Contrary to the previous two weeks there was so much talent in the men tonight that it hardly seems fair that at most only two of them can get through to the next round.

Von Smith has a sweetness and likability to him. He started things off very well. He has a very very good singing voice with great range.

He doesn’t simply belt the song from start to finish but knows when to be soft and then more forceful. Grade A

Taylor Vaifanua was ok but so forgettable and boring I really don’t remember what she sang. Grade C

Alex Wagner-Trugman tried to be way way too much of everything. Like a kitten trying to be a lion he basically came across as inadequate to what he appeared to be trying to do: channel Joe Cocker. Grade D

Arnianna Afsar is beautiful, sweet, and has a great voice. But, she tried to do to much with a song that is really rather simple. Grade B

Ju’not Joyner always impresses me with his choices. He never simply belts a song out. He knows when to hold back and when to let loose. Grade A

Nathaniel Marshall gave a good performance. It was well done but not strong enough in any way to get him to the next round. Grade B

Kristen McNamara has a great bluesy smokey voice. Very good performance. Very relaxed on stage. Except for her wardrobe she already seems a seasoned professional. Grade A

Felicia Barton has a very very fine husky voice and all of the judges were impressed by this. She didn’t have much variety in terms of holding back or range but her performance was quite good. Grade B+

Scott MacIntyre is a very likable guy who gave a stirring performance. When he lets loose on the big notes he seems a very seasoned performer. Grade A

Kendall Beard has a nice adequate voice for country songs but she was essentially boring and forgettable. Grade C

Jorge Nunez gave an emotionally very powerful performance. His connection with the song made the audience connect with him. He has an excellent voice. Grade A+

Lil Rounds is a pro. She did everything right. While the judges loved her, I have to admit that she left me cold. Technically everything was ok but she just did not connect with me emotionally. A large part of it has to do with the fact that I did not care for the song she chose to sing. Grade B

I believe that Scott, Von, and Jorge all deserve to get through to the top 12. Hopefully, the wild card will allow this to happen.

Most of tonight’s performances were terribly boring.  I was only blown away by one performance.

Jasmine Murray was just okay. Her song choice was a silly little pop song and she started in a register too low for her. Grade C

Matt Giraud began strong with Viva La Vida but then he began to go all over

the place and some of his higher notes became weak. Grade C+

Jeanine Vailes was very boring with a song that was too much a pop song and was way too simple. Grade D

Norman Gentle was not as funny to me as he has been in the past. But his voice is actually better than he is given credit for. Grade C+

Allison Iraheta sang Alone by Heart. She has a great husky voice and sang this song very well. What was lacking was any variety. Grade B

Kris Allen did a version of a Michael Jackson song that was worse than the original. What else can one say? Grade D

Megan Joy Corkrey had the most awkward movements on stage. She sang some notes off key and some notes were quite weak. She was loved by the judges though. Grade C

Matt Breitzke was the worst thing you can be on this show: Boring. Grade F

Jesse Langseth sang with a very good, powerful voice. Bette Davis Eyes, unfortunately, is not a strong song. It doesn’t allow a singer to demonstrate any range. Grade C+

Kai Kalama sang What Becomes Of The Brokenhearted? I happen to love this song, though the judges dissed it. I thought he did a good job with it and give him a Grade B

Mishavonna Henson has a great voice and did a very good job on a boring song. Grade B

Adam Lambert is like nothing the idol stage has seen before: a bona fide rock star come alive. His range is unbelievable and his high notes are to die for. He killed tonight. Grade A+

After tonight I have to say Danny Gokey has his work cut out for him if he wants to beat Adam Lambert.

Let me start off by saying that this first night was pretty terrible. There were a few stand outs, but the rest? I don’t know if I would continue to watch this show as a newbie having seen last night’s  performances. First up was Jackie Tohn. That was exactly as Simon described it: “you played the clown”. From her weird pants (exercise glam!), not to mention the huge red belt, to her “way to many words in a song” performance she was terrible. I don’t like singers who sing high tempo songs that don’t allow you to really judge their voices. They don’t stay on one note long enough to actually hear anything notable. Grade F

Ricky Braddy was next up. He has a very good voice and actually delivered the song as a story. That part was great. But he is a little geeky looking to me and there were much better performances last night than his. I give him a B+

Alexis Grace was very good. I like her soul aspect and she delivered that song in spades. I give her an A.

Brent Keith bounced up and down too much for my taste. And he continued to make that same outsweeping hand move like it was the only singing gesture he knows. He was ok. I give him a C.

Stevie Wright was downright terrible. She looked very nervous and sang out of tune. Grade D.

