that really highlight how amazing her career has become. After all, this is what these girls are striving for really. Mariah is one of the Idols I looked up to growing up and while I didn’t personally enjoy her as a judge, I always enjoy hearing her perform. She looked beautiful and sounded amazing as usual.

It was so nice to see Angie back on stage and to watch her sing with Adam Lambert, one of my favorite contestants of Idol past (and I know I’m not alone there), and then with Jessie J (her Idol) was amazing. I think this was a great visual reminder that “losing” Idol is not really losing. Adam has done very well for himself and it looks like Angie’s career is already off and running!

In the end, Candice Glover was crowned the Season 12 American Idol winner and I am so happy for her! Candice has such an amazingly powerful voice and she has delivered some of the best performances of Idol history. She is so very deserving of this win. And I don’t see this as a loss for Kree Harrison at all – I truly loved both girls equally this season and I look forward to hearing their future records.

I’ve said it before and I’ll say it again – while this might not have been the best season of American Idol with a poor choice of judges over all and a few too many crazies lingering well into the show, among other things, one thing that Idol got right this season was finding Kree, Candice and Angie – these girls are amazing and truly worthy of their Top 3 status this season. Congrats, really, to all of them!

Who was your favorite contestant this season?

Who’s looking forward to a break from my Idol Thoughts for awhile?

Who thinks there should be more cake?

Idol Thoughts: The Finale

Last night Kree Harrison and Candice Glover sang their hearts out in the finale of American Idol. Who did you vote for?

Having never managed to watch Idol live, I haven’t been able to vote this season, but I seem to be in agreement with America this year, finding two of my very favorites in the Top Two once again. What an amazing choice we have been given – both Kree and Candice are amazingly talented in two very different ways, so the winner tonight will largely come down to personal preference and chance and they kind of can’t go wrong.

Here are my thoughts on their performances last night:

Kree Harrison opened the show with “Angel” by Sarah McLachlan – it was beautiful and poised, but I will agree with Randy that it was a tad sleepy for a finale performance. That’s Simon Fuller’s fault though, as he picked the songs for round one. She did an amazing job though, as always. In round two she sang the song that will be her first single if she wins. Will “All Cried Out” be the new “Home”? It was a beautiful country ballad that moved me, but I think Candice’s single was a little better. More on that soon. In round three Kree reprised the song  “Up to the Mountain” by Patty Griffin – this one was slightly more upbeat and still very much a Kree kind of song – overall, she did a great job and would be a sure win without a doubt if not for her stiff competition.

Candice Glover gave three VERY powerful performances. She is that amazingly strong voice that is capable of shutting down a room with one note. Where Kree is known for her quieter moments and poise, Candice is known for that BIG voice. This has never been a problem for Kree until now when the two find themselves singing back to back consistently. It’s not that Kree didn’t do an amazing job, it’s that Candice consistently made my jaw drop last night. Admittedly, her first song, “Chasing Pavements” by Adele was a slightly rough start for me, she really picked it up in the middle and took it to a new place. Her potential single, “I am Beautiful” moved everyone. The truth is, it’s a more powerful and moving song than what Kree was given – I’m not sure if that was intentional or not, but Candice sang the heck out of it as she is wont to do – but still I think at the end of round two they were still pretty neck in neck. Then in round three Kree sang beautifully and it was amazing and then Candice came out and basically ripped that stage apart with another rendition of “I (Who Have Nothing”) by Ben E. King that gave me goosebumps or as Nikki would say, “it gave me everything.” It was so clearly the best performance of the night, if not the season.

So – given all of that, if I had voted last night, I think I would have voted for Candice. I’m still such a huge fan of both girls and I hope and pray that their careers go far so that I can continue to enjoy their music, but after round three I think Candice suddenly shot up to another level officially. She basically threw down the gauntlet at a moment where it was too late for Kree to retaliate. We’ll see if America agrees with me and honestly – whomever they pick, I will be exceedingly happy for them. There are no losers at this point – history has proven that both girls are likely to get a recording contract out of this.

Who did you (or would you) vote for?

Who do you think should be the next American Idol?

