Originally I wasn't even going to bring up Rockstar: INXS. But I feel that this debacle should be address in some regards. Back in 2005 when I heard that Mark Burnett from Survivor fame was launcing a new reality TV series called Rockstar: INXS, I was split into two different directions. 1) I thought it would be really cool to see the band members again, doing something....anything. 2) This had failure written all over it even before they aired one episode and made my stomach turn. It's a colossal failure in that you just CAN'T replace Michael Hutchence, no matter how hard you spin your spiel.

It was summer time and there wasn't anything else on, so I reluctantly decided to watch it and I couldn't have been more horrified in the bulk of singers butchering INXS songs. Don't be mislead here. There were some pretty strong singers in the bunch, it's just that they were so inconsistent from song to song and night to night. They would be great when singing a song that fit them and then completely fall apart on the next song and don't even get me started on them singing any INXS songs because I would say that 98% of all of them sucked royally. And even that 2% that succeeded, I remember nothing of it because it's been so long. Obviously it wasn't memorable. Just passable on that night.

So as the season wore on, I was partial to a couple of singers getting to the end, not because they were an awesome fit, but because they were the lesser of 6,7,8 evils.  By the end, all that was left that I could throw my vote for was Mig Ayesa and Suzie McNeil. When they failed to make it to the Final 2, I was horrified wth who was left standing. I won't mention either by name because they are not deserving and when the eventual "winner" was announced, I unleashed a profanity-laced tirade. Was I upset? Yeah, a little.

I swore that no matter how much I loved the band, I would NOT buy their forthcoming album. Fast forward a few months and my curioisity got the better of me. I didn't go a buy it though. Instead, I headed straight to Tower Records because they had Listening Stations that would have the latest release. So, I checked out Switch and didn't listen to more than a minute of each song on the album. It was garbage. They couldn't have picked the worst singer if they tried. Horrible singer, who came off as a  d o u c h e b a g  then and now.

What I found ironic when listening to the final song on the album, which was sung by Suzie McNeil by the way, was how good her track was (and the only one I listened to from start to finish) and how the show failed not only her, but INXS as well. How can we take their selection as valid when the 4th place singer gets a song on the album over what they considered to be the better singer (referring to the Runner-Up)? Meh.