Out of Order, I Review The Boys from Tue. Night
Thursday, February 22, 2007
You KNOW you're busy when it takes almost 48 hours to have enough time to sit down and watch what amounts to an hour of singing critiquing (with commercials and fluff removed). I wanted to be sure, however, that I got to this before the results show tonight. I have tried absolutely to avoid hearing about the boys' performances, but it was all over the judging of the girls last night and anyone who watches American Idol has been talking about what a let-down the boy's night was. So as noble as my unbiased intentions were, I'm prepared to be disappointed as I sit down to watch the recording from this past Tuesday night.
With that, I'll have at it. Follow me past the click for performance reviews.
Ryan makes the bold assertion that this season they have "the best talent yet", and with that, we're off. He welcomes everyone to the number one show in America, and talks about surviving the "weirdest audition tour EVAH". Gee, Ryan - as if we didn't already know that after having sat through UPTEEN hours of it. He makes the introductions, and here come the guys, presumably in the order in which they'll perform. We also see the ladies sitting in the "dog pound". They look relaxed. We are reminded that FOUR (count them - FOUR) will be going home on Thursday night. We then meet the judges. Yawn.
Ryan talks about how Randy's taken criticism for being harder on people this season, and Randy protests that he's just speaking the truth. Ryan then asserts that Randy must have been lying for the past five seasons. Paula just wants to be supportive (double-yawn). Simon gives the advice for the contestants to "sing well". Uh... ok.
Now we see the wonderful recap of the guys' auditions, replete with "Golden Tickets" (it's yellow paper, folks). We then see them in Hollywood Week, but we can't hear them because we're playing what sounds like the Rolling Stones over the vast majority of it. Then we see the Green Mile elevator, and we head to a break.
Rudy Cardenas is up first, and we see a recaplet of his audition. He's 28 from North Hollywood CA, and he's a professional musician (I've checked out his a capella band on MySpace - I LOVE it). We see that Simon wasn't a Rudy fan as well. Hollywood week was "crazy" for Rudy, and he doesn't much care whether or not Simon likes him.
Free Ride is his choice. He looks comfortable. It's a little weird for me - I can't tell if it's how they have him mixed, but his voice is totally overpowering the background music. He gets to a highish long-held note and I don't know - the rest has been on key, but that note was a little squirrely. I have the feeling that he's shouting his way through this song, and I suspect he has MUCH more to offer in terms of intonation than he is showing tonight. It's difficult though, because I suspect it sounds different live. Just ok for me.
Randy: A few pluses for Rudy: it's hard to go first, and he got the party started, but it was really corny for him and he could have heard it at any bar in America.
Paula: She loved it and he did a fantastic job.
Simon: References Rudy's comments that Rudy doesn't care what he says (dig!). He then laments that this wasn't unique either. They're looking for distinctive, and Rudy's performance is going to get lost in the mix tonight. I don't know about that, but it certainly didn't blow my socks off.
Ryan's with Rudy now, and Rudy is suddenly motivated to changed Simon's mind. I don't know - the song choice may have been a good one because it's a highly recognizable cross-generational party song, but I don't know that he delivered it to the level he needed. If you're going to do that song, you have to crush it, and Rudy didn't do that.
Commercial time!!
We're back, in the Red Room and Ryan's talking to Chris Sligh. Sligh lets us know that it's all about the guys looking pretty. It's weird, frankly. We're to the other Chris, and he says all the guys are awesome and that he's not nervous. He's talking now to Brandon Rogers, one of my early guy favorites. He comes off as humble, and that's usually good.
Brandon Rogers. We see his audition. He's 29 from Alta Dena CA, and he's a background singer. He talks about the judging in the audition round, and they show him thrilled with Simon's glowing assessment. We learn he felt he was on the bubble at Hollywood week, so he collected himself and gave a great performance. We then see him amking the semi-finals.
Wow - he's doing a Michael Jackson tune - Rock With You - he starts off very slow, unlike the record. He has some nice interpretation that is definitely different than Jackson's original version. He sounds good. He's making some weird runs here and there. He's basically on key, but I hear just a slight bit of flatness here an there - ever-so-slight. His voice is smooth and velvety, though, and overall I like his performance, though I'm not sure that was the best song or way to showcase what I suspect is a bigger talent than I just saw. I definitely liked him better than Rudy Cardenas as far as tonight goes. I will note also that Brandon, who's voice is not nearly as biting as Cardenas', also overpowered the band. I think it's the mix, frankly.
