Tragic Weather Down South

I know it's easy for those of us that live in more cooler climates to complain about it being too cold and wishing the weather would be more summer-like. This spring here in the U.P., we've had a few nice, warm days. But so far, the cooler, rainy (and even snowy) weather has been winning out. For example, the last three days were miserable and cold, with plentiful of precipitation falling from the sky. Now today, we have bright sunny skies with temperatures predicted to reach near 60. After a cold front moves through tomorrow, we'll be back into the 40's for Sunday and Monday but sunshine will be abundant, at least. Yes, it would be nice to have more consistent spring-like weather, but we'll take it over the destructive and violent weather that other parts of the country have been enduring.

I am sure many of you have seen the images from the deep south regarding the tornado damage. The death toll from the last couple of days of violent tornadoes is close to 300. In today's modern times, a death toll that high is unheard of. The last major tornado outbreak to kill so many in the United States was in the 1970's. And I am sure the majority of the individuals killed during these storms knew they were coming. It's just that the tornadoes were so menacing and destructive. Unless you were in an underground cellar, it was a situation hard to survive. Now, for those that survived, they are left without homes and are needing to start over.

The 2011 tornado season as a whole has been one for the record books already; and we're only finishing up the month of April. Who knows what the rest of the year will bring - hopefully a much calmer season! And they are already predicting an active hurricane season, so it remains to be seen how potentially destructive the hurricanes that form this season will be. So as you can see, 2011 is proving to be a wild weather year across the country. From wildfires, floods, hurricanes, and incredible snow storms, it's been a year unlike any other. And we can't forget to include the devastating earthquakes and resulting tsunamis that other parts of the world have had to deal with. So yes, the cold and snow at the end of April can make anyone's heads spin. But in comparison to the rest of the country, I can definitely deal with it.

Catching Up on American Idol

So it has been awhile since I blogged about American Idol. In fact, this is probably the first time that I have stopped blogging about American Idol since I started back in season six. But as the saying goes, all good things must come to an end. To be honest, I'm not missing doing the recaps all that much. Sure, I'm disappointed that my recap-streak had to end, but I actually find it pretty enjoyable just to watch the show at my own leisure and not worry about producing a recap. With that being said, I feel like there are a few things I need to discuss regarding the show, things that have happened within the past month that are hot-topic discussions.

First off is Pia Toscano's sudden and shocking elimination from the show. There's no question that ever since her performance of "I'll Stand By You" during the semi-finals that Pia became a front-runner and she had been at the top ever since. We haven't seen as shocking of an elimination as Pia's since Michael Johns was abruptly eliminated in season seven, thus the creation of the judge's save used since season eight. But there was just something about Pia that the audience did not connect to. She seemed to lack personality and seemed rather dull, most likely due to poor editing from the producers and directors of American Idol. Those in charge of Idol should have done a better job of highlighting Pia's personality better in the taped pieces that they do, filler-pieces as it's known in the television industry. Pia had probably the best chance out of the remaining two women to be the show's first female winner since Jordin Sparks. I mean, how often did she sing bad notes during her performances on Idol? She had the total package and for some reason the powers at be on Idol did not focus on that. And in the end, it resulted in a shocking elimination.

The judging panel appears to be receiving a decent amount of blame in regards to Pia's elimination. It seems like more and more people have been longing for Simon Cowell's presence on the show since the live voting rounds have taken place. The judge's just cannot say a negative thing about these singers week in and week out. Are they afraid of being booed by the audience, or for hurting the feelings of the contestants on stage? I think it was two or three weeks ago where it appeared that Jennifer was really starting to step to the plate to deliver constructive criticism to the contestants, but that was a very brief moment this season. Even Randy has reverted back to his repeated comments from year's past, acting like a total slug on the panel and not delivering poignant comments. Steven Tyler is basically just a male version of Ellen DeGeneres. And probably out of all the contestants during the week Pia was eliminated, the judges delivered (specifically JLo) the most constructive criticism to Pia and Stefano - the contestants in that week's bottom two. I really don't know what to say about the judging panel now - it seemed to work really good during the auditions and Hollywood week. Now, they appear to be utterly useless. It's up to America to be the real judge's anyway, since the current judging panel doesn't really have much of an influence on what the voters think.

Should the voting system used on the show be changed yet again? I've been an advocate for this in the past and although they tweaked it somewhat last year, it still hasn't been enough. Do as they do on shows like "America's Got Talent" and "So You Think You Can Dance" where the judges either have the final say or have some part in deciding who stays and who goes. Limit the amount of times a person can vote or text and make it more favorable for female contestants to stay in the competition. Yes, it's true that mostly females vote on the show as it is. But there has to be a way that can make the votes more uniform and to be more favorable for the female contestants to have a fighting chance.

And last but not least, the incorporation of the judge's save. During the two previous season's that the save has been used, it was used justly, but not in a manner that saved a front-runner from being eliminated. Honestly, did we ever believe that Michael Lynche and Matt Giraud were going to win their particular seasons? Much could be said of Casey Abrams. At this stage of the competition, I just don't see him winning at the end of the day, unless he puts together a couple of memorable and meaningful performances. So the use of the save on Casey Abrams during top 11 week has come into question, especially considering that the save could have been used on Pia Toscano. But to be fair, aren't shocking eliminations one of the reasons why Idol is great as it is? It seems that once Chris Daughtry and Jennifer Hudson were eliminated far too soon on the show, they became mega-stars anyways. I have reason to believe that Pia will end up doing quite well as it is.