Casey Carlson had a weird nervous style that included expressions that could be called downright grimaces. She got better as she went along, but her delivery was just plain weird. Grade C-

Michael Sarver: Made no notes on this guy. Grade BORING

Ann Marie Boskovich did pretty darned well in my opinion. The judges were harsh on her, but given the rest of the field I thought she was better than OK. Grade B

Stephen Fowler: I loved the way he looked. He looked relaxed and his outfit suited him. I thought it was better than the judges thought. Grade C+

Tatiana del Toro surprised me. I thought she was very very good. She was subdued. And while the judges said that made them nervous, I think this translated into tv land as power restrained and lent weight to her performance. Grade A

Danny Gokey: what can be said. The guy is a natural and powerful performer. He rocked the crowd. Simon was just being grouchy by refusing to recognize the power of this performance. Grade A+

And there you have it. Let’s see if my grading is reflected in the results. Top 3 as I see it are Alexis, Tatiana, and Danny.

Ok,  it is awfully early to be doing this but I will go out on a limb and predict the top 2 finishers on AI will be Adam Lambert (he of the exceptional range and power, especially in the upper register–plus he is cute) and Danny Gokey (the never makes an error Danny! Lovable Danny who lost his wife).

These two are a couple of power houses. Mark my words!

And I am really looking forward to Norman’s letting loose with his combo singing/comedy after he got the judges’ go ahead on this.

p.s. Tatiana becomes the first person in entertainment  history to stalk herself.

First off, Tatiana del toro is SCARY! There is something wrong with that girl. Between her and Nate Marshall we are one sandwich short of a picnic. These two are just too emotionally over the top. Hysterical would be more the word. Especially Tatiana. This girl is disturbed folks. Is she the type who will kill herself in front of Paula’s house if she gets booted? I mean really now!

I am very impressed by Adam Lambert. He seems as capable of being front man for Led Zepplin as having a solo career. His range is phenomenal and he can really screech out the high notes rock and roll style.

I also love Danny Gokey. He hasn’t hit a false note (pun intended) since the show began. He is a real showman. I have every suspicion he has sung professionally before. He has enormous confidence.

And Matt Giraud. WOW. Unique and fantastic voice that gave a totally new sound to a classic, Georgia On My Mind. It was like he was giving his own professional show. I was super impressed by him.

The boring ones: Anoop Desai, Jorge Nunez, Kendall Beard, Micshovana Henson.

Junot Joyner has great voice control and has the wisdom to not belt the whole time but to use softness to good effect.

Leneshe Young has a very unique voice and was able to make her song choice completely her own. She OWNED the song.

Norman. Hmmmm. I suspect Norman does better when he isn’t’ being himself and that this is the why of his being in character so much. I am not sure he even realizes this.

Kristen MacNamera sang with a lot of emotion and has a big voice.

Kenny Hoffpauer has a unique voice which will help him in the competition.

Lil Rounds has a big diva voice. But that could get old fast if she doesn’t mix it up some.

Lots of dreadheads are very upset that Michael Castro was cut from the competition feeling manipulated. I don’t think they were manipulated at all. They did one initial story with Jason and Michael together. It is a story worth doing, but nowhere did I see a promise that Michael would make the cut. There wasn’t even much of him in the auditions. So manipulated? I don’t think so.

I had planned to wait to write my blog until the top 36 were chosen for American Idol. But, every once in awhile something comes up that causes me to want to put my two cents in. This time it is the sense of entitlementthat many seem to feel regarding getting on the show. Passing the auditions, so to speak.

Take Dennis. Now I said he was a con in my last blog. I stand correct! The guy was the devil underneath all that “shuck and jive”. Attacking mercilessly after first refusing to leave the stage…AGAIN. What a loser.

Then there was the blonde woman, who at least left the stage gracefully  after expressing her sense of entitlement.

Look at the many who bawl and wail. It is startlingly weird. Out of the thousands who audition, what in the world makes ANYONE think that they will get on the show, much less win the contest!?

It must start with a fantasy. A fantasy that becomes a sort of manifest destiny. I suspect this happens particularly to those who have not much else going on in their lives. Their entire lives are invested in this contest.

I would feel more sorry for them if they weren’t so annoying and deluded. Self-delusion on this scale is hard to sympathize with. There is an arrogance and sense of entitlement that becomes, frequently, simple unmitigated gall.

The new season without Jason Castro. And yet we did get to see him :
“I am a MAN”. LOL In any event here are a few of my thoughts.

I thought that Jason’s brother, Michael Castro, was okay. He didn’t knock my socks off but he was definitely good enough to make the cut.

I really liked the fellow who lost his wife and I thought he was quite good.

I also liked the fellow with the white cap who sang “Somewhere Over The Rainbow” . That was gutsy and showed a lot of talent. Plus he was likable and showed style.

The black woman that started as a duo, cute as a bug. Such personality. Watch her, she is a top runner is my prediction.

I also liked the one fellow who did Michael Jackson.

