American Idol Season 9 - Top 16 - Final 8 Girls Perform

Now, that's how I like my American Idol folks!  Short, sweet and to the point!  I love when they get down to a manageable number of contestants to fit it into an hour.  Unfortunately, when we get to the top 12 it will be another 2 hour opus with long-winded comments from the judges.  But, let's savor in this brief episode while we have it!  Now, you may have heard a little rumor that I picked 4 out of 4 to be eliminated last week.  It is surely a feat not to be repeated this season.  There are some tough choices for who is going home on Wednesday.  Well, one easy pick and one difficult pick!  Let's get right into it shall we?   Ellen, get off Simon's lap and let's get started!

1. Katie Stevens - "Breakaway" by Kelly Clarkson -  Katie already had a lot riding against her by picking the smash hit for the 1st American Idol winner.   It's bad when the only good thing I can think to say about her this week is that I liked her outfit!  There was really nothing to the performance that made it stand out.  To make it worse, she went first.   The judges brought up the great point that she is taking their advice and trying to improve.  And she is a very likable contestant.   So, I hope she gets in.  But, I just don't know.  I have always said that the 16 year olds are just not mature enough for this competition.  Maybe she's 17 now, but it's still young.  Jordin Sparks was an exception in a lackluster year (I always mention that too!)   Good luck Katie, and good luck to me with my pick!     
2. Siobhan Magnus - "House of the Rising Sun" by The Animals - So, this was a surprise performance for her Daddy.  Okay, great.  There is no question that Siobhan won over America last week with that crazy high note in "Think".  She will definitely be back for the Top 12.  She really does have an incredible voice, but I agree with Simon that there were no "WOW" moments in the performance.  Then again, it's tough to replicate a great Idol moment.  Just ask Andrew Garcia!   She'll be back and we can judge her more then. 
3. Lacey Brown - "The Story" by Brandi Carlile  -  I went into this performance hoping Lacey didn't do well to make life easier for my picking!  (I know, I'm a cruel human being)   But, I do love that song and she gave a very good vocal, albeit boring, performance of it.   Kara wishes for more performances like this because this is when she sounds good.  Trust me, if Lacey does a sit down, acoustic performance so that we can hear all the nuances in her voice EVERY week?  We are going to get really tired of it.   But she may have done enough to keep her in this show.  She does really have a nice voice, but is she going to win anything with it?  No chance.   I think Lacey does NOT have the fan base that others might have, so this perhaps might be in Katie or Katelyn's favor.   I would count against her also that she didn't take the risk by singing the really big part of the song!  That's the best part! 
4. Katelyn Epperly - "I Feel the Earth Move" - Carole King  -  Ummmmm, Katelyn what on earth are you thinking?  We definitely did the time warp on this song.  Yeah, it's great you can play that 70's organ thingy (the Wurlitzer? Thanks for the history lesson Randy!) but is that really what you want to do the week before the top 12?  She said she was trying to be less corny.  I think, if anything, she would be taken LESS seriously after that performance.   Don't get me wrong, it was a good vocal performance, but not memorable in the least.  The best thing she has going for her is that she's pretty.  Yikes, I don't know.  I've been supporting her but this may have been a rough choice for her.   
5. Didi Benami - "Rhiannon" Fleetwood Mac - Well, my wife and I disagreed on this one.  I bring this up because this is her surprise pick to get eliminated this week.  And I'm gonna hear it if it happens!   I just can't help it.  I really love her voice.  There are 3 people with similar voices in the competition.  Didi, Lacey and Lilly.  Lilly is definitely the best of the 3 of them.   I really haven't bought into the whole Lacey thing, but maybe others have.   But Didi, I still like her.  She won't be taking home any 1st place trophies either this year, so it probably doesn't matter in the long run.   The judges were very impressed with her.   Simon thought the whole performance was a "wow" moment for her.  Kara equated it to her great performance of "Terrified".  Then again who cares what Kara thinks?  I can see Didi in the situation where the judges praised her so much that she may get forgotten due to voters assuming she's safe.   Here is the biggest compliment I can give her though.  Taylor Swift, the world's biggest star right now and arguably worst singing voice to accompany her star power, butchered this very same song on the Grammy's while singing with Stevie Knicks herself.   Didi, was far better than Miss Swift ever would be on that song.  (did I just lose my teenage readers?!)  Granted, Swift is a good songwriter which keeps her in the biz of selling lots of records.  So, that's where my comparison ends.   I think Didi is safe, just don't tell my wife if you agree! 
6. Paige Miles - "Smile" - Charlie Chaplin - Would you believe me if I told you that when Paige went on and on about how this song means so much to her that I thought out loud "Yep, you're definitely talking about because it was sang at Michael Jackson's all-star Memorial Service!"   And wouldn't you know it, it's all she could come up with to explain why it meant so much to her.   Well she didn't say exactly that but she did name drop Michael.   WHAT!?!?!?!?!?   Wow, talk about one contestant getting it wrong 3 weeks in a row.   And this was the worst performance of all 3.  I don't even think sympathy voters could get the strength to dial the number to support her.   There was warbled runs all through the song.  There was snooze inducing low vocals through the whole thing.  I've said this about other performances in other weeks.  No redeeming qualities whatsoever.  If there is anyone locked to get booted this week, it is Paige Miles.   By the way, how bad is it that I have been calling her Paige Davis for weeks now and never thought to double check her name?   Ahhh Trading Spaces.   
7. Crystal Bowersox -  "Give Me One Reason" by Traci Chapman -  When a contestant has the goods, it's hard to even write about it without sounding repetitive.  Crystal is definitely the one to beat right now, as Simon also acknowledged.  She just goes out there every week and kills it.  (well 2 weeks in a row at least).   She changed up the song enough to give it a life of its own, and to showcase her vocal chops.   I will probably post a video of her performance as I have the past 2 weeks.  Loved it!  At this point, I don't see anything stopping her from getting very far in the competition (I don't want to declare a winner yet, but top 2 is definitely in the sights right now).  But we'll see.  
8. Lilly Scott - "I Fall to Pieces" Patsy Cline - Did anyone else roll their eyes when Kara made another one of her comments where she was looking around trying to get people to agree with her?  "Don't know how you did it but you actually made Patsy Cline feel CURRENT!!"   Wow, I cannot stand her.  First of all, Patsy Cline is timeless!   And 2nd of all, the fact that Lilly took on Patsy Cline, like Simon suggested, was a very risky thing to do.  He meant it as a warning, I mean it as the utmost compliment.  I still really like this girl.  Her voice is wicked cool!  (yep, I said it)   You guys remember that song "Fade Into You" by Mazzy Star?  I kinda get that vibe when she sings.  But she was singing Patsy Cline!  And it sounded cool.  Yeah, it started off a little shaky, but she finished real strong.   Love this girl and can't wait to see what else she has.  Definite Top 12er.   Nice Mandolin playing too.  

