Most of you were sad, to some degree, to see Brandon Rogers head for home. The really unfortunate thing is that now he won’t be on the tour.
How did you feel about tonight’s elimination?
I’m shocked and outraged!: 28% (24)
I’m disappointed.: 46% (40)
Good riddance.: 13% (11)
Who cares?: 14% (12)
Total Votes : 87
Here’s the Ford commercial/video of “Float On” from last night:
The night started off with introductions, then it was on to the group performance. Tonight’s performance was a Diana Ross Medley. It was alright. I wasn’t jumping out of my chair 
(Hey, that is fun to say— now I understand why Simon says it all the time.) I did want to note that I really think Haley Scarnato looks a bit like Katharine McPhee. Is it just me?
When they came back from commercial, we got to see our first American Idol Ford commercial. The Idols sang “Float On”— I believe that’s by Modest Mouse. Somebody correct me if I’m wrong. Chris Sligh’s hair was a hoot.
Then, it was on to the serious portion of the evenings. Brandon Rogers was the first in the bottom three, but he was soon joined by Phil Stacey. The rest of the singers sat down until only Sanjaya Malakar and Haley Scarnato remained. (I did have a brief moment of panic when the final three were Blake Lewis, Sanjaya Malakar and Haley Scarnato. It had all the earmarkings of an Idol fake out that might send Blake home.) Now, I know a lot of you got your hopes up when you saw Sanjaya possibly heading to the bottom three, but you must hear me when I say, “Sanjaya is probably not going home for a few more weeks. That’s just the way it works. You’ll only drive yourself crazy if you expect him to go home every week.”
So, Sanjaya and Haley had to wait through commercials, Diana Ross singing and more commercials before finding out that Haley was safe and Sanjaya was in the bottom three. Phil Stacey was allowed to sit home. And then Brandon was sent home to the strains of Daughtry’s “Home”, I believe. Again, correct me if I’m wrong. It’s late, and I’m tired.
Next week the top 11 will perform, and we’ll go through this whole crazy cycle all over again.
I think some of you are just taunting me. Surely, you don’t really believe Sanjaya had the best performance.
Who had the best performance tonight?
Brandon Rogers: 1% (2)
Melinda Doolittle: 39% (54)
Chris Sligh: 3% (4)
Gina Glocksen: 2% (3)
Sanjaya Malakar: 5% (7)
Haley Scarnato: 4% (5)
Phil Stacey: 1% (1)
LaKisha Jones: 17% (23)
Blake Lewis: 4% (6)
Stephanie Edwards: 3% (4)
Chris Richardson: 2% (3)
Jordin Sparks: 19% (26)
Total Votes : 138
Diana Ross was the first guest mentor this year. Diana has a 40 year career that includes 80 top 10 hits and being honored by Billboard as Female Entertainer of the Century. Given this history, I think it’s great that she volunteered her time to mentor these young performers. She had a great attitude about working with them and seemed to genuinely care about their performances and their future.
Brandon Rogers started off the night. This was a bit confusing to me, as they usually start and end the night with two of the best performers, and this was nowhere near the best performance of the night. It was an upbeat performance, since he performed “Can’t Hurry Love”, so that could have figured into its placement. Brandon’s voice always sounds fine— not great, not wonderful, just fine— which is really not good enough for this stage of the competition. For someone who has performed on stage with some top names, I find his stage presence lacking (maybe he’s too accustomed to not drawing focus from the lead singer). The last two bars were really good, a hint of what he’s capable of, but I’m not sure it makes up for some major stumbles with the words. Randy agreed that the end was good, but said the rest sounded like a background singer. Paula recognized that nerves played a large part in his problems. Simon said it was a complete letdown and that he sounded like a backup singer for a backup singer.
American Idol has started a new little bit where you can ask American Idol contestants questions. You can find out how to submit your questions at My Coke Rewards. You have to register to ask questions, but it’s free. There were several questions tonight. The first one, posed to Melinda Doolittle was “What is the hardest part of the contest?” Melinda answered the high heels and dresses, pining for her sweats and tennis shoes. The singing part definitely doesn’t seem to be hard for Melinda. She breezed through “Home” from “The Wiz”, reducing Paula to a blubbering mess and… was Simon really choked up laughing at Paula, or were those perhaps tears? None of the judges were overwhelmed by the song choice, but they were definitely overwhelmed by Melinda.
