A Whole Lotta Talent

Currently Listening To: Jun K. - Alive

I don't even know how to start this week's review because...there wasn't a single bad performance today and it's incredibly difficult for me to come to terms with the fact that one of them will be leaving the competition tomorrow.

Unfortunately, no matter what someone WILL have to go tomorrow and I think that someone should be...

Deandre - Sometimes I Cry by Eric Benet
Honestly, I'm a big fan of Deandre. I love his voice, I love his falsetto but unfortunately one can't sing in falsetto all the time because it just won't do, not with this year's talent pool. Deandre sang exceptionally well but the song choice was a bit...disconnected from the audience. And he didn't quite connect with it either. I don't think teenagers would be inclined to vote for an Eric Benet song, no matter how well it was sung.

Hollie - Jesus Take the Wheel by Carrie Underwood
Another one who didn't inspire me with her song choice. I mean come on, you're singing Jesus Take the Wheel, a song that's suppose to be inspiring AND it is also a former Idol winner's song so...what are you suppose to do with it? Knock it out of the park! Hollie didn't do that. And she went off pitch a few times. If Deandre is staying then I think she should be going home.

Colton - Everything by Lifehouse
There was nothing wrong with his performance, it's just that...it lacked something. Something really big. And on top of that, I don't quite like the tone of his voice. It's kind of whiny, and it gets on my nerves. I definitely won't be listening to any of his studio recordings, thanks to the tone of his voice.

Skylar - Gunpowder and Lead by Miranda Lambert
Hmmmm a difficult performance to place. It wasn't half bad, Skylar delivered the song with a lot of spirit, but the vocals could have been better. She nearly went out of breath a couple of times, and was a bit screechy too. Nevertheless, still a solid performance. Still very consistent. Might be a little forgettable though...

Heejun - A Song For You by Donnie Hathaway
AI's resident balladeer is back. He really loves ballads doesn't he? Vocally it was much better than last week, and better than quite a few of the other contestants too. Too bad about his diction though, he really REALLY needs to work on his pronunciation (or maybe he should just sing one of 2AM's ballads ROFL). Other than that, it was a pretty solid performance in my opinion. Does he deserve to stay over Hollie and Skylar? I really don't know. Maybe, but I like all of them equally so...it's difficult...

Joshua - Without You by Mariah Carey
Before this, if you had told me that a guy could sing Mariah so well, I would have laughed my head off. Joshua...wow. I definitely wasn't laughing when I was watching his performance. Very, very impressive vocals! He was almost perfect, if not for what I thought was a dull song choice for a a great night like this.

Phillip - Still Rainin' by Johnny Lang
I loved his performance, seriously. Just perfect for him. In fact, every single song that he has chosen so far really complemented the tone of his voice. I like the tone of his voice as much as I like Heejun's. His biggest problem is that his song choices are all pretty much the same, and the way he delivers his performances is more or less the same too. Now I don't mind that too much (since that's the reason why I like him) but the audience might not think the same way. Maybe, just maybe. But why bother when he'll be safe anyway? He's a dude and he's cute!

Jessica - Sweet Dreams by Beyonce
I loved the song arrangement. Very nicely done, Jessica. Vocally perfect, only losing to Elise in terms of spunk I suppose? She sang beautifully, the harp worked extremely well with the arrangement and it gave the whole song an oriental-ish feel. Loved it loved it loved it!

Elise - Whole Lotta Love by Led Zeppelin
I still prefer Adam's version of it, but Elise was wonderful as well! Excellent song choice, and a great way to end the show. With a very loud BANG. Everyone else chose what I would call, 'safe' songs but Elise...well Elise chose to rock the stage. And she did. A much better rocker than Colton and Phillip put together.

I really don't know who deserves to go home this week! All of them were relatively good, including the bottom trio of Deandre, Hollie and Colton. Not a single bad performance! They were all above average, and you know what that's what this show is all about! Makes it slightly more difficult for voters though.

