American Idol "Top 7 Redux" Review: Only the Good Sing Young

For Top 7 Week 2 - or Top 7 Redux, as the YouTube page calls it - Idol trotted out one of its newest themes, "Now and Then," which allows contestants to traffic in classics and new material. What's more, duets and group performances are gone, so we're lined up for nothing but solo goodness from the most talented final seven in recent memory. (Full disclosure: Obviously, this was written well after I learned Colton was eliminated the next night.)

The performances:

Hollie Cavanagh (Rolling in the Deep): After Haley's fantastic rendition last year and a slew of Adele performances in the semis, I thought Hollie had decided to mail in her Idol run this week. Little did I know she'd transform it into an event more impactful, soul-melting ballad and instantly earn her spot in the final 6. Her best performance yet, and one of my favorites of the season so far. 80

Colton Dixon (Bad Romance): A stunningly original arrangement, but a lot of it sadly fell below Colton's range, and he felt constantly handicapped by the responsibility to make this Gaga cover an alt-rock tune, and the Gaga-ooh-lala section at the end was distractingly bad. Not a good omen for Colton. 40

Elise Testone (No One): Elise ventured into Idol-classic wind-blown frilly dress territory, but the performance was anything but standard. Elise, as usual, applied her jazz/rock spin to a classic, threw in some growl and left me happy. Not overly satisfied, though. It is unfair to ask for more from my favorite performer in the competition than simply being enjoyable? 60

Phillip Phillips (U Got It Bad): The only misstep in the rebirth of Phillip-squared was an embarrassing saxophone presence that kept this performance out of the Idol Hall of Fame. Otherwise, the understated arrangement, a surprising amount of restraint and some actual notes made this easily Phillip's best. He degenerated into angrily spitting words into the mic toward the finish, but overall a fun, energizing performance for P2's inevitable finals run. 70

Jessica Sanchez (Fallin'): Jessica's biggest mistake this week, besides continuing to be too consistently great to get any recognition, was dressing like Aladdin. Seriously, though, this performance was, as all of hers are, technically proficient, but also like a lot of Jessica's catalog it felt empty and soulless. She may need to act a little more to make a well-deserved trip to the whatever-they're-calling-the-Kodak-now in late May. 70

Skylar Laine (Born This Way): At first I bristled, as I do at drek like "County Must Be Countywide" and "This Is Country Music," at Skylar's country-confirmation twist on this Gaga hit, but she won me over by just singing the daylights out of it. Skylar continues to have enunciation issues, but I share Slezak's concern that one of the most interesting finalists left might also be on the chopping block. 70

Joshua Ledet (I Believe): I wanted to dock Joshua points for choosing not only an Idol alum's first hit, not only a champion's coronation song but the song most associated with the contestant he draws the most comparisons to, but he saved me the trouble by failing to bring anything to it besides a hoard of screeching that dragged it lower even than Syesha Mercado's ill-fated cover four years ago. Blah, blah and blah. 35

Hollie Cavanagh (Son of a Preacher Man): Hollie's lower register problems showed up again in this performance, but an interesting brass arrangement and surprisingly solid showmanship saved it from utter mediocrity. A letdown from her first performance, but still one of Hollie's best efforts yet. 65

Colton Dixon (September): Another interesting take - is it a stretch to say Colton had Cook-like potential to reinvent? - but lacked any kind of momentum and felt consistently sharp. Eh. 55

Elise Testone (Let's Get It On): As much as I love Elise, and God knows the thought of her getting it on isn't unpleasant, this performance was a mess from the word go. Elise's bopping style and growl felt completely out of place, the saxophone sapped any raw sexual energy she tried to bring, and Joshua Ledet wants his screech back. Let's just move on. 35

Phillip Phillips (In the Midnight Hour): This performance crystallized what I've long suspected about Phillip and thought for a long time about David Cook: he's completely incapable of singing without gravel in his voice, even when he's smiling from ear to ear and putting on his best sexy face. Only Joshua's occasional forays into over-the-top-land keep this from being my least favorite performance of the season. 20

Jessica Sanchez (Try A Little Tenderness): The irony oozing from this song's title is too good to be true. No sentiment better expresses what ails this incredibly talented final 7 than this: STOP OVERSINGING. With the exception of Elise, this unbelievable septet is young, and they clearly haven't learned how to control their instruments. Jessica dipped into that trend herself: instead of what seemed to be a technically correct but ear-ringing rendition, she decided to bludgeon the melody with growls until both it and her voice were unrecognizable. Can we outlaw all songs over 20 years ago from this group? 30

Skylar Laine (I Heard It Through the Grapevine): I started regretting my excusing Skylar's first performance as soon as I heard the violin in this song. An interesting concept, but reminded me powerfully of Kristy Lee Cook's disastrous 'Eight Days a Week.' Skylar's far more talented, but this is the definition of making chicken salad out of chicken... well, you know. 45

Joshua Ledet (A Change Is Gonna Come): Speaking of Joshua murdering perfectly good songs, here he is doing an even worse job than the normally-spectacular Adam Lambert did with this Sam Cooke ditty. From the diction to the head-wagging and crying faces, I sincerely hope this is Joshua's lowest point of the season. Way to epically discard that winner prediction from last week, my friend. 10

Updated power poll:

6. Joshua Ledet: Welcome to the cellar, my former favorite. Joshua continues to be the most unpredictable performer in the final 13; he has the pipes of Marvin Gaye but the self-control of a four-year-old with severe ADHD. I'm this close to giving up. Please, please prove me wrong, Joshua, and leave the Lusky stank behind for your run to the top 3.

