Musings
an Online Journal of Sorts

By Alyce Wilson

Copyright 2007, Fox Broadcasting

(clockwise from top left) Jared Cotter, Antonella Barba, Sabrina Sloan, Sundance Head.

Since I was busy on Friday, I didn't get a chance to write about the American Idol finalist results, some of which were semi-surprising.

The first to go was Jared Cotter, who has a good voice but not much of a stage presence. He certainly didn't have the "wow" factor he needed in these early stages to build a fan base.

Next to be given her walking papers was Antonella Barba, who is among the worst AI semifinalists ever. She was on borrowed time, kept alive by a pity vote due to her troubles in the media over unauthorized nude pics of her published on the Internet.

The other two eliminations initially seemed like a surprise, but after consideration, they make sense. First, host Ryan Seacrest brought Sabrina Sloan and Haley Scarnato to center stage. To the surprise of most audience members, including Sabrina, she was the one to go. She has been considered one of the stronger singers, thought not in the same league as the uncontested top two, LaKisha Jones and Melinda Doolittle.

I believe people who might have voted for her voted instead for the other potential diva, Stephanie Edwards, who might have actually benefited from judge Simon Cowell telling her that she was a "copycat" singer. I think people voted to save Stephanie and, assuming Sabrina was safe, didn't bother to weigh in for her.

Plus, the previous week she'd sung a love song in a gospel style, which doesn't seem to go over well with viewers. She had a good voice, but again, no wow factor. This meant the undeserving Haley won out. But no worries: in all likelihood she'll be the first finalist to go, barring unpredictable factors.

Then Ryan brought up Sanjaya Malakar and Sundance Head. Two weeks earlier, Sundance would have been a shoo-in, but he was the one to leave. The reason was simple: lack of consistency. When he auditioned, he seemed like a strong contender. Then, he had a rough week in Hollywood and just barely made the semifinals. The first week of semifinalist competition, he stank up the stage. The second, he was a lot stronger, but this past week was a repeat of the first. I think the viewers got tired of giving him the benefit of the doubt.

Plus, Sanjaya may be a weaker singer, but he's more consistent, has shown improvement and, with his winning smile and long, curly locks, is no doubt getting the preteen vote, who tend to be loyal and power dial for their favorites.

Just goes to show, you've got to bring your A game every week.

For the past several years, every time The Gryphon and I went to the Philadelphia Flower Show, we thought how much my mom would enjoy it. This was the first year we thought about it early enough to invite her along.

She arrived Thursday afternoon, and we had enough time before my evening assignment, so we drove out to DSW Shoes, where I got my wedding shoes, to see if she could find something to wear at the wedding. It took some doing, but we finally found a pair of attractive strappy champagne colored flat sandals. She was very pleased, and she got a couple other pairs while she was there, as well.

I found a chic pair of Steve Madden leopard print peekaboo wedges.

We had a little time to hang out at home before I heated up the very nice pasta dish The Gryphon had prepared for us. Then I did my usual work assignments. Unfortunately, my desk is in the guest room, so Mom had to endure the sound of me typing when she initially went to bed. She said it didn't bother her, and sure enough, she was soon snoring.

Friday morning, we got up bright and early, got showers and got dressed. After The Gryphon went to work, I made breakfast of scrambled Egg Beaters with vegetables, some vegetarian bacon and toast. Then we took the regional rail into Center City, so we wouldn't have to fight for parking with the other flower show attendees.

We took it slow and easy, but there was really no other way to go, because the place was so crowded. The theme this year was "Legends of Ireland", and so we saw lots of green, lots of water features and, unfortunately, lots of leprechauns.

At first, I thought it was my imagination, but later another flower show attendee agreed that they crammed the exhibits into a smaller space this year, and there were fewer of them. Instead, there were probably almost twice as many vending booths, taking up a quarter of the room. Everyone was crowded around the exhibits, which was extremely unpleasant.

I think they need to rethink how they arrange things, because it's hard to enjoy that way. I advised Mom to walk slowly and look around her when she moved, but after someone pushed her and nearly knocked her over, we decided to spend most of our time in the less crowded competition areas. Even there, though, it was elbow to elbow.

One of the things worth waiting for were the miniatures, which were amazing, especially the blue ribbon winner.

We took a couple breaks, as well, such as a lunch break. I found some sushi at one of the food vendors, but we had to walk all the way to the other end of the hall to find something Mom wanted to eat. After passing oodles of hot dog and pretzel vendors, we found her a nice wrap.

Mom and I reflected in a sculpture in the hallway

Later, we checked out a culinary demonstration by Michael Giletto, chef at the Cherry Valley Country Club. He cooked a pork dish from his restaurant. Most of the ingredients were very rare, and it was somewhat complicated, especially when it came to the plating, which involved drizzling five or six different things over the entree. While he was trying his best to appear to be a down-to-earth guy, the food seemed fussy and pretentious. I'm not sure anyone in the audience learned anything.

Here are a few of my favorite pics from the day.

We hit most of the main displays and competitive categories, and then left at about quarter of five so we could walk over to the Marriot Hotel lobby, where we were meeting The Gryphon between about 5:30 and 6. Since we couldn't find anywhere to sit, we grabbed a table in Starbucks and got some drinks, hanging out there until he arrived.

For dinner, at Mom's suggestion, we got Mexican food. We took her to a place we liked near the University of Pennsylvania, Mad Mex, taking a cab from the hotel. Mom liked it but said it was too loud in there. Since it was a Friday night in a study-heavy area, that wasn't really a surprised. But the food was good, and there were a lot of vegetarian items, which tend to be lighter in terms of fat.

Overall, we had a nice time, and Mom said she enjoyed herself. At home, we watched What Not to Wear on TLC, and Mom fell asleep on the couch. Since The Gryphon had had to work and didn't get to see the flower show, I went with him on Saturday. I'll write more about that tomorrow.

More on American Idol:

Musings on American Idol Season 6 (2007)

Musings on American Idol Season 5 (2006)

Musings on American Idol Season 4 (2005)

Musings on American Idol Season 3 (2004)

More from the Philadelphia Flower Show 2007:

March 13, 2007 - Enjoying the Green

Copyright 2006 by Alyce Wilson

March 2007 Index

Musings Index

What do you think? Share your thoughts
at Alyce's message board (left button):