It's a miracle! Tonight, the American Idol contestants actually sounded really decent for the first time this season. Surprise, surprise. The theme was R&B and even though I didn't think the song choices were that great, at least everyone sang well (yes even dear old Tim Urban!). Usher was their mentor, and he was not too bad I suppose. Better than Miley Cyrus anyway. So:-
Lee, Crystal and Mike were the highlights of the night, I thought all three of them gave solid performances. Lee was the best, hands down (on R&B night too, what the heck) while Crystal and Mike were their usual selves - consistently good. Crystal's "surprise" for this week turned out to be the piano, and I'll have to say that I wasn't that surprised. I think she really needs to ditch the instruments for at least one week, just for us to see how well she'll do without anything else to depend on, other than her singing.
Casey, Aaron, Katie and Andrew were okay, all four of them gave dull but dependable performances. I can't believe Aaron sang 'Ain't No Sunshine' after Kris' amazing rendition of that song last year. He should have thought of the consequences before choosing that song. Obviously he'll be compared to the former, and the fact that his version paled in comparison didn't really help either. And after weeks of mediocre (bordering on awful, actually) performances, Andrew finally stepped up his game last night with his version of Chris Brown's Forever. It may not have been a great performance but at least he redeemed himself. Also, I've realized that I just can't stand Katie Stevens no matter how decent she sounds. There's something about her that's just really unappealing ugh.
Siobhan, Didi and Tim however, did not do so well tonight. Siobhan was actually quite awful! Believe me, I was really shocked when I heard her off-key notes and all those horrible almost-screams. It was so bad, I almost muted the TV (horrors!). Talk about an off night - when she's off, she's really really off. She'll have to step up her game next week.
I was a little doubtful about ranking Tim last because he wasn't that bad. Unfortunately, out of all of them, he is still the least capable in terms of vocal ability. In other words I think it's really time for him to go this week. For this week though, my least favourite contestant will have to be Didi Benami. I don't know what to say about it, vocally it wasn't that bad but the whole performance was just really, extremely bleh. Ryan was unnecessarily nosey and cruel to her though, I mean he was actually bugging her about her reasons for crying. Come on just let the girl cry in peace mmkay?
Overall, quite a good night for a dismal season. Now if you'd excuse me, I'm gonna go youtube my favourite Adam Lambert/Kris Allen performances. Have a good night.
Today's episode of American Idol can be described in just one word - HORRIBLE. Someone in idolforums.com joked about this week's theme being 'Bad Song Choice', and I agree - most, if not all, of them made really bad decisions with their song choices. Only one or two of them sang their bad song choices decently and that's really saying something. Also, Miley Cyrus was their mentor, but I'll have to admit that she was not too bad. When I first heard the news, I nearly died because the thought of Miley Cyrus giving them advice on singing is just hilarious. Moving on to the contestants themselves:-
Paige Miles. What the hell, this girl basically screwed herself just by picking that song. Against All Odds?? Seriously?! On American Idol! Worse song choice ever. And on top of that, she sang terribly. Maybe she should suffer from laryngitis all the time cos she sounded a lot better when she was sick. I mean, she was pitchy throughout the whole song. Awful, awful if she ain't leaving tomorrow then the Americans must be really kind.
Andrew Garcia. Man that was worse than last week. Andrew has left the building. What happened to him? It was just awful. I could hardly hear him sing, and I actually heard the audience laughing at Simon's seriously nasty comments. I felt really bad for him but judging from the way he behaved, I think he knew that he stank. If Paige ain't going home, then he should.
Tim Urban. Honestly, I didn't think it was that bad but the judges were really harsh on him. It may not have been his best performance (the studio version of his Under My Thumb's not bad btw!) but it definitely wasn't his worse, nor was he the worse of the night. I'll give him a free pass this week - I hope he stays over Paige and Andrew.
Katie Stevens. She was out of tune, that about sums it up. She sang Fergie's Big Girls Don't Cry and I love that song, but I hated her version of it. Didn't like it at all. On the bright side I liked her hair? Hated her outfit though, it wasn't any better than those 'pageant-horror' outfits she has been wearing for the past few weeks.