Let me preface this comment by saying I really like Chris Sligh. He is absolutely one of my favorites. But his version of “Endless Love”? It just wasn’t very good. Diana Ross told him he should stick to the melody, and she was right, but I do give him credit for trying to make it his own and for going out on a limb. I wasn’t blown away by this performance, but it was a solid alright. Randy didn’t like the arrangement, either. Paula thought he was trying too hard to be hip, and Simon thought he murdered the arrangement.
Gina Glocksen followed Chris Sligh with a pretty standard version of “Love Child”. I thought she was one of the best tonight at working the stage. You could tell she’s in a band. It wasn’t Randy’s favorite performance of hers. Paula thought she could do much better. Simon said it wasn’t terrible, and it wasn’t fantastic.
Then it was time for Sanjaya Malakar— dear, sweet Sanjaya. I really wish he was so much better, so that I could cheer for him. I want to cheer him on. I just can’t. And what was the deal with his hair tonight? It was a bit over the top tonight. Perhaps he could channel some of his hair’s enthusiasm into his performances. He sang “Ain’t No Mountain High Enough”, which was just way too big a song for him. I dreaded the judges comments, as I expected unbridled brutality. They were really fairly mild. Randy said it wasn’t very good. Paula said he has the sweetest soul and needs to explode with his vocals. Simon said a lot of really excrutiating remarks but ended with “you’re very brave”.
I didn’t expect Haley Scarnato to be very good tonight. But you just never can tell with the Top 12. Haley started off with a fan question: “Where’s the craziest place you ever sang?” Her answer was “here”. She sang “Missing You”. I thought it was a good choice to sing a less fluffy piece to show that she could peform something other than pageant pieces. Even though she forgot the words in the middle, I still thought it was better than her past performances. The judges were split in their opinions. Randy said it was a valiant effort, but that she sounded nervous. Paula said she looked lovely— never a good sign when the only thing Paula can think of to talk about is how you look. Simon brought Haley to tears because he was actually NICE. He said he didn’t think it was that bad and that he was really impressed with her presence.
I don’t really know what to make of Phil Stacey. He sang “I’m Gonna Make You Love Me”. I think Phil does a decent job. I guess my chief complaint is that he doesn’t color his performances at all. They tend to be really one-dimensional. Randy said it was boring but that the vocals were strong. Paula said he had strong vocals. Simon said it was a good choice of song, but he needs to control the shouting.
LaKisha Jones has a huge voice, as we all know. So, I was really pleasantly surprised that she chose the really tender song “God Bless the Child”. This allowed her to show some range and dynamics, which she hasn’t really done up to this point. Randy said it was an unblievable vocal. Paula said, “your heart comes through when you sing”. Simon said, “You’ve either got it, or you haven’t got it; You’ve got it!”
Blake Lewis got to answer the final question of the night: “What type of music do you listen to in your private time?” He answered “underground hip hop and electronic music”. He also answered that Michael Jackson was one of his favorite artists of all time, but I’ll try not to hold that against him. As I expected, Blake did something different with “You Keep Me Hanging On”. There are several modern takes on this song, so I don’t think that he needed to perform the song as written, but I didn’t think this was the best remix of the song. It was a tad, well, boring. Don’t get me wrong! I still love Blake! I just wasn’t a huge fan of this performance. It was much better than Chris Sligh’s attempt at a rewrite, but I think he would have done better speeding up the song, rather than slowing it down. Randy said Blake doesn’t need to “Blakeize” every song. Paula said there was a big difference between what Blake did and what Chris Sligh did. Simon didn’t get it. Whatever, Simon.
I expected Stephanie Edwards to do well tonight. Motown/Diana Ross would seem to be a good fit for her, and it was. She sang “Love Hangover”. Diana advised her to sing it a bit sexier, and I thought she did a good job of taking her notes and incorporating them into her performance. I thought this was one of her best performances. Randy didn’t think it was her best vocal. Paula thought she needed to strive for better. Simon said it was a strange arrangement and that it wasn’t her best performance. See? This just goes to show that a lot of what the judges are basing their critiques on are their knowledge of the song in question. I didn’t really know this song, so I wasn’t waiting for whatever “hook” they were. More on song knowledge when we get to Jordin.
