Second 12 Perform....And Fail To Impress

After having to wait an extra night to watch this week's performances, I was pretty juiced, and the press leading up to tonight's show seem to suggest a hot group. Well, after watching tonight, that must have been Paula's press corps, since they didn't know what they were talking about. I thought, on the whole, it was a pretty weak show. My sister-in-law called to suggest I describe it as follows: "I have two words: Talent Night at the Elks Lodge." LOL. And furthermore, none of the Idol hopefuls read my blog from last week to get instructions, since tonight was The Night Of The Wrong Song. People!

I venture a guess to say that downloads from tonight's performances on iTunes won't break any records. In fact, why is iTunes even doing this?! I don't get that. WAAAYYY too early.

I'll start at the top. Sweet Jasmine Murray from Mississippi had lots of good press, a beautiful family supporting her, and a megawatt smile going into tonight's show, and while I liked her performance, the judges really slammed her all the way around. She reminded me of both Jordin Sparks and David Archuleta with her youth, raw talent and confidence, but they didn't buy it. In fact, Simon said she "didn't have a good voice." Well, she took this medicine like a pro and remained poised and adorable. I don't think we've seen the last of her! (Well, not this season, but maybe next?)

The next three singers were a train wreck. Matt Giraud, coming into tonight with lots of positive press and high hopes, Chose The Wrong Song. And I hope Jeanine from DC is one heck of a bartender since her future as a pop star was not helped by tonight's overdone performance of "This Love", and despite a unanimous vote for great legs, she needs her old job back. And Nick Mitchell? I suppose you want to know what I think of him....course my mouth hung open during his "performance" . In the end it left such a bad taste in my mouth...I don't appreciate the mockery of Idol that it was, and wish he could have just sung something straight without the gimmick, because Idol isn't about gimmicks....I think I suddenly feel really sorry for him, and dislike him more than Tatiana, and that says a lot. But if Vote For The Worst has their way, he will stick around a while.

Aha! The clouds break for a moment to bring us pink-haired high schooler Allison Irehata. According to the press, this girl had virtually no chance to advance, given the poor screen time she'd been given, and noted that she would have to really hit it out of the park to stand a chance. Home run! I was really, really surprised at how good she was, and agree that she is very Kelly-Clarkson-esque.....she got my only vote tonight.

For me (and this is a blog, so therefore I am entitled to say what I think), the clouds returned for the next 5 performances. Kris Allen, another Unknown With a Lot To Prove, didn't really do it for me. Choosing a Micheal Jackson song, again, people!? When will you learn? Actually the judges went pretty easy on him, but I would choose Ricky Braddy over Kris for the wild card if pressed. He wasn't bad, but in Simonspeak, he was forgettable.

I know she's got mad fans out there, but Megan Cockery? First off, the outfit. Little girl white dress with big flowers on the front, with tights and ballet flats.....contrasted with an arm of tats as extensive as a Viet Vet. Hhhmmmm... .. Don't know what to make of that. And then that crazysilly swinging dance move thing she did for the whole song....distracting. It seemed like it might be the right song, but I don't think she sang it as well as I expected her to after her audition.

Since Micheal Sarver already made it to the Top 12 last week, you know there is only room for one Working Guy, so Matt "the welder" Breitzke is pretty much out. I, again, actually liked this song he chose and didn't think it boring at all, but who am I?

And while I liked Jesse Langseth's performance (but liked her sweater more), she talked too much and was just a little too comfortable with the judges. Could be her music family background (apparently her brother is a well known blues artist, I don't know him), but am still reeling from the DUI mugshot I saw of her, especially after meeting her adorable daughter tonight. I wish her the best.

And Kai, who didn't heed my makeover advice....sadly didn't impress at all. Love that his mother was able to be there, and I hope she had a good time for her ONE opportunity to see her son perform on the show, since he has virtually no chance to advance, and I don't see any wild card opportunity for him, either.

The last two performers, as expected, raised the bar a little and gave us something to talk about. Mishavonna Henson was also someone we knew little about through the auditions and Hollywood week and as such, had a huge hurdle to overcome compared to some of her better-known contestants. And I really, really liked her....found her to be smooth and composed, despite her youth. But the judges didn't go for that, calling her out for sounding old when she should sound young....and telling her to loosen up. If America doesn't vote her through, she gets my Wild Card pick!

Show ended with the showstopping Adam Lambert (pictured above). Talk about press! This guy has had it in spades. His outfit was so over the top, all bedazzled about the head, neck, face and chest....was that from Paula's line??!! Geez. Way too performy for me. He embodies all that everyone hated about Constantine, TIMES TEN, but since he was still the best guy tonight, he will go through.

