:: TGBob.com ::

	AMERICAN IDOL SEASON 11, EPISODE 2 - LIVE BLOG
	» CATEGORY: Daily Blog	BY: tgbob «
	» POSTED ON: 1/19/2012 7:53:03 PM	MOOD: cynical «

[1/19/2012 9:01:59 PM]

Well, that's it... 38 tickets in all. Next time, San Diego!

[1/19/2012 9:01:39 PM]

Finally, we get Hallie Day. She has a lot of sob stories going on... Dropped out of high school, family wasn't around, felt lonely, tried to OD on pills, then met her future husband. Her husband is the one who convinced her to tryout for AI. She's going to sing I Will Survive. (Go Figure) She has a strong voice. Pretty good audition. But once again, in my opinion, she didn't really live up to the hype. She is probably semifinal talent at least and could go farther.

[1/19/2012 8:56:59 PM]

Welcome back to a crying contestant... And we get a string of rejections, but no nutcases or showing of bad talent.

[1/19/2012 8:54:30 PM]

Final commercial break of the evening. We only get one hour tonight. Next up is another hyped contestant...

[1/19/2012 8:52:34 PM]

Hey, we got a kid from Moundsville auditioning! He's a coal miner, and he sings "In The Still of The Night" to his coal miners. Shane Bruce is going to sing Jeff Buckley's Hallelujah for the judges. Got to root for the local boy! He has a decent voice, but kind of short on breath. He looks disappointed in his performance. The judges give him a bit of support. Steven says not yet, J-Lo and Randy also say not yet, but work on it and come back next year. Wasn't the worst audition for a guy with a unanimous no vote, but he can definitely improve. Hope he can make it back next year.

[1/19/2012 8:47:59 PM]

Back... Got another few golden tickets, and Steven has a sound effect box.

[1/19/2012 8:44:23 PM]

Another quick commercial break. And here's this annoying HTC phone commercial.

[1/19/2012 8:43:41 PM]

Next up, mobile DJ and wedding singer, Erika Van Pelt. She's going to whip out some Carol King. She has a very soulful voice, much to my surprise. Nice low alto. The judges just get right to the voting... They all say yes. Steven says "Pelt can belt".

[1/19/2012 8:40:51 PM]

Day two of auditions! J-Lo is running late, so Randy and Steven put on a private show for the waiting contestants. When J-Lo does arrive, she looks gorgeous! ^_^ The judges are still raving about the previous day's talent.

[1/19/2012 8:37:03 PM]

Another commercial break... Still waiting for the freak show! ^_^

[1/19/2012 8:36:32 PM]

Next up, Travis Orlando. He auditioned last year, and he's singing Isn't She Lovely. He sounds like the stereotypical Idol audition... A bit of vibrato, decent pitch, but nothing really special. He starts crying about how he dropped out of high school and this is all he has left, his mom left him, and he's living in a shelter with the rest of his family. I feel sorry for the guy, but they're really heaping on the whole sob story angle. He's begging the judges to put him through. The judges think he needs to grow, but they give him a yes vote. I don't know if he'll make it too far, though. He's pretty plain sounding, and the sob story won't work forever. Good luck to him, though.

[1/19/2012 8:33:02 PM]

We're back, and we see a home video of a young kid packing for his trip to Idol. He's from Ohio, and wears a Mountaineers shirt. 15 year old Eben Frankenwitz (sp?) is ready to go! He's singing Ain't No Sunshine, and he doesn't sound too bad... The judges like the Bieber lookalike... I'm just wondering if he will have a bit of voice changing mid-competition. I don't think he will make it past Hollywood, to be honest, but if he does make it to the semis, he could get the youth vote.

[1/19/2012 8:26:34 PM]

And another commercial break! When are they going to show some bad auditions? I want to see the good old-fashioned Pittsburgh freak show! ^_^

[1/19/2012 8:25:42 PM]

Welcome back! Next up is lisping starving artist, Creighton Fraker. He's singing an original he wrote on the bus ride from NYC to PGH... He's doing his best MJ/Timberlake impression. He's a bit too pretentious for my taste, but he can hold his own. I guess he's just not my style. And figures, he won't stop singing. The judges are just eating it up. I'm wondering if he pronounces his last name "Frack"? That way, I can scream "Fraker Fraking Frak" and such... The judges all give him a yes vote, and he's through. Not a fan, but he has the style that a lot of people nowadays like.

