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.

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.

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.

CI Review, 2007/06/26

Okay, firstly, apologies for missing doing a critique of last night's show. I was at my parents' place for the evening and I told myself all day NOT to forget to set up the VCR to time-tape it before I left...and of course, I forgot.

I agreed a whole lot with the judges tonight. There were so many times they said precisely what I was thinking, especially - and this was a shocker - Zack.

Tara

Her nerves seemed to get the best of her tonight. Her voice was weak, pitchy, and lacked breath control. The performance was cutesy and forgettable.

Martha

First, I have to say how I love her looks. She is such a beautiful woman! And she does have a gorgeous voice. But I don't think Idol is the right venue for her. Zack's right, her style/vibe just won't sell records. Musical theatre, sure, especially with all the over-enunciating she does. But this industry? Nope.

Montana

Hello, real deal! I really liked that. She genuinely rocks. Her accent made the phrasing a bit weird for me, but at the end of the day I don't much care. I voted for her 10 times.

Mila

From the interviews I've seen so far, I've got to admit I don't think I like her personality. And I can't BELIEVE she didn't know what Ben's mom's name was. (Sigh.) But holy CRAP, can she perform and SING! I loved it. I voted for her 10 times.

Maud

I didn't get to see the whole thing or the judge's reactions because the baby daughter decided to release two days' worth of stored-up poop into her diaper about 3/4 of the way through it, and I had to hustle her the hell up to the nursery for a change before she leaked all over the living room. However, this seemed verrrry imitative of the original to me...but more off-key. Much more hairbrush-in-front-of-the-mirror than a genuine performance.

Annikke

Again, because of Poop From Hell I missed the beginning, but...OUCH. When she wasn't being drowned out by the band, she was very off-tune. One of the judges called it 'limp' and I agree whole-heartedly.

Naomi-Joy

Was there a tune in there? Zack nailed it when he said it was "in the key of 'HUH?'". She seemed to just bring out every stereotype of what 'a rocker' is without it being genuine at all, and threw in a lot of 'sex kitten' to boot. Yikes.

Christine

TOTAL hairbrush performance. Vocally fine, and in some places actually, vocally very nice...but horribly overplayed.

Scarlett

I actually liked this more than the judges did. I thought her performance was fairly genuine and her voice sounded great. Admittedly, she was doing a lot of comforting-the-baby-at-4am rocking back and forth, and the key change was very strange, but I thought it was decent, especially when you consider that about half the field tonight kind of blew goat. I voted for her twice.

Kalila

Great voice and stage performance. I like how self-possessed she is on stage, it's very pro/star-qualityish. She brought realism and a decent amount of angst to the performance. I liked it. I voted for her 5 times.

Carly Rae

I will admit that a lot of my good opinion of Carly Rae comes from having watched and loved her during the audition process, ESPECIALLY her final solo in top 100 week (holy wow). This performance was not as great. I did like it very much when she was sitting on the stool, it was natural and very good. However, I'm with Zack, once she got up and started prancing around, the real deal vibe came to an end and it turned into Idol cheeze. But I still voted for her 5 times.

Top of the heap

• Montana
• Mila

Definitely belong in the top 10

• Kalila
• Carly Rae

Decent: Scarlett

Good but doesn't belong here: Martha

Screwed the pooch

• Tara
• Maud
• Annikke
• Naomi-Joy
• Christine

Most hilarious moment of the evening goes, hands-down, to Tyler. I can't remember which of the bad performances it was where the camera cut to him right after it wrapped up, but he was sitting there with the BEST horrified-stunned expression on his face. Total gold. :)

AI Review, 2007/05/08

Pretty bland evening, overall. But on the upside, Paula was unusually lucid last night, and I loved her suit. Sharp.

Melinda

I thought it was neat that she transformed the first song to really suit her style. Unfortunately, it ended up being pretty lacklustre. I agreed with Simon - for the top 4, I'm looking for people to really bust out, and that wasn't it. Her second song choice was also pretty dull, although she did redeem herself in the second half of the song.

Blake

This week, it was painfully clear that Blake is by far the weakest vocalist left in the competition. What he did have on his side was his fresh style - unfortunately, I don't think he took full advantage of that. I do think the judges were all on crack with his first song, especially Randy with that absurd 'beatboxing is getting old' comment. I think the beatboxing was totally appropriate, I really liked its combination with the disco (as ridiculous as that sounds), and hello, newsflash, Blake IS a beatboxer, that's his freakin' THING. The second song was a great choice, it had a very modern feel. Unfortunately he played it kind of boring, there was a ton more he could have gotten out of it, but he didn't do it.

LaKisha

I liked 'Staying Alive' a whole lot better than the judges. Again, Randy must've been on crack with his criticisms of how she did that off-beat stuff - I thought it helped make the whole thing. Second song was vocally fantastic as usual, but pretty ho-hum.

Jordin

Stand-out winner of the first round. She almost did it again on the second round, but her voice sounded too strained and lacked the effortless soaring of the first performance. Still, I thought she was the most consistently good of the night.

Best in show: Jordin
Possibly vulnerable: Melinda, LaKisha
Definitely vulnerable: Blake

Alas, for a top-4 show that really rocked. Anyone remember how Elliot Yamin TOTALLY pulled it out for this week out last year, and rocketed with surprising ease into the top 3? I miss those days. Sigh.

AI Review, 2007/04/24

It's not going to be much of a review this week, sorry. It took too long to put DD1 to bed last night and I missed most of Timberfake's performance. Then DH's best friend called to congratulate us on DD2's arrival, and that wiped out Melinda's performance and most of Blake's. Finally I handed the phone over to DH, who proceeded to talk so loudly that I could barely hear LaKisha and Phil. So! Not bloody much to go on.

Based on what I did hear, though, including the end-of-show recaps. I'd say that Chris seemed pretty meh; Melinda was her usual outstanding self; Blake was bland but sincere and listenable; LaKisha was vocally awesome but not terribly interesting; and Phil sounded amazing.

As for Jordin, she unfortunately chose a song that I canNOT take seriously evereverever, thanks to the Hitchhiker's Guide to the Galaxy radio series. (It's the song that Eddie the Shipboard Computer starts moaning out when the Magrathean nuclear missiles are about to hit the ship. Absolutely hilarious comedic moment, and it's impossible to take the song seriously after hearing it. Going to see "Carousel" is no longer an option because people tend to glare at me when I giggle through the most moving song of the whole musical. But I digress.) Moreover, she wavered off-pitch several times. So not my fave performance from Jordin.

I would say that Chris is the guy in serious danger this week. Blake will probably also find himself in the bottom 2.

AI Review, 2007/04/17

Took the week off last week - I was too busy giving birth to watch the show. But by all accounts, I don't seem to have missed much.

Phil

Well done, Phil. He was very comfortable and confident up there, taking charge of the stage and sounding damn good. I've always thought Phil had a good alternative-style voice, but it translates to country very well (and highly listenable country, at that).

Jordin

She's just soaring. Beautiful job. She really could charge up the middle to win this thing.

Sanjaya

Ugh. I can't believe he chose to massacre Bonnie Raitt. *sob* Okay, look, he's a nice guy, and his voice is alright - he just has a total dearth of genuine stage presence. It's all hokey and high school and karaoke, and therefore painful. I would, however, probably pay good money to see his dream of Simon singing Shiny Happy People come true.

LaKisha

I agree with the judges - there was a disconnect between her and the song. I didn't get the emotional connection Martina was talking about, and I thought her pitch was just slightly off the band throughout the whole thing.

Chris

Not bad. His voice does work very well in the country genre. But I think he was overpowered by the band - and, as usual, too nasal in parts.

Melinda

Hot damn, she's so good.

Blake

I liked it. It wasn't exciting, and there were moments when his vocals were strained, but it was distinctive and a very good blend with his style.

Best in show: Melinda
Top of the heap: Jordin and Phil
Strong: Blake
Between meh and fine: Chris and LaKisha
Ugh: Sanjaya

AI Review, 2007/04/03

Very solid night tonight. That was good entertainment. However, if Paul persists in her STOO-pid, sexist habit of complimenting the girls almost exclusively on how purty they are, as if that's the most important thing about their performances, I will have to hunt her down and impale her on her own manicured fingernails.

Blake

Terrific vocal! Probably the best vocal we've heard from him yet, I would say. This genre suits his voice surprisingly well, and he threw in some great vocal business, too. My ears were delighted. However, it was somewhat lacking in charisma.

Phil

Here's another guy whose voice is superbly suited for this genre. Superbly. That's what I believe Paula was talking about when she brought up the Frank Sinatra thing. Now, some of his longer belting notes wavered off-key a bit, and I do think he could have connected a bit more, but it was still pretty sincere and I believed it. The only other nitpick I have with it is that the tempo could've been more snappy. Oh, and I take back EVERYTHING I ever said about the bald thing. He had stubble in the intro and oh, man, the pattern baldness does NOT suit him. Keep shaving, Phil - it makes you look weird, but it's better than the alternative. I'm behind you now.

