Idol Chatter: Boys Will Be Boys (and Sing Off-Key)
Something happened on the way to the debut of the American Idol top 24 that was supposed to be "the best yet."
They, um, sorta sucked.
Yes, there were three obvious exceptions—Jason Castro, Michael Johns and David Archuleta, who will no doubt make it to the final 12 and possibly even final three—but still, tonight's kickoff performances by the boys of season seven were by and large so shaky and awkward and off-kilter, it made us fans yearn for the likes of Justin Guarini singing "A Moment Like This" back in the earliest days. (And that's so not a good thing!)
And so the biggest question of the night is: What happened? Where did all this amazing talent go wrong? And why did so many of them look so terrified and out of place?
Clearly, their first big night being thrown to the vultures (voters and viewers who might say awful things like the second sentence above) had them all scared hit-less. The debut jitters were in full effect, and pitch and performance took a back seat. It's also worth noting here that insiders tell me the contestants are solely responsible (financially and otherwise) for their overall look at this point in the game, which could explain Garrett's garish and "haunting" appearance, Chikezie's (bless him) bold but hideous safety-cone-colored suit and Luke Menard's "just rolled outta bed" sweatshirt chic.
But of course, it's not about the clothes, and it's not about the first night (as we were reminded, no one paid any attention to Kelly Clarkson early on in the first season). It's about the talent, and as we saw in the auditions, these peeps do have pipes, so I still have total faith in this year's Idol crop.
Especially when we have talent like Michael Johns, who, let's face it, doesn't even need to win this thing to launch a career (the guy just screams major recording artist), and David Archuleta, who is so many different kinds of adorable that not only did I vote for him tonight, but I'd like to clone him, shrink him and put him in my pocket to make me smile wherever I go.
So, who are you digging? And do you agree the boys didn't live up to the hype tonight? Keep reading to weigh in on the Best Man poll and Comments section below!
Maggie Gyllenhaal Biography
A versitile and intriguing actress, whose penetrating acting and off-kilter beauty were initially relegated to supporting roles, Maggie Gyllenhaal broke out to the forefront with the edgy S&M themed drama “Secretary.” Despite this being her first starring role, she did not spend much time in the trenches, having a relatively painless decade paying dues before getting her first major role at the age of 24.
Having grown up in a family of entertainment professionals, it is no surprise Gyllenhaal decided to pursue a career in acting. Her mother is successful screenwriter Naomi Foner (Oscar nominated for her 1988 screenplay for “Running on Empty,” starring River Phoenix) and her father is accomplished film and television director Stephen Gyllenhaal (nominated for an Emmy for 1990 telepic “A Killing in a Small Town” and directed feature “Losing Isaiah” in 1995). Adding a healthy dose of sibling rivalry to go along with these parental expectations, her brother is successful actor Jake Gyllenhaal (”Moonlight Mile” 2002).
Gyllenhaal was born in New York City but grew up in Los Angeles where she and her brother attended the prestigious Harvard-Wakeland prep school, known as a “who’s who among who’s whose kids” in the Hollywood circle. Here Gyllenhaal was an excellent student and active in the drama program. At the age of 15, Gyllenhaal had her feature debut in the nostalgic drama “Waterland” (1992), directed by her father and starring Jeremy Irons and Ethan Hawke. She next had another small role in “A Dangerous Woman” (1993), also directed by her father. In 1995, Gyllenhaal moved to New York to attend Columbia University. While she was busy studying Eastern religion and literature in school, she also found the time to further her professional acting career. She appeared in two more television movies directed by her father as well as the feature “Homegrown” (1998), also written and directed by her father.
After graduating from Columbia in 1999, Gyllenhaal certainly had ample exposure to the film and television world. However, in order to really break into the business, Gyllenhaal would need a stand-out role to get her in the running for the high-profile parts. That break came in the form of her role as Raven, a Satanic make-up artist in the eccentric John Waters film “Cecil B. Demented.” (2000). This gave Gyllenhaal enough recognition that she landed a string of supporting roles the following year. She played her brother’s sister in the far-out sci-fi movie “Donnie Darko” (2001), appeared in “Riding in Cars with Boys” (2001) and was featured in the teen romance “40 Days and 40 Nights.”
