Gals and Guys Bring it On....Sort of

I was excited for a bloated Idol week.....5 hours! And really looking for to the first "Live!" week of full-length performances by our Season Nine Top 24. For both nights I have to say I like Ellen....spot-on critique, even when she goes first, AND she still manages to say something positive about everyone, but not in a gratuitous way....liking her. All around, judges are giving better feedback....even Randy the Dawg has been relatively coherent this week. Simon has been largely critical of everyone, reserving praise for a very select few performers. Does he know that someone has to win this thing?!

As is customary, Ladies First.....and as many others have wondered, what the heck happened?! We've heard many times thus far this season how it is definitely a ladies' year...but as lady after lady took the stage, I was having my doubts. Listen, we saw LOTS of estrogen-riddled talent in auditions and Hollywood, and I know there are nerves and such at play at this point, but I was sure we would see the winner.

We saw authentic, we saw quirky....we saw honest and even saw "one funny little thing"....but where was the star power? I know it's early, and maybe my expectations are too high, but I wanted to see even just a glimpse of a shimmering, shiny star....and in my opinion, I saw that in only one contestant last night: Haeley Vaughn. I know from reading other reviews and talking around that I'm quite in the minority on this one, but for me, she was the most compelling, the most infectious and the most, well, delightful last night. I liked how she injected her own rhythms and vocals to a very well-known song. Hey, it wasn't a full blown David Cook, and her vocals weren't always spot-on, but for the first week out, for her over all others, I found myself grinning and hitting the rewind button.

The only other noteworthy -- strong word -- gal for me last night was Katelyn Epperly, and I think that's mostly because I didn't expect it, and she sang an upbeat song in a sea of otherwise dreary choices. But that said, I found her performance a little manic, and thought that she was trying too hard.

The rest of the others all fell together for me in a bland, slow, and frankly pretty boring melting pot. I was pretty disappointed with Ashley Rodriguez, Janell Wheeler, Lacey Brown, Didi Benami and yes, even SEVENTEEN YEAR OLD Katie Stevens. Ladies are all talented, but despite reasons I can only (maybe?) blame on inexperience and perhaps Idol coaching, chose songs that just didn't do them well and then left something to be desired with their singing. Ashley was quite flat, Janell's nerves were apparent, Lacey didn't bring it, Didi reminded me of Megan Joy in a bad way, and Katie was just all pageant for me as Simon suggested. Siobahn Magnus has a solid voice but again, chose such a boring and downer of a song, I didn't really care as I drifted off to sleep.

Our two resident "quirks", Lilly Scott and Crystal Bowersox, stuck out mostly because they just don't look and sing like everyone else, which is A Good Thing, but in the end, you've got to fit a certain mold on this show. Choosing an obscure Beatles song or covering an equally quirky and amazingly well-known Alanis Morrisette tune when you have a bazillion others to choose from, and you may misstep and worse yet, alienate voters. And I have to agree with Simon about the subway comment given to Crystal....plus the fact that her video beforehand where she admitted to never watching American Idol and just wanting to get a 'bigger paycheck' to help her son didn't win me over at ALL, however honest it may have been.

That said, the two ladies most in danger of leaving this week are Paige Miles and Michelle Delamor, and honestly it's mostly because of their lack of footage thus far in the show (but their mostly karaoke performances didn't do them any good). (Lovely and talented but karaoke). We have no connection with them, so it's easier to let them go over any of the other ladies with whom we have at least developed a rooting section for. I could also see Lacey and/or Siobahn in danger, since we also don't really know them as well as the others.

On to the men....strangely it was much a similar story tonight. Where was the Wow factor? There was only one stand-out guy for me, and that was Lee Dewyze. Again, I disagreed with the judges....(well, Simon strangely agreed with me). I called him a dark horse after he made the Top 24 and I think he still is....I am bothered by his flat affect and wonder if he can hang in there emotionally, but tonight he stood out. He was fresh and current and raw and real. I liked, too, how he was humble and said he was really enjoying the experience and wanted it really badly (take notes, Crystal Bowersox!)

Getting by tonight on personality and/or looks are Aaron Kelly (does he remind anyone else of Kevin Covais?), Tim Urban (who? but cute...), Tyler Grady That 70's Dude (ugh tonight), John Park (dreadful song but hope he stays another week!), Micheal Lynche (what a big guy), Casey James (better than I expected, but did anyone else think of Bucky Covington?! or in a non-performance way, Corey Clark.....Kara, watch out!) and Andrew Garcia, yes, getting by on his past performances and it was okay tonite but not great...still loving on him though!

Which leaves a healthy Bottom 4 with the guys for me tonight. In order of appearance, Toddrick Hall led the show with what was an attempt at originality in revamping the Uber Idol Kelly Clarkson's "Since U Been Gone" which I actually kind of liked, but his vocals were too distracting, and the judges hated it. First place slot doesn't help. Jermaine Sellers totally oversang "Get Here" and I just wanted to hear Justin Guarini's version again instead. I didn't even have anything to recall about Joe Munoz because producers left him out of the story....I was actually online checking my bank account during his song, I was so bored. Finally, Alex Lambert -- sorry for he of famous American Idol Last Name -- reminded me so much of Matt Giraud, which isn't a bad thing since MG went to top what, 6? last year....BUT....I wasn't a fan, and since Season 9's resident Mr. Lambert got no pre-finals screen time, it will be a tough row to hoe for him.

I will link my hometown paper here for more info on Chicago's own three contestants: John Park, Lee Dewyze, and Jermaine Sellars.

So, there you have it......24 soon to be 20. Who will it be? Furthermore, do you like Ellen on the judges panel? Has Kara gotten less annoying? And does Simon seem crankier than ever?