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?
Thursday, March 8, 2012
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.
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.
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.
Wednesday, March 7, 2012
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.
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
Monday, March 5, 2012
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.
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.
Thursday, March 1, 2012
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.
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.
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.
Wednesday, February 29, 2012
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.
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.)
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.)
Tuesday, February 28, 2012
Who's In With the In Crowd? Jermaine Jones!
The judges were on happy juice tonight as, according to them, there was not ONE bad performance by the top 13 men. (I told you Jermaine was coming back!). The vintner left the happy juice out of my merlot because I beg to seriously differ with the judges on the merits of some of the performances tonight.
I tried to pre-guess who was going first, middle, and last. At one time Nigel Lythgoe said when planning the show, they try to put the best ones up front and on the back (but you notice the very best are always on the back end). After the fourth performance, I had it figured out for this group. They were putting the *fodder* (those they really aren't interested in and hope don't attract much attention) in the middle and putting their favorites in the first four and final four slots. And leaving Jermaine hanging in the wind. I'm not sure the performances worked out exactly as the producers planned.
First up was Reed Grimm, dubbed by the judges as this years *Casey* because he plays an instrument which is not a guitar or a piano. He does a song I do not know (even though Jennifer says *everyone knows* the song) in a jazzy style which may or may not be an innovative arrangement of the song but was certainly not an innovative performance for Reed. He told us in the pre-tape he was going to *work us into a frenzy* and with a song called *With Moves Like Jagger*, I expected a little more than the Carnival Cruise Line/Second rate Vegas casino act it turned out to be. Despite the judges saying it was wonderful, I'm predicting Reed will need a wild card save by the judges to get in the top 13.
Adam *White Chocolate* Brock quits crying for a few minutes and revives the *large black woman inside of him* by singing Aretha's *Think*. There is just something sad about a white man trying to act black and American should be crying now. He growly growls the song, Gokey style, and I'm so not enthralled that my mind wanders and I notice he has what appears to be a handkerchief hanging from his butt which I presume is there in case he breaks into tears again. Turns out it is a Pittsburgh Steelers towel which I decide he added to convince any man watching that he is really not a girly man. The demographic who is likely to vote for him is a demographic Auntee belongs in and I'm not buying him. But I'm pretty discriminating.
The next guy, who is a high school boy and seems to be genuinely nice, is Diandre. For the life of me, I do not know who is going to love this all falsetto performance but the judges act like he is Pavoratti. I wrote down he sang Earth Wind and Fire's Reasons and it might be a good song but I was tending to a howling cat so didn't catch the judge's mood. I thought for a moment that his long lustrous much tossed about hair might catch the pink cell phone crowd but that demographic is going to be divided up so I'm guessing, absent a wildcard, he will not make the cut and I won't miss him one bit.
Just when I was bemoaning all those pink cell phones pre-programming Diandre's number, the Mighty Colton appears with his hair changed from Madame Pompadour with a skunk stripe to Hobbit with a skunk stripe. Colton, we know you have *interesting* hair you don't need to milk it by giving us your hair care secrets Once again he mentions his sister hoping we all will forget how he horned in on her audition and trampled over her dreams in Hollywood. He says he is going to do something *different* than play the piano but then he plays the piano for half of the song, then stands up and does James Durbin on a bad night. I didn't know the song and didn't catch the title but the lyrics of *How Did We Get Here* remind me of exactly how HE got there and it wasn't pretty for his sister. He will go a long way as he is getting the pink cell phone votes for the season.
So now we are getting into fodder territory and my guy Jeremy Rosado is offered up as the first to take the cannon balls. Except he is genuinely a nice guy, he sings well, and JLo and Steven are not with the program and praise his performance of *Gravity*. I like him a lot even though I don't particularly like his style of singing and hope he manages to hang on but I suspect he is a goner too. Hispanics don't do well on Idol and he is fat to boot and unless the middle aged women abandon Adam and vote for him, we will never see or hear from him after Thursday night.
The judges give the first of three or four standing ovations to what I thought was a completely ordinary performance of *Never Can Say Goodbye* by Aaron Marcellus. I have nothing against him personally, but once again I thought I was in a second tier Vegas lounge. As with Diandre, I do not know what the judges are thinking except that they want to mess with Nigel's head by praising the performers Nigel has slated as fodder.
