Would You Accept a 'Twilight' Engagement Ring?
Last week, breathless fans of "The Twilight Saga" were treated to a glimpse of Bella Swan's engagement ring in the final trailer for "Eclipse." Now they can own a replica of the diamond-encrusted oval ring co-designed by "Twilight" author Stephenie Meyer and Infinite Jewelry Co. The ring matches the one described in the books, and is already available in three prices: "fashion" for $35, "fine" for $479, and "genuine," for a real diamond ring priced at $1979 -- and presumably intended to serve as a real engagement ring for "The Twilight Saga"'s most ardent fans. Infinite Jewelry describes the ring on its website:
"Experience your romance with Edward Cullen in a whole new way when you slip on Bella's Engagement RingTM! You'll love showing off the radiant stones in this elegant, domed-oval, gold ring. In true Victorian-era design, your ring is created by master artisans with an open-work gallery and a finely polished edge that surrounds the brilliant faceted stones. How exciting for you to own the only, Original [sic], Bella's Engagement RingTM in the world!"
Other, less expensive "Twilight"-inspired jewelry is available on the site, such as watches and necklaces, but the engagement ring is the only one that takes "Twilight" fandom to a potentially life-changing (and lifelong!) level. Will brides-to-be ask their potential husbands to give them a ring based on a series of teen novels about vampires and werewolves? Will boyfriends be comfortable proposing with a ring described as a way to "experience your romance with Edward Cullen?" And when the "Twilight" phenomenon gradually fades from our cultural memory, as all things eventually do, will wives look down at their movie tie-in rings with a twinge of embarrassment? One can only imagine the family-heirloom possibilities: "Honey, let's not tell our grandson the ring was based on a vampire movie."
Only time will tell, but it's worth noting that many versions of 1997?s "Titanic" jewel, a replica of the movie's "Heart of the Ocean" necklace, are still very much available online 13 years after the movie came out. (But those are just necklaces, not symbols of real-life commitment!)
So this Wednesday, when "Idol Gives Back" returned from a one-year hiatus, it was unclear whether anyone would really get cut, or if in fact all the remaining contestants would be charitably given the equivalent of seven Judges' Saves. It turned out "Idol" went ahead with its regularly scheduled results show, and at the end of the well-intentioned but overlong and indulgent "IGB" broadcast, Ryan announced that Tim Urban was going home.
Despite Tim's many ups and down on this show, I'd come to really like him--his upbeat "Teflon Tim" attitude, his persistent laugh, his underdog story, his impeccable hair, even his kneeslide. I was starting to root for him, maybe even starting to think he had a chance of making it all the way to the top five. I guess I was wrong. Instead, due to the broadcast running over, Tim didn't even get to sing one last time on Wednesday's show.
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Before you demand your own hug from the 20-year-old country megastar, take note: A friendly squeeze from Swift doesn't come easily. Auburn University students Michael Wekall and Ryan Leander began their quest back in January via their website AHugFromTaylorSwift.com.
The "Fearless" fanboys upped the ante for their next video, performing 13 good deeds that revolved around Taylor's lucky number 13, such as filling up a stranger's tank with $13 of gas, picking up trash on Auburn's 13th Street, and giving 13 roses to the old lady they walked across the street.
Wearing a T-shirt that read "A HUG for Ryan & Michael," she hugged the boys and planted a kiss on each of their cheeks. "I can't believe how far you've taken this," she told them. "It was so much fun going back and forth with you guys."
When Shania Twain was a guest judge earlier this season, I wasn't all that enthused. All I really remember now of her Chicago episode was her shameless flirting with handsome future semifinalist John Park, whom she told had a "nice bottom end." (Can't say I blame the woman--John Park was a looker--but still.) However, many comments on that night's blog post disagreed with me, all raving about Shania's star turn and some even rallying for her to be Simon Cowell's replacement. So I decided to give her another chance when she returned this week as the celebrity mentor for, fittingly, Shania Twain Night. This time, she did impress me much--even though the most indelible impression she made all evening long was when she engaged in a congratulatory embrace with John Park's fellow Season 9 hunk, Casey James.
Congratulations were in order for Casey, one of the evening's standouts, because Shania Night was no easy challenge. Despite Season 9 being touted as a "girls' season," that has not turned out to be the case--four of the remaining six finalists are in fact, um, male--so I knew this week was going to be tricky. Shania's songs all have a distinctly female flair, full of flirty asides like, "Hey, boys!" and "Let's go, girls!" It was pretty hard to imagine football jock Big Mike warbling, say, "Man! I Feel Like a Woman." (It was fun to imagine that, of course, but hard.) It's quite possible Shania signed on back when "Idol" producers assumed there'd be more girls in the game at this point, but what was done was done, and Shania did do an admirable job of helping the "Idol" boys to get in touch with their inner country queens. Some of the boys did that much more easily than others, but it really wasn't fair that Simon called one of them "girly." These were girly songs, and there no way of avoiding that, even if the boys had performed them while doing one-armed pushups, shotgunning beers, and stomping on quiches. 
Anyway, here's how everyone did Tuesday. In the words of Ellen DeGeneres, all aboard the Shania Twain!
