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Tuesday
It's a stripped-down show in more ways than one, as the House Band goes acoustic for the night and is joined by a string quartet. We get to see bits of the trip to Vegas, but only in incoherent snippets. Which is probably how the Supernovices remember it, too. As for the actual songs, Zayra kicks things off. She chose to sing one of her original songs for Supernova, and it's her best performance yet, despite being (a) in Spanish, and (b) completely wrong for Supernova. Magni sports a white suit and a killer Bowie impression to croon "Starman," but it's Patrice who gets thumped for not doing more with the Police's "Message In A Bottle." Lukas sings "Hero" by Chad Kroeger and gets a hard time from Tommy and Jason for sitting down and growling again, respectively. Nobody comments on the priest's collar he's wearing. Storm's Cake-inflected double cover of "I Will Survive" calls that statement into question for her, but she takes the harsh criticism in stride. Toby does Peter Gabriel's "Solsbury Hill" with Gilby on guitar and himself on bongos; we learn that Dilana let him have the song in exchange for a naked dash around the pool at the Rock Star Mansion. Supernova is impressed with Toby's commitment, which suggests to me that Dilana really needs to stop trying to manipulate her fellow contestants. It always just backfires on her, and Wile E. Coyote? Not a rock star. Singing "In The Air Tonight," Ryan plays to his strengths, namely, standing still. And Dilana sings that durable ode to crappy fathers, "Cats In The Cradle." I'm going to go hug my kid now. The initial bottom three? Patrice, Toby, and the perennial non-favorite Zayra. Funny how a bottom three suddenly starts making a dent now that there are only eight contestants left.
Wednesday
Not too much post-performance drama to rehash this week, now that Jill's gone and Storm knows how to act like a grown-up. The major development early on is that Supernova has chosen one of the Supernovices to front them for their debut performance on tonight's show. Amid many unconvincing protestations that this doesn't mean the competition is over, they bestow that honor upon Dilana. Who, disappointingly, kind of coasts through it. There's also an encore, and that goes to Ryan for the second time in three weeks. Last night's initial bottom three (Patrice, Toby, and Zayra) are joined in the bottom five by Magni and, for the first time, Storm. Zayra and her Bond Girl outfit sing the appropriately titled "Razor Blade" by Blue October, and she's only mildly horrible. Also making a third bottom-three appearance, Patrice breaks the Hole curse with "Celebrity Skin." Although she tries it in a key that's way too low for her, she at least remembers all the words, unlike some people. And of the three bottom-three virgins still standing, it's Magni who is called to sing for survival. His version of Radiohead's "Creep" compares less favorably to Lukas's past performance than Patrice's did, but it's quite emotional and moving. He's safe, of course. Supernova finally decides that it's time to quit humoring Zayra, and she makes a classy farewell. A few more weeks and this might actually turn into a competition. Want more? The full recap starts right below!
Shout-out this week to that other band called Supernova, who recently filed a preliminary injunction to prevent our boys from recording or performing under the name "Supernova." The injunction also has a deadline for a hearing right around mid-September. So we'll see how that works out.
Tuesday
Wearing a purple minidress, Brooke welcomes us to "a stripped-down acoustic hour of Rock Star Supernova, with our string quartet." And there is indeed a string quartet sitting on stage left, sharing the space with an acoustically equipped House Band. The string players all raise their instruments to acknowledge the crowd's applause, except for the cellist. Apparently she hates applause. Brooke introduces the Supernovices. The Nut Gallery looks strangely empty tonight with only eight of them left. We get long close-ups on Magni and Ryan for some reason. Brooke also introduces Supernova and Dave, who is busy shrugging out of his jacket. Of course he doesn't have a shirt on underneath; it's Dave. Brooke asks him what he's doing, and he acts all literal about the concept of "stripped down." Not to be outdone (ever, at anything), Tommy whips off his own t-shirt. Gilby and Jason don't feel like playing that, though. Brooke congratulates Dave on his new album with Panic Channel album dropping "today," and then it's time for the Supernovices' week in review.
We're reminded that Gilby told the Supernovices last week that the ones who survived were going to go with them to Vegas and check out the venue for their debut gig. And then, where we usually get Mansion footage, there's private jet footage, as Supernova and the Supernovices act up in the passenger cabin. And now we see the real reason for last week's double elimination: there wasn't room for nine contestants, even if one of them was Jill.
On the tarmac at McCarran, they're greet by the promoter for the New Year's Eve show. "Let's have some fun," the guy says stiffly. Yeah, good luck with that. Not that we'll ever see him again. The group caravans up the Strip to the Hard Rock, and thence to The Joint, the concert venue on the premises, which Magni describes as "the bomb." We get a quick look at the place. And, I'm sorry, but I've played bigger rooms than that. Ryan calls it "intimate, but it felt like an arena, too, at the same time." He's half right. Jason assembles the Supernovices on the bare stage, and tells them to take it in. Storm imagines it "thick with people, screaming and sweating." With a phalanx of sturdy Teamsters earning union scale at the edge of the stage, one assumes. The group then decamps to the Hard Rock's penthouse suite, which has a hot tub and a bowling alley. Tommy gives his version of a toast: "Put it in fourth gear and pop a wheelie." After that, things get kind of indistinct, with dancing and groupies and Jason all but holding a blotto Toby upright. Looks like someone had one too many Foster's, mate.
