IJB's Summer 2005 REVIEWS III - ROCK STAR: INXS
Ian J. Ball
Summer 2005 Series Reviews. (The last one, for FX's "Over There" will
come in late Oct. or early Nov. Then it will almost by time for my
Mid-Season Reviews again! Oy!!)
Today's review covers the CBS reality series/musical competition, "Rock
Star: INXS":
ROCK STAR: INXS (CBS):
Overall Grade for Season: B
OVERVIEW:
We're halfway there!
I've been saying for years now is that what I really want out of
'reality TV' is show where killer *rock* BANDS compete for exposure/a
record deal. Said contest could certainly involve the band playing
covers, as well as playing some of their own stuff. As long as the rock
was hard enough (no _Simple Plan_, et al., please!!), I'd be *there*.
Well, we still haven't gotten that.
But we've gotten something close - it's called "Rock Star".
Specifically, in its premiere season, it was called "Rock Star: INXS"
and it involved the previously lead-singer-less Aussie band _INXS_
holding a competition to fill that empty lead singer slot.
As original conceived, there were 3 parts/weekly episodes to the show
- 1) the "Real World-esque" straight 'reality show' Monday episodes with
the various contestants for the lead singing job in _INXS_ living (and
sometimes bickering) in a house together, 2) the Tuesday "performance"
shows, and 3) the results and final competition to stave off elimination
show on Wednesdays.
Of the three editions, I only watched most of the Tuesdays ones (and
the Wednesday show once). Meanwhile, CBS quickly realized that the
people drawn to the Tuesday/Wednesday shows didn't give a hoot about the
Monday edition, and it was exiled to VH-1. That left the best part of
the show continuing to air on CBS.
All in all, I came to really like the show. It did get a little
repetitive at the end, as some of the cover songs began to be recycled
by different contestants. But seeing these (generally) talented singers
(and the 'house band') give their takes on various rock-&-roll classics
was rarely boring, and occasionally quite rewarding.
Memo to CBS: Bring this show *back* next Summer. I'm sure you can
find another decent-to-great rock band out there in the need of a good,
new lead signer. If you do bring "Rock Star" back, you've got at least
one guaranteed viewer.
WHAT WORKED:
The performances - that was the (main) reason to tune in, and they
were often worth the effort. (Kudos also to The Sentinel, for posting
his appraisals of all of the Tuesday performances - I wouldn't have
gotten into this show without them!)
WHAT DIDN'T WORK:
Though Dave Navarro was often too much of a push-over in analyzing
the various performances, I didn't have a problem with him (or "Our
Band, _INXS's_" often goofy declarations). However, did we really need
Brooke Burke?! I guess Burnett, et al. figured we needed some "T&A" to
keep our interest. Wrong! - the performances were quite enough,
thankyouverymuch. Burke was more of a distraction than anything.
Needless to say, while many of the performances were fair to
excellent, a few went a long toward *butchering* some rock classics.
Unlike those who watch "American Idol", I generally don't enjoy seeing
favorite (and some non-favorites) classics massacred by amateurs. But I
guess that comes with the territory...
--
"Read less. More TV." - Dr. Greg House, "House"
http://homepage.mac.com/ijball/TV-Blog/
sea...@altavista.com
I enjoyed the Monday - later Sunday on VH-1 - shows. It made me feel
like I knew the contestants a little better (even if it was just the
edited versions of their personalities that the producers wanted to
show), and put the competition into a more interesting context. On the
other hand, I probably would have felt better about JD winning if I was
unaware of his antics in the house.
> All in all, I came to really like the show. It did get a little
> repetitive at the end, as some of the cover songs began to be recycled
> by different contestants. But seeing these (generally) talented singers
> (and the 'house band') give their takes on various rock-&-roll classics
> was rarely boring, and occasionally quite rewarding.
> Memo to CBS: Bring this show *back* next Summer. I'm sure you can
> find another decent-to-great rock band out there in the need of a good,
> new lead signer. If you do bring "Rock Star" back, you've got at least
> one guaranteed viewer.
I don't listen to the radio enough to know if it's getting any airplay,
but I've heard "Pretty Vegas" on a promo for NBC's "Las Vegas" and as
bumper music on Fox's baseball coverage. If it was just CBS pimping
its own product I'd be skeptical, but I think it's a good sign for the
new INXS, that they're not being seen as just a gimmicky product of a
reality show. Hopefully, that will help attract a high-profile,
high-quality band for the next Rock Star.
> WHAT WORKED:
> The performances - that was the (main) reason to tune in, and they
> were often worth the effort. (Kudos also to The Sentinel, for posting
> his appraisals of all of the Tuesday performances - I wouldn't have
> gotten into this show without them!)
>
> WHAT DIDN'T WORK:
> Though Dave Navarro was often too much of a push-over in analyzing
> the various performances, I didn't have a problem with him (or "Our
> Band, _INXS's_" often goofy declarations). However, did we really need
> Brooke Burke?! I guess Burnett, et al. figured we needed some "T&A" to
> keep our interest. Wrong! - the performances were quite enough,
> thankyouverymuch. Burke was more of a distraction than anything.
They should replace her with Jules Asner. What goes around comes
around.