What did you think? Were Paula's chihuahuas in fine form? Was it casual day at Idol with Ryan in a polo and jeans? And did you miss the parent/family/friend meet and greet thing in the Red Room they dropped from last week?

First Three Advance: And Some Lessons for the Rest

I am still giggling about one particular moment during last night's show, maybe you remember it, or you wiped it from your memory...the part when Paula announced to everyone (in response to Danny's performance): "I've got two words for you: Sold out arenas!" That still makes me laugh.

Okay, tonight's show was pretty good, with no real surprises, although some of you might disagree with that assessment. Ryan's proclamation at the top of the hour that we should "take nothing for granted" seemed to foreshadow a disaster....could it mean that Danny was not through, or that Tatiana was??! Didn't know what to make of this. Didn't like it, but just like my histrionic great aunt, I have come to accept this kind of behavior and not make too much of it.

After the announcement of 24 millions votes coming in last night (wow!) there were a few slightly awkward moments with the judges talking about something about last night, and dinner, and Kara and Simon said something, well, weird. I brushed it off with some uneasiness. I guess they are still getting to know each other.

Ryan called last night's show "raw and intense"....okay. I thought for a minute he was talking about that weird photo/video clip of Stevie that was shown at the wrong time, but I'm not sure he was. Hmmmm.

We begin the roll call, and I notice immediately (the veteran Idol watcher that I am) that Danny and Tatiana are sitting together and might very well be paired against one another in a dramatic showdown, and given Ryan's proclamation, am immediately nauseous. I instantly recall my assertion that if Tat makes the Top 12 I will stop watching and am suddenly wondering what I will do with my Tuesday and Wednesday nights through May if that happens and wondering how long the scarf I could knit would be, just how long that scrap booking project might take, etc.

It was great to see Carly Smithson and Micheal "Papa" Johns back on the show, but it would have been better to see something we hadn't seen before. It tasted like reheated leftovers, and given the artistic soup the both of them have been involved in since Idol S7 finished, seemed a little less than satisfying.

I will cut to the chase. Not joining the Top 12 at this point in time are Casey Carleson (back to bikini modeling), Stephen Fowler (still like him, but sorry, dude), Ricky Braddy, (see below), Jackie Tohn (have fun singing in that Holiday Inn), Anoop (see below), Anne Marie (you'd better hope your peeps tank in rounds 2 and 3 which would mean you might get asked back), Brent Keith (time for a new occupation?), Stevie Wright (finish high school!) and Tatiana (who showed by her reaction to being cut that unstable does not equal American Idol material).

Kudos to Alexis Grace, Danny Gokey and Micheal Sarver (a little) for making it straight through to the top 12. These lessons still apply to you, and especially to the remaining 24 to compete:

Lesson 1: Stick With What Got You There. Casualties of this edict cost Stephen Fowler, Stevie Wright, and likely Anoop a possible automatic advancement. Look, if the judges put you through singing soulful jazz, contemporary boy band tunes or slow ballads, go with that! Now is NOT the time to show your diversity....you're thinking David Cook back nine, and you are teeing off. Do what you do best and don't try and change it now.

Lesson 2: Screen Time Matters. Unfortunately, there isn't much Ricky Braddy, for example, can do about this since he isn't in the back room cutting film, but I think this is what cost him an automatic fast pass to the top 12 tonight: he suffered from a lack of screen time (back story if you will) and had to compete against the Danny Gokey's, Tatianas and Anoops of this group whom the public had already gotten to know (and love, or hate, which ever the case may be). Take heart, though, that Jason Castro, for a recent example, was completely unknown as a Top 24 member last season and ended up placing 4th....so this lack of exposure CAN be overcome.

Lesson 3: Every Minute Counts. Treat each exposure as a job interview. In this case, all 12 performers tonight were looking for America's vote but knowing how fickle we can be, were also looking for the judge's vote of confidence in 3 weeks for another chance at the Top 12 with the Wildcard. Lesson? Don't fall apart when you lose. Stay grateful and composed. Do NOT look at Tatiana for an example on how to behave (Lordy). You never know...you could get another chance at the Idol crown (note: Felicia Barton!), or at the very least, a bikini modeling agency could be looking for it's next pin up person ....) Eyes of all kinds are on you, even when you lose.

Are there lessons I've forgotten that you can add for the remaining 24? Do you believe that 20,000 votes really separated Anoop from Micheal? And most of all, was Tatiana robbed?

