My take on Danny Gokey

Except for Season 3, I have never followed American Idol as closely as this season’s. From the very first audition date to last Wednesday’s (Thursday in my country) Eliminations, I was glued to the television and hyperventilating over each contestant’s performance. And for the first time in 8 years, I have found my favourite Idol ever in the person of Daniel Jay Gokey.

He came off as cocky, arrogant to some; but, undeniably, he can sing. He may not be the most creative contestant this Season - I take my hats off to Kris Allen on that category, and I hope he wins (hahaha!); he may not be the most versatile – that belongs to Adam Lambert (such a nice guy); he may not have the hottest voice – I’m all for Matt Giraud on that score; still, I find Danny’s charm magnetic, and he drew me like no other contestant did (not even Michael Johns of Season 7 had such an effect on me), enough for me to take the time off everything and write about him on my blog.

His Rat Pack performance was my favourite of his performances, and I totally agree with Randy Jackson when the dude said Danny could record songs in that genre. Plus, he looked hot in a suit.

But why, oh why, did he have to go screaming during Rock night? Granted it was not his type of music, he could have turned that genre to his advantage if he had an ounce of creative juices up his sleeves. But then again, he’s not Kris, so I rest my case.

Ironically, his best performance was to be his swan song. Nevertheless, it was a good season, made even better with him around. I was loving every bit of him – from that really stylish haircut to his trendy glasses. And I’m going to love every bit of him that’ll come.

Danny or no Danny, I’m so looking forward to next week’s episode of the Idol show. And it doesn’t really matter who wins, for me anyway. The top two deserve the spot.

A Walk To Remember: Teenage Stuff

Landon Carter could not wait to get out of Beaufort. Your typical high school student, he lived one day at a time, with peers who could not care less about school.

Jaime Sullivan, the town Reverend’s daughter, was the most boring person in school: immersed in books, seated alone in the cafeteria, spent the weekend teaching underprivileged kids. Her greatest ambition was “to witness a miracle.”

The two were very unlikely to get together, much less be seen together. But when Landon got into trouble at school, he found himself in Jaime’s company. He asked Jaime to help him read lines after school, for the drama he was unfortunate to have been forced into. Jaime acceded, with one condition:

Jaime: You have to promise not to fall in love  with me.

Landon: That’s not a problem.

I need not go on to inform everybody that Landon Carter, hot-shot in his school, fell in love with Jaime Sullivan, the school’s most obscure person. That’s the beauty of the movie: two people who are unlikely to fall in love with each other, do fall in love with each other. The plot may not be novel, but the movie could have been spectacular. Sadly, it wasn’t. The way it was made had in mind those stories from the Sweet Dreams books, books I read when I was in primary and secondary school. Having said that, I am thus disappointed that aside from the names of the characters, and the place that is Beaufort, I lost Nicholas Sparks’ novel. I’m thinking that coincidentally, the movie carried the same title as the novel. So did Nicholas Sparks intend the novel to be for lovesick teenagers? Or did he have the adults in mind too? Because, honestly, all I got from the movie was teenage stuff. Poignant, yes. Sweet, yes. But it spelled TEENAGE in neon lights.

I totally digged the soundtrack though.