Idol Thoughts: Our Top Two Face the Finale & Looking Ahead to Season 13

It’s the Final Week of American Idol’s twelfth season and the amazing talent of Kree Harrison and Candice Glover (two of my personal faves all season) has been overshadowed lately in the news by talk of the hot mess that is Idol these days. With all four judges basically being let go, along with executive producer Nigel Lythgoe, Idol has been making big promises to change the show for the better in it’s thirteenth season. Which means a lot of people, myself included, have been thinking about ways to make Idol better.

This begs the question, what is wrong with Idol, specifically and how do we solve those problems? How do you solve a problem like Maria a reality show becoming basically a rude, zit faced teenager with attitude problems and an identity crisis?

1. After hearing that Dancing With the Stars is smartly dropping it’s results show episodes next season, I immediately thought “Idol should totally do that, too!!!” And clearly I’m not alone. I really think the entire results show could be covered splendidly in a 2-5 minute block at the beginning of the next week’s episode. I like the idea of a sudden death round mentioned in Annie Barrett’s article on EW. Heck, they could even make it an online exclusive for Idol fanatics who want more Idol in their week than the average viewer? Give the rest of us the recap next week in case we forget to read spoilers online.
2. I think Idol needs to think about what separates them from the other reality music competition shows, lest they find themselves copy catting their competitors who are admittedly doing pretty well for themselves. I like the team aspect on The Voice with coaches instead of judges, but maybe that isn’t the right fit for Idol. What makes someone an Idol, as opposed to just an awesome singer? Think about those differences and find a way to make them part of the show. Maybe there could be a new take on theme weeks like make your own music videos on youtube or conquering the paparazzi with a stellar interview. Let America vote for who does the best job tackling ALL the aspects of an Idol’s career.
3. Less drama for momma, please. My least favorite thing about American Idol is the crazy auditions – I know it happens and some of it is funny, but I think that auditions should be like one million times shorter in Idol watching time. Give us one episode maybe and then skip to Hollywood Week – and trim the fat a bit when choosing contestants. Stop giving people golden tickets just because they are a hot mess train wreck that you think America will get a kick out of. Ratings gimmicks are played out and I don’t think I’m the only one who deletes Audition Week episodes from my DVR and waits for the actual talent to show up.
4. Let the judges give REAL criticism, no MAKE them do it. Find judges or coaches or mentors or whatever that actually want to help improve the careers of the contestants on the show. I don’t want to watch Nikki and Mariah, or whatever divas you bring on next season, make passive aggressive threats to each other via their feedback or listen to Mariah name drop by way of not saying much of anything except that she’s her own biggest fan. Don’t just give the feedback that your producers have told you that you are going to give for the sake of your ridiculously excessive salary – because all of America can tell when you are being a big huge fake. Let America make up their own damned minds and just tell the truth and give real feedback.
5. I’m personally getting a little tired of the blatant product placement and marketing orgies. The Ford Music Videos are sometimes fun but the whole thing doesn’t feel genuine anymore – it just feels like paying the bills. If you are going to do over the top product placement and marketing, make it more awesome. Or don’t do it.

In general, I think Idol needs shorter shows and less of them each week, shorter auditions footage, more genuine judging and less blatant product placement and time wasting.

All that aside, who is excited about the Finale this week? Regardless of what Idol may be getting wrong, America got one thing VERY right – the Top two contestants are both amazing and totally worthy of winning this competition. Good luck to Kree and Candice! May the best Idol win!

Who is your favorite in tonight’s Finale?

What changes do you think Idol should make next season?

Mini Movie Reviews: Lincoln, The Croods, Silver Lining Playbook and more!

At the beginning of the year I decided to start making Family Movie Night a regular thing around here. Most Fridays I buy a few frozen pizzas and take the kids to the video store where we rent something fun to watch together and usually something fun for Mom & Dad to watch after they go to bed.

Here are some mini reviews on movies we’ve watched recently on the big screen and the little screen:

We may be totally late to the party, but hubby and I rented Lincoln last weekend and it was amazing. I’d been worried the movie would be too dry or hard to focus on after a long, fantastic mother’s day, but it’s very engaging and I can see now why it got so many awards and nominations. Everyone was superb, especially Daniel Day-Lewis, Tommy Lee Jones, Sally Field and Joseph Gordon-Levitt. This was one of those movies that spurred a lot of conversation afterwards which is always nice. Funny, insightful, heart breaking, memorable.

