Is it Tuesday Already? The Top 11 Perform.
Tuesday, March 20, 2007
Ah... I have been remiss in my American Idol posts this week. My apologies!! I started a new job on Monday and the preparations began on Friday. I haven't come up for air since. But I'm back at it tonight, live-recapping and posting reviews as the performances happen! Let's get right to it.
Seacrest is in a natty suit. I dig the purple - it's the same color as my sofa and loveseat. He's shaved, too!! Joy. He introduces the Idols in the order in which they will appear, and Haley's up first tonight. That can't be good. Melinda's once again in the pimp spot, and Sanjaya is towards the end of the show tonight. Ugh. Let's hope this is our last Sanjaya week. Here are the judges - Simon's back in black. Seacrest asks Randy about the "forgetting of the lyrics". Randy says there are NO excuses for that. Paula comments about nerves, telling the contestants to "shake them out" and then says to picture Simon "not dressed". Seacrest invited Simon's response, which is pretty weak, actually. Continue after the click for the rest of the show.
Theme tonight: British Invasion. We get the obligatory Beatles retrospective. We hear of some other not-Beatles, and we generally don't care. It apparently created a hair revolution, and I don't care much about that, either. Then we get to the cavalcade of better British bands, and I'm caring a bit more. Now we're to Peter Noone, who will be our Guest Coach tonight, along with Lulu (no last name). Wouldn't know her if she fell on me. Peter worked with the guys, Lulu with the girls. Lulu's loving on the girls.
Haley Scarnato is up first. She's singing Tell Him, and her goal is to be more aggressive and not so sweet. Lulu thinks the song choice is perfect, but admonishes her to make her phrasing staccato. Lulu tells her there's a "place for everybody" and to be proud and strong.
Haley looks the part tonight, with some Boots are Made for Walkin' shorts. She sounds good tonight. I'm not totally hating on her. She's picking up the boy vote with that outfit. We're about halfway through and I don't know that she's "edgy", but she's MUCH better than she has been in past weeks. So far she's totally in tune and looks relaxed. She's with the judges, singing right to them - very smart. The ending falls apart a little bit for me, like she ran out of steam a little, but overall, this was a solid B performance.
Randy: That was the perfect song and Haley's back!
Paula: Paula expounds on her girlish, flirtacious qualities and says it was a good performance.
Simon: Refers to her as "naughty". He thought it was fun and young with a bit of shriekiness in the middle, and he alludes to her outfit and looks as what people will talk about. No doubt.
Mr. RenaRF says she should be a stripper. Ryan blathers about navigating the stairs in heels. 1-866-IDOLS01 or text 5701.
We're back with Ryan with family members who are crying. How touching (not). Chris Richardson is going next. He's singing Don't Let The Sun Catch You Crying. Noone thinks it's smashing. He wants to sing this song, not jump around. Noone hasn't heard much of Chris' voice so he likes this one. He warns him about his vibrato (AMEN!). I hope he doesn't sing through his nose. Just this time, please.
He's seated on stage with an acoustic guitarist. He still sounds very Justin Timberlake to me, and I'm not a Justin Timberlake fan. He's trying to soften this performance and his pitch is generally good with a few little kind of slidy weak spots. He gets up for the bridge and starts to sing through his nose. He adds those runs that don't add on a beautiful song. He's making an effort at this, though, and I have to give that to him. He's better towards the end with the high notes. Overall another solid B performance.
Randy: He's "dog" this and "dog" that. He thought it was another great performance that showed a different side to him. It was in tune.
Paula: It's all about being smart with choices, and he was smart. She liked the arrangement - thought it was sexy.
Simon: He thought it was his best performance so far. I agree - I'm not a Chris fan and I didn't hate it. Very good performance.
Seacrest is with him. He wants to know if Chris thought it was risky, and Chris thought it was hard to play it straight. 1-866-IDOLS02 or text 5702.
Stephanie Edwards is up next. She gets a fan question: What's the hardest part about getting ready for the show each week? A: the hardest is picking the song. She's with Lulu now, and she'll sing You Don't Have To Say You Love Me. Lulu says she's "grounded" and kind of indicates she's fearless. Lulu compares her to Beyonce (Jeez - enough with that).