Randy: He doesn't know if it's his best performance - he found it a little bit pitchy and a little weird here and there. He tells him he doesn't have to do so much with the song.
Paula: She kinda sorta agrees with Randy, that he can lose the runs.
Simon: He thinks Brandon is undoubtedly a good singer, but that the song was predictable and that as it went along, it did so in a predictable way. He thinks Brandon is better than that. A passive agressive review, no doubt.
Ryan's with Brandon, and Brandon wanted to account for the idea that this first performance was going to be the toughest and that he wanted something he was really comfortable with, which makes sense. It also opens the potential that he doesn't stand out. Sometimes picking something risky, even when you may be jittery, and knocking it down counts for much more than a safe performance. Overall, though, I liked it.
Sundance Head is the next one up. We see his audition, which I recall was stellar. He's 28 from Porter, TX and he works in a machine shop. Simon was all behind him then, but we recall Hollywood week was rough for him. He was scared to death when he sang there, and he had an emotional breakdown. We see his Green Mile clip, where he made it at the last possible moment.
He's singing Knights in White Satin. Not for nothing, I hate this song. It's way old, and it wasn't enough of a song to resonate with a younger audience, imo. He's really having a difficult time singing this song, which I find surprising. It's not the right tone or tempo for his voice. He has some pitch problems early on and gets better in the higher, more powerful sections. I am, still, underwhelmed. I wanted so much more from Sundance given his first audition and this performance, while not abysmal, isn't all that good either.
Randy: He wonders why Sundance has abandoned that bluesy thing that worked for him. He thought he was all off-pitch throughout the song.
Paula: She tends to agree, and adds that it was absolutely the wrong song.
Simon: He talks about the original audition and compares it to tonight, "like Dad at a wedding". Very old-fashioned, very uninspiring, and he's lost what they loved about him in the first place. "I don't like you tonight" is how Simon closes. He also adds that if he had come into the auditions with that song, he probably wouldn't have made it.
I hope Sundance gets it together soon, because that performance was highly disappointing. If he doesn't get it together, you have to consider the possibility that his audition was absolutely the hihg point of his singing career. Ryan's now with Sundance, and the comments are brief as they clearly need to get to a commercial break, which they do.
And we're back. We are reminded that it's in OUR hands now. We are teased by a "very famous alum" coming back for the results show. And now to Paul Kim. He's 25 from San Jose CA, and he tells us that he tried out for Idol because he's getting old. They show his audition, which I remember as very good. We are reminded he doesn't wear shoes, which brings to midn the underwear thing. We see him at Hollywood week, and then him making the final 24.
He's singing George Michael's Never Gonna Dance Again. Right off it's too low for him, and he's having a bit of trouble getting n sync with the band. He goes to the chorus, which is higher, and he's better, but his big smooth voice is so far utterly absent. He goes to the bridge and it IS better. The tempo is better, and the range is better for him, I think. He goes to a high falsetto and I literally cringed. He also tries an ill-fated set of runs to come back to the chorus. NOT a good way to end what was otherwise ok.
Randy: He thought he's one of the best voices of all the contestants this year, and that the song was a poor choice. It was pitchy int he beginning, but got better. He sees a lot of potential.
Paula: Notes that he was nervous and oversang the song and he didn't find his "center". She talks about his overall talent.
Simon: He suggests Paul puts his shoes on next week. It's too muc 0 it's a singing competition. He just thought it was a very ordinary attempt/copy of George Michael. If he's going to do a song and do it the same as the original, he has to "wow" and he didn't. I agree.
Paul's with Ryan, and Ryan has his shoes and socks totally off. Ryan's feet are small! Randy reminds that they want is originality, and they don't want to see bland cover songs. Simon thinks a lot of people tried a lot harder in the beginning and now they are playing it safe, and that's a poor choice.
