Top 10 Girls Night: A Change Is Gonna Come

After the travesty that the guys' performance night was once again this week, it was a huge relief to see quite a few of the girls knock it out of the park on Wednesday. Was it all amazing? Not exactly, and there was some disappointment. But it was miles better than Tuesday night and the guys, and it shows that Simon is probably right when he predicts that a female will win this year (finally!). And with that, we dive into the recap of the Top 10 Girls...plus results.

• Crystal Bowersox: After an intense brush with sickness-related elimination this week (Crystal was taken to the hospital for diabetes-related complications, and had she not been able to perform, she would have likely been axed from the competition), Crystal came out and gave a solid, gospel-infused performance of "Long As I Can See the Light." I have to admit I'm not familiar with the original, but I think Crystal sold it pretty dang well. I wouldn't rave about it like the judges (somewhat inexplicably) were, as it didn't always pop as much as it should have, but it was very good, and one of the best of the night. MamaSox is definitely a well-deserved front-runner.
• Haeley Vaughn: Haeley was sweet, but her personality always trumped her vocal talents (or lack thereof), and her supposedly radiant smile was never enough to distract me from her wonky notes and decidedly off performances. Thus, I'm not too torn up that she has left the "Idol" stage. Her take on "The Climb" was nearly worse than a live performance than the original 'artist' herself, Miley Cyrus, and that's definitely not good, seeing as Ms. Cyrus has severe trouble singing a note anywhere close to the correct pitch. It lacked the bare-bones confidence Haeley brought to her awkward and messy, yet assured cover of "I Want To Hold Your Hand" last week, and it was painful to listen to. So sorry, Haeley, it was time for you to go. Good luck in the future,  though, and once you have a few more years under your belt, you might be able to go places.
• Lacey Brown: Lacey, why do you disappoint me so? Last week's performance of "Landslide" was sadly flat and nerve-wracked. This week Lacey displayed more confidence, but little more control over pitch, while singing "Kiss Me." She was wise to take up Ellen's suggestion from last Tuesday, but very unwise to keep the song largely as it originally was done. It was dry and very karaoke. (Oh dear, I used a Simon adjective...that is rather troubling...) Where's the Lacey that p'wned "Over the Rainbow" and "What A Wonderful World" with a deliciously twangy, self-assured, smooth tone? We need to find her fast, because right now, I'm afraid that Lacey's time is up, and she's not on my shortlist to make the Top 12, and that's a crying shame.
• Katie Stevens: Here comes another past favorite that I'm losing faith in for the second week in a row. I love "Put Your Records On." I love Katie's voice. I love kittens. (Wait, that had nothing to do with her performance, did it? :) ) But I didn't love her take on it. It wasn't quite there...it was unimaginative, and Katie just seemed to be singing by the numbers, rather than injecting her own personality and uniqueness into it. I highly disagree with Ellen (oh no, that's a sad day!) that Katie needs to pick something even younger...I've liked the songs she's picked the past two weeks, it's just the disjointed performances I've had an issue with. Katie needs to find her niche, and she's not going to by singing the work of teenagers (Justin Bieber, for example? Lord no!). I hope she's able to get her sea legs, but as it stands right now, I wouldn't be horribly sad if she didn't make the Top 12. (Again, a shame.)
• Didi Benami: Thank the stars above that Didi stayed, but I fear she's in danger now after her kind of out-of-her-element performance of "Lean On Me." I thought it wasn't a complete mess--her vocals were still smooth and unique, and the pitch wasn't all off--but it definitely wasn't a very good song choice for Didi, at least not with the cookie-cutter arrangement Rickey Minor and Co. brought to the table. But really, commenters? One of the two worst voices in the competition? Were you LISTENING prior to this week? Her smooth voice has been on-point and beautiful up until now. So let this excellent lady make the Top 12, or I will sue. As for you, Didi, please pick a song that plays to your strengths next week. It doesn't have to be typical, but it should be your own. Over and out.
