The judges spent the entire night telling everyone to "connect to America" by "showing emotion" and "letting go". Tonight, more than ever, I wish Simon was still there to roll his eyes and just say, "look, it wasn't good"
Best to Worst, by performance:
Dave
Matthews Ditto doing Usher! - Well hell, kid. Usher? You Got It Bad? Who would've
ever thought that one of Phil's performances would be the 1st of the
year that I really want to download?!? Remember when Kris Allen pulled
out Kanye's Heartless? Then he won the whole damn show? Phil Phillips
might've just won himself the whole damn show. So sick!!
Hollie's Adele - When she said "Adele", all of America held their breath. When she said "Rolling in the Deep", all of America rolled their eyes. But Oh. My. God. Hollie KILLED it! There are so FEW covers of Adele that I can even tolerate, and fewer that I actually like. I'm so excited for Hollie's big night!
Skylar's Born This Way - I loved the country version, too, JLo! Who knew! I feel like I can actually watch Skylar growing and changing each week, and it's awesome that the judges consistently like her!
Jacob 2.0's Change Gonna Come - I won't lie. When Ryan Seacrest told us Jacob would be back with "an emotional civil rights anthem" I instantly knew what he'd sing and I audibly sighed. Just because he's African American, and sings gospel music, doesn't mean he can sing this song. But damn it, I loved it. I loved the groans, I loved the overdone runs. How did HE not get teary at the end of THIS song? Oh, he was focused on JLo's abs? I'm pretty sure that's not the "emotional connection" the judges (or your grandma) were going for.
Hollie's Dusty Springfield - It was a little rocky in parts and started out a little rough (I'm stingy with compliments here because it's one of my favorite songs), but she's on the verge of a breakthrough here. You can't compare her to Jessica Sanchez anymore! And, considering Jessica was in the bottom 3 last week and Hollie wasn't, that's a good thing!
Skylar's Heard It Through The Grapevine - Nobody can ever say this girl doesn't know what genre she belongs in. She just made the Smokey Robinson & The Miracles country. And it was awesome.
Let's Get It On, Elise - So sexy. And her scream in the middle ... did I hear a little Steven Tyler in there? Wha, judges? "show emotion in the middle of Marvin Gaye" Like that scene in When Harry Meets Sally? What do they want? I wish she wouldn't have critiqued herself at the end, though. That negates any votes the "my dog is dying" quip won her.
Elise's No One - The cheesy dress, weird squat into the wind machine, and new tan made
me think I was watching Mariah Carey. No One has a special place in my
heart because I watched my little sister soothe my favorite nephew as a
newborn by singing it to him. She did it better than Elise tonight,
unfortunately. Not my favorite performance, but I still love Elise.
Jessica Sanchez' Falling - Is she singing it horribly? Of course not! But it was typical. She wasn't sitting on the piano, but it was still right there. She does look so pretty though - THIS, AI stylists, is how you do up a 16 year old. (The whole BS about "I thought you didn't like me and didn't want me to sing" should've put her at the bottom of this list. And I think THAT is exactly why America doesn't like her - she's not believable!)
Jessica Sanchez' Tenderness - Ridiculous. If the judges really wanted to help her, they'd tell her the truth: it was her worst performance. Instead they pulled out all of this "connect with America" crap out. All the emotion in the world wouldn't have made this good.
Baby of the Week's Gaga - Sister was so diplomatic and sweet: complimenting him and supporting him. Even though you could tell, deep inside, she's dying that he's this far and he did it by literally stealing her spot. All Jimmy has to say about his butchering of Gaga is "he's got a female fan base".
Jacob 2.0's Fantasia - Zzzzz. I'd like to blog about it, but it put me to sleep. (I do love his style. Every single week he's rockin' a fantastic outfit!) I'm over the tears at the end of every. single. song. But the judges aren't, clearly, because they stood up. Again. Joshua could've stood there and sung Jingle Bells and they still would've bent over backwards digging him out of last week's bottom 3.
Dave Matthews Ditto's Midnight Hour - I think he was singing, but I was so uncomfortable with the weird shrugs, grimmaces, and side-eye, that I literally had to turn away. "Brilliantly awkward" is so, so true, Steven. Twitchy! Please, Phil, put the guitar back on. I promise I won't make fun of it anymore now that I know what the alternative is.
Baby of the Week's September - Worst performance of the night. If anybody else sang this (read: a guy who isn't milking the tween girl and Christian votes) they'd be out the door. Absolutely giddy watching the judges criticize him. For once.
Bottom 3: Elise, Hollie, Joshua
Going home: I'm afraid it'll be Elise.
P.S. Randy - the talent on this show is NOT better than the talent on "any show on TV right now" Not even close.
Wednesday, April 18, 2012
Monday, April 16, 2012
Another Video Clip For Your Amusement
Just discovered this video blog called Idology with a funny guy called Michael Slezak and Melinda Doolittle (one of my all time favorite Idol contestants).
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=qzaixrPgccc
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=qzaixrPgccc
Sunday, April 15, 2012
Nigel Lythgoe Explains Jessica Sanchez Elimination
Click on the link below if you are interested in Nigel Lygthoe's explanation of what happened Thursday night. Interesting tidbits in there such as that judges and contestants do not know results ahead of time and Nigel's use of the term *the pimp spot* for the last slot to sing. Nigel is the executive producer and one of the key developers of American Idol.
Interesting that he agrees, in part, with us, that Jessica is not connecting with the audience and needs to show some personality. He suggested he was more shocked that Joshua was in the bottom three than he was about Jessica being the one with the least votes. He also suggested that the judges treatment of Hollie drove votes to her and away from Jessica.
So, more validation that KK and I are not crazy for not loving Jessica Sanchez!
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=6bkZDObLdIc
Interesting that he agrees, in part, with us, that Jessica is not connecting with the audience and needs to show some personality. He suggested he was more shocked that Joshua was in the bottom three than he was about Jessica being the one with the least votes. He also suggested that the judges treatment of Hollie drove votes to her and away from Jessica.
So, more validation that KK and I are not crazy for not loving Jessica Sanchez!
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=6bkZDObLdIc
Thursday, April 12, 2012
America to Jessica Sanchez: Not Into You!
Well for once, Ryan delivers on his empty promises of a shocking results night. Bibi isn't going home but the bloom is off and the judges have to use the save. America doesn't like her as well as TPTB thought they would. And America just gave the judges a big fat up your hiney vote. They don't like the pimping of Joshua and Jessica (really...that Standing O for Joshua was just too much) and they don't like Hollie bashing. I'm convinced there was a huge backlash against the judge's treatment of Hollie last night. I thought the backlash would hurt Elise (and it clearly didn't help her) but it seems to have drawn votes away from Jessica too. And I DON'T think the judges would have saved Elise in spite of what Steven said about *using our card tonight with results like this*.
But maybe, just maybe, Bibi's elimination was not just a product of Hollie backlash. Maybe America is as bored with her as they were with Pia last season. *Perfect* can get boring. She did sing a song which is not well known which probably hurt her but she was bound and determined to sing it. On second listening (someone said she almost fell off the piano and I had to rewatch to see that) it wasn't quite as cat meowing as I first thought. But I agree with KK, it was oversung. Sitting on the piano was cheese on toast and she was dressed like a cheap whore. Its interesting that in years past with a contestant this young, the judges usually comment *you need to sing younger songs* *you need to dress younger*. Not with Miss Perfect Jessica/Bibi...they are perfectly content for her to look like a 2 bit lounge singer/soiled dove looking for her next john. Or maybe Tiger Mother is behind that look.
It looked like the other Idols were glad she was saved but somehow I think if she went home there wouldn't be as many tears as there were for Deandre. Of course they knew she would be saved so its probably not fair to say that. I'm not saying Bibi is a B...but I suspect her tiger mother keeps her isolated from the group so as not to have her talent *contaminated* and works Bibi's ass to death. And for those who think she had a perfectly normal childhood...Bibi said it herself...she has been working hard all of her life. Mama and Daddy and the 120 relatives saw a meal ticket early and all the chips are riding on her.
Onto the rest of the show. James Durbin looked great and its nice to hear his wedding went off as planned with Stefano as his best man..even if Casey was late. His song was written by him to his wife. Somehow I think I have heard the beginning melody before complete with eerie echos back in the 60's or 70's and I'm hoping he doesn't have a plagiarism suit on his hands. Nice to see he is doing well.
As for Jennifer Hudson...I guess losing weight has made her want to do all sorts of trendy/rappy songs and I like the old Jennifer better (although I'm happy for her that she is thin). I don't know why Neo had to join the party tonight but at least he wasn't completely rapping. I don't even know who the heck Neo is. Maybe he never raps.
On a style note...it appears that padded shoulders may be making a comeback. Jessica wore them last night and Jennifer Hudson wore them tonight and Khloe Kardashian was photographed in them earlier this week.
This blogger is happier than a pig in slop tonight at the Judge's comeuppance. *Hoist by their own petards* comes to mind.
Of course, this means that next week, the Standing Oafs will be standing up before Jessica and Joshua sing a note, finally start mildly critiquing Colton and Phillip, be ho hum about Skylar, tell Elise she is losing it again, and actually BOOOO Hollie. Self-centered jackholes!
Updated to add: Just read KK's post. PLEASE I hope she is wrong about the conspiracy.
But maybe, just maybe, Bibi's elimination was not just a product of Hollie backlash. Maybe America is as bored with her as they were with Pia last season. *Perfect* can get boring. She did sing a song which is not well known which probably hurt her but she was bound and determined to sing it. On second listening (someone said she almost fell off the piano and I had to rewatch to see that) it wasn't quite as cat meowing as I first thought. But I agree with KK, it was oversung. Sitting on the piano was cheese on toast and she was dressed like a cheap whore. Its interesting that in years past with a contestant this young, the judges usually comment *you need to sing younger songs* *you need to dress younger*. Not with Miss Perfect Jessica/Bibi...they are perfectly content for her to look like a 2 bit lounge singer/soiled dove looking for her next john. Or maybe Tiger Mother is behind that look.
It looked like the other Idols were glad she was saved but somehow I think if she went home there wouldn't be as many tears as there were for Deandre. Of course they knew she would be saved so its probably not fair to say that. I'm not saying Bibi is a B...but I suspect her tiger mother keeps her isolated from the group so as not to have her talent *contaminated* and works Bibi's ass to death. And for those who think she had a perfectly normal childhood...Bibi said it herself...she has been working hard all of her life. Mama and Daddy and the 120 relatives saw a meal ticket early and all the chips are riding on her.
Onto the rest of the show. James Durbin looked great and its nice to hear his wedding went off as planned with Stefano as his best man..even if Casey was late. His song was written by him to his wife. Somehow I think I have heard the beginning melody before complete with eerie echos back in the 60's or 70's and I'm hoping he doesn't have a plagiarism suit on his hands. Nice to see he is doing well.
As for Jennifer Hudson...I guess losing weight has made her want to do all sorts of trendy/rappy songs and I like the old Jennifer better (although I'm happy for her that she is thin). I don't know why Neo had to join the party tonight but at least he wasn't completely rapping. I don't even know who the heck Neo is. Maybe he never raps.
