Topic: American Idol 2012

[Steak Snabler]

If Phillip Phillips doesn't sing a DMB cover version of "Superstition" (which he did in his audition), I'd be shocked.

[jr/shotglass]

I think they were all too rough on Ms. Magrane.

Go figure.

[Steak Snabler]

Shannon, IMHO, is killing it.

That high note was brutal.

[jr/shotglass]

She'll have more chances.

[Steak Snabler]

Skylar is so much better than Lauren Elaina from last year that it's not even close. Lauren was a chunky Carrie Underwood wannabe. This girl is really a performer. Yet she won't make the final 2.

[jr/shotglass]

She may be around at the end. I think she and Magrane are the top two women until I see differently.

[jr/shotglass]

Don't know how much longer Heejun is for this competition.

[jr/shotglass]

OK, I haven't given Jessica Sanchez enough credit.

That may quickly make some top-10-ever-on-Idol lists.

[Steak Snabler]

If Phillip Phillips doesn't sing a DMB cover version of "Superstition" (which he did in his audition), I'd be shocked.

I win.

[Care Bear]

Who goes home?

I'm guessing the bitter girl who bemoaned the fact she only had "four or five days" to learn a song.

 

[Steak Snabler]

That would be Elise. She was terrible.

Shannon was the worst tonight, but she's got too much capital built up with the voters and the judges.

Didn't care for Colton tonight, either. Jeremy's probably the low-vote guy, though.

[jr/shotglass]

Still think Shannon was better than Elise or Erika tonight.

Jeremy and Elise out.

[schiezainc]

Well, folks, just caught up on the DVR. And, here, we go …

Joshua Ledet “I wish”- When Joshua started the show off with this, I was incredibly nervous. He’s my favorite guy on the show right now and this just did not start off good. He looked like he was in pain when he was trying to get the crowd on his side. To his credit, though, he bounced back quite nicely as the song went on and he got the crowd really into it. Still a little so-so on his attempt to scream at the end and he clearly doesn’t have rock in his future but this was a solid effort but a guy clearly on another level right now. 7/10.

Elise Testone “I’m your baby tonight”—Ouch. I know I’m going to be a bit harsh on Elise for this and it’s not her fault. It’s just hard for me to hear this song on Idol and not think of either 1.) The great Whitney Houston original version or 2.) The version that my girl Haley Reinhart sung last year on this show { http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=gq24mWLL8eQ]  Elise’s version was just too scratchy and just came across as rushed and unprepared. Maybe it’s because she switched songs. I don’t know. But it was terrible. And unlike Haley, who only did so-so during her performance but put out a great studio version of the song, I can’t imagine the Itunes track of this would be much better. And I don’t think Elise will get a second chance to prove me wrong. 3/10.

Jermaine Jones “Knocks me off my feet”— Wow. Man. Apart from a rough ending, that was a fantastic performance. Perfect song choice for his voice and he really nailed it. He went high when he had to go high, low when he had to go low and it was just nice to hear. I also liked that Jermaine appeared a bit more relaxed on stage. I don’t know how much time they’re spending coaching this guy in every phase of the game but he is slowly and steadily becoming one of the best of the season. Now if they could just find a way to make him seem less like the main character in the Green Mile and more like an actual man, he might be unstoppable. 8/10.

Erika Van Pelt “I believe in you and me”—OK, first off, who dressed this girl? She looked f**king HUGE this week when she was sitting with Seacreast. Poor style choice. She has looked great this season and tonight, not so much. As for the song, I really dug it. Loved the slow tempo she chose with it, the extra emphasis she put on each verse and her patience really made the words stand out. She VERY clearly is no Whitney Houston but she made this song her own in about the best way she could and this was a solid, standout performance. 7/10.

Colton Dixon “Lately”—Of all the performances last year, “Lately” by Stefano Langone was, easily, in my top three. I still listen to the studio version of that performance today. [http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=o9lNFqhgFd8]. This performance was nowhere near as good. I’ll cut Colton some slack in that this week clearly wasn’t geared toward him and he a decent job with a song he obviously wasn’t comfortable with. And, to his credit, he nailed the end but, all in all, this really did nothing for me. Again, I’m biased because of last season but I can’t wait to see what this guy will do if there’s a rock week. 5/10.

