The Boys Are Back in Town

Michael Johns

So, Michael chose to perform a Fleetwood Mac song.  And of all of the songs that he could have chosen, he picked “Go Your Own Way”.  Doesn’t Michael know that choosing songs like that tend to be the kiss of death for Idol contestants?  Tip to potential future American Idols: DON’T choose songs that have the theme of departure in them.  Michael’s version…well, it was just a little odd for me.  During parts of it, it seemed like he was attempting to channel Jim Morrison…or maybe Michael Hutchence.  Either way, it didn’t really work for me.  His singing was adequate…his performance was dull and weird.

Randy blabs all over the place and finally settles on liking it, Paula is just happy to be looking at Michael and Simon calls it weak several times – and, once again, I find myself agreeing with him.

Jason Castro

Castro is back this week with his guitar.  I’m starting to feel like he’s trying to show off…”Hey!  Look what I can do that no one else can!”  Anyway, he can totally do that because Jason remains one of my favorites.  It took me awhile to recognize what he was singing this week though.  His version of the Bee Gees “I Just Want to Be Your Everything” was different…it felt very boy band-ish to me.  But in a good way.  Anyway, what I’m saying is that I enjoyed it.

Randy calls it karaoke and makes a lot of Jason’s guitar playing, Paula calls Jason cute and says that she likes his arrangement (but to lose the guitar) and Simon found it horrible.

Luke Menard

I can’t lie…I’m ready for Luke to go.  I don’t care how he sounds.  I don’t care how perfect his teeth are.  He bores me.  His take on Killer Queen…well, it wasn’t the worst thing that I’ve ever heard.  Still, it was boring.  And, well…it takes talent to make a Queen song boring.

Randy thought it was pretty good, Paula cheerleads all over the place for Luke and Simon calls it a mistake…and boring (in so many words).

Robbie Carrico

So, Redneck J.T. likes drag racing.  Good for him.  Anyway, he sings “Hot Blooded” and…well, I don’t believe him.  Not at all.  Actually, after listening to his performance, I think that he may actually be cold blooded.  For a rocker guy, it really seems like he should be rocking out a bit more on this song than he is.

 
Randy tells Robbie that he was not wowed by his lack of rocker-ness, Paula thinks he played it safe and blabs on about knowing who he is and what not, while Simon thought that he was okay…which Robbie took to be a huge compliment.

 
Danny Noriega

Once again, I can’t lie.  I hate Danny Noriega.  Everything about this kid grates on my nerves.  His ridiculous come-hither looks that he gives when he sings.  His stupid puffy lips.  His hair.  His ridiculous emo-kid clothes.  Should I go on?  Oh yeah…his voice too.  Can’t stand his voice.  Please, oh please.  Let him go next.

Randy thinks that Danny thought too much during his performance, Paula agrees with Randy and Simon also agrees.  I’m glad that everyone is in agreement.

 

David Hernandez

David starts off his performance of “Papa Was a Rolling Stone” by making really weird faces.  In an attempt to be consistent…he maintains the weird faces throughout his performance.  As a result, I can’t really concentrate too much on his vocals…because his face is throwing me off. However, I’m pretty sure that I wasn’t impressed.

Randy loves it and calls it hot, Paula goes on about his amazing notes and his personality (was THAT what the weird faces were about?) and Simon declares it the best vocal of the night.  Maybe I was asleep or something.

Jason Yeager

So, Jason…yeah.  Jason smiled WAY too much during his performance and hammed it up to the camera entirely too much.  His vocal was ok…but his performance verged on ridiculous.  He can go too.

Randy didn’t get it, Paula tells him it was a bad song choice and Simon calls it ghastly and corny.

Chikezie

Chikezie tries to win me over by singing 70’s soul…and singing it well.  Damn you, Chikezie!  DAMN YOU!!  This is WORLDS of improvement over his horrid 60’s night performance.  He definitely wins my award for Most Improved.  And, actually, I think it’s one of the better performances of the night.

Randy proclaims Chikezie to be back, Paula thought it was brilliant and fun and Simon found it a million times better than last week.

David Cook

David Cook…you are going bald.  Having that horrible comb-over does not disguise this fact.  Please, for everyone’s sake, just shave your head, man.  As for his guitar playing…I’m pretty damn sure that he was just holding that thing for show.  Because the majority of those guitar sounds were NOT coming from the guitar that he had.  Anyway, his song…it was alright, now.  I am still disturbed by his Joker-like mouth.

Randy really liked it and proclaims David to be the real rocker of the bunch (what the hell??), Paula agrees with Randy and Simon declares David to be charisma-free.  David replies that he doesn’t have to win Simon over with his charisma, but rather the public.  David…I’m personally not seeing the charisma.

David Archuleta

David blows everyone else out of the water with his rendition of John Lennon’s “Imagine”.  It’s a slightly different take on the song than what I’ve heard before.  And I love it.   The control that he has over his voice is amazing.  At this point, I think that David is the one to beat.  Which, of course, means that he will be voted off this week.

