Fugitive

 

Unfortunately, the Gentle Giant went running scared.  

The rumors were that AI would show video of the "confrontation" between producers and Jermaine, and that he'd be kicked off the show tonight, in front of God and country.

Looks like that's no longer the case.  

Boo, because that would've made for some great TV!

Gentle Giant lands in Philly 

Jailhouse Rocks Idol!

Oh Nigel Lythgoe is regretting his *ratings grab* maneuver to bring back Jermaine Jones!  In fact, Nigel has a big fat egg on his face! 

It turns out that Jermaine has a problem with the truth.  Not only did he *exaggerate* the abandonment by his father he failed to disclose that he has some serious criminal matters in his past and some outstanding warrants.   According to TMZ, he will be publicly kicked off the show tomorrow. 

Sounds like Must See TV! 

I just feel bad for people who did not make the top 13 because his tall ass was taking up a stool.  Don't know if they will *bring someone back* (I hope not) or move on.  

But Idol looks pretty stupid for not doing a more thorough vetting of its contestants!  

I am linking to the article on TMZ here but if you don't want to bother reading it...evidently Jermaine's dear old dad, by coming out and saying *wait...we are not estranged* prompted Jermaine to twitter that he never told the producers about his dad's alleged *from the blue* phone call.  The producers knew Jermaine was lying and decided to do a more thorough check on him...discovering he was not quite who they thought he was after all!

http://www.tmz.com/2012/03/13/jermaine-jones-american-idol-criminal-history-kicked-off/

As if you needed another reason ...

The Gentle Giant has been setting off my BS-o-meter for weeks now.  Something about his, "I'm simply a gospel loving kid who dotes on his mother because I have no father" schtick didn't set right with me.  (And I'm a very good judge of character.)

Turns out it was all a ploy to get the sympathy vote, as his dad has been around all along, and was even in the audience last week.  

Danny Gokey's dead wife has ruined this show for everybody.

Jermaine's sympathy vote bust 


And, yes, TMZ is my go-to news source.

Cry Me A River Jessica Sanchez

Poor Jessica Sanchez.  She is at a huge disadvantage because everyone in the competition is trying to do better each week and its *kinda hard* for her given the standing ovations she has been receiving.

http://blog.zap2it.com/frominsidethebox/2012/03/american-idol-jessica-sanchez-felt-like-whitney-houston-was-still-there-with-us.html 

Stage Dad fail

Sorry, Gentle Giant's Dad.  If you weren't there to take him to Late Night with David Letterman at the age of 5, you don't get to be there now.

http://www.tmz.com/2012/03/08/american-idol-contestant-jermaine-jones-dad-father/#.T1oZJfUuuZQ

cough*moneygrubbers*cough
 

Delusions

The only one without any delusions about his performance was Jeremy -

Poor Jeremy is going to have to wash his hands 60,000 times to get all the nastiness from the evening off of him.  Everyone, from Jimmy to the judges (exception JLo) made it clear that Jeremy deserved to go home.  And by the end of the night, he couldn't get off the stage fast enough.  

How interesting would it be if he actually had more votes then Elise?  We'll never know.

I'm SHOCKED that America picked my bottom 6.  Exactly how I would've done it, had I been the only one with a phone.  Maybe this season holds more promise then I anticipate!

Others to watch, for further delusions -
1.  Shannon Migrane hit just 1 bad note, the rest was great.
2.  Gentle Giant says (with a twisted grin, and no words) that Jimmy and the Judges are fools to criticize him.
 3.  And the producers, if they think *this* is the way to keep their show from jumping the shark.

I'm only a little ashamed to admit that Mr.KK and I watch a LOT of singing competitions on TV.  We have toddlers, so we have no lives.  This is the 1st season that The Voice is running concurrently to AI.  And, for me, AI is struggling to hang in there.  

They better find a way to shake it up - and I do NOT mean taking eliminations away from America - before the show bites the dust.  (Fear not, though, I could blog about Adam Levine and Blake Shelton all. day. long.) 

 

You Don't Mess Around With Jim(my)

When KK leaves Mr. KK for David Cook, I will leave Mr. Auntee for Jimmy Iovine.  That man agrees with me on all things musical and since I consider myself not very savvy musically, he makes me feel like a genius. 

The results show opens with a promise from Ryan that *for one night only* the judges will decide who goes home.  This better not be an empty promise.  Idol is about 3 feet away from the ski ramp leading to the shark pit already and if Nigel decides to pull this stunt again....Idol is not going to jump the shark, its going to be in the shark tank getting devoured by sharks named Christina Aguilera and Simon Cowell.

Shortly after I'm skeptically eyeing Ryan and his empty promises that Nigel won't try to micromanage the outcome anymore, Ryan announces that Lauren Alaina will be performing and I can only think *Kill Me Now*.  More on that treat later.  

