DaveChung.com – A Guy’s Blog From Girl World

In one of the most shocking early exits in American Idol history, we said goodbye to Alaina Whitaker tonight, along with Alexandrea Lushington, Jason Yeager, and Robbie Carrico

. Losing Alaina this early was truly a shock, as she was the top performer in week one, and was in the upper half of performers this week as well.

While Alaina was a few months of dental work with Invisiline away from being really pretty with her Carrie Underwood hair, she had an energy and excitement about her that was truly infectious. Her videos were entertaining, especially this most recent one where it showed her eating Panda Express and not being able to have any of the food touch each other. More importantly, her singing was above average comparatively to the rest of the Top 24 girls.

If nothing else, Alaina was Top 12 material. Maybe she wasn’t destined to be the American Idol Season 7 winner, but she deserved to make it on the tour based on her talent and personality alone.

What was truly endearing about Alaina was the fact that she was only 17 and grew up watching American Idol.

This was not some professional talent that ended up on Idol, but a fan of the show that was living a dream. The Oklahoma-native compared herself to Carrie Underwood, which was a stretch, but Alaina was only 14 when Carrie was on American Idol and it must have been a dream come true for her to not only make it to the judges, but make it on the Top 24 to the same stage that made Carrie Underwood Country music’s biggest superstar.

When Kady and Alaina were left as the bottom two girls left, after Alexandrea Lushington’s departure (who I still believe lost by singing the Pets.com song with the cargo shorts and high heels on), I knew that Alaina was out and that I wasn’t going to be happy about it.

I experienced a buttload of dissonance because I have long declared Kady my favorite girl, though I don’t think she’s brought “it” once through these first two performances in Hollywood. Alaina was easily my #2 girl, if not my secret #1, though pride would never let me admit that I liked someone more than Kady. I have never switched a favorite girl this late in the competition.

I told my friend Marnie that it actually might have hurt less for me as a fan to see Kady go, simply because Alaina made more of the opportunities that she had on stage. It just felt like Alaina deserved to stay. She wanted it so bad and was truly living a dream.

What we got was one of the most emotional reactions in the history of American Idol to the point that it looked like Alaina wasn’t going to be able to take the stage to sing one last time. Kady looked genuinely shocked that she will continue on as the lowest vote getter of what is now the Top 8 girls. Alaina was just crushed that her dream was really ending.

What sucks is that I didn’t vote for Alaina last night. Since I didn’t vote for Alaina, I have no right to complain. I thought she was safe, I got complacent, and now Alaina Whitaker has left the Idol stage before making it to the new set that Seacrest was pumping up during the show.

I’m really bummed about Alaina leaving, but when I heard about how shocking this results show was going to be, I had a feeling it’d be her. An unknown turned front-runner, then unofficial dark horse, went down well, well before it was her real turn to go.

Alexandrea sang the Pets.com song. Her leaving makes sense.

Jason Yeager has reverse Jay Leno hair. He’s a grown ass man and he has a blonde streak in the front of his hair. Is he 13 and buying Chunking hair bleach from CVS? Come on, dude.

Most Idol fans are cognizant of Robbie Carrico’s lack of true rocker authenticity because of his boy band roots from a group called Boyz N Girlz United (sounds pretty straight…).

Most Idol fans also know that Robbie Carrico wears a wig.

Some Idol fans that that Robbie Carrico’s wig is made of hair from Kristy Lee Cook’s horse that she sold to get to her American Idol audition – a horse that a handful of fans have affectionately named “Sticky,” because some believe he may now be part of the contents of a glue bottle.

But I think the question is really, how do you go from this boy band guy who has a fansite on freakin Angelfire (who the hell uses Angelfire anymore?? Are we in the early 2000’s using 56K modems on Netzero?) to thinking that you are going to get away with playing a rocker on American Idol in this age of the Internetz.

Really, I just don’t get it.

What I like about Idol is that other than Corey Clark and Mario Vasquez, American Idol doesn’t hide from controversy as much as people think it would.

