Unlikely Admiration

An interesting question at The Women's Colony today... Who Would I Be Most Surprised to Know You Admire?

I am a snob about music. Not in the way most people think of musical snobbery, because I like a wide range of musical styles: rock, alternative (esp. punk) and musical theater are my favorite genres (see what I mean?). Obviously I'm not a snob in the high-brow sense!

What I am a snob about is singing ability. Even as far back as 4th or 5th grade, I would not stand for a successful musical artist with a so-so singing voice. Even if their act was primarily style or shock, I was obnoxiously loud in the "SHE SUCKS!!" department. I just felt (and still do) that there are so many talented singers out there who ALSO have the big personality. Why are there so many who don't ever get their "big break" while these other hacks are packaged into superstars?

Everyone who has known me for any length of time has heard far too many of my tirades about the music industry's machine. "Pop music is a joke!" "It's all a farce!" "They are treating American consumers like fools!" The first artist that inspired my tirades was Madonna. "Does no one else hear that SHE CANNOT SING?" And it continued... through Britney... even now with that Kesha person...

Since I regard Madonna's famous antics with eye rolls (at best), most people would be pretty shocked to hear that...

...I think Lady Gaga is pretty great.

Sure, she strikes me as "hey, look at me! look at me!" just like Madonna always did, but THAT GIRL CAN SING.

So I find myself cheering her on as she has become a worldwide superstar so quickly.

Sing It, Weird Girl!



People who knew-me-when would also be surprised that I, of the I'll-never-watch-American-Idol-it's-the-pop-music-machine-on-display-and-it-makes-me-sick, am completely impressed with the kids on American Idol.

That show is rough. You have to be really good to make it through that process. The Internet is brutal, and the judges' comments on the show itself are pretty harsh. I wish the judges would make those kinds of comments about the guest artists who perform on the show! That would really demonstrate how hard they are on the contestants!

Some of them are SO talented, and I am rooting for them now that they're off the show and out there giving it a shot!

Kelly Clarkson, Jennifer Hudson, Carrie Underwood, David Cook, Adam Lambert... they all have AMAZING voices! LOVE!

P.S. GO CRYSTAL!