~* ROCK STAR SUPERNOVA: SPANDEX WINS OVER WOBBLY NECK *~

I really thought Zayra would get booted out this time. But after that impressive saving of her ass, she just might pull a "Suzie McNeil" who was the self-proclaimed Queen of the Bottom Three but managed to be in the last four finalists of RockStar INXS last year. We just might have more of Zayra this Rock Star Supernova season. Turns out Supernova questions the passion/commitment of Phil to be IN the band. Phil kept harping on wanting to WIN the contest. And for Supernova, there is a world of difference between wanting to win the show so bad and oh-so-wanting to be in the band. But then again, they probably just could not stand a minute more of Phil's wobbly neck. It bothers me too, actually. Even his "paranoid rocker" side-glancing while bobbing his head and singing still looks fake to me. I still firmly believe he is a true-blue geek trying hard to be in a hard rocker's clothing.

In all fairness, Zayra sings well but her voice doesn't rock enough. She's more of the goth/haunting Bjork kind. Her rendition of "I'm Not an Addict" (K's Choice) won me over though. I like her breathy haunting voice. I just don't want her to do the overly-moany-trying-to-be-sexy rendition of "You Really Got Me Now". I actually pitied her when Dave Navarro told her something like: " I think this is now the right time for you to launch a solo career". But then again, Zayra, like a Phoenix rising from the ashes, managed to wow the crowd (and yes, I was very impressed this time) with her K's Choice number.

SCOOP! Dunno if this is true but I read this on the net:

Phil got booted because he said in an interview that he didn't like the Supernova tracks and that he was in this for exposure for him (and his band.) Dave pulled out the article and read it aloud. They didn't air that footage. When the band gave him a chance to say he wanted to front the band, Phil couldn't/wouldn't do it, only saying he wanted "to win" and "love you too." Supernova was justified in letting Phil go after he disrespected their music publicly and made it clear that he wasn't interested in fronting the band.


Come elimination time, the moment Hatchet Guy Tommy said goodbye to Phil, everyone -- the rockers, the audience and yes, even me -- was suspended in utter disbelief. Immediately, the rockers' astonished mouth-hanging-open looks were flashed on screen. I actually thought Phil rocked out in his performance of Smoking Umbrellas (Failure). Basically, Phil rocked more than Zayra. But I guess the story behind it (see SCOOP! above) justifies the band's decision.

After a couple of weeks, I'm also starting to like Storm and Ryan aside from Lukas and Dilana. Storm Large wowed me with her version of Dramarama's Anything, Anything. Her version of the song totally rocks... I downloaded the original version and Storm's flavor to the song added a certain *umph* factor. Her no holds barred stage dive was cool. Her wide-eyed paranoid rocker look becomes her in a strange way. It didn't work for Phil but it works for her. And I bet the guys Googled her already after what she said to Tommy. And wait, did you know she's already 37?!?! I'm surprised that she's actually older than Dilana and Patrice (who are showing signs of aging on their appearance, by the way). Ryan Star finally caught my attention after he did Live's I Alone with matching stage stomping and climbing onto the drum bass. He finally rocked! And how can I forget that ridiculous wide grin he indulged Supernova with after they commented that he looked distinctly uncomfortable and wondered if he was having any fun at all.

Among the women, Dilana's voice never fails to impress me. She did well with Time After Time last week. Her scary-good performance of Nirvana's Lithium is for the books. And Lukas -- some people hate him and I see he's even called the Lemur King (remember the animated Madagascar movie?) on a certain website. Whoever thought that one up, I commend your humor! LOL! Lemur King!!! It's just so funny when you think of the lemur and then look at Lukas with his wild dyed spiked hair, eyeliner and red make-up. However, I must agree with Jason's warning to Lukas about taking care of his voice. I downloaded the mp3s of their performances and after listening to Lukas, I fear that indeed, his scratchy/throaty voice will die on him in the middle of a road tour. Nevertheless, Lukas, despite his being a bad-ass sometimes remains to be my number 1 favorite. All of his performances are well put-together, he has a commanding stage presence and his overall style rocks. I think he's got "rock star" written all over him. I totally dug his gravelly hard rock rendition of Verve's Bittersweet Symphony last week. I especially loved that moment when the stage lights went off and only a lone spotlight was on him as he sang the low-key stripped down part of the song... and then he proceeds with screaming the rest of the song climax with all the stage lights back on. That totally kicked ass!

Like a motorist to a road kill, out of morbid curiosity, I actually look forward to whatever antic Zayra will pull off in the next episode. She is horrible as a potential vocalist for Supernova but she is good in her own swan-gown Bjork/breathy Sinead O' Connor kind of way. And I thank her for making me discover the music of K's Choice.

Jill is starting to annoy me. Her attempts at being sexy on stage is just totally disgusting. What the hell was she thinking in trying to hump Gilby Clarke on stage? Didn't she see Gilby sorta cringe and go away when she did it the first time?! Anyway, she's still like a Nightmare on Christmas version of Dolly Parton. As if an image of a mini-me Dolly Parton rocking out on stage isn't appalling enough. It also disturbs me how she looks like a bleach blonde tinier version of Paula Abdul trying to rock it out.

Magni -- despite singing one of my favorite songs (Plush by STP) and despite the fact that he has a successful rock band who released albums back in Iceland -- still fails to impress me. I don't know why. He does not stink... he actually rocks good but I guess he's not catchy enough for me.

Same thing with Toby. I mean he rocks too but nothing really memorable to date. He's nice though and the poor mate tried so hard to have an orderly song selection process the other time but the eye candy and his notepad got ignored by some of the rabid rockers. His Aussie accent remind me of the cool surfin' turtles in Finding Nemo.

And no matter what, I don't think Josh will succeed in his world domination attempt to create a bluesy-nice-guy rock genre. His melismatic singing is better off for American Idol's next season.

Patrice has a powerhouse grungy voice but I do not enjoy watching her performance. Her Remedy rendition looks constipated.

If Dana keeps up with getting grittier every performance like what she did in last week's About A Girl, she just might stay longer.