The results came in about like I thought they would.  I was surprised that Shannon got less votes than Erika but be assured, it won't happen again.  Shannon seemed not to get that it wasn't just one bad note that doomed her performance but let her stay in her little happy place.  We will be sick of her happy place before she finally goes away.  Not surprised Elise was on the bottom but thought it might be Erika since Elise had made the top 5 of the women the previous week and might have had some fans pulling for her.  Evidently her fans are fickle. 

I was also not surprised with the men's results.  Jimmy was right to worry about Joshua and I was worried about him too. I hope he is back on form next week, enunciates the words, stops growling (that works for Phillip Phillips and Colton but Joshua...you are black and don't have a guitar) and quits popping up and down.   Jermaine the Giant being 2nd to last was no surprise either.  This guy is a piece of work.  He actually thinks his poop smells like roses!  In his world, Jimmy is wrong, the judges are wrong, he is all great and wonderful and we just cannot see it.   I predict he will be the next man falling and that he won't be nice about it either. 

Perhaps, the change in procedure kept a woman in the competition.  We will never know if Jeremy or Elise had the lowest votes.  I'm thinking that Jeremy may have been the lowest as JLo mournfully said something about *based on what America has decided* and it would take him getting the lowest votes for her not to throw a hissy fit to save him.  She sure didn't want to make the announcement and I saw Steven looking at her like...*is she gonna defy us and save Jeremy?*   Part of me thinks that Nigel knew Whitney was going to kill the women and that the show has been criticized for eating up the women contestants (based on this week's judging, rightly so) and wanted to make sure a woman didn't go home over his stupid choice to make them sing a Whitney tribute which was notably absent the tribute.   They couldn't even be bothered to stage one of her songs as the group song.   

Lauren Alaina comes out and her styling has improved.  She has moved on from Miss Rhode Island evening gowns  to Khloe Kardashian for Sears wear.  She has hair extensions c. 2003.  Her singing remained stranded in Miss Rhode Island land.  She couldn't even  give Khloe a run for her money at some 2nd rate Vegas Casino because Khloe will be paid more for showing up than Lauren will be paid for singing.  Her right shoulder seems to have some sort of spasm in it.  It just kept moving back and forth.  Hopefully she is gone from my sight for the next rest of my life. 

Before we see Jeremy leave, we have a serious reality check. Mary J. Blige sings and all of the sudden Jessica Sanchez looks like the winner of the Miss Teen Sacramento contest.  Jimmy said Jessica sang THE song better than anyone has sung it on Idol which is like saying I'm anorexic  compared to the woman featured on *My 600 Pound Life*.  I'm transferring a good part of my enmity toward Shannon to Jessica.   Just giving you all fair warning. 

What was with Jeremy leaving without singing his swan song?  That was awkward.  

For all of you worried about Phillip's trip to the doctor.  He has a serious case of recurrent kidney stones.  Even I am not snarky enough to suggest that his strained performance last night may have had something to do with the real pain he was in and his efforts to dislodge the offensive stone. 

No news on the theme next week.  May I suggest that the  boys sing *Hallelujah*; and the girls sing arias from La Boheme, Madama Butterfly, Tosca, Turendot and Carmen with the exception of Jessica who will be reprising *I Will Always Love You* (because we just cannot honor Whitney enough) .  Sounds fair, right?    

Rational Aversion

Thank you KK for doing the research on Jessica Sanchez and justifying my aversion to her.  She is, of course, what we call a *plant* ala David Pukealetta Archuletta and her agent probably insisted on her being in the top 12 before she even graced the phony audition stage early in the season.  I went back to my earlier post about her and see that her family IS counting on her to support them (although they don't live in a box) and that there are a whole lot of them AND that I didn't like her the first time I saw her. 

This is what amazes me about these child *prodigies* who have been in the business since they were toddlers.  If they haven't made it to the big time yet...despite their cute ways...despite appearing on one or more talent shows...despite making a record and getting media exposure....maybe they just don't have the IT factor to make it...ever.  Archuletta is not tearing up the recording world (although I hear he is pretty big in Japan) and KK and I predicted that he would not.  I don't find Jessica one bit *relevant*.  So there.  She is a throwback to Whitney/Mariah/Celine and while I know what kind of artist she is going to be I don't think we need her.  
 

Why it's not irrational to hate Jessica Sanchez after all

If you've followed this blog at all you know there's one thing that Auntee and I hate more than anything:

Stage Parents

You can say "my child wants to do this", "they love what they're doing", "I'm helping them follow their dream" all you want.  But it's all B.S.  

If you loved your kid you'd let them ride their bike on Saturday with their friends from school, and then have a sleepover complete with pizza and movies.  

Jessica Sanchez' parents say "she's been singing since the age of 2"

I, coincidentally, have a 2 year old daughter.  Know what she can sing?  The ABCs, Party Rock, Twinkle Twinkle, Jingle Bells, Rock a Bye Baby, Moves Like Jagger, I'm a Little Teapot, Pumped Up Kicks, and about 86,000 more songs that never. end.  I should probably pull her out of school and put her on TV, right?  I mean, obviously she's going to be a star.


