Top 6 and Duets + Results

Currently Listening To: Lykke Li - I Follow Rivers

It's another good week for American Idol, with Carole King as the theme. Nobody sucked cos at least the songs are guaranteed to be good, right? Also, for some weird reason, they decided to pair the contestants up and make them sing duets. A good way to fill up the 1 and 1/2 hours I guess? Better than random fillers.

The worst performer of the night was definitely Lauren. Girl has no soul whatsoever. She sang the theme song from Gilmore Girls, I think. And um, it wasn't good. She wasn't really in tune, and she obviously did not feel the song at all. I like that she is trying to spread her wings a little but honestly, she IS too young for the competition. Out of so many 16 year old girls who made it to the Top 12 (or 24), Lauren is definitely one of the more immature ones. Too emotionally fragile, and therefore not ready for the stage.

Jacob's performance wasn't bad. It just wasn't very good compared to the other four. If anyone other than Jacob or Lauren goes home tomorrow, I swear I'll scream and rant on every single American Idol forum I can find! Dude's just not killing it. Better than Lauren, but still way off.

Casey was all jazzy again, and I liked it, didn't love it. Casey's deal is...well, he's not very mainstream now is he? His last 'mainstream' song choice (Harder to Breathe) was very strange. I can't decide whether I like him or not. Oh well, there's always...

Scotty! Excellent performance for our resident country dude. Whatever the song was, it wasn't very country and it worked for him. I prefer Scotty when he isn't singing country. His voice may be perfect for country music, but he actually sounds better when he's singing something else. Maybe a little R&B or rock next week? That'll rock my socks off!

I'm officially on the Haley train now. Loved her song choice! Very unusual, and it really suited her voice. She looked absolutely gorgeous too (Steven agrees with me, HAH! Does that make me a dirty old man then?). Haley Haley Haley! Seriously, if Haley's in the bottom 3 (or eliminated) tomorrow, I will scream and rip someone's hair off.

*cough*It looks like I'm in the mood to scream...maybe I'll be the next James Durbin/Jacob Lusck.*cough*

Anyway, despite my sudden devotion for Haley...I'll have to say that James gave the best performance tonight. Mostly because he stopped screaming/screeching/wailing unnecessarily (he didn't quite hold back for his duet though), and actually sang a good song, with an unusual arrangement. Kinda like David Cook lite I guess? It was good, and I actually enjoyed listening to his performance for once. (Also, the studio recording of Uprising is good! -Almost- better than the original. And I don't like that song).

Did I forget something?

Oh yes, the duets.

Duets hmmm. I guess Haley and Casey's duet was the best, they look so good together. And they sounded good together too.

Lauren and Scotty's duet fell flat, unfortunately. Scotty was better than Lauren, I'm not sure what's up with Lauren but she's drifting off the Idol stage for sure. Her individual performance wasn't good, and neither was her part in the duet so...I hope she'll be in the bottom 3, if not eliminated, tomorrow. Sorry Lauren, I think your time is up.

James and Jacob's duet was...odd, to say the least. What on earth was that? The Odd Couple live on the Idol stage? (I'm pretty sure Steven hated that performance LOL) Lotsa screaming and two boys behaving like kids drunk on rock and roll...alright, I admit it they looked like they were having fun.

P.S: Crystal Bowersox is performing on tomorrow's result show! And Bruno Mars! I'm actually excited for the results show!!!

...

Oh snap, the royal wedding is tomorrow so I guess I'll be watching the repeat for the results then =/

Edit: Results

I suppose I should be screaming now cos Casey's gone instead. Oh well...I'd rather him go than Haley so yeah, no screaming.

And it looks like Jimmy Iovine threw Haley under the bus. I only have two words for the AI producers (Nigel Lythgoe, to be specific): F*** you!

Waiting...

Currently Listening To: Fleet Foxes - Ragged Wood

It's almost time...

Just a little over a month left...

Can We Send the Judges Home, Please? + Results

Currently Listening To: Adele - Rolling in the Deep

I'm serious. I've had enough of them, even J.Lo. Send all of them home, and we'll judge the singers ourselves. What's the point of employing three mindless goons, Nigel Lythgoe? Screw them and save some money!

Anyway. The theme this week is 'Songs of the 21st Century', and it's another drab night.

So I don't know who was worse - Scotty or Jacob.

