Then we get down to 7, so we will have a Top 14? I guess we will roll with that.
There are some strong contenders - looks like after the Ryan-lite early episodes we are gonna see more of Seacrest. When he walks out on stage he is styled like a character from SNL skit about a German pop show.
Tonight and tomorrow is a combo/solo duet round, we will see the hopefuls paired up with former Idols.OK, let's get into it, our first overly-long analysis of the season :)
Stephany N - wants to learn languages will be hard to overcome the bitch-tag she got form Hollywood. Jessie J song Mama Knows Best. it was a clinically good performance, all the right elements, but is emotionally disconnected.
Mackenzie B - always looks like a teen clone of John Mayer. That's not a bad thing! Say Something - this was a safe song choice, but he showed that he connects with the audience and he should do okay with the fan girls/boys. Is it me, or are the acoustics in the room weird?
Where are they? Ryan says downtown LA - the Hollywood Report says The Vibiana.
Jeneve M: Angel Sarah McL - really beautiful and strong first showing. Gave Dr L goosies! Impressive makeover, only concern that she kind of seemed chained to that harp. How will she perform without a big instrument to hide behind?
Jenna R - My Church by Maren Morris If we saw her before she was not memorable. Country song - Keith loved. What she has going for her is - she is that she has the right look and sound to be a viable alternative to the harsher sexiness to the girls like Stephany.
James VIII - Love Lockdown - Kanye. What? Never heard this Kanye song, so this has to be better than the original. This was just an okay performance, Dr L thought it was better to have picked a soulful tune that was meant to be played that way.
Sonika, also tainted by the bitchiness of Hollywood Week. T Swift - song I don't know. Looks like a prom dress! She is at least closer in the ballpark than James, showing what she is capable of. Mix of good and bad for K. Dr. L thought she can sing, but not super interested in that song.
Gianna I: I Put a Spell on You. Hate it when the Idol producers don’t go back to the original song - only credit the latest version of it as a Annie Lennox tune, not Screamin' Jay Hawkins or Nina Simone. This seems like a song choice her mom made. Am I the only one sick of the mom-who-knew-Jlo-back-in-the-day? Bad choice, seems like a little girl singing a grown up song. Clearly has a big voice but not sure that this was the best tune - didn't seem believeable.
PS her dress looked like a sack.
Emily B: I am Invincible? Cassadee Pope song. Weird key or not in a key she can sing in - terrible performance. Pitch off the entire song, and poor song choice since we have to wait through the really low notes. And as judges said - no emotional connection to the song.
Avalon: Tomboy, keeping the schtick going about no makeup, but I noticed she glammed it up toward the end of Hollywood Week? Now back to low-maintenance. Love Yourself - Justin B. Don’t get her at all - she just sounds like she is ‘singing along’ to the song on the radio. Completely lethargic performance, but they fall all over her?
PS -- I hate it when a singer says ‘come on’ and encourages audience members to get into it, when nothing about the performance warrants it. Just shut up already and sing.
Jordan Sasser: All by Myself - Celine Dion arrangement. Looks much better with a hair cut , need to work on his body language on stage. Cute baby. Big voice, a couple of pitch issues.
Thomas Stringfellow: Creep Radiohead. Sounded like an Irish folk version of Radiohead, but he can at least sell the song, knows how to engage with the audience and camera. If he makes it will proabably do okay.
Side note - is it me or have we not seen any “manly men”’ in this batch of the Top 24? These are mostly slight guys, is that they will get lost in the mix with the girls?
La’Porsha R: Proud Mary. They got a handle on the hair - looks great! and allows her face to shine through! They knew who to put last tonight! Great performance! She's the nuclear bomb of this competition - it will be difficult to beat her at this game.Oother contestants will just have to try to shine with their unique style, but no one can out sing her. She does have some wacky eye thing sometimes LOL.
Thursday night - Lauren Alana - Emily. Flat on the Floor. Hard for Emily to compete with LA, we were at the Idol broadcast the last night that season for a Scotty and Alaina performance. We were brought in under the stage as they were doing a duet - it was amazing - and were noting that LA could really sing! Still can.
Thomas & Nick, Man in the Mirror. voices perfectly matched on this song - pretty good performance.
Ruben and Stephany: Superstar (A classic sung by the Carpenters, Luther Vandross and written by Leon Russell & Delaney Bramlett) coaching her to be more involved - and he nailed it when he said she needed to let go. She just doesn’t seem to able to tap into the emotions. The performance was solid and she sung with Ruben and to him - Ruben looked great! Still think she's a bitch.
Caleb and Sonika: Skyfall, Adele. Great duet - gave her good advice and she did a good job overall - but her youth does show through. She will improve over the competition with her stage presence.
Scotty - Jenna R. a Scotty tune - See you Tonight An okay job. Not sure if she has done enough to stay.
Fantasia and LaPorsha, Summertime. Like we were just watching a performance and not a competition, beautiful! Didn’t love the LaPorsche hair tonight, looked like a seaweed wrap with some roe sticking out the top.
Makenzie and Lauren Alaina: I hope you dance. Great duet - very sweet. Hard for him to not get blown off stage by her.
Nick and Gianna, Beautiful Life. Back up singers are too loud for her voice - don’t hear her at all. She just looks so outmatched here.
Ruben and Avalon, Flying without Wings. Perfect pairing of voices, got her out of her comfort zone. She never seems to be amped up, it's a little weird.
James VIII and Caleb I: Gimme Shelter. GREAT duet - loved it! But James really just seemed to be backup for Caleb.
Jeneve and Scotty, Gone - Montgomery Gentry . A little strange with the cowboy hat and dress - could have worked to make them seem like they were more of a duet. Have to agree it was a little bizarre.
Fantasia with Jordan Sasser: I Believe. Jordan was trying to blow all the speakers in the room and Fantasia never broke a sweat.
So we paused it and tried to predict who would stay or go; we got it almost all right, with the exception of Stephany -- I really thought they were going to keep her based on the "package" factor, and drop Jeneve, but I was wrong. Still not sure Jeneve warrants all these chances but anything to put Stephany back out on the street is OK with me.
So the seven going forward this week are:
La’Porsha Renae, Sonika Vaid, Gianna Isabella, Avalon Young, Thomas Stringfellow, MacKenzie Bourg and Jeneve Rose Mitchell. Fingers crossed Gianna gets booted week one or two -- I don't want to see her on the tour!
Next week, I thinks e get our "a" team, for the most part. There are stronger contenders to be heard there.
What did you guys think?
Dr. L and K OUT!
Posts
2 comments:
Jeneve needs to GO! She is horrible. They cut Sonicka or whatever her name is and kept Jeneve? Not sure what was up with that.
Of course Dalton is my pick...but they desperately want a woman to win, so it will be a girl. La Porsha is great but they want an easy to market pop star....hmmmmmm....I have to digest all the contestants to make my choices!
I think you are right on all counts, and maybe we saw who the Chosen One is this week? Not sure if she made it but I'm betting Olivia is somebody they wanted to win at this point at least. My money is on Dalton all the way. Get that voting finger ready, America.
Post a Comment