It's a FARSE.

Okay, it's going to seem weird to any casual reader of my blog that I'm about to write about American Idol, but...

I just can't get over what happened tonight.

Bottom 3 several times^^... bottom 3 never^^... seriously, ^^she's still here?

I don't know what America is doing with their votes, but they certainly aren't giving them to the people who deserve them the most. This year's talent on Idol is not particularly great, contrary to what everyone else seems to think, but none of them are bad either. This is one of the few years I can honestly say I like every single one of the people who are left. Which, yes, makes it hard to decide who has to go home each week. But that is no excuse to vote based on anything but talent.

Last week, the best voice (in my opinion) was almost kicked off the show. She had never been in the bottom 3 before, and BAM, she was almost gone, just like that. The only logical explanation for this is that people got lazy, or comfortable, and thought they could get away with not voting for the most talented person. And last week, they were right. Because the judges saved that person.

This week, not so much.

Here are the four people who I think should be the top four, in no particular order:

-Jessica Sanchez- that voice, and the things she can do with it, are reason alone to win the whole thing.

-Phillip Phillips- okay, I confess, I might be a little bit in love with Phillip Phillips. Dude's got a killer smile and a killer attitude ("Oh, you don't want me to wear gray? Okay, I'll wear a gray t-shirt with a gray button-up over it."), but he can also sing. Or, as Matt Giraud would say, saaaang. There's argument out there that he sounds the same every week, but even if I thought that were true, why is it a bad thing? There's a difference between sounding the same because you don't know how to change things up, and sounding the same because you don't want to change things up. Phillip knows who he is and what he wants to do, and he's not going to change it for anyone. I can respect that. He's not a one-trick pony, he's frickin' Seabiscuit. Yeah, I went there. Horse analogies for the win. You keep on wearin' gray, Phillip Phillips.

-Skylar Laine- I haven't always liked Skylar very much. The nasaly voice kind of irritated me at the beginning, but these days I just love watching this chick perform. She's one of the most charismatic people I've ever seen on the show, and she's got the talent to go with it. She's like an even more spunky version of Lauren Alaina, if that's possible, and I'm jumping on board. Excellent hair, also. 

-Colton Dixon- I loved Colton last year. I love Colton even more this year. He knows how to change up a song and Colton-ify it, and THOSE PIPES. And THAT FACE. He's like Chris Daughtry, if Chris Daughtry were young, had a faux-hawk, and knew how to look good while he was singing. Personally, the songs that make me love Colton are the more ballad-like ones, because he makes them so deliciously dark and angsty. I love me some angst.

To me, nobody else in the competition is doing anything that hasn't been done before. Hollie has a nice voice, and this week she finally, finally learned how to loosen up and show it off, but she just sings songs. She doesn't create anything on the stage. She doesn't perform. Joshua is the same way, and Elise just kind of annoys me. Her performances always have a slight cheese factor to them, and her voice isn't anything to die for. Any of these people could have been kicked off tonight and I wouldn't have cared much. 

BUT WAIT! Colton Dixon got kicked off tonight.

What?

Yeah.

Colton Dixon. Got... 7th place? Why, this is worse than what happened to Chris Daughtry! This is Pia Toscano all over again!

Colton fans, you got too confident. I know you're out there, because he has never even been in the bottom 3 before. Everyone was sure he'd make it far. Seventh. Place.

You should be ashamed of yourselves. I hope Colton's swan song broke your hearts as much as it broke mine.

Gloomy Colton is gloomy.

So here is my open letter to American Idol voters:

If you love someone, set them free.
NO. DO NOT DO THIS. Pick up your phone and dial the number until your FINGERS HURT.

Do not think to yourself, "Oh, a bunch of other people love him, so he doesn't need my love." IT WILL NOT WORK. Trust me, I have been there. The flashbacks to season 7 are all too vivid right now. *voted for David Archuleta dozens of times but still hangs head in shame*

But this is not my most important advice to you, dear voters. The real advice is this: vote based on talent. Just because Colton has a pretty face doesn't mean that's the only reason you're voting for him. Don't let anyone tell you someone doesn't deserve to be there because they're better-looking than the others, or funnier, or whatever. If they've got a voice like Colton's, they deserve to be there. Even if they're pretty. Even if they're funny (not the case with Heejun, but it was the case with Michael Johns). While all the cynics are complaining and acting superior, here is what you do: CALL THE NUMBER. Vote some more. It is the only way.

Because if you do not, things like this happen.

And I have season 7 finale flashbacks.

And I get very upset.

Please.

Thank you.

-Paige.

The bright side: it's looking like a girl might actually win this year. But I have no idea who's going to be in the finale. Ideas?

