American Idol 2009 Top 3 Prediction!

Alright all you sportsracers, I am giving my prediction for who will be the top 3 finalists in this year's American Idol competition.

I know, I know, of the 36 hopefuls, only 24 have performed for America's vote. The remaining 12 will be performing next Tuesday for the next 3 spots in the top 12, but I think I've seen the top 3 already. I might be jumping the gun...but it's my gut feeling that the top 3 are among those who have already performed.*

So, without further ado...

My prediction for the top 3 finalists in this year's American Idol competition is:

• Allison Iraheta
• Adam Lambert
• Alexis Grace

All three of these singers' names start with an "A". Hmm.

Allison Iraheta. 16 years old. Seeing her perform for the first time last week reminded me of when I saw Bianca Ryan, winner of season 1 of America's Got Talent, perform. The performance blew me away. It's like you just know she is destined for stardom. She's got a deep, soulful voice and an energetic personality; and this refreshing attitude where it truly seems like she sings from her heart and doesn't care what people think, and that's so endearing. There are a lot of fake personalities and cookie-cutter types. She is genuinely unique and has great charisma.

Adam Lambert has such an amazing voice with exceptional range and vocal ability. He's humble, considerate and creative in his interpretations. I have a feeling like he could sing the heck out of any song you gave him, and that's what all previous winners have in common. His demeanor sort of reminds me of David Cook, last year's winner. But less rockstar and more movie star.

And then there's Alexis Grace. I'm not sure I'm totally sold on her yet, but I know she's tried out a couple times already, definitely has the chops and has a really nice and sincere attitude. And I'm betting that she's got what it takes to make it through to the final 3. The unbelievable amount of power and gusto she's got is awesome.

I had a feeling that Simon would say something like, "I see you more as a lounge singer" about Alexis, but she just has a stage presence like Dolly Parton - very unassuming and gentle at first; then she unleashes her voice and she blows you away when you were least expecting it. I think she has to be careful to keep making good song choices and be herself. If she does, and I think she will, she'll make it to number 3, at least.

A few other predictions...


I'd like to also say that I think Anoop Desai will get a wildcard and come back to become one of the final 12.


Secondly, Danny Gokey will certainly be among the top 5 finalists. He's got a perfect voice and a great attitude. Sadly, Casey Carlson and Jesse Langseth, both from Minneapolis, won't be representin' by getting wildcards. But I'm glad they both made it to the top 36 at least!


If you're an American Idol fan, please leave a comment letting me know if you agree, and if not, who you think will make it to the end. Feel free to wait until after next week's performances.

*Prediction may be revised at a future date, with full disclosure by me that my judgment is messed up and I am the worst talent scout ever. Exclusions may apply; see blog for details. Obviously, actual results may vary. Being able to see the future not included. Hit singles sold separately...on iTunes.

Vail 2009 Sneak Preview

I just got back from a ski trip to Vail, Colorado with some good buddies of mine. More video and pics coming soon. As a sneak preview, though, here's the view from the top of the mountain, taken from a chairlift:

California Roll

I've eaten a lot of sushi in my time. One of the best experiences I've had was at yellowtail sushi in the Belagio hotel and casino in Las Vegas. I also really enjoyed Nobu at the Shore Club in Miami Beach.

I've made my own sushi a few times, but I've never prepared anything fancier than the California Roll. It's probably the easiest roll to make, but it still takes several tries to get it right.

I made some tonight for dinner. As you can probably see from the photo, the presentation didn't turn out that well, but it tasted great. It was actually my second serving and the first one was much better but I didn't think to take a photo of that one. The rice turned out perfect, but I had too much of it on the roll - which really filled me up! It should only be about one-eighth of an inch thick.

The filling was avocado, carrots, cucumber, sesame seeds, tuna and crab meat. And I had some tuna left over for a little sashimi. You can probably tell that I seared it first, which I recommend if it's been frozen and not totally fresh.

I tried a new technique for cooling the rice after it was cooked. I hooked up a hair dryer and used the "cool" setting and cooled the rice as I folded the rice vinegar, salt and sugar into the rice with a wet wooden paddle. It worked really well!

For Your Valentine's Day Mix Tape

As a special treat for Valentine's Day, Amazon.com is giving away Marvin Gaye's "Let's Get It On" today and tomorrow. Download it here. You'll have to sign in to download it.

This is a great promotion for Amazon's mp3 store. And this is perhaps one of the greatest love songs ever. In fact, a 2005 review of this song said it was "unparalleled in its sheer sensuality and carnal energy."