Who should go home this week: Deandre

Who will be going home this week: Heejun/Deandre/Hollie

Some food for thought: Colton should totally sing Laura Marling. Heejun should definitely do some 2AM ballads. Phil should take a leaf out of Heejun's book and sing any old ballad. And Hollie? Please just stay away from them big old ballads.

EDIT - Results:

Sigh Heejun is out of the competition. Even though I think it's fair enough for him to leave at this stage, I will still miss him. All the best Heejun, have fun on the tour.

And Another Week

Currently Listening To: Neyo - One in a Million

Ah yes it's Billy Joel week, and how did our fair contestants fare? Not too bad I suppose, save for a few of them especially....

Deandre - Only the Good Die Young
Oh boy. What can I say. Mark Salling sang it better? That was quite a disastrous performance, to be honest. I mean it didn't sound bad, but the song did not suit him and there was no life in his delivery. Sigh Deandre, please pick better songs if you survive or else you'll be going home and I will not be sad at all.

Heejun - My Life
It may not have been a great performance, but I'm with J.Lo and Randy for this one. Disagreeing with Steven completely. It was entertaining, and he actually sounded pretty good despite of his prancing around. Or should I say in spite of? My opinion anyway. Dude really does have a nice tone. Even when he's out of tune he sounds...pleasant. He would have sounded pretty awesome if he had just stood and sang the song. And Steven didn't look that pissed off, what's with the whole Steven vs Heejun threads in idolforums? I think the fans are the ones who should lighten up.

Hollie - Honesty
Ouch, she went out of tune a few times so...she wasn't as good as usual. Not so great but still...better than some of the others? And Tommy...what in the world is your definition of dressing young? Like a business woman? What's up with her outfit? She looked even older than last week! *facepalm*

Erika - New York State of Mind
Nice vocals, unfortunately I don't think she has much of a fanbase. Lovely song choice too. And the makeover Tommy Hilfiger gave her? Very interesting. From a blonde to a...Glambert lookalike? Hmmm...

Joshua - She's Got a Way
I guess his voice probably saved him because the song was pretty dull. And quite unknown. Don't know what to say about it except that it was nowhere as good as last week's performance.

Skylar - Shameless
I think she's easily the most consistent contestant this season, and slightly underrated. Although she never stands out (thanks to girls like Hollie and Jessica), she does deliver solid vocals - every single week without fail, and you know what? That's a good thing. Kinda like Scotty last year. So far she has yet to make any bad song choices, and that's working in her favour too. Also, she is so mature for an 18 year old O.o impressive. I don't even like country music and yet I'm rooting for Skylar! Go Skylar!

Colton - Piano Man
I didn't quite get the hype about his performance. Yeah he was good and he sang with a lot of conviction, but it wasn't completely perfect. A little shaky in the beginning, got better as he progressed though. Enough with the hair Colton, individuality or not, it looks pretty bad.

Phillip - Movin' Out
Ooooh I loved that! It was exactly what I wanted from him so yeah, I'm a happy Phillip fan this week! Very awesome song choice, and he looked cuter than usual LOL. Kudos to him for proving Tommy wrong about the colour grey. He looked extra hot in grey on grey, and I'd vote for him anytime if I could.

Jessica - Everybody Has a Dream
Technically perfect, a little empty on the delivery. I felt like she wasn't completely connected with the song, but she did sing it extremely well. Second place for me tonight due to Elise's powerful and emotional delivery.

Elise - Vienna
Another female I'm fully supporting! That makes 4 - Hollie, Jessica, Skylar and of course, Elise. Elise was so awesome tonight, just like she was last week and two weeks ago. Excellent song choice, and she sang it well, plus it was unlike anything else that was sung this week. And thank you Randy for giving credit when credit is due.If she's in the bottom 3 again this week, I will be throwing something at the TV for sure.