(Big sigh.) Chris Richardson. I want to like Chris. He seems really likeable. I just really can’t stand that whole quivery, full of runs, boy band style of singing that he does. I find it irritating. I did think his stage presence was good. Randy thought he overdid the song. Paula thought it was great. Simon said the vocals were dreadful.
Okay, on to the final singer of the night, Jordin Sparks. Jordin sang an odd choice, in my opinion, “If We Hold On Together”. You’ve never heard of the song? Clearly you don’t have children. Out of all the songs tonight I was probably the MOST familiar with this song because I have dinosaur-loving children who have made me watch every Land Before Time movie ever made— the original one (that contains this song) so many times that I think I could recite it in my sleep. I think I actually first saw the movie when I was in high school— can that be correct? So, I can’t completely blame them, but they’re obsessed with these movies. ANYWAY— Jordin… I was pleased that stretched herself with this song. She chose something that required more vulnerability. I wasn’t crazy about the performance, but it was good. Now, here’s why it’s important to choose a song the judges have never heard. They ate this up with a spoon! They loved it!! I think a lot of that has to do with a lack of familiarity with the original— not that Jordin’s performance was BAD, mind you. I just didn’t think it deserved all that fawning. Randy said Jordin made it a three girl race. Paula said that she has a natural gift. Simon said it was a bit gooey, but a very, very good vocal.
So, here’s my order of who I liked:
1. LaKisha Jones
2. Melinda Doolittle
3. Jordin Sparks
4. Blake Lewis
5. Gina Glocksen
6. Stephanie Edwards
7. Haley Scarnato
8. Phil Stacey
9. Chris Sligh
10. Chris Richardson
11. Sanjaya Malakar
12. Brandon Rogers
Do I really think Brandon is worse than Sanjaya? No, not necessarily. But I feel like he’s slacking. I think he has so much more potential. I feel like Sanjaya’s doing his best. So, since I didn’t really like either performance, I’m putting Brandon at the bottom for lack of effort.
There are many who could go home tomorrow, and I wouldn’t be heartbroken, but I need my top five to hang around. I’ve already had a bad reality television week, with Rob and Amber being sent home on the Amazing Race, so I hope somebody at the bottom of my list goes home tomorrow.
I was pleased that tonight’s elimination actually went along pretty quickly. Sometimes the elimination nights just seem to drag on tonight. Fortunately, that wasn’t the case tonight.
The night started with the group performing “Stuck in the Middle With You”. That was pretty much as you expect the group performances to be.
LaKisha Jones and Blake Lewish were then called to the stage. Both made it through.
Chris Sligh was called down. After making him wait through the commercial, he made it through. Then Jordin Sparks and Phil Stacey made it through.
Jared Cotter was the first to go home. I liked Jared, but I never quite “got” him. I thought it was unlikely that he and Brandon would both make it through, but I had actually picked him over Brandon.
Melinda Doolittle and Brandon Rogers were then put through to the Final 12 (so I don’t have to move to Canada), followed by Gina Glocksen and Chris Richardson.
The final 6 awaiting their fate had to wait for Carrie Underwood to be introduced and to sing. She’s really quite good. I liked her on Idol, but she wasn’t my favorite to win. Actually, she wasn’t even my second favorite to win. But it’s nice that she’s doing so well.
After Carrie’s performance, Antonella Barba and Stephanie Edwards were called to the stage. I thought this one could have gone either way. I mean, out of the two I certainly thought Stephanie would make it through, but you just never know. This time American got it right, and Stephanie made it to the Top 12.
Then Haley Scarnato was called to the stage with Sabrina Sloan. A no brainer, right? Sabrina’s in the Top 12. Not so fast. This one was a surprise. Sabrina went home, and Haley is in the Top 12. The judges were disappointed with America’s choice— Randy actually said “America got that wrong”. I actually thought that Simon’s comments to Haley last night probably helped her make it through. In the past, there has been a noted Simon backlash MANY times when Simon has been overly harsh to contestants. I actually have a theory that he does it intentionally to pretty girls that he wants to see one more time.
Ryan finally told us about the big surprise. The short version is there will be an empasis on poverty in America and in Africa and some fundraising that will occur later this season. I’ll be writing a full post on “Idol Gives Back” tomorrow with more details.