Then we're back at the Mansion the day. People are still crashed out at 11:00 AM, which I used to do all the time. Then they're still down at 5:00 PM, which I haven't done as much. Lukas eventually presents himself at song selection, where Toby observes, "You look like I feel." Whatever; it's not like it's unusual for Lukas to be wearing his sunglasses in the house. It's in this sorry condition that they have to pick their songs for the week. Ryan reads a note aloud: "This week, we're stripping it back and going unplugged. Bring your best performance." Magni whines, "I hate hungover song selection." You mean it's happened before? Amazing. Ryan interviews that Gilby is playing again this week, on "Solsbury Hill" by Peter Gabriel. Dilana gets greedy and calls it, but Toby wants it as well. And apparently the negotiations grow somewhat protracted, because we see a bunch of the Supernovices outside by the pool. And Dilana's telling Toby that she'll let him have the song if, in return, he'll strip naked and run around the pool. Cut immediately to Toby doing exactly that, a blurry spot in hot pursuit, quite literally on his ass. He finishes with a cannonball into the water. Toby interviews that all he cares about is that he got the song, plus he proved that he was serious about getting it. If Dilana was trying to embarrass Toby, something tells me it didn't work.
The other big prize in song selection is, in there with all of the other sheet music, a blank sheet of staff paper. Hey, I recognize that song from the sheet music; wasn't it in Pootie Tang? No, like Dave, I'm being too literal. What it represents is the chance for one Supernovice to perform a song written by him or herself. Zayra's hand goes up immediately. After a considerable pause, Ryan says that he wants it, too. More pausing. "It's between you two, man," Lukas announces mildly. Ryan argues that he needs this because he was in the bottom three last week. Wrong tactic to use on Zayra, who I think has at least stood up every week of this competition. "If that's the reason," she points out correctly, "then I should get it." Zayra interviews that she didn't just want to do it; she had to do it. In the end, her persistence wins out over Ryan's relative uncertainty as to whether he can pull it off. "Good luck," he tells Zayra with a hug. "Can't wait to hear your song." Zayra interviews, "It might be crazy, but I'm also very brave, so I'm going for it."
Back in the auditorium, Brooke asks Dave what he thinks. Dave complains that "the censors got to Tommy and me," which is why they're dressed again. Or perhaps it's because, given that Jason's taken to showing up at the tapings wearing fingerless gloves all the time, it's brisk enough in there that their nipples were threatening to put out one of Brooke's eyes. "How come Toby gets to run around naked and we don't?" Tommy "complains," to widespread screams.
As for Dave's comments, he is once again disappointed that almost none of the Supernovices wanted to grab this chance to do an original song for the guys. Dave says that if Supernova flew him to Vegas and showed him his potential future, "I'd do anything to prove to them that I was right for their band." Assuming, you know, he weren't already a rock star, which he kind of is. Jason reminds the Supernovices that a lot of them became finalists in the first place in part because of the music that they'd already written, and now he's "underwhelmed" at the poor showing. Gilby puts his finger on it, saying that they all figure they'll have plenty more chances to do this kind of stuff later on in the competition, but the fact is that they have to fight for it every week. If any of the Supernovices protest that maybe acoustic night wasn't the best showcase for their original music, we don't see it. On a semi-related subject, Gilby adds. "Toby, I dig that you ran around naked for me!" And that's the gayest thing Gilby has said all season, if not in his entire life. Dave turns to Zayra and says, "You got the original; why don't you bring it right now for us?"
Zayra takes the stage, looking literally half-dressed in a voluminous, floor-length, red skirt and a black bra. Where are the censors now? Brooke announces that Zayra will be singing her own song, "Lluvia De Mar," in Spanish. She straps on an acoustic, and the song starts soft and slow, with Rafael the Lead Guitarist plucking out harmonics on a twelve-string. Zayra's voice sounds a lot better than usual tonight. I don't know if it's because it's a song she wrote for her own range and vocal strengths, or if it's because I'm not constantly comparing it to a more familiar and tons better original performance, or if it's because I don't understand a word she's saying other than "corazon," but this is the best singing I've heard from her so far. This actually isn't bad stuff. It's totally wrong for Supernova on every level, and somewhere a telenovela is missing its theme music, but Zayra pulls it off nicely. Some people in the balcony are dangling a large Puerto Rican flag over the railing in support, and the rest of the audience is quite vocal in its appreciation. Jason gives a standing ovation, because he's Jason. Sit your ass down, Jason.
Dave starts by congratulating Zayra on having the guts to get up there and do that, like we don't already know that there's very little Zayra doesn't have the guts to do. Tommy, of course, starts by saying that he loves her dress (even though she's only wearing the bottom half of one), and says that Massive Attack is one of his favorite bands, and Zayra's song reminded him of them. "I'm not sure it's for us, but that was pretty cool, dude," Tommy concludes. Gilby also thinks the song was beautiful, but he still wants to see her "get out there on a rock song and show us what you would do if you were with us, okay?" Jeez, he hasn't had enough of that already? Because I've seen what she would do, and it's not good. Zayra promises to give him whatever he wants. Jason asks her how it felt to play an original song to the whole world. Zayra calls it "golden." Jason says that he loved it, and tells her to carry on. Obviously he's not picturing himself playing bass behind her, because I can't imagine him being on board for that. It's already commercial time, and Brooke does a little voting spiel, which I think is the first time this season that she's only given the numbers for one contestant.