Jessica's career:


"Trained" at Theatre of Arts in Hollywood.

2 sit-down auditions with Warner Bros Records by 9.

Showtime at the Apollo at 10.  (The description here brags that she did this performance on only 2 or 3 hours of sleep, due to the rigors of travel.)

Semifinalist on America's Got Talent at 11.

National anthem at the Chargers/Jets Monday Night Football

Released an album called Blessed at 12.

"Starred" in a Cricket Wireless commercial at 15. 




My dilemma here is only that if she fails, her parents will blame her.  And that she is, after all, a child.  She didn't make these career choices.


I unabashedly say to her parents:  Shame on You.  

Its A Death Trap...Its a Suicide Rap...

No, its the ladies singing Whitney Houston.  As KK pointed out, nothing more could be designed to set up a giant fail by the *girls* than asking them to sing Whitney barely a month after she died while all of her adoring fans (of which I never was one) are in mourning.  Idol compounds this by giving the guys Stevie Wonder who has probably more songs in the universe than any other artist alive today to choose from.  I'm pleased to say the women, for the most part, escaped the trap set for them by the evil Nygel Lythgoe, who opportunistically capitalized on the Whitney mourning while not even managing to find time in  the show to mention that she is...well...DEAD and offer a few words of tribute. 

No, Nygel uses this *guys* vs. *girls* week to throw another wrench into the Idol works by announcing that the judges, who have already had plenty of input into who stays and who goes, and in my opinion really botched the wild card selection, will pick who goes home this week between the bottom *girl* and the bottom guy.  Unless the bottom woman is Jessica Sanchez, we will end up with 5 women and 7 boys next week to entertain us. 

As for their performances, well let me say I was pretty much underwhelmed by all but a few and realized that I really don't like Stevie Wonder songs unless Stevie is singing them and sometimes even Stevie bores me (blasphemy I know).  And further realized that Whitney's songs were pretty much pap and sound very dated today. 

Josh Ledet gets what is commonly referred to as the *death spot* or the *poop spot* and goes first singing *I Wish*.  I am not familiar with this song so thank goodness for my closed captioned feature or I would not have the slightest idea what he was growling about and why he was popping around the stage.  He doesn't overdo the melisma but decides to try scatting (I'm done with scatting now).  I like Joshua but thought this was an average performance of a crappy song.  The judges loved him.  He is strong.  He's invincible.  He can do anything.  He's a guy.

Elise Testone goes into Jimmy and Mary J Blige with *Greatest Love of All* and they don't like it.  So they suggest the completely insipid *I'm Your Baby Tonight* which cannot be one of Whitney's best songs.  There really isn't a lot she can do with that song which rings no emotional bells with the audience and makes me think of Studio 54 and Donna Summers more than Whitney Houston.  If I were her and  Jimmy gave me song advice again, I would be tempted to punch him.  So her voice and talent are wasted, she knew they were going to be wasted, and I just hope she survives this week and can come back and sing a song she likes. Poor Elise.

Jermaine the Giant is up next singing *Knocks Me Off My Feet* and my feet remained on the ground.  It wasn't terrible.  Jimmy loves him, Steven thought he was good, JLo thinks he needs to feel the song more, and Randy was lukewarm about Jermaine's chorus but loved the verses.  Jermaine thinks he did *pretty good* and says he is *happy* with his performance.  Big big mistake.  Now you look like an ungrateful cocky ass, Jermaine and the audience will punish you for it.  He is in danger, in my opinion,
 primarily because of his less than humble reaction to the judges critiques.

Erika Van Peldt (or EVP) sings *I Believe in You and Me* and was, I think, sensational.   The judges want her to belt more.  I liked her restraint, particularly since I know we are going to get belted to the moon in later performances.  She might be in trouble for not belting enough and because she is performing a little too close to the poop spot for the audience to remember to vote for her.

Colton, the emo hearthrob sings some song in a very self important *artiste* fashion.  The judges are so glad he showed his feelings (like this is something new for Mr. Emo).  Earlier in the week, James Durbin has dissed Colton for copying Durbin's style.  I think I detected a few eye squints in Colton's performance so maybe Durbin is right.  I'm not jumping on Colton's train.  Even if I wanted to, a pack of screaming teens would beat me with their pink cell phones until I fell onto the tracks between the wheels.  He's going to be around forever. 

Shannon takes on *I Have Nothing*.  I did not think she was as terrible as the judges did but maybe I was trying to overcome my visceral dislike of her personally and giving her too much credit.  When they did the playback of all the performances at the end of the show, I heard what the judges heard.  She is still America's sweetheart, however, and she is not going to be the bottom girl even though she should be.  Next week she will come back with a feel good song about God and Hope and regain her front-runner status.