I'm pulling for a Phillip/Jessica or Jessica/Skylar or Phillip/Skylar finale. Yeah?

LOOK at her FACE.

Okay, I never thought I'd have to use my blog to defend Taylor Swift. Or her songs. Because usually I just dismiss criticisms of them as ridiculous or nitpicky or just plain stupid.

But this argument actually kind of... makes sense. And I hate that it makes sense, so I'm going to try to knock the sense out of it. That is how much I love Taylor Swift.

Someone on Goodreads reviewed a book with 1 star saying it suffered from "Taylor Swift Syndrome," i.e. one girl thinking another girl is out to steal her guy from her, thus making girls hate each other because of guys.

I can see this in exactly three of Taylor Swift's songs. You Belong With Me. Better Than Revenge. Should've Said No. That's right, only three songs. One on each of her albums.

THAT IS ONE OUT OF EVERY THIRTEEN OF HER SONGS. Give the girl a break. And even so, these songs aren't only about girl-bashing. Taylor Swift does not write songs about the way people should feel, she writes them about the way she does feel. Herself. It's not right to criticize someone for the way they feel about things that happened in their own life, or to assume you know anything about it. Maybe those girls really did steal her boyfriends. Maybe she just needs someone besides the ex-boyfriend to blame, because otherwise she'd be blaming herself. And that wouldn't be healthy. "He doesn't want me because I'm not good enough" Syndrome is worse than so-called Taylor Swift Syndrome.

That does not look like animosity to me.

Let's start with "You Belong With Me":

This is not a song in which Taylor Swift sits there and hates this other girl for no reason, thinking that she's purposely attempting to steal a guy from her. She doesn't even have the guy. The song is not about the other girl-- it's about the guy, who is her best friend, who she's in love with, who she thinks deserves someone like her instead of someone who doesn't get his jokes or appreciate him the way she does. Is that so horrible? She's not telling little girls, "That girl who's dating the guy you have a crush on? Yeah, you should hate her just for the fun of it." She's saying that sometimes two people just aren't right together, and if you see it, you shouldn't just sit by and watch one of them destroy the other. It's not fair to anyone. [This could also apply to "Speak Now," now that I think of it]

Now for "Better Than Revenge":

This is the epitome of girl-hate-because-of-a-guy. But this is on the album Speak Now. It's about speaking your mind, and this is what Taylor Swift was thinking about when she wrote the song. She felt betrayed, and hurt, and she couldn't understand why she had been dumped for a girl with an ever-present frown. The song is meant to make you feel what she was feeling. It's not promoting anti-girl sentiments from other girls; it's promoting standing up for yourself when you've been wronged. Calling out the person who wronged you, and telling them not that they're going to regret it, but that they should regret it. Because the kind of person who doesn't regret being the reason for someone else's heartbreak? That's the kind of person who needs a song like this written about them. The song doesn't say that it's not the guy's fault too, and you can't assume that the other girl didn't mean any harm. You weren't there. Taylor Swift was.

Aaaand "Should've Said No":

Honestly, this one isn't even worth explaining. It's Taylor telling the guy who cheated on her that he shouldn't have done it. Not Taylor telling the girl he cheated with that it's all her fault, or that she hates her, or that she doesn't deserve to live. It barely even mentions her.

Another one just popped into my head, which is "Teardrops on My Guitar"/"Invisible" (I suspect they're about the same guy), but puh-lease. She's in love with this guy who doesn't even notice her. This was back when Taylor mainly wrote about high school angst, and this is that all the way. "Teardrops" even says "I'll bet she's beautiful." She compliments the other girl! No girl-hate here.

Now let's focus on what Taylor Swift Syndrome really is.

-Believing in the underdog ("Long Live," "Change," "Mean")

-Expressing/standing up for yourself ("Tell Me Why," "Enchanted," "Dear John," "Mean," "Picture to Burn")

-Heartbreak ("Tim McGraw," "Forever & Always," "Last Kiss," "White Horse")

-Happily ever after ("Love Story," "Mine," )

-Lessons you wish someone had given you ("Fifteen," "Never Grow Up," "The Best Day")

-Forgiveness ("Innocent," "Back to December")

-Not caring what everyone else thinks ("Ours," "Long Live")

-Seeing the good in people ("Stay Beautiful," "Tied Together with a Smile")

-Going after what you want ("Speak Now," "Hey Stephen")

And these are only a few examples. Taylor Swift cannot be boxed into one type of song, because her songs are songs anyone can relate to. Labeling it a Syndrome is just as bad as labeling another girl "enemy" because she stole your guy. You're turning someone else into something they're not, because it's convenient for you, and that's what is not okay.

How about I come up with my own Syndrome, entitled Goodreads Syndrome? People who suffer from Goodreads Syndrome think they can criticize anything and everything in attempt to show how clever they can be in a review, without actually successfully reviewing a book. How about that?

