The Girls - Round 1
Wednesday, February 21, 2007
Ok. I'm back in action tonight. I haven't had a chance to check the boys from last night and won't likely get to that until tomorrow, so I am assiduously avoiding seeing any recaps so as not to bias my opinion. I'll be live-blogging the girls tonight replete with initial spot impressions. So here we go!
The "eyes of America" are apparently on American Idol tonight. Ryan introduces himself, which is weird because I believe everyone not living under a rock knows who he is. I"m fast-forwarding through the recap from last night (don't want to foreshadow anything for myself). I won't listen to what the judges say or hear any of their recapped performances just to keep things straight.
More after the click.
And now we're to the boys, watching the girls. And they re-introduce the girls to us. They look good! The stylists have clearly been advising them a bit. I suspect this is also the performance order. We are reminded that we are to the "America Votes" portion of the competition, and that two guys and two girls will be gone tomorrow night. We meet the judges - again, anyone not in rock-ville knows who these guys are. Ryan laments the "take a risk; stand out" mantra met by feedback that something was "too risky". I can't avoid some foreshadowing. Apparently they were rough on the boys last night. Hm... Simon agrees with Paula, and Simon smiles. It's creepy. Apparently also Chris Sligh had a "go" at Simon. Double-hm. Apparently Chris got under Simon's skin, eh? Triple-hm. Can we skip all this recapping and get to the girls? Jeezus beezus. And NOW we're recapping the girls and how they got there. One by one we see how they loved them in auditions. One by one we recap Hollywood weeks where they didn't totally love them but they liked them. One by one we see their decision after walking the "green mile". I'd be interested if I hadn't seen this just last week. Yawn. And it's a commercial, so I'll publish this and continue after the break.
A little note - I start watching American Idol half an hour into the two hour show (at the beginning, so I can forward through the commercials) so there's a bit of a lag in my post, but I'll catch up by the end.
And we're back!! Stephanie Edwards is up first. She's 19 from Savannah GA, and she's a college student. She didn't think she was going to make it when she saw the other girls. Her family is behind her, though, and that's a good thing, apparently. We see her at Hollywood week, and she reiterates that her parents encouraged her and that's why she's there. It's nice.
She's singing something I don't know. Generally, I think that that's a bad move because it's her first week in the semis and she should do something that people can recognize. She looks nice, looks comfortable. She's a good performer, and she sounds very good. She shows a lot of range and control in her voice. I had her identified as one of my top four girls, and she's showing me tht she deserves to be there. She gets on her knees for the end of the song, and it's a good touch without being too "cabaret". And with that, she wraps the song. She has to watch that last note - it was just a skosh flat. Now the judges:
Randy: He loved it. "That said it all". He agrees that it's a little pitchy, but the conviction was there.
Paula: She's knocked out. Says Stephanie is quite a performer.
Simon: Thought she was a million times better than last night and was her personal best performance. He loved the song choice (I disagree - this is America voting). He basically said she looked like she wanted to win American Idol.
Ryan notes how comfortable she was. Her voting line: 1-866-IDOLS01. Text 5701.
Amy Krebs and Leslie Hunt are up after the break and we hear they'll be doing Bonnie Raitt and Aretha Franklin.
And we're back. Amy Krebs and Leslie Hunt are in the red room on the couches around Ryan. They interview Melinda Doolittle a bit - and she talks about how the guys were amazing but the judges challenged them. Antonella is nervous after seeing the boys' feedback.
Amy Krebs is up next, and she's a little nervous. They ask her if she agreed or disagreed with the judges, and she gives a smartly political answer. We see her audition. She's 22 from Seattle WA, and she's an optometrist's assistant. We see her Hollywood audition and the snippet I saw I didn't especially like. She takes all the feedback. Simon busts on her belt at the Green Mile decision.