One word to sum up this week's performances - strange. Heejun's performance, VOCALLY, wasn't all that bad but he's getting a lot of flack for his sense of humour. Jessica sounds great, but is getting a little boring. Deandre...is falling apart. Erika is somehow extremely forgettable no matter how good she sounds, which is sad by the way. And Elise? I don't know, I really hope she'll be getting enough votes this week cos it sure seems like she ain't that popular. Come on Elise fans, please vote more. I'm counting on you!

Who should go home this week? Deandre

Who will be going home this week Sadly, I think it's gonna be Erika.

EDIT: Results

And I'm right, Erika gone. Sigh I know she's a good singer but if she can't get enough votes almost every week...well. Sorry about that Erika.

P.S: OMG I didn't know Only the Good Die Young's about sex ROFL. That makes Deandre's performance even worse...

Top 12 - wait no, Top 11 performs

Currently Listening To: Florence + the Machine - Never Let Me Go

Yeah you read the title correctly, only 11 contestants performed today. Why? Well it's a long story, more about that later. Let's go through the 11 performances first, starting with...

Shannon - One Sweet Day
What's with Shannon and big songs? This girl tries way too hard and fails every single time. Granted, she hit more notes this week but it was still boring and mostly a waste of time. WHAT DO YOU MEAN SHE DID A GOOD JOB JUDGES?? Did they have ear plugs on during her performance or something? Also, SHE DOES NOT LOOK 16! They should have asked her to come back next year or something.

Heejun - Right Here Waiting
Eugh not only was that not good, it was actually painfully dull and uninspiring. It didn't sound 'pitchy' to me but definitely he did not sound good with that song. Bad song choice, if he wasn't so popular I'd think he'd be in deep trouble.

Deandre - Endless Love (SERIOUSLY? DUDE'S ONLY 17 YO! GEEZUS)
Oh man another bad song choice. I mean, come on who the hell chooses Endless Love for a 17-year-old kid?? Poor thing, thanks to the song selection, he might be in danger. Why did they choose it for him? #&$%&

Jessica - Turn the Beat Around
Pia Toscano syndrome? She didn't sing it that badly but the performance wasn't as good as her ballads. Stupid song selections, why didn't they provide better songs for the contestants?? Didn't suit her voice at all, don't know if she'll be safe.

Phillip - Hard to Handle
Now that was an interesting one, at least that gave the show a pretty good start cos the performances that came after that were snoozefests. The song suited him and he sang - no, growled it well enough. A good week for Phillip.

Erika - Heaven
Hmmm okay that was a tough one. Even though she sounded good, there was just something about it that sounded...robotic. And she tried to do a little too much with the song.

Colton - Broken Heart
I'm not really a big Colton fan, but that was really nice. I liked the song choice, and I liked the way he sang it. I hate his hairstyle though, he looked like a skunk or something. Not a very good look there Colton.

Skylar - Love Sneaking Up On You
Week after week she delivers energetic and enthusiastic performances. Is that a good thing? Definitely yes! I don't usually like them country girls but Skylar's an exception. Her voice is powerful enough and girl is the only one with great stage presence. And kudos to sticking to your own song choice!

Elise - Let's Stay Together
I'm glad they saved her last week, otherwise we would have missed this awesome performance by Elise. Good job girl, you've risen to the challenge well. Please continue to choose songs that are suitable and then rock it on stage.

Hollie - The Power of Love
That was an excellent song choice, Hollie is what Shannon wishes she could be - a vocal powerhouse. Hollie is definitely Jessica's strongest competitor in the vocals department, and this week she was infinitely better than Jessica so...if there's only a place for one of them, I'm not sure if I'll be voting for Jess, honestly.

Joshua - When a Man Loves a Woman
Wow that was impressive! Very nicely done, great vocals and he blew the crowd away I believe. Excellent job Joshua, here's hoping the voters will you remember now.

