Are we finally there? What? THREE more nights of this crap before we get to the top 12? Ugh. Well, let's make the best of it shall we contestants?
Von Smith - "No Looking Back" - Ahh, the T-shirt and jacket look, priceless Idol. His voice is silky smooth, but he seems to be rushing his voice too much with the song. Gotta give more credit to the outfit noticing the red shoes to match the shirt, but nevertheless, this was just your average Idol performance. Song choice was awful in my opinion, but he did a good job. Good chances depending on how the others do tonight.
GRADE: B-
Taylor Vaifanua - "If I Ain't Got You" - If my daughter bouncing is her votes, then Taylor wins the night. Again the more contemporary you go, the easier it is to compare you to the real singer and see that you are not that good. Taylor is no Alicia Keys, and unfortunately, this song showed her weaknesses more than her strengths. The outfit was completely normal, except for the patent leather pants, but whatever. She was very forgettable despite a decent voice.
GRADE: C-
Alex Wagner-Trugman - "I Guess That's Why They Call It The Blues" - I am thinking of the uber-dork as my boyfriend, and wow does it make that Elton karaoke performance go down smoother. His voice jumped pitch like that was his choice, and he lets out an animal roar between the chorus and the verse. Wow this is going to be ugly. Vote For The Worst candidate of the semifinals for sure! His outfit is not offensive, but he's a dork so no surprise there. Paula had to squeeze to say something nice, which is bad.
GRADE: FAIL
Arianna Afsar - "The Winner Takes It All" - Best song choice of the night, but it is also kind of a risky choice with a slow quiet opening in the semifinals. She was a little shaky initially too, which stood out, but she had plenty of glory notes to belt at the end. She missed the last one badly which stinks because she was good until then. Cute blue dress, which will serve her well back at McDonald's or wherever she is after this week. Making it contemporary does not mean slow it down. Ugh.
GRADE: D
Ju'Not Joyner - "Hey There Delilah" - Instead of pimping the Chikeize like I thought with the contemporary pop song, he slows down the song and makes it a soulfoul melody. Are the contestants actively trying to bore the shit out of me tonight? The leather jacket and such doesn't look bad on him, but might come off a little ghetto for the tweentards. Plus they will be asleep after this performance. He hit the notes, but who cares since it was so slow and he did not stretch at all.
GRADE: C-
Kristen McNamara - "Give Me One Reason" - Finally something a little upbeat. No real terribad outfits tonight, but Nathaniel will change that in a few minutes. The song choice was good because it fit her voice pretty well. She may not have been perfect on the notes, but it was pretty solid I thought overall. Very good performance that will put her in the mix tonight.
GRADE: B-
Nathaniel Marshall - "I Would Do Anything For Love" - He looks about as good as meat loaf in a low cut shirt...thanks for showing us the extra tats dude. Super cheese pointing to Simon on certain lyrics, but Normund has the cheese down better. Nathaniel actually has a solid voice, but this was an abysmal song choice. I have to imagine he's too scary to move on. Not even a good glory note at the end. Yuck. Go home.
GRADE: D
Felicia Barton - "No One" - More Alicia Keys, yay. The sequins under the leather jacket, let's just call it what it is, AWFUL! Just like Taylor, felicia picks a song by a great contemporary artist and fails to live up to anything close. Alicia Keys is the new Whitney, which means Felicia's pardon from the executioner will be short lived. Just all over the place until the end, and not a very good performance. Judges were much nicer than they needed to be.
GRADE: D+
Scott McIntyre - "Mandolin Rain" - I wonder if his buddy helper will be around for the group number tomorrow night. At least his friends know how to dress him, best outfit of the night. From the blind guy. Wake up contestants. this guy has the superstar voice and he picks a good song, which has been a rarity tonight and in the entire semifinals. Not quite as good as Danny, but he will be a big player in this competition I think.
GRADE: A-
Kendall Beard - "This One's For The Girls" - She pimps the Sarah Jessica Parker flower on the belt, which is a disaster. But she's way better than Kristy Lee Cook, who went far last season. She missed some notes on a song that's not terribly difficult. She belted too much at the end too. I'm really not as thrilled as I expected. Big personality and good song choice for her, but that was not a good performance.
GRADE: C-
Jorge Nunez - "Don't Let The Sun Go Down On Me" - Here comes the Puerto Rico flavor they injected for us by forcing a PR audition round. I think I have that jacket, but the jeans are terrible. VFTW moment when he tries some melody in the chorus and shows his accent way more than he intends to. I don't get how the judges say they want P-Rico talent but they want this guy to sing more American. Hmm, The song choice was not good for him, and it was a little boring. He played it OK, and tries to get the judges with a glory note on the end. It gets Paula, go figure.
