REVIEW: Chantelle Paige & Dem Jointz – The Beautiful Minds EP

CHANTELLE PAIGE is a young California girl who grew up in the Bay Area and currently lives near Los Angeles. She has had a great deal of success in the realms of modelling, acting, dancing, academics and music.
Chantelle began modelling at the age of three and has been on the cover of over 35 catalogues, magazines, brochures and billboards. When she was 8, a "Chantelle" doll & book series were made in her name and image for a catalogue (Storybook Heirlooms) that she worked with for over ten years. If you were born after 1985, you most likely opened a toy box with her image on it when you were younger.
Despite her success in a variety of arenas, Chantelle's first love is music. She enjoys expressing herself through singing and songwriting. Her six-song Demo EP (April 2006) was produced by Tone, whose credits include artists such as Santana, Green Day, Outkast, Gwen Stefani, and The Black-Eyed Peas. The day after posting her first song on MySpace Music, Chantelle became one of the top 20 unsigned artists on the site. Since then, she has gained over 243,000+ fans and close to 6 million song spins (plays) on the popular website. She has recently opened for The Pussycat Dolls, Pretty Ricky, Bobbie Valentino and Robin Thicke...
Around 2006 Chantelle Paige joined Flipsyde & they released the second album of the band “State of Survival”. After that Chantelle returned to her solo career. It’s not sure whether the band has disbanned.

After the release of her demo EP “Like This” back in 2006, Chantelle is now back with the EP “The Beautiful Minds”

Tracklisting:
1. FIRST 2 FALL (ft GIF MAJORZ & MYKESTRO)
2. CELEBRITY
3. WAIT (ft GIF MAJORZ)
4. SUMMER LOVE
5. FIRST 2 FALL (Dance Mix ft H*WOOD)
6. IS THIS WHAT U LIKE
7. *BONUS* FULL ACCESS
8. **BONUS** STAY GONE

 

My personal favourite of the EP is the first song “First 2 Fall”, it’s got a very nice beat. The combination of Chantelle Paige with the male voice is very well nice. It’s a catch song, which you don’t want to end.

Further on the EP there is also the Remix of the song, featuring H*Wood, who was featured on an interview on this blog already.

“Wait” has got this old vibe going, the one like you would hear in the club back in the 50s-60s. “Summer Love” fits the summer perfectly, it’s laid back, you could just image hearing it while you’re on the beach or hanging out with friends, with view on the sea. It’s perfect.

If I’m right “Stay Gone” is a track that was released some time back already, it’s the first song I really heard of Chantelle and it makes you fall in love with her voice.

Katerina’s judgement: 10/10
I could listen to this one forever, definitely adding to my IPos

Samples:

At this moment you can buy the EP at a price of only $2.99 here. You can also download three out of the eight songs for free.

American Idol Season 9 Girls Night 2

Before I begin this terrible mess of an episode, let me ask:

Where are Michael Castro?  Margo May?  Jess Wolfe?  Are these groups of boys and girls the best Season 9 could offer?  Do you expect me to believe that? 

Yes, I've been stalling for two days.  CSI:NY, CSI:LV, and The Mentalist are definitely worth my time rather than reliving this mess.  I also watched this with my mother and thank goodness for that zinfandel that kept me sane.  It's like every episode, every time Ryan Seacrest says "the best in America", American Idol is becoming a farce.  You can blame this on Adam, Kris, Allison, and the whole Season 8 but you can put these Season 9-ers against the likes of Kristy Lee Cook and Kellie Pickler and they will still PHAIL.

Of course, there are exceptions.  But they are definitely not "instant winners" to me.  Usually, you can tell a potential winner this early.  I called Fantasia, Taylor-Katharine, Kris-Adam, Kelly Clarkson, and Carrie Underwood as early as the semifinals.  The closest to that with this bunch is Lee DeWyze of the boys.


