Rock Star: Supernova 8/08/06 recap- A Flat Tire On The Interstate

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I’m glad I bought the jumbo bag of cheesy-poofs because I could not leave my couch. This competition is heating up folks, and like last year, those who truly want to front a rock band are out for the kill.

There are ten singers vying for the honor of fronting Supernova and I have to admit my hope for a kick ass season is finally starting to come true. There were some bumps in the road but now that the schlock of performers are dwindling, the real talent is beginning to stand out.

As promised last week, Magni was gifted a visit from his wife and son. It wasn’t long before the little tyke was jamming on daddy’s guitar, working that whammy bar like a champ. Kidding, but it would’ve been hilarious if true.

There were all sorts of goings-on throughout the house. Zayra was designing her outfit for the performance show. It must be difficult to sew two pieces of dental floss to a one inch square of rubber but she managed to do it. Lukas is going for a more heartfelt gig instead of being so angry. Ah-ha! I knew it was just an act.

Dilana pulled the golden ticket. She’ll be performing with Gilby. It’s not as if she was the lucky one. For some strange reason, none of the other contestants wanted the chance to perform on stage with their future band mate. Even Dave Navarro is baffled. He proclaims Dilana the winner by default. Yep, you just know the others are doing the uncomfortable-shift-in- their-seats move right about now.

Dilana- No Longer Fooling Around
And on that note, Dilana takes the stage with Gilby to perform Won’t Be Fooled Again by The Who. After the accolades Dave heaped on her, she could’ve mimed the song and still come out looking like a champ.

There was no need for miming, however. Dilana and Gilby were as natural as a pile of panties on a tour bus. You can’t help but notice the difference between Dilana and Jill’s stage presence with Gilby. While Jill needed to gyrate her body on Gilby, Dilana needed nothing of the sort. She owned the stage as any good lead singer should. The band heaped mountains of praise on her with Gilby finishing it off telling us all that he has no doubt a woman can front Supernova. Oh yeah, the song wasn’t sung half bad either.

Jill- Mother, Mother Make It Stop!
Capitalizing on her save-your-ass performance last week, Jill hopes to keep her foot out of her mouth and firmly planted on the stage. She’s going deeper and darker this week with Tracy Bonham’s Mother Mother.

Attempting to connect with the teenage malcontent, Jill smears her make-up, darkens her hair and unlaces her $300 leather boots. It’s your typical teenage poser attitude: complain about life in your online blog while sitting all comfy in your Midwest suburban home, complete with all the latest techno-gadgets that mommy and daddy worked their asses off to give you.

In between stomping the floor and pouting, Jill does manage to pull of a better show than previous weeks. She’s not as sexual which is actually nice to see. While Dave and Tommy like what they saw, Gilby comes through as the voice of reason. He warns her not to let the power of her voice suffer while performing on the stage.

Ryan- A Little Nookie Does The Voice Wonders
Whoa. Who snuck talent into Ryan’s glass of milk these last two weeks? I was a tad leery about him doing a Rolling Stones cover but he did an amazing job of Paint It Black.

Clad in a black hoody, Ryan appears from the crowd while the eerie intro begins. In a burst of flashing lights and gusto guitar riffs, Ryan peels back his hood and reveals painted eyes that would make the Lone Ranger green with envy. It’s captivating. It’s fun. It’s what this show was meant to be about.

Dave is beside himself, giggling and snorting. Gilby is impressed as well. But it is Tommy who offers up the best explanation of how suddenly Ryan is on top: “he got laid last week.” Ok, I admit that was my first thought as well.

Storm- Bigger and Larger
Is it me or does Queen seem to be the quantifier for these competition shows? I mean, if you pull off a Queen song, you’re as good as gold, right?

Storm does a remarkable job of pulling off We Are The Champoins. I usually get a little uneasy when someone tries to cover this song. Freddie Mercury is a tough act to follow. Storm keeps it simple and I love how she gets the crowd involved with a little a capella and change in the vocals. She’s dressed in a dainty designer tee and low rider jeans that show just enough tattoo to make you curious. *wink wink, nudge nudge*

The kudos are all around with the band and Dave. Jason loved the arrangement and vocals. Tommy thought she sang the hell out of it but hopes they didn’t spook her into not rocking it hard. Storm doesn’t miss a beat by letting him know that she’ll spank the crap out of him again. Meeeeow.

