The One Where Kate And Laura Talk About Groban
Skype chat from tonight. In which we talk about how Groban has no personality and yet every personality. Enjoy.
[10:04:33 PM] Laura: you know, i'm kind of pissed that chenowith recorded songs for Glee but josh didn't
[10:05:17 PM] Kate: i'd rather see him try to act than listen to him sing...although, given the subject matter...*strokes nonexistent beard*
[10:05:40 PM] Laura: it would be hilarious to hear him sing something in that style
[10:06:09 PM] Kate: that's an interesting sentence
[10:06:44 PM] Laura: ?
[10:07:48 PM] Kate: well, given the fact that is sort-of musical theatery (sort of), and he's expressed that interest, and we've all wanted to hear him sing that, so for you to say it's hilarious is...interesting
[10:08:17 PM] Laura: lol, i actually meant in the cheesy karaoke style they do on the show
[10:08:49 PM] Kate: ah
[10:09:04 PM] Kate: is it bad that i just kind of don't want to hear him sing anymore?
[10:13:13 PM] Laura: no. i don't really want to hear him sing either. at least not the music he has been singing.
[10:14:41 PM] Kate: i'm not going to go and say i can't stand the guy, particularly because every once in a great while, i am visited by the urge to listen, as well as look at nice pictures, but mostly, i really could care less
[10:18:40 PM] Laura: sorry, hubby called
[10:18:47 PM] Kate: np
[10:18:51 PM] Laura: you know, very rarely do i look at him anymore and think "Yeah, he's hot"
[10:18:57 PM] Kate: exactly
[10:19:37 PM] Kate: sometimes, i even try to like...conjure up something that would make me think he's hot, just to see if i can do it, and i cannot...i think there is very, very little on this earth that could actually make me think that about him anymore
[10:24:27 PM] Laura: you know, i read an account of a 'fan' of adam's who impersonated a member of the press to get backstage at a show, lied to another contestant's parents to get to him, and got kicked out TWICE from one venue... and as i'm reading this i'm getting scared for adam, right? and it dawned on me that i was never that scared for josh, even though he has fucking batshit fans too. and the reason is that i didn't KNOW josh. there were so many images presented as to who he could be. Shy choir boy. Romantic crooner. Quirky hipster. I don't know who he really is. I was too disillusioned by his many acts. the thing about adam is that i honestly wish sometimes he would shut up because he talks too much about personal things. he talks too much about everything. but he's not going to walk out on stage and be like, "Okay guys, now i'm a sensitive dude who's going to cry at the piano so just play along like you believe me."
[10:25:02 PM] Kate: right
[10:26:39 PM] Kate: i mean, even after having, i guess you could call it "followed," having followed him for roughly 2.5 years, i still don't feel like i know anything about that boy, other than the fact that he claims to enjoy bjork and radiohead, but even that's always been a soundbite rather than character-revealing
[10:27:59 PM] Laura: right. i could probably sit down with him and riff in his style of humor. but as to making a guess about how he feels really about his music, or anyone else's, or his thoughts on the world, etc, i'm out.
[10:29:42 PM] Kate: it's the idea that your guess is as good as mine, which is good in a way, because you're right, it does protect him...adam's never struck me as the type to be overly-mysterious...i mean, yes, in performance, but i've gotten the vibe that he's a real person who likes real things and like real people, talks about them
[10:30:15 PM] Kate: groban so obviously can't that they've made this conglomeration of him that appeals to all sides...his public personality, as we've both said for some time, is a marketing tool
[10:33:05 PM] Laura: adam has no filter at all when he talks to the press or fans, which can be disasterous. but he shows his depth. so then, when he gets out on stage and actually does pull out an amazing emotional experience for the song he's delivering, it doesn't feel artificial either. as much as groban sings about love, i have NO idea if he really knows what it means. yeah, it's raw and painful to hear adam talk about brad but... i also know who he's thinking about when he's singing If I Can't Have You
[10:33:25 PM] Kate: right
[10:33:41 PM] Laura: i'm not saying josh has to disclose personal info. but i do think he needs to be more open and honest.
[10:34:00 PM] Kate: i mean, i want to think that groban has this deepness to him, this part that he doesn't show hardly anyone, but i'm also not sure if that's built into the marketing or not
[10:36:12 PM] Kate: see, this is where he's trapped himself...i think if he did reveal himself, even partly, there would be a turning away, even of some of the long-timers...the thing with adam is that the deepness is there and i don't question it because it's obvious, and he has this sort of "well, here i am," mentality, and he knows some people are not going to like it, and they're fine to go ahead and do that, but groban was marketed in this idea that he appeals to so many different groups, and he had to be so many different people for those groups, and as i said before, it just traps him into this box he can't get out of, ironically enough
[10:37:27 PM] Laura: then when he does something that's clearly more one personality than the other, fan wars start because some can't handle it, and the others tell those who can't to get the fuck over it, "He's just being himself"
[10:37:48 PM] Kate: but they don't know who that is, either
[10:37:57 PM] Laura: exactly. BUT THEY'RE ALL RIGHT.
