After last week's smashing success... or at least its smashing mixed bag... we're on to group two of the final 36.
for making me think of Battlestar Galactica every time I write that, Jeff Kouba). From this group we will see anywhere from another 3 to another 6... though that latter one is more likely a mathematical possibility... like the Detroit Lions not
being out of the race for the Super Bowl early in the season.
Anyway we know for certain that 3 of the ones performing tonight will be part of our top twelve. Based on nothing but the audition footage, which is
the most accurate way to compare actual talent but it's all I've got, here are my pre-peformance picks for the top twelve from this group:
Adam Lambert - Unashamed of his off-broadway background. He's got an amazing tenor voice with serious power. If he can stay away from remind the judges of showtunes, his talent should shine through.
Jasmine Murray - Great voice. Beautiful girl. Fits the Idol Diva model to perfection. She just seems the right type, and has from her first audition.
Nick "Norman Gentle" Mitchell - Admittedly, this one might be a personal wish more than a likely outcome. I'm hoping his comedy is a hit with the voters. I love the fact that the judges still can't tell how to take him.
Now we'll let them actually sing and see how very wrong the audition footage has made me assess these Idolateers.
Jasmine Murray - “Love Song” by Sara Bareilles. As I previously mentioned, I expect her to win a spot in the finals. That means I'm expecting to hear one of the top female performances of the night to build upon the fanbase the producers have won for her with their audition round editing. Of all the 16 year olds, Jasmine seems like them most composed and prepared for the Idol stage. At least she's seemed that way so far. Then she hits the stage and... oh, that's too low a key. Whoops, there goes the pitch. She made some game attempts to recover in the middle to late parts of the song, but she'd lost it by then. All you could see was a glimmer of her raw talent. As the judges seemed to agree, this 16 year old is not quite ready for prime time.
Matt Giraud - “Viva La Vida” by Coldplay. Piano man! Piano man! Matt, of the dueling piano bar, is another one who should be a contender for a Top 12 spot, though they've handicapped him by disallowing the contestants to self-accompany in these semi-final rounds (quick aside: why? makes no freakin' sense. bah!). Anyway his voice has seemed strong enough to carry him previously. Let's see. At first I loved this song choice. After killing with Ray Charles, this was a zig where we expected a zag. Shades of Blake Lewis eschewing the beatboxing for his opening Keane number in Season Six. But then... well it seemed like he just tried to do too much with it. He lost the melody, the pitch and the soul in some weird attempt to over-ornament this thing. Totally disagree with the judges ordering him back into his box. But if he leaves it, it needs more thought to it next time... if he gets a next time.
Jeanine Vailes - ”This Love” by Maroon 5. This one, the producers do not love. We do not know why. We only know we have yet to hear her sing. We know - and like - plenty of already eliminated contestants better than Jeanine here. She needs to blow us away to get any kind of shot here. And... that's the last we'll hear from Jeanine. Awful, terrible, no-good, very bad song choice. Verging on parody in parts. Lost the pitch for good about two measures in. And I'm sorry, her legs weren't worth all that.
Nick "Norman Gentle" Mitchell - “And I Am Telling You” from Dreamgirls. This is going to be one to remember... and that could be good or terrible. Is American Idol truly able to accomodate a legitimately self-aware comedian, as opposed to the unintentionally funny characters it has often sported in the past? I guess we'll get our first clue about it tonight. However, if Nick comes out as Nick rather than "Norman Gentle" he's doomed. But it's Norman, and a smile hits my face. and yet... this Dreamgirls number
again? That's the third time he's done that on this show. If that really is ALL there is to this act, even I don't need to see more of it. And I totally wanted to. He wanders too far from the stage to be funny (and he was), but in doing so couldn't quite hear the band which through him off in the singing. I think this may be the end of Norman Gentle on this show.
Allison Iraheta - “Alone” by Heart. Allison kind of fell off my radar for a while, but I remember loving her audition. She's got the personality and charisma to make an impact, but she's one of the younglings on the show. As we saw last week, even talented 16 year olds often melt into a puddle of nerves on the Idol stage. How will Allison hold up? Wow. Just wow. I did not expect this. The first contestant of the night to blow me out of my socks is one of the 16 year olds?! Yes, I'm afraid so. Where did she learn that kind of power... that control... the cool confidence to pull of a song like THAT?! I picked the wrong 16 year old. This is the one to watch. I'm completely won over and want to see what she does next.
