Please raise your hand if you had no idea what Randy Jackson meant when he used the term "wheelhouse" on American Idol on two separate occasions last night.
Please raise your hand if Shania Twain night wasn't as bad as you expected it to be, despite Ellen's overuse of the Twain/train joke.
That's what I thought.
The girls and I were pleasantly surprised by the quality of performances last night, considering that the contestants had songs like "Whose Bed Have Your Boots Been Under," and perhaps the most cliche' song of all time, "From This Moment On," which I totally expected Aaron Kelly to sing, after his nod to Space Jam last week, from which to choose.
I thought it was a pretty decent show last night. People are dogging on this year's contestants being boring and forgettable, but I think it's at least better than whatever season Taylor Hicks and Katherine McPhee were the last two contestants standing. Can anyone name any other contestant that stands out from that season WITHOUT GOOGLING?
(edited to add: I'm amending the above statement because I did google it, and Season 5 was the year of Chris Daughtry, Kellie Pickler, and Elliot Yamin. Instead, I'll wager that Season 2 stands out as The Most Boring AI Season Ever, with Season 5 receiving the honor of the Most Anti-Climactic Finale Ever.)
That's what I thought.
So, my take on last night's performances:
Lee: He really is the dark horse of Season 9 (I cannot decide whether "season" should be capitalized or not, so please forgive the discrepancies where sometimes I think it's important enough for a big letter and sometimes I don't). He's pulled a Kris Allen and come from being "that guy" to being one of the top contenders. I think his performance of The Boxer last week will go down as one of my all-time favorite Idol performances. I'm just so happy for him!
Casey: I thought this was a strong performance by Casey, but I disagreed with the judges that it was his BEST. My favorite performance from him this season was back when he did that Journey song (was it Journey? Man, it was so good, I can't even remember...) or when he did Jealous Guy on Lennon/McCartney night. I don't think he'll win, but I also don't think he's going to have any trouble getting some sort of recording deal.
Aaron: What do the judges see in him? Besides good vocals, he is SO NOT the whole package. I think not-as-good vocals with stage presence and star quality go farther than stellar vocals alone with awkward teen angst. I'm kind of tired of the judges kissing up to him every week.
Michael: I thought his performance was good, but my friend Katie said she felt like he was acting out the words. THEN SIMON SAID THE SAME THING, so she must have been right. It was good, but I wasn't riveted to the TV, like I was when Lee performed.
Siobahn: Wow, Siobahn's outfit was like Laura Ashley meets Harley Davidson. It was 128 different kinds of weird, kind of like her performance. Regardless of how much the judges loved her, I don't think she had the energy to pull off the kind of performance she attempted last night. And the way she enunciated each word dragged the tempo of the whole song down. Which further proves my point, in my own mind at least, that Siobahn is an energy-sucker. I hope she goes home really soon.
Crystal: I liked the bluegrass feel of her performance, even though it seemed a little cutesy for her. But I think she went a little out of her comfort zone, tried something fun, and it worked. It wasn't THE MOST AWESOME AI PERFORMANCE EVER, but it was good enough to keep her in.
My Top 3 are:
Lee
Crystal
Casey
By process of elimination, my bottom 3 are:
Michael
Aaron
Siobahn
I'd like to see Siobahn go, but I predict that it will actually be Mike.
And speaking of THE MOST AWESOME AI PERFORMANCE EVER, I have 3 that I really love (in no particular order):
Clay Aiken- Solitaire
David Cook- Billie Jean (For some reason, I remember him playing the guitar for this one. Clearly, I'm wrong.)
And Jason Castro- Hallelujah
Dude, Season 7 might be my favorite season ever...
What are your most memorable/favorite AI performances?
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I love that Jason Castro performance, but one of my all time favorite performances was Daughtry doing Ring of Fire. It was unbelievable.
ReplyDeleteI agree that Mike will probably go home tonight. His performance was just kind of off for me. I don't know what it was, but it was weird.
Crystal, I wish she could have done better.
Would it surprise you to know that according to the Dial Idol results Aaron got the most votes last night? For real. I'm not sure where they are coming from.
Casey and Lee both did really well.
My Facebook status after the show last night, "Siobahn is a one note wonder. Not even one hit. Just a note." And I think that sums it up.
Jason Castro's Hallelujah is one of my all time favorites! And, anything that David Cook did to change up the song was great, too. At our house, we were also fans of Blake Lewis during his season. :) Something interesting about singing and beat-boxing at the same time....
ReplyDeleteJason Castro is one of my all time faves and Siobhan has GOT to go home.
ReplyDeleteDavid Cook's "Music of the Night"~it made me cry. Seriously, we watched and re-watched it. As a matter of fact, it is still saved on my TiVo.
ReplyDeleteAlso loved Castro's Hallelujah.