American Idol 2012

Oh, and I figured I'd share this but last season I bought Idol tracks on iTunes right after they went on sale. Months later, I realized that was an awful idea as a lot of the stuff was pretty crappy given some time away from the performances (Pia and Casey, I'm looking at you!). So I decided not to buy anything for the first couple weeks and see if I really wanted the tracks or if it was the novelty of it.

Well, tonight I bought the three tracks by Hollie on there ("All the man I need", "The Power of Love" and tonight's "Honesty") and the only other songs I thought I wanted, three weeks in mind you, were tonight's "Piano Man" by Colton and last week's "When a man loves a woman" by Joshua.

Here's hoping we get some strong performances next week. My iPod could use the new material.

 

Well, then, here's something from the other side, because Billy Joel is one of my favorite musicians. I was fully tuned into this. And what I got out of it was interesting, inasmuch as some of the people I didn't hold in high regard stepped up ... and some of my favorites did not.

Sidelights ... After about two singers, I went fast-forward through Jimmy, Diddy and Tommy. I don't give a rat's ass about how Tommy Hilfiger would dress them. I thought the judges had some good moments when they weren't spouting cliches.

DeAndre Brackensick: This one did not surprise me. Lightweight effort worthy of expulsion. 2/10.

Erika Van Pelt: Found the right song in "New York State of Mind," and turned in her finest performance to date. The new look worked, too. 7/10.

Joshua Ledet: Very much a letdown after last week's breakout. He became so enamored with his own vocal gymnastics that he rendered one of Joel's greats unidentifiable. (Oh, and Tyler had never heard of "She's Got A Way"? Fucka buncha Steven Tyler.) 3/10.

Skylar Laine: Yes, she found his country song. It was going to be that or "Ballad of Billy The Kid." Forgettable, and she may need to throw a change-up pretty soon. 4/10.

Elise Testone: OK, wow. I get it now. Far from my favorite in the Joel songbook, but she sure made it her own. Memorable effort. 8/10.

Phillip Phillips: Rolled my eyes when he started his version of "Anthony's Song" ... and was stunned as hell when I liked it. I'm really starting to buy what he's selling. 7/10.

Hollie Cavanagh: Another letdown after last week, and the judges were dead-on in (softly) calling her on it. She was so busy trying to execute the song, she forgot to feel it. 4/10.

Heejun Han: I didn't hate it. Was it Idol-worthy? Of course not. I can't help thinking of Bobby Lee doing Idol. 4/10.

Jessica Sanchez: Back to the head of the class. Can't see one thing lacking in that, from pitch to emotion to the big finish. 9/10.

Colton Dixon: He did "Piano Man" justice by not straying too far from the original. But why did he throw off the rhythm of the chorus' final line by singing "And you've got us all feeling all right?" Couldn't help himself, I guess. Lone dissonant note in an otherwise superb performance. 6/10.

Testone and Sanchez were the big winners here. And please, send DeAndre Brackensick home ... like he should have been last week.

 

I felt for some of these contestants, especially Skylar. Shameless is a song in which you have to build some tension, tell a story. You can't do that when you have to truncate the running time because we need 5 minutes of Jimmy and Tommy telling her who she is.

 

In before the 600-word schiez post about Haley Reinhart ...

Erika deserves to stick around more than DeAndre and probably the now mentally checked-out HeeJun, but not more than anyone else. So I don't have a problem with her going.

 

Seeing Erika sing that final "save" song, she proved she is infinitely better than DeAndre or Heejun. I knew she'd have trouble with the demographic vote, but that's a joke.

 

Nailed it.

So, yeah, tonight wasn't much a shock. Surprised that Heejun is still around because, clearly, he's mentally checked out but I can't disagree with the vote here. Erika is like a good wedding singer. She's got a nice voice. She can clearly sing. But is she an Idol? Eh.

Now, for the real reason I watched tonight. My lovely, beautiful, sexy, sweet Haley Reinhart...

What a disappointment.

I had a hard time focusing on the song and it had nothing to do with the reasons I thought I would (Namely my insane crush on this woman). I just couldn't get over the fact that it looked like someone lifted her my the head and dunked her in a barrel of bronzer. She looked darker than Deandre and Joshua. Not a good look at all.

