What Happened To The Talent?

Possible titles for this post:

"Let's give 'em somethin' to tal....zzzzz"
"'Cause when I'm bad I'm, SO SO awful"
"And then a hero comes along...where? Save me!"

As an Idol Fanatic you might suspect that I only give praise to this show. Yet I will be the first to say that tonight was TERRIBLE. For me, not one stand out performance. Was my TV getting bad reception, was the band playing out of tune or did everyone just sound bad?

I think there are 3 girls who should definitely be worried and 1 who might be sliding through on personality alone.

Katharine: Still amazing and I see the potential. Tonight was vanilla. [SAFE]

Kinnik: Danger! Danger! Vonzell (Season 4 Finalist) tried to work country against real country girls and failed. [BOTTOM 3]

Lisa: One of the better song choices and performances. She feels almost "too polished". [SAFE]

Melissa: Sounded the best to me, but I think she is forgettable as a person. [BOTTOM 3]

Heather: So pretty. So bad. Please leave Mariah to the pros. [BOTTOM 3]

Brenna: We get it. You're the cocky, bad ass, won't take any criticism one. I can get that kind of attitude at my local gay bar. Don't need it from the next American Idol. Goodbye. [BOTTOM 3]

Paris: Cute as a button but Simon was right, she looked like she was playing dress-up in her Auntie's closet. [SAFE]

Ayla: I want to like her. I appreciate her "hard work" but I just can't get behind the girl who gets everything. Sports, money, scholarships, Idol...call me jealous but I think America will grow tired of it to. But not yet. [SAFE]

Kellie: Borderline ditzy. I still want to pinch her cheeks. Or as Paula says "squish". And let me say, after she tossed her hair around I did want to give her something to talk about...hair spray. Girl looked a little slutty. I liked it! [SAFE]

Mandisa: She got the power spot (last of the show). Didn't wow me, but still gave me hope for her future performances. [SAFE]

>>But Ryan, you put 4 girls in the Bottom 3! Are you an idiot or something? Well, math has been a challenge but I am merely saying that those contestants need to be worried about getting the boot.

Agree or disagree? Vote to your right ----->

50%

Stevie, Bobby (my predictions), Becky and Patrick made their grand departure. Things are going to get tighter after this week. I think there is only one more week of expendable talent. Then it will come down to the "best of the best".

Think you can do better than that? Vote on the right --->

P.S. - My board game wishes have come true!

You Can Be My Father Figure, Ace

Each time I go to post, Jesse has beaten me to the punch! And really I don't disagree with him on much. So rather than seem repetitive, here is my super-dooper quick recap of both nights:

Girls
Ayla: surprised me too [SAFE]
Becky: considered pretty, decent voice [SAFE]
Brenna: the naughty one, personality saved a bad performance [SAFE]
Heather: trying to hard but another pretty one [SAFE]
Katharine: amazing vocal, got coveted "last spot" performance [SAFE]
Kellie: backstory (we know!), decent vocal (give it another listen) [SAFE]
Kinnik: maybe a man?, not enough screen time [OUT]
Lisa: cute, so polished, interesting song [SAFE]
Mandisa: the powerhouse, enough said [SAFE]
Melissa: another surprise, Jessica Sierra anyone? [SAFE]
Paris: amazing and contagious [SAFE]
Stevie: too much pouting, bad vocals [OUT]

Guys
Ace: swoon, sigh, faint [SAFE]
Bobby: Copa-terrible [OUT]
Bucky: interesting enough for now [SAFE]
Chris: sexy and ready to record [SAFE]
David: don't be sad! I'll vote for you! [SAFE]
Elliott: surprise of the night [SAFE]
Gedeon: amazingly annoying/confident [OUT]
Jose: that Mariah-note saved your Daly City ass [SAFE]
Kevin: one more round, that's all you get [SAFE]
Patrick: tall balladeer? count me in! [SAFE]
Taylor: a true artist, Idol needs him [SAFE]
Will: cute with enough talent to last a few more rounds [SAFE]

OTHER NOTES:
• Between his "model posing" and rubbing sweat off of contestants, Ryan is slowly letting us in on his *ahem* softer side.
• Paula is my favorite judge so far, this season. Balanced comments (though they will always be "artist supportive" but someone needs to be doing that) her own pet name for the girls (Paula's Puppy Pound) plus a little humor (admitting that the gays will love Ace).
• Yay! for updated background visuals (fire is HOT...but don't overuse it).
• Vote splitting (a la, Jennifer Hudson/LaToya London) will be a big factor this year.