She does Bonnie Raitt's I can't make you love me - TOUGH song. I know - I've sung it. It seems so lazy and effortless to sing, but it really isn't. I'm pretty underwhelmed with her beginning and when she goes into a run it's PAINFULLY bad. Out of tune, weak, shaky, really not good. Now she's in the chorus, and she's getting better in spots, but when she gets improvisational and goes for runs, it's just really not good. The comparison between her and Stephanie Edwards is night and day. The judges are going to tear her up. It really sucked.
Randy: He hedging. He thought it was middle-of-the-road - I think that's highly generous. It didn't quite work. Too safe.
Paula: She's hesitant, and she agrees with Randy. They talk about her bluesy auditions (not that we saw them), and that it wasn't good.
Simon: He refers to the clip again and says he still can't remember her. She has "the personality of a candle" when she sings. She's "this thing that sings" and "two singers later I'll forget you". I have to say - she stands out for me from that performance because she was so not good.
Ryan talks to her - she agrees her personality needs to shine a bit more. Simon pipes in that even her clothes and hair are forgettable. I disagree there - she's a softly pretty young woman. It's just the singing that was awful, and this IS a singing competition. 1-866-IDOLS02, text 5702.
Leslie Hunt - 24 from Chicago IL, and she's a dog-walker. She enjoyed her audition, and though their feedback was good. I only saw her first on the very last show. She's a cute girl, looks like she could be very funny as well. She's pleased with herself that she's come this far.
Natural Woman - she better blow this out, because this is Aretha. She starts off on key, and that's good - she doesn't really have the big voice you would expect for this song. Now she's in the high parts. I like her better there - she has a nice, scratchy high register. She looks pretty as well. She's handling the bridge very well also - she improvises REALLY well in the part that would call for a higher register than I think she has. She ends strong. I thought it was good overall.
Randy: Yes yes yes, he says. He was hoping for definite greatness, but he thought the song was too big for her. He's right - she did a good job with that song, but it lacks in comparison to the original and those who have killed it before.
Paula: Thought she did a great job, but wants her to be careful about the songs she picked.
Simon: He didn't think it was great. He thought she looked embarrassed and ungainly while performing, and out of her comfort zone. I disagree with that - if anything, I think she over-emoted during the song to the point of taking away from what she was actually singing.
Ryan hears Simon - she was out of her comfort zone. 1-866-IDOLS03, text 5703. And we're to a break.
And we're back. We're reminded to vote. Sabrina Sloan is next. She's 27 from Studio City CA, and she's a professional singer. They show her singing Alicia Keyes during her audition. Simon warns her she needs the "best song in the world" to make it through Hollywood round, and apparently she delivered that.
She's singing You're No Good - another great song that requires a big voice. She starts of WAY strong. Surprisingly strong - she immediately goes to the power notes. Smart, and she delivers, which is was matter. she's got good stage presence, and she's a very exotic pretty. She's really knocking this one down, frankly. So far, for the four girls that have gone, she's my top performance I think because she WAS that good, and it was SO unexpected. I can't identify a problem in that song at all. It was phenomenal.
Randy: Well well well. He LOVED it. Says she's the one to beat and she's "hot".
Paula: Gives her a standing O.
Simon: She proved the point between taking part, and genuinely having a desire to win with talent. He thought it was the best one he's seen out of every one so far.
Ryan's with her - she's thrilled, as she should be. She didn't go with a ballad because she's watched the show for five years. 1-866-IDOLS04, text 5704. I'll be voting for her.
Antonella Barba - I liked her audition. She's 20 years old from Point Pleasant NJ, and she's a student. She talks about Hollywood week being very stressful, she lost her voice yada yada. She was excited she made it but upset that her friend Amanda got cut. She didn't know she would beat out Marissa, but she did.
She's seated as she starts her song. I vaguely know this song, but I can't name it (sorry). She sounds ok - her runs are a little shaky at the start. She hits an appallingly bad note in the middle going to the chorus and is flat through the chorus. The song is Don't Want To Miss A Thing. You know, it's not bad like Sabrina Sloan's was, but it's not good, either. She's shouting and she's flat in spots. She goes to the pianissimo section and it's ok - a good way to end after the rest of it. Overall, not very good.
