Tuesday, July 17, 2007

CI Review, 2007/07/17

Tip for everyone: If you sing to the audience in the balcony, you aren't connecting with the voting audience on the other side of the television cameras.

A very ho-hum evening for the most part. Very few people came to win.

Dwight

He came to win but I've come to the conclusion that he just doesn't sing very well, which is a shame. So it was pretty intelligent that his profile highlighted his muscles and rough, tough occupation. It is with a big red face that I must admit I voted once purely for the fisherman hotness.

Khalila

I was looking for a bit more angst during the performance, but generally I thought it was a smart song choice and that she sang it well. It's just that I agree with Zack that I'm not sure 'nice' and 'mature' - which the performance certainly was - is going to electrify people enough to vote.

Carly Rae

The band was too loud. I could barely hear her voice. And there was an essential clash of SOMETHING - her style and what she tried to do with the song, perhaps? I'm not sure. All I know is that I just didn't like her as much as I usually do. Plus her skirt was too short - seems like she's imitating Haley Scarnato's "if you can't wow 'em with your performance, show off your legs" strategy. (Ick.) I'm with Zack, I didn't get it. Also, she needs to trim her bangs.

Brian

How many takes do you think they had to do before they got him actually catching that football? ;) Anyway...I thought he sounded great, but he missed getting the right emotional connection with the song. (Hint: "permagrin" is not the correct emotional connection, dude.) But to my surprise, I found myself voting for him three times. Oh, and by the way, EVERY Idol in the history of Idolness should pay attention to Zack's advice about moving around the stage with an actual purpose. Thank heavens someone finally said it!

Mila

Again, the band was too loud. The arrangement didn't showcase her voice enough. As always, singling out one audience member was totally lame-o. Her outfit was bad. And generally it was very karaoke.

Jaydee

Why am I not surprised that the senior demographic loves him? On the other hand, I bet the tween girl demographic also goes gaga for Jaydee. At any rate, this was the closest thing to a star that we've seen up to this point in the evening. As cheezy as the oldie vibe was, I was definitely entertained. I am also seriously disturbed about how good-looking I'm finding someone who's less than half my age. Yeesh. I voted for him ten times.

Greg

Vote for the Worst is going to have a FIELD DAY with Greg's manic wiggles tonight, but I thought the performance was really good. Someone finally showed up to really win. I agree with Jake that the intensity was great. I voted for him ten times.

Martha

One painful note aside, damn, I actually had to vote for the voice three times. I also have to admit that her style/intensity is improving.

Tara

She really doesn't do a damn thing for me and frequently her voice goes right off. Ouch. I have no idea why she's still here.

Matt

He started out great and very groovy. This could have been a pretty spectacular performance, actually, but it felt like he kept getting distracted from his focus here and there. Also, it wasn't strong vocally at every moment. But it was a very smart choice and I was certainly entertained. I voted for him eight times.

Wednesday, July 11, 2007

CI Review, 2007/07/10

I think Zack was on crack when he said all the girls were 'in tough tonight'. Did he watch the same show I did? By and large - and especially compared to the guys - it was a very ho-hum evening. What I'd like to do is keep all the guys, or maybe just ditch Brian, and keep only three or four of the girls, because there are not many of them that belong in the top ten, I tell ya. Sheesh.

Annika

Ouch. Oh, my poor ears. Okay, yes, that performance may have been free and natural as per the judges' opinions, but MAN! Vocally it was a total train wreck. I can't believe the judges thought she sounded good. I thought she sounded painfully bad.

Khalila

I thought the buildup to the end was well done. She didn't completely nail the vocal gymnastics she was going for, but she was close enough that I still think she sounded great. She also has a maturity on stage that I find very appealing. I voted for her four times.

Carly Rae

Head and shoulders above the rest of the pack this week. I do cringe when she turns on the 'sexy' because it clashes so very, VERY badly with her ingenue, elfin vibe. But aside from that I thought she was great this week.

Tara

Argh, she is sooo fake and politicianish in the spontaneous banter! ARGH! Cannot. Stand. It. However, I must admit it was her best-sung and grooviest performance yet, although it lost momentum towards the end. I'd still love to see her gone off my television screen, though. And did she honestly call Ben BENNY at the end of her slot? Yeesh.