So back to the missing contestant in the list - Jermaine. Well, he was kicked off the show because he has 4 active warrants out for his arrest. And why the hell did they record a video of them breaking the news to him and then show it on the live show? Very insensitive.

Don't know if they'll be eliminating anyone tomorrow but if yes, I hope it'll be Shannon

EDIT - Results:
Shannon's gone! It's about time. Given more experience she would have done better, but since she's 16, there are still other opportunities for her.

The First Goodbye

Currently Listening To: 2PM - Ultra Lover

First results show of Season 11, and the result wasn't really unexpected. As for the show itself, I'm impressed, the group performance was not lipsynced and yet the contestants did a good job on it! Very nice.

Lauren Alaina performed a very forgettable song (was that her single?) while Mary J. Blige was awesome.

The bottom 3 girls and guys were:

Elise
Erica
Shannon

Jermaine
Jeremy
Joshua (WHAT?)

Like I said, not entirely unexpected. The bottom girl was Elise while the guy was Jeremy, and the judges sent Jeremy home. I don't think either of them deserved it (come on America get rid of Shannon and Jermaine!), but I'd rather have Elise in the Top 12 than Jeremy so yeah...goodbye Jeremy.

I wonder what's the theme for next week...?

The Wonder of Houston

Currently Listening To: F.T. Island - 신사동 그 사람

Oh wow. By far the most impressive Top 13 in 11 seasons. Again, there were no trainwrecks, the worst of the lot was just mediocre so yeah, impressive. Anyway, the ladies and gentlemen of American Idol sang Whitney Houston and Stevie Wonder respectively, with Jimmy Iovine back in the coach's seat and Mary J. Blige as the guest coach. BTW Mary's an excellent coach, they should definitely bring her back more often. And for once, the judges actually gave some semi-honest feedback instead of glossing over everything. Let us begin the countdown with...

Shannon - I Have Nothing
Classic example of trying to do too much. She could have hit those notes but she didn't. I know she was nervous but I don't think that's a valid excuse for a Top 13 show. With so many good contestants this year, you'd definitely have to stand out and nail your performance, and she didn't. Still, it wasn't that bad. Other than the off notes, she sounded pretty solid.

Jermaine - Knocks Me Off My Feet
Okay so it wasn't a bad performance, it was just extremely dull. Although he sang it well, there wasn't any connection whatsoever with his song choice. He should probably stick to ballads though, I just can't see him singing any other genres...

Elise - I'm Your Baby Tonight
Again, she didn't sound bad but oh my god the song choice. Whattup with that gurl? Haley sang it last year and I didn't like it. Well I still don't like it. Probably one of Whitney's worse songs. Very, very bad song choice.

Colton - Lately
I don't really have any opinion about his performance. It was just bleh. Wasn't bad, wasn't great, didn't show off his voice and the song was quite boring. Not my favourite Stevie song for sure.

Joshua - I Wish
Honestly the song wasn't that bad and he sang fairly well, but that song didn't do anything for his voice. Might not be safe this week...

Erica - I Believe in You and Me
When she started singing I wasn't looking at the TV, so I thought it was one of the guys singing. When I finally looked up, I was surprised to see Erica on the screen. Seriously, I am not joking, that girl has a really deep voice. Another boring song choice in my opinion, but at least she sang it mostly in tune.

Phillip - Superstition
What can I say? Siobhan Magnus sounded a lot better. That's about it. I mean I like the guy and the performance was okay but...something about it didn't feel right. Not his best week.

Deandre - Master Blaster
Oooooh Deandre. Now that was an interesting performance. Can't say it was great, but it was definitely entertaining. Very interesting song choice for Deandre, nice falsetto as usual. And was Steven or Randy who called him a male Naima?? That was one WTF comment.

Skylar - Where Do Broken Hearts Go
She was no Pia, but did a pretty good job with the song I think. A few shaky notes, slightly nasally as kindly pointed out by J.Lo, no other major issues with the song I guess? It just didn't stand out much for me.