Results tonight.

The Guys: The Good, The Bad, and COPACABANA?!

Alright, tonite we have the guys. I was really anxious to hear what they had because I was a little underwhelmed with the overall performance of the women last night. There were some bright stars but overall they weren't that great. I was hoping that the guys would really come out and show us what they got. The thing that really stood out was their song choices. WOW!

Here's my ranking for the night.

Chris
Ace
Elliot
Taylor
Patrick
David
Will
Sway
Bucky
Kevin
Gedeon
Bobby

First up is Patrick Hall. "Come to My Window" is not really a song I'd expect to hear him singing, especially since he's more of a balladeer and Melissa is a rocker. But he did a good job. It wasn't amazing but it wasn't bad. It was just a good performance. And yeah, he's going to be lumped into the Clay/Anthony category (not that that is a bad thing).

David Radford. I was so scared that he'd be another John Stevens. But he's cuter and has more personality than John so that's already a step up. I think he needs to work on his stage presence because he seemed to be all over the place but I actually liked this performance. I thought he sounded great and it was a good song choice for him. He's definitely going to run into trouble with theme weeks but for now he's alright.

Bucky Covington. Ok, it's a little hard for me to listen to him speak. I had no idea what to expect from his singing and I wasn't really that impressed. I didn't really buy the rocker thing he was going for. It just sounded like a lot of growling to me. I thought the song was boring and he didn't add any spice to it. He really needs to pick it up next week or he'll be gone. I think he's going to squeak by this week.

Will Makar. Yes, he does look like Bobby Brady so you know all of the girlies are going to be into him. He's got a good voice but I don't think this was the best song choice for him. His voice just didn't seem strong enough to carry the song (even though he has a strong voice). I don't think he has to worry though. He's easily make it back next week.

Sway. Wow. This was painful for me to listen to. I'm sure I'm going to be in the minority on this one but I did not like the falsetto stuff (except for that one really high note). He was great when he was in his normal voice but the falsetto was all over the place and since the whole song was in falsetto he sounded horrible. I am sure he'll stay in but man I hope he doesn't try to sing every song with a lot of falsetto because that's going to be hard to take each week. Also, please don't try to be the next Mario Vasquez because I dont' think it's going to work.

Chris Daughtry. I was really nervous for him. He's my favorite of the guys and I think his voice is right on the edge of being amazing or really, really bad. For me, he's always been amazing. WOW, what a performance tonite! This is my favorite performance yet. It's the perfect song choice for him. It was a pretty literal interpretation but I think now that he has this one under his belt he'll be comfortable to start putting his own spin on things. He's going to do really well in the competition and I'm really excited to see what he does next.

Kevin Covais. He looks so small on the screen compared to everyone else. He's got a good strong voice but I think this wasn't a very good choice of song for him. I thought he sounded flat throughout the song. I was actually surprised that the judges liked him so much. I think they just don't want to see him leave yet. I just hope he doesn't turn into the Janay of the bunch and be horrible each week but still make it. He's probably in the bottom 3 tonite.

Gedeon McKinney. Ok, just listening to his montage already makes me not like him. I don't like the way he enunciates. every. single. syllabal. in. each. word. And that smile looks so not-genuine. And his confidence borders on cockiness. And then he comes out with "Shout" as his song choice? Are you serious?! This is not a song you perform on American Idol, it's a song you sing at weddings. And if you do perform it you can't ever do it without looking like a fool. He bugs. Ugh, I hated this performance.

