American Idol Season 9

[Mustang]

Back this week. Enjoy it because with Simon leaving, might be the end of the road.

A replacement name I'd throw in the ring is Gene Simmons. He is in the industry, speaks his mind, has been a guest judge before and does reality TV already.

[Solecismic]

I'm pretty sure this is the last one. He's bringing X-Factor to the US next year, there's not much room for both.

The show has run its course and is starting to mock itself, hiring Ellen Degeneres as a judge of some sort. I like Ellen just fine, but there are too many canned quips and not enough time in the format as it is.

[Pyser]

I'm pretty sure this is the last one. He's bringing X-Factor to the US next year, there's not much room for both.

The show has run its course and is starting to mock itself, hiring Ellen Degeneres as a judge of some sort. I like Ellen just fine, but there are too many canned quips and not enough time in the format as it is.

i cant imagine theyd end the #1 show on tv just because a judge left. admittedly a huge part of the show, but come on

that said, possibly the best thing they could do would be end it for a bit, let people miss it, and bring it back in 2 years to a huge return. but i think instead theyll keep it on and milk it

[MJ4H]

A good replacement for Simon will be Piers Morgan.

10 Print "no"
20 Goto 10

[wade moore]

I'm pretty sure this is the last one. He's bringing X-Factor to the US next year, there's not much room for both.

The show has run its course and is starting to mock itself, hiring Ellen Degeneres as a judge of some sort. I like Ellen just fine, but there are too many canned quips and not enough time in the format as it is.

The Cowell news is unfortunate imo. I wasn't sure if I could handle the show with Ellen, but with Ellen and no Cowell is pretty brutal.

I'd throw Ben Folds out there. He was a very, very good judge on "The Sing-Off". He wasn't afraid to speak his mind and had a lot of legit feedback.

There's a good chance this is my last season watching though. I'll have to read up on X-Factor, but if it's just another version of "America's Got Talent" I just don't think I'm interested.

[wade moore]

Huh.

Looks like it is just a modified version of Idol.

Main difference appear to be:

A) Groups are allowed
B) People are split into Categories and then mentored by the judges.

Ok, I could get behind this.

[DaddyTorgo]

lol...so i guess this was like...foreshadowed by what happened in the UK hmm? Pretty amusing (although not when i think that 2x as much tv will now end up being taken up by this schlock).

[Lathum]

i cant imagine theyd end the #1 show on tv just because a judge left. admittedly a huge part of the show, but come on



I dunno, Simon is a lot more than just a judge, he is akin to the main character on a very popular show. For me it will be like watching the X-Files without Duchovney, not nearly as interesting.

[Drake]

There was no X-Files without Duchovney, and I will punch anyone who says differently in the mouth. It was a great 7 season run...after which, it ended.

And there was only one X-Files movie.

[Lathum]

Well that's kind of my point

[Drake]

I was just making sure we agreed on that critical cultural point.

[Drake]

On topic: Since we're talking about judges, I'm disappointed they chose Ellen over bringing Jewel back. I really enjoyed her stint as a celeb judge in whichever season that was. I thought her comments were insightful.

[Kodos]

Simon is the only judge whose opinion really matters. Without him, the show would be useless.

[Mizzou B-ball fan]

Simon is the only judge whose opinion really matters. Without him, the show would be useless.

Agreed. Without Simon, I wouldn't watch it.

[Drake]

Maybe as a trade-off they'll set some sort of minimum boobies threshold for each episode. Then I'd watch.

[wade moore]

On topic: Since we're talking about judges, I'm disappointed they chose Ellen over bringing Jewel back. I really enjoyed her stint as a celeb judge in whichever season that was. I thought her comments were insightful.

Might have something to do with her becoming a full-time judge on Nashville Star (which as far as I know, is dead)

Simon is the only judge whose opinion really matters. Without him, the show would be useless.

Yup. Especially with X-Factor being a singing show, I'm not sure that I will watch Idol after this season.

[MJ4H]

On topic: Since we're talking about judges, I'm disappointed they chose Ellen over bringing Jewel back. I really enjoyed her stint as a celeb judge in whichever season that was. I thought her comments were insightful.

Yep, it was definitely her comments. Both of them.

[Pyser]

I dunno, Simon is a lot more than just a judge, he is akin to the main character on a very popular show. For me it will be like watching the X-Files without Duchovney, not nearly as interesting.

my point though is theyll try. just because a judge is leaving doesnt mean you fold up shop. you let it die ungracefully, by failing miserably for a few more seasons first

[Swaggs]

You guys don't think that Randy Jackson can carry the show? :)

I think they should just call it quits, at least for a couple of years, after this season. But, I completely expect them to milk it for several more years. Other than the on-air talent, I wonder if there are many other major expenses? Maybe song acquisation, but that seems to be a good proposition for both sides, as popularity, downloads and album sales usually skyrocket when one of the contestants does a great performance.

[MJ4H]

where the eff is ellen

[Drake]

I'm baffled that pretty much everyone in America must have clued in that Andrew/Blunt Guy had Asperger Syndrome except the judges.

[Mizzou B-ball fan]

Last night's episode reminded me just how lousy this show will be without Simon as a judge. He makes everything click.

[lordscarlet]

where the eff is ellen

They started off with a bunch of guest judges before they finalized Ellen.

I'm baffled that pretty much everyone in America must have clued in that Andrew/Blunt Guy had Asperger Syndrome except the judges.

Who?

[Drake]

Who?

The guy in the clip embedded in this article:

'American Idol': Andrew Fenlon annoys Kara DioGuardi in Boston - From Inside the Box - Zap2it (http://blog.zap2it.com/frominsidethebox/2010/01/american-idol-andrew-fenlon-annoys-kara-dioguardi-in-boston.html)

[wade moore]

Last night's episode reminded me just how lousy this show will be without Simon as a judge. He makes everything click.

Yup.

I'm baffled that pretty much everyone in America must have clued in that Andrew/Blunt Guy had Asperger Syndrome except the judges.


Um... no?

I've felt many awkward moments where they were clearly mocking someone that had "issues", this wasn't one of them. I didn't pick up on anything.

[Mizzou B-ball fan]

Um... no?

I've felt many awkward moments where they were clearly mocking someone that had "issues", this wasn't one of them. I didn't pick up on anything.

Agreed. Guy was just annoyed. If he had an obvious tell that he had other issues, I didn't notice.

[MJ4H]

Yup.




Um... no?

I've felt many awkward moments where they were clearly mocking someone that had "issues", this wasn't one of them. I didn't pick up on anything.

I didn't buy the guy from before he went into the audition room. I thought he was clearly a put-on. My opinion didn't change throughout the audition. Though, I did laugh at Kara ripping him a new one.

[wade moore]

I didn't buy the guy from before he went into the audition room. I thought he was clearly a put-on. My opinion didn't change throughout the audition. Though, I did laugh at Kara ripping him a new one.

Yeah, that was closer to my take than Asperger's.

The very first audition (woman in the pink tank top) seemed she might have some issues, otherwise it just seemed like annoying people.

[Mizzou B-ball fan]

The very first audition (woman in the pink tank top) seemed she might have some issues, otherwise it just seemed like annoying people.

I blame the developers. They should have improved the judge AI on their Wii game. If they would have done that, the audition would have never happened.

[MJ4H]

I blame the developers. They should have improved the judge AI on their Wii game. If they would have done that, the audition would have never happened.

haha yeah I was thinking this is a pretty terrible commercial for that game

[wade moore]

I blame the developers. They should have improved the judge AI on their Wii game. If they would have done that, the audition would have never happened.

haha yeah I was thinking this is a pretty terrible commercial for that game
+9999999

I don't see why you would want to show that audition for that exact reason.

Side note - did the producers or something change this year? There were quite a few subtle things different about the show this year from a production standpoint.

[lordscarlet]

What the other said -- I did not get any vibe that he had aspergers.

[MJ4H]

loooking like a fool with your pants on the ground

[RedKingGold]

Pants on the Ground = Probably the best moment in Idol auditions over the past few seasons.

[law90026]

I honestly wonder how in the world they let him through to the audition room. He must have been hilarious during the pre-audition.

[Oilers9911]

What stupidity.

[Matthean]

Last night's episode reminded me just how lousy this show will be without Simon as a judge. He makes everything click.

What stupidity.

My roommate was watching the show so I by default was hearing some of it. I'm actually surprised they keep doing this part of the auditions. Nine seasons of listening to people sing horribly just comes across as a very old gimmick now.

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[lordscarlet]

My roommate was watching the show so I by default was hearing some of it. I'm actually surprised they keep doing this part of the auditions. Nine seasons of listening to people sing horribly just comes across as a very old gimmick now.



Agreed. Can we please stop with the stupid auditions. Show us the good and borderline people. We know that these people are prescreened -- it is embarrassing to both the individuals and the show (and perhaps America for eating it up) to continue to parade them around.

[MJ4H]

I agree with 99% of that. But we definitely need to see more of the good ones like the pants on the ground guy.

[Mizzou B-ball fan]

I agree with 99% of that. But we definitely need to see more of the good ones like the pants on the ground guy.

Yeah, it was hard not to have a smile on your face. Nice that they put that at the end of that episode.

I think in recent years that they have put some contestants in the early episodes where you weren't sure whether they'd be good or not. It's kind of fun to guess based on their early interview whether they'd be good or not. The girl with the guitar outfit and the girl who lived in a trailer with her mom in Tennessee were a couple good surprises. In the earlier seasons, those two girls would have almost universally been horrible. At least they keep you guessing now.

[Eaglesfan27]

I'm baffled that pretty much everyone in America must have clued in that Andrew/Blunt Guy had Asperger Syndrome except the judges.


I ran a clinic for Autistic Spectrum disorders and I don't think the guy had Asperger or any PDD syndrome disorder. I think he was just being an ass.

[Eaglesfan27]

haha yeah I was thinking this is a pretty terrible commercial for that game

Our thoughts as well.

Pants on the Ground = Probably the best moment in Idol auditions over the past few seasons.

Agreed. I think Simon is right and that could be a hit. I want to show videos of it to some of my patients ;)

[Drake]

I ran a clinic for Autistic Spectrum disorders and I don't think the guy had Asperger or any PDD syndrome disorder. I think he was just being an ass.

I'm completely willing to accept your judgment on this as gold and retire from the field. :D

[Mustang]

I ran a clinic for Autistic Spectrum disorders and I don't think the guy had Asperger or any PDD syndrome disorder. I think he was just being an ass.

Can you give that as a diagnosis?

"Sir, after 8 weeks of sessions, I've determined that your issues are a direct result of you being an asshole"

[MJ4H]

Katy Perry

:eek::eek::eek::eek::eek::eek::eek::eek::eek::eek::eek::eek::eek:
:devil::devil::devil::devil::devil::devil::devil::devil::devil::devil:

[Pumpy Tudors]

I think last night was the first time I saw Katy Perry wearing a top. I enjoyed.

[Solecismic]

I think last night was the first time I saw Katy Perry wearing a top. I enjoyed.

Proof positive of the crazy/hot theory. She could start a senseless argument with a dead body. It would be entertaining, to say the least, to have her as a permanent judge.

[wade moore]

Agreed - she'd be what Kara was supposed to be.

[Lathum]

I am in love with the Barney singing domanatrix.

[PraetorianX]

No post in the last couple weeks? Thread definitely isn't as popular as the previous seasons.

I can see why though, there really aren't that many contestants that have jumped out at me thus far. Usually by now there is at least one that jumped out at me as 'great' or just that I really like, or at the very least one that I hope goes really far because she's really hot.

Nobody really stands out, to me, in any of those categories so far.

Except maybe Big Mike, I kind of like him.

[Mustang]

I comment more when the actual competition starts. There really hasn't been enough singing to get a gauge on anyone.

For me, on the guy side I like Andrew Garcia, Casey James and Michael Lynche. On the female side I like Lilly Scott, Crystal Bowersox, Didi Benami and Siobhan.

[EagleFan]

How did the rocker chick do? Did she get through?

[PraetorianX]

I comment more when the actual competition starts. There really hasn't been enough singing to get a gauge on anyone.

For me, on the guy side I like Andrew Garcia, Casey James and Michael Lynche. On the female side I like Lilly Scott, Crystal Bowersox, Didi Benami and Siobhan.

I think Casey will do well in the competition, I expect to see him in the final twelve. Andrew Garcia could be good too, not sure how good though, but he's quite alright. Crystal is good, too. I completely forget who the other ladies you listed are, though.

How did the rocker chick do? Did she get through?

Mary Powers, iirc, no. And honestly, I'm happy, I didn't like her at all. Annoyed me.

[rowech]

The winner will be the girl with a last name of I believe Rodriguez. Not sure about first name. Called it the first time I heard her sing.

[Mizzou B-ball fan]

How did the rocker chick do? Did she get through?

No. Probably best as she was awfully high on herself.

[Landshark44]

how come so many dudes sang "man in the mirror".....

is that a coincidence...?

[miked]

how come so many dudes sang "man in the mirror".....

is that a coincidence...?

They usually give people a list of approved songs, so not really. You can't have the band learning 50 new songs in a day with unique arrangements to boot.

[law90026]

I like Didi Benami a lot .. she's cute too!

[Lathum]

Crystal Bowersox (sp?) will go a long way...

[EagleFan]

No. Probably best as she was awfully high on herself.

That sucks. Only saw her first tryout and thought maybe she had a chance to be the rocker this season. Glad that she didn't if she was stuck on herself, can't stand contestants that act like they ae already someone special.

[Lathum]

That sucks. Only saw her first tryout and thought maybe she had a chance to be the rocker this season. Glad that she didn't if she was stuck on herself, can't stand contestants that act like they ae already someone special.

She was a total beast during the group day

[GrantDawg]

That sucks. Only saw her first tryout and thought maybe she had a chance to be the rocker this season. Glad that she didn't if she was stuck on herself, can't stand contestants that act like they ae already someone special.


Then you are not going to like Sideshow Bob.

[Mustang]

Then you are not going to like Sideshow Bob.

If you are referring to Golighty, he was removed from the show.

[Solecismic]

They sure are treading lightly around this issue. Did you notice he was in the Seacrest "this is your top 12 men" shot? Urban wasn't.

Poor Didi's going to cry after every performance. Crystal's going to march up on stage after her and punch her in the stomach.

[path12]

Crystal Bowersox (sp?) will go a long way...

Those wooden teeth of hers are hot. It will be interesting to see them magically whiten the further she goes....

[rowech]

Those wooden teeth of hers are hot. It will be interesting to see them magically whiten the further she goes....

