Bogus Gold

Von Smith has had a little bout of celebrity before Idol, being "discovered" by Rosie O'Donnell on YouTube and subsequently being invited to sing on The View (and subsequently mocked by Joel McHale). He has a reputation as being a wee bit... dramatic... when he sings. Let's see if he's learned to tone it down any. He's singing “You’re All I Need to Get By” by Marvin Gaye. Surprisingly understated to start off. Maybe even too understated. But eventually he gets to the power notes, and does an admirable job showing control and restraint while still bringing the appropriate power and range. Overall surprisingly good. The judges seemed really receptive as well. Still... lead off spot. That's not to his advantage.

Taylor Vaifanua has been the subject of internet rumors, but not a lot of producer love in terms of screen time. Supposedly the judges love her, though we've seen little of that on camera yet. She's another really young one. Let's see. “If I Ain’t Got You” by Alicia Keys is the song choice. It's kind of low. And then it wanders off pitch a bit. Then it sort of recovers but it is soooo dull and slow. To borrow a Simon-patented single word dismissal: forgettable. The judges seemed uniformly disappointed in her, though Kara oddly wanted to go shopping with her.

Alex Wagner-Trugman has seemed like a likable kid so far. He's got this combination of self-aware dry wit, but with a genuine humility which keeps it from seeming cocky. The brief snippets of singing we've heard from him so far have been good. But I don't think we have a real sense of him as a singer yet. Who is he? Randy apparently thought he was like Joe Cocker once, but he's singing “I Guess That’s Why They Call it the Blues” by Elton John. It doesn't start of very well. And then it gets weird. Out of nowhere suddenly he's growling. It doesn't belong anywhere in this song or arrangement, and it throws him off key. He knocks over the microphone. Ugh. His banter with the judges after wins him some charm points, but nothing can rescue that performance.

Arianna Afsar I recall from her audition. It was a good but not outstanding one. She's among the youngest this year, and apparently has a pageant background. I'm skeptical she's quite ready for the big leagues yet, but we'll see. She's singing “The Winner Takes it All” by Abba. At the beginning either she's completely out of synch with the band or it's the weirdest arrangement ever. Then she's finally in synch, but her confidence seems to slip and she loses key. Then she grabs the microphone and belts out a glory note and seems ready to recover. But there are a couple more pitch problems and it never quite comes together. The judges do not approve at all, and Arianna seems shattered.

Ju'Not Joyner is remembered for having a very cute little boy, and impressing the judges during Hollywood week. Also he apparently he made it to Hollywood last year, but was cut. Is the second time a charm? He's singing “Hey There Delilah” by The Plain White Ts (a.k.a. that one Plain White Ts song everyone knows). He did this during Hollywood week, but this is a totally different arrangement. Very low key. Surprisingly subtle. This guy can really sing. He's got enough confidence to pull of something this understated his first time on the big stage, and that says a lot. The judges are clearly impressed. Potential dark horse?

Kristen McNamara is better known for being involved in perhaps the most drama-queen prone of all the groups in Hollywood. Why yes, she was in Nathaniel's group, now that you mention it. She's been a previous contestant on Star Search and Nashville Star, so she ought to have a bit more experience with this kind of thing than most of the others. Will that help her? She's going with “Give Me One Reason” by Tracy Chapman. Only it's some kind of cheesy cruise-ship arrangement. Tracy Chapman is not supposed to sound peppy. Her voice is decent. Her interpretation of this song is non-existent. Isn't that what we usually call "karaoke" on this show? And yes, we finally come to that with Randy's criticism.

Nathaniel Marshall is known for crying, flaming, and occasionally singing. the producers have already cast him as a clown, with a lot of help from Nathaniel himself. Let's hope he has a voice good enough to make us forget.“I Would Do Anything for Love” by Meatloaf is an interesting choice for him.... which he instantly turns into the gay discotheque version of this song. He's got a good voice, but the camp... ugh... too much to overcome. This was totally the opposite of what he needed to break out of his clown role. The judges honestly are all over the map with him, and in his shoes I would have no idea what to make of it. Is the problem his song choice? His head band? Or did they really like him?

Felicia Barton has already gotten saved from elimination once this season, being selected to replace alleged "ringer" contestant Joanna Pacitti after she was determined "ineligible to continue." Is she just there as fodder to be knocked down, or can she seize the moment? She's singing “No One” by Alicia Keys. Hmm... It starts off a little iffy, but she quickly hits her groove and delivers a surprisingly strong performance. Not something to blow anyone away, but very solid. She's certainly among the upper half of performers so far. The judges seemed to be rooting for her, but not like they would for a true favorite.

Scott MacIntyre has been well known since his audition, being "the blind guy." This is one of those moments where that lack of an instrument sucks, because Scott's not likely to dazzle us with dance moves or anything. And his voice alone hasn't struck me as the strongest. He chooses “Mandolin Rain” by Bruce Hornsby, which I've never heard before. It turns out to be a good song choice. He's one of the few in the competition who doesn't try any R&B vocal ornamentation, which brings his voice across with a clarity and sincerity many of the others are lacking. He has some weak points, but he nails the power notes. The judges fawn all over him, as expected.

Kendall Beard is apparently some kind of blonde country singer with a tendency to blend into the background, as I have very little recollection of her. The intro reminds me she was the blonde Texas girl from the Puerto Rico audition. A hidden gem, or just that forgettable? She sings “This One’s for the Girls” by Martina McBride. It turns out to be a good song choice and good style for her. She's lively and likable, if a little repetitive and not terribly exciting as a performer. Fairly strong vocal, but we've heard some better tonight. The judges were actually overly harsh here. She was pretty good, and the most authentic country voice so far this season.

