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Again, the painful highlights from the night before, only in this week’s case, it’s all just lowlights and a couple of mediocre-lights. . .
Group sing – which for most of last night’s group may be the best they’ll ever sound. I’m a little sick and very sad watching these kids tonight. They all look so comfortable singing and dancing together tonight and last night’s show was so very dreadful. . .
Now here’s where the show needs to get creative. Something HAS to be done about the way they announce results. I mean, they’ve changed how they get to the Final 12. Now they need to get a team together and figure out how to refresh this part of the season. It’s got to change from: call down a contestant (or two or three or five), review what they sang the night before, what the judges thought and how the contestant feels about their performance, then give them the good or bad news. No matter how clever Ryan tries to be, it’s still old and tired.
So, Ryan calls Allison down to center stage. Hopefully she’s ready to take the first "go-through" spot tonight. Ryan runs through a quick review of last night’s performance.
Jessie is called down next. I’d also be okay if she were chosen to go through. Again a quick review.
Matt also gets a quick review of last night from Ryan.
Ryan announces that Allison will go on to the next show. Jessie and Matt are done and Allison repeats her performance from last night.
Megan and Kris are asked to come forward. Ryan reviews both of their performances and then asks Matt and Jeanine to come down. Again, a short review for both and, after more chit-chat, tells Jeanine that she’s going home, then quickly tells Matt he is also going home. Kris and Megan are made to wait through even more chit-chat and discussion until Ryan finally announces that Kris is going through to the Top 12 and Megan will be going home. Kris repeats his performance from last night.
An Idol retrospective of the show from the first season to the present is next, from the crowds at the various audition cities, to the best and the worst of the last seven plus seasons. Kind of makes me wish for the hokey Ford commercials!
Brooke White returns (oh joy) to sing "Hold Up My Heart", which she co-wrote. Kind of fitting to have American Idol’s original goodie two-shoes, Girl Scout’s performance coincide with Girl Scout cookie season. Evidently this is her first single --- I was not impressed, but then, I was never a Brooke fan. If I remember correctly, I couldn’t wait for her to get voted out.
Finally the show returns to what we really tuned in for: the rest of the results. Ryan calls Mishavonna, Kai, Nick, Adam, and Jasmine down to the stage.
He starts with Mishavonna, then moves on to Kai, then Jasmine, reviewing their song choices and asking them their opinion of how they think they did. Ryan quickly tells all three they are going home.
Nick and Adam are left on stage. Simon tells Ryan that he actually prayed the night before, obviously that Nick would NOT be voted on.
Ryan rehashes first Nick’s, then Adam’s performances, then quickly tells Nick that he’s going home and Adam is going on. Adam also repeats his performance from the night before.
So far this season, I’m two out of both weeks. Next week’s show may be the most difficult yet. OR it will be a repeat of the first show, when so many promising stars bombed.
Jasmine Murray, Matt Giraud, Jeanine Vailes, Nick Mitchell, Allison Iraheta, Kris Allen, Megan Joy Corkrey, Matt Breitzke, Jesse Langseth, Kai Kalama, Mishavonna Henson, Adam Lambert --- I'm not particularly excited about anyone in this group, so I'm hoping someone blows me away.
Jasmine sings: Love Song
She's pitchy, there's some awkward phrasing, a really weird echo in the sound system; it's really disappointing, and simply a poor choice of song for her. This girl had me convinced during Hollywood week that she would end up in the Top 12, but I think her chances are gone now.
Thankfully, they are NOT featuring family/friends in the Red Room.
Matt's choice: Viva la Vida
Not a great choice of song for him, shaky start, and he's really pitchy. It seems like he's nervous and there's a weird vibrato we haven’t heard from him before. This guy blew me away during Hollywood week when he sang "Georgia", so this is very, very disappointing.
Jeanine sings: This Love
Another bad start, she's really pitchy, and the whole performance turns out to be painful and disappointing.
Tonight’s show is quickly turning into a nightmare. What horrible virus has been infected these formerly decent performers? Is it the theatre, is it too much free time in Hollywood? What’s going on?
Nick's next with: And I am Telling You
Unfortunately, he came out as Norman Gentle --- this guy really could have a chance at getting in the top 12 as himself, but he absolutely refuses to shed his alter persona. Of course, if he never sings as anyone other than Norman, then Nick will never be rejected. There's no chance of getting hurt when he's Norman, because Norman was created to take abuse. He’s mildly entertaining, and I suppose he could be an opener for another singer or group, but he’s wasting everyone’s time in this competition.