Rules.

So, I've now heard the song Rules by Jayme Dee at least 10 times, and it just hit me. I always vaguely knew what it was about, but I wasn't really listening until just now, and OH MY GOD. Yet another perfect Song from District 12.

Let's do another line-by-line analysis, shall we?

You say you know love, but you are just reflecting words you hear

No iron in your veins to give you any sense of pain or fear

Hokay, so it's obvious from the first two lines that this song is from Peeta's perspective. Which is good, because we've got a bunch from Katniss's perspective, one from Gale's (or so I interpret it to be), and even one from the Capitol's perspective.

It's just another lie, it's just another calculation

And when the power's out, we're just another old sensation

This so accurately depicts how Peeta feels at the end of the first book, when he says, "It was all for the Games, how you acted." He goes from thinking Katniss is in love with him to thinking she doesn't actually care about him at all and was only calculating how to win the Games.

This blood keeps me alive, but what is it that runs through you?

Electricity and wires, dictating everything you do

This kind of shows how harshly Peeta judges Katniss at the end of the book, but he's still asking questions about her because he still loves her. THE NEXT LINES ARE MY FAVORITES:

You tell me that you hear me and all your memories are real,

But how do I know you don't just feel what you've been told to feel?

GAH. *breathes* These lines are so perfect. "Memories"-- "I don't want to forget"-- He wants her to remember them as real too, but he's afraid she only thinks of them as steps toward a destination. Also, the whole memory thing applies beautifully to Mockingjay, but I can't say how. And then the word "real," obviously, applies to Real or Not Real, which is SO PERFECT I CAN'T HANDLE IT. And then "how do I know you don't just feel what you've been told to feel" is kind of obvious, but I'll explain anyway. Peeta has just figured out that Haymitch has been telling Katniss to be in love with Peeta for the audience, so he doesn't know if her feelings are, you know, Real or Not Real (not a Mockingjay spoiler, don't worry).

Then there's the chorus:

We run around the rules

We run around the rules

We run around the rules

Round and round, two by two, we run around the rules

Running around the rules is exactly what Peeta and Katniss do, from the moment they held hands in their flaming chariot, to the moment they put the nightlock berries to their lips and get the Gamemakers to allow two victors.

There's water in your eyes, and I know I'm the reason that it's there

But still I don't feel bad, because I know that you have more to spare

On some level, Peeta knows it wasn't "all for the Games," but he's too upset to care. And he knows that Katniss isn't (figuratively) going to cry out all of her tears over this. She has "more to spare" for other things, like Rue and all the fallout from the Games.

And just behind your eyes are switches that can turn back on

To clear away today 'til all your memories are gone

He's convinced that she's going to "try to forget," which means leaving behind all memories of Peeta from the Games. She's not going to remember that part of it was real. Again, he's being harsh because he's hurt, so he sees her as a kind of emotional lightswitch-- flip the switch, and she loses all emotional attachment to him.

And then it repeats the chorus twice, emphasizing how heartbroken Peeta is. He's like, yeah, we run around the rules, but what do I have to show for it?

The Hunger Games soundtrack

Oh. My. Gosh.

Here are my top 10 favorites:

1. Safe & Sound by Taylor Swift & the Civil Wars (obviously. Nothing trumps this song.)

2. Eyes Open by Taylor Swift

3. Kingdom Come by the Civil Wars

4. Rules by Jayme Dee

5. Run Daddy Run by Miranda Lambert feat. Pistol Annies (people should really give this one a chance-- I didn't like it the first time, either, but the second time I did a complete 180. "Mama's been cryin' in the kitchen, sister's been afraid of the dark, I've been gatherin' the pieces of all these shattered hearts." SO GOOD)

6. Tomorrow Will be Kinder by the Secret Sisters

7. Come Away to the Water by Maroon 5 feat. Rozzi Crane

8. Just a Game by Birdy (the last line. AHH)

9. One Engine by the Decemberists

10. Dark Days by Punch Brothers

TWO DAYS!!!!!

One obsession leads to another

So remember how when Safe & Sound first came out I was all like DOIFHASDF;OIHSDF; THIS IS THE MOST PERFECT SONG EVER?

You know how I still go all SODIFHAEOS;IHFSD THIS IS THE MOST PERFECT SONG EVER when I hear it?

Well, I think Safe & Sound might just be the beginning of my oncoming obsession with The Civil Wars. I had no idea I'd like them so much. Honestly, I didn't even know they were this country. I love me some country music, and this is kind of like oldschool country meets The Wreckers meets something totally different that fills a hole in my life I never knew was there. Soooo. Yeah. I would have gone to bed by now if it weren't for the fact that I just bought their full-length album as well as their EP and must finish listening to both before sleep.

