i can’t believe i forgot Jacob in my picks last week… anyway, here we are, the top thirteen and, i picked 8 right last week assuming there would be a final 12… not that it matters… last week was a strange “blood bath” of the top 24, but it works… they obviously realize the need to not drag this season out too long… and on that note, i’ll get to this week’s episode… yes, it’s not “live,” but it is real-time commentary on the episode brought to you by my DVR and my crazy headspace… off we go…
apparently it is sing a song from your personal “idol” this week… i thought they weren’t doing theme weeks this year… does this not count as a theme?… anyway, first up is…
now playing: You Decide by Brandon Heath
Lauren Alaina… singing Shania Twain’s Any Man of Mine… and after a lengthy promo video, she just starts right in… she doen’t seem very excited to be there and it shows in the song… it’s fine i guess, but really lacking in enthusiasm and the peppiness that has defined her up to this point… Steven says it needed to kick a little more booty… J-Lo says it wasn’t in a high enough gear, but we love her… Randy echoes them, noting that she didn’t shine as much as she should’ve… she apologizes to Steven for not kicking it up enough notches and he tells her that he loves the way she shakes… Ryan steps in with a reminder that it’s about constructive criticism… (meaning, calm down hound dog)…
Casey… singing A Little Help from My Friends by Joe Cocker… and i doubt we’ll see a lack of energy from Casey… he is starting off on the stairs and as he comes down, a choir flanks him and supports his soul patrol efforts… that’s right, i said it… he totally channeled Taylor Hicks on a few of those notes… he’s the clear favorite in this contest… and this is why… J-lo was blown away… Randy says he’s so unbelievable and exciting… loved it dude, loved it… Steven says he’s a rainbow of talent and a plethora of passion…
Ashthon is singing a Diana Ross song, because they told her she was Diana Ross… i’m not really sold on this performance… there’s a lot of shakiness to the vocal during the verses and lower register… and that’s most of the song… i know she can bang out the high notes and the powerful moments, but this song really doesn’t have any of those… it was just alright… Randy said it was a little safe, but she grew as a singer right before their eyes, (kind of like a chia pet maybe?)… Steven says she has more to offer that she’s not showing… J-Lo says that she could’ve done better, but she maintained her composure throughout and she’s awesome and amazing…
now playing: Forget Me Not by The Civil Wars
Paul clarifies that he likes Ryan Adams, not Bryan Adams… singing Come Pick Me Up… and he addresses the crowd first… well… he’s prancing around the stage like a pixie and i can’t say that his voice really suits the song… yeah… to put it gently, i just didn’t like that at all… that’s not him… Steven says it was a little pitchy, but it’s always his song whenever he sings… J-Lo says he’s unique and she hopes America “gets it”… Randy says it probably wasn’t excited, but he loves the character that Paul is… Ryan and Paul then proceed to dance like Peanuts characters on stage while trolling for votes…
Pia… first i must say that this is definitely the season of strange names… oh no… a Celine Dion song… singing All By Myself… i love how all these contestants suck up to the Interscope people… i’d bet none of the contestants had ever heard their names before the show… anyway… she’s got some pipes… it seems she felt like the verse was just an obligatory introduction to the chorus where she could kick off the high notes and dazzle the crowd… so it will be interesting to see how she does on a song that has a longer “intro”… J-Lo says she’s topped last week… there it is… Randy says she has a natural gift for slaying the high notes… Steven says it was the sum total of all her performances up to this point and it was a polished apple…
can’t say i miss watching commercials… what? another Christian Slater series? how did that get greenlit? anyway, on with the show…
James singing Maybe I’m Amazed by the Beatles… i didn’t even know people were still singing like this… interesting… the judges look like bobblehead dolls… oh, and the song… is… um… okay… i guess it’s interesting to see him toned down a bit… he does sound like an 80s rockstar… maybe from Cinderella or whatnot… it was alright… Randy says he loves that James has a voice that can sing anything… he slayed Paul McCartney… Steven says… if there was ever a review about James, he just sang it… and sang it well… J-Lo lets everyone clap a lot and then tells him that he’s everything…
