Another late night at work so another petite rant this week. Sorry folks! The contestants sang the songs of their Idols this week and overall, it was a really strong night. There were a few exceptions and one of those was a real surprise for me since she was one of my favorites.
The Best
Elise - "Whole Lotta Love" (Led Zeppelin): Dang, ya'll. That was amazing. Elise definitely found her niche this week. Hopefully she won't meet the same fate as Erika since she is to "old" for the tweens to care about her. Vote, vote, vote! 1-866-IDOLS-09
Jessica - "Sweet Dreams" (Beyonce): Beautiful vocals and a nice arrangement on the song. I prefer this slowed down version to the original.
The Worst
DeAndre - "Sometimes I Cry" (Eric Benet): Falsetto, Eric (ugh!) Benet, and more Falsetto. This was the trifecta of god awful for me. I didn't get the standing O from the judges. I am going to think very positively that the tweens have finally gotten sick of him and we will finally see him go. Please, please, please. If not, I will have to cry and that isn't pretty.
Hollie - "Jesus Take The Wheel" (Carrie Underwood): Hollie should have left Carrie alone. This was not a good week to have a weak performance since the tweens are sure to try to keep the Terrance Trent Darby wannabe in the competition regardless of how horribly he sings since he is so good at flipping his hair.
The Rest
Colton - "Everything" (Lifehouse): Colton really connected with this song. It started off solid but I thought it got kind of screechy by the end.
Skylar - "Gunpowder & Lead" (Miranda Lambert): She's not Miranda but she gave a pretty good rendition. She also consistently has the strongest stage presence of any of the contestants.
Heejun - "A Song For You (Donny Hathaway): Heejun returned to ballads this week which are great for his smooth voice but I am still bothered by the way he doesn't enunciate his words.
Phillip - "Still Rainin'" (Johnny Lang): I had never heard this song before tonight. Phillip was rocking it so hard that the vein in his forehead looked like it was going to burst. This was a very solid performance and the first time that P squared managed to not sound like Dave Matthews.
Joshua - "Without You" (Mariah Carey?): I will give Joshua a pass on choosing a Mariah song that is a cover of a song from many years before Joshua was even a glimmer. He put the "stank" on it and felt it down to his toes. This was the first time that Joshua ever really looked like he personally connected with the material.
Group Performances
Colton, Elise and Phillip take on Fleetwood Mac: The individual performances were much stronger than the group harmonizing. Colton did a great job with Landslide and Elise gave us a taste of what was to come at the end of the show. A
Joshua, DeAndre and Heejun take on Michael Jackson: 15 seconds of "not bad" while sitting on the stools and then 90 seconds of nothing but hot mess. D-
Jessica, Hollie and Skylar take on Madonna: Jessica seemed to be struggling with these songs but Hollie and Skylar were tying to sell it though it sounded like someone kept turning Skylar's mic on and off. B-
Who Should Go Home: DEANDRE!!!
Who Will Go Home: Hollie or (and it better not be!) Elise
Wednesday, March 28, 2012
Wednesday, March 21, 2012
Season 11 - Top 10: Songs of Billy Joel
DeAndre - "Only The Good Die Young": I will give him credit for trying but this was the cheesiest thing that we have seen all season. He may be a little too young and naive to get this song. He seems like a sweet kid but I am over it.
Erica - "New York State of Mind": I could not love the hair more and it was the perfect complement to her beautiful tone this week. No over singing or screeching -- just a beautiful melody. Great job!
Joshua - "She's Got A Way": This just didn't work for me. I am not sure if it was the song choice, the changes to the melody or if, like J Lo implied, it was a result of Joshua not having enough life experience to "get" this song. I know that Steven spent most of the 70's and 80's stoned and drunk but there is no way that he has never heard this song before.
Skylar - "Shameless": One of my favorite Garth Brooks songs and Skylar held her own with it. She was a little pitchy and out of breath while walking the crowd during her performance. She was obviously coached to do this as Elise did the exact same thing during the next performance.
Elise - "Vienna": She looked her best tonight (not to sound like Paula) and she killed this song right up until the run at the end (not a fan). Of course, Randy "I've never met a run that I didn't like" Jackson, loved it. I am glad that they tried to soften Elise a little by bringing her students up on stage. She has had a rocky start so far and needed the extra help.
Phillip - "Movin' Out": What can I say? He put the Phil Phil in it and it was good.