On a style note...it appears that padded shoulders may be making a comeback. Jessica wore them last night and Jennifer Hudson wore them tonight and Khloe Kardashian was photographed in them earlier this week.
This blogger is happier than a pig in slop tonight at the Judge's comeuppance. *Hoist by their own petards* comes to mind.
Of course, this means that next week, the Standing Oafs will be standing up before Jessica and Joshua sing a note, finally start mildly critiquing Colton and Phillip, be ho hum about Skylar, tell Elise she is losing it again, and actually BOOOO Hollie. Self-centered jackholes!
Updated to add: Just read KK's post. PLEASE I hope she is wrong about the conspiracy.
Conspiracy Theory: Sanchez' Vote Out Staged by Idol Producers
The most shocking part of the whole shocking night:
Jessica Sanchez pretends to be shocked when the judges save her.
Apparently Auntee and I aren't two tone-deaf, jealous old biddies with a grudge against a tiny little Fillipino girl and her stage parents after all. Looks like there are at least a few other people in America who agree with us.
OR
This whole shocking voting out of Jessica Sanchez is a fix by the producers to guarantee her fans make up for the scare by voting her right into the finale.
I'm going to go on record right now: Jessica Sanchez' faux vote-out just secured her a spot in the finale.
As for the non-shocking parts of the night:
1. MrKK and I laughed through the entire group performance. They should go back to the lipsynching because it's not supposed to be funny, right? Oh wait, Seacrest just jumped in, maybe it was all a big joke!
2. Ryan is drunk tonight.
3. We fast forwarded through all but 10 seconds of James Durbins' song. He lost me at the special microphone that made him sound like a machine.
4. I love Jennifer Hudson, and I dug her and Ne-yo's song Think Like a Man.
5. Colton asks for a standing ovation. And he'll get it next week (JLo: "we haven't stood for you? but you're baby of the week!")
Jessica Sanchez pretends to be shocked when the judges save her.
Apparently Auntee and I aren't two tone-deaf, jealous old biddies with a grudge against a tiny little Fillipino girl and her stage parents after all. Looks like there are at least a few other people in America who agree with us.
OR
This whole shocking voting out of Jessica Sanchez is a fix by the producers to guarantee her fans make up for the scare by voting her right into the finale.
I'm going to go on record right now: Jessica Sanchez' faux vote-out just secured her a spot in the finale.
As for the non-shocking parts of the night:
1. MrKK and I laughed through the entire group performance. They should go back to the lipsynching because it's not supposed to be funny, right? Oh wait, Seacrest just jumped in, maybe it was all a big joke!
2. Ryan is drunk tonight.
3. We fast forwarded through all but 10 seconds of James Durbins' song. He lost me at the special microphone that made him sound like a machine.
4. I love Jennifer Hudson, and I dug her and Ne-yo's song Think Like a Man.
5. Colton asks for a standing ovation. And he'll get it next week (JLo: "we haven't stood for you? but you're baby of the week!")
Idol - Making a DVR Mandatory
It's Thursday night, I'm currently recording the results show on my trusty DVR, and I'm fastforwarding through a majority of last night's show.
I just can not commit 2 hours to AI. Especially when a majority of those 2 hours are excessive clapping/screaming for contestants/judges that I don't like, and/or watching Tommy Hillfiger show contestants closets full of clothes that none of them will ever wear and talk to them about "style" while he's been wearing the same polo and blazer for the past 6 episodes.
Skylar - I loved her take on Kellie Pickler, and the song choice was a perfect mix of jumping-around-country and ballad-country.
Colton - MrKK liked it, but didn't understand what all the "outside of the box" talk was. I really like Love the Way You Lie, as originally done, not as Colton done.
I agree with Auntee that the clip about Elise faux-bossing Phil around isn't going to help her reputation. Gotye is my favorite right now! But these two karaoked it.
Jessica sings a song making fun of people with speech impediments. I'm going to hell, but I laughed every single time she sang "st, st, studdering". I know that's the song, but it was hysterical! Also, could she get more loungy? She didn't even get off the piano. Oh, and OVERSUNG (do I even have to type that each week? It's just a given right?) And what's the deal with "feed her hamburgers?" She's too small now, Akon and Jimmy? Can a woman not get a break? Too big, too small, too tall ... The judges talked to her forever, too. MrKK left the room, came back with candy, and said, "they're still talking to her?"
Jacob sang some Bruno Mars song that I'd never heard of. I appreciated him leaving the excessive runs out (it wasn't gospely at all), but it wasn't worth the praise the judges gave him.
Skylar and Colton sing another karaoke duet. Can't we just cut the show down to an hour?!?
Hollie's adorable parents are back - maybe I'm slap-happy tonight, but should she be singing a song called Perfect when her accent prevents her from pronouncing the word "perfect"? Not an issue during the song, though, and this was my favorite performance of the whole night!! She re-did this arrangement, made it her own, tailored it to fit her voice and her style, and I loved it! JLo says she sung beautifully and that she's rooting for her, but it was a totally backhanded compliment. Steven and Randy don't know what the hell they're talking about. Based on this, I already know exactly what the 3 of them will say to Elise, too.
Phil - Shave already! You look like a frat boy in the middle of hell-week. Or a hobo. I'm not anti-facial hair, unless that facial hair looks like pubic hair. Gross. His song sounds just like every single other song he's ever sung, but for some unexplicable reason (*the fix is in*) the judges didn't like it this time.
Trio sings. Nobody says a damn thing about Jessica's pitch issues, shocker. Also, I would love to take Jacob to a club for a night. How fun would he be to get drunk and dance with?
Elise tries to sing Haley's song. Sorry, Elise, it's just too soon and nowhere near as good. Worst song Elise has ever done, but the judges ate it up (which just confirms that their comments are dictated by something other than the performances.) Maybe the fact that Jason Segal is a fan will get her some votes.
Bottom 3: Hollie, Skylar and Elise
Going home: Hollie, hands-down (unfortunately)
I just can not commit 2 hours to AI. Especially when a majority of those 2 hours are excessive clapping/screaming for contestants/judges that I don't like, and/or watching Tommy Hillfiger show contestants closets full of clothes that none of them will ever wear and talk to them about "style" while he's been wearing the same polo and blazer for the past 6 episodes.
Skylar - I loved her take on Kellie Pickler, and the song choice was a perfect mix of jumping-around-country and ballad-country.
Colton - MrKK liked it, but didn't understand what all the "outside of the box" talk was. I really like Love the Way You Lie, as originally done, not as Colton done.
I agree with Auntee that the clip about Elise faux-bossing Phil around isn't going to help her reputation. Gotye is my favorite right now! But these two karaoked it.
Jessica sings a song making fun of people with speech impediments. I'm going to hell, but I laughed every single time she sang "st, st, studdering". I know that's the song, but it was hysterical! Also, could she get more loungy? She didn't even get off the piano. Oh, and OVERSUNG (do I even have to type that each week? It's just a given right?) And what's the deal with "feed her hamburgers?" She's too small now, Akon and Jimmy? Can a woman not get a break? Too big, too small, too tall ... The judges talked to her forever, too. MrKK left the room, came back with candy, and said, "they're still talking to her?"
Jacob sang some Bruno Mars song that I'd never heard of. I appreciated him leaving the excessive runs out (it wasn't gospely at all), but it wasn't worth the praise the judges gave him.
Skylar and Colton sing another karaoke duet. Can't we just cut the show down to an hour?!?
Hollie's adorable parents are back - maybe I'm slap-happy tonight, but should she be singing a song called Perfect when her accent prevents her from pronouncing the word "perfect"? Not an issue during the song, though, and this was my favorite performance of the whole night!! She re-did this arrangement, made it her own, tailored it to fit her voice and her style, and I loved it! JLo says she sung beautifully and that she's rooting for her, but it was a totally backhanded compliment. Steven and Randy don't know what the hell they're talking about. Based on this, I already know exactly what the 3 of them will say to Elise, too.
Phil - Shave already! You look like a frat boy in the middle of hell-week. Or a hobo. I'm not anti-facial hair, unless that facial hair looks like pubic hair. Gross. His song sounds just like every single other song he's ever sung, but for some unexplicable reason (*the fix is in*) the judges didn't like it this time.
Trio sings. Nobody says a damn thing about Jessica's pitch issues, shocker. Also, I would love to take Jacob to a club for a night. How fun would he be to get drunk and dance with?
Elise tries to sing Haley's song. Sorry, Elise, it's just too soon and nowhere near as good. Worst song Elise has ever done, but the judges ate it up (which just confirms that their comments are dictated by something other than the performances.) Maybe the fact that Jason Segal is a fan will get her some votes.
Bottom 3: Hollie, Skylar and Elise
Going home: Hollie, hands-down (unfortunately)
Wednesday, April 11, 2012
Colton Dixon: He's The One That We Want (Just Ask Him)
So, Nigel is listening to the fans and gave the Idols a current theme to run with this week. They could sing any song, by any artist, in any genre released in in 2010 or later. There were no excuses about the limited song choice this week and the judges refrained from criticizing song choice, for a change. Surprisingly, some of these songs were familiar to me (but if I get the names of some of them wrong...blame it on my closed captioning).
Idol needs to fill 2 hours at a point in the season when they would be heading toward one hour performance shows because Fox does not have a show to fill in the next slot. Consequently, the audience is instructed to clap extra long for Ryan as he is introduced. He tries to act surprised at this acclaim, but you can tell he is faking it. Tommy Hilfiger is brought in again to waste some time with a useless segment showing the Idols picking out new clothes to wear for everyday (as they are not wearing TH designs to perform in). That is really pretty sad, I think for poor Tommy Hilfiger. He's basically reduced to being their sales clerk and saying *no your butt does not look big in that*.
Then Jimmy is introduced with Akon, of whom I've never heard but he is evidently an icon in the record industry or at least his purposely mispelled name is designed to make us believe he is. He seemed pretty helpful, actually.
Finally, we get some music from the Idols. Skylar starts and I'm a little worried at her placement in the program but she does what Skylar does and does it well. Kellie Pickler's Didn't You Know How Much I Loved You was a good choice for her and she had me believin' the guy was no good and maybe even ran off with her best gun as he broke her heart. Jimmy and Akon loved her The judges have been reading the Idol boards or other reports (or maybe Nigel has and has given them orders to at least APPEAR to be fair to the female contestants) and praise her highly. Steven comes up with not one of the best of his Stevenisms saying the crows crow but the hens deliver the goods. I think he meant the rooster crows but, bless his heart, his mind does not work the way most of ours do. You can blame drugs, ADHD, genius or all three.
Colton Dixon enters the mentoring session. Jimmy tells him he is competing with Phillips and that he needs a moment. Colton has another song picked out, but Jimmy convinces him to try Love The Way You Lie because (as we all know) Colton has never done an emo love song before and this song will make people realize how great he is. Colton acts like he is uncomfortable being compared with Phillips but finally slips up and reveals what he has been thinking all along: *One day its going to be me and Phillip up there and one of us will go home*. So he is psyching himself up for the finale he knows he will be singing in. The judges comments were nonsensical. They acted like Colton had been rocking out to Judas Priest or Led Zeppelin all season ala James Durbin and that this is the first time he sang softly and emotionally and showed his *sensitive* side. Colton has shown so much sensitivity this season, his ass ought to be in a Charmin commercial. The only time he wasn't *sensitive* was when he threw his sister under the bus at the audition (no...I have not let that go). He annoyed the heck out of me tonight.