Aaron Kelly. The latest laryngitis patient was definitely having some problems with his voice. I really wouldn't say that it was a bad performance, it was just kinda so-so. He sang I Don't Wanna Miss a Thing, and it was kinda karaoke-ish but at least he sang better than the other four.
Casey James. Casey James was Casey James. The same old Casey. Wasn't great, wasn't bad, weird song choice and um, decent vocals I suppose. I think I say the same thing about him every week? Well, can't help it I guess. Casey James is Casey James and he'll always be Casey James.
Lee DeWyze. He was less pitchy and whiny this week, and he actually sounded quite strong. I believe it's just the song though, he didn't have to sing using his upper or lower register so he was in tune. However, that proves how limited his vocal range is. How can people compare him to David Cook?? My beloved Cookie can sing circles around this dude with my surname as his first name.
Didi Benami. I don't know what the judges were listening to cos I thought she was pretty good, for someone who was singing about You're No Good. I'm no longer a fan of Didi, but I think she deserves more credit.
Siobhan Magnus. She needs to stop screaming. Girl ain't screeching like Adam Lambert, she's actually screaming. Like the 'HELP SOMEONE PLS SAVE ME FROM THIEVES' kind of screaming. Again, I blame her lack of experience. Other than the screaming, the rest of the song was quite decent so...rock on Siobhan?
Michael Lynche. I personally thought that his performance was awesome! Once again, I don't know what the judges heard, their comments on his performance were very divided. And I loved how he lifted Miley up with his gigantic bear hug, she looked quite scared!
Crystal Bowersox. Crystal Bowersox is the queen of the world. Or at least the Queen of American Idol. There, I've said it. I'm no big fan of hers, but she is definitely the most consistent contestant this year. In that sense she kinda reminds me of Melinda Doolittle from Season 6. Consistently good, but a tad too predictable. That might sound very unconvincing but at least she's still better than the other 8 constantly inconsistent morons.
Can't believe I lasted through 2 hours of that. At least Miley looked quite amused.
Currently Listening To: Timbaland ft Katy Perry - If We Ever Meet Again
While I was watching American Idol earlier, I couldn't help but think 'Man Lilly would have rocked the Rolling Stones night!' and after watching the show, I still think the same way. (I miss you Lilly! Still my favourite this season. Not to forget Jermaine Purifory, who didn't even make it to the Top 24.) That being said, I think all of them were actually better than I had expected.
Let's start with who I thought was the weakest tonight:
Andrew Garcia. O how the mighty have fallen. There's no doubt about this - in my humble opinion, he was the worse contestant tonight. There was just nothing in his performance at all. He was bland, he was off-key at times, he chose a boring song, he did not do anything to catch anyone's attention and...well, he's Andrew Garcia. I mean come one, Tim Urban was better than him! Speaking of Tim...
Tim Urban. It was an awkward performance, thanks to the extremely strange reggae arrangement (for a Rolling Stones song! What the hell?). I'll give him credit for the unusual song choice and for his somewhat decent vocals but other than that? It was not good. I still can't believe he made it into the Top 12 over Alex and Todrick! I don't blame those two for being bitter about their exit. Not at all.
Aaron Kelly. All right, it was a lot better than last week BUT still it's not good enough. The problem wasn't his song choice, it's more like his whole performance style is just too lacklustre for American Idol.
Lacey Brown. I love Lacey but that wasn't a very good nor memorable performance. Still love her voice, her looks, her style - she just needs to polish up her vocals a bit and she'll be a lot better. Based on her performances so far though, I don't think she deserves to be in the Top 12. Lilly and Katelyn were better than her in almost all aspects so it's too unfortunate for them.
Paige Miles. So Paige had laryngitis and yet she sang quite well. Overall she gave a decent yet boring performance, but I think she's gonna make it through to next week. She does have a powerful voice after all, she just hasn't fully utilized it yet. Here's hoping that she'll show us more of that voice before she bids farewell to the competition a little too soon.
Casey James. Meh. That's all I can think of to say about his performance and you know what, I think that about sums it up. Vocals - okay, song choice - funky, outfit - um what?, hair - he needs to tie up his hair okay? He looks like freaking Bucky Covington with that hair. Casey's just a bit better looking than Bucky, and well he sounds better too. If you ask me, that performance was a bit karaoke-ish but what the heck the judges loved it.