Not the kind of actress meant to lay wait in obscurity for very long, Gyllenhaal had a breakout performance with “Secretary” in 2002. Playing a timid young woman recovering from a mental breakdown who engages in a S&M relationship with her boss, Gyllenhaal brought the depth and delicacy called for in the role. The movie won the Special Jury Prize at Sundance and was promptly picked up for theatrical distribution. Gyllenhaal’s indie actress, star-on-the-rise status was solidified with awards nominations–including a Golden Globe– and her next projects, Charlie Kaufman’s mind-bending film-about-writing-a-film “Adaptation” (2002) and the John Sayles directed “Casa de Los Babys” (2003). She also joined fellow up-and-comers Julia Stiles and Kirsten Dunst as students of a liberal-minded instructor (Julia Roberts) at 1950s Wellesley College, nearly stealing the entertaining but routine movie as Giselle Levy, the wised-up class rebel who sleeps around and almost loses her bearings. Quickly gaining a reputation as a cerebral actress, often compared to the likes of Cate Blanchett, Emily Watson or a young Diane Keaton, Maggie Gyllenhaal has stepped out from the shadow of her parents and her brother and to shine alone in the spotlight.
The actress continued to deliver a string of unflinching, unselfconscious performances, including Sidney Lumet’s harrowing HBO telepic “Strip Search” (2004), in which two parallel plotline exploring post-9/11 issues of civil liberties and personal freedoms. Gyllenhaal played an American woman detained in China on suspicion of terrorisim, forced to defend her own rights to an interrogator (Ken Leung) in a sweltering basement prison, stripped bare both physically and emotionally. After compellingly playing a hustling con artist in the otherwise middling crime drama “Criminal” (2004), Gyllenhaal turned in one her most winning performances to date in director Don Roos’ seriocomic “Happy Endings” (2005). As the morally ambiguous singer Jude, who seduces a closeted gay youth (Jason Ritter) then turns her sights on his lonely, wealthy father (Tom Arnold) Gyllenhaal dazzled with her subtle, shifting behaviors, creating a compelling, fully realized character than was neither fully good or fully bad.
- Born:
on 11/16/1977 in New York City, New York - Job Titles:
Actor, Writer, Bussed tables in an upscale Massachusetts restaurant
Family
- Brother: Jake Gyllenhaal. born in 1980
- Father: Stephen Gyllenhaal.
- Mother: Naomi Foner.
Significant Others
- Companion: Peter Sarsgaard. reportedly engaged as of December 2002
- Companion: . Dating un-named person “in the entertainment industry” as of August 2002
- Companion: . Had live-in boyfriend during college who was a painter; no longer together
Education
- Columbia University, New York, NY, literature and eastern religion, B.A.
- Havard-Westlake School, Los Angeles, CA
Milestones
- 1978 Moved with family to Los Angeles
- 1990 Attended presigious Los Angeles prep school Harvard-Westlake along with younger brother Jake; involved in theater in school and staged performances for friends and family
- 1992 Had feature acting debut in “Waterland”
- 1995 Moved to New York to attend NYU
- 2000 Had supporting role in “Cecil B. DeMented”
- 2001 Had small role in Drew Barrymore film “Riding in Cars with Boys”
- 2001 Played the sister of her real-life brother in “Donnie Darko”
- 2002 Appeared in Spike Jones directed “Adaptation,” written by Charlie Kaufman
- 2002 Breakout role starring as a mentally fragile woman who embarks on an S&M relationship with her boss in the Sundance hit “Secretary”; received a Golden Globe nomination for Best Actress in a Comedy/Musical
- 2002 Had supporting role in “40 Days and 40 Nights” starring Josh Hartnet and Shannyn Sossamon
- 2003 Co-Starred with Julia Roberts in “Mona Lisa Smile”
- 2004 Starred as an American student in China, in HBO’s “Strip Search,” a provocative drama about civil liberties in the post-9/11
- 2004 Starred opposite John C. Reilly and Diego Luna in “Criminal” an English-language version of the Argentine hit “Nine Queens”
- 2005 Co-starred in “Happy Endings,” a comedic drama about the ups and downs of relationships; earned an Independent Spirit Award Nomination for Best Supporting Female
- 2006 Played an ex-con in the indie drama, “Sherrybaby”
- Acted in a series of low-budget films and tv movies
- Will play the wive of a Port Authority officer rescued from the World Trade Center in Oliver Stone’s upcoming 9/11 movie (lensed 2005)