Idol Chit-Chat
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Sunday, November 18, 2007

"Next Great Band" Produces a Shocker

Because I was bopping to the top with “High School Musical” Friday night, I missed ‘The Next Great American Band” and didn’t have the chance to watch it until tonight.

And wouldn’t you know it that the one I miss produces the biggest shock of the season…

When the two final bands were Tres Bien and Franklin Bridge and Dominic had not done any Seacrest-like promises of a shocker, it seemed obvious that it was Tres Bien who would go home. But surprisingly, Dominic announced Tres Bien and Franklin Bridge, Sheila’s pick to go all the way, was eliminated. No one was more surprised than Tres Bien themselves. Their lead singer, Mikey, even dedicated their performance to Franklin Bridge, who he called “the best band here.”

Of course, since I was never that big of a fan of Franklin Bridge and couldn’t understand why everyone loved them, I was pretty happy. But now that makes me a little concerned about my boys from Sixwire…

Here’s the rundown as the bands performed songs written by the legendary songwriting team of Leiber and Stoller…

Light of Doom: “Jailhouse Rock”
It should’ve been really scary. So how come it wasn’t? B+

The Clark Brothers: “Saved”
I’m not familiar with this song, but they gave it a passionate bluegrassy rendition. A

Dot Dot Dot: “Love Potion #9”
Adam stood still again and played guitar, and this time I didn’t mind his stillness. It produced a really solid vocal. A

Cliff Wagner and the Old No. 7: “Poison Ivy”
This was a cute rendition of this one, but Cliff didn’t really own it as much as he should have. B

Denver and the Mile High Orchestra: “Ruby Baby”
I’m not familiar with this one either, but they gave it a nice sexy feel. And for the second week in a row, Denver actually showed personality. John and Dicko criticized their attempt at funk, but Sheila loved it and so did I. A-

Sixwire: “I Keep Forgetting”
This is my all-time favorite Michael McDonald song and if these guys get a contract they should absolutely put it on their first album. I have NO idea what the judges were listening to since they didn’t really agree with me. They want more edge and that kind of worries me. A+

Tres Bien: “Some Other Guy”
Mikey took a page out of Adam’s book and gave a manic performance that worked pretty well with their whole retro sound. A-

So who do I think should go home? I would say Cliff Wagner and the Old No. 7, even though I like them. Their performance just seemed to lack something this week. If it’s not them, it should probably be Denver and his boys—although I’m pretty curious to see them attack the Rolling Stones, which is next week’s theme…

So let’s hear from you. Are you upset that Franklin Bridge is gone, or are you with me on that one?

And is anyone else out there starting to get just the slightest bit excited about this show?...