Pleasantly Shocked

I have to admit I was shocked that Rocker David won. But a happy shocked. Diandra said she had trouble getting her votes in for him so maybe I shouldn't have been surprised.

Like Simon, I could have lived with Weird Dad David winning. But it appears that highlight weeks (Hello and Billie Jean among others) beat Weird Dad David's (boring) consistency. When Rocker David was good, he was very good. Now, let's hope he gets to make an album worthy of his best weeks.

OK, a few highlights on the epoch that was the results show.
George Michael. Need I say more? [Well, of course I do - Careless Whisper, Father Figure and Praying for Time are songs of pure genius]
Carrie Underwood - that, boys and girls, is what we like to call the whole package
Syesha - again, if I turn up missing for any length of time, I'm probably stalking her
The Carly-Michael duet reminded me that she had the best voice and if Michael had chosen better songs (more soulful, R&B-ish) , he would have gone farther.
The Weird Dad David-One Republic combo showed that he can sing something other than 40 year old songs
I liked the Brooke-Graham Nash duet and how cool would it be to be Rocker David singing lead for Z.Z. Top?

I'm glad it's over but can't wait for it to begin again. I'm sure I'll have things to say during the wait - Idolist record reviews and such. Thanks for indulging my addiction each week!

Give the Crown to David A.

This will probably take a fairly random course as things come to mind in my convoluted order of importance rather than chronologically.

I was very pleasantly surprised at how good the show was. This is only my third year but this was far and away the best final night. I did like the cheesy boxing theme at the beginning. They could have ended it after that and I would have been fine but I rather liked it all the way through. But most importantly, the performances were fabulous.

How many bad clichés did Paula use tonight? And Randy needs to get some new lines next year. He has worn out “You’re in the zone”, “You’re molten hot”, “You can sing anything”, and “You’re in it to win it”.

David A. wins. Rocker David was strong, so strong but Weird Dad David was better in the classic sense of what Idol is looking for – a star POP singer.

However, I’ll rush out to buy Rocker David’s CD if it’s anything like what he sang tonight. I LOVED the U2 song – and I LOVE U2 so I’m going to be pretty picky. I especially like the fact that he did the Collective Soul song as his last song and that he didn’t do a repeat of an earlier performance. But strategically, it was a mistake. It was not the song you sing if you want to win American Idol. Weird Dad David was smart (from a competitive standpoint) by doing Imagine, again, and he was great.

Weird Dad David will do really well with producers (the Clive machine) who will control his Weird Dad and give him songs like he sang tonight.

I loved the video montage of the show’s early weeks playing behind Reuben at the end. It makes me want to see the show start again. I can’t wait for next year already.

Hmmm . . . . Diandra said it was hard getting her vote in to Rocker David’s phone lines. Interesting. I guess we’ll see but I’ll be shocked if it’s not a Weird Dad David coronation.

Pre-Final Rant

Rant #1 I’m listening to Rihanna’s “please Don’t Stop the Music” (I’ll admit it, I like/can easily tolerate Rihanna) and I’m thinking that of all the Rihanna songs the producers could have picked for Syesha last week – songs that would have been great for her and showed, in Simon’s words “what kind of commercial artist [she] could be” – they picked an absolutely dreadful song about penguins that nobody could sound good doing. (clearly a run-on sentence but I’m ranting) Anytime I hear a Rihanna song, I’m fuming.

Rant #2 (related to above) – the first negative words ever uttered by Paula about Syesha not doing well enough to make the finals; that’s so totally out of the realm of anything she’s ever said. Conspiracy to make it a David-David final? C’mon, Paula’s usual kiss of death statement is, “Well, you look fabulous tonight.” And that’s it.

Rant #3 (related to 1&2 above) – let’s be clear that this is not about my crush on Syesha (which continues unabated); she shouldn’t have finished this high anyway, which leads to . . .

Rant #4 – I’m just not into this final. While I like Rocker David a lot more than Weird Dad David, I don’t care who wins. I am just ready for it all to be over – and start again next year LOL. While I had fun with some of them (Chikeze, Brooke, Jason), I’m STILL mad the A’siah wasn’t in the Top Twelve. She may have been better than Syesha. And the final should have been between Carly and one of the Davids.