Okay, so I'm all out of contestants to review!  Better move on with the program here.  Let's do our process of elimination!

Who is in the Top 12 with no doubts?  Crystal, Lilly, Siobhan  

Who is out of the Top 12 with no doubts? Paige

Who had a good performance but might get overlooked?  Didi

Who had a rough performance, went first, but people like? Katie

Who had made a bizarre song choice but is pretty?  Katelyn

Who did I forget?  Lacey

Elimination Picks: Paige Miles, Katie Stevens  

Bonus Pick: Lacey Brown  Double Bonus Pick: Katelyn Epperly

Yikes, really tough week folks!  In the end, I felt I was overthinking it so I went simple.  Katie went first and gave an unmemorable performance.  And Paige is going home.  Nothing more to say about it.  I think the thing that is important to note here is that if it's Katelyn, Katie, Didi, or Lacey it really doesn't matter.  I don't think any of them have a shot to win it.  But I have been wrong in the past.  I was pleasantly surprised week after week with Kris Allen's run to the finish (Did I lose my Adam Glambert readers?  At least I got you to the end!)   Anyway, I don't expect to go 4 for 4 two weeks in a row, so I'll play things safe and we'll see how it goes.  But definitely count on me gloating if I do it again!   Hope you enjoyed my ramblings as always and I'll see you next week!

