An Interview With Brooke White

The Daily Herald (city unknown) has posted an interview with Brooke White at the site of the next American Idol tour stop. The interview is pretty much classic Brooke . . . I had to post the picture because MY BROOKE looks so good!

Click the link to read the interview

Brooke White Tries to Save the World!

Tv Guide is reporting that Brooke White is trying to put her no found fame to good use. Brooke is teaming up with the folks from Idol Gives Back in an attempt to inspire the youth of America to . . . . well, give back. She has helped start a program that encourages school children to use their summer vacations to raise money to help fight malaria.

Good for Brooke . . . I'm glad to see that the very giving and genuine persona that she put foth on Idol is actually . . . . well . . . genuine! Good for that Brooke. Here's hoping that her quest is successful and that some record label signs her quickly!

Click the link to read the story

Pre-Idol Albums

USA Today has reported a story which reviews pre-idol recordings of six of this year's top 12 Idols. Included is a brief summary of the work on the CD, and a review of the recordings. Included in the review are the recordings of the following: David Cook, Jason Castro, Brooke White, Carly Smithson, Michael Johns, and Kristy Lee Cook. Click the link to check out the story.

My Brooke stops . . . babbling . . .

Sniff . . . Sniff . . . Alone on the Isle of Unpopular Opinion . . . Sniff . . . Sniff . . . My Brooke is gone . . . Now, I can't say that I was SHOCKED at the result, but I was somewhat, er, um, perplexed maybe, at The Cuteness not being in the Bottom 2 . . . Anyhoo, My Brooke will not be around for the Top 4. So, to celebrate the Brookeness, I am posting the link to her Entertainment Weekly Exit Interview. Enjoy . . . Sniff . . . Sniff

Not So Cute

I know Jason Castro is better known around here as The Cuteness, but after I saw this last night, I wondered what y'all thought about it: here's Brooke, crying her eyes out as she struggles to push through what must have been a painful, poignant last song on Idol, and Castro's grinning like a damn Cheshire Cat.

Brooke White: I'm a believer . . . I AM, I SAID . . .

Brooke – I'm A Believer - The guitar is back . . . but, yet another iffy lower register . . . I kind of loved the second half of the song . . . she looked a wee bit awkward throughout, but her vocals were more solid than we’ve seen recently, and she seems to have regained a wee bit of the performance confidence . . . . nice to see the guitar again. . .

I am I said – Excellent Start - this is the Brooke I remember. . . . I could smack Ryan with that skinny tie for mentioning the lyrics on her hand . . . Ugh on his faux hawked head! Gots to say, I think MY Brooke is back. This piano playin singer song writer vibe is why I love her. The first time since “Let it Be” that I truly BELIEVED what she was singing. . . .

Randy thought she did a nice job with all of the key changes . . . Paula thought she had fun during the first one, but the second one she connected . . . Simon reminds us that he hated the first song, but the second one was the Brooke WE love. . . .

Brooke White says "I'm Sorry" You Must Love Me?

Up next, Brooke White . . . singing the ONE song that I wanted anyone to sing . . ."You Must Love Me" from the theatrical release of Evita . . . I originally picked Syesha to sing this ditty, but I'm just so glad that someone did it. Here we go with "Betty" and La Seacrest introducing Brooke . . . ALW says that Brooke didn't know what she was singing about . . . but then, he told her the back story of the song . . . Oh shit . . . she has forgotten her lyrics . . . THANK MADONNA that Ricky Minor and the band are professional enough to realize what has happened and they circle back around to the beginning . . . ok, she seems to have regained herself.

Randy thinks that she improved with understanding the song, but it was not her best vocal . . Paula thinks she should never start and stop, but compliments her on her emotion. Simon is . . . surprisingly kind. He thinks this is "difficult", but that she did the right thing by starting again.

I'll say this, for once and for whatever reason, Brooke did not speak during the judges critique and only answered a question when asked by Ryan. That did her a world of good. For me . . .y'all know this is hard . . . the mistake was bad, BUT, I think she recovered fairly well. Separating the mistake, the song stretched her vocally, and I think she "got" what she was singing. Strangely, I still don't think it was as awkward as The Cuteness . . . I'm trying to be impartial here, but it is so difficult because, for whatever reason, I really "feel" her . . through three, none were terribly impressive.

K's Take On Top 7 Mariah Madness

(Sorry this is so long - it was a strange show last night, and like you guys have said, other than the top 2-3, it's hard to pick the order. L is teaching a class right now, so she will post her thoughts in a little while.)

I have to say this, especially this week: For best 2nd/3rd analysis of the Idol performances, I suggest listening to the sound through high-fidelity speakers, and take YouTube with a grain of salt - the digital compression algorithm YouTube uses distorts the sound terribly. You might not catch how TERRIBLE Brooke sounded in the 2nd half of her song, for instance.
Also, I am by no means a Mariah fan, though anyone would have to admit she really could really, really sing, back in the day. Now, I imagine there are some "fresher" singers out there (Kelly C?) who could blow her off the stage.