Seriously....those things would prevent her from winning all on their own.

[Pumpy Tudors]

I'm not terribly interested in the show from this point forward (I'm one of the few FOFC people who admits to enjoying the shitty auditions most), but I hope the winner of the competition gets to sing "Pants on the Ground" at the finale. I would give Fox everything I own if that was the victory song.

[GrantDawg]

If you are referring to Golighty, he was removed from the show.


Nope. I'm talking about this monster who scares my children:

Tyler Grady - Contestants - American Idol (http://www.americanidol.com/photos/season_9/contestants/tyler_grady/)

[Lathum]

He's like a mutant version of Vinne Chase

[Solecismic]

Idol has set up Twitter accounts for all the semi-finalists. I assume they did so all at once, as they are all "verified" accounts.

All have a range of about 250 to 900 followers. Except Andrew Garcia, who is already over 4,500 followers.

So we have an overwhelming favorite coming out of the gate.

[PraetorianX]

Idol has set up Twitter accounts for all the semi-finalists. I assume they did so all at once, as they are all "verified" accounts.

All have a range of about 250 to 900 followers. Except Andrew Garcia, who is already over 4,500 followers.

So we have an overwhelming favorite coming out of the gate.

Andrew is quite good so I can see why, I think I might be ready to peg him as my early favorite. Or at least the one I like most. I like Big Mike too, but I don't see him winning.

[Scoobz0202]

I haven't paid any attention to the season yet but I just watched Andrew Garcia's version of Straight Up and damn... I can see why he has the early lead.

[Drake]

Jim, are you going to be doing your contestant rankings after each show again this year? That's one of my favorite parts of Idol season.

[rowech]

Andrew is quite good so I can see why, I think I might be ready to peg him as my early favorite. Or at least the one I like most. I like Big Mike too, but I don't see him winning.

Especially since he was kicked off the show a couple of weeks ago.

[Solecismic]

Jim, are you going to be doing your contestant rankings after each show again this year? That's one of my favorite parts of Idol season.

Thanks. Yes, I intend to recap weekly. This will be the sixth year of the ratings.

[Lathum]

Especially since he was kicked off the show a couple of weeks ago.

Last I read Big Mike was still in, if he has been booted do you have a link?

[MJ4H]

<3 <3 Janell

http://media.americanidol.com/contestants/season_9/top_24/janell_wheeler/profile_promoa_990x250.jpg

edit: oh and KATIE

http://media.americanidol.com/contestants/season_9/top_24/katie_stevens/profile_promoa_990x250.jpg

[rowech]

Last I read Big Mike was still in, if he has been booted do you have a link?

Sounds like things might have changed...definitely up in the air.

Orlando Sentinel – Knights Notepad (http://blogs.orlandosentinel.com/sports_college_ucf/2010/02/american-idol-top-24-includes-former-ucf-football-player-michael-lynche-maybe-leak-may-have-cost-lynche-his-spot.html)

[jbergey22]

Katie Stevens and Andrew Garcia are the betting favorites.

I could see the 16 year old dude making a lot of money in this industry athough he wont get much further in this competition.(too many mistakes)

I like the Didi story but her emotion is going to turn the voters off down the road.

[GrantDawg]

Katie Stevens and Andrew Garcia are the betting favorites.

I could see the 16 year old dude making a lot of money in this industry athough he wont get much further in this competition.(too many mistakes)

I like the Didi story but her emotion is going to turn the voters off down the road.


The Tim Urban kid proves why this is such a joke "competition", especially the top 24 selection. The kid's voice is mediocre, he can't remember lyrics, but he goes in over much more talented people. Why? Well, he looks like a Jonas brother. But even that doesn't make a whole lot of sense, considering there were other lookers who performed better than he did. Sometimes, I suspect it comes down to who puts out.

[jbergey22]

It has to do with star quality, ratings, and storylines. They passed up better voices that they knew had no chance to win for people that will bring ratings. They know what draws ratings otherwise there wouldnt be a storyline with half the remaining performers.

The 16 year old may have messed up his fair share but I'm not seeing where you think his voice is "mediocre." He has very wide range of songs he could sing if you ask me.

[GrantDawg]

It has to do with star quality, ratings, and storylines. They passed up better voices that they knew had no chance to win for people that will bring ratings. They know what draws ratings otherwise there wouldnt be a storyline with half the remaining performers.

The 16 year old may have messed up his fair share but I'm not seeing where you think his voice is "mediocre." He has very wide range of songs he could sing if you ask me.


Tim Urban is the 20 year old that replaced Golightly.

[Mustang]

It has to do with star quality, ratings, and storylines. They passed up better voices that they knew had no chance to win for people that will bring ratings.

Although, I would not doubt that Angela Martin was pulled because I think she had TOO much storyline with her mom missing, dad dying, child with issues. I believe Ellen and Kara gave her a recording contract so, glad things worked out for her.

If I had to put money down, I'd say Andrew Gokey-Garcia for the win.

[jbergey22]

Tim Urban is the 20 year old that replaced Golightly.

My bad. Sorry!

[Ramzavail]

Although, I would not doubt that Angela Martin was pulled because I think she had TOO much storyline with her mom missing, dad dying, child with issues. I believe Ellen and Kara gave her a recording contract so, glad things worked out for her.

If I had to put money down, I'd say Andrew Gokey-Garcia for the win.

I actually didn't think she was that great.

[CrimsonFox]

The Tim Urban kid proves why this is such a joke "competition", especially the top 24 selection. The kid's voice is mediocre, he can't remember lyrics, but he goes in over much more talented people. Why? Well, he looks like a Jonas brother. But even that doesn't make a whole lot of sense, considering there were other lookers who performed better than he did. Sometimes, I suspect it comes down to who puts out.


Agreed! I was amazed he made it through group round with Big Mike when Seth (the other big guy) went home. He was mediocre while Thaddeus is sent home. Granted I'm glad Thaddeus went home more than the other guy it could have been.

[Drake]

Somebody needs to impress me soon or I'm going to consider this whole night a waste.

[MJ4H]

Lily, Katelynn, Haley (sp?), Didi, Siobhan, Crystal, and Katie. Please insta-eliminate everyone else, thanks.

Maybe Haley, too, honestly, but that was really entertaining for some reason.

[Pumpy Tudors]

Lily, Katelynn, Haley (sp?), Didi, Siobhan, Crystal, and Katie. Please insta-eliminate everyone else, thanks.

Maybe Haley, too, honestly, but that was really entertaining for some reason.
way to go out on a limb and pick 7 of 12

[Drake]

If there are thousands of Crystal Bowersoxes on the street corners where Cowell lives, I need to live there. I feel culturally deprived if that's everyone else's normal street musician.

Of course, I live in a college town with a world famous music school for classical musicians, so when I think "street musician", it usually means brass and/or woodwinds playing music I've never heard of.

ETA: I think I might also enjoy Didi as the competition goes along, though I didn't much like this song. She seems interesting (when she's not bawling), sort of a more polished/soulful version of the arm-tattooed Joy(?) or whatever the hell her name was from last season.

On the other hand, if the womenz are the talented group in this competition, I'm not sure I'm going to enjoy Idol 9 unless somebody starts making some dramatic strides.

[MJ4H]

way to go out on a limb and pick 7 of 12

I picked the 7 that shouldn't be insta-eliminated. I wasn't trying to pick the final 6. If I had to do that, I'd take Haley out.

[MJ4H]

If there are thousands of Crystal Bowersoxes on the street corners where Cowell lives, I need to live there. I feel culturally deprived if that's everyone else's normal street musician.

Of course, I live in a college town with a world famous music school for classical musicians, so when I think "street musician", it usually means brass and/or woodwinds playing music I've never heard of.

ETA: I think I might also enjoy Didi as the competition goes along, though I didn't much like this song. She seems interesting (when she's not bawling), sort of a more polished/soulful version of the arm-tattooed Joy(?) or whatever the hell her name was from last season.

On the other hand, if the womenz are the talented group in this competition, I'm not sure I'm going to enjoy Idol 9 unless somebody starts making some dramatic strides.

Megan Joy (aka Megan Corkery or some spelling like that)

[Pumpy Tudors]

I picked the 7 that shouldn't be insta-eliminated. I wasn't trying to pick the final 6. If I had to do that, I'd take Haley out.
way to go out on a limb and take me seriously

[Drake]

Yes, Megan Joy! Thanks for the assist MJ4H. That would've driven me insane trying to remember her name.

[Drake]

way to go out on a limb and take me seriously

There's nothing more serious than a Pumpy charging your ass.

[Mustang]

Didi reminds me of Brooke.

I like Lily and Crystal however.. if it is the same type of song after 7 weeks, it might grow stale.

I agree with MJ4H though, those are my top 6/7 girls. I'd like to see Haeley stick around though.

If possible, I'd bring back 11 girls next week and vote Lacey Brown off twice.

[MJ4H]

way to go out on a limb and take me seriously

way to esad

[k0ruptr]

Haeley was absolutely awful.

[Solecismic]

To paraphrase the robotic Katie Stevens, it's a new day, a new year, a new American Idol.

This is the beginning of my sixth year writing recaps of each evening's performances. That's somewhere around 750 song choices rated, ranked, evaluated, mocked and criticized. I've been writing these about half as long as I've been working on Front Office Football.

The ninth season of American Idol began today. It began with one of its signature additions to the modern music scene: a diva wannabe adding trills and pitchy screams to a song that didn't deserve such cacophonous treatment. I had a moment when I wondered if I was willing to return to the master spreadsheet and begin this year's rankings.

My doubts continued as two more Idol hopefuls butchered songs made famous by two of the more talented voices in recent memory. I glowered at my television. Was this really the most talented arrangement of women ever assembled on Idol, as Simon Cowell himself has recently crowed to anyone who would listen?

Then came tonight's best performance. It was something I've never heard before, a voice I can see myself looking forward to hearing for many weeks to come. And I was hooked all over again.

No, it wasn't a great night in the Kodak Theater. In fact, it might have been the worst night Idol has ever put together, judging by the average score in my rankings. There were four clunkers more than worthy of banishment to the bad karaoke Hall of Shame. But, energy renewed, here I am. And here I will remain until the final curtain falls about three months from today.

Without further rambling, here are the Solecismic American Idol Rankings for the women's half of the round of 24:

1. Lilly Scott. From the first bar of her jazzy and thoroughly original rendition of a relatively obscure Beatles tune, I knew this was something different. Idol has never had a polished female crooner before. Last season's "quirky" choice, Megan of the ever-changing last name, was somewhat similar, but had a little too much Bjork in her to resonate with fans. Still, she made it to ninth place. Lilly has top-three potential. The only question being whether she will continue to sound original, or the voice will break in certain genres and sound affected or cloying. Kara DioGuardi told her to go back onto the streets and beg for money. Bad advice. Lilly has already learned how to sing, and she sounds quite polished and aware of her strengths. What she needs is training and the right arrangements, so she can show it off. She also needs to be quite careful not to tick off Seacrest. Making fun of his lack of height is not going to help during those all-important post-performance interviews. Score of 89.

2. Siobhan Magnus. She was pleasant surprise number two tonight. With a distinctly feminine voice, she started out Chris Isaak's Wicked Game in as low a register as I've ever heard from a woman. And she stayed on key. The problem with her song choice was that the chorus is meant for a power voice. And in her arrangement, the chorus was repeated four times. She does not have enough power to pull that off. She started out memorable, and wound up a little ordinary. She also has a bad habit of speaking very slowly when interviewed, which makes her appear a little challenged. That could hurt her unless she can pull off the quiet-shy-rebel artifice that worked so well for the horribly mediocre Jason Castro a couple of years back. Score of 80.

3. Katie Stevens. With endless features, extra interviews and the coveted last-song spot in the season opener, Idol has placed considerable hope in the 17-year-old New Englander. She is absolutely guaranteed a top five spot based on background pimping alone. She seems very well coached, choosing a song that shows off her range and unusual tone for someone so young. However, Katie is the Teen Robot. There was no emotion conveyed in her Michael Bublé song. It was very much like a robot was trained to win singing contests - a female version of David Archuleta. I thought she had better tone than the judges did. But I remembered that the judges can't always hear all that well and often go with their impressions of the rehearsal show. As we saw from the recap at the end of the show, which is filmed from the rehearsal, Katie was far more animated. That might have hurt her pitch. She did miss a note early when she started to dance. Then thought better of it. So this is a pre-flash memory Teen Robot, in that the speakers can't handle any movement during playback. Score of 76.

4. Crystal Bowersox. Even money she walks off the stage and kicks Simon in the kneecap before this season is done. Simon was right, though. You can hear that sort of Alanis Morissette knockoff in every college bar north of the Mason-Dixon line. The harmonica was indulgent. There was nothing particularly special about what she did tonight, but she was quite competent and practiced. She was right to stay in her comfort zone, because she will build a following. The judges will start criticizing her heavily for it once the finals begin. Score of 71.

5. Didi Benami. Oh, you know me. I am a true sucker for this type of performer. Of everything performed in the history of Idol, very little of it would ever appear on my MP3 player. Ingrid Michaelson, though? Absolutely. I love this stuff. So when Didi appeared in the audition shows, she had my full attention. I love her voice, and that's obviously going to affect my scoring of her singing. Why then the fifth place? Well, she started off wonderfully. I was psyched. And then she had trouble with the chorus. The arrangement was a bit repetitive, and she looked confused and missed the final note badly. I was looking forward to Didi perhaps having a chance of winning Idol. Now I'll just be happy if she survives the semifinals. The judges, who all seem to prefer the diva tunes, were right to criticize her. Score of 68.

6. Michelle Delamor. Picking Alicia Keys was a bad mistake. She ended up sounding like a backup singer. Her voice simply isn't strong enough for a big song like that. Her runs were tuneless, and she wound up the performance with a scream that was incongruous to the rest of the song. She will benefit greatly from following the horrendous mess that called itself Lacey Brown. That's fine for this week. Next week, she needs to bring more game. Score of 64.

7. Katelyn Epperly. Imagine, if you will, Shirley Temple as a teenager, trying desperately to be sexy by lowering her voice. Katelyn was trying to be something she's not. Sultry does not work for her. The result was precocious and dull and I would imagine made the remaining Beatles giggle more than a little. Score of 62.

8. Paige Myles. Some would put her at the top tonight. The judges probably would. I don't think she was terrible - there's a huge drop from eight to nine this week. But she tried to do the diva runs, and her pitch wasn't right and she sounded consistently out of synch with her backup singers. Her song was more a rock standard, and not conducive to that kind of treatment. I know she was trying to "make it her own," but it sounded derivative instead. I think she will do much, much better if she keeps it more simple. Score of 58.

