The parade will be aired from 11am to 1pm. While NBC is the more prominent network covering the event, HGTV (TWC Channels 1350 and 350) blows NBC’s coverage away year after year. Not only is their commentary about the craft of each float superb, they also show the marching bands for more then 5 seconds each.

Take a look at the Broughton Band during their first pass of the Raleigh Christmas Parade six weeks ago:

In a press release

Each year AAA awards Four and Five Diamond ratings to the finest hotels in the nation. The Resnaissance joins this list of Four Diamond hotels in North Carolina:

• ASHEVILLE:  1900 Inn on Montford (2009), Albemarle Inn (2003), Grand Bohemian Hotel Asheville (2009), Hilton Asheville Biltmore Park (2010), Inn on Biltmore Estate (2001), The Grove Park Inn Resort & Spa (2001),
• BOONE – Lovill House Inn (1997), 
• CASHIERS – Innisfree Inn By-The-Lake (1994)
• CHAPEL HILL – Carolina Inn (1997), The Siena Hotel (1996)
• CHARLOTTE – Hilton Charlotte Center City (2007), Marriott Charlotte SouthPark (1989), Omni Charlotte Hotel (2001), The Ballantyne, A Luxury Collection Hotel, Charlotte (2003), The Duke Mansion Historic Inn & Meeting Place (2005), The Westin Charlotte (2004)
• DURHAM – Arrowhead Inn Bed and Breakfast (2003), Washington Duke Inn & Golf Club (2000)
• GREENSBORO – Grandover Resort & Conference Center Golf & Spa (1999), O. Henry Hotel – (1999), Proximity Hotel (2008)
• HIGHLANDS – Old Edwards Inn and Spa (2005)
• LAKE TOXAWAY – Greystone Inn (1986)
• PINEHURST – Holly Inn (2002), The Carolina Hotel (1982)
• WILMINGTON – Graystone Inn (1999), The Verandas (2002)

The state has three Five Diamond Award winners:

• CARY – The Umstead Hotel and Spa (2007)
• CHARLOTTE – The Ritz-Carlton (2010)
• FEARRINGTON VILLAGE – The Fearrington House Inn (1994)

A crowd of around 8,000 was on hand last night at the RBC Center to watch as garnernorthcarolina–native Scotty McCreery was named the American Idol for Season 10. Congratulations to Scotty! I had a chance to be in that crowd and saw the event from an unexpected perspective.

As is evident in the video, the crowd went nuts when Scotty’s name was announced. As you watch the video, however, note the general amount of noise in the room as Ryan is leading up to the pause, then notice the total silence as the Idol monotone sound effect is finally heard. With 8,000 waiting with baited breath, all it took was the “Sss” sound by Ryan Seacrest to send the room into a frenzy. We never even heard “cotty McCreery”. This was a special aspect of the evening that local news outlets have missed. Here are a few other points:

Production

The RBC Center staff welcomed the crowd with a lower level of security than we typically see at NCSU and Hurricanes events. As the crowds filed in ushers guided people sequentially filling each lower level section in order to get the best flying camera shots on the national television production. A few concession stands were open selling basic concessions including beer, however probably 70% of the crowd was under 21 years of age.

With the hockey season over, the RBC Center floor has no ice and the hockey walls have been removed. Therefore we got the unusual view of an empty, gray arena floor that was dotted with a few chairs and a boom camera. Sections 106 thru 117 of seating were completely empty, so the empty seats and empty floor presented some odd acoustical problems for the RBC Center’s presentation on the scoreboard video screens. The audio was loud, but somewhat shrill and echoing, so the sound quality would have been much better in my den. However the crowd on hand cheered at the exact times the crowd in Los Angeles did, so it made the event unexpectedly come to life.

American Idol sent Matt Rogers, a Season 3 Idol contestant, to be the Master of Ceremonies. Matt’s banter with the crowd and crew during commercials was refreshing. One of the biggest responses of the night came when he noted that the cameraman was on the floor of The Pit the night of April 4, 1983.

The highlight of Rogers’ duties came at the end of the night. Swarming with elated fans, Matt was pictured on the video boards holding and kissing a cardboard cutout of Scotty. If only National had time to show that hilarious moment.