So, if you're making your honey bunny a "mix tape" of love songs, I'd include "Let's Get It On". Also consider these five other favorites of mine:

• All Out Of Love - Air Supply
• Everything I Do, I Do It For You - Bryan Adams
• I Will Always Love You - Whitney Houston
• The Way You Love Me - Faith Hill
• You Were Wonderful Tonight - Eric Clapton

AmazonMP3 has also created a great list of "The 100 Greatest Romantic Albums of All Time". Check it out for other ideas.

Johnny Depp and Sean Penn Rumored to Star in The Three Stooges Remake

I just heard that Johnny Depp and Sean Penn are rumored to be starring in the upcoming re-make of The Three Stooges, which will be directed by the Farrelly brothers, with help from Me, Myself and Irene's writer Mike Cerrone.

I can't wait.

Johnny Depp will play Moe and Sean Penn will play Larry. It's easier to imagine Sean Penn as Larry if you remember his character in Carlito's Way, in which he played the crazed and hyper lawyer.

Johnny Depp is a little harder to imagine as Moe, with the bowl cut. But if you forget about his image from Pirates of the Caribbean and remember his whimsical and eccentric nature as Sam from the movie Benny and Joon, I think he'd be perfect for the role.

My vote for Curly would be either Simon Pegg, most popularly from the movie Shaun of the Dead. Or perhaps Mark Addy, who had a memorable and lovable role as Dave in the movie The Full Monty. I think Kevin James from the recently released and hugely successful Paul Blart: Mall Cop would be a good choice, too.

So, the casting seems right so far. I think both Depp and Penn were born to play silly comedic roles, like Addy and Pegg.

It's been reported that the movie will arrive in theaters on November 20th, 2009.

Humorous and Thought-Provoking Chart and Graphs

I enjoy giving presentations and creating charts and graphs that present complex data in a meaningful, engaging manner. But most people don't. It's tough to keep an audience entertained during a presentation, but it's even more difficult to create engaging charts and graphs.

GraphJam is a favorite website of mine where people like you and I create and submit charts and graphs that take facts and figures about mainstream culture and depict them in a humorous and thought-provoking way. GraphJam describes itself as "the unholy love child of bored office workers, music and pop culture."

Here are some of my favorite GraphJams:

CultureGraph is another site that does the same thing, describing itself as "accountants meet pop culture". Many of the charts and graphs there are intelligent and thought-provoking cultural statements. Each of these sites can serve as a lesson in being creative and entertaining while presenting data.

Here's one of my favorite CultureGraphs:

Notes on the New Rules of Engagement Optimization

Last year, around this time, I watched an interesting webinar about how an organization can make the most out of its website in terms of engaging with its customers and optimizing the online experience.

The two industry experts who gave the webinar were Mark Taylor from Wunderman, and Brent Hieggelke from Omniture.

It was called Actions Speak Louder Than Clicks: The New Rules of Engagement Optimization and you can probably still check it out here. There is also this PDF version.

I was really excited about it, so I took notes.

I just dug them up the other day to reference and I want to share some of the points here for a few of my friends who read this blog. This topic may be especially of interest to them, as they work in CRM, web development, user experience design and other areas of technology in marketing.

So, here are some selected notes I took:

A click does not mean a customer, so it’s necessary to get smart on both sides of the click, before and after.

So, after the click, turn a motivated visitor into an engaged customer through a relevant conversion process. The on-site experience determines the conversion rate, and is the bottleneck point of all the off-site marketing spending. It’s where customers demand a dialogue, not a monologue.

And the Old Rules still apply:

• Customer comes first
• A communication must elicit a response you can measure
• Innovation is the key to solving client problems

Marketing has to be a starter of conversations, not just "selling and telling." An "after-the-click" marketer will:

• Establish the truly important KPIs
• Segment and target the different audiences
• Constantly test and measure
• Treat their landing page as a hypothesis and not as a creative product (create personalized content)
• Optimize the engagement opportunity

So, that’s where the Filter of Experience Optimization comes in. It’s the sincerest form of listening and it goes beyond usability and web analytics. It consists of:

• A/B Testing – testing different versions of headline, offer, lead, benefits, images, or look/feel
• Multivariate testing - testing a variety of different elements and test them in various combinations to determine which individual element contributes which part of the conversion lift. For example: Which navigational structure best performs? Where should the search box be placed? How prominent should the privacy and security statement be? Which overall page layout reduces bounce rates?
• Customer Segment targeting – For example, the second visit content targeted based on content affinity
• Predictive 1 to 1 targeting - real-time data mining, predictive modeling, serve offer if behavior indicates interest

So, in summary, to put those Old Rules through the Filter of Experience Optimization, the critical business strategies become:

• Listen to the customer - use real-time customer intelligence to enhance the customer experience on the website
• Measure what matters: What are the key behaviors on the customer's journey through the site? What are the highest priority metrics? How do they impact the end goal?
• Only measure those things that you can impact
• Innovate - invest 10-15% of marketing dollars in engagement optimization: testing and targeting

So, do actions speak louder than clicks?

