As the second results show wind down for us here in the West Coast, I shall relive the Boys Performance Night #2. The top 10 boys of Season 9 (seriously?) go at it again for America's votes.
For a change, I watched this when it aired on TV. My mom made me do it. Figured she didn't want to go through it alone so I joined her. Now my question is do I really want to relive it one more time? Er, not really but for the sake of reviewing the awfulness, here I am. The girls should've gone first but contestant Crystal Bowersox was hospitalized. The guys were informed the morning of Tuesday that they will perform that night instead. Oh-kay. Let's do this.
"Fear of the unknown..." -- Kara DioGuardi. [Heh. After last week, it's fear of knowing what's coming up that's bothering me.]
Michael Lynche, It's a Man's Man's Man's World
Oh he's like a real-life Finn Hudson! Doing musical theatre and football. I like him, I want him to do well. The song showed his range but it stayed there in the higher register. So to me, it seemed a bit monotone. Randy gave him a standing ovation. Well, I wouldn't but then again, this fits Michael more than "This Love" (geez, I had to look it up; CRS). He did own the stage with that song.
John Park, Gravity
John Park singing John Mayer. Purple Haze, his music group in college, want him to lose so they can have him back to sing with them. They got their wish! John was eliminated tonight. Why? Pitch problems left and right -- once he lost the note, he lost the song. Gosh, that was boring. Better song choice, sure. But John didn't connect at all with the song.
Casey James, I Don't Wanna Be
Oh man, Mr. Distracting on electric guitar. Okay - covering the video window now. I happen to LOVE this song. My favorite Idol version is from Bo Bice. Shit, that was HAWT. The thing with Casey, you don't need to watch him to enjoy his performance. He has the voice to perform for him. (Of course, watching him has its benefits.) Comparing this to last week, I have to say, he's consistent.
"Heaven" is a rock-ish song. "I Don't Wanna Be" definitely is one, too. It's a great performance. Fangirl votes + actual talent votes will take him to Top 12 for sure.
Alex Lambert, Everybody Knows
Mr. Lambert playing the gee-tar too. The tone of his voice still surprises me. He has the indie, Newton Faulkner-ish vibe. The number one improvement I saw in Alex is the stage presence. He has it now! Maybe it's the security having his guitar with him. He is definitely one of the better singers of the whole pack. And whoa, to have Simon say he wants to pick a song for you -- that's HUGE. Remember last season? Simon handpicked two songs for that other Lambert? Yeah. Look at how well it worked for him.
That is one of the reasons why I absolutely LOVE Simon Cowell on that Idol panel. Sure, he's straight-forward and [to others] a bit mean, but he speaks the truth. He knows the industry. He knows what he wants - or what will make him the most money. Tsk, and 95% of the time, he's right. Moving on...
Todrick Hall, What's Love Got to Do with It
Honey, stick to the dancing. You're obviously better at it. Also, you are no David Cook or Adam Lambert. (Coincidentally, Adam Lambert has a version of this song.) Sure, you want to change the arrangement of songs but unlike the two previously mentioned, you're not good at it. The song got lost in the styling. It came across as yet another indulgent and pretentious performance. It's like Todrick had to change a song in order for it to work for him. What's wrong with just singing? Have your voice do the work. Maybe Todrick doesn't have much to work with. Whatever. He stays for another week. Want to bet that he'll be singing a song plain and the judges will complain about it being boring? [More on that in another post.]
Jermaine Sellers, What's Going On
No. GTFO. No. This will go down in my Idol History as one of the most annoying performances ever. Auditions included. Jermaine simply does NOT get it. Nuh-uh, not at all. While he was being critiqued, he had a barrage of smartass comments. I shall get to it one by one later. As for the singing, WHY THE FUCK WAS HE IN THE TOP 24 to begin with? The judges are nice enough not to outright say it's BAAAAD. Okay, on to what Jermaine said:
- "If I pull it back anymore..." -- like with Todrick, maybe Jermaine does not have much to work with. He needs to force the song to work for him.
- "I want you to come to church with me..." -- or some crap like that. Listen dude, AMERICAN IDOL =/= CHURCH. Hell, church people don't even sing like that. How many previous Idol contestants came from a church background? A lot. Did they sound as outrageous(ly bad) as that? No.
- "What should I sing next week?" -- why should they give you a specific song? So if it fails, you can blame them? It's a good thing you won't be around next week.
- "I know God." -- yes, and He is telling you that singing ain't for you, son. I just HATE it when... nevermind.
Forgive me, fangirls, I am not feeling him. But I love this song so let's see. Maybe this is a song he won't mess with as much. I like it. Sure, he's tons better than most of the dudes. Yeah, he's okay. I sort of agree with what Ellen said about him setting the bar so high with "Straight Up". I hate to mention Adam Lambert so much in this post but that was one of the concerns for him last season. Week after week, he gives awesome performances. People were worried that he'll never top "Whole Lotta Love" but he came on with Simon's pick, "One" and blew it out of the water. Andrew needs to do the same. ONE amazing performance to trump "Straight Up". Maybe it won't come during the semis. He's surely into the Top 12 anyway. Worry about it then.
Seriously. The judges look like they don't know what hit them. Well, you guys chose them. Suffer with us.
Aaron Kelly, My Girl
This is one of the songs I want Stark Sands to sing. The younger dudes are actually better than the older ones. This song is another one of those you can't change too much. I really like Aaron's voice. If Alex fits the indie mold, Aaron is more on the mainstream pop side. Ran out of breathe on that last "my girl..." hee! As Kara said, he's been consistent. Simon didn't like it, saying it's a bit old fashioned. Yet again, "My Girl" is one of those "so simple yet so hard" songs.
Tim Urban, Come On Get Higher
Why is he still here again? Oh, because he's cute. Joe Munoz > Tim Urban. Just sayin'. Geez louise, first line in, he went terribly offkey. Seriously judges, WHY? Mr. Producer, who was #14 for the boys? Fuck, that last word/note, offkey x 10. Well well... Ellen suggested he tries acting instead of singing. "You can also sing a little." Shit man, a little! Is that a hint, Ellen? Kara, "You look the part, play the part..." but? One positive here -- and probably why he wasn't eliminated -- this performance was better than "Apologize".
Lee DeWyze, Lips of An Angel
GAHD! I flove this song! I like Lee. Something about him - even if he looks like Danny Gokey - I like a lot. I love that he closed the show. I mean, after the barrage of voices from plain to terrible, his unique tone is refreshing. And this song! Guys, this is the one to beat. And he didn't have to do a lot to take control of the stage. He was so believable. He owned it. To note, in the recap montage, I actually liked what he did in that better than what he did during the performance proper.
It's very good that the night ended with Lee. It made the night bearable. And to be honest, his is the only perfromance I remember. Oh and Jermaine's shenanigans. Short-term memory kicks in when the performances are blah.
Holy fuck. I tried remembering what the dudes did last week and for the life of me... I CAN'T REMEMBER SHIT. See! Last week's were fucking awful. The judges more or less told 3 dudes to quit the singing gig. As they should. I'm glad the judges are at least hinting to stuff like that now. In the previous seasons, they wouldn't even suggest another track for a contestant. Well, Paula might have something to do with the sugarcoating. I miss her though.
And I miss talent.
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