[1/19/2012 8:17:47 PM]

Another commercial break... Not a single bad audition yet! Go Black & Gold!

[1/19/2012 8:17:21 PM]

And we have a planker! She is planking on everything! But it's her sister who is auditioning! Samantha Novachek (sp?) is singing a decent vocal, while her sister (Patty Bell) is planking. This is a weird audition, not because of the singing. The judges like her vibe, and describe her as pure. She's got a unanimous yes. I wonder if her sister will get to accompany her for planking support in Hollywood... Heh... family planking.

[1/19/2012 8:14:46 PM]

Aaron Marcellus (Shale?) is impressing, as is Chase Likens! A big montage of yes votes, and the golden tickets are flying out the door!

[1/19/2012 8:13:43 PM]

Next up is some guy who has been on stage since he was two. Reed Grimm is singing the theme song from Family Matters... wait, what??? Ok, he just went all blues on that song, and was actually quite entertaining! The judges are very anxious to vote, and they all use varying extreme levels of yes. Pittsburgh is not disappointing!

[1/19/2012 8:11:50 PM]

Welcome back to the steel city! Steven asks if his **** looks good... Not sure where he was going with that.

[1/19/2012 8:08:28 PM]

First up is native Korean, Hee Jun (missed the proper spelling)... He is having confidence issues after witnessing some of the other talent in the waiting room. He does some fun exchanges with the judges. He's doing a Michael Bolton song... Wow, he actually has a gentle, soulful voice! He sounds really good, even with the upper register notes! It looks like J-Lo is going to cry, but then she just gets her shivers! Randy is impressed and shocked. This guy had nothing to worry about! Steven thinks he could be an American Idol. I'll be rooting for him... It also helps that he has some cute female relatives! I love me some Asian women! ^_^

And with that, we get our first commercial break!

[1/19/2012 8:03:37 PM]

And we get a nice welcome from a guy with a giant beer gut and a shirt that is too short... Perfect Pittsburgh welcome!

[1/19/2012 8:02:54 PM]

And we're starting! AI is coming to us from Pittsburgh today! Can't wait to see some of the local talent!

[1/19/2012 8:01:12 PM]

Sweet! It works!

[1/19/2012 8:00:51 PM]

Before I start, I need to test this improvement to my live blog script...

[1/19/2012 7:53:03 PM]

Time to get this live blog started!

» SHORTY CODE : http://tgbob.com/?788

0 COMMENTS

OPINIONS: 6 PEOPLE APPROVED, WHILE 4 PEOPLE DISAPPROVED

	TGBOB.COM 2011 YEAR IN REVIEW
	» CATEGORY: Daily Blog	BY: tgbob «
	» POSTED ON: 1/19/2012 6:50:47 PM	MOOD: contemplative «

Well, it's that time of year again... Time to look forward to how successful we will become, and time to look back at how miserably we failed at becoming successful! ^_^ j/k But seriously, each year we take a look back at the previous year's stats to see where we have improved, and where we need to make further improvements. Although we've had a few posts this year already, for me, it always feels like this summary post is the ushering in of the new year, as I can give an analysis on what happened with this site and motivate myself to try achieving the new year's goals.

Now, for the analysis of this past year... I think we can refer to 2011 as "The Year of the Lurker"! Overall, site visits increased a lot! Three of the four records for site visits were broken this year, and the fourth that didn't fall came awfully close to falling. Most importantly, the record for number of site visits was broken by over 1000 hits! When a small site like ours, which normally deals with annual hits of a few thousand, increases visits by over 1000 hits, that is a huge leap! The old record of 3,557 was set in 2008, and this past year, we got to 4,699! Great improvement! Keep coming back, people!

The downside (hence, the lurker title): Site activity (blogs, comments, opinions, etc.) decreased, despite the increase in visits. I'm not sure why that is. I'm hoping that this upcoming year, there will be increased activity on the site, and I'm hoping that some of the improvements coming up will help with that. Most disappointing was the total lack of interest in the site's forum. That section all but died this past year. I'm going to try some things this year to spark interest in that section of the site, but it's not looking good at this point.