If you want to read more on this topic, I would recommend reading Customer Experience Matters, Technology in Marketing and Web Analytics Demystified.

9 Ways to Reduce Stress and Live Happy

Here are 9 things to do that will reduce stress in your life:

Carry your luggage on the plane. Make it all fit so you have nothing to carry but a water and magazine/laptop. Fold up that shirt of yours, stuff it in your carry-on and spend 15 minutes at your destination to iron it. Don't take more than you need - ask yourself why you're really traveling, and heed my advice unless the your reason for travel includes one of the following: 1) a model shoot 2) hunting for a spouse 3) moving

Don't be afraid to avoid Facebook. Many people don't see how Facebook is productive. I've read about many people stressing about how to configure Facebook so that they don't have to worry about certain people seeing things you don't want them to see. I guess my point is avoid social networking if you don't need it in your life. If and when you do, think carefully about it and spend the time researching how to configure your account so you're comfortable.

Put your money in P&G. I recently read something that said even during a recession, people still buy razor blades and potato chips - very true! And whatever money you have in a savings account that's not earning any interest, put it in an FNBO Direct online savings account, where it will earn you 3.5% interest.

Head on down to Miami. Check out www.US.LastMinute.com for the best last-minute travel deals that, well, pop up at the last minute. I suggest flying to Miami Beach and renting a scooter. I would start in Reeves Park, in downtown Miami. Cruise through the streets, waving to people, until you get to 15th Street, or the Venetian Way. Travel across Biscayne Bay (check out the multi-million dollar homes) until you get to South Beach and go south along the side streets just west of Alton Road. Continue south, stopping at Flamingo Park to avert the park police while you scoot through the walking-only paths. When you reach the south tip of Miami Beach, take a break to eat at a Cuban cafe, or visit a beach side club if it's nighttime. Then, head west along the MacArthur Causeway, stopping to check out Star Island and Palm Island to relive your favorite moments from Grand Theft Auto: Vice City.

Break ice. If you live in Minnesota, you can do this every Spring. Just walk along a frozen puddle of water in the street that has started melting just enough so that there is a delicate layer of thin ice that cracks and crunches when you step on it. I'm pretty sure that leading smart people from really good universities all around the world agree that it is fun, and have research studies to back it up. Wear big fat boots, too.

Be happy with what you've got. If your 2-year-old Samsung calls people, texts, gets mobile web, wakes you up in the morning on time, takes voice notes, plays music, calculates gas mileage and takes pictures, why the heck do you need to upgrade to an iPhone or Blackberry Bold?

Bust a groove. I know it sounds like it's a lot of effort, and it takes energy and movement, and you usually have to be somewhere where there is loud music, but if you move it, peace will come. Dancing is one way to exercise, which physiologically reduces stress. That's proven. Plus, it makes you smile, which has also been proven to reduce stress.

Tell a beautiful stranger that they're beautiful. This probably works best when you won't see them again. And, certainly don't follow up by asking for their number. When you take a risk and compliment somebody genuinely, and for no other reason than to be nice to them, 9 times out of 10 they will really appreciate it (hint: say it and then turn around and walk away.) Here's the real important part. The magic of this is how it makes you feel. You'll walk away having expressed something that you would usually keep to yourself, and it's always healthy when you express your feelings.

Lie, Cheat and Steal. Do one of the following three things. 1) Lie: The next time you meeting somebody you'll never see again, like at a conference or something, make up a story. Don't do anything harmful, but I've known people that have done this and they have stories for the rest of their lives to tell friends because of it. Stories about when you made stuff up and get a great reaction from people last forever. For example, tell a comedian at a comedy club you're a reporter doing a story for the paper back home and then interview them. Heck, maybe you'll even be able to pitch the story to a real reporter! 2) Cheat: Be careful here, but if you can bend the rules and it makes you feel better without hurting anybody else, do it! Like shaving off a stroke or two on the golf course, if you can live with the guilt, that is! 3) Steal: The next time you're in a doctor's office and you are reading a captivating article in a magazine, but didn't have time to finish it, take it with you. Just return the favor next time by bringing another magazine from home and leaving it there...for the next person to enjoy. Feel the rush as you leave the building and speed away with your hot copy of Kiplinger's Personal Finance or Lady's Home Journal.