[10:38:27 PM] Kate: lol omg, i'm sorry
[10:38:41 PM] Kate: i meant to hit command-a, and i hit command-q, which is the quit command
[10:38:48 PM] Laura: lulz
[10:38:56 PM] Kate: and you know, they're all right, but probably none of them are right, either
[10:39:21 PM] Laura: it's kind of religion. lol, a small religion.
[10:39:38 PM] Kate: well, right lol
[10:39:45 PM] Laura: it's like jews, muslims, and christians all fighting over the same temple.
[10:39:52 PM] Kate: right
[10:40:36 PM] Kate: i think that's part of what's so frustrating, particularly if you are in the fandom and then you step away from it, and you start seeing all of these things coming together, and just how ridiculous it is, because they're probably all wrong, anyway
[10:40:45 PM] Laura: JOSH IS USING DIVINE ACCOMODATION. HE IS REVEALING HIMSELF SLOWLY AS NEEDED OVER TIME.
[10:41:03 PM] Laura: LULZ
[10:45:31 PM] Laura: well, now we know. ALL WILL BE REVEALED IN TIME.
[10:45:42 PM] Kate: *eyeroll*
[10:46:12 PM] Laura: lol, kate, are you doubting your leader?
[10:46:13 PM] Kate: i would love that...someone, far, far in the future, is told the actual truth about god, religion, etc., and they just respond with an eyeroll
[10:46:32 PM] Kate: my leader? (lmao i almost typed my dealer)
[10:46:38 PM] Laura: or the alanis morrissette nose pinch
[10:46:46 PM] Kate: hehe yeah
[10:46:51 PM] Laura: uh, freudian slip, kate?
[10:47:02 PM] Kate: OR IS IT?! *dun dun DUN*
So. That's that.
And Adam is at the top of the Amazon bestseller chart, and we all know how much he enjoys the top... *ba dum ching* But in all seriousness, he's #1 for a pre-order, two months away from the release. I mean, wow.
And I get to meet Neil Gaiman Sunday. Hurrah.
And my husband is in Montana and I miss him.
AND...Mercury is out of retrograde. Please send all those letters you've been hoarding. It's safe now.
[10:04:33 PM] Laura: you know, i'm kind of pissed that chenowith recorded songs for Glee but josh didn't
[10:05:17 PM] Kate: i'd rather see him try to act than listen to him sing...although, given the subject matter...*strokes nonexistent beard*
[10:05:40 PM] Laura: it would be hilarious to hear him sing something in that style
[10:06:09 PM] Kate: that's an interesting sentence
[10:06:44 PM] Laura: ?
[10:07:48 PM] Kate: well, given the fact that is sort-of musical theatery (sort of), and he's expressed that interest, and we've all wanted to hear him sing that, so for you to say it's hilarious is...interesting
[10:08:17 PM] Laura: lol, i actually meant in the cheesy karaoke style they do on the show
[10:08:49 PM] Kate: ah
[10:09:04 PM] Kate: is it bad that i just kind of don't want to hear him sing anymore?
[10:13:13 PM] Laura: no. i don't really want to hear him sing either. at least not the music he has been singing.
[10:14:41 PM] Kate: i'm not going to go and say i can't stand the guy, particularly because every once in a great while, i am visited by the urge to listen, as well as look at nice pictures, but mostly, i really could care less
[10:18:40 PM] Laura: sorry, hubby called
[10:18:47 PM] Kate: np
[10:18:51 PM] Laura: you know, very rarely do i look at him anymore and think "Yeah, he's hot"
[10:18:57 PM] Kate: exactly
[10:19:37 PM] Kate: sometimes, i even try to like...conjure up something that would make me think he's hot, just to see if i can do it, and i cannot...i think there is very, very little on this earth that could actually make me think that about him anymore
[10:24:27 PM] Laura: you know, i read an account of a 'fan' of adam's who impersonated a member of the press to get backstage at a show, lied to another contestant's parents to get to him, and got kicked out TWICE from one venue... and as i'm reading this i'm getting scared for adam, right? and it dawned on me that i was never that scared for josh, even though he has fucking batshit fans too. and the reason is that i didn't KNOW josh. there were so many images presented as to who he could be. Shy choir boy. Romantic crooner. Quirky hipster. I don't know who he really is. I was too disillusioned by his many acts. the thing about adam is that i honestly wish sometimes he would shut up because he talks too much about personal things. he talks too much about everything. but he's not going to walk out on stage and be like, "Okay guys, now i'm a sensitive dude who's going to cry at the piano so just play along like you believe me."
