Idol 2013: It Begins!

Idol has finally begun! Well, for me anyway. As I wrote a couple weeks ago, this is where I'm beginning Idol. I could continue to write an intro, but it'd really end up being exactly what I wrote before. So, let's get to it:

Ladies Night in Vegas: The Top 10

Zoanette Johnson  "What's Love Got to Do With It?" by Tina Turner
It's fitting that the Vegas set Idol is working with tonight reminds me of The Voice... because this performance reminded me of The Voice. You know: loud, messy, pointless.... Eek.

Breanna Steer "Flaws and All" by Beyonce
I don't know what that was. I'm going to call that a terrible song choice, because I have no idea what Breanna is capable of going by this performance.

Aubrey Cleland "Big Girls Don't Cry" by Fergie
Nerves? Too big a song for her voice? Hard to tell. The verses were fine, but her voice didn't soar like it should have in the chorus. Best of the three so far, but not spectacular.

Janelle Arthur "If I Can Dream" by Elvis
Randy calls for her to do something more throwback and classic-country... agreed completely. He meant it as a compliment, but I don't. The song is so simple, and Janelle tried to do too much to make it too modern, which didn't work for me. Definitely the best so far, but again, that's not saying a whole heck of a lot.

Tenna Torres "Lost" by Faith Hill
I think a more fitting title for this performance might be "lost lyrics"... It seems to me that Teena cared more about how her voice wrapped itself around the song than the diction. And that wrapping (which is how I can best describe it) was kind of sloppy. Interesting.

Angie Miller "Never Gone" by Colton Dixon
Now this is what I'm talking about. Give me an artist sanging what they believe in at the piano (yes, sanging), and I'm happy. While her tone did some weird things (perhaps it was the song, which I don't know), that performance was fantastic. Call me a sucker, but I loved that.

Amber Holcomb "I Believe in You and Me" by Whitney Houston
Whitney is such a boring, predictable choice. Always with the Whitney! But in any case, Amber sounded pretty good, overall, if a tad inconsistent. At times she sounded like she was trying to emulate Whitney (you will fail), at times she sounded a bit amateurish. But at times, it clicked in a big way. Next time... move away from Whitney.

Kree Harrison "Stronger" by Faith Hill
There it is. Not a perfect vocal by any means, but definitely the best vocal of the night so far. And I love the natural-feeling confidence Kree exudes... I can't even explain it. Loved me some Angie, but Kress is my favorite so far.

Adriana Latonio "Stand Up for Love" by Destiny's Child
Rough. It seems like the whole performance was built around the big moments of the song, and it was really shaky otherwise. And even the big parts didn't work.

Candice Glover "Ordinary People" by John Legend
Not my style of music, but Candice nailed this performance. Absolutely nailed it in every way possible. Sorry Kree, Candice wins tonight.

Wrap Up

Some contestants absolutely nailed it tonight: big ups to Candice, Kree and Angie. But a big 'ole eek to Zoanette, Adriana and Breanna. We shall see how things work out, but there's a pretty clear separation, at least at the top end.

Before I reveal how I'll be voting, I need to touch on two new things to Idol 2013: the new judges and the app.

The Judges. As I wrote before, I really dislike Nicki Minaj. But you know what? I'm eating crow tonight. While I still don't like her whole schtick or whatever you want to call it, I absolutely loved her as a judge tonight. I found myself agreeing with her almost every single time, and I loved how she got her opinions across: shockingly succinct and often hilarious. I also enjoyed Keith Urban, but it did seem like he was coming across as the dreaded "nice judge". I would comment on Mariah... but she was on the other side of Randy, who gets fast forwarded through. Sorry Mariah.

The App. This thing is a beauty. When Seacrest first started chatting it up, I was reminded of the pretty crappy X Factor app, but the Idol one is lightyears better. Why? BECAUSE IT WORKS. Even though I was watching the show on DVR, the live-sync feature works beautifully, giving me all sorts of info on the contestants and the songs they were singing (which is good, because I didn't know a number of them tonight). The app also allows very simple voting, something I'll be taking part in this year (fun fact: I've only voted for Idol once, the season 9 final. Kris Allen all night long, baby.). Also, because of the way you allot votes, that is how I'll be "scoring" each night on Idol. So without further adieu...

Timm's Votes

Janelle - 3
Angie - 14
Kree - 16
Candice - 17

Candice won the night, but I can already tell Kree and Angie will likely emerge as my favorites. I also threw a few votes Janelle's way, because I appreciate a good country singer. Obviously, I would move those three on, with the fifth advancing female being Amber. And really, it's not even that close for me. Naturally, I'll be horribly, horribly wrong. But whatever.