Crystal Bowersox, Long As I Can See the Light
There's a couple of things I have to be thankful for: first is Crystal being okay; second, for putting her first up tonight; and, CRYSTAL, THANK YOU FOR AUDITIONING THIS YEAR.  THIS COMPETITION NEEDS YOU!  I love these kinds of arrangements, where the song starts off with almost no backing music and it's just the singer's voice.  That's when you can really hear the quality of it.  What I love about Crystal is that it so natural to her.  She doesn't have to push too hard.  She has control over her instrument.  Crystal, if ever I happen to pass by someone who sings like you at the subway, I'd definitely stop and take a listen.  Raw natural talent here, guys.

Haeley Vaughn, The Climb
Holy mother of the heavens.  I am about to dislike the only Miley Cyrus song I willingly listened to and even considered singing.  Look me in the eye and tell me that Haeley is better than Jess Wolfe or Margo May.  I dare you.  But then again, how can you fuck up such a simple song?  Easy, if you don't have the voice for it.  On paper, Miley songs would've worked well with her, age-wise and everything.  But she didn't connect with the song at all.  Nor sang it well.  Doesn't matter now.  She was eliminated.  Thank you, America.  I don't have to listen to her ever again.

Lacey Brown, Kiss Me
Oh god another one.  And way to take a critque seriously.  Kara suggested her to do Sixpence None The Richer songs last week; she mentioned this song even!  And guess what... Lacey listened.  Positive: this does suit her voice better than last week's song.  But she doesn't sound any better.  At least she did something different to it.  The performance had a karaoke-ish vibe (Randy picked that up).  And I get what Simon was trying to say.  Lacey was like singing for survival and not for the win.

Katie Stevens, Put Your Records On
Megan Joy's song.  Sorry, this will forever be Megan's song.  Here's the thing, if Haeley and Katie exchanged songs... it would've worked better for both of them.  To Katie's credit, she did a much better job than her fellow sixteen-year-old.  The thing with her is that I feel she is an old soul.  I imagine that if she goes younger than this song, she'll be singing nursery rhymes.  What else is out there?  Disney Channel shit?  Beibernation?  Simon will surely rip anyone who does that a new one. 

Didi Benami, Lean on Me
Whut?  Uhm, song choice fail.  Second part of the song completely left her.  She couldn't get her notes.  I don't get it.  She did something right by going indie with the Ingrid Michaelson song.  WTF happened here?  I don't get it.  Randy once again was spot on.  Didi was trying too hard to show she could do the stuff she actually cannot instead of showcasing the aspects she's good at.  It wasn't good.

[I seriously had to take a break after this.  Putting on a Bonnie & Clyde song before going forward.]

Michelle Delamor, With Arms Wide Open
Holy crap.  I just DO NOT FUCKING GET IT.  Why?!  *headdesk*  Honey, it's like you were trying too hard.  None of it made any sense.  Too bad, you were better than Lacey, vocally -- she stays and you were eliminated.  Nothing more to say on this one.

Lilly Scott, A Change is Gonna Come
I'm coming clean.  When Adam Lambert did this... I didn't like it as much as the Adam-public did.  I'm not going to compare this one to Adam's version though.  I like this one.  It has the sound that I often gravitate to when looking for cover versions.  Lilly's with Crystal in my book - she's real and she's believable. 

Katelyn Epperley, The Scientist
Wow she looks awesome.  This reminds me of Natasha Bedingfield's Radio 1 Live Lounge performance.  [Simon mentioned it in his critique.]  I'm with Ellen, it's a bit on the very slow side.  But the vocals are great.  She controls her voice so well.  And oh song choice win!

Paige Miles, Walk Away
By Kelly Clarkson, co-written by Kara DioGuardi.  For some reason, I really dig Paige's voice.  But I often forget about her.  Maybe that's what she needs to work on.  That aside, I like this performance.  She seems to put soul in anything she sings. 