[10:25:02 PM] Kate: right
[10:26:39 PM] Kate: i mean, even after having, i guess you could call it "followed," having followed him for roughly 2.5 years, i still don't feel like i know anything about that boy, other than the fact that he claims to enjoy bjork and radiohead, but even that's always been a soundbite rather than character-revealing
[10:27:59 PM] Laura: right. i could probably sit down with him and riff in his style of humor. but as to making a guess about how he feels really about his music, or anyone else's, or his thoughts on the world, etc, i'm out.
[10:29:42 PM] Kate: it's the idea that your guess is as good as mine, which is good in a way, because you're right, it does protect him...adam's never struck me as the type to be overly-mysterious...i mean, yes, in performance, but i've gotten the vibe that he's a real person who likes real things and like real people, talks about them
[10:30:15 PM] Kate: groban so obviously can't that they've made this conglomeration of him that appeals to all sides...his public personality, as we've both said for some time, is a marketing tool
[10:33:05 PM] Laura: adam has no filter at all when he talks to the press or fans, which can be disasterous. but he shows his depth. so then, when he gets out on stage and actually does pull out an amazing emotional experience for the song he's delivering, it doesn't feel artificial either. as much as groban sings about love, i have NO idea if he really knows what it means. yeah, it's raw and painful to hear adam talk about brad but... i also know who he's thinking about when he's singing If I Can't Have You
[10:33:25 PM] Kate: right
[10:33:41 PM] Laura: i'm not saying josh has to disclose personal info. but i do think he needs to be more open and honest.
[10:34:00 PM] Kate: i mean, i want to think that groban has this deepness to him, this part that he doesn't show hardly anyone, but i'm also not sure if that's built into the marketing or not
[10:36:12 PM] Kate: see, this is where he's trapped himself...i think if he did reveal himself, even partly, there would be a turning away, even of some of the long-timers...the thing with adam is that the deepness is there and i don't question it because it's obvious, and he has this sort of "well, here i am," mentality, and he knows some people are not going to like it, and they're fine to go ahead and do that, but groban was marketed in this idea that he appeals to so many different groups, and he had to be so many different people for those groups, and as i said before, it just traps him into this box he can't get out of, ironically enough
[10:37:27 PM] Laura: then when he does something that's clearly more one personality than the other, fan wars start because some can't handle it, and the others tell those who can't to get the fuck over it, "He's just being himself"
[10:37:48 PM] Kate: but they don't know who that is, either
[10:37:57 PM] Laura: exactly. BUT THEY'RE ALL RIGHT.
[10:38:27 PM] Kate: lol omg, i'm sorry
[10:38:41 PM] Kate: i meant to hit command-a, and i hit command-q, which is the quit command
[10:38:48 PM] Laura: lulz
[10:38:56 PM] Kate: and you know, they're all right, but probably none of them are right, either
[10:39:21 PM] Laura: it's kind of religion. lol, a small religion.
[10:39:38 PM] Kate: well, right lol
[10:39:45 PM] Laura: it's like jews, muslims, and christians all fighting over the same temple.
[10:39:52 PM] Kate: right
[10:40:36 PM] Kate: i think that's part of what's so frustrating, particularly if you are in the fandom and then you step away from it, and you start seeing all of these things coming together, and just how ridiculous it is, because they're probably all wrong, anyway
[10:40:45 PM] Laura: JOSH IS USING DIVINE ACCOMODATION. HE IS REVEALING HIMSELF SLOWLY AS NEEDED OVER TIME.
[10:41:03 PM] Laura: LULZ
[10:45:31 PM] Laura: well, now we know. ALL WILL BE REVEALED IN TIME.
[10:45:42 PM] Kate: *eyeroll*
[10:46:12 PM] Laura: lol, kate, are you doubting your leader?
[10:46:13 PM] Kate: i would love that...someone, far, far in the future, is told the actual truth about god, religion, etc., and they just respond with an eyeroll
[10:46:32 PM] Kate: my leader? (lmao i almost typed my dealer)
[10:46:38 PM] Laura: or the alanis morrissette nose pinch
[10:46:46 PM] Kate: hehe yeah
[10:46:51 PM] Laura: uh, freudian slip, kate?
[10:47:02 PM] Kate: OR IS IT?! *dun dun DUN*
So. That's that.
And Adam is at the top of the Amazon bestseller chart, and we all know how much he enjoys the top... *ba dum ching* But in all seriousness, he's #1 for a pre-order, two months away from the release. I mean, wow.
And I get to meet Neil Gaiman Sunday. Hurrah.
And my husband is in Montana and I miss him.
AND...Mercury is out of retrograde. Please send all those letters you've been hoarding. It's safe now.