Thoroughly enjoyable showing by the guys tonight! Wow, there suddenly are some really talented contenders out there....there weren't really even obvious stinkers in the bunch...and the guitars were out in full force. Five of the eight guys performed on guitar, which is amazing to me. (Note to self: sign 10-year-old son up for lessons.) Even so, two more must leave us tomorrow, so....on with my thoughts.
In my younger and more foolish days, I actually thought song performance order on American Idol was random. Ha! Reality couldn't be farther from that. Turns out it's veeeerrrrry calculated, and you can tell from the lineup before Note One is uttered who they think is best this week and who they are throwing to the voting dogs. So before the music started tonight, we knew that Todrick and Mike were in for big praise (Show Closers), that Opener Lee DeWyze was up in the air, and "the middles" (i.e. Tim Urban and Andrew Garcia) were being put on the back porch, only to see if a cat would lick them up. (that is a good 'ole Southern phrase I learned in my Tennessee days). Indeed, this is how it mostly shook out.
Out of the 8 guys, I really have four favorites (can't reduce any further), two guys who were OK in their own way but didn't thrill me, and then my 2 picks for going home.
Favorites for me tonight, in order of performance, were Lee Dewyze, Alex Lambert, Andrew Garcia and Mike Lynche. Lee opened the show with "Fireflies" on the acoustic guitar and he looked more comfortable than we've even seen him, and that worked for him. Cool song, and he pulled it off, and showed us what kind of artist he would be, in Idolspeak.
Following him was Alex Lambert, Idol's resident Rising Star IMO. Loved his innocence and his confidence has grown, all he needs is a makeover! STAT! or else he's in "Trouble"...
I don't know what the judges are talking about with Andrew Garcia....talking smack I think! The guys is mad talented and I totally dug his rendition of Christina's "Genie in a Bottle"...I thought it was infectious and fun and smart....sadly they pretty much all disagreed with me and told him he was still falling short. DISAGREE. Love shout out to Andrew this week!!
Finally, the show closer Big Mike took it to church with "This Woman's Work", a hauntingly beautiful song that he sang very well, only I didn't connect with it quite like Kara did with her (fake?) waterworks and Simon snuggles. Still, I think Mike belongs in the Top 10.
Middle for me were Todrick and Casey. Todrick, as Simon pointed out, belongs on Broadway and I think he will end up there post-Idol. He does have a great belting voice, and Queen's "Somebody to Love" was the right vehicle....but I'm still not a convert.
I will say the same for Casey James, who was adequate on the guitar while strumming and singing the great Keith Urban's "Think of Me"....but that is all he was to me, just adequate, and safe in the words of the judges.
We must have a bottom 2, and for me those are Tim Urban and Aaron Kelly this week. First off, you should know that we rocks that song Hallelujah here at our house and still have Jason Castro's version on our family iPod so Tim was quite bold to attempt it...and I was laughing most the way through it and so therefore shocked when the judges praised it so highly....hhhmmmmph. But the ladies at Casa Idolmama agree that he is one cute tamale!
Likewise, cutie SIXTEEN YEAR OLD Aaron Kelly was adequate on his number (Lonestar's "I'm Already There") but I honestly was grimacing through most of it....pitchy and just all over the place, and no connection at all. But what, Dawg?! Randy loved it! but then Kara called him Honey which never ends well...but wait, Simon thought it was good! Well, I hated it so we'll have to see what happens.
All those guitars tonight made me wonder if just being a good singer is enough for Idol anymore. But bigger question for me isn't the Top 12 but the Top 10, who are the ones who actually do the national (and quite lucrative) summer tour....who would YOU pony up money to see this summer?
3 comments:
I REALLY like Lee.
Do tell me why? That surprises me...I like him, too and was so glad to finally see him smile last night after his performance...not sure it was more a smile of relief or of happiness, but I liked it!
I think I like him because he comes across as being genuine and humble and I really do like his voice. He may be a bit too "tacky" but that's okay. He plays his guitar like it is part of him...and I think it is. Last week he seemed lost without it.
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