As it is becoming apparent now, the themes on Idol are slowly moving through the decades, this week being the 70s. Its just a shame they'll be finished with the pre-shows before they even come close to anything musically current. Oh well. This time round I was a little more familiar with the contestants, so I thought I'd be all ready to pick out my favourites. How wrong could I have been?
First up were the lads. Michael has been pretty consistent up to this point, so I was very disappointed with his performance this week. The vocals just weren't there. Jason C, my early fav from last week barely registered this time round. Maybe it was just the song, but I think he needs to adopt a slightly different style for next week if hes going to make any kind of lasting impression. Luke (who I fully expected to be sent home last week) took a bit of a risk singing "Killer Queen", a great song and a HARD song to sing (so I gotta at least give him props for that). He managed all the notes, but with that song, you expect massive Mercury PRESENCE along with it, so its not like he had a hope in comparison!
Robbie again sounded quite lovely, but the song choice left a lot to be desired. Also, I have a feeling that if the judges hadn't kept harping on about it, I wouldn't have the word "FAKER" blinking in my mind whenever hes on screen. Just goes to show, the judges opinions can be quite deciding! On that note, I felt like Paula was perhaps wearing her sober hat because most of her comments were not only understandable, but particularly relevant!
Danny (my other fav of the bunch) went with and pretty much mangled one of my most loved Carpenter songs. At that stage, I could clearly see a big sign around his neck that read "going home" (again, how wrong could I be!). David H. pulled off another solid vocal this week, but I'm still finding it uncomfortable watching him. I think its something about his eyes....
Jason Y. was, for a second week in a row, crapola. Simon was unnecessarily mean towards him though. Almost made me feel sorry for the guy........almost.
Chikezie followed and bowled me over with a surprisingly amazing performance. Like, where the hell did that come from?! I'm still quite put off by his attitude (and his lack of fashion sense, but who am I to talk?). David C. (which his still hedious hair......jeez, sort that out already, would you?) was up next and gave what I thought was the most convincing performance from the so-called "rockers" of this season. I wasn't all that wild on the song.........a bit too predictable for me.
Last was David A. Good god, can this guy emote or WHAT?! It was easily the best performance of the night (especially shocking considering how young he is). I wouldn't go so far as to say it was the best vocal ever on the show (the judges are really prone to exaggeration this season, it would seem), but it definitely worked for me. I'm still kind of annoyed he went with that song though, cause in my opinion, anyone who sings it gets an unfair advantage of having all that goodwill behind them, it behind one of the most loved songs of all time.
Next were the gurls. Carly kicked things off with a slightly rocking performance, but I swear, all I could see were her bouncy boobs all over the gaff. Syesha followed that up with a snoozey rendition of "Mister Jones". I know this girl can sing, but the song just didn't allow her to demonstrate it. Better luck next week, luv. Brooke struck song choice gold with "You're So Vain", but given how she's still stuck in "nice" mode, it was an odd rendition and I'm still not wowed by her.
Ramiele went with an uptempo disco number (to keep things fresh). Even though I'm still in love with her and the sound of her voice, I felt like the song got away from her at times, like the tempo was that LIL bit too fast for her. Kristey Lee Cook (who will from now on be referred to as KLC) appeared on-stage looking exactly like Felicity. You'd think that that would make me like her a little, but no, she was still far too generic. I loved her top though, it was like fashion from the future!
Amanda was up next and the first thing that hit you (almost literally) was that SHOCK of hair on her head. Now really, someone needs to tell her to tone it down a lil (in fact, I think Paula did just that during her critique!). The song, which I love, didn't work for her at ALL and showed up her lack of singing chops. Alaina picked a perfect song for her and sang the hell out of it. Even though she TOTALLY missed a few of the high notes it was still one of my fav performances of the night. Shame the judges didn't like it one bit!