Brooke welcomes us back to "the baddest rock competition on TV." Not exactly a crowded field, mind you. Brooke tries to pump up the drama over Magni, saying that he's been praised for his voice and his stage presence. "But does he have that special something Supernova is looking for?" If that something is a glowing white suit, the phosphor burn on my picture tube says "yes." He's singing "Starman," which is a David Bowie song that I don't know. And yet, even if Brooke hadn't told me it was Bowie, I'd be able to recognize it as such by the way Magni's singing it. By which I mean exactly like Bowie. He's all smooth and everything, even mimicking Bowie's accent as he sings. It's still Magni's voice doing it, which is good, and it's a big improvement over his last Bowie song. He ends strong on the last "la la las," the veins in his skull standing out impressively.
And if I thought Magni was going to get thumped for not making the song more his own, I was wrong. Tommy says hi to Magni, who responds, "Thank you for the last time I met you." He scratches his goatee theatrically and deadpans, "I can't remember anything, but it was fun." Tommy agrees, and tells Magni that he did a good job as always. Gilby agrees, but gets after Magni for not getting the audience to join in on the "la la las." "In the old country, they sing!" Magni protests, so Gilby tells him that we spoiled Americans need to be led. Probably something to that. Jason continues with his habit of turning his comments into interview questions and asks Magni, "Is this the most dressed up you've ever been onstage in your career?" Magni claims it's the most dressed-up he's been in his entire life. Tommy says that he knows you have to rock a look when you go to court. Wisely, Magni just chuckles and leaves that alone. I think they went kind of easy on him there. Clearly, we're at the point in the competition where they're judging not just one night's performances, but how you've been doing in the competition overall.
Speaking of which, here's Patrice. Brooke tells us she's trying to break her bottom-three curse with "Message In A Bottle" by the Police. What's most troubling about Patrice's look is that she learned nothing from Jill's elimination last week, and is now wearing bike shorts of her own. Patrice starts out singing from behind the mic stand upstage, and, for once, she's keeping the smiling to a minimum. She's going for more intensity, trying to build slowly through the first chorus. Alas, two minutes is not a lot of time for building, and the judges are looking pretty bored. On the last verse, she starts working the runway a little more and moving around, leaving the mic stand behind. But it's too little, too late.
Dave tells Patrice as much, saying that although he liked her vocal ad-libbing at the ending, he thought the intensity was lacking. "Other than that, you sang well." Gilby agrees, but says that he was hoping for her to do something more original with the song. You know, like Magni didn't. The crowd moans in sympathy for Patrice, prompting Dave to say that he knows Patrice feels ganged-up on, "but...I know that a hell of a performer is right inside you and that's what I want to see every time." "Okay," Patrice chirps bravely. It's not like she can say, "Well, a hell of a performer was inside me in Vegas for a while. I think." Brooke gives the voting instructions again, and promises Lukas and Storm .
From behind the Nut Gallery, Brooke rhetorically asks if Lukas can "keep his new sound going." We shall find out. Lukas has certainly embraced the acoustic theme tonight; he's not only playing an acoustic guitar, to sing "Hero" by Chad Kroeger, he's also sitting cross-legged in a straight-backed dining room chair. Formal. Of course, on the other side of the equation, he's also wearing a black shirt with a priest's collar and no sleeves, revealing black tape on one bicep. I assume it's covering a tattoo that's either too fresh or too FCC-baiting to see the light of day. Also, his skunky faux-hawk is aspiring to new heights. As for Brooke's question, the answer is no. At least not tonight. And weirdly, he's smiling almost as much as Patrice usually does. Maybe the line about the "world full of killing" just fills him with too much pleasure to suppress. There's not much he can have going on other than facially, so he does his best to make up for it that way. Lukas even goes so far as to make a different expression on every note during one particularly ambitious run. After he's done, he sets down his guitar and stands to receive his feedback.
Dave loves Lukas's version of the song, which showcased another side of Lukas's voice. Tommy also dug it, but says, "I hate when people sit down." Says the man who's spent most of his musical career on a stool. Gilby was also really impressed with Lukas's vocal performance. And you know what Jason's going to say, now that the trademark growl has come back. Jason repeats his usual complaint about Lukas's voice, and adds, "I know what you have now, and I'm not gonna let you get away with not using it." Lukas smiles like this is an unalloyed compliment. I can't help thinking that there's no way he can win this, because even if he does there's no way the rest of the band is ever going to agree on how he should sing.
