Wednesday, March 18, 2009
E.K.'S BRACKET PINATA
Here is the first-ever perfect bracket:
In the Midwest's first round, the winners will be Louisville, Ohio State, Utah, Wake Forest, West Virginia, North Dakota State (yes, upsetting defending national champ and #3 seed Kansas), USC and Michigan State. Second round winners will be Louisville, Wake Forest, West Virginia and Michigan State. The regional final will be Louisville defeating West Virginia.
In the West, we'll have Connecticut, Texas A&M, Purdue, Washington, Utah State, Missouri, Maryland and Memphis winning in the first round. I'll still be rooting for Cal though, against Maryland. Second round winners will be Connecticut and Washington (setting up an all-Husky matchup), and Utah State and Memphis. Memphis will beat Connecticut in the West final.
Pittsburgh, Oklahoma State, Florida State, Xavier, UCLA, Villanova, Texas and Duke will win in the first round of the East regional. Pittsburgh, Florida State, Villanova and Duke will advance to round two, and the regional final will see Villanova beat Florida State.
In the South, North Carolina, Butler, Western Kentucky, Gonzaga, Temple, Syracuse, Michigan and Oklahoma will win their opening round games. North Carolina, Gonzaga, Syracuse and Michigan will prevail in the second round, and North Carolina will win the regional final over Syracuse.
All of this means that you should look for the following upsets: The aforementioned North Dakota State-Kansas upset, Western Kentucky beating Illinois, and at least seed-wise, two #11s will perform upsets over 6-seeds, namely Utah State, which gets to play injury-hampered Marquette, and Temple over Arizona State, which must go all the way to Miami for the game. That doesn't usually work out for Western teams. In later rounds, look for #10 Michigan to stun #2 Oklahoma, Utah State to continue on, beating #3 Missouri, and Florida State to knock off title dreamer Pittsburgh.
Now for the Final Four: Memphis will return to the championship game, defeating Louisville, and North Carolina will take down Villanova. And look for North Carolina to take the title, beating Memphis.
On The Board: Haven't done this in a while, so let's get some picks in. Portland (-1.5) is a good bet against the Pacers tonight in the NBA. And in the first round of the NCAAs, let's focus on Butler (+2) over LSU, Virginia Commonwealth (+7.5) to cover but not win against UCLA, Cornell (+13) to cover against Mizzou, Ohio State to cover the measly 3.5 points against Siena in a game played in Dayton, and Xavier (-10.5) over Portland State.
In the Midwest's first round, the winners will be Louisville, Ohio State, Utah, Wake Forest, West Virginia, North Dakota State (yes, upsetting defending national champ and #3 seed Kansas), USC and Michigan State. Second round winners will be Louisville, Wake Forest, West Virginia and Michigan State. The regional final will be Louisville defeating West Virginia.
In the West, we'll have Connecticut, Texas A&M, Purdue, Washington, Utah State, Missouri, Maryland and Memphis winning in the first round. I'll still be rooting for Cal though, against Maryland. Second round winners will be Connecticut and Washington (setting up an all-Husky matchup), and Utah State and Memphis. Memphis will beat Connecticut in the West final.
Pittsburgh, Oklahoma State, Florida State, Xavier, UCLA, Villanova, Texas and Duke will win in the first round of the East regional. Pittsburgh, Florida State, Villanova and Duke will advance to round two, and the regional final will see Villanova beat Florida State.
In the South, North Carolina, Butler, Western Kentucky, Gonzaga, Temple, Syracuse, Michigan and Oklahoma will win their opening round games. North Carolina, Gonzaga, Syracuse and Michigan will prevail in the second round, and North Carolina will win the regional final over Syracuse.
All of this means that you should look for the following upsets: The aforementioned North Dakota State-Kansas upset, Western Kentucky beating Illinois, and at least seed-wise, two #11s will perform upsets over 6-seeds, namely Utah State, which gets to play injury-hampered Marquette, and Temple over Arizona State, which must go all the way to Miami for the game. That doesn't usually work out for Western teams. In later rounds, look for #10 Michigan to stun #2 Oklahoma, Utah State to continue on, beating #3 Missouri, and Florida State to knock off title dreamer Pittsburgh.
Now for the Final Four: Memphis will return to the championship game, defeating Louisville, and North Carolina will take down Villanova. And look for North Carolina to take the title, beating Memphis.
On The Board: Haven't done this in a while, so let's get some picks in. Portland (-1.5) is a good bet against the Pacers tonight in the NBA. And in the first round of the NCAAs, let's focus on Butler (+2) over LSU, Virginia Commonwealth (+7.5) to cover but not win against UCLA, Cornell (+13) to cover against Mizzou, Ohio State to cover the measly 3.5 points against Siena in a game played in Dayton, and Xavier (-10.5) over Portland State.
Wednesday, March 11, 2009
A.I.: THE TOP 13
This week on American Idol the theme was songs from the catalog of Michael Jackson. And that's never not going to be a tad creepy. Last year David Cook found a way to completely transform "Billie Jean" into something all his own; that isn't easy to do with a Gloved One song. Shall we see who "made it their own" this week? I shall now bring in Senior American Idol Correspondent "Smooth", who I keep locked in my basement but rest assured he is given water and vitamin supplements and at no time is his health in danger.
Smooth: First up was Lil Rounds, who sang "The Way You Make Me Feel". It was a good vocal if a tad shouty, and she gave an energetic performance. Although I must say she had on some weird clothes. Lil is easily good enough to sail through to the next round.
E.K.: So far, Lil has proven to be rock solid. She hasn't missed a step yet, and she shows no signs of doing so. However, in order for me to be truly interested in her, she's going to have to do something remarkable, like a Fantasia "Summertime" type thing. She's sort of falling into a routine. Maybe she's doing that because she thinks she'll be in the competition for weeks to come and she can save her best stuff for later. She was quite good last night if a bit showy and slightly over-the-top, but I agree, she'll be back next week.
Smooth: With Michael Jackson's catalog, it's not a great idea to pick a relatively unknown song. But that's what Scott MacIntyre with "Keep The Faith". It was a decent performance, with a just-OK vocal. On a night with mostly very strong vocals, his was towards the bottom. However, everyone loves him and he'll still be fine. He'll make it to next week.
E.K.: I wasn't a big fan of this performance; I wasn't enthralled by the song, which I don't think I recall hearing before, and Scott's vocals were just okay, as you said. I thought he'd shine a lot more behind a piano, but maybe he was a little overwhelmed by being on the big stage. I wonder how different it must be getting acclimated to a larger crowd if you can't see most of it. But there's no way he's getting the boot this week.
Smooth: Danny Gokey took to the stage next and sang "P.Y.T. (Pretty Young Thing)". He gave a vocally excellent, confident performance, with a busload of goofy dancing mixed in. Unless you are a really good dancer, it's tough to avoid that in this setting though. He was very strong overall, perhaps the best of the night.
E.K.: One thing about the title of this song: If you're going to abbreviate it, why add what it stands for right afterwards? Anyway, I know what you're saying about his dancing; it kind of seemed like he was forcing it on himself a bit. It did not seem authentic. But I know what he's saying about being on stage and singing and dancing at the same time and how it's sometimes tough to mix it together; when I'm singing in my band and I'm not playing an instrument at the time, I barely know what to do with my hands let alone know how to dance successfully. But enough about me. Danny's a great singer and proved it again last night and he's not going anywhere, well, except to the next round.