Melinda

Well, really - who COULD ask for anything more?

Chris

Weak vocally. His voice just sounded weird and amateur in this. But you know, if we could somehow combine his style/charisma/performance with Blake's vocal, oh, MAN, would we ever have had something. Very good working of the audience. If only he had sounded good.

Jordin

What is HAPPENING to this girl?!? Every week she seems to make new leaps and bounds with her professionalism, pre-possession and star quality. Nicely done. The only quibble I have is that her outfit (while great) clashed with her vibe tonight. The way she played it, a gown would have worked better.

Gina

Vocally, I thought that was very good indeed. I think Simon may have been on a wee bit of crack there. But I was kinda bored.

Sanjaya

This was actually a very smart song choice. The song choice meant that he didn't have to be vocally great (and he wasn't), he could be totally cheezy and goofy (and he was), and he could legitimately flash his 1000-watt teeth throughout the whole thing (and he did). But although yes, the boy has youthful charm, he ain't no Fred Astaire. Overall, I thought it wasn't painful, but it was pretty underwhelming.

Haley

Okay, what is with Simon and the look of death? Bitch. Anyway, back to Haley...great song choice. I especially thought she did a good job of breaking out of her shell in the first half - nice and flirty, perfect style match. The transition to the second half was awkward, though - it didn't make too much sense and there was no build to it. But overall, I think definitely one of her best performances and I thought she kept decent pace with the rest of the pack this week. Simon needs to stop being such a prick to her.

LaKisha

Now THIS is the kind of LaKisha I remember from the top 24 week! Back on form and "sassy" indeed. Awesome.

Masterful: Melinda, LaKisha, and also kinda Jordin
Solid: Blake, Phil, Haley, and also kinda Gina
Weak: Chris, Sanjaya

Yet another week where Sanjaya is the clear logical choice to be voted the heck on outta there. And he will probably remain safe AGAIN, sigh...probably leaving Phil, Chris and Gina at risk.

AI Review, 2007/03/27

Was it just me, or did Gwen not seem very helpful for the Idols? We've had fantastic insights and imparted wisdom in the previous two weeks from the other guest artists - Gwen just seemed to listen to the kids and not offer much except for her star power. Oh, well.

LaKisha

Let's get something straight right now - every time LaKisha opens her mouth, it is a vocal tour de force. I mean, her pipes are an absolute gift, she could cruise to the top five on that alone. And always, always with the professional presence, too. But I keep waiting week after week for the same kind of mind-blowing, goddamn-this-woman-is-a-star intensity that we saw in the first voting week when she made Jennifer Hudson look kinda sick. Come on, LaKisha, bring that back!

Chris S.

His voice sounded a bit weird at the beginning, with some tempo problems. But I think it picked up a bit later on, although I don't think he caught any of the charm of the song. Chris doesn't seem to be picking up and improving week-to-week, which I hate, because he's one of the few genuinely cool people in this competition.

Gina

GREAT vocal. Really, I think the best we've heard out of her yet. And a really good match with her style. Good vulnerability in the performance, too. I just wish I could get past the horrible hair and wardrobe choice. Ick! (Except for the boots. The boots were kinda cool.) But good on Gina - very good stuff.

And now, a commercial break, during which I shall retch from the two-second clip of Sanjaya's hair. What the HELL?!?

Sanjaya

Pretty good vocally. But honey - oh, HONEY. I just can't buy the "bad boy" thing. No. And come on, even Nadia had a hard time pulling off the fauxhawk. Remembering all the words would be good, too. Simon was bang-on - the boy is in his own damn universe. I'm even kind of numb to the pain now.

Haley

Meh. It was nice. Sounded nice, looked nice...nice, nice, nice. Whatever. Simon nailed it with 'sweet and forgettable'. Next?

Phil

If you ignore the horribly cheezy runs right at the end, that was GREAT. His voice sounded fantastic and he brought the right creepy intensity to the performance that this song needs. Highly highly enjoyable. Way to go, Phil.

Melinda

Disco queen! :) She could've brought a bit more fun to the performance, but hell, that was damn good anyway.

Blake

I genuinely liked that. Nice intensity, and there was something very sincere and caressing and all-the-time-in-the-world about it. I didn't find it boring. I especially liked the verses - his voice sounded excellent in them. Unfortunately, not so excellent in the choruses, though. I like Blake's softer voice much better - I find his voice too strained when he goes strong.

Jordin

I've never seen the video, but this struck me as being highly imitative. There seemed to be much more of the teen-girl-singing-into-her-hairbrush than the genuine performance about it. To the point that I found some of it to be a bit painful/embarrassing to watch. That said, there were a few really dynamic moments (especially right at the beginning) where you could really see what kind of an electric, exciting, highly current popular artist she could be.

Chris R.

Didn't believe it at all. Well sung, but with lyrics like that, you have to bring out the heartbreak - I felt zero heartbreak emanting from him. Actually, I don't think I felt much of anything emanating from him.

Strongest:

• Gina
• Phil
• Melinda
• Blake

Middling:

• LaKisha
• Chris R

In danger:

• Chris S (please stay, please stay, please stay...)
• Sanjaya
• Haley
• Jordin

AI Review, 2007/03/20

Great night tonight! Good TV. Nice job, kids. The voting could go very weirdly this week. Personally, I'd like to keep all the Idols around and vote Ashley the hell off the show, NEVER to return.

Haley

I agree with bits of what all the judges said. I think the song choice was very good. I think she showed more personality than we've ever seen from her. It was fun, and pretty well sung. Unfortunately, she was often overpowered by the band and backup singers, and frankly, I'll be remembering her legs more than the performance or the singing. But I do think it was the strongest thing I've seen from her yet, and from all the post-performance banter with Seacrest, I'm liking her personally more every week.

Chris R.

That was quite good. Well sung, nicely brought up-to-date without losing the charm of the melody, and a pretty honest performance. I'm still not a fan of the quality of his voice, but I have to admit that the overall effect was very strong.

Stephanie

Simon made a very good point about Stephanie losing her 'edge'. I thought this was a good song choice for her and that it sounded really good, but it didn't pack the emotional punch that it totally, TOTALLY could have if she'd really thrown her soul into it. With that arrangement and her voice and presence, she could have had hearts completely crying for her all over the continent. Instead, it came off as adequate.

Blake

Really good use of the beatbox thing to 'accessorize' the song. Verrry seductive verses. Unfortunately, slightly painful choruses, hearing his voice strain to hit the high notes. A lower key would have served him better. But good stuff.

LaKisha

Meh. I'm with Lulu, she really, REALLY should have gone for the other song. Ack. It sounded good, but it was very hokey/cruise ship-ish. Underwhelming.

Sinéad Phil

Lots of fun. Sounded awesome! I still wanted him to really pull it out more - as Simon said, with more 'grit', but I mean with the performing, not the voice - but overall, I liked what he did with it. (P.S. to Phil: Clean your shirt. Seriously, dude.)

Jordin

Niiice. Very wow. And, uh, hello, Simon? The fact that you felt like jumping off a bridge means that her emotional connection with the song and audience was spot-on. This performance was also noteworthy for provoking a bee-yew-tiful dis of Simon by Ryan.

Sanjaya

What. The. FUUUCK!!! Was THAT?!? I think that was the most unbelievable week-to-week turnaround ever in the history of Idol. Sanjaya was actually...um...good. There was rock. There was oomph. There was even - dare I say it - a bit of Mick Jagger channelling going on. The only truly annoying part of the whole thing was the constant cut-out to tearful Ashley (which was hardly Sanjaya's fault). I think I sat with my mouth hanging open the whole time. Way to go, kid. You turned something I fully expected to be unbearably painful into something genuinely entertaining. The shock value alone allows me to ignore the fact that it got kinda weak in the second half.

Gina

Loooove the hair. Not so sure what I thought about the performance, though. The vocal was weak in a lot of spots and the intensity sometimes fell down. but there were also bits I really liked. So, tough to call. She could be in real danger this week, though.

Chris S.

As always, glorious vocal. And great song choice. (I really dig Chris' taste in music.) Honestly, I could close my eyes and listen to him for ages. But I don't think he took Peter's advice to find the real (tragic) meaning of the song and sell it.

Melinda

Beautiful. Totally pro. The only bone I have to pick is that nobody who covers this song on this show EVER seems to have actually SEEN the damn musical! I wish someone would bring out the TRAGEDY of this song: The character singing is in an abusive relationship with a man who eventually BEATS HER TO DEATH. This is not a love song, people! Imagine how powerful it would be if someone played it properly! But still - a great performance.

