New Sensation

So I'm watching "Rock Star," the reality show to find a replacement for Michael Hutchence in INXS. It's a strange concept and a little bit morbid. I won't claim to be the biggest INXS fan ever, but I do have most of their CDs, and I've seen them in their heyday (huge outdoor amphitheater show on the Kick tour) and trailing end (a crowd of 500 or so at the Boathouse in Norfolk in 1997 — which kicked ass by the way; we were eating out of Michael Hutchence's hand before the night was over). But even non-fans can agree that he was one of the best front men ever. So to think he can be replaced, and by a televised contest, seems ... I don't know ... sad.

Or is it brilliant? This isn't the first band to lose a member, particularly to tragic circumstances, and replace them. This is the era of reality TV. And INXS have been out of even a minimal public eye for 7 years. How better to plug a new album and begin touring again than with a weekly commercial, er competition?

Either way, right now, if this is the best 15 people they could find worldwide, why do some of them suck so much? Based on tonight's performances, my money is on Ty. He knows he's auditioning to front INXS, not the Who, or Motley Crue, or Nirvana. They need charismatic pop rock singing, not classic rock wailing, or punk screaming, or indie mumbling.