On the other hand, this week was also the songwriting contest - where last year J.D. pulled away from the pack by pitching a fit over what eventually became his own personal anthem - "Pretty Vegas", this years group had some much less pointed results.
Splitting into three teams of 4, led by each of the first three weeks encore performers - Dilana, Toby and Magni - whose primary job was essentially picking who they wanted on their team. Dilana's strategy was to choose Lukas first - because she "would prefer him closer, rather than further away". And just like on every playground all over the world, someone had to be last picked -- in this case it was Dana.
However, Dilana's choice of Lukas almost became their undoing - as once he did manage to come up with a chorus melody and hook line for the song, he basically shutdown and stopped participating other than to become passive-aggressive about pressuring the others (Dilana, Ryan and Storm) to write the rest while spending most of his time wandering the mansion and drinking. Class-y.
Team leader Magni also butted heads with Jill the Italian powerhouse on the issue of songwriting methods. Magni is one who likes to listen to the song over and over to let it soak in - Jill likes to try out different riffs as she listens and you can't do both at the same time. Magni has already written and recorded six albums in Iceland, so he's pretty comfortable and confident on his methods -- Jill was a little rattled and frustrated by him, to say the least.After an afternoon of drinking, Lukas wasn't able to lay down the vocal line that he himself had written - so Storm had to take over. In fact, Storm essentially took over the entire "band" from that point forward, becoming the lead singer on their version of the song and running their entire song-writting session. It was good to see Storm finally get some screen time during one of the Reality Episodes since she been persona non drama up until this point. She's a total pro - she is already is a Rock Star and it shows.
The one element, the process of songwriting is what makes this show stand out above and beyond all the other "Band" reality shows out there. This week I actually watched an episode of P. Diddy's "Making the Band 3" where his fresh faced set of wanna-be Divas finally went into the studio to record their first song -- and they spent the entire time having their lines and melodies fed to the by the real song writer, a heavy set cream puff of a man named "Pooh Bear". He'd squeak out the vocal line in a tiny little falsetto (head voice) in order to make it sound like a girls, they they tried to echo it back into the mic.
It was pathetic.
And then after that P. Diddy comes in and say- ok, you can't sing that - so you need to sing this, and you shouldn't do that you do this instead. And people's feelings get hurt because someone actually had the balls to point out that they SUCKED on that part - But that's what happens in Pop. Other people make the creative decisions and the "talent" has to do what they're told.
In Rock - it's different. You have to stand up for yourself, make your own choices and deal with your own consequences. The only other show I've ever seen address this was Vh-1's Supergroup, where Sebastian Bach and the rest of his band Damnocracy - featuring Ted Nugent, Scott Ian (Anthrax), Evan Seinfeld (Biohazard) and Jason Bonham - went head to head with the corporate handlers and shapers for the eleven days they were trapped in front of the cameras, and eventually came back with a couple decent tracks from the deal.
This is the stuff you are not going to see on American Idol, America's Got Talent or "The One" - the ugly frustrating wonderful process people go through to create that song you loved so much.
There's a reason that I spend so much time writing about this show or Supergroup - it's because Rock matters. Real Rock and Roll is the music that came directly from the cry from freedom by people oppressed by Jim Crow and the fight against the social strangle-hold of the 50's mindset. What I'm writing about on most of my other blog posts is the ongoing struggle to keep that bullshit from returning - the inspirational and liberating power of Rock Music was a vital tool in reshaping America and the world. It was crucial to the Civil Rights movement. The Soviet economy collapsed the way it did, not simply because of the arms race, but also because young Russian kids were in love with blue jeans, Coke Cola and Rock and Roll. They desperately wanted the Freedom that Rock represents. Rock bands - good ones like the Beatles the Clash, the Ramones, U2, Van Halen and the groups who participated in the Moscow Music and Peace Festival (Bon Jovi, Cinderella, Skid Row, Ozzy Osborne and Motley Crue) in 1989 just a couple years before the Berlin Wall fell - were our most vital cultural ambassadors to Soviet Russia. They matter. They helped tear that wall down. They helped change the world.It's not entirely an accident I think that two of the songs from last week "Fortunate Son" and "White Rabbit" were 60s protest songs while Brooke Burke wore a "Make Music Not War" t-shirt. We should all take heed.
Anyway...
When time came to perform their songs for Tommy Lee and the Supernova boys - the Dilana/Lukas/Storm group was up first and gave them chills with their rendition. Storm sang the verses while all four of them came together for the choruse, the song was strong, damn near radio ready - but not something that any single member could claim. Still the point was made that Lukas had written the chorus riff, and he recieved an extra slicing of praise - even though he'd spent the rest of the writing session acting like a punk-ass.The second track was written primarily by Phil, and was extremely - quirky. Kinda like Radiohead on Meth. But it apparently seemed to work as Jason stated - "It was just quirky enough to be interesting".
The third and final track was the Magni/Jill magnum opus - which featured a syncopated vocal rythm and lush four part harmonies. Rather than being another over the top "Stop/Go" vocal excersize in excess - this one seemed to also blow the SN boys away.In the end, they decided that all three groups had "won" the contest and invited them all enjoy a victory feast with the band. Personally I think this was a bit of a cop-out, and a failure on their part to make a decisive choice. The did still indicate that the gospel tinges of the Magni/Jill song isn't the direction they intend to go - a fact that was further illustrated when they let the hamster finally hears some Supernova tracks.
Ironically, it was Storm who the producers let described them - which she did as "Top down, cruising, rock and roll" - which just might indicate that they've finally noticed she has some interesting things to say and isn't shy about saying them.
This weeks song selection went somewhat smoother than last week, and yet again - it was thanks to Storm who was essentially running and organizing the show by ensuring that each person preferrence was written on the song before it was taken down off the wall. Her ability to jump in marshall the troops and get the job done is showing more and more.
Still there was some game-playing as Ryan maneuvered Dana away from his favorite choice "I Alone" and onto a Nirvana song. Sneaky. Underhanded. And pretty much what we're used to by now, particularly from the weaker singers who feel they're "on the bubble" right when it's about to pop. Storm on the other hand took the position that Lukas had taken the other week -- "I can rock anything!", and literally ended up with the left over song -"Anything Anything".
It seems to me that some of the dynamics in the house have somewhat shifted and a bit of tarnish might be showing on Lukas' shiny exterior - whether this translates on stage or has any impact on the members of Supernova remains and open question.
Vyan
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