Strongest:

• Chris R. (although not as strong as the two ladies I've put into this category)
• Jordin
• Melinda

Solid:

• Stephanie
• Blake
• Phil
• Sanjaya
• Chris S.

At risk:

• Haley
• LaKisha
• Gina

Hard to say who's going home - I'm thinking it's a toss-up between Haley and Gina.

AI Review, 2007/03/13

Brandon

Unfortunately, a certain little girl succeeded last night in doing quite a bit of bedtime stalling, and I didn't get back downstairs in time to catch Brandon's performance. From the quickie recap at the end, though, it looked like his usual cheezy fare.

Melinda

She has it. She just has It. I mean, that was a pretty boring song, but Melinda is a star and a pro - she owned the stage and she sold the song.

Chris S

I was pretty disappointed. Vocally this sounded terrific. But stylistically this was a huge clash. He tried to bring the melody into his style, but the backup band remained all Diana Ross, and it was just a big disconnect. I think it should have been the reverse - keep the original melody intact, but have the band playing alternative-style. That would really have been his bag. Alas. Also this week I realised that Chris kind of reminds of Penn (as in 'and Teller') - just cuter. :) And I really respect the way he truly listens to the judges' critiques. You can tell he's really taking into consideration the things they're telling him.

Gina

This was pretty fun, sounded good, and was just about the best thing she could have chosen from the week's theme to suit her style. I wasn't wowed, but I thought it was solid.

Sanjaya

The boy must be sent home. Really. He is very, very much out of his league here. This week, not only was it as bland and hokey as ever, but even his vocals fell down. Come on, America. I know he has great hair and everything, but PLEASE!

Haley

I thought she sounded quite good and had a few good moments, but I thought it kind of fell apart after she muffed the words. Add in the usual meaningless Haley hand gestures and I found it pretty weak.

Blake

I didn't like it. From the intro I expected something really up-to-date and exciting, but I just didn't find that it ended up that different from the original. Despite what Randy said, I don't think it was "Blake-ized" at all. I was bored.

LaKisha

Why are Melinda and LaKisha even in this competition? Shouldn't they be very busy already playing live to huge audiences every night and selling gobs of records?

Phil

Vocally excellent - it was a real pleasure to listen to. I also thought the performance itself was quite charming. Not spectacularly oomphy, but definitely charming.

Stephanie

This sounded good and she had good stage presence, but I found the whole thing kind of boring. I didn't know the song, either, which didn't help. My husband explained what the judges were talking about - the song apparently has this seriously up-tempo part in the middle, and the lack of that from Stephanie's arrangement just made the whole thing fall flat.

Chris R

Vocally this was pretty nightmarish. Although there were some very solid-sounding parts, the majority of it was pretty painful to listen to. He did do a pretty good job of making the song contemporary, but in my book, if it sounds bad when you do that, say goodnight.

Jordin

This is the most mature performance I've seen out of her yet. Good job. I don't think it was vocally as perfect as the judges let on, but Jordin is showing growth and more depth, and that's great.

Top of the heap:

• Melinda
• LaKisha

Third: Jordin

Middle of the pack:

• Gina
• Phil

Boring:

• Chris S
• Blake
• Stephanie

Unknown: Brandon

Should be in the bottom three but be safe:

• Haley
• Chris R

Must go home: Sanjaya

Other important items of note:

• Diana Ross, you are a legend and a star, but there is NO SUCH FRICKIN' WORD AS "PRONUNCIATE"! Augh!
• Ugliest cleavage of the night: Haley
• Most delicious cleavage of the night: Melinda

AI Review, 2007/03/07

Ahhh...nothing like a Wednesday night to highlight how pathetic Tuesday night was. The ladies are showing the men up sooo bad this year. Ouch.

Jordin

You either have to have courage or stupidity (or both) to take on the Benatar. Considering the song choice, I think Jordin did a pretty good job. She certainly has the raw vocal talent. There were off notes, yes. And jiggly, teenage energy is NOT the same thing as aggressive angst, which is what this song requires. But she did have a few moments where she almost reached out through the screen and grabbed you by the scruff of the neck. So not bad. Solid. Probably could have been more solid if she hadn't been overshadowed, volume-wise, by the band and the backup singers.

Sabrina

A few bum notes and overly shouty tones did mar this performance a bit, but the quality of her voice and her on-stage presence cannot be denied. I would like her to show a little variety in her song choices, though.

Barbie Antonella

Sigh. Okay, in Antonella's favour, this was a VERY good song choice for her, especially compared to the horrendous choices she made the last two times out. Unfortunately, the girl just doesn't have the vocal chops (or ability to stay in-tune) to compete here. And her stage presence is not enough to make up for it. She is gorgeous to look at, and Simon's right, she seems to be handling the crap that's being dumped on her in the media very well. However, she does not belong in the top 12 and needs to be sent home post-haste. And you know that Marisa girl that Antonella beat out for a place in the top 24? She must be gnawing on her liver right now for having been passed over in favour of this kind of crap, poor thing.

Stephanie

Very solid, as usual, although I think there were a couple of faintly iffy moments vocally. But she's going to have to change it up a little bit to keep me interested over the long haul.

Haley

I think Haley's doing the best she can. She sounded great, she chose a song that I thought suited her just fine. It's just that she suffers in comparison to the consummate professionalism that runs rampant within her competitors. Also, her hand movements are kinda annoying.

LaKisha

Most people are fools to invite comparison to A Voice such as The Whitney. But hooooo, can LaKisha hold her own vocally! That sounded dee-licious. Unfortunately, I have yet to see a return of that STUNNING stage presence that we saw in Top 24 Week. And this song NEEDED it. When she got to that part about 'don't you walk away from me', we all should have been BLASTED back in our seats. But it never went there. Sad She should have DEMANDED attention from the audience towards the end, and didn't. So I was a bit disappointed, even though by comparison to almost everyone else it was terrific.

Gina

Ack! So weak vocally tonight! Her voice sounded stretched very thinly, and she missed several key notes. But I enjoyed the performance, I liked watching her have fun, and I especially liked the totally different style she brought to the evening. Not so much liking the peekaboo thing with the pink bra, but hey, stuff happens. Smiley I agree with Simon, I think we need her in the top 12. I hope America puts her through.

Melinda

What is there to say? I mean, really, WHAT IS THERE TO SAY?!? I so love her. LOVE. HER. That was amazing.

Standout winner: Melinda

#2: LaKisha

Into the top 12:

• Sabrina
• Stephanie

Not so certainly into the top 12 but I sure as hell hope so:

• Jordin (who gets my thumbs-up for making us laugh at Seacrest's shortness without being at all mean about it)
• Gina

Cannot win in this crowd: Haley

Must go immediately: Antonella

AI Review, 2007/03/06

Do you suppose that maybe...MAYBE...if we stuck all of these boys into a wading pool and tossed in a live wire carrying 6000 volts of electricity...that we might actually get a show out of the guys with some friggin' ENERGY?!?

I mean, damn! Show some life, people! Augh!

Blake

Well, technically this was good, unique, entertaining, etc...but I really keep wishing he would bring out more magnetism to really make his performances shine.

Sanjaya

There was a moment near the end - just a moment - where his voice started to get really fired up and I thought, "Oooh! We're going to see something here!" And then...no. Just overall a sweet, smiley, decently-sung piece that was entirely forgettable.

Sundance

Ouch. I think this was a good song choice...I just think he screwed the pooch on it. Most of the notes were off, and the energy was very restrained.

Chris R.

This was a very interesting song choice. I think Chris decided to show America this week that he can sing and be versatile. So in those respects I think he absolutely achieved what he was going for. The performance was fairly believable. What brought it down for me is that I don't give a scrawny damn about that kind of music.

Brandon

More life and energy than we've seen from him yet - a definite plus. Which brings him up to the energy level of...the rest of the guys. Not so much of a plus. And what was someone I know was saying last week that SUNDANCE shouldn't be dancing ever again? Brandon pulled out some very - uh - unique foot movements of his own this week. Overall, a good effort, sounded good, showed some life.

Jared

I see that Jared is still working in cruise ship/lounge singer mode. Big yawn. Plus, his voice wavered 'off' on some of the notes. And to top it all off, he invited comparison to Elliott Yamin, who absolutely KILLED this song last season. BIG mistake. Elliott has real, honest-to-goodness soul. You can see it shining out of his soul in every head shake, handswipe and otherwise groovy movement. Jared does not have this by any stretch of the imagination.

Phil

Rather painful at the beginning. Some very iffy pitch moments throughout. Not as emotionally convincing as his other performances. Great falsetto, though.

Chris S.

I agree with Randy - vocal prize of the night. This sounded great. And he was certainly one of the top energy-bringers of the evening, which unfortunately isn't saying much. Chris! Can you hear me?!? It is time to BUST OUT!!! Please!