5. Phillip Phillips: I continue to believe Phillip is bound to make it to the finale, but that doesn't mean I have to like it. This week was simultaneously affirming and damning; P2 showed he can blow the doors off a certain variety of tune but lacks any ability to do another. At this point, being Scotty McCreery 2.0 and beating his style into the ground on the way to the title might be our best-case scenario for Phillip. Once again, let's move on.

4. Hollie Cavanagh: Hollie's storm back this week probably doesn't earn her a final four spot - honestly, for her to make the final four in a season this talented would be very odd - but I'm happy to root for the underdog again. Major Haley Reinhart potential if Hollie can find a couple iconic songs to make her own.

3. Skylar Laine: Skylar seems content to wrestle the Scotty 2 mantle from Phillip, but unlike him she's used it to great effect by choosing a variety of songs to transform and singing them with passion and control. In my younger, more Carrie-Underwood-loving days, Skylar would probably be my favorite, but times have changed.

2. Elise Testone: Elise is the biggest example of my tastes changing over my Idol years. Way back in season four, I didn't especially care for Bo Bice, the talented, experienced, song-arranging fiend whose crown was stolen by Carrie, but perspective has shown me his excellence and influence. I won't let Elise slip by; I'll be cheering for her even after lackluster weeks like this one all the way to the bitter end. Which, for what it's worth, is probably not far away. For a third time, moving on.

1. Jessica Sanchez: I felt after 'I Will Always Love You' that Jessica was the most talented vocalist in the competition; that belief hasn't changed, and as her competitors have shown new warts, her lack of showmanship has seemed less and less glaring. With the right coaching, Jessica is destined to be a pop star, and I believe Idol is the place for her to get it and transform into not just Idol's first female champ in years but the first to achieve mainstream pop success in even longer.

Results: Colton didn't really deserve to go, but after Hollie's bounceback and Phillip's gem, it was easy to see the rock hitting the hard place. We knew with a cast this good Thursdays would start to hurt: this is the first real blow, and I look forward to Colton's work on the tour and beyond.

Back for top 6, featuring Queen and contestant choices, on Thursday.

American Idol "Top 7" Review: Give a Little More (Votes to Jessica)

While last week's '80s night was difficult to handicap thanks to the broad range of songs available, last night's "Current Decade" theme was so constricting I struggled to come up with five songs I love and hoped to hear that aren't Adele, country or from The Book of Mormon.

The shallow pool of selections was a slightly less powerful warning sign than What Not to Sing's study on song age, which said categorically that older songs get higher approval ratings. Great music endures, while drek falls away, and this theme had the potential to churn out a lot of drek.

How sweet it is to be proven wrong again.

My reviews of the final seven:

Skylar Laine (Didn't You Know How Much I Loved You): Skylar scored instant points by choosing one of the few 2010's songs I adore and rocking it out with guitar in hand. It didn't excerpt very well, but Skylar delivered the kind of power necessary to make me believe it nonetheless. Only the occasional pitch problem marred an otherwise excellent performance. 70

Colton Dixon (Love the Way You Lie): From the stripped down arrangement with orchestral accompaniment to the dramatic presentation, I loved everything about the way this performance was staged. It's clear, though, that Colton was aping Adam Lambert's "Mad World," and the vocal, while powerful and clear, just can't match up to that standard. I fear this is Colton's ceiling: a delicate, beautiful performance that nonetheless held some distracting, wavering falsetto and bizarre diction. Definitely his best yet, but one step short of an Idol Moment. 75

Elise Testone and Phillip Phillips (Somebody That I Used to Know): I continue to adore Elise, and this week I wasn't nearly so pissed to see her paired with Phillip as Michael Johns 2.0 brought his (still far inferior) A game. Nonetheless, this song is clearly one that won't pass the test of time, and Phillip and Elise both lacked the kind of "screw you I'm happy without you" energy it seemed to demand. Tepid. 50

Jessica Sanchez (Stuttering): The rare case when a stripped-down arrangement and the song don't seem to match at all. Jessica's partially at fault as her vocal completely overpowered the piano from moment one. Really, the power she brought overwhelmed the song's message as well, and I couldn't stop feeling that Jessica doesn't understand this performance any more than I do. 55