Hollie - "Honesty": I will admit that this was a little boring to watch but I thought that Hollie sang it well. I didn't get the judges criticism of her voice. Were they trying to "create" room for growth as the season progresses?
HALEY!!!! :)
Heejun - "My Life": I think that I may be a little in love with Heejun. It definitely had some issues but I absolutely loved this performance and his cracks at Diddy. What a way to come back at the judges after a horrid week last week. He is not in the top 8 singers that are left on the show but he certainly entertained me this week. Loved it! He is the Vote For The Worst pick for his message to The Powers That Be.
Jessica - "Everybody Has A Dream": It is amazing how much she sounds like JHud. She did a great job of picking a song that really spoke to her so deeply that she could feel it and those feelings would translate to the audience. It was beautiful. :)
Colton - "Piano Man": Colton got the pimp spot and all the staging that goes with it. It had great potential but I thought that it went a little too slow which made it a little boring for me. It was one of his best but then I am not usually a big fan of his.
Best - Jessica, Elise, and Hollie
Worst - DeAndre
Who Should Go Home? DeAndre
Who Will Go Home? I am afraid that it will be Erica or Elise since they are not in the right demographic to get the tween vote.
Erica - "New York State of Mind": I could not love the hair more and it was the perfect complement to her beautiful tone this week. No over singing or screeching -- just a beautiful melody. Great job!
Joshua - "She's Got A Way": This just didn't work for me. I am not sure if it was the song choice, the changes to the melody or if, like J Lo implied, it was a result of Joshua not having enough life experience to "get" this song. I know that Steven spent most of the 70's and 80's stoned and drunk but there is no way that he has never heard this song before.
Skylar - "Shameless": One of my favorite Garth Brooks songs and Skylar held her own with it. She was a little pitchy and out of breath while walking the crowd during her performance. She was obviously coached to do this as Elise did the exact same thing during the next performance.
Elise - "Vienna": She looked her best tonight (not to sound like Paula) and she killed this song right up until the run at the end (not a fan). Of course, Randy "I've never met a run that I didn't like" Jackson, loved it. I am glad that they tried to soften Elise a little by bringing her students up on stage. She has had a rocky start so far and needed the extra help.
Phillip - "Movin' Out": What can I say? He put the Phil Phil in it and it was good.
Hollie - "Honesty": I will admit that this was a little boring to watch but I thought that Hollie sang it well. I didn't get the judges criticism of her voice. Were they trying to "create" room for growth as the season progresses?
HALEY!!!! :)
Heejun - "My Life": I think that I may be a little in love with Heejun. It definitely had some issues but I absolutely loved this performance and his cracks at Diddy. What a way to come back at the judges after a horrid week last week. He is not in the top 8 singers that are left on the show but he certainly entertained me this week. Loved it! He is the Vote For The Worst pick for his message to The Powers That Be.
Jessica - "Everybody Has A Dream": It is amazing how much she sounds like JHud. She did a great job of picking a song that really spoke to her so deeply that she could feel it and those feelings would translate to the audience. It was beautiful. :)
Colton - "Piano Man": Colton got the pimp spot and all the staging that goes with it. It had great potential but I thought that it went a little too slow which made it a little boring for me. It was one of his best but then I am not usually a big fan of his.
Best - Jessica, Elise, and Hollie
Worst - DeAndre
Who Should Go Home? DeAndre
Who Will Go Home? I am afraid that it will be Erica or Elise since they are not in the right demographic to get the tween vote.
Wednesday, March 14, 2012
Season 11 - Top 12 er, Make That 11
Due to some personal issues this week, I actually missed the first half of the show tonight. Since I won't get a chance to catch up with it on DVR until this weekend, I am just going to comment on what I saw with a few quick thoughts.
Best Joshua Ledet, Skylar Laine and Hollie Cavanaugh
Worst Shannon Magrane
Am I the only one that was really bummed out that I didn't get to hear Jermaine sing Fievel's song? His rehearsal footage sounded like he was really going to be good. He was not my favorite but it is a shame that he got himself booted for something so ridiculous. Hopefully he will learn a lesson from this and be able to stay out of trouble and pursue a career.