Ending Credits

Please Click to Support!  I'm moonlighting at Gather.com and writing some entertainment articles, including re-posting these blog entries.  Every page hit gets me closer to a teeny tiny donation for my efforts.  If you enjoyed my writings, please click here  to register a page view.     And also check out my other writings at http://mvitullo.gather.com/ 

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American Idol - Season 9 Top 20 - 4 More Go Home (Results)

My friends, this day shall live in infamy.  It will be the day where I finally faced my demons and did the unthinkable!   Never in a semi-final round before have I been able to GO THE DISTANCE, PITCH THE PERFECT GAME, HIT THE GRAND SLAM.   Yes my fellow Idol fanatics, I picked all 4 of our eliminated contestants!   Oh please, hold the applause.   It wasn't with a lot of trepedation on my my part.   I had to go against Simon and his cronies to do it.  And yes, they ate their words tonight after watching the show back on TV.   All I am saying is, if the spot is still open, I'm up for Simon's job next year!  Stick with me kids, I'm on fire!    Just kidding, it will never happen again and I'm just excited.    Let's say a fond farewell to these contestants who went home exactly at the right time. 

Eliminated: John Park, Jermaine Sellers, Haeley Vaughn, Michelle Delamour,
My Picks: John Park, Jermaine Sellers, Haeley Vaughn, Michelle Delamour

I am so glad that the judges did a double take on Michelle Delamour.  And it's nice to see America doesn't listen to them and just vote for who they think the judges like.  There was no redeeming qualities about that performance and her repeat performance tonight emphasized that.  Jermaine reinforced that he just wasn't cut out for this by continuing his awful preaching to America.  And capping it off with an awful joke "Most importantly, go out and get you a onesie!"   John and Haeley, maybe a little sad to see them go, but they definitely weren't cut out for the top 12 yet.   So, I really have nothing to complain about.  My picks went home!   Let's get on with the highlights and lowlights of the results show.

Highlights

• As predicted, Simon corrects himself about some of the critiques on the Girls night.  He said one was so bad he had to turn the TV off.  I think we all knew this was Michelle.  And of course Kara had to eat her words on LIVE TV after Ryan repeated that she said it was her "BEST PERFORMANCE EVER!"   Ahhh good times.  I am all for making Kara look like a fool! 
• Did I mention I got 4 for 4 right?  Exciting times folks!  
• The only redeeming quality of Danny Gokey's performance was catching Mike Lynche having his finger in the air during and bobbing his head during the whole thing.   You drink that Idol Kool Aid Mikey!!   

Lowlights

• Randy kept the Booing of Simon tradition alive and well.   Randy, it wasn't funny the first time, it's not funny 9 years later!!! 
•  The "I Got a Feeling" group song.   Granted, I love train wrecks so this should be a highlight.  The hand gestures during the rapping, the jumping off sofas when they're singing about jumping off sofas, the lip synching.  It was AWESOMELY AWFUL! 
• Kieren, Dim the lights!! 
• Making us sweat out Andrew potentially going home was NOT cool!  
• Danny Gokey attempting to be Country.   Even worse was his justification of becoming a country singer.  Shame on you Randy Travis!   The song was not very good and it was made unbearable when he went on and on and on and on and on talking about the story behind the song.   His sidebar with Ellen about wanting to dance on her show was a little much too.   The worst part?   My wife and I are going to the Sugarland concert this summer.    Do I have to see Danny Gokey when I'm there?   OH NO!!!!! 

I don't think it gets any lower than that folks.  Me being forced to hear Danny Gokey life might just be the bottom of the barrel!   Anyway, I am going to enjoy this 4 for 4 high a little longer before I start getting serious about calling the top 12 next week!   One more week of the 5 hour Idol.   We can do it folks.   Have a great weekend, hope you enjoyed my ramblings and I'll see you next week! 

Check out my previous posts to watch the 4 for 4 coming together! 

Ending Credits

Please Click to Support!  I'm moonlighting at Gather.com and writing some entertainment articles, including re-posting these blog entries.  Every page hit gets me closer to a teeny tiny donation for my efforts.  If you enjoyed my writings, please click here  to register a page view.     And also check out my other writings at http://mvitullo.gather.com/ 

Check out my other Blogs: 

LOST - http://www.lostaddictsblog.com/ (blog is back and on fire!)
FlashForward - http://www.flashforwardaddicts.com/ (back March 18th)

 

American Idol Season 9 Top 20 - Final 10 Girls Perform with a Vengeance!

Hello Idol Watchers!  Well, I feel better tonight than I did last night watching the show.  Granted, no LOST to compete with it tonight, but still the girls managed to bring a little more to the table.  Maybe we can chalk some of it up to an extra day to practice.  Or maybe we can chalk it up and thank our lucky stars that Crystal Bowersox was able to make it to the competition (barely, but she was there!)   There were a few performances that I would say solidified some Top 12 slots.  And there were some real clunkers out there as well.  For some of them, I think it was a little bit of "OPPOSITE DAY" going on with what the judges were saying and what we were hearing at home.  Maybe it was just me, but we'll find out together!  