This past year, we introduced a new site feature: Member Blogs. That launch was a moderate success, as we did have some significant usage by a few of the members here. One member, in particular, went to town on posting blogs... You know who you are! I'm hoping for some increased usage of this section of the site, as I don't want to be the only person posting on the site! The hope for this feature was that I wouldn't have to post as much, and this site would be a more user-driven community, but it looks like I'm still blogging more than the rest of the user base combined. Well, this year, I am going to increase my amounts of posts, in hopes that it will drive more activity on the site!

Now, for the goals for this upcoming year... I didn't really post any promises for this past year like I did in 2010, so I can't really grade my progress. This year, I will list out my promises, and in the next year's review, I will reinstitute the grading of how well I kept my word. This year's promises:

1) Version 3.0! I know that earlier, I had said that this would be launched by now, but guess what happened? I found more stuff to add! Yes, I'm increasing the awesomeness of the new version, so I've pushed back the launch. I won't set a hard date just yet, but I'm hoping to have it ready to go by late February/early March of this year. Be patient, my friends!

2) The long-awaited database purge! Ok, this is more of a personal thing, but after the launch of v3.0, I'm going to send out a mass mailing to the users who have not posted site activity in a long time, to see if they are even still interested in being members of the site. The ones who either ask to be removed or do not respond will be purged from the system. This is for the purpose of providing a more accurate representation of our user base. Yes, we're at about 40 members, but I'd say that at least 30 are dead accounts. I don't want those around if they're not going to be used!

3) Member Drive! I tried this once in the past, but with zero results. Seriously... I offered a prize, and nobody qualified! But I'm going to try again. I'm planning on hosting a Member Drive during the middle of the year, where members will be encouraged to try and recruit new members to the site. There will be a prize for the winner, and maybe something for a runner up if there is enough interest.

4) TGBob.com Store! I've been thinking about this one for a while, but I'm now set on establishing an online store for the site. I'm still trying to settle on what vendor to use, but the merchandise will consist of standard fare... T-shirts, coffee mugs, etc. But I'm hoping to not just do logo-wear, but try to come up with some creative designs to slap on the merchandise. I know it wouldn't be much fun to just have a shirt that said "TGBob.com" across the front. I may ask for input from the members here on possible designs in the future, so be prepared for that! Expect the store to launch in mid to late summer this year.

5) Increase my posting! I'm going to attempt to break the record for each of my categories in blog stats this year. This means re-establishing the WTF Videos, Game of the Week, and such.

6) Poetry archiving! I'm going to get all of my old poetry posted on the site.

7) Video series! I'm thinking of establishing at least one, maybe two, video series for this site. Of course, I want to get a video blog going, but I'm thinking of doing a series of "On Location/Events" shoots, and maybe some sort of review show. We'll see.

8) Gain ten new members this year! Legitimate members, that is!

9) Finally break the 5000 hit mark for annual visits!

10) Break the 1000 hit mark for monthly visits!

11) Break the 50 hit mark for daily visits!

12) Establish (and keep) schedule for certain types of blog posts (ex: WTF Videos on Monday, Game of the Week on Friday, etc.)

And now, the moment you've all been waiting for... Stats! Enjoy!

-- TG

------------------------------

MEMBER INFO
------------------------------
Number of Members: 39
New Members this year: 6 (RECORD: 7; 2009)

SITE STATS (2011/Total)
------------------------------
Site Visits: 4699/16,616 *** NEW RECORD
Unique Visitors: 944/2871 *** NEW RECORD
Most Visits for
---- Single Day: 44; 03/04/11 (RECORD: 48; 12/09/08)
---- Month: 708; July *** NEW RECORD

MEMBER STATS (2011/Total)
------------------------------
Number of Logins: 373/1494 (RECORD: 431; 2009)
Number of Comments: 173/1058 (RECORD: 298; 2008)