Finally, that left Sanjaya Malakar and Sundance Head. As much as I wanted to see Sundance move on, and as much as I thought Sanjaya should have gone home weeks ago, I thought this was probably bad news. They don’t save you until last if it’s a foregone conclusion that you’re going home. Sure enough, Sanjaya is in the Top 12, and Sundance is going home. Prior to this, I thought Haley would be going home next week. Now I have to hope for Sanjaya. Simon could only guess that the reason America chose Sanjaya was because the volume was turned down. Yes, he actually said that.
So, that means American Idol 6 has its Top 12:
LaKisha Jones
Blake Lewis
Chris Sligh
Jordin Sparks
Phil Stacey
Melinda Doolittle
Brandon Rogers
Gina Glocksen
Chris Richardson
Stephanie Edwards
Haley Scarnato
Sanjaya Malakar
What do you think? Good? Bad? Indifferent?
I pretty much agree with these poll results. I think none of the guys should get too comfortable when they have to start singing against the girls next week.
Who had the best performance tonight?
Blake Lewis: 30% (29)
Sanjaya Malakar: 11% (11)
Sundance Head: 11% (11)
Chris Richardson: 7% (7)
Jared Cotter: 5% (5)
Brandon Rogers: 3% (3)
Phil Stacey: 5% (5)
Chris Sligh: 26% (25)
Total Votes : 96
Tonight was all about hair. I don’t know why, but the subject came up quite frequently. I think the guys were back to week one, quality-wise. There were a few standouts, but overall it was pretty weak. Ryan did tease us about one of the most important Idol events of all time, which will be announced on Thursday.
Speaking of secrets, that was the theme tonight for the guys’ video clips. Blake Lewis started off the night by letting us know that he likes improv comedy and introducing us to one of his “characters”. Blake performed the song “All Mixed Up” by the band 311, his favorite band, and became the first performer in my memory to perform a song that not one of the judges had ever heard. I liked the song, and I liked the performance. The whole reggae/hip hop thing is not really my favorite style of music, but at least it wasn’t boring. Randy liked the performance, as did Paula. Simon said he couldn’t understand a word Blake was saying, but it wasn’t karaoke and it was individual and unique. Not karaoke? Wow, high praise, indeed, from the Brit.
The producers must really be ready to get rid of Sanjaya Malakar, as they seem to consistently place him immediately behind strong performances. Tonight was no exception. I did think that Sanjaya picked a MUCH better song to sing tonight, with John Mayer’s “Waiting on the World to Change”. It was much better suited to his voice and his age. Unfortunately for Sanjaya, it didn’t go over any better with the judges. All three of them were less than enthusiastic, although Simon did at least say it was “not as ghastly today”.
Speaking of song choices, Sundance Head’s choice was, um, interesting. He chose to sing Pearl Jam’s “Jeremy”. It was a decent performance, good energy, although a bit pitchy— to borrow a phrase from Randy. Randy liked the Southern rock spin that he put on the song (personally, I completely didn’t notice that there was any spin on the song, but maybe that’s just me). Paula felt like he kicked into his groove about halfway through. Simon didn’t like it as much as last week and gave it his dreaded “indulgent” comment. By the way, Sundance’s secret was hysterical. “I’m actually thin in real life. I just wear the fat suit on tv, so that when I’m not on America Idol, I can live my normal life as the super sexy thin guy that I really am. However, I have no pictures to prove it.” Pretty funny stuff.
For whatever reason, the judges continued their love affair with Chris Richardson. I still didn’t care for his wavering, quivering version of Keith Urban’s “Tonight I Want to Cry”, but Randy and Paula ate it up with a spoon. Simon said it was “cutesy”, and he wasn’t jumping out of his chair. I am just WAITING for the performance that has him jumping out of his chair. I mean it. I’ll pay good money (well, at least $5) for anyone that has video of Simon jumping out of his chair and doing a little dance after an American Idol performance.
Jared Cotter sang Stevie Wonder’s “If You Really Love Me”. I have to say Jared always gives a good, strong performance. He’s good looking. He has lots of energy. He doesn’t bore me. Randy said it was a solid performance. Paula thinks he needs to color his performances more, which Simon interpreted for her as meaning that he’s not very original and doesn’t have the “wow” factor. I’ll agree that we haven’t necessarily seen the “wow” factor from him, thus far, but I think the tiny clip of “Cupid” that we saw definitely contained it, so I feel fairly confident that it is there.
