May 7, 2009

"Finally feeling better! Coffee! My next big worry - tomorrow is Danny Gokey Day in Milwaukee area and I don't know how to celebrate."

Michael_Haz tweets....
For Gokey Day - Put up a tree? Wreath on the front door? Carve a large vegetable? Personal Day off? What? Maybe buy a new shirt?...

What's a proper dinner for Danny Gokey Day? The other holidays have all the major meat groups covered, so maybe...ice cream? Help!...
Wisconsin has our own one of the "American Idol" final 3 guys. (They are all guys now. Sorry, Allison.) Danny is not my favorite. Not at all. (I've been all for Adam Lambert since his first audition.) But he's Wisconsin, and that means something.

So let's all go to Milwaukee and do some Gokey events: Miller Park — with first pitch and national anthem, sung, presumably, without screaming — the Harley-Davidson Museum, the Harley-Davidson Roadhouse, the Milwaukee Art Museum, the bronze Fonz....

39 comments:

rhhardin said...

I have one of his paintings on my wall.

MadisonMan said...

That's quite a phone book collection.

I wonder if a trip to the cemetery where his wife is buried will be part of the show. Use that death!

I wonder if she's buried in Valhalla -- that's where my Mom's parents are.

Beta Conservative said...

The Brewers are in Cincinatti for their 2nd game of a two game series.

I like the first pitch idea, but Ann will have to be there to catch it, as the boys are out of town.

kjbe said...

We could go close Wolski's...

knox said...

It's nice when the contestants go back to their home towns.However, I don't want Gokey either. He's nice enough, but essentially another Taylor Hicks. No star quality.

Ann Althouse said...

Gorky.

I love the peek into the Hardin abode.

Lotsa books. Computer manuals?

Scary upholstery...

A.W. said...

Very glad to see Allison go. Gokey will be in the final two.

Adam Lambert is great... if you miss Ratt, Poison, Cinderella, Winger... if you thought Nirvana saved rock and roll, then you can only stand him when he is slow. his "rock' is so 1989.

Its between him and chris to make it into the final two. i am guessing adam will be in it, but it really is too close to really call that one. and then who wins it all? very hard to say. Except that i still maintain that if gokey can find it in his heart to sing clapton's "tears in heaven" he will walk away with the whole thing.

Btw, I liked the way Gokey had a great sense of humor about himself about that performance. That was cool.

And another aside. Wow, those performances were terrible in the results show. I am pretty sure Paula Abdul didn't actually even mouth the words to her song. No Doubt's music section was great, but Stefani sounded terrible. I think if the woman just stopped running around she might have been good. But at least no lip syncing on that. and Daughtry was okay, but his problem is that it is hard to judge a new song live.

Darcy said...

That was cute, Michael! Glad you're feeling better!

Spread Eagle said...

I like Gokey, he seems like a nice guy, but if AI is a singing contest he's way outlived his shelf life. He shoulda been gone about the same time as when the blind guy got shown his way to the door.

MadisonMan said...

Gokey will not sell records.

And really, if you pay to see an artist on stage, you pay for quality work. If they f*ck up, like Gokey did on Dream On, you want your money back, you don't want to read how they found it so amusing.

I fully expect Kris to be royally screwed over by the producers of AI on Tuesday, just like Syesha was last year.

LarryK said...

Allison getting the boot instead of Danny shows what happens when judges substitute "empathy" for critical thinking - those more deserving on merit lose out. And yes, this is very obvious link to what the President said will guide his decision on a far more consequential judge....

(Technically, I know it was the voters rather than the judges who kept Danny, but he's been getting a huge assist from Simon et al all year - they obviously want to keep him around, maybe because sympathetic contestants draw viewers...but I digress, creatively I hope)

rhhardin said...

Natalie Tran on the judging.

Unknown said...

Go Danny! I grew up in Milwaukee and still have lots of connections there so I must root for him. Plus, I like his voice.

I am glad Allison got cut--now she can go out and have a real career. She's amazing. Best of luck, and stay out of trouble, Allison.

Trooper York said...
This comment has been removed by the author.
Unknown said...

Oh, Trooper!

former law student said...

When I saw "Danny Gokey" I thought of Gumby and Pokey, but Pokey was created by Clokey, not Gokey.

MadisonMan said...

LOL Trooper. Wouldn't put it past the producers to insist on that, and I think Danny would go along with it.

former law student said...

That's quite a phone book collection.

Goes with his rotary dial phone, I suppose.

Where does the dog sleep?

Trooper York said...
This comment has been removed by the author.
MadisonMan said...

Oh, I didn't notice the phone. That is awesome! I love old-fashioned phones!

Sofa King said...

There actually is a MacArthur park in Milwaukee.

hombre said...

Too bad about Allison. An Allison-Adam final would have been outstanding.

Watching Adam blow Danny or Chris away in a head-to-head (no puns intended) final will be BOR-ing.

