Top Chef All Stars -- Second Chances

The theme for the first Top Chef All Stars edition is redemption.  Unlike other reality shows that amass an all star group comprised of both winners and losers, the eighteen returning chefs each lost their season and are coming back to prove that loss was a mistake.  Many of the cheftestants were front-runners in their season and were as surprised as the audience when they were not crowned the champion.  From the driven Tiffani Faison of Season One, to Season Four's Richard Blais, through last season's runner-up Angelo Sosa, there are chefs who are seeking what they thought was rightfully theirs in the first place, the title Top Chef.

Some left far sooner than they should have and it's great to see them have another chance to show what they can do (Dale Talde, Jamie Lauren and Tre Wilcox).  Then there are that other group of chefs who are back because they are fan favorites (Fabio Viviani and Carla Hall), to fill the requisite reality TV villain slot (Mike Isabella and Marcel Vigneron), or for comic relief (Dale Levitski and Spike Mendelsohn).  Why Stephen Asprinio, the fussy sommelier, was brought back is a mystery to me.  But the person I was least happy to see on my TV screen was Elia from Season Two.

If you missed Season Two of Top Chef, you missed one of the strangest, most disturbing moments in the history of competitive reality TV.  Keep in mind, the premise of Top Chef is to see who is the best cook (within the parameters of time and the structure of the challenges).  It is not supposed to be about the personalities of the contestants and how far you get in the show has nothing to do with alliances or voting, but solely on judging by a panel of experts.  In Season Two, a couple of the contestants became so irritated with one of the other contestants that they attacked him, held him down, and threatened to shave his hair (all while videotaping the high-larity of it all).  It was way over the top and, if you pardon the bad pun, left a bad taste in the mouths of anyone who saw it. 

Elia was part of that group and thought it was funny.  It was a great example of high school bullying and she was the cute girl who sided with the bullies.  Why she has been rewarded with a return ticket to the show is beyond me.  But Karma works better than the casting office....

The elimination challenge for the first episode was as inspired as it was cruel.  Remember that dish you made that got you kicked off the show, that made you a laughingstock, that cost you $100,000 and a boatload of Glad products?  The dish you've seen in your nightmares and in the faces of menacing strangers and your mother-in-law?  That dish that you swore you would never speak of again, let alone make?  Make it.  Fix it.  Show that it was an aberration and that me were all wrong about you and you aren't the weakest link -- sorry, wrong show.  Get back in there and re-imagine that dish that took out a tiny piece of your heart and a bigger slice of your soul and make it sing.

Most of the contestants rose to the challenge.  Given another shot, they were thrilled to show that they know what they did wrong and know that they can fix it.  They added more, added less, they seasoned differently -- one happily separated scallops from butterscotch, something that should never have been put together in the first place.  While looking at their old ingredients like the cut out portion of a divorcee's wedding picture, they saw that they could redo it and make it right.

The standout contestants who, when we viewers are groggy or forgetful,we think were their season's winners -- soared.  Richard, Angelo, Dale Talde and, dare I say it, Spike all put out great dishes according to the judges (aided this year by the virile, sexy Anthony Bourdain, thank you Bravo!!).  The win went to the similarly tantalizing Angelo when kitchen-cam showed that Richard had continued to plate his superior dish beyond the buzzer, disqualifying him. 

Then it was time for the bottom three and the only surprise was seeing Fabio there.  He twice now has been at the bottom with a pasta dish.  Perhaps he should be stripped of his Italian heritage, but what is the Anglican form of Fabio?  He plated pasta on paper, confusing it perhaps with fish and chips. Then he covered his concoction with oily fried basil leaves because nothing says winner like clumsy appearance and excessive grease.  Stephen, who convinced us that he was a wine connoisseur first, cook second, was not unexpectedly in the bottom three.  But as unappealing as his dishes might have been, they were not nearly as appalling as the undercooked and under-thought steamed fish of Elia. 