Timing

Rogers also alerted the crowd to times that National was possibly going to cut to Raleigh, and kept us apprised of the finale’s timing difficulties. One of the planned acts for the show was to include live interviews from both Lauren’s and Scotty’s home crowds, but these segments were cut due to overruns. During one of the TV show’s acts, the Raleigh crowd was told to be silent as Rogers and the production crew blocked a revised Raleigh cut, however that segment was cut, too.

We can’t understand how a 2 hour production runs so long that acts are cut. There were no free-form blocks in the acts outside of Ryan Seacrest’s introductions. All of the musical performances were preblocked with the lighting crews, and all of the video packages are all a finite length.

As the Raleigh segment was cut, we noticed Ryan Seacrest blowing through the introduction of performances and even wondered if the abbreviated performance of “Dream On” by Steven Tyler was a late change. It seemed to be the only act in the second hour with flexibility, as production crews could not cut Lady Gaga’s song or that dreadful Spiderman performance.

Ratings Behemoth

Early numbers are in and it appears that last night’s finale drew 29.3 million viewers, so it will likely be the #2 watched television show of 2011, falling second only to the Super Bowl. For reference, the NCAA National Championship Football and Basketball games drew 15 million and 12 million, respectively. Dancing With The Stars’ Finale drew 21 million.

Garnernorthcarolina

It was an exceptional night for the town of Garnernorthcarolina, as Scotty calls it. The Blue Crew of Scotty’s high school friends completely filled section 119 and did a good job of cheering on the rest of the crowd. The Wave even made an appearance during one of the show’s final commercial breaks.

Choral Directors

One of the great moments of the show was the introduction of Lauren and Scotty’s most influential teachers. Not only did the two get invited to the AI Finals, they were acknowledged on international television and given new Ford cars. Garner High School choral director Meredith Clayton was stunned and elated as one of her greatest moments as a teacher got even better.

I’m here to say that any male at Garner High School who isn’t in that woman’s program is a complete idiot. She is adorable and added to the fantastic presentation of this area. Oh, and she’s probably a pretty good choral teacher; it’s in her pedigree. (Clayton’s mother was Clay Aiken’s choral teacher.)

Something In The Water?

Raleigh native and Broadway star Lauren Kennedy was ecstatic watching the American Idols finale. She even went to Twitter wondering if there is something in the water in North Carolina given, yet another, American Idol impact performer. Clay Aiken, Fantasia Barrino, Chris Daughtry, Kellie Pickler, Bucky Covington, and Anoop Desai were all sensational on the show, but Scotty is the area’s first champion. Kennedy’s point makes one wonder if the area has even more to give in future seasons…

I Saw It Coming

The reason I took my family to the RBC Center last night is because I had a strong inclination that Scotty was going to win. Scotty never gave me “WOW” moments like other contestants did, however winning Idol depends on getting votes, and getting them from the people who vote. A lot more goes into this equation that simply soaring vocals. One of the interesting facets to Dentistry is getting a sense of the buzz in the general population. After the last 5 seasons, I think that American Idol has become something that is largely determined by middle-aged, strong Christian women who would like to lose 20-50 pounds. This demographic has been right on par with who wins in each of the last 5 seasons. The result is a clean-cut, somewhat talented singer who doesn’t show off. Let’s look at those last 5 seasons:

Jordin Sparks vs. Blake Lewis – Jordin Sparks is an All-American type woman with a great voice. Blake Lewis is a good singer, but his beat-boxing, rap-leaning music did not resonate with the demographic. Had Lewis been a more of a smiling pop singer, he could have won.

David Cook vs. David Archuletta – At first one would think that the devout Christianity of Archuletta would excite the demographic, but that isn’t what totally excites them. They actually like rock-leaning pop music over vanilla pop.

Kris Allen vs. Adam Lambert – No one will argue that Adam Lambert doesn’t have a phenomenal voice, however he was too flamboyant and screamed too much to overcome that smile that the demographic loves.

Lee Dewyze vs. Crystal Bowersox – Crystal was the one that blew everyone’s doors off in Season 9. However when it came down to two, the grunginess of Crystal didn’t excite the demographic as much as Lee’s moderate pop and smiling eyes.