Chase Likens is not Scotty McCreery and he will be gone Thursday. If you are going to do country, you better do a tearjerker your first time up so we can fall in love with your sensitive side.
Creighton Fraker, from Brandon, SD, moved to New York because he was too different for SD. In other words, he is gay and he is telling us with his song *True Colors* without coming out and saying so since he, like everyone else on the coasts, has the mistaken impression that anyone who doesn't live in California or New York hates gay people and wants to kill them. . He did a good job, I like him and would like to hear more from him but strongly suspect that I will not.
So we are now moving out of fodder territory to Phillip Phillips. He doesn't want to be famous he just wants to make good music. His song choice is not going to win many fans but he will be rescued by the Wild Card if he doesn't manage to get the votes. The judges love him. He is OK but doesn't chime my clock.
Little Eben was nervous and no one did a sound check so we could barely hear him sing the Adele song...which was a good choice if he wants to get the pink cell phone vote. He did go flat or sharp or something in the middle. I have my doubts he will make it through but maybe the grandmas will vote for him because despite the song, the pink cell phones are dialing Colton's number tonight.
Who doesn't love HeJun? I loved his sweet momma dancing. I love his dead pan humor. I just don't love his singing so much. A big let down after all the air time he got leading up to tonight. I think he will squeak by either by votes for his personality or by wild card but he better up the game on singing. He was arguably the worst of the night.
The ONLY performance *moment* of the night was the one by Josh LeDet. I am NOT an R&B fan. I am not a big voice with lots of melisma fan. But this guy, to me, is the real deal. In addition, he is so far pretty modest (he said in Hollywood that he almost didn't get on the plane because he was sure he would fail). I got a little teary eyed when he sang *You Pulled Me Through* and it really wasn't because of the sappy lyrics. His voice just touched me. I just hope he restrains himself and doesn't sing *This Woman's Work*.
I am pleased that I predicted that Jermaine would be the surprise contestant. I think they should have let the cat out of the bag earlier and let him perform somewhere in the middle because how could he follow Josh LeDet? He did a noble try, however, and I'm sorry, I'm just a sucker for big tall guys with deep voices who sing about their mamas and daddys so I cried when he sang too.
My predictions: Top 5 by votes will be Colton, Adam Brock, Josh Le Det and 2 others of either HeJun, Diandre, Eben or Phillip Phillips. Phillip will be a wild card, He Jun will be a wild card, and Reed will be a wild card. Eben, Creighton, Jeremy Rosado and Jermaine may sneak through as wild cards.
I tried to pre-guess who was going first, middle, and last. At one time Nigel Lythgoe said when planning the show, they try to put the best ones up front and on the back (but you notice the very best are always on the back end). After the fourth performance, I had it figured out for this group. They were putting the *fodder* (those they really aren't interested in and hope don't attract much attention) in the middle and putting their favorites in the first four and final four slots. And leaving Jermaine hanging in the wind. I'm not sure the performances worked out exactly as the producers planned.
First up was Reed Grimm, dubbed by the judges as this years *Casey* because he plays an instrument which is not a guitar or a piano. He does a song I do not know (even though Jennifer says *everyone knows* the song) in a jazzy style which may or may not be an innovative arrangement of the song but was certainly not an innovative performance for Reed. He told us in the pre-tape he was going to *work us into a frenzy* and with a song called *With Moves Like Jagger*, I expected a little more than the Carnival Cruise Line/Second rate Vegas casino act it turned out to be. Despite the judges saying it was wonderful, I'm predicting Reed will need a wild card save by the judges to get in the top 13.
Adam *White Chocolate* Brock quits crying for a few minutes and revives the *large black woman inside of him* by singing Aretha's *Think*. There is just something sad about a white man trying to act black and American should be crying now. He growly growls the song, Gokey style, and I'm so not enthralled that my mind wanders and I notice he has what appears to be a handkerchief hanging from his butt which I presume is there in case he breaks into tears again. Turns out it is a Pittsburgh Steelers towel which I decide he added to convince any man watching that he is really not a girly man. The demographic who is likely to vote for him is a demographic Auntee belongs in and I'm not buying him. But I'm pretty discriminating.