Lee Dewyze - Arguably the biggest male frontrunner in the competition, Lee chose to sing one of Shania's biggest songs, "Still the One." And he's probably still the one to beat among the males...but this was not great, people. He certainly did make the effort. For instance, after Shania astutely advised him to "not be buried by his guitar" and show more personality, he even smiled at certain moments--rare behavior from the normally stone-faced Lee that left judge Kara DioGuardi absolutely stunned. Simon, however, just griped about Lee "pulling faces," and I must say muggy Lee did look a Taylor Hicksian at times. But hey, at least Lee was trying, for once. As for the vocals, though, Lee usually excels in that regard, but at the beginning of the song in the difficult lower register, he sounded terrible--or "hesitant," as the kid-gloved Simon nicely put it, out of fear for being too harsh on his chosen pet. (Kara and Simon both went way too easy on Lee, in fact.) Lee did find what Randy Jackson called his "sweet spot" once the chorus kicked in, but it was too little, too late. But hey, he "never looked cuter," according to Ellen, so maybe he'll pick up some of fallen heartthrob Tim Urban's votes this week.
Michael Lynche - Michael was back in Ruben Studdard "balladeer" mode for "It Only Hurts When I'm Breathing," which made his performance sound a little dated. But his vocals were impeccable as usual--the falsetto at the end was a nice touch--and Shania said she was moved by his emotional performance. Randy told him he was "in the zone" (gee, I've never heard Randy say that before); Ellen actually compared him to the almighty Luther Vandross; and Kara praised his heartfelt connection to the song. But Simon found the dramatic performance "wet" and "a little bit girly." Hmm. I bet that was the first time anyone had ever called Big Mike "girly."
Casey James - Casey has always been a favorite with the ladies, ever since he shed his shirt at his first audition or practically inspired Kara to throw her undergarments and hotel room key onstage during his bedroom-eyed performance of Bryan Adams's "Heaven." I'd always assumed the female vote alone would be enough to advance him to the top five, but last week he was in the bottom three for the first time, only two weeks after his tender, raw, lump-throated acoustic version of "Jealous Guy" on Lennon & McCartney Night. After two weeks of Casey cranking out generic bar-band jams, "Jealous Guy" started to seem like a fluke. "Jealous Guy" became to Casey James what "Straight Up" was to Andrew Garcia: an amazing performance he was unable to replicate, a bar he set too high for himself. Luckily, this week he realized that he's at his best--and is best received--when doing poignant acoustic ballads, not good-time Huey Lewis covers, and his stripped-down performance of "Don't" was a fine return to form. Randy, Ellen, and Simon all declared it his best performance to date (I still prefer "Jealous Guy," but this was a close second for me), and a back-on-board Kara told him, "Keep it up and you'll be at the front of this competition." I hope Casey listens to her. 
Crystal Bowersox - Shania gave Crystal some sound advice when she told her to be "more cheerful"; I've always said the one thing that might keep Crystal from winning this whole thing is her mellow personality, which could be perceived by viewers as aloofness or even iciness. But you know what? I didn't really dig Happy Crystal. I think I prefer Moody Crystal. Her bluegrassy, Nickel Creekish cover of "No One Needs to Know" was just a little ho-hum, a little underwhelming--not bad or anything, but certainly not up to par with last week's stellar "People Get Ready." All of the judges were unusually unimpressed: Simon, normally Crystal's biggest fan, actually called her performance "limp," said it had no conviction, and likened it to an intrusive coffeeshop band customers really don't want to hear while sipping their lattes. But Ellen and Kara went out of their way to defend Crystal, with Ellen arguing, "Saying it's not my favorite Crystal performance is like saying, 'What's your least favorite color of the rainbow?'" and Kara claiming, "It's impossible for you not to be good." This all seemed a little defensive, as if the judges were worried that Crystal might be in trouble this week. But I am pretty sure she'll be safe. 
I am actually more curious about what Crystal's boyfriend--not the judges--thought about her performance, since the song was dedicated to him in an effort to get him to "man up" and commit. Whoa! Stay tuned to see if he'll be back in the audience next week.
Aaron Kelly - Aaron has floundered in past weeks, has been in the bottom three several times, and has never been my favorite on this show. But I suspected he would do well this week because he's the most countryish contestant in the competition. Shania urged him to be more secure and relaxed as he belted out "You Got a Way," and he certainly seemed, as Randy might put it, in his zone. It was Aaron's best performance to date, by far--even if it was a little creepy/awkward when the 17-year-old revealed that he'd changed the song's original "when we make love" line because he was singing the tune for his mom. "This is definitely your wheelhouse!" howled Randy. "Tonight you were like a different artist," raved Simon. Aaron ought to have hugged Shania, too, just like Casey did. I am pretty sure Shania saved Aaron this week.
Siobhan Magnus - Siobhan picked "Any Man of Mine," a song brimming with attitude according to Shania, and hard as it may be to believe, Shania really had to work hard to coax the sassiness out of Siobhan. I think the past few weeks had taken a toll on this fragile free spirit; Siobhan just hadn't exhibitedher usual wacky pizzazz lately. But Shania's efforts paid off, because this week a beaming and reborn Siobhan spectacularly closed the show, strutting out onto the stage and then into the audience in her punk-rock cowboy boots. Siobhan looked like she was really having fun for the first time in weeks--Shania had obviously helped her get her groove back. Simon griped that Si's signature scream at the end sounded like that of a woman giving birth, but hey, a Siobhan Magnus performance without a little shrieking is like a Shania Twain performance without a little midriff--and at least Siobhan nailed that off-the-musical-scales note. "Guess who's back?" shouted Kara. Clearly Kara was happy to see the old, on-fire Siobhan, and so was I. Hopefully this is a sign of things to come for her.
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