Smooth: Oilrigger Michael Sarver went on next -- and yes, producers, we know he's an oilman already, sheesh! -- and he was a million times better than his previous song choice. His vocals aren't quite up there with the best (not as much power, and slightly pitchy at times) but they're pretty good, and he does have more charisma than you'd expect. Paula has already decided he is "in the finals"...so I guess we should stop with the viewer vote and just put him through.
E.K.: I thought Michael was the best he's ever been last night. He was very confident and gave a smooth performance, so much so that I actually thought he was lip-synching for a moment; I didn't realize he was that good. As for the charisma, I'm not sure I've seen it yet. But he'll have at least one more week.
Smooth: Now on to Jasmine Murray, who did "I'll Be There". One of the cardinal rules of this show is, don't go where Mariah has been (and I suppose I mean that in every sense). It wasn't a bad vocal at all, but making MJ songs "your own" is hard enough; when you throw in Mariah's version this song is basically untouchable. I like her and her voice is a lot better than I originally thought, but I don't think she's ready for this.
E.K.: Jasmine's going to have a rough time advancing far if she keeps doing songs like this. Forget that Mariah Carey once did it and that the comparisons are inevitable; she needs to do something richly soulful that we would expect from Lil Rounds. This is a very tinny song and it doesn't show off what Jasmine can do. She's undeniably cute, but it's going to take a lot more than her looks. Also, the arrangement was bad; seemed like most of it was just her singing the line, "I'll be there" over and over. The producers really need to give the singers more time on stage to perform their songs, and I know I say this often, but I don't care. I also know they need their advertising money, so whatever.
Smooth: You know, we were talking about how Kris Allen made it into the top 13, and when he came on my wife immediately remarked on him being cute. So he's got the female appeal going on, I think.
E.K.: Yeah, didja see who he got to be his wife? Wow. Hot with a capital H-O-T, my friend. But what was Simon talking about, that Kris should have "kept her hidden a couple more weeks"? I'm not quite sure where he was going with that.
Smooth: Kris seemed more comfortable performing with the guitar and he does have a very nice voice. He was mostly on pitch but he missed a few notes pretty bad. Weird song choice but it actually turned out better than I originally expected.
E.K.: I thought the guitar element was completely fake. As far as I could tell, he played two chords the entire song and they were on the same fret. I felt like he did this to seem more talented than he probably is. It wasn't bad, it was just blah. Up next was Allison Iraheta, who did "Give In To Me", which I had never heard before and I hope to Stevie Ray Vaughan* that I never hear it again. I don't know how Michael's arrangement was but here it sucked. Allison's a great singer but this one missed it by a mile. It just seemed too unpolished and she couldn't show off her vocals enough. I'll chalk it up to a bad song choice. She's much better than this.
E.K.: Come on, you're not that dynamic.
Smooth: I meant Allison, and I shall punch you. Up next was Anoop Desai, and as the judges pointed out "Beat It" is another "untouchable" song that automatically sounds karaoke. At least it sounded like pretty good karaoke, right?
E.K.: No, it didn't. It was awful.
Smooth: Oh come on. Anoop showed tons of personality, which is what he needs to do to keep going in the show.
E.K.: If by "personality" you mean "ridiculous over-the-top hotel-lounge crap" I totally agree with you.
Smooth: I thought you liked him.
E.K.: I thought I did too. But come on, dude, that was atrocious. The posturing, the horrible mini-attempt to move remotely like MJ, it was appalling. He made a fool of himself. I still can't believe he did this. Fortunately for him, I think the voters like him enough and they were probably willing to overlook this train wreck.
Smooth: Well, I'll wrap up with this: Likable + decent vocals + dork charm will get him through this week. Next we had Jorge Nuñez. "Never Can Say Goodbye" has been done before on AI, with poor results, if I recall correctly. I love the song, but it just isn't that exciting. He started out pretty rough and had some pitchy parts at the end as well. The accent and attempts to cover it up are slightly distracting at times.
E.K.: The judges were way harsher than you, and I thought it was totally uncalled for. I thought he did a nice job. I would not buy the record, but I thought he was quite solid if not spectacular. I'm not particularly worried or bothered by the accent; he's from Puerto Rico, for cryin' out loud. Up next we had the joy that is Megan Joy Corkrey, and I think I know where you're going to go with your criticism.
Smooth: Sorry EK, but this may have been the worst of the night.
E.K.: I thought you might think so.
Smooth: I'll number these so you can fight me in a more orderly fashion: (1) She looked hot, I will grant you that. (2) But the choice to sing "Rockin' Robin" was just awful. It sounded incredibly dated, even more than the Jackson 5 stuff. (3) Plus, it did not allow the better qualities of her voice to come through. (4) She grinned all the way through it. (5) Chalk it up to inexperience, because I don't think there is anything she could have done to make that song come off well. (6) The vocal was not horrible, but it's certainly nothing special. (7) And the "caw, caw" at the end? Horribawful.
E.K.: (1) Damn right. (2) I agree it sounded dated...horribly dated...and I do admit my heart sank a bit when Seacrest announced that was her song...but tell me if "Beat It" doesn't sound dated? (Aside: Immediately after I watched Idol I put in a Season-Three DVD of The Office. And coincidentally, the episode I watched was the one where Jim and Pam steal Andy's phone and put it above the ceiling and keep calling it so that Andy goes crazy trying to find it, and his inability to find it plus the ridiculous ringtone and its repitition compels him to smash his fist through the wall. The ringtone that drove him bonkers? A recording of Andy singing all four parts to an a cappella version of..."Rockin' Robin." Made Megan's version sound much better by comparison. (3) I suppose you're right about that. It didn't sound as much like Megan singing as I would have liked to hear. But she had fun doing it, and I love watching her have fun. (4) And isn't her grin cute? (5) Then she did the best she could and should be rewarded. (See MacIntyre, Scott.) (6) Everything about Megan is special. (7) Do you know how many times you would have to kill me before I would recommend she do that "caw caw" again? So...my verdict is...: It wasn't her best. She had an off-week. And I love Megan Joy Corkrey, and I really don't think anyone can do anything about that, not even choosing to do "Rockin' Robin" on American Idol during Michael Jackson Week.
Smooth: I think Adam Lambert must come off better live than on TV, because the judges basically worshiped him after he sang "Black Or White". I know he's talented, but his personality is just incredibly off-putting, and I don't like the screechy tone of his voice. He does exude confidence on stage, but I still don't like it. Whatever, he'll be around for months.
E.K.: Given what I said last week about Adam, namely that I couldn't stand it, this is probably the biggest about-face I've ever done about an AI contestant in a one-week span or however long it's been since we saw him last: I liked it a lot.
Smooth: You're joking.
E.K.: Nope. I'm not sure why I liked him this time and hated him last time, because he didn't change his persona at all. But his vocals were really, really good, and he pretty much electrified everyone, and I'm going to give him all the credit in the world for it. If there is one positive about the screeching, it's that he hits the notes he strives for. If he missed them, this would be a whole different series of sentences.
Smooth: Okay, well, why don't you start off with Matt, 'cause I need a few more seconds to recover from what you just said.
E.K.: Fine by me. Matt Giraud was in his element this week, right behind the piano. He's good at piano and he's good at singing and he's good at doing both at the same time. Might I say he's like Brooke White in that regard? I would have liked to hear him unaccompanied by the band; while I like "Human Nature" I've never particularly liked the arrangement of it, and I think he could have stood out even more by going solo on it. But never mind; he'll be back next week fo sho.
Smooth: Behind the piano is indeed Matt's comfort zone. Good song choice which minimized the effect of his usually-excessive vibrato, and he added his own touches here and there. A few pitchy spots but this was the best we've seen him thus far, I think. He got screwed out of screen time during the judges' comments because the show was running long.