9. Janell Wheeler. I normally don't focus so much on appearance early on, since there's plenty of opportunity to do so later on when the critiques become a little more repetitive on many singers. But I was shocked such a pretty girl came out in an outfit that made her look positively schlumpy. She also took on Heart, which has been a winner for the best of Idol candidates. She doesn't have a big voice, however, and wound up winning the bad karaoke award for the evening. The song simply beat her up and spit her out. She was actually shaking by the time she finished, and is likely in considerable danger of an early exit. Score of 38.

10. Ashley Rodriguez. This is a true surprise. Ashley was considered a threat to win the entire competition. I'd like to chalk this up to bad advice. She sang "Happy", by Leona Lewis. I guess she knows she isn't very loud, so she held the microphone too close and wound up sounding breathy. She struggled mightily with the lower register. She had severe pitch problems. I was not happy at all. Leona Lewis was not happy. I'm doubting even Ashley's family and friends were happy. Score of 29.

11. Haeley Vaughn. Haeley put out a very unusual arrangement of I Wanna Hold Your Hand, from the Beatles. It was bizarre - a carnival version complete with screaming and awkward runs. I wanted to hold my ears. But for the sake of you, dear reader, I persevered. Haeley probably has the talent to do well in this competition, but she has no idea what to sing. This is what elevator music would sound like if it were designed by ten-year-old boys. Score of 27.

12. Lacey Brown. What to say? Yes, she has unusual light-colored eyes. Simon nailed that. She is a horrible singer, though. I don't know how she made it through to the semifinals. Her phrasing is affected and slurred. She chose a song that requires rich, low tones. That's something absent in her repertoire. She even put up the wrong number of fingers when Seacrest told people to vote for her. Easily the worst performance on Idol in the last couple of seasons. She was so bad it was memorable, and that might save her for another week. Score of 10.

Overall: A very weak opening week for such a promising group of women. I was disappointed.

Who Should Go: Lacey and Ashley.

Who Will Go: Ashley and Janell.

[GrantDawg]

This is always the worst week of idol (well, the first three weeks are the worst weeks). The performers aren't used to the pressure and don't put on the best performances. There may be something about the sound in the smaller stage set up as well. How may times over the 9 years have we watched these first group shows and asked "What happened to the talent?" I think it is there, but the first few performances are going to be very hard to get through for the contestants.

[CrimsonFox]

I am very surprised that all of them are either rock or alt rock types. None of the bubbly generic pop crap. Maybe a couple crooners. None of them grabbed me.

[Thomkal]

was not impressed with this group of women all through the auditions. I think Idol is desperately wanting a strong female challenger this year after two straight seasons of men in the final two. And so they are pimping them up. I am so tired of them saying year in and year out, "best talent we've ever had on Idol" Let's let them actually perform in the top 24 before we say that alright?

Only ones that interested me Siobhan, Michelle, and Crystal. I didn't think Lacey Brown was that bad actually compared to some of the others, but I think she only made it this season instead of last because the talent actually isn't as strong as last year's women.

Ashley was the big disappointment for me, she was the woman I thought would go the furthest coming out of Hollywood week. Haeley is the one that has to go for me-credit to her for the different take on that Beatles song, but everything else from the outfit to her voice was awful. She seemed to have no clue what she was doing up there.

Let's hope the men doing a better job, though I'm not holding my breath.

[Matthean]

1. Lilly Scott. From the first bar of her jazzy and thoroughly original rendition of a relatively obscure Beatles tune, I knew this was something different.

One of my lesser favorites really. I think her pulling a lesser known Beatles song help A LOT last night.

2. Siobhan Magnus. She was pleasant surprise number two tonight. With a distinctly feminine voice, she started out Chris Isaak's Wicked Game in as low a register as I've ever heard from a woman.

It wasn't a song I would have picked for her. I think it's just really difficult to do, but she did well enough with it. On the playback I heard the band, but when she performed I thought she did almost all of it by herself which made it all the more challenging to pull off.

3. Katie Stevens. With endless features, extra interviews and the coveted last-song spot in the season opener, Idol has placed considerable hope in the 17-year-old New Englander.

Lives in the same town as my brother and his wife, so they are big fans. By far one of the best ones this year, and everything said about her has been dead on.

4. Crystal Bowersox. Even money she walks off the stage and kicks Simon in the kneecap before this season is done. Simon was right, though. You can hear that sort of Alanis Morissette knockoff in every college bar north of the Mason-Dixon line.

She'll probably be the most consistent one, but I don't think she's really going to stand out doing other people's music. She has to have one of her own songs in there somewhere and she needs to put that sort of thing out there. She's already been labeled "the outsider." Might as well run with it.

5. Didi Benami. Oh, you know me. I am a true sucker for this type of performer. Of everything performed in the history of Idol, very little of it would ever appear on my MP3 player. Ingrid Michaelson, though? Absolutely.

I think it was the best copy of an artist last night. Doesn't mean she wins, but it will be interesting to she her outside of that song.

6. Michelle Delamor. Picking Alicia Keys was a bad mistake. She ended up sounding like a backup singer.

(nods) She sang it decently enough, but she pretty much had to be Alicia's equal for vocals to pull it off and she couldn't.

7. Katelyn Epperly. Imagine, if you will, Shirley Temple as a teenager, trying desperately to be sexy by lowering her voice.

I honestly have the hardest time remembering this performance. I think that sums up what I thought about it.

8. Paige Myles. Some would put her at the top tonight. The judges probably would.

I thought she had the talent even if it was a horrible song for her, but after the recaps she came off as way less impressive. She's got a performance in her that's going to smoke everybody else and I think that's why the judges rank her so high.

9. Janell Wheeler. I normally don't focus so much on appearance early on, since there's plenty of opportunity to do so later on when the critiques become a little more repetitive on many singers.

Wait, no this was the least memorable performance of the night.

10. Ashley Rodriguez. This is a true surprise. Ashley was considered a threat to win the entire competition.

Having only seen this performance of her, what? Nothing, but bland and boring.

11. Haeley Vaughn. Haeley put out a very unusual arrangement of I Wanna Hold Your Hand, from the Beatles.

100% fact. When they talked about the Beatles covers I said, "Well, at least nobody has done 'I Want to Hold Your Hand.'" Oops. She showed every bit that she's 16.

12. Lacey Brown. What to say? Yes, she has unusual light-colored eyes. Simon nailed that. She is a horrible singer, though. I don't know how she made it through to the semifinals.

I believe this was the one that I thought really needed to do something like a song by The Sundays only for a judge to say the same thing. At best, a cute, but weak voice with no real range. At best.

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[Alan T]

I just got through listening to last night's show. I honestly didn't find one of them that I liked at all. I don't think I remember a different season when I couldn't at least find one that I enjoyed.

Hopefully the guys are better tonight, or I might not even make it to next week for Idol watching.

[Mustang]

Gotta love Vote for the Worst's recaps

Crystal Bowersox has never seen the show before and didn’t think this was for her. She changed her mind because she wants a bigger paycheck for her son. Unlike Lilly, prostitution was never an option for Crystal because the whole dirty, unwashed hippy thing doesn’t attract many clients. She sings “One Hand In My Packet” and we get plenty of close-ups on her bad teeth that seem to have been whitened a little. She’s a good singer, but the whole busker harmonica thing didn’t guarantee Taylor Hicks a career, so it’s probably not gonna work on the Idol stage for Crystal either. Ellen calls Crystal “fresh” (I guess rather than “expired”), but Simon says that there are thousands of people doing this same thing outside of a subway station at the moment. He criticizes Crystal for doing a “sound alike” performance and tells her, “You’ve gotta do something that’s you.” Crystal shoots back, “They don’t allow originals on the show though.” See, I knew I liked Crystal. She is already annoyed that the show is throwing everyone under the bus and she won’t stand for it. That puts her in contention as a future VFTW pick for speaking her mind. Unfortunately, she tries to mask that she’s upset by agreeing with Simon to sing David Bowie or something. But as she fake smiles, you can tell she’s regretting her choice to appear on the show, especially when Kara calls her “just a coffeehouse performer.”. So if she can really throw caution to the wind and abandon all effort, I’m all about voting for her later on. You can do it, Crystal. VFTW will be waiting.

[path12]

I liked Lilly a lot, and also liked Katelynn and Crystal. Generally it seemed there were about four or five girls who seemed much better than the others but it's usually like that at this point.

[Ksyrup]

Figure I'd slip in to see what Jim had to say. Entertaining as usual...

You guys know all I really enjoy is the background stuff that doesn't even make the show (or comes out much later). And without me around, I guess no one's really keeping up with it all (or cares). But man, you guys are REALLY slipping because I thought for sure someone would have posted about this:

http://img13.imageshack.us/img13/7585/tebowgirlfriend.jpg

This info's been around since late last year - apparently Janell is Tebow's on-and-off GF (whenever they have time for each other, I guess). They dated regularly in college. So if her shaky performance wasn't enough to send her home, perhaps if this gets out, she'll be more hated than Carly Smithson.

Later!

[Solecismic]

Figure I'd slip in to see what Jim had to say. Entertaining as usual...

Thank you.

apparently Janell is Tebow's on-and-off GF (whenever they have time for each other, I guess).

In other words, she was great at the college bar level, but doesn't have much hope of signing a lucrative professional music contract.

[law90026]

Personally, I didn't think the judges did well last night.

Don't get me wrong, the contestants were not fantastic. The only performances I really liked were Didi's and Crystal's ... and that's largely because I liked them from the initial auditions and Hollywood week.

But the judge's comments? Ugh. Like saying Paige has the best voice, complimenting one singer for being special / unique (Lily) and then saying that Didi sounds too much like Duffy ... it's just somewhat contradictory.

[Drake]

Casey James sounded remarkably like a young Bob Seeger on that song.

[Mustang]

Lee, Casey, Andrew, Alex, Michael, Aaron... the rest can go.

Pretty shitty that they were THAT distracting to Casey though during his performance.

[CrimsonFox]

Oh Darling is my least favorite on the Abbey Road album. When they talked about her screaming the sone in places, THAT'S the SONG! Paul McCartney screamed the whole thing, going for that ole 50's sound obviously but I think it sounds terrible. She actually did a better version of it when she herself didn't scream. Then she got sucked into the original version of it.

[Thomkal]

Well I didn't think the men would be worse than the women, but sadly I was wrong. Casey would be the only one I would place above average, the rest average or worse, most in the worse area. Very disappointed in this season's singers. Has Idol tapped out their talent pool?

[Mustang]

I think they went very raw this year with alot of singers more so than previous years. People like Haeley, Aaron and Alex. I think alot of them can grow, but not sure how quickly.

I went back and looked at the comments the last few years and the top 24/36 were never glowing comments so, we shall see.

[CrimsonFox]

I thought it was funny the judges even pointed out that a bunch of em were sounding alike with similar styles and song choices. It's like....WTF you CHOSE these people! :)

[CrimsonFox]

More detailed analysis... the following ranks mean nothing. Just kinda random.

Lily Scott - "Fixing a Hole" - Great song selection especially for her voice. It started out interesting and good . Paul's tunes are well suited for altos considering how high and breathy he sang things. Halfway thru she starts to lose me. Hit the beat! Hit the tempo! SING THE SONG! She fails to do this. Don't SAY the song. SING the song. Very safe

Siobhan Magnus "Wicked Game" - Excellent song choice. Memorable song that's liked by many (something important). Simon is totally wrong about the song choice. It is not "dreary" but haunting as she says...now the proof is in the pudding of CAN SHE MAKE it haunting and not dreary. Again I am left saying "Keep on beat! Keep the rhythm of the song intact. Stop talk-singing". Again a mediocre version of a great song. But songchoice alone will probably save her. Very safe

Katie Stevens - "Feeling Good" , - feeling forgettable. Bad song. After another watch another of the old time crooning songs. Not totally on key. TOO MUCH acapella. That's very bad. And when the music comes in she's not totally on key but at least she's on tempo. Overall very blahhhhhh. IN DANGER

Paige Miles - "Allright now" - I barely like this song when it comes on the radio. It's just boring generic guitar rock and I LOVE MY guitar rock. Her voice isn't bad but I so couldn't wait for this karoke to be over. IN DANGER

Lacey Brown - "Landslide" - this song would have been great for several others who could handle it. Lacey could not and the sing-talking continues. Just Sing a song. Well, this song already has singtalk elements in it and Lacey showed she can't do a song like this. Low songs are idol-killers. Go high or go home. IN DANGER

Crystal Bowersox - "One Hand In My Pocket" - The best performance of the night hands down. I dreaded the song choice as it was one of those songs where everything in it sounds the same and the lyrics are all cliche. But she aboslutely nailed it. Good playing too. I like people that play their own instruments. I think it relaxes them. Good rock voice without trying to SOUND Like a rock voice like many of the others. VERY SAFE

Katie Epperly - Oh Darling. HATE this song. Worst song on that album for my tastes and I'm totally a Beatles fan. Was funny hearing SImon making fun of her screaming the song. That IS the song. Paul screams the whole damn thing in a 50's scream-crooning style and it sounds terrible. Actually she did improve the song a whole lot when she was just singing and not screaming. Then got lost in the song. I think she's safe simply because many were worse. Kinda safe

Didi Benami - "The Way I Am". Don't remember at all.Just watched it again. More singtalking. Does no one know how to sing? This girl reminds me of Shirley Bassey singing a bond theme. I wanna hear her belt the hell out of something. But this isn't bad. SAFE


Ashley Ordrigues - "Happy" I actually likes this performance. It was sweet-sounding and nice tone and a little quirky. I've NEVER heard the song before tho. They jumped down her throat for this. I really dislike Simon's music taste. All he listens to is pop crap that's obvious. Which is why I think he jumped down her throat. IN DANGER because lemmings listen to Simon.

Hayley Vaughn - "I want to hold your hand" - Started out unique and different with her unique arrangement. Then immediately jumps ship, tempo and shark. STAY ON TEMPO! STAY ON KEY! STAY ON PITCH! This arrangement is terrible. Oh gawd make it stop. IN DANGER (PLEASE SEND HER HOME)

Janell Wheller - "What about Love" not only a popular song but a popular song for idol contestants who want to prove they have a big voice. She didn't sing on key and didn't prove she could sing a big song like this. THe changed key really hurt this song. I really disliked this. IN DANGER

Michelle Delonar - "Fallin" - An old classic crooning tune. Really bored by this but that's more the song choice. SHe does a nice job. I think she's safe.



