Thursday, February 25, 2010

Feb 21st "AI" Top 30 Part 4

Hello,

Last night the men took the stage for their first live performances for America. According to ew.com's Michael Slezak it sounds like as a group they weren't very good. That doesn't surprise me. I think this group of men is fairly weak. The only men who I think are very good are Andrew Garcia, Todrick Hall, Lee Dewyze, Casey James and Tyler Grady. I'm sort of on the fence about John Park. I haven't seen last night performances so I might change when my mind when I finally get the time.

I might not have my normal "AI" reviews as time is at a premium now. I'll still have my Top 30 though definitely. As always that will be coming on Sunday. Tonight is the results show, can we send home 4 guys tonight and no girls? Also one of my all-time favorite "AI" contestants, Allison Iraheta, is singing tonight.

Here's the final 6 of this past Sunday's Top 30.

6) Janeel Wheeler (last week: 4). She was a little shaky in Hollywood week, does she have the mental fortitude to win the Season 9 crown? She's impressed with her excellent audition of "House of the Rising Sun". Also in Hollywood she was good with Estelle's "American Boy". She received some criticism for "Love Story", but I liked how she sang it.

5) Lee Dewyze (last week: 12). His rise was due more to other people not doing as well as I expected. He was excellent with "Ain't No Sunshine" in the audition round. We haven't seen a lot of him so far. I'm hoping he was fantastic last night.

4) Todrick Hall (last week: 7) He has also impressed with his voice, however we also have seen a lot of him off the stage. I'm not sure what the "AI" producers are trying to do there. Of all the men he has one of the best voices. The man is uber talented but also ridiculously cocky. I'm going to try and watch the men's performances either Friday or Saturday morning.

3) Katie Stevens (last week: 5) She emerged from Hollywood being a front runner. (I'm trying to forget her "Feelin' Good" from Tuesday out of my mind. She needs to do better picking songs.) I think she has a shot to go a long ways in this competition. She has an amazing voice!

2) Didi Benami (last week 3). One of the few people who have had more than one terrific performance. Her "Hey Jude" in the audition round and her "Terrified" both were amazing. She has a strong voice. I'm kind of wondering the same thing about her as I am about Janeel Wheeler. Is she mentally strong enough to win this year's crown? She seems to be on the verge of a nervous breakdown constantly. She's still struggling with a good friend of hers a few years ago.

1) Crystal Bowersox (last week 2). All I can say is Crystal, Crystal, Crystal! She kind of seems like Amanda Overmeyer and isn't necesserily going to bow down to "AI" to win the whole thing. However on pure talent I still hope she goes a long way. I'm definitely going to buy her debut CD on the day it is released. So far she has tore it up on "Piece of My Heart", an amazing "(You Make Me Feel Like) A Natural Woman" and Sheryl Crow's "If It Makes You Happy".

themusicaddict

Wednesday, February 24, 2010

2/21/10 Countdown Part 3

Hello,

I watched the ladies first live performance and I was a little bit disappointed, there were too many disappointments. I don't think any of them knocked it out of the ballpark. Ladies you need to pick it up, I don't have high hopes for the guys tonight. I was anxious to watch the girls performance, but I can't work up much enthusiasm for the guys. I think 4 or 5 of the guys will out themselves as not very good quickly. The following rankings only represent up to the end of Hollywood week.

17) Sioban Magnus (debut), we haven't seen enough of her yet. In the first week of live performances they showed a clip of her "Living For The City" in Hollywood. That was amazing! She was also part of Destiny's Wild in the group round, they sang "Bad Romance".

16) Luke Shaffer (last week: 8), did he even make it to Hollywood? His "Fall For You" in the audition round was unbelievable. Unfortunately that was the last we saw of him. I think he'd be a standout in this less than impressive year for male contestants.

15) Tyler Grady (last week: 23). He's the young kid with the 70's vibe, he calls Led Zeppelin's Robert Plant one of his idols. His "Let's Get It On" in the audition round was very good. I also liked his performance of Daughtry's "Going Home" in Hollywood. I think he can be one of the best on the men's side. I'm fairly confident that he will make the Top 12.

14) Lacey Brown (last week: 17). Her "Somewhere Over The Rainbow" in the audition round was great. However she had one of the best performances so far this season with her "It's A Wonderful Life" in Hollywood. Is she right for this competition? I'm not sure, she's feels more jazzy than pop/rock.

13) Casey James (last week: 16). His I Don't Need No Doctor" is another of this season's stand outs. That established him as a real musician, after his audition I expected him to wash out. Now I think he's one of the better of the male contestants.

12) Lilly Scott (last week: 15). I'm trying not to think of her dreary performance in week 1 of the Top 24. She needs to have another standout like her "Lullaby of Birdland" in Hollywood. She kind of has that jazzy feeling, just like Lacey Brown.
Can either one of them break out of that mold?

11) Tasha Layton (last week: 6). One of the people I'm most irritated did not make the Top 24. "American Idol" you've got to break out of that 12 women, 12 men formula. It should just be the 24 best, no matter how that works out.

