nine remain and I’m not sure what the theme is for this “jam-packed two hour event,” but we shall see how good and bad it will be… we said goodbye to Erika last week and I can’t disagree with the choice even though I thought Hollie would leave… I think I’ll eventually lock in on this group a little better, but I might also run out of time… okay, it’s the idolettes taking on songs from their idols… and performing as trios as well… busy night… off we go…

Open Arms by Journey

Colton Dixon was found by music in church and he’s tackling his favorite worship song, Everything by Lifehouse… great song and knowing this is his taste explains a lot about his vocal… that was spectacular and the first time I didn’t feel like he was fraudulent… Steven says he’s a dream come true for an AI judge… J-Lo was literally moved because it was so emotional… Randy believes in every song Colton chooses and it was unbelievable… COLTON IS IN IT TO WIN IT, DAWG… (or something to that effect)…
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so now we’re down to ten and we start off with a depressing montage of footage from last week when everyone said goodbye to Shannon… anyway, we move along… the rumor is this week is Billy Joel week and Ryan verifies that in short order… Steven chimes in, noting that if you can’t sing Billy Joel, you can’t sing… i think that means that Billy Joel songs are cake… let’s see… also getting promos this week are Diddy and Tommy Hilfiger… off we go…

Don’t Ask Me Why by Billy Joel

DeAndre Brackensick chose Only the Good Die Young… it’s going to be hard to not directly compare these contestants to Billy Joel, but i’ll try… this is the dullest, most energetic performance i’ve seen… he’s bouncing around, but it’s so ridiculously fake… Steven thought it was too happy, but that’s what the world needs… J-Lo thought it was a great way to start off the show, laid back and grovelly… Randy agreed, but noted that it didn’t wow him, but it was okay…
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nothing is without controversy and this show is apparently a petri dish to examine life… someone has been eliminated during the off days after cooperation with law enforcement… but apparently we’ll get to that later… first let’s look at baby pictures and get ready to hear the top eleven whippershappers sing songs from the year they were born… off we go…

Play That Funky Music by Wild Cherry

Phillip Phillips moves from closer to opener and fights through kindey stone surgery to bring his rendition of Hard to Handle from the Black Crowes to the Idol stage… it’s really solid, but i do get the feeling that he has a little more he could’ve given into that performance… great song choice though… Randy says it was good song choice and he sounded incredible… J-Lo says performing is so natural to him and it’s from every fiber of his body (except apparently his kidneys)… Steven says it matched his voice and style well and it was great…

Jessica Sanchez… maybe they’re going in opposite order… she chooses Gloria Estefan’s Turn the Beat Around which really doesn’t suit her and she struggles throughout it (just like last week) but again, no one will care after she jacked up the closing chorus… Steven says she can’t stray too far from ballads and she was off the beat… J-Lo agrees about the rhythm and says it wasn’t her favorite performance… Randy says it was a bad song choice that hid her “big ole voice”…
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okay, so it seems like every year, i’ve all but decided to give up on American Idol and most of the time i crawl back into it and keep up… i’ve gotten myself all caught up on the shows leading up to the finals and i’m ready to go… guys vs. girls tonight because we always need a new twist… Stevie Wonder songs for the guys, Whitney Houston for the gals… first up, the guys… off we go…

Uptight (Everything’s Alright) by Stevie Wonder

Joshua Ledet leads off with I Wish and they were concerned about him being to gospel-ly in the finals… dude can sang and the high energy really sold it well… Randy says he turned it out… flawless… J-Lo says she felt his performance and she loved it… Steven says he had the snap and he brought it home…

Elise Testone got vetoed on her song selection because she was horrible… they encouraged her to sing I’m Your Baby Tonight… good call… i’m still not sold on her though… if she does have a “dope” voice like Mary J says, she needs some help… this is awful… too much yelling and growling… J-Lo says a lot of nice things before telling her it wasn’t her best… Steven says she has a great voice, but it was just good… Randy says she sounded like she was boxing with the song and it wasn’t her best…

Jermaine Jones, the “gentle giant,” tackles Knocks Me Off My Feet… it’s a ballad which works for him, but his biggest struggle will be to prove he has dynamics in his vocal rather than just a monotone bass… some nicks and bruises here and there, but this was a’ight… Steven says the song fit him like an Armani suit… J-Lo says he’s such a sweetheart, but needs to connect more with the song… Randy says he loved the verses, but not the chorus…
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Now we’re down to seven groups and they lead off with a Halloween medley which must’ve felt weird when they recorded it weeks ago… sounded good though… the judges seemed to get a kick out of it… tonight they’re tasked with superstar medleys, which is three songs from a superstar mashed up into one… should be interesting… off we go…

now playing: Singing in the Rain/Umbrella by Glee

Urban Method chooses Rhianna as their superstar… i like Umbrella, but i’m pretty tapped out on her catalog at that point… this is a longer performance than i expected, and the medley portion was much more distinct than i had hoped… they are trying to prove that they are more than a rap group, and it comes through fine, but they have lost a little of their identity with it… it was pretty good, but nothing spectacular… Sara says she loved the last song and they should be more confident… Shawn liked that they showed the potential of the girls and compared them all to candies that needed to be unwrapped… or un-rap-ped… Ben thought it started off well, fell apart in the middle, then came back together in the end and overall it was great…

