AI:6 - 03/14 Results
AI History: Last night was the first time since the arrival of a Top 12-based finals (AI:2) that a guy was the first one eliminated. Previous first boot-ies were: AI:2 - Vanessa Olivarez, AI:3 - Leah Labelle, AI:4 - Lindsey Cardinale, & AI:5 - Melissa McGhee. [HT: FoxesOnIdol.com]
You weren’t really surprised by Brandon’s departure, were you? Neither was I…
You weren’t really surprised by Sanjaya’s continued presence, were you? Neither was I…
About the only thing that surprised me about last night’s results show was that Sanjaya was actually in the bottom 3. I mean, I know that I predicted it, but I really figured that he would be given a free pass. That he wasn’t, gives me hope about America not staying stuck on the stupid next week. Not much hope, mind you, but a little is better than none.
The group number was hideous this week. This just might be the worst matched/balanced group of finalists since AI:3. For some reason, they just do not blend well together. Hopefully it’ll be better by the time we get to the top 6 or 8.
Diana Ross’ entrance & performance encapsulated why I’m not a fan. I just don’t like the whole 70’s era Bob Mackie-wearing, larger-than-life Diva persona. I’ll grant that for a 62 year old woman, she didn’t look that bad (although neither did she look drop-dead gorgeous…). And I won’t even hold it against her that she didn’t give a flawless vocal performance. It’s just that I don’t get the whole “Entertainer-of-the-Century” diva vibe. It’s a very old-school 60’s & 70’s way of doing things — the whole star-making machine & all. It’s kind of why I feel a little bad for Michael Jackson — he came of age as a product of that machine, only to emerge as an adult at a time when the culture was beginning to discount & disrespect the machine and its products. The machine was no longer able to protect him at a time when he was completely unable to change his behavior to adapt. Celebrity culture is much different (read: cut-throat & vicious) now than it was back in the day. But I digress…
Anyway, at least Brandon handled his ouster like the classy pro that he is. He seems like a really good guy, the kind of guy you’d like to hang out with & have as a friend.
I haven’t heard yet what the theme is for next week, but I
GTD implementation angst
It’s not so much that I have angst about actually using the GTD methodology. No, that’s actually pretty solid in my head as being a proverbial “good thing.” Rather, I’m experiencing a bit of angst wrt to the software that I will use to make my implementation useful & functional. So, in order to try and work through some of that angst, I’m going to write this post as a way of hopefully collecting & focusing my thoughts, along with soliciting some input from any GTD-using folks that happen by to read this.
Angsty Issue #1: Hosted or Local?
By “hosted,” I simply mean using an externally hosted service like Vitalist, Backpack, etc, and by “local” I mean both solutions that I host myself (e.g., gtd-php or Tracks) as well as those that don’t require hosting of any sort (e.g., EasyTask, MonkeyGTD, d3, etc…). The gear-head in me wants very much to avoid hosted solutions, in favor of local solutions. Control is a part of the equation, as are cost & online/offline access factors.
I like the idea of hosting it myself, both for the aforementioned control, as well as for value/cost issues related to the fact that I’m already paying for hosting, so why not leverage that sunk cost? Even so, there’s something quite appealing to an offline solution, where I don’t need to worry about not being online to input & review my “stuff”. But, there’s something that worries me about the data security of something that’s, say, flash drive based (like MonkeyGTD) & portable — I could easily destroy the single file and/or lose the flash drive. To get a hosted solution in place, there’s almost certainly going to be extra cost involved, at least if I want to limit the usage restrictions that most hosted plans have. Hosted plans also have a limitation in terms of functionality and/or feature sets. Though, to be fair, that’s pretty much true of any of the GTD apps/solutions out there…
Angsty Issue #2: Level of GTD Canonicity?
Simply put, how much do I want to be tied to (real or perceived) canonical constructs of David Allen’s GTD (as laid out in his book)? I’ve been struggling with implementing the theoretically appealing notion of ‘context’. ‘Projects’ and ‘Actions’ make more intuitive sense to me, although I certainly understand the proposed benefit of using harder-edged spacial ‘contexts.’ I’m just not sure that I need to slavishly force myself into their use at this point. I’m leaning towards letting myself learn a potentially hard lesson, by using the system as makes most intuitive sense to me right now, and then changing later on should the writing on the wall become so clear as to be unavoidable.
Angsty Issue #3: What features are deal-killers?
Fortunately, I’ve learned a few things over the past few weeks of (slowly) getting started with GTD. One feature that’s very important, just because of how my brain works, is the ability to easily reorder tasks. Vitalist & Backpack have this, and the others I’ve looked at don’t. For me, this is more important than the canonical GTD practice of only worrying about your ‘Next Action’. Another feature that’s important is the ability to have repeating/recurring actions. EasyTask & gtd-php do this nicely, while Vitalist’s implementation seems buggy at the moment (either that or I’m just stupid…), and Backpack doesn’t seem to have this working yet. I also think I’d like to have calendar integration, which only Backpack seems to offer part & parcel with the rest of the GTD functionality.