I Don't Get Simon

So, putting aside my crush on Syesha and my bold prediction, I think she was the winner of the night mostly because of the train wrecks by each of the Davids:

- David A. was so so so bad on the Chris Brown song. What was he thinking?

- David C. butchered the Switchfoot song which was another bad choice. It’s one of those songs that needs all of it’s time to fully develop; Diandra is a huge Switchfoot fan and I was imploring everybody to remove any sharp objects from nearby. Oh, and I didn’t think that “The First Time Ever I Saw Your Face” was any good, either, especially the screamy note at the end. It is a very tender song, right?

In order, I think it was Syehsa, David A. and David C. David A. had the best performance of the night with the Billy Joel song. Yeah, it’s probably been fated to be the two Davids in the final but I still think my bold prediction has potential.

Bold Syesha Prediction

Maybe this is a longshot but if my hunch turns out right, I want to look like a genius. So here’s how/why Syesha makes the final:

First, she must have a great night tonight. Now . . . .

. . . go back two weeks when her and Brooke were waiting to see who got the boot. Ryan used an interesting choice of words. He said, “One of these two is going home”. He didn’t say that that was the bottom two as he usually did. That to me meant that Syesha was not in the bottom two on votes (it was probably Jason). I had heard that according to DialIdol.com (which tracks phone calls), Syesha was the TOP vote-getter than week.

Last week Ryan said that the top 3 vote-getters were within a million votes of each other. With 50m plus votes cast, this means Jason’s old voting block will pretty much determine the winner. Syesha is the only girl left and I’m thinking she stands to be the biggest winner of those votes. The Daughtry Syndrome says that David Cook stands to be the biggest loser of those votes.

Therefore, David Cook could go and be the big shocker for this season.

Heck, with all the negative publicity about David A.’s weird dad, Syesha could even win.

Just remember you heard it here first.

A Weird Night

Like Simon said – it was a weird night. It was overall kind of ho-hum. In order:

1) David Cook – especially the second performance. He looks like a winner and, if he doesn’t, it doesn’t matter. He sounds great on record. You’re right, Wanda, listening back to Mariah’s “My Baby” on the iTunes single version, I was really impressed. [more on this later]

2) Syesha – I liked her best in the first round; I liked her better in the second round – very theatrical. And, if I turn up missing for a while, I’m stalking her. I AM REALLY MAD AT SIMON FOR GIVING HER THE KISS OF DEATH!!!!

3) David A. – who I am just plain bored with. I HATE both of his songs (“Sweet Caroline” and “America”). Who didn’t see “America” coming from him? I just want him to surprise me once.

4) Brooke – oh, my girl really mangled “I’m a Believer”. “I Am, I Said” was better but only by comparison. It wasn’t that good, either, to me.

5) Jason – nice voice but bad karaoke on both

Geez, maybe Syehsa goes because of Simon’s comment at the end. Look, she’s not going to win and she shouldn’t win. But she’s better than Brooke and Jason. But I think because of Simon, Syehsa goes this week.

About the iTunes singles versions – David’s and Carly’s are VERY, VERY good! Check them out and make sure they are the “Single” version and not the “Performance” versions which are from the first few final 12 shows. The single versions are real studio recordings of their performance songs.

BTW, Carly’s 2001 album (age 17 under her maiden name Carly Hennessy) that went nowhere is also on iTunes (how smart of them). I haven’t heard any of the clips but the review was amazing.

Sayonara Kristy Lee

Justice is finally served. Now we have my top six that I started off with way back when. And each week, somebody good will go down.

However, mark my words. Kristy will get a contract; have a hit country record out of the gate; and a Kellie Pickler like start to her career. She doesn’t have Kellie’s goofy personality but she’s much, much prettier and the label will get her all the vocal coaching and styling she needs.

??????????????

WHAT THE %$$#%&(&%$%*))^%%$^*!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

CARLY AND SYESHA?

CARLY?

WHAT THE %$$#%&(&%$%*))^%%$^*!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

This is easy:

1) David Cook – smart choice in deciding to show off how good his voice is

2) Carly – PERFECT song choice for her, great energy, and she can really sing

On the next level:

3) Syesha – OK, I’m in love again. Good enough (not great, not bad) vocal but best PERFORMANCE – after all, they were doing stage songs and she really brought her acting chops. Yeah, and she was hot . . . .

