I Can't Believe I'm Writing this Thing Already. . .

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.