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.
