Last week, I was SO encouraged by this season. TONS of talent, SO much potential, the hopes that this season will recapture the magic of American Idol….. then this week happened.
Ok, that’s a bit rough. The contestants are all still super talented, and everyone still has the potential they had last week…. but this week was certainly disappointing for me.
The speculation was that Idol peeps brought in Interscope’s Jimmy Iovine to help guide the contestants, who were falling into a pattern of choosing TERRIBLE songs for themselves in recent years. So far, it appears Iovine is failing. Tonight’s song choices were all over the place, ranging from boringly safe to horribly outlandish and everything in between.
Some brief individual comments:
- Lauren - Any Man of Mine - decent enough song choice…. sung well enough, but not enough spunk. This could be a dangerous performance, being buried at the beginning of the show and all.
- Casey - With a Little Help from My Friends - it’s one thing to perform in the style of an artist…. it’s another thing entirely to emulate and channel them. I didn’t see much Casey in this performance, I saw more Joe Cocker… which is made worse by his video package being all about Joe Cocker.
- Ashthon - When You Tell Me That You Love Me - I think when the judges said she should be more like Diana Ross, it was a suggestion… not an order to do a Diana Ross song. Obvious, much? And when you do the song as poorly as she did…. eek.
- Paul - Come Pick Me Up - JLo is probably going to get some flack for saying she didn’t know who Ryan Adams was…. but she’s not alone. I’m going to assume most people don’t know who he is. That’s the problem with Paul’s song choice: too obscure. In a competition like this, when doing a song nobody knows, you have to completely NAIL it… and Paul didn’t. He did it in his own personal style, which I appreciate… but meh.
- Pia - All By Myself - Zzzz. This song is squarely on the “over done, don’t EVER do on Idol” list (along with all other Celine songs)…. yet here is it, being done. Pia’s pitch is shaky, especially when she’s belting the notes out, and it shows more and more each time she does it. I don’t know if its a technique thing, a nerves thing, or a TV thing…. but shaky.
- James - Maybe I’m Amazed - I love this song. And I enjoyed what James did with it, but he tends to get a bit screechy at times. In all, the best of the night for me, thus far.
- Haley - Blue - I see Haley bought a LeAnne Rhimes karaoke CD on her way to Idol tonight. Her voice fits the song, and she does the yodeling part well enough… but she doesn’t bring anything new to the song.
- Jacob - I Believe I Can Fly - I thought church choirs were reserved for the end of the competition? For me… this performance is absolutely terrible. Jacob’s “schtick” drives me up a wall, and he reaches a new high (low?) here. This one couldn’t end fast enough.
- Thia - Smile - Zzzz. Boring start, bizarre arrangement, pitch all over the place. Trouble for Thia.
- Stefano - Lately - I never would have thought I’d say this… but wow, Stefano. LOVED the arrangement, though it seemed just slightly larger than Stefano. Know what I mean? It seemed that he was right on the edge of his range… but he didn’t crack. He worked it out. Well done.
- Karen - I Could Fall In Love - I’m writing this after the show, not as it goes along… and I don’t remember this performance. Oops? Doesn’t bode well…
- Scott - The River - Ok, I’m going to be a hypocrite here. Scott’s performance here is rather karaoke…. but is FANTASTIC. I don’t know if it’s the way his (dreamy) voice wraps itself around the notes, but I’m completely fine with karaoke here. My only critique is that he seems awkward on the stage without his guitar. Get over that, Scott, because clearly instruments are not ok this season…
- Naima - Umbrella - I saw the song list before the show, and this was my WTF choice. Seemed to me to be a bizarre choice… but Naima totally made it work. She had some pitch and breath problems, yes…. but has an Idol contestant ever danced, rapped and sang in the same performance? Not that I can recall…. and she made them all work together, so kudos to Naima.
My biggest problem: WHY can’t the contestants use instruments? Last week, two promising contestants (Tim Halperin and Julie Zorilla) were eliminated after awkward performances sans instruments. Of the remaining contestants, Casey Abrams and Paul McDonald have shown their instrumental prowess on the show, and I’ve seen videos on Youtube of Scott McCreery doing the same. WHY aren’t they being used? I’d read that Idol Executive Producer Nigel Lythgoe wasn’t fond of the instruments, seeing contestants hide behind them in years past. Is that REALLY a problem? What is John Mayer without his guitar? Billy Joel not at the piano? I’m not saying these contestants are at that level, obviously, but really. I don’t want to see Mayer or Joel with only a mic, why do these contestants have to do without? If it’s true that they aren’t allowed the instruments (and that’s what it appears to be going on), it’s ridiculous. Ask Kris Allen and David Cook what instruments can do for a contestant, and ask Chris Daughtry what happens when they are barred.
Non-contest related comment….. I know Idol is all about product placement (the Ford music videos, AT&T voting, the Coke cups, etc), but the constant barrage of Monster Beats logos & merchandise is completely and utterly obnoxious. And seriously, could those headphones be any more fugly?
I’ve put it off long enough…
Winner of the Night: The “finalists” for me tonight are Scott, Stefano and James. Based on tonight alone, I’m going to have to say Scott was my favorite performance.
Loser of the Night: I might as well do the opposite end of the spectrum too, right? I’d say all things considered, Thia’s performance was the lowpoint of the night. But she’s not my loser of the night…. that would be Jacob. Ugh.
My prediction: Karen, Haley, Thia and Ashthon are all in trouble, I’d say. Since 3 of those 4 were voted into the top 10 by the fans (and, theoretically, have some sort of fanbase, one would think), things look bleak for Ashthon. She’s my pick to go home.