Idol acknowledged that Carly Smithson had a record deal ON THE AIR, after all these people on Yahoo! started getting their panties all in a bunch about it.

Last year, the judges acknowledged the scandal that was the Antonella Barba nudie pictures.

For Robbie, the judges gave him crap about his authenticity, simply because there was all this talk going around about his boy band roots. Yet Robbie continued to defend his sound, authenticity, and kept pretending that his hair was real.

People saw through it. Honestly, I don’t think the judges liked it either. What I don’t really understand is that the guys would have really been well served to have a good pop artist in there. Apart from Danny Noriega, the guys are really lacking in the pop department.

There are some potential soul/adult contemporary guys in Chikezie and David Archuleta, folk is covered by Jason Castro, and rock is David Cook and Michael Johns to an extent. If Castro went back to the boy band, back to his real hair, I think he might have had a decent shot at the Top 12!

Just come on dawg. This picture is the first picture that comes up when people Google your full name. It’s not something that you can hide from. Your name is ROBBIE CARRICO, not “John Kim,” “Ben Miller,” or “Mike Jones” (WHO?? MIKE JONES!!!). That is definitely not someone else.

Jason and Alexandrea unfortunately will go the way of the forgotten ones on Idol.

Robbie will forever be known as “that boy band guy.”

And Alaina Whitaker? Well, she’ll always be known the girl who looked like Carrie Underwood who went way too soon.

Kady, please find “it” and bring lots of it next week!

Friends in other time zones are telling me that this is the most shocking results show in American Idol history. I hear that there are 2 eliminations that are going to blow anyone’s mind.

Since I’m on the West Coast and two eliminations are supposed to be so shocking, I’m going to take four guesses. I hope I’m wrong on all of them.  This isn’t who I WANT to leave, but since people are saying it’s so shocking, this is who I think it could be.

I’ll be back later with my reactions. I’m worried about what a loop this is going to take me for later tonight.

Alaina Whitaker 

Michael Johns 

Danny Noriega 

Ramiele Malubay 

I couldn’t have been more excited for American Idol’s Top 10 Girls tonight. I was really expecting some performances that would make me rethink my assessment that David Archuleta turned out one of the best performances in Idol history during Top 10 Guys night. Well, the girls proved me right: David was that much better than everyone this week and the girls really underwhelmed from top to bottom.

It was supposed to be 70’s night, but it turned into the night of questionable song choices. My favorite (Kady Malloy) looked like she was about to fall down while she was walking down the stairs on one of the more awkward entrances I’ve ever seen, but she definitely had some sexy looks for the camera. Kind of like this picture from last week, but with a different dress on. But more importantly and sadly for my early favorite Kady, I didn’t really even get what was going on in the song she was singing.

But I like that sexy face.

Kristy Lee Cook smartly chose to go more of the Haley Scarnato route by wearing a form fitting shirt that showed some boobage, which earned one vote from me, though I can’t really remember much about her performance. If we’re at week two and we’re showing some boob, I’m wondering what it’ll be like if Kristy makes it to the Top 5… Maybe it’ll keep the guys voting…

But really, I want Kristy to be great. I think she can be, given the right theme, but her vocals are definitely not nearly as powerful as a good handful of girls in this competition.

For some reason, Alexandrea Lushington decided to sing the Pets.com (RIP) song, “Please Don’t Go,” that I felt like was almost as awkward as John Stevens’ rendition of Crocodile Rock. Maybe Alexandrea isn’t old enough to remember when Pets.com used that 1970’s classic in a commercial featuring a sock puppet dog, but to me, that’s what I associate with that song – a sock puppet dog that represented the burstage of the dot-com bubble.


What made this performance that marked the end of the .com glory days even worse was that Alexandrea (Alex-Andrea) was wearing CARGO SHORTS WITH HEELS ON.

