Idol – Top 24 – The Guys Sing
The judges were as brutal as they could possibly get tonight. It’s interesting watching the first shows because of how honestly bad everyone is. Yes, there are some that are stronger than others but for the most part since it’s everyone’s first time in front of millions of people, they’re all on the same level playing field. Nerves were definitely a factor in addition to song choice and inappropriate behavior from the judges which really did cast a shadow on some of the performers – in particular Casey who I thought despite the idiotic antics of Kara, Simon and Randy held it together (but, barely). Tonight’s show, in my opinion was better than last nights. I don’t think the girls are – at this moment in time – any better than the guys. I was as underwhelmed as I could get last night and tonight, was more or less the same although I enjoyed it better. Maybe I just like guy singers better? Not sure. Here’s the recap…
Aaron Kelly sings “Here Comes Goodbye” by Rascal Flatts - I am not sure it is wise to do a ballad the first time out on stage in front of 30+ million people. Unless you can really knock it out of the park, I wouldn’t do it. Ellen eluded to it sounding completely different vs watching it at home and I couldn’t agree more. Half the time I wonder what the heck the judges are hearing when they compliment a person and all I can think about is how much the performance sucked. Aaron’s performance didn’t suck. But it wasn’t great either. Just based on body language it did look like he was pretty nervous and I can sympathize. I couldn’t do what those guys are doing. However, if you want to be a star, you should be able to handle the pressure. Sure a few of them are a little green but well, they were picked over how many people? It was OK. The performance won’t win him any prizes – yet – but it will be enough to keep him around a little longer because there was definitely worse suckage coming from other people tonight.
Alex Lambert sings “Wonderful World” – Since I don’t recall much of any of his auditions it was great to hear Alex sing. What an interesting voice. BUT… yuck on the stage presence! I wasn’t that impressed… but it’s early…he could redeem himself. I didn’t get the song. I don’t recognize it at all and so it was pretty dull for me.
Andrew Garcia sings “Sugar We’re Going Down” by Fall Out Boy – Like Simon, this was the performance of the night that I was looking forward to the most. I am showing my age because I don’t know Fall Out Boy’s music. So I didn’t think the rendition of the song was as bad as what the judges made it out to be. I didn’t think the song itself was spectacular but I thought how he performed it was good. He’ll be fine and I believe he’ll make the top 10 but, he’ll have to do something that is more widely known otherwise he could risk getting lost in the mediocrity of it all.
Casey James sings “Heaven” by Bryan Adams – I thought this was the best performance of the night and it could have very nearly been a disaster not of his doing if it weren’t for the 3 stooges sitting at the judges table. Kara inappropriately had Casey strip at his audition (although, I will say that it was pretty desperate for him to do so…I’ll forgive him because he’s cute) and she fawned over him almost like a dog in heat during Hollywood week and then tonight she was making goo-goo eyes at him while he sang. It was shameless. And it was all he could do to not burst out laughing. I think if it hadn’t been so ridiculous it could have been really insulting. He had every right to stop the song and tell them to knock it off. It totally put it at a disadvantage for him. BUT… he pulled it out. He managed to recover before it became a total mess and he sounded really great. It was the perfect song for him to sing and he looked great too.. the whole package.. 
Jermaine Sellers sings “Get Here” by Oleta Adams – Blech. This was just really bad. The song choice was sucky to begin with…of all Top 40 songs on the planet earth to sing and he chose this one? ARUGH! And then he made it suck worse than the original. It was screechy and painful to listen to. What is he doing in the top 24?
Joe Munoz sings “You and I Both” by Jason Mraz – NOT the Jason Mraz song I thought he’d sing… although, I only know ONE song from Jason Mraz..seriously, didn’t know the guy had more than one song… but whatever. This was the first time I heard Joe. He has a voice… but it wasn’t good during this song. And I don’t think he’s done enough to save himself this week let alone make the top 6 guys. I really think he’s done for this week or next.