I was disgusted by the guy who got in by begging. That should not have happened. Simon didn’t like it and neither did I. Simon basically called him a con.

I love the new judge, Kara DioGuardi.  Seems Paula and her really bring a combination female attitude that may have been missing from the show before.  A more gentle, kinder and funnier approach. The new woman kind of gives off a sexy vibe.

And lastly, Randy. Randy laughed right in the faces of far too many contestants for my taste. What a friggin loser. He showed a very very ugly side of himself and I am pretty po’ed about it right now.

Anyway, I will be doing regular blogs about American Idol once the final 36 are chosen.

Till then…..

I miss DDB. I remember the days when the posts would fly so fast you had a hard time keeping up. I remember how great it was, so vibrant and there was room for any and all opinions. Everything was on the front page all mixed together.

Then the division began.

Only happy rah rah stuff on the front page….”I like Jason’s shirt”. No meat allowed.. Had to be silly and inane, essentially. Uproar followed this. This was also the same time that Jason started his own site. I kept wondering, since the Castros were so involved with DDB, how these two sites would co-exist. Then the essential censorship began. With anything even hinting at a criticism of the Castros being sent to “the basement”. People began to leave out of anger and frustration.

Then the gift card debacle. Many people left because of the divisions created by this. Those concerned that this was not a great idea were banished to the basement and eventually threatened with banishment if mention of issues were raised. Only the rah rahs were allowed to talk about the gift…on the front page no less. People were being accused of creating the greed accusations concerning the Castros. The messengers were repeatedly shot with double gauge shotguns. More people left.

Hardly anyone remained on there. From the posts whizzing by, there was barely a dribble. Then the infamous erasure of ddb. It had not just disappeared but had morphed into Jason’s site! No one can convince me that this was not a glitch but a planned event. His site is slow with barely a dribble too.
Then the debacle with Blaker’s logo. Basically being told to cease and desist this production by Betsy.

This all began when someone decided they could do better. Better than the original DDB. When the Castros clearly  thought that DDB was bad competition for them. The strongest fan base in AI was killed off for, what I believe, was greed. And it ended up doing harm to Jason’s career. People did NOT switch to his site. A few did, but not many.

The Castros should kill for Blaker to bring her logo back. There is NO logo….or one that anybody gives a sh-t about. That was free publicity. FREE!

All this began with the need to please the Castros. What a mess was made of that.

They killed off DDB slowly and stealthily. And, it was a HUGE mistake. I miss it. I really do……….

P.S.Yes, there is a new dreadhead site. But the damage had already been done. Talk about a dribble….sometimes the flow completely stops there, it is so slow.

I heard Michael Castro’s song today on his new myspace music page. (I have looked everywhere and cannot find the link again, so if you have it please put it on here).

I was rather surprised by what I heard as one is always hearing that Michael is the true singer in the family. I didn’t care for this performance. And, to quote old Randy, “it was a little pitchy for me”. It was way pitchy. I believe he sang nearly the entire song out of tune. Now, it is not like this was a one shot take or something, remember. They worked on this, no doubt. So, the pitchiness has me concerned that this may, indeed, be an ongoing part of his performances.

I also found his voice a little rough. Ragged sounding. Now, that might just be me. And maybe with the right song this could sound sexy.

But, all in all, I don’t think Michael Castro made the top 12 males for American Idol this year. If he did it would only be due to the Castro name, in my opinion.  And lastly: Why would he be starting a page with his own music on it if he had signed a contract with American Idol……huh?

Well, the stories from Garland are drifting in. And while the show itself was great, the politics and struggling for recognition from the Castros is even worse than ever. I find myself glad that I was not there!

This began to be a noticeable problem to me when I heard one of my dreadhead friends upset over Jason leaving a personal comment on Rosequeen’s myspace page. She felt upset that he singled her out, just as others have felt that in the datenights, fans who gave money and presents were being singled out. This is NOT a smart way to act around your fans. You cannot play favorites.

Kali and a few more “special fans” got special time with Jason at B & N and at the Meet-N-Greet. While most people got seconds with him these people got time for a real conversation. Why are some people being treated as special in his fan base?

What in the world are these Castro’s thinking?! I find myself glad I was not there. I would have been very hurt and angry at this special treatment. What makes these fans so special?

The one thing they all have in common is that they participate in ways that make them important, such as running a web site, or that are the over the top fans that see everything Castro as God given OKEY DOKEY.

They best wise up. Turning off your fans by giving special treatment to some fans over and over again is nothing but a turn off to the thousands of fans you actually NEED to buy CDs and more.

My God. There is no fool quite like a vain fool. And I expect Betsy is just loving all of the ass kisses she receives from these folks. This has become a full time job for her.

You wanna keep your fans Jason? Stop treating some as more special than others. The latter is the way of career destruction.