Probably quite safe:

• Blake
• Chris R
• Chris S

Anybody's guess:

• Brandon
• Jared
• Phil

My choices for bottom two:

• Sanjaya
• Sundance

AI Review, 2007/02/28

Gina

Verrrry risky doing Heart. Especially since she is not one of the top vocalists among the women (very good, of course, but not at the top, not in this crowd). But, although I did think she could have done it much more edgy, I think she pulled it off. Plus, I like her.

Elaina

Pitchy throughout. I didn't believe for one moment that she was "mad as hell". And what the heck was with the squinty thing? Is that her 'mad' face? Ay yai yai.

Lakisha

Man, she just sings like BUTTA. :) Not up to last week's standard, but heck, the girl has earned herself the right to coast, and she was still terrific.

Melinda

And here we have the winner of the night! Oh my GAWD she was so good. She owned that stage COMPLETELY. Add in the righteous vocals and you have someone who could not be caught tonight.

Antonella

I'm trying to figure out if this girl is genuinely stupid. I'm thinking...yeah, maybe. She has one of the weakest voices in the competition, she made a terrible impression last week, I have NO idea why America didn't send her home, and to counter all of that, she pulls out...CELINE?!? Has she ever actually WATCHED any previous seasons of this show? Oh, it was just painful. I had to look away.

Jordin

Not as believable with this song as I wanted her to be, and some of the vocals were a little wonky (I will chalk that up to her having gotten all vorklempt from watching her own dedication clip - crying does not lend itself to vocal control). However, she will have no problems coasting this week on the fabulous belting quality of her voice. Moving forward, though, she's got to polish it up and pull herself together more.

Stephanie

After hearing the judge's comments I'm starting to doubt my own sanity. Was it just me, or did Stephanie never ever get a handle on the tempo of that song? To me, her timing was all over the place and I couldn't get into it at all. However, the good news is that her voice and stage presence were still enough to keep her near the top. Also, she wins my vote for most gorgeously turned out lady of the evening.

Leslie

Simon's right, Leslie suffered by comparison to the run of divas that came before her. That said, I thought it was pretty good. She sounded good, kind of got into it, stood out with the scatting, got to use the raspiness of her voice that I really like...not bad. I don't think she has much hope of making it into the top 12, but I think she deserves to stick around for another week.

Haley

I think the judges were overly harsh. This was a very intelligent song choice - to come out with something really energetic and exciting was a very good contrast to last week. I thought she sounded fine, and she almost had the personality to pull it off. The big problem was all the bouncing around. Aieee! Waaaaay too manic. It was more reminiscent of a teenage girl airbanding it into a hairbrush in front of her bedroom mirror than a real performance. But it was a vast improvement from last week.

Sabrina

Sooo often on Idol you get people who do the meaningful, schmaltzy love ballad and it just falls ridiculously flat and ho-hum. But here we have a person who - gasp! - actually pulled it off. Now, parts of it were pitchy, which was distracting, and I agree with Simon that last week was better for her. But it was still quality.

So we have...

Standout winner: Melinda.

Excellent: Lakisha.

Also up there:

• Gina
• Stephanie
• Sabrina

Deserving of votes:

• Jordin
• Leslie
• Haley

Need to be given a ticket home as soon as humanly possible:

• Elaina
• Antonella

AI Review, 2007/02/27

To sum up: Another yawn-fest. Not as much as last week's, but still...guys...come ON.

Phil

I love Phil's voice. I really, really do. He brings a mature presence to the stage, and if you ignore the baldness (seriously dude, grow some frickin' hair), he's verrry easy on the eyes. But while it was good tonight, it wasn't great - he held back. It was only in the last 7 seconds or so that he started to really pull it all out, and that's just not enough. He needed to do more for this to be really stand-out.

Jared

Alright, he sounded much better this week, kinda put himself into it...the problem is that the lyrics to that song are so creepy that I have a hard time getting past them. Also, there was a fair amount of cheeze in the performance - I agree with Simon about the cruise lounge singer thing. But a definite improvement.

AJ

Interesting. I really liked the arrangement, with that softness at the beginning. AJ brought out a little bit of vulnerability for that part of it, and he almost pulled it off. Then he went into belting mode and again, almost pulled it off.

Sanjaya

Oh, dear. Tiny Talent Time...only more amateur. The kid can sing...but it's crystal clear that he really is still just a kid. (It's kind of like Daryl Brunt all over again, but with less polish.) I was beyond bored. Still, you gotta hand it to him, he's young and emotionally vulnerable and he is getting POUNDED by the judges up there, but he holds it all together for the cameras and comes out positive.

Nick

Much more magic this time around, and he showed us what he could do with that voice. I liked it. However, there was still something missing. His presence on the stage needs to be 'bigger'. (And am I the only one who keeps getting reminded of Wil Wheaton when I see him?)

Blake

Blake's ace-in-the-hole is that he is unique among all the other Idol competitors. And he played that card tonight. But I agree with Simon, I thought the beginning and end were kinda 'meh' and it was only the middle that was original. However, I gotta say that the boy can sing. That keeps me listening.

Chris S

I'm starting to see a pattern with Chris. You know all that dry humour he spouts? My experience is that people who do that are trying to protect themselves against people getting to really know them and running the risk of hurting them. It's a very effective shield. And unfortunately, I think he does something very similar when he performs. There's a wall. He doesn't connect with the audience. He has tremendous potential, and if he had connected with the audience for this song, I think we would all be melted puddles on the floor...but he never goes to that place and I keep feeling let down. I suspect this is why he keeps struggling to make it in the industry...it's not his look, it's not his personality, it's certainly not his voice...it's the fact that he holds back from delivering real performances. Lose the wall, dude. Let us in.

Brandon

Sorry...what was that? I think I dozed off there for a moment.

Chris R

I wasn't a fan of this performance, but I'm perfectly willing to admit that this is because the genre of the music is not to my taste. The audience loved it, the judges loved it...I'm willing to defer to all those people.

Sundance

Um...holy crap...he CAN sing!!! Wow! Now THAT was a pleasure to listen to. There was a bit of personality missing to make it totally kick-ass, but that was definitely, definitely good. He'll sleep well tonight with that performance under his belt, boy howdy.

Top of the heap:

• Phil
• Blake
• Chris S
• Sundance
• probably Chris R

Deserves votes:

• Jared
• AJ
• Nick

So going home:

• Sanjaya
• Brandon

AI Review, 2007/02/21

Season 6 has officially been redeemed.

Stephanie Edwards

Day-um. Okay, well...see you next week, honey.

Amy Krebs

Well, mostly she sounded good and performed okay, but the comparison to Stephanie's performance was a real letdown.

Sabrina Sloan

Well, here's another lady who stepped up and pulled it out. Great stuff.

Leslie Hunt

I think she did just about everything she could do with this song, but it wasn't enough. With that lovely rasp in her voice and her energy, she should be singing more rock. She was okay, but nothing spectacular.

Jordin Sparks

Fantastic voice. I think her youth and her nerves prevented her from really doing the performance justice in the same league as Stephanie, Sabrina and Melinda, but she's coming up behind them very decently.

Antonella Barba

Ouch. Worst of the night, I think. Her voice sounded really weird in this song, particularly all that overuse of vibrato. And the performance was completely unbelievable.

Melinda Doolittle

It's so refreshing to watch the people who are in it to win it. She'll sail through to next week, no questions asked.

Haley Scarnato

I agree with Simon - too old. And I don't like her voice - it's part Broadway, part something else kind of weird that I can't put my finger on.

Nicole Tranquillo

This performance was really weird. Her voice was all over the place - sometimes strong, sometimes soft, sometimes with this weird overtone, and none of it combined well at all. I also agree with Simon that it seemed over-rehearsed and contrived. Clearly the girl has pipes but I found her performance really unappealing.

Alaina Alexander

Meh. Sadly, not as special as the lyrics would have us believe. Also a bit pitchy.

Gina Glocksen

I really like her voice. And the performance was quite believable. Well done.

Lakisha Jones

Ho. Lee. Shit. Yeah, I'm tempted to agree with Simon about the 23 others needing to start packing right now.

I predict this year will be Battle Of The Divas!

I also predict that the following people are safe as churches:

• Lakisha
• Stephanie
• Sabrina
• Melinda

That the following people should have no problem making it into next week:

• Gina
• Jordin

That the following people will likely be safe:

• Leslie
• Nicole

That the following people are at risk:

• Amy
• Alaina

And that the following people will probably go home:

• Antonella
• Haley

AI Review, 2007/02/20

Unfortunately, I was working on the family finances until about 8:30, so I missed the first three guys - Rudy, Brandon and Sundance. So all I have to go on for them are the little clips of their performances that were played before the phone lines opened. Based solely on that, Rudy sounded strained and shrill; Brandon sounded good and seemed appealing, although the performance appeared pretty cheezy; and Sundance evoked a reaction of "WTF?!?" (and not in a good way).

