Bogus Gold

Jesse Langseth the Minnesota girl puzzles the heck out of me for her selection. The way they announced this one last night was unlike the way they announced any of the others, making it very clear it was a last minute change to include her. That leads me to believe there is probably one particular style that could win her a spot if she finds it. It probably also means they're looking for more girls in the top twelve. She sings ”Tell Me Something Good,” by Rufus and Chaka Khan. And I thought this one was a mess. She seemed to be singing in a different key than the band most of the time. It was certainly not a boring choice, but she couldn't quite get control of it either. At times it seemed like the background singers were going to take the song back from her. The judges were actually pretty complimentary considering what I heard.

Matt Giraud has a very well-defined box in the judges' minds - barroom piano blues. If he takes one tiny step outside that box tonight, he's finished. If he stays within it, can he really shine without his piano anyway? He went with ”Who’s Loving You” by the Jackson 5. And doing so he leaped right back into that box the judges ordered him into and danced like the proper little monkey they want him to be. Oh he sang it really well, like we might expect him to in this style of song. But it's not going to win him anything in the long run. Let's hope he gets a chance to have his piano back. Anyway, the judges wanted to hear exactly that from him so they loved it.

Megan Corkrey probably comes into this round at the very top of the judges' handicapping list among the wildcards. They love her personality and look. They like her unique style. And they are seriously short of girl contestants in the top twelve. Her fate would seem to be in her own hands. “Black Horse and the Cherry Tree,” by K. T. Tunstall is her song choice, bringing back visions of Katherine McPhee for just a moment before she obliterates them by not having a style remotely similar. Once again she's swinging her arms while standing stationary at the mic, like she's doing some kind of Teletubby dance. And once again, darned if her personality doesn't make a just-okay vocal seem better than it really was. The judges love, love, love her, and I have no doubt she's in the top twelve.

Von Smith actually performed pretty well last time, despite the expectation for him to be too over-the-top. He seems a likely candidate to pull in the teen-idol vote as well. I've got a sneaking suspicion he's closer to the top of the pack in the judges' minds coming into this round than is commonly believed. He sings “Sorry seems to be the hardest word” by Elton John. Once again he seems to struggle with an overly subdued opening, only really coming into his comfort zone when the song picks up and gives him the chance to belt it out a bit. It was a solid, but not very exciting performance. The judges basically announce that he's boring and therefore finished, save for Paula who seems to want to go into loser-consolation mode a wee bit prematurely. So much for my theory about how close he was to the top.

Jasmine Murray is one who was almost a sure thing for the judges to revive for the wildcard, as they've loved her from the start. That said she probably had the weakest initial performance of anyone in the wildcard round. Another even close to that and she's done. She sings “Reflection” by Christine Aguilera. Clever. The teen who seemed too mature last time picks a Disney song this time. She's a zillion times more comfortable and animated on stage this time, and the vocal is nothing special but solid enough. I think she's given the judges what they wanted to see. They're blah, blah, "wow we're so surprised you sing so well," blah, blah. Yeah, right. As I thought last time, you've had her pre-picked for the finals for a while now.

Ricky Braddy seemed to be a screen-time casualty in the first round. I thought he outsang either of the two guys (Danny Gokey and Michael Sarver) who made it to the top twelve on his performance night. That said, he'll have to absolutely kill here to earn a spot, as he'll get zero points for personality, commericalness, or whatever else they try to compute winners by. He sings “Supestition” by Stevie Wonder. It's a weird choice and I wish he'd picked another. But actually, he gets it going and keeps it moving better than expected. His vocal talent easily masters a song that's deceptively difficult, generally eating up Idolateers who attempt it. If the judges were serious about Ricky getting a fair shot, he might have made it... but they're not. Kara and Paula seem to be considering, until Simon and Randy slam the door, all but waving him off and yelling "Next!"

Tatiana del Toro is hard to figure. The judges clearly realize she has real vocal talent. But they just as clearly realize she comes across as borderline insane. I'm not even sure if she's here to be given a serious shot or to liven up the wildcard round with drama. She sings “Saving All My Love For You” by Whitney Houston... wait, what? I must be mistaking that for her first performance. No... no I'm not. She is AGAIN singing “Saving All My Love For You” by Whitney Houston. As soon as I see that I know our happy ride with Tatiana in the crazy-kart is coming to an early end. What's good about her vocal is the same as last time. Ditto for what's not good about it. New items: She now apparently has a Spanish accent and just like Jorge thinks in Spanish when she's excited making her English twisted. Imagine that. God I'm going to miss this Sybil-like freakshow. But the judges derisive comments mingled with superficial constructive criticism make it pretty clear they're not intending to keep her.

Anoop Desai is probably the leading guy coming into the wildcard. I'm not sure he could survive a real clunker of a performance, but he may well win through on just an average performance. Unless, of course, some others really bring down the house and he gets a polite golf clap. But how likely is that with an Idol audience anyway? Anoop takes the WILD pimp slot in WILD fashion by singing “My Perogative” by Bobby Brown. And you know what? Anoop got the house poppin'. Seriously it wasn't like some moment of pure art or anything. But it was definitely fun and showed serious vocal talent, as well as his ability to work a stage. Nicely done. The judges were a little hesitant because apparently he sang this in Hollywood too (though we, the viewing public, didn't get to see it. Remember us? Sometimes I think Idol doesn't this season.). After that they fawned all over him.

So after this is all wrapped up they head to commercial break telling us they'll announce the final three (and they have a plan...). I make a mental note to myself that I think it's going to be Megan (totally sure), Anoop (totally sure), and Jasmine (90% sure). I knew they wanted Megan period. They wanted Anoop as long as he showed up lively and fun, and he did. And they wanted another girl in the already male-imbalanced final twelve. And Jasmine was clearly the next in line for that spot.

So we come back from commercial break and they announce Jasmine Murray is in. No surprise to me. Now I'm pretty sure I've nailed them all.

Ricky Braddy is not in. Not necessarily fair, but also no surprise.

Megan and Tatiana are brought forward together. Only one will be in. Gee I wonder who? It's Megan Corkrey of course. It takes them a moment to mop Tatiana off the stage area afterward.

Jesse Langseth is not in. Neither is Von Smith. The only surprise there is Simon insisting Jesse was "very nearly in."

Now it's down to Anoop and Matt. Both performed well. But I simply cannot see them picking Matt over Anoop. Therefore I was stunned for a moment when they tell Matt Giraud he's in.

But then they call Anoop back as he's wandering abjectly off the stage, and announce that they've decided to make it a Top Thirteen instead of Twelve, and Anoop Desai is in!

Wow. Well played Idol. Even us cynical Idol bloggers didn't see that one coming. We get to see Piano Man with his piano again and the Anoop-dog.

So there we have it. The Top Thirteen are...

Danny Gokey
Alexis Grace
Michael Sarver
Allison Iraheta
Kris Allen
Adam Lambert
Lil Rounds
Scott MacIntyre
Jorge Nuñez
Jasmine Murray
Megan Corkrey
Matt Giraud
Anoop Desai

We'll see them all perform next week when the viewers once again seize control over who stays and who goes, much to the producers chagrin it would seem.