4) David A. – just OK, I didn’t think he connected with the song and I’m rather tired of hearing him do a ballad each week. He’s good, we get that but I‘d like to surprised in the way that David Cook can surprise us

On the bottom and one should go this week:

5) Brooke – I thought she connected with and really sold the song but just didn’t sing it that well

6) Jason

On the whole, I was more in line with Simon than any week I can remember this year.

Not the expected trainwreck

Warning – this could be a long commentary.

OK, some introductory remarks. First, I really used to love Mariah. I still think her first album is a classic for debut albums. And her Christmas CD is also a classic which was also the last album of hers I liked. Beginning with Daydream, her 4^th album (not counting the Christmas one), she began to move more towards hip-hop which really undervalues her considerable vocal talents. And then there was all the sleazy and bizarre behavior, etc.

Second, wow, for some reason tonight Kristy Lee looked a lot like my first major girlfriend. Since Christine hates Kristy Lee and hated Donna, I thought it best not to bring up the resemblance. Still, it made me fondly reminiscent . . . until she started singing, that is, but I am getting ahead of myself.

Lastly, Diandra has been taking notes each week and she had some keepers this week, especially as she channeled her inner Music Theorist. She noted early on that “Randy’s judging is particularly tentative tonight. He loves Mariah!”

Now, onto the show which was not even close the train wreck I feared. And Mariah was one of the best mentors I can remember.

David A. – strong, strong, strong. Gave me goosebumps. Diandra wrote, “Awesome melisma.” It’s a musical term. Look it up on Wikipedia like I had to.

Carly – finally didn’t over-sing and looked pretty, too. She has an amazing voice but Simon is right, she’s tentative and over-thinking too much.

Syesha – I was scared she would try to take on a big Mariah song like “Hero” (see Brooke) but she instead chose a more technically challenging song, “Vanishing”, one of my favorites. I thought she did well to avoid a Big Song, and did reasonably well. Still, I think Simon doesn’t like her and she ends up in the bottom three and could undeservedly go. I thought his criticism continues to be “damned if you do, damned if you don’t”. He picks on her for choosing an unknown song but would have crushed her if she has picked a familiar song because she isn’t Mariah.

Brooke – Totally overmatched by the theme. She just wasn’t going to do well no matter what. And she didn’t. I still love her, though. But she could go.

Kristy Lee – Bad beyond words. That was like a bad song from a bad beach movie. She’s gotten enough sympathy votes. She seriously needs to go now.

David Cook – I could not DISAGREE with the judges more. What was that? I thought he was HORRIBLE. Music Theorist Diandra wrote, “Diction, phrasing, melody transposition and vocal tone all needed work.” I have no idea what any of that means but I agree with her. (serves me right for getting my children so intensely into music.) I thought it was one of worst performances of the year by anybody. I just didn’t get it at all and certainly didn’t get the judges.

Jason – I was sure he, too, would be overmatched like Brooke but I thought he did really well.

Bottom Three – Kristy and Brooke plus Syesha or Carly. Kristy should go but she’s had momentum.

Ray with assistance from Dr. Diandra, guest Musicologist

Yawn . . .

Jason Castro doing "Somewhere Over the Rainbow" on a ukulele is the best of the night? And I liked Kristy Lee more that David Cook? What a bizarre night.
OK, the blow-by-blow:

Michael - horrible, just horrible. He's not a rocker.
Syesha - glad my girl abandoned the "trying to look old and serious" look and went back to "young and cute". She was OK tonight but she needs to drop the big song approach and define who she is an an artist although she may not get that chance
Jason - I really liked him tonight. He HAS defined himself as being unique.
Kristy Lee - is it me or is she actually getting better? I know that's not saying much but she is getting less annoying
David Cook - what was that? He actually was terrible.
Carly - oversang and was terrible. She could go.
David A - OK, nothing great for me
Brooke - totally agree with Simon, a nice walk in the park but just OK. I would have rather heard her play the piano.

Bottom Three - Kristy Lee, Carly, Syesha although Michael deserves to be there

Diandra's Report

Sadly, I missed out on tonight. I'm in Orlando and business called in the form of an important dinner I needed to be a part of but I did actually think about bagging the dinner in favor of Idol. Apparently none of the people I was with watch Idol which does beg the question of why I am doing business with these people.