• Michelle Delamor: Poor Michelle only got 2 weeks and a December "Idol" promo of total screentime this season, but her slightly off Creed number this week was, in my view, fair grounds for elimination. Sure, a week more might have been nice, but she really wasn't displaying potential to do well in the Top 12, or even win it all. She just sang well, and on Wednesday, "With Arms Wide Open" wasn't even that the entire time. It was too big a song, and Michelle didn't change it up enough to suit her style. So Michelle, we hardly knew ye, and I wish you the best, but this wasn't a terrible decision on the voters' part. C'est la vie.
• Lilly Scott: I love Lilly quite a lot still, but I have to admit I wasn't completely sold on her committed acoustic-influenced "A Change Is Gonna Come." While I chafe at those who stupidly compare it to Adam Lambert from last season (there was a little guy named SAM FREAKIN' COOKE who it did much better, and FIRST, folks!), even with that pointless comparison aside, Lilly's vocals weren't entirely perfect. It was a little off at parts. Still, Lilly went all out on her performance, she rearranged it just enough to make it her own without gutting its heritage, and it really showed. Thank goodness the judges gave her some love, and I think Lilly has nowhere to go but up. Viva la Lilly!
• Katelyn Epperly: Katelyn gave a fiery performance of "Oh, Darling" by the Beatles last week that showed she ain't no cannon fodder (forgive my momentary lapse into Southern dialect, after all, it's no longer National Grammar Day :) ), and this week, she earned her way right into my "Idol" voting heart. Who cares if Ellen and Randy whined that her take on "The Scientist" was slow? It was exquisitely so, and her vocals were beautiful. It was the kind of emotional, heartbreakingly excellent performance that you don't expect "Idol" to deliver. But Katelyn did, turning the already great Coldplay tune into an even more heart-rending number. The judges should have given more love, but no matter. Katelyn is most certainly on a roll, and she's become just like Alex Lambert--an unexpected talent that I never thought I could love so much.
• Paige Miles: I'm not quite as frustrated with the judges' lovefest with Paige as I am (see last recap) with Lee DeWyze, but I'm still confused. Exactly why are you praising her so much? She has a good voice, sure. But it's being laid waste to by truly horrendous song choices. Last week's "All Right Now" was a mess, and this week with "Walk Away," Paige fared little better. Yet the judges are eating it up. Why??? Simon hit it right on the nose by pointing out Paige has picked dismal songs the past two weeks. Unfortunately for Paige, it's too late in my book for her to catch up...there are only 6 female spots in the Top 12, and I don't have her pegged for any of them. Her personality kind of rubs me the wrong way, and she isn't bringing her all. It's time for her to say goodbye, next week.
• Siobhan Magnus: And finally, Siobhan. She was good. DANG good. It takes major gumption (as a few of the judges pointed out) to take on an Aretha Franklin number, and it takes even more than that--namely, a heck of a lot of talent and performing style and skill--to sell said Aretha song. And when you chose one of Ms. Franklin's most iconic and challenging tunes, "Think," it's a recipe for disaster. But not when you have the fearless, ferociously good pipes of Siobhan. I loved her performance, and this was with me still having Noteworthy's sassy version on "The Sing-Off" still firmly in my memory, along with Aretha's original. Doing the whirlwind 2 minutes Siobhan was on the stage, I completely forgot about those versions. All I saw was a masterful voice doing its work. That note at the end...freaking wow. Siobhan did more than sell "Think." She OWNED it. And with that, she's one of my definite favorites. On to the Top 12, Ms. Magnus! :)