Brooke tells us that Storm's recent performances have been "on the vulnerable side. But tonight, she has a statement for the guys." And that statement is singing "I Will Survive." Oh, dear. This is not going to go well. Dressed in a pinstriped zoot suit complete with watch chain, Storm does make a go of it. She starts out low and slow, over just strings for the first few lines. Then Jim the rhythm guitarist starts strumming the Cake version of this song, and Storm and the band kick into a cover version that blends the laid-back funk of the Cake version with the bombastic strings and vocals of the original. The judges look unimpressed, even as Storm gives it her all. Which is a lot, but not enough. Not for this song. Not with this configuration of the House Band. She growls an "I Will Survive" through the bottom of her ribcage and does this weird-ass walk-dance during the guitar solo that Lukas would reject as too awkward. And then she goes for a great big, dramatic, crowd-pleasing finish. And it is crowd-pleasing, at least the crowd in the auditorium.
Dave acknowledges as much, but as for himself, well, he's got a little story to tell. He says that someone named Marty got "Hit Me Baby One More Time" last year, and "he made it work." He also says that Dilana made a Cyndi Lauper song work a few weeks ago. But this? "For me, that just didn't work." "Okay," Storm acknowledges. Dave clarifies, as if any clarification is necessary: "I hated that." The audience protests. Storm does, also, good-naturedly floating this excuse: "Check it -- I was up for, like, forty-eight hours, went to Vegas with these three guys, and I woke up with Gloria Gaynor. Not everyone can say that. Storm says that she tried, and that she's sorry Dave didn't like it. "I thought that was sautéed in wrong sauce," Tommy opines, earning a big laugh from the sous-chef, but she actually looks a little wounded when he adds, "I kinda want my money back." Ouch. That's not something you want to hear from somebody who just flew you to Vegas. Gilby didn't like it either, and gives Storm a little speech about how now that they're in the final eight, they need to pretend they're in the band every time they get up there. As she's dismissed, Storm puts on a brave face. "That's okay, man. I like spankings." But sadly, all Brooke does is stand to her and give the voting numbers. Before going to commercial, she tells Toby and Gilby that they're up .
Coming back from commmercial, Brooke reminds us that we can protect Storm by voting for her. Funny, she doesn't usually do that. Does somebody have a little girl-crush? In any case, it's now time for Toby to share the stage with Gilby for "Solsbury Hill." And I'd have to say that Toby got kind of gypped, because Gilby's perched up on the baby grand piano to play his acoustic guitar, which is going to make him a little tough to interact with. Plus Tommy's going to fire Gilby for sitting down, anyway. Toby's voice is a great match for this song and he does a good job, although he almost appears to lose the beat towards the end of the second chorus. Not that that's hard, what with the song's being in seven-four time or some damn thing. Then Toby puts the mic on the mic stand and plays a pair of bongos he's got set up there, all the way through the end. Beats a megaphone.
Toby wanders out to the end of the runway, getting no love from Gilby because he's already rushing back to the judges' dais. Once he gets there, Dave compliments Toby for going "the extra mile to rock with Gilby." Extra mile? What's Toby packing, anyway? Dave adds that Toby sang well, which is of course beside the point. Toby takes an opportunity to suck up to Dave by complimenting the Panic Channel, which prompts Dave to upgrade Toby's review to "the best performance of the night." Gilby agrees that Toby did a great job with a tough song. Tommy, of course, is all about the nudity. "There is no question in my mind about your commitment," he says. "Welcome!" He almost forgets to compliment Toby's ass, but sneaks it in under the wire while an upstage camera goes in for corroboration. Wow, I guess Dilana really showed him who's boss, huh?
Brooke credits Ryan for introducing the "Mohawk hoodie" to the world. And the world said, "That's dumb." Tonight Ryan's singing "In The Air Tonight" by Phil Collins. He's dressed a little more acceptably, but still dramatically, in a high-collared black jacket with two rows of shiny buttons. Just the thing for brooding on the moors. Appropriately, it's a brooding performance. Ryan's voice continues to sound good, and he's making all kinds of interesting shifts between his sad, "Mad World" voice and his louder, more intense one. Best of all, he stays in one place behind the microphone stand instead of trying to move around and demonstrating what an awkward fellow he is in front of an audience. But of course, the one who really impresses me is Nate the Drummer, who does a better Phil Collins behind the kit than Phil Collins does. Overall, a successful performance.
Dave agrees: "Very dramatic, very intense. For me, the best performance of the night." Close-up of Lukas looking kind of pissed. Dave also wants to give credit to the string section, particularly "the blonde one." Of course he does. Because "the blonde one" does look like she probably goes through a lot of strings. G-strings, to be precise. Gilby says that Ryan's voice cut through nicely, and he appreciates the way Ryan keeps changing it up each week. Jason tells him to keep it up as well. "I want this job, man," Ryan assures them. Then Brooke tries to change up her voting spiel: "If you guys don't know by now, I give up." Hey, I did that weeks ago. She says that after the break, Dilana's going to try to move us to tears. Great, no pressure.