So, I’m left with a mixed bag. And a brain that’s churning big time to try an make sense of it. After spending the last week or so in Vitalist, I’m now wondering if it is still the right/best tool for me. I have an instance of gtd-php installed & running, and there’s a lot to like about that app, although I’m feeling some hesitancy about it (it just doesn’t *feel* quite right, for whatever reason). I think that I might give Backpack a more serious try, as it has some very interesting features that well could make up for the fact that it’s not a GTD app, per se.
-ghp
AI:6 - Upside Down
The Top 12 do Diana Ross…
- *Simon baited Seacrest to come out of the closet after Seacrest asked Simon for tips on wearing 4″ heels.
- *The guys generally sucked.
- *The top 4 girls distanced themselves from the pack.
- *Sanjaya looked, sounded, & moved like a girl.
All in all, it was what we’ve come to expect from AI:6.
I’m not a huge Diana Ross fan. There are certainly songs of hers that I like, but overall, she’s not my favorite, and I’m certainly not a fan of the whole “female performer of the 20th-century” hype. But, I guess she seemed normal enough for someone who’s been hearing that she’s “IT” for the past 40+ years. And it was interesting to see just what the King of Pop was going for with all of his plastic surgeries… 
For me, the most interesting development was that the performances were so weak across the board that the judges couldn’t help but struggle for ways to not be mean (even/especially Paula!). That was kinda fun to see.
Anyway, enough of the preliminaries. Here’s a rundown, in order of performance:
Brandon - “You Can’t Hurry Love”: I so wanted him to do well, but with the Phil Collins version of this song first & foremost in my head (thus proving that a guy can really nail this song), Brandon suffered through a sub-par performance. He might be safe, but only because one of the girls was even worse, and because one of the other guys has an unfortunate appeal.
Melinda - “Home”: Very, very good. But not the best of the evening. I was a little disappointed, but only a very little. You could tell that she was uncomfortable in her dress & heels. I’m fully on board, however, with Simon’s statement noting the similarity between Melinda & Gladys Knight (something I mentioned a few weeks back…). Melinda didn’t indelibly stamp her brand on the competition, but neither did she make us wonder if we had been wrong in our initial assessments. Ultimately, though, I think Melinda is clearly proving that (unlike the other background singer) she is clearly ready for the headliner spot.
Chris S. - “Endless Love”: I like what he attempted to do with the song. I like that he got kicked out of Bob Jones University. I just like him. I don’t, however, think that he succeeded with the risk that he took this week. It isn’t going to hurt him though, at least not this week. He’ll need to rebound in a big way next week if he wants to prove that he’s one of the two guys who can even hope to challenge the top 4 girls.
Gina - “Love Child”: Mayhaps if she didn’t have that silly tongue stud she’d be easier to understand. I thought it humorous that Diana Ross was using a made-up word (”pronunciate”) to sound all wise, when it was really just a mashup of “pronounce” & “enunciate” — he point was correct, but she was ironically using poor grammar to make it. Anyway, Gina did ok. Nothing special, but a solid, middle-of-the-pack performance that will easily get her onto the 10-person AI Tour this Summer.
Sanjaya - “Ain’t No Mountain High Enough”: Damn. If he’s not doing this on purpose, then he might want to think about taking Simon’s advice for Seacrest. Seriously, though, that was a horrid performance. By far the worst of the night for the guys. Unfortunately, I think he’ll be saved by the combo of his unfortunate fanbase, Brandon’s weak performance, and the really bad performance of the girl who followed him…
Haley - “Missing You”: Wow. That was, well, horrendous. The only upside was that she looked good (except for the fact that the hemline bow on her dress made her butt look poufy (poofy + puffy = poufy)). Watching that performance had to have been excruciating for Sabrina. While Sanjaya’s ineptitude made me annoyed/angry, Haley’s just made me sad. The best thing to come from it was Simon’s unexpected show of humanity in not piling on. Seriously, he handled his critique magnificently, because if he had been like he often/normally is, I think he might have broken her spirit. I really don’t remember anyone else ever buckling so severely under the pressure of the big stage.
Phil - “I’m Gonna Make You Love Me”: A solid effort that I didn’t think was as bad as the judges seemed to think. It wasn’t great, but it wasn’t bad either. Probably on par with Gina’s, meaning that it was safely in the middle of the pack.
LaKisha - “God Bless The Child”: The performance of the night. LaKisha grabbed the competition & shook it around a bit, much like Ruben did back in AI:2’s round of 12 week. If LaKisha & Melinda can keep it up, it’s going to be great fun seeing them trade punches & raise the ante over the next 11 weeks. There’s a lot of Kelly Clarkson-ish genuineness & humility in LaKisha, and that will serve her well in building a fanbase.