Joshua Ledet (Runaway Baby): If Joshua does the impossible and grabs the first Idol crown for a black male since Ruben Studdard, this will be the performance I look back to as the moment everything clicked. Joshua's performances until now have followed a specific pattern: strut and belt notes, win me over, go extremely over the top and prevent me from taking him seriously. The first part was very much still in place this week as Joshua grabbed a fantastic arrangement and better staging (dancing girls! funky colors! Bond silhouettes!) and kept the enunciation to make the excitement understandable. To my immense surprise and pleasure, however, he skipped the just-too-muchery and instead used a perfect growl to put a bow on easily my favorite male performance of the season by far. 90

Skylar Laine and Colton Dixon (Don't You Wanna Stay): Skylar yet again gets credit for choosing a recent tune I fell in love with, and props for switching the pop/country dynamic to male/female versus the female/male on the original. That was basically the end of the positives, though; Colton brought his worst alt-rocker voice, and Skylar tried too hard through the entirety of a song that demands delicacy. Color me disappointed. 40

Hollie Cavanagh (Perfect): Last night was apparently "send the band home" time on Idol, and Hollie harnessed it beautifully. She took a pop song even I know and made it feel new and original. After the intro it felt more like a bland cover, but Hollie still had the power and command to do it well. Potentially a strong bounce back out of the Idol doghouse for Hollie. 65

Phillip Phillips (Give a Little More): Phillip gets a strategy bonus for pulling out a saxophone and his best bedroom eyes with his schtick running thin, but it didn't change that he's clearly a one-trick pony who's worn out his welcome. He kept it much more under control this week, but this still felt like taking a melody and putting it through a food processor as opposed to singing. GO HOME, PHILLIP. 30

Jessica Sanchez, Joshua Ledet and Hollie Cavanagh (Stronger): Joshua continued to shine like a star; Jessica continued to fail to turn the 'diva' switch to 'off'; and Hollie continued to sound pleasant but somewhat out of her depth. Put together, it's a not-unpleasant but also not very memorable cover of another Idol alum. 50

Elise Testone (You and I): Elise's tone. growl and rapid runs coalesced on another beautiful, stripped-down performance in a week full of them. Like Haley's version, I became far less interested in this performance after it degenerated to screaming "You and I!" ad nauseum, but still an entertaining vocal to add to Elise's expanding catalog. Not her best, but a fine way to close a fine show. 70

Now, the updated power poll:

7. Phillip Phillips: I was never enamored with his style, and it's been incredibly static while every other contestant has improved. The testosterone in his veins probably means we're looking at two more weeks of Phillip-squared at minimum, and I'm gritting my teeth already.

6. Hollie Cavanagh: Hollie's second-to-last rank is more a symptom of how rock-solid this top 5 is than her own fault after a strong recovery this week. I'm praying Idol voters do the right thing and keep the worst girl over the worst guy, but time and time again we've seen they won't. Hollie goes home tonight.

5. Colton Dixon: I'm torn on Colton more than any other contestant this season; his delivery and presentation can leave a lot to be desired, but in terms of vocal firepower he clearly belongs in the top 4. Leaving his alt-rocker roots could help, but ultimately what will make or break Colton is simply pulling it all together and delivering a couple rock-solid performances to accompany his entertaining but not earth-shattering ones so far.

4. Skylar Laine: I'm still not 100 percent sold on the country diva as a contender for the title, but she's done nothing to hurt her cause the last two weeks. She may need to show more range to win simply because she lacks the right reproductive equipment, but Skylar's emerging as a tempting dark horse to keep the Idol crown country another year.

3. Jessica Sanchez: Jessica has the power and control that would have made a surefire winner a few years ago, but her artistic choices continue to be dodgy, and she's starting to feel one-note the way Phillip does. I've hesitated to knock Jessica simply because she's consistently good, and I still feel she has the best voice in the competition, but she needs to harness it better to regain her early status as the favorite.

2. Joshua Ledet: After a few almost-but-not-quite weeks, Joshua put the pieces together and delivered the single most game-changing performance of the season. My lukewarm feeling for Joshua has transformed into intense curiosity; if he can continue to keep his gospel urges in check, Joshua seems poised to bring some color back to the winners circle, and he's currently my pick to do just that.

1. Elise Testone: Elise came back strong after last week's missteps and saw Jessica's lukewarm performances clear the way to the top of my chart. The more I watch Elise, the more I think she's destined to be a jazz/R&B star, and at this point I'm bracing for her too-early ouster and reminding myself to enjoy every minute. I hope Hope HOPE Elise or Joshua can break through and overpower the cute boys and Jessica to win it all, but I can't in good conscience predict a well-deserved win for her. Will a spot in my Idol Hall of Fame do?

UPDATE: As Michael Slezak predicted, the judges used their save tonight. (The Idol Guy had a great take on this as well.) More surprising - and jarring - is that Jessica Sanchez, the best pure vocalist in the competition, was on the chopping block, and the top three in my power poll were the bottom three in this week's voting. Damn it, America.