Brooke welcomes us back to the show from atop the judges' dais. "I thought I'd get a good seat for the last performance," she tells the guys. Ever the gentleman, Jason gets up and relinquishes his seat. There's some tedious stage business about how dangerous it is to sit to Tommy, and then Brooke gets down to Dilana's introduction. The frontrunner is singing what Brooke calls "the great American rock anthem, 'Cats In The Cradle.'" Which is overselling a bit, if you ask me. Dilana sings well as always, starting out with one foot on an amp and not changing one gender pronoun in the whole thing. Which is a bold choice, considering the length of the skirt she's wearing. Also, I'm glad Magni didn't have to sing the line, "He learned to walk when I was away." That would have been rough. She spends some time in a seldom-visited realm for her, by which I mean her middle register. By the way, this has nothing to do with Dilana's performance, but the last verse of this song has always bugged me. The narrator spends the whole song blowing off his own kid, but then at the end, when he wants to see him, it's too late because the kid's spending time with his own kids. So the last line, "My boy was just like me," is supposed to be this crushing irony, but even that is giving himself too much credit. In other words, dude, you're still the biggest ass in the room. But that's neither here nor there. Dilana does well as always, showing quite a bit more restraint vocally than usual. Although it's kind of annoying when she mock-conducts the string section at the end. That looks like a good way to end up with a g-string wrapped around your neck.
Dave's first comment is, of course, to Ryan. "I spoke too soon. That was the best performance of the evening." Ryan is a good sport about it, because it's not like he has a mic right now to respond. Dave says that he not only got chills from Dilana's performance, but he still has them. Dude, it's cold in there! Jason (who has gotten his seat back in the interval) is wearing gloves! You don't have a shirt! Dave says that his own dad is there now, which is good, because otherwise he'd be "an emotional wreck right now." Jason says that Dilana's thing really worked, and tells the Supernovices that they all adapted really well tonight. Gilby also loved it, and warns her, "don't let up." Dilana promises to keep it going, "because I told you guys, I'm the one." Supernova laughs, but it's not an indulgent laugh. It's more of "It's about time she figured it out" kind of laugh. Brooke opens up the voting, and we'll see if Dilana's uncharacteristic outbreak of hubris comes back to haunt her (it won't).
Initial bottom three? Patrice, Zayra, and Toby. This part of the show is starting to look more familiar every week. Brooke thanks the strings and the House Band, and says that she'll see us tomorrow for the elimination. Brooke, honey, the camera only works one way.
Wednesday
Sure enough, there is Brooke. Although I had initially mistaken her for Johnny Depp, with the rock & roll pirate look she's sporting tonight. Brooke, why are you wearing a bandanna on your head and all that jewelry? Okay, you just arrrrr. Brooke tells us that it's elimination night, and promises a "huge surprise" coming up. Is it something to do with the injunction? We'll just have to wait, because first Brooke wants to recap last night's show. I'll sit back and let her do that.
So then there's some Mansion footage. The remaining eight Supernovices are having their post-show dinner, as they do, and Storm observes to everyone, "I got...smawshed." For Storm, it's one of those times when an existing word just won't cut it. Storm interviews that it was a rough night and a hard song, then she's back telling her dining companions that she took it seriously vocally, but didn't take the song seriously, whatever that means. Later, Toby, Ryan, and Lukas are hanging out on the pool room, speculating on whether Storm is going to be in the bottom three. Lukas thinks she is, because what happened to him a couple of weeks ago wasn't a clear enough demonstration of how several rounds' worth of goodwill can override one rotten performance. Lukas adds in an interview that Storm could be in trouble, because Supernova sent home two people last week. "That's a serious deal." Lukas says seriously. "It's a serious band." Who seriously want to get this show off the air before the deadline on that injunction runs out.
Meanwhile, Storm is watching her performance on a product-placed cell phone, with Dilana and Patrice crowded to her around the tiny screen. Dilana cackles approvingly at the replay, saying that she loves it, and Storm herself confidently says, "I have no problem with that." Later, she interviews, "If they don't like it, I can't take it personally, 'cause I know I'm good enough. It's up to them, it's not up to me." Can you imagine Jill saying something that mature? Whoa, oops. Sorry to do that to your head. I'll get you some ice.
Back in the auditorium, Dave wants to have a little follow-up chat with Storm. He calls it a "controversial performance," which, Storm knows what that word means in the context of this show, and it's never good. Dave says that he stands by what he said last night, and asks Storm how she's feeling now. Storm continues to prove herself the anti-Jill as she calmly explains, "I gave it 1000%...it may not be my favorite song, but it's someone's favorite song...I did my best with the time that I had and the material that I had, and I stand by that." Dave says that's a good answer, even though it doesn't really jibe with what she said at dinner. Not that I totally followed either of those speeches. "There's a version by a band called Cake that's done in an ironic way," Dave lectures, like Storm isn't already perfectly aware of that, and says he missed the irony. "I think you sang it well," he admits. He wants to say one other thing, which is that Storm is the only one of the remaining Supernovices who could take that kind of criticism, which Storm seems to really appreciate. "I feel solid and secure delivering such news to you," Dave explains. Which is ironic, because Storm is probably also the one who could do the most physical damage to him if she got it in her head.
Dave then turns to Toby, for whom he has a considerably more shallow compliment: "The people like to see you naked." "I'm sure my father's really proud about that," Toby says apprehensively over the screaming audience. "It has been getting a bit boring around the house," Toby admits. Oh, well then, let me fire that webisode right up! Can't wait! Dave asks what Toby's prepared to do , and Toby says that he's willing to run down Melrose Avenue naked to get the song he wants week. I assume Hollywood Boulevard is right out, though.
