American Idol has finally reached the stage where I take an interest again: the live shows with the top 24 contestants. I have managed to avoid almost all of the auditions up till now, so I was approaching most of the singers this year with fresh eyes and ears.
Sadly there were two things hampering my enjoyment from the get go. One was through no fault of the show. TV3, the only terrestrial channel broadcasting Idol, decided in their infinite wisdom that this year it would be a good idea to only show half of the contestants. Naturally, this really got my goat. I ended up having to watching the remaining 12 performances in crap quality on YouTube. If they do the same thing next week, I swear, I'll have a canary.
Second on my list of disappointments was the producers decision to introduce "themes" to the show. One of the reasons I always loved the early shows was simply because they didnt have a theme. Contestants could sing whatever they liked and that allowed the audience to get a good grasp of where they were coming from musically. This small bit of expression was removed from them when they all had a "60s week" imposed on them. *SIGH*
Moving onto the show itself. I wasnt really blown away by any of the contestants performances this week. The guys were up first. Some were completely forgettable. Others (David Hernandez, David Cook and Michael Johns), were merely adequate. Robbie Carricos voice was likeable, but I really didnt buy the rocker vibe he was trying to portray. I was very surprised by David Archuleta. His voice was way more mature than I'd expected and he made a slightly boring song FAR more enjoyable than it had any right to be.
My two favourite guys (so far) would be Danny Noriega and Jason Castro, both extremely different from each other. Danny had impressed me in earlier shows with his voice and I really enjoyed how his personality just spilled out over the stage during his performance! Jason on the other hand went for a much more understated approach and the song just melted beautifully into my head.
The girls were decent overall, but suffered from the same forgettable factor as most of the guys. The blondes in particular were hard to differentiate between! Alexandrea Lushington gave what I considered to be the best "performance" from the girls. She was working the song out from all the way down the stairs! Brooke White continued with her "nice" routine with a very pleasant rendition of her song........but I can see that shtick becoming old FAST :P Ramiele Maluaby looked and sounded great, but I think the song might have been a lil too big for someone so teeny!
Our big Irish hope Carly Smithson (who I've had a problem with since the start) was good, but suffered badly from all the hype and expectation that the judges have built up around her. Shes going to have to work extra had just to live up to the crazy high standards that are already expected of her! (which, I must admit, is very unfair).
As for the four who were sent home, I had no problems with their dismissal. The question is, how will the remaining 20 shape up on their second week? Its not too late for a few more to earn my fickle adoration :P
oh and I would like to blame my haphazard review of this weeks show on the fact that I was forced to watch half the show on the telly and then search for the other half on the internet!!! >:(
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