Running in Place: Or, Why an Avowed Aaron Sorkin Fanboy Can't Get Excited For "The Newsroom"

No matter how many I times I try to psych myself up by watching the trailer above, I can't get away from one word: familiar.

Perhaps a more precise description would be "familiarly Sorkin." For me, that's not usually a problem: ever since I started watching Studio 60 on the Sunset Strip in 2006, I've belonged to the church of Aaron Sorkin. (It's a fast-paced sect, filled with clever, lightning-speed dialogues and radical idealism.) While it's been a mixed bag - I think Sports Night is one of the best shows of all time, but The American President, as silly as it sounds, is one of the greatest disappointments of my life - I've been quick to sign up for more Sorkin at every opportunity.

Until now.

The Newsroom, more than any of Sorkin's work, feels like he's running in place. Where there's no real-life story, as in Moneyball and The Social Network, Sorkin seems content to turn back to the same semi-autobiographical archetype: Newsroom's Will McAvoy (Jeff Daniels) is a handsome, unapologetic wise-cracker who gamely fights the system for what he believes in. Everybody loves him; nobody understands him; I just plain don't care for him. (On the bright side, he's not named Sam or Danny.)

What's more, based on its "sorority girl" and "men only do stupid things for one reason" exchanges, Newsroom seems to prominently feature the casual sexism Sorkin carries to so many projects. In Social Network, it was justified; as in The West Wing, its presence in this trailer is at best off-putting and at worst completely undermining the "man of the people" image McAvoy and Josh Lyman (the closest Sorkin analog on WW) so carefully cultivate.

I can't fault Sorkin for following this type before; after all, it made Sports Night great enough for me to rewatch it every six months like clockwork and The West Wing one of the most famous and successful dramas in TV history. After three other shows on the same template, though, it's feeling worn out. I'd much rather Sorkin poured his energy into the diverse slate of projects he has in development and left television to the next generation who have new things to say (and new places to say them).

Eventually, I suspect I will watch and enjoy Newsroom regardless; Sorkin has kept his quippy, intelligent style even when the work suffers, and I stayed in my college theatre troupe for a semester after I graduated specifically so I could play Sam Weinberg in A Few Good Men for crying out loud.

The change, really, is in my expectations. Since Newsroom is on HBO, it could take a while for me to see it, and that caused me no end of irritation for months leading up to the first promotional materials.

Not anymore.

Anime Central 2012, Day Zero: How Did I Get Here?

Notice to my co-workers: I'm likely to be obnoxiously happy April 30.

On that Monday morning, I will have just returned from Anime Central 2012 (ACen), the first convention of my life and the opening stop on my road to the Penny Arcade Expo (PAX).

To understand exactly what that means, we need to hop in the wayback machine and travel to summer 2009, a particularly hot and boring season I spent with my dad in Peotone working at Jewel, hanging out with community college friends and waiting to return to Champaign-Urbana and finish my creative writing degree (and my pursuit of a certain sophomore co-ed I awkwardly proclaimed my love to that spring).

I quickly fell into the weirdest rhythm of my life: wake up at 3 p.m., go to work from 4 to midnight, hang out or talk online until 3, play video games until 7 and repeat. I had fun - very few things beat wasting time with old friends and chatting up a new flame - but soon I was the definition of stir-crazy.

I resumed an old hobby, creating bizarre road trips I never actually take, but determined I would finally break the streak but taking what savings I had left, borrowing my way through my senior year and going to Seattle to congregate with gamers for three days. I spent untold hours creating spreadsheets (another fetish), gleaning any information I could from the PAX forums and plotting my trip on Google Maps and Orbitz.

Ultimately I decided not to travel across the country during one of the worst financial times of my life (I ran out of money the next February anyway). The desire to go to PAX. however, refused to die over the three intervening years. (Mitch Krpata's series on PAX 2010 had a lot to do with this.)

This spring, with my finances in the best shape since I graduated, I arrived at a new plan: hit local conventions, learn what I can, make sure it's for me and craft the ultimate PAX plan to execute when I'm out of debt. Step One: travel to Chicago for ACen.

The more research I did for ACen, though, the more I started to anticipate it for its own sake as opposed to PAX practice. Even as a lapsed anime fan, I can't wait to kick off the festivities with an Assassin's Creed themed wedding Friday - an actual wedding! - followed by a murder mystery, a Halo panel and a screening of Scott Pilgrim vs. the World. That's just Friday.

I may look back, after I've gone to PAX East 2014 and beyond, and see ACen as just a means to an end. It now seems equally likely, though, that I'll remember it as a fantastic three days immersed in geek culture with some of those old community college friends and that (now nearly-graduated) coed.

Maybe I'll just start smiling now.

"Mass Effect 2" DLC Cost Leaves Me Manipulated and Annoyed

Last week, in a ridiculous ruling, Electronic Arts won the even more ridiculous honor of the Worst Company in America.

