A brutal first week overall comes to a close with 4 of our top 24 going home. The Vote For The Worst crowd had their choices clear-cut for them, and while it was not a huge shock Haeley went through, I cannot fathom why Tim made it through. Allison Iraheta turned out to be nothing special with her hit and man is she annoying, but she's still a tween-tard when she's not using her voice. Then Kris Allen came on and sang let it be for haiti, which is so bleh...sorry Idol you missed the boat on that tragedy and now it just looks bad. We'll have to endure another Idol Gives Back sometime this year, which is an excuse to not tune in. Thanks Ryan for the week off in advance.
What this show tells us is two things: first, the voters were so unpredictable they made me go an unprecedented 4 for 4. However, I'll blame it on the fact that any one of about 8 girls and 8 guys deserved to go home, so I'll just be happy that 4 terrible singers are gone and maybe someone will emerge as good. Too bad Adam Lambert or David Archuleta were not in this season. Second, America hates Latino singers. How else can you explain Joe and Ashley going home on the first elimination week? Ahh well at least Andrew made it. All in all, as usual this hour of television is so worthless.
THIS WEEK: 0/4
SEMIFINALS: 0/4
OVERALL: 0/4
Thursday, February 25, 2010
Wednesday, February 24, 2010
American Idol 9 - Top 24 (the guys)
How about another big night of Idol? One can only hope that the sound bytes improve from last night. Although the judges kept saying that the girls were much better than usual this year, I think yet again some of the biggest favorites to win are in this group. And we're off...
Todrick Hall - Since You Been Gone - Todrick comes out looking good with the black jeans and leather jacket. Todrick lays down a very interesting choice of re-arrangement for the Kelly Clarkson hit. He turned it from pop rock into a soulful version with a little rap beat to it. I do not think it showed off his voice but it was interesting enough to keep him around I would think. In fact, the singing was pretty mediocre at best. Judges ripped him for obliterating the song, but that's the idea when being creative.
GRADE: C+
Aaron Kelly - Here Comes Goodbye - Aaron did not strike me as someone who sounds like Rascal Flatts, but he tries to fit his voice to the previous singer by the sounds of it during the first verse. This kid will get a lot of votes for being the Archuleta or Kris Allen of the season. He does a little weird stuff with the hands and the microphone that distracts from the song. However, he gives a good performance and hits a decent glory note at the end. He just should not try to be someone he is not.
GRADE: B
Jermaine Sellers - Get Here - Other than the cheesy black rose in the lapel, Jermaine wears the classiest looking outfit of the night with a jacket and his signature hat. I did not realize until tonight that he also has a neck tattoo, but it's not as painfully obvious as Neck Tattoo himself coming up later. Jermaine does a quiet soulful song and he misses the strongest note in the song badly as well as the soft high note at the end. This performance was very iffy and will put him in jeopardy.
GRADE: D-
Tim Urban - Apologize - Definitely a contemporary theme tonight, and Tim does not change the arrangement much which I disagree with. Every time he hit one of those falsettos in the verses he just went into soft whisper singing because he probably could not hit the notes. The chorus was a disaster of pitchy proportions, and wow this guy just does not have it. The reject will go back on the pile of rejects before the Top 12, and maybe even this week.
GRADE: F
Joe Munoz - You and I Both Hear It - Joe wears this atrocious scarf, but we won't be too distracted by that. Joe picked a very safe song that doesn't have much glory notes at all and just sort of meanders along at a safe pace. When the chorus picked up he missed a bit of notes, but this performance was safe and solid enough to move on. Simon was dead on in that this was forgettable and safe performance. We'll split the grade difference on this one.
GRADE: C
Tyler Grady - American Woman - No surprise, the 70's rocker rebirth of Jim Morrison picks a 70's hit. He starts the song with a little solo without the band which was a ncie contrast from the funky rock tune portion. Tyler will be delivering this every week and while it may not win the competition, he should stick around for a while. No real terrible notes in this one, but the performance was not completely polished. Put Tyler in the needs to improve pile.
GRADE: C+
Lee Dewyze - Chasing Cars - I'm totally into the Hot Topic t-shirts, so this guy looks pretty much how I would look and I like it. Lee has one of the strongest voices of the guys but he was all over the place in the chorus which made it sound very off. Good guitar player but I hope it does not become his crutch as he did not need it on this song. Good enough to move on.
GRADE: C-
John Park - God Bless The Child - John has looked very good every time he's been on camera but the hairstyle they sent him out with was stupid tonight covering his eyes and all. John picks a soulful song that gives him a chance to put his voice through its paces and while it may not be the most memorable performance ever, it was good enough to keep on going. Simon ripped him but I think he was decent. Not good enough to win but the runs were good.