Results: Bottom 3: Lacey, Haley, Paege
I send Paege back to safety
I send home Haley.

If only the world really worked this way...

[MJ4H]

Casey and Andrew only two I even remember. The rest can go away afaic.

edit: oh yeah Joe was ok, too. Wanted to like Lee, but he was really flat on way too many notes.

[Solecismic]

It's a good thing we have Olympic hockey to watch tonight. The quarterfinal round is taking place, and it's, quite frankly, a treat and a half. The best players in the world, and they care quite a bit about the games.

Not so psyched about tonight's American Idol. The men took the stage for the round of 24. I know I've ranted in the past about evenings that seemed like quite possibly the worst in Idol history. Tonight was. Not even close. It was an unmitigated disaster from the opening note of Todrick Hall's r&b-club aberration of Kelly Clarkson all the way to the closing strum of the endlessly-hyped Andrew Garcia's take on a folk song from the collection even Cat Stevens won't remake.

A couple of production notes. First, I'm glad they've abandoned the 36-person format of last season. We lost too many decent singers who needed a couple of weeks to grab an audience.

Second, I like Ellen DeGeneres. I didn't think I would, but she plays the role of an interested, intelligent outsider quite well. As the season goes on, I hope she stops parroting Randy Jackson (who always takes his cue from the audience reaction). But she's a better Randy Jackson than Randy Jackson.

Third, Kara DioGuardi may know music. Or she may not. But she's all wrong for the role she plays.

And fourth, the production still has trouble with the basics. For a show with 30 million viewers, you'd think they could tell the judges who is commenting first. And they could tell Kara that by pounding her fists and elbows on the stage desk, she's thumping the microphone like it's amateur hour at a dance club.

As I type here, the Czech Republic just went behind, 1-0, late in the third period. You'd think a country named after a hockey term would be a little stronger on the ice.

I'm a little hesitant to write the rest of this piece, as it's going to be very negative. Can't help that. Yesterday set an unofficial record with four performances that belonged in my Hall of Shame. That record was broken tonight. In fact, if they sent all 12 men home tomorrow, I don't think I'd feel I've missed anything.

Here are the rankings for the round of 24 men:

1. Casey James. He has a nice stage presence. His voice is a little high. I think he'll need to show off a lower range if he wants to be around in the later rounds. Maybe I was just so desperate even for mediocrity that by the time Casey came on the stage, 11th tonight, I was ready to praise a donkey braying the Star Spangled Banner. He had good tone, sounded light and airy, and people could start to take him seriously - something that was a bit difficult to imagine after he removed his shirt during his audition. Score of 82.

2. Lee DeWyze. Normally, a performance this uninteresting wouldn't be anywhere near second place for the evening. Lee twirled out a rather derivative Soul Patrol. He has that richer rock sound, though. And that's wildly successful on this show. I'm not certain he can stay in tune, but he has to be better than Taylor Hicks. Simon, with the advantage of having heard the other auditions, was effusive. Or desperate. The final six men are going to be the weakest ever for Idol. It would be a shame to eliminate even a mediocre singer like Lee at this stage. Score of 66.

3. Michael Lynche. He has a new baby. He threatened to punch Simon, and I'm only 50% sure he was kidding. He has, to repeat a tired Idol cliché, a lot more talent than he showed tonight. And tonight he went with karaoke Maroon 5. Maybe Maroon 2 1/2. Hard to tell. He forgot the melody in places and didn't show any range. Simon is now in the witness protection program. Michael is safe for a few weeks because his wife was willing to televise the birth of her baby. Score of 65.

4. Andrew Garcia. Andrew got the coveted final slot. He was memorable in the earlier shows, because he has a very nice voice, a gang-banger background, a dad who cries, a baby, and Seacrest absolutely towers above him. Which makes me think his gang was operating in Lilliput. Or maybe his role in the gang was to carry the water bottles. Andrew was hotly anticipated, and has enough pimping to go to the final three even if he used helium and sang from Alvin and the Chipmunks. But he wasn't good tonight. He was merely competent, and oversang a forgettable song. Score of 59.

5. Aaron Kelly. Aaron is 16 and hasn't much of an idea of how he wants to sing. Which is fine. He seems to be going the Kris Allen route, which means blending into the scenery and hoping teenage girls enjoy this musical version of Where's Waldo. There's a little bit of country in him. There's probably some talent somewhere, but the song he chose was dreadful. Or maybe he always sounds like he's picked up one of those blah songs Kara writes for the finalists.

6. Tyler Grady. OK, we get it, you're Jim Morrison. Only that's one of the lowest-energy renditions of a classic rocker tune I've ever heard. He has no low range, either. And is far too happy to be a real rocker. Nice guy, but I don't see where he's going with this. Score of 54.

7. Todrick Hall. When he came out first and performed this awful, showy, dare I use the over-Idoled term "indulgent" version of Kelly Clarkson's Since U Been Gone, I figured him for a run at last place. Nope, it's seventh. That's how bad tonight was. The song was monotonous, all about the dance and the stage presence. Both traits he has. And apparently he has a voice, too, but that wasn't in evidence. Simon, however, in saying he verged on "stupid," probably galvanized a fan base. Was that intentional? It certainly went over the line, and set the tone for the night. Score of 51.

8. Tim Urban. The replacement player sang "(Too Late to) Apologize." After that horrific rendition, I'd agree. He's on the show now. He sounds odd in his higher register and he had enormous trouble with his voice modulation. His looks will probably keep him, very undeservedly, for a while. Score of 32.

9. Joe Muñoz. Joe went with Jason Mraz. Since he's from Mexico, and English is not his first language, the complex lyrics sounded a bit babbly. He was quite nervous, that song doesn't work with poor phrasing. He also looked cold, wearing a heavy coat and a scarf on what's reportedly a very hot stage. He seems quite likeable, but with a dreadful performance and no backstory, he's in serious danger of leaving. Score of 28.

10. Alex Lambert. The lesser of two Morrisons. Alex was even less convincing, with less energy. His falsetto was strained and way off key. The rest of his performance was tedious and tuneless. I'm being quite generous here. Score of 25.

11. John Park. John can sing. He, more than anyone maybe in the history of Idol, made a bad song choice. God Bless This Child is not a pop song, a rock song, a current song, and it has to be sung like a standard - way out there. John doesn't have that kind of voice. He tried to trill a little, but it just turned the performance into a comedy. Then he wrapped everything up by insulting his parents, who did look more than a little mortified. Score of 20.

12. Jermaine Sellers. Sadly, Jermaine is tone deaf. He wasn't singing, just making noise. I'm sure it sounds great to him in the shower, but I'm puzzled as to why he even made it to Hollywood. Score of 14.

Overall: It's not even close. This was the night featuring the worst singing in Idol history.

Who Should Go: Jermaine and Alex.

Who Will Go: Jermaine and Joe.

[Mustang]

Overall: It's not even close. This was the night featuring the worst singing in Idol history.



Pretty much every night of season 3 was worse than this.

[jbergey22]

Very underwhelming.

Out of the 24 performers I could only see Katie Stevens winning this. Casey James will probably end up being a reality TV Star.

When I think of the best singers out of the group Stevens is really that only one that seems to have the charisma to win this.

Garcia, Bowersox and Scott all lack the X-factor in my opinion.

I thought James put on a great performance tonight but I dont think he has the voice to win it.

I hope I never have to hear Haeley Vaughn sing again.

[CrimsonFox]

Guys were equally boring and weak. I started writing a review, but it trickled out into just boring.

[GrantDawg]

Jim pretty much hit it. As I said yesterday, these first nights are always among the worst. Next week will still be bad, but there will be a few surprises, and probably at least a couple of good performances that will stand out. I have some hope for Lee Dewyze. I think he has potential.

[Ksyrup]

I've been watching AI since half-way through Season 2, and last night was the worst night of performances I've seen. We fast-forwarded through 4 of them and my wife fell asleep about an hour in. I thought the only 2 guys who sounded remotely competent were Big Mike (nothing special, but at least he was mostly in tune) and Casey James (his vibrato gave off a clear Will Hoge vibe, which is cool with me). Casey seems like the only one who has a chance from the guys. Tim Urban had to have been sabotaged by the producers - how can you pick a song with a falsetto chorus and not have the voice to come within an octave of the falsetto required to pull it off?

I've never disagreed with Simon (or agreed with Randy) as much as I did with Lee Dewyze. I thought he was terrible. He didn't hit a single note. The fact that so many people praised him just confirms for me that I simply cannot listen to the Eddie Vedder/post-grunge style of rock vocals that are so popular these days. I had the same feeling about David Cook, too. That vocal style is all over the place range-wise and grates on my nerves. Dewyze was a clear bottom-3 for me for him, dawg. He looks strikingly similar to Elliott Yamin, without the snaggletooth thing. I thinnk it's his jawline.

It's a good thing I'm going to be traveling and probably will miss next week's performances...

[MJ4H]

I've never disagreed with Simon (or agreed with Randy) as much as I did with Lee Dewyze. I thought he was terrible. He didn't hit a single note.

He would've been ok if he hadn't missed so many notes flat. Missing a note flat is far worse than missing it sharp. It sounds so much more horrible. A lot of his performance was ok, but every time he went flat on a note it was beyond painful.

[Eaglesfan27]

Jim nails 3 of 4 on who was going home. I wonder who cursed at the end or otherwise caused the audio to blanked out for a few seconds. I'm guessing it was Alex expressing disbelief at still being alive, but Tyler seemed more upset than most contestants.

[Mustang]

I'm guessing it was Alex expressing disbelief at still being alive, but Tyler seemed more upset than most contestants.

I thought it went from HD to non-HD which caused the glitch. At least on my end it did.

I can't say I blame Tyler. I'm sure he has been doing what he has been doing from the beginning audition through Hollywood with nothing being said and then he gets on the show and he gets pounded like that.

[Mustang]

The winner will be the girl with a last name of I believe Rodriguez. Not sure about first name. Called it the first time I heard her sing.

You pick the Polish Army over the Germans in 1939 too?

[rowech]

You pick the Polish Army over the Germans in 1939 too?

My wife is still laughing because I picked her and said I liked the Jim Morrison clone. It's a running thing in that just about every type of competition that the person I root for is always a goner. I'm a human jinx.

[Thomkal]

I can't believe I'm going to have to listen to the likes of Tim Urban and Haeley Vaughn again. :( A bit shocked Ashley is gone despite her performance, and Tyler and Joe wouldn't have been my picks to go either.

[jbergey22]

Well 3 of the 4 worst ones are still around oddly enough.

Haeley
Lacey
Jermaine
and
tyler would have been fine by me

In a contest where very few of them have great voices might as well keep the hotter ones around. Therefore Ashley and Janell needed to stay.

[Lathum]

You pick the Polish Army over the Germans in 1939 too?

awesome

[Sun Tzu]

You pick the Polish Army over the Germans in 1939 too?

I didn't know there was an Army of hot dogs.

[Sun Tzu]

What would "Big Mike" talk about if he wasn't 300 lbs? I swear the guys entire personality and persona revolves around being a big guy. Seriously man, do you have an answer for anybody that doesn't involve picking them up/beating them up/smashing things? It's week 1 and it's already getting annoying.

[Mustang]

What would "Big Mike" talk about if he wasn't 300 lbs? I swear the guys entire personality and persona revolves around being a big guy. Seriously man, do you have an answer for anybody that doesn't involve picking them up/beating them up/smashing things? It's week 1 and it's already getting annoying.

Well, I heard something about him having a baby during Hollywood week, I'm sure that will get mentioned at some point.

[CrimsonFox]

Wow 4 going home. WTF. I'm shocked they aren't dragging things out longer and kick that many people off so soon. Doubly shocked that really horrible people are still about like Tim Urban and Haeley and Lacey.
And Tyler going home? Wow! Of all the people he seems to have "IT".
The star/sex quality and a uniqueness that would have been interesting to watch. Aside from Ellen, I think this season is going to be horrible.

[Sun Tzu]

Well, I heard something about him having a baby during Hollywood week, I'm sure that will get mentioned at some point.

I don't think you read my post right.

[Solecismic]

Casey James has a cardboard box. This is no ordinary cardboard box. It contains a device, or a keepsake, or a memento, or a voodoo doll made to look like Simon Cowell. Or perhaps it's a small toaster oven.

We don't know. He won't show us for another four weeks. And that gives us plenty of time for speculation as we wend our way toward a new American Idol winner for 2010.

Crystal Bowersox could have been hiding in the box. Reportedly, she became ill with complications from her diabetes early today. This forced Idol producers to switch the men with the women this week. Crystal is one of the favorites, and they need to try and keep her in the competition.

And there could be a spare set of dreadlocks in the box. Crystal has her own, and, as Jason Castro proved a couple of years ago, you don't need to sing all that well to reach the final four if you have dreadlocks. You don't think admitted cougar Kara DioGuardi would love Casey in dreads?

I'm not certain I can stop speculating about what Casey is hiding in his cardboard box. It could be Ruben Studdard's career. Or Bikini Girl's wardrobe from last season. Or just a sampling of the millions of unsold CDs from William Hung's "She Bangs" recording.

I'd better stop, and get to the Solecismic Rankings of the Men's Top 20 performances:

1. Michael Lynche. Like seven of the ten men who sang today, Michael was in far better form than he was last week. Michael went with a James Brown standard, and he was right in his comfort zone. Effortless. Michael doesn't have much range and he needs to hold his better notes longer, but he sounded quite good tonight and I can see him lasting much longer in this competition. Score of 86.

2. Lee Dewyze. Lee is becoming a producer favorite, because he emulates the sound that's very popular among "edgy" male singers these days. He does a mean Daughtry. Or a wicked David Cook. Or a far, far superior Taylor Hicks. So he received the coveted final slot tonight and did a pretty good job sounding recordable. If you looked closely, you could see a few dollar signs lighting up in Simon's eyes. Score of 84.

3. Casey James. Casey was one of the three who didn't sound as good as he did last week. Still, he's also one of a different three (including Michael and Lee) who will almost certainly be the last men standing this season. Casey went with the crowd-pleasing Gavin McGraw tune that countless rockers have chirped in past seasons. He was a bit quiet and unconvincing, but he has a good sound. I think he's all too aware of his talent, and the aw-shucks is already wearing thin. The teen girls don't tire of this stuff, though, and keep dialing. Score of 74.

4. Alex Lambert. After lots of kid-pleasing discussion of throwing up and nerves and even having his own language, which seems to be a rather offensive take on Spanish, Alex belted out a John Legend tune with his unique and odd phrasing and voice modulation. Despite a horrendous last note, he was much, much better this week than last. He's distinctive and talented. I don't much like it, but I remember him, and I think he's going to gain some fans. At least some with strong stomachs. Score of 69.

