Ill Crate episode 47: Zayra Alvarez
This week (month? biennium?) we focus on Zayra Alvarez, one of our favorite “rockers” from Rock Star: Supernova. Yeah, we know she doesn’t exactly “rock,” but she does have a certain undefinable quality that we like (maybe it’s that Puerto-Rican-ness). You will also hear our regular features Slangoria, Reposing or Decomposing?, and a tiny bit of The Geek Zone.
This episode does not come in MPEG-4 flavor with an embedded slideshow like the last couple of episodes (due to annoying GarageBand gremlins), so this one is slideshow-free. If you iTunes/iPod fans miss the slideshows, let us know.
August 16th, 2006 at 9:41 pm
I guess we got this one on-line just in the nick of time, eh? Our favorite Puerto Rican Goddess has just been “oh so unfairly” cut from the show. Sure, she didn’t belong in a band like Supernova - She deserves better! After that embarrassing original song the band did tonight, Zayra should have given THEM the axe! What in the heck was up with the dancers? It was nearly a Janet Jackson performance out there.
Zayra was the best tonight! Her moves were amazing and dramatic, though I do confess, I was a bit scared for the first 20 seconds - the accent was a bit overwhelmed by the guitars, but she picked it up and over-powered the band.
Patrice - again, how in the eff does she keep going? Who is she bl(*&^ing to stay on that show? Must be one of the producers. I can’t even remember what song she destroyed and it was on less than an hour ago. I wouldn’t even let her run to the store to pick up a six pack for the band.
Magni? Not a bad performance, but it was pretty sappy (the constant plea, I don’t belong here - give me a break, crybaby) - and Lukas did it better a few nights ago, AND THAT WAS AN UNPLUGGED VERSION!
C’mon, Patrice? How can she still be there? She brings nothing but shame to show.
Ryan, wow . . . even though I knew what to expect, I still got gooseflesh. He just kills that song.
Hey kiddos,
After listening to Z’s songs within this podcast, do you still think she is not an interesting song stylist? I’m not saying “great singer.” I’m saying “risky and interesting.” Although I believe she is a great singer. Probably in the same way that Dylan, Springsteen, Waits and the chick fromthe Cranberries are great singers.
August 16th, 2006 at 10:27 pm
Uh-Oh boys, Z is gone and there are a lot of happy viewers! Here is my opinion about the show tonight. Zayra once again did a good performance. No doubt she’s entertaining, but the vocals were horrible. I am a huge fan of Blue October and I know she’s done vocals for them, but to take on that song was a bad move. Her accent showed way too much. Hard to understand her, especially in a song where the lyrics have a great deal of intensity. Another absolutely unacceptable, shameful thing she did was the head twitching. If you watch Justin sing…that’s what he does. He’s so intense it’s like he can’t help it…it looks as if he has terets (sp?), but it works for only him. I can’t believe she dared to mimick it! Patrice….let’s just say if it were up to me, I would have spared Z and sent P packing!! She’s so boring, she just doesn’t wow anyone. Magni, first of all I was surprised he was in the bottom! I liked his Bowie performance, however his performance tonight doing Creep, kinda bored me. It wasn’t until the end of the song that I got a little into it. Surprising cause I love his voice and he’s super talented. Lukas def did it better. I was so happy Ryan got the encore…by the way thanks for the votes Pads! Okay, so I think all of us fans should just get together and eliminate Supernova altogether!! They sucked! Funny thing is is that Dilana seemed like she fit in with them. I dunno they still have this 80’s vibe going on. Couldn’t stand it. I think some of the rockers deserve better! The dancers on stage…it was horrendous! Ick, yuk, blah! Have yall heard anything by the panic channel? Dave Navarros band? They are just as bad. Glad Storm stood her ground with the boys tonight! REMEMBER NEXT WEEK…VOTE RYAN STAR!! But when we are down to about 3 rockers left…stop voting for him…he’s too good for this band!
August 16th, 2006 at 10:31 pm
Oh yeah, to answer your question…nope, still not into Z’s vocals! Sorry! Infact, I can’t believe yall put us thru so many songs of hers! That was just “sauteed in wrong sauce”!! I have to admit though, it’s better to watch her on video cause sometimes you forget how bad the vocals are cause you’re busy watching her perform, but when you just listen to her, like on your podcast for example…Wow…she really sounds bad.