Scotty - Now that was almost awful. Not a swingin' performance dawg. Totally. Not. I don't know about everyone else, but I think he really needs to step it up. Doing something non-country would be interesting, but we all know he won't be doing that so at least put some effort into your performances, Scotty. Just do it. Otherwise you will find yourself in Pia's shoes. (Then again she got a recording contract. Why not just give up eh Scotty?)

Jacob - Yawn. Boring. Geez. I guess he should be the one going home since Stefano actually sang with -some- soul this week.

James - Look I know people like his enthusiasm but that incessant screaming has to stop. Especially if the screaming is NOT in tune. Good lord he was screaming like someone stepped on his stupid scarf-tail or something. The entire performance was just mumble mumble sing SCREAAAAAAM mumble mumble sing SCREAAAAAAAAAAAM. Honestly I'd give him a B for effort and D for execution.

Casey - I think Casey kinda lost his mind by the end of the song. WTF with that kiss? A sudden peck on the cheek for J.Lo, courtesy of Casey! It started off good but ended up really strange and awkward.

Stefano - Dang it! I wanted him to go home but he pretty much nailed it this week with Neyo's Closer. I thought it was a solid vocal performance, but his antics during Haley's interview package kinda got on my nerves.

Lauren - Well well, Lauren was just...Lauren I suppose? Not very impressive but it was pretty decent compared to the others. Pretty vocals but without any real emotion (as usual). And you know what, her mother looks younger than her! That's sad, Lauren. Real sad. Great for her mum and all but for Lauren? Yeah, she's 16 not 40.

Haley - Haley wins the award for the best song choice and best vocal performance of the night, thanks to her rendition of Adele's Rolling in the Deep. Good job for choosing something current and then totally rocking the song. I wouldn't say it was perfect, but she was definitely better than everyone else this week. Sadly, it looks like she's gonna be the under-the-bus candidate this year. She WILL be criticized and thrown under the bus regardless of her performances so yeah. GET RID OF THE DAMN JUDGES ALL THREE OF THEM.

Right now I can sum up the season in three words - I MISS KRADISON! =(

EDIT: Results

STEFANO'S GONE! *celebrates* okay so he didn't really deserve to go home this week but...he's gone! YAY.

Another Night of Mediocrity + Results

Currently Listening To: Secret Episodes (Rekishi Hiwa Historia OST) - Yuki Kajiura

I should be doing my Retail Marketing essay right now, but let me get this out of my system first:

Welcome to American Idol without Pia Toscano!

This week's theme is a theme that I seriously detest - Songs from the Movies. (For crying out loud, NOBODY chooses good songs for this theme EVER. Except maybe Adam Lambert...)

Definitely not one of my favourite Season 10 nights. Like every other Movie theme night from previous seasons, the contestants failed to choose songs that are at -least- interesting (I think Casey and James came close, but not close enough).

And so we begin...

...with Paul, dear lord. So he has two rose suits - one in white and another in black. Seriously. Get rid of those damn suits Paul! They're quite ugly. If Steven Tyler digs your outfit, and you're a guy, it means you have no fashion sense k? SOMEBODY GET HIM A STYLIST! Oh wait, I should be talking about his singing! I wonder why I forgot...maybe it's because...he didn't sing well? America, if you have any heart, please just send this guy home.

Next on the chopping block would be Stefano. Try as I might, I just can't get into this guy anymore. I feel sorry for him, I really do. I mean, he looked really nervous and awkward on the stage and he sang decently, but his song choices are killing me. If Pia was eliminated because she was boring, then Stefano should have been eliminated like 3 weeks ago. So what's the difference between him and Pia? Oh yes, he's SAUSAGE and she's not. Right.

Again, Haley failed to deliver, and got 'heavy' criticism from the judges. I say heavy because NOBODY ELSE received any criticism even when they deserved it (ahem Paul). Compared to the criticism from any other season however (unbelievable! Just a few weeks ago I would have said this season's judges rock), this is like...what, a small prick? Performance wise, it was pretty out there. Kinda like Steven when he's drunk. I didn't think she sounded bad, maybe just...unprepared and a bit all over the place. Poor Haley, she's getting the Pia treatment according to crazy Idol fans. Will their predictions come true? I guess we'll find out tomorrow...*cue horror music*

Our country darlings Scotty and Lauren gave rather uninspired performances this week. I don't know what to say. Vocally, both were decent and well, in tune, but I don't know. They kinda fell flat for me. Nothing different, nothing interesting. Scotty's song choice was super boring, and that almost made him as bad as Stefano, while Lauren did a credible job with Miley's The Climb. Unfortunately, it had no punch so Kelly Clarkson she's not. Sorry kiddo. But it seems like both of them have the most fans (Or so I read from idolforum's NGH)? That should keep them quite safe.