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eight groups left and it’s hip hop night… which is interesting and obviously tips the scales in Urban Method’s favor… they open with a B.O.B. song, Nothin’ on You that i’m not completely familiar with, but it sounds pretty good… probably better than the original… not sure how many are going home tonight, but i’d have to guess we’ll see two more go home… wait, did he just imply that Boys II Men is 20 years old?… yikes… okay, so, two sets of four and then a sing off battle to eliminate one group… sassy… off we go…

now playing: Whatcha Say by Solo

The Dartmouth Aires take on Flo Rida’s Club Can’t Handle Me… i think one of the groups did a Flo Rida song in the first season… well, this is definitely not in their comfort zone… they’ve donned some sterotypically ghetto fabulous outfits, but they don’t seem quite as comfortable as they normally are on stage… the hook is working pretty well, but the leads are struggling a bit… it was alright, but could’ve been better… Sara said it had swagger because they started out chaotic and rushed, but they settled in eventually and it was fun to watch… Shawn shouts out to hip hop and then tells them they put their style on it and he would hang out with them… good job… Ben says it was a little disjointed, calling it polka hip hop but lots of fun…
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Ten, count them ten groups converge on the stage as we dive into the mix with a supergroup performance of All Night Long… party… fiesta… forever… guilty pleasures night and lots of groups… so, not much time to chit chat… off we go…

now playing: Dynamite by The Yellow Jackets

The Yellow Hoodies, i mean Jackets start things off on the right note, picking a Spice Girl tune for their guilty pleasure… and they are definitely having fun and making it their own… quite a performance and no problems with the vocals… Sara says it was a ton of fun… some tuning issues, but she would watch it again… Shawn says it’s burned into his retina and all of it was good, even though some of the harmonies were a little off, so far so good… Ben says it was really entertaining and a smart arrangement… it was a starburst of energy…
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As a long time fan of hip hop, I’ve been able to witness first hand the marriage of faith and hip hop from the early days. And by early, I mean when Stephen Wiley was “Rappin for Jesus” to the be-be-beat, Michael Peace was “R-R-Rockin’ it Right,” and SFC was telling us to “Listen Up.” Yeah, the days of cassette tapes and cardboard. When Christian rap, Holy Hip Hop, or whatever you want to call it (Call It What You Want?) didn’t have it’s own section in the Christian book stores because there wasn’t much of it and they didn’t know what to do with it.

And when I “broke” into the industry of writing about CCM, it was largely because of my personal history and love of hip hop – a CCM subgenre which seems to always be “on the rise.” By providing credible coverage through popular media outlets, I like to think I helped give a mainstream voice to the marginalized subculture, though I recognize I was never more than a small cog in the large mechanism that is the CCM industry.

I’ve seen a lot of ups and downs – more than speedboats – through the years. Seen artists get shine and stained, but despite all I’ve seen, I still get pretty excited and, moved, when I see a good thing happen in the industry. [continue reading this post...]

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now it’s time for the other six to perform two songs each – one current radio hit and one from the 60s but first, a supergroup rendition of Rhythm of Love by Plain White Tees on a stage that’s been transformed into a field full of artificial flowers and sunshine…

now playing: Sing by The Sing Off Contestants

Whew… i finished my Lucky Charms just in time to catch The Deltones open the night with Edge of Glory by Lady Gaga… i typically only like Lady Gaga songs when they’re mixed down and rearranged as a capella tracks a la Glee’s Gaga episode… this one’s pretty nice, but it’s clearly a strain for the lead vocalist… too bad… it’s a soft opening to the competition tonight for me… Shaun says it was really solid… Sara says they were a little static physically… Ben says it was a really solid performance…
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six of the remaining twelve groups perform tonight and they lead off with Somewhere Only We Know, which i’ve always found to be a haunting and enchanting melody… they did a solid job as they pretty much always do as a giant group… tonight they’ll sing two songs each – one current radio hit and one from the 60s… always fun… i might not type as much because i’m eating popcorn and my fingers are greasy…

now playing: Motownphilly by Boys II Men

Vocal Point kicks it all off with Never Say Never without their bass vocalist, sadly… they went with the green jackets and ties this week and they’re doing a great job… i’m honestly not familiar with the original version of this tune, but this version sounds pretty good… they’re a very cohesive group… Ben says that he enjoyed it, it was fun, and they sang the hell out of it, which is a lot to unpack, knowing they’re Mormons… Sara says they’re like wholesome Thundercats and despite some rough spots, it was really good… Shawn makes fun of them for singing Bieber, but tells them it was a really good performance…

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