August 17th, 2006 at 8:37 am
Ouch! well, that’s what makes America such a great place, one can freely express their opinion and it has to be respected. I love ethereal vocals and mad flourishes, just so long as they aren’t the scat flourishes that all American Idol singers feel they have to tack on to a song’s end. Hence, Z fits me to a T! Yet, I certainly understand a person’s dislike of that style. My dad can’t stand singers like Bjork, Sinead, Regina Spektor and Dolores O’Riordan (is that her name, the singer for the cranberries) . . . no matter. I just love that style.
I have a Blue October album, but I wan’t aware of the singer or his mannerisms. I thought Z’s performance was intense and I liked the twitching! It certainly got both Dave and Jason to their feet! None of the other performers did that!
Oh, I totally agree with you about stopping the vote early, you certainly don’t want your favorite to actually win. It was like with Marty last year. If he had won we would have only had that bad INXS album to listen to him . . . now we have the new Lovehammers album, and even though there’s some material from their previous album on it, that album still rocks pretty decently. It is far superior to INXS’s lame effort.
I totally look forward to Ryan’s and Z’s solo career. I think Dilana will be doomed to record a lame Supernova record. They really sucked hard. Booooo! I can’t believe Jason would play with a band like that after having been in a group like Metallica and Flotsam and Jetsom. Another big, OUCH!
Anyway, thanks for suffering through the episode, She Ap!
Pads
August 17th, 2006 at 9:41 am
I actually own Ryan’s album Songs from the Eye of an Elephant. It’s very toned down, like his REM version of LMR. It’s a lot like that throughout the album. He does a pretty tame version of head like a hole…not on his album though. It’s good. I’ve listened to Z’s original stuff and as I’ve said before, she is good in her own element. I’ve watched her videos and she’s a good spanish pop star. I’ll give her that much credit, but obviously not a good choice for the band. I admit, I would much rather sit thru her performances than even another second of Patrice. YUK! Hey, I think the house band needs to look for a singer!! Hey, do you get a little annoyed at Jason’s constant remark about Lukas not opening his throat? (that sounds really bad, but ya know what I mean hehehe) I think it’s getting old. Oh man, I went back and listened to Storm’s I will Survive and I thought it was tolerable. I think better than Cakes version. She does this low growling thing that I’ve never heard anyone do like she does it. Oh and L.G. I put The Talking Heads Burning Down the House on my myspace profile and then I listened back to Toby’s version…doesn’t even compare…I’m with you on that one. One more thing….on the message boards I read quite a few threads that ppl were saying that the Supernovas song last night was lip synced? I didn’t think so. What do yall think?
August 17th, 2006 at 11:26 pm
I thought the entire performance was a pre-recorded video. It was certainly done with a different set of video cameras, or at least, in some sort of different “mode.” I’m going to go back and watch it on Tivo and see if I can’t pick up something or other.
About Jason, at least he’s offering “constructive criticism,” instead of just saying “that was awesome dude, you’re gonna get laid for sure,” but yeah, he needs to lay off a bit. Lukas has his own style. Not everybody can sing like James Hetfield.
I’m going to see if I can track down a Toby original. I’d like to hear a Ryan original. Surprisingly, I did not care for Zayra’s originals, except for that one she did on the show the other night. And I listened to her entire album. It was a bit too poppy and Latin, even though I love traditional latin music. Not so much the current dancy stuff. I hope the rest of her solo career veers in the direction she was pointing to on Rockstar.
ZAYRA RIP
(Rock in Peace)
Pads
August 17th, 2006 at 11:47 pm
Hey if you check out Ryan’s original stuff, make sure to listen to Back Of Your Car…it’s prob my favorite of his. I agree about Jason, he does give good advice and I guess Hetfield really damaged his vocal cords and is now basically having to learn how to sing again, so he obviously knows what he’s talking about. I’ve watched the SN performance several times over. Man, the lyrics are cheesey! I really hope the rest of their stuff is better. Who knows, maybe it would have been a better song if one of the other rockers were singing it. Hey did you catch Dilanas Michael Jackson move? Hahaha…ppl are talking about it all over the boards! Hey on a totally different subject, I just got accepted to Liberty University!! The DLP program! Hold the Geri Falwell jokes…hehehe.
August 18th, 2006 at 1:19 pm
Where is Liberty University? Are you going to have to relocate? Anyway, congrats! It is always nice to get accepted into a school you actually want to attend! How long is the program?
BTW, which Rockstar bulletin board do you read? Are you reading the official site’s boards or a fan site?
I’m going to give the Supernova song another couple of views tonight. I must have missed the Jackson move. I did realize how bad the lyrics were. I wonder who is actually writing their material. None of those guys were primary song writers in their other bands, as far as I’m aware. I think it was always Slash/Rose, Sixx/Neil, and Hetfield/Ullrich, but I’m not 100% certain about that. I could well be wrong.