Next was Alexandrea, who was my fav of the girls at this point. I cant say I was thrilled with the song choice (a mite boring), but she sang it perfectly and did a beautiful lil harmonic thing towards the end that really encapsulated the style of singing of the period. Naturally, the judges didn't like her either. Kady blazed on stage and made my ears bleed for a minute and a half. Asia'h ended the girls show. Granted, she was sick, but that doesn't excuse a terrible vocal. Why sing a song with gratuitously high power notes if you simply cant pull them off? The whole thing left a bad taste in my mouth. Perhaps it will have washed out by next week :P
The results were, in a word, shocking. I don't think I've ever been quite so angered by an Idol results show before. On the boys side, Jason and Robbie were sent packing. Jason going was a foregone conclusion while I think Robbie should have hung in there a few more shows. Of the girls, Alexandrea and Alaina got the boot, which was just plain wrong! >:( Both girls gave infinitely better performances than most of the other girls and it was a crime to see them leave the show so early. I guess I'll have to find another girl to dote on for next week!
Showing posts with label American Idol. Show all posts
Showing posts with label American Idol. Show all posts
Wednesday, March 05, 2008
Tuesday, February 26, 2008
When Idol eyes are smiling
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!!! >:(
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!!! >:(
Tuesday, April 17, 2007
Theres Always Tomorrow (Except for Haley)
I'll have to stop watching Idol while sitting by my PC, as I found myself distracted during some of the performances. Or maybe they just weren’t interesting enough to hold my attention! Biggest surprise this week was that I ended up LIKING J. Lo. I'm nowhere near her biggest fan. I despise her movies and have never bought any of her albums (even though I enjoy quite a few of her singles) and I totally believe she makes all those crazy diva demands. However, she came across damn well on the show. Not only did she appear normal and funny, but for someone who isn’t the best singer in the world, I think she managed to impart upon the Idols some valid and useful words of wisdom!
Like I expected, it was basically a Gloria Estefan week. I'm pretty sure they had one of those last year (or maybe it was the year before, seasons of Idol blend together after a while). And one thing about her songs is that they are deceptively difficult to sing. After hearing so many of the Idols mangling her songs last time, I had a newfound respect for Gloria. Shame that the current Idols this year didn’t learn from previous Idols mistakes.
And its not as if there’s a shortage of Latin themed songs for them to sing. Someone could have done an interesting take on a Shakira song (that is, SING one of her songs instead of wailing like a goat on it), but no. And no one even touched Ricki Martin or Enriqué (I'm not counting the group song in the finale). I'm probably forgetting tons of other obvious Latin artists. And what about poor Jenny from the Block herself? I know its a stretch to classify anything but her latest album "Latin", but I think they could have modified at least ONE of her old singles into something that came close to a Latin flavour. For me, everyone played it safe and almost everyone was boring as hell.
The girls...........blah blah blah. I normally cant fault Melinda, but her choosing of that song shows that she’s incapable or afraid to touch something even remotely modern (I'd have even taken an Estefan song in place of "Sway". While I do LOVE the song, I've heard a million better versions of it). And the rest of the girls all did Estefan. Lack of effort all round.
The boys were split. Phil and Chris R were simply boring, both choosing Santana numbers. Phil HAS to go next week, he just HAS to. Sanjaya made me hate myself just a little by being halfway decent. Which of course is going to guaranteed his safety. If he keeps this up, he'll be in the fecking final *sigh*. And Blake finally FINALLY decided to sing a song, instead of the usual "slow mime" he does and as a result, he sounded great. His was the only performance of the night I can say I actually enjoyed. Of course this means that it'll be doubly annoying next week if he goes back to his weird way of singing, now that we know he can actually sing properly.
The results.........well...........it had to happen, didn’t it? I really do think that if Haley had picked a different song, a more manageable song, she might have stayed this week instead of Phil. I love the song to bits, but it’s ridiculously hard to sing, being more of a vocal sprint than anything else. At least she held it together admirably for her performance at the end.
J. Lo gave the first truly memorable mentor performance of the season. Even though I haven’t a clue what she was singing, the meaning behind the words still managed to come through loud and clear, a testament to the passion she infused into the song. She showed up the Idols good and proper!!