E.K.: That's 'cause Paula's an attention whore and can't shut up. She alone causes shows to last six extra minutes.
Smooth: Finally, Alexis Grace wore a jumper that I believe was a size negative 6. Again, her growly vocals and downright angry stage persona are startling after seeing her interviews. It was weird but effective. I was worried the song choice would make this a train wreck but she rocked it out and I think she managed to pull it off. The ending is a bit weird. Due to phone sex conflicts, she has a different phone number than expected but I am pretty sure that won't matter, she'll be
just fine.
E.K.: I thought it was closer to a train wreck than a masterpiece. It wasn't special by any means, and for some reason the lighting guys kept her in the dark, it seemed, through most of her song. But she definitely has a powerhouse voice in that little body of hers, and if I thought David Eckstein were any good at baseball I'd say she's the David Eckstein of American Idol Season 8. She'll have at least a couple more weeks for sure. And yes, it was kind of weird, the first 12 contestants got phone numbers 1 through 12, and she got 36. 36? 'Cause they had a Top 36? Okay, whatever. Predictions, sir?
Smooth: Overall this really may be the deepest season of AI yet. There was not an absolute stinker in any of those performances, some weren't great, but nothing even approaching Kevin Covais-level bad. A number of people have really great vocals. Predicted bottom 3: Jorge, Megan, Jasmine. If they throw in a fourth I'll go with Allison. Predicted boots? Jorge, Jasmine.
E.K.: As for me, I'll guess that Jorge and Allison will be headed home and that Jasmine will have to sweat it out in the bottom three. I'm curious as to what change in the voting they said they've added this year. I wonder if the judges get a percentage of a vote to add to a singer's total? We shall see tonight.
Smooth: First up was Lil Rounds, who sang "The Way You Make Me Feel". It was a good vocal if a tad shouty, and she gave an energetic performance. Although I must say she had on some weird clothes. Lil is easily good enough to sail through to the next round.
E.K.: So far, Lil has proven to be rock solid. She hasn't missed a step yet, and she shows no signs of doing so. However, in order for me to be truly interested in her, she's going to have to do something remarkable, like a Fantasia "Summertime" type thing. She's sort of falling into a routine. Maybe she's doing that because she thinks she'll be in the competition for weeks to come and she can save her best stuff for later. She was quite good last night if a bit showy and slightly over-the-top, but I agree, she'll be back next week.
Smooth: With Michael Jackson's catalog, it's not a great idea to pick a relatively unknown song. But that's what Scott MacIntyre with "Keep The Faith". It was a decent performance, with a just-OK vocal. On a night with mostly very strong vocals, his was towards the bottom. However, everyone loves him and he'll still be fine. He'll make it to next week.
E.K.: I wasn't a big fan of this performance; I wasn't enthralled by the song, which I don't think I recall hearing before, and Scott's vocals were just okay, as you said. I thought he'd shine a lot more behind a piano, but maybe he was a little overwhelmed by being on the big stage. I wonder how different it must be getting acclimated to a larger crowd if you can't see most of it. But there's no way he's getting the boot this week.
Smooth: Danny Gokey took to the stage next and sang "P.Y.T. (Pretty Young Thing)". He gave a vocally excellent, confident performance, with a busload of goofy dancing mixed in. Unless you are a really good dancer, it's tough to avoid that in this setting though. He was very strong overall, perhaps the best of the night.
E.K.: One thing about the title of this song: If you're going to abbreviate it, why add what it stands for right afterwards? Anyway, I know what you're saying about his dancing; it kind of seemed like he was forcing it on himself a bit. It did not seem authentic. But I know what he's saying about being on stage and singing and dancing at the same time and how it's sometimes tough to mix it together; when I'm singing in my band and I'm not playing an instrument at the time, I barely know what to do with my hands let alone know how to dance successfully. But enough about me. Danny's a great singer and proved it again last night and he's not going anywhere, well, except to the next round.
Smooth: Oilrigger Michael Sarver went on next -- and yes, producers, we know he's an oilman already, sheesh! -- and he was a million times better than his previous song choice. His vocals aren't quite up there with the best (not as much power, and slightly pitchy at times) but they're pretty good, and he does have more charisma than you'd expect. Paula has already decided he is "in the finals"...so I guess we should stop with the viewer vote and just put him through.
E.K.: I thought Michael was the best he's ever been last night. He was very confident and gave a smooth performance, so much so that I actually thought he was lip-synching for a moment; I didn't realize he was that good. As for the charisma, I'm not sure I've seen it yet. But he'll have at least one more week.
Smooth: Now on to Jasmine Murray, who did "I'll Be There". One of the cardinal rules of this show is, don't go where Mariah has been (and I suppose I mean that in every sense). It wasn't a bad vocal at all, but making MJ songs "your own" is hard enough; when you throw in Mariah's version this song is basically untouchable. I like her and her voice is a lot better than I originally thought, but I don't think she's ready for this.
E.K.: Jasmine's going to have a rough time advancing far if she keeps doing songs like this. Forget that Mariah Carey once did it and that the comparisons are inevitable; she needs to do something richly soulful that we would expect from Lil Rounds. This is a very tinny song and it doesn't show off what Jasmine can do. She's undeniably cute, but it's going to take a lot more than her looks. Also, the arrangement was bad; seemed like most of it was just her singing the line, "I'll be there" over and over. The producers really need to give the singers more time on stage to perform their songs, and I know I say this often, but I don't care. I also know they need their advertising money, so whatever.
Smooth: You know, we were talking about how Kris Allen made it into the top 13, and when he came on my wife immediately remarked on him being cute. So he's got the female appeal going on, I think.
E.K.: Yeah, didja see who he got to be his wife? Wow. Hot with a capital H-O-T, my friend. But what was Simon talking about, that Kris should have "kept her hidden a couple more weeks"? I'm not quite sure where he was going with that.
Smooth: Kris seemed more comfortable performing with the guitar and he does have a very nice voice. He was mostly on pitch but he missed a few notes pretty bad. Weird song choice but it actually turned out better than I originally expected.
E.K.: I thought the guitar element was completely fake. As far as I could tell, he played two chords the entire song and they were on the same fret. I felt like he did this to seem more talented than he probably is. It wasn't bad, it was just blah. Up next was Allison Iraheta, who did "Give In To Me", which I had never heard before and I hope to Stevie Ray Vaughan* that I never hear it again. I don't know how Michael's arrangement was but here it sucked. Allison's a great singer but this one missed it by a mile. It just seemed too unpolished and she couldn't show off her vocals enough. I'll chalk it up to a bad song choice. She's much better than this.
* Some people say "God" here.Smooth: It was indeed another relatively obscure song. I thought she did a nice job with it, but I'm a little concerned for her because it did not really allow her to show off her personality as much as she probably needed to. The vocal was great, but overall it didn't really grab my attention, which is surprising for someone who is usually very dynamic.
E.K.: Come on, you're not that dynamic.
Smooth: I meant Allison, and I shall punch you. Up next was Anoop Desai, and as the judges pointed out "Beat It" is another "untouchable" song that automatically sounds karaoke. At least it sounded like pretty good karaoke, right?
E.K.: No, it didn't. It was awful.
Smooth: Oh come on. Anoop showed tons of personality, which is what he needs to do to keep going in the show.
E.K.: If by "personality" you mean "ridiculous over-the-top hotel-lounge crap" I totally agree with you.
Smooth: I thought you liked him.