So on to the big announcement, which is going take all three members of Supernova to make. Jason tells the Supernovices that they usually award the encore at this point (which is not correct; usually at this point we're still rehashing the intra-show drama), but tonight they're doing something different. He hums a little fanfare and turns it over to Gilby, who says that it's been a great season so far, and they realize two things. "First, there's a lot of talent sitting over there," he says, pointing to the Nut Gallery. "Second, we've been sitting on our asses way too long." Dave and the audience heartily agree with this sentiment, and Gilby says, "It's time for us to get up there and play, isn't it?" The crowd goes nuts, like that's what they came to see. Now it's Tommy's turn, who opens with the disclaimer that they certainly aren't declaring a winner at this point (Dilana). "But if we were to get somebody to test out, the question is, who would that be (Dilana)?" The crowd screams any number of answers. But in response, Tommy kicks it over to another video clip.
In the Mansion, we see all of the Supernovices poring over laser-printed copies of a lyric sheet. Then the day, they all schlep over to Pulse recording studio in L.A., where Gilby and Supernova welcome them, saying that's where they've been recording tracks for the past few months. Butch Walker is nowhere to be seen. Gilby breaks the news that a Supernovice is going to play with them live each week on an original track during the show. "Let's see who it'll be this week."
And then Tommy, behind the drums, counts us off into a skillfully edited montage of all of the Supernovices singing the same song. If you've been watching the show, you're familiar with the tune; it's one of the two that they always have at the beginnings and endings of commercials, specifically the one that sounds to me a little like "Once Bitten, Twice Shy" by Great White. Which kind of sucks for the Supernovices, because this is the same song that they all wrote their own lyrics and melodies to last week, and now here they each have to sing someone else's. We see Patrice singing the first couple of lines live in the recording booth with Supernova, and then Storm sings a couple, then Dilana, then Ryan, seamlessly cut together like a bar-band "We Are The World." Gilby interviews that it was interesting hearing all of the Supernovices, and now they're concentrating on who has the right voice for the music. Toby gives it a try, and Zayra does some screeching. Jason makes me wonder what it is about him that cause his neck to double in size every time he plays. Magni wails a couple of lines, and then Lukas finishes it up, to the sound of cheers in the auditorium. "This is a risky move for us," Gilby interviews. But he's not talking about the injunction; he's merely saying, "it's going to be the first time they ever play onstage, the first time anybody sees this band perform." Afterward, Jason tells the Supernovices that the band had to pick one person (Dilana) for this first week. Gilby reassures them that there will be other opportunities later, and interviews, "It's really going to be who's right for the song (Dilana)."
Back in the auditorium, Gilby again makes sure that we're all clear that the contest isn't over yet; they just had to pick someone (Dilana) to sing with them first (Dilana). "And you guy's think a woman (Dilana) can't front our band, do you?" The crowd cheers, like they already know who it's going to be (Dilana). Gilby tries to draw out the suspense, saying, "There's someone (Dilana) who did something a little extra-special and she (Dilana) is going to join us right now to sing a Supernova song." Yes, the winner is none other than Zayra.
No, not really. It's Dilana, of course, who looks thrilled. Supernova gets up to meet Dilana onstage. Shirtless Tommy tests his bass drum triggers, and Brooke announces "Supernova Featuring Dilana on Vocals" like they're the goddamn Beatles or something. I'm no lawyer, so I'm wondering if performing as "Supernova Featuring Dilana on Vocals" puts them on safer legal ground. The picture gets kind of weird. It takes me a minute to figure out that instead of raw video like usual, they're doing some kind of tape-to-film process for the performance to give it extra-legitimacy or something. Like this is suddenly Woodstock or The Last Waltz going on in here. It would probably work if I didn't find it so distracting.
As for the song itself? Like I said before, you've been hearing snippets of it all season long. It's some pretty standard bar-band party-rock, not quite as fresh or new as Tommy claimed in the season opener, but not terrible either. Dilana doesn't quite rise above the material, it saddens me to say. Even more distressing is when four hoochie dancers come onstage from each side to do their hoochie dancer thing. Dilana even dances with them during the guitar break, complete with an unfortunate Michael Jackson leg kick in there. For the first time, I wonder if she's completely wrong for this band after all; seems like she's going to get bored with them in a hurry, if she isn't already there. The song ends, the crowd goes wild, she bumps fists with Gilby, and then we're back to the straight video look that we're more familiar with. Don't do that again, show. It bugs me. Brooke walks Dilana to the end of the runway.
Because it's Dave's job to comment, he says, "I gotta tell you, those four were awesome." Dilana looks a lot happier to hear that than she did actually singing the song. As the band makes its way back to the dais, Dave tells the Supernovices, "No more excuses. That's the prize. Time to crank it up." Lukas just looks cranky. Brooke says that we're still getting an encore this week, plus something about the bottom three after the break.
Coming back, Brooke says that she can't wait to hear who Supernova is going to sing with week. Jason babbles about how cool that was, and reassures the other Supernovices that they'll get chances as well. Jason says that he especially dug the dancing girls. Tommy takes that opportunity to give them a plug: "Those were Ivan Kane's Royal Jelly Super Hottie Dancers from Club Forty Deuce." Damn, that's a lot of words for someone like Tommy to remember.