GRADE: C-
Lil' Rounds - "Be Without You" - I wondered how she would handle the s-word in the song, but she just skips it. A very good dress. Very good song choice for her, even though it started off choppy. She'll make it through because they pimped her to, otherwise this might be a very close call. Simon doesn't lik eit because she sounds too much like MJB, which basically means she will step up and finally fill the ranks with more minorities (non-white and female, which was lacking after 2 weeks this season).
GRADE: B+
This is another tough round, but more because there were not many people who stepped up and did a great job. The finalists from this round should be happy they did not go last week, as they would've been killed. Idol producers clearly tailored the order of contestants and gave the money slot away to three people they really want to push. Hope that doesn't continue in the finals.
WELCOME TO THE TOP 12: Scott McIntyre, Lil' Rounds, Kendall Beard
WILD CARD POSSIBILITIES: Von Smith, Kristen McNamara
BUH-BYE: Alex Wagner-Trugman, Arianna Asfar, Ju'Not Joyner, Nathaniel Marshall, Felicia Barton, Jorge Nunez, Taylor Vaifauna
Tuesday, March 3, 2009
Friday, February 27, 2009
Semifinals Results II
Sometimes I need to follow my grades better. I almost put Kris Allen in the mix for a wild card, but oh well. The two obvious picks were Adam and Allison, and they are both through. No Nick sadly, but we'll always have that performance to remember.
This puts the season results at:
This Week: 2 out of 3
Semifinals: 4 out of 6
Season Total: 4 out of 6
This puts the season results at:
This Week: 2 out of 3
Semifinals: 4 out of 6
Season Total: 4 out of 6
Wednesday, February 25, 2009
American Idol Semifinal II:
And here we go with week two of the semifinals. Thanks to Barack's endless droning in primetime television, AI comes to us a day later than usual. Tonight we have a couple more real competitors, led by my pre-season pick over Danny Gokey, Adam Lambert. Also on the docket is the enigma of the semifinals, Normund Gentle. Let's just hope the performances are better and the competition more fierce. Last week was too easy!
Jasmine Murray - "Love Song" - Wow the beginning of this song was way off what we all know on the radio now, and I don't know that it will work on such a contemporary song. The silver jacket needs to go back to the 80's as well. Unlike the Archulator, seems like the teens this year just are not mature enough. The song almost got whiny, but it never seemed on pitch. She took too many liberties and did not perform well at all. More people having fun and not singing well. Could be the scary recurring theme of Season 8.
GRADE: D
Matt Giraud - "Viva La Vida" - More contemporary and again we have someone trying to add too much to the song. The problem is Matt's voice is pretty solid for the first part of the song, but his chorus is awful because his voice cannot possibly hope to do what Coldplay's singer does. His outfit is the best part of the performance, but not much else looked up. As the wife says, "that just blew a big one."
GRADE: FAIL
Jeanine Vailes - "This Love" - So the producers continue to dump on this girl by not showing her at all until now and then showing her tripping over a table. Well the hilarity ended right as she tried to hit some strong notes in Maroon 5. The booty shorts and heels probably don't sell to the right portion of America for this round. She was pitchy and more poor song choices. Goodness will anybody step up?
GRADE: D
Nick Mitchell - "I'm Gonna Make You Love Me" - This is for Group 2 indeed. I'm happy to see Normund Gentle came back out to play, this time in a hot white tailcoat. His own creation of a song had some pretty funny lyrics, including a glory note he actually hits. To be fair he actually did a fair job considering his voice. Simon was harsh, but horrific comedy and the jump kick response sells. He is an entertainer even if not a great singer. Definitely a chance to get America's vote, but wow this will be a surprise how people vote.
GRADE: B+
Allison Irahata - "Alone" - It must be pull out the "who?" night as faceless wonders of the preliminaries go up against Normund Gentle. Finally we have someone picking a non-contemporary song. She is terrible in the pre-song interview, but she at least is not wearing something atrocious. She defnitely has more maturity than the other teens, which is refreshing in the song. She may not have hit every note, but she was confident and was very solid. Surprising performance.
GRADE: B
Kris Allen - "Man In The Mirror" - This guy has the stereotypical idol douche-bag look, but his voice is pretty solid. The song choice was not very risky, but it could seriously pay off tonight. This all depends on how America feels about this nobody. The judges were terribly harsh, and well I just run out of words as there's not much to say about this performance.