Diandre has his hair in a ponytail ala Sanjaya but styled so it looks like dreadlocks like Jason Castro.  He is making a serious play to get some screaming teens on his train.  He sings some upbeat song and tones down the falsetto so I will give him some credit for that.  Boring. 

The people on the official American Idol fan boards were predicting that Skylar would tackle the big song and sing it the way it was originally meant to be sung...ala Dolly.  I really like this young woman but was not expecting much and prayed she didn't sing THE song because I didn't want to have to mock her.  She no more knows Whitney Houston than she knows Coco Chanel but man she nailed that song.  She made my heart hurt.  I think she succeeded because she just sang the song and didn't try to melisma vibrato the thing to death. 

HeJun makes nice with Jimmy and I must say, his performance of All is Fair In Love was, for me, about the best male performance of the night.  He didn't do any of that octave jumping to a falsetto which I hate and I think had a 50's crooner vibe.  He did much better than last week. 

I love Hollie.  I thought she did a great job with *All the Man I Need*.  She is a belter too, but for some reason she doesn't put me off the way most of them do and have done over the seasons.  Sadly, she was doomed to be overshadowed because even though it was a big song, it wasn't THE song. 

Jeremy is giving lots of love and hair stroking (to use KK's phrase) for his performance of *Ribbon In the Sky*.  I like this guy but I thought his performance  sucked.  His voice seemed tinny to me and it was clear he was nervous as a cat in a room full of rocking chairs.  Steven and JLo loved it, Randy was more critical.

Cut to commercial with the promise that Jessica is going to sing THE song.  Of course she is.  Would have loved to see how she wrestled it away from Holly and Shannon.  She gets a standing ovation and probably deserves it, even though her performance mimicked Jennifer Hudson's performance at the Grammys the day after Whitney's untimely demise.  I'm not liking her personally so much.  I don't know why.  Maybe I just don't like teenagers coming in and getting all the glory.  The girl has been on at least 2 other talent shows in her life and she is only 17.  She is a female pukealetta to me.  And isn't her family living in a box so she can have a career or something? Or is that the Hawaiian girl on the Voice?  


Finally, the amazing, dazzling, original, never before seen Phillip Phillips sings *Superstition*.  Because, as he enlightens us, its been done before on Idol but not like HE is going to do it.   I thought his performance was pure cheese and he is driving his car right down the David Cook/Kris Allen/LeDwize highway.  Except he draws out his words...*suuuper steeeeee tion* like he is straining at the stool (that killed Elvis, you know).  He's going to win it all.

I predict the bottom girl to be either Elise or Ericka and the bottom guy to be Jermaine or Jeremy.  If its Jeremy, a girl will go home because JLo is not going to let her guy leave before the top 10.  Even if its Jermaine, it may still be a girl because neither girl has a big supporter among the judges.   






     

Conspiracy Theories Abound

Producers, for the 1st time in the history of American Idol, have just gone ahead and taken blatant control of eliminations.  Pro: tweens opinions don't count.  Con: producers pander to tween opinion.

The tweens may not be on to you, but I am.  


Whitney comparisons:


Elise Testone - Was probably saved by Jimmy Iovine's song choice, even though she got all bitchy about his suggestion.  I'm Your Baby Tonight is not an easy song (it has about 27,000 words), and Elise's voice is unique enough that it didn't sound like Whitney (which is good.) 

Erika Van Pelt - It might've been okay, but I couldn't get past the prom dress.  Judges liked it?  Huh.

Shannon Migraine - Of course you're singing I Have Nothing.  We've seen your house, sweetheart.  What's with the random growling?  And that "close" note that Mary worked, was butchered.  Like the whole rest of the song.  Shocked that the judges actually gave honest critiques.


Skylar - Why do I love this girl so stinkin' much?  She's just so cute!  I want to put her in my pocket (there's still room next to Tim Urban), so I can take her out and have her sing me to sleep at night.  Skylar makes me want to pull out my phone and push redial over and over and over.  

Hollie - She's got a huge voice for such a tiny little thing, doesn't she?  It's probably hard to compete with Skylar's addictive personality, but she's better than any guy I heard all night.  

Jessica Sanchez - And there it is.  I Will Always Love You.  Jessica and Migraine probably fought over this one, and Migraine lost.  (Thank God for that.)  I want to hate this girl, irrational as that is.  But damn it, she was sick.  Can't find one. single. thing. wrong with her tonight.  Vocally, she was the best of the night.  Hands down.    
   
 Stevie karaoke:

Joshua Ledet - Huh, I stand corrected.  Stevie doesn't necessarily provide a slam-dunk.  Joshua managed to ruin I Wish (what part of Mary J. Blige's "don't sing it" did he not understand?)  Judges rub his shoulders with lavender scented oils.

Gentle Giant - "I don't want to bore you with my troubles" ... so I'll just bore you with this song (bad joke courtesy of MrKK).  Zzzzzzz.  Does NOT Knock Me Off My Feet.  Judges feed him grapes 1 by 1.