If Adam doesn't blow them away to win it, it will be another low point for AI.

Seems strange to see Trooper jump in with the lefties to poke fun at the Christian guy. I suspect their excuse is actually his motivation.

MadisonMan said...

Trooper's only poking fun at one of the Christian guys. It's hard to poke fun at Kris Allen, he's so nice and humble. It'd be like snarking about Melinda Doolittle.

SteveR said...

What? Danny Gokey's wife died? I did not know that, you'd think it'd be the kind of thing they'd make a big deal out of, even maybe give him favorable judging, because you know, his wife died.

As for Allison, at 16/17 she really should be as confident and experienced as the other contestants, because she can always get a good voice but if you don't have confidence and experience by now, forget it.

Trooper York said...
This comment has been removed by the author.
A.W. said...

This line was just plain ugly:

> they are going to dig up his dead wife and let her melt in the rain.

And, look his wife died literally months before the competition. Ain't a guy allowed to say something about that without being a "tragedy whore?" The fact is they have barely mentioned it since at least hollywood week. He doesn't sing songs about death and loss, he actually sings fairly happy songs. and he doesn't go on and on about it. I really think you are being unfair to the guy. He is a nice normal guy, who acknowledged a personal tragedy and is going beyond it. What is wrong with that?

Personally i would rather have him as an american idol than the return of the 80's hair bands with adam.

hombre said...

Under the circumstances, I guess you could call him a "tragedy whore" regardless of his behavior. I think it is American Idol making a bigger deal of his wife's death than he is.

I didn't think you were dumping on him because he is a Christian. My concluding remark was intended to convey that.

Bissage said...
This comment has been removed by the author.
Bissage said...

"When it comes to 'MacArthur Park' jokes, there ain't no bad."

-- Bertrand Russell

MadisonMan said...

Yes, Gokey is a tragedy whore. That's why AI showed videos of him proposing to his now-dead wife. And picture of their wedding. That's why he flashed a picture of her when asking people to vote for him after singing. Oh, but he hasn't done it recently you might say. Only because he saw the growing tidal wave of backlash.

That and singing Endless Love. With a harp accompanist? Squick.

Tragedy Whore.

Jennifer said...

I like Gokey, so I'm biased. But, I've had a few acquaintances lose spouses and I thought the way they were treated afterwards might be unique to the military community. Apparently not.

Mourn the loss and you're an attention whore abusing your dead spouse's memory. Try to keep it under wraps and you're an asshole who obviously didn't care about your partner. With all the shit you take, at least it's a good thing that losing your love is such a blast.

Sara Thirty Three said...
This comment has been removed by the author.
Michael Haz said...

It'll be brats at beer at Miller Park Friday evening.

Listen to the crowd cheer Gokey, watch him throw out the first pitch and hear him sing the anthem.

Watch the .552 Brewers play the .556 Cubies; trade insults with Cub fans seated nearby.

Enjoy the lovely early summer evening with my wife. Marvel at how wonderful it is that a person's path can lead in so many unexpected directions, as Gokey's path most surely has.

Reflect on the loved ones in my family who have died far too young and how the losses still sting after decades; chuckle at the lack of life's experiences with loss that lets one toss around the phrase 'tragedy whore'.

It'll be a good evening. Hope the guy wins.

Unknown said...

Yes, a brat, a beer and a beloved. What could be better? :)

MadisonMan said...

What could be better? Having it at County Stadium. I still haven't warmed up to Miller Park -- but I don't miss sitting at County Stadium in early May on a drizzly day with a wind of the Lake. Miller is superior by far on such a day.

mrs whatsit said...

Patca, to be thorough, it's a brat, a beer, a beloved, and BASEBALL.

(Alliterative or not, you won't catch me adding the Brewers to that list. I'm from Boston.)

Unknown said...

True, add baseball. Back in the day, I got to sit in the first row behind the Braves dugout one day at County--I had a friend whose parents had connections. Sports were everything then in WI.

When we were kids and had nothing to do, we would go stand in front of Warren Spahn's house. Don't know what we were hoping to see, but it was fun.

MadisonMan said...

My grandmother (who lived in WFB) was a huge Henry Aaron fan, back in the 50s when she drove a Studebaker. (When I knew her she was a Buick driver.)

But somehow I can't picture her at County Stadium with a brewski.

Omaha1 said...

My husband & I were big fans of Allison & are sad to see her go. It just amazed us that such a mature voice belonged to a girl younger than our children.

I don't have anything against Gokey, & Kris Allen is cute as can be, but Adam deserves to win this. He has such a great stage presence & connection with the audience. Maybe it's just his acting background but he really knows how to use that fierce gaze when he looks into the camera. I didn't care for Ring of Fire but the rest of his performances have been flawless.

I'm disappointed that we won't see an Adam-Allison finale but I guess it just proves that the teenage girl mafia is controlling the majority of the votes. I like the show but can't be bothered to actually vote for anyone.