Pride goeth before a fall, it is said, and blind faith in a dish that cost you one title went before another ouster.  If Elia was stubborn in the defense of her dish, perhaps seeing it cost her yet another title will convince her that maybe she still has something to learn culinarily speaking.  It might also convince her that a little humility and self-reflection will go a long way.  Or, she can continue to be stubborn and believe she knows best.  Whichever she chooses, at least it won't be on my TV screen, because Padma gave her the pack up your knives and skeedaddle.

I know All Star versions of reality TV show are a ratings grabbing ploy, a no-thinking-involved formula for success, but for Top Chef I think it goes beyond that.  There is a chance to see very talented people excelling at what they do best, given a chance to go farther than they did the last time and claim their rightful place on top.  After a little more weeding out of marginal contestants (I'm looking at you wine boy), this will be a tough and tight race as they each make good use of their culinary second chance.  Bravo, Bravo!

Can Rock Music Survive?

I try not to be one of those "back in my day" people, constantly telling the younger generation just how much better life was before they came along and ruined everything.  But when it comes to the state of music, it's hard not to be nostalgic for what used to rule the airwaves and more than a little sad for the direction music has gone.

Do you remember rock music?  It was a huge category that was open to so many variations, all united in the idea that music should be personal, intense, meaningful and liberating.  It wasn't defined by song length or instrumentation, by geography or experiences, by age, gender or ethnicity.  It was music that moved you, that spoke to you, that made you angry or happy or depressed.  It was defined by its lack of rules and its lack of limitations. 

But that's not what is ruling music today.  Now it's pop and hip hop and hip pop -- prepackaged, overly controlled, prefabricated music that is as interchangeable as it is forgettable.  I miss guitar solos and songs that go on forever and lyrics that give me pause.  I liked going to concerts and knowing that the live version was going to be different from the recorded, that music wasn't static and perfect but a living thing.  There wasn't going to be a backing track to make sure that the audience got what they'd heard fifteen times a day on their local radio station.

So I'll try to introduce what is new in this genre in the hope that we can support what may be a dying art form. If you like what you hear, click on the link, buy the music, support it. Money rules the music business, like every other business, and if there are buyers there will be more product. If, instead, only Pop sells, then guess what you'll be hearing more of?

My Chemical Romance has a new album out "Danger Days: The True Lives of the Fabulous Killjoys" and I think it's even stronger than their last one.  Here's a video of the second single off the album, Sing:


Neon Trees are a throwback to the New Wave sound, but since they have covered Justin Bieber, it's hard to think of them as truly alternative.  They released their album "Habits" earlier this year and the first song off of it is very catchy.  It's called Animal:


One of the few "rock" acts nominated in a general Grammy category was Mumford & Sons. Their debut album Sigh No More has received critical praise and attention.  They're more folk-rock, a la CSN&Y, and they have a banjo for heaven's sake. Here's their top ten single Little Lion Man

Let's look at this week's Billboard charts under the category "Rock" music.  Number one, Stone Sour with Say You'll Haunt Me:


Stone Sour is fronted by the former lead singer of Slipknot. They also had this song, which you may have heard, Through Glass.


Next up is Tighten Up by The Black Keys:


Number three this week is, fittingly, Three Days Grace with World So Cold:


There are hundreds of unsigned bands out there, practicing, writing, playing, trying to keep the music alive.  Here's a link to the MySpace page of one of these up and coming bands, named after one of my favorite movies, The Heart is a Lonely Hunter.  I hate to sum up a band in just a few words, but they remind me of Counting Crows (with a little less angst).  The first song of theirs I heard I really liked. It's called Landslides

Rock music is out there.  Thirty Seconds to Mars, Linkin Park, Kings of Leon, Cake, Broken Bells, Florence & the Machine, Tired Pony, Bruce Springsteen.  Even The Smashing Pumpkins have a new song out. Don't give up on rock. Listen to it, support it. Keep Neil Young's promise alive:  Rock'n'Roll will never die.