GRADE: B-
Megan Corkrey - "Put Your Records On" - This will be an interesting experiment like Carly-plant. Will tattoos sell? Especially on a Brooke-White type? I don't like how she doesn't grab the mic and move around stage, which leaves her performance lacking. Her voice is good, but even the added glory note could not save this performance. Just average, and the recent performances tonight makes that not good enough.
GRADE: C
Matt Breitzke - "If You Could Only See" - I definitely thought this song choice was good for his voice, but we'll see. I swear this guy has welding jackets and 20 versions of the same kung-fu vibe shirt. Hey pimp what you got. He does a faithful rendition of Tonic, and it's very good. I am surprised because I did not think he was a sure-fire top 12 contestant. I think this was a good performance but a really extremely easy song, and the judges harped on that.
GRADE: B
Jesse Langseth - "Betty Davis Eyes" - The one-shoulder look is not that hot, but I've seen worse on this show especially. Jesse picked a song she loved, which means she's merely OK at it. Her facial expressions are too over the top in my opinion. Also another safety-type song, although not to the degree of Tonic. All of a sudden, the night has become average. Better than last week, but just average.
GRADE: C
Kai Kalama - "What Becomes Of The Broken Hearted" - If more chest hair popped out of this guy's open shirt, he'd be too rated-R for the FCC. In all seriousness, Kai takes a pretty basic song and adds his flavor to it. Other than the unbuttoned shirt, the outfit was good and the voice was good...but he's really right with the other top guys of the night. He could get lost in the mix.
GRADE: B-
Mishavonna Henson - "Drops of Jupiter" - Her voice and facial expressions are a little too serious in the opening of the song. This is probably the best rendition of a more contemporary song tonight, mostly because she obviouslyt doesn't try to match her voice to the guy lead singer of Train. Her dress is very cute as well. Simon had it spot-on, in that it was too serious.
GRADE: B
Adam Lambert - "Satisfaction" - Adam is certainly more cocky than even Danny Gokey, which may bite him in the ass. his all black outfit with the big chains is about what I expect from him, even though the hair is too goth. Interesting song choice, but it gave him a chance to show off his voice. I think he's still better than everyone else tonight, but he'll need to improve to be the darkhorse number 1 I had him pegged for. Judges love him, so he'll live to see another day.
GRADE: B+
So on the night, this group is a lot better than the first. However, there's a lot of decent and mediocre in this group and nobody really stood out. I wouldn't be surprised to see me get all three right, or none at all. Let's take a chance at it...
WELCOME TO THE TOP 12: Allison Iraheta, Adam Lambert, Nick Mitchell
WILD CARD POSSIBILITIES: Mishavonna Henson, Matt Breitzke
BUH-BYES: Kris Allen, Jesse Langseth, Kai Kalama, Kris Allen, Jasmine Murray, Matt Giraud, Jeanine Vailes
Jasmine Murray - "Love Song" - Wow the beginning of this song was way off what we all know on the radio now, and I don't know that it will work on such a contemporary song. The silver jacket needs to go back to the 80's as well. Unlike the Archulator, seems like the teens this year just are not mature enough. The song almost got whiny, but it never seemed on pitch. She took too many liberties and did not perform well at all. More people having fun and not singing well. Could be the scary recurring theme of Season 8.
GRADE: D
Matt Giraud - "Viva La Vida" - More contemporary and again we have someone trying to add too much to the song. The problem is Matt's voice is pretty solid for the first part of the song, but his chorus is awful because his voice cannot possibly hope to do what Coldplay's singer does. His outfit is the best part of the performance, but not much else looked up. As the wife says, "that just blew a big one."
GRADE: FAIL
Jeanine Vailes - "This Love" - So the producers continue to dump on this girl by not showing her at all until now and then showing her tripping over a table. Well the hilarity ended right as she tried to hit some strong notes in Maroon 5. The booty shorts and heels probably don't sell to the right portion of America for this round. She was pitchy and more poor song choices. Goodness will anybody step up?
GRADE: D
Nick Mitchell - "I'm Gonna Make You Love Me" - This is for Group 2 indeed. I'm happy to see Normund Gentle came back out to play, this time in a hot white tailcoat. His own creation of a song had some pretty funny lyrics, including a glory note he actually hits. To be fair he actually did a fair job considering his voice. Simon was harsh, but horrific comedy and the jump kick response sells. He is an entertainer even if not a great singer. Definitely a chance to get America's vote, but wow this will be a surprise how people vote.