Anyway, I did stay in touch with the family via the magic of text messaging and got the usual "Ryan is hot" report from my wife. Diandra gave a more substantiative report as follows:
"Brooke and David Cook were good. David A. bought himself a ticket to the final. Carly was awesome. Mom liked Syesha. The surprise of the night? Michael Johns. I think Ramiele is gone and Kristy will go thru with flying colors 'cause it's Dolly P week. Blech."

On the other hand, I heard from my mom who didn't like Kristy Lee, Brooke and Ramiele and Jason (although she liked his song).

Your thoughts?

Eleanor Rigby playing in the background – I have my iTunes shuffling the Beatles]

Summary: Carly and David win the night, with Syesha and David Cook in the next group. Kristy Lee is so gots-to-go. And two weeks of the Beatles was too much for the group. They are just not up to the songs and frankly, who is?

Amanda – perfect song choice for her and I did enjoy it but this is ridiculous. She can only sing five notes. And can we agree that she needs to avoid the advice to sing a ballad sometime?

Kristy Lee – actually somewhat listenable this week but the makeover was over the top. She is normally very pretty but I thought her look was a distraction. It wasn’t natural for who she is. Jeez, I’m talking about her looks. I’m turning into Paula.

David Archuleta – great comeback. Perfect song for him and he nailed it. He’s back to the front of the line – but he does have some company (see Carly). Question – can he sing something other than a ballad?

Michael Johns – singing Day in the Life was sacrilege. A desecration of one of the greatest songs ever written. TERRIBLE song choice. This song has a structure of different movements that CANNOT be collapsed into a minute and a half. The lyrics are wistful, haunting, lamenting. He may have had personal reasons for choosing this song that were wistful, haunting and lamenting but he didn’t sing it that way. He just seems lost in terms of how he sees himself as an artist and not just a cute guy with a nice voice.

Brooke – I love Brooke (yeah, I know you know that already). I love her voice. She was only OK for me this week but I love her and love her voice.

David Cook – I LOVED what he did with Day Tripper although it wasn’t as similar to the Whitesnake cover as he said. Basically, he used the vocorder like them but was totally unnecessary – and frankly, stupid. But it was a really good performance. But I am a fan of 70s-80s arena rock, so I could be over-rating it.

Carly – possibly my favorite performance ever. Yes, EVER. Wow, she is good. I seriously had goose bumps through the entire song. Fabulous voice, fabulous interpretation, fabulous control, great range. She’s a pro. Look, she’s not my favorite performer but she’s the best singer in the group.

Jason – the male version of Brooke. I like listening to him. Not one of his best performances, though but not bad, either.

Syesha - I love Syesha (yeah, I know you know that already). I was only OK with her “Yesterday” the first time through but the judges loved it and Diandra really loved it so I went back and listened again with my eyes closed. Yeah, it was good, really good. Her problem is that she’s the second best female singer (next to Carly) with the second best personality (next to Brooke).

Chikezie – I don’t care how much distaste you have for My Man Chikezie, Wanda, I like him. I do love the tone of his voice. But he did fall into the trap I thought he would – that he would try to be as clever as last week. Simon was right that it was gimmicky. The slower, first part of the song was where he needed to stay.

Ramiele – she’s so cute and I really want to like her but she’s not really bringing it. She was OK but not up to where her potential is. I think she’s got the same problem as Michael in that she’s not found the right niche for her considerable vocal talents.

Goodbye Chikezie

Let me deal with Chikezie before I express my outrage. Yes, I liked him but I’m not upset he’s gone. He wasn’t going to go much farther than this although he was better than that sorry-no-account Kristy Lee and certainly Rice Krispies Ramiele. When he was good (I Believe to My Soul; and She’s a Woman) he was very good. Other than those songs, he was just OK. I think with the right material and producer, he could have a minor career although has anybody ever done anything finishing in 9^th?

OK. Really – Syehsa and Jason in the Bottom Three? Above that sorry-no-account Kristy Lee and Rice Krispies Ramiele? You cannot be serious. Dolly Parton next week. Could that mean country? Sheesh, Kristy Lee could possibly do well again and bounce out somebody good and apparently it won’t be Ramiele. I’m preparing myself now.