So Jacob, he was safe last week, even though he made a really stupid comment. Did he redeem himself this week? I would have to say...sorta? It is one of his rare controlled performances, and he sounded good enough but geez, Jacob's wearing me out at this stage. He looked quite nervous himself, on the stage and off. At least he didn't oversing this time? Oh well. To quote Michael Slezak from tvline.com: If Jacob ends up in the bottom three this week, it won’t be because he sang the song badly, it’ll be because America didn’t want to look into the troubled water and see their own reflections.

I know most people prefer James' performance over Casey's tonight, (judging from Slezak and NGH) but I beg to differ! I loved Casey's song choice! I like how he disagreed with Jimmy Iovine (the music director or whatever) and his why-is-he-there-sidekick Will.i.am, and stuck to his own choice. I mean seriously, Phil Collins? Pfftt. Good job Casey! Loved that jazzy arangement! And the song sounded awesome. James? Well, he screamed his way through his 'heavy-metal' song choice and apparently it sounded really good to everyone else but me (I think).

Is there anyone who agrees with me? Casey Abrams over James Durbin this week?? Leave a message!

P.S: I really am curious to know why Will.i.am is always there beside Iovine? Are they using his recording studio or something? Or did he blackmail Nigel Lythgoe to keep him on the show?? Insane. I demand an explanation!!

EDIT - Results:

NAILED IT! Bottom 3 as predicted, with the correct person going home. Goodbye Paul, see you again on some cruise ship somewhere.

Unbelievable

Currently Listening To: Haley Reinhart - You've Got A Hold On Me

Thanks to the American voters (most probably silly teenagers and horny middle-aged women), Pia Toscano is no longer a contestant on American Idol.

Screw it America don't you know how to vote??!! $#%*@

Edit:

And for God's sake America stop blaming the judges.
If you wanted her in you would have voted for her all right?
The judges may be guilty of being lenient, but they are in no way directly responsible for ANYONE'S exit. Stop blaming others and blame yourself for not voting, PERIOD.

I can't get over the looks on Stefano and Jacob's face when Ryan announced who was going home. They were just shocked. I bet they're not feeling very good about being IN the show now, those two. DARN IT!!

Rock & Roll? I Think Not...

Currently Listening To: Emiliana Torrini - White Rabbit (Sucker Punch OST)

I seem to be disagreeing with a lot of the reviewers tonight? I normally don't fancy Lauren that much, but didn't think she did that badly this time O.o

Anyway, welcome to another night of American Idol.

The theme was 'Rock & Roll Hall of Fame', but sadly the night wasn't rock & roll for me at all. In fact, I think this is my least favourite night so far mostly because I did not like the song choices made by the contestants.

Lemme start with...

Jacob. I think this is unanimous. He was the first to perform, and the worse too. Dull song, and I'm pretty sure he missed most of the notes he was suppose to sing. On top of that, he was being an arrogant brat. I mean, I get it he's singing 'Man in the Mirror', but to actually say what he said in his introductory video? Just. Bad move. He's better than Paul vocally, but right now I wouldn't mind if he goes as long as it's a guy.

Stefano never recovered from his fall from grace...he has been mostly -sucking- for the past few weeks and I don't think he's ready to take any risks whatsoever to keep his ass in the competition. Another lacklustre ballad from the former frontrunner. It's not gonna do him any favours, honestly. Right now I'm just waiting for America to get tired of keeping him IN the competition...

I was really hoping for Haley to rock this night but she did not. Rock the night I mean. Sure it wasn't that bad, and I liked the song choice. Unfortunately she was shouting her way through the song. A bit harsh on the ears...my mum was complaining about her in fact, so...yeah. I'm sure the studio version will be awesome though. She always sounds good in the recorded versions.

As for Lauren...well, when I first watched her performance, I liked it and I thought it was one of the better performances tonight. Then I saw some other reviews and re-watched it...and then I kinda got what they meant by lack of emotion. It's true, the girl has bad taste in songs and 'Natural Woman' is probably the last song she should have chosen this week...cos she sure wasn't a natural on stage. The song is just way too old for her. And what about her outfit? It made her look like a 40-year-old hooker and she's SIXTEEN for heaven's sake. From what i heard, Gwen Stefani styled the contestants this week. What was Gwen thinking? She needs to stay away from their wardrobe.