Heejun - All in Love is Fair
Wow I just can't get over the tone of his voice. It's so...soothing and romantic somehow. And it has nothing to do with the fact that he's Korean I swear >.< ANYWAY the song choice was pretty expected, though it wasn't perfect he still sang it well enough.

Jeremy - Ribbon in the Sky
Very nicely done Jeremy. I wasn't expecting that at all so I was pleasantly surprised. Like Randy said, that wasn't his best but still pretty solid I think. Nice vocals, don't know if there'll be anyone voting for him though.

Hollie - All The Man I Need
Girl can really sang! Very impressive vocals, very nice song choice and she looked really pretty too. There were some parts where she looked and sounded quite uncertain, but overall good job Hollie! Like J.Lo I'm kinda rooting for her to win this year.

Jessica - I Will Always Love You
Excellent vocals as usual, but I do wish she'd tone down on those vibratos a little. It's a bit distracting to end almost every sentence with a vibrato so yeah, less of that and she'd sound even better I think.

There's a slight twist for the elimination tomorrow. Instead of the contestant with the lowest votes going home, they will be choosing between the girl and the boy with the lowest votes and sending only ONE of them home. To ensure that there'll be at least 2 girls in the Top 4? Hmm...

I'm really, really loving the contestants this season. I'm like, I can't decide who to discard! I don't know who should go home tonight, if I had my way it should be Shannon but she really ain't that bad. Plenty of room for improvement. OMG. I wonder who will go home tomorrow...stay tuned to find out.

A to Z Reading Challenge (2)

Currently Listening To: Adele - I Found A Boy

(UPDATED)

Saw this in another blog:

A to Z Reading Challenge

How does this reading challenge work? Choose the option that works best for you...

Authors -- Read alphabetically by author. Commit to 26 books.
Titles -- Read alphabetically by title. Commit to 26 books.
Authors & Titles -- Commit to reading 52 books

Challenge Accepted!

A: Amulet of Samarkand (Bartimaeus trilogy) by Jonathan Stroud - Perfect, I just finished reading that a few days ago. (Completed Oct-15)
B:
C: Catching Fire (The Hunger Games trilogy) by Suzanne Collins (Completed Mar-20-12)
D: Drowned Ammet by Diana Wynne Jones (Completed Jan-30-12)
E: The Earth Hums in B Flat by Mari Strachan (Completed May-17-12)
F:
G: Golem's Eye (Bartimaeus trilogy) by Jonathan Stroud (Completed Dec-17)
H: The Hunger Games by Suzanne Collins (Completed Mar-19-12)
I:
J:
K:
L:
M: Mockingjay (The Hunger Games Trilogy) by Suzanne Collins (Completed Apr-2-12)
N:
O:
P: Ptolemy's Gate (Bartimaeus trilogy) by Jonathan Stroud
Q:
R:
S:
T: Twenties Girl by Sophie Kinsella (Completed Dec-7)
U:
V: Virgin Earth by Phillipa Gregory
W: A Wizard of Earthsea by Ursula K. Le Guin (Completed Feb-23-12)
X:
Y:
Z:

American Idol Season 11: Top 13

Currently Listening To: 2PM - Again and Again

My Astro decoder died so I couldn't watch the results show. Oh well.

Anyway the 13 finalists are:

Girls
Jessica Sanchez
Hollie Cavanaugh
Shannon Magrane
Skylar Laine
Elise Testone

I predicted correctly!

Boys
Phillip Phillips
Heejun Han (I sense further bromance)
Joshua Ledet
Colton Dixon
Jermaine Jones

Not bad, I'm a bit surprised by Heejun and Jermaine though. Amazing.

Wildcard
Randy's pick - Erica Van Pelt (YEAH RANDY! I knew it. My prediction's 100% correct)
J.Lo's pick - Jeremy Rosado (Good job J.Lo)
Steven's pick - Deandre Brackensick (YES! Love you lots Steven)

Oh my god. I actually predicted all the 13 contestants correctly this time, with the exception of Chase.