I would love to write more posts on this blog. But, there is

no news beyond a sentence or two involving Jason Castro.  I want everyone to know that if there really is enough for a story to discuss i will write a post. For now, I am just waiting like everyone else.

By the way. Be On Notice:

I designed this blog for people to speak freely about ISSUES. Those of you who do nothing but leave personal attacks on me and do not address THE ISSUE will have your comments deleted. If you don’t like me stay away…but I will not allow the same treatment of me on here as happened in the forums. You want to do that to someone…go back there.

I left those for exactly this reason. The inability to speak the truth, as one sees it, without being personally attacked.

Go back to the forums where you are loved.

This site is for discussion not attacks on me.

And should anyone be stupid enough to say I am the one attacking…BS…I responded to personal attacks with an attack. I won’t have to do that anymore. I will just delete your off topic attacks.

I, along with a number of others, have been trying since the gifting debacle to get word to Jason that he was losing fans. I have continued to have concerns about this, which I wrote about in my post “has jason dropped out of his own career?” Then, alas, we got a number of good things from him. Bulletins and 2 vlogs in a row, and more and more all of the time. A very insightful friend of mine, and a true dreadhead, had some thoughts that got me realizing what probably has happened here.Yes, this is conjecture, but they prove murder in a court of law with conjecture all of the time. So it may just be right on! And at the very least, I am betting that this radically different approach to consistent contact with fans, has everything to do with his suddenly discovering how many fans he is losing. They may come back. But, many will not. I am grateful that somehow, someway, he finally got the message he needed to get to keep his fans!
Now consider these things: his myspace page remained simple and then when he realized he would be going it alone he had his page redone. I think it looks great…and it takes advantage of his biggest selling point…he is GORGEOUS. A lot of people can sing. But, Jason Castro, is a gorgeous beautiful man who attracts many fans, in large part, because of his physical beauty. The photo of him, that is predominant on his site, is a marvel. We suddenly got all of these bulletins –remember the AIM invitation?? Wow, that was something odd and different; but it sure caught our attention!

It is as though he has realized the true situation about his fan base eroding and is making up for lost time. I am so glad he finally understands. But, it leads me to the same old concern, who is running his business and looking out for PR problems etc.?

If he had simply continued to rely on Betsy to tell him what is really going on, he would never have figured it out. What drives this woman, anyway? The need to be the center of attention with only those who tell her what she wants to hear?

Regardless of Betsy, there is how hope that Jason can regroup his fans, and that he will no longer depend on those he has depended on in the past, to tell him the truths that he needs to know to have a serious go at a successful career. Thank God.

And by whatever way he discovered the truth, I am grateful that it happened! And grateful for the implication that he will not go blindly forward any more since discovering this is not a good idea…and that HE needs to stay on top of everything!

my name was Mandy.  

I took one look at this photo that came up in google alerts for Jason Castro (Sign up for google alerts, if you haven’t already!) and fell crazy mad for him all over again!  I mean .. well .. geezus…he has a dimple?? And he is SOOOOOOOOOOOOO handsome.

I am so hoping that all of these great new photographs of him by Andrew Shepherd, his writing songs, basing himself in L.A., being on Reverbnation.com  (http://www.reverbnation.com/jasoncastromusic), will jump start his career.

This photo reminded me of just how attractive this guy is. And reminded me of how absolutely beautiful he is. I am betting I am not the only one bowled over by this photo!

OMG…since initially writing the above, I saw Jason’s date night and heard his new song! He sings with such passion on this. It is like he really connects with the lyrics and we haven’t seen that in quite awhile. Sure, we saw the songs that he did over and over on tour…but THIS…just another reminder of how good he can be when things are going right for him.

Now if I could just figure out how to put a video on here!

Hey!! And that open shirt….woo hoo……………………

Wow….over 2 weeks and no word from Jason. No news what-so-ever.

At this point, it seems to me that no news is not a good sign. It is like he has completely dropped out of his own career.

Even if he is writing songs and “taking meetings” he needs to keep his fan base involved by doing date nights at least! To not do those as frequently as he can is very strange to me. Is it that he has nothing new to tell us, and so is balking at having to do another “same old, same old” vlog? Or is it that he doesn’t really want all this “fame stuff” anymore?

If he truly wants a career, he needs to do something….anything! Play some venues in Dallas–NOW not in a few months! Why would anyone let their fan base down like this continually? And when he does do a vlog, there isn’t even a bulletin about it. Is this arrogance? Are we expected to be so devoted that we will continually search for a single word from him?

This is a very bad sign. It is a sign that HE is not that concerned about keeping his fans. Fans will eventually go elsewhere for someone to crush on. You can’t just ignore the fan base willy nilly…especially at this juncture of “his career”.