And did Ryan say "country" is next week? I better break out my GEE-tar and get a-courting my cousin.
Like I expected, it was basically a Gloria Estefan week. I'm pretty sure they had one of those last year (or maybe it was the year before, seasons of Idol blend together after a while). And one thing about her songs is that they are deceptively difficult to sing. After hearing so many of the Idols mangling her songs last time, I had a newfound respect for Gloria. Shame that the current Idols this year didn’t learn from previous Idols mistakes.
And its not as if there’s a shortage of Latin themed songs for them to sing. Someone could have done an interesting take on a Shakira song (that is, SING one of her songs instead of wailing like a goat on it), but no. And no one even touched Ricki Martin or Enriqué (I'm not counting the group song in the finale). I'm probably forgetting tons of other obvious Latin artists. And what about poor Jenny from the Block herself? I know its a stretch to classify anything but her latest album "Latin", but I think they could have modified at least ONE of her old singles into something that came close to a Latin flavour. For me, everyone played it safe and almost everyone was boring as hell.
The girls...........blah blah blah. I normally cant fault Melinda, but her choosing of that song shows that she’s incapable or afraid to touch something even remotely modern (I'd have even taken an Estefan song in place of "Sway". While I do LOVE the song, I've heard a million better versions of it). And the rest of the girls all did Estefan. Lack of effort all round.
The boys were split. Phil and Chris R were simply boring, both choosing Santana numbers. Phil HAS to go next week, he just HAS to. Sanjaya made me hate myself just a little by being halfway decent. Which of course is going to guaranteed his safety. If he keeps this up, he'll be in the fecking final *sigh*. And Blake finally FINALLY decided to sing a song, instead of the usual "slow mime" he does and as a result, he sounded great. His was the only performance of the night I can say I actually enjoyed. Of course this means that it'll be doubly annoying next week if he goes back to his weird way of singing, now that we know he can actually sing properly.
The results.........well...........it had to happen, didn’t it? I really do think that if Haley had picked a different song, a more manageable song, she might have stayed this week instead of Phil. I love the song to bits, but it’s ridiculously hard to sing, being more of a vocal sprint than anything else. At least she held it together admirably for her performance at the end.
J. Lo gave the first truly memorable mentor performance of the season. Even though I haven’t a clue what she was singing, the meaning behind the words still managed to come through loud and clear, a testament to the passion she infused into the song. She showed up the Idols good and proper!!
And did Ryan say "country" is next week? I better break out my GEE-tar and get a-courting my cousin.
Wednesday, April 04, 2007
Wave goodbye to Sligh
I found it pretty hard to get at all enthusiastic about this weeks Idol. When the standout performances are delivered by Gina and Phil, then you KNOW something’s just not right! The theme was “No Doubt songs, and artists that inspire Gwen Stefani”. Talk about contrived! :P I’m guessing that the No Doubt back catalogue alone wasn’t enough to sustain an entire show. But with themes as vague and malleable as this, it makes you wonder why they even bother having them at all at this stage.
The original reason behind the themes (before they started trawling in musical guests each week) was that it gave the show a bit of diversity and we got to see how the contestants could hold up when challenged with different musical genres. But lately they have found a way to make sure that most of the Idols never have to leave their comfort zone. As a result, you get similar performances from them, week after week. I’m all for artists putting their own spin on classic tracks, but when they doggedly refuse to try something different, then it smacks of laziness and they come across as a one trick pony. I’m betting the producers of the show are mostly to blame for this, but whatever the case, you end up with a show without any real surprises.