Siobhan Magnus, Think
It's awesome that American Idol is setting up the dark horses, having them perform last.  Lee for the dudes and Siobhan for the girls.  I really like Siobhan.  She's "Kris-Allen-boring" when not singing but whatever.  I don't think she knows how good she is compared to these other girls.  Oh man, forget the others! 

Overall, it was a painful night.  Sure there were good ones but the bad ones were SO FUCKING BAD they made me hate the whole night.  Is this is America?  Wow, a far cry from last year's talent.

----
* Note: I started writing this review last night.  I was distracted by the CBS shows mentioned earlier, American Idiot Broadway cast pefroming at the USA/Vanity Fair event, and the London cast of Avenue Q.  And also, I just didn't want to do this.  I'm just in too deep to quit.

American Idol Season 9 Boys Night 2

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.

Andrew Garcia, You Give Me Something
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.

American Idol Season 9 Girls Night 1

Yeah, yeah. I'm exactly a week behind. But hey, better late than never.

When Season 9 started, I tried watching the auditions. I got through the first two - and Victoria Beckham - then lost interest. They stopped being funny or amusing. Even the "good" ones weren't that good anymore. I also wanted to watch Kristin Chenoweth but apparently she had less than ten minutes screen time. Meh. I have x number of "Wicked" videos to sate my Cheno love. Then Joe Jonas?! WTF. I never approved of guest judges during auditions anyway. They're more useful and amusing during the competition proper.

Unlike the boys and the hype some of them got, the girls had none. So I have no idea who these girls are nor have heard them sing anything prior to my viewing of their performance night. [Well, I saw that Portuguese girl's audition but it was more sob story than actual singing. Surprise.] In the past, I never rooted for a girl to win Idol unless she was really the best of the roster (ie Carrie Underwood). Let's see if we have a winner here.





"On this stage right now, the competition begins." - Randy Jackson.  [Yes.  Because on the semifinal stage, that's where a huge chunk of fanbase is created.]

Paige Miles, All Right Now
She started off okay.  I mean, coming on first is huge.  The backup singers overpowered her a bit during the chorus but she took on the riffs well.  But the banging on the microphone.  Please don't do that.  Her voice reminds me of Allion Iraheta for some reason.  It has that raspiness and the range (and they start all the words with an H).  She could've chosen a different song though.

Ashley Rodriguez, Happy
Geez.  To take on Leona Lewis in front of Simon Cowell.  The guy wrote a song for her!  And personally, Leona Lewis should be in the "Do not even attempt to sing" list together with Beyonce, Mariah, and "My Heart Will Go On.  Ashley fell apart on that first glory note and to the chorus.  It was all over the place.  She was too loud and her notes were sharp.  I agree with Randy when he said that she'll be compared to the original singer.  She didn't do squat to that song.  It was predictable - she has the look and probably the sound of Leona-ish singers.  [She got eliminated.  Well, between her and another girl that will come later, I would let her stick around longer.]

Janell Wheeler, What About Love
Simon said no during the auditions based on her voice.  Uhm, that can't be good.  Isn't this a singing competition?  Heart (band) songs are HUGE.  Ann Wilson's voice is so powerful.  And Janell's wasn't.  It's so thin and weak.  The acoustic-y song she did during Hollywood week worked because the style meshed well with her voice.  Going from that to a power ballad, didn't work at all.  Instead of her conrolling the song, it overpowered her.  [Like Ashley, she also got cut.  Oh well, would they need another Haley Scarnato?]

Lilly Scott, Fixing A Hole
First of three Beatles songs (in a row).  She has this Indie vibe to her voice which I like.  Her phrasing is interesting.  She's definitely different but believable.  I think she actually knows who she is musically and ran with that.  She didn't try to sing some well-known big diva or female rock song to impress.  She just did her thing and it paid off really well.

Katelyn Epperly, Oh! Darling
Ooh that promotional photo of her is pretty.  With the second Beatles song, Katelyn brought with her a loungey vibe.  Her whole get-up reminds me of Madonna in the "Crazy for You" video.  This girl can sing!  She has control over her instrument.  And I see a little Megan Joy in her.  That quirkiness and showmanship.  Like Randy said, the other girls were concerned of impressing the judges (really, it's for the judges) with huge songs and vocals.  Katelyn kept it to the level where she's comfortable.  I like her.