So let's dive in and talk about the performances.  Once again we learned the contestants' deep dark secrets, and I have turned them into fun nicknames some!  You can thank me later!

Note to Randy:  Booing Simon during the intros?  Still not funny this year, dawg.  
Note to Kara: Now that you're in on the joke of cozying up with Simon, not funny to play it up even more!

1. Crystal Bowersox - Has a Twin brother named Carl who is Square (nothing fun to make a nickname out of!)  -  What can I say about Crystal's performance?  Well it solidified for me that she is my favorite contestant this year.  I'm glad she took care of her yellow teeth.   Her performance of Creedence Clearwater Revival's "As Long As I Can See the Light" was amazing.   Best performance of the night, although there were some highlights for others as well.   Look for additional commentary and a video of her performance here!   Ugh, and another notch on the "I hate Kara" tally, she start commenting on Crystal's performance of Alanis's "You Oughta Know" last week.  It was sooooo "Hand in My Pocket"!  At least Ryan corrected her.  But she makes so many mistakes when she's on that show it drives me crazy!    I loved Crystal correcting herself when she put up the peace sign and her phone number for the night ended in 1.  Good times!
   
2. Haeley "Headbands" Vaughn -  I will say that the girl is really sweet.  But I think she is way in over her head in this competition.  Picking Miley Cyrus's "The Climb" did seem like a good song choice for her.  But all I heard was vocal warbles on every note (is warbles a word?).  She was clearly nervous and I'm sure the she-devil (Kara) is right that people may be rooting for her.  But based on the competition tonight, I think she might be in danger.   Of course Simon totally coming down on her at the end of the remarks (when promising not to make it worse) may cause some sympathy voting.  We'll see!
   
3. Lacey Brown - The Antique Furniture Destroyer! - And she destroys them for profit.  Okay, talk about unoriginality.  I know she defended the song choice saying she wanted to do it anyway, but Kara suggests Six Pence None the Richer "Kiss Me" and she decides "okay, that's what I'm going to do"   Of course it's going to come off like you don't know what you're doing and that you need your hand held!  After hearing her perform practically a carbon copy, I was already thinking what Simon was going to say.  Yeah, she sang it okay, but comparing to Crystal who had already performed put her in a separate amateurish league.   And in my head, I just started thinking "What's the point?"  She may as well just go home because she can't compete.  But we do have a process of elimination.   I would put her in the lower tier on the chopping block though.  We'll see who is there when we get to the end!
   
4. Katie "Kiss Me" Stevens -  Yep, you heard it here first.  If she is traveling the world, she will never be short on kisses as she can request them in 6 different languages.  Why she decided to learn these and share with 30 million people?  We'll never know.  But we like Katie Stevens, so we'll let her slide!   She sang Corrine Bailey Rae's "Put Your Records On" in response to the judges' request for her to be more her age.  Okay, this was the first one where I was hearing something totally different than the judges.   They really came down on her.  To make it worse, Randy started commenting on a bad FIRST half of the song.  I thought the first half was the best part.  She has an amazing lower register.   I thought the higher notes were lacking some power but she was still hitting them.   There are far worse people in this competition to be coming down so hard on Katie.   Maybe they heard something different LIVE than we heard on TV, but I thought it was pretty darn good.   And Kara's advice, what?????  She said that Katie opened up and started doing whatever she wanted with the vocals at the end of the song.  She suggested that Katie do that the entire song.  WHAT?   So you want to create a version of the song that is unrecognizable to the original?   You realize you criticized people for that very thing last week right?   I know I'm being too literal, but I'm allowed to be because I CAN'T STAND KARA!   I'm telling you, if Simon is gone next year and she is still there next year, I'm out!  Can't handle it.
   
