Battle of the Country Darlings + Results

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

The American Idol Season 10 finale is finally here, and it is...*drumroll* a Country-fest, courtesy of Wittle Wauwen (Lauren Alaina) and Scotty McCreery (otherwise known as Mr. Baby-lock-them-doors)! Are we excited or what? I know I'm not but what the heck, it's still fairly entertaining to watch.

Let's run through the performances chronologically again, where Scotty won the coin toss but allowed Lauren to choose the performance order, and she chose to go second. So we're stuck with Scotty first.

Round 1 - Reprise

Scotty chose to sing Gone from the Top 5 night, and I guess he sang it well? It's a fun song, not one of the boring country ballads so I suppose it will work in his favour. Vocals, check. Stage presence, check. Is that good enough though? Honestly I don't know, I thought he had it in the bag but after hearing the both of them sing...I'm not so sure anymore.

Lauren's choice was Flat on the Floor, one of her better performances in my opinion. I think she sounded better the first round though. She sounded pretty breathless again, but she had more spirit this time so that too will work in her favour. After all, it's The Chosen One Wittle Wauwen. All that pimping - I'm really worried for Scotty now. It's VERY obvious they want Lauren to win, and they're not beating around the bushes about it. Lauren had a problem with her voice, boohoo, but she's all ready to sing, says the American Idol doctor so no problem there!

Was that even necessary? Yeah? The answer to that question is NO. Hella no. The bus is coming for Scotty and it's travelling at almost-full speed...

Moving on to Round 2 - Idol Hopeful's Idol's choice

Ah yes, I don't know who George Strait is but apparently he's Scotty's idol and he chose a song for Scotty to sing. Check Yes Or No is the title of the song and um...well, that's a really sad title. Check yes or no for Scotty this round? I'm gonna go with...maybe no. It was not a bad performance, but like Scotty's many other performances, it was boring. Whattup man? Choose a better song for the poor boy Mr. Strait! Or did you get the memo for the bus...? The bus is speeding up...

Lauren's idol is Carrie Underwood! Why am I not surprised? At any rate, Carrie chose a really nice song for Lauren, Maybe It Was Memphis. It suited her voice perfectly and guess what, Lauren actually sang it very well. Oh dear. Bad news for Scotty...will his gigantic fanbase save him from the unstoppable Lauren train????

Ding ding ding Round 2 goes to Lauren...hands down. And I don't even like her.

Ready for Round 3?

Here we go. Round 3 - Their first single!

Scotty my dear, that song title is gonna kill you. Love You This Big sounds like a song a little 5 year old kid would sing! Who wrote that song? Why that title? I think Love You This Much would be a much better title. Don't you think so? Anyway, the song wasn't that bad but it sure wasn't catchy. I really wanted Scotty to beat Lauren, but that is definitely going to be be an uphill battle for him. What with the song choices, and the way they're pimping Lauren...he's gone I tell you, gone...(please surprise me tomorrow America, PLEASE! I beg you T_T)

As for Lauren, well, she got a song that will win her casual votes for sure. Like My Mother Does is going to be Lauren's first single if she wins and guess what? It's a Kristy Lee Cook song! I'll be posting a link after this whole thing, read it and you'll see why that whole Kristy thing is soooo important. All right, back to the song. I really won't call that singing, cos the entire performance was a pimping session for Lauren. Song that will touch the audience, check. Lead her to her mother (led by Ryan Seacrest! Zomg), check. The endless praise for Lauren no matter what happens, check. Oh geezus. OKAY fine, I'll be fair, the song was not too bad but that was definitely not Lauren at her best. But who cares? She was wearing prom dresses! She sang to her mother! She cried! Her mother cried!!

What did Scotty do? Well yeah he sang too, unfortunately he did not get any pimping. The judges already named Lauren their idol, so what else is left?

I have to admit that Lauren sang better than Scotty tonight but er, the thought of her winning just pisses me off. Why? Because I don't want the bloody producers to get their way! All that manipulation - it's disgusting I tell ya! Thanks to them, I actually miss JAMES (of all people!) and of course, Haley (robbed! ROBBED!). They should have been the final 2 dammit.