It makes me kind of angry that they aren't played on country radio, but it also makes me kind of glad. Country radio, as much as I will defend it against all the old-timers who think everything was better in their day, has evolved so much since music like this was played on it. It doesn't really fit anymore, but it's still a shame. GOOD THING THEY HAVE TWO SONGS ON THE HUNGER GAMES SOUNDTRACK! soperfectsoperfectsoperfect.

Now I'm just a basket case

So, I have this habit of finding ways to relate songs I hear to books/TV shows, and sometimes they are really perfect fits, if I do say so myself. Sometimes only a few lines match up right, like that time I matched Mockingjay with The Story of Us by Taylor Swift (yeah, not my best work), but this one... man, I'm good. Because I follow Cassie Clare on Tumblr and therefore am constantly reminded of my heartbreak (and yet I will not unfollow her because I Love This Pain [that's Lady Antebellum]), here is my line-by-line dissection of Basket Case by Sara Bareilles and how it relates to the Infernal Devices.

Notes: "I"= Tessa; "You"= Will; "He/him"= Jem.

I don't want to talk about it to you

I'm not an open book that you can rifle through

Tessa won't admit to Will that she loves him, because it won't make things any easier on him to know that she does. This is right after he tells her that he loves the girl in the letters ("open book that you can rifle through"), so she wouldn't want to be that girl anymore, to spare him the pain of loving someone who can't admit she loves him back. Also, they both love books.

The cold, hard truth that you see right to

I'm just a basket case without you

The cold, hard truth is when Will says "You can never love me," because he realizes that it would be dishonorable for Tessa to tell him she loves him when she's engaged to Jem. But she is a basket case without him, because after this whole scene she goes and burns herself on a stoker to distract herself from the emotional pain with physical pain. If that doesn't say "basket case," I don't know what does.

He's not a magic man or a perfect fit

But had a steady hand and I got used to it

I feel like this might minimize what Tessa actually feels for Jem, but come on. It's pretty appropriate. Tessa's feelings for Jem didn't really start until she was fully convinced that Will only wanted to use her for her smokin' bod. Jem is, by definition, the "steady flame."

And a glass cage heart and invited me in

And now I'm just a basket case without him

Glass cage heart= breakable. Jem. He never thought he'd have a chance to fall in love, so if Tessa were to tell him about Will's and her feelings for each other, he would probably be crushed. Also Tessa agrees to marry Jem after he tells her that loving her is keeping him alive. And of course she would be a basket case without him, too, because she does legitimately love him.

You're beggin' for the truth

So I'm sayin' it to you

I've been saving your place

But what good does it do?

Now I'm just a basket case

Now I'm just a basket case

Back to Will, wanting to know if Tessa does love him, but the only truth she can tell him is that she is engaged to Jem and therefore can't say she loves Will. And she really has been saving his place-- it even says in the book that a part of her would always belong to him. But it does no good, because of the aforementioned engagement. So she's a hand-burning basket case.

I don't say much and it'll stay that way

You got a steel train touch and I'm just a track you lay

She doesn't say much to Will about how she feels about him. He only had a sense that she might love him back because of the things she does: kissing him, coming to get him from the ifrit den, that whole thing in the infirmary. The "steel train touch" part is especially accurate based on Tessa's previous close encounters with Will, how they pretty much attacked each other. Also, figuratively, it could relate to Will deliberately hurting everyone he cares about, specifically when he called Tessa a barren prostitute monster.

So I'll stay right here underneath you

I'm just a basket case and it's what we do

Well, this isn't exactly what it sounds like. One, even after Will calls her a barren prostitute monster, Tessa still has feelings for him. She stays under his influence-- when he's in the room with her, she chastises herself for admiring him, and when he's not, she chastises herself for thinking about him. Two, it reminds me of the party at the Lightwoods'. Which was, you know, the day after Jem was improperly romancing the young lady in his bedroom. It's what basket cases do.

[Chorus again]

Won't somebody come on in and tug at my seams?

Oh, send your armies in of robbers and thieves

To steal the state I'm in, I don't want it anymore

To me, this verse isn't actually about wanting someone to come and tug at her seams; it's a sarcastic comment from someone who feels like they already are. Tessa is so torn by the end of Clockwork Prince, and obviously she doesn't want to feel this way, so she becomes kind of self-destructive (in a minor way, of course).

[Chorus again]

Now I'm just a basket case

x4

The repetition of this line at the end is a lot like at the end of Clockwork Prince, when Jem announces their engagement out of the blue and Tessa has to deal with Will being in the room to hear it. Obviously there is a good chance this will make the "basket case" situation four times worse.