Randy: Wants to know what she thinks Randy is going to say, and she says he's going to say he saw her nerves. He says it really wasn't good.
Paula: Goes to Antonella's beauty, and laments her song choice.
Simon: He says the good news is she's attractive. The bad news was it didn't work - "way, way way too big for you" in terms of the song. He thinks it's seriously damaged her chances, and I have to agree.
It was painful in points. She wants to know what she can do better, and they echo that it's song selection - she's a pop singer, and she has to pick a pop song. He says the "song ate her up", and again I agree. 1-866-IDOLS05, text 5705. Won't be voting for her - I haven't liked her much from the beginning, and this performance didn't help.
With that, we're at another break.
And we're back. We're in the red room again, first with Jordin Sparks. She thinks being young is both good and bad. Good that she has a lot of time, bad that they will lament she's young and she wants it now. They show her audition. She's 17 years old from Glendale AZ, and she's a junior in high school (God I'm old). They show her in Hollywood week, and she wants Simon's approval as she is, without changing.
Her song is Gimme One Reason. Right out of the gate, she sounds like Tracy Chapman. The arrangement is VERY fast, folks. That makes a difficult song harder to sing. My biggest complaint with this song is that it stays primarily in the lower register and I KNOW this girl has th upper register. She needs to go there, because she's doing a good job with the parts of the song she's singing. She goes there towards the end but just for a moment. She's got a great stage presence. She jumps almost a full octave at the end and it sounds really really good. Hate to say it, but it makes Antonella's performance look that much worse.
Randy: "Young Jordin Sparks" is how he opens. He agreed that the beginning of the song was weak and told her to pick a bigger song - she can do it.
Paula: She loved the song selection (I think it was a mistake).
Simon: Thinks they've seen a big change with her. He thinks she has a very, very good voice and he likes her choosing younger songs. He wants her to push herself, but he thought it was good.
Ryan's with her - he's talking about how poised and confident she is. She giggles and says she doesn't know where it comes from. 1-866-IDOLS06, text 5706. So we're halfway through. The teaser shows Nicole Tranquillo is going to to RUFUS and CHAKHA KHAN?? OMG.
Nicole Tranquillo - She's 20 and from Wernersville PA, and she's a student. She's a voice major apparently, and she thinks it's helped her. She felt group day was her best moment. Apparently Melinda Doolittle was in her group, as well as Tammy Gosnell (cut).
Ok I can't identify the song, and it starts really low with a lot of attitude. I'm looking for the melody in this song and she's not helping me find it. It's too low, she can't pull off the attitude, and she's off-key. She has a good run in what is otherwise a sea of badness imo. Then she goes to her higher register and it gets better, but it's really screechy. I'm serious here - I can't identify any pattern, reason or melody in her song. She's literally screaming. I thought it was just AWFUL.
Randy: He didn't like it - it was rough for him and went over his head.
Paula: For some reason she asks the boys if it was good. She talks about her hitting the notes she hit. She thought it was "out of this world" but not the right song, but she can sing.
Randy: Thought it was indulgent, aggressive, it looked unnatural, like she had over-rehearsed it, and he didn't like it. He thinks she can sing, but it was the wrong song.
I thought it was an absolute train wreck. Really, really bad. If America gets it right, so far she could save Antonella Barba. Nicole doesn't agree with Randy when he says it's too urban for her. Why is no one talking about the fact that she screamed and was off key? My God. 1-866-IDOLS07. Ugh. 7 down, and she's in my bottom 2.
With that, we're at a break.