Haeley Vaughn, I Want to Hold Your Hand
Dear Lord.  I liked the two previous renditions of Beatles songs.  But this?  I happen to like this song the most out of the three but if we're talking about the girls' performances... I hated this one.  I called it a "horror" in my previous post.  Well, IT IS.  It was so painful to listen to this.  (I did this same song but in the style of the "Across the Universe" OST.  I imagine if she used that instead of the original mix, it would've fared better for her.)  I think she couldn't hear herself or the backing music.  It was terrible.  DX  [Between her and Ashley, I'd go with Ashley.]

Lacey Brown, Landslide
Oh!  I actually remember her from Season 8.  She was the one paired with Megan Joy in the faceoff.  I voted for Megan to stay and she did.  Lacey was eliminated.  And now she's back.  So she's the redhead of Season 9.  It seems that ever Idol season, there is a redhead.  Erm... the moment she started singing reminded me why I wanted Megan Joy to stay instead of her.  Was she trying to sound Indie?  It's not a good fit.  I didn't get her version. 

Michelle Delamor, Fallin'
Girl looks like Jordin Sparks a bit.  Hmm, she changed the key.  It works for her.  Yet, Alicia Keys is once again one of those "untouchable" artists unless you do something drastic to the song.  The key change helped her.  The glory note in the end was nice.  The performance was pretty clean; as Simon said, "professional". 

Didi Benami, The Way I Am
I like Indie Pop.  And I love Ingrid Michaelson and this song to bits!  This Didi girl reminds me of Brooke White.  She probably has the same sound.  I mean, that's probably the only possible way you can sing this song.  (I did.  And it still sounded indie.)  Her take on "Terrified" was great -- it sounded contemporary pop ballad.  I don't get why she's boxing herself into the indie sound.  Well, I did like her performance.  But it is not something I'd remember.  I'm with Ellen when she said that the song is not a frontrunner song.  It's just a part of a set. 

Siobhan Magnus, Wicked Game
I love this Chris Isaak song.  (How many girls are with nose piercings this year?)  She's a bit nasal.  But geez, this song is so sexy!  Here's a positive, her stayed on key the whole time.  I like this low-key performance.  Dark horse?  Too early to tell but she's good.  (Will she be like the early Kris Allen?  Lots of talent, no personality.)

Crystal Bowersox, Hand In My Pocket
Interesting.  A harmonica + guitar combo.  And she sings!  Very well, I might add.  Oh man, I am liking this.  I like her phrasing and her whole vibe is just so cool.  Like the other girl, Crystal is believable and original.  She knows who she is.  She's definitely different and interesting.  I want to see her in the Top 12.

Katie Stevens, Feeling Good
This is the Portuguese girl, right?  Oh I watched her audition and sob story.  She looks so much like... wait for it... Tatiana del Toro.  Oh god, you can say it's the Michael Buble version but ever since Season 8, it's an Adam Lambert song.  Big voice.  But isn't she what... 17?  The song, get-up, performance made her seem old.  Maybe it's one of those "big song to impress" kind of performances.  Meah.

So Ashley and Janell were eliminated.  Shit, I don't think I can stand another week of Haeley Vaughn.

The girls definitely are more interesting than the dudes.  Is season 9 for the girls?  Maybe.  Don't rule out the "cute/hot" votes.  Like in my previous review, I still don't have a winner.  As I type this, Boys Night #2 is airing over at the East Coast.  Reading tweets about it, it's another painful one.  As Youtube personality, Michael Buckley tweeted about ten minutes ago, "It's "Something you may night know about me night" on American Idol. I'm waiting for one of them to say " I CAN SING"."

Ouch.

American Idol Season 9 Boys Night 1

Hiya!