Katie Stevens. I still don't like Katie. I just don't like her at all. Hated the dress she wore, what the hell was she thinking? Oh wait, she's only 16. Can't blame her. Yet. Anyway, I actually preferred her rendition of Wild Horses over Susan Boyle's version (and just as I expected, Simon mentioned her. Well duh.), solid vocals, but as always Katie Stevens manages to turn every song she sings into a energy-sucking lullabye. I don't get it. Is it her old lady vibe? Or that boring, monotonous voice? Or maybe it's her lack of emotion. I don't know but whatever it is, I hope she snaps out of it soon or else she should just go home already.
Lee Dewyze. At the risk of sounding like a broken record, I'll say it again - Lee has serious issues with his lower range. He can't sing a single low note without being pitchy and whiny! The rest of his voice is okay, and he needs to stop being so nervous every time he's on stage, especially when he's listening to the judges or when he's waiting for results. He needs to be more confident on stage, I don't think he's that bad but I don't see what's so appealing about him either.
Didi Benami. Didi sang really well again this week. She's still giving off this boring vibe, but at least there's a marked improvement in her performance. I used to be a big fan of her, right now however I'm not too excited about her. I can't explain it, it's just a weird feeling.
Big Mike. If you were to ask me who is the most surprising contestant to date, I'd have to say Big Mike. When I first heard him, I thought he'd be cannon fodder like the Michael from the previous season (I liked last year's Michael, sadly though I knew that he was not good enough to be a strong contender) but guess what, Big Mike's actually quite good. The best male vocalist by far. The rest of the guys are either just so-so or crappy. Big Mike is the only one with a wide range, and that includes his amazing falsetto. To top that, he has no pitch problems whatsoever and he's hardly out of tune. Totally unexpected. A dark horse perhaps?
Crystal Bowersox. Crystal. Hmmmm. Well, Crystal is still Crystal, she still sings the same kind of songs and it sounds totally awesome. Unfortunately, some people are getting tired of her because she's Crystal. She only does Crystal and nothing else, so some may think that she's boring. Personally I like what she has done so far, she has been consistently good for the past four weeks. Other than Siobhan, no other female has been this consistent so, kudos to Crystal for doing a good job.
Siobhan Magnus. Best vocals of the night, complete with the screeches. I thought she gave a splendid performance, and I loved the ending part of the song (not that screech). The problem with Siobhan is her control of her upper range. Yes, she can hit those high notes in pitch HOWEVER she lacks the strength so when she hits those notes, it comes off as a bit too screechy and thin (I must be one of the very few people who find her screechier than her co-screecher ADAM LAMBERT). As good as she is, I still think Adam's better than her (thanks to all those comparisons). Now I don't claim to be an expert nor am I biased towards Adam, but I think Siobhan lacks experience and that's why she still needs a lot of practice. Well, practice makes perfect right? I don't know who has the potential to win at this stage but if Siobhan keeps improving, she'll definitely go far.
By the way, hats off to Crystal for paying a tribute to her dear friend Lilly Scott! *salutes* I could see it in her eyes, she was still upset about Lilly and Katelyn's elimination last week. Love Crystal for that. I feel like cheering her up somehow, she looks so sad most of the time!
Results show tomorrow - please, please let those who overstayed their welcome go home ALREADY! *cough*TimKatie*cough*
I don't know about you, but I think the American Idol voters are mostly idiots. The four people who went home tonight actually deserved to be in the Top 12 and thanks to silly teenage voters, four less deserving contestants remained instead.
Those eliminated tonight are:
Katelyn Epperly (Katelyn! I was shocked when I found out!)
Todrick Hall (I may not like him that much, but I think he is definitely more worthy to be there than, say, Tim Urban?? Thanks to last night's performance though, Tim's in. I knew it. Just as I had predicted. At least Todrick left with dignity, and with an awesome swan song. He should have done that last night instead!)
