Idol Will Soon Have Singing Infants

Okay, maybe not next season but soon :)

Just read this article (I think it was on MTV but got it from a link on Google News) about Idol lowering age requirements to 15 next season in hopes of 'Beibering' up the talent pool. Is this going to be another season of "make it your own"/"hey, wait, don't change the melody, dawg" kind of comments from the judges where they ask for younger contestants and then bitch about them "not connecting emotionally" to these dusty old Idol standbys? We'll see.

Maybe it's just that I am getting older but I'm kind of sick of seeing everything on TV, film and radio pandering to the ever-younger, disposable-income crowd. Everyone seems to complain that all these mediums have increasingly craptacular content, and yet they don't buy/market anything better because they don't want to lose the zero-attention span crowd.

Seacrest better watch his back! They might go for some 12-yr-old with an orange spray tan in a shiny suit.

-- K

What happened to J?

What happened to J.....we haven't heard a word from him since the finale....no final review...and no results of our friendly competition.

While we are on the subject....anyone hear from Allison and TTown?...they weren't around this year either.....

Just hoping that everyone is OK!!!!!

Lee DeWyze -- The Marilyn Manson Phase

Lee DeWyze -- The Marilyn Manson Phase

Saw this on TMZ, wondered if you guys had heard it. Lee puts in a typical performance from his Idol run, IMO, starts promising then veers off-key.
Give it a listen, it's kind of fascinating and strange.
What is it with this guy? And who knew he had album(s) before Idol? The story they spun was like, one day he was stirring up a can of Sherwin/Williams Latex Interior
and the next he was standing under a cascade of sparks, the next American Idol.

-- K

What This Lady Said

Hey RT! I hope this isn't the last blog just yet! I love the post-season wind-down discussions.

I wish I knew why America gets it so wrong. After watching the snoozefest this season, then seeing some of the booted-early contestants come back as special guests and shine, I have a pretty obvious theory.

I believe Idol decides sometime in the season who they WANT to win. They then employ all the subtle/sledgehammer-to-the-face methods at their disposal to force this outcome. Bottom Three headgames, judges comments, lighting and arrangement, last-minute song choice changes, Performance Order, etc. In doing so, they sabotage some better singers, who simply get in the way of the Chosen One. It's interesting when they assassinate some folks in the 3 or 4 spot, so that TCO can go up against a weaker opponent. The most blatant example of this is the Jordin/Blake debacle. While Blake was entertaining, wasn't he really just more of an amusing novelty? Jordin, on the other hand, was the "right" age to pimp the hell out of, but was she better than Melinda Doolittle? Come on. Melinda was "too old". What happened then was Idol was stuck with a linebacker with a pleasingly bland voice and tried to market her to indifferent teens. The most amazing thing is she never quite goes away, because they pair her with money magnets like the Jonas Brothers and Chris Brown (pre-Rihanna scandal). On her own she'd be an anchor.

Variations on this strategy happened many times. Idol knows they can count on Middle America to vote for the simple-minded choice (the GWB analogy was right on the money) so we wind up with Taylor, Nikki McKibbon, Josh Gracin, Syesha, etc. making it inexplicably far. There's also the "reality show" factor where voters like to see weirdos (and VFTW plays into this) and so you get those outliers. I can think of many bitter singers who get booted early, and as they sing out are clearly thinking of the caterwaulers who survive beyond them. Ashley Rodriguez, this season, looked like she was ready to cut a bitch on her way out.

Seasons 1-4, we agree with your right/wrong take on fickle America.

Season Five is an example of how it should have been Daughtry in the top 2. But Kat McPhee sabotaged herself, IMHO. America could tell she has the personality of a porcupine enema. She has struggled ever since Idol to find a niche, despite forays into several genres. Say what you will about Tay-tay, his album sales are nearly double Katpee's.

Season Six, not only did America get it wrong but it should have been someone outside the top two. Looking back, Season Nine was really Season Six Redux, it was so full of WTF contestants.

Seven was a much better season.
I have to disagree with you on the Cook/Archuleta post-Idol sales record, however:

Cook debut album: sold 1.28 million, ranked #403 on Amazon in "music".

Archuleta debut album: sold 751,000, ranked #1,186 in "music".

Archuleta's Christmas album sold another 211,000.

