Thursday, March 15, 2012

American Idol Top 11 Perform Songs from the Year of Their Birth

By now we are all aware that Jermaine Jones - otherwise known as the Gentle Giant - was disqualified from American Idol because of outstanding warrants, but the story indeed may go much deeper than that with TMZ reporting how the absent father cried fowl on Jermaine's emotional back story.

All I know is they brought back a contestant, which they have never before done, adding a "spare" to the top 24 and it is that "spare" who gets eliminated the same night we'll whittle the group down to the Top 10, i.e. the official tour lineup.

Had Idol not televised this confrontation between Jermaine and the producers we might have brushed it off as business as usual, but this time it sounds more like a cheap marketing ploy to get some extra ratings. It was all very sensationalistic, even for Idol.

Forgive me for being skeptical but I don't buy it. Surely these folks have been burned enough in the past to do a thorough background check on these folks prior to the live shows.

AT ANY RATE...

The YOB theme is always iffy given the huge wealth of songs each contestant has to choose from. Anything can happen, but generally one brave soul will sing a song we're not so familiar with, some will sing older songs that technically qualify because they were made in the year of their birth and some will take on songs from singers they have no business trying to emulate.

In other words, we're in for a more critical review of tonight's performance show.

Phillip Phillips started the festivities with "Hard to Handle" by the Black Crowes. That I didn't pick it yesterday was a total oversight on my part, it is kinda the perfect song for him. Given the dude just had surgery he really rocked his choice and started the show off right. But even still, I haven't connected to him emotionally yet. I can't tell you why. There's no real reason. Without his guitar he looks a bit awkward, but it may be just a Joe Cocker type of spastic that just comes with that type of performer. I guess I'll have to get used to it.

Vocals: 4
Style: 4
Stage Presence: 4
Individuality: 4
Song Choice: 5
Total: 21
Probability of moving on: Strong

Jessica Sanchez chose wisely (i.e. sang a song off my wish list from yesterday) with "Turn the Beat Around." TECHNICALLY it's a disco hit but Gloria Estefan breathed some flavor into it in 1995 when our youngest contestant was born. She came out belting it out just like disco diva in her sparkly pants. She also owned that stage with a prowess way beyond her tender 16 years. This girl is a major contender because she can do more than the ballad, no matter what the judges say. LOVE this girl. Let her spread her wings however she wants, guys.

Vocals: 5
Style: 5
Stage Presence: 5
Individuality: 5
Song Choice: 5
Total: 25
Probability of moving on: Strong

Heejun Han picked "Right Here Waiting" by Richard Marx. Another ballad. Color me surprised. Instead of telling me how funny this guy is, why can't we see his personality on the stage? My patience is wearing thin. If he gets through to next week and does another ballad, I'm afraid he'll earn himself a zero.

Vocals: 3
Style: 4
Stage Presence: 3
Individuality: 3
Song Choice: 1
Total: 14
Probability of moving on: Questionable

Our 1983 baby, Elise Testone, picked "Let's Stay Together" and had an impromptu sing-off with President Obama. That was kinda righteous and made my whole night, frankly. I loved that she went back to her songstress roots with this song. She had a lot more confidence with this song than the Whitney debacle of last week. It was good to see. By the end I really didn't see much to criticize. Let's hope her fans rally to keep her in the competition.

Vocals: 5
Style: 5
Stage Presence: 5
Individuality: 5
Song Choice: 5
Total: 25
Probability of moving on: Good

Oh, DeAndre. My sweet little DeAndre Brackensick. I love you. I do. But you just committed a Geevie Idol Sin by singing one of my most hated songs, EVER. NO. NO NO NO. They should have let him sing Disney. Blame Jimmy Iovine but... I had to fast-forward.

Vocals: 4 (Based on past performances)
Style: 4
Stage Presence: 4
Individuality: 4
Song Choice: 0
Total: 12
Probability of moving on: It's in his fans' hands now.

(Dre, hon, if you stay, next time check my blog. I won't steer you wrong, sweetie.)

Shannon Magrane had the choice to do No Doubt's "Don't Speak" but opted to take on Mariah Carey and Boys II Men.

:-|

Another ballad. Surprise, surprise. She could have done something more youthful and exciting but no. She took on Mariah Carey. BIG mistake. You should never attempt to sing a Mariah song UNLESS you can sing it better than Mariah. And Shannon can't. Another misstep.

But at least she dressed young. Progress?

Vocals: 3
Style: 4
Stage Presence: 4
Individuality: 4
Song Choice: 1
Total: 16
Probability of moving on: Questionable

Colton Dixon sang White Lion and stayed true to some harder rock roots, which is always good to hear. But he, like Phillip, leaves me cold for some unknown reason. I'm missing the star quality of Adam Lambert and swagger of Daughtry. Colton sounds the same on every single song he sings, no matter what he sings. At this point it's really take it or leave it with me, but at least it was more exciting than a ballad, which makes him invaluable to this season.

Vocals: 4
Style: 4
Stage Presence: 4
Individuality: 4
Song Choice: 4 (White Lion = good. Unknown song = risky.)
Total: 20
Probability of moving on: Good

Erika Van Pelt, our EVP, chose - guess what - ANOTHER BALLAD.

:-|

I just really don't even know what to say. She's just not living up to the potential she alone has to be a standout artist this year. I'm so frustrated. Like Heejun, if she gets through to next week and does another ballad, it's zeroes from here on out.

Vocals: 3
Style: 4
Stage Presence: 4
Individuality: 3
Song Choice: 1
Total: 15
Probability of moving on: Questionable

Jimmy tried to steer Skylar Laine away from her 1992 Bonnie Raitt pick, "Love's Sneaking Up On You." I'm not really thrilled by her original choice given the material she could have picked, including Faith Hill's "Piece of My Heart" - which would have given her a chance to rock with southern flavor. Pretty boring overall. Another missed opportunity.

Vocals: 4
Style: 4
Stage Presence: 4
Individuality: 5
Song Choice: 2
Total: 19
Probability of moving on: Good

Thank God for Joshua Ledet. My hair is STILL tingling. Serve that man crawfish before each and every performance. It didn't hurt his song was my fantasy pick, "When a Man Loves a Woman," which puts me two for two for the evening. And two of my favorite performances at that.

Go figure.

This boy evokes ghosts of Sam Cooke or Jackie Wilson on stage. I think the only thing I've ever thanked Michael Bolton for was that he released this remake in the year Joshua was born so he could sing it.

Vocals: 5
Style: 5
Stage Presence: 5
Individuality: 5
Song Choice: 5
Total: 25
Probability of moving on: Strong

Hollie Cavanagh sang a ballad but she can. And she should. She picked Celine Dion which is risky business for any lesser singer, but Hollie can pull something this epic off almost effortlessly.

*Almost.*

This is one of my favorite Celine Dion songs of all time and it has deep personal meaning to me, so I've heard (and sung) "The Power of Love" quite a lot since 1994. That's why it was easy for me to tell whenever she slid off-key, which is easy to do with that kind of monster song. For that reason I had to ding her, but I still believe she has a long Idol journey ahead of her.

Vocals: 4
Style: 5
Stage Presence: 5
Individuality: 5
Song Choice: 5
Total: 24
Probability of moving on: Strong

I think the Heejun, DeAndre, Shannon and EVP have the most to worry about tomorrow. So I guess we have to ask ourselves: who do we want to see live in concert?

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