Elise and Phillips sing a song I really like by Gotye called Somebody I Used To Know. Something is up tonight because Phillips wasn't stroked very hard by the judges and they actually seemed to like Elise better. Of course, the fake video about Elise bossing Phillips around and having to have her way about the song choice is going to do nothing for Elise's reputation as a B among the Colton/Phillips/Jessica lovers. I suspect there will be two or three threads about it on the Idol boards.
One of the time-fillers this week was a little segment showing the Idol's home town fans making signs and having watching parties and all getting together to cheer them on...putting up signs on buildings...holding pep rallies. Well, Bibi's hometown is no exception...except apparently the only people who live in San Diego who give a hoot about Bibi are Bibi's large extended family. Bibi sings a song called Stuttering by Jasmine Sullivan. I didn't know the song or the original artist. The only remarkable thing about her performance was she did not sing Beyonce or Whitney. Of course Beyonce has been having a baby for awhile now and Whitney is well...dead...so perhaps there were no recent Beyonce or Whitney releases for her to sing. On second thought, it was remarkable to me that at moments she sounded eerily like the woman called Erin Martin on the voice who sings like a cat in heat. The judges praise her highly, Jimmy praises her highly, Akon praises her highly, and Colton is probably thinking *oh...maybe it will be me and Jessica in the finale instead of me and Phillips*.
Joshua looks very sharp in his white jacket and sings a Bruno Mars song called Runaway Baby. Fantasia comes on to wish him luck. It was entertaining. The judges realize they are about to succumb to deep vein thrombosis and stand up. Randy says Josh has *got to have it* (we are already sick of this phrase, Randy). I am amazed at the standing O because while it was enjoyable it was hardly earth shaking (except for the gogo dancer). But, the Idol boards have a term for the judges this year: the Standing Oafs. I think the judges proved themselves worthy of that name with this one.
Colton and Skylar come out and do another country song duet which Colton pretends to complain about. The chemistry between these two is looking more and more like oil and vinegar but they do fine on the song...Skylar more than Colton. Although Randy just cannot help himself and takes a dig at Skylar's *pitch*. Colton has no pitch...all he has is emo gutterals so I guess it would be unfair for the judges to call him *pitchy*.
Here comes Hollie trying once again to make the judges like her and it is a big fail. She sings Perfect by Pink and the lyrics pretty much tell the story of her Idol journey. I actually got teary eyed as she sang. No one knows why the producers and judges hate Hollie, but they do. I wanted to slap JLo's face when she said *you look beautiful tonight*. I saw the trashing of Hollie tonight as the judges payback for Deandre's elimination. Elise is a little too tough for them to take on so lets pick on the sweet young thing who has no confidence.
Phillips goes into the mentoring session and Jimmy tells him he is competing with Colton for votes and Phillips doesn't really care. He is singing Give A Little More by Maroon 5 and for the first eight or ten bars he actually sings the song. Then he reverts to ManBearPig and growls and grunts and oinks his way through the rest of the song just like he has done in the past. But....shocker...we have a sea change. The judges have just realized that he does the same thing every single week and that maybe it isn't all that original anymore. Whether the judges actually thought it was as bad as the rest of America could see it was...who knows. They may have been ordered to criticize one of the guys to make up for the pre-determined trashing of Hollie. But Phillips is no longer their Prince. I predict he will be on a downhill slide in their eyes until he is voted off (they hope) before Colton, Joshua and Jessica.
The three *big voices* do a trio and Joshua outsings the girls...he really is a big ham. Jessica looks like she is the walking dead...I don't think she likes not being the center of the universe and doesn't take to it well. Holly gives it her all but it doesn't matter anymore for her.
Finally Elise gets the pimp spot. Again. Good for her. She sings the Gaga song You and I and while not quite the moment her Zeppelin was, it was very good. If you recall, last season, before this song was officially released, Gaga let Haley perform it. Haley got trashed for singing an unreleased song that *no one would know*. The judges give Elise praise but their legs are feeling ok now, so they don't stand up.
Predictions: bottom 3 Hollie, Elise, and Skylar or Joshua. Going home: Hollie or Elise.
If you have read my recent post, we have been getting comments from anonymous readers who we don't think we know. We love that all sorts of people are reading this blog but I had to lay down some ground rules as one comment (which was not published) was so hateful toward certain ethnic and racial groups and contained about every variation of the f word you could dream up, I could not let it stand even though the commenter agreed with me that Bibi is a bore.
Mr. Auntee pointed out to me that the reason no one is commenting is that no one can figure out how to comment so I put the directions up top for people like Mr. Auntee, who are Mensa members.
One of these days I'm going to figure out how to put a poll up so you all can vote on something!
Idol needs to fill 2 hours at a point in the season when they would be heading toward one hour performance shows because Fox does not have a show to fill in the next slot. Consequently, the audience is instructed to clap extra long for Ryan as he is introduced. He tries to act surprised at this acclaim, but you can tell he is faking it. Tommy Hilfiger is brought in again to waste some time with a useless segment showing the Idols picking out new clothes to wear for everyday (as they are not wearing TH designs to perform in). That is really pretty sad, I think for poor Tommy Hilfiger. He's basically reduced to being their sales clerk and saying *no your butt does not look big in that*.
Then Jimmy is introduced with Akon, of whom I've never heard but he is evidently an icon in the record industry or at least his purposely mispelled name is designed to make us believe he is. He seemed pretty helpful, actually.
Finally, we get some music from the Idols. Skylar starts and I'm a little worried at her placement in the program but she does what Skylar does and does it well. Kellie Pickler's Didn't You Know How Much I Loved You was a good choice for her and she had me believin' the guy was no good and maybe even ran off with her best gun as he broke her heart. Jimmy and Akon loved her The judges have been reading the Idol boards or other reports (or maybe Nigel has and has given them orders to at least APPEAR to be fair to the female contestants) and praise her highly. Steven comes up with not one of the best of his Stevenisms saying the crows crow but the hens deliver the goods. I think he meant the rooster crows but, bless his heart, his mind does not work the way most of ours do. You can blame drugs, ADHD, genius or all three.
Colton Dixon enters the mentoring session. Jimmy tells him he is competing with Phillips and that he needs a moment. Colton has another song picked out, but Jimmy convinces him to try Love The Way You Lie because (as we all know) Colton has never done an emo love song before and this song will make people realize how great he is. Colton acts like he is uncomfortable being compared with Phillips but finally slips up and reveals what he has been thinking all along: *One day its going to be me and Phillip up there and one of us will go home*. So he is psyching himself up for the finale he knows he will be singing in. The judges comments were nonsensical. They acted like Colton had been rocking out to Judas Priest or Led Zeppelin all season ala James Durbin and that this is the first time he sang softly and emotionally and showed his *sensitive* side. Colton has shown so much sensitivity this season, his ass ought to be in a Charmin commercial. The only time he wasn't *sensitive* was when he threw his sister under the bus at the audition (no...I have not let that go). He annoyed the heck out of me tonight.
Elise and Phillips sing a song I really like by Gotye called Somebody I Used To Know. Something is up tonight because Phillips wasn't stroked very hard by the judges and they actually seemed to like Elise better. Of course, the fake video about Elise bossing Phillips around and having to have her way about the song choice is going to do nothing for Elise's reputation as a B among the Colton/Phillips/Jessica lovers. I suspect there will be two or three threads about it on the Idol boards.
One of the time-fillers this week was a little segment showing the Idol's home town fans making signs and having watching parties and all getting together to cheer them on...putting up signs on buildings...holding pep rallies. Well, Bibi's hometown is no exception...except apparently the only people who live in San Diego who give a hoot about Bibi are Bibi's large extended family. Bibi sings a song called Stuttering by Jasmine Sullivan. I didn't know the song or the original artist. The only remarkable thing about her performance was she did not sing Beyonce or Whitney. Of course Beyonce has been having a baby for awhile now and Whitney is well...dead...so perhaps there were no recent Beyonce or Whitney releases for her to sing. On second thought, it was remarkable to me that at moments she sounded eerily like the woman called Erin Martin on the voice who sings like a cat in heat. The judges praise her highly, Jimmy praises her highly, Akon praises her highly, and Colton is probably thinking *oh...maybe it will be me and Jessica in the finale instead of me and Phillips*.
Joshua looks very sharp in his white jacket and sings a Bruno Mars song called Runaway Baby. Fantasia comes on to wish him luck. It was entertaining. The judges realize they are about to succumb to deep vein thrombosis and stand up. Randy says Josh has *got to have it* (we are already sick of this phrase, Randy). I am amazed at the standing O because while it was enjoyable it was hardly earth shaking (except for the gogo dancer). But, the Idol boards have a term for the judges this year: the Standing Oafs. I think the judges proved themselves worthy of that name with this one.
Colton and Skylar come out and do another country song duet which Colton pretends to complain about. The chemistry between these two is looking more and more like oil and vinegar but they do fine on the song...Skylar more than Colton. Although Randy just cannot help himself and takes a dig at Skylar's *pitch*. Colton has no pitch...all he has is emo gutterals so I guess it would be unfair for the judges to call him *pitchy*.
Here comes Hollie trying once again to make the judges like her and it is a big fail. She sings Perfect by Pink and the lyrics pretty much tell the story of her Idol journey. I actually got teary eyed as she sang. No one knows why the producers and judges hate Hollie, but they do. I wanted to slap JLo's face when she said *you look beautiful tonight*. I saw the trashing of Hollie tonight as the judges payback for Deandre's elimination. Elise is a little too tough for them to take on so lets pick on the sweet young thing who has no confidence.
Phillips goes into the mentoring session and Jimmy tells him he is competing with Colton for votes and Phillips doesn't really care. He is singing Give A Little More by Maroon 5 and for the first eight or ten bars he actually sings the song. Then he reverts to ManBearPig and growls and grunts and oinks his way through the rest of the song just like he has done in the past. But....shocker...we have a sea change. The judges have just realized that he does the same thing every single week and that maybe it isn't all that original anymore. Whether the judges actually thought it was as bad as the rest of America could see it was...who knows. They may have been ordered to criticize one of the guys to make up for the pre-determined trashing of Hollie. But Phillips is no longer their Prince. I predict he will be on a downhill slide in their eyes until he is voted off (they hope) before Colton, Joshua and Jessica.
The three *big voices* do a trio and Joshua outsings the girls...he really is a big ham. Jessica looks like she is the walking dead...I don't think she likes not being the center of the universe and doesn't take to it well. Holly gives it her all but it doesn't matter anymore for her.
Finally Elise gets the pimp spot. Again. Good for her. She sings the Gaga song You and I and while not quite the moment her Zeppelin was, it was very good. If you recall, last season, before this song was officially released, Gaga let Haley perform it. Haley got trashed for singing an unreleased song that *no one would know*. The judges give Elise praise but their legs are feeling ok now, so they don't stand up.
Predictions: bottom 3 Hollie, Elise, and Skylar or Joshua. Going home: Hollie or Elise.
