You Don't Know What You've Been A-Missin'

• Random Pop Culture:
• I was looking forwards to Hollywood Week on American Idol, but I think I forgot just how great it is. Tonight was only the first of four Hollywood episodes, and surely the weakest because they had to fly through those a capella songs. Even so, the drama is intense. You get the talent and drive of the finalists with the documentary-style coverage that you can't get when the show goes live.
• Best moment of the show was when the one kid with the weird lip piercing went into his huge crying gag about how much the show means to him. Simon pouted, which was hilarious, but even funnier was that when the kid was finished, the other people on stage gave him polite applause.
• Watched Iron Man again tonight. It's totally better than The Dark Knight. More fun and it doesn't have anything as derivative as that boring sonar crap. I'd use this as an excuse to link to an uncensored version of Christian Bale's rave-out, but you can find it easily enough.
• Random Hatred And/Or Love:
• Idol gets a lot of knocks, but it wouldn't keep being so darn popular if it also wasn't so darn good. I can't help but comment on something my friend, Shtetl Fabulous, posted on her blog tonight. In talking about the 50th anniversary of the Day The Music Died, she said something about the "evil forces of American Idol winners...." Obviously, there's hyperbole there, but I feel like I have to defend a bit. Carrie Underwood can sing. Kelly Clarkson has some great songs. Jennifer Hudson (who didn't even win) seriously melted some faces with her anthem on Sunday. They're not selling so many records only because Fox tells people to buy them. If that were the case, we'd all be watching the umpteenth season of Woops! right now. We all like to think that what's new isn't as good as what's old and that what's popular isn't as good as what's underground. Maybe we're just not hearing the next great sound because we're completely out of touch. I remember exactly where I was the first time I heard "Smells Like Teen Spirit", but I'm sure it was just garbage to older people. New comes from the evolving tastes of youth. Popular comes from people actually wanting to buy it. No shame in any of that.
• Random Video Of The Day:
• Richie Valens may be the most popular because of the movie, but I have no doubt that Buddy Holly was the most talented of the three rock stars whose plane crashed fifty years ago today. Here's some very rare footage of a live performance.