APOLOGY! I'm sorry for the inconvenience to readers attempting to access this forum this week. It turned out there was a glitch preventing non-Yuku members
from accessing the forum. Fortunately I discovered and fixed the problem. Alas, in order to post you do need to be a member (something else I'd hoped to
find a way around), but it's free, so join up and join in!
Okay - here's the performance review:
Hi everyone! Wasn't that a great night? Even the weakest one sang quite well, while the best were just awesome. This should be a hard-fought contest, down to demographics and fanbases acquired since the very first moment the voting public laid eyes on them, augmented with good performances week by week. Oh wait, isn't it like that every season? What I mean is I've never personally felt the difficulty of booting two before. There has always been a pool of contestants I would be happy to see depart.
While before the Tuesday night performances I liked five of the guys, I was up until this week hard-pressed to select even one girl whom I didn't think up to the tasks. They're all likable, pretty, sweet and they can all sing. Each of the Top 8 Girls has had at least one decent performance that made me glad she was in the competition and hopeful to see improvement. None has irked me, none has made me wish so&so had been chosen instead. More than with the guys, I think this week's elimination will reflect the combination voting that fans do at this stage of the show. People spread their votes around, trying to ensure that 4 or 5 receive some.
I'll use the same system I used in my Top 8 Guys article. The lower the number, the higher the esteem. The higher the number, the more likely I think they are in danger of elimination.
1. Brooke White is a rarity: a truly beautiful girl who can really sing. She went almost acoustic with "Love Is A Battlefield," changing up the usual Pat Benatar rocker presentation. Brooke's lovely voice rang out clearly with just a guitar for accompaniment, allowing us to really appreciate her voice. Remaining seated the entire performance was another subtle change, departing from the usual "sing half seated, then get to feet as gracefully as possible and walk around" methodology that is textbook-AI. Stunning!!
2. Amanda Overmyer became one of my favorites the moment I met her back in the audition phase. She gave the Rock Star fan in me a little fix last night, rocking Joan Jett's "I Hate Myself For Loving You." Obviously she was one of the luckiest, having no one else who would have suited that song better. (Well, Carly might do a reasonable job, but anyway.) I liked the way Amanda made a small change to the end of the song - it didn't interfere with my memory of Joan's version, but personalized the song just enough. I also liked the interaction with the band when she'd finished, acknowledging them. It gave the performance the true rock star feel. Excellent! I'm very interested to see how she copes with other genres. The only reason she isn't tied for first place is that watching her last night, she suddenly seemed younger than her years. I'd even say she looked vulnerable. Interesting.
3. Asia'h Epperson took on the Great Whitney and her risk paid off. She delivered a terrific rendition of "I Wanna Dance With Somebody." She was lively, had a strong vocal and she brought back a reminder of the young bouncy Whitney, in a good way. It's extremely hard for anyone to do Whitney and receive praise from the idiot judges, but Asia'h managed to accomplish it. She wasn't high on my list of favorites coming into tonight, but she won me over with this performance. Solid effort.
4. Carly Smithson's "I Drove All Night" wasn't the best song choice for HER. I disagree with Simon that it's a nothing song. It is what you make of it. I think the difference has to be personal experience and ability to visualize. Carly didn't really bring the song to life, which all three of Celine Dion, Cyndi Lauper and Roy Orbison have done. I thought she did a credible job with the song but it wasn't spectacular. Not that I feel she's in danger of leaving this week. I think she has enough to carry her through, but she needs to work on song selection. I like Carly, I quite liked this song, but I reckon I agree with Simon (sort of) - in her hands the song was a nothing song.
A Tie! Either of these two girls could be in danger this week, but I like them both.
5. Kady Malloy. Over the course of the show so far, this girl has given us some interesting imitations of other singers. She's an excellent mimic, but doesn't seem to have her own singing personality. Last night, at first, I was wondering what she was doing singing a lyric "There's no place for us." As she progressed through the song, I finally recognized she had chosen "Who Wants To Live Forever," a perhaps lesser known Queen number. She did a very good job with it, I thought. Her problem, more than any of them, is the judges keep harping about her personality off-stage versus on-stage. I'm not sure what she can do to fix it. She projects "fun" when off-stage, but gets very serious and chooses sombre songs for her performances. Then again, maybe I'm forgetting other performances. In any event, I don't want to see her leave yet.
