It is Rock 'N Roll Night on American Idol with guest mentor... James Taylor? Not exactly the epitome of rock there, but I should enjoy the show.
On this Sunday night, I will be watching a recording of the broadcast and stopping to comment after each performance and before I hear what the judges have to say. I may or may not get to watch tomorrow's episode tomorrow. It is possible I will see it on Tuesday and do the blog entry on Wednesday.
Tonight, America is voting "coast to coast" in real time, which I always think is a bad idea. If they are doing a live show on Monday, why not just give the results for tonight then? In any event, the bottom two are being eliminated this evening, and I will offer a prediction before the last commercial break.
The evening starts suddenly with Carrie Underwood singing "Alone" by Heart. This is the song she sang 20 years ago on the Idol stage that had Simon Cowell and many others correctly predicting she would win the show and go on to become a star. This was pretty amazing. Carrie sang this even better in her 40s than she did in her 20s. I believe the old Idol back-up singer from that season is brought back as well. I think she loves being an Idol judge and may try to perform every week. The bar is low, but I certainly enjoy having her as a judge more than Katy Perry. America itself seems pretty anti-Katy these days for whatever reasons. Then, somehow, (perhaps the performance was pre-taped) Carrie shows up dressed up and moving like Axl Rose. Country and religious music aside, I think Ms. Underwood and I have always had similar tastes in music. Back in Fifth Grade, I was Guns 'N Roses guitarist Slash for Halloween.
1. Filo- "With A Little Help From My Friends"
What would I do if he sang out of tune? Well, I would put him far down in my rankings I suppose.
Filo always seems to sing to tune and on this performance, hit a couple of very big notes. Still, I was not crazy about the song choice. This has been done on Idol before. Anybody other than Joe Cocker always looks sort of dumb trying to impersonate Joe Cocker (unless they were John Belushi on SNL.) This felt a little too loungey and not really what Filo does best.
2. Mattie Pruitt- "Piece of My Heart"
It was 16 year old Mattie's step-mother who suggested she sing this Janis Joplin song. It has been done a ton on Idol history, including by Carrie Underwood. Research shows that every lady who has ever attempted to sing this has gotten sort of mediocre rankings, including Carrie. The one singer who I thought might have tried this but did not was Allison Iraheta who was 16 herself in her season. Needless to say, I think Allison would have rocked this out better.
Mattie's take on this just felt a little amateurish. She has the makings of a very good singer, but I continue to feel she is not up to par for this portion of the competition. She just seemed off musically and in terms of focus for parts of the performance.
3. John Foster- "Jailhouse Rock"
Since John was doing Elvis, maybe he could have gone without the cowboy hat for this week. I assume he will never appear on stage without it. Anyway, this song choice was definitely designed to get people like my parents excited. This was sort of right out of the Laine Hardy playbook, who was also an 18 year old Louisianan when he won his season of Idol.
John sang and performed this well but frankly it was cheesy as hell. It was not exactly the most challenging song for his vocals but his fans probably loved it. It just seemed a bit hokey to me, but I guess considering the theme, it was smart strategy. Also, seriously, the lyrics of this song from 1957 should have been considered scandalous at the time.
4. Desmond Roberts- "Jesus Is Love"
Is it still Easter? Desmond picked a more obviously religious song than the one he picked last week. That might be smart, if casual viewers from last week were tuning in again thinking this is a Gospel show.
I do not know this Commodores song and of course the big storyline was that Desmond sang it in front of its' writer Lionel Richie. Last week, Lionel really liked Desmond at the piano and keeping it "simple." This week, Desmond once again started off at the piano, and I thought he sounded good, but that it would perhaps be boring. Then, he stood up and went much more gospel. I have to give him credit for going for some huge falsetto notes.
Chubby Checker has been selected for the Rock and Roll Hall of Fame! This is an even bigger honor for my parents who love to tell the story about how they were once kicked off the stage by Chubby Checker at Disneyworld because he felt they were upstaging him by being too good at doing "The Twist." Back in my early childhood, when "The Twist" was already firmly an oldie, my parents won multiple Twist contests.
Perhaps my most similar celebrity claim to fame happened a few weeks back when Flavor Flav Tweeted at me to correct me for misspelling his name during a correct guess I made on that platform during an episode of "The Masked Singer." My bad, Flavor.
5. Jamal Roberts- "Shout (Parts 1 & 2)
Can you really do two parts of a song in a minute and thirty seconds? Idol brought up back to back Roberts. I think this may be the first time finalists have shared a surname since David and Kristy Lee Cook.