Truthfully? I am very very disappointed in him. He seems so disconnected concerning the direction of his career. I don’t care how many songs he is writing, or how many meetings he is taking (btw, I take a number of meetings a week too, but it doesn’t mean I have a music career), you cannot just ignore your fans if you expect to keep them.

What do gifts mean? Why do we give gifts to people we don’t even know? The biggest reason anthropologists attribute to the importance of gift-giving is that it solidifies the social bond

between people. It reinforces one’s attachment to the one that is gifted.

Not being a big gift giver myself, I tend to give of myself more than give things, I find myself struggling to understand the reasons for this. While I think many people who are gifting Jason Castro believe that this will gain them access to him, it also helps them feel closer to him. It does something intangible…giving one a sense that they have a closer relationship, perhaps, to him than they really have; or, realistically, could ever have.

This is a large part of the insistence on giving Jason the gift card even in the face of possible harm to him coming from bad PR related to a large gift; like this money gift. It also explains why  such people  vigorously lash out at those who oppose this gifting, especially when the reasons are that it might hurt Jason.

The reason is that this really has nothing to do with Jason Castro at all. But, it has everything to do with the needs of the gift givers. It makes them feel connected and bonded to him in a way that nothing else seems to match. Therefore, his needs are irrelevant. Harm to him is irrelevant.

The only ones’ who really benefited, if at all due to the controversy surrounding this gift,  were the givers. The givee, undoubtedly, wished this whole “problem” would simply go away.

I think the answer is obvious. Maybe others do not see it so.

On a blog that people who do not want to be censored frequently post on something very eerie and disturbing happened. One person posting under a fake name, “lmao”, began posting personal information about me! It was clear that the person knows me, and that they hate me. Very creepy. Like poison pen letters, if you will.

I think I know who it is. And if it is who I think it is, people will be very very shocked

if and when this comes to light. I am exposing this for one reason: to let people see just how disturbed someone in their midst in a fandom can be without anybody realizing they have gone over the edge. Finding out who this person is and exposing them, is in the works as I speak. Oh, by the way, the subject of the blog? People STALKING Jason Castro.

Here are excerpts (notice how increasingly evil she becomes, and remember I don’t know who this is):

“…you guys are hysterical! do any of you have J O B s? Zelda doesn’t need one she has two degrees and no J O B. she has all day to paint pictures of Jason and post on everyone’s myspace. Obsessive much?”

“Zelda
Why do you flame Sooner, Betsy, Jason and other Dreadheads and then go post comments everyday on thier myspace? Did you have “friends” growing up? Do you have “friends” in the real world? Curious minds want to know. What do they say in pyschology101 about people who desperatly seek attention? Is that “normal”?”

She begins to use my actual name here–which I have blocked out.

“Oh and Zelda aka NAME the person who never posted a picture of herself. You live in your cyberspace world so posting you are Zelda means what? From what I see most everyone here is wearing one form of disguise or another. Even Satan is playing the role of “God”.

“No matter what Jason’s fans do if they don’t do it like you do, they are wrong. Your ego is incredible. You have to be right on everything. What does psych101 say about people like that? I’m willing to bet you have no real relationships, no close bonds. Maybe a puppy or a dog perhaps?”

“We know about your “bad” habits, we do not know YOU. You came in hiding under a name from the very beginning. Hiding behide a picture of somebody else. You post about other people but never anything about yourself, Name. Other than the fact that you’ve studied stalkers in your multiple degree from school. (nutfarm)”

“Top idol doesn’t give a shit, look at the previous BLOGS. MUCH MUCH worse has been said. Look at this one, “cream her panties”. Top idol cares about hits and long run on post that say what a sentence or two could of said. Top idol has a hard time “getting to the point”. While you Zelda/Name only have a point on the tip of your dome. Did you ever think it may of been your nasty ass that ran people off. People went to have fun, you are not fun. Funny perhaps, but not fun.”

“Only OK if YOU do it, same old Zelda. Is your doggie still biting you? Perhaps Stella knows you best.”

I POST THIS IN RESPONSE TO THE ABOVE because I want the board to see that this person is stalking me…must have done a google search….:”Stella was a dog I had to have put to sleep a few years ago because she became vicious. I have no idea who this person is…”

“Is that rocks clanking around in your head I hear? hmmmmmm what? You think you are real smart don’t you? You put yourself on a pedestal and point at everyone else. Nobody has threatened you. How is it you see yourself as a victim. Because people disagree with you? Is our opinion not as valuable as the great Zelda’s.”

HERE SHE COMES UP WITH SOMETHING I POSTED IN 2007 ABOUT MY DOG ON A PET SITE!!!!

