2005-07-17 - 12:16 a.m.
Kirk Pengilly,
Garry Beers,
Tim Farriss,
Andrew Farriss
Jon Farriss
These names ring a bell? How about:
Michael Hutchence
Unless you are a HUGE fan of the Australian band INXS, you probably will only remember the last one, and you would be forgiven if you didn�t remember that one either.
This guy.
You remember, �I need you tonight� �Devil inside� �Never tear us apart� uhhh, I think that�s it.
They had a good run, at one time they were one of the biggest bands in the world. That was then:
This is now
CBS has teamed up with the remaining members of INXS (Lead singer and only recognizable member of the group, Michael Hutchence, killed himself in 1997) to hold a new reality show �ROCK STAR INXS�
From the Web Site:
�This summer, Mark Burnett and CBS present the most ambitious show in the history of unscripted television, "Rock Star:INXS."
A twist on American Idol, 14 very attractive young men and women compete to become the new lead singer for the �Super� rock band INXS
Record scratch�.
�Super� Rock band? They were barely a �Regular� Rock band. At the height of their fame they were pop stars, and that, again, was THEN.
Even back then there was only one star in the band, and he�s dead. No one knows these guys, and without their front man they are hardly �Rock Stars�
During the lead in to the show semi-star Dave Navarro commented on the file footage showing huge crowds screaming their adoration. �Those crowds are the difference between being a �Pop Star� (sneer) and being a �ROCK STAR! (Devil Horns)
Aside from the fact that the crowds were full of screaming women with big feathered hair, wearing �We are the World� T-Shirts and neon bracelets, the flat response from new INXS leader, Garry Beers: �That�s right Dave.� Spoke volumes about how he felt about the whole thing.
As you might have inferred, I have a deep-set hatred for all reality TV, so why did I even bother watching.
The contestants ROCK
Well� most of them rock, some of them don�t rock at all.
The first one I saw tonight Heather Luttrell left me a bit stunned. I was expecting the really poor performances I had come to expect from shows like American Idol.
She launched into �Somebody to Love� and I quickly found myself turning up the volume.
Aside from Jessica, (who somehow squeaked into the competition on sex appeal alone., she�ll make it far into the finals, at least until the last band member realizes he doesn�t have a chance)
Most of the contestants were pretty impressive. There were a couple who really didn�t belong, but overall a pretty good crop. I really started rooting for my favorites until I realized something�. But I�ll get back to that.
Every week the three lowest scoring contestants must sing an INXS song for the band and then one is disqualified.
�While they were singing the three hits INXS ever had, (I wonder what they are going to do for later shows) I realized again how out of date the music was and how ridiculous it would be for any one of these 20 somethings to be fronting an 80�s pop band full of portly old men.
Up to this point, the contestants had been singing supped up versions of classic rock songs, (and one or two pop songs) And they were really rocking out, (mostly)
and then they had to sing these sappy synth laced pop tunes, and it was awful.
Why would any of these kids want to sing with INXS? A band who should be burning down bars with the likes of Great White and Winger. Sure they had their time, they filled stadiums, sold lots of records, and then got old and fat.
This is all made more concrete by the lecherous comments made by the band to women young enough to be their daughters. Why are there even women contestants? (hold the hate mail for a second) We are talking about a band whose only claim to fame was a sexy, brooding, male, lead singer! If there are any INXS fans out there , I would make a solid bet that 90% are women (just like it was in �88) It would be like me getting together with "Big Brother" and singing Janis Joplin songs.
So while my favorite contestant is a woman, I would never want her to be chained to a band of old 80�s pop�candles? (I mean really, don�t people have to at least know your name to be a star?) Heather is a counter culture Ani Difranco type, with INXS?
The best guy, (and probably the most talented overall) is Ty Taylor. The only black person on the show (Jordis might be multi racial it depends on the picture you look at,) I�ll give them some slack since there are not too many black Rockers out there.
I don�t know these guys, but I have this sneaky feeling that they might be the good ole� boy Aussie type. Crocodile Dundee aside, race relations down under are even worse than here. Even if they are good open minded types, a young black dude fronting an 80�s band trying to make a come back is just seems silly to me. I don�t even think these guys could do it with their original frontman, what�s his name, oh yeah, Michael
Dave Navarro has got to go too. Any man who spends as much time in the mirror as Prince cannot be as cool as he thinks he is. He brings nothing to the show at all, Brooke Burke, the pre-requisite hot young female announcer, keeps calling him �the first alt-rock guitar hero� Whatever.
I do want to comment on how much the house band rocks, they are playing 14 different songs everynight, and they are really playing them well. And since they are young, about the same age as the contestants, they look good doing it.... further reminding me about how old the remains of INXS will look behind their new front-person
Anyway, some of these folks have real talent, I hope this show opens doors for them, I�ll follow online just to see what happens, (that way I can skip the comments and fluff)
I feel sorry for the winner; they may turn out to be the biggest looser.
Justus