10) Hope Johnson (last week: 1). She had an amazing audition with Martina McBride's "I Hope You Dance". I liked the little bit of what we saw of her in Hollywood also. From what I heard, I think she has easily one of the best voices of all this season. I wish we could have seen a couple more minutes of her in Hollywood. "AI" in future Hollywood rounds please focus more on the singing and less on the fake drama. For those of you who like fake drama, watch soap operas.

9) Ashley Rodriguez (last week: 11). She has been solid so far from the audition to Hollywood. Her version of Alicia Keys' "If I Ain't Got You" in the audition round was amazing. Another one of the better performances of this season. (Seriously isn't Keys one of the best current singers working? I've listened to several songs from her recent CD "The Element of Freedom". That CD is just as amazing as the 4 CDs that precede it. I also liked her take on Jordin Sparks' "Battlefield" in Hollywood.

8) Haeley Vaughn (last week: 10). She sang Carrie Underworm's (that was her name on the recent "Sesame Street") "Last Name" in the audition round. She also sang a pretty good version of Taylor Swift's "Change" in Hollywood. The song that has that catchy "Hallelujah, Hallelujah" chorus.

7) Andrew Garcia (last week: 9). He had another one of this season's best performances with his amazing twist on Paula Abdul's "Straight Up". (That song is so good that I almost want to forgive you for your loopy "AI" career.) His "Sunday Morning" in the audition round was also pretty excellent. If he doesn't make it into the Top 12, I'd be very surprised. I saw a poll yesterday in picking people who could win "AI" this year. Andrew Garcia led the guys and Crystal Bowersox led the gals. Both scored about 25% of the vote with 22 other contestants remaining.

themusicaddict

Tuesday, February 23, 2010

February Top 30, Part 2

Hello,

Just a couple of notes before I get to the countdown. I finished reading the book "Flash Forward" last night. It's a great book and the idea about the flash forward is such an amazing concept to write about. I loved the book, but the end was sort of lame. After all this great action, great characters it ends on one of the main characters hoping he can get together with another one of the main characters. Although it doesn't seem logical that they will ever get together.

I'm pretty jazzed up about the TV series based on that book, also called "Flash Forward". I've watched the first two of the 10 episodes that have been shown so far.
It's very well thought out and intelligent science fiction.

I also recently bought Morrissey's "Years of Refusal". Check it out, it features such great songs as "Sorry Doesn't Help", "Something Is Squeezing My Head", "That's How People Grow Up" and "It's Not Your Birthday Anymore". My favorite song on the CD is "All You Need Is Me". This really rocks.

Also I'm excited with the live performances of "AI" starting tonight. I'm glad the girls are going first because they are far superior this year. I just hope the guys aren't as dull as they were last year. I went to the iTunes music store and again they are selling the performances this year. However who is the idiot who is greedy and have increased the prices to $1.29 per MP3. That's such a corporate America thing to do.

Here's my Top 30 list continued. I've revealed the four people who made "AI" Top 24 but not my Top 30. They are Tim Urban, Joe Munoz, Alex Lambert and Aaron Kelly. # 30 to #25 (from yesterday's blog) 30) Paige Miles, 29) Jermaine Purifory 28) Jessica Cunningham 27) Angela Martin 26) Tori Kelly 25) Michael Lynche. 5 of these people so far have made it to the Top 24, I don't have much excitement to watch them sing tomorrow.

24) Maddie Penrose (last week: 22). I like the singer from Murray, Utah. The trying to be the quirky girl didn't really work out for her. She's got to pick a normal pair of glasses. I do like her voice though.

23) Seth Rollins (last week: 21). I loved his "Someone To Watch Over Me" in the audition round. I would put him in the Top 24 about the previously mentioned 5 male contestants. Too bad he can't try out next year, thank goodness for "X Factor" Seth.

22) Katelyn Epperly (last week: 28). She was good in the audition round with Duffy's "Syrup and Honey". Her "Something To Talk About" in Hollywood was weak and she probably is the weakest of the remaining female contestants. At least of the ones that have received significant screen time. (Neither Michelle Delamor or Paige Miles qualify under that criteria.) I don't think she's going to be around for long.

21) Jermaine Sellers (last week: 14). He's tumbled all the way from 7 as he hasn't recaptured the magic of his audition round take on Joan Osbourne's "One of Us". He sang a couple of relatively old songs in Hollywood. They were "Man In The Mirror" and "Carry On Wayward Son". He needs to get more current or put a current twist on an older song. See Andrew Garcia and his take on "Straight Up". He made that 80's song feel very current and relevant.

20) John Park (last week: 26). He's slowly moving up this list as he continues to advance in the competition. I liked his "I Love You More Than You'll Ever Know" in the audition round, but he needs a breakout performance desperately. I don't know if he's had any more screen time where he's singing. Hey "AI" here's an idea, next season maybe more time given to the singing and a significantly less time given to the rooms part of the episode. People tune into this show to hear the singing not for the fake drama.

19) Mallory Hailey (last week: 13). Did she even make it to Hollywood? She impressed with her cover of Janis Joplin's "Piece of My Heart" in the audition round. We have not seen her since then though.

