Rockstar: Supernova

   We've been watching Rockstar: Supernova. Matthew and I. Which, by default, has drawn my wife into the whole thing.
   I'm not a big fan of reality television, generally. Survivor is a scripted fiasco, and Big Brother is nothing more than an excuse to put soft core pornography on television. The Amazing Race has various and divers geography working for it, but fails to impress. What those three, and countless others of their ilk all have in common is no motivation for the contestants other than plain, simple greed.
   Rockstar, a hard rock derivative of American Idol, and a few others, are different in one fundamental way. The contestants are chasing a dream; one that has consumed them for most of their lives.

   Four or five years ago the new "reality television" fad was exploding faster than, well than a supernova, and I had nothing but contempt for any of it. Temptation Island? Joe Millionaire? Wife Swap? The Osbournes? The Simple Life? Survivor? Fear Factor? Not a single redeeming feature among them. Then, completely by accident, I stumbled across something interesting in the most unlikely of places: professional wrestling.
   Now, I grew up here in southern Ontario, where professional wrestling, as we know it today, has been a part of the culture since the 1930s. Names like Whipper Billy Watson, The Sheik, Angelo Mosca, and Ric Flair were staples on Sunday afternoons at Maple Leaf Gardens. The company was eventually accquired by Vince McMahon, and was a big part of the blueprint for what became the World Wrestling Federation. So, professional wrestling is steeped in my cultural subconcious. Still I have little regard for it. I prefer the outcome of sporting events I watch to be decided during the match, rather than in the board room the night before.
   When I heard, in 2001, that there was going to be a WWF reality show, I was incredulous, amused, and disinterested. I find watching a profesional wrestling match to be a tedious pastime. I would rather clean the toilet. Working, as I was at the time, at a retail store that sold electronics, there was a television just about everywhere I looked. Most of the time, those TVs were tuned to TSN, Canada's cable sports network, which, coincidentally, was airing this new show called WWF Tough Enough. So regardless of my indifference to it, I ended up watching itregularly.
   And you know what? It was great! The contestants on the show were all young people who wanted nothing more than to become a WWF superstar. It was their dream; the wish their hearts made. Now, as much as I could scoff at what these kids were aspiring to, I could not deride the strength of their conviction that this was something they were ready to pursue with every fibre of their being. It was compelling TV.
   Another sports related show that caught my eye was The Golf Channel's The Big Break series. Again, the contestants were competing for their lifelong dreams. The prize is nothing tangible. Oh sure, there's the car, and the clubs, and the wardrobe, and all those things, but the competitors couldn't care less about all that. What they want is the shot. The PGA, or LPGA tournament placing that will give them the chance to live out those dreams in real life.

   Along comes American Idol, Making The Band, and other talent based contests, and again I am underwhelmed. A bunch of pretty faces with moderate to piddling talent competing to be the next year's addition to the where are they now? file. No thank you, Sir. I already rejected Star Search back in the eighties. Why would I want to watch a bunch of badly disguised copycats of it?
   Then, washed up rockers INXS decided to attempt to ressurect their career, minus their self-crucified lead singer (Michael Hutchence, much to his own surprise, turned out not to be the second coming), and Rockstar was born. Props to Canadian J.D. Fortune for grasping that brass ring, even though he wasn't even born the last time an INXS song was on the charts. Pretty Vegas aside, it's hard to see the new INXS going much farther than their first (and only to date) single can carry them. I was still unimpressed.

   This season seems different somehow. Is it because Supernova is made up of musicians whose music has been relevant within the last decade? Is it because the musical sub-genre is closer to my own taste than last year's show? Or is it just because I started watching from the beginning, and became invested in the personalities early on?
   Whatever the reason, I have enjoyed watching. Unfortunately, the last few shows have become predictable. Patrice had to go last week because she was the last of the weaker performers. I predicted Ryan's exit this week based on the assumption that the producers didn't want to be down to only one woman left this early. With five contestants left, I suspect two will be sent home on next week's penultimate show, leaving three finalists for the last week. The first of those two will be Storm - we all know Supernova will not be choosing a woman to front their band; we've known it from the beginning. They will, however, keep one woman in the final three, and that woman will be Dilanna. Also sent home next week will be Magni. He's just plain too clean cut to fit in with the likes of Lee, Clarke, and Newsted.
   So, the final three, according to my reckoning, will be Lucas, Toby, and Dilanna.
   Dilanna, of the three, has the most talent. Unfortunately, her vagina rules her out. Not that it should, but these guys aren't going that far out of their own comfort zone. They want a guy.
   Lucas is the best fit style wise, but he is young; by far the youngest of the contestants that made it to the main show. He does have a fair amount of professional experience going for him, but he just may make the other three guys feel too old. Also, he's Canadian; and the producers could balk at making it a win for the Great White North two years in a row.
   Toby has the best ability to belt out hard rock vocals, as evidenced by his performance of Rebel Yell this week. What he doesn't have is the black leather and tatoos look that fits the rest of the band. It may end up coming down to which one of them writes the best song for the band to perform this coming week.

   My psychic prediction: Lucas Rossi will become the new lead singer for Supernova. If I'm wrong, we'll never mention this again, OK?

tags:Misc.