March-May Archives

I am an idiot and I accidentally deleted a whole bunch of recent posts. I do not know what else to do at this point but to find the cache versions as well as those I have emailed to be posted elsewhere and try to recreate them all as best I can at this point. What a disaster.

MONDAY, MARCH 26, 2012

American Idol Top 10 Week

This past week saw the Idol Top 10 take on the underwhelming music of Billy Joel (though I like a couple songs) with Diddy/Puffy/whatever as the mentor/ JLo has to remember him. For the kids though, the 10 spots on the summer tour were now secure, so it was all about survival.

1. DeAndre Brackensick - "Only the Good Die Young"

This is a catchy song with a good beat to it, but the lyrics might not exactly be family friendly, or kind to Catholic girls. DeAndre gave an energetic performance, but I felt like the vocals were hit and miss. He definitely has potential, but still, there is something about his voice that has yet to really make a fan out of me. Grade: B-

2. Erika Van Pelt- "New York State of Mind"

I have been saying that she may have my favorite voice or vocal style in the whole competition, but the biggest story on Wednesday was about her hair and the dramatic change that had her looking like the love child of Adam Lambert and Kris Jenner. While Erika was styled similar to Adele the week earlier, the obnoxious Tommy Hilfiger and others prevailed on her to cut her hair short and dye it jet black. On the surface, this seemed like a wise move to make her appear different than Elise Testone, with whom she was competing for votes, but I am not sure if Erika came away looking any better for the change.

The song choice was a bit boring to me, as most songs were, and even Erika admitted she may have alienated her New England voter base by singing an ode to the Empire State. She sounded pretty good of course, but it just was not very memorable and I knew early on, she would find herself in trouble, depending on how Elise did. Grade: B

3. Joshua Ledet- "She's Got a Way"

For one of the most consistent contestants thus far, it was inevitable for him to run into a week where he was not able to shine as much. I thought Joshua did as much as he could with another boring song and gave quite a credible performance, but perhaps because we viewers now know what he is capable of, it was missing more of a spark. Jennifer Lopez questioned his believability on the lyrics. I wonder what she was getting at there... Grade: B+

4. Skylar Laine- "Shameless"

I had never heard of this song before, but it became clear that at least one country artist had done a cover of it and that is what Skylar was trying to copy. This was probably her weakest performance though as there were some pitch issues throughout. That's about all I remember.Grade: C+

5. Elise Testone- "Vienna"

Another song I was totally unfamiliar with, but that may have worked to Elise's benefit by having the chance to make it feel "original". I like the way she ignored Hilfiger's fashion advice, even if Elise may come across as a bit too left of center to some in the Heartland. While I was not proverbially "jumping up and down" over this performance, I did feel as if it was a very strong vocal, which was great news for Elise and devastating news for Erika. Grade: B+

6. Phillip Phillips- "Moving Out"

Getting even more props from me is P2, who totally ignored Hilfiger by wearing gray and also Diddy and Jimmy Iovine by playing his guitar. He sure gets into the music when he sings and this was an interesting (if not strained) take on another song I did not know. It felt like it could be "current" though, but at times, it really does sound to me like Phillip could be a singing Muppet. He sounds just like one at times. Grade: B+

7. Hollie Cavanagh-"Honestly"

First of all, why doesn't her brother have an English accent? Would that make him even more flamboyant? Anyway, that's all irrelevant. Hollie can certainly sing, although I am not sure if dressing her like Katy Perry is the right thing to do. However, she once again has gone with a ballad and I found this song pretty boring. Her talent is obvious, and I may have liked it a bit more than the judges, but eventually, she is going to have to do something uptempo. Grade: B+

8. Heejun Han- "My Life"

Now, this was memorable, even if the vocals mostly sucked. It started off with Heejun in a tuxedo like outfit, preparing himself to sing yet another boring ballad. Then suddenly he stopped, and I was genuinely tricked into thinking he had forgotten the lyrics or otherwise choked. He went on to say to Ray Chew that the song was "too slow" and that he wanted to dance, before ripping off a layer of his clothing, revealing something more casual and singing his first up-beat number of the competition.

For the first few seconds, I was actually prepared for Heejun to bust out some sick dance moves or to sound good, proving that he had been playing possum in the competition, but all the running around and playing for the camera took a further toll on the vocals, which were once again subpar. It was definitely the most entertaining performance of the night, but I have to judge it on the vocals. Grade: C+

9. Jessica Sanchez- "Everybody Has a Dream"

Another song I did not know, and I thought it started off kind of boring, but once she got going, Jessica was able to impress and it had sort of the vibe of a "winner's single" song on Idol, and I am sure some people could picture confetti falling as if Jessica was being crowned Idol's first female winner in many years a couple months from now. Having only seen it once, I wish I could remember more about it. I know the judges loved every bit of it. Grade: B+

10. Colton Dixon- "Piano Man"

Is it just me, or does Colton just come across as unbelievably smug every week? I really want to try to not dislike him, but there's just something there that might make that hard to do. Perhaps, it's the skinny jeans with his frighteningly thin limbs. Anyway, this song was a pretty easy one to predict, as he would be the one contestant who would play piana, a la Billy Joel.

The tune is certainly one of BJ's more better known ones, but probably one that is hard to compress to just 90 seconds. In the pimp spot, the judges gave much love to Colton's rendition, but I did not like it nearly as much. He can certainly sing (and knows how to play to the camera) but whether intentional on his part or not, there is a squeaky hitch to his voice that was present on certain notes throughout the song that really came across as unpleasant to me. Grade: B-

From Downtown to Uptown Boys and Girls:

10. Heejun Han 
9. Skylar Laine
8. DeAndre Brackensick
7. Colton Dixon 
6. Erika Van Pelt 
5. Joshua Ledet 
4. Hollie Cavanagh 
3. Phillip Phillips 
2. Jessica Sanchez
1. Elise Testone

Thursday night brought results, and I had to struggle to keep interested in it, because Lana Del Ray is horrible and I think I had enough of Haley Reinhardt after last year. Having already gone 2 for 2 in predicting the bottom vote-getters, I had a hunch we might see the save used this week. Based on the number of weeks left before the Finale, the judges are going to basically be forced to save someone one week anyway, but alas...

Who should have been eliminated: Heejun Han

Who I predicted would be eliminated (minus a save scenario) : Erika Van Pelt

Who was eliminated: Erika Van Pelt

So, after all these years, I can clearly see who is going to get voted off each week perhaps. In her attempt to be saved, Erika went back a couple weeks and reprised "I Believe in You and Me." It started off as a valid attempt, but was not as good as the first time she sang it. By the end, it was clear her emotions were about to get the best of her.Grade: B

Still though, I was a bit surprised she was not saved. Are the judges waiting to see if Elise gets the lowest amount of votes next week? That could happen, as women past 21 just have a very had time advancing very long on this show (unless they are clearly superior to others in weaker overall seasons.)

I really have no idea if Erika is going to go on to be a star outside of Idol. I tend to doubt it, but again, I think she has a great, versatile voice and I am disappointed I will not be able to see more of her this season. Perhaps the lesson in all of this is never let Tommy Hilfiger take you into changing your hair.