Of the guys I did see...

• Paul Kim has a really nice voice, but the tone fell down in spots, and overall, the whole thing was kind of 'meh'. I also cannot STAND it when these kids take songs with heartbreaking lyrics and smile all the way through them. If you're going to do a sad song, guys, do it SAD!!! And all those pretentious 'gangsta' moves are pretty annoying when they're not applicable to the song or genuinely done. All in all, this was probably good enough to push Paul into next week, but he's going to have a very short stay in Hollywood if he doesn't step it up.
  
  
• Chris Richardson's whole performance was a bizarre clash of stuff. The suit, the song, the voice, the movements - none of it matched each other, so that was pretty distracting. I agree with the judges that his voice did not sound good in that song. However, he did bring a presence to the stage and he put his own spin on the song, which are big plusses.
  
  
• Nick Pedro chose the wrooong song. I agree with the judges completely that the 'spark' he showed in the audition vanished entirely in this performance, and the song didn't flatter his voice to boot. I was left feeling absolutely convinced that this boy has never known what real love is. Unfortunate all round.
  
  
• Does Blake Lewis remind anyone else of Travis from season 2 of So You Think You Can Dance? This biases me towards him right off the bat since I think Travis is fantastic. However, the boy can also sing, is very cool, and he clearly knows what the hell he's doing on a stage. The first half of the song was very well done and I thought the tone of his voice was very, very good. But I also felt that the second half was not as good as the first - his voice didn't sound as good and his concentration on the performance seemed to be a tad off. But definitely one of the better performances of the night.
  
  
• I just didn't see what was so bad about Sanjaya Malakar's performance. I thought his voice sounded very good. No, the whole thing wasn't tremendously exciting, but I did think it was very appealing. He took his time and reached out to the audience, and I appreciated that.
  
  
• Jared Cotter was bland, nasal, and often off-pitch. It's a good thing he's cute.
  
  
• I must admit that the audition shows and Hollywood week biased me very heavily in favour of Chris Sligh. He is funny, personable and likeable, and also comes across as a completely normal guy that could totally hang out with you and your friends. And he can really sing. I thought he sounded great and was one of the very few guys of the night who controlled the stage instead of letting the stage control him. This was arguably the best performance of the night. Unfortunately, that isn't saying much - while I enjoyed it, I felt Chris was holding back on the choruses and should have really pulled it all out. It was very good compared to the rest of the guys, but it wasn't good compared to what I think Chris is truly capable of.
  
  
• At last, with AJ Tabaldo, we got someone who decided to go out and have some goddamn fun. Yes, as Simon said, the performance was predictable, but it sounded good and was nice to watch.
  
  
• Phil Stacey started out absolutely disaaaastrously. I was even starting to cringe...and then the chorus started. Woohoo! At last! Someone who decides to completely pour themselves into the song! What a freakin' relief! Phil has a great voice when he gets going - I'm really looking forward to seeing more of him. What he did with his choruses is what Chris Sligh SHOULD have done with his.

Overall, the evening was pretty disappointing and ho-hum. If the girls tonight aren't any better, I could stop watching this season altogether out of utter boredom.

Top picks:

1. Chris Sligh
2. Blake Lewis
3. Phil Stacey
4. Chris Richardson
5. AJ Tabaldo

Likely quite safe:

• Brandon Rogers
• Paul Kim
• Sanjaya Malakar

At risk:

1. Sundance Head
2. Nick Pedro
3. Rudy Cardenas
4. Jared Cotter

CI Review, 2006/07/10-11

Once again I must rant about how generally unimpressed I am with the playing field this year. So meh.

Da girls

• Stephanie
  Brilliant song choice. Brilliant. This song suited her right down to the ground. And then...she screwed it up. This song is a wonderful, carefree ditty about joyful abandon and happiness in love. Yet she played it only as "oh I'm so cute". That bit with Brandon was ridiculously contrived...in fact, I find all her performances quite contrived. She never seems to let herself go and be real.
  
  
• Ashley Coulter
  In danger tonight. She hit a lot of bum notes. On the plus side, I agree with Jake that it was obvious she really felt the song. Plus, when she was in tune, she sounded quite good. However, I'm worried that the voting audience will have found the song too dull. I'm also beyond pissed off with Zack. One week he tells her to move out of her comfort zone or she's doomed, this week he tells her she should keep singing songs that she'd make a record with or she's doomed. Buddy, you are not being helpful, you are being contradictory. Pick an opinion and stick with it.
  
  
• Ashley Coles
  I disagree with the judges, I thought that vocally she did pull off the song quite well. She also brought a good performance. The problem I had was with the arrangement - which probably wasn't her fault.
  
  
• Eva
  At last! Something that forced me to sit up and take notice of Eva! I don't know what the judges were on about, I thought it was the best thing she's done so far. She sounded great, she infused the performance with some spirit and voom, and she had a good time.
  
  
• Nancy
  I want to like Nancy, I really do. She has an intensity and spirit that really, really belongs in the top ten. I can even get over that blaring horn-like Alanis quality in her voice by thinking of it as her 'unique sound'. But it's that GODDAMN STUPID WIGGLE DANCE MOVE SHE DOES THAT DRIVES ME AROUND THE FREAKIN' BEND!!! I can't stand it.
  
  
• Kati
  I thought the performance was quite good, with appropriate intensity and feeling. I believed what she was singing about. The problem I have is that I just don't think her voice is that great. I thought she was weak at her first audition and nothing I've heard has changed my mind since.
  
  
• Sarah
  Stand-out performance of the night. She blew everyone else COMPLETELY away. I have no idea what drugs Zack is on - she was AWESOME. Everything was perfect - her look, her voice, her intensity, the feeling in the performance, the 'Star Search' moment at the end - that was top ten material, baybee.

Top two girls, in order: Sarah, Eva

Picks to go home: Stephanie and I don't know who else...Canada will probably pick one of the Ashleys.

Da boys

I didn't bother to vote because I honestly didn't know which ones should go home. The playing field was quite level tonight. Everyone was either kind of average or was good in some ways and bad in others. Dull night, no stand-outs.

• Craig
  NOTE TO ALL IDOL CONTESTANTS PRESENT AND FUTURE: For the love of all that is holy, do NOT do Bohemian Rhapsody. Just don't. I know you want to, I know you think it will be cool...trust me, it won't be. Craig's performance was painful to watch. Dude...do not take that long to take off your jacket. In fact, unless a contestant has the intensity and charisma of Chris Daughtry, stripping is a bad idea, period. Also, Craig, if you're not feeling the agony, don't go down on your knees, it doesn't work. And do not mix up the lyrics to a classic song - people will notice. All that having been said, I must give Craig props for being the only contestant ever to sing this song and sound really, REALLY good. As much as I detested the performance aspect, I must admit that my ears were delighted throughout the whole thing. I've said it before, I'll say it again, the boy can really sing.
  
  
• Brandon
  Despite the judges panning him, I thought this was quite good. He sounded good, and he brought an honesty to the performance that was very pleasant to watch. The hip-hop affectations bugged me a little bit, but not too badly. What may work against him vote-wise is that the song itself is not very exciting or memorable.
  
  
• Keith
  I'm a bit worried for Keith this week. I think he deserves to be in the top ten because he's a great personality, he's got wonderful stage presence and performance ability, and a lovely voice. Oh, and I like red hair. :) But as decent as this week's performance was, it wasn't blow-you-away fantastic, and it also wasn't that memorable. Being unmemorable doesn't get you the votes. Hopefully his fan base is big enough to pull him through.
  
  
• Chad
  Excellent emotion and performance from Chad this week. Frankly, I'm very impressed that he could do something intense like that at his age. My problem is with his voice. Sass said that she would instantly be able to identify Chad's voice if she heard him on the radio...yeah, well, lady, that's because he sounds like a freakin' FROG! Like he's got phlegm coating the back of his mouth. My VCR missed recording his song in week 1, so except for last week (which was awful), I've never really heard him sing...is that his real voice? Does he always sound like that? Because I don't know how much I could take of hearing the frog thing week after week.
  
  
• Sheldon
  I think Sheldon has a great voice, and a great look, and a pretty good vibe. I liked his performance and his singing quite well this week, but the problem is that he didn't go deeply enough, he didn't get low-down dirty and gritty. That is a fun, nasty and seductive song...at the end of the performance he should have had all the girls screaming at their television sets, "YES! Please light my candle!" He went there just a teeny bit, but not all the way, and the performance was lacking because of that.
  