Brooke regains control of the show long enough to tell us that we can win tickets to the show's finale on September 13 by putting together the coolest Supernova MySpace page. Wait, September 13? Funny, at the start of the season, Brooke said we had thirteen weeks. September 13 means eleven weeks. Which says two things to me. One is that there's probably another double elimination coming up. The other is that I have two fewer recaps to write, which means this lawsuit is costing me money. As for the contest itself, I didn't get all the details, but if you win, be sure to wear a Glarkware shirt on camera, okay?
Now on to the encore, which Jason gets to announce. "One really super-dynamic performance, we thought," Jason says, by which he means Ryan. All the other Supernovices are so happy for poor little Ryan, who isn't actually a threat to any of them. They all stand up to applaud him except for Lukas, who isn't ever happy for anyone else, and Zayra, to whom Ryan actually is a threat. "Thanks, guys," Ryan tells Supernova, and launches into his song. It's pretty similar to last night, except that the House Band is on electric instruments this time and Ryan isn't dressed like Heathcliffe from Wuthering Heights. There's even a string quartet, but oddly enough it's a different one from last night except for maybe the cellist. It's hard to tell because they get very little screen time and they rock back and forth in their chairs a lot.
And then it's bottom three time. Brooke goes old-school, telling the Supernovices that the people she's about to name are the ones who were in the bottom three as of the beginning of voting last night. Storm looks over at Brooke like, bring it. Brooke doesn't even bother to put in much of a pause before dropping Zayra's name. "What?" Storm yelps, as is becoming her habit. Patrice is the to stand, and then it's Toby. The audience moans loudly, and Storm's incredulity is palpable. Which must make Patrice feel good. Even Supernova shakes their heads to see Toby on his feet.
Brooke calls last night "another massive vote" (which means numbers were down, since she didn't specify an increase), and says that other Supernovices were also in the bottom three during the voting window. The first is Magni. "And Storm," Brooke adds. Storm leaps up to her feet, triumphantly roaring, "Yes!" This is the first time Storm has had to stand during this part of the show, leaving only Lukas and Dilana untouched. "Gotta love the attitude," Brooke ad-libs as Storm and Magni high-five. Brooke asks Dave whether he is surprised to see anyone standing, and Dave says that Magni doesn't deserve to be up. "You sang great, you looked great...there's gotta be some kind of mistake with the calculations here." Careful -- saying that on that other show would probably get you fed to Rupert Murdoch's dingo. Dave also thinks that although he didn't like what Storm did with her song, he thought that she sang it well and should also not be standing. As for the actual bottom three, we'll have to wait through the commercial to find out who they are.
Brooke explains once again how the whole bottom three thing works, which is that if she reads someone's name, that Supernovice has to come over and sing a song of their choice to be judged by Supernova. "And as we learned last week," Brooke cautions, "More than one of you could be packing your bags." Brooke heaves a weary sigh as she reads the first name: Zayra. "They're making you work for this," Brooke observes as Zayra makes her way over. Because we've done this several times, Gilby doesn't waste any time pre-interviewing Zayra; he just asks, "What have you got for us?" Zayra says she's doing a song by one of her favorite bands, Blue October. The song is called "Razor Blade," and she promises to "give it hell out of me." Gilby gives her the go-ahead.
I don't know this song; the only Blue October tune I know is "Hate Me," which is an imperative that I have little difficulty complying with when I hear it. So I can't speak to whether Zayra has done much with the arrangement. All I know is that it starts out with just drums and Sasha the Bassist playing high up on the neck, and it's kind of groovy. Then Zayra starts singing, and it's not a good idea for her to sing fast lyrics, because it just brings out her accent more. And I wonder if I haven't become immune to Zayra, because watching her I was all, "Not bad. Not real bad." And yet I heard Trash laughing her ass off from a completely different floor of our house. That's not a good sign for me as a recapper. Anyway, Zayra sings, does some of her bad dancing, and raises her belted half-length trenchcoat to waggle her leotarded ass at us at one point. And I still don't like Blue October. Again, Jason appreciates Zayra more than anyone. Sit your ass down, dude.
Brooke's ready to announce the second bottom three member, and guess what? It's Patrice again, for the third time in four weeks. Not good for her, especially since Zayra's pretty much Supernova's freakish pet. Again, there's not a lot of conversation aside from Tommy asking her what she's going to sing and calling her "sweetie" twice. Patrice says that she had originally planned to sing a ballad, but in light of last night's acoustic theme, she decided to do something that's more of a departure from that. She's careful to point out that it's a "risky" decision on her part, which of course is the safest thing you can do on this show. She says that she's doing "Celebrity Skin" by Hole, the song that Lukas bombed on a couple of weeks ago. Shrewd move there, attempting to show up Lukas. Normally that's tricky, but all Patrice has to do with this particular song is remember the words and she's golden.
