The Rock Star crystal ball

I think Augie and I may need to bet a $7 Comic Con pretzel on the eventual winner of Rock Star: INXS.

Here’s how I think it’s going to shake out:

I like Marty, but he wants to be Eddie Vedder, who is, you guessed it, not right for their band, INXS. He simply cannot scream and howl his way through INXS songs, despite the fact that he howls and emotes very well indeed.

J.D. has talent, but no one even half-watching the show is unaware that he’s can be an insufferable SOB. INXS is a group that has been too tight for too many years to suffer inserting a jerk like him into the mix, in my opinion. J.D. needs to front his own band, where he can be the boss. The winner of this contest will be the low person on the INXS totem pole, and I can’t see them thinking for a moment that he’d fit into that position. (The same goes for Ty, incidentally, who needs to stop making faces when INXS gives him fairly mild criticism and suggestions. They’re not doing it to generate ratings buzz, they’re doing it because they’re trying to find a good match for the band.)

At this point, honestly, I think it comes down to Mig and Jordis as the final two. Other than her huge misfire on “Dream On,” she’s pretty much nailed every song she’s attempted, and in a very wide range of songs. The only question is whether or not she can sing things in the INXS mode. She needs to be tossed some songs by the Killers, the Bravery and so on to see if she can work that sort of thing.

Mig’s skills are finely tuned from his West End work, but unlike the rather studied way Ty performs for the most part, Mig really seems to be putting his heart and soul into things. While Dave Navarro is slipping too much into Paula Abdul mode recently (and Brooke Burke is being directed to do some of the more annoying Ryan Seacrestisms from American Idol), he was right when he talked about how affecting some of Mig’s performances have been. I also think he exudes the sort of slick modernity that INXS has always had as part of its image.

In a face off between Jordis and Mig, I think it’ll go to Mig, unless Jordis pulls off another dazzling surprise of a performance. Of course, she’s done that several times this season, so I’d say it’s far too early to write her off.

This sure beats American Idol, in any case, on every level.

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