Brandon Rogers made an interesting song choice. He chose to sing Rare Earth’s “I Just Want to Celebrate”. I just heard the song last week on the “oldies” station (70s and 80s music) and really thought it was a lot of fun then. I thought it was a fun song tonight, too. I just didn’t think it necessarily showed the singing ability that I think Brandon has. Randy said it was a solid performance, Paula loved it and Simon didn’t think that he represented himself well. Isn’t that what I just said I thought?
Continuing the theme night (wasn’t tonight’s theme “Songs You Shouldn’t Sing”?) was Phil Stacey singing Leann Rimes’ “I Need You”. The low part of his register is really not very strong, but he did a good job with the high notes. I didn’t care for his hat at all. Randy said this was not his best performance, Paula thought it was an odd choice of song, and Simon pretty much summed it up: “I didn’t get it at all”.
Chris Sligh sang a DC Talk song— “We All Wanna Be Loved”. If you don’t know DC Talk, they’re a Christian rock band, and they’re really quite good. I liked the performance, but I’m familiar with the song. Early in the competition, I was really concerned that Chris was heavy on personality, light on talent. I’m pleased that the course of the competition has proved me wrong. He has been in the top 2-3 performances each week, as far as I’m concerned. Tonight I thought he had the best performance of the evening. Randy agreed with me, naming his the best vocal of the night. Paula disagreed, saying it was not her favorite performance. Simon thought the beginning was good and stated sincerely that Chris has potential.
So, what did all this have to do with hair? Nothing, but several of the answers to the “what would America be surprised to learn” question had to do with hair. (Phil Stacey used to have long hair; Chris Sligh used to have short.) Simon referred to Sanjaya’s hair as being like Paula’s. In return, Ryan made a joke about Paula or Sanjaya having hair extensions, but not being sure which one it was. I don’t know. There just seemed to be a lot of hair talk going on tonight.
When Ryan was winding up the evening, he asked how many guys deserved to be in the top 12. Randy said four. Paula agreed. Simon said three and a half. What chance do you think there is that Thursday’s surprise will be that the split is not going to be six and six? Not very likely, I suppose, but it would make for interesting television.
So, in conclusion, here’s my order for the night:
1. Chris Sligh
2. Blake Lewis
3-6 (in no particular order) Jared Cotter, Brandon Rogers and Phil Stacey
7. Chris Richardson
8. Sanjaya Malakar
Obviously, we haven’t even seen the performances, so it should be way too early to make any predictions about who’s going home… BUT at this stage of American Idol who stays is influenced by their performances, but there are people who will get votes regardless.
I’ve already said who I think should be in the Final 12. Out of the remaining contestants, the only two that I think really should be going home this week are Sanjaya Malakar and Antonella Barba. They’ve given consistently weak performances and even if they blow it out of the water this week, I don’t think they’ve earned a right in the Final 12.
BUT— Dial Idol shows that they’re getting far more votes than one would expect, so I don’t feel very hopeful that they’ll be going home. Who’s voting for them? Well, obviously they have friends, family and other people who are truly voting for them because they think they’re talented. But they’re both also both highly promoted by Vote for the Worst. How much do those votes affect American Idol? I don’t know, but I do know that they’ve both been in the top 3 in the Dial Idol voting for the past two weeks, and I really can’t see any way that happened without Vote for the Worst (they also threw their weight behind Sundance, initially, although they’re reconsidering after last week’s performance).
So, back to the original question. With Sanjaya and Antonella potential long shots for going home (sorry, folks), who does that leave? Haley Scarnato is probably gone. I don’t think she’s good enough to get regular votes and not bad enough to get the Vote for the Worst vote. Then it will probably be Gina Glocksen, Stephanie Edwards or Sabrina Sloan. If you have a favorite among them, I suggest you vote for her.
What about the guys? If Brandon Rogers puts forth the performance I think he’s capable of, he will probably stay. If not, he’s most likely headed for home. Come on, Brandon. You’re better than what you’ve given us the past two weeks. Chris Richardson has been in the top three and the bottom three with Dial Idol, so who knows what that means. I think Jared Cotter is the other one who is at risk this week. It’s hard to predict with the guys because they’ve been really inconsistent with their performances. I think Blake Lewis, Chris Sligh and Sundance Head are probably safe. But don’t think that means you don’t need to vote for them if you like them! Complacent voters could result in anyone going home at this stage.