BLOG STATS (2011/Total)
------------------------------
Number of Blogs: 158/746 (RECORD: 184; 2008)
By Category
---- Daily Blog: 25/313 (RECORD: 104; 2008)
---- Video Blog: 0/1 (RECORD: 1; 2007)
---- Sports: 1/24 (RECORD: 17; 2007)
---- Projects: 0/4 (RECORD: 2; 2007)
---- WTF: 20/177 (RECORD: 49; 2008)
---- Other Videos: 47/143 *** NEW RECORD
---- Polls: 0/8 (RECORD: 4; 2007)
---- Poetry: 1/3 *** TIED RECORD (2008,2010)
---- Game of the Week: 0/8 (RECORD: 8; 2008)
---- Member Blogs: 64/64 *** NEW TO 2011

FORUM STATS (2011/Total)
------------------------------
Threads Created: 4/244 (RECORD: 148; 2003)
Most Threads Created for
---- Single Day: 1 (RECORD: 28; 06/30/03)
---- Month: 2; December (RECORD: 44; August 2003)
Number of Posts: 7/476 (RECORD: 192; 2003)
Most Posts for
---- Single Day: 2; 08/01/11 (RECORD: 28; 06/30/03)
---- Month: 3; August & December (RECORD: 46; August 2003)

MEMBER BOARD STATS (2011/Total)
------------------------------
Number of Messages: 25/101 (RECORD: 52; 2009)
Most Messages in
---- Single Day: 3; 01/07/11 & 01/08/11 (RECORD: 19; 05/06/09)
---- Month: 10; January (RECORD: 34; May 2009)

OPINIONS (2011/Total)
------------------------------
Number of Opinions: 157/339 (RECORD: 182; 2010)
Most Opinions Cast for
---- Single Day: 10; 03/30/11 (RECORD: 11; 04/07/10)
---- Month: 33; March (RECORD: 40; April 2010)
Number of Approvals: 155 (RECORD: 178; 2010)
Most Approvals Cast for
---- Single Day: 10; 03/30/11 (RECORD: 11; 04/07/10)
---- Month: 33; March (RECORD: 40; April 2010)
Number of Disapprovals: 2 (RECORD: 4; 2010)
Most Disapprovals Cast for
---- Single Day: 1; 01/14/11 & 09/22/11 *** TIED RECORD
---- Month: 1; January & September *** TIED RECORD

» SHORTY CODE : http://tgbob.com/?787

3 COMMENTS

OPINIONS: 9 PEOPLE APPROVED, WHILE 4 PEOPLE DISAPPROVED

	AMERICAN IDOL SEASON 11, EPISODE 1 - LIVE BLOG
	» CATEGORY: Daily Blog	BY: tgbob «
	» POSTED ON: 1/18/2012 8:15:53 PM	MOOD: tired «

[1/18/2012 10:01:30 PM]

Well, that's it for Savannah! 42 singers get through, and I'm stuck wondering if they are the answer... Tomorrow, we go to Pittsburgh! I'm wondering if we'll see Taylore on TV tomorrow! ^_^ Goodnight!

[1/18/2012 9:59:24 PM]

We're back... we have a quick montage of some decent contestants who made it through. Finally, we get to see Phillip Phillips... He has a deeper southern voice. Love the name! His father is Phillip Phillips Sr. They got a lot of Phillips in that family! He's going to do Superstition by Stevie Wonder. His voice kind of reminds me of a mix between Lee DeWyze and Chris Daughtry. He gyrates a good bit while he's singing. He then picks up his guitar and does an acoustic rendition of MJ's Thriller! I don't know if he was as good as they were hyping him up to be, but he's a solid performer, especially with the guitar in hand. He gets a yes from each judge, and he's off to Hollywood!

[1/18/2012 9:49:46 PM]

Next up is Brittany Kerr... She's an NBA dancer, and now wants to try her hand at singing. She is smoking hot! Wow... Ok, Bob, calm down... Gotta judge her singing... The singing is not bad, but could use some improvement. A little on the weak side. Steven and Randy give her a yes, while J-Lo says no. So, she's through. Well, we have our eye-candy contestant! ^_^

Final commercial break of the day. Next will be the guy they hyped up. We'll see how good he is.