Besides the aforementioned Phil and Gina, the rest of the contestants were bland and uninteresting this week. Chris S’s performance was a disaster, and I was thrilled he was finally shunted off to hell, where he belongs. But Sanjaya (whos performance was one of the most uncomfortable couple of I’ve ever been witness to) appeared to sail through once again. Hes yet to even grace the bottom three! Its just so darn perplexing, what DO the American public see in him? >:(
Next week we will be subject to the annual “Big Band / Tony Bennet” theme. I’m convinced that Bennet has some SERIOUS dirt on Cowel :P Theres just no other way to explain his frequency of appearances on the show. I like “Big Band” alright, but hows about we get the likes of Michael Buble (who even has an upcoming album to promote!), instead of someone they have to defrost and defibrillate before each performance ;)
The original reason behind the themes (before they started trawling in musical guests each week) was that it gave the show a bit of diversity and we got to see how the contestants could hold up when challenged with different musical genres. But lately they have found a way to make sure that most of the Idols never have to leave their comfort zone. As a result, you get similar performances from them, week after week. I’m all for artists putting their own spin on classic tracks, but when they doggedly refuse to try something different, then it smacks of laziness and they come across as a one trick pony. I’m betting the producers of the show are mostly to blame for this, but whatever the case, you end up with a show without any real surprises.
Besides the aforementioned Phil and Gina, the rest of the contestants were bland and uninteresting this week. Chris S’s performance was a disaster, and I was thrilled he was finally shunted off to hell, where he belongs. But Sanjaya (whos performance was one of the most uncomfortable couple of I’ve ever been witness to) appeared to sail through once again. Hes yet to even grace the bottom three! Its just so darn perplexing, what DO the American public see in him? >:(
Next week we will be subject to the annual “Big Band / Tony Bennet” theme. I’m convinced that Bennet has some SERIOUS dirt on Cowel :P Theres just no other way to explain his frequency of appearances on the show. I like “Big Band” alright, but hows about we get the likes of Michael Buble (who even has an upcoming album to promote!), instead of someone they have to defrost and defibrillate before each performance ;)
Saturday, March 31, 2007
Tears of gold
This weeks theme (60s British music) afforded the potential Idols a little bit more variety when it came to song choice. On the whole, everyone seemed a lot more comfortable with their songs and performance.
Standout of the night for me had to be Jordin. Her rendition of “I (Who Have Nothing)” almost gave me those elusive goose bumps that our Paula is so frequently afflicted with. After a few weeks of barely registering with me, Lakisha rocked my world, an absolute vision in emerald green. She’s still head and shoulders above most of the other contestants, but it seem as though the judges have finally grown tired of her consistently good performances. How long before Melinda suffers the same fate I wonder? Melinda herself was on the ball yet again, but she needs to mix it up a little next week, as her style the past few weeks has been a bit samey. Haley decided to show the world there was more to her than just a pretty face and brought out the big guns (namely her boobs and legs). Her performance wasn’t half bad either! :D Stephanie was utterly forgettable.
The guys hardly deserve a mention this week, yet again. Chris R was whiney, Blake came off sleazy, Chris S is the devil, Phil was all OVER the place and Sanjaya was atrocious.
If there was any justice in the world, it should have been Phil, Sanjaya and Stephenie in the bottom three, with Sanjaya being sent home. Instead it was Chris R and Stephenie with the lowest votes, with Steph eventually being sent on her merry way.
I don’t quite understand how Sanjaya survives the voting each and every week. It’s as though he has some sort of dark god on his side, a god who sees fit to punish us with countless uninspired performances and daring new hairdos. Maybe Sanjayas the price we pay for watching a show as soulless as Idol….
Special mention has to go to the crying girl in the audience, who got more screen time during Sanjayas performance than Sanjaya himself :P
Standout of the night for me had to be Jordin. Her rendition of “I (Who Have Nothing)” almost gave me those elusive goose bumps that our Paula is so frequently afflicted with. After a few weeks of barely registering with me, Lakisha rocked my world, an absolute vision in emerald green. She’s still head and shoulders above most of the other contestants, but it seem as though the judges have finally grown tired of her consistently good performances. How long before Melinda suffers the same fate I wonder? Melinda herself was on the ball yet again, but she needs to mix it up a little next week, as her style the past few weeks has been a bit samey. Haley decided to show the world there was more to her than just a pretty face and brought out the big guns (namely her boobs and legs). Her performance wasn’t half bad either! :D Stephanie was utterly forgettable.