I’m no fashion expert – I have 5 pairs of Reebok Classics, motion controlled running shoes, and I wear skate boarding t-shirts and clothes with my initials on them even though I can’t skateboard and I’m really that vain on the latter. But CARGO SHORTS and HEELS?? Are you going camping after the ball or going out on a safari after a night at the clubs? I can work with work boots (AKA Timberlands) and a suit, but I just didn’t understand! Maybe I’m getting too old.

Even Alaina Whitaker, who I thought was tremendous last week, just really, really underwhelmed tonight. She was REALLY cute in terms of her personality, talking about how she loved her American Idol blue dress (I did too!). She was like a really cute lizard blending into her surroundings with her way overdone makeup to create high cheekbones (not needed!), and her Carrie Underwood haircut (which I love!).

Unfortunately, Alaina didn’t have that magic and energy that she really brought in last week’s upbeat performance. She really struggled in the transitions between the low and high notes throughout her performance. There were moments of greatness, but not a total performance of greatness like there was last week. Out of all the performers, this was the biggest disappointment for me because I really was looking forward to seeing a lot of good from Alaina this week and she even had a chance to overtake the potential of Kady Malloy in my mind.

Amanda Overmyer continued sounding like a grandmother, which is fine, because that’s really her style and I’m not trying to hate on her. I think she has talent and I can see the appeal for other people, but if I’m being completely honest, her voice is just really not my thing…nor her hairdo that made her look like a bad guy from Ghostbusters.

Amanda is one of the judges’ favorites this year and even they were underwhelmed at what I felt like was a really awkward performance – wasn’t feeling the dancing, singing, or really just anything about it. Somehow, every song ends up sounding exactly the same and I have a feeling that Kady Malloy can do a real spot-on Amanda Overmyer impersonation that is probably really, really entertaining.

Even Ramiele Malubay, who I think is a fantastic singer and was actually really great last week, but I just am not a huge fan of her ample geyser of tears and how she says “THANK you….VERYYYYYY much” and the word “like” as verbal filler, was really just ok. She said that she could dance, but when she had the perfect opportunity to dance during her performance, she didn’t! She was singing an exciting song, but expended very little energy, stood on one spot on stage, but tried to make up for it with some growly notes. While Ramiele was definitely just ok, the more disappointing part is that her performance was probably one of the best on the night, along with Carly Smithson and Brooke White opening up the show.

Fighting through sickness (but I think her voice is naturally a little scratchy), even the talented Asia’h Epperson shot a blank on a note during the first chorus during “All By Myself,” something P. Diddy would never be ok with hearing on Making the Band.

With all this disappointment, where did my votes go? Here’s my problem: My votes are going to completely different people (sans Kady Malloy) because none of the girls grabbed the lead by the proverbial balls like David Cook and David Archuleta did for the Top 10 guys. I’m usually a sucker for female Idols, overrating their looks, performances, everything. I admit it! So far, I’m really underwhelmed with this group minus one great performance by Alaina Whitaker last week.

Here’s how my votes went:

Kady Malloy: 5

(Giving Kady two more weeks to really bring it, but at that point, I’m open to a new favorite)

Brooke White: 1

(Showed the talent and charm of a really good acoustic singer/songwriter)

Carly Smithson: 1

(Best Vocal on the Night)

Kristy Lee Cook: 1

(For the shirt)

Syesha Mercado: 1

(Thought her vocal was pretty decent, though song was a little contained for her)

There’s been an ongoing joke on Jimmy Kimmel Live where Kimmel apologizes to Matt Damon for not being able to make it to a scheduled interview at the end of the show.

A few weeks back, Jimmy Kimmel’s girlfriend and comedian Sarah Silverman teamed up with the late night host’s nemesis, Matt Damon, to create a video known as…

“I’m F*cking Matt Damon” by Sarah Silverman and Matt Damon

Never one to be outdone, Jimmy Kimmel recently fought back in this late night TV version of a hip-hop battle by taking Matt Damon’s best friend Ben Affleck and a gang of other celebs (with an incredible cameo by Josh Groban) to get back at Silverman.