Scotty McCreery vs. Lauren “Alaina” – (Lauren’s last name is not Alaina, btw) Season 10 featured an accurate singer with low, but narrow range winning over a beautiful voice that needs more seasoning. That’s not what swayed the vote at all, though. Genre was a wash as both singers exclusively sang Country songs. Scotty has a big smile and never projected a cocky demeanor. That’s difficult to overcome, even for a really good voice. Lauren was my family’s early pick based on who would get the cascading loser votes, however that was based on Scotty finishing around 5th. In the end it appears that Scotty is the only person that Lauren could not beat. Match Lauren against any of the other 11 final contestants, and The Demographic picks her every single time.

The Judges

So, the demographic I mentioned seems to be the set that is most likely to pick the winner, but they are swayable each year, and this was no exception. In each of the last 4 finals, the judges have unofficially anointed the better voice as the winner. However in each of those nights, we’ve seen a huge backlash. This season the backlash was exacerbated by the show’s emphasis on Lauren’s vocal injury in rehearsal.  The result was: people who would have voted for Scotty 10X voted 150X. This is exactly the case with someone I know, and I’ll venture to say those numbers were repeated throughout The Demographic.

Lauren’s Future

We did some digging and found where Lauren Alaina lives. It’s at the dead end of a country road near Chattanooga. Sounds like the beginning of a country song, doesn’t it. Lauren’s family has obviously struggled financially and it is great to see Lauren get this chance. She has been gifted with an excellent voice and has noticeably improved as a performer over the last 3 months. Lauren had serious confidence issues in the first half of the competition, and learning more about her background helped to explain this. She still needs to perform past the first two rows of the auditorium and she still needs to work on hitting the climax of a song correctly. I have complete confidence this will come with more training and maturity, and fully see Lauren Alaina having an excellent career in Nashville along the lines of Lee Ann Womack or LeAnn Rimes.

Scotty’s Future

The one overriding question in the American Idol aftermath is whether Scotty can overcome the Idol Curse. Of the nine Idols, only Kelly Clarkson and Carrie Underwood have been able to advance their career’s beyond “Idol Winner” status. Scotty has a very decent chance of being the third, not because of his talents per se, but rather because of the market.

Country music used to be only popular in rural areas and the South. However since Garth Brooks’ breakthrough, the genre has steadily seen growth in other areas of the country and social strata. With Rock being as dead as it has ever been and stations like G105 forcing Lady Gaga and Kanye West into pop radio, a very serious backlash is about to occur. Teens are quickly turning toward Country music in droves, and there really is no end in sight.

Scotty’s new single, “I Love You This Big” was released this morning, and the producers have done a sensational job of capturing the powerful portions of his voice. The song will be a hit this Summer in Country radio. Scotty is hitting the wave at the perfect time, as there aren’t any big teen country singers right now. Paired with good songs (and that has been a problem for so many Idols), Scotty can be the next Idol to break through.

The Others

This year’s show produced an extremely good group of finalist. James Durbin is quite likely to have success in the dormant Rock realm, Pia is likely to be a hit in Adult Contemporary, and the sky is the limit for Casey and Haley. Casey is enormously talented and keeping him focused will be a key while Haley showed with her version of Adele’s “Rolling In The Deep” that she doesn’t have to shout to be outstanding. Paul McDonald and Jacob Lusk are a couple of others who, if matched with the right songwriters, could also see good careers. We’ll see.

* * *

It’s crazy that we are even talking about this. Two months ago many of us thought we had an versatile, typical young country voice on our hands. Now here we are talking about Scotty McCreery being the next in a long list of Springtime major, national successes in the Triangle area. The Idols tour comes to the RBC Center on July 27, and you can expect one of the longest ovations in that building’s impressive history when McCreery takes the stage.

Over the past 50 years, the area has had a local competitor in a large-scale national event during 36 of the past 50 Springs, and 22 of the past 24. The only down years since 1962 have been 1962*, 1965, 1970, 1971, 1973, 1975, 1976, 1979, 1980, 1984, 1985, 1987, 1996, and 2007.

