...and the hits and misses just keep on coming.
Is it just me, or is there a completely different vibe going on with American Idol this season? I think I want to go back to what I originally said about this season, and that is it appears to be a showcase for the judges, rather than a singing competition.
Besides the fact that I find Kara extremely annoying and obnoxious at times, her body language is bordering on deliberate over-dramatizations. Four judges is two too many for me this season. I believe that Randy gives constructive criticisms more often than not, and without Simon's "if you lose it, or forget the lyrics, your career is over" comments, what would American Idol do? This season, they are spending too much time on the judges. Evidently, to fit them all into one camera shot, the four judges are sitting on top of one another.
I will get on with my review of the finalists' performances after that, after one more thought about the judges. Did anyone else notice the look Ellen gave Randy after his remark to one of the guys, something about liking him, but not liking him in THAT way? That was an awkward moment, I thought.
The performances from the 12 girls on Tuesday night were not exactly the best I have ever seen on American Idol, and if I go by what happened last night with the 12 guys, they were not the worst either.
I did not remember some of the 12 male contestants, before the start of last night's show. However, I did say that from his first audition, Jermaine Sellers was a top-runner for me. I still say that after watching last night's American Idol.
Todrick Hall is one contestant I cannot remember seeing during the auditions. He sang Kelly Clarkson's "Since You Been Gone", which I think is a lousy song altogether, not just for Todrick. I am not a Clarkson fan and I know I am in the minority on that one. He sang half the song and talked the rest of the way through it. He jumped around on stage a little too much this early on in the competition, for me. The judges almost agreed with me, except they went out of their way to take the blame away from the song, and on to Todrick's mediocre performance. I know they have to say that because Kelly Clarkson was the first American Idol winner, they need to do a little sucking up. They will do more of that later. Todrick was okay, not good, not bad, and just okay.
Aaron Kelly is one I remember and one I think will be around for a while at least. He sung Here Comes Goodbye from Rascal Flats. I thought he sounded good and he has a powerful voice for his age, and as Ryan said, "For his size". Simon mumbled his usual stupid comment about how Aaron needs to show more self-confidence. Ellen commented that she like the fact that he seemed humble. I did, too, because I never like the ones who think they are better than the others are, and say so aloud. Aaron got an 8 out of 10 for me, not a ten only because he seemed a bit nervous, which is normal at this stage in the competition.
Jermaine Sellers, my frontrunner so far this season, sang "Get Here". While I am not a big fan of the song, I thought Jermaine sung it well. I disagreed with judges' commenting that Jermaine over-sang, pushed, or did too much, with his vocals. I think he has a smooth sound like Luther Vandross or James Ingram. I also liked the clothes he chose to wear. The judges insinuated that he tried to look older when he is so young. He is 26 years old, not 16 years old and I thought he absolutely chose the correct look to appeal to young and old.
Tim Urban, in my opinion, was the judges' scapegoat for the night. First they show how he was called back to become a finalist after producers found out that one of the contestants did not qualify to be one of the 24. He sang Apologize and judges mentioned that Tim's falsetto was off, and they all agreed that he was cute, adorable, likeable, and current. They made it sound as though viewers will vote him through to the next round based on those qualities alone, but they thought that Tim's performance did not work. I think they were too harsh on him and not harsh enough of some of the remaining contestants. If viewers really go by singing alone, it is my opinion that voters can eliminate eight out of twelve contestants from both nights.
Joe Munoz is also a contestant I did not hear sing until last night. If I did see his performances in the past, the reason I do not remember his, is because he was not memorable, and not very good. I would have said to Joe what the judges said to Tim, and I would not have given him as many 'thumbs up' on his performance. He was okay, but not as good as the judges thought he was.
Tyler Grady, another contestant I felt the judges treated too harshly, did a good job of the song, American Woman. I think he did come off as a rocker, not someone pretending to be a rocker, "with posters of Jim Morrison all over his wall', as Kara said. I think she insulted him not only as a singer, but also as a person. She made it sound as though he was obsessed and sounded like she wanted to hear herself talk instead of give Tyler constructive criticism. At this point in the night, Kara took on a borderline Paula presence, the way Paula was during the season of Corey Clark. If you are familiar with what happened, you will know what I am saying. In addition, they picked on Tyler's image and the fact that he looked like he was straight out of the 1970's. I think the 70's look is what makes Tyler stand out, along with his vocals. I think he was one of the best of the night.
Lee Dewyze is one of my favorites of the night. While a few of the judges mentioned the word, "pushed" again, regarding Lee's vocals. I did not hear that at all and I am happy to say that Simon agreed with my assessment. He reminded me of a cross between Danny Gokey and David Cook. I liked him and I hope that he goes far in this competition.
John Park's performance was a train wreck. I know the song, God Bless the Child, but I did not recognize it the way he sang it. Simon mumbled something in reference to Fantasia's version, although he did not mention her name, to tell John the song was too difficult for most to sing. It was not only a difficult song to sing, but it was painful for me to hear him sing it. He is one that, for me, who should get the least amount of viewers' votes and should be going home tonight.
Michael Lynche, the brand new daddy, is such a nice guy, and his personality and demeanor, remind me of the huggable Reuben Studdard. I like what he has done so far to make songs his own. He is different as the judges remarked, but I believe they were too critical of Michael. He definitely did enough to remain in the competition.
Alex Lambert is not only NOT related to Adam Lambert from last season, he is the polar opposite in the music world. He said What a Wonderful World, and I said, "What in the heck was he thinking?" I think Alex was not used to performing on stage, with a hand held microphone in front of millions of viewers. That is only part of what was wrong with Alex's performance. Kara tried to insinuate that he was good aside from his performance last night, because he has "crazy tones". I think Kara is crazy if she thinks Alex's performance will get him the votes. Alex Lambert is another performer who the fans should boot off the show tonight, tied with one other contestant for me.
My recollection of Casey James' performance is vague because I cannot get the nauseating behavior displayed by Kara, insinuating she was sexually attracted to Casey. I do remember how she told him during his first audition that he had no personality, needed to take his hair out of the rubber band, and then told him to remove his shirt. I do not know how other fans felt about it. I felt it was out of line for Kara to behave that way. However, I do know that many young people watch this show and the judges should keep it G rated. Casey sung a Bryan Adams' song, and I do not even remember which song it was. He has a good sound, a cross between country and pop, but I fear the commotion first caused by Bo Bice, the first rocker of American Idol will not last as long for Casey.
Andrew Garcia sounded a lot better to me during Hollywood week than he did last night. He performed another song I am unfamiliar with, called "Sugar We're Going Down", I believe. Simon was disappointed with his performance, as was I but I do like his voice and I liked his background story. He is another one of the 'humble' contestants for me. Moreover, I thought he reminded me of Elton John with his facial expressions and I think if he picks the right song, he will return to the performer I liked in his auditions.
Simon made a prediction on Tuesday night that a girl would win American Idol this year. I cannot make a prediction like that, this early on, but I will say that I want to see Tim given another chance even though the judges clearly want him gone. I will also say that I would like to see either Joe, or John, or Alex gone tonight, based on their performance last night.
What do you say?
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