Shannon Magrane “I have nothing” –This girl has been pegged as the favorite to win it all by some. I didn’t see why until tonight. She was phenomenal at the start of this and then, then, in the biggest note … she STRUCK OUT. My wife and I both grimaced at that. I hate to knock her for one awful note but it’s the signature note of the song. Man. Ruined a great performance. Would have been an 8/10 if she hit that note right. Instead, it’s a 5/10 at best. I’ll be curious to hear the studio version of this.

Deandre Brackensick “Master Blaster”—I hate this guy. He’s my least favorite person left on the show and it’s strictly because he looks like he should have been the third member of Milli Vanilli. Still, hard to deny he did a solid job with this song this week. He looked comfortable and, more importantly, appeared to be having a good time with it. He didn’t botch any notes and it was pleasant to watch. Nothing worth seeing again but a solid effort that should get him through. 6/10.

Skylar Laine “Where do broken hearts go?”— I strongly hate this song but Skylar’s effort here had me hooked before she even started singing. Loved Mary J. Blige’s advice to her and I think it really, really helped Skylar. This was great. A little rough in the middle but she brought it and what I liked the most was she stayed true to her strengths (country/Reba rock) and still did the song justice. She’s like Scotty was last year … except she can clearly do more than the same song and style every week.

Heejun Han “All in love is fair”—OK, I’ve got to say this. Heejun is one of the most entertaining characters I’ve seen on this show. And what makes it even better is he can actually sing. My wife hated him last week because she thought he was a new version of William Hung but this week, he left her speechless. This was just flawless. So soft, so quiet. Another side of a real sleeper in this show. Heejun could go really far. He’s got the personality, he’s got the voice. I don’t know if he’s Idol material but he’s damn good. 7/10.

Hollie Cavanagh “All the man that I need”—I’m going to be honest. This is my girl this season. Like Haley Reinhart last year, I just enjoy hearing this girl sing. To this point in the show, she’s the closest vocally to Whitney and she did this song some serious justice. My only criticism here is that this was basically a repeat performance from last week with “Reflection” but, man, did I dig this. Her final few notes were perfect. Absolutely perfect. I expect big things from this girl. Hopefully America sees what I see here. 8/10.

Jeremy Rosado “Ribbon in the sky”— I can’t look at this kid without thinking of him as a Spanish version of Rhody and it makes me chuckle each time. Sadly, though, I don’t think I’m going to get many more chances to laugh as I see Jeremy going this week. This performance was good but it was quite telling because, compared to the rest of the guys, he’s just OK. I don’t think he’s going to connect with the voters here. This was a little slow and boring and I gotta agree with Randy. This could have been better. As it was, it was just average … like the guy singing it.

Jessica Sanchez “I will always love you”—Man. This chick has balls. Obviously she’s the only one on the show that could pull this off and, boy, did she f**king nail it. Absolutely smashed it. Took the toughest song to sing and knocked it out completely. I was worried about this song because singing a tune like this on Idol comes with some serious risks. Having only a few moments to sing such a long and slowly drawn out classic like this can really kill the emotion and tension but she hit almost every note, perfectly. Not much more to say. 10/10.

Dave Matthews Jr. “Superstition”—I don’t get the love for this guy but he’s starting to win me over bit by bit, probably because he’s the only rocker left on the show and I miss James Durbin. Not a bad performance here, it was quite fun to see him rock out here but how do you follow Jessica Sanchez with this? Nothing we haven’t seen from him before and he’ll probably get more praise than he deserves but I don’t mind seeing him a little more. 6/10.

MY RANKINGS:
1. Jessica Sanchez
2. Jermaine Jones
3. Hollie Cavanagh
4. Erika Van Pelt
5. Heejun Han
6. Joshua Ledet
7. Skylar Laine
8. Phillip Phillips
9. Jeremy Rosado
10. Deandre Brackensick
11. Colton Dixon
12. Shannon Magrane
13. Elise Testone

My predictions: Jeremy and Elise are the two on the chopping block here. If the judges keep Elise, it’s strictly because they want an equal number of guys and girls. She should be gone. She was dreadful. I’ll bet Jeremy gets the ax though.

Overall thoughts: Not a bad show tonight. I was a little worried about the theme because it was kind of limited but everyone seemed to do a pretty solid job with it. A couple of potential downloads from me here and that’s really all I ever ask for from Idol.

[jr/shotglass]

I overlooked Magrane's big mistake, I guess. Still believe she'll be safe.