The guys hardly deserve a mention this week, yet again. Chris R was whiney, Blake came off sleazy, Chris S is the devil, Phil was all OVER the place and Sanjaya was atrocious.
If there was any justice in the world, it should have been Phil, Sanjaya and Stephenie in the bottom three, with Sanjaya being sent home. Instead it was Chris R and Stephenie with the lowest votes, with Steph eventually being sent on her merry way.
I don’t quite understand how Sanjaya survives the voting each and every week. It’s as though he has some sort of dark god on his side, a god who sees fit to punish us with countless uninspired performances and daring new hairdos. Maybe Sanjayas the price we pay for watching a show as soulless as Idol….
Special mention has to go to the crying girl in the audience, who got more screen time during Sanjayas performance than Sanjaya himself :P
Friday, March 23, 2007
Ross is "The Boss"
To kickstart what I consider to be the first proper show of the season, Idol wheeled in Diana Ross to “mentor” the contestants. Let us put aside the fact that she was only there to promote her new material and her upcoming concert. Let us also ignore her recent crazy brushes with the law. And let us also choose to forget that she hasn’t had a song that even borders on a hit for as long as I can remember. This is Diana Ross y’all. THE Diana Ross. She is the epitome of the word “Legend”. To top it off, she looks not a day over 30 and STILL has that famous mop of hair exploding out of her head. Ms. Ross decided to take on a maternal role in the lives of the contestants. She managed to impart sage advice to some and trite one-liners to others. This mother clearly had her favourites :P
As far as weeks go, I’d say this was a tough one for most of the contestants. I’ve found that Diana Ross songs (much like those by Stevie Wonder) just sound plain wrong when sung by other people. Not just cause they are such classics, but also cause she has a unique sound to her voice.
As is becoming a sad sorry trend, the girls walked all over guys once more this week. Melinda and Lakisha performed liked seasoned veterans and OWNED the stage. Gina surprised me this week with a strong, almost rocking routine. Pretty Ugly Betty left me a lil cold, but I still love her. The only interesting thing about Stephanies performance was hearing Paulas surprisingly bitchy “that’s what arranging is for” comment at the end. I’m really loving Paula this season. She can go from a blubbering emotional wreck to a scathing judge in the blink of an eye. Whatever med level they have her on at the mo, its working wonders. And our poor poor Hayley was a mess.
The guys went from bland to worse. Phil was good, as usual, but still looked terribly uncomfortable on stage. Blake tried to “do his thang” but the result sounded decidedly 80s. Chris S. made a stab at sounding original too, but the song (a classic) came out almost unrecognisable. His barely hidden hissy fit after the judges comments has rooted him firmly in my “hate column”. Chris R, another guy who started off so well in the contest, decided to murder one of my favourite Ross songs with an incredibly nasal vocal. Brandon was completely forgettable, so much so that even the lyrics abandoned him. At this point, the less said about Sanjaya, the better.
The results weren’t too much of a surprise. I’d only disagree with Phil in the bottom three, and I would have preferred Sanjaya to go home this week. But I’m not going to loose any sleep over Brandons early departure.
I have to give Ross credit for her performance. She as old as time itself, but still managed to sing live, mostly in tune, prance around the stage and look amazing, all at the same time (which is more than most of the contestants could do!). Most of all, she looked like she was genuinely enjoying herself (again, something few of the contestants were able to achieve!) The song wasn’t anything special, but the chorus was simple enough and repeated enough times to allow others to sing along to it.
Next week is the British Invasion. The attack is being led by Lulu and I predict many casualties. I’m praying theres a distinct “Austin Powers” motif running through the show :D
Highlight of the show: Ryans Nana :D
As far as weeks go, I’d say this was a tough one for most of the contestants. I’ve found that Diana Ross songs (much like those by Stevie Wonder) just sound plain wrong when sung by other people. Not just cause they are such classics, but also cause she has a unique sound to her voice.