First Group of 12 Try To Impress

I'm a sucker for American Idol, and even though I am wary of the new format, I tuned in with giddiness to watch the first 12 live performances. I was wary because I know the Idol Powers That Be had full discretion to slice and dice the Top 36 into the groups of three that best met their goals of ending up with a moneymaker next May....what would have been different if we'd drawn from a hat for the groups of 12, for example? They have also stacked the deck by showing certain performers over others up to this point (and some not at all), and have further manipulated with performance order (lots of research has gone into this one phenomenon).

That said, I will slice and dice tonight's performances into four groups. Cubs tickets go on sale Friday and I'm once again dreaming of baseball.

Out At First Base: Even though these folks showed promise in auditions and apparently in Hollywood, the transition to a minute 20 and a live band, etc, didn't quite work out for them. Brent Keith of Nashville Star fame just didn't impress...came across as a bar singer with a thin voice who as Simon says, just doesn't have any star quality. Likewise, Stevie Wright, who showed such promise at audition with her "old soul" voice mistakenly tried to sound younger singing Taylor Swift and it backfired. Finally, even though he remembered the words, Stephen Fowler made the deathly choice of Micheal Jackson's "Rock With You", akin to nails in the Idol Coffin.

The change-up pitch: Three folks went into tonight with heaps of judge's praise and lots of press, but didn't quite deliver the goods, yet weren't completely shut out by the judges (but were by me). Despite the hype, Jackie Tohn just didn't work. I don't know if it was her Fast Times at Ridgemont High outfit, the moon shoes, her weird stage antics, but I didn't like it. Judges gave her props for working the stage and for her energy level, but Simon called it clownish, and I think the voting public might agree. Casey Carleson has the "package" but came across as a pageant girl, and like Stephen Fowler made a horrible song choice, even making it worse by changing the lyrics to "Everything HE Does is Magic".....yipes. But, never underestimate the power of a pretty dress. Finally, speaking of pretty dresses, Anne Marie has gotten lots of press and while I think she totally tanked, the judges seemed to blame her song choice as being too big for her ("Natural Woman") instead of faulting her singing, which makes me wonder if they want to give this pretty dress a second chance... which brings me to the ...

Possible pinch-hitters: each of the singers tonight was singing for America's vote, certainly, but they were also singing for the judges, for it is they who will select those with the chance to compete for the 3 Wild Card slots to round out the Top 12. Those tonight who struck out for for whatever reason, I think have a slim chance of being asked to return for a possible Wild Card slot were Ricky Braddy, Michael Sarver and _gasp_ Tatiana del Toro. First, Ricky totally SHOCKED me. This is a contestant we'd not gotten to know thus far in the competition and his performance blew me away, in a Jason Castro kind of way. He does have a touch of theater in there, but overall, I really, really liked him. The lack of backstory and screen time will hurt him with the voting public who has already had time to pick favorites, but I thought he was was of the best of the night and hope we see him again.

We had plenty of backstory with Micheal Sarver and Tatiana, which means the public will either choose them over others, or not. With Micheal, he's a likable guy who reminds me of Josh Gracin...and with 2 kids and a wife, might strike a chord with voters. However, he came across as a wedding singer with no real charisma. Tatiana? A true wild card, since no one knows what to expect, and knowing Idol, they may have her back just for the drama factor. Ugh.

Home Runs: Clear fast pass to Top 12 for Danny Gokey. He's got the perfect storm for Idol. He will be the top guy vote-getter. Top Girl? Alexis Grace, even though she's still a bit rough around the edges and may have taken the "rough it up" instructions a little too much to heart, but still out sang and outperformed the other girls. The third top vote getter? Anoop. Not his best tonight, but people like him, and like Kara said, has tremendous potential and people feel that.

Well, we shall see tomorrow night. What did YOU think?

Mixed To 36

We are finally introduced to our Top 36 tonight, and it was a 2-hour show (which for some reason I wasn't aware of). As we expected, Fox made us strap our seat belt on for the roller coaster ride of elation and heartbreak. Lots of tonight's picks were no surprise, due to 'product placement' from Idol thus far, and from the incessant spoilers this season. However, there were some surprises, a couple of upsets, and a couple of awkward moments. For now, I'll start with the...

Biggest Fan Club at Our House: We have heretofore dubbed ourselves as follows: the Anoopiatrics, the Anoopians, and the Anoopaniacs. AKA the Anoop Dawgs, on our way to celebrate the Anoopandemonium and the Anoopsensation.....well, you get our drift. We're big fans. First of the Top 36 announced.

