August 31, 2005

• The zombies [...] signed release forms to appear on Fox TV. Ha! Hoist by their own celebrity petard.
• To paraphrase Obi Wan Kenobi, "who's the bigger fool, the fool who auditions for a reality show, or the fool who a)is still angry about reality shows 4 years after the fact, b)is such a snob that he just cant accept that some people enjoy different things than him and move on, c)thinks reality shows are the biggest problem in the world today and is upset enough to don a zombie costume d)but for all his moral outrage, immediately signs a waiver and becomes part of the dumb but basically harmless reality craze he wasted so much time and energy being angry about in the first place" (its a very loose paraphrase)
• oooh. zombies is smart.
• Nick Muntean, a UT radio-television-film graduate student who organized and participated in the zombie horde ... decided to sign the consent form and participate in the Idol shot because he was worried about being kicked out by the police if he didn't. *slaps hand, in the shape of the letter L, on forehead*
• In other words they actually wanted to get on TV and figured that this was the best way to do it. I'd dress as a zombie for Halloween but it would be so cliche. I think I'll just put a red pen in my shirt pocket and go as Shaun.
• It's a meta-protest.
• I was under the impression that everyone who attended American Idol auditions were already zombies...
• Zombies are not real. /wipes forehead, puts down chainsaw
• These guys are lame, but I do love the zombie flash mob idea. The one in San Francisco was the best - some participants ran after the trolley car, moaning "trains, traiiins!" /still laughing, weeks later tracicle, that's an awesome costume idea. Might have to yoink it.
• Zombies?
• I like the idea of going inappropriately dressed as a zombie to a wide variety of events. (Is there a place to go where it's appropriate to be a zombie? Other than a costume party?) The one in San Francisco sounded the best, I agree, but I thought this one was awfully silly too.
• I prefer dressed as a bear. Dave Letterman's "how many guys in bear suits can get into a strip club?" is a classic.
• This is all going to backfire when the real zombies come. Everyone's going to be all, "Oh you totally cried wolf with your flashmobbing and traaains and now we have to cut off everyone's heads because we don't know who the real undead are."
• From what I hear, FOX was just doing a little viral promotion for its new "Zombie Idol" spin-off. (Friday Nights 9:00/8:00 Central, where FOX dumps most of its dead bodies...)
• You know what my dream is? That a classically trained singer will audition for one of the Idol shows. (This idea came to me last year, after hearing on of the opera sopranos in my residence singing in the shower). The judges couldn't possibly send them away for not being able to sing - any would be far better than the winners - and I would so love to see the looks on the judges faces, trying to decide what to do. I imagine that if the singer actually did opera or lieder, they would just say the style is all wrong - but wouldn't it be cool to see the clips? Now all I need is a classically trained singer willing to line up with teeny-boppers for days on end. Hmmm....
• I'm guessing, jb, that the classically trained singers won't even get through the first auditions. I think they probably screen out anyone who's received extensive training in singing in any capacity. Otherwise, those that are trained would have a very large advantage over the others? Just guessing here, haven't seen a single entire episode of American Idol myself.
• I think they'd be likely to say, "Sorry, that's not the style of music we're going for." I've seen tiny bits of the NZ Idol auditions and that seems to be the likely scenario.
• I think they'd be likely to say, "Sorry, that's not the style of music we're going for." I know - but do you think they would make the auditions clips? Most of the well-trained singers I have known wouldn't have been interested in lining up. I so would if I had the pipes and training.
• I've got the pipes and I've had some training, but I have this whole performance anxiety thing. Man, I don't know how I even made it through the training when the audience couldn't hear over the sound of my knees knocking together. If I could handle the crowd, I would totally audition, but only to be ironic, you understand.
• Yes, of course it would be ironic. So long as you wore something made of iron.
• The pop-star wannabes were largely unimpressed. "I don't get it," said Jacob Gandia, a singer. Hahahah.