Chris Richardson. We see his audition, which found a little weird. I don't care for his vibrato. He's 22 from Chesapeake VA, and he works in the restaurant business. He talks about being compared to Justin Timberlake, and he takes it as a compliment because Timberlake is a well accomplished artist (!!!). His parents really supported him, and he hopes to bring charisma to the stage tonight and he wants to "rock out".
He's singing I Don't Wanna Be. This is a rock song and he doesn't have a rock voice. He's not off key specifically, but the performance is pretty amateurish, fankly. He's dancing, he's into the song, but it doesn't translate to his performance frankly. It's like a guy wearing a woman's shoe - this song does fit him at all and he IS getting kind of wandering with his pitch as the song wears on. He's really my least favorite so far, which is a shame as he a VA boy.
Randy: He feels like the show just started with Chris. It wasn't his best performance and wasn't the perfect performance for him, but he brought a little something to it.
Paula: He did a great arrangement and she liked watching Chris' Dad.
Simon: He's sorry to sound negative tonight, but he really liked him in the auditions and but thought that his voice sounded very small in the night's performance. He thought it was a bad performance, and although he likes him and knows girls will vote for him, he didn't like it. I AGREE.
He's with Ryan, and Ryan's going through the judges to get their bottom-line again. Randy's still with "not that bad", Paula's at "great", and Simon's at "not very good". For me, it was the worst performance so far among the boys.
Commercial break to "pay the bills", as if they had to any longer.
We're back in the Red Room with Nick Pedro. I wouldn't know him if he fell on me. We are warned that he may forget the lyrics because he forgets lyrics. He protests not being nervous, and Ryan exacerbates it. We see his audition. Very boy band as I recall. He's 25 from Taunton MA, and he's a salesman for a finance company. We are reminded he bowed out in Season 5 because he forgot his lyrics (!!!) and we see him going to Hollywood week. He wants to go home feeling like a winner. He seems like a nice guy.
He's singing something I don't know, and he's standing behind the mic. The song is very high and his voice is sweet. He seems on-pitch. He's a bit rough going into the bridge, but he recovers. He does a nice little bit in a high falsetto, but I have to say - the song is boring me to tears and so is his performance. It wasn't bad at all and his singing was fairly good, but man - dull as doorknobs.
Randy: Wants to know his nerves were. He's keeping it real, and says it wasn't good for him - it was really really boring and pitchy. He feels like he lost Nick. He wants to know where Sinatra Nick went.
Paula: She agrees.
Simon: He actually didn't think it was that bad. He thinks Nick lost his spark, and that he's very nervous, and he agrees that Sinatra Nick was lively and better. He didn't think his voice sounded too bad, though, and I agree.
Ryan's with Nick, and Nick hopes he'll get better each week. I hope he's back, too. I don't think he's anywhere near the talent level of some others, but he's earned another week as far as I'm concerned.
ANOTHER break.
We return with Blake Lewis. I like this guy. He's 25 from Seattle WA, and he's a musician. He beat boxes, plays guitar and sings. He really liked his group performance, and I remember it was THE standout from Hollywood week. He's going to downplay the beat boxing, through. maybe a little, but not a lot - it's a singing competition.
He's singing another song I don't know. He's sitting on a stool and he opens sounding very good. I like the tone to his voice. He modulates between soft and powerful and he does it without a noticeable hitch. As I said I don't know this song, but I think he's singing it well. Ooops - he just did a weird spot that sounded... weird. It's been his only hiccup in what was otherwise what I would consider a very good performance.
Randy: He was shocked that he came out singing a Keyne (?) song, but he liked it. He did a really good job on it!
Paula: She's really proud of him because he picked an odd song they would not have expected, and he delivered - he was cool.
Simon: Not the best vocal he ever heard in his life, but he's the first who has come out and sounded like he's in 2007. He was 100% right not to come out doing the beat boxing, and he thought he did it really really well. By far the best performance of the night. I agree.
Ryan's with him, and Blake shares that his strategy was to leave the beat boxing and show America he could sing. He's without exception my top performance so far tonight.
Ugh. Commercial.