Rafael the Lead Guitarist pounds out the opening chords, and Patrice starts singing. As it turns out, the only really risky thing she's doing is singing it in a key that's too low for her. She can't actually go down that far vocally, so the verse ends up sounding like she's trying to sing harmony with someone who isn't there. She does take Dave's advice about getting into people's faces, though. Quite literally, in fact, as she all but makes out with a few front-row chicks at the end of the runway. Then she gets up in Sasha the Bassist's personal space, which he seems fine with. After another chorus, she heads over and crosses in front of the Nut Gallery, her voice wavering a bit as she jumps off the far end of the platform and hits the floor. She continues all the way back to the judges' dais while singing, then climbs up to stand to their coffee table as she finishes up. And as hard as she's working it, she kind of hits a dead end here, because there's nowhere to go, no space to work, and she timed it badly so now she's got a long time crowded up in that tiny area to finish up. As favorably as she's comparing to Lukas on this song (and I'm missing what I'm sure would be irritated reaction shots from him, so, boo, director!), hopping up to Jason brings to mind Dilana, who did this so much better. She sings the last line, "You better watch out, 'cause I'm not selling cheap," right into Tommy's face, which, of course, he loves. And she's done. Brooke says that we'll find out after the break whether the last bottom three member is Toby, Storm, or Magni.
Brooke reminds the remaining standees that none of them has ever been in the bottom three before. Had enough suspense? Brooke opens the envelope and says that it's Magni. Storm looks surprised, confused, and not a little bit disappointed at this development. I can't wait to hear what she sings if she ever ends up in the bottom three, but something tells me I'll have to wait a while. For now, Magni bounds over to stand to Brooke. Tonight, he's wearing a knit cap pushed high up on his forehead but pulled all the way down over his ears, which may be the least attractive way to wear one of those. Jason asks what Magni's singing, and Magni says that he's doing "Creep" by Radiohead. It's like a tribute to Lukas or something tonight. "It's the anthem of our generation. It's our 'Satisfaction' or something." Careful, there, sparky. You sure you want to remind them of that?
The band goes into it, and it's clear right away that unlike Lukas, Magni is doing a faithful version. He's a little pitchy on the opening line, but quickly finds the key. Going into the chorus, Rafael briefly uses his guitar as a percussion instrument like on the record, and Magni doesn't look back from there. The knit cap gets tossed aside (thank God), and on the line, "What the hell am I doing here," he goes over to stage left for a hug from Patrice and Zayra, which prompts a burst of feedback from his mic and a head-rub from Z. Magni hits the end of the runway for the high, loud notes, which he nails, even as he drops to one knee and thence to a position flat on his back. He stays there for the first line of the final verse, then sits up cross-legged to finish up, quiet and sad with his head down. He stays in character for a few seconds after the last line, even as the crowd screams and cheers, and then shrugs to himself like, That'll work. Kind of endearing, that. Patrice and Zayra join him at the end of the runway as Dilana wipes away tears. Supernova huddles as Brooke sends us to commercial.
Back from the break, Gilby does his usual bottom-three address. He starts with Zayra. "One of our favorite four-letter words is 'risk,'" he claims. He says that Zayra took a risk last night with her original song, and another one tonight with a song they'd never heard of. He tells Patrice that they like her performances, but they have to consider the fact that she keeps ending up in the bottom three. To Magni, he says, "We thought you were great last night and we through you were great today. You are so far from going home. Go sit your ass down." Way to not waste time pretending there was any suspense over Magni, there. He hugs the women and heads back to the Nut Gallery, as Gilby passes it over to Tommy.
"This is clearly my favorite part of the show," Tommy kids, although at this point he kind of seems to be kidding on the square. "Patrice," he says, "we believe you have potential for Supernova. Um, Zayra, unfortunately, you have to go."
Patrice returns to the Nut Gallery as Tommy fixes Zayra with a sympathetic look. For her part, she's smiling back bravely, and good for her. Dave tells her that she's delivered "some of the most compelling performances" in the show's two-season history. True that. I know I would have been compelled to change the channel if I weren't getting paid. He assures her that she'll do fine, and gives her her chance to respond to Supernova. Zayra calls it "the craziest roller coaster I've ever been." She says that Supernova is doing an amazing thing, and starts getting choked up as she says she's proud to be part of it. "No one would believe that I've been here so long. Not even me!" For once, I agree with her. She's bummed about missing the party, but "my heart will be with [Supernova], [the fans], and [the Supernovices]." Well, that was unembarrassing, for once.
Last-Word Newsted assures her that he's one of her biggest fans (yeah, we got that, Captain Obvious), and wishes her luck. Dave cuts her loose to say goodbye to the Nut Gallery. "Bye, world, I'll see you soon!" she threatens. Standing O for Z. Brooke reminds us that if we don't like it, we can vote. And not only that, apparently they're taking song requests for a future show. Brooke explains how we do that, reminds us to watch the webisodes, and announces that the show's going to be on an hour later than usual Tuesday. Kind of a lot of housekeeping there. You suppose Brooke is out of breath after all that?
Post-eviction interviews. Patrice says she admires and will miss Zayra's "creativity and modern flair." By which she means, "Zayra sucks so much more than I do." She says that if she went home she'd be satisfied, but if she stays, "Then I did a good job." Magni is less philosophical: "Being in the bottom three sucks." But he's proud to have all of Iceland behind him. Oh, come on, you know his bandmates back home are at least hoping a little bit for him to fail.