GRADE: B+
Allison Irahata - "Alone" - It must be pull out the "who?" night as faceless wonders of the preliminaries go up against Normund Gentle. Finally we have someone picking a non-contemporary song. She is terrible in the pre-song interview, but she at least is not wearing something atrocious. She defnitely has more maturity than the other teens, which is refreshing in the song. She may not have hit every note, but she was confident and was very solid. Surprising performance.
GRADE: B
Kris Allen - "Man In The Mirror" - This guy has the stereotypical idol douche-bag look, but his voice is pretty solid. The song choice was not very risky, but it could seriously pay off tonight. This all depends on how America feels about this nobody. The judges were terribly harsh, and well I just run out of words as there's not much to say about this performance.
GRADE: B-
Megan Corkrey - "Put Your Records On" - This will be an interesting experiment like Carly-plant. Will tattoos sell? Especially on a Brooke-White type? I don't like how she doesn't grab the mic and move around stage, which leaves her performance lacking. Her voice is good, but even the added glory note could not save this performance. Just average, and the recent performances tonight makes that not good enough.
GRADE: C
Matt Breitzke - "If You Could Only See" - I definitely thought this song choice was good for his voice, but we'll see. I swear this guy has welding jackets and 20 versions of the same kung-fu vibe shirt. Hey pimp what you got. He does a faithful rendition of Tonic, and it's very good. I am surprised because I did not think he was a sure-fire top 12 contestant. I think this was a good performance but a really extremely easy song, and the judges harped on that.
GRADE: B
Jesse Langseth - "Betty Davis Eyes" - The one-shoulder look is not that hot, but I've seen worse on this show especially. Jesse picked a song she loved, which means she's merely OK at it. Her facial expressions are too over the top in my opinion. Also another safety-type song, although not to the degree of Tonic. All of a sudden, the night has become average. Better than last week, but just average.
GRADE: C
Kai Kalama - "What Becomes Of The Broken Hearted" - If more chest hair popped out of this guy's open shirt, he'd be too rated-R for the FCC. In all seriousness, Kai takes a pretty basic song and adds his flavor to it. Other than the unbuttoned shirt, the outfit was good and the voice was good...but he's really right with the other top guys of the night. He could get lost in the mix.
GRADE: B-
Mishavonna Henson - "Drops of Jupiter" - Her voice and facial expressions are a little too serious in the opening of the song. This is probably the best rendition of a more contemporary song tonight, mostly because she obviouslyt doesn't try to match her voice to the guy lead singer of Train. Her dress is very cute as well. Simon had it spot-on, in that it was too serious.
GRADE: B
Adam Lambert - "Satisfaction" - Adam is certainly more cocky than even Danny Gokey, which may bite him in the ass. his all black outfit with the big chains is about what I expect from him, even though the hair is too goth. Interesting song choice, but it gave him a chance to show off his voice. I think he's still better than everyone else tonight, but he'll need to improve to be the darkhorse number 1 I had him pegged for. Judges love him, so he'll live to see another day.
GRADE: B+
So on the night, this group is a lot better than the first. However, there's a lot of decent and mediocre in this group and nobody really stood out. I wouldn't be surprised to see me get all three right, or none at all. Let's take a chance at it...
WELCOME TO THE TOP 12: Allison Iraheta, Adam Lambert, Nick Mitchell
WILD CARD POSSIBILITIES: Mishavonna Henson, Matt Breitzke
BUH-BYES: Kris Allen, Jesse Langseth, Kai Kalama, Kris Allen, Jasmine Murray, Matt Giraud, Jeanine Vailes
Wednesday, February 18, 2009
Semifinal I Results
Well whomever decided to make the results show an hour long again needs to be shot. We did get to see has been Carly-plant Smithson and Michael "should've been around longer than Archuleta" Johns from Season 7. Have fun being nobodies again guys.
Results were good, as Danny Gokey stole the night for sure. They sort of sapped all the drama out of it by putting Danny at the end of the show against Tatiana, but at least we had a chance of Tatiana meltdown. I was also right on the Alexis Grace pick, and Anoop came within 20K votes of third finalist Michael Sarver (who was one of my wildcard possibilities). So we'll call it...
Semifinals: 2 out of 3
Season Total: 2 out of 3
Results were good, as Danny Gokey stole the night for sure. They sort of sapped all the drama out of it by putting Danny at the end of the show against Tatiana, but at least we had a chance of Tatiana meltdown. I was also right on the Alexis Grace pick, and Anoop came within 20K votes of third finalist Michael Sarver (who was one of my wildcard possibilities). So we'll call it...