5. Kristy Lee Cook has been one of my favorites all season, but I didn't care for her selection of Journey's "Faithfully." Yeahyeah, I know Randy was spritzing all over himself, grateful for the opportunity to remind us (again) of his involvement almost 30 years ago with the band. I agree with Simon - it was kind of forgettable. Such a song choice won't win new fans, something that each of them is or should be trying to do each week, as other contestants leave and their fans look around at the rest of the group. Putting a country spin on a rather dull little number simply rendered it duller. I still hope she makes it to the next round, but she needs to really step it up to avoid being eliminated ahead of some of the less worthy guys.
7. Syesha Mercado closed the evening with Saving All My Love For You (another Whitney). Credible job. It's also good enough for the top 12 per the judges. She's a sweet fun girl who deserves to have a fan base. Perhaps it's reflective of my (lack of) interest, but I haven't more to say about her. I certainly don't dislike her, but she didn't WOW me with this rendition. I think she is talented, but needs to find her own niche. We don't need yet another girl who can do a credible Whitney-esque performance. And perhaps in the course of preparing this essay, I've found my answer as to whom I'd be "okay" with leaving this week. Question is, will she live to sing another day?
8. Ramiele Malubay chose Phil Collins' "Against All Odds (Take A Look At Me)," which in itself doesn't bode well. Sounds like a swan song, doesn't it? To make matters worse, she started weak, improved a bit, but she's a definite possible eliminatee. In fact, she's probably the weakest of a very strong group of women and the only one I really consider to be in danger AND would not be unhappy if she left. She's cute & fun, but her performance style hasn't wowed me as much as some of the others who also had a less than wonderful night.
So, there we have it. No matter who else leaves besides Ramiele, I'm going to be a little sad that that girl didn't have the chance to do more. I think that all in all, we're in for a really good season, with solid performers in both groups. Fingers crossed that my favorites get to move on to the next round!!
I'm not planning to recap the results show this week. We'll begin next week with covering the entire week's shows.
Thanks for reading! See you all next week!!
* * *
Fans of Survivor - enjoy my weekly essay on the Half-Ass Season. Episode 4 essay now posted, here!
Check out Sir Links A Lot American Idol for more articles and recaps for this show.
Okay - here's the performance review:
Hi everyone! Wasn't that a great night? Even the weakest one sang quite well, while the best were just awesome. This should be a hard-fought contest, down to demographics and fanbases acquired since the very first moment the voting public laid eyes on them, augmented with good performances week by week. Oh wait, isn't it like that every season? What I mean is I've never personally felt the difficulty of booting two before. There has always been a pool of contestants I would be happy to see depart.
While before the Tuesday night performances I liked five of the guys, I was up until this week hard-pressed to select even one girl whom I didn't think up to the tasks. They're all likable, pretty, sweet and they can all sing. Each of the Top 8 Girls has had at least one decent performance that made me glad she was in the competition and hopeful to see improvement. None has irked me, none has made me wish so&so had been chosen instead. More than with the guys, I think this week's elimination will reflect the combination voting that fans do at this stage of the show. People spread their votes around, trying to ensure that 4 or 5 receive some.
I'll use the same system I used in my Top 8 Guys article. The lower the number, the higher the esteem. The higher the number, the more likely I think they are in danger of elimination.
1. Brooke White is a rarity: a truly beautiful girl who can really sing. She went almost acoustic with "Love Is A Battlefield," changing up the usual Pat Benatar rocker presentation. Brooke's lovely voice rang out clearly with just a guitar for accompaniment, allowing us to really appreciate her voice. Remaining seated the entire performance was another subtle change, departing from the usual "sing half seated, then get to feet as gracefully as possible and walk around" methodology that is textbook-AI. Stunning!!
2. Amanda Overmyer became one of my favorites the moment I met her back in the audition phase. She gave the Rock Star fan in me a little fix last night, rocking Joan Jett's "I Hate Myself For Loving You." Obviously she was one of the luckiest, having no one else who would have suited that song better. (Well, Carly might do a reasonable job, but anyway.) I liked the way Amanda made a small change to the end of the song - it didn't interfere with my memory of Joan's version, but personalized the song just enough. I also liked the interaction with the band when she'd finished, acknowledging them. It gave the performance the true rock star feel. Excellent! I'm very interested to see how she copes with other genres. The only reason she isn't tied for first place is that watching her last night, she suddenly seemed younger than her years. I'd even say she looked vulnerable. Interesting.
