American Idol 2012

Loved this kid from the start. He's stumbled a bit since the start of the live shows, but during Hollywood week and in Las Vegas, you could just see that he was something special.

 

If they do have an elimination this week (and part of me thinks they won't, because of what happened with Jermaine), it has to be DeAndre. He looked absolutely petrified tonight, and with the exception of last week, he's also appeared unsure of himself.

 

American Idol- Top 12

Phillip Phillips “Hard to handle”— I’ve hated on P-squared since this season started but I enjoyed the hell out of this. For the first time this year, he didn’t sound like a blatant DMB rip-off. Fun little song here, a lot of energy and he looked like he was enjoying himself, which added to the viewing experience. This is the Phillip Phillips I want to see each week. More of this, less of “Crash”. 7/10.

Jessica Sanchez “Turn the beat around”— Man, this girl has it. She just has it. I didn’t think she was going to be able to match last week—and let’s be honest, she didn’t—but this was very, very good. A very strong follow-up to what was a true Idol moment last week. This was fun, fast, up tempo and she really showed a new side to herself. She also showed a star power that’s just a step above the rest of the crowd this year. I think the judge’s comments were a bit critical, probably to keep her level-headed. Solid effort. 7/10.

Heejun Han “Right here waiting”—My man Heejun is always such a risky guy. I never know if he’s going to come out and nail it or sound like William Hung. I know it’s not his fault but that accent is a real, real disadvantage. It almost sounds like he’s focusing half his energy on suppressing the accent and it takes away from his ability to really knock it out of the park. He can definitely sing, there’s no question about that. But I don’t see how he gets far in this competition with his clear limitations. 5/10.

Elise Testone “Let’s stay together”— Damn, what a good song choice here. Loved the slow take to start it off and when Elise switched it up tempo-wise, it really showed off her strengths. Was it perfect? No. It was a bit forced, a bit pitchy but it was a marked improvement from last week. I wouldn’t mind seeing her stick around. 6/10.

Deandre Brackensick “Endless Love”—I’ve never really liked this guy and it’s entirely because of his hairstyle but I’ve got to give him credit. This was the perfect song choice for him, regardless of what the judges said. Really showed his softer side and really showcased his voice and potential. Nice to see him have a week where he didn’t have to play the silly, Milli Vanilli fool. This was the first week where I enjoyed listening to him sing. Great effort. 7/10.

Shannon Magrane “One Sweet Day”—First off, f**k you Idol for that blatant AT&T ad. Awful. As for this song, I think Shannon should have stuck with “Don’t speak”. This is a great song but her performance was just not good. It just pales in comparison to Mariah’s and it is really hurt by the lack of Boys II Men on the track. I get that she tried to show she could hit those notes but I don’t think she succeeded. 4/10.

Colton Dixon “Broken Heart”—Risky move here picking an obscure song and I really don’t know what to make of this. While I liked that he was different and I think this song really showed off his energy and ability to rock, I don’t know if the audience was able to connect. To me, it was kind of meh. A forgettable performance for me. Nothing special. And I think the fact that the only rocker on the judge’s panel didn’t care for it says a lot. 5/10.

Erika Van Pelt “Heaven”—Ah. My good’ ol’ Rhode Island girl. Love this song, love this girl. But what was with the start of that song and the weird breaks? Took me out of the music for a bit. Bad choice there. But, overall, I liked it. Nice power effort here. And, more importantly, she finally looked good. The past few weeks, they’ve dressed her awfully and made her look about 300 pounds more than she was. A good effort that, hopefully, will get her to next round. She’s going to have to step it up to stick around here but this is a good step in the right direction. 6/10

Skylar Laine “Love’s sneaking up on you”— I would have loved to hear her rendition of Fantastic Voyage but that would have been AWFUL. This effort, though, really didn’t show anything we haven’t seen before from Ms. Laine. I feel like she’s getting into dangerous territory with this type of selection. She’s going to get pegged as one-dimensional if she doesn’t try something a little bit different next week. Granted, Scotty rode the one-trick pony into the title last year so maybe I’m clueless. But I would like to see her expand her range a bit a little bit. This was solid but nothing special. Kind of a snoozefest. 4/10.

Joshua Ledet “When a man loves a woman”—When I heard he was singing this, I practically wanted to download it off iTunes before even seeing the performance. This was just so nice to listen to and nod my head to. My real worry, like Skylar, is Joshua’s range and ability to show a different side but I loved this. This, to me, was fantastic. The right amount of soul, the right amount of power, just a great effort. The judges oversold it, clearly, (Especially J Lo) but this was just a great thing to watch and if Joshua isn’t around by the time they get to Motown week, I’m going to be seriously pissed. 9/10.