As is becoming a sad sorry trend, the girls walked all over guys once more this week. Melinda and Lakisha performed liked seasoned veterans and OWNED the stage. Gina surprised me this week with a strong, almost rocking routine. Pretty Ugly Betty left me a lil cold, but I still love her. The only interesting thing about Stephanies performance was hearing Paulas surprisingly bitchy “that’s what arranging is for” comment at the end. I’m really loving Paula this season. She can go from a blubbering emotional wreck to a scathing judge in the blink of an eye. Whatever med level they have her on at the mo, its working wonders. And our poor poor Hayley was a mess.
The guys went from bland to worse. Phil was good, as usual, but still looked terribly uncomfortable on stage. Blake tried to “do his thang” but the result sounded decidedly 80s. Chris S. made a stab at sounding original too, but the song (a classic) came out almost unrecognisable. His barely hidden hissy fit after the judges comments has rooted him firmly in my “hate column”. Chris R, another guy who started off so well in the contest, decided to murder one of my favourite Ross songs with an incredibly nasal vocal. Brandon was completely forgettable, so much so that even the lyrics abandoned him. At this point, the less said about Sanjaya, the better.
The results weren’t too much of a surprise. I’d only disagree with Phil in the bottom three, and I would have preferred Sanjaya to go home this week. But I’m not going to loose any sleep over Brandons early departure.
I have to give Ross credit for her performance. She as old as time itself, but still managed to sing live, mostly in tune, prance around the stage and look amazing, all at the same time (which is more than most of the contestants could do!). Most of all, she looked like she was genuinely enjoying herself (again, something few of the contestants were able to achieve!) The song wasn’t anything special, but the chorus was simple enough and repeated enough times to allow others to sing along to it.
Next week is the British Invasion. The attack is being led by Lulu and I predict many casualties. I’m praying theres a distinct “Austin Powers” motif running through the show :D
Highlight of the show: Ryans Nana :D
Thursday, March 15, 2007
Here America, are your final 12
Idol Knockouts, round three:
The guys were uniformly boring this week. Even the reliables from previous weeks barely registered.
As before, the girls were noticeably better. Jordin opened with a rousing performance, throwing shapes left right and centre, giving the camera plenty of attitude. This was her best week so far, and I think she stands a good chance in future rounds. Melinda burst our on stage with a hugely enjoyable song and pulled off another stormer. The rest of the girls held their own, but none really warrant a mention.
The results of the guys elimination were acceptable. I couldn’t stand Sundance and Jared was duller than a dead mule. After a little bit of thinking, I’m glad Sanjaya got in, but never in a million years thought he’d make it. Despite showing promise in the early rounds, his recent weeks have been totally lack lustre affairs. He’ll have to really up his game next week if he expects to make it into the final ten.
That Antonella was going home was a foregone conclusion, but I was hugely miffed that Sabrina didn’t get through. This is the first week since she started where her performance was less than stellar, but she was still far better than some of the other girls and MOST of the other guys.
I think Sabrina’s ejection from the show calls into question the fairness of the shows existing format. Given the huge imbalance in talent between the guys and the girls this season, maybe the shows creators should ditch the rule that an equal number of both genders make it through to the final twelve.
The guys were uniformly boring this week. Even the reliables from previous weeks barely registered.
As before, the girls were noticeably better. Jordin opened with a rousing performance, throwing shapes left right and centre, giving the camera plenty of attitude. This was her best week so far, and I think she stands a good chance in future rounds. Melinda burst our on stage with a hugely enjoyable song and pulled off another stormer. The rest of the girls held their own, but none really warrant a mention.
The results of the guys elimination were acceptable. I couldn’t stand Sundance and Jared was duller than a dead mule. After a little bit of thinking, I’m glad Sanjaya got in, but never in a million years thought he’d make it. Despite showing promise in the early rounds, his recent weeks have been totally lack lustre affairs. He’ll have to really up his game next week if he expects to make it into the final ten.
That Antonella was going home was a foregone conclusion, but I was hugely miffed that Sabrina didn’t get through. This is the first week since she started where her performance was less than stellar, but she was still far better than some of the other girls and MOST of the other guys.