BTW, what’s in Paula’s Coca Cola glass? She looks like she’s tanked already, and the show just started. This first part of the show was SO painful, we seriously turned it off, watched Monday’s episode for Heroes, then tried again.
Allison continued by singing: Alone
Luckily for Allison, she didn't even have to do THAT well to sound better than the first three. But, she pulled it off and sounded great. I can’t believe this girl is only 16! She’s a shoe-in to go to the top 12.
Kris is up next with: Man in the Mirror
What the hell? Didn’t he tune in last week? ALL the judges have pretty much warned everyone to stay away from Michael Jackson, but amazingly, it wasn't that bad. He might have gotten away with it. Again, not the best song choice, but I don’t think he killed his chances by singing it.
Megan chose: Put Your Records On
This chick gets extra points for choosing the right song!! Great song, on key, good phrasing. If she loses that weird little twisty-shaky movement, she’ll go far.
Matt continues the show singing : If You Could Only See
If you closed your eyes, he sounded alright, but he just looked so horribly awkward onstage, it took away a lot from his performance. I really think this was a bad, bad song choice for him.
Jessie sang: Betty Davis Eyes
Really?? Really?? I hope this gamble pays off. She was NOT pitchy, her phrasing was good, and she did change it up just a bit to make it hers, but I simply wasn’t blown away. However, I think this may be enough to send her on to the next round.
Seriously, this show was practically putting me to sleep. . . a real snoozer!!
Kai's choice: What Becomes of the Brokenhearted
I was actually pleasantly surprised. I honestly didn’t think he would do as well as he did. He sounded great, one of the best of the evening (which, unfortunately isn’t saying much) but he does this really tweaky thing with his face when he sings. I'm surprised Simon didn't rip him on this. I’d like to see what the voice and choreography coaches could do with him. And this guy could use some serious stylist attention.
Mishavonna (who crashed and burned last year during Hollywood week) chose: Drops of Jupiter
Ay dios, these kids were killin’ me with their song choices!! Okay, so I take it back --- little Mishavonna handed in what I though to be the best performance of the night --- way beyond what the others had done. I agree with the judges that it wasn’t the best song choice, but she did a really good job with a not-so-good song choice.
Adam finished up with: Satisfaction
I enjoyed the way he started the song, but to me he’s still very much a stage performer, and I don't mean this kind of stage. I mean theatre --- he did a good job, but it was almost like it was out of a "Rolling Stones: The Musical". A little hokey, a little campy! But I think he'll get voted through.
Okay, so what are my picks for not the worst? Allison, Kris, Megan, Jessie, and Adam didn’t suck. So, my choices are: Allison, Kris, and Megan.
However I think America will vote: Allison, Megan, and Adam. And hopefully Kris will be the wildcard choice of the judges.
I’m really hoping next week’s show does something more for me than tonight’s did.
Although I hate the new format of "3 of 12", I would love to see the format of the results shows change. No such luck --- the show starts with the awkward "group sing". This is not the goal for these kids, to be in a group. Their goal is to become a solo artist. There’s never enough time for them to learn the song for group sing OR the choreography. It’s a pointless exercise, as it doesn’t effect the outcome of the voting AND it’s not entertaining. Please, Fox, get rid of this portion of the show.
Highlights?? Why?? Were there enough highlights to fill a whole segment? Not from last night’s show. More of the usual: Ryan asking awkward questions mostly from those who bombed the night before.Mercifully, Ryan moves on to the only part we all want to see: the actual results.
Casey: (wore the huge belt to hold up her very fake breasts) Can you say "no chance in hell"?
Stephen: (high hopes, big disappointment) again, a big no.
Alexis: (please don’t disappoint me, America) YAY!!
Now here’s an improvement --- instead of having the "going homes" sing, the "keepers" are asked to repeat their performance from the night before. I could never understand why in the world they would ask the jettisoned contestants to sing. #1: they sucked the night before, and #2 they’re really upset, their dreams are crushed and NOW they have to sing. . . again. . . a song that obviously not enough people liked from the night before.
Ricky & Jackie: neither one goes through to the next round.
Anoop & Michael: and here’s the first shocker of the season! Michael goes on, Anoop goes home.
Michael gets to sing again.
Fast-forward through the "commercial" for the new Disney Idol attraction.
Carly and Michael from last season made a surprise appearance and sang.
Ann Marie & Brent & Stevie: more repeats of their unflattering reviews. None are going on to the next round.