The Consumerist, a site I respect a great deal but which has clearly lost its mind, allowed the public to determine the winner of the award. Nonetheless, it offered the following explanation for the public's decision:

To those who might sneer at something as "non-essential" as a video game company winning the Worst Company In America vote: It's that exact kind of attitude that allows people to ignore the complaints as companies like EA (continue) to nickel and dime consumers to death.

For years, while movies and music became more affordable and publishers piled on bonus content — or multiple modes of delivery — as added value to entice customers to buy, video games have continued to be priced like premium goods.

Like several commentators I follow on Twitter - Arthur Gies, for instance - I became briefly enraged, shook my head at the stupidity of the internet en masse and moved on, vowing to exact my vengeance on any fool willing to admit his part in this tomfoolery.

While my stance hasn't changed, my wrath toward the anti-EA movement softened considerably when I finished Mass Effect 2 Thursday and looked into buying downloadable content. In the past I've ignored DLC with few exceptions (my Rock Band library says hi), but ME2 was outstanding enough for me to consider ponying up a little extra cash for more game.

What I discovered was far worse than I expected.

As a bargain shopper, I picked up ME2 from Amazon's Warehouse Deals subsidiary for $15. That purchase earned me about 25 hours of gameplay so far, including the main storyline, eleven possible party members (not including Shepard) and their loyalty missions and a variety of side quests scattered throughout the in-game universe, most of which I've not yet played.

I expected to take a loss on new content, but what I discovered was more unbalanced than I could have imagined. Not only would I need to spend $30, twice as much as I paid for the two-disc package, to access the remaining fraction - a couple hours of new main storyline and two new characters with loyalty missions - purchasing any DLC for a used copy of ME2 incurs a $15 setup charge.

Unlike Consumerist writers (and possibly readers), I don't entirely blame EA for this; there's a clear precedent for this kind of pricing, whether they set it or not. The problem is that DLC operates outside a normal economy where supply and demand result in Mass Effect 2 hitting $15, and more importantly where DLC can never be resold. I'll probably make my money back on Mass Effect 2; on its DLC, a sliver of the overall experience, I would take a $45 loss. Digital content simply needs to be legislated differently for this problem to go away.

I'm left, then, with my final Paragon/Renegade decision of the game. Do I thumb my nose at EA, Xbox Live and the game industry at large, take my $45 and walk away? Or do I spend my money, consider all of Mass Effect 2 a very worthwhile $45 experience and become part of the shenanigans?

I still don't know. Perhaps. after I've beaten both Mass Effect and ME3, I'll decide to invest in the additional gameplay hours for the sake of completion. I doubt it, though; I've beaten each Assassin's Creed game for Xbox 360 but never paid a cent for its DLC.

That decision, sadly, leaves me feeling manipulated. Yes, I experienced most of Mass Effect 2. Yes, I very much enjoyed it. No, I can't talk about it with the authority I'd prefer, and as long as value is a criterion I never will.

Maybe we can give the Consumerist's award to DLC instead.

A Source of Pride: R.I.P. Joshua Larkin

I'll never forget the first time I realized I had a dead man's voice on my recorder.

It was fall 2010, and I was entering my seventh month writing for Buzz Weekly for no pay, working part-time at Wal-Mart and generally feeling I'd wasted my time getting a creative writing degree. My lovely girlfriend and my continued involvement with New Revels Players made me feel a little better, but overall it was a bland time in my life.

For one of my last assignments on Buzz I was assigned the Champaign-Urbana Symphony Orchestra's holiday concert. I jumped at the opportunity; I'd written about CUSO that summer for an outdoor event, and I was ready to revisit my source, Executive Director Joe Dingee, who took fifteen minutes after our interview to answer my questions about his past and path to Champaign. I couldn't wait to call him; here was an enormously successful, friendly man who carved out a niche in a community I loved, and his wisdom could only help me on my path to the same.

When I called his number at CUSO, however, a woman answered. Interim Executive Director Jeffrey Farlow-Cornell gave me a cryptic "Joe's not with us anymore" and answered my interview questions, leaving Google and me to find out the truth that night: the vibrant 40-something I enjoyed a single hour with had gone from this Earth forever. I called my parents, both in their early 50's at that point, mournfully searched my voice recorder's archives for Dingee's tenor and wiped it from my hard drive.

I was reminded of that experience today when I read my colleague Mishele Wright's coverage of Joshua Larkin, a 21-year-old Taylor University student who passed away Wednesday. I knew the name instantly; it was only two months ago that I interviewed Larkin about his trip with several other TU students to the Sundance Film Festival in January.

Larkin's death is the same as Dingee's - I talked only once to each of them but had a good time, better than most sources - but also completely different. Dingee's death, while tragic, came after he realized his potential. Larkin, on the other hand, had just begun to reveal his.

Death, it would seem, has a sense of humor, or at least irony. Just like Joe took a shine to me, a just-graduated, confused reporter aiming to make a mark, I admired Joshua's creativity and wished him well in his writing and photojournalism career. While I eventually found the kind of niche Dingee and I talked about, Larkin will never create the film script he pitched to me just weeks ago.