“February 18, 2007, 09:51:51 PM
Biting 8 month old
My dog is mainly golden retriever but appears to have some terrier in her. She (Stella) was always mouthy and nippy. But somewhere along the line she would snarl and bite me. Usually when she thinks I want her to do something she does not want to do. I had Bark Busters over when she was about 3 months old. They had me throw chains–and while that worked for awhile she habituated to that and it stopped working. Now I have a clicker trainer. The biting however, has gotten worse. She is now about 8 months old. I have tried leaving the room, and that worked at first—but then it got so when I came back in she would start biting right where she left off. She grabs my arm with her teeth and won’t let go. The trainer suggests distracting her when she is biting–such as saying SIT. She does stop biting and she does sit. My question is — is this training her to not bite or merely a temporary distraction?”

*****************Did you put your dog down for disagreeing with you?****************

WOW…this is getting scarier and creepier

———————————————————————————

Other fans begin to come forward. Many of which I have disagreed with vehemently. But, everyone on the board can see that this person is a very very disturbed Jason Castro fan and has clearly gone over the edge and is targeting me for some reason. Ironically, the topic was stalking AND this may actually have brought people who were far apart in view, together. There is nothing like a common enemy to unite people.

I found this link interesting:

http://www.wiredsafety.org/cyberstalking_harassment/csh9.html

“Who is your typical cyberstalker?

“Most cyberstalking victims know their stalkers in real life. They may be co-workers, former spouses or frustrated suitors whose advances were ignored or rejected. They could also be fans or groupies, especially when a cyber-celebrity or well-known chat room or discussion board leader is involved.”

You all WILL be very surprised if, as I hope, this person is exposed.

This just goes to show how crazy and insular fans CAN get. This is illegal behavior. And it does raise concerns for Jason. What kind of fan is this? Does she pose a danger to him? It is never a good idea to have a forum become too insular…it breeds this type of disturbance in certain individuals.

Recently someone mentioned that they felt that they were being chased off on ddb and the new jason castro site by older fans. My response to this is the following:

It isn’t because they are older per se. Jason has always had a lot of older fans. What has happened is that for some reason….maybe because they unconsciously think they can BUY a piece of Jason,

It isn’t because they are older per se. Jason has always had a lot of older fans. What has happened is that for some reason….maybe because they unconsciously think they can BUY a piece of Jason, the fans left on the boards are older. But, it isn’t their age that is the issue…it is that they are possessive and jealous and want access to Jason. That is ALL they care about. Not all, but most. They chased off everyone who spoke up against the first serious problems with over the topness..gifting.. They just truly didn’t care whether they hurt him or not. They were only interested in their continued access to him.

My understanding is that all of this over the top behavior is typical for American Idol conestants; but, that this whole scenario happened much quicker than it usually does. I wonder how much that may have had to do with the family’s over-involvement with the fans and the forums.

The family influenced the moderators to protect the overzealous at the expense of the rest of the fanbase. That is because the overzealous had Betsy’s blessing. She knew them! She communicated individually with the key players, like Sherry. And by being so involved in the fan site in the first place…..the moderators would of course be trying to please the family. The family would never have had to say a word. The mods, who are human, would simply try to anticipate what the Castros would want.  Therefore, those who were overzealous in the gifting, for example, were left on the main page, while those who wanted to discuss the issue and frequently wanted to talk about PR concerns about gifting, were shoved to “the basement” and eventually threatened with banning if they talked anymore about the subject.

Meanwhile, the gifters carried on about their gift right on the front page.

Recently someone posted on another site that they kept hearing that Jason has lost a lot of fans but clearly found this something that someone needed to offer proof of. I responded with the following:

This is a simple fact. All you have to do is go to the new dreadhead site and Kali bemoans all the fans that have left…saying there needed to be a change of approach etc. on the new site. KALI HERSELF! And I have been on the site and have many dreadhead friends on

myspace. I saw the withering away of fans myself on ddb. If you go to the new site there are maybe 5 to 10 people on there at a time. At ddb the threads moved so fast you could not keep up with them. There were usually at least 100 fans on there. Kali has been quoted as saying that on the new dreadhead site there have only been 500 people sign up where ddb had 3,000! Jason’s site only has about 1600 people signed up on his forum!!!

I was there through thick and thin on ddb until the end..and I watched the fans depart at particular points which I delineated on a previous post on top idol.

If you don’t know the fans have fled…then you were not there to see it AND you have not followed this at all. Everybody who has been involved long knows this.

If you don’t consider this enough to convince you there is trouble, then I can’t help you figure it out any better. You will just have to remain in the dark.

Someone else came along to say:

“Zelda, the single biggest reason Jason may have lost fans isn’t because of the family. It’s because the people weren’t really fans to begin with.”