Click after the break for the detailed events per year since 1962

• 1962: *Wake Forest in Final Four (6-yrs after their move from the town of Wake Forest)
• 1963: Duke in the Final Four
• 1964: Duke in the Final Four
• 1966: Duke in the Final Four
• 1967: UNC in the Final Four
• 1968: UNC in the Final Four
• 1969: UNC in the Final Four
• 1972: UNC in the Final Four
• 1974: NCSU National Champions
• 1977: UNC in Championship Game
• 1978: Duke in Championship Game
• 1981: UNC in Championship Game
• 1982: UNC National Champions
• 1983: NCSU National Champions
• 1986: Duke in Final Four
• 1988: Duke in the Final Four
• 1989: Duke in the Final Four
• 1990: Duke in Championship Game
• 1991: UNC and Duke in the Final Four, Duke National Champions
• 1992: Duke National Champions
• 1993: UNC National Champions
• 1994: Duke in Championship Game, UNC Women National Champions
• 1995: UNC in the Final Four
• 1997: UNC in the Final Four
• 1998: UNC in the Final Four
• 1999: Duke in Championship Game
• 2000: UNC in the Final Four
• 2001: Duke National Champions
• 2002: Carolina Hurricanes in the Stanley Cup Finals
• 2003: Clay Aiken in American Idol Finals
• 2004: Duke in the Final Four, High Point’s Fantasia Barrino wins American Idol
• 2005: UNC National Champions
• 2006: Carolina Hurricanes Stanley Cup Champions
• 2008: UNC in Final Four, Kristi Yamaguchi wins Dancing With The Stars
• 2009: UNC National Champions, Carolina Hurricanes in Stanley Cup Final Four
• 2010: Duke National Champions
• 2011: Scotty McCreery in American Idol Semifinals

While it is a good-natured overview of the barbecue argument in North Carolina, the article also carefully explains that the art of wood-cooked barbecue, such as that at Wilbur’s, seems to be a dying art. Those who good steaks on charcoal instead of propane can relate to this “problem” all too well.

They say that one of Charlotte’s assets is that it is an hour from Shelby, alluding to the prominence of excellent small-town outlets in the state, and the Raleigh area is no different. We have some good barbecue in Raleigh, but the best Eastern N.C. products are found in stores about an hour east of here.

I’ll risk all of my life-long Raleigh street cred to name my favorite, so here goes: The Blue Mist (Asheboro). I know, I know, it is a different style, but ohmygosh! I’ve only eaten there a few times, it was always to go, and I only had a pulled pork sandwich with slaw, but those times were fantastic and had me tempted to do a U-turn and go back for more.

1. N.C. Museum of Art Opens New Building
2. The Walt Opens
3. Hopscotch Festival Begins as Huge Success
4. Moore Square Redesign Approved
5. Caniac Coach Begins Service
6. Duke Wins National Championship
7. Elizabeth Edwards Dies
8. Ira David Wood IV Fills in for Ailing Father
9. NHL Announces All-Star Game to Raleigh, Finally!
10. Hillsborough Street Renovation Complete, with Roundabouts
11. 90-Degree Heat Record Set
12. The Container Store Opens
13. John Wall is Selected First In NBA Draft
14. NCSU Grad Loses Secret iPhone4
15. Josh Hamilton Named Major League Baseball’s MVP
16. North Hills Harris Teeter Opens with Controversial Design
17. Raleigh Loses Hamid Mohajer of Mo’s Diner
18. “Hudson Belk” Becomes “Belk”, Gets New Image
19. William D’Auvray leaves Buku
20. H&M Opens in Raleigh
21. Golden Corral Razes, Replaces Home Store
22. City Council Endorses Western High(er) Speed Rail Route
23. Mike Krzysewski Becomes #2 Winningest Coach
24. Broughton Band Selected for Rose Bowl Parade
25. Penzey’s Spices Opens in Cameron Village
26. Get Motivated Seminar Brings Top Names in Leadership, Ties Up Traffic
27. Another Samaratan Falls to Death on Beltline, Prompts New Fencing
28. Taylor Swift Plays Sold Out RBC Center
29. Mami Nora’s Opens in Raleigh
30. Winterfest Returns to Downtown
31. North Face Store opens in Crabtree
32. Brind’Amour Retires, Staal Named Captain
33. D.H. Hill Relights Art Wall
34. Catapano Retires from Sanderson
35. Varsity Mens Wear Moves from Crabtree to North Hills
36. Sparians, Zoe’s Kitchen, Piola, and Brueggers Open in North Hills
37. R-Line Food Tour Comes to Downtown Raleigh
38. TWC Remaps Channels
39. Evan Rachael Wood Engaged to Marilyn Manson, Splits
40. Meat House Opens