Kris Allen - “Man in the Mirror” by Michael Jackson. This guy hasn't made much of an impression on me yet. He seems like cast filler. He has a good voice. But really, what else is there about him? I suppose this is the time he gets to answer that question. Eh... if you like boy bands, you probably like Kris. Point in his favor: he didn't crash and burn on a Michael Jackson song, as many before him have. Point against, if you're not a tween girl is there anything here that excites you? He's pretty good in a general sense, but my earlier "cast filler" assessment remains.
Megan Joy Corkrey - ”Put Your Records On” by Corrine Baily Rae. This one has been feelin' the love from the judges throughout. She's certainly got star quality looks - pretty, blonde, and a winning smile. She hasn't been afraid to show a sense of wit and personality. She would seem to have a legitimate shot at the Top 12. She hit the stage doing a goofy arm waving thing which somehow she made work with her smile and warmth. From her you'd expect a pop-princess Britney style voice. Instead she delivered a Billie Holiday (as interpreted through Amy Winehouse, Katherine Whalen, etc.) style vocal. Call me crazy, but this was one of the standouts of the night to me. She's different... in the good way. There is no one else like her in this competition, making it tricky for head to head assessment. But I want to see her continue.
Matt Breitzke - “If You Can Only See” by Tonic. Maybe it's just me, but I think this guy's chances went way down when Michael Sarver went through last week. The "blue collar family man" role has been taken, and I'd be stunned if we get two of those in the final 12. Plus, Randy Jackson tried to pigeon-hole him as a "good bar singer, but not a potential star" right from the get-go. Anyway, he's seemed a nice enough guy I'm pulling for him to amaze us. Which he totally doesn't. Drat. He went with a decent song. A decent vocal. And placed himself in the middle of the pack at best. He'd better hope all those judges professing how much they like him earns him a wildcard selection. Because this performance got lost among the others tonight.
Jesse Langseth - “Bette Davis Eyes” by Kim Carnes. The other Minnesota girl in the competition, but this is the bad girl, which is a good thing in some cases. Sister of Johnny Lang. Holder of the prestigious DWI award. Last seen barely sneaking into the final 36 by winning a sing-off with Frankie Jordan (full disclosure: I was pulling for Frankie). Let's see if she can redeem herself tonight. The song selection was one of the most interesting to me tonight. And in some ways she seriously delivered on its promise. But... there was just something missing. In the Kim Carnes original there's this barely contained wildness at certain points, to offset the cool vibe. Jesse didn't seem to get that. The judges refused to love her without it.
Kai Kalama - “What Becomes of the Broken Hearted” by Jimmy Ruffin. Kai has been most notable for his unusual ethnicity, and basic likeability. The producers didn't like that enough to spare us a view of him mangling his lyrics during Hollywood week. He has seemed to me more competent than truly great. Let's see him make a liar of me. But he doesn't. His performance in a single word: boring. His performance in a single letter: ZZZZZZZZ. Hey, I like throwback Motown stuff. This wasn't throwback. It was imitative without the soul. I don't care to hear from him again, and we won't.
Mishavonna Henson - ”Drops of Jupiter” by Train. We've seen Mishavonna in passing during the audition rounds, but rarely when singing. Seems positioned more as an also ran, than a real contender. But that's just what the producers think. What does her voice tell us? It tells us she's technically pretty good. But it also suggests she lacks either the boldness or the skill to really soar. While delivering one of the better female vocals of the night, she shied away from any and every opportunity to deliver a memorable vocal. She either couldn't or wouldn't put her personal brand on the song, and as a result fell short.