E.K.: I thought I did too. But come on, dude, that was atrocious. The posturing, the horrible mini-attempt to move remotely like MJ, it was appalling. He made a fool of himself. I still can't believe he did this. Fortunately for him, I think the voters like him enough and they were probably willing to overlook this train wreck.
Smooth: Well, I'll wrap up with this: Likable + decent vocals + dork charm will get him through this week. Next we had Jorge Nuñez. "Never Can Say Goodbye" has been done before on AI, with poor results, if I recall correctly. I love the song, but it just isn't that exciting. He started out pretty rough and had some pitchy parts at the end as well. The accent and attempts to cover it up are slightly distracting at times.
E.K.: The judges were way harsher than you, and I thought it was totally uncalled for. I thought he did a nice job. I would not buy the record, but I thought he was quite solid if not spectacular. I'm not particularly worried or bothered by the accent; he's from Puerto Rico, for cryin' out loud. Up next we had the joy that is Megan Joy Corkrey, and I think I know where you're going to go with your criticism.
Smooth: Sorry EK, but this may have been the worst of the night.
E.K.: I thought you might think so.
Smooth: I'll number these so you can fight me in a more orderly fashion: (1) She looked hot, I will grant you that. (2) But the choice to sing "Rockin' Robin" was just awful. It sounded incredibly dated, even more than the Jackson 5 stuff. (3) Plus, it did not allow the better qualities of her voice to come through. (4) She grinned all the way through it. (5) Chalk it up to inexperience, because I don't think there is anything she could have done to make that song come off well. (6) The vocal was not horrible, but it's certainly nothing special. (7) And the "caw, caw" at the end? Horribawful.
E.K.: (1) Damn right. (2) I agree it sounded dated...horribly dated...and I do admit my heart sank a bit when Seacrest announced that was her song...but tell me if "Beat It" doesn't sound dated? (Aside: Immediately after I watched Idol I put in a Season-Three DVD of The Office. And coincidentally, the episode I watched was the one where Jim and Pam steal Andy's phone and put it above the ceiling and keep calling it so that Andy goes crazy trying to find it, and his inability to find it plus the ridiculous ringtone and its repitition compels him to smash his fist through the wall. The ringtone that drove him bonkers? A recording of Andy singing all four parts to an a cappella version of..."Rockin' Robin." Made Megan's version sound much better by comparison. (3) I suppose you're right about that. It didn't sound as much like Megan singing as I would have liked to hear. But she had fun doing it, and I love watching her have fun. (4) And isn't her grin cute? (5) Then she did the best she could and should be rewarded. (See MacIntyre, Scott.) (6) Everything about Megan is special. (7) Do you know how many times you would have to kill me before I would recommend she do that "caw caw" again? So...my verdict is...: It wasn't her best. She had an off-week. And I love Megan Joy Corkrey, and I really don't think anyone can do anything about that, not even choosing to do "Rockin' Robin" on American Idol during Michael Jackson Week.
Smooth: I think Adam Lambert must come off better live than on TV, because the judges basically worshiped him after he sang "Black Or White". I know he's talented, but his personality is just incredibly off-putting, and I don't like the screechy tone of his voice. He does exude confidence on stage, but I still don't like it. Whatever, he'll be around for months.
E.K.: Given what I said last week about Adam, namely that I couldn't stand it, this is probably the biggest about-face I've ever done about an AI contestant in a one-week span or however long it's been since we saw him last: I liked it a lot.
Smooth: You're joking.
E.K.: Nope. I'm not sure why I liked him this time and hated him last time, because he didn't change his persona at all. But his vocals were really, really good, and he pretty much electrified everyone, and I'm going to give him all the credit in the world for it. If there is one positive about the screeching, it's that he hits the notes he strives for. If he missed them, this would be a whole different series of sentences.
Smooth: Okay, well, why don't you start off with Matt, 'cause I need a few more seconds to recover from what you just said.
E.K.: Fine by me. Matt Giraud was in his element this week, right behind the piano. He's good at piano and he's good at singing and he's good at doing both at the same time. Might I say he's like Brooke White in that regard? I would have liked to hear him unaccompanied by the band; while I like "Human Nature" I've never particularly liked the arrangement of it, and I think he could have stood out even more by going solo on it. But never mind; he'll be back next week fo sho.
Smooth: Behind the piano is indeed Matt's comfort zone. Good song choice which minimized the effect of his usually-excessive vibrato, and he added his own touches here and there. A few pitchy spots but this was the best we've seen him thus far, I think. He got screwed out of screen time during the judges' comments because the show was running long.
E.K.: That's 'cause Paula's an attention whore and can't shut up. She alone causes shows to last six extra minutes.
Smooth: Finally, Alexis Grace wore a jumper that I believe was a size negative 6. Again, her growly vocals and downright angry stage persona are startling after seeing her interviews. It was weird but effective. I was worried the song choice would make this a train wreck but she rocked it out and I think she managed to pull it off. The ending is a bit weird. Due to phone sex conflicts, she has a different phone number than expected but I am pretty sure that won't matter, she'll be
just fine.
E.K.: I thought it was closer to a train wreck than a masterpiece. It wasn't special by any means, and for some reason the lighting guys kept her in the dark, it seemed, through most of her song. But she definitely has a powerhouse voice in that little body of hers, and if I thought David Eckstein were any good at baseball I'd say she's the David Eckstein of American Idol Season 8. She'll have at least a couple more weeks for sure. And yes, it was kind of weird, the first 12 contestants got phone numbers 1 through 12, and she got 36. 36? 'Cause they had a Top 36? Okay, whatever. Predictions, sir?
Smooth: Overall this really may be the deepest season of AI yet. There was not an absolute stinker in any of those performances, some weren't great, but nothing even approaching Kevin Covais-level bad. A number of people have really great vocals. Predicted bottom 3: Jorge, Megan, Jasmine. If they throw in a fourth I'll go with Allison. Predicted boots? Jorge, Jasmine.
E.K.: As for me, I'll guess that Jorge and Allison will be headed home and that Jasmine will have to sweat it out in the bottom three. I'm curious as to what change in the voting they said they've added this year. I wonder if the judges get a percentage of a vote to add to a singer's total? We shall see tonight.
Thursday, March 5, 2009
NOT YOUR OLDER BROTHER'S JAIL BLAZERS
The Portland Trail Blazers are back, ladies and gentlemen.
I haven't often written about my hometown NBA team, or the NBA in general, simply because I've typically not been much of an NBA watcher until the playoffs start, particularly since the founding of this blog back in 2003, which was basically the last time Portland had any semblance of a decent team (at least play-wise...character not so much) until this season. And if anyone thinks that there's no basketball anymore in the Pacific Northwest now that the Sonics are gone, remember that we're still here. And if we win tonight against Denver, we'll be the division leaders. We're not the class of the NBA or anything, but we're certainly so much closer than our reviled teams of years past.
A huge reason we're back and shedding the Jail Blazers label is our man Brandon Roy. Heard of him? Here's a link to an article on ESPN.com about why Roy is so good. And don't be surprised if we're in the playoffs hosting Game #1 at home in the first round come April.
Idol's Wild-Card Show: Bless the judges for bringing back the delightful Megan Joy Corkrey to sing tonight in the wild card round. I would like to see Megan, Anoop and maybe Matt make it through tonight into the Top 12. And my god, Tatiana, please stop crying. You are shameless. Shut up and sing.