And we're back. Haley Scarnato is standig there with Ryan, and she looks very classy. She talks about how good the other girls have been, talks about how talented everyone is. Very politically correct. We see her audition. She's 24 and from San Antonio TX and she sings in a band. We are reminded Simon thought she was cabaret. I remembr liking and not loving her. They show her Hollywood audition - again, good but not great (imo). She doesn't want to go home (duh).
She starts off singing and she has a sweet voice with enough strength. I don't know this song yet, either. She reminds me of someone who would be on Broadway. The tempo to the song is slowish and does put me in mind of something you'd hear before intermission. As far as her pitch goes, it's very good. I haven't heard bad notes. But frankly, this is what you can hear from any good girl singer out there. Not bad, but not great, and definitely forgettable.
Randy: He doesn't really like the song choice, apparently. It was just OK for him, really, and he echos my opinion that she has a Broadway voice but that it wasn't special. I agree.
Paula: Thought she did a nice job. I agree with that, also. She had hoped a for a different song because she did it in Hollywood week.
Simon: He thought she sounded 40. He thought it was like being at a reasonably good hotel and that ended the evening. I agree - it was WAY too old AND old-fashioned. He knows she has a good voice, but it was boring. Agree again.
Ryan's with her. He appreciates the feedback, but she's going to stay true to herself. She'll change to entertain everybody, but that's her style and she's going to stay true to herself. Ryan lets her know they're trying to set her up to get the most votes she can. My read? Totally forgettable, and grannies don't typically vote. 1-866-IDOLS08, text 5708. I won't break a nail dialing.
ANOTHER commercial.
And we're back. We're reminded of the live results tomorrow night, that four will be leaving, and that Fantasia will be performing.
Melinda Doolittle- she's 29, from Brentwood TN, and she's a background singer. She talks about being a background singer and how it would seem to be an easy switch to front singer, but it's not that easy. She loved Hollywood week. It was empowering for her. She was one of my favorites from the beginning - I hope she's great.
She takes the stage and she's singing Baby Baby Sweet Baby and she's totally pulling it off. It's an upbeat tune that lets her show her voice. She's spot-on pitch wise folks, and she's got all the nuances of this song down. She also looks totally comfortable on stage. Totally believable. This song is a mix of attitude and power-talent, and she's mixed it up correctly. I also love her phrasing. This is absolutely the best performance of the night by a mile. She even finishes hot.
Randy: He loves it. Loves it totally - she blew it out. She's hot, and all she needs is confidence because she's got the natural gift.
Paula: Loved it.
Simon: It's interesting, because he's seen little talent and a huge amount of arrogance and she's the opposite - she's a wonderful person and a fantastic singer and he really hopes she does well.
I agree. Ryan wants to know if she loves it - and she does. 1-866-IDOLS09, text 5709. I WILL be voting for her. She's tops so far, but we have some strong ones yet to go.
Commercial time.
And we're back. It's America's favorite show!! Alaina Alexander is up next. She talks about how she cries at the drop of a hat, and she's excited - she had a good rehearsal. She's 24 from Redlands, CA and she works at a pizzaria. She thought Simon would tear her up in the audition, but he loved her then. She started to cry when he did that. They show Hollywood week, and she talks about how stressful it was. She's a pretty girl and somhow sweetly sincere in her package.
Brass in Pocket is her choice. Weird choice. This is another song that spends a great deal of time in the lower register. It is a signature song as well in that you expect power in certain parts and she's going strangely soft in those sections. Not bad, but not what the song requires. She goes kind of off-key in the higher parts. So far, I'm pretty underwhelmed. I would expect to hear this in any wedding band that did this particular song.
Randy: He really didn't think it was great, and he didn't think she did anything different with it and it was pitchy in spots.
Paula: You didn't take the song and didn't go for it. She didn't feel it.
Simon: She kept singing "I'm special" and it wasn't. He thought the song was difficult to make it her own, and I agree. No one is going to think that was great - she'll be relying on her looks, because there have been 3 or 4 other girls who have absolutely blown her out.