Colton - Jimmy's advice, "rely on your vulnerability" (and the producers' fix *wink*)  Lately I've been bored, so bored.  Judges send him on a beach vacation with umbrella drinks.


DeAndre - Maybe it was just because I wasn't distracted by his waving hair, but I caught myself jammin' on my couch once or twice.  Judges braid his pretty, pretty hair.


Heejun - Should've spent more time working on his song and less time being funny.  Was it horrible?  I guess not.  But then again, I think I fell asleep in the middle of it.  Judges whisper sweet nothings into his ears. 

Jeremy Rosado - Barely squeezed into the Top 13 last week, so he really needed a big night.  I'm sure he'd be fun to hang out with, he's so sweet and genuine.  But he struggled with Ribbon In The Sky.  Judges cook him a lobster dinner.

Phil Phillip Phillipson - Figures that Phil gets the pimp spot.  He took on my favorite (and most well known) Stevie song (also probably the most covered and easiest Stevie song - lob ball) and didn't ruin it.  It was NOT David Cookified, but it was a fun ending to the night.  Judges build him a pedestal of gold and carry him to the top of it.




Note to the judges and producers:  The girls took on Whitney and they smoked the guys.  This is a GIRLS season.


Bottom guy:  Jeremy or Joshua
Bottom girl:  Elise

Going home this week:  Jeremy

You, my dear, are no Whitney Houston

Auntee and I have spent YEARS despising egotistical contestants who think they can do Whitney Houston justice.  The judges most often agree with us that there are just some artists that can't be re-done (ex Mariah, Celine).  

The script has been flipped this week in what I view as, quite frankly, a thinly veiled attempt to weed out the remaining female contestants.

Fact:  It's been 5 seasons since a female won AI.  FIVE. 

(Know who also sang a whole lotta Stevie Wonder that year?)

I digress.

This week the Top 6 females must not only do Whitney justice, but also make sure they're honoring her memory appropriately.  Tough.  Impossible.

Meanwhile, the men are handed an overflowing song list to choose from.  Stevie Wonder has been covered ad nauseum on AI.  Last season on Motown night alone 3 of the 11 contestants nailed their performances, thanks to their Stevie songs.  Hell, Stevie's graced the stage, himself, multiple times since 2006. 

I don't suppose a girl has the option of selecting a Stevie song?  Can a guy do a Whitney song?  Somehow I doubt this group of kids will be that creative this early - but the contestant who does will win my favor.

So, sit back and relax this week, gentlemen, the judges will brush your hair gently while speaking softly in your ears.  Again.

You Can't Always Get What You Want

But this is what we got.

Thank you Jimmy Iovine for speaking the truth to the judges power tonight.  He was on the money on almost every contestant. Of course, he agrees with ME on nearly all of them.  I don't think Phil Phillips is all that unique...he is much like David Cook/Kris Allen...which is fine but not revolutionary.  And, I think he undersold Creighton and oversold Shannon Magrone.

One thing I am getting that I want is KK's posts!  I love them!  All the songs and artists I've never heard of she knows all about. (I guess I will have to go listen to *Moves Like Jagger* done by someone besides Reed Grimm now) And comparing Diandre to Sanjaya?  Priceless! 

I've got two or three issues tonight and don't know where to start.  First of all, Dialidol.com was a complete fail or the show is indeed rigged.  So, I won't be linking to it on the blog unless they start getting more accurate.  The only one of the top 5 guys it predicted correctly was Jermaine.  I do think Jermaine's votes were the reason the judges finally started judging, though.  He was NOT in Nigel's cards.   I was so looking forward to Colton leaving but I guess its better to have him in than Eben or Adam Gokey Brock, both of whom DI called safe.  Dialidol did not predict any of the girls safe, but had Brielle with the most votes so I'm glad it was wrong about her.

America's choices were pretty much on par with what I think should have happened except for Migraine and Creighton.  Migraine is a big self-absorbed baby ala Adam Brock.  I know she is only 16, but breaking down and sobbing is something I don't  ever recall any contestant doing while waiting for the results.  She's not used to not getting what she wants when she wants it. I loved how Jimmy criticized her *prom dress*, even if he was too easy on her performance.  He read my mind!  

HeJun's selection was a bit of a surprise to me.  Evidently a lot of people agreed with KK on his performance.  I like the guy but thought he wasn't that great but then...who would I have put in his place up there?  Creighton, I guess, but I'm not going to get all wee weed up about it.  Also, his comment when asked what he thought about Jimmy referring to Idol not needing a comedian was, I think, misunderstood by Ryan.  I think when HeJun said *whose that?*, he meant who is Jimmy referring to and not who is Jimmy Iovine.  But he may have dug a deeper hole with Iovine when he was already in up to his neck. 