Sigh.

Read this for some fun info and of course, the Kristy Lee Cook curse!

Idol Superstitions

P.S: I was looking forward to David Cook's performance, but meh. That wasn't very good. David dearest sang well but the song? Yeah, the goodbye song that plays in the background when someone gets eliminated? That song. Doesn't sound good at all. Poor David, please do more covers of Rolling In The Deep if those are the kind of songs you're stuck with, k? Oh and Taio Cruz sucked.

P.P.S: Holy shit all the way to the Top 2, and not a single pimp spot for Scotty! That's the end of the pimp spot myth I guess. It doesn't work hahahahaha. Yeah.

P.P.P.S: Oh oh read this review! It's a good one, cos he was actually in the audience. So yeah.

A Review by NGH from idolforums

~.~

Please don't read this section if you don't want to be spoiled.







Scotty won!








Best news ever. (Why am I happy? He's not even my favourite!)

Take that Nigel Lythgoe! Looks like the bus got de-wheeled and de-roofed.

122 million votes. That is insane!

The Prophecy has been fulfilled! All hail Kristy Lee Cook!

And seriously, Lauren fans? Scotty was pimped? Please. He may have been given a free pass for boring performances but no way in hell was he pimped, okay? Lauren was, and all that pimping pissed off other fanbases.

On the bright side, I love the attitudes of the contestants.

It's pretty obvious that they all get along.

However, now I'm worried about his single...Love You This Big sucks even more than No Boundaries.

I must have missed it, Scotty kissed Lauren romantically? On the lips?? Serious???? Holy crap.

American Idol Top 3 or Country Week Redux? + Results

Currently Listening To: Didi Benami - Rhiannon

With the exception of Led Zeppelin, there seems to be a theme for the Top 3 night - Country. What on earth? I mean I'm expecting that from Scotty and Lauren's personal picks, and also the judges (plus Jimmy Iovine's) choices for them, but for Haley too? That's not fun man, no variety in the music genre. Thankfully all three contestants had their good and bad moments so I guess that evens it out a little.

I'm just gonna go with this chronologically.

Contestant's Choice

Scotty McCreery - Lonestar’s Amazed. I like the song and I thought Scotty did well with it. Then again it's not that difficult to sing. Still, it's a pretty boring song so I don't think it was suitable for a semi-finals performance. And it took Randy about like 10 weeks to finally give some sort of criticism to Scotty about his pitch. Whattup with that dawg? He had pitchier moments in the past and Randy did not have any comments about those moments.

Lauren Alaina - Faith Hill’s Wild One. Oh man that was a pretty bad one. There was just something off about her vocals. Now that I'm reading other reviews, I guess it was a problem with breath control. She just sounded tired and the performance was uninspiring. J.Lo gave a raving review as usual, but to me it seems like she didn't really believe in her own comment. Sad for you J.Lo. And I used to think she was a good. Sad really. -1 for Lauren.

Haley Reinhart - Led Zeppelin’s What Is and What Should Never Be. Now that was a perfect performance for a Top 3 night! Haley rocked the stage with her DAD. Oh yes, they allowed her dad to play the guitar for her. Vocally she nailed it, and she just seemed so happy to be there, on the stage with her dad. And I liked how she dealt with that trip, just continued on as if nothing happened. You go girl.

For once, the judges were actually quite fair with their comments. They should have commented on Lauren's breath problem though. The poor girl has not gotten any feedback about that, and it's gonna cost her something. I can tell Randy was aware of that, but he didn't say anything about it and commented about her having fun instead. Well Randy, it's a singing competition, fun or not she still has to sing well. Anyway. Round 1 goes to Haley for sure!

Jimmy Iovine's Choice

Scotty - Thompson Square’s Are You Gonna Kiss Me or Not. Oh wow he nailed the vocals and it sounded beautiful. As you might have noticed, I'm not really a Scotty fan but that was an excellent performance by Mr. Baby-Lock-Them-Doors. Jimmy Iovine made a great choice with that song.