You know what, the top 13 this season seriously rocks. Thank you judges for being fair!

A Glimmer of Hope

Currently Listening To: Adele - One and Only

Maybe it's finally time for a female to win the Idol title because the girls were INDEFINITELY better than the guys tonight. Even the worse trainwreck wasn't as bad as Eben. Perhaps, just perhaps, the curse will be broken in 2012.

It's easier for me to rank the ladies than the gentlemen, so here it goes.

At the bottom of the pack is Haley Johnson, who gave the most random and out of tune performance of the night. I mean, it was just totally all over the place and a little bit manic? Don't know what that was and I don't wanna know. It's not that she had a bad voice, she just...didn't do anything positive with it. On the bright side she's really pretty?

There was a lot of hype about Baylie Brown during the auditions but I didn't see any of that on the stage tonight. Girl was just flat throughout the whole song. She tried too hard, her voice was shaky, the song choice was terrible...I don't know. She does have a pretty good voice, unfortunately she did not utilize it well. Please don't vote her in just cos she's pretty America. Ain't gonna work.

Chelsea Sorell (who?) wasn't very impressive either, and the fact that she performed first and got zero screen time previously didn't help either. Unimpressive vocals although she actually has the chops. Mostly because of the song choice I guess? She might be singing country music, but she does not have the country-ish voice. Definitely not going through.

I had high hopes for Hallie Day, but she fell short of mark somehow. There was nothing particularly wrong with her voice, it just that she didn't sound quite right. Something was missing...Feeling Good is not exactly the easiest song to sing and let's face it, Adam Lambert nailed it.

Shannon MaGraine is this season's Karen Rodriguez for me. Again, there's nothing with her voice and she actually sounds pretty good when in tune but there were way too many off notes. Plus, she gives off this pageanty vibe just like Miss Karen from last season. Don't like her at all but the voters might. Here's hoping that she won't make it over other more deserving girls...

Next we have Brielle von Hugel, the precocious brat of this season. Didn't think she sounded that bad, but errrr yeah she's annoying. Can't stand her. A very dull song choice for a young girl like her. Not my cup of tea. (And omg her mother. Frightening woman)

Jen Hirsh was another frontrunner that I didn't get, and today's performance confirmed my thoughts. She does have a pretty voice, and sang Adele's One and Only quite well, but there was nothing impressive nor memorable about it. Will she make it through? I doubt it.

My top 5 of the night:

Erica Van Pelt, she surprised me too. Very strong vocals, but I didn't quite like her song choice. She sang it really well though, don't know if America will vote for her but I definitely hope so, she deserves it.

Hollie Cavanaugh was another pleasant surprise. Very, very powerful voice, unfortunately marred by her nerves. She needs to get over her stage fright before she gets eaten up alive by the other contestants.

Skylar Laine is like this, much better version of Lauren Alaina. Better attitude, better vocals and a lot less pageanty, despite the prom dress she was wearing. Great song choice, it showed off her range and she worked the stage well too.

To me, Jessica Sanchez is the best female vocalist this season so I really hope she won't end up like Pia or Thia. Judging from online polls though, it looks like she has a lot of supporters so she's safe for now. Excellent song choice, fantastic voice control and she looks great too.

Elise Testone was the biggest surprise of the night for me. She sang the same song as Jen Hirsh, only she sang it A LOT better. That's the reason why I'm putting her at the top instead of Jessica - the unlikely frontrunner who got almost zero screentime but ended up with the very first pimp spot of the season. Very well done!

Who I think will make the Top 5: Jessica, Elise, Skylar, Hollie and Shannon

Who I want to make the Top 5: Jessica, Elise, Skylar, Hollie and Erica

And with that we're done with the Top 24. I take back my words, I am VERY excited about this season based on what I've seen so far. Can't wait to see the Top 12, definitely looking forward to next week.