The judges completely wasted 10 minutes of everyone's time tonight when they called for Brielle and Reed to be in the sing off.  I thought Steven didn't look too happy about calling Brielle's name to begin with.  Then she steps up, hugs Ryan like she had already won, and utterly, and very publicly failed...singing ADELE. I think even the judges knew they had mucked up the entire program at this point as her performance was so awesomely awful.   I would have liked to hear Hallie Day sing instead, but evidently KK and I are the only people in the universe who even remembered her.  The judges compounded the stupidity by asking Reed Grimm to sing.  He  did this really stupid stupid performance...trying to gin up the audience and looking for hands to touch in the crowd, while he crouched and scatted on the stage.  And by scat...I'm thinking of monkey scat...not jazz scat.  I'm surprised they didn't have to bring out a shovel to clean up the mess he deposited at Ryan's feet.


What is with the Diandre love?  I guess Steven likes him because he sings high but he really leaves me cold.  I get the impression that he leaves Jimmy lukewarm.  

Jeremy Rosado was doing fine by me until he milked the moment by his over long hugging of the judges...although Ryan brought that on.  I didn't even mind his Tebowing but thought that was sufficient emotion, even for him.  I still like him as a person and maybe I will like his music more as time goes by.  I'm not sorry he made it to the top 13 particularly if it means Adam is gone.

Its too bad about Jenn Hirsch but of the two performances of the SAME  ADELE song, Elise performed it better.  Also, I think Erika deserved the spot as much as Jenn.  Just wish we could trade in Migraine.  OR..here is a novel thought..how about 2 women wildcards instead of 2 men?  I seriously don't think that even occurred to the judges. 

About Hollie's English accent.  I didn't remember this at first, but then remembered when she auditioned last year that her family is from Liverpool, England and that they moved to McKinney, Texas a few years before she first auditioned.  McKinney, Texas is a town I know well.  It about a 20-30 minute drive from where I lived in Plano and I actually got my Texas driver's license there because its a small enough suburb of Dallas you don't have to wait for 5 hours to get to the window.  I even had to take a driver's road test in McKinney and the nice lady was very forgiving when I had to try to parallel park twice.  Its downtown is very old with a square and lots of antique shops and I shopped there on more than one occasion and bought several things that are still among my favorite things and won't be going in my garage sale.  But, I digress.  Just wanted to clarify that Hollie is not doing a Madonna and faking an English accent.

So, overall, I am pretty happy with the results.  I do not have a favorite. Which is a relief because I really think I cannot go through the angst I did when I was obsessed with Crystal and voted 2 hours straight on my ancient cell phone.

Next week promises to be painful.  I cannot remember any contestant doing justice to Stevie Wonder.  Maybe you can.  As for Whitney Houston...WHY??????
Yes, she is dead. Yes, she was a great singer.  But it will be no tribute to her to have these girls do overwrought mediocre versions of her songs.  The person who dares tackle the Dolly song *And I Will Always Love YOUUUUU* will earn my emnity forever and be mocked for the rest of the season.  The only person I ever want to hear sing that song again is Dolly. (And I really hope Whitney didn't record *Hallelujah*).  On that note, please no more Adele songs...OK? 

  

Earning their keep

So, the producers told the judges to actually do. their. jobs.  Too bad it was at the expense of some really talented girls!

Chelsea Sorrel - I'm BURNT OUT on country.  Just done already.  But ya know, ya'll, she wasn't 1/2 bad (when she was singing.)  When she was talking, was she speaking a different language, because I couldn't understand a word she was saying.

Erika Van Pelt - If you're gonna take on Heart, you'd better rock it or face my wrath.  The song was just too big for her.  Adele, Randy?  Are you high? 

Jennifer Hirsch - The judges are, indeed, high if THIS is the performance they're going to fawn all over tonight.  Was it Eban's butchering of Adele?  Far from.  But was she the "greatest singer in the competition this year"?  Um, no.  


Brielle Von Snookie - The only thing that could've saved this song would've been Heejun doing something funny instead of just sitting next to her pretending to jam.  And was that a hypercolor dress?  Ug. Ly.

Hallie Day - Maybe JLo was right and there were a few places where she lost a bit of control.  But Steven Tyler was MORE right about her soulful old-timey voice.  Absolutely want to hear more of her!


Skylar Laine - Isn't she a cute little thing?  She's not country 'cause it's cool, she's country because she's country.  And she's hands-down the best "country" girl AI's got this season!  What a fun performance, says the blogger who hates country!


Baylie Brown - Country Barbie sings Amazed ("I'm trying so hard to be country, but this is the only country song I know") HORRIBLY.  She's in the top 24 because of her looks, apparently? 


Hollie Cavanaugh - What kind of accent is that?  NOT a Texas one.  There was 1 good note there at the end, it was decent when she was belting, but the rest was kinda crappy.


Haley Johnsen - Wow, that was bizarre.  And, um, really bad.  But the judges couldn't even come up with a tiny bit of decent commentary?  They threw everyone else a bone.  She's pretty - They could've gone with that old stand-by. 