Montana

Okay, I love Montana, but this week - no. Bad song choice. Her voice sounded week and the performance didn't blast the way we've seen the past two weeks. I absolutely think she should be top ten, but not based on that performance. I'm kinda worried about what the voting public will do. But I voted for her twice anyway because of what she's shown in previous weeks.

Martha

Okay, Martha, 'showing your joy' does not equal 'smiling and never stopping'. The permagrin means nothing if there's nothing behind it. Admittedly, it did get more real as it went on. Plus, the juxtaposition of the song and her broadway style didn't work for me at the end. But the girl really can sing, so I voted for her once.

Mila

I still find her personally repelling, but unfortunately for me, that spilled over into her performance this week. She sounded fantastic, but the obnoxious aura turned me off and the soft porn rolling on the piano was icky. However, I love her voice and her soul so I voted for her four times anyway.

Conclusions

I am hoping against all hope that we say goodbye to Annika this week. I would LOVE it if Tara could join her, but that so ain't gonna happen. I think, to my sorrow, it's actually going to be Mila - the voting public seems to be completely oblivious to the fact that she is awesome and keeps putting her in the bottom three, so I think this week her ride will be over. Either that or Khalila.

CI Review, 2007/07/09

Crap, crap, crap. Woke up this morning to find that my computer had lost power overnight, and everything I'd written about the guys was gone. Crap. Oh, and again...crap.

Let's see what I feel like recreating...

Matt

Of course Matt is the powerhouse voice among the guys. He did go back a bit this week to overusing the vibrato, but it wasn't too bad. I thought the performance was sweet and classy. The boy doesn't have much 'voom', but his voice and style are unique among the competitors so I think he should be in the top ten. I suspect Canada will feel the same way, especially since he comes across as so goshdarn nice.

Greg

Very solid. Very real. Not hop-out-of-my-seat electrifying, but I can't imagine that he won't sail through.

Tyler

I wasn't sure whether I liked or disliked what he did this week. It started out without his usual totally cool Tyler vibe...but then got better later on. He ditched the melody of the song, which I love...but he sounded good anyway. It was too growly...but I think he made it work by dipping occasionally into his Elvis voice. So it definitely wasn't my favourite thing from Tyler, but I still really like him.

Liam

Great voice. Shallow performance.

Jaydee

I'm with Zack. This is so far away from the kind of stuff I like that I can hardly comment on it. But I have to admit that it did work for him, even though it seems no one ever listens to me when I tell them to stay the hell away from the audience! So cheezy! Augh!

Brian

You know, I like Brian's voice, but even though he's been sort of pegged as a 'rocker' in this competition, there's just something way too 'boy band' about him. And the 'trueness' of his voice is not always reliable.

Dwight

Zack finally hit the nail on the head as to what is missing from Dwight's performances: charisma. It's been driving me nuts trying to figure it out, but that's it. The guy can rock, the guy can sing...but he's missing that spark of rockstar charisma so essential to his style, and I don't think he's winning the country over as a result.

Predictions

Greg, Tyler and Jaydee aren't going anywhere this week. I think Brian is gonezo, and unfortunately I suspect Dwight won't be far behind.

Tuesday, July 03, 2007

CI Review, 2007/07/04

The guys outclassed the girls this week.

Martha

Okay, scads better song choice for her this week. Josh Grobin is much more up her alley than Aerosmith (I still can't believe she did that) and it made her far more accessible to people. And of course her voice is terrific. I voted for her once on the strength of her voice.

Tara

Her performance was slightly more meaningful than last week (not saying much, that), but still, it never really got off the ground until the end. Plus it was vocally iffy in spots. Meh.

Naomi-Joy

She really thinks she's all that, doesn't she? Like, every moment she's on stage, she exudes this feeling of "I am a PROFESSIONAL, people! I know what I'm DOING! All I need to do is get discovered and I will be UP there with the likes of Celine and Whitney! Now where's my trailer?" But the reality is that she drained everything out of that song that I love about it without even sounding all that good. And this is twice now that she's received that kiss of death, "You look great."