5. Todrick Hall. Remember. On Idol you need to make something your own. Unless, by making something your own, you take it away from someone else. Or it just isn't good. Or it wasn't your own in the first place. Or it belongs in Casey's cardboard box. I don't know. Todrick mangled a familiar Tina Turner tune, which upset the judges. He slowed it down and added a lot of Todrick trills. He seems quite full of himself. But he's still very talented and could come out of nowhere to blow us all away soon. So I think he has support. Score of 61.

6. Tim Urban. A completely forgettable rendition of a familiar modern tune. He has good instincts. I think he knows exactly what he needs to sing and he certainly looks the part. But he's just not very talented. He could be a backup singer. Or he could pursue the Milli Vanilli career path. Score of 57.

7. Aaron Kelly. Yes, the judges raved about pooka-shell necklace teen idol. He bleated out a soulless and entirely karaoke version of the Temptations' My Girl. He has a horrid and dangerously loud falsetto. He sounded like a goat in heat and I think the judges will be embarrassed when they watch this on television later. His looks will keep him around a while. Score of 49.

8. Andrew Garcia. Oh, my, the pre-season favorite has fallen out of favor. Maybe the magic of editing made him the favorite. He missed every single note he sang tonight. Every single one. If there were Disney bluebirds singing along with him, they would have curled up and fallen right off the celluloid. This was more a schoolkid talent-show performance than a real attempt at singing. I'm surprised the judges weren't more than "disappointed." Score of 44.

9. John Park. John is trying very hard to be something he isn't. Tonight, he wasn't John Mayer. He sounded watery and breathy. No doubt, he's a great lead in whatever chorus he sings in at Northwestern. I just don't see what he's doing on American Idol. I don't remember much after the beginning of his song, because it seemed quite easy to tune out. He's not unpleasant to hear, but there's nothing good or interesting about it. Score of 40.

10. Jermaine Sellers. Marvin Gaye was murdered in 1984. Fortunately, he didn't live to see one of his best songs murdered in 2010. Like Todrick, Jermaine slowed down his performance in a rather strange manner. Unlike Todrick, this awkward arrangement was not done tunefully. We're two weeks in, and Jermaine has yet to sing anything resembling a melody. He apparently uses a steam machine to "open" his voice right before performing. I think he needs to ditch the steamer - perhaps he can hide it in Casey's cardboard box. Score of 26.

Overall: It was far better than last week, but still a little bit short of mediocre for this stage of the competition. Most of these men need to go home soon.

Who Should Go: Jermaine and John.

Who Will Go: Jermaine and John.

[wade moore]

Interesting take. I often am not speaking from as technical a standpoint as Jim. I don't hear the intricate technical details that others do - so I'm more on "entertainment" than "signing quality" a lot of the time.

For me, I can't stand "Big Mike". I'm sure he sings fine but the overplaying of his story and his boring performances do nothing for me.

I thought Casey James was AWFUL. The constant vibrato is impossible to listen to imo.

I like what Alex Lambert does. I know he definitely needs a lot of work, but when he's "on" I like what he's doing.


A side note. I generally do not like female singers as much as male singers. This year, I think there's probably at least 6 female singers that I like better than my #1 male.

[Thomkal]

Thank God the guys were better than they were last week. Having said that, I think Michael was the only one who could compare to the better performances of past seasons. But he's kinda freaking me out with big guy doing musical theatre, it's a weird image. And tip to Andrew Garcia-sing more popular well known songs.

I think Tim Urban, Adam Lambert, and Aaron Kelly need to go. None of them are ready for this level of entertainment. Tim did improve from last week, and since he showed off his spiritual side last night, probably needs to sing slow Gospel songs the rest of his time on the show. Aaron needs to sing Country songs to suit his voice, but even then he's too unpolished-they should have sent him back for a year or two for "seasoning" before making the Top 24. Adam did better than last week and maybe with all the encouragements from the judges he'll find the confidence he needs to stop looking like a deer caught in the headlights all the time. But he's not ready for this level either.

I was about to scream at the judges with their mixed signals concerning how much to change a song. I mean Randy Jackson even told Todrick to sing a song as it was performed originally, which would then mean they would criticize it as karakoke or too close to the original. I give Todrick and Jermaine a lot of credit for trying to make changes to their songs, but now I think next week they if they make it, they are going to be pretty boring.

[Drake]

Thanks for the excellent recap, Jim. I missed half of last night's episode while providing telephone PC support for my dad, so I appreciate the detailed take on what happened.

[Eaglesfan27]

I would have put Todrick much lower, but otherwise agree with Jim's rankings. However, I think John Park will get saved for another week.

[Kodos]

Haven't seen anything from this week, but last weeks shows were horrid. LOTS of fast-forwarding going on. Even Casey (who the wife of course thinks is hot) drew groans from us. This season better get better fast, or I'll tune out.

I wish people would choose more rock songs. Everyone does these boring soft songs. Mix it up a little.

[Mustang]

I think Tim Urban, Adam Lambert, and Aaron Kelly need to go.

Alex not Adam, but I think he needs to stick around. He needs some work especially with the stage fright thing, but for whatever reason I like him the best out of the guys.

[Ramzavail]

Definitely Alex should stay, I think his performance, albeit he's a meek little thing, it was the best if not the second best last night.

[Mustang]

Plus I want Alex to stay around because I imagine it will drive that bitch Mary Powers to insanity.

[wade moore]

My god.

How is this Haeley chick on this show?

[MJ4H]

I don't think she will be next week. She and the girl that sang the Creed?? song? Can't remember her name. So far and away worse than everyone else. Not even close. I'm assuming Siobahn stays out of the basement here. She hasn't gone yet as of this writing.

I might be a little in love with Lilly and Katie, btw. And omg Lilly killed tonight. She is by far my favorite overall.

[MJ4H]

Michelle was who I was thinking of. And oh ok I might be in love with Siobahn too???

and dont think Katelyn wouldnt get it either

[Drake]

Siobahn is like that slightly crazy, non-sequitur-prone chick with no internal filter we all know and secretly like to hang out with because you never know what's going to come out of her mouth.

Edit: And yeah, I'd do her.

[Thomkal]

Alex not Adam, but I think he needs to stick around. He needs some work especially with the stage fright thing, but for whatever reason I like him the best out of the guys.

Yeah alex, knew I'd mess that up sooner or later.

[Thomkal]

Plus I want Alex to stay around because I imagine it will drive that bitch Mary Powers to insanity.

Heh that what's I said to someone last night during his performance, "Man Mary Powers must be pissed that this meek little boy made it to the top 24 and she didn't"

[Solecismic]

Sometimes, American Idol mocks itself, and the judge are all too self-aware. One common theme is that contestants are expected to "make a song their own," which usually means they hunt Youtube endlessly to find an obscure arrangement that suits their voice.

Of course, when they do this, and the rendition falls flat, they are accused of trying too hard or changing the song too much. After several seasons of this routine, you'd think the judges would understand that it's not about some magical ratio of arrangement to obscurity. It's about choosing an arrangement that suits their voice.

Today, they finally began to admit they have no idea what they're talking about when they disperse this particular advice. The bottom line is that there is enormous talent in the women's half of this year's draw. And the people advising them on song choice likely have spent far too little time listening to the contestants - maybe they're in too many Front Office Football multi-player leagues.

Whatever the reason, it needs to stop. Poor Ellen DeGeneres has started babbling like Paula used to babble. And Randy Jackson just looks sad. Very sad. Poor dawg. This should be a good season, and one piece of Idol lore is controlling everything, rendering the judges incapable of useful input.

Ordinarily, I would propose a drastic remedy, like having Kara sacrificed at an altar to Casey James' future fertility. But I think tonight's mocking of their own advice may be a turning point. At least I desperately hope so. Now I going to go find a subway and see if Crystal Bowersox will sing me to sleep after I finish this week's top 20 Solecismic Rankings.

1. Lilly Scott. The best performance of the entire week for the second straight time. Lilly is far and away the favorite right now. She went after a difficult Sam Cook song. She was just showing off what she can do with her voice, and that prevents this from being one of those scores that defines an Idol-winning candidacy, but I'm always looking forward to what's next from Lilly. She does have a lot to show off. Score of 87

2. Crystal Bowersox. OK, we get it, she showed a lot of courage returning so quickly from serious complications of her diabetes. And we understand that she is an authentic, bona fide coffee house chick who will entertain millions in smoky obscurity, remaining true to her music as no one who didn't die in a '60s plane crash could ever hope to exceed. Tonight, she was a little bit gospel and a little bit shrieking harpy. But she was in key for the most part, and authentic. Really authentic. There was an ease about her that's probably becoming quite intimidating for Simon. I was a bit bored, but she's good at what she does and becoming a favorite. Especially with the Castrolocks. Score of 83.

3. Katie Stevens. Oh, this is a quirky season. Without a doubt, they have cast memorable female singers in quantity. So there's this 17-year-old girl who is rather beautiful. And she's a total freak of nature. She sounds like a 50-year-old robot woman when she sings. Why do they tell her to sound young? She simply doesn't. She never will. She could sing Twinkle, Twinkle, Little Star and Cher would nod her head and say, "that's what I hope to sound like when my voice matures." Let the poor girl do what she does well. Maybe it's a Freaky Friday thing, and she has changed places with that grandmother of hers suffering from Alzheimer's. Don't fight it. Katie was a little awkward transitioning into her higher ranges, but she was in control tonight. Not her best. I liked it, though. Score of 80.

4. Katelyn Epperly. Katelyn went after Coldplay tonight with a very, very slow arrangement that upset Ellen so much she forgot to end her criticism with a self-mocking humor bit. It was good, though. Katelyn added a little piano work and did a nice job filling the theater with sound that wasn't cloying or hard to hear or easy to judge. I felt this was a song choice better suited to someone with a more distinctive voice, like Didi. Katelyn's problem is that her voice isn't memorable. Score of 77.

5. Siobhan Magnus. Simon has given her the dreaded "funny little thing" appellation. That doesn't bode well for her long-term chances, but she definitely stands out. And she screamed a note, with considerable volume and duration, that made last year's runner up, Adam Lambert, take a few notes. Is Idol about screaming one note? If so, she's in great shape. The problem with her performance is that otherwise, it seemed very pageanty. Soul without soul. Not something we'd ever want to hear recorded. Score of 72.

6. Lacey Brown. Last week's bottom feeder wasn't great tonight, but we saw why she was cast. She has a very carefree style, and the first few verses of her performance were understated and rich. Then, about half-way through, she switched to a faster style, and I remembered why I wanted to forget her last week. If she survives the week, she needs to calm her nerves. Score of 58.

7. Didi Benami. More than for anyone, you just have to scratch your head and ask, "what in the high holy hell was she thinking?" Didi sang the soul standard, "Lean on Me." Why? She is not a soul singer. She is an adult alternative singer. So she came out a little flat and rather uncontrolled. If I didn't like her voice so much (when singing just about anything else), I would have found the performance comical. Instead, I worry about her future. Score of 39.

8. Michelle Delamor. She received raves, but I thought her Creed tune showed no imagination, no range, no energy, and many struggles with pitch. I'm confused as to why the judges want to save her. Yes, she has the look of a teen star (though she's 22). But she's isn't a particularly good singer. Score of 37.

9. Paige Miles. Paige won tonight's dreadful karaoke award. Maybe it was just a bad choice. Her Kelly Clarkson song is more suited for the studio than live. She was consistently flat, and part of it was loud just to be loud. It wasn't much fun to hear, and I was surprised Simon liked her. Score of 34.

10. Haeley Vaughn. The judges nailed this one, even though they're responsible for the problem. She is too young to be on American Idol. She oversings everything, trying to get all her tricks into every verse.The result was fairly tuneless and uncomfortable. Score of 28.

Overall: Yes, better than the scary-bad week one, but, aside from the very disappointing Didi Benami performance, the better voices are starting to separate from the crowd.

Who Should Go: Haeley Vaughn and Michelle Delamor.

Who Will Go: Haeley Vaughn and Lacey Brown.

[Lathum]

I loved Eperlly's song, thought it was by far the best.

And the whole song choice/originality paradox is getting really old.

[Drake]

Jim goes 4/4. Read Jim's recaps, don't need a tv.

[Thomkal]

well at least Haeley is gone. Can't believe the likes of Tim Urban and Aaron Kelly are still around though.

[wade moore]

There are just so many bad guys, I don't think you can nitpick who goes when.

[Lathum]

Jim is on fire

[Danny]

Just watched the guys so far, Lee is my favorite vocalist, but I very much like that style of voice. I'd like to see some of these raw individuals like Alex stick around and have the chance to grow.

[CrimsonFox]

I think Siobhan will keep getting through on the coolness of her name. :)

[Danny]

Women are obviously far superior to the guys on the whole. Good choices on who went home this week for both guys and girls.

[Danny]

well at least Haeley is gone. Can't believe the likes of Tim Urban and Aaron Kelly are still around though.

Aaron actually has a good pop country type voice and could be successful with more experience and confidence in that genre.

[GrantDawg]

Haven't seen anything from this week, but last weeks shows were horrid. LOTS of fast-forwarding going on. Even Casey (who the wife of course thinks is hot) drew groans from us. This season better get better fast, or I'll tune out.

I wish people would choose more rock songs. Everyone does these boring soft songs. Mix it up a little.


I have never understood why so many go to the slow ballads, especially this early. It is generally a road to fail. Find something with a lot of vocal movement and a bit upbeat. You want the croud going crazy, and people to remember you. Slow ballads are going to show your nerves a lot more, and make you forgetable. Fast songs that are sort of monotone can do the same thing. And don't add too many runs, but do have at least one or two small ones somewhere.

I was with Jim for the most part. I think I'd have ranked Lily a little lower (not that she wasn't good, just not as good as last week or a few others this week). We have strange year on the girl side. Generally you have certain roles that the girls fit into (one who can sing the phonebook, one that is really pretty but an ok singer, one with a quirky voice but limited range, one folksy singer, and one fat black girl with a powerfull voice). This year you have the one who can sing the phonebook (Bowersox), one who is pretty and can sing ok (Stevens) and several with a quirky voice (strangely also inclding Stevens) but they seem to have better range. Paige doesn't really fit the fat part, but she is the black girl with a powerfull voice I guess. Lilly, Bowersox, Siobhaniniongh (or whatever) and Didi all seem to have unique voices with a bit of range. It'll be interesting to see how they pan out.