3. Asia'h Epperson took on the Great Whitney and her risk paid off. She delivered a terrific rendition of "I Wanna Dance With Somebody." She was lively, had a strong vocal and she brought back a reminder of the young bouncy Whitney, in a good way. It's extremely hard for anyone to do Whitney and receive praise from the idiot judges, but Asia'h managed to accomplish it. She wasn't high on my list of favorites coming into tonight, but she won me over with this performance. Solid effort.
4. Carly Smithson's "I Drove All Night" wasn't the best song choice for HER. I disagree with Simon that it's a nothing song. It is what you make of it. I think the difference has to be personal experience and ability to visualize. Carly didn't really bring the song to life, which all three of Celine Dion, Cyndi Lauper and Roy Orbison have done. I thought she did a credible job with the song but it wasn't spectacular. Not that I feel she's in danger of leaving this week. I think she has enough to carry her through, but she needs to work on song selection. I like Carly, I quite liked this song, but I reckon I agree with Simon (sort of) - in her hands the song was a nothing song.
A Tie! Either of these two girls could be in danger this week, but I like them both.
5. Kady Malloy. Over the course of the show so far, this girl has given us some interesting imitations of other singers. She's an excellent mimic, but doesn't seem to have her own singing personality. Last night, at first, I was wondering what she was doing singing a lyric "There's no place for us." As she progressed through the song, I finally recognized she had chosen "Who Wants To Live Forever," a perhaps lesser known Queen number. She did a very good job with it, I thought. Her problem, more than any of them, is the judges keep harping about her personality off-stage versus on-stage. I'm not sure what she can do to fix it. She projects "fun" when off-stage, but gets very serious and chooses sombre songs for her performances. Then again, maybe I'm forgetting other performances. In any event, I don't want to see her leave yet.
5. Kristy Lee Cook has been one of my favorites all season, but I didn't care for her selection of Journey's "Faithfully." Yeahyeah, I know Randy was spritzing all over himself, grateful for the opportunity to remind us (again) of his involvement almost 30 years ago with the band. I agree with Simon - it was kind of forgettable. Such a song choice won't win new fans, something that each of them is or should be trying to do each week, as other contestants leave and their fans look around at the rest of the group. Putting a country spin on a rather dull little number simply rendered it duller. I still hope she makes it to the next round, but she needs to really step it up to avoid being eliminated ahead of some of the less worthy guys.
7. Syesha Mercado closed the evening with Saving All My Love For You (another Whitney). Credible job. It's also good enough for the top 12 per the judges. She's a sweet fun girl who deserves to have a fan base. Perhaps it's reflective of my (lack of) interest, but I haven't more to say about her. I certainly don't dislike her, but she didn't WOW me with this rendition. I think she is talented, but needs to find her own niche. We don't need yet another girl who can do a credible Whitney-esque performance. And perhaps in the course of preparing this essay, I've found my answer as to whom I'd be "okay" with leaving this week. Question is, will she live to sing another day?
8. Ramiele Malubay chose Phil Collins' "Against All Odds (Take A Look At Me)," which in itself doesn't bode well. Sounds like a swan song, doesn't it? To make matters worse, she started weak, improved a bit, but she's a definite possible eliminatee. In fact, she's probably the weakest of a very strong group of women and the only one I really consider to be in danger AND would not be unhappy if she left. She's cute & fun, but her performance style hasn't wowed me as much as some of the others who also had a less than wonderful night.
So, there we have it. No matter who else leaves besides Ramiele, I'm going to be a little sad that that girl didn't have the chance to do more. I think that all in all, we're in for a really good season, with solid performers in both groups. Fingers crossed that my favorites get to move on to the next round!!
I'm not planning to recap the results show this week. We'll begin next week with covering the entire week's shows.
Thanks for reading! See you all next week!!
* * *
Fans of Survivor - enjoy my weekly essay on the Half-Ass Season. Episode 4 essay now posted, here!
Check out Sir Links A Lot American Idol for more articles and recaps for this show.
I'd avoid it like the plague.