Lauren - The Band Perry’s If I Die Young. She kinda lost it half way through the song. The first half sounded great, but then I guess she got caught up with the depressing lyrics and just...drifted away until she forgot the lyrics or something. She stopped, there was a blank, and then only did she continue. AND the judges (especially J.Lo) skirted over the issue, and J.Lo went around praising her for forgetting herself. Seriously?? If Haley did that, she would have been torn to shreds.

Haley - Fleetwood Mac’s Rhiannon. I loved that wind thing. It made her look absolutely stunning. Loved what she was wearing, and her earrings! Beautiful. However, her performance wasn't that beautiful. Mostly because of the song choice. I love that song, Rhiannon and I love Haley, but she was just okay. Didi Benami sang it so much better last year. I still get chills thinking of HER performance. Too bad for Haley, that was a tough song to sing (darn you Iovine!). Randy seemed okay with it though, get this - he actually bantered with Haley without being mean! Incredible. And poor Haley just looked relieved that none of the judges were bussing her this time around.

I'll give credit when credit is due - Randy finally stopped picking on Haley. New note from the Mr. Nigel Lythgoe? Stop dissing her, it's backfiring! And now he seems genuinely okay with Haley while I get this weird sense of dislike from J.Lo, despite her friendly-cheery facade...with that, I'll have to say Round 2 goes to Scotty.

Up till now it's pretty fair huh? Haley won Round 1 (the judges agreed unanimously) and Scotty Round 2. Moving on to Round 3...

Judges' Choice

Scotty - Kenny Rogers’ She Believes in Me. Not a bad choice from the judges. Suited his voice. It was just okay though, nothing great. Again, not very encouraging for the semi-finals. Are they trying to bus Scotty now? Or so I've read from other review sites (we have some really paranoid fans this season). Honestly I doubt they're actually doing that, it just didn't work out that well for dear Scotty. LOL at Steven's deja vu comment though, really funny. I think he was just being Steven Tyler, the REAL Mr. Nice (not Miss Lopez. Or should that be Mrs Anthony?).

Lauren - Lee Ann Womack’s I Hope You Dance. NUTS OF WONDER OMG. Scotty should have sang this song instead LOL. So J.Lo declared her the winner of this round before Haley's performance. Whaaaaat. That wasn't very nice, coming from the supposed Miss Nice. Maybe it was because she knew that their song selection for Haley was meant to sink her? Rofl there goes the conspiracy theories again. I swear I did not come up with that, read it somewhere in Idolforums. Like I said, paranoid fans. Personally, I thought that was Lauren's best performance of the night. For once, she had some control of her voice and sang with real spirit. The prom dress she was wearing distracted me though...she looked like she just walked out of Glee's set for the Prom episode.

Haley - Alanis Morissette’s You Oughta Know. #$%@ that's a hard song to sing man. Haley totally lost the verses. All I heard was mumble mumble mumble, and it was NOT in tune. At least she nailed the chorus, it sounded great. But the song as a whole? One of her worse performances. Loved the way she delivered the chorus, hated the verses. Not her fault though, the judges picked a hard song for her to sing and she still made it through the song with high spirits and a big smile on her face. The good thing is, once again the judges were being quite fair. I guess they thought they could bust her with a hard song and watch her die, but she didn't quite...die. Conspiracy? I'm beginning to believe it.


I think Round 3 goes to Lauren. Scotty was boring, and Haley was...fighting demons. At least Lauren more or less nailed her song. J.Lo did not look happy when Randy was giving Haley a thumbs up for the choruses. Steven looked delighted, but J.Lo?? She had this 'DRAT she nailed it' look on her face. I'm telling you, watch this video and you'll see it. Of course she said something nice (she had to, Nigel pulled the brakes on the bus), but that look on her face? Not very...friendly. I'm starting to have second thoughts about Jennifer. Seriously.