I haven't often written about my hometown NBA team, or the NBA in general, simply because I've typically not been much of an NBA watcher until the playoffs start, particularly since the founding of this blog back in 2003, which was basically the last time Portland had any semblance of a decent team (at least play-wise...character not so much) until this season. And if anyone thinks that there's no basketball anymore in the Pacific Northwest now that the Sonics are gone, remember that we're still here. And if we win tonight against Denver, we'll be the division leaders. We're not the class of the NBA or anything, but we're certainly so much closer than our reviled teams of years past.
A huge reason we're back and shedding the Jail Blazers label is our man Brandon Roy. Heard of him? Here's a link to an article on ESPN.com about why Roy is so good. And don't be surprised if we're in the playoffs hosting Game #1 at home in the first round come April.
Idol's Wild-Card Show: Bless the judges for bringing back the delightful Megan Joy Corkrey to sing tonight in the wild card round. I would like to see Megan, Anoop and maybe Matt make it through tonight into the Top 12. And my god, Tatiana, please stop crying. You are shameless. Shut up and sing.
Wednesday, March 4, 2009
THE KARAOKE CONTINUES
The last of the three semifinal rounds happened last night on American Idol, and here's E.K. Nation's Senior American Idol Correspondent "Smooth" to help us run through the details.
Smooth: The first song of the night was kind of a weird arrangement for Von Smith ("You're All I Need To Get By"); it's quite a bit lower than the original, and slightly low for Von in the beginning. He is definitely a very theatrical performer, with exaggerated facial expressions and movements. He talked about trying to tone down his in-your-face vocals in his interview, and he did succeed for the most part compared to what we saw in Hollywood, but his voice just naturally borders on being a bit shouty. Not to say that he can't sing, because he can, although he sounded a little nervous in this performance. Simon correctly compared him to Clay Aiken. He's memorable, he's got a big voice, but something about him is going to make every song sound Broadwayish.
E.K.: He's one of several singers I've never much liked from the start. He just seems way too dramatic, or perhaps more accurately, melodramatic, with everything he sings. It's almost like he'd be a better fit for the stage if his mic was attached to his ear "Rent"-style rather than hand-held. Because that's what he reminds me of, a singer in a Broadway show, as you pointed out. He can handle singing, but this kind of performer doesn't do well with the voters. Except for, I guess, Adam from last week, and if they already have him there, why would anyone need Von?
Smooth: Taylor Vaifanua's song started off pleasantly, again a little low in her register but I liked the tone. When it got to the belting parts, however, her voice just wasn't big enough. It wasn't bad, she just couldn't really hit some of the higher notes with any force. The judges clamored for more personality, which is indeed her biggest problem right now, and the reason she won't move on. Very little airtime + good but unspectacular voice = boot. Even by the end of the show I barely remembered her.
E.K.: Yeah, this was pretty boring. Not to mention a near impossible task, since she's doing an Alicia Keys song, and unless you can really pull it off, you better stay away from that. It wasn't bad, it wasn't great, it was just unmemorable, and she doesn't have any star quality. Might I add that I have been tired of the insta-booing of Simon whenever he says something negative; of course it happened again here, but he was right, as is the norm. She just isn't good enough. Up next, we had Alex Wagner-Trugman, and for the life of me I can't figure out why he is here. He's not a great singer at all. Did the judges really think he was better than some of the singers left out of the top 36? He seems like a nice guy but he has an awkward stage presence and his vocals last night were just all over the place. It was way too karaoke-ish. Side note: Who decided that "kah-rah-o-kay" was to become "Carrie-Okie"? I wasn't consulted on that. Also, "lingerie" is not "lahnj-uh-RAY" but rather "lan-zhu-ree," speaking of nothing we were talking about. Just so you all know.
Smooth: You through, Mr. Berlitz?
E.K.: Si.
Smooth: Okay. Well, oh my. So Alex seems to be a pretty funny, self-effacing, dorky kid. I am sure this is why they put him through to this round. Unfortunately, this is at least partly a singing competition, and his vocals are ridonkculawful. It did indeed sound like okay karaoke, until he started doing some absolutely ear-rending throaty "growling" that was completely at odds with his normal voice and his WASPy image. It was a weird Jekyll-and-Hyde thing, and it almost - almost - distracted me from just how bad it was, with pitch problems all over the place. He did put on a rather entertaining show in a bizarre way, because he jumped all over the stage, using weird gestures, and even knocking over the mic stand (unintentionally). It's a train wreck, but I must admit I'd rather watch this again than something as generic as Taylor, for example.
Now, apparently this is the first season that AI has sprung for an ABBA license, and they might regret that decision a bit after Arianna Afsar. She came off as mildly conceited in her interview ("I was so glad in Hollywood that the judges talked about my voice, and not how incredibly cute I am"). The performance was not that good. It was quite boring. Her vocals were okay at times, shouty at others, and there were a number of bad moments. On the last glory note in particular she ran out of breath, started yelling to get through it, and the pitch went all over the place. On a song like this you need to have a great voice to hold the audience's attention, and she didn't bring it. Simon ripped her badly; I didn't think it was awful, as he put it, but I don't think she got a lot of votes after that.
E.K.: This was a major letdown for me, I suppose simply because Arianna is one of the most beautiful contestants Idol has ever had, and if nothing else, she would have been fun to look at for weeks to come if she had done any good last night. Unfortunately, she didn't; I think largely it was due to the song being a horrible choice. "The Winner Takes It All"? Again: WIth all the Billboard pop hits over the past 50 years, you couldn't pick a better song? She had to resort to falsetto a couple of times to hit some of the higher notes, something I needed to be reminded that females could even do. And it was very noticeable, as in, this is not a style choice, this is whoops, I can't hit this one normally, gotta fake it. She was overall just okay; she had a few lines where she sang beautifully, but too often she followed it up with something decidedly not good.
Smooth: It's not a bad idea to go with something contemporary, as Ju'Not Joyner decided to do with "Hey There Delilah", but this is one of the most overplayed songs of the last few years, so I wasn't too excited about it. He did a fairly straightforward, slowed-down rendition. He's got a very nice voice, but he's not putting it on display. At the end we got a little bit of improvisation, and it sounded a lot better. He mentioned in the post-interview that he did a more reworked version of this song in Hollywood but wanted to "honor the melody" this time around. I think that was probably a mistake. You need to really grab people's attention in order to inspire them to vote for you in the early rounds. He mentions that his "butt hurts" from a cortisone shot, so I guess he's got that to differentiate him, at least.
E.K.: I think I liked it a bit more than you did. It wasn't the most thrilling performance ever, and he hit a few pitchy spots, but I think he did rather well. Given the caliber of the 12 singers tonight -- mostly not spectacular -- he might benefit from the luck of the draw with the voters. He changed the song up to, as they say, "make it his own", and it worked. I do agree that the song was too overplayed to get excited over hearing it again. He's certainly in the running to get a third-place vote and a spot in the Top 12.
Smooth: Next we heard from Kristen McNamara, doing "Give Me One Reason" by Tracy Chapman. Now I know I just said these contestants need to put a unique spin on their songs, but if this is the result, I recant. It was a really bizarre rendition. The well-known original is driven by the bass line and has a bluesy, almost earthy feel to it; Kristen did a sped-up, cabaret nightclub version with horns and an organ among the prominent backing instruments. She performed it in a pink dress, and threw in a scream and a "let's go!" The funny thing is that she actually has a somewhat bluesy voice with very good range, and could have probably done a great rendition with the right arrangement. It was all very odd. Like Arianna, she really blew the last note. Her voice is a lot better than I thought it was, but I think the arrangement is really going to kill her.