Review of Lee DeWyze's Post-American Idol Debut "Live it Up"

Full disclosure:  I was not a fan of Lee DeWyze during American Idol.  His consistent inability to sing on key -- coupled with the judges' refusal to mention that obvious flaw -- irked me to no end.  It was frustrating for me because his is the type of voice I usually like -- the Adam Durst, scratchy growl.  At times I thought he had a great tone to his voice and moments of greatness that were within his reach, but mostly I felt that he failed to show that he had any star power. 

But I am approaching this album with an open mind because I am first and foremost a music fan.  Indeed, in an earlier post, I mentioned that I liked the first single, Sweet Serendipity.  So, here's my song-by-song review of my first listen to "Live it Up." 

The first song is the title track, Live it Up (written by DeWyze, Toby Gad, and Lindy Robbins). Simply put, the song is pretty good.  It has to overcome a "Smooth Jazz" opening that is a little off-putting.  His voice definitely has its moments and the tune is catchy and memorable.  A great hook can make up for a lot!  I like Sweet Serendipity (written by DeWyze, David Glass and Jordan Lawhead) less on the second hearing than I did the first time. The verbally-packed chorus is more cacophonous than clever and I still can't get over my aversion to the cutesy sibilantly alliterative title.  It's not so bad that you would change stations, which makes it a good pick for a single, but it's not substantial enough to pull in any new fans.

It's Gotta Be Love (written by DeWyze, Espen Lind, Amund Bjorklund and Claude Kelly)  is almost saved by DeWyze's voice on the phrase "call me crazy," but aside from that high point, the rest of the song is fluff. The instrumentation and syncopation are too cheesy for me.  It's a lightweight pop ditty that is interchangeable with every other simple, generic love song. Written by DeWyze, Gad and Robbins, Dear Isabelle, aka Hey There Delilah, has a deja vu, I've heard this before and grow sick of it already, feel to it. You think someone associated with the album would have heard the Plain White T's song often enough to know this was not original and would not avoid comparison.

Beautiful Like You (written by Thomas Salter and Andy Stochansky) has a nice piano intro, and DeWyze's voice almost pulls it off, but that breathless quality becomes distracting and I'm overwhelmed with the urge to mail him an inhaler. He just sounds off on this song, flat and weak. The chorus is pretty good, if the engineer had only taken the drums down a couple notches. The less said about Stay Here (written by DeWyze, Lind, Bjorklund and Kelly), the better.

Next up was Me and My Jealousy (written by DeWyze, John Shanks and Zac Maloy).  I liked this song, the pretty piano, the Coldplay feel. It was reminiscent of some other song, but I can't put my finger on it.  It had a nice sweeping, epic feel to it.  But DeWyze's voice is not really up for the challenge of such a big song and the cracks in his voice aren't endearing but irritating.  Brooklyn Bridge  (written by DeWyze, Gad and Robbins) is a great Billy Joel song.  You can see DeWyze sitting behind a baby grand in a smoky bar somewhere upstate New York in 1955.  So, not the most modern, relevant of songs.  And could have done without the humming. 

There is too obvious a joke for a song called Weightless (written by DeWyze, Shanks and Maloy).  DeWyze's voice is thin and reedy, the instrumentation at the beginning reminds me of a poor man's version of Israel "IZ" Kamakawiwo'ole's ukulele version of Over the Rainbow, and the lyrics are unsophisticated.  I'd like to say I didn't like The Day the Earth Stood Still (written by DeWyze, Gad and Robbins) because I found DeWyze's vocal just as weak and unsatisfying as elsewhere on the record.  But I found myself bopping in my chair to the song, so I have to admit that poor vocals, silly lyrics and basic instrumentation aside, I enjoyed it. But if you think I'm being too harsh on DeWyze, listen to his sustained notes at the end of that song.  His vocals need a lot of work.

The last song is A Song about Love (written by DeWyze, David Hodges and Michael Busbee) and it is a nice way to close the album.  The song has a lovely melody.  This could be a hit if the vocals were re-recorded (a little autotune couldn't hurt).  I really like the simple production, just the acoustic guitar, some piano, and a background vocal, and the vocals are almost there.  On a second listen, I liked the song even more.