GRADE: B-
Michael Lynche - This Love - This song choice floored the everloving crap out of me. Really Michael? The guitar was completely useless and distracting, but I'm not going to make fun of his outfit because he's big enough to pummel us. This kind of reminded me of the gay guy from Modern Family if he was doing karaoke at the beginning of the song. Towards the end of the song it got better but this was just another OK performance on a night full of nothing special. I'll grade it well because it ended well.
GRADE: B-
Alex Lambert - Wonderful World - Alex has a serious mullet, and everyone should rejoice in redneck country for this dude. Definitely won't be confused with Adam Lambert. Alex is a very nasal singer on this song and I don't know that he hit any falsetto or strong note all that well. This was completely forgettable in my mind and may put him at jeopardy. Like Simon said, good voice but no stage presence.
GRADE: D
Casey James - Heaven - Casey has a very distinctive look ever since he let his hair down as Kara and victoria ordered. I don't know how he could keep a straight performance going with the silliness Randy and Kara were doing at the beginning. Casey took this song down a notch and made it a sweet little diddy. I could see that being a hit with some more polish, as you could tell he was nervous. But this was clearly the best performance of the first 23 singers this week.
GRADE: A-
Andrew Garcia - Sugar We're Going Down - Call him frontrunner (although Casey might steal that) or Neck Tattoo, but this guy has the right vibe coming into the Top 24. Andrew slowed this contemporary song down a bit and made it sound almost better than the original, which is hard to do. Other than throwing in an unnecessary glory note (which he was OK on), this was a very solid performance. As expected he put down a good performance.
GRADE: B+
So on the whole, the night ended well after a whole hell of a lot of mediocrity. Some very bad song choices again and way too much contemporary stuff, but then again they rip the poor Jim Morrison wannabe for doing a classic. Hard to tell what the judges want but we'll see what America wants tomorrow night. Better than the girls this week, surprise surprise.
Top Performer: Casey
Bottom 3: Tim, Alex, Todrick (first slot curse)
Going Home: Tim and Todrick
Todrick Hall - Since You Been Gone - Todrick comes out looking good with the black jeans and leather jacket. Todrick lays down a very interesting choice of re-arrangement for the Kelly Clarkson hit. He turned it from pop rock into a soulful version with a little rap beat to it. I do not think it showed off his voice but it was interesting enough to keep him around I would think. In fact, the singing was pretty mediocre at best. Judges ripped him for obliterating the song, but that's the idea when being creative.
GRADE: C+
Aaron Kelly - Here Comes Goodbye - Aaron did not strike me as someone who sounds like Rascal Flatts, but he tries to fit his voice to the previous singer by the sounds of it during the first verse. This kid will get a lot of votes for being the Archuleta or Kris Allen of the season. He does a little weird stuff with the hands and the microphone that distracts from the song. However, he gives a good performance and hits a decent glory note at the end. He just should not try to be someone he is not.
GRADE: B
Jermaine Sellers - Get Here - Other than the cheesy black rose in the lapel, Jermaine wears the classiest looking outfit of the night with a jacket and his signature hat. I did not realize until tonight that he also has a neck tattoo, but it's not as painfully obvious as Neck Tattoo himself coming up later. Jermaine does a quiet soulful song and he misses the strongest note in the song badly as well as the soft high note at the end. This performance was very iffy and will put him in jeopardy.
GRADE: D-
Tim Urban - Apologize - Definitely a contemporary theme tonight, and Tim does not change the arrangement much which I disagree with. Every time he hit one of those falsettos in the verses he just went into soft whisper singing because he probably could not hit the notes. The chorus was a disaster of pitchy proportions, and wow this guy just does not have it. The reject will go back on the pile of rejects before the Top 12, and maybe even this week.
GRADE: F
Joe Munoz - You and I Both Hear It - Joe wears this atrocious scarf, but we won't be too distracted by that. Joe picked a very safe song that doesn't have much glory notes at all and just sort of meanders along at a safe pace. When the chorus picked up he missed a bit of notes, but this performance was safe and solid enough to move on. Simon was dead on in that this was forgettable and safe performance. We'll split the grade difference on this one.
GRADE: C
Tyler Grady - American Woman - No surprise, the 70's rocker rebirth of Jim Morrison picks a 70's hit. He starts the song with a little solo without the band which was a ncie contrast from the funky rock tune portion. Tyler will be delivering this every week and while it may not win the competition, he should stick around for a while. No real terrible notes in this one, but the performance was not completely polished. Put Tyler in the needs to improve pile.