I'm Officially Lost, but I Can See the Blu-ray Future

So, I'm a huge fan of the TV show Lost. If you are too, the images to the right should conjure up some nostalgic memories of episodes past.

The plot is so complex that I've often tried to make sense out of the underlying story, as experienced by the characters. But since this is season 5 and season 6 will be the end of the series, a lot of stuff needs to be wrapped up so that we can finally make sense of the island and its connection with the survivors, and ultimately have some closure. And new unanswered questions keep coming this season.

So, when season 6 ends, what will the forthcoming 6-season Blu-ray disc box set contain to help obsessed fans deconstruct the entire story?

I believe the producers will give us a special treat. They will somehow unravel (or let us unravel) the narrative structure (the key moments from the character's lives presented in a chronology of events) so that we can see all of the events of the story in the order we please.

For example, if we got to mash up all of the thousands of scenes, like taking the scene in Season 5, Episode 3, where we see a young Charles Widmore, and making that Scene 1, Episode 1. And so on... Now, chronologically speaking, I'm not sure that Widmore scene actually represents the earliest scene, but you get my point.

True, by the time season 6 wraps, we'll have all of the answers about the time travel, character connections, discovery and the future of the island, and the island's secrets. So, why would we bother?

Well, because it's fun to deconstruct stuff and make sense out of things. It's just a theory of mine that I think they'll give us something like that to play with. Heck, if they don't, maybe somebody would create one. Although I'm not sure it could ever be shared publicly if it uses actual clips from the show.

2008 Boundary Waters Canoe Trip

For the past 10 years, I've gone on an annual trip with my good buddies. In the summer, we take a canoe trip to the BWCAW (Boundary Waters Canoe Area Wilderness). This video is a quick glimpse into the experience. I had to choose a random song to overlay the video with. The song is "Hey There Delilah" by the Plain White T's. I think it's a pretty good tune. And it was almost the same length as the video.

If you've never visited the BWCAW, I suggest you do. Here's a good place to start. Tell 'em Fredkove sent you!

By the way, for any of you bloggers out there, I used a technique I learned from Jason Kottke to embed the high quality version of this YouTube video. Just add "&ap=%2526fmt%3D18" (take off the quotes) to the end of each instance of the URL in the embed code. That's it! So, here's the high quality version of the video:

Trucking Duck - Funny!

If you haven't seen this yet, you're missing out on a great piece of journalism. This is a story about a duck, and a truck. It's a story about making the world a better place to live and about man's best friend. And smiles and quacks. And it takes place right here in fabulous Minnesota.

Walmart's Spread Across America - A Visualization

Here's a neat visualization of the spread of Walmart stores across America over time.

It's amazing how a creative graphic visualization can make it easier to digest a lot of data and see its impact.

By the way, and this is unrelated, but since Valentine's is around the corner, here's a beautiful love song by Ze Frank.

Funniest TV Infomercial Ever - The Slap Chop

When it comes to infomercials, there are the good, the bad, and the ugly. Well, there's a new category: The Great. In my opinion, a great infomercial is both entertaining and effective.

This falls into that new category.

New Trailer for Ghostbusters: The Video Game

The Ghostbusters game, based on the movie franchise that began in 1984, looks like it should be a truly nostalgic experience...well, at least the trailer does.

And this user generated trailer uses the musical score from the movies to make it that much more nostalgic. Enjoy!



Here is a pic of me and the Ghostbusters car (the ECTO-1) last summer when the game publisher came to the Best Buy corporate offices to meet with the video game merchandising team.

If this sounds exciting to you, here are some interesting bullet points from the Wikipedia entry for Ghostbusters: The Video Game...

• It's in development for the Nintendo DS, PC, PlayStation 2, PlayStation 3, Wii, and Xbox 360. All versions of the game will be published by Atari.
• The game is based on the Ghostbusters film franchise. Ghostbusters creator Dan Aykroyd has confirmed that the game is essentially Ghostbusters III.
• The game's storyline is being written by Dan Aykroyd and Harold Ramis, the writers of the original films.
• Players portray a new recruit hired to test Egon Spengler and Ray Stantz's new equipment, during a recent rise of paranormal activity.