Semifinals: 2 out of 3
Season Total: 2 out of 3
Tuesday, February 17, 2009
American Idol Semifinal I: A Loaded Bunch
Welcome to the first night of American Idol blogging for 2009, season 8. Semifinals is simple Billboard Top 100 songs, so pretty much anything goes.
Jackie Tohn - "Little Less Less Conversation" - Sounds like her voice has gone downhill since the auditions, as she chose too deep an Elvis song. The black spandex hotpants are hurtful to look at with that top too. It's as if she wants to keep the opener interesting. The busting out an almost rap midway through the song was misplaced. She missed the ball on this one. Judges were too kind, but Simon did not hold back.
GRADE: D
Ricky Braddy - "A Song For You" - Song choice may fit his voice very well, but I think it is a disaster in a heavy cut 25% move on format. He was boring and faceless before, and this is not much better. At least we found out he's a bravado crooner, as Kelley would say. Classy outfit though, which is a plus. He's just a little too weird, but who knows...maybe a wild card. Judges loved it like Archuleta.
GRADE: C+
Alexis Grace - "Never Loved A Man" - This was one of my secondary frontrunners coming into the semifinals. She picked a huge Aretha song, and it was a bit much for her. She does have the talent to be good, but it's risky picking Aretha on a semifinal night. The little black dress fits her new "dirty it up" personality, and she's a decent performer. I think she's in trouble if there are other good female contestants tonight. Which is a disappointment, honestly. The judges made a darkhorse Kelly Clarkson reference...she's not that good yet.
GRADE: B-
Brent Keith - "Hick Town" - I never know how I feel about people who pick songs with group choruses...kind of covers the voice and Brent's is not great, even for country. This was an indulgent blathery that doesn't speak to the right voters. He should look into the CMT Idol show because he's OK, but not great. He has his style and he dresses appropriately, but buh-bye.
GRADE: C-
Stevie Wright - "You Belong With Me" - Definitely playing the teen vote here, which will help her. She sings and looks like the oldest seventeen year old I've ever seen. She's got the Hannah Montana vibe and my a slip in as a wildcard, but it would be very undeserved. She needs some seasoning as she's not taking the appropriate amount of risks with that song. She's as good as gone.
GRADE: D
Anoop Desai - "Angel of Mine" - A Monica song, eh? Another contestant picks the classy suit jacket and jeans style. It's like David Cook all over again lol. He kind of missed the middle bridging notes in my opinion, but he picked a song that shows off his voice. He actually did a pretty good job and will be in the mix on a night of solid guy contestants. Maybe I should've joined the country in picking this guy to my top 12.
GRADE: B-
Casey Carlson - "Every Little Thing She Does Is Magic" - Unfortunately, the slower parts of the song are where you can stand out on this Sting song, but Casey punts. The chorus is OK but forgettable. The outfit is also just mediocre. Awful song choice. All in all, a very forgettable and mediocre performance. Adios and adieu.
GRADE: FAIL
Michael Sarver - "I Don't Wanna Be" - I liked the song choice of Gavin DeGraw in theory, but he clearly picked a song that he loves as opposed to one that will move him forward. It's painful to see him go, but he drew a tough group of guys to compete against in night 1. Maybe America will surprise me, but the facial expressions and the voice were too funny tonight. Even the high notes were not there, a chance to shine. Too bad.
GRADE: D+
Ann Marie Boskovich - "Natural Woman" - I was hesitant when I heard the song choice, but she actually put a good spin on it. Definitely best outfit of the night on the woman side, just because she was willing to to not wear black or something ridiculous. Facial expressions were the only downside, as they were a bit much. However, I think this may be enough to get her through. Judges were a little rough, and Ann dished back which is worth some points. Priceless moment on the "oh I sat on the hard part" and Secreast rushing to commercial.
GRADE: B-
Stephen Fowler - "Rock With You" - The smile was cheesy for a Michael Jackson love song, but he has a very smooth voice. Nothing outlandish about the outfits...oh where oh where have the Brooke Whites gone. Oh wait I forgot the beginning of the show. Don't know how I felt about the long hold note in the middle, but he did not miss anything by my take. I think he's got a real chance to overcome his glitch in Hollywood Week. Wow the judges disagree with me.
GRADE: B-
Tatiana Nicol Del Toro - "I'm Saving All My Love For You" - Sadly she came out with the Kristy Lee Cook look on her face, the confident I don't give a crap about my national reputation, I'm going to do what I want. A terrible dress, but that was expected from the drama queen of 2009. What's funny is she did not punt the Whitney song and would probably be sailing into the top 12 if it were not for the antics during auditions and Hollywood Week. I cannot believe it but I'm grading her higher than I ever expected.