Most Unanimous: Receiving the standing "U" from the judges panel this season for the Top 36 were Anoop, Adam Lambert, Scott McIyntyre, Lil Rounds, Danny Gokey, and Kai Kalama, and maybe others they didn't recognize as such. Job well done.

Most Histrionic: One would think that Tatiana would hold this category single-handedly, but Nathaniel Marshall and Jackie Tohn came close. Question: will this pay off when viewers call in? I think not.

Most Pink-Haired: Was it me, or did it seem like pink was it this year in Hollywood? Kristen McNamara (AKA Jessica Sierra 2.0), Alexis Grace - where did that come from? - and Allison Iraheta all sported the colorful locks.

Most Unknown: We saw several new faces tonight despite several weeks of Idol having passed. Maybe I snoozed, but I don't remember anything about Jesse Langseth (who beat out the over-confident Frankie Jordan and her polecats for a top-36 spot), Allison Iraheta, Ricky Braddy, Jeanine Vailes and Kris Allen. Good luck, heretofore unknowns!

Most Of Course: There were lots and lots of contestants this season who you just KNEW where shoe-ins for the Top Whatever, and they included Anoop, Von Smith, Taylor Vaifanua, Jasmine Murray, Arianna Afsar, Casey Carlson, Megan Cokery, Mishavaonna Henson, Stevie Wright, Kendall Beard, Scott McIntyre, Lil Rounds, Danny Gokey, and Anne Marie Boskovitch.

Most Surprising: Course Idol wouldn't have the evening go off without some drama in the house (AKA the Judges Mansion). The first dose of this came when Cody of fright-film fame was forced to Sing For His Life against Alex Wagner-Trugman, who reminded me instantly of Clay Aiken, in a good way. Cody had a youthful edge to him , but it was clear after hearing them sing that Alex deserved the spot. More drama unfolded with Joanna Pacitti who forgot every lyric known to mankind in Hollywood but through some TV miracle was passed through. Wahtevs. And my guy Jamar was robbed of a spot in the Top 36...I don't know what they were talking about that he didn't bring anything original....for Simon's sake, he already had a cheek piercing and went and got a lip stud....people, that is not Middle America! Plus I just liked his voice. But alas, the judges did not. Most shocking why they didn't find a place for him. And I loved how they put both blue collar working Dads through at the end (Matt Breitzke and Michael Sarver), although if you'd been doing the math during the show you'd have figured out there were 2 spots left :)

All in all, some talented and interesting contestants this season. Can't wait for what comes next!

My Biggest Question: Why, when they said that if you forget your lyrics, you're OUT, did they pass through 2of this season's biggest offenders? (Joanna Pacitti and Stephen Fowler). We think in our house that if Joanna were F-A-T or U-G-L-Y she would be O-U-T, but because she is H-O-T, she is I-N.

What do YOU think?

Only the Strong Survive Group Week

What last night lacked in drama, tonight's show more than made up in spades. Tonight was Hollywood Week's infamous "group night", where those with golden tickets had to

1. Play well with others
2. Demonstrate some choreography, and
3. Sing more than 4 bars of a song.

All under pressure. With lack of sleep. And cameras in their faces at any given moment.

Group night has provided some of American Idol's most memorable ensembles. Who could forget "How Deep Is Your Love" from Season 6, with eventual runner-up Blake Lewis, Chris Sligh and two other forgettables ...sweet harmonies and 4 guys getting 'er done. Or ''The Littlest Cowboy'' and his singing comrades from Season 5 who did ''Do Wah Diddy Diddy,'' and were eventually made fun of in the spoof ''Brokenote Idol"...ouch. Would anyone tonight leave a lasting impression?

The hour got off with what is, for me, the most painful part of the entire group process: choosing partners. It's like kickball teams, Prom night and sorority rush all rolled into one, and it's painful for former wallflowers like me. Clearly, partnership is key, but certain contestants are better at pairing up with suitable folks than others. Awkward for some, and easy and comfortable like your favorite pair of slippers for others. Tatiana and Rose have trouble making that match.

In fact, the first half of tonight's show centered largely on these two ladies and the group drama they experienced, along with Bikini Girl who was in Rose's group. Meanwhile, Danny Gokey's group is feeling The Love, and Rose is frustrated, everybody is crying. And it's here when my husband pauses the TiVo and points out the simple fact that, despite it being good TV, drama does not equal The American Idol. And I search my memory to recall any parts from previous seasons where Carrie Underwood said that she "hated her group", or that David Cook broke down crying from frustration with his, or heck, even Taylor Hicks dissing a group member or -- gasp! -- turning away from a group member needing a hug after being eliminated. Folks, that's because it. didn't. happen. Whether you liked them or not, those and other American Idol winners (along with talent, of course) have maturity, class, and character, requirements for being The American Idol, but not for competing during Hollywood Week. Winners and those who shined during their seasons managed to rise above personality conflicts, sleep deprivation and cameras and succeed during group week.