18) Michelle Delamor (new). She's mostly been missing in action so far this season. She must be a good singer as she has advanced to the Top 24. She was in the group that sang "Irreplaceable". Her best feature was in the audition round. However it wasn't shown with the audition rounds. Her audition performance was featured in an "AI" promo for Season 9. What little we saw of her "Chain of Fools" was pretty solid.

I'll be back tomorrow with more. I'm very busy right now, so I haven't been able to give as much effort to this blog as I wanted. themusicaddict

Monday, February 22, 2010

I Do Have Other Interests Besides "American Idol"

Hello,

This will be a relatively limited "AI" blog. I've made up my Top 30, this is following the announcement of the Top 24. Starting with the 4 people who didn't even make my Top 30 and eventually going all the way to #1.

The following 4 didn't make my Top 30, but did make the "AI" Top 24. I don't really think these 4 are worthy of the Top 24. Once they get booted from the show, they should band together and form a boy band. Really where have all the boy bands gone? They have limited talent and all are so pretty, they could be the next O Town. I wish there would just be the Top 24 contestants overall, not breaking down on gender lines. I would've put Tasha Layton and Hope Johnson in over two of the following future boy band members.

themusicaddict's #31 to #34 in no particular order.

Tim Urban: he replaced the mediocre Chris Golightly after Golightly was ruled "ineligible". I've been underwhelmed by him so far. His take on David Cook's "Come Back To Me" was okay. He was also part of Team (Not very) Awesome. The two best singers of that team were Lee Dewyze and Seth Rollins.

Joe Munoz: we saw him singing a snippet of Michael Jackson's "Man In the Mirror". We will finally hear him sing this week, is he Top 24 worthy?

Alex Lambert: The thing he's most known for is being blasted by Mary Powers in the atrocious group round. (Thank goodness she's gone.) I've been unimpressed by his performances of "Sunday Morning" and "I'm Yours". He was in the aptly named group, "The Dreamers". Other than Hope Johnson, the rest of them were less than good.

Aaron Kelly: Will he be this year's Kris Allen, please no. So far he has forgot the lyrics twice and chose some less than amazing songs. He sang "The Climb" in the audition, I can't remember anything about it. I think he's made it this far is because his story is "inspirational". He was adopted by his Aunt and Uncle. If he doesn't get the teenage girl vote, he'll be gone quick enough. (Again I would much rather see Tasha Layton or Hope Johnson before the above mentioned four.

Here goes the Top 30:

30) Page Miles (new): She's been nearly invisible so far. She was part of Team Neapolitan, one of the groups who sang the excellent Lady Gaga song "Bad Romance". She wasn't even identified in that performance, I remember someone referring to her as Paige. These cannon fodders contestants usually don't stick around too often. There have been a couple of notable exceptions though: Jason Castro and Kris Allen. She's only in my Top 30 because she made the "AI" Top 24.

29) Jermaine Purifory (last week: 20): His "Brick House" wasn't masculine enough. He just doesn't have enough grit to pull that song off. He sounded good but sang the boring "Smile" in the audition round. He never did enough to stand out. The second time contestant has been sent home.

28) Jessica Cunningham (last week: 19): We only heard a snippet of her singing Lady Gaga's "Bad Romance". She sounded pretty good, but that was about all the screen time she scored. She was part of Team Neapolitan, they should have been called Team Invisible. Besides Miles and Cunningham the other members were Liz Rooney and Thaddeus Johnson. Thaddeus scored the most screen time of any of them when he melted down when he did not make the Top 24. Reason #1,000,004 you should be at least 18 to enter this contest. Who had the worst meltdown Jessica Furney or Thaddeus Johnson?

27) Angela Martin (last week: 25): Maybe of any one of the contestants, she had the most legitimate right to have a meltdown. What was worse finding out you didn't make the Top 24 or having Kara Disregardia deliver the news? I thought her "American Boy" in Hollywood was pretty amazing. I just don't think she was ever going to be your next "American Idol".

26) Tori Kelly (last week: 18). In the way the show was edited, it was down between her and Haeley Vaughn in who was going to the Top 24. It wasn't a real surprise Haeley Vaughn is moving on. Kelly advanced to the final 46, which was probably as far as she deserved to go. Try out again next year Tori.

25) Michael Lynche (new): The only reason I can think why he's still on the show is because they are afraid he'll beat them up if he doesn't move on. Lynche is a likable guy, but not a great singer. He's scored a decent amount of screen time so far, but he still hasn't had any breakout performances yet. I don't think he's going to last much longer.

Alright, alright here's some other news. Right now I'm listening to the Buddy Guy CD "Skin Deep". This is one of those great kick butt Blues CDs. Some of that powerful Blues music hinted at in the movie "Crossroads". (Not to be confused with the Britney Spears movie "Crossroads".) The Ry Cooder soundtrack to "Crossroads" is sort of underwhelming. You can skip listening to it.

In "Crossroads" Steve Vai clearly won this duel, he's a great guitarist but not such a good actor.