“I’m F*cking Ben Affleck” by Jimmy Kimmel and all of Hollywood


Is it awesome? Yes it is.

It’s one of the Internet’s newest viral phenomenons and it deserves to be, even if it was only for the incredible production value between the two videos.

American Idol’s Top 10 Guys show was all about pulling away from the pack. In only the second week of the “real” competition, David Archuleta and rocker David Cook pulled ahead of the competition tonight. While Cook proved that he is indeed the top male rocker in a competition full of pseudo-rockers, 17 year old David Archuleta turned out one of the top performances in American Idol history (and yes, I’ve seen them all) with his rendition of John Lennon’s “Imagine” that absolutely destroyed every previous rendition of the song ever performed on the Idol stage (and that includes last year’s runner-up Blake Lewis).

I’ve been trying to resist the phenomenon that is David Archuleta, simply because he was one of the contestants who came in with the most hype. I did think that he had a great audition and had incredible vocals, but I really wanted to see the former Star Search winner prove himself on the Idol stage before crowning him the top guy in the competition.

Two weeks in, we have a top guy in the competition and it’s David Archuleta.

The night also featured a very strong performance by David Cook, who proved that Jason Castro isn’t the only “rocker” in the competition who is comfortable with a guitar on stage. Not only that, Cook proved that he is indeed the best rocker in this competition – vocally and on the guitar. With Michael Johns, Jason Castro, and Robbie Carrico all capable of carrying the “rocker’ title, David Cook proved that he is by far the rocker to beat at this point in the competition with a strong performance, stage presence, and just enough attitude to make it work.

Other strong performances were found in David Hernandez, whom I feel like has a tremendous amount of potential to make the Top 12 if he continues to improve, and Chekezie (Jacuzzi), who was doing a fantastic job until he insisted upon giving Simon attitude after his performance.

For some reason, a good number of the Top 24 (now Top 20) just insist on giving Simon attitude and it really turns me off as a voter and viewer. I wish that they would respect the judges like most of the contestants in the past, but so many of them feel the need to show a lot of attitude after their performances.

While this won’t make too much sense, here’s my vote count tonight:

David Hernandez: 5

David Cook: 2

Chikezie: 1

David Archuleta: 1

I know, I know. How can I say that David turned in one of the top performances of all time and only give him one vote? Well, I’m not on AT&T Wireless, so I have to call in my votes and his line has been busy all night! I think David Hernandez took a lot of risks, so I wanted to reward him for it and also feel like he has a lot of potential. Though I wish I got through more for Archleta, I feel fortunate that I got through once for a guy who is probably one of the few guarantees to make it into this year’s Top 12.

So what is all the hype about? Here’s David Archuleta’s performance of John Lennon’s “Imagine” – a performance that will go down in American Idol history with others like Tamyra Gray’s “A House is Not a Home,” Katherine McPhee’s “Over the Rainbow,” Kelly Clarkson’s “Natural Woman,” Elliott Yamin’s “A Song for You,” Carrie Underwood’s “Alone,” Bo Bice’s “In a Dream”, Clay Aiken’s “Bridge over Troubled Water,” and Blake Lewis’ “You Give Love a Bad Name.” It is that good. First chills of Season 7 came tonight. I tried to resist and I couldn’t.

David Archuleta, as Randy Jackson would say, that was the bomb, baby, yea yea yea yea!

SNL was back from the WGA strike this week in a big way with host Tina Fey and musical guest Carrie Underwood. Could it get any better?

The first half of this promo for the show made me laugh, classic Tina Fey.

Carrie’s performance of All-American Girl got her a little out of breath, but still got me even more excited to see her in concert in just a few weeks!

While no match for Alaina Whitaker’s “I Love You More Today” performance, Kady Malloy’s “A Groovy Kind of Love” took her through to the Top 20. What might make this video great is Kady’s impression of Britney Spears, but I think that you can still hear the potential for her to be great, though the song is a little dry.