Notable drops from tonight: David Osmond (tho we didn't hear him sing), Julissa Veloz, Emily Hughes (who was once again a Hot Mess, only this time she didn't get passed through), the high school class president from Utah I can't place, and Nancy Wilson, who showed us on her way out the door that she wasn't right for the part.

Notable keepers: Danny Gokey (The One To Beat IMO), Jeremy Micheal Sarver, Adam Lambert, Matt Brietzke, Jesse Langseth, Jasmine Murray, and Taylor Vaifanua, although there are others we didn't hear from. Well done.

Notable show moments: Paula's evil Red eyes (LOLOLOLOLOLOLOL) and Simon asking for a crate of Advil.

As a parting note, and I hesitate to write this since I might be held to it but if Tatiana makes it to the Top 12, I might stop watching Idol. There, I said it.

Hollywood By Numbers

For those of you who didn't know this, Hollywood Week actually took place last November 10th-ish, well before even the Thanksgiving holiday. This explains why/how there can be so many spoilers out there about who advances past Hollywood to the Top 50 and the Top 36 (yes, if you want to snoop, there are reliable sources out there who will tell you). Each AI contestant must sign extensive contracts not to disclose stuff about the show or their status on it while it is still in progress, but of course folks still blab to peeps back at home.

People also set up telephoto lenses to capture the comings and goings of peeps from the Theater that week and then try to figure out who each of the singers are (yes, they must have a lot of time on their hands). And finally, there are also clues in the numerous MySpace pages of contestants who will, before the competition, have lots of music up that (mysteriously) comes down once they (presumably) advance...if I named names, I would be Spoiling, so I won't....but just trying to explain how it happens.

Me? I resist the urge to peek. If you are one of those folks who reads the last page of a book before you get there, maybe spoilers are for you. If you peek at your holiday gifts before the holiday arrives, then Spoil Away. Me? I enjoy getting there the old fashioned way: putting up with crappy singing, histrionic judges and lots of drama on the way to finding out :)

Hollywood Week has been stretched into two this year (by popular request?), so tonight was the first of 4 episodes from the Kodak Theater (also new to the audition round). According to the tallies, we saw 147 singers arrive with Golden Tickets, and at the end of tonight's show, there were 104 still standing. That means they only cut 43 singers tonight?! Slower pace than last year's shows for sure, we are used to the hatchet job at this point. Sorry, that made it b-o-r-i-n-g. Sorry to confuse the pollsters, but maybe I don't know what I want.

Of those 104 who remain in the game, the vast majority we'd seen before and were not surprised to be seen passed through to the next round 'cause they were all good, for the most part. We only heard a few bars from anyone, anyway. There were only a couple of names tonight I didn't recognize from the auditions (Nathaniel Marshall and FBI agent Erica Wesley) who may have been shown already, but honestly I had no recollection of them. Only Nathaniel got through for another day (but Erica argued her point, unconvincingly).

Of those passed through who didn't impress me and I think might meet the end of the road before the Top 36 are Nathaniel Marshall, Von Smith (reminds me too much of that HSM guy) (who I must add out of defense to the 'tweeners in the house is talented but just not right for AI), Jorge Nunez (cute but not good enough), "Nick" AKA Norman Mitchell (WHY did they pass him on?), and Katrina (AKA Bikini Girl, too much gimmick and baby voice to be taken seriously and I was visibly squirming over how much Simon and Randy actually defended her -- AGAIN --)

My favorites? I only marked two from the whole evening: Stephen Fowler and Danny Gokey. Stephen is so smooth, so cool, I just melted....maybe it's just because he's from my home state of Ohio but I really dig him. And Gokey? Loved him when I first saw him, loved him now. The friend I was watching tonight's show with never saw the audition footage, so no clue about his so-called "backstory", and loved him. Point made.

I didn't "star" Adam Lambert since they didn't profile him and didn't show him singing, but I also really like him and hope they show him tomorrow. If he's going to tank, get it on already!

Did the first night of Hollywood Week impress YOU? Did you buy that Paula really wanted to put Erica Wesley through even though the others said no? And do you think pink-haired tatoo'ed Emily Hughes is destined for Idol Stardom, or just a hot mess?

P.S. Barry Manilow :)