5. Didi "MEOW" Benami - She was a mascot in middle school as well but the MEOW thing was just so bizarre.  Anyway, this is part 2 of "Judges what were you listening to?!"   Yes "Lean on Me" may be a simple song but it's a catchy song and Didi was able to really sing it up!   I thought she sounded REALLY good on it.  I do not understand why the judges were so hard on her.  Everyone loves "Lean on Me".  She is trying to showcase her voice and give the people a chance to hear what she is all about.  It was good!  I stopped listening to Kara when she called Didi singing all over the place and showcasing her vocal skills "KARAOKE".   Does she even know what comparing to Karaoke is?   It is just singing the words of a song and adding nothing to it.  Yeah, you sound good on it, you may sound good on it but you bring nothing original to the table.  Didi couldn't have been MORE original with it.  Well, she could have but that's not the point.   Poor thing, she was going to cry after the judges crushed her.  She wasn't that bad!   Now yes, there are better girls in this competition but she, in no way, deserved what the judges did to her.
   
6. Michelle Delamour - The Children's Choir Director - Again, opposite day in effect.  The judges, besides Randy, actually praised Michelle for "TAKING A RISK" with Creed's most bland ballad of them all "With Arms Wide Open."   Really?!?   She sang it like a ballad.   I think it's really a stretch to say that she converted it from a Rock song to a Toned Down Slow Ballad.  It IS a ballad!  She brought nothing to the song.   It was, dare I say it, AWFUL!  It was boring.   What does this girl have that they like so much?   After that forgettable performance, I had her in the bottom 2 and ready to be shipped home.   And I might still!  I'm so confused.
   
7. Lilly Scott - Instrumentalist Extraordinaire - Loved Loved LOVED Lilly as well.  It's early to tell, but I could see a final 2 battle between the 2 indie Rocker girls. Lilly vs. Crystal.  They both are that good.  I thought Crystal was better tonight, but Lilly also picked a great song in Sam Cooke's "A Change is Gonna Come".  She whipped out the 12 String Guitar and showed some very nice rhythm guitar skills while she did a very different and awesome version of the song.  I was very happy though that Simon took her ego down a notch when Randy, Ellen, Kara jumped on the BEST OF THE NIGHT bandwagon.  Yes she was good, but she needs motivation to elevate her game.  I am getting semi-excited of watching Crystal and Lilly try to one up each other.  I should go on record saying they bring 2 very different qualities to the guitar playing and singing, but at the same time they both are very good musicians and very good singers.  Let's see where this goes!
   
8. Katelyn "Mix Master" Epperly - It's hard not to like Katelyn.  And we're learning a little more each week that this girl is more than just a pretty face.  She did some nice piano playing tonight when she took on Coldplay's "The Scientist".  Yeah it wasn't Chopin or anything, but I kept thinking she was just playing for the sake of playing an instrument, but I heard her playing some really nice chords.  And Coldplay is all about the crazy Chords in their tunes.  I knew the judges would comment on how slow the performance was though.  How could they not?  It was SUPER slow.  But it was also very nice at the same time.  She was able to showcase her great voice.  Now, we didn't Kara going on her whole love fest for Katelyn or whatever she was going.   But, it was quite good.  I'm glad to see that she's most likely going to make the top 12.
   
9. Paige "I am 5 Years old" Davis - Yes, you heard it right.  She likes to color in coloring books kids!  I have no other comments on that than I already gave.   So, she somehow got it in her head that the judges really liked her last week so she decided to bring more of the same.   And she dared to take on Kelly Clarkson's "Walkaway" (which .....YAY...was written by Kara).   I was hoping that, like the song title, this song would be Paige's exit cue.  And I guess it can be, but she didn't sound too bad on it.  The judges were so so with it.   Simon thinks she failed to pick the right song for her 2 weeks in a row.   I really have no idea why they think she has the best voice in the competition or what they WANT her to sing because we really didn't hear much of her until last week.   Randy wants big notes and long melodies.  Okay, whatever.  I have no sentimental attachments to Paige and am fine if she just walks away!   So, I'll go with Simon's expert opinion on this one!
   
10. Siobhan "Mohawk" Magnus - Can this girl be ANY weirder?  I mean, she is totally weird.  And I love that Simon doesn't hesitate to say it either.  I fully wanted to hate her performance of Aretha's "Think" and kept looking for things that I could bash her on.  I just couldn't find anything!   She has a REALLY good voice.   An amazing range, and that high note sealed the deal for her to get a top 12 spot.   That was unbelievable!    But then she had to go and explain how she was able to sing it and she gave credit to singing Kelly Clarkson in the shower and then awkwardly wanted to thank Kelly for it.   Sorry Siobhan, Kelly was sleeping during American Idol in Germany!  (Yep, she tweeted it, I read it.  I'm a nerd, leave me alone!)   So, Siobhan looks to be the WILDCARD in this competition.  We never know what she is going to bring, but she can be a threat at any given time.   And we can expect some very weird things to come out of her mouth.  Maybe this season is shaping up into something after all?  We'll see! 