Anyway, enjoy the weekend!
Pads
August 18th, 2006 at 9:26 pm
I got to the actual rockstar supernova message boards and read them on general discussion or performers. I also go to rockband.com supernova section…they are better there. It’s not as immature and insulting on that site. Liberty is in VA…Im doing distance learning. I can’t wait to start!
August 19th, 2006 at 12:04 pm
Ok, i REALLY did not like the SuperNova song. And then when the dancers came out, Adrian and I were like…what the hell is this?? They harp on Toby for using a megaphone during his song…but we will bring out some trashy dancers….PUKE! The funniest thing was Patrice singing Celebrity Skin, which was a song Lukas did and then Mangi singing Creep which was a song Lukas did…Lukas was so ticked because Patrice knew the words, it was hilarious.
After hearing the SN original song I would kick myself off the show…that was BAD. It was so bad I can’t even remember any lyrics from the song to make fun of…
And why would they make one of the song choices a disco song? I Will Survive?? Will it be Dancing Queen next…I want to sing it if it is….ABBA is my favorite!
August 20th, 2006 at 12:49 am
I echo your sentiments exactly Aren! The boys from Supernova were saying how awesome they did and how great the dancers were with all their “grinding.” Wasn’t that what Jill got hammered on by Gilby a few weeks ago? That grinding was cheap and predictable? Give me a break. Besides, that performance was filmed by a zillion more cameras and angles than the other rockers get. And then it was edited in MTV mode and the audio was super edited in post. Not to mention the intense light show. Do any of the other performers get so many strobe lights and other pyrotechnics? I can’t believe how they tried to dress that turkey of a song up. Like I said, Supernova should have been kicked off that night . . . even before Patrice! And you know how much I adore her!
I really don’t have an issue with the disco song. I think they sometimes throw crap songs at strong performers to see if they can overcome the material. Remember when Marty had to redo “Hit Me Baby One More Time?” That actually turned out to be one of my favorite songs last season. He rearranged that song and really made it his own. I’m sure with a dramatic reworking, somebody could do something with “I Will Survive.”
She Ap! Good luck on your distance learning. It really works out well. I learned my college French via distance learning, and I used it to great success while I was in Europe. For some reason, whenever you’re in a European country, if you speak to a person who doesn’t know English, they seem to know French for some reason. Especially in Italy. I would have likely ended up in an Italian jail one evening if it weren’t for my French. Long story.
Pads
August 21st, 2006 at 11:22 pm
Did anyone catch the reality webisode on the rocker media clinic? Man, Dilana trashed the rockers badly and she did it to the media. Her ratings are gonna go down for that I bet. I won’t post any spoilers here, but I’m so excited for this week cause Ryan’s doing my favorite!! It’s gonna rock! Hey, I wonder what Zayra is gonna wear this week. hahaha…low blow, sorry! I think the band contradicts themselves a lot. I’ve heard Tommy say that he hates when musicians sit down and perform like Lukas did, but when Gilby performed with Toby, he did the exact thing. I also remember they got on Ryan first performance when he was playing guitar and he was looking at himself changing chords, well then also when Gilby was performing with Toby he was doing that too! Who knows…just can’t wait for tomorrows perfomance night. Vote Ryan a million times!!!
August 23rd, 2006 at 10:32 am
Ryan killed! That was the best song/performance of the year so far (excluding Z’s, of course). He was so far above everybody else it wasn’t even a fair competition. That song was incredible. I want to buy it right now!
Magni . . . a dead on copy of Teen Spirit. I love that song so much, but so what? Nothing new. Not a memorable performance at all. This guy pretty much sucks in my estimation, despite the fact that I think he’s a really good singer.
Storm - Liked her eye make-up. After that, I dunno, can’t even remember what she did right off hand.
I picked the bottom three before they even sang last night: Toby/Patrice/Storm
Patrice sucked even worse than usual last night, mostly because her song sounded like something left on the cutting room floor from the go-go’s last album. Also, she sang her own song flat.
Toby: Layla is my favorite song of all time . . . so I am very biased against anybody who tries to redo it. Toby really ruined it. However, he ruined it less than Eric Clapton did a few year back . . . and he wrote it! I didn’t even like the way Jordis did it last year, and I was totally in love with her voice.