What you say is not true. Many of these people were very very very big fans. I know, because I knew them then and I know them now. So, don’t say that they were not fans…that is simply childish. People DO get turned off of people they previously cherished….happens every day…just look at the divorce rate……

So, in summary, Jason has most definitely lost many many fans and it didn’t need to be this way….but this is what happened. Don’t kid yourself….there was a severe damage to his career and those in his camp simply turned a deaf ear as they continue to do. If you can’t face your mistakes, you can’t learn from them. This is not a learning curve….this is a flat straight cardiac arrest!

Ok, I got this tidbit from topidol.wordpress.com. The author has a number of quotes about people discussing (arguing?) about attending Jason’s church when they are in town for the December Patti LaBelle concert. One woman bravely and succinctly expressed that people should not be going to Jason’s church just to see him. And it is amazing how many people suddenly found religion!

Yes sirree Bob! Go to church a couple times a year and suddenly you just need to hear that sermon at Lake Pointe Church! This is what is wrong with these over the top fans. They are so obsessed that they are unable to be even the tiniest bit honest with themselves.  And they harm the object of their obsession. Someone suggested that this was stalking. Hmmmm, not sure I would go that far, but it IS similar in the sense that there is NO concern for the person that they want to see, and it is all about THEM getting what they want. They will convince themselves that it is ALL GOOD.

It isn’t ALL GOOD!

But, the Castros have asked for this. I have never seen a family with such few boundaries. Lord…maybe we can have the Castro reality show and follow this zaniness into infinity….

I went over to the new site for Jason (not his official site). This is the  one that replaced ddb (daydreamingboy.com) I was very please to read a wise and good-hearted post that Kali (the administrator there) wrote. I am quoting parts of her post from there, in which she attempts to re-define how the site needs to move from cliquish to welcoming:

“This is a new site the rules are similar but much more to my liking much more lenient! If the filter doesn’t catch a word~ I don’t care. Droolz do have rulez…but feel free to if it’s within reason (just please don’t be FANatical). I love you ladies it’s the reason I’m here, the reason the sites here. Please do yourself and Jason proud we used to be the most welcoming open-minded fanbase on AI~ We’ve now become a cliquish bunch of ‘entitled’ fans…WE will go backwards and welcome all. I expect each dreadhead that see’s a new member listed on the front page to send em a welcoming pm…it someone posts in your thread acknowledge them…I do not want to be a part of a negative group…Jason and his dreadheads have lost many fans…that is a shame…”

So, while I admire the positive spirit of Kali’s post. I guess I am a little doubtful .Many of us left because of the increasing division on ddb (daydreamingboy.com). I hope that Kali’s words have real punch behind them. If so, then this site deserves to be promoted and visited.

If you have had bad experiences at ddb but find a new spirit at the new site, please share your experiences. Also, the reverse.

Good job Kali. Your post was a great first step in the healing of the  fan base. Too bad so many fans were chased away before the need for this turnaround was recognized.

Much of what I have previously written here are exerpts from sites that I have posted on. Yes, there is a lot of anger there, but that is due to the fact that I post the most when something makes me angry, Now I simply will write things as I am aware of them.

I feel bad for Jason Castro. While he was doing The AI Tour,  I assumed that the multiple family PR missteps were because he did not have time to handle his own career. Since then, however, it appears that he is continuing to leave things up to his mother, mainly, to handle. He has always struck me as very mature for his age. But, given the latest date night, I have to wonder about this. He seemed more like 15 than 21. Fans get maybe 4 minutes of him a month and he can’t think of anything to say etc. It has caused some fans to feel insulted that he gives this so little thought. And he doesn’t bother to post bulletins anymore when a date night is up. What is this all about?

A friend of mine, barbie, who knows about jason from me (and she knows all the stories of importance etc.–did I say she is a great friend???) and is not herself really in the fandom at all, said he seems like maybe he doesn’t want to do this thing anymore.

I am wondering, given Jason’s sweet nature, if this is similar to when he was in school and stated later that he “was trying to please my parents.” by doing the school thing. Does he lose sight of what HE wants because he is so influenced by what others want?

I mean he may very well want a music career deep down, but somehow he has to recognize that sometimes what one’s parents and others etc. want, CAN be the same thing that one wants too! Stop trying to please everyone else Jason, and your path will become much more clear to you.

My impression is that music is what you want. But, you will have to take complete control of your career. Your mother has not done a very good job of it. And though I know this is unintentional, you have to be a man now and recognize that she is NOT the person who should be calling the shots. YOU ARE. And you need some great PR people to help you get back on track.

I would love to see you succeed. So much of my upset has been that there is no one looking out for YOU! Everyone appears to be looking out for themselves.

You may have to face some painful realities in coming to terms with the things referred to in that last sentence. But, take control of your own life and your own career. This is NOT your family’s career. This is YOUR career. And you have every right to control it completely. You don’t need to give anybody else that job. In fact, you should not!

