While We’re Waiting for 9:00…

Before the results show, thought I’d shed some thoughts on last night’s top 12 American Idol episode.

Brandon was awful.  It was funny when one of the judges echoed what I said, that he was still a backup singer.  I consider him a probable to go home tonight.

I can’t say I’m a big Diana Ross fan, especially when not paired with the Supremes or in a Motown duet.  They did the contestants no favors with this particular theme, but that is part of the idea of themes.

I am also tired of the judges ping-ponging between “make it your own” and “ohmygod you dared change it.”

Anyway, Melinda was good, but to me finally showed a little weakness.  She’s also pushed the “aw, shucks” humble routine to the limit of believability, if not beyond.

Chris Sligh did a decent job on the remake of Endless Love, a song I like in the original, but that can get boring quickly.  I have the benefit of having not only seen the movie in the theater when it was released, but also read the book, which was substantially different and more intense, and really played to my own obsessive tendencies that can border on dangerous at their worst.  Which is to say that I was able to “live” the main character completely as I read, which gives the song that came with the movie special meaning to me.  But I digress.  I agree about the glasses.  I’m concerned about his purported tally on Dial Idol.

Gina did the song I knew someone just had to do, Love Child, one of my all time favorites.  She was a good choice, though it might also have been interesting to see Haley or Jordin perform it.  I thought she sang it well enough, but she screwed up the words right at the beginning and apparently went unnoticed at it.  I could probably sit here and transcribe the lyrics accurately from memory, so yeah, I noticed.  She also, in the final three words of the truncated version, indicated she didn’t really understand the meaning of the song.  And silly Paula, even if she was misspeaking, making it sound like a happy song.  It’s upbeat, catchy and compelling to sing along with, but in its day it was even a bit risqué.  The singer is saying to her boyfriend “slow down dude!  I’ll always love you, but I was born out of wedlock, never even knew my father, had a miserable life, and don’t want to risk repeating what my mother did.” She’s safe, and that’s fantastic.

Wish I could say the same for Haley being safe, as I have become somewhat a fan, even if it’s not likely she’ll win or anything.  Awful song choice.  Awful song, notwithstanding the sentiment attached.  Okay delivery.  Again with the forgotten words, like Brandon (caught bad) and Gina (minor and not caught), but how refreshing that she’s so the perfectionist that she’s a “schmuck” for forgetting them.

I downloaded the MP3 of Haley’s performance last week and have listened probably twenty times or more since then.  It’s prominent in my playlist.  At the time I thought there was something I liked about it, but the venue and watching the performance was a distraction.  While Simon’s attack probably assured her safety, perhaps other people noticed the same.  I have since listened to Faith Hill’s original version.  I like Haley’s better, and I find it really catchy, and a showcase for her range and vocal control.  Not perfect, but the girl has more potential than is immediately obvious.

Having become a convert, if still mildly skeptical, I was hoping for great things this week and was disappointed.  If only because she needed a crowd pleasing song that would show off her ability to everyone.  She seems to be the overwhelming favorite to go home this week, by the Idol predictorati.  I hope not, since hello… Brandon?  Chris Richardson?  I mean, let’s not be silly.

Phil is not on the “must go” list this week, even though he sucks and is on said list more generally.  He did well in a week of even some of the best being sketchy.

Lakisha wins the night.  I think some people call Melinda better this week simply because Billie Holiday isn’t really their taste.  Mine neither, ordinarily, but it’s possible to appreciate a classic sound, and an astonishing performance, even in something you might not run out and buy.  Which, incidentally, is the danger zone on which Melinda and Lakisha tread.

Blake, like Sligh, did okay with a remake of his song.  Probably more so.  It wasn’t his best night, but like Sligh, he ought to be safe.  I joked that he looked like he was ready to lead the Confederate troops.

I thought the judges were harder on Stephanie than her performance deserved, and she had good reason to leave out the part she left out.  That said, she’s the black diva also ran and tends to bore me, without being such an amazing performer that I sit up and appreciate a song I’d not seek to hear normally.

Chris Richardson must go.  Yuck.  There is no compelling reason for him to be there, and he didn’t change things this week.

Jordin rules.  She just keeps getting better and better, and she was good in the first place.  Note that she can compete with the black divas by not singing black diva songs, as per her decent Pat Benatar rendition last week.  It’s so cute when she ducks down to be “shorter” than Ryan Seacrest.  Whose name keeps making me think Seabiscuit.

Sanjaya must go.  He’s been worse, though.  It would be different had his sister gotten through so we could have Marie too, and the curiosity of sibling contestants at this stage, but it turns out he’s no Donny anyway.

Is that all of them?  Guess so.  Okay, off to the results in a half hour…

Posted by on 03/14 at 07:25 PM

Next entry: AI Top 12 Results

Previous entry: Happy Birthday

<< Back to main