Haley singing Blue from LeAnn Rimes… she’s 20? she looks much younger… anyway, she’s doing really well with the yodeling and the attitude throughout the rest of the song… really toned down song, but she eminates an energy that works to make the song even more exciting than it is… Steven is hooked and is dancing along with her… it’s a good song… Steven gives a history lesson on the song’s origin and says the country world is roaring… J-Lo says she is unique like Paul… and it was really good… Randy says it was sleepy and boring…
Jacob… okay, even if it was true, i don’t think i’d ever admit to the world that R Kelly was my idol… i mean, really… do you not remember the whole story?… eeks… anyway, Jacob is singing I Believe I Can Fly… double eeks… i think his voice is just too high?… square?… i don’t know, it’s just not believable to some extent… i just don’t like this performance at all and his voice, i guess just hangs out in that realm of annoyance for me… Steven says pure passion, pure music, it can’t be judged… J-Lo says it’s anybody’s game and Jacob is at the top… Randy says the talent is really good this year and Jacob has a signature tone and it was unbelievable…
now playing: I’m Moving On by Rascal Flatts
Thia… another coincidence i’m sure, but the judges compared Thia to Michael Jackson and apparently that’s her idol… singing Smile… and it’s slow and safe… well, okay, there’s a little touch of flare to it here… she really does have an almost mechanical way of deliverying her vocal… it’s right on track, but perhaps overly controlled… Randy says he loved the intro more than the jazzy arrangement, but it was good… Steven agrees, but still liked it overall… J-Lo reiterates that the beginning was better than the end, but she sings like an angel…
Stefano… i was shocked that he was called in for a wildcard performance and i’m not sold completely on him, but singing Smokie Norful helped… this week, he’s taking on K-Ci & Jojo… i mean Stevie Wonder’s Lately… and i’m back to not being too keen on him… that was a strange arrangement for me and his vocal isn’t the strongest… Steven says he pulled it off… J-Lo said he had her dancing and she loved it… Randy says he soared after a rocky start…
Karen well this means that Naima is closing us out i guess… and she’s singing a Selena song, which means she’ll sing in Spanish for at least part of it… she sings sleepy and not happy… i’m not sure if it’s my cable or if her gestures are completely unconnected to the song.. no, her lips match… she’s just randomly gesturing… well, the vocal was steady and safe… it was just alright though… J-Lo says she was obviously uncomfortable, but she’s one of the strongest girls… Randy says it felt like she was fighting the song… and it was sleepy instead of exciting… Steven agrees that it was lacking energy…
Scotty… Subway has a meatball pepperoni sub… that sounds pretty good… Garth Brooks… not a surprise… singing The River… jeepers… he sounds like he’s been recording for ten years already… i guess the only concerns are whether he can sing country every week and if he starts to sound too karaoke at some point… as it is now though, he’s fantastic… Randy says this is exactly where he belongs… Steven says he’s ridin’ high (and a bunch of other stuff)… J-Lo says he opened up as a performer…
Naima… singing Rhianna’s Umbrella… and putting a little Naima twist to it… well, she definitely seems to be enjoying herself, but behind all the dancing, the vocal is pretty thin… oh, a reggae section and a pop-lock session… i’m not sold… Steven says she’s good, despite the pitchy notes… J-Lo loved the dancing and says now she needs to work on control… Randy does care about pitchiness and all the other shortcomings, but he loved the reggae section…
okay, so they didn’t say how many will be voted off tonight, but for the sake of the guessing game, we’ll assume that two people will leave and it will be a bottom four… and that bottom four will be… Lauren, Ashthon, Paul, and Karen… and going home will be Karen and Ashthon…
and in the grand tradition of forecasting well beyond what is normal, here is the order in which the top 13 will exit the show… T13. Karen and Ashthon
11. Lauren
10. Paul
9. Haley
8. Jacob
7. Naima
6. Stefano
5. Thia
4. Scotty
3. James
2. Pia
1. Casey
i’m not entirely certain of this order, but that’s what we do here… let’s see how it all shakes out…
peace… love… bdg…