Sadly, the problem with the album was the problem with Lee DeWyze during his surprisingly successful American Idol run.  When his voice is on, when he is not breathless, off-key or cracking, it's terrific.  It has a great tone and great raspy sound.  But when it's off, it is really unpleasant to listen to and makes some decent songs actually sound worse than they probably are.  Unfortunately, on much of this album, the vocals are not there.  I wonder if this is at all due to the fact that the album was recorded while they were touring.  Perhaps if they had given his voice time to rest, it would not have sounded so weak on the record.

It seems that the primary goal of this album was to not scare any existing fans away.  There's nothing inherently wrong with making a pleasing, approachable, mainstream record, so I won't fault anyone for there being no envelope pushing in this record.  It was an opportunity for Lee to start expressing who he is and what he wants to share with an audience.  I hope he gets another chance and pays more attention to how he uses his voice. 

Disappointing Reviews/Sales for Lee DeWyze's Album

"American Idol Winner" was how Lee DeWyze wanted to be known. But that mantle has proven to be as much an albatross as a gold medal for those on the receiving end. While some winners have had great success as recording artists, most notably Carrie Underwood, others have seen winning the television show as the one and only high point of their musical careers.

It’s too early to say whether DeWyze, winner of Season 9, will be another Taylor Hicks, turning to Broadway to stay in the game, or whether he will have the long-term mainstream music success of Kelly Clarkson. But initial reaction to his post-Idol debut CD, Live it Up, does not bode well.

According to HeadlinePlanetNews, preliminary estimates show his CD as selling around 45,000 units its first week, the worst sales numbers for any American Idol winner. According to an article in Zap2It, following the release last year of Kris Allen’s first CD, Season 8 was the first year that the winner sold fewer that 100,000 units.  But as poor as Allen’s anemic 85,000 units sold seemed last year, DeWyze’s numbers are far worse.   Here are the rankings for first post-Idol album sales by each of the winners:

1. Ruben Studdard, "Souful," 400,000+
2. Carrie Underwood, "Some Hearts," 315,000
3. Taylor Hicks, "Taylor Hicks," 298,000
4. Kelly Clarkson, "Thankful," 297,000
5. David Cook, "David Cook," 279,000
6. Fantasia Barrino, "Free Yourself," 240,000
7. Jordin Sparks, "Jordin Sparks," 119,000
8. Kris Allen, "Kris Allen," 85,000
9. Lee DeWyze, "Live it Up," 45,000

And it is not just sales that are disappointing. The reviews for "Live it Up" far have also been underwhelming, with reviewers wondering if the album was rushed to capitalize on DeWyze’s win and suggesting it has been homogenized and watered down in an effort to offend no one.  Of course, the reviews haven't been universally negative.  Newsday liked the album, saying DeWyze "crafted the best post-"Idol" debut since Carrie Underwood."  IGN Music said the album does a nice job of balancing grit and warmth.  And while Hitfix mostly panned the album, the reviewer praised Beautiful Like You, interestingly, the only song DeWyze didn’t co-write.

Crystal Bowersox cheerleader Michael Slezak of Entertainment Weekly not surprisingly gave the record a “C” and called it generic. USMagazine gave it 1 ½ stars and, riffing off of the frequent description of DeWyze as a “paint salesman” (despite his two previous records), called it “as exciting as, well, watching paint dry.” The Milwaukee Journal Sentinel online said “it tacks toward the safe and bland.” Even his hometown paper the Chicago Sun Times was pretty mean-spirited in their review, giving the album one star and saying, “Live It Up"? Curling up on the couch and flipping between PBS and C-SPAN would be more exciting." While their competitor, the Chicago Tribune, found the album something they could agree on, giving it just 2 out of 4 stars, saying it “sounds like it was created in a laboratory; it’s designed to be inoffensive, clinically precise, airless.” Blast.com called it “a musical form of Ikea.” 