We also rented Parental Guidance with Billy Crystal and Bette Midler – a very cute, sweet, funny family movie. This is a great cross-generation kind of movie that the kids, parents and grand parents would enjoy. It does a great job of humorously showcasing the differences in parenting styles in the different generations – for better or worse and tells a really sweet story of family becoming closer.

We watched Lady & the Tramp with the kids Friday night and they both really loved it. It is such a different experience watching beloved movies from my childhood again as a parent. This one holds up well though I couldn’t help but notice that the song in the pound about the Tramp being a real ladies man – who just needs the right girl to come along and tame him… is kind of left wide open afterwards. If this movie were made today – I think they would have written that differently. No wonder so many girls have such a Bad Boy complex!

On Mothers day morning, we went to see The Croods which was both terrifically funny and also made me cry a few times. I thought Nicholas Cage did a great job voice acting the father in the movie and really thought the movie as a whole was fantastic. This one might be worthy of buying when it comes out on DVD.

A couple weekends ago Dan and I rented Silver Lining Playbook and we both really liked it. It was a strange, kind of beautiful movie. Major props to Jennifer Lawrence and Bradley Cooper who both did such an amazing job with their characters. I loved how the energy of the movie kind of flowed with the internal feelings of the characters. It felt frantic and crazy in parts and then at the end it was like everyone collectively, finally, exhaled. Great movie.

We watched Brave again recently – we saw it in theater with the kids but BB didn’t seem to remember much of the movie so a rewatch seemed in order. This is probably one of the best recent Princess movies that has come out – Merida is a princess you will WANT your little girls to look up to and aspire to be like. A very sweet movie that holds up well to rewatching.

We also rented Rise of the Guardians with the kids, both of whom seemed to enjoy it, especially my 7 year old son. I thought this was very appropriately timed for him because he’s just getting to that age of wondering if the characters in the movie (Santa, the Tooth Fairy, etc) may be real or not. It was very sweet but also action packed, but not too scary in my opinion. My three year old daughter didn’t seemed disturbed at all by the scary parts and both laughed out loud at the funny parts. My son loved seeing all the different interpretations of what the characters were really like – a very creative and interesting take on beloved childhood characters.

What movies have you seen recently?

Dream Big Momma! A Wish List for Mother’s Day

Mothers Day is this weekend and even though I am prettttty sure I won’t be getting the Subaru of my dreams, it doesn’t hurt to drool a bit, right? Here are some other things that top my Dream Big Momma! Mother’s Day Wish List.

1. A macro lens for my camera – I have a little macro filter that is fun but the big bad lens would be awfully cool someday. I’d settle for a wireless remote to make taking pictures of me and the kiddos easier.
2. Some cute ballet flats like these pretties at J Crew. Alternatively, twenty minutes alone in Famous Footwear and permission to buy something just for fun would be pretty cool, too.
3. New counter tops like this gorgeous hardwood counter top on Pinterest. Or something pretty to put on the counters I have like this cute vase from IKEA.
4. A weekend at some fancy spa & resort where I get pampered for hours and get to sleep in as late as I want. Or a massage at the Princeton Club.
5. Breakfast at a little cafe in Paris and then a day of sight seeing, museum hopping and picture taking. Or breakfast in bed (or at the kitchen table – less messy) and home made cards & drawings from the kids.

What would be on your Dream Wish List for Mother’s Day?

What are you actually hoping for?

Idol Thoughts: Top Four (Finnegan, Begin Again)

Last night the Top Four ladies got one more chance at making it to the Final Three – though I understand the technicalities behind why they did not eliminate anyone last week, I can’t help but feel like it’s a little bit of a desperate act on the producer’s part to make us love the people they want us to love. Will we succumb to the judges’ critics and let their words become our own thoughts or will we agree to disagree? Who did you love? Who did you hate? Here are my thoughts on the final four ladies:

Candace Glover in my opinion gave the strongest performances last night, which should come as little surprise because she has one of the strongest voices. When she’s on her A Game she’s kind of an unstoppable force and last night she brought it all. I thoroughly enjoyed both of her performances, from her take on Bruno Mars’ When I Was Your Man to her beautiful rendition of You’ve Changed in round two. I’ll admit, that my Top 3 order changes a bit every week and that the following two ladies were neck and neck with Candace, per usual. I would be thrilled to see any one of them win this thing.