Lukas: Everytime somebody kills onstage this guy freezes up and starts turning his back to the audience. You could tell from the shots of the rockers as they were awaiting their turns, that Lukas was going to have an off night . . . all because Ryan tore the place up and was not going to be beaten. Overall, Lukas did alright, even though his vocals were extremely weak at times. I wish Mrs. Brightside was on the board so that we could get her feedback. After all, she is the resident “Killers” expert.
Dilana: Ho hum. I sort of like the song still, even though it is so overplayed, but I thought it was just a very average performance. Hated those eyelashes. Yucko. She might actually deserve a bottom three rather than Toby, but I doubt it.
What thinks you?
Pads
August 23rd, 2006 at 11:34 am
Pad- I just got the funniest email that is called what you drink personality test. If you drink White Zin…
White Zinfandel: He’s gay
Do you have something you need to tell us.
Ryan was AWESOME. He was SO much more comfortable on stage singing his own stuff…and it was good. He totally smoked everyone.
Lukas really needs to stop singing songs I love. He ruined “Creep” for me…that is my ALL TIME favorite song and now I don’t know….
SuperNova is going to suck, so I hope Lukas gets it so he can go down in flames with SuperNova….I’m bitter!
I love Layla too…love Eric Clapton…I thought Toby did alright.
Patrice…VOMIT! She reminds me of Alanis Morrisette….we only need one of those.
I’m not THAT musical but what is so difficult about singing Cryin’ by Aerosmith…is it really that hard of a song? I guess if she tried to do the “kahkahkahkahkha” like Steven Tyler.
Magni was boring.
Who else sang….it was all kind of boring…the only one that made me say WOW DAMN was Ryan.
August 23rd, 2006 at 11:49 am
Well Here I am…Mrs. Brightside to comment on an AWFUL performance of one of my favorite Killers songs. First off, I think in my last post, I commented on how much I can’t stand Lukas. He’s way too depressing and I didn’t understand why he kept turning his back to the fans either. It sounded like he was trying to do a mimic of Brandon Flowers voice and stage movements but it just sounded and looked terrible. Brandon has a very unique voice and I’ve never heard anyone come close to singing the way he does. So there! Also, on She Ap’s behalf, Ryan did have the best performance. Good song, good voice and good stage performance. I think Magni was a little upset when he saw Ryan throw his guitar. Thought thta was a little cheesy since they were JUST talking about how they wanted to see SOMEONE break something and then right after that Ryan did. And Dilana, what was up with those lashes! Her voice sounded like it was a little off key in certain parts of the song. And Storm, totally hot but can’t stand her! Her singings okay but I don’t like her facial expressions or the way she seems so attention-seeking. I guess most rockstars are though! Those are my thoughts!
August 23rd, 2006 at 1:57 pm
alrighty, well, here are my thoughts:
Patrice-good song, weak performer week after week. As I’ve said, she’s prob really good on 6th street or as a club performer, but just not for a super band.
Magni- what can I say…I just love him. He’s got great stage presence, he connects with the audience, wonderful voice. My second fave. I have to admit, I’m quite sick of all the nirvana covers. He did a really good job I though, especially for having the flu.
Ryan- I’ve been saying it all along, since about week3 that this guy really has something to offer and finally ppl are jumping on the bandwagon. He was absolutely wonderful. Oh and he did my favorite of his original songs. He’s too good for this band though. He’s my numero uno!! LOVE RYAN STAR.
Storm- I really like her and I really wanted to like her performance, but I just didn’t. It was bad. I have to say she picked it up a bit at the end, but it just wasn’t a solid performance. Still really like her though.
Toby-I think he’s really modern. I think he could do very well, but not for this band. He’s too hip or something. He’s a good performer and a really good singer, but I usually forget about his performances. Infact, I was about to submit my comment then realized I had forgotten to even comment on him. That tells me something!
Dilana-zzzzzz….I fell aseep! Boring, I’m sick of her voice. It was so cheesey how she was singing her name at the end of the song. I’m no longer a fan. Pads and L.G. I want to trade her in for Zayra!!
Lukas-Man, he sounded really good when he started. I was thinking it was going to be really good, but then he did that stupid constipated voice, same moves as usual, back towards the audience. I just didn’t like it.
My predictions for B3
Toby
Storm
Magni and possibly Patrice
August 23rd, 2006 at 2:18 pm
Nice to hear from you Mrs. Brightside!!!
I agree with your assessment of Lukas in last night’s performance. I don’t hate him as much as Aren hates him, but the “angst” things is getting a bit old. I think it should have died with Curt Cobain. It is soooo, 1994! But you’re right, it seems he was just trying to mimic Brandon’s vocals and was coming up a bit feeble. Still, Lukas doesn’t bore me. I find him somewhat compelling at times, but I hate those eyebrows. He reminds me a lot of a painted up and over-done Clint Howard . . . but I do like the way he struts about at times. However, I think he’s becoming a bit of “one trick pony.”