It starts with the band, very dramatically. She starts softly - uncharacteristically so. It's nice. In the beginning she's playing it straight - she leaves a lot of space to let the song tell the story and she doesn't step on that story. Have to say I don't like the dress. She's in the chorus. She's handling it well. She makes a key change and takes it up a notch. This was a good performance, but a little underwhelming. Another B.
Randy: It was a great song choice but not her best performance for him. A little pitchy.
Paula: Loves her outfit. Loved the song choice. Some note problems. Hesitant endorsement. Wants her to go back to having fun.
Simon: He wants to know how she thought she did: she thought she did well. He thinks she's losing her edge - it's a bit night-clubby, and she's losing her soul. It was a very good cabaret performance. She's far too old for herself. He wasn't crazy about it.
Ryan's with her - she didn't really know any of these songs but tried to embrace it. She admits she could have a little more fun. 1-866-IDOLS03 or text 5703.
We get the AT&T pimp. Blake Lewis is up next. He's singing Season of Love. He's going to "Blakeize" it, apparently.
He starts off beat-boxy. He does the first verse pretty well and moves to the chorus, which is a little weak for me. He's much better in the verse - I think that the chorus is simply too high. My complaint with Blake is that he's sloppy. He drops notes where he shouldn't. But he's so entertaining, I think that keeps him afloat. I have to admit - this isn't a bad performance, but he's dropping notes and I'm frankly getting a little bored. He gets a C on this one - sorry folks.
Randy: He's a huge Blake fan. He put together a "massive Yo factor" version of the song. He apparently liked it.
Paula: She loved it. She was standing at the end.
Simon: He thought it was a million times better than last week. Strongest performance of the night as far as he's concerned.
Personally, I thought it was the worst Blake performance yet. 1-866-IDOLS04 or text 5704.
Lakisha Jones - we are led to believe that she's uncomfortable with the genre. She settles on You're My World, even though she preferred Diamonds Are Forever. Lulu tries to talk her into it by singing it to her in the Lulu way.
But she chooses Diamonds Are Forever. The first verse is great - spot-on. It makes me think of the Bond movie intros; I can close my eyes and picture it with her singing. She is all blinged out, too, and I think she looks the part. She kind of snarls her way through this, but with her great voice - the attitude she strikes, I think, is perfect for this. She goes to the bridge and there's no mistakes so far. She goes to the power part and the hair literally stood on the back of my neck. She is by far and away the best performance so far tonight. She ends it BIG. She gets a resounding A.
Randy: He thought it was a good choice. It wasn't his favorite performance, he didn't feel enough Lakisha in it. Just all right for him.
Paula: She thinks the song was the right song to choose. She also thinks Lakisha is a very smart girl, and we learn the diamonds she's wearing are actually real.
Simon: It's evident she's a fantastic singer. However. Tonight's performance was Lakisha in 50 year's time. He hated the hair, the outfit - wasn't his favorite performance. Too old, too old-fashioned.
Ryan joins her. How they can praise Blake and slam Lakisha is beyond me. Lakisha takes the "good with the bad and the ugly" regarding their feedback. Lakisha's happy if she sounds like this 45 years from now. 1-866-IDOLS05 or text 5705. For the record, Randy thought she looked great but wanted "more Lakisha" in the song - put more runs and such in because she can do it.
Phil Stacey is singing Tobacco Road. Phil chose it because it's so fun to sing. Noone thinks it's a great choice for Phil. He can "wail" in the high parts. Noone hasn't heard it sung as well as Phil during the rehearsal. Wow.
Phil's out there in all his baldness. Oh sad - he looks like he's been sweating for a while before he came on stage. But back to the vocals - very good. He's stalking around with the microphone in its stand - very Bo Bice. He's running back to center stage in the vamp. I have to say, about halfway through it's my favorite Phil performance. I can't tell if that's sweat or a stain or a pattern - it's very distracting from what is otherwise a great performance. Phil's on this one. I actually think I like this better than Lakisha. Sold strong A.