Switching gears – Diandra found out that the wonderful performance of Lionel Ritchie’s “Hello” that David Cook did a while ago was pretty close to an arrangement by the rock band Incubus. This guy is pretty shrewd finding rock covers of whatever the theme is. Daughtry, of course, did this a couple of years ago with Live’s versions of the Johnny Cash’s “I Walk the Line” and after that, Idol has been pretty picky about mentioning other arrangements. They missed this one, though.

Those of you not familiar with Chris Cornell, he was the lead singer for Soundgarden, a one-off album with some Soundgarden and Pearl Jam members (calling themselves Temple of the Dog), and Audioslave (ohhhhhhhh and I love me some Audioslave). He is one of your quintessential rock front men with a signature vocal sound. The Billie Jean cover was cool but pretty atypical for him.

Best Week This Year

OK, “best week this year” may be faint praise but at least there were no train wrecks. A lot of solid, safe, predictable choices which is why a few performances – and one in particular - really stood out which was …

. . .David Cook – WOW. One of – maybe - THE best of the year. I’ve been lukewarm on him all year but as Randy said, he was molten hot (or whatever he said, dawg). I think you can see Chris Cornell’s version (I love Chris Cornell btw) rise to the top of the iTunes charts. David C. can win this.

Also good:

Brooke – I agree that I wish she had just stayed on the piano but she picked a good song and not a safe one although arguably you get the same type of vocal performance each week. That’s fine, it’s who she is, and she’s got a unique quality.

Syesha – a safe choice but she finally did her R&B diva thing. I could have done without the scale the heights ending, too, endings which happen way too often every year with almost every contestant.

OK, I got my crushes out of the way. Now on to commenting on the rest in order of performance, excluding the above:

Ramiele – closest thing to a train wreck. Safe song choice and not done well although apparently she had no voice. Like Rice Krispies, I want to like her but there’s nothing but a little sugar and a lot of air.

Jason – imaginative song choice, typical nice job but nothing special. A lot better than last week, of course. I still like his laid-back, hippie vibe and vocal style. And the girls are clearly smitten with him.

Chikezie – OK, Wanda, I’m finally going to dog my boy. I keep saying that being a big black guy aren’t enough qualifications to do Luther. STOP! One of the reasons I never watched Idol was that I tuned in one night while on the road and saw Rueben sing a Luther song and I was appalled. No, no, no Chikezie! I still continue to say he has a nice voice when he gets the song right. Tonight, he would have been better served by doing one of the many catchy uptempo R&B songs that were done in the 1985 (Billy Ocean, Kool and the Gang, maybe Freddie Jackson rather than Luther) or even something funky but riskier like Loose Ends, Pet Shop Boys, Level 42 or Simple Minds.

Michael – easily his best night to date but I think the jury is still out on him

Carly – OK, let the debate begin! I liked her again. I think she has an amazing voice and thought this was a perfect song for her no matter what Randy says. Carly is not quite a pure pop singer and not quite a pure rock singer so a song like “Total Eclipse” which straddles both genres I think is her sweet spot. I don’t get why Simon (and Randy) are dogging her so much.

David A. – props to Diandra who noted that she knew of a song that Randy Jackson don’t know about as fabulous Australian Christian artist Rebecca St. James covered “You’re the Voice” on her incredible album “God”. Anyway, David was OK, nothing great. A little risky doing a song few people had heard of. I do agree with Simon that it sounded a bit theme-parkish. But we know he can sing and he will continue to sail through.

Kristy Lee – very, very clever song choice. And she sang it really, really well. I mean, I hate to say it but she was (pretty and) pretty good tonight.

Bottom three prediction: Ramiele, Chikezie and Kristy Lee. Possibly Carly as Simon seems bent on having her voted off. Kristy Lee may have done enough to pull her out of the bottom. Maybe, maybe not.

Carly?????

Carly in the bottom three?

This pretty much assures that David A. will win if he can remember the words every week. Kristy continues to be bulletproof. I actually like the fact that she realizes how thin the ice is that she’s on. I feel like we’ll get a run on the girls – it’s hard to believe but the only one of the final six girls who hasn’t been in the Bottom Three is Brooke. Chikezie is the only guy left who’s been in the bottom three and he seems to have mounted a voting comeback.

What's Up with Ryan?

Apparently, tonight Ryan was on whatever Paula is usually on. Even my wife (Ryan Seacrest Fan #1 – appalling, isn’t it?) thought he was weird.