Kree Harrison got a lot of rough feedback from the judges last week but America seemed to disagree. Keep on believing, America! I continue to think that Kree is amazing and the judges are puppets stupid when they tell her differently. She got much more positive feedback this week and whether it was genuine or not, it was well deserved. She did a beautiful rendition of See You Again by Carrie Underwood and was even better in round two with Stormy Weather. I know her song choices might not appeal to Bubble Gum America but We Who Appreciate Real Music and Real People can see that Kreedom is amazing. She continues to win the battle of Who’s Album I’d Buy and Who’s Concert I’d Go To.

Angie Miller did awesome last night so the fact that she’s third on my list tonight is not really a negative statement, but more just that last night Kree and Candace did a smidge better. The judges gave Angie a lot of flack for her version of Rhianna’s Diamonds, apparently taking issue with her changes to the song that apparently they love. Me? I kind of can’t stand that song. I love Rhianna, but that is the worst song she’s ever done. However, what Angie Miller did with this song was miraculous, in my opinion, she completely redeemed the song, making major changes to all the parts of the song that I hate and transformed it into something so much better. So to the judges, I say, shame on you for not recognizing magic happening. They loved her performance of Someone to Watch Over Me which I thought was beautiful, but honestly her first performance was the one that stood out to me as a Wow Moment.

Amber Holcomb has become a thorn in my side this season and it’s not that I think she’s an awful singer or person, it’s just that the judges continually praise her for things that I don’t think need celebrating and ignoring a lot of her lesser moments. I think Amber has a nice voice but I think she’s still very young and immature and not up to par with the other three girls in the show. I didn’t enjoy either of her performances last night. The judges agreed with me on her soulless performance of Just Give Me a Reason (thank god) but seemed to think her performance of My Funny Valentine was the cat’s meow. I still can’t get over the fact that she didn’t understand the lyrics until Harry Connick Jr. spelled it out for her.

Speaking of Harry, can we talk about how great he was as a mentor? Funny and capable of giving constructive criticism without being a jerk? Why isn’t he an Idol judge again? This needs to happen and I can’t imagine he’d say no to the job offer. Idol execs, make this happen!!!

What did you think? Who did you love? Who did you hate? Let me know your thoughts in the comments section below!

momma loves: pom pom pets with kiwi crate

It’s been one of those lazy mornings where the idea of taking off my bathrobe is more than I can bear. After deciding that it would definitely be a hide indoors kind of day, I knew that I’d need to pull some fun project out of my hat to ward off those guilty mom pangs that come part and parcel with laziness. A Kiwi Crate kind of day, if ever I saw one.

Around the time that we adopted our dog, Kiwi Crate sent a very timely crate that’s all about making your own pets and a pet playground. I briefly wondered if Kiwi Crate had hidden cameras in my home, then set the crate aside. Having a new pet of our own to care for and keep from destroying everything, I knew that random arts & crafts projects probably weren’t going to happen just yet. We won’t talk about the fact that that was two crates ago and that my office is starting to gather a collection of little green boxes.

Anyway, the dog was safely napping in his crate, my coffee was gone and my daughter was looking for trouble so I diverted her attention with, “Look BB! Let’s make Pom Pom Pets! What color should we make first!!!!” Worked like a charm.

These little pom pom pets were super easy to make – I was surprised how little effort was involved. Wrap some yarn around a little c shaped yarn winder (included in the crate), tie tightly in the middle with pipe cleaner then snip the loops on either end and trim if needed. Apparently you could also use a rectangle shape of cardboard, a fork or even just your fingers. Add googly eyes and other decorations to make your own Pom Pom Pet. BB named hers Sofia and Amber because she’d just finished watching Sofia the First.

Of course she loved adding the decorations to her little pets and naming them and she did a little bit of the winding and cutting but quickly decided that it was more effort than she felt like putting into the project – but it took me only a couple of minutes to do the more involved steps. Her favorite part of the project may have been taking her new pets to the living room afterwards to watch more Sofia the First with them, but I’ll still consider this a successful morning project.