In fairness to DeWyze, it has become cool to malign American Idol and its contestants recently and many reviewers would not be caught dead praising an Idol contestants record out of fear of losing their street cred.  Plus, the type of album usually  put out by the winner is often safe and inoffensively mainstream as the target audience is American Idol viewers, not necessarily music fans.  Despite DeWyze's comments before its release about writing every song on the album and having so much input, the bottom line is that every song was written by committee and the product released was meant not to inspire and excite, but to put at ease.

The good news for DeWyze is that he has fans and they have come out in support of him, posting positive comments on Amazon.com where his album has been reviewed 26 times and is rated 4.5 stars. Not being in possession of a review copy, I’m relegated to listening to the sample clips on Amazon and that is not enough on which to base a review.  I did hear all of Sweet Serendipity and gave it a generally positive review, which you can read here.



From what little I've heard on the rest of the tracks, however, I am a little surprised by the sound of his voice. On Idol, while DeWyze consistently struggled to stay on key, the tone of his voice was decent and nicely Daughtry-esque. But what I’ve heard so far is not that rough-around-the-edges sound, but a more inconsistent and unappealing John Mayer with a bad head cold sound. And the songs, with the exception of Beautiful Like You, all have a Jason Mraz-like inoffensive/pop quality that is pretty forgettable.

American Idol Season 9 runner-up Crystal Bowersox will have her first post-Idol album released next month.  There was some early grumbling, from Bowersox, that the first single (Hold On, co-written by Kara Dioguardi) was not what she wanted.  But recent news appears to indicate that she is getting her way and that her original, pre-Idol song Farmer's Daughter will be the album' first single.  I hope for her sake that the album was not subject to the same amount of white washing as DeWyze's apparently was and her talent is allowed to shine through.  I'll go on record, however, that Hold On was a good song and probably would have sold well.  It'll be interesting to see if the less radio-friendly, more folky Farmer's Daughter is a commercial success.  It's already been a favorite among her fans.

How This Blog Got Its Name

I adopted the handle "BurnThis" as soon as I ventured into cyberspace and realized I had to have a name that was anonymous yet meaningful.  I'm no arsonist and, though I'm passionate about poker, the phrase did not come from the 'burn" cards.  No, Burn This is an homage to my favorite playwright, Lanford Wilson.

Lanford Wilson is a Pulitzer Prize winning writer of such plays as Talley's Folly, Fifth of July, Hot L Baltimore and Balm in Gilead.  I first was exposed to his plays during a high school production of Rimers of Eldritch (as one of my readers should be intimately aware).  There was an immediacy and passion in his writing that spoke to my teen self and continued to move me as I proceed through young adulthood. 

Wilson writes about real things, love and loss, families and friends, trust and betrayal.  But he does so with realistic humor as well as pathos.  In his sixteenth play, which debuted in 1986, he dealt with the aftermath of a young man's suicide on his friends and family.  The title of the play, Burn This, comes from a line by one of the characters, Burton, a screenwriter, who says, "Make it personal, tell the truth, and then write "Burn this" on it."  It was later described, by NY Times reviewer Alvin Klein, as the idea that "as soon as a writer puts his most private feelings on paper, he must destroy the evidence at once. That would be the self-preserving thing to do."

I related to that idea.  The need to put things down, to bare my soul, and yet to immediately wipe away any evidence.  The feelings need to be expressed, but they are too real, too raw to be shared or admitted it.  For whatever reason, writers need to write.  They -- may I be so bold as to say we? -- need to articulate our feelings with words on a page.  Feeling them or saying them are not enough, there is something necessary about the tactile experience of putting it down in some physical form and about the visual experience of seeing the words in front of us.  But then the feeling comes over you, as Michael Stipe once sang, "Oh, no, I've said too much."  So you're tempted to light a match and destroy the evidence.

Wilson expressed his deepest feelings in writing and had the courage not to destroy it but, instead, share it with the world in some 22 plays.  He addressed issues of real depth and meaning and his plays are as significant  and timely now as they were when he originally wrote them.  With the recent media attention on gay bullying and suicides, a play like the semi-autobiographical Lemon Sky could help turn the spotlight on these issues.  In it, the main character is a high school graduate coming to terms with how his coming out of the closet affects his family, most notably his hostile, resentful father.