GRADE: C+
Lee Dewyze - Chasing Cars - I'm totally into the Hot Topic t-shirts, so this guy looks pretty much how I would look and I like it. Lee has one of the strongest voices of the guys but he was all over the place in the chorus which made it sound very off. Good guitar player but I hope it does not become his crutch as he did not need it on this song. Good enough to move on.
GRADE: C-
John Park - God Bless The Child - John has looked very good every time he's been on camera but the hairstyle they sent him out with was stupid tonight covering his eyes and all. John picks a soulful song that gives him a chance to put his voice through its paces and while it may not be the most memorable performance ever, it was good enough to keep on going. Simon ripped him but I think he was decent. Not good enough to win but the runs were good.
GRADE: B-
Michael Lynche - This Love - This song choice floored the everloving crap out of me. Really Michael? The guitar was completely useless and distracting, but I'm not going to make fun of his outfit because he's big enough to pummel us. This kind of reminded me of the gay guy from Modern Family if he was doing karaoke at the beginning of the song. Towards the end of the song it got better but this was just another OK performance on a night full of nothing special. I'll grade it well because it ended well.
GRADE: B-
Alex Lambert - Wonderful World - Alex has a serious mullet, and everyone should rejoice in redneck country for this dude. Definitely won't be confused with Adam Lambert. Alex is a very nasal singer on this song and I don't know that he hit any falsetto or strong note all that well. This was completely forgettable in my mind and may put him at jeopardy. Like Simon said, good voice but no stage presence.
GRADE: D
Casey James - Heaven - Casey has a very distinctive look ever since he let his hair down as Kara and victoria ordered. I don't know how he could keep a straight performance going with the silliness Randy and Kara were doing at the beginning. Casey took this song down a notch and made it a sweet little diddy. I could see that being a hit with some more polish, as you could tell he was nervous. But this was clearly the best performance of the first 23 singers this week.
GRADE: A-
Andrew Garcia - Sugar We're Going Down - Call him frontrunner (although Casey might steal that) or Neck Tattoo, but this guy has the right vibe coming into the Top 24. Andrew slowed this contemporary song down a bit and made it sound almost better than the original, which is hard to do. Other than throwing in an unnecessary glory note (which he was OK on), this was a very solid performance. As expected he put down a good performance.
GRADE: B+
So on the whole, the night ended well after a whole hell of a lot of mediocrity. Some very bad song choices again and way too much contemporary stuff, but then again they rip the poor Jim Morrison wannabe for doing a classic. Hard to tell what the judges want but we'll see what America wants tomorrow night. Better than the girls this week, surprise surprise.
Top Performer: Casey
Bottom 3: Tim, Alex, Todrick (first slot curse)
Going Home: Tim and Todrick
Tuesday, February 23, 2010
American Idol Season 9 - Top 24 (The Girls)
We're back for another season of American Idol live, and let's just say the audition shows and Hollywood Week were interesting. The interplay between incoming Ellen and outgoing Simon should be interesting, and Ellen definitely is a nice judge to fill the shoes of Paula. I still cannot wait to see what crumudgeon they find to replace Simon, but let's enjoy Simon while we've got his great insight. The only real mistake in Hollywod Week in my opinion was dropping the girl with the funny face, but oh well. We move on, despite lacking any superstar talent favorites from Season 8. This could make for a better overall season. With 4 going home this week, let's begin the dream-wrecking!
Paige Miles - All Right Now - Paige has great stage presence and appears to be highly confident, but her voice seemed a little low for this song. She goes to a scream-jam session halfway through the song and tries to show her skills with a glory note at the end that was nothing spectacular. A good start, but not a real contender to make the top 12 if she continues at this point. You should definitely not be doing a song with a "sing-along chorus" as Randy put it. She'll make it through to another week, but it might be dicey with going first.
GRADE: C
Ashley Rodriguez - Happy - Ashley finds the bling from the J-Lo starter closet and looks a little too shiny in a silver jacket. Nevertheless, the performance was pretty decent despite a highly boring song choice. The only offense other than the song choice was spending the first 30 seconds being quiet and a little unimpressive. The chorus was solid, but this is also a perfect example of why you should not pick a contemporary artist because if you cannot measure up, the judges will rip you a new one. And they did just that.