So, combined sales of Archie's TWO albums have yet to eclipse Cookie's ONE. Granted, Archie has one coming out this year, but these are the stats as of right now.

Eight, a no-brainer. When we saw the Idol Tour last year, it was like the concert was over after Adam performed (they had the Idols appear in the order they were voted off). People actually got up and left, not everyone, but enthusiasm waned in the room. Dr. L said it was like it was backwards: Adam rocked the effing house, then Kris came out and put us all to sleep with a slow bunch of tunes. Not bad, just weak.

So, who's voting? That's the question. I only voted twice this season, once to try and keep Casey in, just because I had come to despise the pimpage of Lee, and again, for Crystal, because I knew she was going to lose. At least I can feel better knowing I voted my ass off both those critical times.

Just like I did with GWB, and with the same shitty result :)

-- K

Why does America consistently get it wrong?

Ok….so the final blog for the season. Season nine was by far the worst season of the show. The contestants were for the most part fine…but there just wasn’t any outstanding far out and away great contenders. Season nine also brought us the end of the Simon era and it remains to be seen how the show will go on post-Simon.



So lets talk about last night. A couple of quick thoughts from the finale. While I LOVE the finale, this years lot of stars seemed extremely aged.

I think its great how they bring back old stars, but I wish they would mix it up with some newer artists. I mean…they kind of did with Christina Aguilera, but not enough.



Alice Cooper segment was great, but he sounded horrible. It was a fun segment though and I thought it was great.

Other great moments – Janet Jackson, The BeeGees (minus one….except they looked so old).



I have to admit that even Hall and Oates (who I can’t stand) actually did a pretty good job.



Christina Aguilera was just strange. I don’t know if I liked the song or not. I enjoyed the theatrics though.



Joe Cocker was just bad…he looked like a client from the seventh street corridor.



Other thoughts:



Pants on the Ground – was hit and miss. I loved the concept with the dancers, but the performance lacked the charm of the original and what was the point of bringing on William Hung? Seriously…that was just pointless and a big Idol shot off the mark.



I liked the idea of bring back all the Idol loud mouth freaks, but they didn’t stage it properly and again, it missed the mark. I get the feeling it was supposed to be something more but once they got on stage it backfired and they cut away to commercial.



The Simon tribute was great, but showed too many of the same clips multiple times. I loved Paula’s tribute and I loved how they brought back many of the old contestants. THAT was the highlight of the night.



Finally, we crowned the new American Idol and although Lee is fine (I like Lee…I really do)…he certainly wasn’t anywhere close to Crystal.

So why does America consistently get it wrong? Time and again America can’t get it right (which is shown by the sales of Idol albums where often the “winners” are outshined by runner-ups. The “Album-buying” public that votes with its wallet, gets it right, but the American voting public has gotten it wrong more often than they’ve gotten it right.



Season 1 – Kelly v. Justin – America got right

Season 2 – Ruben v. Clay – This was a tough one and while I liked Ruben, Clay was the better performer. America got it wrong

Season 3 – This one was a no brainer. Fantasia v. Dianna Degarmo. How Dianna got to the finale is a mystery, but there was no way that America could get this one wrong.

Season 4 – Bo v. Carrie – Any other year, Bo could have won. But Carrie (probably the strongest Idol winner ever) was clearly the best. America got it right.

Season 5 – Rivals Season 9 for the worst season ever. Taylor Hicks v. Katherine McPhee – America got this one WAAAAAAAAAY wrong before we ever got near the finale. Taylor Hicks was the worst pick in the history of idol.

Season 6 – Not a particularly strong year – Jordin v. Blake. I’m going to say that America once again got it wrong. Blake at least was unique and while I liked Jordin, she isn’t distinguishable as an artist and has flopped.

Season 7 – A great season…and another close one, but again, I’m going to say that America got it wrong. The battle of the Davids, Cook v. Archuletta. David Cook has done fine, but Archuletta has had better album sales and is the more marketable contestant.

Season 8 – Another one that America got WAAAAAAAY wrong. Kris Allen is a cute/sweet guy, but doesn’t come close to the star power that Adam Lambert has and the record sales have shown this.

Season 9 – America once again picked the generic performer over someone who was clearly more talented and more unique.



