Ryan tells us about Crystal Bowersox’s hospitalization, and thus the guys are performing tonight and the girls tomorrow…
The performance order is as follows:
Michael, John, Casey, Alex, Todrick, Jermaine, Andrew, Aaron, Tim and with the pimp spot, Lee
Randy says the Boys should be fine tonight, then Ellen makes a joke about missing a show (like Crystal is), Kara says the boys have made improvements, after seeing the rehearsal. Ryan asks Simon who is in the lead, and Simon says the Girls by a smidge.
Michael Lynch says that people don’t know that he is huge into the theater. He went to Gibbs performing arts high school. He also loves the gym. He is singing James Brown’s “This is a Mans World”. He sounds great. Really bluesy and soulful. The judges are going to like this. Randy: “I feel like the season is getting rolling now. you got the fire”, and gets a standing O. Ellen “that was the one to beat. Fantastic” Kara “I didn’t get you till tonight, you owned it”. Simon: “My gosh, what a difference from a pussycat to a lion. By far the best performance you’ve given”.
John Park takes on John Mayer next.
John Park says pepople don’t know English was his second language. born in Chicago then moved to Korea when he was 6, back to the Us in 4th grade. This week John will be singing John Mayer’s “Gravity”. It is a slowed down version of the song. sounds soulful. Much better than last week! Randy: “John Mayer is your vibe, but it wasn’t new and spicy. not Special”. Ellen: “A much better song choice, but you didn’ t seem like you felt the song” Kara: ” Way better than last week, but you lacked the connection. you need to let loose”. Simon: “I think purple Haze may get their lead singer back. Better than last week but I struggle with the believability. It won’t be remembered”.
Casey James has never watched American Idol and picked a song with a lot of AI history. Gavin DeGraw’s “I Don’t Want to Be”. Casey has not had a TV since he was 7. He bought and restored his house and never missed having a TV. (OMFG) He will be playing his electric guitar. Casey is ROCKING the song. Randy: “I love you channeling Henrix. This is what I could see you doing and winning” Ellen: “You sound great. I loved the guitar. I love your look but their is a stiffness onstage” Kara “We all got the memo the cougar is a fan, but tonight you took two steps back.” Simon “did he not return your calls, darling?” “This week you tried to be a rock star and it did not work”
Alex Lambert with John Legend next
Alex Lambert talks about his nerves. He usually throws up. This week he will have his guitar. When he was in 6th grade he created his own language. He has only performed a few times live. He is singing John Legends “Everybody Knows”. He still looks nervous, but sounds okay. He is a likable kid. Randy: “This was such an improvement. It didn’t sound sound alike. I enjoyed it”. Ellen: “So much better, and the confidence in you!! You are gaining experience so fast”. Kara: “There isn’t a person out there that isn’t rooting for you. You have an incredible recordable voice.” Simon: “That was a million times better than last week. The only time you should be nervous is if you are useless, and you are not. You have to have a killer instinct to win. I wish was choosing your songs”.
Todrick Hall says that he first started dancing when he was 9. He always performed. He does push ups before every performance. He is singing Tina Turner’s “What’s Love got To do With It”. It is NOT GOOD at.all. Randy: “You dog, we really think you are one of the best that we found, but I didn’t love this. don’t change the song, just sing it”. Ellen: “Sing and move. you are a dancer. I want you here. I don’t think that song helped you get votes”. Kara: “You are a fun guy, we like you. I don’t get what happened to you.” Simon: “Tondrick. ( Yes, he called him Tondrick) move but don’t sing. This isn’t working out for you. It was a performance I had the misfortune to see at a theme park. It was corny, bad.”
Jermaine Sellers rocks feety PJ’s . He rocks his onesey (sp) . The judges were cruel to him the first week. The judges know what they are talking about. He is singing “What’s Going On” by Marvin Gaye. He sounds better than last week. Randy: “Yo, I will say this is better than last week, It was so close, but so far”. Ellen: “I love your style, but it didn’t work for me.” Kara: “You are hitting crazy notes, but you do too much. look at the lyrics feels forced.”. Simon. “Look, what everyone is saying is that we are frustrated and disappointed. That was a cabaret performance. It was old fashioned”. Jermaine asked what song he should sing next week, Simon says he doesn’t know if he will be here next week. Ellen throws out a song. Jermaine says he is a God Fearing person and God Willing he will be there next week.