The next guy, who is a high school boy and seems to be genuinely nice, is Diandre. For the life of me, I do not know who is going to love this all falsetto performance but the judges act like he is Pavoratti. I wrote down he sang Earth Wind and Fire's Reasons and it might be a good song but I was tending to a howling cat so didn't catch the judge's mood. I thought for a moment that his long lustrous much tossed about hair might catch the pink cell phone crowd but that demographic is going to be divided up so I'm guessing, absent a wildcard, he will not make the cut and I won't miss him one bit.
Just when I was bemoaning all those pink cell phones pre-programming Diandre's number, the Mighty Colton appears with his hair changed from Madame Pompadour with a skunk stripe to Hobbit with a skunk stripe. Colton, we know you have *interesting* hair you don't need to milk it by giving us your hair care secrets Once again he mentions his sister hoping we all will forget how he horned in on her audition and trampled over her dreams in Hollywood. He says he is going to do something *different* than play the piano but then he plays the piano for half of the song, then stands up and does James Durbin on a bad night. I didn't know the song and didn't catch the title but the lyrics of *How Did We Get Here* remind me of exactly how HE got there and it wasn't pretty for his sister. He will go a long way as he is getting the pink cell phone votes for the season.
So now we are getting into fodder territory and my guy Jeremy Rosado is offered up as the first to take the cannon balls. Except he is genuinely a nice guy, he sings well, and JLo and Steven are not with the program and praise his performance of *Gravity*. I like him a lot even though I don't particularly like his style of singing and hope he manages to hang on but I suspect he is a goner too. Hispanics don't do well on Idol and he is fat to boot and unless the middle aged women abandon Adam and vote for him, we will never see or hear from him after Thursday night.
The judges give the first of three or four standing ovations to what I thought was a completely ordinary performance of *Never Can Say Goodbye* by Aaron Marcellus. I have nothing against him personally, but once again I thought I was in a second tier Vegas lounge. As with Diandre, I do not know what the judges are thinking except that they want to mess with Nigel's head by praising the performers Nigel has slated as fodder.
Chase Likens is not Scotty McCreery and he will be gone Thursday. If you are going to do country, you better do a tearjerker your first time up so we can fall in love with your sensitive side.
Creighton Fraker, from Brandon, SD, moved to New York because he was too different for SD. In other words, he is gay and he is telling us with his song *True Colors* without coming out and saying so since he, like everyone else on the coasts, has the mistaken impression that anyone who doesn't live in California or New York hates gay people and wants to kill them. . He did a good job, I like him and would like to hear more from him but strongly suspect that I will not.
So we are now moving out of fodder territory to Phillip Phillips. He doesn't want to be famous he just wants to make good music. His song choice is not going to win many fans but he will be rescued by the Wild Card if he doesn't manage to get the votes. The judges love him. He is OK but doesn't chime my clock.
Little Eben was nervous and no one did a sound check so we could barely hear him sing the Adele song...which was a good choice if he wants to get the pink cell phone vote. He did go flat or sharp or something in the middle. I have my doubts he will make it through but maybe the grandmas will vote for him because despite the song, the pink cell phones are dialing Colton's number tonight.
Who doesn't love HeJun? I loved his sweet momma dancing. I love his dead pan humor. I just don't love his singing so much. A big let down after all the air time he got leading up to tonight. I think he will squeak by either by votes for his personality or by wild card but he better up the game on singing. He was arguably the worst of the night.
The ONLY performance *moment* of the night was the one by Josh LeDet. I am NOT an R&B fan. I am not a big voice with lots of melisma fan. But this guy, to me, is the real deal. In addition, he is so far pretty modest (he said in Hollywood that he almost didn't get on the plane because he was sure he would fail). I got a little teary eyed when he sang *You Pulled Me Through* and it really wasn't because of the sappy lyrics. His voice just touched me. I just hope he restrains himself and doesn't sing *This Woman's Work*.
I am pleased that I predicted that Jermaine would be the surprise contestant. I think they should have let the cat out of the bag earlier and let him perform somewhere in the middle because how could he follow Josh LeDet? He did a noble try, however, and I'm sorry, I'm just a sucker for big tall guys with deep voices who sing about their mamas and daddys so I cried when he sang too.