So, what do you think? Other than Antonella and Sanjaya, who would you like to see go? Are there those of you out there who really want Antonella or Sanjaya stay?
Aww, everyone got at least one vote. That makes me so happy With the exception of Chris Richardson tying with Sundance, I can pretty much agree with these results.
Who had the best performance tonight?
Phil Stacey: 8% (9)
Jared Cotter: 3% (3)
A.J. Tabaldo: 4% (5)
Sanjaya Malakar: 3% (3)
Chris Sligh: 12% (13)
Nick Pedro: 1% (1)
Blake Lewis: 26% (29)
Brandon Rogers: 1% (1)
Chris Richardson: 21% (24)
Sundance Head: 21% (24)
Total Votes : 112
So, if I got to personally choose the top 12, this is who I would handpick, based on the performances so far.
1. Blake Lewis
2. Chris Sligh
3. Sundance Head
4. Jared Cotter
5. Phil Stacey
6. Brandon Rogers
1. Lakesha Jones
2. Melinda Doolittle
3. Jordin Sparks
4. Sabrina Sloan
5. Gina Gershon
6. Stephanie Edwards
Unfortunately, this is who I would predict will actually be in the Top 12, at this point in time:
1. Blake Lewis
2. Chris Sligh
3. Sundance Head
4. Jared Cotter
5. Phil Stacey
6. Sanjaya Malakar
1. Lakesha Jones
2. Melinda Doolittle
3. Jordin Sparks
4. Sabrina Sloan
5. Gina Gershon
6. Antonella Barba
I forgot to give my ranking of the guys tonight, so here it is. The first three could really go in any order.
1. Blake Lewis
2. Chris Sligh
3. Sundance Head
4. Jared Cotter
5. Chris Richardson
6. Phil Stacey
7. Nick Pedro
8. Brandon Rogers
9. A.J. Tabaldo
10. Sanjaya Malakar
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.
Hmmm. Interesting show tonight. As I told my husband, I felt like there was one person who was clearly the best, several fighting it out for second, a large pack in the middle and a few subpar performances. More on that at the end. For now, here’s the play by play.
Rudy Cardenas started the night off with “Free Ride”. Rudy is very cute and personable. I thought it was a good performance, good energy, good vocals, but something just seemed disconnected. I couldn’t really put my finger on it. Randy hand no problem stating his issue with the performance. He felt it was corny. Paula, predictably, loved it. Simon finds Rudy utterly unremarkable.
Brandon Rogers turned in a solid performance of “Rock With You”. He was a bit stiff to me— maybe it was nerves. Other than that, I thought he was a strong contender. Randy felt like it was “pitchy”. Paula said he needs to step up as a lead singer. Simon thought the performance was safe and predictable and then he gave the first of several complidisses for the night (Ryan’s phrase, not mine), saying that Brandon was “much better than that”.
My husband and I were both really excited to hear Sundance Head. We both really liked him in the initial auditions, and he’s from Texas, so we were pretty sure we’d be voting for him for quite some time. Tonight he sang “Nights In White Satin”. It was, um, interesting. Okay, here’s the truth. It just wasn’t very good. He was very humble in his pre-interview, saying that he made it to the top 24 on the strength of his first audition. He’s right. It’s been pretty much downhill ever since. I hope that he makes it past tonight and that he can dust himself off and be the singer that he obviously CAN be. Randy, Paula and Simon all had varying degrees of dislike for his performance but all agreed he needs to go back to the bluesy guy they saw in the initial auditions.
Barefoot Paul Kim attempted “Careless Whisper”. This is another guy that I really wanted to like. He seems very sweet. His initial audition was not my favorite kind of singing, but it was alright for that type of music. But tonight— ugh. It was not good. There were some really rough notes, and his energy was very low. Randy still holds out future hope for Paul, though. Simon’s advice was that he put his shoes on next week. In a show of solidarity, Ryan then appeared without his shoes.
Upfront I want to say that I find something about Chris Richardson unappealing (not on a personal level, but as a performer). He seems like a really nice guy, but I think his voice, performance style, the whole package, really, is just not my cup of tea. Tonight he sang Gavin DeGraw’s “I Don’t Want to Be”, which makes me think of One Tree Hill, but that’s another story altogether. I know a lot of people probably loved his performance. My husband really liked it, but I just didn’t care for it. I thought he sounded young and immature, and I didn’t care for all the chicken wing flapping that he did with his arms. Randy and Paula, on the other hand, really liked the performance. Simon said he “sounded small”— whatever that means.