Tatiana & Danny: (I know here what SHOULD happen, but I’m still scared) and thank God, Danny is going on to the next round. And Tatiana will be going home!! Bah bye!
And, take note here, Tatiana is the ONLY rejected contestant who is not smiling and happy for the three that have been chosen to go forward. Because, in Tatiana's world, it's all about Tatiana.
My prediction (and also my choice) for judges’ wildcard from this group: Anoop.
Despite my pledge to not begin my blog until the Final 12 this year’s format has me jumping into the fray already. Twelve contestants --- girl with the highest number of votes, guy with the highest number of votes plus the next highest vote getter all advance to the next round. Seriously, there are so many talented kids competing this year --- I don’t know how I’m going to make it through the season. I just know I’m going to be super-pissed off at LEAST once a week!!
It’s the first night of the "new game" and all I can say is: Really?? Really?? How you gonna tell me that only three of these 12 kids is going to go on to the next round? And, how can you put so MANY of the really, really talented contestants in this first group?
Jackie Tohn, Alexis Grace, Anoop Desai, Michael Sarver, Stephen Fowler, and Danny Gokey --- how are you going to pick only three of those to go on?? Forget about any of the other people in this group. How are you going to pick just three of the above??
Song choices tonight (and possibly for the whole season) are hits from the Billboard Top 100 since the charts began. . .
I’m going to say it right up front: I’m not an Elvis fan. There, I said it and I’m not afraid of all you Elvis freaks out there. The only saving grace, for me, for Jackie’s song pick, "A Little Less Satisfaction", is that it was featured in one of the Ocean’s movies. I didn’t get her outfit at all, except that it was quirky to fit her personality. She totally controlled the stage, though, and showed that she’s a great entertainer. However, I’m not sure how the people voting are going to feel. And, she can feel good that her parents looked like THEY realized they’d be on national TV and looked like they took some care in dressing before the show.
Next up was Ricky Braddy, who we haven’t seen very much up until now. Ricky’s this "John-Boy Walton" look-alike with a killer voice. He did a great job singing "A Song for You", but this kid needs to find a style and develop a little more confidence (there, I totally agreed with Simon). His folks wore T-shirts with that cutesy "Braddy Bunch" logo, and I know it’s not supposed to be about the parents, but mom --- if you’re going to be on national TV could you get some decent undergarments, and by that I mean get a good bra??
One of my personal favorites from the auditions was next: Alexis Grace. I loved her story, love her voice, and she really knocked it out of the theatre singing "Never Loved a Man". I don’t agree that she NEEDED to "dirty up her look" because she’s a naturally sweet looking girl with a fabulous voice, but it helped tonight that she looked as gritty as she sang. I’m going to plead now, though, to bring in a parent stylist if they’re going to keep bringing the parents on-camera because these people have no clue how HORRIBLE they look. Seriously, few of them appear to have mirrors in their hotel rooms.
Brent Keith, another lesser-seen contestant chose to sing "Hicktown". Country is not my favorite music genre, but he did a decent job with this song. Looked a little uncomfortable onstage, but still did a good job. Cute dimples, too, but I don’t think any of it will be enough to take him to the next round. Doesn’t seem fair, does it? When he’s packing up to go home I hope he’s not thinking how many endless weeks Bucky managed to stay on the show.
Stevie Wright’s choice was "You Belong with Me" --- very shaky, pitchy start. She started out way too low and I think she just completely lost all confidence after that bad start. The longer she sang, the shakier her voice got. You could almost see it in her eyes: Please let this be over so I can go home. She totally fell apart and has no chance of going forward.
This season’s surprise, Anoop Desai came out next to sing "Angel of Mine". This is not the song I would have chosen for him to sing and I’m not sure why he made that choice. It didn’t showcase the fun-loving Anoop we got to know during Hollywood week. Although he has a good voice, I’m not sure he really thought through the fact that only three contestants are going through to the next round this week. This might be the last we see of Anoop. Kudos to his folks for not dressing or looking like complete dorks.
Casey Carlson, pretty girl, forgettable performances, chose "Every Little Things She Does is Magic". Why, I don’t know. Cruise ship performance --- awkward and really hard for me to watch. I was actually uncomfortable watching it and afraid of what the judges were going to say. I kept waiting for her to burst into tears AND her parents were dreadful, too.
