Quick Post about a great trip to Idol last week

Hey Little Tasters,

sorry I haven't written up the details of Dr. L, Rubbertoe and my trip to Idol last week.

We have been super busy and Dr. L and I caught the flu!

But we're recovered now, just in time for the next speed round of Idol Eliminations.

I'll post more about our trip (Idol changed some things up, and this made for a much better vantage point for us!) but for now, I'll just say it was a great experience, so glad we got to see at least one more regular season episode before the end.

I'm still holding out hope for the Finale!

But the short version is, Adam Lambert was phenomenal, and there were no real surprises for us as far as how the Idols sounded, except maybe that MacKenzie has way more power to his voice than you might expect.

I think maybe we were a little shocked that Sonika got the save, because the word was that Scott Borchetta really wanted Tristan to move forward (and he and Nigel both spent a lot of quality time talking to the judges about SOMETHING).

But all in all the Idols sounded as good as they do on TV. The whole Trent performance with Simple Man really did bring the whole house to tears.

So let's see who gets the ax tonight -- is it going to finally be Sonika's turn? The Idol voters seem to be picking off the girls, so it doesn't look good for her!

We'll catch up with you soon.

Dr. L and K OUT!

A sporadically good night, with some definite highs and a lot of "whatevs"

Idol Top 8 — Duets!!!

Dr. L said Jlo looks like she’s wearing a slip! She probably needs Idol to help hype her cop show (which my buddy Adi created, but still looks like a shaky bet).

The Top 8 roll out. Is LaPorscha’s hair 2x as big as at the start? I read a great article on MJ’s Big Blog about how Scott Borchetta is pimping Tristan:

First up, Trent and LaPorcha. I read that the others were afraid to team with her. Doing See You Again. Personally I like the tone of his voice better than hers. She has the power but it’s sometimes boring. They sound good together. Good song for both of them. They both are sweet and classy.

Next up, Avalon and Sonika. We missed the name of the song, is it Rise Up? Move Mountains? The judges look like someone farted onstage. Not a great song but pretty good harmony. Jlo claims nobody has weakness in their voice — we’ll see when Lee Jean is up. Dr. L said that one was just meh for her.

Scott Borchetta comes on wearing Nic Cage’s snakeskin jacket from Wild at Heart.

They announce MacKenzie and Dalton are doing a lame-ass Backstreet Boys song. I hope to God it doesn’t sabotage Dalton. Maybe this is making panties wet across America but it does nothing for me. It’s like Buddy Holly and Green Day forced to do a song for Community Service. The judges hate it.

Tristan and Lee. Notice Scott threw Lee under the bus for being sick, in case they suck. Doing Aerosmith’s worst song in history. He brings zero believability to the lyrics. Tristan blows him off stage immediately. Who picked these songs? Did Steven Tyler get it in his contract to pimp this song? It already made all the money. She goes off the rails a little at the end. Lots of boos on the critique.

So now we get to the solos — and another bottom 3 sing-off? LaPorsche is up first, with a tear-jerking moment with an old teacher (we get to see her with non-stratosphere hair). OMG, why do they bust out this Beatles song every season? Her outfit made me have an acid flashback to 1973 Patti Labelle on Soul Train. They’ll probably love it, but I can’t wait for it to end. She is a good performer. Keith gets in a shout-out to the late great George Martin, RIP.

MacKenzie makes it into the safe zone. Who knew he was a sports freak? He’s doing the classic Joe Cocker You Are So Beautiful — written by the incredible Billy Preston. (Billy is the one on the left here)

He has one of the best male voices left. This is not bad, kind of like the Lite-Rock version of it. That was probably a good song choice, as Harry said. He should be safe — but is he taking votes away from Dalton?

We are tortured by a montage of other Idols doing the Aerosmith song. Thanks! I’m totally doing a screen-cap of Ryan doing sad-emoji!

Nick Fradiani comes on to remind us who he is. We enjoyed him on last year’s tour way more than we expected to. I still hate that he does the “c’mon!” thing when he sings, but he is a pretty decent singer. He won’t drop out of sight as fast as a Lee DeWyze, but he is far from a Daughtry or even a David Cook. It’s like a special Idol Limbo for being famous and forgotten all at once. Dr L said she liked this song.

So we’re back. Up next is Trent! So glad he made it. He’s a country boy who wants to be a horse? He tells a funny story about how he bamboozled his family about being on Idol. Doing Stand By Me. He has that 60s soul-singer vibe going for him, so this is a pretty good choice. He seems to have gotten more comfortable every show. We thought it was great. Harry was making a strange face! But Jlo calls him a bad-ass.

We get a montage of Ain’t No Sunshine (by the incomparable Bill Withers) as done by many Idols. I wonder how many of us old-timers have watched all the Idol seasons?

So who else is safe? Scott’s girl Tristan makes it. She tells a heartwarming story about her Paw-paw. They seem like a sweet family. She’s doing a Martina McBride country tune, but the key is too low for her — what do you bet she’s building to some bug note at the end (but sacrifices 1/2 of the song to do it)? She does have a great voice, but needs some control — they need to stop going for the bomb notes, and stay in the lane. Keith makes a funny Birdman joke. They treat her with kid gloves — she’s probably safe.

So we have the tension of the bottom 4: who makes it out of the B3? Oh, thnk God it was Dalton. He’s a Texas kid, and his mom was a punk rocker LOL. He’s doing a rocked-up version of Eleanor Rigby, sounds a little like Muse. This was more like the Dalton of old. The arrangement was in danger of overpowering him, but he held on. Keith compared him to a waffle iron, which I never considered but it fits. He got great feedback, it should keep him safe for another run.