I still love her. Don't get me wrong. But she needs to spend less time tanning and more time studying tapes of WWE superstars like the Miz who look 1000 times worse with that fake shit on them.

All in all, not a bad show but that's mostly because I fast-forwarded through everything that wasn't results-related or Haley Reinhart-related. Still can't wait for Haley's album.

 

Schiez, did you see the video for "Baby, It's Cold Outside" Haley did with Casey Abrams?

She was very sexy.

I'm sure you saw it, but here it is for everyone else

 

America was kinda stupid there, and I was actually a little surprised they didn't use the save on Erika.

She was easily the best of the bottom three, and proved it in her last song.

 

They learned last year not to blow the save on someone who's not going to win anyway. They're saving it for when America votes to eliminate Joshua or Jessica before DeAndre.

 

Here are the latest shottie odds on winning American Idol:

DeAndre Brackensick: Merely biding time until the tour starts. 200/1.

Heejun Han: Giving better odds than Brackensick only because he's more unique. Won't matter anyway. I think he actually wants to go home now. 150/1.

Elise Testone: Her odds coincide with her chances of finding the right song and nailing it like she did Wednesday night for the next nine weeks in a row. She's been bottom three too often to survive a clunker. 20/1.

Skylar Laine: As appealing as she was the first 3-4 times I saw her, she's become relatively unexciting now. McCreery went the route with the country gig because he had a truly unique voice. Skylar Laine doesn't. That's not to say she won't have commercial success when she's able to just carve out her little niche. 10/1.

Hollie Cavanagh: I saw a deer-in-headlights look Wednesday night I hadn't seen before. I just don't think she has the confidence to go the route anymore. 7/1.

Colton Dixon: He's cute enough, he's mohawky enough, and doggone it, people like him. (Just not quite enough.) 5/1.

Joshua Ledet: Quite talented, yet capable of clunkers. One too many will claim him down the line, I'm afraid. 4/1.

Phillip Phillips: The epitome of the "cute boyfriend" syndrome. Totally fits the profile of the past few Idol winners. 3/1.

Jessica Sanchez: The comparisons to Celine Dion in terms of voice and range aren't that far-fetched. A voice to remember. Now, can she overcome the "cute boyfriend" string of the past five years? 5/2.

 

I love that song, but I hate him on it. He sounds like the girl.

 

Unfortunately, I did not share the same enthusiasm as the judges, but I find ballads to be rather boring, no matter how well they're sung. That being said, here's how I saw the week:

Colton: Man, if there's one thing I hate it's people yapping about worship. We get it. You love God, and that's fine. But keep it to yourself. Plus this really kind of sucked.

Skylar: This girl may not have the chops Lauren Alaina did, but she's got 5,000 times the stage presence. Loved this little up-tempo song, although I had never heard it before.

Heejun: Forget this new Heejun. This was downright awful. A standing ovation? Bullshit. He has a great tone, but I had to be woken up when this was over.

DeAndre: They were giving out standing ovations like vaccinations tonight, and this definitely did not deserve one. Again, not exactly in my wheelhouse music-wise, but this bored me to death. He's had a few performances that I've like (last week being one), but it's time to go home.

Hollie: Another song I had never heard, and it wasn't horrible. I thought she did a good job connecting with the audience.

Jessica: Um .... she finally threw in a clunker. But she was due, and she has nothing to worry about tomorrow night.

Phillip: Another good up-tempo song that got the crowd moving. I wasn't sold on him through the first few weeks, but it's getting to the point where I watch the show to see what he's going to do (especially after EVP got the boot).

Joshua: I know he floored everyone with "When a Man Loves a Woman," but this just wasn't good. Again, I don't think he has anything to worry about, but he'll need to be better next week.

Elise: WOW. One of the coolest things I've ever seen on this show. A girl who resembles Robert Plant rocking Robert Plant. I think she showed tonight that she can do a host of different things, from signing ballads at the piano to just slaying one of the best hard rock songs of all time.

One note ... Just because you cry at the end of the song, that doesn't mean it was very good. I think it's a nice little ploy to get the judges to do what they do best: not judge.

Top three for me: Elise, Phillip, Skylar
Bottom three for me: Heejun, DeAndre, Colton.

Bottom three on Thursday: Heejun, DeAndre, Elise ( the same damn demographic voting that robbed EVP last week). Heejun will be making his way out of town.