GRADE: C-
Janell Wheeler - What About Love - For some reason, this song follows the same pattern that Ashley's song did but is far more interesting because the focus is properly on the start and Janell does very well in that spotlight. However, once the chorus starts and she gets moving, the voice was a little shaky for this song. I'll be stunned if anyone is great tonight, but this is a decent start for a dark horse contender.
GRADE: B
Lilly Scott - Fixin A Hole - Lilly makes me cringe with the too bright bleach blonde hair and dark eyeshadow, but whatever...she's from the street. The scrunched up faces during the song were laughable. It is sad that she picked an interesting song choice and then did absolutely nothing with it. The vocal was nothing special as this girl is outclassed by the shouters sadly. The judges lapped it up because she was "different." I don't know if they are right.
GRADE: D+
Katelyn Epperly - Oh Darling - Katelyn rocks a little leather dress that looks pretty solid, although from the neck up the perm makes me think country girl went a little too city. Classy old school song choice that complemented her voice and I really think she nailed the vocal more than the other girls so far tonight. No doubt she should be back next week because this is a singing competition and she has "it."
GRADE: B+
Haeley Vaughn - I Wanna Hold Your Hand - Good thing we don't need a Beatles week this season as we jump right into it with half the girls doing the classic band. Haeley got on this show too soon I think as she does not know how to moderate her voice. her high notes make me hurt in the cerebellum and the rest of her performance when she's not shouting she misses the notes. She tried to jazz it up with a blittle bit of a reggae tone, but she just lisps through and sounds awful. This is a disaster.
GRADE: F (Congrats on the first one of the season)
Lacey Brown - Landslide - Surprisingly the bright red hair fits her and doesn't make her look awful. I don't know about the song choice although it does give you an opportunity to show off your vocals. The problem is that the backup singer is also all over the vocals, which is distracting. Lacey can hit the strong notes so I really do not know why she did not go with something better, as she gets very medicore in the middle of the song. Lacey wins the award for getting Simon to say INDULGANT.
GRADE: C-
Michelle Delamor - Fallin - You know I will disagree with this song choice, not only one of the best contemporary singers of our time but her signature tune! At least Michelle swapped up some of the arrangement to make it a bit different and her own. The backup singers were on the original track at times or she was off her timing because they were a bit out of sync. This was a better than average performance on a very risky song.
GRADE: B
Didi Benami - The Way I Am - Another contemporary song, but not a good one to show off your voice. Kelley reminded me that Megan Joy slaughtered this song last year and this performance is only moderately better. You have to pick a better song, honestly. The rainbow vest was a disaster. She will probably make it to next week but she will not make the finals if she continues on this path.
GRADE: D+
Siobhan Magnus - Wicked Game - I think we have a new Megan Joy with the showing off the hideous arm tattoo, but not quite to the same extent. Siobhan has an intriguing voice because she really goes down to a bass type of level but then just brings it back up for a high note. Her range will serve her well, and this was one of the more clean vocals of the night. Take the flower out of the hair though, ffs.
GRADE: B-
Crystal Bowersox - Hand in my Pocket - Wow the girl with the nasty dreadlocks picks an Alanis Morseitte song, how shocking. She is the female version of Jason Castro, which got him far enough. However he was kind of a pretty boy and Crystal is kind of scary looking. The vocal was a little whiny but within her range which was a smart choice because I don't think she's got staying power chops. The Harmonica is a nice choice in any event and I'd be shocked if she leaves this week.
GRADE: C
Katie Stevens - The money slot goes to someone who probably will be a lock for Top 12 anyways. The song choice was a good one and even though she's shouty, it's not as annoying as Carly Smithson or this season's dreadful Haeley. She was one of the best of the night and the little black dress is always a safe bet. Judges hated on her for being pitchy, but she's got one of the most talented voices in the competition.
GRADE: B+
So we will try to improve on last year's prognostications, but this week has me stumped on the second person going home. At least one is clear, unless VFTW puts her through which is entirely possible. Unlike the funny bad contestants, she is just bad and not worth hearing ever again.
Head of the Class - Katelyn
Bottom Three - Haeley, Lilly, Didi
Going Home - Haeley, Lilly
Paige Miles - All Right Now - Paige has great stage presence and appears to be highly confident, but her voice seemed a little low for this song. She goes to a scream-jam session halfway through the song and tries to show her skills with a glory note at the end that was nothing spectacular. A good start, but not a real contender to make the top 12 if she continues at this point. You should definitely not be doing a song with a "sing-along chorus" as Randy put it. She'll make it through to another week, but it might be dicey with going first.