Randy: Let it all out. A pretty good performance - a couple pitchy spots (???). It was pretty good for him.
Paula: Really good choice of song. Some parts were pitchy, but the emotion of the song was on. She thought it was good.
Simon: He wasn't crazy about it. Kind of a third division bar band performance. He didn't find it believable (!!!). There wasn't grit in his voice. He has a problem because he thinks he's being outsung by a lot of the other singers. He may have a problem tomorrow.
Ryan's with him. What a bullshit review! Phil tried to bring it - bottom 3 scared him last week. 1-866-IDOLS06 or text 5706.
Ryan comes back with Jordin Sparks. I like Jordin, but I don't think she's quite as strong as some of the other girls. She gets a question: Name a song that describes you best. A: I'm So Excited by the Pointer Sisters. Duh. That fits, but it's a bit annoying. She's with Lulu, and Jordin thought meeting her was amazing. She's singing I Who Have Nothing. Don't know it, but it's apparently a big song and Lulu loves it. Lulu actually gives good direction. She knows where and what to punch in a song and shares that with the girls.
Jordin is very dramatic, straight hair, black dress, walking to center stage mic stand. She looks very pretty. She starts and I like the beginning - it compels me to watch her, actually. She's doing a good job with this song - it's very emotional and she's clearly taken Lulu's advice to heart and she's performing this song - owning it. This is a GREAT performance for Jordin. Best of the night for me - truly. A+.
Randy: Very tall order for a 17-year old. Great, great performance. One of the best.
Paula: Her range is becoming great each week. Great.
Simon: You sang it beautifully, but he feels like jumping off a bridge. It was SO gloomy (well duh). It was a bit depressing, but she sang it beautifully.
Hey - if Simon's depressed, Jordin did it right. Sometimes songs are sad, Simon. An Awful Lot Of Aliteration in that previous sentence. Jordin had to get into a zone where she was serious. 1-866-IDOLS07 or text 5707.
We are teased pre-commercial that after the commercial they'll unleash the "wild side" of Sanjaya.
All righty. 45 minutes to go. We drag Noone to his feet. Ryan extols that he brought something special out in the guys so far... He speaks truth: it's ISN'T a singing competition at this stage - it's a VOTING competition. So simple, yet so elusive and true. Sanjaya Malakar is with Noone. Sanjaya doesn't know British Invasion stuff. He has to songs - You Really Got Me. Noone talks about his lack of experience and calls him "cute looking". The other song is Into Something Good. Noone likes the second choice, but he should choose the first and SELL IT.
Here he is - You Really Got Me. He has a funky jacket on, jeans and an oversized shirt. He trying to dirty up his voice and show some personality. But he sings in a one-octave range, folks. He's doing better on the performance aspect but no one is going to be able to make Sanajaya a great singer in this forum. He's sloppy, his pitch sucks, and he's painful to listen to. Seriously. I hate to say it. Because a part of me wants him to click and simply blow my socks off but he can't. He's NOT GOOD ENOUGH. Better for Sanjaya, but still bad. D-
Randy: Sanjaya shocked him tonight. He wasn't reserved. It was his best performance. He came out of his shell.
Paula: That's what she'd been waiting for.
Simon: (Please speak some truth) Refers to a crying little girl and says her face says it all.
Ryan's with Sanjaya. The little girl liked him, Ryan points out. Ryan gets Sanjaya out there to hug her, which is actually very nice and the girl cries more. 1-866-IDOLS08 or text 5708. Someone PLEASE - spare me this kid.
Ok. Back from commercial. Gina Glocksen is with Ryan. Her hair's shorter - very emo. She's all blacked out and edgy. Fan question: Do you think being on AI has made you stronger? A: Definitely. They're under pressure and stress and she comes out and gives her best. What is this - Miss America? Sheesh. They try not to pay attention to what the media says about them. Gina's with Lulu, and she's singing Paint it Black. That explains the outfit. Lulu wants her to raise the key a half step, and Gina agrees. Lulu wants Gina to get the drama out of it.