GRADE: C+
Danny Gokey - "Hero" - Mariah Carey is risky, but hey baby...might as well roll the dice when nobody else is. He has a voice like Seal, and I think he actually will excel on his song choices alone. I'll be surprised if he shoots himself in the foot, and the money slot will be as good as gold for this frontrunner. Very solid performance that "redeemed the night" as Randy said.
GRADE: A-
So overall what did we learn? The most talented season ever brings a bunch more people who do not understand this is the harshest round of the competition cut-wise before the top 3. You have to bring your A game, and nobody really did. Fortunately for the frontrunners, they did not get passed by others stepping up. This is actually a very tough prediction, but here we go:
WELCOME TO THE TOP 12: Alexis Grace, Anoop Desai, Danny Gokey
WILD CARD POSSIBILITIES: Michael Sarver, Stephen Fowler
BUH-BYES: Jackie Tohn, Ricky Braddy, Brent Keith, Stevie Wright, Casey Carlson, Tatiana Nicol Del Toro, Ann Marie Boskovich
Jackie Tohn - "Little Less Less Conversation" - Sounds like her voice has gone downhill since the auditions, as she chose too deep an Elvis song. The black spandex hotpants are hurtful to look at with that top too. It's as if she wants to keep the opener interesting. The busting out an almost rap midway through the song was misplaced. She missed the ball on this one. Judges were too kind, but Simon did not hold back.
GRADE: D
Ricky Braddy - "A Song For You" - Song choice may fit his voice very well, but I think it is a disaster in a heavy cut 25% move on format. He was boring and faceless before, and this is not much better. At least we found out he's a bravado crooner, as Kelley would say. Classy outfit though, which is a plus. He's just a little too weird, but who knows...maybe a wild card. Judges loved it like Archuleta.
GRADE: C+
Alexis Grace - "Never Loved A Man" - This was one of my secondary frontrunners coming into the semifinals. She picked a huge Aretha song, and it was a bit much for her. She does have the talent to be good, but it's risky picking Aretha on a semifinal night. The little black dress fits her new "dirty it up" personality, and she's a decent performer. I think she's in trouble if there are other good female contestants tonight. Which is a disappointment, honestly. The judges made a darkhorse Kelly Clarkson reference...she's not that good yet.
GRADE: B-
Brent Keith - "Hick Town" - I never know how I feel about people who pick songs with group choruses...kind of covers the voice and Brent's is not great, even for country. This was an indulgent blathery that doesn't speak to the right voters. He should look into the CMT Idol show because he's OK, but not great. He has his style and he dresses appropriately, but buh-bye.
GRADE: C-
Stevie Wright - "You Belong With Me" - Definitely playing the teen vote here, which will help her. She sings and looks like the oldest seventeen year old I've ever seen. She's got the Hannah Montana vibe and my a slip in as a wildcard, but it would be very undeserved. She needs some seasoning as she's not taking the appropriate amount of risks with that song. She's as good as gone.
GRADE: D
Anoop Desai - "Angel of Mine" - A Monica song, eh? Another contestant picks the classy suit jacket and jeans style. It's like David Cook all over again lol. He kind of missed the middle bridging notes in my opinion, but he picked a song that shows off his voice. He actually did a pretty good job and will be in the mix on a night of solid guy contestants. Maybe I should've joined the country in picking this guy to my top 12.
GRADE: B-
Casey Carlson - "Every Little Thing She Does Is Magic" - Unfortunately, the slower parts of the song are where you can stand out on this Sting song, but Casey punts. The chorus is OK but forgettable. The outfit is also just mediocre. Awful song choice. All in all, a very forgettable and mediocre performance. Adios and adieu.
GRADE: FAIL
Michael Sarver - "I Don't Wanna Be" - I liked the song choice of Gavin DeGraw in theory, but he clearly picked a song that he loves as opposed to one that will move him forward. It's painful to see him go, but he drew a tough group of guys to compete against in night 1. Maybe America will surprise me, but the facial expressions and the voice were too funny tonight. Even the high notes were not there, a chance to shine. Too bad.
GRADE: D+
Ann Marie Boskovich - "Natural Woman" - I was hesitant when I heard the song choice, but she actually put a good spin on it. Definitely best outfit of the night on the woman side, just because she was willing to to not wear black or something ridiculous. Facial expressions were the only downside, as they were a bit much. However, I think this may be enough to get her through. Judges were a little rough, and Ann dished back which is worth some points. Priceless moment on the "oh I sat on the hard part" and Secreast rushing to commercial.