I am about a week late and totally ignored the whole audition process of this American Idol 9. Yes, I'm afraid Season 8 spoiled me. Writing up a review of this season's performances should be interesting. I have no idea who these people are and how well they did in the previous rounds. This will be what Simon says, "If I'm living under a rock and this is the first time I heard that performance/song..." -- complete the sentence.

I'm quite active on Twitter and I follow a shitton of Idol fans. For the first performance night - the Girls - the response wasn't so good. [I did watch the Girls' night already; review to follow]. My mom caught a portion of it and walked away after that horror, I Want To Hold Your Hand. Then the Boys' night. My mom said it was better than the Girls' but the Twitteratti begged to differ.

So let's see, shall we?



It’s totally different here [live show] than at home… you hear every single flaw [at home]. So if we’re saying you don’t sound so good here, you sound worse at home.” -- Ellen Degeneres.

Todrick Hall, Since You've Been Gone
One word: PRETENTIOUS.  Like Randy said, the song was unrecognizable.  I love the original from Kelly Clarkson.  So I was trying to sort of sing along with this and man, I kept of thinking, "Is this the same song?"  Simon had a better word for it: murdered.  It was.  I dare you to tell me it was not.  Did I like it?  The chorus part was out of place with the whole song.  But hey, at least he thought of changing it.  Performance-wise, sure.  He had presence. 

Aaron Kelly, Here Comes Goodbye
A sixteen-year-old.  Yipee.  [I feel mighty old.]  I love the quality of his voice.  A bit nasal but his Angel performance sounded great.  Aaron let his voice do the work for him, unlike the previous one who danced and jumped around.  It was kind of boring if you're watching it but if you're just listening to it, it's pretty good.  His reactions to critique reminds me of David Archuleta, only less annoying and less ass-kissing.

Jermaine Sellers, Get Here
I love this song.  My unofficial title for it is "Railway", dating back to my Center For Pop Music days.  Anyway, Jermaine started off sharp and lost me when he did the riffs -- not even ten seconds in the song.  And it was downhill from there.  Ouch.  Just ouch.  It's a simple enough song to be safe.  But it's easy to mess it up as well.  The riffs and the falsetto just wasn't doing it.  When the judges begin the critique by praising the way you look, it's not good for your vocals.  You know, that "throw the man under the bus" bit he did was better than the whole song.

Tim Urban, Apologize
Ah so he's the replacement for that guy who got disqualified, right?  He's cute.  But then again, "cute" stopped becoming a selling point for Idol in Season 6.  For the record, when Kris Allen did this song live, I loved the performance but not so much the studio recording.  Tim, what's the the falsetto?  You do not have that, dude.  Whoo-ouch.  I wish he went with a Train (the band) song or at the very least, Owl City's "Fireflies".  As per Simon, I agree.  They made the right choice of cutting him the first time.  Having said that, why is Tim #25 in the roster?  Why is he the first in the waiting list?  Like I've said, I have not watched the auditions so I have no bet as to who would be a better replacement.  What do you think?

Joe Munoz, You and I Both
Okay, it's tough to sing Mraz.  I like how fresh his vocals are, how easy it seems for him.  He was in the moment and very confident.  But if I don't already know the words to the song, I couldn't understand a word he was singing.  It was good but it was SAFE.  Now, I know that Joe was one of the 2 boys who were eliminated.  Yet based on these first 5 so far... America, you got it wrong.

Tyler Grady, American Woman
Holy shit, you're 20?!  Out of all the guys, he was the one who got the most buzz, the most hype.  My twitter timeline saw a lot of him.  I did see his first audition and he reminded me so much of Mika.  The judges sort of liked him.  The fangirls loved him.  I didn't get him.  So okay, he was sent to Hollywood.  But did he deliver on the big stage?  Or is he another one of those image first, talent second?  This song is not really a "singer" song.  it's a rock and roll, rock out song.  Erm, what the hell was that?  The image thing didn't work.  Neither did the "vocals", which were next to non-existent.  I hate to say this but he came across to me as a poseur.  Simon mentioned: cliche, pretend, unnatural, gimmick... all of those.  "Style over substance," as Randy said.  At least Season 8's Nick Mitchell had a voice.  [I know he was also eliminated.  You redeemed yourself, America.  Sorry fangirls.]