Adam Lambert - “Satisfaction” by The Rolling Stones. We already covered Adam a bit above. I'm expecting something chosen to tone down the theatricality, but delivered with intense passion. Adam's voice has really set him apart from the pack so far. The way he could trip himself up is by failing to deliver a spectacular vocal. And the verdict? Wow. I think he was partially daring Simon to mock him. I mean... half this performance was like a bad Mick Jagger impersonator. But the other half... wow. The range and power of this guy's voice in unreal. Sure, he can be theatrical. But at some point you have to just sit back and
listen to him. I've seen a lot of theater and this is not the kind of voice that is in any way "typical." This is something special. So special he just blew away the rest of the guys tonight on talent alone, bad Mick Jagger allusions aside. The first Idol contestant I have ever
wanted to hear attempt a Freddy Mercury vocal.
So on to the night's summary...
Best of the Guys: Adam Lambert. I'm in mad love with the talent here. No other guy tonight came anywhere close. Danny Gokey, you're on notice.
Best of the Girls: Allison Iraheta. Are you kidding me? She made me love a Heart song AND a 16 year old Idol contestant in a single performance. Crazy good tonight, but can she keep it going?
Best of the Rest: Megan Joy Corkrey. What can I say, the total package won me over. There's no one else like her in the competition.
Alive for the Wildcard: Jasmine Murray, Matt Giraud, Kris Allen, Matt Breitzke, Mishavonna Henson
The Journey Ends: Jeanine Vailes, Nick "Norman Gentle" Mitchell, Jesse Langseth
UPDATE - The Results:
So we're mixing up the elimination strategy by calling them out in awkward groups and letting them all squirm for a while, eh? If these contestants were animals PETA would be protesting for the unnecessary cruelty.
Anyway, we learn fairly quickly that Allison Iraheta is IN!!! Score! That was one I rooted for.
At the same time we learn that Jesse, and Matt B. are not in the top 12.
Next group... We have Megan, Kris, Matt G., and Jeanine.
Jeanine is put out of her misery early, as no one would have believed she might be among the finalists, so why bother. Next we lose Matt G. Sad, but not unexpected after last night.
Then the tension is ratched way up until we learn... Kris is through. Huh. I suppose it's alright. I was rooting for Megan. But I can't really make a strong case for her over Kris. Kris sang better but struck me kind of ... eh... in memorability. We'll see.
Then we hear Brooke White singing, sounding ... exactly like Brooke White. It's a new song she's pushing and all. But it's still just Brooke. She seems to be doing well.
Final group... Mishavonna, Kai, Nick, Adam and Jasmine. We lose Mishavona, Kai, and Jasmine and are forced to wait an entire commercial break to learn what we already damn well knew... Adam is through, and Nick is not.
So... once again I picked 2 of the 3 finalists. This time the third was a bit less surprising to me, but strangely I like him less than the guy I missed picking last week.
Anyway, next week is group three! Blind guy! Crying-drama guy! Telemundo guy! And, of course, Lil! Should be a nicely dramatic group to watch, if nothing else.
We know 3 of the final 12 already (thanks so much for making me think of Battlestar Galactica every time I write that, Jeff Kouba). From this group we will see anywhere from another 3 to another 6... though that latter one is more likely a mathematical possibility... like the Detroit Lions not technically being out of the race for the Super Bowl early in the season. 
I dunno, taken as a whole, I came away thinking that was one of the worst nights of Idol I've seen in the three seasons I've watched.
Adam was stellar, but beyond that, nobody impressed me, with maybe the exception being Henson's voice.
I hoped for much more from Giraud. I hope he comes back and redeems himself. Goodbye and good riddance to Norman.
Corkrey does have a nice "different" quality, but I thought she got a bit off towards the end. There is a decent voice in there somewhere.
Allison got a bit yelly for my tastes. Langseth does have a decent voice, but there was something missing. And, I don't care much for bad girl attitudes.
So, Adam is about the only one I'd look forward to seeing again, and that's my test for Idol.
To be honest, if someone sings a song, I don't normally like and I like it, RE: Man in the Mirror, that says something, so yeah, i'm glad Kris made it through, although it did seem like one or two other gals had a shot. As for satisfaction guy, again, he sang a song that usually is a song of doom( anthem songs don't usually fare well ), and did it quite well.
I wish contestants would stay away from songs with large chorus's and keep to ones with challenging verses...
TTFN
The first group had Tatiana (paired with Danny). The second group had Nick (paired with Adam.) Next week's group has Nathaniel. I'll bet you my lunch money he's in the final pair of the results show.