If you have read my recent post, we have been getting comments from anonymous readers who we don't think we know. We love that all sorts of people are reading this blog but I had to lay down some ground rules as one comment (which was not published) was so hateful toward certain ethnic and racial groups and contained about every variation of the f word you could dream up, I could not let it stand even though the commenter agreed with me that Bibi is a bore.
Mr. Auntee pointed out to me that the reason no one is commenting is that no one can figure out how to comment so I put the directions up top for people like Mr. Auntee, who are Mensa members.
One of these days I'm going to figure out how to put a poll up so you all can vote on something!
Saturday, April 7, 2012
A Word To Our Readers
KK and I have been BEGGING for our readers to comment on our posts and the show all season. We are thrilled that the comments have picked up and are thrilled to have new readers. However, because we didn't expect anyone but family and friends and friends of family and friends to read this blog or comment, we did not make clear that there are some ground rules for posting comments that we must, in all decorum and common decency, enforce. Comments will now be moderated before appearing on the site and these are the ground rules.
1. We will not post comments which demean a contestant's race, national origin, gender, sexual orientation or religion.
2. While mild profanity is acceptable, overuse of profanity will likely result in your comment not appearing on the site. What is overuse of profanity? Like pornography, I know it when I see it. Use it at your own risk.
We have no problem with snarky remarks related to a contestants talent, fashion choices, or song choice. After all, we make those comments ourselves. We also have no problem with your strong disagreement with our opinions or comments. We have, after all, put ourselves out there and we are both big enough to take the abuse. (We hope you are big enough to handle our replies).
Unfortunately, it is not possible for the moderator (that would be Auntee) to *edit* offensive portions of comments. So, if you comment does not follow our guidelines, it will be deleted, even if other portions are not offensive and/or contain relevent opinions.
Also, you are free to post as Anonymous, but we cannot distinguish one Anonymous poster from another. So, if you make a compelling comment we would like to call to other reader's attention, it won't happen if you are Anonymous. I have tested the comment section and it appears you can use a made up name and do not need to post an email address for your comment to publish.
1. We will not post comments which demean a contestant's race, national origin, gender, sexual orientation or religion. 2. While mild profanity is acceptable, overuse of profanity will likely result in your comment not appearing on the site. What is overuse of profanity? Like pornography, I know it when I see it. Use it at your own risk.
We have no problem with snarky remarks related to a contestants talent, fashion choices, or song choice. After all, we make those comments ourselves. We also have no problem with your strong disagreement with our opinions or comments. We have, after all, put ourselves out there and we are both big enough to take the abuse. (We hope you are big enough to handle our replies).Unfortunately, it is not possible for the moderator (that would be Auntee) to *edit* offensive portions of comments. So, if you comment does not follow our guidelines, it will be deleted, even if other portions are not offensive and/or contain relevent opinions.
Also, you are free to post as Anonymous, but we cannot distinguish one Anonymous poster from another. So, if you make a compelling comment we would like to call to other reader's attention, it won't happen if you are Anonymous. I have tested the comment section and it appears you can use a made up name and do not need to post an email address for your comment to publish.
Friday, April 6, 2012
OMG I can't believe it ...
... is a boy band singing that damn song!!
(What? You thought I was shocked about the elimination?)
I'll admit, the 1st time I heard I'm Glad You Came, I was annoyed that it rhymed so well. Then it sucked me in like a vortex. I found myself jamming to it in the car, and even hoping it would come on. I was about 45 seconds away from asking MrKK to download "this song about 'hand you a drink, drink it if you can'"
How do you NOT get these lyrics stuck in your head:
Turn the lights out now,
Now I'll take you by the hand,
Hand you another drink,
Drink it if you can,
Can you spend a little time,
Time is slipping away,
Away from us so stay,
Stay with me I can make,
Make you glad you came
I mean the figures of repetition there. It's catchy, ya'll.
And then I see that it's a BOY BAND who sings that song. I'm not against boy bands. (See my last post about being a child of the 80's.) But a woman of my age should not be downloading songs sung by boy bands. Right? (MrKK - Can you download this song for me? I must have it. I've been singing it all day.)
I also enjoyed seeing Kelly Pickler come back - looking gorgeous after having dropped the huge boobs and 10lbs of makeup she wore in her immediate post-AI success - and talk about "getting hitched". I really do love a good AI success story.
As for Hair's departure - I've yet to read an AI blog that lauds DeAndre as the favorite. In fact, the majority of them agree with Jimmy Iovine that the praise he's been receiving (*cough, JLo, cough*) has been excessive and unwarranted. It was nice to see Jimmy call JLo out on that, and I like to think it came across to her as, "look, if you use the save on this kid, you'll be wasting it because America just doesn't like him that much."
Who would've thought Steven Tyler would be the ONLY judge with a little tact?!? We know which 50% you think America got right, JLo and Randy, but it was straight up bitchy to look Elise right in the face and say, "we wish you were going home", which is essentially what you did.
Makes me want to set my phone to redial Elise's number over and over - no matter how she performs - in spite of you.
Speaking of attitude and defiance ... how come when Elise shows a bit of individuality in week one ("I'd rather sing this song") she's marked as having an attitude, and being ungrateful for the opportunity. Weeks later and she still can't shake the stigma.
But when Phil Phillips reacts to Jimmy's (completely accurate) criticism, with complacency comparable to the track-pants-wearing-Heejun ("I'm not here to touch hands", "I just want to do music") it's viewed as sexy and unique? "He's an artist. He wants to do his own thing."
Also, he's a good looking guy and Elise is just a catty, bitchy woman.
I'm at the point in this competition where I'll vote for Jessica Sanchez if she's the last woman standing. Just because I'm sick and tired of the misogyny and the blatant favoritism for contestants with peni.
(What? You thought I was shocked about the elimination?)
I'll admit, the 1st time I heard I'm Glad You Came, I was annoyed that it rhymed so well. Then it sucked me in like a vortex. I found myself jamming to it in the car, and even hoping it would come on. I was about 45 seconds away from asking MrKK to download "this song about 'hand you a drink, drink it if you can'"
How do you NOT get these lyrics stuck in your head:
Turn the lights out now,
Now I'll take you by the hand,
Hand you another drink,
Drink it if you can,
Can you spend a little time,
Time is slipping away,
Away from us so stay,
Stay with me I can make,
Make you glad you came
I mean the figures of repetition there. It's catchy, ya'll.
 |
| MrsKK NKOTB circa 1987 |
I also enjoyed seeing Kelly Pickler come back - looking gorgeous after having dropped the huge boobs and 10lbs of makeup she wore in her immediate post-AI success - and talk about "getting hitched". I really do love a good AI success story.
As for Hair's departure - I've yet to read an AI blog that lauds DeAndre as the favorite. In fact, the majority of them agree with Jimmy Iovine that the praise he's been receiving (*cough, JLo, cough*) has been excessive and unwarranted. It was nice to see Jimmy call JLo out on that, and I like to think it came across to her as, "look, if you use the save on this kid, you'll be wasting it because America just doesn't like him that much."
Who would've thought Steven Tyler would be the ONLY judge with a little tact?!? We know which 50% you think America got right, JLo and Randy, but it was straight up bitchy to look Elise right in the face and say, "we wish you were going home", which is essentially what you did.
Makes me want to set my phone to redial Elise's number over and over - no matter how she performs - in spite of you.
Speaking of attitude and defiance ... how come when Elise shows a bit of individuality in week one ("I'd rather sing this song") she's marked as having an attitude, and being ungrateful for the opportunity. Weeks later and she still can't shake the stigma.
But when Phil Phillips reacts to Jimmy's (completely accurate) criticism, with complacency comparable to the track-pants-wearing-Heejun ("I'm not here to touch hands", "I just want to do music") it's viewed as sexy and unique? "He's an artist. He wants to do his own thing."
Also, he's a good looking guy and Elise is just a catty, bitchy woman.
I'm at the point in this competition where I'll vote for Jessica Sanchez if she's the last woman standing. Just because I'm sick and tired of the misogyny and the blatant favoritism for contestants with peni.
Thursday, April 5, 2012
Hair Today...Gone Tomorrow
Everyone but Jennifer and Randy saw it coming. Falsetto is just not that popular with America. Hair was competing with Joshua for the R&B vote and competing with Colton for the pink cell phone vote and he came up short in both contests. Sweet kid but it was time to say goodbye to him and his hair. I really thought Jennifer might convince the others to save him and I think Randy was on board, but Steven was not. I knew halfway during the song when Jennifer sat there with her arms crossed she was not going to get her way.
The entertainment tonight was better than the past two weeks with Lana Del Daddy's Money and the Menage woman, but not all that memorable. J Lo's new video is pretty much soft porn and I wonder what her voice sounds like without autotune. I still don't get putting the mandatory rapper in the middle of a song but I guess my age is showing. Evidently, The Wanted is some hot new band. I had a hard time figuring out who was in the band and who were the backup dancers. It looked like the band had 16 members at one point. I don't know why the song So Glad You Came is a hit. It sounded like this generation's version of bubble gum music to me but as I recall it did not have the mandatory rap thrown in so I will be thankful for small favors. Kellie Pickler was really sweet with the contestants. I wasn't watching the season she was on but I gather she got a lot of flack from Simon, in particular. I'm glad she is a success. But hasn't she basically remade her face? She doesn't look at all like she did the last time she made a guest appearance on Idol.
As we watched the group sitting on the couches before the results were shown, I said to myself: They put the bottom three in the front. No surprise on that score either (except to Jennifer and Randy about Deandre).
I think Jimmy pretty accurately summed up the individual performances. I'm having a big crush on Jimmy. I'm glad he somewhat defended Elise.
There has been a lot of talk about Elise's *attitude*. After Randy and Jennifer basically said she needed to go when they said *America got it half right*, I cannot really fault her for being a little hurt and defensive. I think that comment by Jennifer, which Randy echoed, was inexcusable.
I'm not sure I'm right about this, but just after Ryan said Deandre was eliminated, Elise said *Oh...I didn't get it*. I think she thought she was eliminated. I'm glad she wasn't and I'm hoping she comes back next week with a great performance that knocks JLo on her much vaunted behind.
The entertainment tonight was better than the past two weeks with Lana Del Daddy's Money and the Menage woman, but not all that memorable. J Lo's new video is pretty much soft porn and I wonder what her voice sounds like without autotune. I still don't get putting the mandatory rapper in the middle of a song but I guess my age is showing. Evidently, The Wanted is some hot new band. I had a hard time figuring out who was in the band and who were the backup dancers. It looked like the band had 16 members at one point. I don't know why the song So Glad You Came is a hit. It sounded like this generation's version of bubble gum music to me but as I recall it did not have the mandatory rap thrown in so I will be thankful for small favors. Kellie Pickler was really sweet with the contestants. I wasn't watching the season she was on but I gather she got a lot of flack from Simon, in particular. I'm glad she is a success. But hasn't she basically remade her face? She doesn't look at all like she did the last time she made a guest appearance on Idol.
As we watched the group sitting on the couches before the results were shown, I said to myself: They put the bottom three in the front. No surprise on that score either (except to Jennifer and Randy about Deandre).
I think Jimmy pretty accurately summed up the individual performances. I'm having a big crush on Jimmy. I'm glad he somewhat defended Elise.