Carly Rae

I cannot believe that singling out an audience member actually kind of worked. (I am, incidentally, hoping that Andrew was allowed to go back stage to change his pants during the next commercial break.) I really like her. Her joy on stage is great and the performance was fun. Her voice is a little annoying because of its girly quality, but hopefully she'll choose songs that turn that into a plus. I voted for her eight times (I meant to do seven, but I accidentally pressed redial one too many times.)

Scarlett

Bland. This was a very bad song choice because the song didn't highlight the strengths of her voice at ALL. It did get a bit better towards the end, but all in all it fell kinda painfully flat.

Montana

Her moves are so ridiculously outlandish, I should be laughing my ass off at her. But I LOVE it! She ROCKS! I love how into it she gets. Rock ON, girl! She's so damn cool and so the real deal. I voted for her twelve times.

Mila

I admit, I cannot listen to this song anymore without laughing because of the images it conjures up for me of Donkey singing it in Shrek. But! That aside, I love having someone on this show with real soul. She owns that stage. She's a pleasure to watch and listen to. I cannot BELIEVE she was in the bottom three last week, I think the rest of the country must be on crack. I voted for her twelve times.

Annika

First off, she suffered tremendously in comparison to the performance that preceded her. Mila has soul (which is an absolute prerequisite to perform this song) oozing out of every pore. Whereas Annika has no freakin' clue. There was no soul whatsoever...but plenty of hairbrush-in-front-of-the-mirror vibes. Yeesh. But hey, at least she had fun up there.

Khalila

Well, the strut was cheezy but she sure can sing, and she does come out as a 'lead singer' type when she's up there. But I agree that the song choice didn't do much for her. Nevertheless, I voted for her five times.

Top of the pack: Montana and Mila
Very good: Carly Rae
Decent: Khalila and Martha
Kinda painful: Tara, Naomi-Joy, Scarlett and Annika

Personally, I'm gunning for Naomi-Joy to hit the skids this week.

CI Review, 2007/07/03

Guys were pretty darn good last night! I was entertained.

Tyler

You always gotta kind of cringe at songs where it's mostly just one line repeated over and over again...but hey, he pulled it off. What can I say, I like the dude, he exudes the real deal and evokes Mick Jagger in a serious way.

Jaydee

I'm trying to figure out why I'm not retching all during his performances. I mean, the kid is as fresh-faced as they come, totally 50s-era innocent, cheeze and camp oozing all over everything he does...why do I not want to kill him? Instead I find him genuine and entertaining. There's an essential spark that he has that really makes him likeable. I would, however, like to see in future weeks if he can pull off something serious and emotional. (I can say 'future weeks' with confidence, because his charm, voice and white-bread good looks totally GUARANTEE he'll be sticking around.)

Matt

I think I winced when I heard what he was singing - one of the most overdone songs in Idol history - and I was expecting a repeat of the overuse of vibrato that we got from him last week. But to my delight, he really pulled it off, not just with his great voice, but with the sincerity of his performance. What also made it good was, as Sass said, the phrasing. Well done. Next time, Matt, match the clothes with the song and you'll be great.

Brian

The voice was a bit weak and pitchy this week, but he did sell the song well, so it almost doesn't matter. I suspect, though, that it was not enough of an audience-grabber performance to be memorable for voters.

Greg

Foot-tappity! Good stuff, I liked it. I have no idea if the copying of song ideas from AI contestants is deliberate or not, but I'm hoping for some originality next week.

Clifton

Erk. Schlock with a struggling voice. Next?

Liam

I love this song. And Liam sounded great, I agree with the judges about the depth and quality of his range and the distinctiveness of his voice. But the performance had no meaning! I think it was Zack who said the guts were missing, and I agree. Plus, very few peple can successfully pull off the 'flirting with one audience member' thing, folk, please, just don't do it, it's total cheeze, and not in a good way.

Andrew

Hey, I enjoyed that! Entertaining, sounded great (anyone else think he sounded like Sting?), thumbs up.

Dwight

This started out a bit lamely, but then, whammo! he pulled it out! Good on him. You hardly ever see that kind of genuine rawness on an Idol show. Props to Dwight.

Conclusions: Clifton is sooo obviously going home this week. As for the other guys, I suspect Matt, Brian and Liam may be the most in danger.