[1/18/2012 9:46:47 PM]

Back from commercials, and we've got a bunch of young girls wanting to meet Steven Tyler... which is kind of disgusting... He's getting tons of kisses. Next up, we have a girl who looks absolutely psycho! She's obsessed with Steven, and claims that Steven will be her future ex-husband. Steven gives her a hug, and she grabs his butt. Ok, please get on with the singing. Her name's Erica Nowak. She's doing a bit of a husky yelling singing. Doesn't sound good... All she cares about is grabbing Steven's butt.

[1/18/2012 9:38:02 PM]

Back from commercial break, and another montage of nameless rejects. Some crying, some anger, some torn up name cards. Next up is a former prison guard, W.T. Thompson, and they had showed him exiting without a ticket... But now they're showing his audition... Wonder if they're trying to pull a fast one on us. He has a bit of a light country voice, kind of rough around the edges. Steven says no, J-Lo says yes. It's up to Randy, who says he's going to get eaten alive. Turns out that Randy said yes, and Ryan was holding onto the ticket for him! Let's hope he improves... Seems like a nice guy. Speaking of nice guys, another commercial break!

[1/18/2012 9:30:15 PM]

This next girl has some major dreadlocks! She's a happy one, and likes to dance and pose. She thinks she could give J-Lo a run for her money. She comes in the judges room and starts showing them the dance she made. Let's just hope she can sing. Ashlee Altise is her name, and she's singing some Beatles. I've heard better voices, but she's pretty solid. Overall, she just seems to be a natural performer, although she may get annoying quick. We'll see how she does.

And time for another commercial break, and another promise of an audition we don't want to miss.

[1/18/2012 9:26:58 PM]

Back from the commercial break, and everybody is complaining about the heat. Randy is late, as usual. They're into day two of auditions, and the next contestant for American Idol is... A guy from South Africa! He compares himself to Rascal Flatts, although he has the heavy accent. Mawuena Kodou (sp)... Wow, you might as well spell his name "William Hung"! He is absolutely terrible, but endearing! He's just kind of standing there, and then says that Randy is wrong. Randy encourages him to find some people who think he's a good singer. So, he's out pounding the pavement with Ryan. He eventually brings back some kids and an old man in flannel. The strange group says he has a good voice. They're wrong.

[1/18/2012 9:17:35 PM]

Time for another commercial break... And they're starting to tout up the "audition you won't believe". We'll see...

[1/18/2012 9:16:33 PM]

Back from break... And we got a bunch of crying auditioners! Next up is a tall cute blonde who works with special needs. Her name is Lauren Mink. She has the first voice I've heard that sounds like it should be a country singer. Not bad... She hit a couple off notes, but the judges all seem to love her. Randy compares her to Sugarland, which she says is her favourite band. She's off to Hollywood!

[1/18/2012 9:09:54 PM]

Hour #2 of the show. Next up, Schyler Dixon. Last year, she auditioned with her brother. This year, she's all alone. She used a Randy-ism... She said she's in it to win it! Wait, the judges are calling in her brother... Are they going to force him to audition? They're trying to convince him to audition. First up, Schyler. She nails it. Even in the upper registers, she is solid. Her brother, Colton finally decides to sing to humor the judges. And he's nailing a David Cook song. They are both awesome! Judges give a unanimous yes for both. I'm just loving the whole forcing Colton to audition. Nothing like walking in just to support your sister, and walking out with a golden ticket!

Commercial time!

[1/18/2012 8:59:44 PM]

Next up, a sibling rivalry. But first, commercial!

[1/18/2012 8:59:22 PM]

Next up, a nervous Carrie Underwood fan! She's a cute blonde like Carrie, so maybe there's a chance for her! Stephanie Renae. She's 15, and singing a Carrie song! Inside Your Heaven. She has a strong voice with a nice vibrato, a bit nasally, but she could be pretty good with some coaching. The Steven says yes, Randy says no. So it's up to J-Lo... and she says yes. Good, she has a lot of potential.