There has been a lot of talk about Elise's *attitude*. After Randy and Jennifer basically said she needed to go when they said *America got it half right*, I cannot really fault her for being a little hurt and defensive. I think that comment by Jennifer, which Randy echoed, was inexcusable.
I'm not sure I'm right about this, but just after Ryan said Deandre was eliminated, Elise said *Oh...I didn't get it*. I think she thought she was eliminated. I'm glad she wasn't and I'm hoping she comes back next week with a great performance that knocks JLo on her much vaunted behind.
What chu talkin' 'bout, Willis?
I love the 80's!!
As Auntee has alluded to, I am a proud child of the 80's. I loved everything about the decade - from the scrunchy neon colored socks, to the Aqua Netted bangs, to the music and movies!
Very few of these contestants even understand the 80's.
None of them appreciate it like I do.
So, last night looks like a bad movie. But we carry on.
Luckily Gwen Stefani and Tony Kanal are there to keep the contestants focused.
Best to Worst:
Skylar FTW! Thank GOD she didn't choose 9 to 5. Had she sung that, I honestly believe she'd be out the door. The dress was pretty (by AI standards,) and she looked gorgeous. I had a hard time getting into the song for about the first 1/4th of it, and then she changed keys and smacked me right in the face. If you had dry eyes at the end of this performance you're dead inside. (*I sang Wind Beneath My Wings, complete with sign language, to my parents at my 6th grade graduation*)
Phil Phillips - For the 1st time in ever, I get you, Phil. That's All is a classic 80's song, and Genesis is the epitome of 80's music (*I did a talent show try-out to I Can't Dance*). I don't know if I was hypnotized by those piercing blue eyes - since they were actually open and not squinty for once - or if the too short guitar strap didn't distract me since he opted to let family do the actual playing this time. But I liked it.
I will say that he is neither original or unique. I'm not the only person who has noticed the carbon copy of Dave Matthews. (I was a Dave Matthews fan in college, they're good. I get why Phil copies them. But don't pretend what you're doing is new.)
Baby of the Week - He's only this high because I like Cyndi Lauper that much. (*I fought with my BFF about who would sing backup in our basement performance of Girls Just Wanna Have Fun - I, unlike somebody, actually DID sing to boxes.*) ANYbody could sing ANY of Cyndi Lauper's songs and they'd be this high on my list.
Flipping the gender on this song is nothing new, though. It's a straight rip off of Javier Colon from The Voice. Who, incidentally, did it better.
Elise - This week was a little rocky for her. Hallelujah has been overdone on AI since Jason Castro (who, speaking of piercing eyes, is the only contestant to ever do it justice), BUT from the short blip they showed, I think it would've been better for her than Foreigner's I Wanna Know What Love Is. (*Which was on a mixed tape made for me by my 1st boyfriend.*) I sort of got a pitchy vibe, too. And a screamy one (I acknowledge it is a screamy song.) She looked really pretty though, and she's still one of my favorites.
Jessica - Of course picks Whitney Houston. Even though she's probably never even seen The Bodyguard (*the soundtrack was my 1st CD*) Her movements still looked lounge singer-ish, and it sounded like she was screaming most of the song. I see now why she sticks to ballads.
Joshua - Aka Jacob 2.0. I disagree with Auntee completely about his performance. I think his head is getting too big, he's getting over confident, and he thinks those excessive runs and yelly notes are acceptable under the guise of gospel. Gwen Stefani straight-up told him that his vocals are too much for If You Don't Know Me By Now (*also on the aforementioned mix tape*) yet he came out swinging. If Simon were still here he would've called this song, and the screaming at the end, self indulgent. Amen.
DeAndre - I had to YouTube Debarge's I Like It in the hopes that I'd actually heard the song before and DeAndre was just butchering it beyond recognition. But nope, never heard it. JLo notes that the hair swinging shows confidence. Randy likes how he didn't sing falsetto the whole song. I feel like we're in bizarro world where we fawn all over a contestant for his hair movements and what he didn't do.
Hollie - Aw, Hollie. I never thought I'd say this, but JLo's comments were spot on. We actually CAN see you thinking your way through all of these performances. Good job not falling down (why do they make the women wear ridiculous shoes?), but that's about it. What A Feeling is not a ballad. It's a rock song. Alex was a welder for crying out loud! (*I taught myself Flashdance choreography*)
Bottom 3: DeAndre, Hollie, Elise
Going home: Hollie
As Auntee has alluded to, I am a proud child of the 80's. I loved everything about the decade - from the scrunchy neon colored socks, to the Aqua Netted bangs, to the music and movies!
Very few of these contestants even understand the 80's.
None of them appreciate it like I do.
So, last night looks like a bad movie. But we carry on.
Luckily Gwen Stefani and Tony Kanal are there to keep the contestants focused.
Best to Worst:
Phil Phillips - For the 1st time in ever, I get you, Phil. That's All is a classic 80's song, and Genesis is the epitome of 80's music (*I did a talent show try-out to I Can't Dance*). I don't know if I was hypnotized by those piercing blue eyes - since they were actually open and not squinty for once - or if the too short guitar strap didn't distract me since he opted to let family do the actual playing this time. But I liked it.
I will say that he is neither original or unique. I'm not the only person who has noticed the carbon copy of Dave Matthews. (I was a Dave Matthews fan in college, they're good. I get why Phil copies them. But don't pretend what you're doing is new.)
Baby of the Week - He's only this high because I like Cyndi Lauper that much. (*I fought with my BFF about who would sing backup in our basement performance of Girls Just Wanna Have Fun - I, unlike somebody, actually DID sing to boxes.*) ANYbody could sing ANY of Cyndi Lauper's songs and they'd be this high on my list.
Flipping the gender on this song is nothing new, though. It's a straight rip off of Javier Colon from The Voice. Who, incidentally, did it better.
Jessica - Of course picks Whitney Houston. Even though she's probably never even seen The Bodyguard (*the soundtrack was my 1st CD*) Her movements still looked lounge singer-ish, and it sounded like she was screaming most of the song. I see now why she sticks to ballads.
Joshua - Aka Jacob 2.0. I disagree with Auntee completely about his performance. I think his head is getting too big, he's getting over confident, and he thinks those excessive runs and yelly notes are acceptable under the guise of gospel. Gwen Stefani straight-up told him that his vocals are too much for If You Don't Know Me By Now (*also on the aforementioned mix tape*) yet he came out swinging. If Simon were still here he would've called this song, and the screaming at the end, self indulgent. Amen.DeAndre - I had to YouTube Debarge's I Like It in the hopes that I'd actually heard the song before and DeAndre was just butchering it beyond recognition. But nope, never heard it. JLo notes that the hair swinging shows confidence. Randy likes how he didn't sing falsetto the whole song. I feel like we're in bizarro world where we fawn all over a contestant for his hair movements and what he didn't do.
Hollie - Aw, Hollie. I never thought I'd say this, but JLo's comments were spot on. We actually CAN see you thinking your way through all of these performances. Good job not falling down (why do they make the women wear ridiculous shoes?), but that's about it. What A Feeling is not a ballad. It's a rock song. Alex was a welder for crying out loud! (*I taught myself Flashdance choreography*)
Bottom 3: DeAndre, Hollie, Elise
Going home: Hollie
Things I Wish I Had Said and Probably Will Next Week
*Regarding Jessica,from this point forward I will only be recapping her in detail if she a) really [messes] up, or b) if she does something amazingly mindblowing ala Jennifer Hudson's "Circle Of Life". We know b) isn't going to happen, so unless we get an a), I will be stating, "Tonight, Jessica Sanchez did nothing worth noting."*
I love the guys at votefortheworst.com.
Another highlight from their posts: They refer to Jessica's alter ego as *Bebe Plant* since she was planted on Idol by her agent.
I'm going to follow this guy's lead with respect to Bibe/Bebe/Chez/Plant next week.
I love the guys at votefortheworst.com.
Another highlight from their posts: They refer to Jessica's alter ego as *Bebe Plant* since she was planted on Idol by her agent.
I'm going to follow this guy's lead with respect to Bibe/Bebe/Chez/Plant next week.
Wednesday, April 4, 2012
Gotta Have It!
Thank you Randy Jackson, fount of all cliches, for giving me my post title tonight. We will only be hearing He/She Has To Have It slightly less times from now until the season ends than we hear Randy say *I worked on that record with X. I talked to X. X, who I know so well, would be proud. It's X birthday in eight months*. Give it a rest Randy, no matter how many names you drop, everyone knows that no one knew you until you came on American Idol and most people still have no clue what you ever did to get your ass in that judges seat.
I was almost going to use Steven's line about *being somewhere else in the eighties* as my post title, but its not a song title and I do try to be consistent, even if not clever, about these things. Steven was on drugs and in rehab. I was working my butt off (figuratively...how I wish my butt actually came off) in the eighties dealing with people spitting in pizzas, using point of sale technology to write obscenities on customer receipts, and other highlights of life in the world of fast food. So, I heard the occasional song and of the occasional artist but really have no knowledge about eighties music. I didn't even see Flashdance or have leg warmers. And, while I have heard of Gwen Stefani, I did not know she was part of a group nor the name of the group. I don't know any song she ever sang or if I do, I did not know she was the one singing it.
The show opens with a small montage of HeJun's last moments and we learn Jennifer wanted to save him. Wiser heads prevailed. Then we see a picture of Randy Jackson in the eighties from a distance and it takes me a minute or two to figure out who is in the picture. Of course it may be my onsetting cataracts and my tiny tv. Mercifully we are spared Tommy Hilfiger and another look at his clothes that no one is choosing to wear.
The first performer is Deandre who sings I Like It by Debarge. I've never heard of Debarge or the song. Its a typical Deandre performance mixing his *normal* voice as it is now called with his falsetto and some runs and trills. He bounces around again. Really, the kid dances like a white man. The judges lick him up like ice cream for what I see as nothing that special and certainly Deandre has done this before. The judges resist the temptation to stand up.
At this point I knew Elise was going to get panned no matter if she channelled Whitney Houston's voice. The judges love child Deandre was in the bottom three last week and not Elise so Elise must be put back in the bottom of the pack. She wants to sing Hallelujah. I would not have been happy if she sang that because ever since Lee DeWyze and his angels ruined it and Crystal's chance to win, I don't want to hear that song sung by anyone but Leonard Cohen (is he still alive?). Jimmy and the mentors convince her to switch to I Don't Know What Love Is (a song I remember) and tell her she does a great job of it. Elise...don't take their advice anymore...it always leads to pain. I thought she did a good job of it but the chorus was drowning her out and was not in sync with her so either she or the people advising her made a bad decision on the arrangement. I think she should have gone it alone. I did not think she was off-key. I'm tone deaf obviously. So..she is in danger this week. I voted for her.
Colton and Skylar do a duet. Its cute but not memorable.
The crown prince, Phillips is up next and his brother-in-law is flown in to play guitar for him on this performance of That Song by Genesis (evidently the fund raising is going well). I don't know That Song and was just thinking *its always the same * from Phillip when he sings *its always the same *. The judges once again say he is an original and unique. He is as original as pumpkin pie at Thanksgiving. I like pumpkin pie but don't blow smoke up my leg and tell me its *original* to serve pumpkin pie for dessert at Thanksgiving.