According to lore the Crossroads is where you can go sell your soul to the devil in trade for music immortality. One story I've heard is that Robert Plant, Jimmy Page and John Bonham all sold their souls to the devil. However bassist John Paul Jones didn't and that's why he's the least famous of the bunch. (Maybe the real reason for that is because he's the bassist.) Although that rumor was going around before he joined with the super group Them Crooked Vultures. One of Eric Clapton's best songs is "Crossroads", which has some of that great Blues guitar in it.

Long story short you need to go check out Buddy Guy's "Skin Deep". This CD is amazing and has so many great songs. I still think that BB King and Muddy Waters are the two best Blues singers ever. Buddy Guy is probably somewhere in the Top 10.

I've listened to two of his CDs and both kick butt. Both CDs have that upbeat and intense guitar playing. I'll give you some songs to check out if you are interested: "What Kind of Women Is This?", "Everytime I Sing the Blues", "Skin Deep" and "Whose Gonna Fill Those Shoes".

Great reading: I've been reading some great books lately. I've been ripping through the Lee Child Jack Reacher books. These are very good books. I read the 13th in the series first and then moved on to the first books in the series. The 13th book in the series is "Gone Tomorrow", this has one of the all-time best opening chapters ever. Child grabs you by the collar and pulls you into the book.

I then read the second in the series "Die Trying" which is the weakest of the series so far. I just finished the second book in the series "Killing Floor", which is a great book. Jack Reacher stops in Margrave, Georgia looking for information about Blind Blake, a long deceased Blues musician. I thought he was fictional, but yes indeed Blind Blake was a real person. Although there's very little known about him. I listened to a couple of his tracks on napster.com. It's that old timey Robert Johnson sort of Blues, that's not the sort of Blues I like.

I'm also quite fond of Robert J. Sawyer's "Flash Forward" which was the inspiration for the TV series of the same name. I didn't see any of that series, but I'm loving the book quite a bit. I checked online and apparently they've shown 10 episodes so far and the show is coming back on March 18th. You can check it out online at ABC. I might check that out. But for now I definitely give thumbs up to the excellent book.

I went to abc.com and watched the first two episodes of the TV show "Flash Forward" on my computer. The TV show is a lot different than the book. In the book the Flash Forward is caused by some kind of experiment at CERN. Sorry CERN and the experiment they were doing is too complicated for my simple mind to understand. In the TV show it looks like its caused by a person or a group of people. In the book people flash forward 21 years, in the TV show they only flash forward 6 months. Both pieces of work have Lloyd Simcoe, but he's completely different from the book to the TV show.

After two episodes of this show, I'm really liking it. ABC is doing a lot of interesting things right now. "Flash Forward", "V" and "Lost" are all coming back or are resuming their seasons.

Sports: # 12 BYU has now moved to 25-3 by dispatching CSU and Wyoming fairly easily last week. BYU has a couple of tough games this week, but both of them are in the Marriot Center. BYU plays a hungry SDSU team, that's a good appetizer for the main feast on Saturday. # 10 New Mexico is coming to town, New Mexico beat BYU when they played at the Pit. The Cougars are looking for revenge and wanting to be the #1 seed in the MWC Tournament. From that they are trying to spring into a good seed in the NCAA Tournament. Maybe this is the year BYU can break through and get a NCAA victory.

Another team that's playing very well is the Utah Jazz. They've won 17 of their last 19 games and have won 7 straight road games. They are in third place in the powerful Western Conference, they only trail Kobe's Lakers and Chauncey's Nuggets. (Good luck to George Karl and recover quickly.) The Jazz also had an amazing comeback against Portland last night. With about 7 minutes left in the third quarter the Jazz trailed 64-39. The Jazz then rallied to tie the game at the end of regulation on a great Carlos Boozer put back basket. The Jazz then completed their comeback and won in overtime.

I didn't watch the game because it was on too late, but I was very excited when I found out that they won the game this morning. I was starting to get excited and thinking the Jazz might be a team of destiny, just like the New Orleans Saints. I then started thinking about it and realized I'm dreaming. They will get to the Western Conference semi-finals where they'll lose to either Denver or the Lakers.

Both of those teams have owned the Jazz so far this season. Denver won 3 of their 4 games, which means they own the tiebreaker. The Lakers have won 2 of their 3 games. Both Lakers victories have been complete domination. When they played in LA on December 9th, the Lakers took the Jazz to the woodshed 101-77. In their last game LA came into the horribly named Energy Solutions Arena and also dominated the Jazz. That was one of the Jazz's two losses over the last 19 games. More bad news for the Jazz they get to play the Lakers again this season, in LA. That game will be on April 2nd, right before the NBA playoffs start.

themusicaddict

Sunday, February 21, 2010

2/16 and 2/17 Hollywood Week 2, Part 2

The Top 12 female "AI" contestants, a much more solid group than the men/ boys.