[1/18/2012 8:55:58 PM]

Welcomed back by a bunch of cowboys. Time for one of the guys who I think may be a nutcase. He wants to sing the national anthem at a NASCAR race. He's screaming to warm up, and I think he broke part of the set during his entrance. Joshua Chavis is his name. He claims to be country pop rock. And he's going with a Jason Mraz song. Of course, that makes perfect sense! And he's pretty hokey. Actually, he was quite annoying. The judges are contemplating, and he busts out some Bruno Mars. Figures, for a country pop rock guy, he would sing Mraz and Mars. Randy says he's terrible. And he walks out crying. Now, he's yelling at the cameras to stop following him, and includes the flipping of the bird!

[1/18/2012 8:47:40 PM]

Time for another commercial break... After this, a nervous 15 year old, and a couple nutcases.

[1/18/2012 8:46:56 PM]

Time for the first sob story that I've caught... A girl that lives in a tent in the woods. For a tent, she and her man have a pretty nice setup! They have cabinets, a mattress, a tiki torch, and a huge bathroom! (The bathroom is a huge chunk of woods)

Her name: Amy Brumfield. She's doing Superwoman by Alicia Keys. I'm not sure what to make of her voice. She started off sounding nice and sweet, and then got a little heady when she hit some power notes. Not a bad audition, though. The judges love her, and send her through.

[1/18/2012 8:43:09 PM]

And back... And we have the montage of horrible singers. And once again, they are not providing the names of these contestants. Surprisingly enough, I haven't seen any costumes yet!

[1/18/2012 8:39:27 PM]

Time for another commercial... And an overdue bathroom break!

[1/18/2012 8:37:38 PM]

Next up, Shannon Magrane, 15 years old, and six feet tall. Her father was a pitcher for the St. Louis Cardinals. She brings her family in, and Steven screws up and tells her father that he thinks she is hot. Pedobear is due for an entrance! o_O She had a pretty solid voice, and she gets a unanimous yes from the judges.

[1/18/2012 8:34:19 PM]

And we're back. Forgot to mention, we're in Savanna, GA. Ryan feels threatened by some of the contestants trying to steal his job. One contestant is trying to look like Ryan. Kind of pathetic, if you ask me. Let's see if he can sing. His name is Shaun Kraisman. Ok, his voice isn't too bad, although a bit theatric in my opinion. And he comes out of the room without a ticket.

[1/18/2012 8:25:44 PM]

And time for a commercial break. Whoa!

[1/18/2012 8:24:25 PM]

First one I'm paying attention to... Jessica Whitely... She sounds like she's using all head-voice, and it just sounds terrible... By the end, she's just shrieking. The judges were speechless, and then Randy breaks the silence with one word: Awful. I agree.

[1/18/2012 8:22:58 PM]

Ok, I'm late starting this thing... Got out of church a little after eight, so I'm just getting settled in, not really catching names of people. But so far, the judges are loving everybody, even though everyone they've shown that I've seen is average.

[1/18/2012 8:20:01 PM]

Testing testing 1 2 3

Time for a live blog of the first episode of American Idol!

» SHORTY CODE : http://tgbob.com/?786

0 COMMENTS

OPINIONS: 8 PEOPLE APPROVED, WHILE 2 PEOPLE DISAPPROVED

	SOMEBODY THAT I USED TO KNOW
	» CATEGORY: Other Videos	BY: tgbob «
	» POSTED ON: 1/8/2012 2:21:20 AM	MOOD: happy «

I just found this music video a bit ago, and it is the reason why I'm up so late... I just cannot stop watching it! It's a pretty cool and catchy song, but the fact that all of the parts are played by five people on one guitar is just epic! Oh, and I will say that I now have a crush on the blonde in the video, and the bearded guy on the right is my hero! ^_^ Enjoy!

» SHORTY CODE : http://tgbob.com/?785

0 COMMENTS

OPINIONS: 7 PEOPLE APPROVED, WHILE 5 PEOPLE DISAPPROVED

	CATS AND THOSE CRAZY BIRTHDAY CARDS!!!
	» CATEGORY: Other Videos	BY: tgbob «
	» POSTED ON: 12/30/2011 1:57:57 AM	MOOD: confused «

I agree with the reaction! That's all I'll say. Enjoy!

» SHORTY CODE : http://tgbob.com/?784

0 COMMENTS

OPINIONS: 8 PEOPLE APPROVED, WHILE 2 PEOPLE DISAPPROVED

<< FIRST

< PREV

NEXT >

LAST >>