Jorge Nuñez seems to be the first Spanish accented heart-throbby guy to make it this far on Idol - and they have certainly been looking for one for a while. The accent problem has always tripped up the previous attempts, turning their performances into comedy. This guy hasn't seemed comedic at all yet. Much is made in his intro about his work on his accent. He sings “Don’t Let the Sun go Down on Me” by Elton John, which seems like a strange choice, but actually kind of works for him. He doesn't show much of an accent now, but he does show a surprisingly strong and controlled voice. Really this might be one of the night's best vocals, throwing the whole accent issue out the window. Then the judges muddle up the whole thing by telling him he needs to get his accent back or something, but... they uniformly praised his vocal. He might have a real shot here.

Lil Rounds is one of the judges and producer's favorites so far. She's got the hard-luck story. She's got the big-booming gospelish voice. She comes across as far more mature than the rest of the contestants. I expect her to shine tonight. She sings “Be Without You” by Mary J. Blige. Wow, does she have confidence. She hits the stage like she expects to be great, and doesn't miss a beat. Easily the best vocal of the night, and among the tops for the season so far. She's one of those with talent that makes this "will she make the top twelve or not" thing seem like just a formality in her case. The judges were already speculating how she'd be doing weeks later in the competition, so they're not too worried about tonight's vote eliminating her either.

So let's wrap up the evening. It seemed a bit stronger of a group overall than the past couple of weeks. But that doesn't change the number of spots going through based on tonight's voting. I think there were some who stood out clearly from the rest. Trouble is, by my count there were more than three. So who will move on?

Top girl: Lil Rounds. Because it's just, duh. No one else came close.

Top guy: Scott MacIntyre. Because the sympathy vote, plus a strong performance, plus prior-round pimpage, plus the desire to see him sing with his keyboard again are enough to seal the deal.

Best of the Rest: This one is tough. I could make a case for Ju'Not Joyner, Jorge Nuñez... even Von Smith... heck even Felicia Barton. But, as scary highlanders are fond of saying, there can be only one. So I think I'll have to predict... Jorge Nuñez. He'll have the Latino vote locked up. He really did have a great night. And his good looks won't hurt either.

Still Alive for the Wildcard: Obviously, Ju'Not Joyner, Von Smith, and Felicia Barton. I'm hesitant to extend beyond that, but if I had to I'd add Kendall Beard... because they like blonde country girls on this show.

The Journey Ends For: Taylor Vaifanua, Alex Wagner-Trugman, Arianna Afsar, Kristen McNamara, Nathaniel Marshall

That's how I see it going down. Feel free to call me wrong in the comments.

UPDATE: The Results AND Wildcard Announcement

Well they sure covered a lot for a typical Idol results show tonight. We got the top three from this round AND we learned all the contestants named for the wild card round tomorrow night, about which I have some words, but first... the results.

America voted... exactly how I thought they would for once. It's been a while. I feel vindicated for persevering so long in predicting this stuff.

What that means is... Lil Rounds, Scott MacIntyre, and Jorge Nuñez all move into the top 12.

It also means Ju'Not Joyner, Von Smith, Felicia Barton, Kendall Beard, Taylor Vaifanua, Alex Wagner-Trugman, Arianna Afsar, Kristen McNamara, and Nathaniel Marshall did not. Or DOES it?!!

Because tonight the judges also announce the Wildcard contestants and... Now seems like a good time for my aside about that.

I've been a supporter of the Wildcard round. I like that second chance thing. I like the added unpredictability of it. That being said... the way they've announced they were going to handle this thing has been changing over time. And in the end it turns out to be a way for the judges to try to "correct" the voters by getting a full quarter of the top 12 selected regardless of the voting. Because, as we learn now, here is how they have finally decided to do the Wildcard:

The judges select eight contestant from the top 36 who didn't get voted in. They choose them by however they feel like doing it. Then those contestants perform one more time. And the judges, not the voters, pick their three favorites from that lot to fill the remaining spots in the top 12.

Is there some reason a show which has mass call-in votes every other performance round CAN'T have that happen for the Wildcard round? Of course there isn't. They're intentionally removing voter choice from the equation for reasons I'm sure they think are terrific. But as screwed up as this top 36 structure has already made the audience investment in the finalists so far, this seems like yet another step in the wrong direction.

There. I've had my say. Now we can go back to who will be performing in the Wildcard round tomorrow night.

We see a bunch of people from the first two rounds they brought back for consideration, and are told all the ones who didn't make it through tonight are also eligible.

The Wildcard contestants are...

Von Smith... Peformed well in a group with a lot of talent. Probably deserves this second shot.

Jasmine Murray... Seemed consumed by the big-stage jitters, but obviously a judge favorite before that.

Ricky Braddy... I thought he deserved it the first time he performed, and pleasantly surprised the judges brought him back.

Megan Corkrey... I also thought she deserved it the first time, and am not remotely surprised the judges brought her back.

Tatiana del Toro... YES!!! The drama is BACK! The crazy is once again just one eye-twitch away! Umm.. she sings pretty well too.

Matt Giraud... I was rooting for this one, but I fear he can't shine without his piano.

Jesse Langseth... A bit shocked by this one, which the judges told us was a last minute change. I thought they'd written her off.

Anoop Desai... Totally expected this one. Also finally we can have the epic battle of the eyebrows between Anoop and Jorge.

So that's it. Wildcards perform in a one hour show tomorrow night AND the three remaining finalists are named. Sleep well tonight anyway Idolateers. No need for nerves or anything.