Last night's American Idol performances left me thinking, once again, that I should get a hearing aid. I do not know what the judges heard last night, but I think it has something to do with Simon already predicting that female, probably Crystal Bowersox, will win the title this year.
Last night's theme was R&B. I knew a few contestants would do well, and I knew the judges would criticize others no matter how they sounded. However, I was unprepared for some of the critiques.
This year, the producers are adding too much to the performance shows, as well as the results' shows. I do not want to see the judges 'making out' or pretending to make out. They can leave that out of the show from now on. What I did not made was the reactions of the contestants backstage, of the judges' comments. That is something we have not seen them do, except for the occasional backtalk we see from the contestants to the judges. Hearing them talk about it offstage is a much better idea, I believe. The sensual connotations they can lose immediately, because that does nothing for me.
I also would like to say something that does not have to do with the contestants' singing ability, but rather the arrogant attitude of Simon Cowell, that is wearing thin this season.
I noticed at least once before, that Simon was mispronouncing Siobhan Magnus' name. You pronounce the 'bh' as a 'v' like shi-vawn. I do not mean to nit-pick, but because I am Irish, I know that. Even Ryan Seacrest pronounced it right. The older crowd who watch the soap opera, Ryan's Hope knew remembers Siobhan Ryan, played by Marg Helgenberger of CSI.
The reason I bring this up now, is that last season, the judges had a long discussion about one of the contestants' names. It was all in an attempt to prove that Simon was ignorant. One of the contestant's names was Lil Rounds and Simon had trouble saying the name. He even asked if "Lil" was short for another name, or if it meant little. The other judges and Ryan ragged on Simon for it, as if Lil was a name you would hear quite often.
No one corrected Simon last night when he mispronounced Siobhan's name and after receiving nasty comments for my pointing out that people other than Simon thought Lil was not a normal name, I decided I would point this one out.
Usher mentored the American Idol contestants last night, and I thought he did a great job. He was helpful, gave great advice, and told the contestants where they could make improvements.
Siobhan Magnus sang Chaka Khan's Through the Fire. I thought she sang the note in a key higher than what she would normally sing, because she did sound pitchy to me in spots, as Randy noted. I did not understand Ellen's comment about Siobhan "freaking out" during the performance, though, and I agreed with Kara that Siobhan seemed nervous. She does have a powerful voice and one you would not expect to come out of a girl whose speaking voice is very soft-spoken. Mispronouncing her name was not enough for Simon who had to insult her by telling her she was kidding herself if she thought the performance was good.
I gave her a B for her performance, even though I did not like the song.
Casey James sang Sam and Dave's Hold On, I'm Comin', and although I thought he did a good job with the song, I did not think it was as great as the judges did. I was a little bothered by his constant lip pursing and smiling through most of the song. He does remind me of Bo Bice, one of the first rockers on American Idol. However, since Bo's appearance on American Idol, there have been quite a few rockers, and in my opinion, they were all more talented than either Bo or Casey.
I gave him a B for his performance, not the A+ Simon did.
Michael Lynche sang Ready for Love by India Arie. I never heard this song before and I thought Michael performed it well. I like his personality and I think it comes across as he performs. He appears to be a devoted family man, and he seems to feel the words of the songs he sings. I thought Michael has an R&B sound and I think he could have a nice career in this field.
I gave Michael an A for his performance.
Didi Benami sang one of my favorites, What Becomes of the Brokenhearted. I agreed with the judges who said that it was flat and pitchy. Ellen thought it was too dramatic and Kara thought she overdid it. I think Kara overdid her critique when she said 'girl' to Didi trying to show a little R&B of her own, but it did not work for me.
I like the unique sound in Didi's voice, but she did not put enough into that classic song and made it sound boring.
I give her a D and think she may be in danger tonight.
Tim Urban, apparently known as Teflon Tim for his ability to take a beating from the judges and not lose his joyful attitude, sang Anita Baker's Sweet Love.