This doesn’t even take into account America’s fascination with keeping the horribly bad performers on longer than they should (Josh Gracin, Phil Stacey, Michael Lynche……etc)

Or the truly great performers that got voted off way before their time (Chris Daughtry, Jennifer Hudson……)…



So why does America consistently get it wrong? Well….if you were expecting an answer from me…I’m sorry…I haven’t a clue. All I can say is that these are the same people that gave us GWB, not once…..but twice. So there you have it….Another season behind us and another long 7 months before the return of AI…..



I think I’d better leave right now……before I fall any deeper.





Rubbertoe……Out!

Rubbertoes final pic

OK....Idol starts in 30 minutes....so I best put up my final review/pic

Last night, it was Crystal by a landslide.

Didn't love either of the final songs, although I thought that Crystal performed her's really well.....I just don't see either song being a hit single.

I'm in the minority on Lee's REM song....I thought it was his best song and I thought it was pretty good....everyone at my work thought it was horrible.

So the talk around the water cooler today was that everyone thought Crystal was the best last night by far, but that Lee is going to win.

I'm going to give America enough credit to finally get one right.

I think that it was too much of a difference last night for America to get this one wrong.

Crystal is going to be this years American Idol.

We'll be back tommorrow with our final reviews of the season!!!!!

Everybody Hurts . . . When Lee Sings . . .

My friend Stephanie sent me this pic . . . it's cruel, but it made me giggle . . . Poor Lee . . . he has gotten roasted today all over the interwebs, but I have no doubt that he will be the winner tonight . . . Ugh on the Idol Machine's head.

Up to the Mountain: A Redux

Here is why I think the producers chose Up to the Mountain for MamaSox

Crystal Blue Persuasion

Season Finale

K says when he found out that Crystal won the coin toss - that put her in the best possible position - and probably makes it tough for Lee to come out first.

Contestant Favorite Song of the Season:

Lee: The Boxer - pretty standard performance on this song. Disagree with Ellen that it was better this time - seems like his nerves are getting to him (as you would think they might be!) K thought it was weak.

Crystal - Me and Bobbie McGee: Overall much better command of the song and the stage for her first performance. Probably helps that this song is more upbeat and a crowd sing-along type. K says - stumbled a bit at first - but then got control of it and was totally in her element. Chicken Little sighting!!!

First Round goes to: Crystal - no question!

Executive Producer's Choice:

Lee: Everybody Hurts - on the fence about this one. I don't know if that was the right arrangement of this song - it sort of minimized the tone and spirit of the song. Didn't care for the choir addition to this. A bit off key here and there - and I don't agree AT ALL with Kara's assessment.

Crystal: Black Velvet - GREAT! Loved that interpretation - Crystal wants this!! Go girl! I wasn't sure about the song, but it was a fresh approach. Loved it, Loved it!

Second Round goes to: Crystal - Lee who????

Winner's Song:

Lee: Beautiful Day - so it's not an original song this year?! I love the U2 song, but I don't love this version here. I am not sure that while he has a commercial sound, I don't know that he gets the interpretation of these songs. I guess this is a smart choice on Idol's part to have the winner record a 'proven hit' - but that sort of cheats it to me.

Crystal: Up to the Mountain - That was just lovely,lovely, OMG - what an outstanding performance for her - so moving! I didn't know this song, and I would listen to it over again right now. She is just so ready for this....

Final Round: MamaSox - L&K thought she stole the show!!

I know we have had fun with the goofy pimpage of Lee - BUT Crystal commanded the stage tonight ! K says - Lee - seemed like paint by numbers performances, and Crystal overall - truly invested performances.

L&K - Crystal will be our new American Idol - and ANYONE with ears should think the same thing....however...
America's choice - Lee - but America is EFFING wrong here - Mamasox is our girl!

MamaSox Takes Lee and the Idol Machine to School!

First and foremost, let me say that the mixture of psychadelic Lee and the song cracks me up . . . I read a USA Today article that pondered the question will the Idol Machine win or will the best singer win . . . I think that sums it up.

Here we go . . .

What the hell is Randy wearing?

Ok, I love that Crystal dropped her mic and missed her mark . . . that's kind of awesome.

So, we have a round of contestant favorites . . . a round of the producer's choice (We'll see what they give to our dynamic duo) . . . and the "song they're going to release as their single" . . . I'm not sure what that means . . .