I will point out, though ... ... I was ahead of the curve on the Hollie Cavanagh train. Saw big things from her last week.

Really believe that the best performers this year are females.

[Steak Snabler]

I overlooked Magrane's big mistake, I guess. Still believe she'll be safe.

I will point out, though ... ... I was ahead of the curve on the Hollie Cavanagh train. Saw big things from her last week.

Really believe that the best performers this year are females.

Would not be surprised if 3 or 4 of the top 5 are women. Joshua Ledet is the only guy who can hang with the top women vocally, though Phil-Phil's dreaminess will probably keep him in til near the end.

[jr/shotglass]

Phil-Phil ought to bring out a guy playing a mean fiddle, perform "Ants Marching" and be done with it.

[Steak Snabler]

Boy, Jermaine came off really entitled and ungracious tonight. Notice no one rushed up to hug him after he was saved at the end.

But getting rid of Jeremy was the right move. He was clearly the weakest of the guys. Like Jimmy Iovine noted, he sucked last night even though the song was in his wheelhouse (as opposed to Elise, who sucked but was clearly out of her genre).

Jimmy said what I've been saying about Shannon all along — she's not mature enough yet for this competition. And the voters seem to agree after that dog performance last night. She'll outlast Erika, Elise and maybe Skylar, but she ain't beating Jessica or Hollie.

And those of you who think the "tween" thing is not real, how to account for Joshua in the men's bottom 3 over Colton and DeAndre?

[jr/shotglass]

They picked the right two. I thought they were both going to be sent packing, though. Neither one deserved another week.

BTW ... if Shannon's not mature enough for this competition, what's the difference between her and the killer, fellow 16-year-old J-San?

[Steak Snabler]

They picked the right two. I thought they were both going to be sent packing, though. Neither one deserved another week.

BTW ... if Shannon's not mature enough for this competition, what's the difference between her and the killer, fellow 16-year-old J-San?

I believe Sanchez was on "America's Got Talent" as an 11-year-old, so it seems like she's got more experience as a performer.

[schiezainc]

So my DVR tonight decided to tape Parks & Rec (Good) and the First 48 (Bad, wife's choice) instead of Idol. Someone want to catch me up? I gather Jeremy is gone?

[Steak Snabler]

So my DVR tonight decided to tape Parks & Rec (Good) and the First 48 (Bad, wife's choice) instead of Idol. Someone want to catch me up? I gather Jeremy is gone?

Bottom 3 men: Jeremy, Jermaine, Joshua

Bottom 3 women: Elise, Erika, Shannon

Bottom 2 overall: Jeremy, Elise

Judges "save" Elise (which is the way Jo-Lo phrased it. I don't think this counts as the one "judges' save.")

[Rhody31]

If Phillip Phillips doesn't sing a DMB cover version of "Superstition" (which he did in his audition), I'd be shocked.

I win.

You didn't. DMB never covered it, according to my friend who has been to 150-plus shows ...

[Steak Snabler]

If Phillip Phillips doesn't sing a DMB cover version of "Superstition" (which he did in his audition), I'd be shocked.

I win.

You didn't. DMB never covered it, according to my friend who has been to 150-plus shows ...

No kidding, but everything Phil-Phil does sounds like a DMB version of something.

[Gator]

Boy, Jermaine came off really entitled and ungracious tonight. Notice no one rushed up to hug him after he was saved at the end.

But getting rid of Jeremy was the right move. He was clearly the weakest of the guys. Like Jimmy Iovine noted, he sucked last night even though the song was in his wheelhouse (as opposed to Elise, who sucked but was clearly out of her genre).

Jimmy said what I've been saying about Shannon all along — she's not mature enough yet for this competition. And the voters seem to agree after that dog performance last night. She'll outlast Erika, Elise and maybe Skylar, but she ain't beating Jessica or Hollie.

And those of you who think the "tween" thing is not real, how to account for Joshua in the men's bottom 3 over Colton and DeAndre?

Entitled and ungracious are synonyms for Shannon. ... she seemed positively incredulous this was happening to her last night when she deserved. I do agree that she'll outlast Erika, but she shouldn't. EVP has been one of the most consistent performers since the start of the show. I have to yet to see a "bad" performance.

Overall, I think it's safe to say this is a girls year.

[jr/shotglass]

Gator, Shannon is so much more purely talented than Erika, it's not even funny.