  
• Tyler
  Sounded great, had fun, definitely an entertaining performance. But he's gotta stop with the awkward high school dance moves.
  
  
• Rob
  At last! AT LAST! Rob took the pickle out of his ass and lightened up! Way to go, guy! That may just have catapulted him into the top ten. Good going. Morever, he put his own spin on the song and made it his own, which was great. The complaint I had is that this week his voice didn't sound as great - too shaky.

Picks to go home - totally undecided, but I think Canada will send Chad, Tyler and Rob through. I also think Canada will send Sheldon home.

CI Review, 2006/07/04

Definitely a better night than the boys had yesterday. But only because there were fewer people that were really bad. I'm still not seeing consistent greatness.

Ashley Coulter

I really love this girl's voice. I especially love how it comes out of that tiny body, and how she has a wonderful prepossession - she comes off as very together and mature. I liked the performance alright, except that she didn't totally commit to it. It's an anguished song and yet there were some pixie little audience-flirting smiles.

Eva

I'm just not getting what the big deal is about Eva. Yes, she can sing, but she's not the best singer I've ever heard. Yes, she can bring some emotion to a song, but not as well as could be done. I just think she's very middle-of-the-road. Her performance was likely good enough to send her into next week, but so far I'm just not jazzed.

Alisha

If I have to watch one more person who has no concept of what heartbreak is about trying to perform this song, I may lose it. Alisha sounded good because she's got a kick-ass voice, but where a song like this is concerned, she has about as much depth as a kiddie pool.

Sarah

I really like Sarah's voice. I agree with Zack that technically she is probably the best singer. And, like Ashley Coulter, she has a great maturity and sense of herself. But I don't think she's connecting with the viewing audience. Her performance was good but she didn't go whole-hog and really pull it out - which could have made it FANTASTIC. I think she's got it in her to do that kind of thing, but I don't know if we're going to see it.

Steffie

I'm not sure whether I liked this or not, although at least it was interesting. Steffie's voice is good, and she can perform, and the song did have some good moments...but...maybe it was just a little too Broadway for me. Actually, more high school musical than Broadway, now that I think about it. There was some sincerity but mostly I think it was just acted.

Kati

Like Steffie's performance, I'm not sure whether I liked this one, either. There were good things about it - it sounded okay, it was fairly sincere and decently performed. But there's a shaky instability to her voice that I don't like, it was kinda boring, and I do agree with Zack about the fact that her eyes were closed too much while she was singing.

Ashley Coles

Best of the night. Like Jake, I have no idea how someone that young knew how to convey the blues like that, but convey she did. Sass' comment about making the audience strain to hear a whisper was also bang-on. Ashley has some powerful pipes, and it takes smarts to know when to turn 'em on and when to tone 'em down. Ashley did all the right things tonight and I thought it was great.

Alyssa

Alyssa, Alyssa, Alyssa. Sigh. I like her tremendously. And she has a very sweet voice. And that was a really, really brave song choice, as Jake said. Unfortunately, she failed to pull it off. I see how she COULD have pulled it off - the potential was there. But she held back big-time and didn't go there, and consequently the whole thing just didn't work. Sass' comment about not enunciating in a song like that was also very accurate.

Nancy

I am so conflicted about this girl. On the one hand, I sometimes think she is the only spark of genuine 'wow' that we have this season. She really gets into the music and definitely knows how to perform. And she can sing. So in those respects, she's awesome. But a lot of her 'moves' - especially when she flails one arm into the air - are just weird and they bug me. And that nasal edge to her tone - Zack can call me deaf all he likes, but I find it super-irritating. On the other hand, it also makes her really distinctive, which is awesome - so again, I'm conflicted. There's also a kind of smugness about her performances that gets my back up. But objectively I'd have to say that yes, she deserves to go on this week and ultimately should probably be in the top ten.

My top three, in order: Ashley Coles, Nancy, Ashley Coulter

My picks for bottom four: Kati, Eva, Alisha, Alyssa

My picks to go home: Alyssa, Kati

CI Review, 2006/07/03

Yeesh. Pretty mediocre night last night. I'm sorry, but so far I am not tremendously jazzed by the contenders this season. I have no idea where all this 'depth of talent' we keep hearing the judges rave about in the media is. I'm just not seeing it.

Greg

The judges may not have liked it, but I think he did a pretty decent job. His stage presence and performance were fine, he sounded good, and he did manage to infuse the song with his own style. That said, it was very typical 'matinee Idol' kind of stuff and I do see the merits of Jake's comments that it highlighted some of Greg's deficiencies, but I think it was enough to keep him around another week.

Tyler

Ouch. He didn't stay on key, his voice wobbled in a lot of places, and he didn't get into the performance too much. There was a moment where he did kind of shine, but a few good seconds out of an entire song is not enough to get my vote.

Chris

Personally, I like Chris. He's fun. But Jacob Hoggard he sure ain't. First of all, Jacob can really, really sing, whereas Chris is one of the weakest in that area this year. And second of all, I am pretty damn sure that Jacob would not try to be funny in a song about equality and freedom. That just pissed me off. Moreover, Jacob's 'showmanship' is just a natural outpouring of his personality. When Chris does it, it seems really put on. So I just did not like the performance.

Craig

Alright. I'm going to be honest - Craig's high voice creeps me out. Particularly, it's his high speaking voice. Daryl Brunt from last season, who also had an astonishingly high voice, I could deal with, because puberty obviously hadn't hit him full on yet. But Craig is a bona fide young man, he's pretty built, and yet when he speaks, it's very Michael Jackson. I just find it weird. However, despite all this, I cannot deny that the boy can really, really sing. And he has some stage presence, too - certainly more than a lot of the other guys he's competing with this year, anyway. So as much as he creeps me, I must admit that he deserved lots of votes this week.

Sheldon

I liked this. There were times when it was lounge singerish, but there were also a fair number of moments where he turned on some genuine magnetism and charm. Plus, he sounded very good. I liked it.

Chad

Chad didn't sound good, he didn't move well, he didn't express well, and he didn't perform well. I thought it was bad from beginning to end. I can't believe the judges compared him to Jacob Hoggard. I can only think they were confused by the fact that he looks like him. But there the similarities end. There is a difference between good cheese and bad cheese. Jacob does good cheese. Chad's performance was the worst kind of cheese. I found the whole thing painful.

Rob

I am beginning to see why McMaster and James were a one-hit wonder. To his advantage, Rob has great tone, a really really good recording voice. And, as much as I try to consider appearance irrelevant, I cannot deny that he is extremely easy on the eyes. But his problem is that he does not have stage presence. I don't know whether this is because it's not in him or because he is extremely nervous. But either way, it is not making him likeable. Nothing I've seen so far shows me that he has anything approaching 'It'. He's just a regular joe who can sing very well. So far I haven't seen stage presence.

Brandon

Before he even opened his mouth I was saying "No, no, no noooooo!" to my television upon hearing his song choice for this week. It's one thing to break out of your comfort zone, but it's quite another thing to do something that actively works AGAINST your vibe. The whole song was just wrong for him.

Keith

Stand-out winner of the night. That. Was. Great. I agree with Zack that the evening was completely devoid of anybody rocking the house, but this was one performance that I did NOT want to rock. Keith's performance was sincere, honest, and very, very beautiful. And his voice sounded absolutely delightful. Way to go, Keith. You topped off an evening of mediocrity with genuine professionalism. I loved it.

My top three, in order: Keith, Craig, Sheldon.

My bottom four: Tyler, Chris, Chad and Brandon.

My choices to go home: Chad and Brandon.

AI Review, 2006/05/16

Great show. This is the kind of Idol I want to see!

• Elliott: Sigh. I love Elliott's voice. He certainly brought it out this week and sounded glorious. However, although there was nothing actually wrong with his performances, he didn't really bring it all. There was no special spark, no magic moment, no big oomph. We're at a level of the competition now where that's vital. Last week he came out fighting and it really paid off. This week he seemed to leave that fight at home.
• Katharine: First song sounded fine, was nothing to write home about. But that second song...ho. lee. shit. When I heard that Simon had chosen 'Over the Rainbow' I thought the man had finally lost his grip on reality. By the end of the song I thought he was a freakin' genius. Katharine's second performance was one of the most memorable moments in Idol ever. It was special, beautiful, superb, magical, and perfect. I honestly didn't know she had it in her. Brava. The third song was a bit of a let-down from that high (unsurprising, since it would have been near impossible to equal that kind of quality) but I thought it showcased her voice fantastically, it was fun, spirited, sexy and great.
• Taylor: Taylor didn't do as much with 'Dancing in the Dark' as I (or Clive, I'm guessing) would have hoped, but he sounded terrific, way better than the Boss. It was his second and third performances where he really brought it out. Randy's song choice for him was really good and Taylor showed he could bring seriousness, tenderness and meaning. That was beautiful. Finally, he ended his third performance on a total high, having brought the audience with him on an awesome buildup of energy. I loved it, I loved it, I loved it.