I think Sabrina’s ejection from the show calls into question the fairness of the shows existing format. Given the huge imbalance in talent between the guys and the girls this season, maybe the shows creators should ditch the rule that an equal number of both genders make it through to the final twelve.
Tuesday, March 06, 2007
"Feeling Good", but sent home anyway!
Week two of the knockout stage and the girls still managed to put the guys to shame. When it comes to talent, there seems to be a clear imbalance this year between the genders. Though that didn’t stop Tayler winning it last year, so no point counting my chickens JUST yet!
On the guys night, there was a marginal improvement all round over last week. Phil Stacey opened the show with an impressive performance. No matter how much he freaks me out with his “alien” look, I just cant fault his voice. Jason Mraz is one of my fav artists, so when Chris Richardson took on one of his songs, I was highly sceptical. Turns out I had no reason to be, as he managed to pull off a very tricky song with alarming ease. Sundance Head WAS good this week, but I still cant bring myself around to actually liking him. The rest of the guys were just OK, some slightly more passable than others.
The girls had another great week. Stephanie Edwards tackled Beyonces “Dangerously in Love” and even though its not my fav song in the world, she did a fantastic job on it. Sabrina Sloan ended the show with a Whitney classic and sang it just perfectly. Nobody expected Lakisha Jones to live up to last week, and she didn’t, but that was down to the song (which gets sung every single damn year on Idol). I’ll admit that Gina Glocksen sung well again this week, but there’s something about her I don’t like. She thinks shes a lot better than she actually is. Melinda Doolittle showed immense control over her voice during her rendition of “My Funny Valentine”, but I really didn’t enjoy the arrangement of the song (sounded like something that would be played in a lounge bar), so that took from the whole performance somewhat.
The rest of the girls were ok, but a few were CLEARLY out of their league and needed to be sent home. Sadly, that didn’t happen >:(
Alaina Alexander and Nicholas Pedro got voted off first, which I totally agreed with. But I think it was a little bit early for Leslie Hunt and AJ Tabaldo to get the boot. Ok, so they were never going to make the final 12, but they were still miles better than some of the remaining contestants (Antonella Barba and Sanjaya Malakar, to be specific). At least this week the judges had the decency to act a little surprised and mildly annoyed that two moderately good singers were sent home in favour of to moderately bad ones.
On the guys night, there was a marginal improvement all round over last week. Phil Stacey opened the show with an impressive performance. No matter how much he freaks me out with his “alien” look, I just cant fault his voice. Jason Mraz is one of my fav artists, so when Chris Richardson took on one of his songs, I was highly sceptical. Turns out I had no reason to be, as he managed to pull off a very tricky song with alarming ease. Sundance Head WAS good this week, but I still cant bring myself around to actually liking him. The rest of the guys were just OK, some slightly more passable than others.
The girls had another great week. Stephanie Edwards tackled Beyonces “Dangerously in Love” and even though its not my fav song in the world, she did a fantastic job on it. Sabrina Sloan ended the show with a Whitney classic and sang it just perfectly. Nobody expected Lakisha Jones to live up to last week, and she didn’t, but that was down to the song (which gets sung every single damn year on Idol). I’ll admit that Gina Glocksen sung well again this week, but there’s something about her I don’t like. She thinks shes a lot better than she actually is. Melinda Doolittle showed immense control over her voice during her rendition of “My Funny Valentine”, but I really didn’t enjoy the arrangement of the song (sounded like something that would be played in a lounge bar), so that took from the whole performance somewhat.
The rest of the girls were ok, but a few were CLEARLY out of their league and needed to be sent home. Sadly, that didn’t happen >:(
Alaina Alexander and Nicholas Pedro got voted off first, which I totally agreed with. But I think it was a little bit early for Leslie Hunt and AJ Tabaldo to get the boot. Ok, so they were never going to make the final 12, but they were still miles better than some of the remaining contestants (Antonella Barba and Sanjaya Malakar, to be specific). At least this week the judges had the decency to act a little surprised and mildly annoyed that two moderately good singers were sent home in favour of to moderately bad ones.
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