I can't get no satisfaction from the judges
At times while watching the contestants on American Idol, I feel as though someone has trapped me inside a sensory deprivation chamber when the judges begin their critiques on the performances.
Last night, I failed to understand what the judges heard, compared to what I heard while the top 12 American Idol contestants sang Rolling Stones hits.
I like the later Rolling Stones and Mick Jagger on his own, better than the first hits put out in the 60's. I hoped that the contestants would perform Angie and Under My Thumb. Simon, however, not only does not like, Under my Thumb, he seems to dislike the music of the Rolling Stones. He amazes me all the time regarding his taste in music, including his dislike for country music, and his opinion on Broadway tunes. This became a running theme last night as the top 12 did their best to secure a spot in the American Idol finale show for Season 9.
Michael Lynch is fast becoming a frontrunner for the title this year. His performance of This Woman's Work last week, showed his versatility and talent, as an artist. He has always shown his humbling and gracious nature. He performed the Rolling Stones' Kiss You, and while it was never one of my favorites, I did enjoy his rendition of it. All the judges liked it, and Kara even managed to say so after babbling on about something. Ellen told him at some point she will disappointed in him, and at some point I want someone to tell me what makes her an expert on anything but comedy.
The antics between Ryan and Simon continued last night as Simon pretended to be annoyed at Ryan for trying to elaborate on the judges' comments. Sometimes Ryan's comments are a tad irritating, but it is all part of the fun of American Idol, I suppose.
I give Michael an A for his performance, even if Simon thought some of his dancing on stage, was corny. Corny can be good.
Didi Benami showed off those wonderful vocals she has last night. I did not care for the song and thought it was is too slow and too boring. She sang Play with Fire and sounded great, regardless of the song choice she made. The judges liked it but thought she could do better.
Kara mentioned the word 'push' for the first time, but it would not be the last time we hear that word during the two-hour performance show.
I give Didi a B for performance; only because I think she should pick songs that are more upbeat from now on in.
Casey James' performance of It's All Over Now...no, that is not what I was going to say...was just okay. I do not see in him what the judges see, and I think he is perhaps a better vocalist than previous rockers on Idol, but not as appealing. They need to stop talking about his sex appeal and his looks. I do not see what the big deal is, but maybe the younger crowd does. He did okay with the song and was the first time of the night that I thought I was in a sensory deprivation chamber during his performance. That is because the judges loved it, except Simon said it was more like 'an audition performance.
I liked the instruments in Season 7, but this year I do not think it is helping the contestants at all, and that is why I gave Casey a C for his performance. I just thought it was average.
Lacey Brown is one contestant that I cannot even judge, because I do not think she sings well at all. I think she sings through her nose constantly and I did not hear what the judges heard last night for the second time. They actually liked her performance so much they really made me doubt that they are judging her on her singing. She has a modern look that young girls will like probably voted for her last week based on that more than on her singing ability. I failed to get the whole "bra outside the shirt" outfit, but this is about the singing, right?
I give her a D for her rendition of Ruby Tuesday.
Andrew Garcia is in trouble again this week. He has been in trouble since the judges picked him as one of the 24 contestants. I cannot understand why he has not been able to sound the same as he did during the Hollywood round of performances. He sang the Stones' Give Me Shelter. Ellen liked it, and even stated, "But what do I know"? Those are my thoughts exactly, Ellen.
I give him a D as well and the only reason he did not get an E from me is because he has a nice voice but he is not letting us hear it so far during the competition phase where the voters judge.
Katie Stevens is the pleasant surprise for me this season. She does have the voice of an older more refined singer and I think she is giving some of the other girls a run for their money this year. She performed Wild Horses and made it sound like a completely different song than the version The Rolling Stones put out. I liked it a lot and thought she sounded great. Simon did not care for the second half of her performance but told Katie that she connected with the song and he said, "Well done".
I agreed with Simon and gave Katie an A for her performance.