E.K.: This was spectacularly awful. Her vocals were okay, but I am in total agreement that the arrangement was horrific. It was way too fast and she had trouble keeping up with with to start. It also didn't give her much chance to show off her range until the very end but at the same time, while the song seems to be suited at first listen to a blues joint, this is not a get-up-and-dance! thing. I've always felt that it's a melancholy song. Maybe I'm wrong, but because of that, Kristen's happy-time performance was just way off. And because I was sort of watching the show from a weird angle at this point, I was ready and prepared for the bizarreness of Nathaniel Marshall. First things first: The glittery headband. What? Is it 1982 already? Look, some of the fashions of the 50s, 60s and 70s can be brought back to life these days and at least look okay. Nothing, and I'm pretty sure I mean nothing, about 80s fashions should ever be brought to the current day. Not even for Halloween as a joke, because it reminds me of how soulless the zeitgeist of the 1980s was. And Nathaniel is serious with it. It's just so off-putting. And his performance style is nothing more than posturing and posing without even one sly wink to the camera. Not to mention the arrangement, which was all over the place, although maybe that's the way the actual song is; I don't think I have ever listened to "I Would Do Anything For Love (But I Won't Do That)" by Meat Loaf all the way through, so I don't know. The drama he involved himself in during Hollywood Week is a disturbing memory for me; no one worth his salt in a competition like this should (or could) ever go all DQ like he did. In the end, he's much better suited for "let's feel good about ourselves" assemblies in elementary schools.
Smooth: From the first notes, it became apparent that Nate's voice is subpar for this competition and he's only here due to his flamboyant personality. He looked absolutely ridiculous, with a sparkly blue headband and ridiculous clothes and hair. His voice was shaky, theatrical (the song doesn't help), and not particularly strong. It seemed to go on forever, and ends poorly. He is suprisingly respectful in the post interview. Simon makes an Olivia Newton-John reference to the headband, which Randy awesomely refers to later as the 'Elton John "Physical"' thing. Indeed, Nate is just your everyday drama queen attention whore and his presence is pointless. Like Alex, he's memorable, but unlike Alex, he's wholly unlikable.
Up next we had Felicia Barton, who was the last-minute replacement for Joanna Pacitti, and she's had a bit of a makeover since Hollywood. She's actually very pretty. She sang the second Alicia Keys song of the night ("No One"), and did fairly well with it. Felicia is more memorable than Taylor, and has a bigger voice, but she also misseed some notes, and generally oversang it. What kills me is that Felicia, who can sing and is taking this seriously, was cut in favor of "Norman Gentle" and a couple of other bad singers like Stevie, Jeanine, and even Casey Carlson. I like her, but I don't think she's going to get the votes to advance.
E.K.: Another question I had was, once the four judges had their Top 36 in mind except for the eight or so they weren't sure about, they had those eight pair off in a round of "sing-offs" to see who got the last spots. Everyone else, it appeared, they had made up their mind about. Which included Felicia, who was cut without doing a sing-off. Wouldn't the few losers of the sing-offs be the ones they'd pick a replacement from? But then again, Felicia proved herself to be a fine replacement choice. She did very well, save for one really poorly missed note during the first chorus. She did look nice too, although I have never been a fan of bangs. Grow it out! But anyway, I think she did enough to be at least considered for the wild card "sing-off" on Thursday.
Smooth: Scott MacIntyre has a good tone to his voice, but I just listened to him sing again on YouTube and it was damn rough in parts. When he goes for the high notes, in particular, he tends to scoop into them, and his voice cracks a fair amount. "Mandolin Rain" is, in fairness, actually kind of a tough song to sing. He performed the song surprisingly well; it's clear he would be more comfortable at a piano, but based on his previous auditions it actually appears he's practiced being on stage. He looks around at the audience, waves his arm, and brings energy to it. The judges are a bit easy on him. Simon didn't like his song choice and Randy mentioned the vocals being a little weak; I think with any other contestant both points would have been harped on a LOT more. Scott capitalized on a chance to make fun of Seacrest's attempt to high-five him in the audition rounds, and my wife couldn't stop laughing. Given that Scott is overcoming blindness to be on the show and appears to be the nicest human in the universe, there is no way he won't go through.
E.K.: I don't think there is a chance in hell that he did not get the top guy vote last night. He's certainly getting a pass from the judges due to his blindness and the whole sympathy thing; they don't want to be too rough on the guy, but really, who would? You can't not like him. What he might lack in vocal superiority he makes up for in drive and passion (so we're told by the producers and the judges), but then again, is that really a rare characteristic? As for last night, I think he got better when the notes got more difficult to hit. And clearly he's more comfortable behind a keyboard and the voters know this by now and theyve surely put him through. Then we had Kendall Beard, who sounds like a country singer based solely on the name. I thought she was rather Taylor Swift-y, and by that I mean I don't think Taylor is a great live singer, and neither is Kendall. Considering the talents of other country singers these days, your Carrie Underwoods and Jennifer Nettleseseseses, there's really nothing here to exalt. It started to low for her register and by the end of the song she was, as Simon pointed out, quite "shrilly" and it just didn't work. It was, well, kah-rah-o-kay. She's cute and blonde and so are Carrie and Jennifer and Taylor and Kellie Pickler and so on. We have Kendall Beards out there already and they're better singers.
Smooth: She's another prepackaged AI "country contestant" that's not good enough to advance; she's blonde, bubbly, sort of cute, and sings country. But she's rather pitchy. Really, just being on the show is a "win" for Kendall. If Josh Gracin and Kellie Pickler can have country music careers, why can't she? I didn't like it at all, but that is neither here nor there. Next we had Jorge Nuñez. This was actually much better than I was expecting. Frankly, I thought they just put Jorge on the show because they needed to have at least one male and female contestant from Puerto Rico since they went down there for auditions. However, his voice is actually quite strong. The only complaint I had was that he enunciates some words in an unusual manner, likely a result of overcompensating since the judges mentioned his accent at his first audition. Simon probably confused him by saying "actually,now I think you should keep the accent", and Paula patronized the hell out of him by asking him to "say something" with his accent. Who does that?
E.K.: Paula.
Smooth: Anyway, Jorge comes off as very likable and he does stand out.
E.K.: It didn't seem to me like he had any Idol-star quality to him, but he did pretty well with "Don't Let The Sun Go Down On Me." I'm not a huge fan of the song, but it was much, much better than Alex's attempt at another Elton John song. What I think might have happened was, his post-song conversation with the judges might have done more for him with the voters than the actual performance. I thought it was quite genuine when the judges praised him and he started tearing up as he said this experience has been amazing for him. If he doesn't make the top three vote total, he just might be a favorite to go to the wild card show.
Smooth: Finally, Lil Rounds took the stage. Lil is obviously an early favorite since she has received a lot of screen time and has a strong R&B voice. She's got the ability to be a recording artist right now. The song was actually not the best choice to showcase her vocals because the phrasing is choppy at the beginning; towards the end she was able to put some more runs and power notes in there. She performed it well, although she threw in some cheese when she changes the lyrics to "call this show if you just can't be without me" while making the "call me" gesture with her hand. She'll be fine for weeks to come.
E.K.: That was the only drawback to her performance. Really, Lil, you are strong enough to not have to beg Tatiana-style for votes. Remember, those who are good enough to win know they don't have to do that. Otherwise, she is very solid; she kind of reminds me of Melinda Doolittle from two years ago; very comfortable on stage like she's been doing this for years and surely she has, and while she's not as modest as Melinda, she can bring the goods. She's a shoe-in for the Top 12.
Smooth: So now to the official predictions: Lil and Scott are in. I think another guy will take the third spot; I think all of them could have gotten a decent number of votes. I'll go with Jorge.