The guys side is a boring wreck. The rock-style singer is really a step down from the past few (Cook, Daughtery), unless he's going to really pull something out and show a little more. Mike is probably the most consistant (filling out rather well the big guy who can sing pretty well role), but is not outstanding. The two painfull to look at nerds did a little better this week, but they are still very sub-par. I think I'm just going to have to suffer through the guy-side for awhile just to see what happens to the girls.

[CrimsonFox]

I can't believe the 70s dude is gone. He would have been a blast to watch every week. He shouldn't have sang the Lenny Kravitz version of American Woman and stuck with the Guess Who...or better yet do Doors.

[CrimsonFox]

The guys side is a boring wreck. The rock-style singer is really a step down from the past few (Cook, Daughtery), unless he's going to really pull something out and show a little more. Mike is probably the most consistant (filling out rather well the big guy who can sing pretty well role), but is not outstanding. The two painfull to look at nerds did a little better this week, but they are still very sub-par. I think I'm just going to have to suffer through the guy-side for awhile just to see what happens to the girls.

I totally agree about Lee. He just doesn't have "it". it's all affected and forced. He may loosen up but i haven't heard a real rocker yet.

[Thomkal]

Aaron actually has a good pop country type voice and could be successful with more experience and confidence in that genre.

Yeah I said somewhere above that he does have a good voice for country. My concern with him and a few others are that they are just too raw, too unaware of what they should be doing with their voice and their performance. They should have told Haeley and Aaron and maybe a couple others in Hollywood week to go work hard with a good voice coach for a year, do some performances in front of a live audience, and then come back and try again. I think they got picked this year because their just wasn't as much talent, and they were hoping they would get better as the weeks progressed.

[jbergey22]

Here are the most current American Idol odds
Bowersox +340
Magnus +530
Dewyze +590
Garcia +750
James +950
Scott +1100
Stevens +1200
Epperly +1800
Lambert +1900
Kelly +2500
Benami +2800
Miles +3600
Lynche +4200
Urban +6200
Hall +7000
Brown +7700

Is there any value there? Jim seems to have a great read on the situation, what do you think?

[Ramzavail]

Bowersox needs her teeth whitened before I give her the title.

[Drake]

Siobahn just became my season favorite. That was excellent.

[Eaglesfan27]

Siobhan has quickly become my favorite girl on the show.

[wade moore]

I'm just starting Katie now (I wait so I can ffwd).

She's AWFUL tonight.

[Scoobz0202]

I really really enjoyed Lacey's performance as well. She really felt the song.


Out of the two females going home this week I am either going to really like one of them, or quite possibily, both of them. Going to be a tough one.

(Really the only female contestant I don't "like" is Katie.)

[Drake]

Siobhan has quickly become my favorite girl on the show.

You, sir, have impeccable taste.

[Scoobz0202]

Didi. Dayum. I agree with kara and simon. That was fucking awesome.

[Eaglesfan27]

I thought Crystal was very good, but not to the extent that the judges did.

[Drake]

I Fall to Pieces? Srsly?!

[Drake]

And the weird part is that she almost pulled it off.

[Eaglesfan27]

I Fall to Pieces? Srsly?!

I loved it. I think there are 4 girls with a realistic shot to win this if they continue to improve.

[MJ4H]

Please boot Page and maybe Lacey. Katie would be a nice back-up to boot, but I'd prefer those two first. The other 5 I want all to stay. I'm in love with about half of them. Except Crystal and she's really good anyway.

[Mustang]

Page and Katie should go. Lacey deserves to stay after this week. For me, Lilly is getting very stale very quickly. I really liked Didi this week.

[Thomkal]

Simon was way off on Siobhan, that was the best performance of the season. Crystal was good too. I just don't get Didi or Lily. Lily looks and sounds like a cat when she sings. Paige and Katelyn probably go home.

[path12]

I did not get the love for Didi's performance at all. That seemed the definition of 'sleepy'.

[Solecismic]

American Idol has been the top rated show on television for several years, pretty much a cultural phenomenon. Still, when I talk to friends about the show, many don't start watching until the finals begin. Too many terrible performances and it's hard to become invested in the show while there are still so many singing.

I can understand that. You could take the final 2 1/2 months of Idol and receive a fairly complete experience. But then you would have missed out on tonight, which featured four performances quite worthy of the late rounds of the show.

Before the season, the judges were raving about the quality of the women in the final 24. Up until tonight, we only saw flashes of ability. Tonight, despite a surprisingly bad performance from one of the favorites, considerable talent was in evidence. We could definitely skip straight to the finals, ignoring tomorrow's warbling from a rather mediocre group of men, and not miss a thing.

The phone-dialers have some difficult choices tonight. For once, I think we might well lose someone in the semifinal round capable of making a legitimate run to the final three.

With that in mind, on to the Solecismic Rankings for the women's half of the round of 16.

1. Crystal Bowersox. As the judges keep repeating, Crystal has become the singer to beat. Not a bad position to hold, names like Danny Gokey, David Cook, Chris Daughtry and Melinda Doolittle come to mind. She is very, very polished, and sounds like someone who has been performing in bars for ages. She sounds good loud, she has plenty of soul, she is in key and she knows her voice. The judges have nothing to offer her other than the usual superlatives. She has matured. The last two weeks, she has picked very different songs that show off her ability, tonight nailing a Tracy Chapman selection. Score of 93.

2. Siobhan Magnus. Why does Simon dislike this poor girl? She goes on stage, starts off an a cappella version of a '60s classic rocker in what sounded like an Irish lilt. And she was pretty much pitch-perfect. Maybe Simon feels she's too quirky and would be hard to market, so he wants to take her down before she becomes too popular. But her voice is surprisingly rich and her complete lack of fear is quite endearing, if not a little frightening. I think she's starting to connect with the audience. Siobhan is exactly the type of performer who can keep Idol fresh and relevant after all these years. No idea what she will record, and I have a feeling I would never consider purchasing her work, but I like having her in the competition. Score of 90.

3. Didi Benami. Didi attempted one of the more complex feats of musical nature I've ever heard on the show: Fleetwood Mac's Rhiannon. Her interpretation was a bit flirty, and she connected extremely well with the song. That's something very few contestants even try. She was in tune, and I think Cara and Simon were right to break out high praise. If she had figured out what to do with the chorus, or the competition had been as weak as it was the last two weeks, this would have been the best of the night by far. I'm not sure it will save her, but it establishes Didi as someone who is capable of having some sort of impact on the music world - something completely absent from her last week. Score of 88.

4. Lilly Scott. Lilly has been consistently good this season. Her unusual style has the judges baffled. I already expect the unexpected with her, but I was baffled when she attempted a twangy Patsy Cline country song, and sang it as un-country as humanly possible. It wasn't fabulously entertaining, but she is very good. Maybe the judges are intimidated by her, because she does things that defy the reason and rules of the music industry, and that would probably lead to poor record sales. Maybe she just has a talent and, since she doesn't know where she's going as a singer, she just wants to try something new. I'm glad she's here, and hope she didn't spoil her chances of staying a while, because, unlike Siobhan, I don't think she has quite connected with an audience. Score of 84.

5. Lacey Brown. Two weeks ago, I would never have thought Lacey would be a legitimate threat to reach the final 12. Maybe she has finally conquered her nerves. She put a Brandi Carlisle song out there, sang it exactly like she's going to sing on her album. She toned down her awkward phrasing considerably, but she tried to bleat out a big ending to the song and ended up out of control, spoiling what was a very fine performance. I'm starting to like her voice, though the control issue will hurt her down the road. Score of 75.

6. Katelyn Epperly. Katelyn forgot she was already on the show, and went back into audition mode. Her Carole King song was completely un-special, had a talent competition feel to it. She seems to think she has soul, but she sounds and looks like she should be starring in the musical Annie. She was also losing her key late in the song. It was a huge step backward. Score of 63.

7. Katie Stevens. Sometimes, robots break down, and their little computer voices start to short out and get a bit slower than the music. Katie seemed confused, and tried Kelly Clarkson in an attempt to be less the 50-year-old robot she has exhibited quite competently in past weeks. But she struggled with her usually strong lower register. It wasn't terrible, but it definitely reminded the audience why Kelly Clarkson was special. Not in a good way for poor Katie, who has gone quite quickly from favorite to a bad place. Score of 57.

8. Paige Miles. Oh, Paige. On such a strong night there had to be a complete dud. So the girl with the power voice and some real soul tried a lounge song called Smile. The judges said they loved the song, but not Paige. The song was so mangled I didn't really recognize it. Just that almost every note was flat and the song was too soft for her voice. It was a second straight horrible week for a girl who does seem to have considerable talent. Score of 33.

Summary: Finally, we see why everyone was excited about the women this year. There are four true contenders for Idol here. It might be a good season after all.

Who Should Go: Paige and Lacey.

Who Will Go: Paige and Katelyn.

[GrantDawg]

You know, I wouldn't put money on who will go home from the girls this week. It was a fantastic night, but the two that did the worst (Right with Jim, Paige and Katie) I would guess have a strong voter block. Katelyn may be in real trouble (and she sadly deserve it with that song), but I'm not sure who will go wth her. It could be a shock/upset.

[wade moore]

I agree with Jim - Paige and Katelyn go home.

[Drake]

Jim identified exactly what I was feeling about Lily Scott. Good, but weird...but in a strangely appealing way. If she doesn't record like that, but uses it as concert filler or just an odd diversion, she could be an enormously interesting artist. Not my sort of artist, maybe, but definitely interesting.

[CrimsonFox]

I think this contest is Bowersox's to lose. She's the only solid one.

[PraetorianX]

I think this contest is Bowersox's to lose. She's the only solid one.

Sort of like how in past seasons it's been Gokey's to lose? Or Melinda Doolittle or Chris Daughtry or David Archuleta?

[cuervo72]

Siobhan has quickly become my favorite girl on the show.

Ditto. Even if she's not quite...right. Or maybe because of that.

Regarding Didi's performance - my wife is a big Stevie Nicks fan (at one point we had considered Rhiannon as a middle name) and hated Didi's rendition. :)

I liked Bowersox's performance, but then I like that song.

Other than the Patsy Cline song (which I think was a cool choice), I can hardly remember what else was sung, though I was half out of it yesterday (fever).

[MJ4H]

Didi's version neutered it a bit. Took out the blue note and made it all tidy and major. Kind of weird but I think it worked. I really kept wishing she'd but that little blue note in, but she never did.

[CrimsonFox]

Sort of like how in past seasons it's been Gokey's to lose? Or Melinda Doolittle or Chris Daughtry or David Archuleta?

I never did understand how either Doolittle or Daughtry could go down. Wait, oh yeah, cause the people voting are tools :P

[CrimsonFox]

Ditto. Even if she's not quite...right. Or maybe because of that.

Regarding Didi's performance - my wife is a big Stevie Nicks fan (at one point we had considered Rhiannon as a middle name) and hated Didi's rendition. :)

I liked Bowersox's performance, but then I like that song.

Other than the Patsy Cline song (which I think was a cool choice), I can hardly remember what else was sung, though I was half out of it yesterday (fever).

I agree with your wife! She totally dragged the life out of that song. Why is everybody singing so F-ing slow!? Killing great songs here.

[Matthean]

The only problem I have with Siobhan Magnus is that she reminds me so much of a younger slightly less attractive version of a girl I used to talk to online.

I think the issue with Paige was she got too emotional with the song and it was way too noticeable. If I was a judge I would have inquired if there was something going on that she was dealing with because she obviously had issues. If she stays, it's one more week for her to get it right.

Bowersox is still my default pick to win it. If she's just like Chris Daughtry, then isn't that a good thing?

Didi is a exact copy of the person she covered in week 1 of Hollywood. Didn't see her week two performance, but she can sing to me anytime. :lol:
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[cuervo72]

Hmm...Andrew Garcia sounds kinda like a cheap Terrence Trent D'Arby knockoff.

[MJ4H]

I think I just watched a different show than the judges did. Good grief.

[Drake]

I thought tonight's show wasn't bad, but it was a real snoozer. Serious lack of spark in almost every facet, even if it did make Cara cry.

Tonight's show needed more boobies.

[Solecismic]

I'm hoping someone connected with American Idol can help. We have a crisis on our hands. One of the judges, Kara DioGuardi, is in trouble. All season long, the 39-year-old singer has humiliated herself with an open crush on a contestant more than a decade younger.

Kara also has taken Paula Abdul's constant footsies and grabsies with Simon Cowell to a new level. And tonight, she was moved to tears by a completely mediocre ballad sung by a completely mediocre singer who will go on to endure a completely mediocre career.

Kara's just been married a few months. So all of this is undoubtedly a cry for help. Any armchair psychiatrist can see, quite clearly, that Kara is undergoing a mid-life crisis. If we don't step forward and help, she will be driving a red convertible before the end of April, embarrassing her poor husband by appearing in public with Sanjaya Malakar and the cast from the Broadway Musical Ain't Misbehaving.

Not a pretty sight.

Instead of Idol Gives Back, I propose we set up a fund to get Kara the therapy she desperately needs.

In the meantime, while all of you are setting up the details, I'll recap the Solecismic Ratings for the men's half of the round of 16.

1. Tim Urban. This isn't a rave, by any means. I score these on a 1-100 scale, and you'll notice one through six tonight are separated by very little. Tim spewed forth the Jeff Buckley version of Hallelujah, which has become an Idol standard. He can't hit the big note, so he didn't try. But the rest was soulful and well interpreted. He was in key. Little girls may like him because he's clean cut and pretty. Score of 80.

2. Casey James. Kara, in her only remotely sane moment of the evening, claimed she was still on board Casey's train, which might be a vague reference to the famous engineer, Casey Jones. Or it might have something to do with her crush. She also said Casey played it too safe tonight. He threw together a completely generic soft country sell-out version of a Keith Urban hit. All I know about Keith Urban is that he has a daughter named Sunday with Nicole Kidman. I don't think he's related to Tim. Casey, meanwhile, seems quite commercial and competent. I think he'd be discrete if Kara decided she wanted to take him out in the convertible. I also suspect he's really an opera singer with a proper English accent and formal training on the harpsichord. Score of 79.

3. Todrick Hall. This could have been the performance of the night, but his gospel arrangement of Queen's Somebody to Love began with 15 seconds of an off-key tribute to Imelda Marcus' shoe collection. At least that's what I got from it. The rest of the performance showed considerable vocal skills. He owned the stage and displayed a polish other contestants can't match. So he's back in the competition - nothing short of a near-top performance could have saved him this week. He needs to keep focusing on his vocals, though. Score of 78.

