And so we bid farewell to Jason Castro, the singer who brightened this season’s American Idol proceedings with his song choices (think about it: dude brought Leonard Cohen and Bob Dylan to the Idol stage, even if the results were decidedly mixed), big dreadlocks, and the fact that he generally seemed to be having a good time on stage, unlike some stage-managed kids who seem to be on the verge of passing out every time they’re forced to stand on stage while not singing. Some may have referred to him as a Sanjaya-like figure because of his unquenchable goofiness, like his line last night about shooting the tambourine man, and his hair, but I kind of appreciated the fact that he was actually having fun with the proceedings, and not being as deadly self-serious as some of the other people still in the running. (Congratulations, Syesha, on making that Presidential race reference–we knew you had it in you.) At least his semi-glazed expressions and “it’s all good, man” vibe made for good TV.
Anyway, in a best-case scenario he’ll get picked up by Brushfire Records and make a light album that’s heavily influenced by the surf, then tour university rec centers with Josiah Leming; the more Jason progressed through the competition, the more I realized that Leming couldn’t have made it through to the top 24, if only because the two of them would have been mirroring each other, song-choice and trajectory-wise, week after week. Well, maybe without the forgotten lyrics on Leming’s part.
Man, the next two weeks are not going to be fun to watch at all, huh.
i agree with your thoughts on j castro maura. he should be opening for jack johnson sometime in the near future. he was my favorite of the bunch b/c he didn’t take the hoopla too seriously and actually played some good tunes. i’d listen to him play folk-rock covers and originals if given the chance.
How has no one commented on the unbelievably bad group song, Reeling in the Years?
Ummmm, the guitar solo? Hello?
@whoneedslight: Didn’t you think when those doors opened to reveal the guitarist for the solo, “Oh, WOW. Are Steely Dan twisted enough to take this gig? At the very least, will we see Jeff ‘Skunk’ Baxter and his magic plexiglass guitar?”
But, no. It was just some dude.
That Leming kid bugged me. At least Castro managed to be chill about everything.
The rest of Idol will surely be stale, but now I can watch simply for its awfulness.
He probably shouldn’t have worn that Hawaiian tabu idol. It nearly killed Greg and Bobby.
Gotta shout out Anthony’s tribute to Castro from a couple weeks ago, which I still think is hysterical: [idolator.com]
I’ve never seen anybody so happy to be eliminated.
I don’t think Josiah could have made it this far because I think the inevitable tantrum/breakdown would have taken him out.
I never expected Castro to make it this far and I’m glad he did because it was nice to see a different sort of contestant (esp. a different male contestant) than we are used to.
I don’t think Josiah could have made it this far because I think the inevitable tantrum/breakdown would have taken him out.
I never expected Castro to make it this far and I’m glad he did because it was nice to see a different sort of contestant (esp. a different male contestant) than we are used to.
It was sad that last night made me long for the days of Bo Bice.
/enjoyed his subtle “some of these guys suck on guitar” slam.
@Varina: Can you imagine Josiah and Brooke in a bottom two on results night? Kleenex would’ve to become an official sponsor of the show!