GRADE: B-
Stephen Fowler - "Rock With You" - The smile was cheesy for a Michael Jackson love song, but he has a very smooth voice. Nothing outlandish about the outfits...oh where oh where have the Brooke Whites gone. Oh wait I forgot the beginning of the show. Don't know how I felt about the long hold note in the middle, but he did not miss anything by my take. I think he's got a real chance to overcome his glitch in Hollywood Week. Wow the judges disagree with me.
GRADE: B-
Tatiana Nicol Del Toro - "I'm Saving All My Love For You" - Sadly she came out with the Kristy Lee Cook look on her face, the confident I don't give a crap about my national reputation, I'm going to do what I want. A terrible dress, but that was expected from the drama queen of 2009. What's funny is she did not punt the Whitney song and would probably be sailing into the top 12 if it were not for the antics during auditions and Hollywood Week. I cannot believe it but I'm grading her higher than I ever expected.
GRADE: C+
Danny Gokey - "Hero" - Mariah Carey is risky, but hey baby...might as well roll the dice when nobody else is. He has a voice like Seal, and I think he actually will excel on his song choices alone. I'll be surprised if he shoots himself in the foot, and the money slot will be as good as gold for this frontrunner. Very solid performance that "redeemed the night" as Randy said.
GRADE: A-
So overall what did we learn? The most talented season ever brings a bunch more people who do not understand this is the harshest round of the competition cut-wise before the top 3. You have to bring your A game, and nobody really did. Fortunately for the frontrunners, they did not get passed by others stepping up. This is actually a very tough prediction, but here we go:
WELCOME TO THE TOP 12: Alexis Grace, Anoop Desai, Danny Gokey
WILD CARD POSSIBILITIES: Michael Sarver, Stephen Fowler
BUH-BYES: Jackie Tohn, Ricky Braddy, Brent Keith, Stevie Wright, Casey Carlson, Tatiana Nicol Del Toro, Ann Marie Boskovich
American Idol Preliminaries: Handicapping The Top 36
This year I plan to be a bit more in-depth about my picks and how I'm doing. I had a decent track record blogging the top 12 last season, hitting 6 of the 11 eliminations spot on and being fairly good at nabbing 2/3 of the bottom 3. As part of that, I've handicapped the field in my traditional grading style. Here's the breakdown...
A - True blue frontrunners, my picks to be singing in May
B - Possible Final 4 candidates, but likely just short
C - Definite Top 12 possibilities
D - Probably not going anywhere the next three weeks in the semifinals
FAIL - Go home. Now.
And now my handicapping from best to worst...