At first I was nervous about Lennon-McCartney week. While there is certainly much to choose from, they really didn’t write songs for singers. But when I thought about great Beatles covers (Stevie Wonder – We Can Work It Out; Al Green – I Want to Hold Your Hand; Aretha – Eleanor Rigby; Michael Jackson – Come Together), it seemed like the night could create some opportunities for some people to really stand out and draw attention to themselves. And I think a few of them did.

Summary of my faves tonight (in their order on stage): Chikeze, Carly, Brooke, Jason.

Reviews, in order of performance:

Syehsa – Call me Fickle. Call me Faithless. Call me Philandering. Call me no-longer-have-a-crush-on-Brooke-because-I-have-a-crush-on-Syesha. But she was pitchy at the start and just OK tonight. She looked a little unsure of herself at the start but starting first on the big stage would have been hard for anybody. Still hoping she’ll go far.

Chikeze – yes, Wanda, this was my favorite performance so far this year!!!!!!!! Took a huge risk with the arrangement(s) and pulled it off in a big way.

Ramiele – boring just like the judges said and not performing to the level of her talent. I thought she might have put herself in a gots-to-go-situation . . . . . but there was still Kristy Lee to come. She is going to have to step it up and bring the talent she has.

Jason – I liked this better the second time I watched. For once Paula made sense in that he does make an emotional connection with the listener.

Carly – I don’t want to like her but, wow, she is good and a perfect song choice for her. Appears to be a crowd favorite. And Simon sees dollar signs.

David Cook – totally DISAGREED with the judges (and Diandra) – I thought he butchered Eleanor Rigby – one of the greatest songs ever written.

Brooke – Call me a Two-Timer. Call me Can’t Make a Commitment. Call me groveling to Brooke to take me back. Yes, the crush lives on. She is adorable. Oh, yeah, she can sing, too. Seriously, she and Jason are male/female bookends with their sincere, emotionally connecting styles. They do not have the best voices but they are among the best singers. I thought she was great tonight – again.

David H. – ugh!! What a mess. Could “Papa” have been his peak?

Amanda – ugh! I’m so done with her.

Michael – OK but really not living up to his potential.

Kristy Lee – a clear Gots-to-Go-Situation. How bad was she? Sadly, not as bad as . . .

David A. – wow. That was a trainwreck. I had to stop watching. I wonder if he has the maturity to hold up through the marathon of week after week. That was Simon’s initial concern and maybe (once again) he’s onto something. He really needs to make a strong comeback. I think he’s got enough votes to allow Kristy Lee and Amanda to excuse themselves, maybe even Ramiele. But he can’t, can’t, can’t do what he did this week ever again.

Unless the country voters are deafly supporting her big, Kristy Lee goes home. Ramiele is in danger, too, I think.

Injustice Is Served

Arrrgh. C’mon, Asia’h is a fabulous singer. Clearly a deserving finalist and I thought one of the best in the competition. I just don’t get it except that this is the penalty for doing Whitney Houston and incurring Simon’s wrath for doing so.

At least Chikezie got through and the nightmare of Danny is finally over for most (if not all) of you. I thought he was entertaining but, yeah, it’s a singing competition and he was awful. I feel clean again.

Is this the “most talented” final group ever? I don’t see this group as good as Season Five: Taylor, McPhee (ugh), Elliott, Daughtry and Paris, not too mention Kellie, Mandisa and Lisa Tucker. Even Bucky (ugh) has gone on to do well. Still, at this point, once we (soon?) get past Amanda and Kristy Lee, somebody good will be gone every week.

OK just for fun, my without-much-conviction rank ordering of the Final Idolists. Ahh, never mind, it’s too hard. Let’s try categories instead:

The Final Two: David A., Carly

Maybe sneaks past Carly: Syehsa

Next: Brooke, David H., Asia’h (oh, she’s gone; that sucks)

3^rd tier: Michael, Chikezie, Ramiele, Jason, David C., Alexandrea (oh, she’s gone, too, that sucks)

Bottom rung: Amanda (done when she can’t rock), Kristy Lee (maybe stays in with the country vote)

Let the banter begin!!!!

General observations: Paula has gone beyond all prior extremes of weirdness. When, when, when will Idolists STOP singing Celine, Whitney and Journey? It’s like forbidden fruit that they just can’t stay away from. Finally, IF the voting is correct, this will be a very strong Final 12. Every week somebody good will go off the show. Now to the reviews . . .