Nick Pedro has such a mellow, pleasant voice. This was really showcased tonight when he sang “Now and Forever”. However, I did have to agree with Simon that he had lost some of his sparkle tonight. He could have had a bit more energy, and he needs to stand up straight. Randy and Paula just didn’t like it at all.
I had never heard Keane’s “Somewhere Only We Know” before tonight. I thought it was a really nice song. And I thought Blake Lewis did a great job of singing and ballad with energy. Even though he was sitting for the song, he wasn’t at all boring. There was no beat boxing tonight, but he promises we’ll hear more of that in the weeks ahead. Randy dug the performance. Paula thought it was a surprising song choice but with a contemporary vibe. Simon thought he was the first person tonight who sounded like a singer singing in 2007. He named this the best performance of the night.
In his initial audition, Sanjaya Malakar had great fortune with a Stevie Wonder song. He tried to repeat that tonight with “Knocks Me Off My Feet”. Unfortunately, this time it didn’t go as well. He has such a nice smile and is so soft spoken. He just seems a bit overwhelmed. He picked a difficult song, and he just never really dug into it and let go. The judges were not kind. Randy said it was really bad, Paula opted to just call it a hesitant performance, and Simon referred to it as dreary and dull.
Before he took his blog down, Chris Sligh had a list of his top 100 favorite songs. Number 9 was MuteMath’s “Typical”. And that’s what he chose to sing tonight. It’s definitely a song that fit Chris. He’s certainly not a “typical” American Idol contestant. All in all, it was a good, solid performance. Randy said, “I’m a Chris fan”, Paula said everyone had a great time. Simon was having a hard time coming up with exactly what to say when things got kind of weird. Chris insulted Simon and then I couldn’t tell whether Simon was mad at Chris or Ryan. Either way, it was momentarily very uncomfortable.
Shayne Ward’s “Back to One” is a bit gimmicky for my tastes, but Jared Cotter did a good job with it tonight. He has a cute smile and makes you want to like what he’s singing. Randy felt like it wasn’t his best performance, and Simon felt it was unadventurous.
A.J. Tabaldo is definitely the most persistent of this year’s contestants, since this was his fifth time to audition. He turned in a decent performance of “1000 Kisses”. Personally, I found the performance a bit cheesey. But Randy and Paula liked it. Simon felt it was a bit like a theme park performance (hey, at least he dodged the karaoke bullet). But then said, “Maybe you’re better than I thought”. Boy, he sure knows how to pour on the sweetness, doesn’t he?
The final performance of the night was Phil Stacy. His wife was in the audience, and he was clearly nervous. He chose a song that was clearly meant for his wife— “I Could Not Ask For More”. It started off “monstrously”, as Simon said, but after the first couple of lines, he relaxed and gave a really lovely performance. It was definitely an “awww” song. Randy said it was the best vocal performance of the night. I’m not sure if I agree with that, but it was really good.
So, here’s how I would rank tonight’s performances.
1. Blake Lewis
2. Phil Stacy
2. Chris Sligh
2. Brandon Rogers
(in no particular order)
5. Rudy Cardenas
6. Nick Pedro
7. AJ Tabaldo
8. Jared Cotter
(bringing up the rear)
9. Sanjaya Malakar (he almost made it into the middle group for me)
10. Sundance Head
11. Chris Richardson
12. Paul Kim
I don’t necessarily think that Chris Richardson will actually be in the bottom two, as I’ve already admitted my bias there. And I’m not sure that either A.J. Tabaldo or Jared Cotter won’t join Paul Kim in the bottom two, since tonight was the first time we’ve really seen a great deal of either one of them. If I were guessing, I’d guess A.J. would be in the bottom two out of those two.
So, what did you think of tonight’s performances? Love them? Hate them? Let me know.
In preparation for tonight, I’m posting the rest of the guys in the top 24. Even though I’ve talked about Brandon Rogers, I didn’t post his You Tube video before. So, here is his original audition, his Hollywood clip and a bonus audio track from his pre-Idol CD “Automatic” (the sound quality is not great). There’s also a super bonus fan collage of pictures and (what I assume is) him singing. Personally, I think he should cut his hair again (just my opinion).