Who's gonna win this damn thing? Honestly, I don't know. I don't really mind who wins, but Haley and Scotty deserves it more than Lauren, based on their performances all season long. Lauren will be fine even if she doesn't win. She'll get a recording contract with Nashville and they'll market her like there's no tomorrow. Scotty is a bit tricky, since he seems to sing only old school country. But hey, if Garth Brooks can do it then so can Scotty. Haley? I love the girl, and I want her to win. But will she? It depends on America I guess. Most reviewers think she's going home tomorrow. Sad but potentially true. Here's hoping for the odds. Fans of Haley, I hope you voted enough.

P.S: One thing bothers me - Scotty has yet to get the pimp spot. By pimp spot, I mean the last to perform. If he goes home, then he would have lost the chance to do so. I can't remember if Lauren closed the show before, but I think she did. Correct me if I'm wrong.

Edit: Results

Looks like we're getting a country finale after all. Haley's gone =(
It's sad but well, not unexpected. I say good luck to Scotty and Lauren. Not sure if I'll be watching the finale though. I don't like country music at all, and a third round of country night scares the shit outta me.

First time I don't have a favourite in the Final 2 since Season 6 (oh wow Haley was Melinda'd!) but errrr honestly Jordin and Blake were a lot better than Scotty and Lauren. Scotty will probably win, and he should over Lauren.

So it's almost ending...

Currently Listening To: Fleet Foxes - English House

We're down to three contestants now, and what we have is one bluesy-singer sandwiched between two country darlings.

Yes that's right, HALEY REINHART IS IN THE TOP 3 TO WIN IT Y'ALL!

I'll have to admit I didn't really see that coming, thought she'd be the one booted out instead of James. It's a bit sad for James because Scotty was the least interesting performer this week so yeah...still, it's better than Haley (who deserves to win!) leaving. Honestly, I do feel bad about James...his exit was mainly due to the incompetent judges not giving him good advice, and criticism when he needed it. Instead, they decided to throw another contestant under the bus and got the voters into a voting frenzy for that bussed contestant. Sucks for both of them.

Anyway, an analysis of the Top 3:

Let's start with Lauren. I'm gonna assume that Lauren is still the 'chosen one', cos she's been performing pretty well lately and to top that off, she seems like a really nice albeit naive girl. It was nice of her to defend Haley and call out the judges for not being fair. At least the girl has balls! (Can't say the same for the other dudes).

So what is her advantage? A decent voice, the Barbie-doll looks and obviously her singing COUNTRY music. America loves that (look at Taylor Swift, Lauren can sing circles around that chick. With her voice, surely she'd do better?). However, I think some Lauren fans are pretty delusional. Look, the girl can sing and all, but really she hasn't been that great. She didn't really get any criticism, okay? They gave her ONE advice and she made a face. Haley got trashed REPEATEDLY and THEN ONLY did she make a face. See the difference? On a side note, I actually like how she sounds in the studio recordings. Out of all the contestants, Haley and Lauren have the best recording voices, so go girls!

Two country singers in the Top 2, fancy that. I suppose Scotty is more country than Lauren? He'd do better if he varies it a bit. All those country ballads are boring me to tears, and those cheesy country songs are just disastrous. He needs to find some sort of a balance. Who cares though, no matter what he does, he'll be safe anyway. That's a conclusion we've all come to.

As for Haley, well Haley. I don't know. One part of me wants her to win while the other part is just glad that she made the Top 3. If she doesn't do well next week, and is eliminated, I won't be sad. I'll be proud of her for overcoming all that ridiculous bussing and proving them wrong. It's obvious that the judges don't like her that much, so I doubt she'll be receiving any sympathy from the judges...Steven might not be rude to her, but I get a feeling that he's not exactly her biggest fan.

It's really strange though. Before they entered the Top 12, the judges were all over Haley. When she oversang (I seriously hated that performance, was actually pissed off when she made it through), they were completely delighted and declared their love for her. When she started to improve, they just criticized her to no end.

I don't mind them criticizing her if she wasn't good, but they should do the same to the contestants when they suck too. Not praise them to the skies and then diss just one contestant just cos you're not suppose to support her (that happened to Pia too). I guess they were afraid that her progress would be a threat to one of their chosen ones (well it backfired, James is gone now...)