Shannon Magrane - Nice mansion.  Nice Toddlers & Tiaras ballgown.  Nice pagenty song choice.  And the judges ate it up?!  "What you've been through in your life to life to give you such passion?"  Did you not see her mansion?  Her biggest struggle is being 6' tall.  Put me right next to Auntee on the "I hate her" couch!  Please, please go away.


Jessica Sanchez -  This felt like a weird combo between high school musical and karaoke.  But a standing O from the judges?  The crowd chanting?  "Best of the last 2 nights"?  Apparently I missed something.


Elise Testone - Enough. With. Adele. Already.  (The same song twice in the same night?  Hello, quality control?)  Of all those who tried it, she's the only one who did it justice.  Plus, I liked her hair piece.  She's actually my favorite of the night.

Update On The Girls

I'm posting this before tonights results just to see how accurate I am.  Dialidol.com came up undecisive, but amazingly, Snookie appears to have received the highest number of votes.  I'm praying this is a terrible glitch on dialidol's part but if she makes the top 5 on votes don't be surprised.  At that point my venom will shift away from Shannon Magrone (who appears not to have struck a huge chord with anyone much to my surprise) and toward Snookie. 

The idol forums are now open (sort of) and based on what people are saying, I'm thinking the ones going through on votes will be:  Brielle (sadly); Jessica Sanchez (good); Skylar (good); Hollie (good); and either Elise Testone or Jenn Hirsch.  My girl Hallie Day has received NO comments good or bad and I think she has just disappeared into oblivion unless Steven saves her with a Wild Card. 

Where Did the Love Go?

Last night, the judges could  neither see nor hear a wrong note, a schmaltzy performance, a tired arrangement or anything remotely not fabulous about the boys.  Wake up call.  America voted.  And if dialidol.com is accurate, Nigel ripped the judges new ones today for not giving the audience more *direction* in their comments. The voters did NOT cooperate with their plans and there will be some surprises on Thursday.  So, the ladies take the brunt of the judge's dereliction of duty last night and almost none escaped the judges without at least a tiny criticism.

First up is Chelsea, one of the THREE country gals in the top 12( the producers have Lauren Alaina holdover even though she was not country when it was not cool).  Chelsea is pretty, wore a top that pushed her boobs up and did an ok job with a Carrie Underwood song (Cowboy Casanova) that was not really designed to strike much of a chord in anyone who is not a fervent Carrie Underwood or country fan.  My prediciton is  Chelsea won't see Friday morning in Idol land.

Erika Van Pelt, for whom I had high hopes, sings *What About Love*.  Its a decent enough job but not a *moment*.  I think it is Randy who says she has an Adele vibe. I don't know if she will survive the vote.  I hope she does. 

Speaking of Adele, why didn't they just give each girl a song from the Adele CD because clearly the judges and Nigel are obsessed with Adele (or at least her record sales).  I'm late to Adele love and she deserves all the accolades and record sales and fame but if I want to hear Adele I will play Adele and not someone Idol has packaged to be an Adele copycat.  We have had three Adele songs in two nights and that is enough copying Adele.

Jenn Hirsch sings Adele's One and Only.  She has a good mix between power notes and restrained singing and I like her but she is not very showy and I'm not sure America will like her.  She SHOULD be in the top six girls and I hope she is.

Next up is Snookie Brielle.  And her mother.

 

Brielle is a cheerleader too!  I wonder how many girls mama had to intimidate to make that happen?  

Brielle starts off too low and enunciates drunkenly.  Then she gets up and tries to bluesy it up.  She got way too much praise for this mess.  I hope she is gone after tomorrow night.

One of my early favorites, Hallie Day, is up next singing *Feeling Good*.  I really wish she had done a different song because all I could think of was the Jennifer Hudson Weight Watchers Commercial and how I need to sign up for Weight Watchers.  I think she did a very good job with it and hope she stays but she may not attract a following as despite her amazing good looks, she is rather low key.  Randy pulls the same crap on her he did on Haley last year asking her *What Kind of Artist Are You Going To Be?*  I really wish she had said *NOT Adele*. 

Skylar Laine is the second of the country gals and she is the real deal.  I loved her manic jumping around on the stage!  I think she is going to get the country vote over Chelsea and Baylie.  She is really authentic...love her or hate her.

Poor Baylie Brown.  What is she doing there?  She was another one who *came back* after being cut in Hollywood several years back after a disastrous group round with Antonella Barber and her sidekick mean Jersey girl.  I think the country folk are going to vote for Skylar or Chelsea and Baylie had her last performance.

I love Holly Cavanaugh but Randy was right..that song was awfully big for her.  I hope she makes it.

Haley Johnson sings Sweet Dreams and I didn't think it was as bad as Randy thought it was although it doesn't have a lot of range to it.  She tried to add some range to it and that is where she got into trouble.  It sounded worse to me when it was replayed at the end.  She is just one blonde too many and I think she is going home.