Randy screams FIRE repeatedly, Paula says something completely disturbing about squishing his head off and putting it on her rear-view mirror (WHAT THE HELL??) and Simon says that David is the one to beat.

So, I’m really hoping that we lose Noriega this week.  Or Luke.  Or David Cook.  Hell, let’s just get rid of everyone except Michael, Jason, David A. and…well, we’ll let Chikezie hang around a little longer too.  Or we could just crown David A. the winner and just be done with it.

Technical Difficulties

Ok, not really technical difficulties.  There is no blog for today…because I was out last night celebrating a friends birthday.  So, I haven’t had a chance to watch the show yet.  I do hear, however, that there was at least one good performance…and I’m looking forward to seeing it.  The blog should return tonight…

And Then There Were 20…

So, I have no problem with the loss of Amy, Joanne and Garret.  Especially Garret.  He disturbed me to no end.  And while I wouldn’t say that I feel a real loss at Colton’s departure, I definitely think that he deserved more of a second chance than Cheesie Chikezie.

Here’s hoping that Chacuzzi goes next week.  And hopefully he can take Amanda with him.

Ladies Night

So, yeah.  Sadly, there will be no usual contestant by contestant recap here today.  Why?  Well, because I honestly didn’t make it through all of last night.  I tried.  I really did.  I intently listened to the first three performances…and instantly wished that I hadn’t wasted my time.  After that, I kind of half paid attention to bits and pieces of the rest.  Here’s the thing…I don’t think that I really like ANY of the girls this year.  Well, maybe one…two at the most.  To tell you the truth though, with only a few notable exceptions, they all seem to be the same girl to me.  They all have the same boring personality.  And the only one who has a truly distincitve voice is Amanda Overmyer.   And I absolutely, positively cannot stand!  I honestly don’t get why everyone is head over heels in love with her.  The judges love her.  Other bloggers love her.  To that, I say bleh.  Biker Nurse is getting no love from me.

A few notes about some other performances:

Asia’h Epperson – She was pretty decent.  A definite different take on a song that gets sung to death on this show.  I’m not wowed by her just yet…but I could warm to her over time.

Carly Smithson – Good voice.  Boring performance.  VERY boring performance.  I think she really sold herself short with that performance actually.

The one performance that I really did like…and from what I can tell, the only good one of the whole evening, was Ramiele Malubay’s.  I thought she did an amazing job…she showed fantastic control over her voice.  I love her.  At this point, I say just kick all of the other girls off and put Ramiele up against the 6 guys.

That’s my story.  And I’m sticking to it.

Until I come up with something better, at least.

Bring on the Singing!

Well, dear readers, after a month long absence, I have returned! You can all exhale now. I had entertained the idea of blogging about the final audition weeks and Hollywood Week…but that really isn’t my thing. My thing is blogging about the finalists…you know, deciding which ones can actually sing, which ones have serial killer potential…things like that. Which is why I am SO excited that we have finally reached Top 24 time! And, as Ryan Seacrest has mentioned 5 billion times already, the talent this year is really great! (Which I’m sure makes last season’s finalists feel real good…oh well, they were all a rather weak bunch.) So, without further ado, here is my take on the Top 12 Guys:

David Hernandez

I remember only half liking David during Hollywood week. Either David wasn’t signing up to his full potential then or I wasn’t paying attention. Because I definitely like him now. Well, I like his voice at least. I really enjoyed his version of Wilson Pickett’s In the Midnight Hour. He gave it a slight twist…made it his own. I think based soley on his vocals – he should stay. I’m not entirely wowed by his personality…but I think I’d like to see him around a little longer.

Randy says that he did a really good job but that he needs to watch his long notes, Paula declares his vocals brilliant and Simon proclaims it to be better than he thought it would be…one of Simon’s classic back-handed compliments.

Chikezie

I’m not gonna beat around the bush here. I don’t like Chikezie. He has a ridiculous name and I he’s not nearly as good as he thinks he is. He reminds me of a poor man’s Luther Vandross. His first few notes of his first Idol performance sounded less than stellar to me…but what do I know? Overall, I found his performance to be boring…a soul performance without the soul. I’m rooting for him to go this week.

Randy thinks it was pretty good and basically tells him that he has an old, stale sound (okay, not those words exactly…I’m paraphrasing), Paula loves Chikiezie and compares him to a communicable disease by declaring him infectious and Simon calls him Chacuzzi…then proclaims his suit, his wink, his woo and everything else hideous. I’m with Simon. Cheesie Chacuzzi has got to go.

David Cook

This guy was one of the few contestants who made it through auditions that I thought wasn’t worthy. He’s sounds rather breathy to me. His version of So Happy Together really didn’t do anything to change that for me. I mean, once he gets into the flow of the song, it’s not too bad. But once he slows down, he’s all breathy again. Plus, I really don’t like looking at his when he opens his mouth. It’s a little bit scary. To be honest, he reminds me a lot of Jack Nicholson playing the Joker in Batman. Seriously.