Hello,

I'm including all 3 hours from last week into one big blog to limit your boredom. ew.com has an excellent introduction to the Top 24. () indicate where they are in last week's themusicaddict rankings Top 30. Performances from the following:

1) Angela Martin (25) singing a clip of Estelle's "American Boy". She sounded pretty good. I wonder how her other performances were that she didn't make it into the Top 24. Is there anyone else worse than Kara Disregardia breaking bad news to a prospective Idol? I agree with the judges, I don't think she's good enough to be in the Top 24. 5.0

2) Casey James (16) sang Colbie Cailliat's "Bubbly". Some people didn't like his performance but I thought he was pretty good. I hope we see more of his bluesy side in the Top 24. I see his picture and think he's a lightweight, but he's had some pretty good performances. 4.5

3) Jermaine Purifory (20) sang a very wimpy version of the Commodores "Brick House". He's not in the Top 24. 3.5

This is how it should be sung and played.



There was a lot of Ryan Seacrest's fake drama in these episodes. Ryan keeps on mentioning the "fate of 71 contestants".

4) Jermaine Sellers (14) : After a pretty amazing take on Joan Osborne's "One of Us" in the audition round, he disappointed in Hollywood. His "Man In The Mirror" was pretty weak. With the men's side not real impressive, he could make it to the Top 12 overall. However he's got to raise his game considerably. 3.5

5) Sioban Magnus (NR) sang Stevie Wonder's "Living For The City". Thanks Sioban for not singing "Hot N' Cold" or "Man In The Mirror". I always give thumbs up to people who sing Stevie Wonder's songs. She's through to the Top 24, even though she hasn't scored much screen time yet. 4.0

6) Crystal Bowersox (2): the 24 year old from Elliston, Ohio. She's a musician and Mom. She continued to tear it up in Hollywood by singing an amazing, powerful version of Sheryl Crow's "If It Makes You Happy". (Her singing makes me happy.) I'm sorry there wasn't any suspense about whether she was going through. That was a no brainer. She's my pick to win the whole thing. I actually like the name Randy Jackson came up for her, Mama Sox. 5.0



7) Alex Lambert (NR): Why do the judges like him so much? He's the 19 year old from North Richard, Texas. He sang Maroon 5's "Sunday Morning" and the wimpy Jason Mraz song "I'm Yours". (What happened to Jason Mraz after his excellent debut CD, "Waiting For My Rocket To Come"?) The thing he's most memorable for is getting yelled at by Mary Powers for not singing enough in the group round. He's on to the Top 24. The only question I have is, "Are you kidding me?" Both performances: 4.0.



8) Michael Lynche (NR): yet another mediocre version of Mraz's "I'm Yours". I liked his version better than Lambert's version though. It's very surprising he made it into the Top 24, it's a good thing the men's draw is pretty weak. Simon said it was "a very good day" and called their decision "unanimous". They then urged him to pick up Ryan Seascrest which he lifted like I lift a teddy bear. 4.5

9) Todrick Hall (7) : the singer from Arlington, Texas chose to also sing "I'm Yours". ("AI" producers did you only give the contestants 7 or 8 songs to sing?) His version of that song was not very good. Come on Todrick you can do much better than that. I think the judges were trying to deflate him a bit, when Kara said "yes" to the Top 24. He responded with "That's It?". At least they didn't torture him and didn't make him wait. 4.0

10) Thaddeus Johnson (NR), the 17 year old from Oklahoma City, Oklahoma. He was one of the countless performers who sang Michael Jackson's "Man In The Mirror". He had a much more masculine voice than in the groups. I didn't enjoy his meltdown when he did not make the Top 24. I also didn't enjoy the camera man following him and his Mother into a bathroom stall. Try again in a few years Thaddeus. "Mirror" 4.0, after finding out he didn't make it: 0.0.

11) Charity Vance (NR), the 17 year old from Little Rock, Arkansas. She didn't make it into the Top 24. 3.5

12) Tasha Layton (6) sang Coldplay's "The Scientist". (I've never understood the appeal of Coldplay's wimpy music.) Tasha Layton is awesome though, I wish we could have seen more of her singing. This is not the best song though. If it was up to me I'd put her in the Top 24 over Katelyn Epperly definitely. Also possibly over Page Miles, Sioban Magnus and Michelle Delamore. 4.0

13) Mary Powers (NR) called singing Katy Perry's "Hot N Cold" "cake". She didn't have her cake and get to eat it. I've had much tastier cake. I'm glad the 29 year old from Burbank, California was sent home. I hate her attitude and thankfully she's too old to try out again next year. 4.0

14) Lloyd Thomas (NR), the 29 year old dock worker from Dallas, Texas. He also sang "Man In The Mirror". Rightfully the dock worker was sent home. 4.0

15) Bryan Walker (NR), the man that Randy said, "the singing policeman is hot" in the audition round. I wasn't very impressed after his meh version of "Superstar". I never understood his appeal, he's sort of lame. I'm also glad he got sent home. I can't even remember what song he sang in Hollywood and I don't care enough to find out. 3.5

16) We then saw brief glimpses of Tisha Holland (NR) and Jermaine Purifory (20).