We got a few new retailers and restaurants about which we’ll be excited for many years to come. Some others were lost and might be missed one day:

• Buckhead Saloon
• Ten Ten Chinese Buffet
• Yoho Asian Bistro
• Camille’s Sidewalk Cafe
• Bear Rock locations
• Uno’s Grill
• Space Savers
• Ruby Tuesday
• Ted’s Montana Grill
• Duck and Dumpling

While we didn’t make a lot of big news, there was plenty of entertainment. I’ve always told people from bigger cities that there is more to do in the Triangle than I have the money and/or time for. Perhaps you got to spend an evening being entertained by some of these fine artists:

• John Caparulo
• Wilco
• Widespread Panic
• Norah Jones
• My Morning Jacket
• Michael Buble
• Paula Deen
• Tyler Florence
• The Neelys
• Anthony Bourdain
• Arctic Monkeys
• Toby Keith
• Brad Paisley
• Darius Rucker
• Sugarland
• Steve Winwood
• Santana
• Kiss
• Tift Merritt
• The Connells
• Dillon Fence
• Drivin’ n’ Cryin’
• the Spinners
• OK Go
• John Prine
• Old Crow Medicine Show
• Tom Petty
• Amos Lee
• Alice in Chains
• Clay Aiken
• Three Days Grace
• Michael Franti
• Jack Johnson
• Kings of Leon
• The Church
• Leon Russell
• Kellie Pickler
• The Cult
• the Swell Season
• Lady Gaga
• Iris DeMent
• Mastodon
• Chicago
• Old Habits
• Sister Sledge
• Phish
• O.A.R.
• Paramore
• Tegan and Sara
• Lynard Skynard
• 38 Special
• Bret Michaels
• Patty Griffin
• REO Speedwagon
• Pat Benetar
• Marcy Playground
• Ingrid Michaelson
• Jonathan Coulton
• John Mayer
• Ringo Star
• Train
• Little Feat
• Styx
• Joan Baez
• Foreigner
• Kansas
• Sheryl Crow
• Colbie Callait
• Marylin McCoo and Billy Davis Jr.
• Damon Wayans
• Backstreet Boys
• Black Crowes
• Southern Culture on the Skids
• Rascal Flatts
• Asia
• Hanson
• Rooney
• Lewis Black
• Creed
• Natalie Merchant
• Umphrey’s McGee
• The Wiggles
• Straight No Chaser
• Bob Schneider
• Cory Doctorow
• Augustana
• Counting Crows
• Mat Kearney
• Chelsea Handler
• Avett Brothers
• Government Mule
• Heart
• Lyle Lovett
• Ar Rahman
• Zac Brown
• Lauren Kennedy
• Terrence Mann
• Taylor Swift
• Barenaked Ladies
• Luego
• Joe Bonamassa
• Adam Lambert
• The National
• MGMT
• Wynton Marsalis
• Tom Maxwell
• Corinne Bailey Rae
• Matt and Kim
• Bon Iver
• Demetri Martin
• Mitch Fatel
• Maroon 5
• Kris Allen
• VV Brown
• Corrosion of Conformity
• David Sedaris
• Charlatans UK
• Muse
• Last Comic Standing
• Megafaun
• The Love Language
• Annuals
• Panda Bear
• The Rosebuds
• Broken Social Scene
• Public Enemy
• Buddy Guy
• Dirty Projectors
• Jeff Dunham
• 311
• Superchunk
• ZZ Top
• Lady Antebellum
• Vampire Weekend
• Stone Temple Pilots
• Marshall Crenshaw
• Glass Moon
• Needtobreathe
• Brian Regan
• Arctic Monkeys
• Alejandro Escovedo

…and more! If you think that was good, just wait until you see what 2011 has in store for us!

The results are interesting. Living in Chapel Hill is a distinct experience. All residents definitely feel the center of the town, the Franklin Street/Carr Mill axis. However Cary feels more like a series of subdivisions and strip shopping centers. Cary certainly feels different than Chapel Hill and North Raleigh, but does Cary really have a distinct vibe, or is it just a coincidental collection of new developments in Triangle, USA?

Other cities of interest are Austin (#9), Atlanta (#11), Charlotte (#16), Richmond (#20), and Nashville (#22).