John Park sings “God Bless The Child” – John has a rich baritone-ish voice which is not how I imagined him sounding. And he wasted it on this song…this crappy song. Mikaela Gordan sang this song several seasons ago…she was terrible and now look at her….in 3 years he’ll have his eyebrows raised and get a boobjob if he’s not careful. Pick a better song!!!!
Lee Dewyze sings “Chasing Cars” by SnowPatrol – Randy was totally wrong in his assessment. This was totally the RIGHT song for Lee to sing and he did well for most of it. I think the hook part of the song was a little off but over all, this performance and the sound of his voice makes him stand out. I am not sure he could win this as only time will tell if he can get stronger. But he’s good. Top 10 for sure.
Michael Lynche sings “This Love” by Maroon 5 - This was really not a bad performance. I agree with the judges in that he’ll make it through because he is likable and not your typical looking singer. I am a little put off by his build though…he looks rather strange standing up there holding a guitar and do his little jig. It’s just awkward. But if you close your eyes, you’ll hear that his voice is strong and there is definitely possibilities there.
Tim Urban sings Apologize by One Republic – A big deal was made over how Tim was brought in last minute to fill the slot that was once held by the disqualified and shamefully ignorant Chris Golightly. I am glad he was brought back. BUT…the song was too big for him. It wasn’t a good performance at all and he could have very well blew his chance. If not this week, he will probably not make it in the next 2 unless he can get the girls to vote for him. He is cute…but so far, he’s not strong enough vocally to carry a solo act.
Todrick Hall sings “Since U Been Gone” by Kelly Clarkson – Those judges are so fickle. They moan and complain about making a song your own and when someone actually tries to do it, they give him grief. Granted, it was a crappy re-mix of a rock song but still… at least give him credit for trying to mix it up. Yeah, this wasn’t too good. This was a huge hit for the original Idol, Kelly Clarkson and he butchered it. That may not go over too well with Idol purists and he could be in trouble.
Tyler Grady sings “American Woman” – The winner for the creepy Idol award goes to Tyler. He really weirds me out. I can’t look at him and when I am not looking at him, I am having to listen to him and when I do that my ears…OH may ears… I think they bleed! His schtick is getting OLD. FAST. I am not sure he’s capable of singing anything other than 70s rock and to some people that is a real turn off. He doesn’t have a really strong voice to begin with and he’s relying too heavily on his swagger (which is gross, btw) to get him through. Yeah.. I didn’t like this at all.Going home this week??? Well.. let’s see… I’ll just cut to the chase because it doesn’t matter who goes home this week because whoever doesn’t go this week, will go next week and the week after. What matters is the Top 10 and my predictions are….Boys: Aaron Kelly, Andrew Garcia, Casey James, Michael Lynche, Lee Dewyze and John Park (it’s actually a toss up between John, Todrick and icky Tyler for the last spot)Girls: Crystal Bowersox, Katelyn Epperly, Katie Stevens, Michelle Delamor, Page Miles and a toss up between Siobhan Magnus, Lacey Brown and Didi Benami.Who will persevere? I think we can count on Andrew, Casey, Lee, Cyrstal, and Katie to round out the top 5. Of course things can change as the weeks go on but as what I’ve seen right now, these are the top 5 to beat.
Ashley Rodriguez sings “Happy” by Leona Lewis – This performance didn’t make me happy. I found the song dull. I can’t compare it to the original because I have never heard it. So based on how Ashley sang it, I would say it sucked. It wasn’t good at all. I just didn’t like it. Maybe it was the song. She’ll probably be back next week because there were others that sucked more.
Crystal Bowersox sings “Hand in My Pocket” by Alanis Morissette – Randy said this wouldn’t be a song he’d pick for her. Really, dawg? This is exactly the type of song that I would expect someone like her to sing. I wasn’t surprised by it at all. I think she sang it quite well. I was impressed that she could not only play the guitar and sing but also blow on the harmonica and then recover so quickly to go back to singing in the same breath. No it wasn’t a knock your socks off kind of performance but it was enough that she should be back next week. I’d call her a diamond in the rough because her talent is raw. But can she change up a song and make it her own? I would say that she has the musical ability to do that. Some of the others just seem to skate on the sound of their voice. The difference between her and them is that she can sing but she’s got musical ability that extends beyond her voice.