Lee Dewyze, Chasing Cars
Dude, you look like Danny Gokey.  Just putting it out there.  Ooh, his voice is interesting, raspy.  Reminiscent of well... Snow Patrol (haha), Kings of Leon (edit: Randy, I typed this out before I watched you mention them) and erm... sort of like Gokey.  The chorus got waaaay off key.  Nerves maybe?  Because that instant he went off, it went all the way through the song.  But I do like his voice a lot.  With the right song, he's going to be great.  I hope he goes into the Top 12.

John Park, God Bless the Child
Very deep voice.  Very unbecoming of his look.  Eh... he started off the song flat.  And kept at it.  It's as if he could not hear himself.  He kept searching for the right key but goes right back to that initial flat note he started with.  The song is too low for him.  And also, work on your diction, dude.  It was just so boring.  And it was just all over the place.

Michael Lynche, This Love
They call him "Big Mike".  Big guy.  Aw, he's a new daddy.  Well, congratulations on that.  And the song, wow I didn't expect that from him.  I like it!  Very fresh.  The guitar-playing, dude, it's what I call the "Kris Allen Effect".  You play the guitar but it's not heard at all.  I think this is what the first performer was gunning for: making the song his own.  Big Mike pulled it off.  Todrick didn't.  I love Mike's personality.  But I'm afraid, he'll be fodder.

Alex Lambert, Wonderful World
I must admit, the first time I saw his name in the spoilers list, I snorted.  Seriously, having a Lambert after Adam Lambert last year.  Haha dude, I know it's not your fault but wow. Well, well... I didn't expect that voice coming from him.  He's a bit uncomfortable to watch.  He looked like a deer caught in the headlights (oh fudge you, cliche).  Alex reminds me of Elliott Yamin voice-wise.  Raw, natural talent... the tone of his voice is awesome.  He just needs the polishing and performance.

Casey James, Heaven
Oh this is the hot guy everyone's in the Idolsphere is talking about.  He looks like Max Hodges of TMZ.  And yeah, you're right.  He's good-looking.  A bit distracting, yes.  But anyway, I do like his voice too.  It seems easy for him.  And I actually heard his guitar while he was playing it!  [Yes, it matters to me.]  Oh man, he is distracting.  [So for the second half of the song, I covered the screen and just listened.]  He did an okay job on the song.  I mean, with Heaven (Bryan Adams), you can only do so much with that song.  It was a great song choice for Casey.  He'll stick around for a long time, I'm sure.

Andrew Garcia, Sugar, We're Going Down
Ah the one who garnered the MOST hype.  I have people on my Twitter going absolutely batshitcrazy over him, searching out his youtube videos and all that.  I checked one or two videos, they were good but not exactly my cup of tea.  But hey, Idol is different.  I can hear his guitar so that's a plus.  It was nice.  At least, he somewhat justified the hype surrounding him (unlike Tyler).  But that's it.  Nothing more to say about this performance.  A downer, really.

So that's it.  American Idol Season 9 boys.  Unlike last year - and the years before that - I have no surefire winner.  Same with the girls.  I don't know; maybe it's because Season 8 left me spoiled and jaded.  Though, I am not alone.  MTV news producer and American Idol superfan Jim Cantiello tweeted, "I hate to sound like a crazy fanboy, but wow. So far season 9 is making me miss...talent. #RIPIdol".  For him to say that is huge.  After sitting through this first round, I sort of agree.  Try and you might, you cannot help but compare Season NINE with the previous seasons.  I know it should be a clean slate every time a season starts but after last year, it's will take a gargantuan effort to top what Adam Lambert, Kris Allen, et al. did.