So this leaves Sonika, Avalon and Lee Jean. The Vegas line was on Lee Jean and Avalon hitting the bricks, let’s see.

Avalon as a kid was pretty much the tomboy she is today. We learn she has OCD — I had noticed the tic thing but I thought it was nerves. Great parents, supportive. Dr L thinks she has the most interesting voice, and I think of all the Idols she sounds like what’s on the radio. She could be the next Ke$ha, right? But she’s better than that. I think maybe her relaxed style makes it seem like she isn’t as into as the others, so maybe voters lost interest? Harry says it, she has no sense of urgency. She has grown on me, but I don’t know if she’s better than Sonika. Does all this judge advice mean they’ll save her?

After 1 million commercials, we hear about how Lee Jean had to move when he was a kid. Music saved him! He’s a good kid, just WAY too young to be here. Doing Let it Be? This is just bad. The song is too old, the meaning too esoteric for him to grasp, and his voice is just too reedy. How can he not hear how off-ket he is — he’s got that earpiece, right? I like his vampire-hunter twill coat though. The judges start off with the “you’re gone” (but not in so many words) speeches. He probably is.

Last up, Sonika and her boobs — who knew? She’s throwing them out there a little too late?

So her family was musical in a very Indian way — stuff like the harmonium. She’s doing Whitney, oh Lord. Did she already pcik the best song for Elimination, you think? Or is this taking too big a bite…She definitely is hitting the big stuff, after slightly rougher beginning. She looks good up there, and I would say of these three she knocked it out of the park. Harry loved it. So did Keith. Jlo sort of dismissed her, provoking a bit of a bitch face from Sonika. Does Jlo remember her from the cold-blooded stuff back in Hollywood? I always think they make up their mind before the show even starts.

So we kill time while they go through the motions. They kick Lee and Avalon to the curb, so the Vegas odds were dead on. Sonika gets to sing one more week! I don’t think we were surprised at all. Lee Jean is a good kid, but now the balance has been restored to some degree.

What did you guys think? One of the things we were excited about was, we get to see ADAM LAMBERT live at Idol next week! We’ll tell you guys all about it.

Dr. L and K OUT!

Just to keep it straight, here's who we have left:

I'm on board with 90% of these, they all have strengths. But it bumfuzzles me how they can say Lee Jean stays on merit? Who is voting for him? This could be some of the famously tone-deaf America voting with regional pride and not their ears.

Or was it Idol shenanigans to get him on the tour? We'll see tonight!

By the way Tasters, Dr. L, K and Rubbertoe will be in the audience next week for the show, so stay tuned for an in-depth report on what these contestants sound like LIVE!!!

-- K

Wtf? We're out of it for a week and Idol starts rolling heads

Wow!

So Dr. L and I were out of town all last week for a conference and we knew we'd miss one Idol contestant going home. But guess what!? Idol is laying waste to this group at record speed! I hope that we really don't do double eliminations to the end, that would suck.

I binge watched the last 3 eps back-to-back (Dr. L is out of town AGAIN, in D.C., so I'm Han Solo tonight). As a recap, I have to say I was impressed by most everyone but completely floored by Kelly Clarkson. I know so much of entertainment is hype, but she really brought me to tears with that song, literally.

So maybe this week was an anomaly, but if not, I can see the old Idol trickery coming into play, because this almost seems like a way to have a Judge's Save that rolls on week after week?

That would be a way Idol could shape who they want to keep going. The ruse would be obvious if they had to save the same person more than one week, but maybe they're counting on it working out.

So, right off the bat, I have to say that the kid, Lee? Doesn't deserve to be here. This is clearly some Idol shenanigans for the target demo. But America is trying to right the ship

I think Olivia was weak last week so maybe she earned the B3 spot. I think she's better than that. The no-makeup girl Avalon is pretty good, and I think she was more Top 10 than they gave her credit for.

But I think they made the right call with the Gianna girl being B3. Her mom is clearly picking all these songs, because they are classics but old as HELL. She's 15, and hasn't sung a modern song yet. I think she bombed the sing-for-your-life song.

So after the vote, the only shocker was that I thought Olivia would go at least to Top 4, but she got the boot. Avalon can sing, no doubt, but I think she really saved herself by being contemporary.

So, ryan confirmed this was going to be some crazy accelerated season. Why, Idol, why? I would have gladly sacrificed half the lead-up weeks to have this be a normal competition.

But them's the breaks! Full speed ahead!

My fave so far is still Dalton, although he pussied out and played it safe this week. He needs to step up his game next time.

They're really pimping LaPorsha, but like Rubbertoe said, that just doesn't seem likely.

I think Mackenzie is going to John Mayer-Lite his way through another couple of weeks? But come on, that kid Lee Jean has to go, America. He's so out of his league. Sonika has risen in my estimation a massive amount with the Evanescence last week, but phoned it in a little tonight.

I dig Trent a lot because he seems unpretentious, and I like his voice.

Maybe my dark horse now is Tristan? Something about her puts her ahead of Sonika and LaPorsha, and maybe even Avalon. She's not a better singer than them, but when she hits it, it seems right. I still think Dalton will take it, unless Idol is Idol.

What do you think? My God, we will have to watch like hawks, because Idol won't let us take a break! BTW, I had tickets to see Kelly and couldn't go. That will be something I regret for a while.

K OUT!