Wow, after I went to therapy and I got my shiznits ironed out I was feeling like a million bucks and articulate about my feelings. Then I watched the Idol girls take the stage and I got all PPBBLLLLTTFFFT *garble garble* again.
I still maintain that this year might be the best so far in regards to the talent they found for the show. It’s just hard to pick out the diamonds in a case full of jewelry. They are all totally decent, but no one, on the girls side, has really stepped up and made the impression you need to to be THE American Idol.
Don’t get me wrong. There are some girls that I really like - but none of them have had the performance of a lifetime yet. Carly Smithson is so Irish and cute and really has a killer voice - but seems to be performing to something like 92% of her potential. With Heart, you can “go there” and she didn’t quite get there, for me. Almost though. Amanda Overmyer, despite her undefinable performance last night, is very likeable, smart and an entity that the competition needs. She just needs to pick songs she feels comfortable with instead of taking the judges SO literally that she never does anything in her wheelhouse. When you can pick ANYTHING from a decade, you need to take advantage of it before you are stuck having to pick a country song, or doing Sinatra. Syesha Mercado is cute and fun and has great range and control - but then it felt like she walked us through figurative mud last night with her Billy Paul song. So many of the girls were just…a wash and I almost struggle, even with my unhealthy obsession with Idol for seven years, to remember what everyone sings each night.
To me, it’s all for the guys to lose. First and foremost, whether you get him or not, David Archuleta is un-fuckin’-believable. He’s so young, has so much control, so much maturity, it dwarfs most everyone else in the competition. I am a total Beatle-phile, I know, but at the same time, I don’t like to hear people cover the Fabbest of the Fab because of the perfection that once was 30 years ago. But he nailed it. David Cook (despite his chameleon hair) knows exactly who he is and is one of the few contestants who picks the right songs; All Right Now by Free was so cool and not to use Paula’s trite phrase, but it was very relevant to today. Michael Johns (though his song choice might have been weird with Fleetwood Mac this week) has the stage presence of a Jim Morrison….a Michael Hutchence, a Bono…and just needs to get in the groove and HE could take the competition. Even one of the least-favorites of last week, Chikizie, blew the roof off the place this week with Donny Hathaway. Shit, even Luke Menard almost showed some personality.
Tonight, I think it’s a bit of a crapshoot as to who gets booted off. Kady Malloy has got to go. I don’t know how many weeks we need to tell her to find her own voice. I’m tired of waiting for her to figure it out. And Luke Menard for the guys has to be in the bottom 4.
The other two will be hard to pick. Alexandrea might be the one for the girls, though I like how she makes what was old, new again. Or maybe even Kristy Lee Cook or Brooke White. For the guys, I hate to say it, because my dad feels like he’s the son he never had or something - but I think Jason Yeager has got to go. So cute, but so….white bread. You don’t show how much “soul” you have by singing the Doobie Brothers. It’s like talking about your street cred while you bump around the hood in your Buick LeSabre. It’s like talking about your diet while you scarf down Big Macs. FAIL. Or maybe it might be David Hernandez. What did he sing? Exactly. and Robbie Carrico - he’s going to Kady Malloy route. Great voice, no doubt. But who is he?
What’s your take? Comment after the jump and let’s watch tonight and see what happens.