Let's all have a drink from Paula's cup, AND:

David Cook - he's at the top for me because he does what no one else seems willing to do - try something different. There's a lot of bitching on the internet that Cookie "steals" his arrangements - which I say is bullshit. Not that he doesn't lift inspiration from various sources, but who else on Idol is subject to this kind of scrutiny? Do any of the others catch hell for adbdicating the arranging to Ricky, or just going with the same, tired version as the originals? I say, give Cookie props for making the songs sound like something a modern listener would respond to.

David A - maybe the best he's sounded since the Top 12. His voice was strong, he put on a confident show - the only reason he wasn't # 1 was he gave us exactly what we expected. It was very good, a "wow" on the singing, not a "wow" on the star power. Maybe I'm just getting tired of the whole "Up With People" vibe to his performances every week.

Jason C. - the Idol download king, and heir apparent to the Jack Johnson stoner-hippie singer-songwriter empire. Jason did a great job, I would download it off iTunes, but did it really sound any different than last week, or the week before that? (See 1 & 2 above.) Still, love this kid.

Then, after a several-story drop, the ladies.

Syesha - come on, she didn't try to blow out a lung (see Carly), she didn't take us into Bizarro land (see Kristy), and she delivered it with confidence (see Brooke). Still, it was blah. After the cardinal mistake on the Whitney song, and then another on "I Believe", she again commits an Idol faux pas: singing a forgettable song. She knew she was in trouble, going into this week, because did you notice she was working the cleavage? Still, you have to give her cred for taking the $ Idol doles out for clothing and making it seem like more.

Carly - tough week. She looked great, the first part of her song was surprisingly tender - and then she tried to blow the roof off the studio. Not that she doesn't have power - but as Spiderman says, "with great power comes great responsibility". She has to learn to apply the power with a deft touch. She cranked up to 11, however, and kept it there, even through the completely gratuitous end note. We may see another shocker exit a la MJ last week - and her #7 tattoo on her finger might turn out to be prophetic.

Brooke - the only reason I didn't place her at the bottom was the beautiful 1st half of her song. I have to admit, I wasn't expecting much from her: I am coming to expect less from Brooke every week, I know, them's fightin' words. But Brooke out-Jasons Jason in the week-in, week-out clone of her last performance. But this week, I was amazed to find myself drawn in - until after the bridge, not quite when Randy said, but close. Listen to it again: at approximately the mid-point, Brooke either misses a pedal-push or gets caught up in the chord change, but she VISIBLY and AUDIBLY freezes up. L & I were cringing. The entire rest of the song was flat, too fast, and warbly. Her last note, and the tearful look in her left eye, were almost like a surrender, not a glory finish. I don't think she's gone, but she'll be sweating it out in the B3.

Kristy - the Kountry twang was just weird, and it made the song seem twice as long to me. You can't say she wasn't confident, and she didn't really sing badly, it was just odd. Maybe you guys aren't aware of this, but she's the voting pick for a certain subversive Idol group, however - VFTW - so she has made it further than perhaps she should. We are heading into the second half of the 12, and blondes Kristy and Brooke might start looking alike to middle America, so she may soon be in trouble, as well.

America's B3: Syesha, Carly, Brooke - Man, it's competely a toss-up, but I'd say Brooke goes home, if only because Syesha is the last African American left, and the producers might want to keep her in.

- K

Is Brooke White Your "Hero"?

Next up, Brooke . . . shiney, sparkly Brooke . . . she looks more grown up and more, maybe, sophisticated than she has before. She's singing "Hero" . . . I'm hopeful for this performance . . . and Ms. Carey hugged her. Here we go . . . Brooke's at the piano . . . Nice job, Ms. Brooke . . . Nice job. I really liked the different take on the song. Thought she hit a couple of high notes very nicely. Good Job.

Randy thought she was great until the bridge. . . (which I liked) . . . Paula thought she did a Great Job . . .minus a few pitchy spots . . . Simon thought she was a bun withouth the hamburger . . . I think Brooke did a good, solid performance, in what I consider to be an unfair theme week . . . She's got some confidence problems, but, I think Brooke did what she needed to do to get through this trying week.

Cardboard Brooke!

TMZ is reporting that Brooke White has found a way to be at her sister's wedding and rehearsing for Idol all at the same time. Her family had a cardboard Brooke constructed to stand in her place during the rehearsal and the wedding. Kind of cracks me up and is sooooooooooo in line with how I think Brooke and her family are in real life. Kind of cooky and fun. Hit the link to read the whole story!

Cardboard Brooke goes to the wedding!

Brooke White is . . . Brooke White!

Alright, y'all, here we go. It's April Fools Day. . . and cue the requisite joke from La Seacrest! Up first is Brooke White, and Dolly thinks she's genuine. We HEART DOLLY! Brooke is singing "Jolene". I am so excited about this performance. Here we go, oh look, Brooke is utilizing the McPheever's box beating guy from Black Horse and the Cherry Tree circa AI 5. I'm digging this set up with the band and the back up singers. I think Brooke sounds solid and looks really good. To the judges: Randy thought it was ok, but a little pitchy. Paula thinks that Brooke White is . . . Brooke White . . . and Simon thinks she lacked emotion and some other stuff that got drowned out by the Idol music.

I kind of think they were harsh on her. I liked it. I liked the song, the look, and the band. Thought it kind of rocked.