Andrew Garcia is a break dancer. He talks about his last weeks performance. He is listening to the judges. He is singing James Morrison “You Give Me Something”. He will be messing with the arrangement. I love his voice. Sounds smokey, and soulful. Randy: “Yo, Yo, I love James Morrison. Dog, honestly, It was pitchy all over the place”. Ellen: “I disagree, I liked it a lot. I liked that you take chances. The problem is that you set the bar hig with the Paula Abdul song”. Kara: “That is the problem. Straight Up was so brilliant and since then it has been going down You played it too safe”. Simon: “Look, it is frustrating once again. The fact that you haven’t chose the right song in two weeks is a problem. I am disappointed in you”.
Aaron Kelly loves Photography. He talks about the judges comments and that Simon came by after the show to give him encouraging words. He is singing the Temptations “My Girl” . Sounds great. This kid is only 16, and he has such a mature voice. Randy: “Yo, Dog, you know what, I liked that. The first half was brilliant”. Ellen: ” Whole lot more confidence. you sing very well. The song in itself was forgettable.” Kara: “I liked it. I really liked it. I like you. It is consistent. you have control”. Simon: “I didn’t like the song. it was all over the place. you have to work out what kind of artist you are going to be. The arrangement was too old fashioned.”
Tim Urban has 4 brothers and 5 sisters. WOW! Born into a group of Best Friends. He has a lot of nerves before a show so he prays before each performance. Talks about Simon’s comments last week as a kick in the butt. He will be signing a song by Matt Nathanson called “Come On, Get High”. Randy: “Yo, I didn’t get it. It was karaoke.” Ellen: “You should Act. You should be on Glee. No charisma. no stage presence”. Kara: “I liked the song choice, but you didn’t make it your own. you like the part, but it isn’t all there yet”. Simon: “This may surprise you but I thought that was a marked improvement I think you listed to us. you were more relevant than many other contestants tonight. I am impressed with your performance and your work ethic.”
Lee DeWyze says High School was rough. He was in a alternative school. He met some teachers that changed his life. Says he is a nice guy. Proud he made a change in his life. Talked about last weeks performance and Simon saying it was the best performance last week. He is singing Hinders “Lips of an Angel”. (I LOVE this song!!) Lee sounds Sexy. Pimp lights going on the stage. Randy: “Yo, dog, You felt a little out of sorts, I am a huge fan, and I liked it”. Ellen: “I agree a couple pitch problems, but there was so much passion. Great performance”. Kara: “I thought it was a big improvement. I could hear you on the radio right now”. Simon: “Raise your shoulders, Vocally you are head and shoulders above all the other guys, but you need to believe in yourself. I am waiting for you to lose your nerves and choose the right song. You may be the one to beat.”
And than, my friends, is a wrap. What did y’all think of the show tonight? Who were your faves? Who’s completely safe? Who has sung their last song on the Idol Stage?
Do you guys like the live blogging???? Do you read it? Am I wasting my time? Please Comment if you actually read this stuff
The live blogging is great! However, if there were some way for you to add in more of your viewpoint or other insights and inside information, that would be great, because that’s what I’m really interested in. I’d like to hear more of your thoughts about the performances and judges’ remarks.
I really appreciate your blog! Thanks so much!
I think John Park and Jermaine Sellers will be eliminated and rightfully so, especially for Jermaine. John was better this week, just don’t feel much spark from him when he’s singing.
Ranking Of Performances
John Park
1) Alex Lambert
2) Michael Lynche
3) Tim Urban
4) Aaron Kelly
5) Todrick Hall
6) Lee DeWyze
7) Andrew Garcia
9) Casey James
10) Jermaine Sellers
-I actually liked 1-8. Casey and Jermaine were terrible.
-John has a nice voice but was boring, likewise Andrew who keeps losing steam these past 2 weeks.
-I really like Lee’s voice just did not like his song choice, and his version was too close to the original.
-I really dislike Todrick as a person, but actually enjoyed his performance. I don’t know what the judges were smoking?
-Aaron is my fav. but I still felt his performance was a little ackward but he will get better every week.
-I actually really liked Tim tonight. He was current and did a pretty good job. And it helps he is adorable, but good performance tonight.
-Big Mike finally arrived. I felt that was his best performance. Maybe it was because he ditched the guitar for the night, but I really enjoyed his performance/vocal.
-For me I really enjoyed Alex’s performance the most. He’s humble and his voice sounds like John Mayer and honest. His tone is really beautiful and I liked what he did tonight with his song.