I think the judges are exceptionally and excessively tough on Tim this year. He is definitely not anywhere near as bad as the judges, especially Simon, claim.
I like Tim's voice and I would hope that he does have a large fan base consisting of young girls, who see him as those in my generation, saw David Cassidy. I also think Simon is making it all too obvious that he does want a girl to win this year. To me, it appears Simon tries to sway voters away from some of the better contestants in the competition. Sarcastically, he tells Tim that his fans will vote for him no matter what, but I think he is being unfair insinuating that Tim is not there because of his talent.
I give Tim a B for his performance. I think he should have shown a little more emotion with the song and it did not exactly scream out R&B, but I thought it was a good vocal performance.
Andrew Garcia sang Forever by Chris Brown. To me it feels like Andrew has been around forever, and should not be. I do not know what the judges, other than Simon, were listening to while Andrew performed, but I did not 'get it' as they like to say. He appears to try to imitate Jose Feliciano and is not doing it very well at all.
Simon said his performance was "miles better" than his previous performances, but I did not see that. Last night's performance was not any better than any he has done so far in this competition. Simon did still think it was boring and I agreed. Randy thought the old Andrew was back, and Ellen said it was an amazing performance. I was amazed but not for the same reason.
I gave Andrew a D, and as I said in previous weeks, he should go home.
Katie Stevens performed Chain of Fools and I think she fooled Randy into believing it was "the best of the night". She is only 16 and that may account for why I thought the song was all wrong for her. Ellen mumbled something about Katie making the song sound old, and someone should tell Ellen that the song is actually over 40 years old.
I also have a problem with some contestants who have backup singers while some do not. I do not necessarily believe that it helps the performances, but I just wonder why that seems to be the case almost every week.
I gave Katie a C for her performance, because she does have a powerful voice for a young girl but I do not think she pulled off the Aretha Franklin hit last night, and I think she should have chosen a different song.
Lee Dewyze, for me, was the best last night. Simon told Lee it was "the moment that would change his life forever." I notice that when Simon gives a good review of the contestants, the audience responds louder than when the other judges do it. I think this means that fans do rely heavily on what Simon says when it comes time to vote. I am glad that Lee performed treat her like a Lady differently than the original Motown song, by making it his own. I love Motown and that song and Lee simply put a completely new spin on it with his version.
I gave Lee an A+ for his performance, agreeing with Randy that it was "the Bomb".
Crystal Bowersox sang Midnight Train to Georgia and although she can "sing the phone book" as the judges always told David Archuleta he could do, I was disappointed in the rendition she gave. I also did not like her singing at the piano, which is what she referred to last week when she told the judges that she had a surprise for them.
I agreed with Simon that even though she has an incredible voice and you could hear it as she sang last night, as always, that she should not change who she is, because the Crystal we have been seeing all along, is just fine without the piano. For me, Crystal is the Melinda Doolittle of Season 9. Melinda, a contestant in American Idol's 6th season, was phenomenal and did her best performances when she was just being herself, and nothing more.
I gave Crystal an A for her performance because her vocals are consistently good, but I hope she loses the piano next week and in future performances.
Aaron Kelly sang Bill Wither's Ain't No Sunshine, and as I said about Didi's performance of another Bill Wither's classic, Lean on Me, I have problems with other artists doing Wither's songs. I thought Aaron sounded a little off last night and I think it is just because of nerves. I thought Aaron might have problems with the R&B theme and singing such a classic R&B tune was probably not the best choice for him. Like Randy, I thought it was just an "awright" performance. Kara liked it and so will Aaron's fans.
I gave him a C because it was just okay and just average.
I think Lee was the best last night, and I think there was a tie for the worst between Andrew Garcia and Did Benami.
I think the bottom 3 should be Andrew, Didi, and Aaron, but it will most likely be Tim, Didi, and Katie or Siobhan. I think Didi has a good chance of leaving us tonight on American Idol, but it is unpredictable as we know, but that is why we love to watch.
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