4. Alex Lambert. He sang a repetitive song called Trouble. It was Boring, Boring, Boring, Boring, Boring, Boring. If you remember the redundant lyrics, well, that's why I kept writing the word boring all over my notebook. Alex has an unusual sound and a puppy dog look. I suspect he is taking the Kris Allen spot in the final 12 - reserved for the male who you'd never suspect has star power but gets teen girls dialing their hello-kitty-bedazzled fingernails raw on his behalf. I thought he was competent, but not connected to the song in the slightest - he was just showing off his style. Score of 77.

5. Michael Lynche. I do not understand why Kara was crying. Maybe her ears hurt from the opening falsetto riff, which simply did not work. Or maybe she is having problems at home and needed a good soulful performance to let loose a little emotion. I suspect the judges couldn't really hear what sounded more like an average wedding solo than the greatest performance ever, which is how it was received. I was bored. Michael was decent, once the falsetto ended and he stopped hopping around the stage like the late Chris Farley in far-too-tight pants in a Saturday Night Live skit. He wasn't terrible, and this wasn't all that far from number one. I just don't think he can hold a candle to any of the top four girls. Score of 76.

6. Lee Dewyze. Lee mangled a simple, but very nice-sounding popular song dedicated to fireflies. He sounded quite nasal, and needed to "work it out," as Randy Jackson likes to say. I'll chalk this up to poor song selection. Lee needs to rock a bit to avoid sounding like his nose is plugged into his guitar. Score of 73.

7. Aaron Kelly. Go figure. The goat boy doesn't do well with country music. He looked and sounded angry and uncomfortable. Simon was upset because Kara said he didn't connect with the music. He was half right. It wasn't because he's too young to sing a song with an adult theme. He just can't interpret music yet. Score of 53.

8. Andrew Garcia. I think Andrew tried a parody of Christina Aguilera and Genie in a Bottle. That might work on Saturday Night Live (especially if Michael is there to dance with him). But this arch and rather pitchy version wasn't quite right for a singing competition. Not even his backstory can save him now, and I don't think he cares any more. Score of 47.

Summary: We're steadily getting rid of bad competitors, so the level of talent is rising. But there wasn't a single memorable or interesting performance tonight, unless you count Kara's breakdown. All the gushing over Michael seemed like desperation more than true praise.

Who Should Go: Aaron and Andrew.

Who Will Go: Aaron and Andrew.

[Sun Tzu]

I have to say, I'm starting to look forward to your weekly reviews. My wife was in stitches this evening as I read then aloud.

Spot on old chap.

[Lathum]

I have to say, I'm starting to look forward to your weekly reviews. My wife was in stitches this evening as I read then aloud.

Spot on old chap.

I do the same with the wife and she enjoys it.

I also agree with the judges when they said Andrew stunk of desperation.

[GrantDawg]

Jim pretty much gets it right. Todrick really missed an opportunity with his song. It sounded ok, but the idea was very good. He just didn't quite pull it off. I don't know if Urban had the best performance of the night, but he was definitely better than anything else he has done. Andrew was just bad. There so many good CA songs that he could have done his thing with, that one was just dumb. I'm glad we are getting to twelve next week so we don't have a whole night of just these clowns again.

[MJ4H]

I was baffled with the judges' reactions to both Michael (especially) and Todrick. Seriously. What the hell were they listening to. Kara CRIED???

[Eaglesfan27]

I was baffled with the judges' reactions to both Michael (especially) and Todrick. Seriously. What the hell were they listening to. Kara CRIED???

Ditto. Michael's performance was not nearly as good as they made it out to be.

[Thomkal]

Yeah I'm with the you guys about Michael. I hate when guys do the falsetto stuff, and its even worse when a big guy like Michael does it. Had some good moments after the falsetto, but was all over the place too.

If I had to pick a "winner" tonight, it'd be Todrick. I thought it was going to be a disaster, but he was finally able to achieve the unique to original ratio the judges wanted while improving his vocals and usual good performance skills. I really hate it though when Simon tells someone they are going to be a Broadway singer not a recording artist.

I think all the guys other than Michael and Casey are in danger tonight because none of their performances stood out and/or don't have a big fanbase. Casey finally picked the right genre for his voice, and did enough to get by. Aaron finally picked the right genre for his voice too. The beginning was shaky, got a little better, then the last 10-15 seconds showed what he could be like if he knew what the hell he was doing up there. I'm with Kara though, why when you are 16 are you singing a song about calling home to check on the kids?

Tim has found his calling-gospel music. He should sing any song he does in gospel fashion no matter what the genre is for the day. :) If he survives till next week, it'll be interesting to see what the confidence boost he got this week does for him. I'd still like to see him and Aaron gone though. I thought that was Andrew's best performance last night, but maybe because its the only song I knew before he sung it. He needs to stop concentrating on singing songs done by women though if he survives. Bad song choice by Lee, but credit for trying to do something different. He went first, so could be in danger, but likely will survive.

[Ksyrup]

I’m having a difficult time with this season. First of all, as I get older and more and more isolated from popular music and just stick to the styles I know and love (new and old), there are too many songs being performed I don’t know and frankly, don’t want to hear again. I thought it was bad to listen to a night of Manilow or disco or whatever, but I’m second-guessing whether it’s better to drown rather than be suffocated. So there’s that – it’s just hard to gauge someone’s interpretation of a song if you’ve never heard the original. My “know that” ratio is WAY down this year so far. I think out of the guys, I only knew 2 songs last night (Hallelujah and Somebody to Love).
<O:p</O:p
Another problem is how damn “samey” everyone is. On the girls side, there are 3-5 girls who mine the same styles/genres and it gets repetitive after awhile. On the guys side, same thing – how many acoustic guitar interpretations can we handle in one night? By the time Lynche got up there, I was seriously hoping he would belch God Bless America just to break up the monotony (it seems like only Todrick has that ability right now (breaking the monotony, although I’m sure we’ll hear some belching when he runs out of stage tricks to use)). BTW – tsk tsk at Simon for calling Todrick’s performance of a QUEEN song too theatrical. And a year after Adam Lambert, no less! Sheesh!
<O:p</O:p
And finally… the voices. There are several people out of the remaining 16 who can “sing,” but whose tonal qualities make me want to kill myself. Lee Dewyze – hate the Vedder thing he’s got going on. He’s like a bad David Cook. Alex Lambert – probably the worst decent singer I’ve ever heard. His tone is so affected, I held my nose and sang in a contorted vocal after watching him, and my wife agreed I sounded way too much like him. Seriously, dude sounds like Kermit screaming for help in a trash compactor. Aaron Kelly – WTF were those judges hearing? Ellen of all people got it right! Dude’s got Goat Vibrato that would make Jim Breuer sit up and take notice. Holy fuck! On the women’s side, Lilly is the one I don’t get – I had to FF through her performance the other night, she was so tuneless. Lacey’s close, but bearable when she’s on. If that was “on” for Lilly, then I’m doubly pissed they gave her the pimp spot. How many Didi/Siobhan/Lilly/Lacey-type singers do they need in the competition, anyway?!
<O:p</O:p
Usually, I can recognize a good singer and just not like their style, stage presence, etc. (like Archie), but this year, the voices themselves are just killing me. Between that and my cluelessness about the songs (I had no idea what Kara was blabbering about – I didn’t know that song and couldn’t understand a word Big Mike sang, so that whole sequence went completely over my head), this season is easily the least enjoyable I’ve watched so far.
<O:p</O:p
Speaking of which… this looks fairly interesting. Almost a reversal of AI – instead of unknowns singing popular songs, they take unknown songs from singer-songwriters and have popular acts sing them. It’ll probably devolve into the search for the next Kara DioGuardi and I’ll end up disappointed, but I’m definitely going to keep an eye out for this (it's a Bravo pick-up).
<O:p</O:p


HITMAKERS (wt)
An elimination competition series featuring undiscovered singer-songwriters, talented newcomers battle through a series of innovative songwriting challenges to find out who's ready for the top of the pop charts. In each episode, the winning song will be revealed in a performance by a special guest star, some of the hottest singers today. True Entertainment ("The Real Housewives of Atlanta") is developing this reality series for Bravo with Steven Weinstock, Glenda Hersh, Tim Bogart and Evan Bogart serving as executive producers. Bogart is part of "The Writing Camp," one of the most powerful songwriting collectives in the business today, having written such worldwide hits as the Grammy Award winning "Halo" (Beyonce"), the #1 smash worldwide single, "SOS" (Rihanna), among countless others.

[Mustang]

Next week's theme is The Rolling Stones. Crystal should do fine the others... oy.

[GrantDawg]

Next week's theme is The Rolling Stones. Crystal should do fine the others... oy.


In other news, Tyler Grady just shot himself.

[GrantDawg]

. BTW – tsk tsk at Simon for calling Todrick’s performance of a QUEEN song too theatrical. And a year after Adam Lambert, no less! Sheesh!
<o></o>


No joke. Simon has heard of Queen, right?

[Sun Tzu]

Speaking of Queens, since when does Simon have a fiance? What's his name?

[cuervo72]

Next week's theme is The Rolling Stones. Crystal should do fine the others... oy.

Eh, I dunno. I'm sure someone could do ok with Wild Horses, Dead Flowers, Ruby Tuesday, or Angie. Maybe falsetto some Emotional Rescue.

[Autumn]

Let's hope no one tries Angie.

[Mustang]

Eh, I dunno. I'm sure someone could do ok with Wild Horses, Dead Flowers, Ruby Tuesday, or Angie. Maybe falsetto some Emotional Rescue.

So, what are the odds that Alex will do Start Me Up?

I he does that, I'll vote for him 100 times.

[mtolson]

If your not a fan or R&B and/or Maxwell you probably will not have a great appreciation for what Michael did. Kara crying, I don't quite get that either. Maybe it was the words behind the song. But Michael's performance of the song was almost (if not) better the the original. The falsetto is part of the song and he practically nailed it. He absolutely crushed that song !

[Mustang]

That bottom 4 was way wrong.

[MJ4H]

Lilly not making it is a fucking joke.

[tyketime]

Yowza... I didn't see that one coming. Especially the last spot for the ladies.

[CrimsonFox]

I think Kara has found Paula's stash of pills :P

[CrimsonFox]

Eh, I dunno. I'm sure someone could do ok with Wild Horses, Dead Flowers, Ruby Tuesday, or Angie. Maybe falsetto some Emotional Rescue.

LOL while I love Emotional Rescue, it would be a total death song on idol.

The best choices for these guys (IMHO of course) are You Can't Always Get What You Want, Street Fighting Man, Waiting On A Friend, Gimme Shelter, Paint It Black, and things like that that give the singers complexity and big notes. The ones that will faulter will be those that chooce the Stones simpler songs and those that focus more on guitar riffs and "the band sound" (Satisfaction, Start Me Up, Get Off My Cloud, Last Time, etc). There are a bunch of songs on the fence of that that if they change up the song a bit, they could really wow the crowd.
I hope someone does Monkeyman! One of my favorites.

[CrimsonFox]

Oh dear! The teeny boppers don't like your choices to go home. Ouch, some of the better ones going home.

[Lathum]

I agree with what everyone says, really bad results show. I don't recall seeing so many other contestants crying either.

[Scoobz0202]

I may be narrow minded, and unopen to other peoples taste in music, but it's shit like this (Lily) that makes me not want to watch this show.

[Lathum]

I may be narrow minded, and unopen to other peoples taste in music, but it's shit like this (Lily) that makes me not want to watch this show.

I certainly wouldn't buy a CD she made, but I recognize superior talent when I see it and she is more talented than some people who got through.

[Scoobz0202]

I have never really followed an entire season of AI from start to finish but I have definitely watch parts of every season. I don't think my favorite singer has ever won, but that's not to say I don't think a lot of them aren't deserving. A lot of the winners are extremely talented. I have never bought a cd from any winner.

But every year this show just pisses me off with the talented musicians that get booted for bullshit. Last year it was the blind pianist who was just fucking terrible.

What has Katie done during the live shows to deserve to be in the top 12 other then have potential? I very well could be missing a performance but has she had a true standout performance, at all?

[TexasT]

Lilly not making it is a fucking joke.

Absolutely! How Paige made it over Lilly is a total farce.:confused:

[CrimsonFox]

Paige is total crap. Should never have made the top 24.

[Mota]

I agree. Lilly was great, and while her performance this week wasn't the best, she is a real artist. Katie has been brutal, a powerful voice wrapped up in one of the most egotistical packages I've ever seen. That girl really looks like she loves herself. I don't understand why she got ANY votes.

It's also time to send Adam home. He is trying so desperately to relive a moment (and so are the judges) that he has done nothing for weeks now.

[Ksyrup]

Great night last night, Lilly and Alex go home! Woo-hoo!

I thought Lilly was terrible. Pretty shocked to see someone in the pimp spot sent home, but she was really bad. It didn't help that the judges had to fly through their critiques and just said "great" and they ended the show. She got the short shrift, and it obviously hurt her.

But really, what hurt her the most is demographics, plain and simple. She's the ugliest of the 4 girls who sing essentially the same style of song. There are only so many votes to go around. Who would you rather see/watch from a looks perspective - Siobhan, Didi, Lacey, or Lilly?

It's interesting that with new charges of "racism" cropping up over all the black contestants sent home, the truth really came out last night (as if it wasn't obvious before) - the black voting (watching?) demo is small, and they typically congregate around 1 black contestant on each side. That's why Paige stayed, and there was no room for Todrick. That's why, way back when, Fantasia, Jennifer Hudson, and the other black chick were in the bottom 3 at the top 5 show - they split the vote. Syesha Mercado. Vonzell Solomon. Paris Bennett. Each got the black vote. Hell, Lil Rounds stuck around WAY too long thanks to the black vote... Only the season with Doolittle, Jordin Sparks and Lakisha Jones really stands out, but look at the competition - Blake Lewis, Phil Stacey, and Chris Richardson!

People tend to gravitate toward what they like and are accustomed to - black people are no different than white people. And that's why Paige stayed and Lilly got sent home. Supply and demand among the demographics.

And she sucked the other night, too. She's really no big loss - she wasn't going to win. And it'll be one less lilith fair performance next week, hopefully.

[Mustang]

On a different note, I wonder what was up with Crystal. Her body language was very odd. It was almost like she was beaten down and had no energy. While others were excited and congratulated each other when they went to the top 12, she just seemed to be by herself.

[tyketime]

On a different note, I wonder what was up with Crystal. Her body language was very odd. It was almost like she was beaten down and had no energy. While others were excited and congratulated each other when they went to the top 12, she just seemed to be by herself.