Casey delivered another solid but rather safe performance. It's nice to see him with that upright bass again. Somehow it makes him more complete. Less growling, more singing and no weird antics. Plus, he just seems like a really nice guy. I'll never forget his face when he was almost eliminated two weeks ago...that was genuine emotion and my heart really went out to him then.

Paul on the other hand, chose an interesting song and more or less rocked out (darn it! He was my pick for elimination) the idol stage. However, I can't help but sigh when I hear him sing. Dude just doesn't have much of a voice. It's a bit frustrating.

I don't know about Pia but um 'River Deep, Mountain High' is not exactly the most upbeat song ever. Seriously, it's better than those boring ballads she has been singing for the past 5 weeks or so, but really it is not as funky as she thinks. Let's face it...Pia is amazing but she is also EXTREMELY boring. Also, for the first time in the competition, her vocals for this song wasn't perfect. Not a good thing if she's gonna falter when she sings songs that aren't ballads...and J.Lo is right, Pia needs to work the stage. She's being called a 'pageant queen robot' and that's not good.

James and Scotty, I can't decide who was better. In fact I didn't think they were that great or memorable either but at least they were more interesting than the others. James finally did something other than a full-on rock song and Scotty was Elvis, and he sounded convincing! I was actually impressed with Scotty's voice (not the performance - now that was cheesy).

I have a problem with James' voice though. There's just something about the quality of his voice. At first listen, you'd think about comparing him with Adam. When you really listen to him sing (not scream) though...his voice comes off as a bit weak and thin, sadly. Not quite like Adam after all. Listen to his studio recordings and you'll notice it too. Without the noise, he just isn't that great so...I don't know. Can't seem to get into him. Well at least he's enjoying himself eh?

We're moving on to the Top 8 and I still don't have a clear favourite at this point. I'm inclined to Haley or Pia, but both girls have very glaring flaws as well. It's hard for me to decide...I don't fancy any of the other contestants. They're all quite good but uh, nobody is trying anything different. No David Cooks, no Adam Lamberts/Kris Allens, not even a Lee Dewyze (mediocre, fairly unknown, but surprisingly popular).

I can just sum it up five words: I DON'T CARE WHO WINS as long as it's not Paul or Jacob. Seriously.


Listen to this for a much better version of Natural Woman.

It's Happening Again

Currently Listening To: Thia Megia - Daniel (Studio Version)

Thia and Naima were sent home this week, and Paul joined them in the bottom three. Once again, I can't say I was surprised with the results (my predictions were wrong though!).

And with that, we're left with 6 guys and...3 girls.

Seriously! I think the 3 remaining girls are better than the 6 guys, but with America...who knows? Lee Dewyze won last year, yet Crystal Bowersox was the frontrunner all the way through.

Will history repeat itself (for the fourth time)? Or will the 6 guys drop like flies starting from next week? Honestly, I don't think any of the guys deserve to win except for maybe Scotty or James.

I don't think Haley is as good as Lauren or Pia, but she's growing on me for sure! I love the studio recordings of her songs, and she actually sounded better live for Bennie and the Jets. Amazing. Three/four weeks ago I was complaining about her being in the Top 13, and now I'm supporting her! Talk about changing lanes...

Anyway, I think Naima deserved to be booted out since she was way off this week, but Thia was actually decent this time around. She should have left like...three weeks ago, at least she deserved it then. I found the studio version of Daniel very lovely, even though her live performance wasn't that impressive.

Oooh on another note, they got rid of the group performance for this results show! Lauren and Scotty sang a lovely duet (am I the only who thinks that they'd make a perfect country couple?), and naturally it was a country song. Naima and Jacob sang another duet, which wasn't that good. The remaining four guys (James, Paul, Casey and Stefano) performed as a group, but it wasn't that great (it was bordering on horrible actually). Same goes for Pia, Thia and Haley's rendition of Teenage Dreams - a bit too cheesy, that one.

And what was up with that Jamie Foxx/Will.i.am performance? Now that's what I call a trainwreck. All dazzle and nothing else. Fantasia's was pretty good, she may not have been my favourite for Season 3 but that girl still sounds good now. Her appearance however, not so much...

Anyway, this week has been a good week for Idol...nice performances, no -complete- disasters, the right (sorta) people went home, a positive change for the results show...hopefully next week will be just as good! (Personally, I think it's time for Paul to leave the show.)

P.S: I kinda like Fantasia's new song O.O