Randy says dude a lot and says it was crazy, Paula gushes all over him and Simon thought it was good.

 

Jason Yeager

The first thing that I have to say about Jason…well, it isn’t actually about him. It’s about his son. That kid…looks remarkably like a Vulcan. Ok…now that THAT’S out of the way… So, Jason…well, I think that he can sing. At least, I’m pretty sure that he can. I kind of fell asleep in the middle of his BORING song…of all the songs from the 1960’s that you could possibly choose, you choose Moon River? Really? Is this supposed to impress? Because, Jason, it didn’t impress me. But don’t worry…little Spock Jr. loved it, I’m sure.

Randy mentions pitch without using the word “pitchy”, Paula lets us know that she did her first ballet recital to the song…and gives us absolutely no criticism at all and Simon found it to be very “cruise ship”.

 

Robbie Carrico

Robbie looks like the dirty biker of Justin Timberlake. A very dirty version. In fact, I really would just like to take him out back and hose him down. Seriously. Wash your hair, Robbie. And get rid of the bandana. All of that being said, I like Robbie’s vocals. A lot. In fact, of the first four contestants, I like him the most. If we could just get him a bath and some new clothes…

Randy is moved by Robbie…awww, Paula calls him authentic and loves his look and Simon thinks that it was the only current sounding performance of the night to date.

David Archuleta

David is one of my favorites from Hollywood Week. I loved his version of Heaven…he has good vocals and a fantastic personality. However, he didn’t really blow me away tonight. I liked his performance okay…but I really think that tackling a Smokey Robinson song may be slightly out of his league. Still, I think he has what it takes to stay around for a bit longer.

Randy loved it, Paula found it to be a brave and bold choice and Simon declared it the best performance of the night so far. Hey…maybe I’m wrong.

 

Danny Noriega

Danny showed really great vocals during Hollywood Week…but something about him reminds me of Jasmine Trias. I can’t really explain that…just go with it. Anyway, I was NOT impressed with his rendition of Jailhouse Rock. He just seemed to be shouting. I really think it was a poor song choice for him. I would definitely like to see him around a bit longer, but it wouldn’t surprise me if he’s eliminated this week.

Randy seemed to like his performance much better than his vocals, Paula rambled on and on…something about colors…I don’t know. Simon didn’t understand anything that Paula said and thought that Danny’s performance was verging on grotesque. The judges then spent a ridiculous amount of time arguing amongst each other.

Luke Menard

Luke looks like the lovechild of James Van Der Beek and Luke Perry to me. Weird, I know. Anyway, I think Luke may be our prerequisite good-looking-guy-who-can-only-kind-of-sing. You know…we have to have one every season. Last season, it was Chris. Before that it was Ace. I think. Anyway, Luke is kind of forgettable. If I heard him singing on the radio, I’d probably change the channel.

Randy didn’t find it great (he found it pitchy actually), Paula didn’t find the song to be a good choice for him and Simon agrees with me and declared it forgettable.

 

Colton Berry

Oddly enough, Colton is right on the money when he declares that he looks like Ellen DeGeneres from all angles. Because, he really does. Tonight, he sings my favorite Elvis song..Suspicious Minds. While he does a MUCH better job with Elvis than Danny did, it still isn’t great. I think the performance was missing something…I can’t quite place my finger on what. I think he would have been better of singing something by the Monkees, maybe. More fitting with his personality.

Randy found Colton’s performance pretty good, Paula enjoyed seeing a different side of Colton and Simon thought that it was ok.

 

Garret Haley

This kid creeps me out. He gets me Possible Serial Killer Award for this season. I find it kind of hard to believe that he managed to make it into the top 24. I’m over him. Next.

Randy says that he didn’t do anything with the song (true dat, dawg!), Paula thinks that he needs to speed things up and Simon found him boring, whiny and a little creepy looking. (Ok, he didn’t say creepy exactly…but that’s what he was going for.)

 

Jason Castro

Jason looks like Lance Bass with dreds to me. I like his voice a lot…I loved his performance tonight. I even found it be toe tapping. Yes, I was tapping my toes. He has a very Ben Harper/Jack Johnson/early John Mayer thing going on. I would be shocked to see him go home this week.

Randy wasn’t blown away, but thought it was alright, Paula, however, was blown away and Simon thought it was in the top two performances of the night.

 

Michael Johns

Michael is another one of my favorites from Hollywood Week. I’m not so sure how I feel about his performance of Light My Fire though. It seemed a bit screechy to me. The whole time I was listening to him, I was just comparing him to Jim Morrison. And he fell a short. Still, I want to see more from him.

Randy loved it and compares him to Michael Hutchence, Paula also loved it and Simon thought that he was good with the charisma of a lead singer.

 

So, I’m thinking that Robbie Carrico, David Archuleta, Danny Noriega, Colton Berry, Jason Castro and Michael Johns will be the top six men (with David and Jason being my favs…I may stop watching entirely if they are eliminated this week. I’m just sayin’…)