So that's it.  Some great performances, some so-so performances and some End of the Road performances!  Let's do the math! 

Top 12 without a doubt: Crystal, Katie, Katelyn, Siobhan, Lilly

Middle of the Road: Lacey, Didi, Paige

Should go Home: Haeley, Michelle

My Elimination Picks: Haeley Vaughn, Michelle Delamour  Bonus Pick: Lacey Brown

Yikes, this is a tough call.  It could be 1 of 5 people, but I'm pretty confident it will be 2 of the 3 I narrowed it down to.   I'm pretty confident the 5 I mentioned will make the top 12 so of the 5 remaining I'm not sure who gets that spot.  Maybe Didi maybe Paige.  I would think they have the strongest shot.   And the only thing they have going for them is a weak group of guys to possibly get the boot before them once we start the top 12.   Anyway, I could ramble on forever.  I think we have done enough for the night!   I will be back after the elimination with more recapping goodness!  Hope you enjoyed my ramblings and I'll see you after the results! 

Ending Credits

Please Click to Support!  I'm moonlighting at Gather.com and writing some entertainment articles, including re-posting these blog entries.  Every page hit gets me closer to a teeny tiny donation for my efforts.  If you enjoyed my writings, please click here  to register a page view.     And also check out my other writings at http://mvitullo.gather.com/ 

Check out my other Blogs: 

LOST - http://www.lostaddictsblog.com/ (blog is back and on fire!)
FlashForward - http://www.flashforwardaddicts.com/ (back March 18th)

American Idol Season 9 - Top 20 - Final 10 Guys Perform

Greetings fellow Idol Watchers!  4 are down and 19 to go in our hunt for the next Idol.  And these kids aren't making the search very easy for us.  (definitely not a compliment either!)   The boys were requested to take the stage a day early due to an unexpected trip to the hospital for Crystal Bowersox.  I'm not sure if the extra day would have helped the guys get their performances fine tuned, but having less time certainly didn't!  There were a couple decent performances, but as a whole, the boys turned in another snooze fest.  If they want to keep going head to head with the final season of LOST, this show needs to get in gear! (yes, every night I pause Idol and watch LOST from 9-10 and then finish this watching this crazy show.  For anyone who was wondering!)

Let's get into the recap and then we'll pick who is leaving us Wednesday night.    One thing to note:  Ellen has now moved a spot over.  Looks like they're trying to figure out where she works best.  So the DAWG will go first again.  Thank goodness!  Any way you slice it, Simon is still the only one I'm listening to for value!  Not a good sign for season 10.    Each contestant was asked to tell us something we would never know about them.   Some things were better left unsaid!  Let's dive in!

1. Michael Lynche - Theatric Footballer - Big Mike is going to coast through these semi-finals.  He's a likable guy and he has a great voice.  That all being said, I wouldn't rate his James Brown song choice and rendition as great as the judges did.   Maybe it's wrong of me to not really know the song "This is a Man's World" but I'm guessing many people out there don't know it either.  But between his clip of lifting Aaron Kelly with incredible ease and just being silly all night that is really all he needs to get through at this point.   And, like I said, he has a great voice and is a good performer.   I just want more songs I know or to make me enjoy and want to buy the ones I don't.   Keep working on it Mike!    
2. John Park - The Korean Speaker (woaa shocker) -  John was told by the vocal teacher to be honest.  Well, honestly, something was weighing down his rendition of John Mayer's "Gravity".  (Did you like that? Weighing down....gravity?  I know, you can laugh, it's okay!)   I'll echo the judges by saying it was a better song choice than last week.  (unfortunately, I think it was the ever more annoying Kara that said that)  But it was still just so boring!   2 weeks in a row, he performed some mellow slow stuff.  If it's really good, that's one thing.  But if it's just kinda there?   Not so good.  Also not good going 2nd and throwing that kind of song out there.   As Simon suggested, John might want to be prepared for the worst.  I was way off the mark putting him in the Top 12.  Even if he gets there somehow, I don't think he'll have earned it.  
   