The next two might give you a heart attack if you've been paying attention to the whole season so far because NEITHER of them deserved this premature fate:-
Alex Lambert (I was shocked too! I didn't see that one coming cuz although his performances may have been quite awkward for the past 3 weeks, at least he has been consistently decent vocally. And I thought he had many SUPPORTERS! SHOCKING!)
And believe it or not...my favourite (and the consistently awesome) Lilly Scott went home tonight too! When I saw her up there with Katie Stevens, I just knew that she was going home. The power of the Miley Cyrus supporters is freaking damn scary.
So I wasn't that shocked about Lilly. However, I am seriously pissed off and upset because I won't get to hear Lilly sing every week anymore! *sobs* Lilly's awesome! She didn't deserve to go home, Alex and Katelyn did not deserve to go home either! I like Lacey and all, I really do but she, Paige or Katie should have been the ones to leave!
I no longer have the mood to watch American Idol. This season anyway. I don't really like any of the remaining contestants that much, except for Lacey and Crystal but Lacey doesn't deserve to be there based on her progress so far and as for Crystal...let's face it, she's not going to win unless a miracle happens.
If Tim Urban wins this freaking season I'm gonna throw a fit and stab a Tim-Voodoo-Puppet with a million and one pins! Or fly over to America and shave off his god awful hair! Or seriously disfigure his so-called handsome face with a marker pen! *fumes*
On a side note, Crystal looked really upset for the four FORMER contestants. She couldn't even smile when Ryan told her that she's in the Top 12. Or maybe she's still sick. She didn't look that great during her performance earlier this week.
Gah I hate American voters! I detest that emotionless Katie Stevens with a passion! She knew she didn't deserve to be there, and the same goes for Tim!
Stay tuned for more next week - wait, I might not be back next week. I'm too upset to look at the contestants seriously now. Damn it!
I really don't fancy composing a super long post for this week cos I felt that it was kinda underwhelming, so I'll just summarize it in two parts - one for the girls and another for the guys.
Top 8 Girls Best performances of the night: Crystal, Siobhan, Didi, Lacey and Lilly. All 5 of them gave solid performances, especially Crystal and Siobhan. Lilly was a bit off last night, I'm not sure why but Lacey sang quite well, surprise surprise. Didi returned to form last night, singing Stevie Nick's Rhiannon and I loved it! So much better than Taylor's mutilation of that song at the Grammy's. The remaining three, Katelyn, Katie and Paige, didn't do so well last night. In Paige's case, she totally ruined Smile! She's so going home tomorrow man, and hopefully Katie too.
Top 8 Guys Best performances of the night: Lee, Alex, Big Mike, Casey and surprisingly Tim Urban. Lee sang something really interesting - Owl City'sFireflies. I thought it was the best, maybe not the vocals but as a whole it was quite nice. Alex was okay too but was way too stiff, totally agreed with judges. Big Mike reduced Kara to tears and although the performance was pretty good, it did NOT deserve those tears. And the biggest surprise of the night...Tim Urban was actually quite good! I think he's gonna make it to the Top 12...crap. Not so good: Andrew, Aaron, Todrick. Poor Andrew. I feel bad for him. Week after week the judges tear him to shreds for not living up to 'Straight Up', and this week...ouch. I didn't think it was that bad, but they were really cruel to him so...not safe. Todrick ruined Somebody To Love, and Aaron was just bleh. I dunno, I may not like any of the guys but I don't know who should leave the competition at this stage...if I had a choice I'd say all of them.
Anyway, next week we're moving on to the Top 12. Hopefully things will get better? Cos right now Season 9's a snoozefest. They'll be doing the Rolling Stones next week.
Currently Listening To: John Legend - Everybody Knows
I'm too lazy to blog about AI today, so I'll just blog about it after the guys perform tomorrow. Oh and John Park, Jermaine Sellers (finally!), Michelle Delamor and Haeley Vaughan left the show last week - too bad for John and Michelle, good riddance to the other too.
Anyway, lemme blog about my life instead. One reason why I'm not blogging about AI is because I actually accepted a job to sort out some data thingy for Inti. Email addresses and phone numbers of applicants. Of course I'm getting paid! 5 bucks per hour, not bad what. I went through 270 of them in four hours. FOUR HOURS! That's why I don't have time to blog about AI la. Okay fine, partly because I'm lazy too.