Predictions

As good as he is, simply put, Elliott just was not on the same level as Katharine and Taylor this week. I think Simon was right - his performances were good but not enough to push him into next week. I like him immensely, I think he's had a fantastic run, I think he's done extremely well to get this far, but I don't think we'll see him in the finals.

AI Review, 2006/05/09

Best. Show. Ever.

Not perfect, but still really, really good. Kudos to the show for having such a super-strong top four. It makes for great TV and wonderful music.

• Chris: The biggest criticism I had tonight with Chris was that he needs to improve his control over his microphone swinging technique. :) Other than that, both performances were really good. He had some excellent tender-and-sexy moments in his first song. In his second song, I really liked how he brought out a completely different voice for the first part. I think he could have put more into the first part to ramp up interest, but it was still quite good. And I adored how he really pulled it out and rocked it at the end. Exciting to watch. And I'm not just saying that because he's hot as hell.
  
  
• Elliott: I agree with Simon that Elliott went into tonight as the underdog. He has a spectacular voice, but he just isn't on the same level with the other three in terms of the 'it factor'. However...MAN did he fight for it. I was really worried at the beginning of his first song, because it did start out like a bar mitzvah performance like Tommy Mottola said. However, something switched over after about twenty seconds and it just got really good. Beautiful vocals. And then! Did he ever turn it on for his second performance! UNBELIEVABLE. Superb vocals. REALLY put himself into it. It was great. I didn't believe for one small second that he really was 'trouble', but I certainly believed it could be enough to send him into the three.
  
  
• Katharine: Except for the part where she muffed the lyrics, I really liked her first performance. It was exciting, fun, really well sung, and overall a very entertaining performance. And then...came her second song. I agree with Simon, it started out beautifully, and then she completely overdid it, also pushing her vocals into a place where they didn't sound so great.
  
  
• Taylor: I see absolutely no reason why he shouldn't come back next week. Both performances sounded amazing, were performed exactly as they should have been, and my love-fest for Taylor continues.

Predictions:

Tough to call. I went into this week assuming that it would be Elliott's last, but like I said, he fought really hard. Plus, Katharine screwed up. And history has shown that when she screws up, she's vulnerable. I don't think the Paris votes will be going to any one particular person, so I don't think that's too much of a factor in determining who goes this week.

I still think that Elliott is vulnerable, but I also think there's a hefty chance we could see the last of Katharine this week.

AI Review, 2006/05/02

We're lucky at this point to have an extremely solid group of Idols left. Everyone still in the competition is really good in their own unique way, and that's a terrific thing.

• Chris: First song was classic Chris - sounded great, rocked it out, put something into it, the whole deal. I didn't feel it was stunningly fabulous, but still very solid. The second song I winced through. I don't know whether he was pushing his voice too much during the song or whether the voice was giving out from overuse, but I started getting really nervous for him that it would crap out entirely up there. Not great.
• Elliot: A thousand curses. I knew I wouldn't come downstairs from putting my daughter to bed until after the show started, so I set the VCR up to tape. And it did - but thanks to, I don't know, the fact that our clocks are off? That the network started the show a few minutes before 8? Who knows. The upshot was that I completely missed taping Elliott's first performance. So I have no idea how he did. His second song, however, was very nice - he ALMOST hit that spot where he reached out through the TV and into your chest to grab your heart in his hands. And of course he sounded great.
• Katharine: First song kinda sucked. I agree with the judges, it got away from her and she had a number of off-tune moments. Plus - Against All Odds is a heartwrenching song. When you hear Phil Collins sing it, it just twists you up inside thinking about this poor guy, who had this wonderful love and now it's gone and it's NEVER going to come back to him...heartbreaking. When Katharine sang it, it could've been any old song. Mistake. Her second song, however, was SUPERB. I loved it. That's exactly the kind of thing she should be singing. It was fun, youthful, vibrant, sexy, original, did I say fun? and she sounded glorious.
• Paris: Her songs weres okay. She sounded wonderful as usual, she did a good 'performance', she looked like a pro. But I felt she was just kind of going through the motions. Nothing grabbed me. I don't know whether this was because she wasn't on top of her game or whether she's simply not at the level of going much further in this competition.
• Taylor: My favourite of the night. He had two great performances. The first one...well. What can I say. I loves me some Taylor! Could he have picked a more perfect song for himself or WHAT. He is a funky white boy! He sounded great, he worked it out, and I loved it. His second song didn't have as much 'oomph', but it was the first time I thought his attempt at doing something with tenderness really worked. I thought the second song was really lovely.

Predictions

Objectively I don't know whom to pick as the weakest of the night. It wouldn't be Taylor, but everyone else had flaws - Chris' second performance was problematic, Katharine's first performance was problematic, Paris' two performances were overall good but lacking something, and I have no idea how Elliott's first performance went.

So let's look at the logic instead.

Kellie is now gone. Where will her votes go? I highly doubt that they will go to someone whose main strength is pure vocal talent (Elliott). There's also the unnerving fact that a (possibly significant) component of the Kellie fanbase would never vote for someone Jewish or black. However, I think it's a possibility that some of the Kellie votes could go to Paris. More will probably go to Chris. But I think most of them will go to Katharine.

Except...for Vote for the Worst. The VFTW people are now backing TAYLOR. Not because, as they make it clear, they think he sucks. But because they are all about screwing the American Idol machine and the associated record label, and let's face it, Taylor really is so far from the Idol Winner mold they like to churn out that it's kinda scary. Can you imagine Taylor singing the cheezy schlock they always come up with for the winner's first single? Exactly. And that is why he has VFTW support. With that, ,Taylor could go all the way in this competition.

AI Review, 2006/04/25

Strong

• Chris: I would have liked to see him emit more raw sexiness during the performance (cough, cough, yes, okay, I would always like to see guys who look like this emit all the raw sexiness they can, but for this particular song I felt it was important to turn on the 'I wanna lay down and do very naughty things with you' vibe). But otherwise I thought it was great. This happens to be one of my fave songs due to the Spanish style, so I may be biased, but I thought he did a really good job.
• Elliott: I agreed with Randy that I didn't like the arrangement - it was kind of all over the place and didn't highlight Elliott's gifts - but I still think he shone through it.
• Katharine: I think the judges were on crack. I think Katharine sounded amazing, naturally she looked completely stunning (if I were gay I would have become completely dehydrated from all the drooling) and in places she really turned on the emotional power. The criticism I have of the performance is the same one I've been having lately - she has to STOP FLIRTING WITH THE AUDIENCE and concentrate on the emotion of the damn song.

Weak

• Kellie: In some spots this sounded quite good. But in other spots she went out of tune, and the biggest problem of all about this performance was that I didn't believe a moment of it. David Foster was right, if you don't feel this, it's one of the most boring songs of all-time. And Kellie didn't feel it one little bit.
• Paris: Paris sounded absolutely marvellous. But again, a problem with believability. Paula once said that when Paris doesn't feel or connect with a song, there's none of that great magic that makes Paris voom. And I didn't feel she connected with the song this week.
• Taylor: AUGH! Taylor! My honey, my sweetie...what did you do?!? Okay, I admit, there were bits of that performance that verged on being quite powerful, but otherwise it was kind of boring, amateurish, and didn't even sound very good. I'm very upset. Taylor absolutely should NOT go this early in the competition. But with a performance like that, he might.

Predictions

At this point I have lost all faith in the American Idol voting public to do the right thing and kick Kellie off. However, that is exactly what I would do if I were in charge. I would put Paris, Kellie and Taylor in the bottom three, send Paris back to the couch and boot Kellie into the middle of next week, where she will be viewing the show from the audience.

AI Review, 2006/04/18

Absolutely FANTASTIC night! At last, an American Idol performance show worth watching all the way through! Great evening of song and entertainment. Two thumbs up.

Super

• Chris: When my husband found out it was 'standards week' he got really worried about Chris, and whether he could do the softer stuff. I, however, was not worried. I'd seen clips of Chris doing slower, softer and sappier stuff during the audition and I knew he could pull it off. And so he did. That was a lovely performance. His voice sounded fantastic, the song suited his style...or he made the song suit his style...either way, it worked.
• Paris: Possibly the best performance of the night. That was gorgeous. Her voice sounded effortlessly wonderful, she completely owned the whole performance. She looked and sounded like a total pro. I loved it.
• Taylor: This started out a little dull (by Taylor standards) and then...he turned the Taylor on full-blast and I was blown away, again. I loves me that Taylor.