I certainly like him a lot better than Patrice. I wish I could have hung out with Aren last night so I would have had somebody to vomit with! Damn, that was some pretty bad crap. Fortunately, she’ll be gone by the end of the evening. If not, then it is confirmed, one of the producers of the show has been swinging on her monkey bars. Although, I can’t imagine anybody really wanting to do that. Hmm, unless she’s gay. Never thought of that.
Hahaha, speaking of gay, Ms. Aren! Don’t think I’m not aware of the stigma associated with my passion for “da zin!” Yeah, even though I’m totally assured of my heteroness and masculinity, it really bothers me. L.G. isn’t that comfortable with it either! Now that I think about it, I really like purples and pinks too. And a few show tunes. And track lighting. And scented candles. And, . . . oh, crap . . . David, (gulp), Hasselhoff.
Moving on.
Well, let’s hope for some good performances tonight. That means, let’s hope that Supernova doesn’t have time to perform and that Ryan gets the encore!
I hated Dilana’s eyelashes, but I hated seeing her running around naked even more. Am I the only one, or did any of you think she looked sort of like boy running around the pool? I think they just digitally attached her head to Toby’s body from last weeks. Not sure though.
Later, kiddos!
Pads
August 23rd, 2006 at 4:26 pm
Pads, I still love you know matter what!
Do you think I have a bitter taste in my mouth for Lukas?? I just don’t like him. I LOVE that you think he looks like a painted up and overdone Clint Howard….crap that cracks me UP! I thought he kind of looked and acted like and Orangutan…kind of mean eh?
I’m usually not this evil…but I can’t help myself….
So you like track lighting? You must also like Steel Magnolia’s??
August 24th, 2006 at 8:57 am
WOOOHOOOOO! Patrice is GONE!
And what was that new crap song? Hidee Ho Ho HO! Are they pirates now?
August 24th, 2006 at 3:16 pm
Hahaha! Patrice finally met her maker. How come it took so friggin’ long? I can’t believe Z, Jill, and Phil (I think that was his name) all ended up going home before her. Wow. She is so boring, she didn’t even have a memorable “goodbye” speech.
And that Superova song . . . oh man, you’re right, Hidee Ho “Ho!” What, did they let a second grader write that chorus? I thought the rest of the song was better than the last turd they served up, but sheesh . . . these guys are gonna sell fewer tickets than the Dixie Chicks! They keep talking about how “dark” and how “heavy” their music is . . . well? let’s hear that crap! We haven’t so far. I think the rockers best start singing Culture Club songs if they want into Supernova!
Now, I know you guys really like Magni, but he sorta freaks me out. I don’t like looking at him at all. Maybe if he had hair. He reminds me a lot of The Biscuit, but I do note his talent. Especially last night. He really rocked and it was the first time I ever saw an all out “guitar jam” on Rockstar! They were trading guitar licks up there and that might really serve him well. Why? Because he can actually play a bit of lead guitar. Which it seems Gilby can’t. Remember, Slash was playing all the leads in Guns and Roses. And both of the Supernova songs we’ve had the (gulp), priviledge to hear, neither have had even a cool or comlicated guitar break, much less a solo! Anyway, I thought that was really cool of Magni to do that. Especially, choosing a song that even a “Speak and Spell” could sing! Fire? Great great song (and I’m not that big of a Hendrix fan), but anybody or anything can sing Hendrix. He must have felt incredibly safe in choosing that song. And no wonder, everybody and their mother knew it was Patrice’s last stand.
Goodnight, ya’ll! And I hope there will be another Ill Crate soon. L.G. is very busy dealing with some urgent matters.
Thanks for hanging out. Always love to hear the Supernova gossip. I’ll start a new topic area next week so we can vent there, even if we fail to get another episode on line.
Cheers,
Pads
August 24th, 2006 at 4:07 pm
Maybe you need some guest hosts??
August 25th, 2006 at 8:17 am
Oh wouldn’t that be nice . . .
Too bad we can’t get together and comment on Rockstar: SuperPirates as the show plays out!
Pads
Anybody notice L.G. hasn’t been hangin’ out on the board lately? Hmm, must be crushed that Patrice got the axe! Poor soul.
August 28th, 2006 at 2:32 pm
I like Rockstar: SuperPirates….Hidee Ho HO HO! Shiver me timbers…
I thought LG was playing keyboards in the house band???