It may be ironic that while my favorite author is hyper-capitalist Ayn Rand, my favorite playwright is the far to the left Lanford Wilson.  But, I am drawn to the feelings of alienation and disillusionment that his characters explore and the significant role of family in their struggles.  He may trumpet the misfits and lower classes, but he still imbues them with humanity and grace and purpose.  He has written during a period of great change for America and his plays can help us navigate through those rough waters.  I feel better for having read his works and seen his plays and I hope they continue to influence and educate further generations.

Now that I've said all this...

Burn this.

What Do Artists Owe Their Fans?

R.E.M. has a line from the song E-Bow the Letter, written in the mid-90s, that I find very meaningful in its simplicity.  Stipe sings, "This fame thing, I don't get it."  Not being famous, I have no way of knowing what it must be like to be recognized wherever you go.  For people to talk about you and write about you who don't actually know you.  For people to care about every small detail of your life.  It's weird, for lack of a better word.  And it can be intoxicating or unsettling or both for the person on the receiving end.

I'm also reminded of a line written some twenty years earlier by Jackson Browne, "I don't know how to tell you all just how crazy this life feels."  Artists, like athletes, have a unique position in that what they do for love and money, their career choice, their avocation, puts them in the public eye whether or not that was the goal. They go out on a stage or a field or a stadium and are cheered or booed or both by mostly complete strangers.  That is to be expected.  They know that you cannot make a living without someone who supports what you are doing, so fans are a necessary part of the equation.  But what do you owe those fans who support you and enable you to continue to make your records or play your sport?

Before I go on, let me clarify that I am separating artists from celebrities those who seek the spotlight as an end in itself, see, for example, Paris Hilton and Kim Kardashian.  Being famous, living that crazy life, is something they sought, something they expected, something they continue to want.  By contrast, Angelina Jolie and Brad Pitt may be celebrities, but their initial goal was simply to perform.  The celebrity, and the problems that come with it, came later.

In the old days (before I was even born, so you know we're going back a bit), artists had little direct contact with their fans.  Their public image was mostly controlled by the studios or labels that owned their contract and the media, which was so much smaller then, was mostly a party in scripting the prearranged public image.  When I was growing up, the highlight of my "celebrity" encounter was getting Johnny Bench's autograph as I leaned over the dugout at Dodger Stadium or seeing Van Morrison in the parking lot after a concert.  I never expected to communicate with them or hear from them on a regular basis.

But with the advent of social media, many artists and others have taken to MySpace or Facebook or Twitter to communicate with fans.  Personally, I wonder if some of the magic is lost.  When I was younger, I looked forward to the next Springsteen release without having him tweet "just wrote Dancing in the Dark, think it'll be a hit."  I didn't need to hear from Alan Alda that he was excited for the tenth year of M*A*S*H or from Steven Spielberg that the mechanical shark was acting up on his new film.  I didn't need to have a personal relationship with the artists or athletes I liked.  But now we expect to have that connection because it is so easy to do.  But as we parents tell our children, or at least should, just because you can do something, doesn't mean you should.

So what do artists owe their fans?  How much of their life should the fans be entitled to?  I'm not sure they owe us anything other than what each of us owes each other -- respect.  They should put out their best effort and be honest (so athletes shouldn't take performance enhancing drugs or cheat, artists shouldn't steal or pass someone else's work as their own).  They can choose to communicate with us and we can choose whether or not we want to hear what they have to say, but it should not be expected or demanded. 

I'm fine with Michael Stipe not tweeting where he is today or putting out a Facebook post about his upcoming album.  I'll eventually get the information, either from more mainstream routes like interviews or by going way old school and just waiting for it to come out and listening to it.  I'm also fine with Trent Reznor tweeting about his new album if that's what he wants to do.  Neither approach is better, and neither will make their respective albums any better.  All I feel they owe me -- if anything at all -- is the best album they can make.