I don't have a recording of Joshua Larkin to erase; I stopped using a voice recorder a few months ago, and the markings I use to collect interviews in my notebook rendered his words unintelligible even to me as soon as I moved on to my next project. But tonight I will call my now-21-year-old girlfriend, make sure she's doing okay and hope the Grim Reaper stays away from my address book a little longer next time.

"Pillows & Blankets" Review: "Community" Covers Flaws With a Well-Done But Shallow Genre Exercise

Lost in the Dan Harmon-Chevy Chase feud, between the politics, finger-pointing and mud-slinging, is a single, critical fact:while it's debatable just how replaceable Chevy is, no one has ever done what Dan Harmon can. Harmon, in three brilliant but just as uneven years of Community, has proven himself the king of the parody.

From "Modern Warfare", the now-infamous first-season paintball/war episode that put the show on the map; to "Epidemiology," the ABBA-fueled Halloween episode brimming with zombie and horror movie references; to "Abed's Uncontrollable Christmas," a pitch-perfect send-up of stop-motion holiday specials, Community's loving satire of genre entertainment is without peer. Hell, that list doesn't even include a Dungeons and Dragons episode, a multi-layered conspiracy theory show or a Pulp Fiction parody that rapidly evolves into another exercise entirely.

That being said, "Pillows and Blankets" isn't going to join the Community satire Hall of Fame. It's a more-than-competent take on Ken Burns' documentary The Civil War - a bold choice in itself given that, at 23, I'm part of this show's target demographic and only know Burns' work from my seventh-grade history class - but it's simply not as funny or well-executed as its brothers listed above.

The episode started strong; knowing that Troy and Abed's pillows vs. blankets argument would continue from last week, I hoped to see clever packaging for it, and from the faux-Morgan Freeman intro voiceover I knew Harmon had that taken care of. The show even recognized why this week's action would be filmed, a common bugaboo of documentary sitcoms, and used the format well in displaying a hilarious diagram of the first pillow fired and presenting conversations held on paper or electronics. Cutting between photos and video doesn't quite make sense, but its dramatic impact was enough for me to excuse the inconsistency.

Unfortunately the episode's plot left far more to be desired.

Let's start with the good: the core of "Pillows and Blankets," Troy and Abed's decaying friendship, was executed deftly. While it stretches credulity to think these two man-boys can achieve the kind of insight into each other on display without gaining a hint of self-awareness, their competing, unrelentingly accurate analyses reminded us why they ended up best friends. (The best friends magazine they designed together didn't hurt either.) Also, I laughed out loud at Abed's proclamation that while Troy drew first blood, Abed's Pillowtown would draw First Blood Part 2. Even the telethon tag generated some laughs, as bizarre as it was.

Where the episode began to go wrong was its subplots. Jeff and Annie were admittedly decent, including the fantastic text images gag, but Shirley and Pierce getting involved in the fight felt unnecessary, Britta's "awful war photographer" schtick ran thin fast and the 'Changlorious Bastards' bit felt more like setup for a later storyline than important material for a documentary. Admittedly, none of those plots hung around long enough to be truly irritating, and I enjoyed seeing Fat Neil finally have a radio-DJ purpose besides being the token nerd.

The undoing of "Pillows and Blankets" was its ending, when, after Jeff failed twice to resolve Troy and Abed's differences, he was finally able to paper over the disagreement and call it a day. Nothing was settled; nothing was changed; but somehow Jeff (an admitted proxy for Harmon) was able to make everyone stop fighting through the sheer power of persuasion. (If only the Chase debacle could be swept away so easily.) The conclusion of the story seemed to make the documentary about Jeff, who merely floated along in the conflict and used the entertaining friend-hat gimmick as a crutch for a shallow psychological breakthrough we've heard before, and better. (Valentine's Day comes to mind.)

Ultimately, I'll probably come back to "Pillows and Blankets" for the well-executed genre exercise, a few solid laughs and Keith David's fantastic narration. As a story, however, it fell flat, and I was left hoping Harmon can get Community back on its narrative feet to finish Season 3 strong and secure a well-deserved senior year.

Would a Title Without Rose Smell So Sweet?

After last year's Eastern Conference Finals loss to Miami, every Chicago Bulls fan I know pinned their hopes for the 2011-12 season on a single article.

After winning the NBA MVP in his second season, Derrick Rose wasn't celebrating; instead he locked himself in his house, ordered pizza, brooded and began divining ways to win a championship. This time, nothing was going to stop him.

55 games later, things look a little different for Rose. He's missed Chicago's last 11 games and, with the playoffs less than a month away, hasn't played a minute since March 12. Despite his absence, the team has played well, winning 14 of 21 and continuing to lead the NBA in wins.

Somewhere between that 14-7 record and Bill Simmons' Ewing Theory, I couldn't stop wondering: Could the Bulls win the 2011-12 NBA championship without their MVP?