Didi Benami sings “The Way I Am” by Ingrid Michaelson – I thought Didi did fine….for the type of song she sang. The problem that I have with someone like her how has a voice like that is that the warbly folksy stuff is going to get old. And it doesn’t scream out star…I don’t see her name in big lights and selling out stadiums. It’s just not going to happen… on a stage at Woodstock or in a coffee house? Yeah, probably. Yawn.
Haeley Vaughn sings “I Wanna Hold Your Hand” by The Beatles – I gotta say that when Ryan announced she’d be singing this song, I was worried. I thought what a stupid song to sing. I mean..why not Hey Jude or some other Beatles song? But… I was surprised by how she arranged it. I know the judges said it sucked balls but aside from her lisp which she totally has to do something about, I didn’t think it was as horrible as they said it was.
Janell Wheeler sings “What About Love” by Heart – I will hand it to Janell…she knew that it would take a big song to make her stand out. The problem is that she doesn’t have the vocal range to pull off a song by Heart. This was a mess and truly awful.
Katelyn Epperly sings “Oh Darlin” from 1969 – I wasn’t impressed by Katelyn based on past performances so I wasn’t expecting much. While I tend to agree that her costuming was a little weird, I thought her performance of the song was lovely. She was leaps and bounds over some of the other girls performance wise so she will probably be back around next week.
Katie Stevens sings “Feeling Good” by Michael Buble – So, it’s no secret that Idol really likes this girl. She is kinda like a female David Archuleta…super young, cute and with a voice that quite unbelievable. But, this song stunk. It wasn’t a great one to end the show. The judges said that it wasn’t relevant to her and was too old. I agree. This was really a snoozer.
Lacey Brown sings “Landslide” by Fleetwood Mac – Before Lacey began to sing I told my Mom that I really liked her. The words were barely out of my mouth and hovering over my head when I started to regret saying that. Yeesh. This rendition was warbly and yeah, well…the song is slow to begin with so you really couldn’t make it more exciting. So this was the wrong song to sing. Period. And her voice sounds like it’s under water. It wasn’t good.
Lilly Scott sings Fixing a Hole by the Beatles – This girl is 20 years old and looks 50. I know the hair color is deliberate and someone has to jump on that girl and wrestle the peroxide away from her. The look is bad… really bad. The style isn’t good either. It’s not doing her any favors. There is a way to stand out without looking like a grandma. The singing wasn’t all that great either. I honestly can’t even recall what it sounded like other than remembering that I was glad it was over when she finished.
Michelle Delamor sings “Fallin” by Alicia Keys – The vocal chops are there. She can sing. But the song stunk. I didn’t like it one bit. She just needs to pick better songs. If she sticks around…
Paige Miles sings “It’s All Right Now” by Free – Poor girl had the misfortune of being denied adequate airtime so we had no idea who she was before tonight. And then she gets stuck with the crappiest position on opening night – singing the first of 12. The likelihood of people remembering her by the end of the show is pretty small. So 2 strikes against her already. Then she sings a group song solo. Ugh. The thing is that during the song we got a brief glimpse of who she is and got to hear something that resembled a voice and what I heard I liked very much. The problem is I am not sure she’ll be around next week to redeem herself in the song choice department so we can really hear what she can do. She did herself absolutely no favors tonight picking that song. I, for one, hope she gets another chance.
Siobhan Magnus sings “Wicked Game” by Chris Isaac – I had said that this girl weirds me out before…she is just kinda strange. But maybe she’ll grow on me. Tonight’s song was unexpected. So, that is GOOD. And she sang it pretty OK! And that is good! Over all, I didn’t think it was horrible one bit. I actually enjoyed it despite it being a really slow painful song to sometimes listen to. BUT… I actually like the song and to hear a girl sing it was refreshing. I actually think she deserves to stick around longer to see what else she can do.