Wednesday, March 7, 2012
Idol Season 11 - Top 13: The Songs of Stevie and Whitney
Here we go fellow Idol fans...It's Season 11! It has already been a long wait to get to this point. I was disappointed that a few of my early favorites didn't make it through to the Top 13. I had to root for Chelsea Sorrell but I knew that she was not going to make it when she chose one of the worst Carrie Underwood songs ever to pin her Idol future on. I am also still ticked off that David Leathers was somehow second best to one of the biggest train wrecks in Idol history, Eben frickin' Frankewicz. That kid is absolutely not good. AT ALL. In an attempt to make it all up to me, the stars aligned just so that Reed Grimm would get the boot because there was no way that I was going to be able to sit through 90 seconds of him every week without stabbing myself in the forehead to end my misery. Thank God. Despite all of that, I was feeling pretty confident about the strength of the Top 13 this year. There are not nearly as many bad singers as what usually make it through and the strong singers are really, really strong. Of course, The Powers That Be stuck to the same old, same old singers for the contestants to cover this week. We wouldn't want them to mix it up and keep it fresh or anything. Don't get me wrong, Stevie and Whitney are legends, but we really need some new blood on the themes. The one new twist for the night was that the voters will determine the bottom guy and girl and then the judges will determine who stays and who goes. Not really sure how I feel about this but maybe it will work in our favor and allow the judges to keep the person with the most talent. It might not, knowing how the judges sometimes work, but a girl has to dream, right? Enough of that. On with the show....
Joshua Ledet - "I Wish": I like Joshua but I am not sure what this song really did for him. I was not bad but I was extremely bored and ready for it to be over about 20 seconds in. My one request is that he immediately STOP referring to himself as Mantasia. I am already over that!
Elise Testone - "I'm Your Baby Tonight": Is Jimmy trying to get Elise kicked off prematurely? Maybe he gets a cut of this song or something? Of all the Whitney songs, I definitely wouldn't have picked this for her. She shouldn't have let him pressure her into this. It didn't sound like "Greatest Love of All" would have been much better but at least she would have went down in flames on her own terms in a song that she chose. Hopefully America or the judges will pull her through.
Jermaine Jones - "Knocks Me Off My Feet": Eh. I am not excited yet about anyone. What is the deal? This Top 13 was supposed to be better than this. Jermaine kept singing about not wanting to "bore me with this" and all I could think about was how bored I was and that I couldn't wait for it to end. And was I the only one that kept thinking that Jermaine could use the "Reuben" towel to mop the large amount sweat that he was accumulating?
Erika Van Pelt - "I Believe in You and Me": The first solid performance of the night. I love her husky voice. She took this and made it her own which worked.
Colton Dixon - "Lately": The judges were feeling this but I was not. The snippet of his original song did not sound good and that just carried on for me to his live performance. Luckily for him, not only did Shannon sing right after him but the tweens are sure to be voting hard as well.
Shannon Magrane - "I Have Nothing": Not. Good. At. All. The pageant princess was definitely swallowed up by this song. Her run through with Jimmy and Mary was not bad but all Mary's suggestions went out the window when Shannon hit the stage. She should definitely be in the bottom but who knows.
Deandre Brackensick - "Master Blaster": This was all over the place but it wasn't the worst. I was actually glad that he was singing in his lower register and then he just had to get that falsetto in there at the end which got on my nerves. I want one season of Idol where we don't have a "Maxwell" type. Is that possible? Down with the falsetto!
Skylar Laine - "Where Do Broken Hearts Go": With one exception, this was the big turning point of the show for me (sorry Jeremy!). It started a little rough but once she stood up she really started to get into it. Not sure what to call the "fit" that she has while performing. It is like the equivalent of the Bobo from Season 3. I kept watching her arms and waiting for the "fit" to start but she was able to rein it in. She really is the second coming of Reba.
Heejun Han - "All In Love Is Fair": I love Heejun. He is hilarious, talented and he is not intimidated by anyone. Thanks to the heads up from Ryan I must now follow him on Twitter! :) He had great control through the song and hit all the notes. I still wish that he would finish the ends of the words but I think that is just something that he is not able to do. He was the best male singer of the night.
Hollie Cavanaugh - "All The Man I Need": Damn. This girl can really sing. I don't know where it comes from but she is absolutely awesome. If it wasn't for Jessica (and male contestants), she would run away with this competition.
Jeremy Rosado - "Ribbon In The Sky": Another falsetto-ish singer. Ugh. I was not impressed. I don't know what it is about this kid but he starts singing and my mind starts wandering to other things until it is finally, blessedly, over.
Jessica Sanchez - "I Will Always Love You": Jessica has massive confidence to tackle a song this big and boy does she have the pipes to back it up. Unless she takes some kind of Pia Toscano fall, which shouldn't be possible since she can sing circles around Pia, she should win this competition hands down.