And that's the women for this week. Hallelujah for talent! I'll be back soon on this blog with a recap of how I see the Top 16, and who I want to/think will make it past the last semifinal eliminations this week. For now, over and out. :)

Top 10 Guys Night: What's Going On

Well, once again I find myself recapping (for no one?) after the results show aired. It's probably good I waited on finishing this particular recap (I had the first few paragraphs drafted way back on Tuesday night), as this area was previously filled with an intense, rambling, angry rant about how far "Idol" has fallen. You'll still see some of my wrath manifested (Lee DeWyze...grrrr....), but the fact that I've forgotten some of the judges' wonky comments, that two guys have been eliminated, and that since the rather dreadful spate of male performances I'm about to discuss, the girls took the stage on Wednesday and actually made me remotely happy, should temper my frustration and anger just a bit. And oh, let's not forget the fact that oh, this is a REALITY SHOW. Anyhoo...let's recap, and once again I'll put the eliminated folks in italics, as well as talk about their ouster.

(Side note: I changed my blog title. Feedback would be nice. Ironically, it's inspired by the title of Jason Mrubbish's last album...he's not my cup of cocoa in the music department, but that title is admittedly pretty fun. :) )

• Michael Lynche: I don't quite know what happened between me and Michael. Hollywood Week, I was raving about the guy and his fun personality + delightful vocals. But in the semifinals so far, the lovable big guy hasn't done much for me. To be sure, his performance of "It's A Man's Man's Man's World" (by James Brown, ambitious...) was vastly better than last week's flat karaoke take on "This Love." That said, it wasn't completely there. Sure, Michael owned the song, but he still sounded flat at points and his excessive vibrato was ultra-distracting, and oddly reminiscent of a Vegas supper club 'singer.' It simply didn't catch on for me. And the judges going crazy over it, like it was the best thing since sliced bread (when in reality it was closer to the sliced bread than the best thing since it), was the icing on the disheartening "I'm not sure I like Michael anymore" cake.
• John Park: This may seem strange, but John's elimination is the one I'm most disappointed about. Sure, his performance of "Gravity" (by John Mayer, if only he did the Sara Bareilles song) on Tuesday was a bit bland and by the numbers (and "God Bless The Child" last week was a frustratingly sad mess), and to be truthful, if given the choice between John and Todrick (who were both brought to center stage during the results show), I would have picked the latter, as Todrick at least is abundantly creative. Still, he had a good voice, he was a FREAKING BARITONE (baritones gotta stick together! there aren't THAT many of us), and I don't know, I just thought he was cool. There were some moments of glory on Tuesday night, and John also showed off some interesting cultural connections--English is his second language, for example--as well as the fact that he's a member of Purple Haze, a college a cappella group. Looks like I'll be checking out their music so I can see more of John's beautiful bottom end. (For the last time...his VOICE! :) )
• Casey James: Kara must be on something, because in that world is "I Don't Wanna Be" a quality song? Gavin DeGraw's original is grating and repetitive, with a pointless, rambling melody. Thus, it wasn't entirely the best choice for Casey at all. His rock-crooner-esque voice got lost in the Hendrix-wannabe arrangement, and while his guitar playing was pretty impressive, his stage presence once again was not. It was an unqualified mess, to be frank. It looks like after last week's fairly good performance, Casey is once again back on my "ehh" list.
• Alex Lambert: If you've seen any of my previous words about the Lambert Who Doesn't Shout And Scream, this next sentence will rather surprise you. I loved his performance--and it was the only Top 10 Guys song I downloaded. Really. Yes, this was as much a surprise to me as it may be to you (all you imaginary blog readers?), but after last week's James Morrison copycat performance of doom, Alex gathered his nerves, refrained from upchucking, and delivered a nicely changed-up, genuinely soulful version of John Legend's "Everybody Knows." Alex's deliciously quirky tone, fiercely trampled last week, really shone through on Tuesday. There were a few tiny moments of strange pronunciation and slightly flat pitch, but overall, the performance was a revelation, and I really dug it. Bring the goods next week, Alex (and lose the dang mullet already!), and you may have yourself a new voter.
• Todrick Hall: Whatever you may think about Todrick, you have to admit he's got style. His reinventions the past two weeks have been interesting, to say the least. Completely on point? Um, not really. But Todrick's mad passion for creating wild rearrangements of his songs is a much better trait to have than being boring and by-the-numbers, as the aforementioned guy eliminated instead of him, John Park, learned the hard way. About his performance of "What's Love Got To Do With It"--it's rather ambitious to take on an iconic Tina Turner tune (alliteration!), since Ms. Turner stylized her hits so much. The vocals were a bit off, and the arrangement once again didn't quite work. Still, what are the freaking judges playing at?? They tell EVERY OTHER DANG PERSON to be artistic and change up their songs. Yet when Todrick does exactly what they ask, they rip him apart for doing so. Crazy people behind the table...how about you take him to task for the quality (or lack thereof) his performance, rather than focusing your criticism on the very thing you're requiring of all the other semifinalists? What you're doing at the moment is called a double standard. STOP IT. And Simon, Todrick did not change the song too much...in my opinion, he didn't change it enough (and not in a very good way), doing little more than shifting the song into minor and slowing it down a bit. Todrick, you ignore those stupid judges and keep making your songs ultra-interesting. But next week, try to make it interesting AND good. I know you can.