My predictions: Top 5 by votes will be Colton, Adam Brock, Josh Le Det and 2 others of either HeJun, Diandre, Eben or Phillip Phillips. Phillip will be a wild card, He Jun will be a wild card, and Reed will be a wild card. Eben, Creighton, Jeremy Rosado and Jermaine may sneak through as wild cards.
Thursday, February 23, 2012
Cry-i-i-ing Over Me
Last night, we were left on the edge of our couches, as Adam Brock sobbed. Ryan ominously warned us of a *shocking elimination* and a *twist* just so some gullible viewers can worry about Adam overnight. We resume tonight's show with Adam still sobbing, although he now has a white handkerchief he is waving around which I failed to notice last night. Adam knows God put him on earth to sing, Randy agrees, and Steven loves to see a man cry so Adam obliges with a fresh load of tears. I don't love to see a man cry...especially if its over himself and his dream while his wife is home changing diapers and wondering how to pay the electric bill this month if her husband's dream fails. In fact, the only tears I want to see out of Mr. Auntee are as I look down from above at my funeral. As he didn't cry when I walked down the aisle, I suspect he won't cry as I walk into the light. Men should cry only at weddings, births, or deaths. Anything else is just lame and deserves a bitch slap back to reality. So...no surprise... Adam Brock is in the top 24. I know I said I shouldn't compare him to Danny Gokey just because he looks and sings like Gokey. But man...he had all the Gokey bases covered in his 5 minutes of fame last night and tonight. Family man missing his family (check); God (check); tears (check). Auntee wanting to throw up (check).
The next contestant couldn't come up quick enough for me and I was happy to see Jeremy Rosato, the guy who washes his hands alot and seems a cheerful soul. JLo points out that he is a nice guy too and while I'm not particularly a fan of his singing style, I am a fan of his pudgy sweet self.
After Jeremy, I was forced to watch Shannon Migraine Magrone. This girl is my nemises just as Lauren Alaina was last year. She is going to be in the top 5 at least and I will be gnashing my teeth the whole time. And she will be better dressed and thinner than Alaina. I stand corrected. I reported she sang *Georgia On My Mind* as her solo last week. It was *Its a Wonderful World*. How sweet and innocent of her.
Then they bring on a *who is that* contestant called Scott Dangerfield, show him auditioning last year as a nerd and show him this year with a cool haircut and contacts. His makeover didn't help and he is gone. Since I didn't know he was ever there, I won't miss him.
Last night they put through 2 pretty girl country singers, Chelsea and Baylie. So, Skylar who is not so pretty has reason to be worried. But she makes it through. My guess is she is slated as fodder while they pimp the other two.
Speaking of fodder, when they don't show you singing a solo, don't feature you in a group, and don't feature your golden moment of being named to the top 24, you better realize that Idol just isn't that into you. Unless Hallie Day, Chase Likens, and Aaron Marcellus do something to make the audience at home love them they are not going to last long as clearly, Nigel Lythgoe doesn't love them very much.
Diandre is another retread from last season. He is the one who channels Tiny Tim in voice and hair and for some reason the judges think that is just wonderful. He sings *This Woman's Work*. I hate that song. I hate Diandre's falsetto. JLo said they *would be crazy* not to put him in the top 24. Newsflash judges, you got that backwards.
And now I'm completely conflicted as Jermaine is sobbing ala Adam Brock. I like Jermaine, I like his voice, I like his mama but I don't like him losing it on national TV. And of course we have been told there is a shock coming up and we haven't been shocked yet so it is no surprise when they tell him no dice this year. I will trade Jermaine for Adam Brock and Phil Phillips and Diandre but it is not to be. The judges are crying about this decision too which suggests that Nigel Lythgoe forced it on them so one of his favorites could get in. Boo!
So..was this the show shocker? No...Ryan is still promising shocking *news* which has *everyone talking*. I'm thinking did they film this the night that Whitney Houston dies and are they going to show the Idol family's grief?
The penultimate dramas are played out as Hollie (fodder) beats out Ariel and Shelby. We haven't seen much of any of them so I'm not really invested in this decision. Then David Leathers who evidently did Michael Jackson all week is up with Eben. David is really rather ordinary next to Eben who can pull those emotional heartstrings a lot harder. So Eben is in, David is out.