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Our benevolent leader George W. Bush is apparently going to hook us all up with a little more loot this tax season in his economic stimulus package in hopes of getting us to go out and spend a little bit more. Since I’ll be able to pay off all my bills with my tax return alone, I decided I should use some of my tax return loot (whenever it arrives) to inject our economy with some good ole’ fashioned irresponsible spending so that my money would go to the wasteful use that George W. Bush intended (let’s ignore the fact that I bought an SLR earlier this month for self-birthday gifting).

The lovely Miss Jessica Chobot of IGN/AskMen fame is being immortalized through a limited edition (250) polystone “action figure/statue” based on an anime-like version of her. It kind of looks like her, but since she’s cartoon-ized, one’s imagination has to go a little ways to make it work.

Anyways, I’ve always wanted to have one of these expensive big action figures when I see them in comic book stores. A couple times, I’ve almost pulled the trigger on a classic Batman or Wolverine, not really because I need them, but just because it seems like it would be something that would brighten your day when you see it looking all regal sitting atop your toilet.

However, I’m not really into comic books (though I like them), so I never get one because I don’t want someone to call me out and say that I’m a poser just because I got a cool Spawn action figure because I thought it looked cool. In a Jessica Chobot action figure, I figure that this is a super hero that I’m actually a really big fan of and I actually know a good deal about this crime fighter and her IGN Mailbag adventures.

So what did I do? I ordered one from Symbiote Studios

. Economy = Stimulized.
Is it weird to order a $50 action figure of someone who is essentially your co-worker?

Yes, it is.

Except this co-worker is very hot and one of the coolest girls on the Internetz!

Yes, it is still a little weird, but I’ve always been a little borderline…

I’ve wanted to have a “cool desk” at work for a while, but never really had the money to get anything cool. Thanks to George W. Bush, I’ll be a Domokun doll and an authentic Pimp Cup from Kitson away from having a completely hooked up desk after my Jessica Chobot action figure comes in the mail!

I thought about waiting until Comic-Con, where I believe Symbiote will be selling a few of the figures IRL (in real life), if they have any left from the pre-order, but I am worried that other Chobot fanboys will be waiting in line for their very own Chobotimus Prime and I will be left with nothing. NOTHING! Missing out on getting one of these action figures would be like missing a Carrie Underwood concert! (I would literally die)

I have no idea when it’s going to ship, but I’m pretty excited about getting it. Partially because it looks pretty awesome, but more because I think it is going to be one of the most coveted items in the office once it arrives. Maybe I should glue her to my desk?

Thank you, Symbiote Studios. Thank you, Jessica Chobot for being so pretay. And thank you, George W. Bush, for stimulating my economy.

Mmmm… voluminous Chobot action figure hair…

Ok, this post is a little creepy. It’s 1:30 in the morning. I apologize.

When you look at the Facebook executive page

, it kind of looks like a bunch of pretty nice guys that you’d like to hang out with on a lazy Sunday. However, all these guys are clearly pretty accomplished already, and it appears that CEO Mark Zuckerberg is now looking to shake things up a bit and bring in an experienced tech executive after Chief Revenue Officer (and Zuckerberg’s right hand man) Owen Van Natta’s recently discovered departure.

Some are calling this person the “un-Zuckerberg.” Though Mark Zuckerberg is clearly a social networking visionary and has really done a pretty unbelievable job on the product side of Facebook, it’s no secret that he could probably benefit from having another highly experienced executive to help him guide Facebook through this Web 2.0-crazy phase of the Interweb.

Join me!

What is there for me to take from this? I should have gotten an MBA, been a computer science major, and then I just might not feel as inadequate at 24 years of age. I feel like this is a high profile story in the tech world and whoever lands there is likely going to make a very big splash, though Zuckerberg will remain “the face” of Facebook.

These Belgian Blue cows are specifically bred to be ridiculously huge and muscular. After watching this video, you will not only think “Whoa, big cows,” you will feel bad for people who have to play with cow sperm all day.
Meet the Super Cow

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But at least they’re probably rich.