Lee #1 - "The Boxer" . . . Lee's doin Lee's thing . . . I'm not sure I would have chosen this song from the season, but he sounds pretty Leeish . . . gotta great tone to his voice . . . kinda pitchy . . . but not a terribly exciting performance. Randy didn't feel the energy but wants him to pick it up. Ellen couldn't be prouder if she birthed him herself. Kara agrees with Randy and wants to see him punch more. Simon expected a lot more passion and excitement.

Crystal #1 - "Me and Bobby McGee" . . . Better choice . . . Let's see if she can give it a little more energy. Crystal is also doin her Crystal thing . . . a little more energy . . . a little more excitement . . . a little less pitchy. Randy thinks she finished strong. Ellen thinks she is compelling on stage. Kara thinks she has fire in her belly tonight. Simon says she's back.

Judges won't pick round 1 because they would have to give it to Crystal.
Round 1: MamaSox by a mile

Lee #2 - "Everybody Hurts" . . . interesting choice . . . I LOVE this song . . . He's definitely brought more energy to this one . . . still got that Lee pitchy stuff . . . and a choir . . . wonder if Crystal will get a choir. . . Better performance. Randy thought it started off pitchy but thought he pulled it together. Ellen thought he went off a couple of times, but thought he really got into it . . . at times . . . Kara thinks he is emotionally accessible. Simon thought it was a good choice of song, but thinks he is nervous.

Crystal #2 - "Black Velvet" . . . another interesting choice . . . I also LOVE this song . . . I like the beginning arrangement . . . MamaSox is in it to take down the Idol Machine . . . She changed the arrangement and her vocals were better . . . and that last note rocked the fucking house . . . Go MamaSox Go! Randy thinks MamaSox is in it to win it. Ellen thought it was fantastic. Kara thinks she is giving it her all. Simon is almost allergic to that song, but thinks she took the song and absolutely nailed it.

Round 2: MamaSox by another mile. Simply stunning.

Lee #3 - "Beautiful Day" . . . interesting that they are letting them release covers . . . Damn it, Lee . . . stop being pitchy! I'm trying not to let the pimpage affect my analysis . . . I do LOVE this boy, but he's not helping me out a lot tonight. He looks good, but I'm not in love with this performance. Ooooh, bad note. He's got more energy, but damn is he pitchy. Randy thinks he started iffy, but got it back at the end. Ellen thought he did a great job. Kara thinks he got swallowed by the song. Simon thinks he made the most of it, but thinks Lee is what this competition is all about . . . PIMPAGE!

Crystal #3 - "Up to the Mountain" I LOVE THIS SONG! Nothing to say . . . simply stunning and I'm crying a little bit. Randy thinks it was one of the greatest performances. Ellen thinks she's in a league of her own. Kara thinks she pulled her walls down and was emotionally invested. Simon thought it was by far the best performance of the night. And as his final critique . . . "It was outstanding."

Round Three: MamaSox by infinity.

There is no doubt that MamaSox won the night. NO. DOUBT. Whether that equates to her victory is debatable. We shall see if America does what it should. Somehow, I doubt it.

So Close, Yet So Far

So the big showdown is tonight between the busker and the paint salesman, and Dr. L and I HAVE TICKETS TO THE SHOW!!!

...the problem is, we can't go :(

The way taping works today, we would have to be at the NOKIA @ 2pm, so to get there from Long Beach

we'd have to leave here by 12:30 pm to be sure to get into LA, get parked, etc. THEN, you're stuck in the proceedings until 7 pm or so, and we just can't get out of our obligations to make it happen. So, we WOULD be bringing a live blog report, but instead we will be watching it like most of the Lil Tasters, on TV.

Sadly, we both said, if this had been last year, with an Adam/Kris, we would have blown off everything to go :)

-- K

J completely calls it!

So I was reviewing our top 12 predictions and ran across J's post:

3. Lee - Even with the slightly pitchy vocals, he has got such an amazing stage presence, and I can already see him touring. I love, love, love this boy . . . I think he is going to be the surprise of the Top 12 . . . and may be the darkhorse to win.

2. Casey - AKA My Baby - Y'all know I love my baby. I think he has a consistent voice, plays a mean guitar, and has great stage presence. He very definitely could win this competition, but I think there is one more who could out do him . . .

1. Crystal - I just think she already carries herself as the consummate professional. I think some of the theme weeks will be difficult for her, but I think she's got it in her to emerge the winner . . . I think the Idol Machine will NOT want her to win . . . they would definitely be pulling for Didi, Lee, and Casey . . .