Hollie and Deandre sing their duet *I'm so excited* and for once Hollie looks like she is having a good time. It was cute but not memorable.
Joshua is up next. I love this guy. He sings If You Don't Know Me By Now, a song I happen to know. He could drop a few of the runs, but overall, it was a good performance. Maybe not Standing O worthy...but the best so far tonight. Randy coins his new phrase *he has to have it* to replace *in it to win it*. Since he used *in it to win it* for 5 years straight, it will be 2017 before he comes up with a new catch phrase. They give Josh a standing O which may be going a bit far but not as far as giving one to HeJun last week. I guess the judges are trying to avoid Deep Vein Thrombosis.
Ok, last week, Jessica did NOT get across to America that she has an alter ego named Bibi Chez, which makes her just as great as Beyonce who has an alter ego of her own. I'm really thinking someone stayed up at night for the past few weeks trying to come up with some sort of story that would make Jessica remotely interesting and the alter ego was born. Never fear America won't forget it now as Ryan mentions it at least twice and she mentions it several times as she tries to convince us she has never sung in public before, only to boxes and that her parents actually let her go to the mall instead of to casting calls. I suspect we will hear about Bibi for the rest of the season. She sings Whitney again. Yawn. I suppose it was flawless. I don't care. I don't like her. And I thought it was pitchy. Jennifer wanted to stand up but Randy restrained her.
Phillip and Elise do a duet which I tried to love but Phillips crouching around and growling made it impossible for me to enjoy it...plus he made Elise growl too much too. I wanted to tell Phillip to stop dragging his ass around and stand up straight.
Poor sweet Hollie. I think this may be her last song. She wisely goes upbeat (I think) with Oh What A Feeling but it starts in a very ballady way. And she just cannot cut loose and they say she is pitchy again.
Joshua and Bibi sing I Knew You Were Waiting for Me and Bibi gets to channel Aretha. It was a good performance but I am giving Joshua all the credit.
Colton *flips the gender* and sings Time After Time. I do know this song but I didn't know it was Cyndi Lauper who sang it. Typical Colton emo performance. The judges say he *made it his own* and I have to give him credit for admitting that he totally ripped off his arrangment from another band. His hair is somehow different but it still looks like falshitto to me. I think he added some underlights.
I've been waiting for Skylar to do a ballad for at least 2 weeks and thank goodness she is either reading this blog or my mind or the countless tweets and facebook and Idol forum posts which suggest she needs to do a ballad. And she picks a good one. I said I wouldn't get tears in my eyes when she sang it. I lasted about 10 seconds. She looked so beautiful in her *pretty dress* even if it did look like she was styled by Lauren Alaina's mom. It suited her. What I loved is that she just sang the song straight without lots of vibrato and trills and runs and melisma. She gets a well-deserved standing O. She better check her deer sausage before she eats anymore of it because I think Bibi might put some razor blades in it. This girl has stage presence.
Predictions for Bottom 3: Elise, Holly and Deandre. If Deandre is eliminated they will save him or JLo will claw Nigel's eyes out.
KK is a 80's child and I'm looking forward to her reviews of this music.
edited: Deandre was not in the bottom three last week. I just had some wishful thinking for a moment.
I was almost going to use Steven's line about *being somewhere else in the eighties* as my post title, but its not a song title and I do try to be consistent, even if not clever, about these things. Steven was on drugs and in rehab. I was working my butt off (figuratively...how I wish my butt actually came off) in the eighties dealing with people spitting in pizzas, using point of sale technology to write obscenities on customer receipts, and other highlights of life in the world of fast food. So, I heard the occasional song and of the occasional artist but really have no knowledge about eighties music. I didn't even see Flashdance or have leg warmers. And, while I have heard of Gwen Stefani, I did not know she was part of a group nor the name of the group. I don't know any song she ever sang or if I do, I did not know she was the one singing it.
The show opens with a small montage of HeJun's last moments and we learn Jennifer wanted to save him. Wiser heads prevailed. Then we see a picture of Randy Jackson in the eighties from a distance and it takes me a minute or two to figure out who is in the picture. Of course it may be my onsetting cataracts and my tiny tv. Mercifully we are spared Tommy Hilfiger and another look at his clothes that no one is choosing to wear.
The first performer is Deandre who sings I Like It by Debarge. I've never heard of Debarge or the song. Its a typical Deandre performance mixing his *normal* voice as it is now called with his falsetto and some runs and trills. He bounces around again. Really, the kid dances like a white man. The judges lick him up like ice cream for what I see as nothing that special and certainly Deandre has done this before. The judges resist the temptation to stand up.
At this point I knew Elise was going to get panned no matter if she channelled Whitney Houston's voice. The judges love child Deandre was in the bottom three last week and not Elise so Elise must be put back in the bottom of the pack. She wants to sing Hallelujah. I would not have been happy if she sang that because ever since Lee DeWyze and his angels ruined it and Crystal's chance to win, I don't want to hear that song sung by anyone but Leonard Cohen (is he still alive?). Jimmy and the mentors convince her to switch to I Don't Know What Love Is (a song I remember) and tell her she does a great job of it. Elise...don't take their advice anymore...it always leads to pain. I thought she did a good job of it but the chorus was drowning her out and was not in sync with her so either she or the people advising her made a bad decision on the arrangement. I think she should have gone it alone. I did not think she was off-key. I'm tone deaf obviously. So..she is in danger this week. I voted for her.
Colton and Skylar do a duet. Its cute but not memorable.
The crown prince, Phillips is up next and his brother-in-law is flown in to play guitar for him on this performance of That Song by Genesis (evidently the fund raising is going well). I don't know That Song and was just thinking *its always the same * from Phillip when he sings *its always the same *. The judges once again say he is an original and unique. He is as original as pumpkin pie at Thanksgiving. I like pumpkin pie but don't blow smoke up my leg and tell me its *original* to serve pumpkin pie for dessert at Thanksgiving.
Hollie and Deandre sing their duet *I'm so excited* and for once Hollie looks like she is having a good time. It was cute but not memorable.
Joshua is up next. I love this guy. He sings If You Don't Know Me By Now, a song I happen to know. He could drop a few of the runs, but overall, it was a good performance. Maybe not Standing O worthy...but the best so far tonight. Randy coins his new phrase *he has to have it* to replace *in it to win it*. Since he used *in it to win it* for 5 years straight, it will be 2017 before he comes up with a new catch phrase. They give Josh a standing O which may be going a bit far but not as far as giving one to HeJun last week. I guess the judges are trying to avoid Deep Vein Thrombosis.
Ok, last week, Jessica did NOT get across to America that she has an alter ego named Bibi Chez, which makes her just as great as Beyonce who has an alter ego of her own. I'm really thinking someone stayed up at night for the past few weeks trying to come up with some sort of story that would make Jessica remotely interesting and the alter ego was born. Never fear America won't forget it now as Ryan mentions it at least twice and she mentions it several times as she tries to convince us she has never sung in public before, only to boxes and that her parents actually let her go to the mall instead of to casting calls. I suspect we will hear about Bibi for the rest of the season. She sings Whitney again. Yawn. I suppose it was flawless. I don't care. I don't like her. And I thought it was pitchy. Jennifer wanted to stand up but Randy restrained her.
Phillip and Elise do a duet which I tried to love but Phillips crouching around and growling made it impossible for me to enjoy it...plus he made Elise growl too much too. I wanted to tell Phillip to stop dragging his ass around and stand up straight.
Poor sweet Hollie. I think this may be her last song. She wisely goes upbeat (I think) with Oh What A Feeling but it starts in a very ballady way. And she just cannot cut loose and they say she is pitchy again.
Joshua and Bibi sing I Knew You Were Waiting for Me and Bibi gets to channel Aretha. It was a good performance but I am giving Joshua all the credit.
Colton *flips the gender* and sings Time After Time. I do know this song but I didn't know it was Cyndi Lauper who sang it. Typical Colton emo performance. The judges say he *made it his own* and I have to give him credit for admitting that he totally ripped off his arrangment from another band. His hair is somehow different but it still looks like falshitto to me. I think he added some underlights.
I've been waiting for Skylar to do a ballad for at least 2 weeks and thank goodness she is either reading this blog or my mind or the countless tweets and facebook and Idol forum posts which suggest she needs to do a ballad. And she picks a good one. I said I wouldn't get tears in my eyes when she sang it. I lasted about 10 seconds. She looked so beautiful in her *pretty dress* even if it did look like she was styled by Lauren Alaina's mom. It suited her. What I loved is that she just sang the song straight without lots of vibrato and trills and runs and melisma. She gets a well-deserved standing O. She better check her deer sausage before she eats anymore of it because I think Bibi might put some razor blades in it. This girl has stage presence.
Predictions for Bottom 3: Elise, Holly and Deandre. If Deandre is eliminated they will save him or JLo will claw Nigel's eyes out.
KK is a 80's child and I'm looking forward to her reviews of this music.
edited: Deandre was not in the bottom three last week. I just had some wishful thinking for a moment.
Friday, March 30, 2012
Risky Business: Boobs and Jokes
Best to worst:
Nicki Minaj's boobs. Gorgeous ... hypnotizing ... mesmerizing ... I could not look away.
Nicki Minaj's performance. Awful, except for the boobs.
Also ...
Scotty was back to perform a song about "sweet tea", "football" and "girls". There was probably a verse or two about God and prayer, but I must've missed it. Slam dunk, kid. Congrats on your success.
Heejun's elimination surprised nobody. The best part about it, though, was when Steven Tyler reminded him that he did it to himself. "The music business will kick your ass." Point taken.
What I found interesting about the evening were a few previously unspoken revelations -
Jimmy outwardly acknowledged the Jessica vs Hollie dynamic that everybody else, up to this point, was pretending to ignore.
Skylar has "experience"? Apparently, at ages 7, 8, and 9 she did two national Broadway tours with Annie and LesMiserables. (Research courtesy of MrKK's *other* favorite, almost as funny, AI blog: Grantland AI Blog).
And Jimmy calls out the female tweens with cell phones for voting for cute guys - for the past 5 years - instead of girls. "Girl power" huh? We'll see.
Nicki Minaj's boobs. Gorgeous ... hypnotizing ... mesmerizing ... I could not look away.
Nicki Minaj's performance. Awful, except for the boobs.
Also ...
Scotty was back to perform a song about "sweet tea", "football" and "girls". There was probably a verse or two about God and prayer, but I must've missed it. Slam dunk, kid. Congrats on your success.
What I found interesting about the evening were a few previously unspoken revelations -
Jimmy outwardly acknowledged the Jessica vs Hollie dynamic that everybody else, up to this point, was pretending to ignore.
Skylar has "experience"? Apparently, at ages 7, 8, and 9 she did two national Broadway tours with Annie and LesMiserables. (Research courtesy of MrKK's *other* favorite, almost as funny, AI blog: Grantland AI Blog).
Thursday, March 29, 2012
Shock (Not)
Well, Auntee made an ass out of herself on the Idol boards today (but is not banned) when Ryan tweeted earlier today there would be a shocking elimination. Of course, my wishful thinking got the best of me and I predicted Jessica would be eliminated! That would have been so cool! But then they would have saved her. So...I'm looking like an ass there.