Super with some reservations

• Elliott: I ADORED his leaning on the mike stand bit at the beginning of the song, coupled with a cocky little grin. That was magic. His voice sounded fantastic, his performance was great. However, after showing us some great personality at the beginning of the song, he didn't show much more after that. Plus, this is a song that can start out slow and then really start to whale, which would have been awesome, but he didn't do it. He just stayed slow the whole way through, and I think that was a mistake.
• Katharine: She sounded glorious. And the song really, really suit her. My criticism is that she spent too much time smiling flirtatiously at the audience - you know, that "Hello, all my lovely darling fans!" kind of thing, instead of getting completely into the vulnerability and yearning of the song. But overall, very good.

Good

• Ace: Aside from the STOO-pid ponytail, this went off rather well. He sounded good - did go into his whiny register, but it wasn't too bad - and performed pretty well. However, it was not on the same par as most of the other performers of the night because it still came off kind of bland and cheezy.

Ugh

• Kellie: I have to give her credit for recognizing what a dog's breakfast that performance was. On the other hand, it's not too smart a thing to basically tell your fan base that they shouldn't vote for you. Kellie did not feel the song, she got COMPLETELY off-tempo, and she hit a lot of really rather painful notes. Worst thing she's ever done. Yeesh.

Predictions

If there is any justice in this world, it will be Ace and Kellie in the bottom two tonight, with Kellie going home. However, she's probably picked up a lot of the votes that used to go to Bucky, and she's got Vote For The Worst support, AND a huge fan base to boot, so she could pull through. On the other hand, she sucked goat this week, so it's a toss-up. I'm not sure who the third person at the bottom should be. I suspect it will be Elliott - America doesn't seem to love him, even when he does really well like last week.

AI Review, 2006/04/11

That was not as bad as I was afraid it was going to be. Plus, great song choices tonight from almost everyone.

Stand out, absolutely no question, total ultimate winner of the evening

• Taylor: He's BACK! With a vengeance! That was fantastically good. He whooped it up, he sounded absolutely incredible, he was totally into it and gave us Classic Taylor Goes To Town On The Music. Loved it. Simon is on crack. Oh, and I finally figured out who it is that Taylor's moves remind me of - Matthew Perry (Chandler Byng).

Very good

• Elliott: He sounded really good, and there were some excellent moments during that performance. Nothing to touch Taylor, but I think he was easily second best of the night.

Good

• Ace: My husband hated it. All the judges didn't like it. Maybe America hated it too, I dunno. But, call me crazy, I thought it was pretty good. Ace moved out of his 'boy band' zone and kind of actually pulled off the rock thing. He sounded great, adapted the song a bit for his voice and style (I thought it was hilarious that Queen refused to do the song R&B), he didn't use his whiny tone...I thought it was good. No, he didn't completely rock it out and absolutely own the stage, but I still thought it was good.

Weird combination of good and bad

• Chris: Best performance in this category. Chris sounded great, and he brought some meaning to the performance. The problem was the arrangement. The rest of the world may not know "Innuendo", but I know it very well and it is absolutely one of my favourite songs ever. If you'd never heard it before Chris performed it, go get it, it's totally worth a listen. I don't think the problem was that Chris chose a song unfamiliar to the audience. I think the problem was the arrangement of the song itself. Whoever chose which bits of the song to condense together for a version that worked with Idol time constraints SUCKED. They chose the most BORING bits of lyrics! And therefore, for a lot of the song, it was just Chris belting out the same thing over and over - which would have worked with a song that everyone knows, but which doesn't work at all with a song nobody knows. Chris good, arrangement bad. Hopefully it won't screw him.
• Katharine: Brilliant song choice. BRILLIANT. Excellent decision to change from her original idea. And this was, emotionally, a very powerful performance. What destroyed it for me was how she was utterly out-of-tune on the big, important notes. Painful. Which really pisses me off because were it not for that, this would probably have been her best performance ever.
• Kellie: I think there were more bad bits than good bits in this performance, but overall it wasn't the nightmare I thought it was going to be. The beginning was quite well done, although her voice was weak. The part after she ripped the mike out of the stand and tried to rock it out, though, was not that great. Kellie, newsflash: walking more purposefully does not equal rockin' dance moves.
• Paris: At the beginning of the song, I thought, "Oh, this is going to be awesome." She sounded great, worked it out, looked powerful and owned the stage. And then she started with that weird hopping thing, and it just got kind of embarrassing. Then she brought it back again a bit...and then again, she kind of lost it. I agree with Simon, it was just...weird.

At risk

• Bucky: I certainly don't think that Bucky's performance was bad. He sounded pretty good, he had a good time, his performance skills are improving. However, he's just not improving at the same rate that everyone else is, and therefore he's lagging behind the pack. By contrast to everyone else, his performance was pretty forgettable, and we all know what tends to happen when you're forgettable and you go first.

Prediction

If I were in charge, I would pick Bucky, Paris and Kellie for the bottom three, with Paris going back to the sofa and Bucky going home. However, America might keep Kellie on the couch all night and put Ace in the bottom three instead.

AI Review, 2006/04/04

"So what's the theme this week?" DH asked as he lowered himself into a chair. The moment I said "Country," he abruptly ceased his descent, got up and almost ran out of the room.

So he and Simon have something in common, I guess. I'm not a big country fan either, but it wasn't too hard for me to sit through the show. There was a nice variety of songs and some interesting choices, but overall I'd say that the last two weeks out I've been pretty disappointed. I like the shows where competitor after competitor makes you sit up and think 'wow'. This, once again, was not one of those nights.

(However, this night did have the distinction of having some actual good comments by Paula. Really! I was amazed. I have a new theory - when Paula likes a performance, and unfortunately, Paula likes almost every performance, her comments are completely inane. But when she has problems with a performance, she comes up with some pretty valid and constructive things to say. Whooda thunk it.)

Best

• Ace: I thought this week's theme would be a nightmare for Ace. But I was extremely pleasantly proven wrong. Very, very smart song choice. As opposed to 50s Night, where he chose something that clashed completely with his vocal style, this melded beautifully with his voice, he gave a very believable performance, and threw in a really nice mix of strong and soft. Soft to pull you in, some strong to give some power, then some soft again...and finally ending with a falsetto? Great arrangement. I actually prefer Ace's softer voice. When he starts turning on the power we get that horrible whiny quality that I cannot. Stand.
• Katharine: Very nicely sung, very well performed. She had tremendous fun, she played with the audience, gave 'em a little sexy, a little powerful, a little fun, and a lot of good singing. The criticism I have with Katharine is that her upper register power voice loses the richness we hear when she sings lower, and it's more strained and shrill. Of my two top performers, Katharine was better.

Very good

• Kellie: A surprisingly intense and serious performance! She abandoned her much-vaunted crazy/quirky style for something more 'I'm gonna getcha' and it actually worked. There were a few weak vocal moments and Yet More Pointing At The Camera (note to Idols: STOP! THAT!) but it was very good.
• Mandisa: Nicely performed - not fantastic compared to other performances we've seen her do, but compared to all the Idols in general it was good. She didn't get into the groove of the song as much as I think she could've, but it was pretty fun to watch. However, she needs to stay away from her lower register. We've had a lot of guest artists and judges raving that 'Mandisa, you have no range!', but she really does. She does not sound in control in her lower register, it's the upper notes where she does the magic.

Good

• Bucky: Wow! Bucky ditched the gravelly voice tonight and went with a croon, and I think it worked very well. We have the usual problem of his words getting a bit swallowed and his performance not being as professional as many of the other competitors (and for heaven's sake, dude, lose the hat - you destroy half your credibility as a performer if we can't see your freakin' eyes). However, it was pleasant and I liked it.
• Chris: Okay performance - I think he struggled to get into the deep meaning of the song and really blow the audience away with the intensity he's capable of. Also there were some missed notes which hurt a bit.
• Elliott: Obviously Elliott would be the guy who would struggle the most with this week's theme. However, I think Kenny's advice that we saw in the pre-performance interview was excellent and it looked like Elliott took it to heart. He sang well, and his voice was only slightly at odds with the style of the song. He also brought a decent amount of believability to the meaning of the song, I almost did believe he was singing to someone he really loved.

At risk

• Paris: Sounded good as usual - with some iffy notes - but totally, TOTALLY did not get into the song. Since getting into the song is Paris' bread-and-butter, I found this performance very disappointing.
• Taylor: Taylor! TAYLOR! What were you doing?!? Where did my Taylor go? Dude. Some advice. If you're not feeling the song, DO NOT CHOOSE THAT SONG. You will suck. Not only was the performance bland and lacking all that wonderful Taylorness that we all adore, but some of the vocal was iffy, too. You could go tonight after that. And that would make me very, very sad.

Predictions

Paris, Taylor and Bucky in the bottom three. Maybe Elliott instead of Bucky. I'm not sure who's going home and my love for Taylor doesn't want to predict him as this week's casualty.