Filed under: Recaps & Reviews
We're still on Billboard Hits for the week. You got yer introductions of the contestants, you got yer introductions of the judges, you got yer singing. Let's go!
Oh, but wait, I feel I should address something at the outset. Last night, I loved Lacey's performance, perhaps best of all. Everybody else in the world (at least on the internet) HATED it. Claims of offkey! Flat! Sharp! Confused! What have you! You know what? I watched it back tonight, trying so hard to hear what everyone else heard, and I STAND BY MY WORD. She was GOOD. She was in key the whole time, and I simply LOVE her voice. I don't know if part of my love of it is that my favourite version of "Landslide"(other than the original, of course) is a live cover by Tori Amos, and that's almost the vibe Lacey sits in. Maybe. I will be so sad if she goes home. Although then I wouldn't have to worry each week about the judges hating on the person I dig the most.
Buuuuut anyway, this is about these boys, so let's do this.
Todrick Hall's up first, with an INSANE rendition of Kelly Clarkson's "Since U Been Gone." Right away, the boys are winning at the game of being interesting. The one thing it might be lacking is the recognizable melody, but every other awesome thing about it makes up for that.
Little Aaron Kelly, with predictable Rascal Flatts and "Here Comes Goodbye." It is, to put it politely, not my thing, but I think his song choice is wise as it plays right into the hands of people who are likely to be his fans. His vocal is reasonable to good, and at least you can say his notes are accurate.
WHAT are the judges doing with their speaking order tonight? Stop messing with me!
Jermaine Sellers next, doing "Get Here" by Oleta Adams BECAUSE WHY GOD WHY???? Justin Guarini flashbacks! AAAAGGGGHHHHH. He sings it pretty enough and I really want to like him, but SERIOUSLY. Epic fail on song choice. P.S. Adding "shawty" to a song does not modernize it.
Tim Urban, whose own family didn't know he was going to be in the Top 12 until they saw it on TV at the end of the Top 24 announcement episode. We do get to see the whole thing with him initially getting cut from the Top 24 and then later getting the call from the show, which I appreciate. Also, since I have not yet had a chance to comment on his physical appearance, I'd like you to know that he is a cutie patootie but he needs a haircut.
So Tim is singing "Apologize" by none other than Idol favourites OneRepublic. He sings not so awesome, it's not interesting, and I fear he might be toast.
Joe Muñoz (who? Exactly. But from his Hollyweed clips, he seems to be a better-than-average singer) is singing Jason Mraz's "You and I Both," which song I happen to like. Joe does sing very well, but he won't stop ogling me through the camera and I feel kind of creepy-crawly. He sort of misses the point of the la-la-la's, and in this song that is basically unforgivable.
WE ARE ONLY FIVE SINGERS IN???? *slump*
Here's Tyler Grady, about to lay down some "American Woman" for us. (I am shocked. SHOCKED.) I presume he will be doing The Guess Who's version, which... I just find The Guess Who so tiresome. He starts with a bluesy intro before heading into the hideous chorus of this hideous song, but he does his Tyler Grady thing. My biggest complaint with it is that it feels lazy.
Lee Dewyze, honorary Canadian, is singing "Chasing Cars" by Snow Patrol. YES. SMART. And he gets me from note one. It is safe to say that I adore Lee. He changes up the melody in the chorus to good effect, but does have one super noticeable bum note (and a few other questionable ones that don't kill it but don't really, y'know, do anything to enhance it either). He'll be fine for next week. The girls, we love him.
Oh, P.S. Randy suggested Kings of Leon ad nauseam for Lee. Randy name drops these bands so we'll think he's cool (just like Kara with Phoenix; hey Kara, you listen to the radio! We get it!), but I'm afraid that they might be too cool to license their songs for use on this show. Although they did finally get Coldplay, so. Who knows.
Charming, adorbs John Park is singing "God Bless the Child" by Billie Holiday. Jazz standard on the first night? Ballsy. Hmm, sounds like he graduated from the same music program I did. Which is to say that it's pretty, and technical, and therefore a little lounge-y.
But John wins us all over by telling us that this song means a lot to his parents.
Michael Lynche and his Idol-baby and his mini-guitar are here to perform "This Love" by Maroon 5. I do not think this will go well. And, I mean, most of his notes are good, but frankly he is a boring performer. This doesn't come as much of a surprise to me. Also he bounces a lot.
Alex Lambert and his mullet are next, which means Casey and Andrew are getting the pimp spots, which is as it should be. Alex is singing "Wonderful World" by James Morrison, which is way more interesting than the "What a Wonderful World" I first thought he was singing. But don't let the Lambert name fool you: despite Alex's unique voice, he is boring.
Beautiful Casey James (Kara and I simultaneously squeal) is doing "Heaven" by Bryan Adams, sitting on a stool with his guitar. Ok, he makes me blush just by existing. Just so you know where I'm coming from as I type this. Me and Kara, man. We get it.
But right. Song. Singing. Vocals. Music. It's good. Best of the night. Let's hear from the judges, shall we? They make Kara start.
The thing about Casey is that I don't think he even thinks that he's good-looking.
Andrew Garcia, 'cause we be saving the best for last here. He's singing "Sugar, We're Goin' Down" by Fall Out Boy, which is adventurous of him. That is not a song with an easy melody. Here we go: we've got an acoustic guitar and a stripped-down version and hey! What's that?! The actual melody? One hundred points for Andrew. He does the chorus all ballad-y with "ahhhh"s from the backup singers. It's awesome. (And now I have to rewind and listen to it without my own voice added in, 'cause I sang along the whole way through.)
And so, we end on a couple of performance high notes, but I don't think there are even 12 of these 24 kids that I want to see continue on to the big stage. Of course, I haven't watched these rounds in many, many seasons; are they always this dull?
Tags: american idol, recap
vievegen says...
I don't find Casey that good looking either (he needs a haircut, stat), but he's actually better than they're giving him credit for. While he's not blowing me away, he was one of the few decent performances this week, but I feel like this silly thing with Kara they're trying to play up is actually making him more gimmicky than serious, if that makes sense. Just let the boy sing!
ariana says...
You know, I agree with the gimmicky stuff. Although I do think he is insanely cute, hair and all.
And it is kind of sad that in a group of the 12 best guys they could find in America, he's the standard to beat. I mean, he's good, but he's not mind-bendingly good. Except in the context of how bad everyone else was.
Here's hoping next week improves significantly, or it's gonna be a llllloooooonnnnggggg season.
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