Then they show all the top 24 doing stupid dance moves and Ryan says good night. I'm thinking *where's the Whitney Houston tribute?* when Ryan tells us there will be 13 men so we will have a top 25 and shows us mugshots of four who were sent home. Germaine is one of them but so is Black Hat and No Cattle Richie Law along with David Leathers and someone else I don't care about. I'm thinking Germaine's tears worked and he is coming back.
As an end note we get a glimpse of Steven's man boobs as he moons us and jumps into the pool.
Next week we can finally vote. Yay!
The next contestant couldn't come up quick enough for me and I was happy to see Jeremy Rosato, the guy who washes his hands alot and seems a cheerful soul. JLo points out that he is a nice guy too and while I'm not particularly a fan of his singing style, I am a fan of his pudgy sweet self.
After Jeremy, I was forced to watch Shannon Migraine Magrone. This girl is my nemises just as Lauren Alaina was last year. She is going to be in the top 5 at least and I will be gnashing my teeth the whole time. And she will be better dressed and thinner than Alaina. I stand corrected. I reported she sang *Georgia On My Mind* as her solo last week. It was *Its a Wonderful World*. How sweet and innocent of her.
Then they bring on a *who is that* contestant called Scott Dangerfield, show him auditioning last year as a nerd and show him this year with a cool haircut and contacts. His makeover didn't help and he is gone. Since I didn't know he was ever there, I won't miss him.
Last night they put through 2 pretty girl country singers, Chelsea and Baylie. So, Skylar who is not so pretty has reason to be worried. But she makes it through. My guess is she is slated as fodder while they pimp the other two.
Speaking of fodder, when they don't show you singing a solo, don't feature you in a group, and don't feature your golden moment of being named to the top 24, you better realize that Idol just isn't that into you. Unless Hallie Day, Chase Likens, and Aaron Marcellus do something to make the audience at home love them they are not going to last long as clearly, Nigel Lythgoe doesn't love them very much.
Diandre is another retread from last season. He is the one who channels Tiny Tim in voice and hair and for some reason the judges think that is just wonderful. He sings *This Woman's Work*. I hate that song. I hate Diandre's falsetto. JLo said they *would be crazy* not to put him in the top 24. Newsflash judges, you got that backwards.
And now I'm completely conflicted as Jermaine is sobbing ala Adam Brock. I like Jermaine, I like his voice, I like his mama but I don't like him losing it on national TV. And of course we have been told there is a shock coming up and we haven't been shocked yet so it is no surprise when they tell him no dice this year. I will trade Jermaine for Adam Brock and Phil Phillips and Diandre but it is not to be. The judges are crying about this decision too which suggests that Nigel Lythgoe forced it on them so one of his favorites could get in. Boo!
So..was this the show shocker? No...Ryan is still promising shocking *news* which has *everyone talking*. I'm thinking did they film this the night that Whitney Houston dies and are they going to show the Idol family's grief?
The penultimate dramas are played out as Hollie (fodder) beats out Ariel and Shelby. We haven't seen much of any of them so I'm not really invested in this decision. Then David Leathers who evidently did Michael Jackson all week is up with Eben. David is really rather ordinary next to Eben who can pull those emotional heartstrings a lot harder. So Eben is in, David is out.
Then they show all the top 24 doing stupid dance moves and Ryan says good night. I'm thinking *where's the Whitney Houston tribute?* when Ryan tells us there will be 13 men so we will have a top 25 and shows us mugshots of four who were sent home. Germaine is one of them but so is Black Hat and No Cattle Richie Law along with David Leathers and someone else I don't care about. I'm thinking Germaine's tears worked and he is coming back.
As an end note we get a glimpse of Steven's man boobs as he moons us and jumps into the pool.
Next week we can finally vote. Yay!
