Collateral Bloggage

What’s her story?

We don’t really know much about Kate…including her last name. At some point in the past, she helped mastermind a bank heist with the (apparent) purpose of gaining access to a safety-deposit box containing a toy airplane. In the process, she shot three men…one or more of whom presumably survived. She’s been married, briefly, and we also know she’s killed a man…perhaps the man she loved?

How’d she get to Sydney?

Kate apparently fled to Sydney to escape prosecution. It’s assumed by some, and perhaps wrongly, that she was being pursued for the bank heist we saw in “Whatever the Case May Be.” But with her revelation that she killed “the man [she] loved,” I’m not so sure.

Why was she on the plane?

Kate was captured by some kind of bounty hunter or cop in Australia. On the plane, the cop mentions that he was taken in by her “story” at some point. This leaves the impression that she may have been unjustly accused of something?

Anything strange/mysterious about Kate?

She certainly knows how to handle a gun, and she’s made reference to growing up with a father in the military. She says she’s killed a man, the man she loved, perhaps…

As mentioned above, she knocked over a bank to get a toy plane…somewhat mysterious…

What’s her role on the island?

Essentially she brings a bit of angst and frustrates Jack. She seems to be attracted to Jack, but is somehow linked with Sawyer. Maybe it’s the bad-boy thing, but we’ve learned that they have more in common than meets the eye (having killed someone, not quite fitting in).

Anything else to tell?

She didn’t join the “cave” people until the Claire incident, and has expressed reluctance to accept their situation as permanent.

In spite of the above statement, she’s started (with Sun) a garden on the island.

She submitted to giving Sawyer a thoroughly yucky kiss in order to get information out of him.

She apparently has no problem with stout liquor.

She was the second person to find out that Sun speaks English.

She’s seen “it”, along with Jack and Charlie.

She sewed up Jack’s back laceration.

She recognized Charlie as a member of “Driveshaft.”

Episodes with extra “Kate” info:

• “Tabula Rasa” (Episode #3)
• “Whatever the Case May Be” (Episode #12)

Trivia

Kate was the first character to have a major revelation (that she was the prisoner on the plane).

Kate is played by Evangeline Lilly, and “Lost” is her first major role. She did, however, do some commercial work. I’ve recently seen her on a TV ad for a singles telephone service. Quite humorous.

When questioned about what item she would want with her on an island, Ms. Lilly replied, “probably my Bible.” Nice. She also apparently worked in the mission field for several years, and also served in the Peace Corps.

Jack Shepard

What’s his story?

Jack is a surgeon, and an excellent one. He’s always been a little bit in his father’s shadow. His father, Christian, is an interesting character, never seeming to give Jack what he needs from him…love, acceptance, praise, etc. At some point in the past, Christian began drinking to the point that it affected his performance in surgery. Things came to a head when Jack was called in to take over for his impaired father. The patient ended up dying, and Jack subsequently found out that she had been pregnant at the time of her death. This fact prevented Jack from lying to cover-up for Christian’s problems. He denounced him in an official deposition/investigation, causing him to lose his license/prestige.

How’d he get to Sydney?

Jack came to Sydney to find his father, at the request of his mother. Upon arriving, he finds that Christian’s problems found him even in Australia, and he’s died of some kind of overdose/drunkenness/??

Why was he on the plane?

Jack was bringing his father’s body back to the States to bury him.

Anything strange/mysterious about Jack?

Well…he’s tattooed…

Actually, Jack started having visions of his father on the island. The visions eventually led him to a water source and the caves, as well as to his father’s empty coffin.

What’s his role on the island?

He’s the doctor, so many people look to him for leadership. He’s somewhat reluctant to lead, given his history of living in his father’s shadow. In spite of this, he was the one to suggest trying to find the airplane cockpit to salvage the transponder. He’s always working with Sayid on some detail or another. He’s a realist and was the catalyst for many of the survivor’s moving into the caves. He understands that they may never be found.

Anything else to tell?

There’s major tension between Jack and Kate. He like she. She like he. But, he doesn’t trust her any further than he can throw her, and with his bad shoulder, he shouldn’t be throwing anyone.

Also of note is the fact that he lost a fight to evil Ethan, then won the decisive one before Charlie turned him into Swiss Cheese. He’s also punched Sawyer twice and helped out in the torture of the same.

One more thing…Jack knows about “it,” whatever “it” is…but apparently didn’t see anything.