E.K.: Lil and Scott are clearly in the Top 12, I agree. As for the third place vote, it's a toss-up between Jorge and Ju'Not. It's just a question of whether Jorge made a connection with the voters. I'm going to go with Ju'Not, but if Jorge makes it I won't be shocked or disappointed. All that's left for me to care about is that Megan Joy Corkrey gets her deserved wild-card show spot. We'll be back to rundown the wild card show and rank the Top 12 and also tell you all who we would have chosen for our Top 12.
Smooth: The first song of the night was kind of a weird arrangement for Von Smith ("You're All I Need To Get By"); it's quite a bit lower than the original, and slightly low for Von in the beginning. He is definitely a very theatrical performer, with exaggerated facial expressions and movements. He talked about trying to tone down his in-your-face vocals in his interview, and he did succeed for the most part compared to what we saw in Hollywood, but his voice just naturally borders on being a bit shouty. Not to say that he can't sing, because he can, although he sounded a little nervous in this performance. Simon correctly compared him to Clay Aiken. He's memorable, he's got a big voice, but something about him is going to make every song sound Broadwayish.
E.K.: He's one of several singers I've never much liked from the start. He just seems way too dramatic, or perhaps more accurately, melodramatic, with everything he sings. It's almost like he'd be a better fit for the stage if his mic was attached to his ear "Rent"-style rather than hand-held. Because that's what he reminds me of, a singer in a Broadway show, as you pointed out. He can handle singing, but this kind of performer doesn't do well with the voters. Except for, I guess, Adam from last week, and if they already have him there, why would anyone need Von?
Smooth: Taylor Vaifanua's song started off pleasantly, again a little low in her register but I liked the tone. When it got to the belting parts, however, her voice just wasn't big enough. It wasn't bad, she just couldn't really hit some of the higher notes with any force. The judges clamored for more personality, which is indeed her biggest problem right now, and the reason she won't move on. Very little airtime + good but unspectacular voice = boot. Even by the end of the show I barely remembered her.
E.K.: Yeah, this was pretty boring. Not to mention a near impossible task, since she's doing an Alicia Keys song, and unless you can really pull it off, you better stay away from that. It wasn't bad, it wasn't great, it was just unmemorable, and she doesn't have any star quality. Might I add that I have been tired of the insta-booing of Simon whenever he says something negative; of course it happened again here, but he was right, as is the norm. She just isn't good enough. Up next, we had Alex Wagner-Trugman, and for the life of me I can't figure out why he is here. He's not a great singer at all. Did the judges really think he was better than some of the singers left out of the top 36? He seems like a nice guy but he has an awkward stage presence and his vocals last night were just all over the place. It was way too karaoke-ish. Side note: Who decided that "kah-rah-o-kay" was to become "Carrie-Okie"? I wasn't consulted on that. Also, "lingerie" is not "lahnj-uh-RAY" but rather "lan-zhu-ree," speaking of nothing we were talking about. Just so you all know.
Smooth: You through, Mr. Berlitz?
E.K.: Si.
Smooth: Okay. Well, oh my. So Alex seems to be a pretty funny, self-effacing, dorky kid. I am sure this is why they put him through to this round. Unfortunately, this is at least partly a singing competition, and his vocals are ridonkculawful. It did indeed sound like okay karaoke, until he started doing some absolutely ear-rending throaty "growling" that was completely at odds with his normal voice and his WASPy image. It was a weird Jekyll-and-Hyde thing, and it almost - almost - distracted me from just how bad it was, with pitch problems all over the place. He did put on a rather entertaining show in a bizarre way, because he jumped all over the stage, using weird gestures, and even knocking over the mic stand (unintentionally). It's a train wreck, but I must admit I'd rather watch this again than something as generic as Taylor, for example.
Now, apparently this is the first season that AI has sprung for an ABBA license, and they might regret that decision a bit after Arianna Afsar. She came off as mildly conceited in her interview ("I was so glad in Hollywood that the judges talked about my voice, and not how incredibly cute I am"). The performance was not that good. It was quite boring. Her vocals were okay at times, shouty at others, and there were a number of bad moments. On the last glory note in particular she ran out of breath, started yelling to get through it, and the pitch went all over the place. On a song like this you need to have a great voice to hold the audience's attention, and she didn't bring it. Simon ripped her badly; I didn't think it was awful, as he put it, but I don't think she got a lot of votes after that.
E.K.: This was a major letdown for me, I suppose simply because Arianna is one of the most beautiful contestants Idol has ever had, and if nothing else, she would have been fun to look at for weeks to come if she had done any good last night. Unfortunately, she didn't; I think largely it was due to the song being a horrible choice. "The Winner Takes It All"? Again: WIth all the Billboard pop hits over the past 50 years, you couldn't pick a better song? She had to resort to falsetto a couple of times to hit some of the higher notes, something I needed to be reminded that females could even do. And it was very noticeable, as in, this is not a style choice, this is whoops, I can't hit this one normally, gotta fake it. She was overall just okay; she had a few lines where she sang beautifully, but too often she followed it up with something decidedly not good.
Smooth: It's not a bad idea to go with something contemporary, as Ju'Not Joyner decided to do with "Hey There Delilah", but this is one of the most overplayed songs of the last few years, so I wasn't too excited about it. He did a fairly straightforward, slowed-down rendition. He's got a very nice voice, but he's not putting it on display. At the end we got a little bit of improvisation, and it sounded a lot better. He mentioned in the post-interview that he did a more reworked version of this song in Hollywood but wanted to "honor the melody" this time around. I think that was probably a mistake. You need to really grab people's attention in order to inspire them to vote for you in the early rounds. He mentions that his "butt hurts" from a cortisone shot, so I guess he's got that to differentiate him, at least.
E.K.: I think I liked it a bit more than you did. It wasn't the most thrilling performance ever, and he hit a few pitchy spots, but I think he did rather well. Given the caliber of the 12 singers tonight -- mostly not spectacular -- he might benefit from the luck of the draw with the voters. He changed the song up to, as they say, "make it his own", and it worked. I do agree that the song was too overplayed to get excited over hearing it again. He's certainly in the running to get a third-place vote and a spot in the Top 12.
Smooth: Next we heard from Kristen McNamara, doing "Give Me One Reason" by Tracy Chapman. Now I know I just said these contestants need to put a unique spin on their songs, but if this is the result, I recant. It was a really bizarre rendition. The well-known original is driven by the bass line and has a bluesy, almost earthy feel to it; Kristen did a sped-up, cabaret nightclub version with horns and an organ among the prominent backing instruments. She performed it in a pink dress, and threw in a scream and a "let's go!" The funny thing is that she actually has a somewhat bluesy voice with very good range, and could have probably done a great rendition with the right arrangement. It was all very odd. Like Arianna, she really blew the last note. Her voice is a lot better than I thought it was, but I think the arrangement is really going to kill her.