Wednesday, February 22, 2012
Walk This Way He Jun Don't Be Afraid
I have a confession to make. I fell asleep (sitting up no less) during House Hunters and didn't wake up until 7:24 pm. I had hoped that we would see a lot of singing tonight as the top 40 sang their last song before the last cut, but as I finally managed to change the channel, I see that they are already doing the *walks*. For sixteen of these kids, their brief moment of fame is over and they are going home to whatever they were trying to get away from when they auditioned. They can take comfort in the fact that in a month, no one will remember the names of the bottom 12 of the top 24 and in six months, no one will remember the names of most of the top 12 (and much of America won't even know who won the whole deal).
So, that said, I see from another blog that of the first three up, the only one I remember is Jenn Hirsch. Unfortunately, the blog was too busy being smart-alecky about her looking like Katharine McPhee (who was forgotten until she started appearing on the show *Smash* a few weeks ago) to tell the reader whether she made it through or not. I'm thinking not because a) she is not a screamer; b)she is not blonde and needs a serious makeover to meet Idol standards; and c) my earlier sources say she did not. Too bad, because she was the only one who I found engaging.
The next two who did not make it through, Lauren and some guy. I don't remember either of them except I think Lauren was one of the ubiqitous blondes.
The first one I see is Josh LeDet. I like Josh LeDet but he may soon make me tired. I always start out really liking some R&B gospel guy and then he ends up over-emoting and over-selling himself in the performances and I get sick of them.
Two more *who are these people* types are sent home. Why bother even telling us about them at this point?
Next up is Haley Johnson (blonde) who also has big breasts. They show her singing a few bars in the Vegas group round with Reed Grimm (I think they mention Reed's name here too so we remember he is a contender) but other than that we are left knowing only that she is blonde and has big breasts. I'm not going to hold her hair color and breasts against her but she better sing well or she is going into the BBBimbo slot.
Next up are Neco Starr who has a catchy name and River St. James who has a stupid name. They are both R&B singers but Josh LeDet has that genre covered so I don't even have to watch to know they are going home.
Then we see some poor *who is this guy* contestant fail at his final song in a very embarassing way. That was actually pretty sad...they could at least have told him he could or could not start over.
Elise Testone walks in next and we see a clip of her singing *Its A Man's World*. And maybe it is something about her last name which calls to mind testosterone, which makes me think she is rather manly herself. She also looks a little *rode hard and hung up wet*. But, I am not opposed to her alto bluesy voice as long as she doesn't overdo it.
Ah, finally! Here is Reed Grimm and the show gets to pimp him (he is slated, I believe, to be number 2 or 3 but not the winner). They show a replay of his triumphant drum version of Georgia and then show him scatting the final Vegas song. Does he do more than scat? Scatting is great...but Reed is making me hate it. He's trying to out-Casey Casey and we've already seen that show.
Erika Van Pelt comes up next. She is not quite blonde and has a big old voice. They panned her last performance and I'm not sure why. She also needs a makeover to meet Idol standards and for that reason, I'm not sure Nigel is going to allow the judges to like her enough for her to make it very far. I am looking forward to hearing her perform. I think I might like her.
Then the country sweethearts, Chelsea someone (who has brown hair...how did this happen...I bet it gets progressively lighter as the show goes on) and Baylie Brown (who is blonde). They are pretty but entirely interchangeable country singers and I suppose which one goes the furthest is going to depend on which one gets pimped most by the judges in the early days.
And then..the moment I have been waiting for: Richie All Hat and No Cattle Law swaggers in. We are reminded that he has had some personality conflicts with HeJun and Germaine and that he didn't come here to recycle music...he came here to MAKE music. We see a clip of uninspired performance of *Ring of Fire*. He cannot even make one of the best country songs ever written for a low voice sound interesting. He sucks up to the judges saying *how much he has learned* and *how much more he wants to learn* but they aren't having it and he and that stupid black hat go home.
Ah, here comes HeJun, our comedian. He is sweating water and wants to hug JLo when he is told no because that is every Asian man's dream. For the first time (I think) we learn that he actually has something worthwhile to go home to as he teaches special needs kids. Of course he goes through...they would not have wasted the solid one hour of tape on him in the prior episodes if he wasn't going to make it to the top 24.
The next contestant, Jessica Sanchez, is not someone I find appealing. I find it even less appealing that her family of 45 is depending on her to support them for the rest of their lives. She is a Diva Wannabee and the sooner she is sent packing the better for me. It appears she will have quite a bit of competition in that genre so she better start working on her personality.