Just one more…Jack asked for stronger drink when he was on the plane…

Trivia

Jack is played by Matthew Fox, who played Charlie Salinger in “Party of Five.” On the show, his brother Bailey had a drinking problem, and, though we never met him (on account of his dying in the first episode), Charlie’s father was also an alcoholic.

Another “Party of Five” tidbit: one of Charlie’s girlfriends was played by Tamara Taylor, who also played Sarah, Walt’s mother in the episode “Special.”

Episodes with extra “Jack” info:

“White Rabbit” (Episode #5)

“House of the Rising Sun” (Episode #6) – crossover with Jin/Sun

“All the Best Cowboys Have Daddy Issues” (Episode #11)

“Outlaws” (Episode #16) – crossover (Jack’s father) with Sawyer

Since there may be spoilers for anyone who hasn’t seen every freakin’ episode, you must <?xml:namespace prefix = o ns = “urn:schemas-microsoft-com:office:office” />

We have 14 of “main” characters:

Jack – doctor and early (reluctant) leader of the group

Kate – in trouble with the law over something, knows her way around the woods

Sawyer – resident jerk and packrat, messed up early in his childhood

Sayid – former Iraqi communications officer…p/c “Good” Arab (hey, I call it like I see it)

Locke – complete mystery, apparently regained the use of his legs on the <?xml:namespace prefix = st1 ns = “urn:schemas-microsoft-com:office:smarttags” />Island

Charlie - former junkie and “Rock-God,” always good for a one-liner. Twitterpated with Claire

Claire – time-bomb (preggo and about to burst), apparently the only Aussie on a flight out of Sydney

Boone (Shannon’s step-brother) – over-eager and slightly inept at basically everything

Shannon (Boone’s step-sister) – doesn’t sweat, she perspires…goes for strong men

Michael (Walt’s biological father) – “new” dad and resident hothead, actually a better man than his son knows

Walt (Michael’s son) – the “different” kid who seems to have some kind of powers

Jin (married to Sun) – controlling husband of Sun who screwed himself up trying to provide for her

Sun (married to Jin) – decided to leave Jin, then backed out, wishes they could start over

Hurley – says “Dude” a lot.

We’ve had back story on everybody but Hurley…which leads me to believe that the next episode will finally fill in some details. So far, here’s what we’ve learned:

• He’s a nice guy
• He’s a big guy
• He seems to be good with people
• He digs music

Yep, that’s basically it. But, did anybody else notice a Hurley moment in Jin’s flashback in the 2/23 episode? That’s right, folks, he was on the telly in Mr. Byun’s apartment. Of course, there was no context to the TV show, but there are basically two possibilities:

1. It was a commercial or TV show and Hurley is an actor. Unlikely.
2. It was a news broadcast.

Given his personality, how far fetched is it that Hurley might be a TV personality? Admittedly, I could see it happen. But, I’m going with Option #2. In that case, we have these questions:

1. Why was Hurley being chased by TV cameras.
2. Why was it news in Korea?

I have to assume that either Hurley did something very bad in Korea, or he was involved in something so bad that it made CNN. But it was a kid watching TV, so I can’t imagine it was an actual news program…more likely, a news flash on a normal channel.

I don’t really have a theory about this…any ideas?

First, the good news…I got two of the four ejectees right. Sarah and Jared were gone on my list, and I also had Melinda in the bottom three. I think that should count for a half-guess…which makes my predictions 62.5% correct. Not bad.

Now, the bad news…the actual results show.

That was pathetic. Oh. My. Word.

Ryan: “You guys…up here. Actually, go sit down. YOU! You, who thought you were in the clear, hit the blacktop! But do you mind singing for us first?”

What a joke. And I delayed watching “Lost” for this? No more. I will henceforth and forever more (until the Finals, at least) boycott these shows’ live (delayed) broadcast in favor of watching them with remote in hand and ready to zip to the punchline.

And here’s my idea to improve the show (if it comes back again). Tell us who got the *most* votes and have him/her sing for us. We *want* to hear them!!! Let the losers off the hook. And, punch through an exemption for the top vote getter the following week and take them out of the voting altogether. That way the other bazillion votes would have to go to someone else and we’d see fewer surprises. Personally I vote for one, maybe two people. If the best singer was exempt, I’d be more likely to vote for the next best singer!

How have they gotten away with these shenanigans for 3+ years?