No, its not a shock HeJun went home tonight. The shock was the reception he got from the judges last night which I guess made Ryan think Hejun was back on top or something. Or else Ryan just lied about the *shocking elimination*for the ratings. Take your pick. Nice exit...he sang the song better tonight. I was afraid they were going to save him but they did not. I think the Idol boards would have exploded had they saved him or Deandre.
I was sorry to see Skylar in the bottom 3, but the J's were not impressed with her last night so I guess they were not alone in their opinion. I'm glad Jimmy is taking my opinions into account and suggested she sing a melodic song (a ballad) instead of the type she has been doing lately.
I pretty much knew once Eric Benet appeared that Deandre was safe. They wouldn't be so cruel as to have him meet his Idol and go home in the same night.
Poor Hollie. I think her days are numbered. I keep hoping she will have a *moment* and thought she came close last night but I guess America agreed with Randy and Steven that her performance lacked something.
As for Nicky Menage. I turned it off for most of the performance and got in on the end. I guess she lip synced and kootchi kooed her boobs around. Then she asked to be a guest judge and JLo shot her down. You go JLo. You are the Queen on the panel.
Everyone on the boards say that Idol doesn't want another country winner this year so they are discounting Skylar. I'm thinking if Idol could get a country winner who goes platinum on the debut album every year they would be just fine with that. Scotty was Scotty and I'm happy he is doing well. He is back in school at least some of the time and pitching for his highschool baseball team at least some of the time.
Next week is the 80s...which is KK's element!
No, its not a shock HeJun went home tonight. The shock was the reception he got from the judges last night which I guess made Ryan think Hejun was back on top or something. Or else Ryan just lied about the *shocking elimination*for the ratings. Take your pick. Nice exit...he sang the song better tonight. I was afraid they were going to save him but they did not. I think the Idol boards would have exploded had they saved him or Deandre.
I was sorry to see Skylar in the bottom 3, but the J's were not impressed with her last night so I guess they were not alone in their opinion. I'm glad Jimmy is taking my opinions into account and suggested she sing a melodic song (a ballad) instead of the type she has been doing lately.
I pretty much knew once Eric Benet appeared that Deandre was safe. They wouldn't be so cruel as to have him meet his Idol and go home in the same night.
Poor Hollie. I think her days are numbered. I keep hoping she will have a *moment* and thought she came close last night but I guess America agreed with Randy and Steven that her performance lacked something.
As for Nicky Menage. I turned it off for most of the performance and got in on the end. I guess she lip synced and kootchi kooed her boobs around. Then she asked to be a guest judge and JLo shot her down. You go JLo. You are the Queen on the panel.
Everyone on the boards say that Idol doesn't want another country winner this year so they are discounting Skylar. I'm thinking if Idol could get a country winner who goes platinum on the debut album every year they would be just fine with that. Scotty was Scotty and I'm happy he is doing well. He is back in school at least some of the time and pitching for his highschool baseball team at least some of the time.
Next week is the 80s...which is KK's element!
Cry me a river
Good news: I didn't get sucked up by a tornado last night
Bad news: Weather coverage forced me to YouTube WAY too many performances, and there were a LOT of tears.
Best news: Stevie Nicks is the mentor!!! Can we replace Randy with her? She's gorgeous, isn't she? I'm in love with her, too, Jimmy.
Best to Worst:
Elise! Yay, yay, yay! She finally gets the pimp spot that she deserves, she kills the impossible Zepplin song Whole Lotta Love, she totally owns the stage, and she's wearing Steven Tyler's pants (she didn't get THOSE in the Hilfiger section of Macy's!) She's been under-appreciated - even villianized - all season long. Tonight she kicked ass. It pained the judges to have to stand up for *gasp* a woman, but they knew they'd be fried if they didn't.
Hollie - I, too, love Carrie Underwood (who doesn't?) and Jesus Take The Wheel makes me teary every single time. Last night was no exception. She looked gorgeous, the winter effects were wonderful, and she sounded beautiful!
Skylar - Does this girl EVER hold still? She reminds me of my toddlers. But how do you not love it? She's just the cutest little thing ever! I don't remember her singing Gunpowder and Lead before, and I thought it was awesome. I will say, though, that it would be nice to see her calm down a bit.
Joshua - I didn't think this was his best performance, but it was still good. Mariah Carey is one of *those* singers that contestants should just not sing (with the exception of David Cook, because he can do no wrong). The bar is set so high before that 1st note, and Joshua did, in fact, start out rocky. The gospel at the end brought it home for me, though. Plus I LOVED his jacket!
Jessica Sanchez - Two words: Over. Sung. Oversung, oversung, oversung. Google Sweet Dreams by Beyonce. Go ahead, I'll wait. See how even Beyonce herself doesn't put a run on every. single. note? I give her props, though, because I loved the slowed version. Way to make it "her own".
Phillip Phillips - He only partially groaned and winced through this performance. Plus, I liked him with Elise and Colton on the trio, so I was swayed a bit. I've never heard Still Raining, but Phillip's version was pretty okay. But like Jessica's ballads and Skylar's bouncing around, Phillip Phillip's songs are all the same (but the judges would never point that out to him.)
Baby of the Week - After all of Randy's "Colton laid down the gauntlet" talk, I had to Google this. Waste of 5 minutes. BUT, genius strategic turn. Last week he pulled the Christian card, this week he backed it up. I'm a heathen. Christian preaching annoys me. I get twitchy at church and I only go on Easter and Christmas because MrKK makes me. But the fact is, I'm in the minority. There are a lot of Christian voters out there - and if he Tebows after his performance next week, he'll have this competition in the bag. Well played Baby of the Week, well played.
Hair - I like the hair cut! That's about it, though. I think his voice is probably pretty good. If I knew about vibrato and falsetto, and appreciated the type of music where that fits in (what type of music is that, anyway?) I suppose I might like Deandre. But I just don't.
Heejun - Still a dick. Elise disagrees with Jimmy's song choice during week 1 and is still trying to dig out of that hole weeks later. Heejun is a dick to the cowboy during group week, fights with Jimmy every week, and all but asks America to vote him out - yet this week he sings an ok-sounding song and all is forgiven. MrKK and Jimmy Iovine might be softies, Heejun, but I don't forget. And I hold grudges.
Bottom 3: Heejun, Hair, Hollie
Going home: Hair
Bad news: Weather coverage forced me to YouTube WAY too many performances, and there were a LOT of tears.
Best news: Stevie Nicks is the mentor!!! Can we replace Randy with her? She's gorgeous, isn't she? I'm in love with her, too, Jimmy.
Best to Worst:
Elise! Yay, yay, yay! She finally gets the pimp spot that she deserves, she kills the impossible Zepplin song Whole Lotta Love, she totally owns the stage, and she's wearing Steven Tyler's pants (she didn't get THOSE in the Hilfiger section of Macy's!) She's been under-appreciated - even villianized - all season long. Tonight she kicked ass. It pained the judges to have to stand up for *gasp* a woman, but they knew they'd be fried if they didn't.
Hollie - I, too, love Carrie Underwood (who doesn't?) and Jesus Take The Wheel makes me teary every single time. Last night was no exception. She looked gorgeous, the winter effects were wonderful, and she sounded beautiful!
Skylar - Does this girl EVER hold still? She reminds me of my toddlers. But how do you not love it? She's just the cutest little thing ever! I don't remember her singing Gunpowder and Lead before, and I thought it was awesome. I will say, though, that it would be nice to see her calm down a bit.
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| This is not a face you question. |
Jessica Sanchez - Two words: Over. Sung. Oversung, oversung, oversung. Google Sweet Dreams by Beyonce. Go ahead, I'll wait. See how even Beyonce herself doesn't put a run on every. single. note? I give her props, though, because I loved the slowed version. Way to make it "her own".
Phillip Phillips - He only partially groaned and winced through this performance. Plus, I liked him with Elise and Colton on the trio, so I was swayed a bit. I've never heard Still Raining, but Phillip's version was pretty okay. But like Jessica's ballads and Skylar's bouncing around, Phillip Phillip's songs are all the same (but the judges would never point that out to him.)
Hair - I like the hair cut! That's about it, though. I think his voice is probably pretty good. If I knew about vibrato and falsetto, and appreciated the type of music where that fits in (what type of music is that, anyway?) I suppose I might like Deandre. But I just don't.
Heejun - Still a dick. Elise disagrees with Jimmy's song choice during week 1 and is still trying to dig out of that hole weeks later. Heejun is a dick to the cowboy during group week, fights with Jimmy every week, and all but asks America to vote him out - yet this week he sings an ok-sounding song and all is forgiven. MrKK and Jimmy Iovine might be softies, Heejun, but I don't forget. And I hold grudges.
Bottom 3: Heejun, Hair, Hollie
Going home: Hair
Wednesday, March 28, 2012
Whole Lotta Love Standing By Your Man
What a strange show tonight. Five standing ovations. Four of them for men. There are only 5 men left in the competition! And they wonder why women keep dropping like flies.
First, I must say that overall this was the best live performance yet as far as I was concerned. It does help to let the kids sing what they love. Well, it helps most of them.
But, I'm not all Lollipops and Rainbows tonight. I'm seriously thinking the judges have jumped the shark. They just couldn't love the men enough tonight. The women...ho hum...even for Little Miss Perfect, Jessica Sanchez.
The show starts off laying a big egg with a picture of Jimmy with Stevie Nicks in their heyday. Yes, they used to date and now its nice they are *good friends*. The audience just sat there on the first photo and barely reacted to the second even with an arrow pointing to Jimmy when he had Colton hair. Awkward.
Then Tommy comes on and lectures the Idols about finding *their own style* in the Tommy Hilfiger section of Macys. Naturally, they all come out looking alike.
Colton starts the performance part of the show with a *Worship Song* by Lifehouse called Everything (I had to cheat and look up the name of it). I have never heard of Lifehouse and thought it was *Lighthouse* until I looked again. (*Lighthouse* made no sense when I googled it as a band name and wasted 10 minutes or more trying to figure out why he was singing a song from a 70's Canadian band or a German Punk Rock band...neither of which seemed particularly inclined to sing about God.) Stevie Nicks thought the song was about a woman. Major disconnect there between Stevie and Colton although Stevie does like his hair. I thought it was fine, noticed the *squeak* in his voice some on the Idol fan boards are referring to, and listened as Colton gave witness. I must say, the song was not very catchy but it probably wasn't intended to be. The judges think he is great...he is *in it to win it* per Randy but he doesn't get a standing O.
Skylar loves Miranda Lambert and takes on a song she has sung before, Gunpowder and Lead. I thought she did a good job of *telling the story* and liked her performance this week better than last. She is about the only contestant who has not done a ballad and I wish that she would. She didn't get a standing O either but the judges were complimentary even though Steven keeps forgetting where she is from. Last week it was Houston, this week its Galveston...oh well.