Des Moines ranked 1st while Provo was 2nd. Charlotte ranked 17th, Asheville ranked 21st, Durham ranked #23, Wilmington ranked #32, Winston-Salem ranked #51, Greensboro ranked 90th, and Fayetteville ranked 159th in the survey.

The Triangle area is not short on national championships, either. In the last 28 years, 8 have come from the Triangle. Remarkable runs have occurred during that time, too. From 1986 to 1992, Duke only missed the Final Four 1 time (including 5 straight appearances). UNC went 6 times in a 10 year period from 1991 to 2000. No other state, much less metropolitan, can boast such experience at such a high level in any sport.

Bold indicates National Champion

In other news…sluts are more likely to get an STD.

This comes as no surprise. The Angus Barn is known for going out of their way to present an outstanding experience. The restaurant has a rigorous training program for its waitstaff, and only hires people who make it their profession. Owner/manager Van will not accept customers waiting unnecessarily. Case in point: I recently stopped by at 5:30pm one day to buy some blue cheese dressing from the gift shop. The refrigerators were out of stock, but the nice, helpful lady who was running the shop went to the kitchen to make a couple for me. When Van found out that I had been waiting 10 minutes for the dressing, she went to the back, got things rolling, and comped my purchase.

If one is paying attention, they will notice some of the many details that go into the experience at the Angus Barn. The restaurant’s Christmas Tree every year is the finest in any restaurant around. The relish station, an unnecessary perk that was put in place decades ago to placate those waiting for a table, is always fresh. Much of the wood from the restaurant was salvaged from barns in the area. Inset in the brick floor of the gift shop is a 6” thick disc of wood from the state’s largest loblolly pine tree. In the last couple of years, The Angus Barn opened The Pavilions, a rustic lakeside special events facility. A trip to the men’s room of the facility is another example of the fine detail that (along with the excellent, consistent food) has earned this restaurant’s status among the nation’s top restaurants.

The Angus Barn was already one of the early inductees to the publication’s prestigious “Hall of Fame” list. Magnolia Grill is the only other North Carolina restaurant to receive that honor.

The survey is based on six categories: newspaper circulation, number of bookstores, library resources, periodical publishing resources, educational attainment, and Internet resources. Raleigh took its biggest blow in the library resources category, which raises some questions, because it is a big source of error.

While “number of bookstores” is a nice factor to include, it doesn’t actually account for the number of books consumed or the number of books available in the market; more accurate numbers. Furthermore, sales of online digital books are likely to be higher in this area than others, too, and those figures would not be included in the survey.

There was a survey a few months ago which credited the Raleigh area for its high consumption of non-fiction book sales. With our high internet usage and high book sales, is a top-notch library system actually needed? Certainly a good system is needed, but does every book published really need to be available for a population that is already consuming these books through other means? Would we be more literate if our local governments forced the population to buy every book ever published, so that most can sit on the shelf unread?

Should we be penalized for low newspaper circulation when we are getting our news already from the internet from great sites like this one? Seriously, the N&O content is available online for free. Does my use of a free access point make the area less literate?

We ranked third in the most important of the factors: educational attainment. If we are doing well with that parameter, then the rest will take care of itself in most cases.

This survey is conducted with good intentions, however its criteria are not indicative enough of the tested parameter to be taken seriously.

I take issue, though, with the article’s commentary about the area. The two points made are that we are in the “heart of NASCAR country”. Wile WIR, Rockingham, and Level Cross are within 100 miles, the number of NASCAR fans per capita here is likely much lower than author Andrew Smart surmises. (are those tracks even on the NASCAR circuit?)

He also notes the drive-in theater in Henderson, an hour away. Just how many Raleigh people have actually driven an hour to get to the Raleigh Road theatre??

The site is fantastic, and WRAL is going the extra mile in order to deliver their content. For instance, the full site’s video is encoded using Flash, which cannot be viewed natively on the iPhone. In order to correct the problem the station struck a deal with a third party company to transcode all of the video into a format that can be streamed using the station’s iPhone app, the first of its kind in the nation.

Keep up the good work, y’all!

The top 10 included many usual suspects such as San Francisco, Denver, D.C., etc.. Charlotte ranks #16, Richmond is #29, Greensboro is #37, and Norfolk is #41. Congratulations, us!