Elliot Yamin. Interesting song choice. We haven't really heard this song since Ryan Starr sang it during the first season. He's got a really good voice. I loved hearing him go for the higher notes and wish he would have done it a little. He's my wild card pick for the 6th spot and I think he definitely became a front runner for that spot. Another week like this and I'd be surprised if he didn't make it. I don't know if I agree with Simon about him being the best male vocalist of all the seasons (that goes to Bo) but he's pretty damn good.

Bobby Bennett. Copacabana?! Are you shitting me? What's up with you guys? You're really singing this on American Idol and want to be taken seriously? He's not even a good vocalist. He's definitely a performer and this one fell right out of a bad Vegas show. Oh god, I'm actually embarassed for him. That was absolutely atrocious.

Ace Young. He's another one that I was really curious about. "Father Figure" was the perfect song choice for him. As soon as he opened his mouth I totally connected with his performance. This is the type of stuff that he should be doing and most likely would sell very well. I'm really impressed with him.

Taylor Hicks. The last of the big three that I was excited to see. I think he's got a good voice but he's really hard to watch because he's so awkward. This was just an ok song choice, I dont' think it really showed his vocal abilities at all. I actually wasn't all that impressed with what he did. You can tell that he really does enjoy just singing a song but I don't think this really did anything for him. It was just an average performance for me. However, there is no chance of him going home so we all get a chance to see what he does next week.

Tomorrow is going to be interesting. I'm glad we finally have a comeptiton again!

Girls: The Good, the Not So Good, and Brenna

First, here is my ranking of tonite's performances and then I will go over each individual performance.

Paris
Katharine
Lisa
Ayla
Mandisa
Kinnik
Kellie
Melissa
Heather
Becky
Brenna
Stevie

First up is Mandisa. That was a strong, solid performance from her. It wasn't "WOW" but it was good for her. It showed off her powerful voice and personality. Not really sure she outsang Carrie's "Alone" but it was good. You can easily see that she's one of the better singers and will easily move on to next week (and into the Top 12).

Next up was Kellie. For me, this was the biggest surprise of the night. After listening to this performance I think she is NO WHERE near the level that everything thinks she is. This song was way too big for her. She doesn't have a strong enough voice to pull off the power notes. She really started to lose steam towards the end. And seriously, if we have to see clips of her breakdown and cry again I'm gonna be sick. She'll make it to next week but I think that she might have trouble as she gets closer to the top 12.

Becky O'Donahue. Damn, she's so fucking hot! Unfortunately, that's about it. She's pretty TV to see but not really great to listen to. She just has an average voice. It was an ok performance but she will quickly get beaten by the young singers with the power voices. I've said all along that singers with the lower, husky tones tend to have a hard time in this competition because America wants to hear high, power notes. Judging by her last note, she can't hit those notes the way America wants to hear. She should squeak by this week but unless she does a lot better she'll be out next week.

Ayla Brown. I was actually a little surprised by her performance. Her voice was stronger than I thought it actually was. I thought this was a great performance from her, even though she missed a few notes here and there. Listening to her right after Becky proves my point about how people like to hear the power notes instead of the husky tones. I also really liked how she was able to switch from the belting to soft falsetto. Good control. She's beautiful, athletic, talented. Is there anything this girl can't do?

Paris Bennett. DAMN!! This was definitely the performance of the night. It was like Tamyra and Fantasia's first performance. As soon as they were done you knew they were top contenders. She actually surprised me because after hearing her sing songs in the auditions I didn't think she had that much power behind her voice. I was very pleasantly surprised. Plus, I feel like she was the only one that actually performed tonite (rather than just sing a song). She looked like the next Fantasia! Definitely a top contender!