We're back with Sanjaya Malakar. He's an undoubtedly sweet kid, but I haven't been overly impressed with him. He looks good - girls will dig his hair. He talks about his sister, and shares that she picked the song for him. He loves her, and it's always family first (I remember liking his reaction to his sister's ouster). He's 17 from Seattle WA, and he got his GED which means he's done with high school. We learn he always thought his sister was better than him. He felt like half of him was gone when his sister got cut, but it made him stronger to represent her.
He's singing a Stevie Wonder tune, an older one. I think he's nervous. His voice is sweet and he's basically on key, but he isn't punching where he needs to punch for this particular song. I almost get the idea that he is just waiting for the song to be over so he can pass out!! That said, his vocal is really quite good, especially given his age. The judging should be interesting.
Randy: He goes for the good first - and he didn't think it was very good -it's about song choice, and Sanjaya doing that one wasn't even remotely close. I didn't think it was that bad.
Paula: You have a "very nice voice", but she wishes more of his personality came through.
Simon: Goes RIGHT to the "I don't want to bore you with this" and says that it was the dreariest performance of the night. 90 seconds felt like an hour - absolutely nothing came from that for him. It was a waste of time. He can't take anything from it.
Ryan's there, fanning the flame, giving Sanjaya an opportunity to refute Simon, and he says he appreciates his honesty. Paula says that age is not a factor, but he's got to get out there and perform. I have to add - it wasn't bad and it was boring. But vocally, it wasn't bad.
OMFG. Another break. The commercial breaks really ARE ridiculous.
Ok good. We're back with Chris Sligh, one of my early top 3 boys. We are reminded of his audition, which I thought was absolutely fantastic. He's 28 from Greenville SC, and he's a marketing consultant for a leasing firm. He hates Sweet Home Alabama and hated singing it umpteen times in Birmingham. He thinks his sense of humor helps, and he's all about strategy and song choice. He loves the other folks in the competition, but only one will make it through to the end.
He's singing some song I vaguely recognize as angst rock. It's apparently a popular song because everyone knows it. And frankly, I like Chris' performance. I think he's singing wonderfully with no glitches about midway through, and he's attacking a tough song. It modulates a lot where the notes are concerned, and that's a hard thing. He's nearing the end, and I it's been quite a good performance. He didn't blow my hair back, but he's the best boy for me so far tonight, close to Blake Lewis.
Randy: He thought he rushed a little bit, but his voice was on point, and he's a Chris fan.
Paula: He strategized well. It was great.
Simon: Simon agrees his humor got him here (swipe!). He's gotten to know him and he's a fantastic personality, but he feels like he's at a weird student gig.
Ryan's with Chris, and Ryan and Simon are arguing. Chris asks Simon: the music is popular, and just because he doesn't sing the Il Devo or Tele Tubbies, doesn't mean that he's not a good singer. I don't understand the reference, but it clearly gets under Simon's skin. Simon just didn't think it was an incredible vocal performance, it's just OK. I disagree - I thought he was great. Ryan and Simon are arguing again. I don't get the joke, but man - the vibe is really harsh. Ugh.
Note to self: Figure out about Il Devo and TeleTubbies. Commercial time.
Ok. We're back to the Red Room. I'm sure it was planned, but I'm grateful Ryan's not near Simon at this point. He's with the three contestants left to go. Ryan wants to know if Jarod is nervous, and he says he's a New Yorker and he can take it. Jared Cotter is 25 and from Long Island, NY. He was a waiter, but lost his job trying out for AI. His family flew up from Florida and they were there when he got through. America hasn't seen him, so he's looking at this as a clean slate to show the public what he can do.
He's singing another song I vaguely recognize but can't name. He sounds good pitch wise, and I like the tone of his voice, but it's a very boy-band song with lots of "whoas" and "yeahs". It's a romance R&B tune and , to that end, he does it well. There's a lot of modulation to this song, and the notes jump around a lot, and he's doing a very good job vocally. I can't say I love the song and I would say that it's not necessarily safe but also not very electric. He's gone to the highest part and it get rough for the first time as he's flat on high power notes. He makes the key change well. Overall, it was good.
Randy: He thought it was pretty good, but he didn't like the way the song ended. It was pretty good.
Paula: She likes him singing more uptempo songs, and it sounded too much like Brian McKnight.