Gina stalks around. The music starts, and it's one of those songs you immediately recognize. The first verse is a little rough for me, but the bridge gets MUCH better. I still think the song is a little low. I'll have to wait and see if she takes it way up. She's in a weird bridge and I can't tell if she does it really well or really badly - I don't know the original well enough to judge. I can't quite get the energy of this performance and this is all about angry energy. Just a soft B/high C for me.
Randy: He loved the whole edge vibe but not his favorite vocal. Just all right for him.
Paula: Thought it was miles better than last week. She has fun doing this and it shows.
Simon: There were moments of complete torture in the vocal. It was so off melody at moments it was horrible. It was just not very good - style over content. She's going to have to sing better - vocally not good enough. I have to agree.
Ryan's with her. Paula thinks Gina needs to work on her vocals and not abandon who she is. Randy thinks she needs to sing the big notes. Simon simply thinks the singing wasn't good enough and she's got to sing better. 1-866-IDOLS09 or text 5709.
Ryan returns with the obligatory judges' shot. Chris Sligh is up next. Chris knows his artist history - first with Simon and then with Noone. She's Not There is his choice. A highly recognizable song - probably a good choice. Noone implores Sligh to know what the song is about and make it believable. Noone thinks he'll do great.
I love this song, by the way. Sligh starts in teh audience, all Taylor-like. He moves to a falsetto in the beginning and it's not bad. He's on the ramp behind the judges, again very Taylor-like. I generally like this performance. He's playing it straight. It's not blowing me away, but it's good. B.
Randy: He liked it. It started off a little bit rough, but he wound up good. It was a great song for him and he ended it really strong.
Paula: Started a little ahead of the pocket. Paula likes his clothes. Thought the vocals was really good.
Simon: Thought he didn't have a problem with the audience, thought he did his thing, and thought it was fun. It wasn't the best vocal heard tonight, but it was good and a lot better than last week.
Ryan's with him. Mr. RenaRF said it was good but it totally lacked soul. Chris says he's clumsy and chubby and he jabbed Simon with the mic stand when Simon grabbed it. or text 1-866-IDOLS10 or text 5710. I don't know how I missed this, but Chris is calling his fans the "Fro Patrol". Again, very Taylor. I like Chris, but he's not Taylor man.
Ok. We're back with Melinda Doolittle. British Invasion week makes her nervous. She's singing As Long As He Needs Me, a "torch song" according to Lulu. We learn that this song is out of her comfort zone - the most yet. Lulu helped her and loved it. She thinks that's the perfect song for Melinda.
I don't know this song. Melinda starts seated. She sounds very Barbara Streisand in the beginning - good, but weird to hear. She rises as the first verse moves to the second. The verses are very subdued - and I think they have to be. She's in the bridge and she gets to take it up a bit with a key change upward. It's not the big power notes you would usually want from Melinda, but at the end she brings it home with the power note. It was a very very good performance, and I love Melinda - she's my favorite - she barely edged Jordin out for me. A+.
Randy: He thought they saved the best vocal for last.
Paula: Sold the story. Great.
Simon: Are you really as nice as you seem? He thinks she is. The second part of the song was sensational with an impeccable vocal. And she really is that nice.
Ryan's with her and wants to know if this is the real her that we see - she says it is, and you believe her. Melinda is eminently believable. 1-866-IDOLS11 or text 5711.
Final Rankings:
Melinda Doolittle
Jordin Sparks
Phil Stacey
Lakisha Jones
Chris Richardson
Chris Sligh
Stephanie Edwards
Gina Glocksen
Haley Scarnato
Blake Lewis
Sanjaya Malakar
Overall, this week was MUCH better than last week. I think Haley should be a little worried, and Phil as well as Gina. I hate to put Phil there because I thought he was one of the better performances, but he doesn't necessarily click as far as I'm concerned. Predictions from me pre-results tomorrow night, then Results recap. Thanks for reading! Y'all don't comment much, but I get mad site hits from unique visitors and a fair amount of returning visitors, and I appreciate it.
Labels: American Idol, Finals, Top 11
posted by RenaRF @ 7:12 PM,