Although J picked Casey/Crystal...when you look at his comments, he is completely spot on even calling Lee as the "darkhorse" and forecasting the Idol Producers/Judges wanting Lee to win over Crystal.

Way to go J.

Now the only question is how obvious he pimping of Lee in the finale will be.

The Top 3: Beware, a bit of a venting session follows

Let me start this post by saying that I LOVE our Top 3 . . . LOVE THEM! They were my picks for the Top 3 for the start. Crystal, Casey, and Lee, I think, are far and away the most talented musicians on the this season of Idol. That being said, what I witnessed last night was disappointing on many levels. Not to say that there weren't some moments. . .

I thought Crystal's "Maybe I'm Amazed" was a bit of an Idol moment. I thought she took a hold of that song and tore it up . . . in a good way.

Lee's "Hallelujah" was very good. . . I did not get the woodie for it that the judges did, but I'll get to that in a minute

Casey's version of "Daughters" was excellent. He did the song justice and played the hell out of that guitar.

The first round of songs . . . Casey was Casey . . . Crystal sang a strange arrangement of "Come to My Window" when she should have been singing "Bring Me Some Water" . . . and Lee got pimped out for being Lee . . .

To be honest, I would probably rank Crystal at the top followed closely by a tied Lee and Casey . . .

That being said, let me get to the bigger disappointment . . . the judges. Each year, we have one contestant that they pimp out and this year they have decided to bestow that honor upon Lee DeWyze. I LOVE Lee, don't get me wrong, but has anyone else noticed that he has gone last like three times more than either Crystal or Casey. In addition, though I really like his version of Hallelujah, I thought the fact that he got a choir was a bit unfair, and that it kind of did something to the song that took it out of its purely beautiful state (see Jason Castro and even Tim Urban). I was so annoyed by the judges last night that I've just now been able to muster up the energy to post.

In my humble opinion, Crystal and Casey are the better vocalists in this competition. As much as I love Lee and think he is adorable, he has never been able to shake the pitchy vocals . . . on every single song. He's kind of David Cook light. In addition, I don't understand why Ellen got to pick by herself for Crystal and Randy/Kara "collaborated" on Casey.

I agree with K's picture today . . . they threw Casey under the bus . . . and I'm not sure why . . . from an Idol standpoint, he's cute, he's got good vocals, and he is far and away the best musician, not vocalist, but musician that Idol has seen. I don't understand.

That being said, I think that Crystal and Lee will make for a great finale. I fear, however, that the most talented of the two, Crystal, will be tossed aside for the growing popularity of Lee. I feel so weird even writing this because I have much love for Mr. DeWyze.

I just had to vent . . .

It is with sadness that I say

Eliminated: Casey

Maybe I'm Not Amazed about Idol's Top Three

Idol Top Three

Casey - It's Alright With Me: So, they have him going first and that must mean he is going under the bus. I liked this first song! It was catchy and fun, and I thought he did a good job. K says - While Casey didn't do anything 'wrong-er' than Crystal - he didn't get the positives tacked on to the end of his criticisms like she did.

Crystal - Come To My Window: Solid song choice - recognizable, and gave her a chance to get into the vocals and the guitar. Loved the harmonica touch! She is just so consistent and very listenable - I would buy her album right away. Judges seemed to think it was so-so - but managed to praise her a bit anyway.

Lee - Simple Man - can't imagine him doing a Skynrd song....hmmm. First part of the song was really good - the end of it was a bit predictable. Having the pimp spot and the lighting really helped him here. K's assessment - put it back in your pants, judges! I will make up my own mind - thanks.

Round One: Based on the first-halves of the songs - then Lee gets round one. But looking at overall song - thought Casey was better than the other two. Crystal was just in the middle.

Casey - Daughters: Beautiful, simple take on this great John Mayer tune - loved the guitar solo in there. He truly has a great gift in his guitar work. Judges still keeping him under the bus - by both the comments and maybe by the Randy/Kara song choice (at least that seems the point Simon is making). They don't WANT him to have a 'wow' factor!

Crystal - Maybe I'm Amazed: Loved it! Interesting that Ellen (non-music professional) picked a terrific song for her. It seemed to take her out of the comfort zone a bit at least from what we have been able to hear her sing, and it really worked.