This time I have to start off with a rant about the numbers thing…it bugs me. Ryan strides up and gives the number to call. So now we have seen the number and heard the number…why then do the contestants feel the need to put up fingers to remind us which number to call? STOP IT! I can read and I can hear. I’m just going to have to make a rule that I don’t vote for anybody who does that…it’s the only way they’ll learn.

The theme for the ladies is “Conviction.” The difference between the good and the very good this week was the presentation and conviction of the singing. We had one contestant who looked like she was about to wet herself, one who didn’t seem to understand the microphone was there for amplification, not as something to obscure her face from the viewing public. There were a very few who came out strong and sang with conviction, and they’ll probably move on to the next week. As for the others…

First up this week is one of my favorites, Vonzell Solomon, singing “Heat Wave.” Interesting song choice since this one almost got Kimberly Locke ejected from AI2. Still, she sings with spirit and passion…yes, even conviction, and sells it well. I was also glad that she took the high note on “heat wave” once instead of chickening out. Nice way to start the competition.

After a perky start, we come back to earth with Amanda Avila’s rendition of “How Am I Supposed To Live Without You.” Now, it’s not her fault that a guy sang this song Monday, but it’s still a ballad and still powerful boring. Still, she sang reasonably well. She has a nice voice but needs more energy on the beginnings of phrases…she tended to be flat on the first word of most sustained lines. The one really positive thing about her is she seems to be very aware of her range and didn’t try for too much.

Next, easily winning the Deer-in-the-Headlights award is Janay Castine with a song I’ve never heard and hope to never hear again, “I Want to Love You Forever.” Did she do a guest-spot in “Awakenings?” Seriously, she looked like she had Parkinson’s. To be honest, I could not concentrate on the song because I was *watching* her. I couldn’t look away, and it was NOT a good thing. She should have held the mike…actually, everyone should always hold it.

From nervous to confident, from Janay to Carrie Underwood singing “Could’ve Been.” Not sure I’d ever heard the song. She was brilliant with the exception of one very long, very unfortunate note. Take a mulligan for that one. She was poised and sang with conviction. It’s just unfortunate that one so innocent looking should sing about “lovin’.”

Next we have an example of playing it safe…Sarah Mather singing “Get Ready.” Eh. I have a really hard time critiquing her because she didn’t really *do* anything. The song had no range and her performance was nothing special. She may go home this week for failing to make an impression. I’ll rank her somewhere in the bottom half, but I wouldn’t cry if she went home.

Next up, singing an overused and overrated song, it’s Melinda Lira with “Power of Love.” Why? Why? Why? Why? Why? Why? Okay, I’ll stop. If you’re not Celine, don’t sing Celine. This started off VERY badly and got WORSE!!! She brought it around toward the end, but she even looked uncomfortable on the stage. Hold the mike! And comparing her to Kelly? Please. Kelly would have sung the pants off that song. She has power…even conviction. None of that present in Melinda. Poor. Very poor.

I asked for conviction, and Nadia Turner delivered with a very needed “(There’s) The Power of Love.” From the moment she walked onstage, I knew she’d be rocking due to the dead giveaway slanted belt (or waist necklaces or whatever they were). I didn’t know the song, but I loved it. Start to finish she had me. The really kewl thing about this performance is she’s not going to do the same thing again next week. In context with more performances, she stands to look very versatile.

From the zenith to the absolute nadir, we move to Celena Rae and “I Will Love Again.” I have nothing good to say here. The first three lines were lost while she hid behind the microphone, and the rest of it was just…so…blah. Okay, one good thing…it wasn’t a ballad. Buh-bye.

And we move on, to another one of my early favorites, Mikalah Gordon with “Young Hearts, Run Free.” Ugh. Really, I like her…I’m in the “amused” category Simon referred to, but this performance completely left me cold. It was like watching “The Nanny” sing. Completely nasal and put-on. I was actually picturing Mike Myers in his “Coffee Tawk” getup singing in drag. Mikalah, sweetie, your nose is for smelling, not singing.

Next, playing it extremely safe, is Lindsay Cardinale, singing “Standing Right Next To Me.” Again, I have little to say. It was pleasant and pretty, but didn’t really show her off at all. Now, I’m not a big fan of the “husky” voiced thing, but I expected better from Lindsay. At least she didn’t shout at us, and at least she wasn’t wearing one of those ghastly neck-choker things.