17) Hope Johnson, my previous #1 until she was eliminated. I thought she sang a pretty good version of Daughtry's "Home". I would put her in over Katelyn Epperly as well. I hope the 20 year old from Arlington, Texas tries out again. 4.0

18) Shelby Dressel (NR), the 19 year old waitress sang an okay version of Boston's "More Than A Feeling". That seemed to be an odd choice of song amongst all the pop songs. 4.0

19) Aaron Kelly (NR), the 16 year old has forgot the lyrics twice and he still advances to the Top 24? He sang Sarah McLachlan's sleep inducing "Angel". 4.0

20) Ashley Rodriguez (11) sang Jordin Sparks' "Battlefield" in Hollywood. She's awesome. She tore it up in the audition round with Alicia Keys' "If I Ain't Got You". I hope she isn't annoying because I think she's going to go very far in this competition. Both songs and performances 5.0.

21) Lee Dewyze (12): One of the stronger male contestants in the Top 24. Could be Top 12 bound. Although in Hollywood Week, Simon called him "indulgent". He sang The Fray's "You Found Me". 4.5

22) Joe Munoz (NR), another contestant who sang Michael Jackson's "Man In The Mirror". I don't think he's going to last very long. 4.0

23) Haeley Vaughn, the 16 year old has handled herself so far. I liked her version of Taylor Swift's "Change" in Hollywood. Will she be able to keep it up? She did a pretty good job with Taylor Swift's "Change". I'd really like her to sing Carrie Underwood's "Before He Cheats". 5.0.

24) Janeel Wheeler, the 24 year old who use to work for a wine distribtor in Florida. I hope she doesn't need that job back with the way that she acted when Ryan asked her about it. She's from Tampa. She sang Taylor Swift's "Love Story" in Hollywood and she rocks. She was one of the people Ellen had to tease, but Janell is going through. 5.0



It's time for more fake Ryan Seacrest drama. He says such lame things as "soon they'll learn their destiny" and about the "emotional toll". He also says "because the talent is so great this year". He says that every year.

25) Tori Kelly, next up the 17 year old from Canyon Lake, California. She also chose to sing the over sung "Hot N Cold". In an extremely solid group of women, she's not moving on. Come back in a couple of years Tori, you'll have some life experience then and be much more mature. If "American Idol" is not around, there will be the "X Factor". 4.0

26) Lilly Scott, the 20 year old from Littleton, Colorado. She amazed with "Lullaby of Birdland", but wasn't so impressive with Hall and Oates "Rich Girl".

27) Andrew Garcia, last on last week's first episode certainly not least. He's very talented, but sort of flying under the radar. I liked both his "Sunday Morning" and "Straight Up". However why did he sing "Chasing Pavements". Why does that song has so much indie cred? I just don't understand. In who was going to the Top 24, it came down to him and Thaddeus Johnson. Between those two I think that's a pretty easy decision, Andrew Garcia hands down. He's really a likable guy and been very good go far this season. "Straight Up" 5.0, "Chasing Pavements" 4.0.

28) Didi Benami, she's going through to the Top 24 and the decision was "unanimous". She had one of my favorite performances in Hollywood with Katherine McPhee's "Terrified".

29) Katelyn Epperly (28) sang Duffy's "Syrup and Honey" in the audition round and was good there. Her "Something To Talk About" in Hollywood wasn't much to talk about. She said about the "AI" experience, "the further you make it, the more you want it". In a group of strong women, I was surprised she made it into the Top 24.

30) Jessica Furney: In the group round she made sure she got to sing her part in Gwen Stefani's "Sweet Escape". I thought she did pretty good with that. However what was that break down she had when the judges told her she's not making it through. She asked why she didn't make it through. Simon told her, "you didn't sing as well as the others". Furney became annoying very fast when she kept on saying, "you have no idea". Then she kept on whining to Ryan Seacrest. Jessica Furney have some pride. (Handle going home with class like Tori Kelly.) "Sweet Escape" 4.0

31) Tyler Grady, the young kid with the 70's and Jim Morrison vibe. He called Robert Plant one of his idols. Tyler you have very good taste. I liked his singing of "Going Home". It will be interesting to see how far he goes. 5.0

32) Lacey Brown, last year she lost out to the awesome Megan Joy. Simon called this year's group of women better than last year. However Lacey still made it through. She sang a magnificent version of "What A Wonderful World" in Hollywood. 5.0

33) Joe Munoz (NR) is going to the Top 24. However I really can't make a decision on him as he's only got about 1 minute of air time so far.

34) Katie Stevens (5), another strong contender to be this season's American Idol. She had a good "At Last" in the audition round. She did a pretty good job as well on Stevie Wonder's "For Once In My Life". 4.0, 4.5



35) Michelle Delamor (NR), another contestant that hasn't got enough screen time. We saw a bit of her in the group round. She's one of the great unknown.

36) John Park (26), another one with little screen time. Other than Shania Twain getting discombobulated by him, we've seen very little of him. He's still sort of a mystery.

37) Page Miles (NR), she's another mystery. We've seen her twice and haven't heard her sing at all.