Hollie Cavanagh “Power of Love”—This girl is my favorite person on Idol and having her in the pimp spot got me excited. Then I found out it was Celine and I was less excited because I hate this song. That being said, she nailed this. Great effort. Not a great last note but I can overlook that because it was solid all around. She looked comfortable on stage and the arrangement of the song was quite interesting but played to her strengths. I worry she’s going to get into Pia territory from last year and suffer from boring song choices but she’s clearly in the running here at this point.

My rankings:
1. Joshua Ledet
2. Hollie Cavangh
3. Deandre Brackensick
4. Phillip Phillips
5. Jessica Sanchez
6. Erika Van Pelt
7. Elise Testone
8. Colton Dixon
9. Skylar Laine
10. Heejun Han
11. Shannon Magrane

My predictions: I’m going to go with Heejun, Colton and Shannon in the bottom three, with Heejun, sadly, getting the boot if there’s an elimination. Sad to see him go but I don’t think he can get over that accent problem. Colton, meanwhile, gets in the bottom simply for song choice. And Shannon’s there because her performance was just blah.

Last note: Apologize if this review isn’t as great as my last ones. I got into a long political discussion throughout the show with a friend of mine on Facebook and couldn’t watch as closely as I have before.

 

I've liked Joshua since the beginning when he wowed me with his bars during the group round song. He's my favorite guy in the show, with Hollie being my favorite girl. Glad to see them getting some love this week.

 

This is the first full episode I've watched since tryouts. That kid can sang.

 

I hate when people self-promote shit here, but I've been drinking for nearly three hours so fuck it.
My buddies and I would talk Idol on Facebook so we started a fan page. Generally speaking, we get drunk and talk about Idol. It's very politically incorrect. We don't care.
http://www.facebook.com/DudesReviewIdol
Like it. Don't like. Don't give a shit.
And Schieza, your reviews are bunk b/c of your limited music knowledge. Here's how I saw it, simple and easy:

1) Phillip Squared: Safe and easy, except he sang a song that was made 20 years before he was born.
2) Jessica Sanchez: Sucked.
3) Heejun: I loved it because he's a) Asian; and b) it's the 80s. It wasn't good.
4) Elise: Insane good. Shouldn't have been able to sing it because the song is from the 70s.
5) Deandre: Sucked. Butchered an awesome song that's from 1982.
6) Shannon: Could have been better. Didn't do the Mariah pose with her hand on her ear.
7) Colton: Good execution, poor song choice. America wants to hear songs they've heard of you artsy fuck.
8) Van Peezy: Good. See you next week.
9) Skylar Laine: I hate country. It was awesome.
10) Josh Ledet: Took advantage of a loophole. Song was around well before he was around. If he's singing soul, no one's touching him.
11) Hollie: Holy shit. Still can't get over the fact that voice came out of her mouth.

The best of the night was Jermaine by a mile. That 30 seconds of the Fievel song nearly made me cry. Probably because I'm drunk.

 

My facebook post from Feb. 28: "To those of you who still watch American Idol (I do), Joshua Ledet is by far the best guy in the gym. The dude can flat-out blow."

Ledet has been my favorite all along. He's going to have to fend off Phillip and Colton because they fill the "young white guy" mold that has been nearly unbeatable for the last few years.

 

Nobody was more thrilled with last night's show than White Lion, who earned their first royalty check since the administration of Bush I.

 

I'm a bit closer to Rhody's take on it than schiez's this week.

I thought Jessica Sanchez took a baby step back toward the pack, which is apropros since she is a baby. And Elise brought herself back to the spot where she'll stick around for a few more weeks.

Again, I thought Shannon Magrane was better than some did.

Heejun and DeAndre should be gone soon. Probably Erika, too. Can't foresee those three as finalists by any stretch. The rest of them? Nothing would shock me.

But no doubt that Joshua provided a goose-bump moment, and Hollie Cavanagh was pretty damn awesome after that.

 

Again, keep in mind this was the first ep I'd watched since tryouts. So I had nothing else to judge against. Just had seen enough here saying it was all girls all the time and all the boys were pretenders. So I wanted to see if I was misremembering (which it appears I was) or if this kid really caught lightning in a bottle.

 

IJAG, I know for darn sure that I didn't have any inkling Joshua Ledet had this sort of high in his repertoire. I've been as loud as anyone about the fact that the girls had it all over the boys to this point.

 

3 females in last 3? Bullshit.