They came to the auditions and after much hemming and hawing by the judges they were awarded a golden ticket.
They went to Hollywood. They sang alone, they sang in groups. There was drama. Each time they got onstage, there was a chance they would be sent home. They gathered them together in rooms, made them wait for hours, then told them en masse of their decision. They brought them to the mansion, and over the space of an entire day called them out alone and in pairs, sometimes making them sing again, and told them whether they were in the Final 36.
Those final 36 kids, over the span of three weeks, each performed in front of a live audience, again facing the judges and hearing the good and the bad. They were all brought back a second time and told whether America liked them more than the other nine who performed with them.
Then a "select" group from the 18 previously "left behinds" were added to the last 9 castoffs and told they had a chance to be one of 8 selected to perform yet again for the judges, who would then choose three of them to complete the Top 13.
These poor kids have gone through months of "you're in" and "you're out". They have to be emotionally exhausted.
The eight who were selected last night return tonight for their last chance at making it into the Top 12. A short video "final plea" is shown before each person performs.Jesse is first with "Tell Me Something Good" --- her vocals are okay, a little off in a few places, but she owns the stage. She looks and moves like a "real" performer.
Matt is next with "Who’s Loving You". He looks great and, thank God, gets back to the style he does best. He turns this song into a smoky, bluesy tune. I really like this guy and at this point he looks like a sure thing to get one of the last three spots.
Megan chooses to sing "Black Horse and a Cherry Tree". This is a perfect choice for her. Midway through she gets a little pitchy, but she recovers and ends well. I’ll be surprised if she doesn’t get one of the three spots. The judges adore her, vocals or not.
Von comes out next with "Sorry Seems to Be the Hardest Word". Not sure I agree with his song choice, so I'm immediately hoping he's going to prove me wrong. Von sings every note spot-on, and I personally am not disappointed. Unfortunately, the judges pretty much tell him he has no chance.
Jasmine chooses to sing "Reflection". She has some trouble right at the start. Even though her song choice is melancholy and darker, like Von’s, I don’t think they’ll slam her like they did Von. She really has more trouble singing this song than she should have. I'm not terribly impressed.
It’s really beginning to feel to me as if the judges have already decided who their wildcard choices are and this is just an exercise. I’m feeling a tad bit manipulated.
Ricky’s song choice is "Superstitious". He knocks it out of the theatre as far as I’m concerned. This is by far the best performance tonight. I wasn’t a fan of his in the beginning, but he would be one of the three wildcards if I were making the decision.
Tatiana’s video clip sounds like when Joey was practicing to officiate at the wedding ceremony, all full of "I love everybody, and I love singing, and I want to sing for everyone I love and show them how much I love to sing for them". Gag me!! Tatiana chooses "Saving All My Love for You". Total lounge singer, kill me now. This is the third time she’s sung this song. Finally, the song is over and OMG, they let her stand there rambling on and on. . . please, just shut this girl up!!
Anoop’s choice is "My Prerogative", a repeat for him, too. He not only performs the song well, he moves like he knows what he's doing. I think he deserves a place in the Top 12. I am now officially happy that I don’t have to make the decisions tonight.
Matt, Megan, Von, Ricky and Anoop were my favorites tonight. Of those five, I’m going to gamble that Matt, Megan and Anoop are chosen.
Let’s hear from the judges!
Jasmine is first to be told by Randy that she is one of the three wildcard picks.
Ricky is brought down to be told by Kara that he was not chosen.
Megan and Tatiana are brought down to be told by Paula that Megan will be staying (my prayers have been answered) and, once again, it’s all about Tatiana and she is, not surprisingly, in tears. She stands in front of the judges stand sobbing.
I’m getting a little nervous because once again, it looks as if the show may have gone over and I’ve missed recording the last of it. It’s a commercial, and there’s only two minutes left. I cannot believe it’s happening again!!
Sure enough, the recorded show ends before the last commercial break is over and I’m reduced to going online to find out the results.
Okay, so the first thing I find out is that it’s now the Top 13 and Matt and Anoop are #12 and #13. I spend the next 20 minutes looking for video to see how decisions were handed down to Jesse, Matt, Von and Anoop.
Thanks to the blogger world, I find out that Jesse and Von were told next they were not chosen, then Matt and Anoop were brought down, thinking only one of them would be chosen.
SURPRISE!! It’s the Top 13 and they’ve BOTH been chosen.
So, three of my top five performers from tonight were chosen to advance, and all three that I predicted would be chosen were. . . with an extra (Jasmine) thrown in.
Kelly Clarkson and Kanye will be guests on next week’s show. I can’t wait to see what these Top 13 are going to do!!
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