In many ways, this was a typical high energy, vocally aggressive Jamal performance. He does that sort of thing extremely well. However, in what is becoming a bit of a theme this evening, it felt a little bit less serious and impactful than his past performances. This particular song has been dragged out for decades to get uincoordinated white people moving at numerous weddings, Bar Mitzvahs, and national political conventions, That is sort of what this felt like, although Jamal still always delivers.
There is no way he is being voted off after Seacrest carries his young daughters to Jamal. Father and both daughters have the exact same hairstyle. How often does one see that?
6. Amanda Barise- "I Can't Help It"
Last Monday, I was extremely impressed by how Amanda performed on an Aretha Franklin song. I thought it was by far the best she sounded and looked also. For this round, she chose a somewhat obscure Michael Jackson song. I think there might have been other MJ songs to be found. It probably has to be said that Amanda's Italian-American father appears to be at least four shades darker than Michael Jackson in his final decades.
Like has been the case for a couple of her previous performances, I was a bit confused and a bit underwhelmed by this performance. It was definitely a jazzy kind of interpretation but that sort of number does not really translate to the big Idol stage, There was something very weird and disturbing about one of Amanda's eyes during the song's conclusion. The whole thing was perhaps too artsy, and not in a contemporary sort of way to get a lot of casual fans in her corner.7.
7. Cannan James Hill- "Mary, Don't You Weep"
They told us he would be taking on Aretha Franklin and I figured he might actually try to do a non-religious song, but alas that was not the case. Maybe he could have done Fats Domino, whom, I say with respect, he happens to look a lot like. Also, we found out the dude they keep showing in the audience, who appears to be somewhat close to my age, is Canaan's grandfather! I would have assumed that was his father.
CJH stayed in his lane, thematically and musically. I would like to see him try something different but I still have to keep it real. He sang this gospel number extremely well. It was perhaps the first time he did not even hit one bad note, so that is how I am judging it halfway through the show.
Carrie said Canaan hit a note that made her sneeze. The wannabe pastor missed an opportunity to reply "bless you."
8. Josh King- "The Longest Time"
I am still a bit peeved that he was selected for a wildcard slot on Monday. It is nothing personal, but he just is not as good as the others. I think he knows that also. Josh's mentoring session with the James Taylor, who does not exactly seem to be Mr. Personality, revolved around chest voice vs. head voice.
Anyways, this type of Billy Joel doo-wop is probably the kind of small venue entertainment Josh is best suited for. It seemed like he might have messed a lyric or two up and was too early on one vocal entrance, but I will say that it was probably his best performance. Nonetheless, it was definitely well below average for Idol Top 14 standards.
9. Thunderstorm Artis- "First And Rain"
What is more appropriate than "Fire And Rain" for a guy named Thunderstorm? I suppose he also has to do "Stormy Weather" for Big Band Week, "Lightnin' Strikes" for the 1960s and "It's Raining Men" for Disco Week. It also happened to be the case this song belongs to this week's mentor, James Taylor, close personal friend of John Kerry.
This is kind of hard for me to judge. I really, really liked parts of it. Other parts I found myself wondering why I liked this. Does Thunderstorm really sing with that kind of gravelly voice or was he trying to imitate someone? It could genuinely go either way. For the most part though, I liked it, I guess in a James Taylor sort of way.
10. Gabby Samone- "Saving All My Love For You"
Whey they said Gabby was doing Whitney Houston, I thought it would probably be one of those monster ballads from "The Bodyguard" which have been done so, so many times on reality singing shows this millennium. There would have been pros and cons to trying to do that. Instead though. Gabby sang something that I do not think has been done on Idol since the infamous Tatiana del Toro.
In what should be a surprise to nobody, Gabby sang the heck out of it. She sounded like Whitney in many parts, but there were also some deviations from the original which was probably a smart move to not come across as a mere imitation of an iconic voice. Gabby is very much an Idol and musical throwback though. She may resemble a young Beyonce but few viewers are going to make too much of a musical connection. (I would like to see her sing "Halo" though.) Finally, considering Gabby's identity on the show and whom she has been appealing to, perhaps she should consider losing the nose ring, as something like that could unfairly hold her back with some voters.
11. Breanna Nix- "Open Arms"
I am all for more Journey on American Idol. During her mentoring session, Breanna, who definitely seems very comfortable on camera these days, commisserated with James Taylor about their shared history of substance abuse. I suppose that is very Rock and Roll.
The beginning of this performance was stellar. I was already contemplating if I could possibly wind up ranking it higher than what Gabby had just done. All in all, it was very good, but to compare the two women, perhaps Breanna looked like she had to try a bit harder. A couple of the notes did not sound perfect, although Breanna's voice managed to soar when needed. It could just be that we are just used to this song being done by a male voice, albeit one that gets very high.