Tim Urban looked and sounded even more like David Cassidy of Partridge Family fame, than he already did. Unfortunately, I do not thing his voice was any near as good as David's. He performed my favorite Stones' song, Under My Thumb, like a hokey, jazzy, country tune and it was, as the judges said, "just bizarre". They did like that he took a chance and did something different with the song, staying true to what type of artist he wanted to show he is. Simon lost a little more credibility with me when he said it was a boring song. I hope he was talking about Tim's rendition and not the hit the Rolling Stones made out of it.
I gave him a B for his imitation of David Cassidy, intentional or no, but a C for his weird performance.
Siobhan Magnus sang Paint it Black and she painted the performance gold last night. I thought I noticed that Ellen is the only judge pronouncing her first name right, with a v and not a b, but my son says I am wrong. Anyway, one note she hit was out of this world and something I have never heard from any other contestant on all of the seasons of American Idol. In my opinion, she is better than Kelly Clarkson, by a mile. The judges all agreed it was a standout performance and the best of the night. Kara went so far as to say she is the 'Adam Lambert' of this season. So far, I am agreeing with Kara more than I would like.
I gave her an A+ and I think she is the one to beat this season.
Lee Dewyze, according to my husband, a huge Rolling Stones' fan, said he did a good job of the song, Beast of Burden. He happened to be in the room for the second time this season, not watching the show, because he does not care for it. He did like Adam Lambert, though. Besides not having much to do with it, I thought Lee sounded good but did, as the judges mentioned, fail to put that oomph into it that Mick Jagger does when he pronounces the 'B's' in that song, like Beast of Burden. Other than that, I enjoyed his performance very much. I just wish he would lose the guitar. I liked it when Daughtry hugged the microphone as he sang and I think Lee should do that more as well.
In addition, I wanted to point out a moment of confusion for me. Ellen said it was a great performance but she wanted more than great. More than great would be Adam Lambert, and he is not a contestant this season. Besides Randy agreed with me and thought it was 'dope'.
I gave him an A- for his Beast of Burden performance.
Paige Miles finally reached the point for me that showed off her vocals for what they are. She performed Honky Tonk Woman, and I first I was concerned about how she could make the song suitable for a female, but she did it and did it well. It was finally a fast-paced song and her best performance for me so far. Ellen said she had star quality, Randy liked it, and I sided with both of them. She has the vocals and the beautiful eyes that add to her stage presence. I liked the way she moved around on stage during her performance.
I gave Paige an A for the first time this season on Idol.
Aaron Kelly sang the ballad Angie and I liked it a lot. He seemed older than he is as he performed a sad song about love that many teenagers experience but not understand until they are older. You would not know that was the case listening to Aaron sing last night. He reminded Randy of a younger Justin Timberlake and Ellen said he and Siobhan were the best so far that night. Kara even said he connected with his performance as Simon told him he picked the right song.
I agreed with all of the judges and thought it was an A performance.
Crystal Bowersox does sing without an ounce of effort, as the judges say. About her performance of You Can't Always Get What You Want, Ellen, and Kara rambled on about her personality and appearing uncomfortable. I think rambled on about how they were just wrong and delusional. Simon told Crystal that Siobhan beat her in the competition last night, even though he thought Crystal was a clear favorite with fans. Siobhan may have beat Crystal with her performance last night, as Simon said. I agree with him, but if I say that, I also have to say that Siobhan beat Lacey and Didi to a pulp. If you are going to be brutally honest as Simon claims he is, he should have said that to all the other girls, and to the guys, while he was at it.
I gave Crystal a B+ only because it came off as a completely different song than the original for me.
My pick for best and worst female was Siobhan and Lacey, respectively. My picks for the males were Casey and Andrew equally.
I think tonight starts the 'bottom 3' on Idol with the least amount of votes. My choice for the bottom 3 would be Lacey, Andrew, and Casey, with Lacey my choice for going home.
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