FAIL
36. Tatiana Nicol Del Toro - Most. Annoying. Contestant. Ever.
35. Nathaniel Marshall - my least favorite legitimate contestant. Stop crying and whining. Ugh.
34. Alex Wagner-Trugman - geeks have no place here, sorry mate.
33. Kris Allen - wins award for most forgettable white boy of season 8.
32. Jorge Nunez - American Idol may want Puerto Rico flavor, I do not.
31. Ricky Braddy - dude this guy is fail.
30. Ju'Not Joyner - blech. Chikeze failed, so will his copy.
D
29. Von Smith - This guy is too smug for America.
28. Felicia Barton - who cares.
27. Jesse Langseth - anyone else remember much from her? Me either.
26. Mishavonna Henson - Katharine McPhee wannabe, no thanks.
25. Jeanine Vailes - never even seen her...wow dumped on her producers.
24. Taylor Vaifuana - who?
23. Brent Keith - who?
22. Stevie Wright - great singer, not the right look.
21. Allison Irahata - who?
20. Matt Giraud - who?
19. Anoop Desai - lots think he'll go far, not me.
C
18. Casey Carlson - Only escapes a D on looks, which counts for top 12 potential in AI.
17. Matt Breitzke - doesn't have the chops that Sarver does, but blue collar all the way dude.
16. Jackie Tohn - She could go a lot farther than this, but she's a 50/50 shot
15. Ann Marie Boskovich - she'll get the tween-tard boy vote if nothing else.
14. Meghan Corkrey - Another solid Brooke White type
13. Michael Sarver - The oil rig dude has quite the chance if he makes it through his group
12. Kai Kalama - The dude with the fro, always brings home some votes
11. Arianna Afsar - Good stuff here, borderline top 12 though
10. Kristen McNamara - looks like a psycho but sings like an angel, it evens out
9. Nick Mitchell AKA Norman Gentle - As long as he's silly, he'll keep going. He's got talent too!
B
8. Alexis Grace - The pink-haired superstar showed up in force in Hollywood week 2
7. Kendall Beard - Perhaps another KKK, but she looks good so far
6. Lil Rounds - Meh, she'll go far because they hyped her, much like Gaspy
5. Stephen Fowler - you gotta be some kind of talented to not perform your last song and make it
A
4. Scott MacIntrye - blind guy FTW
3. Jasmine Murray - hottest chic voice in the competition, better than Syesha
2. Danny Gokey - music teach with sob story, but still my favorite so far
1. Adam Lambert - this cat looks like a winner to me, there's just that killer instinct there
Now all of this is subject to change, as this is just a snapshot of where they stand now in my mind. Lots of time to impress me between now and mid-May, as I wouldn't have pegged David Cook as my choice back at this time last year. Of course I knew a lot less about Idol then. Let's see if I can get all C's and above in the Top 12 (doubtful). No FAILS please.
A - True blue frontrunners, my picks to be singing in May
B - Possible Final 4 candidates, but likely just short
C - Definite Top 12 possibilities
D - Probably not going anywhere the next three weeks in the semifinals
FAIL - Go home. Now.
And now my handicapping from best to worst...
FAIL
36. Tatiana Nicol Del Toro - Most. Annoying. Contestant. Ever.
35. Nathaniel Marshall - my least favorite legitimate contestant. Stop crying and whining. Ugh.
34. Alex Wagner-Trugman - geeks have no place here, sorry mate.
33. Kris Allen - wins award for most forgettable white boy of season 8.
32. Jorge Nunez - American Idol may want Puerto Rico flavor, I do not.
31. Ricky Braddy - dude this guy is fail.
30. Ju'Not Joyner - blech. Chikeze failed, so will his copy.
D
29. Von Smith - This guy is too smug for America.
28. Felicia Barton - who cares.
27. Jesse Langseth - anyone else remember much from her? Me either.
26. Mishavonna Henson - Katharine McPhee wannabe, no thanks.
25. Jeanine Vailes - never even seen her...wow dumped on her producers.
24. Taylor Vaifuana - who?
23. Brent Keith - who?
22. Stevie Wright - great singer, not the right look.
21. Allison Irahata - who?
20. Matt Giraud - who?
19. Anoop Desai - lots think he'll go far, not me.
C
18. Casey Carlson - Only escapes a D on looks, which counts for top 12 potential in AI.
17. Matt Breitzke - doesn't have the chops that Sarver does, but blue collar all the way dude.
16. Jackie Tohn - She could go a lot farther than this, but she's a 50/50 shot
15. Ann Marie Boskovich - she'll get the tween-tard boy vote if nothing else.
14. Meghan Corkrey - Another solid Brooke White type
13. Michael Sarver - The oil rig dude has quite the chance if he makes it through his group
12. Kai Kalama - The dude with the fro, always brings home some votes
11. Arianna Afsar - Good stuff here, borderline top 12 though
10. Kristen McNamara - looks like a psycho but sings like an angel, it evens out
9. Nick Mitchell AKA Norman Gentle - As long as he's silly, he'll keep going. He's got talent too!
B
8. Alexis Grace - The pink-haired superstar showed up in force in Hollywood week 2
7. Kendall Beard - Perhaps another KKK, but she looks good so far
6. Lil Rounds - Meh, she'll go far because they hyped her, much like Gaspy
5. Stephen Fowler - you gotta be some kind of talented to not perform your last song and make it
A
4. Scott MacIntrye - blind guy FTW
3. Jasmine Murray - hottest chic voice in the competition, better than Syesha
2. Danny Gokey - music teach with sob story, but still my favorite so far
1. Adam Lambert - this cat looks like a winner to me, there's just that killer instinct there
Now all of this is subject to change, as this is just a snapshot of where they stand now in my mind. Lots of time to impress me between now and mid-May, as I wouldn't have pegged David Cook as my choice back at this time last year. Of course I knew a lot less about Idol then. Let's see if I can get all C's and above in the Top 12 (doubtful). No FAILS please.
Welcome to the new blog!
I skipped out on the American Idol phenomenon until season 6, when my wife and I followed along as Melinda Doolittle and Chris Sligh were upset by the boombox Blake Lewis and Jordin Sparks. Then in 2008 we got involved, and I blogged the season. I will now continue this for Season 8!
My Season 7 stylings are imported below, and I like to think along the same lines as Vote For The Worst. Let's get started!
My Season 7 stylings are imported below, and I like to think along the same lines as Vote For The Worst. Let's get started!
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