Gots-to-Go

Kady – just awful. Nice girl, pretty girl but can’t sing and Simon’s right about her lack of stage personality.

One needs to go

Kristy Lee – pretty girl and the country-fied version of “Faithfully” could have worked (by avoiding trying to imitate the one-and-only Steve Perry) if she had actually gotten more of the notes right. I disagreed with the judges totally, especially Randy who should know better.

Amanda – actually she was fabulous. She is a one-trick pony but tonight she nailed that trick. She needs to find a rock band to be lead singer for. But she is the least talented female left. I wouldn’t be upset if she goes at this point.

Best

Carly and Brooke. Carly has a wonderful voice and will probably challenge David A. for the title. I like a lot of other people better but I can’t deny that she has a large amount of talent. Song choices will be big for her. Brooke (who I have a crush on) doing Pat Benatar (who I have been in love with FOREVER) – OK, I had a BIG turnaround and changed my opinion after 1) Diandra told me how much she liked her; 2) Cassandra told me I couldn’t compare her to Pat Benatar (who I have been in love with FOREVER) and that she liked her which is big because “Battlefield” is one of her favorite songs; 3) I ran back the tape and watched again with my eyes closed. It was very pretty. With all of the big voice girls left, she has a real chance to go far because she is so different. Have I mentioned that I have been in love with Pat Benatar FOREVER?

The Rest

Syesha and Asia’h – OK, nothing great but enough to go through. Just please stop doing Whitney. Asia’h doesn’t have a Whitney-like voice, anyway. I would have preferred to see her go with Toni Braxton.

Ramiele - GREAT voice (especially lower register) but hasn’t really chosen songs that showcase that voice enough. I agree with Randy that she just needs to let it loose.

Shock and Horror!

So, am I to believe – as apparently a plurality of Americans do – that Kristy, Amanda and Kady are better than Alexandrea? This is a miscarriage of justice. And it reminds me of the Sabrina thing.

Sabrina, as you recall, was a really good, young singer who got voted off early last year and I am still upset about it. Now, more objectively (which is what I do best unless we’re talking about Valerie Bertinelli), Sabrina wasn’t going to win as there were a few girls who did what she did better than her. Likewise, this year, you have to say that Syesha, Asia’h and Ramiele are better than Alexandrea at what she does. Also, Simon wasn’t fond of either Sabrina or Alexandrea and in the early stages even more than later, Simon’s opinion really seems to influence the voting. Still (like Sabrina), Alex deserved to go a lot farther. And have I mentioned how bad Kristy, Amanda and Kady have been? So, yeah, I’m ticked. Really ticked.

The voting on the guys was right although Luke could have easily gotten the boot, too.

DAUGHTRY!!!!

Last night, we (daughter #1 Diandra) went to see Bon Jovi (for the 3^rd time) with Daughtry opening. It was a very surreal experience that fully completes my Idol addiction. Surreal in the sense of seeing him during an Idol season when it was just years ago we were going crazy talking about and voting for him week after week just as we’re seeing a new batch of contestants right now. Now we see him in an Arena full of people singing HIS songs – I guess that takes care of song selection. And he was SO good.

Yeah, and that Bon Jovi guy isn’t so bad either. Thousands of women who want to be with him and about 100 guys who want to be him. And he’s written a few pretty good songs too . . . . . “Tommy used to work on the docks . . .”

The Girls Are Underwhelming

Bad song choices seemed to rule tonight. Some decent performances but nobody really standing out. It’s probably easier to talk first about who was dreadful:

Amanda – I was afraid that she was a one-trick pony that really couldn’t sing and she proved it. And the look was way over the top. I don’t think she survives.

Kady Malloy – just a horrible, horrible rendition of a bad song choice (Magic Man). I think she’s gone.

Alaina – can I just say that I detest “Hopelessly Devoted to You”? Diandra made a note, “One of Dad’s least favorite songs of any decade.” So she wasn’t going to get any devotion from me. Just as nobody can sing a Celine Dion song (a compliment), nobody can sing an Olivia Newton-John song, either (uh, not a compliment). Maybe she skates this week but then it’s uphill with the competition from the rest of the girls.

OK, the best of the night:

Brooke – in the interest of full disclosure, I think I’m getting a crush on her. But she did make “You’re So Vain” “her own”. Best song choice of the night. She’s not as good a singer as many of the others so song choice will be key for her the rest of the way.