Phillip Phillips - "Superstition": This was very Dave Matthews as I expected. In years past he would have walked through to the finale but I am not sure if the tweens will really get him enough to push him through to the end.
The Best: Jessica, Hollie, Heejun, Erika, Skylar and Phillip
The Worst: Shannon, Jermaine, Jeremy or Colton
Who Should Go Home? Shannon, Jermaine, Jeremy or Colton
Who Will Go Home? I am very afraid for Elise but I hope that it will be Shannon
Joshua Ledet - "I Wish": I like Joshua but I am not sure what this song really did for him. I was not bad but I was extremely bored and ready for it to be over about 20 seconds in. My one request is that he immediately STOP referring to himself as Mantasia. I am already over that!
Elise Testone - "I'm Your Baby Tonight": Is Jimmy trying to get Elise kicked off prematurely? Maybe he gets a cut of this song or something? Of all the Whitney songs, I definitely wouldn't have picked this for her. She shouldn't have let him pressure her into this. It didn't sound like "Greatest Love of All" would have been much better but at least she would have went down in flames on her own terms in a song that she chose. Hopefully America or the judges will pull her through.
Jermaine Jones - "Knocks Me Off My Feet": Eh. I am not excited yet about anyone. What is the deal? This Top 13 was supposed to be better than this. Jermaine kept singing about not wanting to "bore me with this" and all I could think about was how bored I was and that I couldn't wait for it to end. And was I the only one that kept thinking that Jermaine could use the "Reuben" towel to mop the large amount sweat that he was accumulating?
Erika Van Pelt - "I Believe in You and Me": The first solid performance of the night. I love her husky voice. She took this and made it her own which worked.
Colton Dixon - "Lately": The judges were feeling this but I was not. The snippet of his original song did not sound good and that just carried on for me to his live performance. Luckily for him, not only did Shannon sing right after him but the tweens are sure to be voting hard as well.
Shannon Magrane - "I Have Nothing": Not. Good. At. All. The pageant princess was definitely swallowed up by this song. Her run through with Jimmy and Mary was not bad but all Mary's suggestions went out the window when Shannon hit the stage. She should definitely be in the bottom but who knows.
Deandre Brackensick - "Master Blaster": This was all over the place but it wasn't the worst. I was actually glad that he was singing in his lower register and then he just had to get that falsetto in there at the end which got on my nerves. I want one season of Idol where we don't have a "Maxwell" type. Is that possible? Down with the falsetto!
Skylar Laine - "Where Do Broken Hearts Go": With one exception, this was the big turning point of the show for me (sorry Jeremy!). It started a little rough but once she stood up she really started to get into it. Not sure what to call the "fit" that she has while performing. It is like the equivalent of the Bobo from Season 3. I kept watching her arms and waiting for the "fit" to start but she was able to rein it in. She really is the second coming of Reba.
Heejun Han - "All In Love Is Fair": I love Heejun. He is hilarious, talented and he is not intimidated by anyone. Thanks to the heads up from Ryan I must now follow him on Twitter! :) He had great control through the song and hit all the notes. I still wish that he would finish the ends of the words but I think that is just something that he is not able to do. He was the best male singer of the night.
Hollie Cavanaugh - "All The Man I Need": Damn. This girl can really sing. I don't know where it comes from but she is absolutely awesome. If it wasn't for Jessica (and male contestants), she would run away with this competition.
Jeremy Rosado - "Ribbon In The Sky": Another falsetto-ish singer. Ugh. I was not impressed. I don't know what it is about this kid but he starts singing and my mind starts wandering to other things until it is finally, blessedly, over.
Jessica Sanchez - "I Will Always Love You": Jessica has massive confidence to tackle a song this big and boy does she have the pipes to back it up. Unless she takes some kind of Pia Toscano fall, which shouldn't be possible since she can sing circles around Pia, she should win this competition hands down.
Phillip Phillips - "Superstition": This was very Dave Matthews as I expected. In years past he would have walked through to the finale but I am not sure if the tweens will really get him enough to push him through to the end.
The Best: Jessica, Hollie, Heejun, Erika, Skylar and Phillip
The Worst: Shannon, Jermaine, Jeremy or Colton
Who Should Go Home? Shannon, Jermaine, Jeremy or Colton
Who Will Go Home? I am very afraid for Elise but I hope that it will be Shannon
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