Also, I have about a ton of assignments to complete. I'm so not joking. The lecturers for this semester seem to be really fond of tutorials and facilitations/presentations so I'll be stuck doing tutorials every week and preparing for the facilitations every other week or so. Blah heavy work load. Thank god I'm not taking a fifth subject or I shall die of boredom!
Oh oh I can't wait to watch Alice in Wonderland! I've been trying to book tickets for the 3D one for the past few days but it's FULLY BOOKED =( It looks like I'll have to watch the normal one in Queensbay then...well, I'll save time and money by doing that!
Edit: OMG more forms for me to sort out tomorrow! And and I have one tutorial to sorta complete by Friday...waa! But I'm getting paid right! Nevermind, for $$$ I'll do anything! Dare me to strip for $$$ and I'll do it!
I'll try my best to keep this simple and short, cos it took me like ages to compose last night's post which was super long and if you've noticed I have the tendency to be long-winded just like this ridiculously long sentence.
Right, with that out of the way let's move on to American Idol! (If anyone's wondering why I'm so enthusiastic about blogging about Idol...well, think of it as some form of therapy from my soon-to-be hectic college workload. That and the fact that I love analyzing them idol wannabes hahaha...)
So Crystal Bowersox returns to the American Idol stage and delivered a solid, typical Crystal performance. Yes it was good, and to me one of the best performances of the night but still nothing to shout about really. There's just no wow factor yet.
Haeley Vaughn sang Miley Cyrus' The Climb and failed in her bid to impress the judges - again. I didn't think it was THAT terrible, but definitely horrible enough for me to agree with all of the judges. Oh what the hell, even Miley's a million times better than that! Haeley needs to go before she becomes the Sanjaya of this season.
Lacey Brown. Much better than last week, but still a bit off-ish somewhere. In serious danger too. Sad actually cos I do like Lacey, and I loved the song she sang, Kiss Me by Sixpence None The Richer. Oh oh and I think she looks like a red-headed pixie! Something about her hair, eyes and make-up. She has gorgeous eyes, that Lacey.
Katie Stevens is like the female version of David Archuleta - young, but sings and talks like she's 50. Seriously, that girl has a very mature sounding voice so no matter what she sings, it sounds old and kinda forced. I won't deny that she has a good voice but she needs to lighten up a little. Anyway, she was not too bad tonight with Corinne Bailey Rae's Put Your Records On.
I was really disappointed with Didi Benami because she's one of my favourites, but she sounded quite terrible singing Lean On Me tonight. If she was some other contestant then it wouldn't so bad but it's Didi and we're expecting the best from her!
Moving on to Michelle Delamor, with the weirdest song choice of the night - a ballad version of Creed's With Arms Wide Open. Ummmm I didn't think it was that bad but it was definitely a weird rendition of that song. Not the best performance of the night, but not the worse either.
Lilly Scott. What the heck, my mum liked her version of A Change Is Gonna Come. I mean I liked it too but I can't help but think of Adam Lambert's version since I've listened to that one about like a million times already lol. Quirky and unusual, that's Lilly Scott and it worked. The judges loved her and she's still my favourite contestant so, keep up the good work Lilly!
Katelyn Epperly surprised me again tonight, by singing a slower version of Coldplay's The Scientist (and the original version's already slow enough man). Randy and Ellen thought that it was too slow but I actually loved her performance. Best vocals of the night for me, thought the judges were a bit harsh on her. Oh and she played the piano quite well too.
Paige Miles (finally I remember her name!) wasn't too bad this week either. I can see why the judges think that she has the best vocals - she kinda sounds like a mixture of Kelly Clarkson and Allison Iraheta. She sang Kelly Clarkson's Walk Away, and actually managed to change it up a bit in a way that worked well with her voice.
Siobhan Magnus got what we AI fans call the 'Pimp Spot' (meaning last to perform so that the audience will find her easier to remember) and she ended the show with an Aretha Franklin song - meaning booming big voice and super-high-impossible-to-reach glory notes...and she nailed it! The high note anyway, the rest of the song was a bit underwhelming but with Siobhan no one will give a damn. See? I told ya she's like the female Adam Lambert! If there's a high note to hit, she'll damn well hit it.