Carly – a comeback week for her. Another good song choice for her although I agree with Randy that it was “alright” but not great.

Alexandrea – I really liked her version of the Chicago yawner of a song. I disagree with the judges – I though she brought a classic old school R&B feel to a cheesy song and pulled it off. I was impressed.

The rest:

Syesha (uh, maybe a little crush for me here, too), Ramiele, Asia’h all just OK. Kristy Lee Cook is a cutey and did better this week with the Linda Ronstadt song.

Again, not a great week. It really is a marathon and not a sprint and each contestant will experience some ups and downs. The competition in the girls will get really, really fierce probably as soon as next week as somebody good will have to go to get to six which should be (in no order): Carly, Syesha, Brooke, Ramiele, Alexandrea, and Asia’h.

Who's going to finish second . . . .

. . . since it should be clear that David Archuleta is going to win.

Best of the rest (of the guys):

Chikezie – strong, strong Donny Hathaway. I am so glad he redeemed himself from last week. This guy can sing and has strong stage presence.

David Hernandez – I was worried when I heard the opening line to “Papa” – one of my all-time favorite songs and just one of the greatest period – but the dude really brought it. This guy can sing, too.

Next level:

Jason – I didn’t think he was that bad. I actually forgot (for a while, anyway) that that was a Bee Gees song. Probably not a true pop singer in the American Idol sense of that so we’ll see how he continues to do.

David Cook – not even close to channeling Paul Rodgers on the Free classic “All Right Now” (I once won a name-that- tune contest at a dance by naming that song fastest but I digress) but it wasn’t so bad. He’s more believable as a rocker than boy-band-thinks-he-can-rock-but-can’t Robbie.

And I will admit it, I like Danny Noriega. Yeah, I feel kind of dirty saying so but he has personality, is entertaining and a way better singer than the Unspeakable One from last year.

Sorry, Wanda, your Aussie stud just didn’t bring it. I’m guessing he’ll end up in the final six boys but I’m not impressed.

GIRLS RULE!!

The guys: pretty weak performances. David was clearly the best and, while it’s early, obviously has IT and should sail through not just to the final four but could win it all. Dreadlock Jason was #2. While Danny did a spirited Jailhouse Rock, the rest of the guys were boring to dreadful. My boy Chikezie was a real letdown.

The girls: I was quite pleased that almost all my girls gave strong performances. My top two were Syesha (Tobacco Road) and Asia’h (Piece of My Heart) with Alexandrea (Spinning Wheel) a real close third. I also like Ramiel (the little girl with the big voice) who has real potential. I do like the rocker chick Amanda! It remains to be seen how versatile a singer she is, though.

Kady (the Britney imitator) is pretty and has a nice voice. Brooke and Carly (I dig her personality!) didn’t really get it done this week.

OK, so right now I have a big four of David, Syesha, Asia’h and Alexandrea. Jason and Ramiel in a second group. Then I guess and Amanda, Kady, Brooke and Carly in a third group.

Right now, I can’t see that there are six good guys to make the final group. Whoever the six girls turn out to be will be a really, really strong group.

IT'S ON!!

OK folks, I am READY. First let me say how totally annoying it is that they have to remind us a million times that this is the most talented Idol group ever. While they have never been shy about self-promotion, this is a bit much for me. Plus, let’s wait and see. Two years ago was pretty awesome: Daughtry, Elliot, Kellie and Mandisa have been pretty successful not to mention Taylor and McPhee – and Paris. That was strong.

Anyway, here is my current list of standouts. Now that we are going all the way live, I’ll be interested to see who is ready for primetime.

Guys

Chekezie Eze

Michael Johns - the Aussie

David Archuleta – the FABULOUS 16 year old; I think he’s final four material

Girls (the girls RULE!)

Alexandrea Lushington – 16 years old!

Asia’h Epperson

Syesha Mercado

Brooke White

Carly Smithson

Ramiele Malubay – little girl with the big voice

Amanda Overmeyer – the goth rocker biker chick, who really isn’t that great a singer but I love her look and personality; plus she gives me prim-and-proper nurse wife heartburn

I am really liking Alexandrea, Asia’h and Syesha. Notice I have seven girls I like and only six can make the final 12.