Shannon Magraine, whose father is a former pro baseball pitcher who pitched in a World Series awhile ago, comes out in her virginal white pageant dress as if she is a finalist for Junior Miss Palm Beach (or wherever the mansion she lives in is located).  There was no doubt in my mind  she was going to sing some *We Are The World* big old ballad and she did.  Shannon thought it was a risky song choice.  Yeah, about as risky as Kristy Lee Cook singing *God Bless the USA*.  If she progresses she will sing only ballads and only feel good ones.  Randy thinks her vibrato is just marvelous.  A few weeks ago, he said he hated vibrato when  Angie Ziederman had one but now that some waspy blonde has one, vibrato is a good thing.  Randy doesn't like quirky...it makes him wonder *what kind of artist* you are.  He probably would have cut Adele in Hollywood because he  couldn't figure out what kind of artist she was.  Maybe, Randy, you just don't know s*!& from shinola when it comes to women singers.  Shannon will probably make it through but I won't be happy about it.

Jessica Sanchez had voice problems all week so we are told by her not to expect much.  Then she blows it out of the auditorium.  I didn't like her song choice but she can sing and at least she doesn't come out wearing a pageant gown.  I think she will make it through.  If not, she will be a wild card.  Randy mentions vibrato again. 

Finally, Elise Testone.  I'm sorry I said she was manly and looked rough.  She is not manly but she does look a little rough (or as we used to say *earthy*).  Did she sing the same Adele song as Jenn Hirsch?  I like her and hope she stays but really...if they are going to repeat Adele songs why didn't one of them sing *Set  Fire to The Rain* so we could at least hear it (as the only thing I heard when Eben supposedly sang it was the band).

Maybe its just me but I think the girls overall were far superior to the guys.  That doesn't mean a girl will win.  

And, a bit of gossip which may or may not be true.  The contestants didn't really pick the songs they sang.  They came up with a list of songs they might like to sing but the Producers told them which song they had to sing.  

So, tomorrow we see what is up.  I will give you a hint based on the Dialidol results for the men. I think we will be disappointed in the ones voted in, if Dialidol is accurate and therefore at least 2 of the wild cards will be men.  Let me just say this...Nigel isn't going to be pulling any *surprises* for awhile. 

Cut it already, I'm over you.

Well, the judges thought everyone was pooping rainbows and unicorns.  But for the rest of America it was, for the most part, a brutal 2 hours.  I'm ready for most of these yahoos to take off.

Reed Grim - Takes my 2 year old's favorite song and turns it into something that sounds like it belongs in a porno movie - bow chicka bowwow.  Ever seen the horror movie Monkey Shines?  Does he not look just like a cymbal playing monkey on those tiny drums?!  No, no, no Randy.  He is NO Casey!!

Gokey 2.0 - Pulls out the "large black woman"/"white chocolate" self-promotional-label and then sings Aretha.  I actually don't mind an emotional man (I like to see a "good heart"), but even I can't get over his sobbing. 


DeAndre Brackensick - Bad singer, Good hair.  A picture is worth 1,000 words:

Colton Dickson - Certainly didn't "shock" anyone used to seeing him at a piano, and it was FAR from "risky", but it was a breath of fresh air after the 1st 3 guys.  Keep it up and I might be able to overlook the fact that he's living his sister's dream.  


Jeremy Rosato - I hate to send him back to the infectious disease center so soon, but he's not gonna last.  It wasn't terrible, I guess.  


Aaron Marcellus - I couldn't get past the silver astronaut jacket.  


Chase Likens - Even the judges (who are praising EVERYONE) had a hard time complimenting him on his vocals.  They talked more about his looks, because, you know, this competition is about "showing America who you are"?!?


Creighton Fraker - What a weirdo, right?  Never in a million years would you think he'd be my favorite of the night!  And the judges seemed a bit shocked that he was, huh, pretty stinkin' incredible!


Phillip Phillips - I rolled my eyes once or twice when it started, but I think I might have been captivated by the end, and I think I might like him.


Eban Frankewitz - There are 2 women I'd leave my husband for.  Adele is one of them.  How dare you, Eban, how dare you.  You have earned a spot on my list:

Heejun Han - I think I'm the only person in America who thinks he's more annoying than funny.  But damn it, he pretty much killed Angels.  Fantastic!  (Did J-Lo say, "you can blow"?)  How did the judges give HIM, of all the shitty guys tonight, mediocre comments?    

Mantasia - How does he have a nickname when this is the 1st we've seen of him?  Mr.KK thinks he'll be another Jacob, but we still liked him ... for now.  If he starts to dance like Jacob, I'm out.

"Gentle Giant Jermaine" - The nickname really rubs me the wrong way.  But it doesn't matter because I don't think he'll be around much longer (even though his song was sweet and his mama hug was sweeter.)