I liked - Crystal, Lilly, Katelyn and Siobhan. Disliked - Haeley (PLEASE PLEASE just send her home AI voters), Didi (a disappointment!)
That's all for today, four more contestants will be going home tomorrow - best of luck to my favourites and hopefully Haeley WILL leave us this week.
(I said I'd keep it short and simple, but I guess it's still pretty long and complicated haha...mission failed! =P)
So the guys performed tonight instead of the girls because Crystal Bowersox was hospitalized for some complication with diabetes. Poor girl, I hope she's well enough to perform decently tomorrow.
Anyway, on to the guys. I'll just summarize each performance in a few sentences to make it easier. Let's start with -
Michael Lynch aka Big Mike. First to perform. And for the first time in God knows how many weeks he finally performed, if you get what I mean. Easily the best peformance of the night (not the best vocal performance though), even though he was the in 'Death Spot' for the night. Got 4 thumbs up from the judges too. But did he deserve that standing ovation from Randy? HELL NO.
Alex Lambert. Well, he was definitely more confident this week but he still needs a lot of work. He sang John Legend's Everybody Knows, and he sang it well too. Okay, so Alex may not be the best vocalist of the bunch but something about his voice just kinda appeals to me (and to quite a lot of the American audience too it seems). Like what Kara said, you can't help but root for him cos he's just so nervous and lovable somehow.
Lee Dewyze. Okay I'm actually ranking them and as far as I'm concerned Lee Dewyze was the third best tonight. However, his voice has this strange whiny quality to it, and every time he sings a low note it gets all squeaky and pitchy. That's right people, he's out of tune when he sings LOW NOTES what the heck. At the rate he's going, he'll go through the entire pop-rock band catalogue. And enough with the David Cook comparisons. They're not that similar.
Aaron Kelly. Er, weird song choice but at least he sang it well. Simon was being unnecessarily cruel to him. Hey, at least give him some credit for the great vocal performance all right? No need to throw him under the bus this early.
Andrew Garcia. Oh boy. Andrew's really going downhill. His performance wasn't that bad, but it was nowhere near fantastic either. The judges are not impressed with him at all, and I've always thought that he's overrated anyway. His situation now is the result of high expectations and undeserved praises. Definitely this season's Danny Gokey. I'm afraid his fans will be ditching him real soon...
Casey James. Ouch. Kara actually over-criticized her boytoy. Gee I wonder why. Dear ole Casey sang Gavin DeGraw's I Don't Wanna Be with his electric guitar and um, I don't really know what to say about his performance. He concentrated so much on his guitar playing until he totally forgot about singing well. The judges were right about him this time. Another case of complacency.
Todrick Hall. I blame the judges for this. They've always been supportive of contestants rearranging existing songs and making it their own but when it comes to Todrick, nothing he rearranges ever works for the judges. Remember Adam Lambert and Kris Allen's outrageous rearrangements? So maybe not all of theirs worked either but at least the judges appreciated their effort. I may not like Todrick, but I do feel bad for him. That being said, I'll have to admit that Todrick's 'artistry' kinda sucks. Horrible rearrangements week after week. It's still the judges fault for giving contradictory advice though.
John Park. Ah, the Korean dude. Boy is he boring or what? So he actually has a good voice - unfortunately he has ZERO charisma. And that will be the death of him. Even if he doesn't go home this week, he will not last for long.
Tim Urban. Slightly better than last week, but still quite bad. Sorry Tim, you can't sing that well but it looks like the teenage girls will be voting for you based on your good looks. And that about sums it up. Also, I thought Ellen was a bit cruel to him, telling him to consider acting as a career instead (she suggested Glee! Of all things!). Ouch.
Last and definitely the least...
Jermaine Sellers again. Okay fine, he's just awful week after week. Bad vocals, bad rearrangements, horrible attitude. Technically he has quite a decent singing voice but he does not know how to use it AT ALL. He's either trying to hit the high notes (key word TRYING) or sleep-talk through the rest of the lyrics. Please just send him home already!
(I'm ending this abruptly cos it's late, and I have classes tomorrow so I'm going off now.)