Every pundit on Earth seems to believe the Bulls are the favorite or extremely close to Miami and Oklahoma City, and with good reason. The Bulls have the best winning percentage, .764, in the NBA; they're perched neck-and-neck with Miami atop John Hollinger's NBA Power Rankings; and Chicago projects to finish with a better 82-game record (67-15) than last year's 62-20 squad.

Given that they've accomplished all that with Rose missing 40 percent of their games, I would submit that not only are the Bulls the favorite, it's by a pretty wide margin.

So how much of that margin could they lose?

With Rose, the Bulls are 28-6 (.823), about 12 full-season wins better than their .666 percentage without him. Rose's injuries haven't been the only thing plaguing the team, however: Joakim Noah got off to a slow start after the lockout, and Luol Deng (46 games played) and Rip Hamilton (17) have been hurt as well.

Given the randomness of the NBA playoffs, is it that bizarre to think a 54-win (.666) team could win it all? Last year's champion (Dallas, .695) won 57, the same as the Lakers team that preceded them. Those Lakers went to seven games in the Finals against a 50-win Celtics team.

The better question may be what a Chicago title without Rose would mean to the star's future. While I still contend that, as Hollinger says, The Derrick Rose Story didn't deserve to win MVP last year, #1 is undisputedly Chicago's leader. He's sixth in the NBA in Player Efficiency Rating after finishing ninth last season and just signed a five-year, $95 million extension. He's not going anywhere.

Still, Rose took last year's loss to Miami hard. Wouldn't he take it even harder if Chicago - his hometown squad, a fact he seems to enjoy more than any other star in pro sports - completed its mission without him? What if Carlos Boozer won Finals MVP and Rose had to watch in a suit as #5 accepted the trophy that would look so good next to Rose's regular season award?

From what we know about Rose, he'd probably deflect any questions about his future with humility and grace while giving his teammates and coaching staff all the credit. He'd talk about coming back better than ever the next year to help the team start another three-peat.

When Rose stepped away, with only his friends and the next season to comfort him, the story might be different.

Delivery drivers, start your engines.

American Idol "Top 8" Review: Elise, Stop Dragging My Heart Around

'80s night is a difficult theme to predict on American Idol because the range of hits produced in the decade ranges from legitimate classics (Sweet Child of Mine) to electronic drek (Never Gonna Give You Up) and all points in between (The Final Countdown). That held true Wednesday as we saw a couple inspired choices and a load of chum that was still sung rather well.

Here's my take on the AI11 top 8:

DeAndre Brackensick (I Like It): Here I was ready with a 'matter of fact, I don't like it' joke, but DeAndre, as bizarre is his delivery continues to be, knocked this one out of the park. Sublime control, interesting approach and a song that suits him made this my favorite DeAndre performance so far. I still don't see him making the top 5, but this performance at least makes me stop hating him for making the top 8 and leaves him far less likely to be my choice for the boot tonight. 80

Elise Testone (I Want to Know What Love Is): As you well know, Elise is my favorite contestant of the season (and possibly the last three) so far, and I ate up this performance, but I'm smart enough to know this bland arrangement, some major pitch problems in the lower register and control issues in the upper could spell trouble for the growler. I'm still in love, so all I can hope is we look back at this as a blip rather than the beginning of the end. 55

Skylar Laine and Colton Dixon (Islands in the Stream): I'm inching ever closer to sold on Colton despite my continued belief that his look is manufactured and disingenuous, and his connection with Skylar turned this tepid song into something interesting. Skylar didn't quite carry the ball as well after the chorus - I still foresee her ouster sooner rather than later - but far better than I expected. 85

Phillip Phillips (That's All): From the opening note underneath his range, I knew Phillip was in trouble this week. Not surprisingly he compensated by degenerating into irritating growl, which just continues his baffling descent from early frontrunner to a major case of wasted potential. This song could probably be done worse - Phillip-squared is still talented despite his frustrating choices - but it's hard to imagine how. 10

Hollie Cavanagh and DeAndre Brackensick (I'm So Excited): Once again an awful arrangement - it is '80s night, after all - but Hollie and DeAndre took the opportunity to go upbeat and seized it, pouring a ton of energy into what would have been a forgettable performance. Hollie elevated the ending much higher than I could have hoped for, and overall I came away impressed by two of the biggest question marks in the top 8. 70 

Joshua Ledet (If You Don't Know Me By Now): Joshu'a dotted tuxedo reminded me powerfully of Vegas lounge singers like Engelbert Humperdinck, and his combination of raw power and inability to control it reminded me powerfully of their over-the-top ballad style. I was on the fence before this degenerated into a series of whiny, screeching runs, and left the performance feeling that, like Phillip, Joshua will be doomed by his own awful stylistic choices. 20

