Ryan Star's burst of energy changed Supernova's minds, but Jill Gioia's humpty-hump didn't fare so well.
The two Long Islanders got different reactions from the judges this week, but both managed to stay out of the bottom three. As "Rock Star: Supernova" approaches the second-quarter mark, the two local artists still have a shot at winning the prize.
On Tuesday' show, Star turned in a supercharged rendition of "I Alone" by the group Live. He ran around the stage, leapt from the drum kit and generally -- as guest judge Dave Navarro might say -- "brought the rock."
(In an interview with Newsday, Star said the song was the first he'd ever performed in public, at a festival organized by High School East in Dix Hills where he was a ninth-grade student.)
Navarro was clearly impressed, noting, "From week one to now, it was night and day." Even bassist Jason Newsted, the band's most clear-eyed critic, told Star, "Show us more of what you did tonight, and you'll be fine."
Gioia wasn't so lucky. Joined by guitarist Gilby Clarke on The Rolling Stones' "Brown Sugar," she took the opportunity to bump and grind against him. Clarke quickly moved away, but Gioia did it again near the song's end.
Drummer Tommy Lee was titillated enough -- "dope," he proclaimed -- but Clarke seemed genuinely offended, calling Gioia's moves "predictable," "cheap" and "weak."
Back at the Rock Star mansion, Ryan offered Gioia some support: "Yo, grind me anytime," he said, raising a glass in her honor.
But things went even worse for Gioia on Wednesday's show. "I've played guitar with Heart," said a still-miffed Clarke. "Ann Wilson has never had to stoop so low as to hump me."
And when Gioia tried to defend herself -- "Everything's been done in rock and roll," she said -- the Supernova crew groaned. "Wrong answer," someone said.
Gioia landed in the bottom three in early voting Tuesday, but Wednesday's official list consisted of Zayra Alvarez, Patrice Pike and Phil Ritchie. Despite his snarling rendition of "Smoking Umbrella" by the band Failure, Ritchie got the axe. Star gave the singer not one but two hugs as he left the stage.