Simon: It was an unadventurous performance that he thought sounded a bit nasally, but Jared looks good. But no one is gong to wake up tomorrow AM and think "what an incredible vocal performance" and tells him he has to take a few more risks.
Jared's with Ryan and handles the criticism with a smile and promises to give his best each time.
Up next (and without a commercial!) is AJ Tabaldo. We see his audition. I don't like this guy, frankly, but I"m wiling to turn that around. He's 22 from Santa MAria CA, and he works as a supervisor for the shipping company. He's tried out 5 times, and finally made it through. H eenjoyed the first Hollywood round, because that was the round where he got cut last year, so he was thrilled to get a yes. Being top 24 is something he's been trying to do. He thinks he's a strong person.
He's singing All My Love. Right out of the gate I like him a lot a better. This is a syncopated uptempo song matched with notes that hope and skip around and he's nailing it until the chorus, when he's just slightly flat on a sustained note (weird, because that should have been easy compared to the first part of the song). He goes to a high run of falsetto which isn't the best, and unfortunately it ends on a very shaky note. Literally.
Randy: He thought it was vocally pretty good, and says that AJ is a really really good singer. He doesn't know if he brought anything new to it, but he worked it out in his own way.
Paula: AJ can definitely sing, and she thought he did a great job.
Simon: It was good - nothing great, nothing terrible, but kind of a theme park performance (that's a bit harsh). It was very predictable, though. He's got to choose a song that is a little bit more daring, but he closes by saying AJ is maybe better than he (Simon) originally thought.
Ryan's with AJ, and AJ talks about how good it feels to finally be given a chance and says he's having fun. I thought he did well, too.
LAST commercial break before the LAST performance.
Phil Stacey is our last guy of the night. I remember liking him during the audition and then loving the clips I saw of Hollywood week. Phil is 29 from Jacksonville FL and he's an active-duty Navy sailor. We are reminded that his wife had a baby while he was auditioning and he shares that it threw him off. He made it, though, and worked hard going to Hollywood week. He brought his wife and her parents and his daughters to support him. He's a likable guy.
He's singing some ballad and I have to say - he's too close to the mic to begin and it's fuzzing up his lyrics. He's got a sweet voice with a really pure clarity. The song goes from slow ballad to power rock ballad and his voice goes with it. It's strong, clear, modulated and on-key. I actually stopped typing to listen. I thought his performance was great - best of the night.
Randy: He thought it started rough, but Phil turned it around he gets the best vocal prize of the night.
Paula: The chorus was when he picked it up and it turned great!
Simon: The beginning was absolutely monstrous and it was ok at the end, but not the best vocal. For some reason he's comparing him to Chris Daughtry. Randy gets Simon to agree that it was the best that night.
Ryan's with Phil (who is bald), and Ryan makes a Brittney Spears joke. Ugh. Phil agrees with Simon and Ryan instigates that he's ignoring Randy and Paula, who threaten to rescind their glowing reviews.
To close the show, Ryan wants to know from Simon why he's being so negative. Simon doesn't believe in patronizing people, he doesn't believe in lying and he's being honest. He's not going to give positive reinforcement for the sake of being positive.
Here's where it stands for me with the guys:
1. Phil Stacey
2. Chris Sligh
3. Blake Lewis
4. Brandon Rogers
5. Jared Cotter
6. AJ Tabaldo
7. Rudy Cardenas
8. Nick Pedro
9. Paul Kim
10. Sundance Head
11. Sanjaya Malakar
12. Chris Richardson
Now this was a tough one for me. I'll note that only one of my Hollywood week top three guys made the top three tonight (Chris Sligh). Sundance Head was in my top 3 before tonight, and note that he's bottom 3 tonight with Blake Lewis moving up substantially. I thought the three I put on top tonight were stand-apart better than the nine below them. And frankly, none of the remaining nine were abysmally bad. They were just generally boring. I can't predict who will go home based on my ranking, but if I had to choose it would probably be Paul Kim and Nick Pedro. I think Chris stood out enough to survive (even though he was my least favorite) and I thin Sanjaya will survive with the cute young factor thing going.
Labels: American Idol, Boys, Round 1, Semi-Finals
posted by RenaRF @ 7:25 AM,