Zayra- Agh! My Eyes, Their Burning!
Brooke brings up a good point. We’re always wondering what Zayra will be wearing. I could probably spend this whole recap dissecting her wardrobe and what goes through her head. The sad part about this is that it totally deflects from her voice and performance. Oh wait, maybe that’s a good thing?

Zayra covers up a little more this week with a full body latex suit that shimmers gold. She has 9 inch “do me” pumps and a black top hat that clears a good two stories high. While her legs go on for days, her hair drops down to her elbows. I suppose this is a fitting outfit for her cover of All The Young Dudes. It is slightly reminiscent of Bowie’s Ziggy Stardust days with a new millennium slutty twist.

Vocally, it’s not really that bad and with the guest appearance of Magni on guitar, it’s definitely better than previous weeks. She surely appears to be enjoying her song and it’s showing. I’m guessing with the full body suit, she doesn’t have to worry about a string snapping and thus she can concentrate on actually singing.

Gilby loves her showmanship but tells her to watch the keys of her song. She was flat a few times. Tommy admires her confidence which is a good thing for a front woman.

Josh- Time To Pull Over For Some Gas
Josh is refusing to compromise his style, so take that Supernova. I guess this means we’ll finally see what he’s all about? Josh looks good and confident on stage as he’s getting ready to rock out to Stone Temple Pilot’s Interstate Love Song, a sentimental favorite of mine. I actually used to have the intro as my answering machine recording (I’m finally comfortable in admitting that ten years later).

But wait! Tommy Lee loves this song as well and wants to rock out on the skins with Josh. And just like that Josh’s face of confidence sunk and the giant knot in his stomach twisted just a little bit tighter.

At this point in the competition, Josh has no excuse. To be blunt, he blew the chunks of last nights KFC all over the stage. You could tell he was nervous and his voice quivered. Dave and the band were a bit more complimentary. Tommy wishes he wasn’t playing guitar so Josh so could funk it out. Gilby was glad to see Josh sing a real rock song and was happy with it. A part of me wonders if they’ll regret those praises when the aura of Tommy playing the drums wears out.

Magni- A Lullaby For The Boy
With all the rockin’, Magni seizes the opportunity to mellow out with an acoustic ditty called The Dolphin’s Cry by Live. It’s nicely stripped down. It’s seems fitting for his style and voice.

The wife and son were in the crowd to enjoy the fun and I chuckle at the oversized ear muffs for the son. Dave congratulates him for being the first one to perform unaccompanied. Magni credits his family for being there and saving his life this week.

Patrice- Walking On Sunshine
This is a make or break week for Patrice. She can’t afford another bottom three performance. What better song to sing than Instant Karma! by John Lennon.

It’s fun. It’s sugary and sweet. It’s like the encore at an Sheryl Crow concert. Patrice is spunky on stage with her Colgate smile and teased pigtails. She was jamming her guitar and even the other contestants sheathed their knives and got up and danced.

Gilby thought it was a great song for her voice and he thought she shouldn’t have been in the bottom three last week. Tommy gave her kudos as well. And Jason? He nodded along. He’s been quiet tonight.

Lukas- He’s Back…Finally
Leaping lizards, mates. As if we haven’t already seen some great performances, Lukas comes out and blows everyone away. After a craptacular previous week, I was interested to see what Lukas would do to redeem himself.

There’s no better way to erase a bad week than covering Radio head’s Creep. Lukas keeps it mellow at first by making love to his microphone, pouring his soul onto the stage and then submerging himself in it. You know it’s coming, the predictable crescendo in which we’ll all go nuts. Yet, Lukas still makes it awesome. He let it loose this week. He rocked.

The band went nuts and gave him a standing ovation. Gilby loved how Lukas surprised him. Tommy Lee had a goose bump moment and Jason said it was the first time that Lukas used his gift properly.

Toby- Burning Down The Stage
Poor guy. Following Lukas is like giving a book report on evaporation after an Einstein lecture on time travel. Toby hopes to keep it optimistic by singing Bringing Down The House by The Talking Heads.

So what does Toby do? He pulls out the megaphone gimmick that JD Fortune made so popular last year. In fact, the whole performance sounded like the B side of an INXS album. Vocally, it wasn’t too bad. It just wasn’t Lukas.

Dave liked the song all the way up until the megaphone. Toby doesn’t need a prop to make a song good. Jason doesn’t mind the megaphone as it’s nice to see things changed up a bit.

So there you have it. As the show ends, the bottom three consist of Jill, Zayra and Patrice. Me and my little fingers are off to vote for Patrice. Stay tuned, stay rocking and stay groovy!

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