HeJun is doing penance this week after mocking the process last week. He abandons his paternal roots (Normund Gentle), goes back to balladeering (Thia Megia), and sings Donny Hathaway's A Song For You. I find it hard to believe that Donny Hathaway is HeJun's Idol...he would have sung any ballad they put in front of him or even Randy's phonebook to get back into the judge's good graces. Jimmy is glad HeJun is now taking things seriously, Stevie psychoanalyzes him to convince us he is not a jerk, and HeJun comes out and tries to emote. He sounds like he needs an inhaler, is pitchy, and his final note is second only to Danny Gokey's scream in Dream On for Idol awfulness. The judges are standing up clapping. I'm thinking HOLY BALLS! What is going on here? The judges are clearly rewarding him for not being an ass this week even though he stunk up the stage. Just like the prodigal son, he gets the feast and the others get the leftovers. I have always hated that parable. It makes no sense to me. The prodigal son should not be praised for doing what he is supposed to do in the first place. I blame it on Dr. Spock.
Little Hollie takes on Carrie Underwood which both Randy and Steven think is a mistake. Randy basically pans her...says it was *pitchy* (like HeJun wasn't? Oh yeah...Randy said HeJun wasn't perfect but it doesn't matter because...) and beats that drum to death. JLo says it is her best performance and I agree with JLo. Steven doesn't like the song for her. Evidently TPTB (the Powers That Be) have decided its time for her to go.
Deandre sings Eric Benet's Sometimes I Cry. I'm not familiar with this song but I'm crying in pain at the falsetto. Stop. It. Now. No...no...the judges LOVE the falsetto (called falshitto by VFTW guys) and give him a Standing O. Now I'm going WTF? Deandre is back according to Randy. I think he is a cute, sweet, kid, but there is no way that Tiny Tim imitation deserved a Standing O. Even if you like falsetto it doesn't deserve a standing O. Bizzaro world is coming off my TV screen right now.
Jessica Sanchez sings a Beyonce song (and I have no problem believing Beyonce is her Idol since she imitates her all the darn time) Sweet Dreams. This girl is going to beat the Dream theme harder than Danny Gokey beat his dead wife. I thought it was fine but not memorable. The judges did too, but were surprisingly reserved and she doesn't get a Standing O. As much as I don't like her, that performance was heads and tails above HeJun and Deandre and I'm beginning to think that the only thing wrong with it for the judges is Jessica's gender. We learn Jessica has an alter ego who she channelled tonight for her performance. The alter ego likes to sing ballads. Mmmhmm.
Ok, here comes Phillips doing a Johnny Lang (someone I don't know) song called *Still Rainin*. Stevie is in love with him and Jimmy points out he looks like Lindsay Buckinham. I guess it was a good performance. It gets a Standing O too. (Well after they gave HeJun and Deandre one for the crapfest they served up...what are they gonna do when their favorite actually does a decent job?). He didn't seem to be hunched over so much tonight so maybe his potty problems are in remission.
When I heard that Joshua was going to do Mariah Carey I was thinking...I'm not sure you want to be doing some feminine song here Joshua because you are rather *ambiguous*. Well, it is not really Mariah Carey, it is Harry Nilsson, someone I forget that I love until I hear one of his songs and then I'm in love again. I didn't take too many notes while he sang because I was involved in the performance. Now THAT deserved a standing ovation. Should have been the FIRST of the night and not the fourth. Update: I guess I am about the only person in the world who liked this performance (other than the judges) as it was universally panned on the Idol boards. But, at least it was better than this one: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=FQt-h753jHI
Finally, Elise gets the Pimp Spot. No one thought they would ever give that slot to her and no one thought she could sing this song by Led Zeppelin. She evidently nails it on the first take with Stevie and Jimmy because Stevie has found a new best friend and they sing a Fleetwood Mac song together. Stevie thinks Elise is awesome and so do I. I, frankly, couldn't believe what she did with that song. Finally, one of the ladies gets a Standing O but by this time it has sort of lost its power. I mean really...if HeJun set the bar...
The trios were a nice way to use up the extra half hour of time Fox has because the 1/2 hour sitcom they were going to air in that slot bombed or they shelved it or something. I like it when they do trios and duets and the pressure is off of them. I liked the Fleetwood Mac tribute the best. I'm not a big fan of Madonna and I really have never liked Michael Jackson but I thought they all did a nice job. I was a little surpised that Skylar overshadowed both Hollie and Jessica on the Madonna trio. Jessica was probably bummed out because she didn't get a standing ovation and to tell you the truth...I don't blame her.
I voted for the first time tonight...for Elise.
The judges need to do some serious soul-searching because I think they did a HeJun tonight...not taking this seriously. I can only conclude that TPTB want HeJun and Deandre around a little longer so told the judges to praise them for their dreck performances.
I sincerely hope HeJun and Deandre are in the bottom 2. One of them should go home. If they save Deandre I will scream in falshitto!
First, I must say that overall this was the best live performance yet as far as I was concerned. It does help to let the kids sing what they love. Well, it helps most of them.
But, I'm not all Lollipops and Rainbows tonight. I'm seriously thinking the judges have jumped the shark. They just couldn't love the men enough tonight. The women...ho hum...even for Little Miss Perfect, Jessica Sanchez.
The show starts off laying a big egg with a picture of Jimmy with Stevie Nicks in their heyday. Yes, they used to date and now its nice they are *good friends*. The audience just sat there on the first photo and barely reacted to the second even with an arrow pointing to Jimmy when he had Colton hair. Awkward.
Then Tommy comes on and lectures the Idols about finding *their own style* in the Tommy Hilfiger section of Macys. Naturally, they all come out looking alike.
Colton starts the performance part of the show with a *Worship Song* by Lifehouse called Everything (I had to cheat and look up the name of it). I have never heard of Lifehouse and thought it was *Lighthouse* until I looked again. (*Lighthouse* made no sense when I googled it as a band name and wasted 10 minutes or more trying to figure out why he was singing a song from a 70's Canadian band or a German Punk Rock band...neither of which seemed particularly inclined to sing about God.) Stevie Nicks thought the song was about a woman. Major disconnect there between Stevie and Colton although Stevie does like his hair. I thought it was fine, noticed the *squeak* in his voice some on the Idol fan boards are referring to, and listened as Colton gave witness. I must say, the song was not very catchy but it probably wasn't intended to be. The judges think he is great...he is *in it to win it* per Randy but he doesn't get a standing O.
Skylar loves Miranda Lambert and takes on a song she has sung before, Gunpowder and Lead. I thought she did a good job of *telling the story* and liked her performance this week better than last. She is about the only contestant who has not done a ballad and I wish that she would. She didn't get a standing O either but the judges were complimentary even though Steven keeps forgetting where she is from. Last week it was Houston, this week its Galveston...oh well.
HeJun is doing penance this week after mocking the process last week. He abandons his paternal roots (Normund Gentle), goes back to balladeering (Thia Megia), and sings Donny Hathaway's A Song For You. I find it hard to believe that Donny Hathaway is HeJun's Idol...he would have sung any ballad they put in front of him or even Randy's phonebook to get back into the judge's good graces. Jimmy is glad HeJun is now taking things seriously, Stevie psychoanalyzes him to convince us he is not a jerk, and HeJun comes out and tries to emote. He sounds like he needs an inhaler, is pitchy, and his final note is second only to Danny Gokey's scream in Dream On for Idol awfulness. The judges are standing up clapping. I'm thinking HOLY BALLS! What is going on here? The judges are clearly rewarding him for not being an ass this week even though he stunk up the stage. Just like the prodigal son, he gets the feast and the others get the leftovers. I have always hated that parable. It makes no sense to me. The prodigal son should not be praised for doing what he is supposed to do in the first place. I blame it on Dr. Spock.
Little Hollie takes on Carrie Underwood which both Randy and Steven think is a mistake. Randy basically pans her...says it was *pitchy* (like HeJun wasn't? Oh yeah...Randy said HeJun wasn't perfect but it doesn't matter because...) and beats that drum to death. JLo says it is her best performance and I agree with JLo. Steven doesn't like the song for her. Evidently TPTB (the Powers That Be) have decided its time for her to go.
Deandre sings Eric Benet's Sometimes I Cry. I'm not familiar with this song but I'm crying in pain at the falsetto. Stop. It. Now. No...no...the judges LOVE the falsetto (called falshitto by VFTW guys) and give him a Standing O. Now I'm going WTF? Deandre is back according to Randy. I think he is a cute, sweet, kid, but there is no way that Tiny Tim imitation deserved a Standing O. Even if you like falsetto it doesn't deserve a standing O. Bizzaro world is coming off my TV screen right now.
Jessica Sanchez sings a Beyonce song (and I have no problem believing Beyonce is her Idol since she imitates her all the darn time) Sweet Dreams. This girl is going to beat the Dream theme harder than Danny Gokey beat his dead wife. I thought it was fine but not memorable. The judges did too, but were surprisingly reserved and she doesn't get a Standing O. As much as I don't like her, that performance was heads and tails above HeJun and Deandre and I'm beginning to think that the only thing wrong with it for the judges is Jessica's gender. We learn Jessica has an alter ego who she channelled tonight for her performance. The alter ego likes to sing ballads. Mmmhmm.
Ok, here comes Phillips doing a Johnny Lang (someone I don't know) song called *Still Rainin*. Stevie is in love with him and Jimmy points out he looks like Lindsay Buckinham. I guess it was a good performance. It gets a Standing O too. (Well after they gave HeJun and Deandre one for the crapfest they served up...what are they gonna do when their favorite actually does a decent job?). He didn't seem to be hunched over so much tonight so maybe his potty problems are in remission.
When I heard that Joshua was going to do Mariah Carey I was thinking...I'm not sure you want to be doing some feminine song here Joshua because you are rather *ambiguous*. Well, it is not really Mariah Carey, it is Harry Nilsson, someone I forget that I love until I hear one of his songs and then I'm in love again. I didn't take too many notes while he sang because I was involved in the performance. Now THAT deserved a standing ovation. Should have been the FIRST of the night and not the fourth. Update: I guess I am about the only person in the world who liked this performance (other than the judges) as it was universally panned on the Idol boards. But, at least it was better than this one: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=FQt-h753jHI
Finally, Elise gets the Pimp Spot. No one thought they would ever give that slot to her and no one thought she could sing this song by Led Zeppelin. She evidently nails it on the first take with Stevie and Jimmy because Stevie has found a new best friend and they sing a Fleetwood Mac song together. Stevie thinks Elise is awesome and so do I. I, frankly, couldn't believe what she did with that song. Finally, one of the ladies gets a Standing O but by this time it has sort of lost its power. I mean really...if HeJun set the bar...
The trios were a nice way to use up the extra half hour of time Fox has because the 1/2 hour sitcom they were going to air in that slot bombed or they shelved it or something. I like it when they do trios and duets and the pressure is off of them. I liked the Fleetwood Mac tribute the best. I'm not a big fan of Madonna and I really have never liked Michael Jackson but I thought they all did a nice job. I was a little surpised that Skylar overshadowed both Hollie and Jessica on the Madonna trio. Jessica was probably bummed out because she didn't get a standing ovation and to tell you the truth...I don't blame her.
I voted for the first time tonight...for Elise.
The judges need to do some serious soul-searching because I think they did a HeJun tonight...not taking this seriously. I can only conclude that TPTB want HeJun and Deandre around a little longer so told the judges to praise them for their dreck performances.
I sincerely hope HeJun and Deandre are in the bottom 2. One of them should go home. If they save Deandre I will scream in falshitto!
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