Phillip Phillips walks in next. I'm sorry but I don't get the Phillip Phillips Love. He is a white guy with a guitar who is moderately good looking. But he keeps forgetting the words and is voice is nothing special. He jumps around a bit with the guitar which Randy thinks is *quirky*. I think its dumb. Inexplicably, he goes through.
For the next 5 minutes, its the Colton show. We are reminded of the bond he has with his sister Schuyler, we are reminded that he tried out last year and didn't make it. We see scenes of his last minute audition and his stupid hairstyle which he has changed to another stupid hairstyle to be more hip. We see scenes of him being upset when Schuyler is sent home in Vegas. And then, as if he hadn't already stepped all over her moment in the sun to get to the top 40, we see him using the fact that he stomped on her dreams as *inspiration* for his final entirely over the top emotive performance of *Fix You*. I'm pretty sure Schuyler would like to fix him and not in a good way.
Then its the Jersey Shore/Real Housewives of New Jersey duo: Brielle, who looks and acts like Snookie; and her mother Camille, who looks and acts like Caroline Manzo. We have seen these acts before and it makes us sick. Go away Jersey girls. Brielle low sings with no enunciation while Camille worries about her self-tanning lotion and tries to hog the camera. My only solace about Brielle going through is that surely I am not the only one who finds her unlikeable and that she will go home quickly.
And finally, the cliff hanger. Will Adam Gokey Brock make the top 24? He is sobbing about all he wants to do is sing, sobbing about his daughter Whitney, sobbing about his wife and friend and lover Sarah, sobbing sobbing sobbing. We see him do a final performance which Simon would call *self-indulgent*. I tell myself, he is NOT Danny Gokey. I tell myself it is NOT his fault that he acts like Danny Gokey. But I cannot get over it and will never be rooting for him. Although, if he doesn't make the top 24, I am compassionate enough to hope they have a psychiatrist on hand along with some strong meds to get him on the plane home because I think he might actually chain himself to a slot machine to avoid leaving.
Tomorrow is the final show before we can FINALLY start hearing some music! You may have noticed that we have added some photos to the blog (including one of us when we were both having a bad hair day) and will add more as time goes on. If you like the blog, tell your friends and family about us! And once again, we welcome comments and hope you sign up as followers if you haven't already!
So, that said, I see from another blog that of the first three up, the only one I remember is Jenn Hirsch. Unfortunately, the blog was too busy being smart-alecky about her looking like Katharine McPhee (who was forgotten until she started appearing on the show *Smash* a few weeks ago) to tell the reader whether she made it through or not. I'm thinking not because a) she is not a screamer; b)she is not blonde and needs a serious makeover to meet Idol standards; and c) my earlier sources say she did not. Too bad, because she was the only one who I found engaging.
The next two who did not make it through, Lauren and some guy. I don't remember either of them except I think Lauren was one of the ubiqitous blondes.
The first one I see is Josh LeDet. I like Josh LeDet but he may soon make me tired. I always start out really liking some R&B gospel guy and then he ends up over-emoting and over-selling himself in the performances and I get sick of them.
Two more *who are these people* types are sent home. Why bother even telling us about them at this point?
Next up is Haley Johnson (blonde) who also has big breasts. They show her singing a few bars in the Vegas group round with Reed Grimm (I think they mention Reed's name here too so we remember he is a contender) but other than that we are left knowing only that she is blonde and has big breasts. I'm not going to hold her hair color and breasts against her but she better sing well or she is going into the BBBimbo slot.
Next up are Neco Starr who has a catchy name and River St. James who has a stupid name. They are both R&B singers but Josh LeDet has that genre covered so I don't even have to watch to know they are going home.
Then we see some poor *who is this guy* contestant fail at his final song in a very embarassing way. That was actually pretty sad...they could at least have told him he could or could not start over.
Elise Testone walks in next and we see a clip of her singing *Its A Man's World*. And maybe it is something about her last name which calls to mind testosterone, which makes me think she is rather manly herself. She also looks a little *rode hard and hung up wet*. But, I am not opposed to her alto bluesy voice as long as she doesn't overdo it.
