The guys did MUCH better this week than last week, although I don’t think many of them came close to the girls’ performances from last week. I think there could definitely be six contenders among them, though. Tonight the singers were supposed to dedicate their performances to someone, so there was a nice little sentimental moment when they talked about their dedications before each song was performed.
Phil Stacey dedicated his performance to the Navy Band SouthEast, the outfit he is stationed with. I was surprised he didn’t dedicate a song to his wife and daughters, but perhaps that would have been too predictable. He sang “Ain’t Missing You”, a song popularized in the 80s by Tom Waits. I’m not sure this was the best song choice. He did the best performance possible of that song, but it’s just not a song you could do a lot with. Randy and Paula liked it. Simon wasn’t jumping out of his chair, as he put it. He feels that Phil is not unique and that he is a “very, very good karaoke singer” (well, at least he’s not a mediocre karaoke singer, as so many are called). But Simon does think Phil will be back next week, as he has the likeability factor going for him.
The second performer tonight was Jared Cotter, singing Marvin Gaye’s “Let’s Get it On”, which he dedicated to his parents. I’m not sure this was the most unique vocal performance of this song, but he did put a lot of himself into the onstage performance. Randy thought the performance was pitchy, but liked the presentation. Paula was at a loss as to what to say. Simon said “it reminded me of the Love Boat” to which Jared replied, “That would have been a great Love Boat, man”. Too funny.
AJ Tabaldo had an odd song choice, in my opinion, singing The Pussycat Dolls’ “Feelin’ Good”. He dedicated the performance to his parents (a popular dedication tonight). I thought he sounded good, vocally, but his performances remind me a bit of Will and Grace’s “Just Jack”. They’re a bit femme for me. Randy said it was kind of nice. Paula said he has a really good voice. Simon said it was “nearly very good”.
Poor, poor Sanjaya Malakar. He just can’t catch a break. Dedicating Irving Berlin’s “Stepping Out With My Baby” to his grandfather, Sanjaya simply didn’t have a good night. This is a case where he is evidently too inexperienced to pick songs that work for his voice. I feel like he needs to embrace the softness of his voice and pick songs, accordingly. Or he needs to add power to his voice, as he did at the end of the song. But mostly his performances just come across as confused. And I’m afraid the criticism is really harming him. If he’s back next week, I hope he chooses a better song. Randy said the performance didn’t work for him. Paula said he needs to pick younger songs. Simon said it was “very weak” and “a little weird”.
Halfway through, we heard Chris Sligh sing Ray LaMontagne’s “Trouble” to his wife. He made a really very touching dedication to her and sang the song well, too. I kept thinking of Taylor singing the song last year, but Chris approached the song in a completely different way, so it wasn’t a disturbing comparison (kind of an apples and oranges kind of thing). Randy thought it was a good choice. Paula thought it was awesome. Simon said “tonight you were a very good singer”.
I like Nick Pedro. I’m pulling for him to go far. But tonight’s performance of Peggy Lee’s “Fever” (dedicated to his girlfriend) didn’t give me fever— more like a lukewarm kind of feeling. I thought it was okay vocally. I just felt like he needed to go farther with the song and give it more intensity. This wasn’t helped by the fact that I just saw a really great performance of this song Sunday night when I was flipping by the Grease reality show. Randy liked that Nick returned to his vibe (I did like that). Paula thought he needed to let go and go for it. Simon thought the performance was good but that it lacked charisma.
Blake Lewis also returned to his original audition style, dedicating Jamiroquai’s “Virtual Insanity” to his parents. There was scatting, there was beatboxing… I found the whole thing thoroughly enjoyable. I didn’t even write notes, as I was too busy watching his performance. Randy loved it, giving Blake extra points for the high degree of difficulty (high degree of difficulty? Is this diving?). Paula liked it. Simon thought the first part was a copycat of the original (since very few of us have heard the original, it’s kind of hard to argue with that). He thought the middle was good and that the end was out of tune. Overall, he didn’t care for it.
I think Brandon Rogers is capable of such greatness. Go back and watch his original audition if you can’t take my word for it. He dedicated Cyndi Lauper’s “Time After Time” to his grandmother, who is no longer living. It was, well, a bit boring. I get that he was feeling the song, and that did come across, but perhaps he could feel the song AND sing it in an interesting way. Fantasia was definitely feeling her song last week, and it definitely wasn’t boring. Randy was bored. Paula felt his heart coming through in the song. Simon said Brandon needs to make a wow impact with each performance, and this didn’t.
And now for this year’s “I don’t get the fascination” performer. Each year there is a performer that the judges just ooh and aah over that I feel just ho-hum about. Chris Richardson is that person for me this year. I don’t dislike Chris. I don’t even dislike his singing. I just feel like he’s average and so-so. I’ve felt this way since his first audition. I just don’t get it. They keep comparing him to Justin Timberlake, but he reminds me more of one of the New Kids on the Block. Anyway, on to tonight. Chris sang Jason Mraz’s “Geek In The Pink” and dedicated it to his grandmother, which I thought was cute and very sweet. I thought he sounded much better than last week, and he didn’t flap his arms like a chicken, so that was better, but I didn’t think it was anything standout. Clearly, I was mistaken. Randy said Chris was “in it to win it”. Paula fawned about it. Simon thought it was the best tonight. Um, okay. Like I said, “I don’t get it”.
When Sundance Head was asked about the feedback he’d been getting since last week, he said mostly his friends and family told him “don’t be so crappy”. In an effort to comply, he sang “Mustang Sally” like I’ve been expecting him to sing since his first audition. He dedicated the song to his 2 month old son, whom he’s clearly missing. I hope tonight’s performance is one of many more like it for Sundance. Randy said, “welcome back, Sundance”. Paula thought it was awesome. Simon thought it was good, but still thinks Sundance can do better.
That was it for tonight. Tomorrow night the girls sing. Thursday night, four more go home. Make sure to take our poll and let us know who you liked.