Stevie Scott. Man. Her performance was disappointing. As soon as it started I was hoping she'd quickly put some power behind her voice because everything sounded so soft and weak. Mixed with a slow song and you got a downer of a performance. Unfortunately it never picked up. Instead we hear her voice get weaker and weaker as it goes higher up the scale. For being an opera singer, she completely missed the song. Sorry Stevie, you're going home tonite.

Brenna Gethers. She is this year's Mikalah Gordon. She was annoying coming into the show and really did nothing to dispell that notion. All of her mugging and posing for the camera really made her look like an idiot. All of the attitude and talking back to the judges afterwards made her look even worse. Like Mikalah, you're either going to love this girl or hate her. It just depends on which side America will fall on. For me, I'm on the "I hate Mikalah" side. Vocally, she was just ok. From her attitude I was expecting her to be a lot stronger. Maybe it was the song choice but it didn't do wonders for her. Even some of the notes she hit in the higher parts started to sound like Mikalah as well. So with nothing really outstanding about her you have to wonder if it really was just for "great tv" to have her in the top 24. Well, unfortunately that "great tv" will end this week. I just don't think enough people like her and, despite there possibly being some worse performances, she'll be going this week.

Heather Cox. Bad song choice. All I kept hearing were the Idols from last year singing the song. It's great but too recent to last year's cast to be able to sing it without having everyone think of them. Vocally, she's not bad though. There were a few notes here and there but it was a decent performance. I'd like to see her try and show off her vocals more. Unfortunately, she's competing with Kellie for the "blond girl" role and I think people like Kellie a whole lot more so Heather will most likely go home soon.

Melissa McGhee. She stated what her problem is. She hasn't been seen at all. I think she may be the only one who we didn't know what she sounded like before tonite. That's going to make it hard for her to go through to the next week. I think she should be able to pull it off. It wasn't the best performance but I think it's enough to get by. She's got a good voice. I like her lower tones and she reminds me a lot of Joss Stone. There were some problems throughout but it was decent.

Lisa Tucker. We all know she can sing. That's nothing new. And she just went ahead and proved it again tonite. I thought it was an odd choice for her because it sounded very "old fashioned" but vocally, she was awesome. Another one of the top contenders but I still think Paris is better.

Kinnik Sky. She wins for best look of the night. She was beautiful and elegant. I thought this was a great song choice for her. It showed off the fullness of her voice. Again, a few pitch problems here and there but nothing horrible. She's another one that didn't get a lot of screentime before today but I think she made the most of her time. It should be enough to get her through next week.

Katharine McPhee. Easily the best singer of the women. It comes so naturally and easy for her. She did a great job of controlling everything. I found it a little odd to watch her because she just kind stood there and sang. I would have loved to see her move around a bit and feel free. She is only going to grow in this competition and will get stronger each week. This is why (out of the women only) I am predicting Katharine to win. We'll get a chance to see her grow and become something great. Paris is already great and with little growth throughout the competition she can end up being like Bo.

So Paris and Katharine are the top 2 so far. I am very excited to see what the men have to offer tomorrow because I wasn't as impressed with the women as I thought I would be. Hopefully the men will have a better showing.

triple the pleasure

Top 12 Prediction (Jesse)

Here it is, my Top 12 prediction. Ryan will soon (hopefully) post a picture of my Top 12 since I'm lame and don't have the ability to do so. But here is who I think will make it. I have to agree with Ryan, this is the hottest bunch of contestants they've ever had. And, I think that if the right people make it into the Top 12 (i.e. the ones I chose) then it'll be the best season yet! Without further ado, my Top 12.

