Wednesday, March 17, 2010

Top 12 Don't Rock the Stones

Always tough to take on the music of the most iconic bands and the Rolling Stones are among them. Lots of awesome hit songs to choose from, though, and for the most part, I think the Top 12 chose wisely.

The battle now is to make the lucrative summer tour, which means making the Top 10. I've read that the Idols each make six figures touring the country over a 3-4 month period, and getting the rock star treatment to boot, so be sure that they all want this, especially after tonight's debut on the big stage. So, who played with fire like wild horses on stage tonight, who got caught under my thumb, and for whom will it soon be "all over now"?

My two favorites tonight were Crystal and Lee. Again, effortless performance from Crystal who is just clearly so talented. I don't agree that Siobahn out sang or outperformed her tonight, I think that was just an effort by the judges (Simon) to downplay his recent prediction to Jay Leno that Crystal will win. Loved her sass back though! She's in this more than I've given her credit for!

I really dug Lee as well, although I fear that he will end up in the middle of the pack because he has no charisma whatsoever, and has not been able to get a hold of his nerves. His song was radio-ready! Even the piece with his parents didn't let us get to know him any better. Ah, Lee....wrestle those demons and give us what you got!

After those two, I heard decent performances from 4 contestants: Siobahn, Mike, Casey and Didi. I know I'm in the minority, but I am not on the Siobahn bandwagon....just don't get her. I agree with others in that she is style over substance. I thought that final glory note of her was all kinds of screechy and that she didn't deserve the heaps of praise she got. Yes, she's interesting and quirky (loved the outfit) but I don't have her in the final 2 just yet. Growing in confidence, however, is Didi and that showed tonight, although the song was just too slow for me, and I was surprised at how she botched the lyrics so obviously but the judges pretty much let that slide?!

On the male side of things, Mike opened the show with a big voice and even bigger dance moves which I actually kind of liked....I think this guy's stock is going up, and my son leaned over and said to me, "He could actually win this thing..." and I wonder.....meanwhile, Casey was adequate, but I just don't see any life there....it's just...THERE, and I like it okay, but I'm not all kinds of crazy for it.

That leaves the other 6 contestants, and honestly any of them could go home tonight and I generally wouldn't care. (Well I honestly don't care about any of the 12 this year....but that is for another post). The best of the bottom were Andrew and Paige, but they are on life support at this point and the plug could be pulled any minute. Katie looked great but still too pageant-y and Kat McPhee for me. Lacey just didn't work but I loved the strings. Aaron was better this week, but that doesn't say much since the bar has been set so incredibly low this year and I just don't see much long-term viability for him. Finally, Tim, Tim Tim....I love your big family (did you see how his brother's hair matched his?) the reggae just didn't work.

What did you think? Does Siobahn deserve all the accolades this week? Will Lee get control of his performance anxiety? And do you think the showdown between Ryan and Simon over Big Mike's feedback was real or staged?

3 comments:

BHirz said...

I agree with most of your comments. I still think Bowersox will take it home with her Janis Joplin style!
Your Chicago kid just needs some stage work and he will be just fine. Keep up the great work on your blog!

Bev in Toledo

Idolmama said...

Thanks for reading, Bev in Toledo and for your comments. Had many more thoughts and observations (natch) but not much time to write today...hoping Lee can pull it together, I think he's got something special!

dear friend said...

Mama, your comment about not really caring about any of the 12 hits the nail on the head and explains (in my mind) why the judges are being very kind. There really are no clear frontrunners as there have been in years past. So I think they are trying to pump everyone up in the hopes that at least some of them will step it up and draw a fan base. I don't think they have much of an idea as to who it will be. As good as Chrystal is, she has not (yet) demonstrated mainstream potential. There have been no "moments" as Simon likes to say (except for Siobahn) that cements a fan base for a contestant and gets the audience looking forward to someone's career after Idol. If the season ended today, no one would buy any CD that comes out of this group. Let's not forget that this is all about MONEY! (Just keeping it real). Siobahn is a blessing for the producers just as Lambert was last year. First, she keeps people in the audience coming back each week. Second, regardless of whether it is style or substance (I happen to think substance), her performance quality raises the bar and will force her competition to get better. That's good for the competition and it's good for the producers who will want to cash in on the winner. Even Chrystal acknowledged that she was outperformed last night. Hopefully she and the others will step it up next week as a result.