GRADE: C
Ashley Rodriguez - Happy - Ashley finds the bling from the J-Lo starter closet and looks a little too shiny in a silver jacket. Nevertheless, the performance was pretty decent despite a highly boring song choice. The only offense other than the song choice was spending the first 30 seconds being quiet and a little unimpressive. The chorus was solid, but this is also a perfect example of why you should not pick a contemporary artist because if you cannot measure up, the judges will rip you a new one. And they did just that.
GRADE: C-
Janell Wheeler - What About Love - For some reason, this song follows the same pattern that Ashley's song did but is far more interesting because the focus is properly on the start and Janell does very well in that spotlight. However, once the chorus starts and she gets moving, the voice was a little shaky for this song. I'll be stunned if anyone is great tonight, but this is a decent start for a dark horse contender.
GRADE: B
Lilly Scott - Fixin A Hole - Lilly makes me cringe with the too bright bleach blonde hair and dark eyeshadow, but whatever...she's from the street. The scrunched up faces during the song were laughable. It is sad that she picked an interesting song choice and then did absolutely nothing with it. The vocal was nothing special as this girl is outclassed by the shouters sadly. The judges lapped it up because she was "different." I don't know if they are right.
GRADE: D+
Katelyn Epperly - Oh Darling - Katelyn rocks a little leather dress that looks pretty solid, although from the neck up the perm makes me think country girl went a little too city. Classy old school song choice that complemented her voice and I really think she nailed the vocal more than the other girls so far tonight. No doubt she should be back next week because this is a singing competition and she has "it."
GRADE: B+
Haeley Vaughn - I Wanna Hold Your Hand - Good thing we don't need a Beatles week this season as we jump right into it with half the girls doing the classic band. Haeley got on this show too soon I think as she does not know how to moderate her voice. her high notes make me hurt in the cerebellum and the rest of her performance when she's not shouting she misses the notes. She tried to jazz it up with a blittle bit of a reggae tone, but she just lisps through and sounds awful. This is a disaster.
GRADE: F (Congrats on the first one of the season)
Lacey Brown - Landslide - Surprisingly the bright red hair fits her and doesn't make her look awful. I don't know about the song choice although it does give you an opportunity to show off your vocals. The problem is that the backup singer is also all over the vocals, which is distracting. Lacey can hit the strong notes so I really do not know why she did not go with something better, as she gets very medicore in the middle of the song. Lacey wins the award for getting Simon to say INDULGANT.
GRADE: C-
Michelle Delamor - Fallin - You know I will disagree with this song choice, not only one of the best contemporary singers of our time but her signature tune! At least Michelle swapped up some of the arrangement to make it a bit different and her own. The backup singers were on the original track at times or she was off her timing because they were a bit out of sync. This was a better than average performance on a very risky song.
GRADE: B
Didi Benami - The Way I Am - Another contemporary song, but not a good one to show off your voice. Kelley reminded me that Megan Joy slaughtered this song last year and this performance is only moderately better. You have to pick a better song, honestly. The rainbow vest was a disaster. She will probably make it to next week but she will not make the finals if she continues on this path.
GRADE: D+
Siobhan Magnus - Wicked Game - I think we have a new Megan Joy with the showing off the hideous arm tattoo, but not quite to the same extent. Siobhan has an intriguing voice because she really goes down to a bass type of level but then just brings it back up for a high note. Her range will serve her well, and this was one of the more clean vocals of the night. Take the flower out of the hair though, ffs.
GRADE: B-
Crystal Bowersox - Hand in my Pocket - Wow the girl with the nasty dreadlocks picks an Alanis Morseitte song, how shocking. She is the female version of Jason Castro, which got him far enough. However he was kind of a pretty boy and Crystal is kind of scary looking. The vocal was a little whiny but within her range which was a smart choice because I don't think she's got staying power chops. The Harmonica is a nice choice in any event and I'd be shocked if she leaves this week.
GRADE: C
Katie Stevens - The money slot goes to someone who probably will be a lock for Top 12 anyways. The song choice was a good one and even though she's shouty, it's not as annoying as Carly Smithson or this season's dreadful Haeley. She was one of the best of the night and the little black dress is always a safe bet. Judges hated on her for being pitchy, but she's got one of the most talented voices in the competition.
GRADE: B+
So we will try to improve on last year's prognostications, but this week has me stumped on the second person going home. At least one is clear, unless VFTW puts her through which is entirely possible. Unlike the funny bad contestants, she is just bad and not worth hearing ever again.
Head of the Class - Katelyn
Bottom Three - Haeley, Lilly, Didi
Going Home - Haeley, Lilly
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