America’s favorite rough-neck, Michael Sarver chose to sing "I Don’t Want to Be". (Where have I heard that song before?) I think it was a decent song choice, but not sure he took complete ownership or that his rendition will be strong enough to keep him in the competition. He did have a lot of fun, though. Wishing he had sung something a bit more soulful.
"Natural Woman" was Ann Marie Boskovich’s choice of song. Except that she’s a really pretty girl, all of her performances have been really forgettable for me. And this one tonight was a beauty pageant performance. It will really piss me off if she gets voted through based on her looks and not on her vocals. This is what scares me about getting the public involved at this early stage.
Stephen Fowler chose "Rock with You" --- too big a song? I really like this kid, but I think he might have chosen this song because he knows all the words by heart. After all, he’s been singing it since he was a toddler. I really wish he had chosen something more soulful. Plus, he’s one of the few singers who could have gotten away with a slower song. I was truly disappointed by his performance.
Tatiana Del Toro was up next, singing "I’m Saving All of My Love for You". Only Tatiana could assume she could get away with doing a Whitney song. As I predicted, she didn't have any family with her, either. I think her mom died when she was young from chewing off her own arm just to get away from Tatiana’s annoying laugh. She scared me at first, because she had a frighteningly good start, but, thankfully, it fell apart at the end. I’m hoping the public doesn’t disappoint me by putting her through. I was frightened by the version of Tatiana we saw tonight. It was the quiet, serial killer persona --- really spooky.
Danny Gokey sang "Hero". He’s probably the only guy singer ever who could sing this and get away with it. This guy is good. I believe he can sing anything and make it sound good. We heard a little of the balladeer Danny, a little of the rocker Danny and a whole lot of the just plain talented Danny. Outstanding!! His best buddy, Jamar, was in the audience looking a little forlorn, but still happy for his pal. I was not disappointed.
My vote: Alexis Grace, Jackie Tohn and, of course, Danny Gokey. However, I think America may vote Anoop through in place of Jackie.
I've made it a habit since the first year I did this to NOT begin blogging until the Final 12 were announced. However, I absolutely CANNOT let last night's show go by without comment.What, I say, what, were they thinking?? Last night's show was all about winnowing down the current contestants to the Top 36. Several things went terribly wrong and left me feeling: 1) cheated, 2) annoyed, and 3) scammed.1) Jamar Rogers was told he wasn't advancing to the Top 36. If you don't already know, Jamar is the best friend of Danny Gokey (already my choice to win). Granted, Jamar doesn't have a voice as good as Danny's, but he CERTAINLY deserved to advance. 2) And especially if they kept Tatiana, the super-annoying, egotistical chick from Puerto Rico that EVERYONE dislikes!! I mean, it was fully 45 seconds until anyone even half-heartedly applauded in the holding room when she burst in screaming and cackling that she had made it. No one likes her, not even the viewers. And she doesn't even have a great voice to make up for her annoying nature. Yes, she'll be good for the show as controversy and to create drama, but really?? Tatiana stays and Jamar goes??3) Last two guys of the day, who were both asked to sing to "prove they should advance": technically, whoever won the "sing-off" would be #36 unless they ALREADY knew that Joanna Pacitti was going to be disqualified. However, they advanced both of them, which should have brought the total to Top 37. But it didn't. How did that work?I was sitting there holding out hope that, when they advanced both of the last two guys, they would call Tatiana back and tell her they changed their minds, had to cut someone because they had too many. But, they didn't, and today announced that they were replacing Joanna with Felicia Barton. So, they planned all along to advance both of the last two guys. Smells like a scam!!I was already sick of Simon saying "I don't picture him winning". Criminy, I don't picture most of them winning, Simon, because only one of them CAN win. We all know going in, even when it gets to the Final 12, that they won't all win. And, guess what? I don't picture all of them making it to the Top 3, either!! DUH!!Seeing Jamar get turned down reminded me of when they jettisoned Josiah last year. Oh well, at least a couple of the judges' "educated" decisions winds up biting them in the asses during the season. I'm predicting their decision to keep Tatiana will create HUGE problems for them.Okay, so for ratings they kept her. I'm theorizing that perhaps they let Jamar go to see if Danny can make it without his constant support. Who knows what they're thinking??Still, there's rumored to be a "wild card" element to this year's competition, where either voting American OR the judges can bring back one contestant at some point. I'm hoping it won't be limited to post-Top 36 contestants and that they see the error of their ways and bring Jamar back. He would DEFINITELY be a threat.Don't even get me started on Nick Mitchell/Norman Gentle. . .