Singing another overused song is Jessica Sierra with “Against All Odds.” Why? (x6) Don’t get me wrong, she did just fine, but I would have like to have heard it in a slightly higher key. It was a fairly good performance but pretty forgettable, too.

Last up is my biggest enigma of the week, Aloha Mischeaux and “Work It Out.” I wasn’t completely sure what to make of this…there didn’t seem to be a lot of singing going on, and yet I enjoyed it. The song was a tad adult for the competition…probably a consequence of letting older people in. Hmmm…not sure what to do.

And yet, here are the rankings:

1. Nadia
2. Carrie
3. Vonzelle
4. Aloha
5. Amanda
6. Jessica
7. Lindsay
8. Sarah
9. Mikalah
10. Melinda
11. Janay
12. Celena

I have a hard time predicting exits for the ladies…I’ll say definitely Celena, then possibly Janay, Jessica, or Sarah. I’ll go with Sarah.

As for finalists, my only rock-solid predictions are my top three of Nadia, Carrie, and Vonzelle.

We’ll see how I did tonight!

Okay, I figured out how to embed stuff…

For anyone (read: everyone) who’s never read my AI recaps, I usually start with a bit of a rant about something pertinent to the competition. Failing that, I rant about something pertinent to either something, somewhere, or nothing at all.

This week, as the title suggests, I want to discuss singers vs. vocalists vs. performers. First, a few definitions:

Singer: Somebody who sings. Deep, eh?

Vocalist: Somebody who sings, but the enjoyment doesn’t come from the purity of the tone or pitch, but from the execution of whatever particular quality it is that sets the vocalist apart.

Performer: Somebody who may be either a singer or a vocalist or both, but puts on such a good show that nobody really notices if he’s either.

Examples…

Singers…hmmm…a singer is somebody you might like to sing at your wedding. A singer sounds just fine, but don’t expect to be grandly entertained. In terms of a popular example, I’d cite Josh Groban, although he’d probably fall also into the vocalist category. For a less-than-popular example, I’d put myself in this category. I can sing, but don’t expect me to blow the roof off the place.

Vocalists…hmmm…Since I’ve already given a decent definition for this, I’ll just go straight to citing Bono and Steve Perry as examples. Neither of them has the nicest voice I’ve ever heard, but there’s something unique and special about the way they sing. Not at a wedding, mind you…a vocalist is more like somebody you’d like to sing at your wedding reception.

Performers…hmmm….I’d have to cite Rod Stewart here. He can’t sing, he can’t dance, and yet he puts hineys in the seats. Why? Dunno…maybe the hair? Neil Diamond, Alanis Morrisette, anybody from the Grunge movement…

Note…Bono definitely falls into the Performer category, too. He’s great to watch. There’s any number of truly outstanding vocalists and singers who also are great performers…I just put in the not-so-talented examples for effect.

So, how does this relate? This week on AI4, we saw 12 good singers, a couple of good vocalists, and about three good performers. Performers win…performers garner fandoms…vocalists stick around late in the competition…singers melt into the background and look shocked when they’re eliminated.

Okay, so on to the recap!

First up is Nikko Smith (formerly Osbourne Smith), singing “Part Time Lovers.” It’s spirited and I’m impressed with his confidence and courage in picking such a difficult song, but it doesn’t quite make it for me. He was consistently off when he reached the lowest note in the song, the key lyric of “Part-time lovers.” Bad place to be off. Also, he didn’t quite make the highest notes. Everything in between was great, but when the edges are off, the song is off. Still, pretty good. By the way, if you’re ever in Japan, go to the *city* of Nikko and see the Toshogu Shrine…kewl place. See my Japan page for more info…Oh, lest I forget…singer/vocalist. But he’s safe.

Next up is Scott Savol, the Round Mound of Sound (not that he’s really fat, his features are just round…and he’s a big dude…), singing “You are My Lady.” I have to say, I enjoyed it. Very Peabo Bryson to me. I didn’t know the song, and maybe that’s why I liked the song selection more than the judges. Yes, a pitch moment here or there, but not as much as Mr. Smith. I’ll be right up front and say I loved it…even though it was a singer performance. We’ll probably still see him aRound next week…hehehe.

And now we come to Anthony Fedorov, who has yet to make an impression on me. Yes, he can sing…but who cares? His lack of charisma cannot be made up for by his put-on seriousness…it comes off as really false to me. Singing, yes, he’s a singer, “Hold on to the Night.” <yawn> Three singers, two ballads. This does not look good…oh, by the way, Anthony sings a very dull and white bread rendition. I *like* Richard Marx, but that performance (if it can be called one) just did *not* measure up. But he’ll stay…he’ll get the Clay Aiken old lady vote (note: I like Clay, so it’s not a crack on Mr. Aiken).