E.K.: This was spectacularly awful. Her vocals were okay, but I am in total agreement that the arrangement was horrific. It was way too fast and she had trouble keeping up with with to start. It also didn't give her much chance to show off her range until the very end but at the same time, while the song seems to be suited at first listen to a blues joint, this is not a get-up-and-dance! thing. I've always felt that it's a melancholy song. Maybe I'm wrong, but because of that, Kristen's happy-time performance was just way off. And because I was sort of watching the show from a weird angle at this point, I was ready and prepared for the bizarreness of Nathaniel Marshall. First things first: The glittery headband. What? Is it 1982 already? Look, some of the fashions of the 50s, 60s and 70s can be brought back to life these days and at least look okay. Nothing, and I'm pretty sure I mean nothing, about 80s fashions should ever be brought to the current day. Not even for Halloween as a joke, because it reminds me of how soulless the zeitgeist of the 1980s was. And Nathaniel is serious with it. It's just so off-putting. And his performance style is nothing more than posturing and posing without even one sly wink to the camera. Not to mention the arrangement, which was all over the place, although maybe that's the way the actual song is; I don't think I have ever listened to "I Would Do Anything For Love (But I Won't Do That)" by Meat Loaf all the way through, so I don't know. The drama he involved himself in during Hollywood Week is a disturbing memory for me; no one worth his salt in a competition like this should (or could) ever go all DQ like he did. In the end, he's much better suited for "let's feel good about ourselves" assemblies in elementary schools.
Smooth: From the first notes, it became apparent that Nate's voice is subpar for this competition and he's only here due to his flamboyant personality. He looked absolutely ridiculous, with a sparkly blue headband and ridiculous clothes and hair. His voice was shaky, theatrical (the song doesn't help), and not particularly strong. It seemed to go on forever, and ends poorly. He is suprisingly respectful in the post interview. Simon makes an Olivia Newton-John reference to the headband, which Randy awesomely refers to later as the 'Elton John "Physical"' thing. Indeed, Nate is just your everyday drama queen attention whore and his presence is pointless. Like Alex, he's memorable, but unlike Alex, he's wholly unlikable.
Up next we had Felicia Barton, who was the last-minute replacement for Joanna Pacitti, and she's had a bit of a makeover since Hollywood. She's actually very pretty. She sang the second Alicia Keys song of the night ("No One"), and did fairly well with it. Felicia is more memorable than Taylor, and has a bigger voice, but she also misseed some notes, and generally oversang it. What kills me is that Felicia, who can sing and is taking this seriously, was cut in favor of "Norman Gentle" and a couple of other bad singers like Stevie, Jeanine, and even Casey Carlson. I like her, but I don't think she's going to get the votes to advance.
E.K.: Another question I had was, once the four judges had their Top 36 in mind except for the eight or so they weren't sure about, they had those eight pair off in a round of "sing-offs" to see who got the last spots. Everyone else, it appeared, they had made up their mind about. Which included Felicia, who was cut without doing a sing-off. Wouldn't the few losers of the sing-offs be the ones they'd pick a replacement from? But then again, Felicia proved herself to be a fine replacement choice. She did very well, save for one really poorly missed note during the first chorus. She did look nice too, although I have never been a fan of bangs. Grow it out! But anyway, I think she did enough to be at least considered for the wild card "sing-off" on Thursday.
Smooth: Scott MacIntyre has a good tone to his voice, but I just listened to him sing again on YouTube and it was damn rough in parts. When he goes for the high notes, in particular, he tends to scoop into them, and his voice cracks a fair amount. "Mandolin Rain" is, in fairness, actually kind of a tough song to sing. He performed the song surprisingly well; it's clear he would be more comfortable at a piano, but based on his previous auditions it actually appears he's practiced being on stage. He looks around at the audience, waves his arm, and brings energy to it. The judges are a bit easy on him. Simon didn't like his song choice and Randy mentioned the vocals being a little weak; I think with any other contestant both points would have been harped on a LOT more. Scott capitalized on a chance to make fun of Seacrest's attempt to high-five him in the audition rounds, and my wife couldn't stop laughing. Given that Scott is overcoming blindness to be on the show and appears to be the nicest human in the universe, there is no way he won't go through.
E.K.: I don't think there is a chance in hell that he did not get the top guy vote last night. He's certainly getting a pass from the judges due to his blindness and the whole sympathy thing; they don't want to be too rough on the guy, but really, who would? You can't not like him. What he might lack in vocal superiority he makes up for in drive and passion (so we're told by the producers and the judges), but then again, is that really a rare characteristic? As for last night, I think he got better when the notes got more difficult to hit. And clearly he's more comfortable behind a keyboard and the voters know this by now and theyve surely put him through. Then we had Kendall Beard, who sounds like a country singer based solely on the name. I thought she was rather Taylor Swift-y, and by that I mean I don't think Taylor is a great live singer, and neither is Kendall. Considering the talents of other country singers these days, your Carrie Underwoods and Jennifer Nettleseseseses, there's really nothing here to exalt. It started to low for her register and by the end of the song she was, as Simon pointed out, quite "shrilly" and it just didn't work. It was, well, kah-rah-o-kay. She's cute and blonde and so are Carrie and Jennifer and Taylor and Kellie Pickler and so on. We have Kendall Beards out there already and they're better singers.
Smooth: She's another prepackaged AI "country contestant" that's not good enough to advance; she's blonde, bubbly, sort of cute, and sings country. But she's rather pitchy. Really, just being on the show is a "win" for Kendall. If Josh Gracin and Kellie Pickler can have country music careers, why can't she? I didn't like it at all, but that is neither here nor there. Next we had Jorge Nuñez. This was actually much better than I was expecting. Frankly, I thought they just put Jorge on the show because they needed to have at least one male and female contestant from Puerto Rico since they went down there for auditions. However, his voice is actually quite strong. The only complaint I had was that he enunciates some words in an unusual manner, likely a result of overcompensating since the judges mentioned his accent at his first audition. Simon probably confused him by saying "actually,now I think you should keep the accent", and Paula patronized the hell out of him by asking him to "say something" with his accent. Who does that?
E.K.: Paula.
Smooth: Anyway, Jorge comes off as very likable and he does stand out.
E.K.: It didn't seem to me like he had any Idol-star quality to him, but he did pretty well with "Don't Let The Sun Go Down On Me." I'm not a huge fan of the song, but it was much, much better than Alex's attempt at another Elton John song. What I think might have happened was, his post-song conversation with the judges might have done more for him with the voters than the actual performance. I thought it was quite genuine when the judges praised him and he started tearing up as he said this experience has been amazing for him. If he doesn't make the top three vote total, he just might be a favorite to go to the wild card show.
Smooth: Finally, Lil Rounds took the stage. Lil is obviously an early favorite since she has received a lot of screen time and has a strong R&B voice. She's got the ability to be a recording artist right now. The song was actually not the best choice to showcase her vocals because the phrasing is choppy at the beginning; towards the end she was able to put some more runs and power notes in there. She performed it well, although she threw in some cheese when she changes the lyrics to "call this show if you just can't be without me" while making the "call me" gesture with her hand. She'll be fine for weeks to come.
E.K.: That was the only drawback to her performance. Really, Lil, you are strong enough to not have to beg Tatiana-style for votes. Remember, those who are good enough to win know they don't have to do that. Otherwise, she is very solid; she kind of reminds me of Melinda Doolittle from two years ago; very comfortable on stage like she's been doing this for years and surely she has, and while she's not as modest as Melinda, she can bring the goods. She's a shoe-in for the Top 12.
Smooth: So now to the official predictions: Lil and Scott are in. I think another guy will take the third spot; I think all of them could have gotten a decent number of votes. I'll go with Jorge.
E.K.: Lil and Scott are clearly in the Top 12, I agree. As for the third place vote, it's a toss-up between Jorge and Ju'Not. It's just a question of whether Jorge made a connection with the voters. I'm going to go with Ju'Not, but if Jorge makes it I won't be shocked or disappointed. All that's left for me to care about is that Megan Joy Corkrey gets her deserved wild-card show spot. We'll be back to rundown the wild card show and rank the Top 12 and also tell you all who we would have chosen for our Top 12.