Jessica Sanchez (How Will I Know): Jessica deserves credit for both walking away from "I Will Always Love You" by doing so much up-tempo but still staying in the Whitney songbook, and while this tune isn't nearly as good for her she still did an outstanding job. I've tried to avoid grading Jessica on a curve because she's so absurdly talented, but her song selections have left something to be desired. Very good, but I know she'll do better. 80

Elise Testone and Phillip Phillips (Dragging My Heart Around): While I appreciated Elise's attempts to make this awful song into something workable - she added some interesting runs and tried hard to get Phillip involved - her disinterested. mediocre partner and lacking material doomed this duet from the start. We can keep this one off the highlight reel too. 30

Hollie Cavanagh (Flashdance... What a Feeling): Maybe we should stop telling Holiie to go up-tempo. The beginning of this performance was great bordering on sublime thanks to Hollie's extraordinary pipes and ballad experience, but once the music changed and she started moving it became mediocre and scattershot. I give Hollie credit for submitting a powerful, tuneful rendition, but this is not the song for her. 65

Jessica Sanchez and Joshua Ledet (I Knew You Were Waiting [For Me]): As surprisingly good as the night's other duets were, this one blew them out of the water for control, power and sheer polish. Joshua almost ruined it by going over the top, but Jessica was nearby to rein him in and turned in a beautiful performance from the runs to the melody to the harmony. This goes on the Jessica highlight reel even as I continue to feel there's no hope for her off-the-rails partner. 90

Colton Dixon (Time After Time): I was excited to hear Colton step out of his comfort zone with this golden oldie, but instead he gave it the Marron 5 treatment and turned in a decent but utterly predictable though excellent performance. Once I gave in and considered this may be all Colton will do, he's quite good at it (the pitchy runs at the close notwithstanding). I want to see more variety from my frontrunners, but he doesn't deserve a curve any more than Jessica. Nice work, but I want him to earn his spot in the top 3. 75

Skylar Laine (Wind Beneath My Wings): I registered similar disappointment with Skylar's country interpretation to Colton's alt-rock ballad, but recent history shows she's smart to embrace the country audience, especially when she's in trouble. Between the Idol standard statonary ballad position, prom dress and dramatic lighting Skylar seemed primed for a genuine moment, but this never quite got there for me. Very good - probably enough to get her out of the bottom three - but didn't blow me away. 75

Overall it was a very fun show, which, despite what the numbers at What Not To Sing say, was an upgrade from the last couple weeks. I'm on board with each contestant to some degree at this point except one, and I think I know them well enough for my first power poll/prediction of the season.

8. Phillip Phillips: P-squared has played a bland one-trick pony in the finals despite demonstrating much more talent beforehand. Sorry, but we can't wait forever; thanks for playing.

7. DeAndre Brackensick: I'm still not the target demo for Jason Castro 2.0, but he's acquitted himself well enough recently to crawl out of the basement. His second-to-last ranking is more a symptom of the extreme disadvantage he was in after the first few weeks and the strength of the top 6.

6. Hollie Cavanagh: Hollie's heading in the wrong direction, but she's still got more raw vocal talent than the two men ranked below her. While she has the potential to continue to make bad choices and drag the competition down, I think If Hollie doesn't go home tonight - a distinct possibility - she could still turn it around and make the final 3. 

5. Joshua Ledet: Joshua is the most baffling contestant of the group. He's alternately shown pure vocal genius and control idiocy with such gusto it's hard to tell which is stronger. I don't think he's in any real danger, but I can't say I'm too concerned either way.

4. Skylar Laine: This season's prerequisite country artist has never done much for me, but she's shown the right combination of song interpretation and rearrangement to make a top-5 push. She could also be in danger tonight, but I think the country vote will carry her through, and I'm excited to see what she does next.

3. Colton Dixon: Colton is my favorite male in the competition by a country (alt-rock, actually) mile despite my distaste for his default Coldplay arrangement. Assuming he becomes more James Durbin and adapts to themes rather than continuing his Adam Lambert-style skirting of them (Ring of Fire, anybody?), I could be happy watching Colton ride his cute-boy shield to a confetti shower. If only he also played the guitar...

2. Elise Testone: Elise is my personal favorite in the competition thanks to her mind-blowing performances recently, but on the outside of that sandwich is a polarizing top 13/pre-finals run and this week's marked step back. I think we could see Hall of Fame performances from Elise, but assuming she survives the week (please please please please please) she's more likely to follow the Haley Reinhart path than walk away the winner.   

1. Jessica Sanchez: Jessica popped out at me with her top 13 masterpiece and hasn't slowed down much. Her biggest foe is going to be the Lambert-Pia Toscano zone where she's expected to be consistently mind-blowing and can't garner the support it takes to push through the Y chromosomes and genre voters. Nonetheless, she's still my pick to take the drown and become Idol's first female champ since Jordin Sparks.

UPDATE: In a minor shocker, DeAndre was sent home, while Hollie and (sigh) Elise finished the bottom three. Amazingly, there are more women than men in the top 7. Here's hoping we get the Elise, Hollie and Jessica top three I hoped for after top 13 week.