Ah, finally! Here is Reed Grimm and the show gets to pimp him (he is slated, I believe, to be number 2 or 3 but not the winner). They show a replay of his triumphant drum version of Georgia and then show him scatting the final Vegas song. Does he do more than scat? Scatting is great...but Reed is making me hate it. He's trying to out-Casey Casey and we've already seen that show.
Erika Van Pelt comes up next. She is not quite blonde and has a big old voice. They panned her last performance and I'm not sure why. She also needs a makeover to meet Idol standards and for that reason, I'm not sure Nigel is going to allow the judges to like her enough for her to make it very far. I am looking forward to hearing her perform. I think I might like her.
Then the country sweethearts, Chelsea someone (who has brown hair...how did this happen...I bet it gets progressively lighter as the show goes on) and Baylie Brown (who is blonde). They are pretty but entirely interchangeable country singers and I suppose which one goes the furthest is going to depend on which one gets pimped most by the judges in the early days.
And then..the moment I have been waiting for: Richie All Hat and No Cattle Law swaggers in. We are reminded that he has had some personality conflicts with HeJun and Germaine and that he didn't come here to recycle music...he came here to MAKE music. We see a clip of uninspired performance of *Ring of Fire*. He cannot even make one of the best country songs ever written for a low voice sound interesting. He sucks up to the judges saying *how much he has learned* and *how much more he wants to learn* but they aren't having it and he and that stupid black hat go home.
Ah, here comes HeJun, our comedian. He is sweating water and wants to hug JLo when he is told no because that is every Asian man's dream. For the first time (I think) we learn that he actually has something worthwhile to go home to as he teaches special needs kids. Of course he goes through...they would not have wasted the solid one hour of tape on him in the prior episodes if he wasn't going to make it to the top 24.
The next contestant, Jessica Sanchez, is not someone I find appealing. I find it even less appealing that her family of 45 is depending on her to support them for the rest of their lives. She is a Diva Wannabee and the sooner she is sent packing the better for me. It appears she will have quite a bit of competition in that genre so she better start working on her personality.
Phillip Phillips walks in next. I'm sorry but I don't get the Phillip Phillips Love. He is a white guy with a guitar who is moderately good looking. But he keeps forgetting the words and is voice is nothing special. He jumps around a bit with the guitar which Randy thinks is *quirky*. I think its dumb. Inexplicably, he goes through.
For the next 5 minutes, its the Colton show. We are reminded of the bond he has with his sister Schuyler, we are reminded that he tried out last year and didn't make it. We see scenes of his last minute audition and his stupid hairstyle which he has changed to another stupid hairstyle to be more hip. We see scenes of him being upset when Schuyler is sent home in Vegas. And then, as if he hadn't already stepped all over her moment in the sun to get to the top 40, we see him using the fact that he stomped on her dreams as *inspiration* for his final entirely over the top emotive performance of *Fix You*. I'm pretty sure Schuyler would like to fix him and not in a good way.
Then its the Jersey Shore/Real Housewives of New Jersey duo: Brielle, who looks and acts like Snookie; and her mother Camille, who looks and acts like Caroline Manzo. We have seen these acts before and it makes us sick. Go away Jersey girls. Brielle low sings with no enunciation while Camille worries about her self-tanning lotion and tries to hog the camera. My only solace about Brielle going through is that surely I am not the only one who finds her unlikeable and that she will go home quickly.
And finally, the cliff hanger. Will Adam Gokey Brock make the top 24? He is sobbing about all he wants to do is sing, sobbing about his daughter Whitney, sobbing about his wife and friend and lover Sarah, sobbing sobbing sobbing. We see him do a final performance which Simon would call *self-indulgent*. I tell myself, he is NOT Danny Gokey. I tell myself it is NOT his fault that he acts like Danny Gokey. But I cannot get over it and will never be rooting for him. Although, if he doesn't make the top 24, I am compassionate enough to hope they have a psychiatrist on hand along with some strong meds to get him on the plane home because I think he might actually chain himself to a slot machine to avoid leaving.Tomorrow is the final show before we can FINALLY start hearing some music! You may have noticed that we have added some photos to the blog (including one of us when we were both having a bad hair day) and will add more as time goes on. If you like the blog, tell your friends and family about us! And once again, we welcome comments and hope you sign up as followers if you haven't already!
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