Looking back on the results show from yesterday, I think J.Lo DOES like Haley, but Randy hates her and Steven is just indifferent I suppose. All I have to say is, poor Haley for the double standard. It sucks to be in her position, and for that reason alone I WANT HER TO WIN.

Also, this is the first year with two female contestants in the Top 3 in a long, long time. The last time it happened was Season 6, I think. Jordin, Blake and Melinda right? Here's hoping Haley won't get the Melinda curse...BEST OF LUCK HALEY, please kill it next week! You have my support.

Damn It

Currently Listening To: Lady Gaga - The Edge of Reason

My blog entry for the American idol Top 4 is gone dammit.

Will blog about the results later today - James is gone! *celebrates*

Top 4: The Judges Suck

Missed the show earlier, so only watching now.

James - Don't Stop Believing. Lea Michele and company sang it better. It wasn't bad but it wasn't great. As usual, the judges praised him for something that did not deserved to be praised.

Haley - Earth Song. Interesting song choice, she sang it pretty well in my opinion. However, J.Lo and Randy basically just ripped her apart. It may not have been great, but those criticisms from J.Lo and Randy were uncalled for. Poor girl looked like she was about to cry. Normally I don't support contestants talking back, but she did the right thing. Love her attitude, I would have punched the judges in their faces. Thank God for Steven's support!

Scotty - Where Were You (When the World Stopped Turning). Hmmm he sang about Jesus. Not sure how I feel about that, but he sang it pretty well. He should be receiving some criticism about choosing boring songs but whaaat Randy's praising his LYRICAL choice WTF. WHAT ABOUT HALEY SINGING ABOUT CARING FOR THE ENVIRONMENT? THAT'S NOT A GOOD LYRICAL CHOICE???? CAN I PUNCH HIM IN THE FACE PLEASE PLEASE PLEASE??? AND J.LO'S IN LOVE WITH HIM! I WANNA PUNCH HER TOO. Bloody hypocritical jackasses!

Lauren - Anyway. Her best performance in weeks. And she actually reached for that high note. Good job Lauren, at least she's showing more balls than Scotty for Round 1.

Round 1 goes to Lauren, surprisingly!

~.~

Haley - I (Who Have Nothing). Loved the dress she was wearing. Didn't really love the song, but I thought she sang pretty well. Oh so now they're giving her a standing ovation
for a performance that wasn't so great. WTF?? At least it earned her a 'SHE'S IN IT TO WIN IT!' from Randy-Jackass. I'm sorry Haley, but the second round 'praises' sounded disgustingly fake.

Scotty - Young Blood. That sounded like a drunk uncle performance. What on earth Scotty? This season's cheesiest performance. Is he trying to be Taylor Hicks? I mean, I know that dude won but where is he now? Yeah? BAD MOVE SCOTTY (but he'll be safe anyway so who cares =_=) And you know what? The judges praised the damn performance. Where's Simon? I want him back.

Lauren - Trouble. Dear Lauren, please scream at the stylist cos you look like a freaking bag lady! Awful outfit. Aged her about 50 years. She looked like Tina Turner on a bad day. Boring performance, but vocally it was good. Once again, she reached for that high note! Good job again Lauren.

James - Love Potion No. 9. CHEESY CHEESY CHEESY. Love Potion No. 9??? Are you serious? On the bright side he sang in tune - most of the time. INDULGENT ENDING. Hated it. A moment every single week? Seriously Randy Jackass? Delusional as well as rude. Screw it Randy.

Round 2 goes to Lauren again, with Haley a close second.

Darn it, Lauren's rocking it this week! Haley wasn't too bad, but her song choices were a bit dull. Scotty was definitely the weakest for me this week. Either him or James should go home this week, but I doubt they will. The girls are in danger =(

Also, I love how the previous Idol contestants are standing up for Haley! Thank you Adam, Michael Sarver, Allison and David Cook. Let her haters know that you love her too! Lauren too, she stood up for Haley.

P.S: I don't think I can't stand James anymore. Something about him ticks me off badly. Asperger's or not, he's annoying.

American Idol: Top 5 + Results

We've hit the Top 5 of American Idol Season 10!