Ryan talks about her passion, and how that's good. Simon talks about how it would be good if there were Passion Idol. Randy wants to know what she sings best - she thought it showed her personality, but it isn't Personality Idol as Randy points out. Paula thought she was special enough to make it, but it's about picking songs and this wasn't really the right song. 1-866-IDOLS10, text 5710.
Funny aside, Simon asked Ryan during the interview if he was "trying to date her" and accuses Ryan of being "over-biased". Ryan - NOT amused. Like, seriously. He didn't like that at all.
No commercial!! Yay!! Next up is Gina Glockson. We see her audition. She's 22 from Naperville IL, and she's a dental assistant. She talks about getting cut in Season 5, and how she had a yar to think about it and she came back. I liked her - I considered her a dark horse. This should be interesting.
All By Myself is her song. BIG song. She standing at the mic to start. She REALLY reminds me just a bit of Kelly Clarkson as she sings these lower parts. Now we're going to the money portion of the song. They show what can only be her mother crying. She goes to the high notes and she's totally on key and it sounds interesting and good. And then she goes to the transition to the REALLY high part and it was just a bit rough, but she recovers. She also finishes very strong.
Randy: Big girl, big voice, big song. He thought it was cool because he didn't know it was going to work, and he was pleasantly surprised. Said she had a nice close.
Paula: Right song. Good job.
Simon: He was surprised, but he didn't think she hit the right note; the big note. She didn't quite get there like Celine Dion does (as if anyone could). He's kind of neutral.
Ryan's with her - wanted to know how confident she was before, and she was a 6. He asks how confident she is now, and she says she's a 12. She hit the note, she's proud of herself, and I think she should be. It was a very good performance. 1-866-IDOLS11, text 5711.
Commercial!!
And we're back, with the girl I had as THE best of all the girls, Lakesha Jones. We se her audition. She's 27 from Flint MI, and she's a bank teller. We see her 3-year old daughter, and are reminded that she's definitely got the goods. She seems like a nice girl in adition to being very talented.
She's singing Jennifer Hudson's song, I Am Telling You. This is a big song, and she's got the voice to deliver. What's nice about her as well is that she understand the need to modulate to really perform a song. She backs off where she needs to and powers through where the song requires it. I thought this song was great overall, and I think the nearly a capella ending was masterful.
Randy: He loves her generally, and she laid it out on that stage tonight. He loved her.
Paula: Says she has a lot lot to be proud of, and this is where she belongs.
Simon: "Just to correct somone earlier on, that's the right note. I am very tempted to say to 23 people 'book your plane tickets home'". Paula admonishes him, and he says she's in a different league. I agree with a qualification - she AND Melinda are in a different league than the other girls.
Ryan's with her. It's her daughter's birthday. AW. :-) 1-866-IDOLS12, text 5712.
This is how it stacks up so far for me:
1. Lakesha Jones
2. Melinda Doolittle
3. Sabrina Sloan
4. Jordin Sparks
5. Stephanie Edwards
6. Gina Glockson
7. Leslie Hunt
8. Alaina Alexander
9. Haley Scarnato
10. Antonella Barba
11. Nicole Tranquillo
12. Amy Krebs
I gotta say - it's very close for me between Lakesha and Melinda. The other 10 are somewhere WAY below those two girls, frankly. The surprise of the night for me was Sabrina Sloan, because I didn't pick her at ALL after the Green Mile episode. I'm also concerned that Stephanie Edwards will suffer for going first.
As far as tomorrow goes, I pick Nicole Tranquillo and Amy Krebs to go home. Not even close to the top four girls. I would also say that Antonella Barba, Haley Scarnato, and Alaina Alexander ought to be very happy that the other two girls out-sucked them, because they were only slightly less painful than the worst people.
I will try to catch up with the boys before the results show tomorrow. I should be able to do that. Thanks for reading!
Labels: American Idol, Girls, Round 1, Semi-Finals
posted by RenaRF @ 8:27 PM,