3. Casey James - "Secret in a Box Man" - Well, ladies, you now have more incentive to vote hiim into the top 10.  You will find out his pre-game ritual!   Casey went to the Idol library and pulled out a recurring song from prior seasons:  Gavin DeGraw's "I Don't Wanna Be".  Great tune.  His rendition?  Just as bland as everyone else's.  Don't get me wrong, the guitar playing was exquisite.  And I was saying the same thing Kara was saying (ugh...again!).  This is a singing competition.  Use the guitar to help, but there is no need for solos in the middle of the performance.  Yeah, the ladies will eat it up and vote him through.   And he probably deserves to go through for his potential (and based on the lack of potential of everyone else).  But his vocal tonight was pretty bland.  Simon argued there was no grit to his voice to pull that song off.  That might be it.  I buy it!
   
   By the way, a way Kara can get MORE annoying?  Rub shoulders with Simon a LITTLE more during the night.  I mean, what on earth is wrong with this woman?  I am not alone in this, right?  Doesn't she just seem all high and mighty and way too comfortable with herself at that table?  Does anyone feel enlightened after she talks?    And doesn't anyone miss Paula dancing and blabbering about anything that came out of her mouth before she even thought it?  There were a few tonight that she would have been crying about due to their marked improvement.  SEE:  MULLET BOY!        
4. Alex Lambert - THE LANGUAGE MAKER MULLET MAN - So, I actually was really impressed with Alex this week.  I was actually impressed with the voice LAST week.  With the sit down pose and the guitar he seemed much more comfortable and we could voice on the music and the mullet.  And it was glorious!   No seriously, you know how sometimes when you listen to a REALLY good performance on idol you get those chills?   Well, for the good performances it's usually for the whole thing.   I can say with Alex's performance I got it for like 2 seconds during the song.  And that's a compliment based on the performances this week!   His voice is unbelievable.  And his improvement over last week was great.  Simon thinks if Alex gets over the hump on the nerves he could be  great singer.  He even wishes he was choosing the songs for him.     I agree though.  This kid has something.  And hopefully he continues to find it.  I'm torn though on if he should keep the mullet or lose it.  He really is rockin it right now.   Maybe he should keep it and spike the top up a little more.  Yeah...that's my decision!  Keep the mullet Alex!  Lose the last name too, too many bad vibes and memories of screeching voices from last year.  (oooh ZING!!) 
5. Todrick Hall - The Colorblind Nutcracker - Now we come to the portion of the show that I like to call TOTAL DISASTER (although I prefer not to because that is the name of my band on my PS3's "ROCK BAND"  it's an insult to call it that!)   But the 1-2 punch of Todrick and Jermaine was beyond lousy.  Don't get me started on  his whole "I Have A Dream" speech in getting casted for dancing in the Nutcracker and stuff.  It was like Foot Loose meets The Jackie Robinson Story or something.  Not that it isn't a great thing that he got to dance and wasn't kept down by the non-dancing town, but please, don't hit us over the head with it.  Show us your talent.  And right now?  I'm not seeing it at all!   He decided to improve on last week's disaster of destroying Kelly Clarkson's "Since U Been Gone" by making Tina Turner's biggest 80's hit into his own rendition!  REALLY?  Of all Tina songs you pick "What's Love Got To Do With It?"   THAT is the song you think is going to skyrocket you to the stratosphere of superstardom?   It was a totally bland, boring and uninventive rendition.  And I really have nothing else to say about it.  Granted, the judges started being hypocritical.  Last week they tell people to change up the songs.  This week Randy started saying "just sing the songs"   I can understand where the contestants would get confused.  But I just don't care.  The only notes I wrote down during his performance was "SEND HIM HOME!"  So, there isn't much else I can say right now! 
6. Jermaine Sellers - "THE ONESIE ROCK'S'ER" -  I may be treading a seriously dangerous line here folks, but please riddle me this.  How hard is it to say the word "ASK?"    I mean come on!  "AKS????"   Can I "AKS" you a question?  It just sounds dumb!   Well, then again, this is a guy that "ROCKS" the onesie.   I guess I'm just not supposed to get it.   What I can get is MUSIC.   And butchering Marvin Gaye like Jermaine did is grounds for firing!   I can't say it better than Simon did.  He waters down great songs with great melodies by adding way too many runs.  He's trying to impress with his vocals instead of connecting with the songs.  RUNS aren't what it is all about Jermaine!   Of course, he has God on his side, so I guess he'll be staying this week.  I loved Simon's response instructing Ryan to not show the phone number for Jermaine.  Classic!    I guess the sad thing is.  Definitely someone will be returning from the trifecta of Todrick, John and Jermaine!   And if our worst nightmares come true, maybe even 2 of them will return! 