Next is the first surprise of the week, Bo Bice, singing “Drift Away.” Love the song, love the song choice, love the performance. Yes, folks, we have our first performer of the week. He also gets a solid vocalist rating from me. I really don’t care for his kind of Pearl Jam-ish sound, but he works it out, as Randy would say. He’s a keeper this week.

Never having heard a rendition of “My Cheri Amor” that I liked, I remain in that state after Travis Tucker’s time in the spotlight. There was nothing horribly wrong with it, there just wasn’t anything special there. Maybe it was following the passion and energy of Bo that let me down, but Travis just looked tired up there. Definite singer. Danger…but he’s got a great smile, and he’ll stick.

Constantine Maroulis has a great name, but he’s never given me any indication of why he’s still here…other than the chin cleft and bad boy image. He sings a muddled and quite hideous “Kiss From a Rose.” The one thing Constantine had was the ability to take the words of a song that nobody, anywhere, anytime, has understood, and made them ever harder to understand. Can’t underestimate the value of that. WTG! But, he’s a vocalist, obviously, although I haven’t seen the quality that keeps him around. But he’s safe. There are ample numbers of giggling, trembling 13 year old girls who will lob a vote at him. One thing…Randy said he was sharp on the high notes…wrong. He was just flat the rest of the time…

David Brown steps up but doesn’t quite step up…get it? Singing “Never Can Say Goodbye,” he fails to pull me in until the latter half of the song. He starts off really mushy and pitchy, but warms to it and gives a decent but not stellar performance. I *loved* his audition and much of his later round singing, but tonight he wasn’t quite all there. Still, he’s not going anywhere. Singer.

Jared Yates is next, and sings a completely bland and forgettable “How Could I” which makes me answer, “dunno.” Nothing to report here, other than singer and buh-bye. He’ll be taking the train on Wednesday.

Next up is Anwar Robinson (love the name), and he’ll have to apologize to my dad for killing “Moon River.” Okay, so it wasn’t that bad, but the first ten seconds were powerful shaky. He warmed to it and brought it back around, but the trouble with starting off by killing a song is that you then have to resurrect it. He did, but the overall impression was that he wasn’t that great. Still, it was a decent performance, and I rate him vocalist/performer. He’s safe.

We move to Judd Harris, crushing and maiming “Traveling Band.” Don’t get me wrong…I think you’re supposed to crush the song. It’s all performance and no vocal, but it’s engaging and I rather enjoyed it. But, we didn’t learn anything new about the guy, other than he’s this year’s Jon Peter Lewis. Fortunately he can move a little better and he didn’t sound so karaoke. I have to rate him performer, although it’s not an entirely positive rating.

At this point we’ve had roughly six pure ballads, including Joseph Murena’s lackluster performance of “How Am I Supposed to Live Without You.” Don’t get me wrong, he’s definitely a singer. He sang it as well as it can be sung without any good vocals or performance involved. But he looked pained and about half-dead up there. But when I didn’t look at the screen, he did just fine. I just don’t think it was good enough. I’m predicting his exit.

Finishing up the night is Mario Vasquez. I’ve always enjoyed him, and he doesn’t let me down tonight, singing “Do I Do”. I’m not sure it was his strongest performance, but he was a performer as well as a vocalist. I still want him to lose the hats, but what the heck do I know? Still, Mario was my favorite of the night.

So, my rankings:

1. Mario Vasquez
2. Scott Savol
3. Bo Bice
4. Anwar Robinson
5. David Brown
6. Judd Harris
7. Nikko Smith
8. Anthony Fedorov
9. Travis Tucker
10. Joseph Mureno
11. Constantine Maroulis
12. Jared Yates

I predict Joseph and Jared will be voted off, but if I’m wrong about one of them, it’s Joseph, and then look to Nikko Smith to get bitten by the “performed first” bug and take an early exit.

I’ll also start predicting the six who will survive to the finals. I’d actually just pick my top six at this point, with Travis Tucker perhaps taking Judd’s spot.

And that’s it for this edition…we’ll get back to it tomorrow. I’ve already decided I’ll write a little about how unfair this competition can be to the ladies…