I want to know what happened to Mallory Haley (13), Luke Shaffer (8), Liz Rooney (24), Jessica Cunningham (19) and Genesis Moore (NR)?

Jessica Cunningham:



Clearly the women are the strength of this season. In my rankings they have the #'s 2,3,4,5,10,11,15,17 and 28. There are also three women who are not ranked. Meanwhile the men have the #'s 7,9,12,14,16,23,26. There are five men who aren't ranked.

I can't wait until the live performances this week, I plan on buying the song Crystal Bowersox sings.

themusicaddict

Saturday, February 20, 2010

2/16 and 2/17 Hollywood Week 2, Part 1



Molly Ringwald you rule!

Hello,

I was listening to sports radio on the way home from work the other day. They were talking about Danica Patrick and they couldn't figure out what her appeal was. They say a picture is worth a thousand words, here's my thousand words.



Going into the second half of Hollywood week, there are 71 remaining contestants.

Starting at 7:00am that morning we see the judges reviewing the remaining contestants. The judges broke the remaining contestants into three rooms.

In the rooms episode: Here's who I could figure out in who was in each room. I will give the group number, the contestants and their number in the last themusicaddict rankings.

Group 1 features: Katie Stevens (5), Tyler Grady (23), Casey James (16), Todrick Hall (7), Alex Lambert (NR), Michael Lynche (NR), Jermaine Sellers (14), Tim Urban (NR), Andrew Garcia (9), Sioban Magnus (NR), Tori Kelly (18), Lilly Scott (15), Theri (NR), Michelle Delamor (NR). 8/13 of these contestants were in my most recent rankings. This group made it through to the next round.

Group 2 features: Hope Johnson (1), Keia Johnson (NR), Mary Powers (NR), Lloyd Thomas (NR), Christian Spear (NR), Jermaine Purifory (20), Charity Vance (NR), Bryan Walker (NR), Tisha Holland (NR) and Tasha Layton (6). Only 3 of the 10 people I could figure out in this group are in my rankings. Obviously if I would have had to predict I would have predicted this would be the room to go home. Although I disagree as this group featured two of my favorites Tasha Layton and Hope Johnson. Please try out again next year.

Group 3 features: Maddie Penrose (22), Shelby Dressell (NR), Angela Martin (NR), Jessica Furney (29), Haeley Vaughn (10), Didi Benami (3), Lee Dewyze (12), Lacey Brown (17), Aaron Kelly (NR), Joe Munoz (NR, this is the first we've seen of him), Janeel Wheeler (4), Jessica Cunningham (19), John Park (26).

Coming tomorrow: Part 2 of this blog and then hopefully my new Top 30 on Monday. With my numbers 1, 6, 8, 13, 18, 19, 20, 21, 22, 24, 25, 27, 29, 30 not being on the show anymore, obviously there will be big changes. It's been a long and busy week.

Have a good day.

themusicaddict

Tuesday, February 16, 2010

Top 10 Season 9 "Idols" 2/14/2010

Hello,

Thanks to ew.com's Michael Slezak for pointing out Mishavonna Henson's debut ep. It's called "From The End of the World". Thanks to napster.com I listened to it twice this morning, it's good. I particularly like the first song, "Stand Back". She was on "AI" Season 8 and she got short shrift last season. She appeared as high as #6 in my Top 11, even though she was eliminated by that point.

Here are some potential chart busters for next week: Michelle Delamor, Lloyd Thomas, Sioban Magnus, Charity Vance, Tisha Holland, Michael Lynch, Jess Wolfe, Dawntoya Thomspon, Rachel Hubbard and Jeff Goldford. Since "A.I." only features a few of these each week I don't know the fate of some of the above mentioned candidates.

10) Haeley Vaughn (debut), she was a possible chart buster last week. The 16 year old has been impressive so far in singing Carrie Underwood's "Last Name" and Taylor Swift's "Change". She's trying to be a comtemporary black country singer.

9) Andrew Garcia (debut), he was also on my last possible chart busters list last week. The 23 year old has done a good job in what we've seen of him so far. He impressed with the audition with Maroon 5's "Sunday Morning". He then put a very unique twist on Paula Abdul's "Straight Up". He made an 80's song sound current, I think his version could be a hit. Both versions of that song are great.

8) Luke Shaffer (lw: 2), he's this high based on his fantastic audition song. He sang the very cool "Fall For You" by Secondhand Serenade. Here's my question "A.I." producers where is he? If he got cut someway along the way, can't you let us know? At least by posting it on your should be a lot better website?

7) Todrick Hall (lw: 3) He was awesome in the "AI" round singing his own original, which I call the "A.I." song. He also was in one of the groups that sang "Bad Romance". Although he's insanely cocky, he does have a nice voice. Thank you "A.I." producers for showing him.

6) Tasha Layton (lw: 9), in the audition round she sang Joss Stone's "Baby, Baby, Baby". In Hollywood Week 1, we saw her in passing a couple of times. We never got to hear her sing though. Aargh!

5) Katie Stevens (debut), she's also exiled from last week's potential chart busters list. She has a pretty amazing voice, from what we've heard so far. Her "At Last" in the audition round was okay. However her "For Once In My Life" in Hollywood Week 1 was very good with her showing off a fantastic voice.