Wow, the judges give her some mild criticism, sort of in line with what I just wrote about the end, but that sort of thing is rare on present day Idol. This is sort of a peculiar development. They sure did not go out of their way to realistically critique Mattie for instance.
Off-topic observation.. Starting on Friday night and until just now, and between the Lakers, Clippers, and Kings, the teams of Los Angeles had some crushing playoff losses this weekend.
12. Kolbi Jordan- "You're All I Need To Get By"
With some of the other extremely hyped African-American contestants this season, might some people be sleeping on Kolbi's talents? Besides for (at times at least) Desmond and Thunderstorm, all of them are old-school throwbacks instead of being considered "current." Among the ladies, Kolbi might be most popular among older black voters while Gabby probably has more fans among older white voters. Somewhere though, this is going to lead to some disappointing results with vote splitting. Kolbi seems like a lot of fun. I thought it was great last week when she was talking about walking around onstage and said something like, "as you all can see, I'm plus-sized."
This was another strong performance. I thought it started off great and then perhaps Kolbi lost be a little bit with some more the arrangement choices towards the end. There is no denying that she has a huge voice though and is doing the sort of thing that Amanda has not been able to do consistently.
13. Che- "It's a Man's Man's Man's World"
Che is a white guy from England who is definitely at his best singing soul music. It must may be that he somehow wound up on the wrong season of American Idol to get very far in terms of all the extremely good black contestants this year (as well as on a season where so many of his competitors are also parents and perhaps also plus-sized.)
This was easily Che's best vocal. He pointed out that this James Brown song has been done already this season, apparently back in Hollywood Week, by Amanda and Mattie. I do not remember hearing those versions offhand but I doubt the woman or the girl sang it as well as Che did tonight. If I had one minor criticism, it seems like Che cannot quite go low with his voice the way a few of the other guys can. The high notes he does very well though.
14, Slater Nally- "Your Song"
The "pimp slot" goes to the contestant who may be the "chosen one" by the producers. For this round, Slater put a country twist of on Elton John classic.
Will Elton John fans appreciate the way he made a fairly chlll ballad into something grittier and more intense? During the clips of the mentoring, I thought Slater might overdo it a bit in that regard but I think the actual performance cut the right kind of balance. I did not love every note of the vocal but Slater always seems very connected to the music he is performing and is taking musical risks in regards to song choices and arrangements in a way that just about nobody else has been doing at this point. In that regard, he is definitely playing the Idol game right.
Rankings:
14. Mattie Pruitt
13. Josh King
12. Amanda Barise
11. John Foster
10. Filo
9. Thunderstorm Artis
8. Jamal Roberts
7. Desmond Roberts
6. Canaan James Hill
5. Kolbi Jordan
4. Slater Nally
3. Breanna Nix
2. Che
1. Gabby Samone
Who should have be eliminated: Mattie Pruitt and Josh King
Who I am predicting was eliminated even though it happened earlier tonight and I have no idea the result: Josh King and Amanda Barise
This show started off a bit so-so in my view and then got much better. However, I am still of the opinion that the two kids I thought were least deserving of making it in the Top 14 should be the first two to leave. I will note that this is the first time I did not have Josh at the very bottom, although it was pretty close.
While Josh was a wildcard and thus might not have the people to pull through again, I am mindful that Mattie was voted into the Top 10 a week ago. Thus, I think it is more likely that Amanda, who I have ranked 12th (despite thinking her "sing for your life" was the best performance on Monday) will also be eliminated.
I fear that I will be wrong though, on at least one of these. The truth is that anybody leaving after tonight, besides my Bottom Three will be a huge disappointment, but I am prepared to be disappointed.
Who was eliminated: Amanda Barise and Desmond Roberts
I suppose my disappointment meter is only at a 7 out of 10. It could be worse, I guess.
People are definitely voting for Mattie,. Maybe they are giving her extra points because she is the youngest and by far the youngest female.
Then, there is Josh. I do not get it. Has the "Vote For the Worst" movement re-organized after being defunct for over 10 years? That website would definitely be supporting him in the efforts to keep him on the show.
I am not surprised by Amanda being eliminated. I had a feeling she would not connect with American Idol for a variety of reasons, including being an older female from New York City.
Sadly, this is the end of the road for Desmond. Only one Roberts remains, which ties Idol with the SCOTUS. I had predicted the very talented and fairly likable Desmond would be in serious trouble last week, but he had a great wildcard performance and was put into the Top 14. Ironically enough, I had Desmond, right in the middle of the pack, ranked just ahead of Jamal Roberts for tonight. A Jamal elimination would have been much more surprising and controversial.
Now, Josh and Che are the only two wildcards left. Out of the two, Che at least had a very good performance this week.