7. Andrew Garcia - The Breakdancing Rhythm Guy - Now, I do like Andrew Garcia.  And he probably still is getting a pass for his "Straight Up" performance.  Not that we need to be reminded Kara!   (oh duh, I just did it too.)   Andrew is in a rut now of picking some strange follow-up songs to his Paula performance.   This week we got James Morrison's "You Give Me Something".   I think it was probably still good enough to keep him going through.   The judges are convincing themselves that maybe they have set the bar too high for him.  Maybe.  Maybe, he only had that one trick up his sleeve like I suggested last week.  I'm not ready to rule the guy out.  I think I also said last week that his Hollywood performance almost has given him a pass to the Top 12.   His singing well enough to keep his fan base confident that he'll step back into the game.   But, I think we may be losing confidence each week that it is going to happen.   You better have something good cooked up for next week Andy!  
8. Aaron Kelly - I LOVE PICTURES!!! -  You know how I feel about the younglings on this show.  In fact, you probably know so much that I can stop saying "You know how I feel."  I think Aaron has a really good voice and he has the Mom vote locked up.  He's a cute kid and people are still going to vote for him.   He performed "My Girl" and it was better than I thought it would be.  Although, I agree with Simon that it may have been a little too old fashioned.  I even rolled my eyes when I heard that is what he was singing.   But after some of the bizarrely awful performances we heard this week it was actually kind of refreshing to hear someone just sing the hell out of a good melody without going too crazy.   So, Aaron, props for that.  You'll be back and I can see you making the top 12.  Maybe not too far after that, but we'll see! 
9. Tim Urban - JUST THE 10 OF US! - Tim having 4 Brothers and 5 Sisters makes 10 children in all right?  Yikes.  That's nuts.  I liked Tim's choice of Matt Nathanson's "Come on Get Higher" this week.  It seemed to fit his voice much better than One Republic.   I also commented that it was pretty much a copy cat performance.  But it was still decent.  One issue I see with Tim is his range.  He definitely avoided hitting any high notes like the plague.   Though, that made it sound a lot better since we heard his crazy high notes last week.   The 3 non-simon judges were pretty rough on Tim but Simon actually was impressed with Tim's work ethic and desire to improve.   That's all well and good, but I don't see this guy having a very high ceiling in the improvement house.  But he probably did just enough to skate by yet again.   
10. Lee Dewyze - Alternative School Bad Boy - And of course we could count on Lee to close up the show with the Family Anthem "Lips of an Angel" by Hinder.   Lee definitely was the "surprise guy" this year when he performed is little rendition of "Chasing Cars" last week.  He ditched the guitar this week and tried to go where Chris Daughtry had gone before.  Yes, anyone reading my season 5 blogs should remember the tale of Molly the Mic Stand and Chris's love affair with her!   But Lee, has some work to do before he can tackle Mic Stand love.   The vocal was decent I guess.  I'm not sure where Simon got that Lee was by far the best male vocalist though.  I thought he was definitely struggling with the high notes in this performance.   How long can he get by using the "raspy voice is just part of my style" vibe?   Of course, this makes it sound like I don't like Lee.  I actually do like him and hope he succeeds.   But, I'm not buying into the Simon hype that he may be the one to beat.  Not yet.   Then again, no one on either side has really stepped up to claim that frontrunner status yet!   

Can you tell I was frustrated with this episode?   I'm sure I wasn't alone.  Let's try and figure out who is going home after the Tuesday Night massacre! 

Should be safe?  Big Mike, Andy G, Casey Jones (oops!), Mullet Man, Lee D.
Sketchy Ground? Timmy, Aaron
No Question the worst of the night?  John Park, Jermaine Sellers, Todrick Hall

My Elimination Picks:  John Park,  Jermaine Sellers  Bonus: Todrick Hall

My justification - John was pretty forgettable and went 2nd.   Jermaine, a personal choice.  I didn't like him talking back to the judges and wanting to take Simon to Church.  I think that might turn off a few people too.   But I wouldn't count out Todrick either.   They were all pretty forgettable performances.  

Whew, that's all I have kids!  I'll be back in my recapping glory to tackle Ladies' Night on Wednesday.  Hope you enjoyed my ramblings and I'll see you after the Wednesday show!

Ending Credits

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