Tuesday, March 3, 2009

Idol Chatter

The last third of the semi-finalists went tonight. I'm so excited to watch a group with such astounding talent. Here we go:
  • Von Smith, singing Marvin Gaye's "You're All I Need To Get By": I couldn't wait to hear this guy sing Marvin Gaye and it lived up to all expectations! If you ever wondered what it would be like if Opie had sung soul on an episode of Andy Griffith, now you know. He actually sounded okay, so maybe he'll have to put off that fishing trip with Pa. Spanky and Buckwheat sure are going to miss him. I'm mixing references so it's time to move on.
  • Taylor Vaifanua, singing Alicia Keys' "If I Ain't Got You": She danced like Elaine Benes, so if that's what she was going for, she scored. Nice tone to her voice, this week is already way better than last week. I don't know what the hell Kara is saying this week. Cliches, something about shopping; maybe Paula slipped her some "tic-tacs" before the show.
  • Alex Wagner-Trugman, singing Elton John's "I Guess That's Why They Call It The Blues": The longest song title of all time rings in the bad karaoke portion of tonight's program. His attempt at coolness came off like the time that Arvid Engen put on a leather jacket and tried to be cool.
  • Arianna Afsar, singing Abba's "The Winner Takes It All": Here's what's less pitchy than this performance. Major League Baseball. A used car salesmen. The part of flight dynamics that is neither roll nor yaw. Okay, moving on.
  • Ju'Not Joyner, singing Plain White T's' "Hey There Delilah": Bowie, represent! I think his voice was a little weak in the low register to sing something so soulfully and I feel like you need to do something upbeat in this round to get remembered. Not bad, though. Plus, they all sang this in Hollywood Week, which makes it kind of boring. His performance was totally overshadowed by Simon forgetting that someone who had just sung three songs ago was even in the competition.
  • Kristen McNamara, singing Tracy Chapman's "Give Me One Reason": Did you know that Kristen placed sixth on a season of Nashville Star? Her voice is fine, but her timing is horrible. There was just something just slightly off the whole performance. Something too canned, but still a little frenetic in the annunciation. She grates on me. I want someone who's not so polished at this stage so we can watch them grow as an artist. She's seriously lacking in "round-the-way girl" appeal. Uncle L wouldn't approve.
  • Nathaniel Marshall, singing Meat Loaf's "I Would Do Anything For Love (But I Won't Do That)": First of all, don't use the word "humble" in the same sentence in which you refer to yourself in the third person. I can't say anything about the performance because I would hate myself, so we need to get to the big question. What wouldn't Meat Loaf do? Has this ever been answered?
  • Felicia Barton, singing Alicia Keys' "No One": The one voice crack aside, she blew the doors off the place. I'm inclined to root for her because she replaced the plant, Joanna Pacitti, and so it shall be. She's one of my favorites now. How the heck did the judges not put her into the top 36?!?
  • Scott MacIntyre, singing Bruce Hornsby and the Range's "Mandolin Rain": I actually don't think this guy's voice is all that good. He was very weak in Hollywood and very weak tonight. It's pretty obvious that the judges are afraid to say bad things about him. Isn't that real discrimination, instead of just the appearance of it?
  • Kendall Beard, singing Martina McBride's "This One's For The Girls": She's got a great chance to go through, right? She has the all-American look (whatever that is) and there always has to be some country singer in there. Who cares that she wasn't perfect? Dubya got voted in twice, right? I'm sure we can find the connection there somewhere.
  • Jorge Nunez, singing Elton John's "Don't Let The Sun Go Down On Me": He's been one of the producers' favorites all along. Very good voice, definitely the best guy tonight. You figure he'll be the guy going through and the judges will have to wait until the Wild Card to throw Scott MacIntyre a pity spot.
  • Lil Rounds, singing Mary J. Blige's "Be Without You": She and Danny are the producers' favorites this season. Hands-down. Rightfully so. At least there's some real talent on the show this year.

I have Lil, Jorge, and Kendall (or maybe Felicia) going through.

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