Blake - “You Keep Me Hangin’ On”: I liked what he did with the arrangement of the song. It wasn’t as good as Kim Wilde’s 80’s remake mind you, but it was good enough that (given the proper studio polish) it could be successful on the radio today. It is obviously clear that Blake is a well-rounded contemporary artist. I hope that this won’t hurt him, though, as it seems like he doesn’t completely trust his singing voice. Like Randy & Paula said, Blake is a very good singer, and he doesn’t need to do the other things he’s good at to “compensate” for his seeming lack of vocal confidence. I think he’s going to be the only guy who seriously has a chance to crack the top 3 or 4.
Stephanie - “Love Hangover”: She’s good. Very, very good. If she can keep it up & be consistent, she might have a shot at the top 3. Even if she doesn’t, though, I think that a smart producer will snap her up & get her record made. She very much reminds me of LaToya London from AI:3, and I’m very interested in seeing how she develops & progresses over the coming weeks.
Chris R. - “The Boss”: Eh. He seems like a nice enough kid, but I’m just not a fan of his voice (it’s a bit too high-pitched for me…). I didn’t like his performance all that much — it wasn’t bad, but neither was it good. It just was. Ultimately, I think he will share a fanbase with Phil, and that Phil will do a better job of consolidating that base, thus edging Chris out of the competition in the next few weeks.
Jordin - “If We Hold On Together”: Here we have the wildcard/darkhorse contestant. Jordin is, I think, a combination of Kimbery Locke (AI:2 3rd place) & Diana Degarmo (AI:3 runner up), where her total package far outshines the sum of those two parts. If anyone can break into the Melinda/LaKisha dyad, it’s Jordin. She has a youthfulness and a beauty that neither Melinda nor LaKisha have. And while her voice is currently not quite as good, it is still unformed enough that her upside/potential is tantalizing. Jordin could very well be the breakout star of AI:6, who will be best served by not winning the competition (ala Clay, Bo, & Daughtry).
Overall, I was a little disappointed by the evening’s performances, even as there were a few rays of hope shining throughout. Hopefully, coming weeks will see those rays start to dominate the cloud cover of average performances.
The Predictions:
Safe: Chris S., Melinda, LaKisha, Blake, Chris R. Stephanie, Jordin, Phil, & Gina
The Bottom 3: Sanjaya, Brandon, Haley
The Voting @ Schloß TB:
Mel: Sanjaya
Deb: Blake
ghp: LaKisha
(note: Mel is the 9.5 y/o Territorial Daughter, and Deb is the Territorial Wife…)
Going Home: Should be Sanjaya, but will probably be Brandon (due to a slew of sympathy votes for Haley)
As things progress
Well, for a Monday, things didn’t go too badly, at least on the implementing-GTD front.
I was able to get some more projects & tasks entered into Vitalist, as well as updating & closing some, and doing so helped clarify that I might not have made too bad a choice in going with Vitalist. At the very least, I’ll keep using it until such a time as I have learned enough about what I need to be able to make a more informed choice about what might be better.
I evaluated quite a few GTD apps, albeit from a relatively uninformed position, over the past two weeks of oft-manic investigation. One of the deal-breaker type of features for me was/is the ability to easily deal with single tasks (i.e., tasks that don’t really belong to a full-blown project). While Vitalist doesn’t allow this (I had to create a dummy project), it did enough other stuff well, that I’m able to overlook this one, rather significant IMO, flaw. Also important was the ability to easily (re)order actions within contexts and/or projects. This is a place where Vitalist shines, as it allows easy AJAXy dragging & dropping of actions. Tracks, for example, was really hurt IMO by it’s inability to facilitate reordering.
Some of the other apps included Nozbe (frankly done in by it’s pricing structure & limitations), php-gtd (which might still end up being used, despite it’s inability to sort actions), MonkeyGTD (but the 2.1alpha is confusing to me for some reason, and I’m not sure I completely trust the single-file nature of how it stores everything; even saying that, if I could’ve gotten either the Bidix uploadPlugin or the MiniTiddlyServer to work properly — my fault, not theirs — I might’ve ended up using mGTD…). The various Tracks hosting sites were also interesting, but they suffered from both the blemishes of Tracks, and the fact that if I’m going to use Tracks, I’d want to host it myself.
I’ve got to note at this point, that The Ultimate GTD Index was an invaluable source of information for finding the various & sundry GTD apps out there. There is also a nice survey of GTD apps available over at ATPM’s Next Actions.
In the end, though, I’m pretty happy with Vitalist. About the only thing that’s really vexing me at the moment is that I can’t get a good handle on how to use it’s repeating action function. The action that I set to repeat weekly either sits as an overdue item, or as a completed item, because recurring/repeating items need to have a due-date. As I haven’t yet found a Vitalist forum, I guess I’ll have to submit a question to their support group.
-ghp
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