Lee - Hallelujah: What??!! Not thrilled with this choice - didn't Jason Castro do a lovely version of this song? What about Tim Urban earlier this season? I was telling K - so...that means Tim can't perform it on the tour if gets snaked out from under him now. NOW - really not happy - he gets a choir??!! and smoke?? Looks like Idol is telling us who they want to win. That is kind of sickening.....Randy is right - Simon sure set him up. It is a great song - no doubt there, and it does wonders for anyone who sings it. Guess that bus was bigger than I thought - with both Casey and Crystal under it.

L&K Rankings (I guess they don't really rank them at this point, but oh well):

Crystal
Casey
Lee

Going home: Casey

America's Rankings:

Lee
Crystal
Casey

Going home: Casey

Second Coming of Leezus Chriwyzest

Hey, just a quick post to respond to RT's comment on Jason's performance of Hallelujah being better than Lee's. We'll post the rest of our take on last night's Pimptacular show later this afternoon, before the East Coast results.

I took the liberty of embedding Rubbertoe's links to the two so you can see them side by side:





Dr. L and I were kind of a little sickened by the blatant over-pimpage of Lee. Of course Castro's version is better; he just didn't have a freaking choir of angels and smoke making it seem like the Second Coming of some unholy DemiDaughtrey.



It was a pretty good performance, Idol, stop trying to make it seem like it was the best performance in the history of music. If they were so convinced he could win it on his own merit, why shove Casey and Crystal so far under the bus, back up over them a couple of times and then place the flat, mangled remains on a railroad track? This was possibly the most heavy-handed bend-over Idol has ever perpetrated.

-- K

Jason v. Lee

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=DExAyYYSKeg


v.

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Te42ioevqnI

hallelujia

Ok….I can’t spell….how do you spell Hallelujia?

Just a short AI review today….we are coming down to the wire and it is clear that it is going to be Lee/Crystal in the finale. It was almost as if Casey didn’t ever really try. I’m a little upset at the producers of the show though, who obviously wanted a Lee/Crystal finale, they threw Casey under the bus with the song choice they gave him and the unabashedly Hallelujia production number that they gave Lee.
That said….Crystal and Lee were definitely the best two last night. First song – Lee was far and away the best. Crystal’s version of “Come to my window” was weak.
Second song – Lee by a sliver. I thought Crystal was very good as well. Casey – it was a nice vocal, but as Simon said, it was not the type of song that is going to propel anyone into the finale.

I know that I’m going to be in the minority here, but even though Lee was incredible with Hallelujia….I still preferred Jason Castro’s version.

OK….so next week will be interesting. Can Crystal stop Lee’s momentum? Can Crystal overcome the producers/judges obvious push for Lee?
It remains to be seen. One thing that I can say about the finale this year is that unlike it year’s past, they BOTH need to win if they have any hope of making it. There is no Chris Daughtry, Adam Lambert, Jennifer Hudson strength here to propel the loser. They both need the Idol machinery behind them here.

The Top 3: The Judges' Song Choices

Zap2it.com has posted the "Judges Choice" songs for our Top Three. Interesting choices . . .

MamaSox - Maybe I'm Amazed by Paul McCartney - chosen by Ellen D.
Casey - Daughters by John Mayer - chosen by Kara/Randy
Lee - Hallelujah by Leonard Cohen - chosen by Simon

A couple of points of interest here.

I find it interesting that Ellen got her own song choice, but Kara and Randy had to collaborate. I also find it interesting that Simon chose Hallelujah for Lee. I think it is a great song choice, but it was already performed this year . . . quite well . . . by Hottie Tim. I think that "Daughters" is a perfect song choice for Casey . . . particularly because everyone thinks it's a sweet song when it's really a song asking parent not to fuck up there daughters because it makes them undateable. . . kind of makes me giggle.

Should be interesting . . .

What does everyone think?

Alison Iraheta Headlines Long Beach Pride Festival

Hey Lil Tasters,

Just wanted to send out the word that Idol Alum Alison will be performing Sunday night at the Long Beach Pride Festival!
Dr. L and I are going to walk over and see her live. You can find out more about tickets and the other bands/giveaways/etc at the Long Beach Pride Website.

-- K

For Rubbertoe

Big Mike & wife at his parade.

-- K