• Jermaine Sellers: Finally, an eliminated contestant I'm truly happy about! (This is really the first time. Long live Tyler, Joe, and John! We hardly knew ye.) Sorry. But really, Jermaine needed to go. Badly. Between his strange love for onesies ("I rocks the onesie, y'all"), his awkward and slightly sacrilegious "I know God" statements, and his truly awful caterwauling, Mr. Sellers truly rubbed me the wrong way. His 'performance' of "What's Going On" on Tuesday was an overblown mess. The arrangement, recycled almost in full from Kris Allen's studio version of the tune from last season (he really owns it, by the way), wasn't completely ghastly, but the excessive runs, wonky pitch, and general suckitude that Jermaine tacked onto it certainly were. It wasn't quite as painful as "Get Here" from last week, but at the same time it was. It stained the Marvin Gaye name. It ruined the song. And, thank the stars above, it sent Jermaine Sellers home. (That's quite easily the best part of the whole thing.)
• Andrew Garcia: I still firmly stand by my love of "Sugar We're Going Down" from last week (the reharmonization in the chorus background vocals still gets me, in the best way), and I still hate the judges for being so stupid ("It wasn't as good as 'Straight Up'! Thus, it must suck!"), and I still think Andrew is the bees' knees...but even I have to admit, his take on "You Give Me Something" this week was painfully safe. He sounded a bit flat at parts, something that has never been a problem, and it did little more than color in the lines of James Morrison's solid original. There were so many good things Andrew could have done with the melody, the arrangement, or the song in general, but he didn't, and that's a crying shame. Losing the guitar might have seemed like a good choice--after all, one doesn't want to seem like a one-trick pony--but in the end, it didn't quite work. Andrew, you're better than this! His song last week was amazing, and y'all better realize that, but this week was certainly a depressing step backwards.
• Aaron Kelly: Last week's solid vocal notwithstanding, I'm still not quite on board the Aaron Kelly train, and his decidedly off version of "My Girl" this week certainly did the teen no favors. My roommates were somewhat in the room during his performance on Tuesday, and all two or three of us were cringing--literally--at the wonky vibrato, countless pitch issues, the strange and awkward country-soul arrangement, and just the general gruesomeness of it all. It was not the right song at all. (AT ALL.) Sure, Aaron displayed a heck of a lot more confidence, but confidence isn't really a redeeming factor when the performance plain sucks as...pirin. (Nice save? :) ) What's more, the judges went largely gaga (and not the "Speechless"-esque Lady variety) over it. Do they just dream of ways to make sensible, music-loving viewers angry? Because they're doing a heck of a good job at it.
• Tim Urban: And he stayed WHY?!?!? Stop looking at his freaking abs, people (if you weren't aware, shirtless pics of Mr. Moptoppington have made it onto the web...well, more like endless copies of the same dang shirtless pic), and vote this lamentably lame singer off, darn it! His performance of "Come On Get Higher" (by Matt Nathanson, who I have never bloomin' heard of) was better than last week, sure, but I'm pretty sure even a performance by Simon himself could have accomplished that feat. Tim's pitch was still largely off, and his tone was decidedly bland and nearly nonexistent. Ellen slipped in one too many "you're adorable" statements into her critique, but she was pretty spot-on when she said Tim might be better suited to acting. Simon was harsh, but even more on point, when he said a Tim Urban acting career should not involve singing. Because really, when he does, it's like something akin to Hel...sinki.
• Lee DeWyze: Here comes the ranting and potential sentences in all caps. Like this: WHY do people like Lee? His voice is so grating I almost want to scream. He picked one of the crappiest, most annoying songs in the world ("Lips of An Angel"? Freakin' really?). And he is NOT, I repeat NOT, the best male vocalist in the competition right now, not by a long shot. He's a poor man's Daughtry, and any comparisons to David Cook (whose voice I'm not completely in love with, but at least he stayed on key...right?) are bordering on criminal. Lee went off pitch repeatedly yet again tonight. He did little to reinvent the song. He looks like he's bored. And the idiotic judges FREAKING SAID IT WAS GOOD. Just like that, it sadly seems, I've found this season's Adam Lambert--the contestant that everyone seems to love but I just can't stand.

Well, there you have it, the Top 10 (well, now Top 8) guys. For the love of all things Kris Allen, please let them be better next week. Sure, there are a lot of good women to (likely) beat them later on down the road, but if I'm spending one or two hours of my Tuesday or Wednesday watching these people sing, I want it to be remotely good, not of the horribly painful variety that makes me contemplate ditching "Idol." (I seriously had those thoughts on Tuesday.) Recap of the girls, who were much better and much less annoying than the guys, to come posthaste.