I noticed that too and wondered if she had another episode/recurrence of her issues from the previous week.

[Ksyrup]

Yes, that was very strange. And I don't think it was just that she was upset about people going home, because she was the only one that Seacrest didn't bring down on the stage and talk about before getting to the results. He just had her stand up and he told her pretty quickly. Surely she couldn't have been concerned she was going home, either. Must have been an illness or other medical issue going on there. She looked tired and like crap and completely out of it.

[Danny]

Only one that really didn't deserve to go was Lilly. She was better than both Katie and Paige, and more deserving. I am glad Tim made it. He's definitely worked hard and showed a lot of resiliency to come back from being eliminated and then his performance the first week.

[Ksyrup]

Tim Urban = Kevin Covais (or John Stevens or Scott Savol or...)

So impossibly over his head on this show that he's embarrassed people keep voting for him.

I think you guys are ignoring how rough Lilly's performance was. She was out of tune all over the place. The start of that song was painful, the arrangement sounded like Tiny Bubbles, and it's an old fashioned song to begin with. Others were worse, sure, but again, there are other factors for why people go home besides strictly performance.

[Danny]

I actually thought Tim did a real nice job the last two weeks and enjoyed him this week more than most of the contestants. He is far superior to Covais, Stevens, etc...

[MJ4H]

Lilly was not that bad. She was out of tune in a few places, but nothing offensive. The song choice/boring arrangement were the real problem here. Technically, her performance and interpretation were fine.

[Kodos]

I'm glad I'm not the only one who didn't understand the praise for the song that brought Kara to tears. Obviously, I'm no expert, but a lot of songs are getting praise that I just don't get. I wish someone would rock a little. All this ballady crap is really wearing thin. Not having a David Cook type to root for this season is really killing my interest. The performances, especially on the guys side, are just so boring.

I also suffer from the Ksyrup problem of not knowing the majority of songs that get performed.

[Matthean]

I thought Lilly was terrible.

+1. I really don't get people saying how well she did. She was one of the easiest to pick out as somebody who wouldn't be winning it all.

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[mtolson]

On a different note, I wonder what was up with Crystal. Her body language was very odd. It was almost like she was beaten down and had no energy. While others were excited and congratulated each other when they went to the top 12, she just seemed to be by herself.

She must have been close to Katelyn. When Katelyn got the boot instead of Paige she walked back to Crystal and if you were able to read lips you could see Crystal saying "That is F'ed Up" (she actually used the word). From that point on she seemed down. Paige sticking around over ANYONE at this point is crazy. She had no hype and has down absolutely nothing so I don't know how she is pulling in votes.

[Raiders Army]

Does anybody else see Lacey Brown and think of Adam Lambert? They could pass as twins.

[Mustang]

She must have been close to Katelyn. When Katelyn got the boot instead of Paige she walked back to Crystal and if you were able to read lips you could see Crystal saying "That is F'ed Up" (she actually used the word). From that point on she seemed down. Paige sticking around over ANYONE at this point is crazy. She had no hype and has down absolutely nothing so I don't know how she is pulling in votes.

Went back and watched it. Yep, she said that clear as day.

Hey, I kinda like her now. :)

[MJ4H]

I'm still pissed about Lily, but at least Siobahn is still around. I love that girl. That was awesome and hysterical simultaneously.

[Eaglesfan27]

I love Siobhan. My wife does, too. First time in several years that we are both rooting for the same person to win it.

[MacroGuru]

I missed the show as I was at my daughters Choir concert and since I am not staying at home right now...anyone know where I can catch tonight's performances online?

[Solecismic]

The Rolling Stones were taking what was widely reported as their "last" American tour in the early '80s, when I was in high school. Classmates who would ordinarily be as likely to cut school as pick up a crack pipe and blow smoke in the face of our Shakespeare English teacher were camping out all night for tickets.

Even then, Mick Jagger was seen as ancient and ready for pasture. He was in his late 30s. While still much, much older than the developer of Front Office Football at its inception, hardly ancient by today's musical standards.

While it's likely drug use has left Jagger with the brain matter of a spry 110-year-old, he is still performing almost 30 years later.

It's likely that no genre, other than Celtic Harp Ballads, is further from today's American Idol than classic rock and roll. But, with almost 50 years of songs to choose from, The Rolling Stones are as recognizable a brand as any in music. The Idol people likely jumped at the opportunity to access what Seacrest labeled "the Jagger/Richards songbook."

True to form, only one of the twelve Idol finalists sounded like a rocker today. That was veteran performer Crystal Bowersox, who picked up the coveted final position tonight. The rest tried anything and everything to sound musically relevant. Most did, which was a pleasant surprise. It wasn't a great night, but it could have been much, much worse.

The rankings for tonight:

1. Siobhan Magnus. Siobhan took the dramatic song "Paint it Black" and tried about 100 things with it, building into her trademark scream. That scream is about all I'd expect any more from Siobhan, the rest is memorable and different. She is forcing us to take notice of all the things she can do with her voice - from the screams to the rich lower tones to the perfect register changes. She is an extraordinary talent with no defined direction. Score of 94.

2. Crystal Bowersox. I thought Crystal connected with her song in a way no one else did. And I think she's the only one in the group who has any understanding of what classic rock means, and how it should be interpreted. She is surprisingly versatile. I was a little frustrated with how the judges reacted, because I thought she was very good. Her father, however, needs to learn how to play baseball. There's no crying in baseball. Score of 87.

3. Didi Benami. Together with Crystal and Siobhan, Didi makes up the most talented group of women Idol has ever thrown on stage. It would be a shame if they aren't the final three. Of course they won't, that's not how the voting works. Didi, like Crystal, tries hard to interpret her songs. Her version of Play with Fire was restrained and ballady. She has a quality voice, but the song didn't give her the opportunity to explore its richness. She did very well with a tough theme for her talents. Score of 85.

4. Casey James. Casey proved that you can interpret a Rolling Stones song both with a country twang and the pacing and sound of The Beatles. He is really an unusual singer. I think he could do an excellent job with a Beatles cover band. He added a lot of nice tone and styling to the song, but it was a bit of a dull performance. Score of 81.

5. Tim Urban. The judges hated him today. I thought his rendition of "Under My Thumb" was a solid modern interpretation. It was a bit precious, but it showed a new side of Tim. Maybe he's more than the Jonas-wannabe he appeared to be a few weeks ago. There was a bit of Bublé in there and there was absolutely no reason for him to try and rock tonight. Score of 80.

6. Michael Lynche. I wish he'd ditch the falsetto. Yes, he can do it, but it always sounds incongruous with his song choices and it's forced and loud. He can sing, but this was not much of a performance - very unorganized. I thought Simon's charge that he was "desperate" wasn't terribly accurate. Just struggling a bit for relevance. He is more than capable of breaking out any given week, though, so he needs to stay strong. Score of 76.

7. Lee Dewyze. If Lee had a pulse tonight, it would have done wonders. He did a grungy take on "Beast of Burden." I think he put several oxen and a wildebeest to sleep. It was competent and uninteresting. I yawned. I fidgeted. I endured. Score of 74.

8. Lacey Brown. Lacey stumbled through a weird interpretation of "Ruby Tuesday." It's hard to imagine a performer less suited for this theme, so I don't blame her any more than I blame Tim for trying something very different. She lost herself in the middle of the song, though, and it was difficult separating her from any other weak contestant they've ever had on the show. Score of 64.

9. Aaron Kelly. The Kid (as in young goat) bleated his way through a flat, predictable and entirely dated interpretation of "Angie." The kids (as in girls dialing phones) probably like him, so he will stick around longer than he should. Score of 62.

10. Paige Miles. All my notes on this performance related to her sounding rather absent of soul, like she had a bad cold. Then she spent the judging portion explaining she has laryngitis. After a weak opening, she looked very uncomfortable. It's too bad she can't have a pass, but, for the fourth straight week, she was kind of bad. So I wouldn't mind if she went home anyway. Score of 56.

11. Katie Stevens. I know they're trying to save the robotic teen, because she looks terrific. She also wants to put Connecticut on the map. I hate to break it to her, but Connecticut has meant a lot more to the union than a likely 10th-place competitor on a reality show. Even a popular reality show. Katie had major pitch issues. I think the robot needs oil badly, and not even wild horses can keep her around much longer. Score of 52.

12. Andrew Garcia. His dad cried again. The audience should have cried, too, as his pitchy rendition of "Give Me Shelter" sounded more like he was making fun of the show than anything you'd ever want to hear on the radio. If the judges make one more reference to "Straight Up," I think Paul Abdul should come back from the undead, walk on stage, and give Andrew a wedgie. It might improve his tone. Score of 45.

Summary: I know it's popular to say this is the worst group of finalists ever on Idol. I disagree. I think it might be the best. Tonight wasn't memorable or perfect, but it wasn't only rock and roll, and I liked it.

Expected Bottom Three: Lacey Brown, Andrew Garcia, Paige Miles.

Who Should Go: Paige.

Who Will Go: Lacey.

[GrantDawg]

I'm agreeing with Jim a lot this year. This night had disaster written all over it, but it actually wasn't terrible. I just wish they'd put "goat boy" out of my misery.

[Ramzavail]

I think we are all channeling our inner dork a little with Siobhan. Can she sing? Yes. Is she star quality? I don't see it. They tried to fancy up her hair, and she looked awful.

I think Siobhan is the type of girl that would give guys like us the time of day in high school/college (ie. Anti-Janelle, we couldn't run like Tim Tebow). Cute, dorky type. And that is leading us to like her alot more and ignoring the issue of whether can she really be the American Idol and/or a prominent popular musical artist. I think when the time comes America isn't going to see star quality in her.

[Eaglesfan27]

I think we are all channeling our inner dork a little with Siobhan. Can she sing? Yes. Is she start quality? I don't see it. They tried to fancy up her hair, and she looked awful.

I think Siobhan is the type of girl that would give guys like us the time of day in high school/college (ie. Anti-Janelle, we couldn't run like Tim Tebow). Cute, dorky type. And that is leading us to like her alot more and ignoring the issue of whether can she really be the American Idol and/or a prominent popular musical artist. I think when the time comes America isn't going to see star quality in her.

I agree that sense of approachability is a major part of her likability, but she has immense talent, and I think that sense of approachability will be a major asset in making her a star after the show regardless of whether or not she wins (which I think she will at this point.) I think she has appeals to many different groups. Oh yeah, she looked far from awful.

[path12]

I'm warming to Siobhan over the past couple weeks. But I do hate the big note scream generally and that might get old quickly.

[GrantDawg]

I'm warming to Siobhan over the past couple weeks. But I do hate the big note scream generally and that might get old quickly.


Agreed. The thing is, with that song, she needed something. She is doing well arranging songs that are not the most vocally challenging by adding a little to them. Like I said earlier, you want to add challenge without destroying the song. Too many runs and such are as bad as none.

[Ksyrup]

Last night wasn't too bad. I seriously wish they would eliminate 2 people a week until the top 6 or 8, though. I'd nominate these people for elimination right now - Andrew, Paige, Aaron, Katie, Tim, and Lacey. The idea that a couple of these people will spend another MONTH on the show, if not longer, is maddening.

Aside from Tim, I didn't think anyone embarrassed themselves, which is a feat in and of itself, I guess. And of course, Tim - the Low Expectations Candidate - was mostly in tune, so even after completely destroying the idea of Under My Thumb with an inane reggae take, the judges weren't as hard on him as they should have been. I think they're still recovering from his first week performance, where anything is a solid gold performance by comparison. I just assumed he stole that reggae idea from some YT performance he saw - did he really come up with that on his own?! Yikes.

I think there is a bit of a "most alluring woman in the office" phenomenon to Siobhan. She definitely can sing, and there's a sex appeal about her - kinda like a home-schooled, raised by hippies version of Katherine McPhee - but really, what makes her stand out in this group is that her performances are mostly jarring. Everyone else is milquetoast by comparison, with the exception of Bowersox. I thought last night's performance seemed way too calculated at imitating Adam Lambert to be considered great, but again, compared to the rest she definitely stood out and did a great job mixing solid vocals with an unhinged/edgy performer vibe. Maybe when $imon $ees her, he's thinking AI's version of Lady Gaga or Katy Perry?

As great as Crystal is, she isn't "out there" like Siobhan - she's just a flat-out professional musician among amateur singers content with doing her thing and riding it out as long as it goes. I have no doubt Crystal won't win, because she doesn't care. At some point, as she continues churning out Melissa Etheridge/Janis Joplin takes on every theme week, the judges will praise her but start asking for more or some surprises, and I don't think she'll be inclined to give them anything more than she already has, because she knows who she is. She's like a more talented version of Brooke White. In a pretty weak/samey field, though, she will still likely go far.

Now comes the real test for AI watchers - having to endure several more Aaron Kelly's of the competition perform week after week while we're all tortured with one elimination at a time. I wish I could DVR through the next 6 weeks in one sitting.

[Thomkal]

Siobhan was the best for me last night. Crystal, Casey, and wait for it...Aaron in the next group for me. Simon said it the best really for Aaron-found a song that suited his voice nearly perfectly and didn't try to do to much with it. That however is the problem with Aaron-its a disaster when he tries to do too much. And since he has little clue what he's doing up there, most of the time its a disaster. This may have been just a one-time thing or the start of something miraculous at the start for me at least-Aaron lasting past the top 10. We shall see. Now likely he will be eliminated this week since I said all that. :)

[Drake]

(I sort of liked Tim's reggae take on Under my Thumb.)

[Sun Tzu]

Tim turned a great lick that is blatantly and unapologetically about a Man who is emotionally abusive towards a Woman into a cutesy reggae song. I can't believe the judges didn't call him out on that.

Michael was, for the second week in a row, a dancing joke. It's like he's absolutely dying for attention, bouncing around trying to get people to pay attention to his dancing as apposed to his singing, followed by 3 seconds of standing still so he can do a falsetto, and then another minute or two of terrible singing and bouncing around. My wife hit it right on the button last night when she said "if you close your eyes when Michael is on stage, you start wondering why he's even in the competition".

Lee is getting better every week, and seems to be getting a good grip on what he's good at. What bothers me is the judges see him finding his niche, and then they ask him to do something completely different. Lee falls right into the Dave Mathews/Jack Johnson/Accoustic Eddie Vedder mold, and the judges acknowledge that, but then they ask him to do something to "wow" them. What the hell else do you want from the guy? He's doing what he's good at, leave the poor fucker alone and let him explore his own musical stylings without you telling him to turn the volume up and be your next David Cook/Adam Lambert.