Todrick is pretty good and original, but the judges keep throwing him under the bus because they don’t want anyone voting for him. Likely the producers have gotten wind of the scandal he’s involved in and want him gone from the show.
It was hilarious that Todrick called the judges out on their hypocrisy over taking songs and making them original.
As a whole, the guys were better than they were last week, although that’s kind of like saying that a root canal is more pleasant than having your nails ripped out by pliers. It’s not like the guys were actually good, or anything like that; rather, they were simply mediocre. I’m still annoyed at the judges’ inconsistency (if not flat-out hypocrisy) regarding their critiques of song arrangements, but I won’t bore you with a repeat of that rant. Instead, I’ll get right to my rankings:
1. Alex Lambert: That’s right, THAT Alex Lambert. No, I didn’t accidentally watch a tape of last year’s second-week performances, see Adam Lambert and confuse him with Alex. What can I say; Mullet Boy may actually be the best male singer in the competition. Contrary to the judges’ opinion, I think he knows EXACTLY what he can (and more importantly, CAN’T) do with his voice, as proven by his smart song choices. His stage presence still needs a LOT of work, though…
2. Michael Lynche: I wasn’t as crazy about Mike’s performance as the judges were, as I’m not sure that he has the right kind of voice to pull off James Brown. However, I appreciate that he put his own spin on the song, rather than give us a lame, karaoke JB impression. Right now, Mike is head-and-shoulders above his competition when it comes to star power and charisma.
3. Lee DeWyze: I absolutely HATED his song choice here. Not only does the song suck tail pipe, but it made Lee sound like a lame Creed / Nickelback wannabe (which I don’t believe he is, btw). I really think Lee is closer musically to Kris Allen than he is Chris Daughtry, so this type of song really didn’t do him any favors.
4. Aaron Kelly: I think this kid is potentially a dark horse to win it all. Imagine a country-fried David Archuleta (or the love child of Taylor Swift and Justin Bieber, if you will), and you have Aaron. He’s not what I like musically, but he will appeal HUGE to a large chunk of “Idol” viewers. Aaron will need to make better song choices in the future, though.
5. Casey James: Dude, could you have made a more cliched song choice? I’m sorry, man; not having ever watched AI (which I don’t believe, btw) is NOT an excuse for not knowing that Bo, Elliott, Chris R. and even Michael Sarver performed this song on the show (there are things called YouTube and Wikipedia). Casey tried to do something different here by adding some (admittedly cool) shredding, but his vocal just paled in comparison to his predecessors.
6. Andrew Garcia: Is it just me, or is the presumed male front-runner in real danger of not making the Top 12? He’s been coasting for weeks now on his audition-round cover of “Straight Up” (which wasn’t even THAT good or original, btw), and this week’s song choice just bored me to tears. Andrew needs to step his game up, or he’ll be gone sooner rather than later.
7. Todrick Hall: Todrick continues to win points for originality, if nothing else. I continue to be irked by the judges, who don’t seem to realize that the problem with Todrick is not that he rearranges the songs that he performs in the first place (he would look foolish if he performed both of his songs as they were originally written), its that the arrangements he creates are bloody AWFUL. Todrick is a classic case of a guy whose talents just aren’t at the same level as his ambitions (or insanely huge ego).
8. John Park: It’s not so much that John is a bad singer; he’s just BORING. He so desperately wants to be Anoop Desai, but he just doesn’t have the talent or charisma to pull it off. I have a strong feeling he will be leaving us on Thursday.
9. Tim Urban: As inept a performer as Tim is, I have a funny feeling that he will be around a lot longer than many of us hope he will (honestly, I think he may end up making the tour). As tempting as it is to solely blame (or credit) VFTW for Tim’s survival, I don’t think this is totally accurate. The fact is, he’s got a lot of girls (and some guys) who are simply voting for him because he’s (admittedly) cute. That, and Tim’s shrewd courtship of the religious vote (hey, that combination worked for Kris; why can’t it work again?) will help make him this year’s version of Sanjaya, I’m afraid.
10. Jermaine Sellers: While Tim’s proclamations of his faith may help him win over some religious voters, Jermaine’s arrogant claim that he “knows God” will undoubtedly come back to bite him in the ass. Seriously, has there ever been a less likeable contestant in this show’s history? This dude makes Todrick look like a model of humility and likeability, and he (allegedly) set up a fake musical to scam little kids out of their parents’ money! Jermaine may not be a criminal, but he certainly is an egotistical ass with a tendency for diva fits and absolutely no sense of taste. The good thing is, he’ll be gone on Thursday.