Guys
•Ace Young: (+) The hottest guy they've ever had. The hot factor will definitely push him into the finals, (-)we haven't seen him sing anything fast yet. He's a great balladeer but what about when he needs to sing a faster song? Does he sound the same?
•Chris Daughtry: (+)has an amazing voice. I love the grittiness of it and I think adding that to songs we've all heard before will make them sound new again, (-)has to compete with Taylor for the "southern rocker" role
•David Radford: (+)another hot kid with a great sounding voice, (-)is he going to be the new John Stevens and be one-dimensional as Paula originally said?
•Elliot Yamin: he's my wild-card of the bunch. The last slot for the guys is kinda hard to pinpoint. (+) I chose him because he does a really good voice. Plus he has a sense of humor so that'll help with the likability factor, (-) we didn't really get to see him all that much during the audition process so people might not really be familiar with him compared to someone like Sway
•Taylor Hicks: (+)has an amazing voice and he's unique, (-) too unique? I think he's socially awkward (or at least appears that way). What's up with the strange movements his body makes everytime he sings or talks. It's like he gets nervous around people. I don't think people are going to like seeing that on tv.
•Will Makar: (+) again, another hot guy with a great voice and nice personality, (-) might be fighting with David and Ace for the hot guy factor.

Girls
•Ayla Brown: (+) beautiful, great voice, and seems like she has a nice personality, (-) seems to get everything she's ever wanted/done. I think America is going to be tired of her really quickly because of that.
•Katharine McPhee: (+) I think she's the next Kelly Clarkson. She has a great voice that I think will easily jump from genre to genre. Plus, I only see her growing as the competition moves on (very much like Kelly), (-) seems to have a lot of nerves and cries a lot. Will it all get to be too much for her?
•Kellie Pickler: (+) beautiful girl, great voice, good backstory, (-) now it's coming out that she's not as green as we've all thought. Apparently she's had a tv show at home and has performed with a band on numerous occasions. Plus, is too much like Carrie?
•Lisa Tucker: (+) great voice and control(+), (-) I get this feeling that people aren't really going to connect with her. She's doesn't have the same type of personality like Diana did for being so young. Too mature for her age?
•Mandisa: (+) finally have a big, black woman that can sing the hell out of a song. We've been missing that since Frenchie. Plus, she told off Simon is such a great way that I think she won many people over., (-) ??
•Paris Bennett: (+) good voice and personality. When she picks the right songs she's amazing, (-) she keeps picking odd songs to sing. Most people don't expect her to sing country and she doesn't sound as good when she does choose that.

Top 12 Prediction (Ryan)

Guys
Ace Young: "pretty"(+), borderline boy band(-)
Chris Daughtry: sexy voice(+), sweet backstory(+), too Bo-ish?(-)
David Radford: the crooner (+/-)
Patrick Hall: runner-up "pretty"(-), sense of humor(+)
Taylor Hicks: most unique male (+), old looking (-)
Will Makar: Fred Savage-ish (+/-)

Girls
Ayla Brown: sporty(+), "always wins"(-)
Katharine McPhee: Joss Stone/Kelly Clarkson mix (++)
Kellie Pickler: "Pick Pickler!"(+), too Carrie-ish?(-)
Lisa Tucker: Whitney voice(+), inexperience/nerves(-)
Mandisa: single name(+), too motherly?(-)
Paris Bennett: famous family(+/-)

There it is! My prediction for the Top 12 of American Idol Season 5. Overall I'd say this is the best looking group of singers the show has ever had. I keep saying that I'd love for a guy to win, but when I really think about it, I just want to be entertained, moved, excited, etc. etc. And if it is a girl that accomplishes that, then I will be happy.

I'd also like to welcome my good friend Jesse (Cooter's Playhouse) as my Guest Blogger! Jesse has an equal passion for all things Idol and a unique sense of humor...just look at the links he puts on his blog if you don't believe me. Together we will cover the ups and downs of Season 5 and in the process alert you to any other Idol news we deem worthy.

Up next, the Top 12 Prediction by Jesse.

Can I pre-order?

"American Idol" is coming home in the form of an interactive DVD/board game due in March via a partnership between FremantleMedia Licensing Worldwide and game maker Screenlife.

The game utilizes clips from the show, questions and performance challenges. The game board has players traveling from auditions through to Hollywood to the show's finals. Utilizing an included microphone, player performances are "judged" by the show's Paula Abdul, Simon Cowell and Randy Jackson.

--via Billboard