After all my upset, I STILL want you to succeed. I just don’t see how it is possible if you don’t make some changes.

The predictable post AI crazy over the top fans has got me asking “What is this all about?” I suspect it is the wish to keep the fan base small so as to have easy access to the Idol. With a large fan base

access would be very hard to come by, in any form. This may very well be unconscious. But look at the results, fans driven away from the fan sites, attacks on anyone who ttried to discuss gifting–the ultimate threat to access if no gifting allowed. This is unbelievably selfish. It also explains why they are so over the top in their hatred for anyone who questions their motives etc. Because their motives really are completely and totally selfish. And usually very very unhealthy!

I also see so much jockeying for a place at The Castro Family Table. People really seem to believe, deep down, that they can buy a piece of The Castros. And they do get something back, frequently. A meeting with Jason to deliver the gift card, and a shout from date night vlogs are both examples of this.

And fans who give a lot expect something back. They many not even realize this, but they do. It is simply not a good idea to encourage large gifts, by not addressing the issue and, even worse, having a foolish family friend spell out the type of computer Jason would like, in response to fans wanting to give him something. This person is now a moderator on Jason’s official site, demonstrating, once again, that good judgment is lacking in at least some of the Castro family members.

The woman who did most of the work on the quilt given to Jason is a perfect example of fans expecting something back. She was upset at the lack of attention she perceived herself receiving and posted negative things all over the internet in regards to this and The Castros in general.

But, though many of us have tried to get through to the family that this gifting thing was creating terrible PR, Betsy’s (Jason’s Mother) response was that she was advised by the Rah Rahs to ignore ALL “negative” things said. Now that is a fine howdy doody!

If she does not want to be aware of “negative” PR regarding Jason, then she needs to hire someone who will make it their job to monitor what is going on in regards to him and PR. Someone who monitors how he and the family are being perceived by the public. To not do this shows an arrogance and a sense of self-importance, and possibly simple greed, that has led to a staggering blindness. Simply staggering. And chosen.

Does it not strike anyone as crass, to have Jason’s brother, Michael Castro trying to get on AI right now, and stealing what

what little thunder Jason has left?

This family seems to be so enmeshed they don’t have any concept of where one person ends and the other begins. It is all just one big boundary blur between each other, between where the family ends and fans begin, between family friends and people who speak for the family, and lastly confusion over whose career this really is!

Someone on another site accused me of hating Betsy Castro. I answered with the following:

“I don’t give a rat’s a$$ what Betsy Castro thinks. Stop with your approval obsession. Not everybody is as concerned with this approval thing as you are. If I cared what Betsy Castro thought, do you think I would be saying the things I am saying here? GEEZUS! You really project yourself into things.

And it is TRUE, I do not like the woman. I have grown to detest her. But, I have a damn good reason for it!!: I believe that she has nearly single handedly ruined her son’s career. Her greed and sense of self-importance have been seen by many, whether this is something that the rah rahs see is beside the point. I don’t need to love the parent to love the child. Anyone who thinks that one must do this is operating on such a level of primitive logic as to be unfit to use the word discussion much less engage in one.

Yes, I think Betsy Castro, is so obsessed with recognition for herself that she has ruined Jason’s career. So, for many like me, the dislike of Betsy is directly proportional to our caring for her son, Jason Castro.

You don’t have to agree to this view of Betsy, but at least understand the sentiments behind behind the dislike!

It is clear that the ddb (daydreamingboy.com, Jason Castro fansite) clamp downs were due to trying to please the castros. The Castros should never ever have been so involved in a fan board and NOW they have gone on to start their own.

How can anyone discuss the truth if the family has to always always always be made to look good? No difficult questions or concerns…even those meant to help.

It is simply one big kiss a$$ session.

Ridiculous how anyone with an iota of common sense would see this as something intelligent/thinking fans would want to sign up for. Can we say BORING, not to mention, people being afraid. Afraid to post an actual insightful anything. Must all be of a single collective mind.

What he really needs is a fansite not involving a single castro either indirectly or directly. To state from the beginning that “this forum is for the fans of Jason Castro. No family etc. will influence directly or indirectly how this forum operates or what can be discussed here. Want to discuss Mandy?… go for it!..want to discuss the negativity of so much gifting?..go for it!!”

Jason should see the writing on the wall of how his family, and he, are being viewed. Why don’t they ask themselves why everyone left suddenly? This was before the AI tour was over. His slide, sadly enough, is mainly due to no one ever taking any PR problems seriously. Not a single one. Betsy said she was advised by the rah rah fans to ignore all of the negative things said about the family and Jason. Boy, those were 2 smart moves!: taking advice from these huge kiss a$$es and THEN clearly never using common sense to realize the mistake of such advice…even as the signs showed fans SUDDENLY dropping off like flies.