The remaining five contestants sang two songs each, and what was the end result? Why, there were some impressive performances while some of them faltered. Horribly.

There's no doubt as to who's the worse of the night:

Jacob Lusk

What more can I say? His first song was Jordin Sparks and Chris Brown's No Air and it SUCKED. No other word can describe that trainwreck, honestly. Horrible from start to end.

At least he sang his second song choice pretty well...that is, until the screaming started. Sounded like some cat wailing, and the judges PRAISED it. Like seriously. What the hell? I wanted so badly for Simon to scream at Jacob 'STOP BEING INDULGENT YOU MORON!'.

Moving on to...

James Durbin

For sure he did not live up to expectations. I have no idea why he chose those songs. 30 Seconds to Mars is not exactly the best choice one can make for a competition, and he made that dumb choice. Very mediocre.

Then, he decided to go all emotional on the American Idol audience with a tearful rendition of 'Without You'. Vocally it was weak, and I couldn't understand what he was singing. Sorry man, I don't wanna be mean about a performance that he was so emotional about, but that performance was -almost- painful to listen to.

Scotty McCreery

Both song choices were boring and bland and country, so yeah, that about sums it up. Anoop Desai's version of Always On My Mind was waaaaaay better than Scott's. I doubt Scotty will be in trouble, but he should be worried.

Lauren Alaina

I thought Little Lauren was pretty good tonight. At least the songs she chose suited her? Vocally strong, but her eyes were like blank. I kept thinking 'BARBIE!!!' whenever they zoomed in on her face. She really is like a chubby blank Barbie...

...so that leaves us with...

Haley Reinhart
Haley! Oh gosh, Haley. The last contestant I felt this excited about was ADAM LAMBERT, and that was two seasons ago!

Haley rocked the stage. Her rendition of 'House of the Rising Sun' gave me goosebumps, seriously! Absolutely stunning performance, that was. She got a standing ovation, and she damn well deserved it!

Okay, so she sang an unreleased Lady Gaga song first and got negative responses from Randy and J.Lo. Steven was unperturbed though, he loved it although he had never heard the song before. Let's hope America agrees with Steven? Cos she SLAYED that song! Her vocals for both songs were spot on! Hard to believe that I used to be anti-Haley, she has improved so much over the weeks and I think she deserves to win the competition. Or at least, get second place. The runner ups seem to do better than the winners anyway...

I really hope Jacob will be eliminated tomorrow. Sorry but the other four contestants are way better than him, even with drab performances (ahem Scotty). Please vote wisely America! Don't give us another Chris Daughtry moment.

P.S: I got a new toy to play with today gahahaha! Samsung Galaxy Tab ftw!!

EDIT: Results

Jacob's out! Finally. Was afraid he'd make the Top 4. Poor Lauren was in the bottom two and she bawled. Honestly, I think she should be going home next week....

Helplessness Blues

Currently Listening To: Fleet Foxes - Grown Ocean

I think I'm in love with Fleet Foxes now.

There's just something about their songs. Very haunting.

Thanks to Grizzly Bear, I've become a fan of indie folk music, and also Fleet Foxes. I can't remember how I discovered them, but it is definitely a good discovery. I loved the songs from their self-titled first album and the Sun Giant EP - lovely songs with meaningful lyrics and the wonderful harmonization of their voices. Not to mention the haunting, lilting melodies of their songs.

Anyway, their second album Helplessness Blues just came out today and I've just finished listening to it.



Track Listing:
01. Montezuma
02. Bedouin Dress
03. Sim Sala Bim
04. Battery Kinzie
05. The Plains / Bitter Dancer
06. Helplessness Blues
07. The Cascades
08. Lorelai
09. Someone You’d Admire
10. The Shrine / An Argument
11. Blue Spotted Tail
12. Grown Ocean

As far as I'm concerned, it's a beautiful album. Loved most of the songs. Without a doubt it's the best album I've listened to so far in 2011. Lykke Li's Wounded Rhymes is a close second (I will be reviewing that later).

Ratings: 9/10
Recommendations: Bedouin Dress, Sim Sala Bim, Lorelai, The Shrine/An Argument, Grown Ocean