Top 13 -- A Day Late (cough, cough, hack)

Coughing and hacking prevented me from watching last night’s show last night, so I’m trying to squeeze in two shows tonight, while (still) coughing and hacking.

Top 13 – singing Michael Jackson hits – are: Lil, Scott, Danny, Michael, Jasmine, Kris, Allison, Anoop, Jorge, Megan, Adam, Matt, and Alexis. Two are going home tomorrow; my guess at the start of the show is Jasmine and Kris.

Paula’s outfit looks like it’s courtesy of Cirque du Soleil, Simon is wearing his usual "laundry day" outfit. Neither of them better criticize any of the contestants’ outfits tonight.

Lil chooses "The Way You Make Me Feel". I hope she sings better tonight than she looks. I don’t know which was worse --- the bad-even-for-the-80’s one shoulder, poofy something or other top or the absolutely hideous pleated, way too tight WHITE pants!!! C’mon, Lil, you have better fashion sense than that. I didn’t really care for the delivery of the song, either. It was very "cruise ship singer", campy, and way over the top. I didn’t hear the same song Randy did, evidently. Or Kara. . . Of course, Paula loved her outfit, but then, Paula was dressed by clowns tonight. I found myself agreeing with Simon tonight.

Scott is up next, choosing "Keep the Faith". I’m happy he’s playing the piano, because he’s so much more at ease sitting behind the keyboard. I never was a big MJ fan, so I can’t really tell if he’s doing a good job, because I don’t recognize the song. But I like the way it sounds. Thankfully, Kara points out that it’s not a well-known MJ song (so, it isn’t just me). Simon criticized him for choosing an obscure song, but I don’t think it was necessarily a mistake.

Danny’s choice is "PYT". I’m beginning to wonder where I was during the 80’s. I totally don’t remember EVER hearing this song before, but I love what he did with it. Only Danny is allowed to dance like that, because he sings SO well! Totally blew me away and I agree with Paula --- I will be shocked if Danny doesn’t end up in the Final 3.

Michael sings "You’re Not Alone". I think the judges might think this was a safe choice for him, but there’s something touching about the pureness and sincerity in his voice. I thought I heard a little nasal quality partway through, but he held it together and did a great job. Randy, Kara and Paula agreed.

Jasmine chooses "I’ll Be There". Her stylist likes her, because she helped her choose a really cute outfit. She got a little pitchy, and shaky on some of the big notes --- I was not impressed, but, then again, I don’t think she deserves to be in the Top 13 anyway. But really, Randy, should any of the judges be saying "it’s wasn’t that bad" at this point in the competition??

Kris sings "Remember the Time" accompanying himself on guitar. I liked his take on this song. I think he made it sound fresh and made it his own. With this performance, my earlier prediction for tonight’s show is half-wrong! His voice cracked a little on a couple of the higher notes, but I think he made up for it with the rest of the performance. Simon managed to piss off Kris’ wife with an unnecessary comment. No one cares if Kris is married --- he’s adorable anyway!

Allison’s choice is "Given to Me". The song was totally unrecognizable to me. However, I didn’t hate her performance, although she missed a couple of notes. But this girl can sing. And, I can’t believe she’s only 16.

Noop Dog chooses "Beat It". It’s an obvious choice, but I’m a little nervous waiting for him to begin. This guy totally freaks me out with his voice --- it STILL doesn’t look like it should be coming from that face!! The audience loves him, and he really does a decent job with the song.

Jorge is up next, choosing "Never Can Say Goodbye", pitchy on the opening notes, he came back and, even though I do NOT like this guy, I have to admit he did a great job on this song. He lost, if only for tonight, that annoying karaoke quality he’s had up until this point. Much as I hate to say it, I think everyone will like this performance and he may be staying for at least a couple more weeks.

Megan chose "Rockin’ Robin". I totally disagree with Simon; I think this little girl made the best song choice for herself of anyone tonight. Every note was spot on, even though she sang it almost straight out of the book, her voice is SO unique everything she sings sounds as if it’s hers. And she looked great!

Adam was out next with "This is Black and White". It cannot be denied that Adam has a great voice, but it’s always "Whatever: The Musical". Tonight was "Michael Jackson: The Musical". It’s not even, like early Clay Aiken, that you can imagine him on a Broadway show. He just manages to make every song sound as if it’s been adapted for the stage version of whatever artist he chose. Dreamgirls, Rent, Seussical the Musical here comes Adam, but I don’t see him cranking out hits like Kelly Clarkson. I totally disagree with the judges on this guy.

Matt picked "Human Nature". I love this guy, I loved the song he chose, I think he did a fabulous job. That AND being able to play the hell out of a piano puts him up pretty high on my list. My sister thinks he has a little too much vibrato, but I’m going to disagree with her (gee that’s unusual).

Alexis closed the show with "Dirty Diana". Alexis has it all --- a killer voice, looks, she’s comfortable onstage and she chose a great song to showcase her abilities. This is one of the one’s to look out for. I think Alexis was close to flawless tonight.

I’m waiting for the judges to get off the Adam train (which would also mean getting their heads out of their asses and start giving credit to some of these kids for their strong performances.

So, I’m sticking with Jasmine for one of my choices to be left behind and adding Michael. I like Michael, and I think he’s great, but I think America will think he wasn’t the strongest performer tonight.