4) Janeel Wheeler (lw: 23), she soared on the strength of her "American Boy". But her singing of "House of the Rising Sun" in the audition round was her best performance so far. She was also part of the group that sang Ne Yo's "Closer".

3) Didi Benami (lw: 6), she's rolling on the strength of her amazing take of Katherine McPhee's "Terrified". She also was pretty amazing in the audition round with The Beatles "Hey Jude".

2) Crystal Bowersox (lw: 18), she soared on her powerful version of Aretha Franklin's "You Make Me Feel Like (A Natural Woman)". (Shout out to Snickers for their pretty funny commercial which Aretha Franklin is appearing in now.) She must be old school as she sang Janis Joplin's "Piece Of My Heart" in the audition round.

1) Hope Johnson (lw: 1), another person we didn't get to see much of. We only saw her in conjunction with Mary Powers dramatics. She was awesome in the audition round with Martina McBride's corny "I Hope You Dance". She's #1 on the strength of that, even though we didn't get to hear her sing in Hollywood Week 1. She also sang "Dreams" in the group round, although we only heard a little of that.

Tonight starts the two parts of Hollywood Week 2, there's going to be an announcement of some of the Top 24 tonight. I wonder how many people are going to make the Top 24 that we've seen little or none of.

Enjoy, themusicaddict

themusicaddict

Monday, February 15, 2010

2/14/10 "AI" Top 30, R.I.P. Doug Fieger


Hello,

It seems like I've written too many R.I.P. thoughts lately. We've recently lost Michael Jackson, Farrah Fawcett, Ken Ober, Brittany Murphy and Walter Cronkite. Here's another one, the lead singer of the Knack, Doug Fieger, died at the age of 57 after having a battle with cancer. I remember when their first CD came out in 1979, I thought they were going to be much bigger than they actually turned out to be. "Get The Knack" is one of the all-time best first albums ever, up there with the Violent Femmes and Led Zeppelin.

Thanks to youtube.com here's a selection of some of their better songs. These are all classics, they have several other classics as well. These other classics include "Your Number Or Your Name", "Siamese Twins (The Monkey and Me)", "Maybe Tonight", "Lucinda", "Oh Tara", "That's What The Little Girls Do" and "She's So Selfish". They pretty much only wrote and sang about one subject, from the titles I'm sure you can guess what that is.











Here's my Top 30 but first of all those leaving the list are General Larry Platt (12) and Donelle Hayes (15). Hayes had some legal issues to resolve which resulted in her being kicked off the show. According to mjsbigblog.com she was encouraged to try out again next season. The others leaving are Kimberly Carver (19), Bosa Mora (20), Jennifer Hirsh (22), Jim Ranger (24), Benjamin Bright (25), Claire Fuller (26), Antonio Wheeler (28) and Genesis Moore (29).

30) Noel Reese (last week: 27), the 16 year old who did a pretty good job with Whitney's "I Have Nothing" in the audition round. I didn't see her at all in Week 1 of Hollywood Week.

29) Jessica Furney (lw: 20), the 20 year old sang the Simon Cowell co-written "Footprints In The Sand" in the audition round. She was also not seen in Week 1 in Hollywood week.

28) Katelyn Epperly (lw: 13), she sang Duffy's "Syrup and Honey" in the audition round. Where is she at, she'd probably be much higher in this list if she'd actually been shown.

27) Kimberly Kerbow (lw: 17) the 24 year old unfortunately was sent home. She forgot the lyrics in Hollywood and that was the end of it for her. She sang the very fantastic "The Way I Am" by Ingrid Michaelson.

26) John Park (lw: 30), we only saw the 20 year old in passing. In the audition round he sang Blood, Sweat & Tears "I'll Love You More Than You'll Ever Know".

25) Angela Martin (lw: 14) we didn't see her at all and I'm not sure if she's still in the competition. The three time contestant has had bad things happen all 3 years she has tried out. She sang "Just Fine" by Mary J. Blige.

24) Liz Rooney (debut) we saw very little of her, but she seems to have a good voice.

23) Tyler Grady (debut), the 19 year old sang Marvin Gaye's immortal "Let's Get It On" in the audition round. (Matt Giraud also did good things with that song during last year's Motown week.) Grady was another missing in action during Hollywood Week. He's moving on though.

22) Maddie Penrose (debut), the Murray, Utah youngster impressed with her great vocals. She's got to stop wearing the zany glasses though. It helps her stand out, but not for the right reasons.

21) Seth Rollins (lw: 11) I'm very upset he was sent home. He was in Team Awesome with Michael Lynch and Lee Dewyze. He was sent home when Tim Urban (Irvan?) was sent through, a decision I disagree with.

20) Jermaine Purifoy (debut). He sang well in the audition round, but he chose the very boring "Smile" to sing. I liked his voice but not his song selection. You've got to step it up dude. He was in Middle C in the group round, they sang Ne Yo's "Closer".

19) Jessica Cunningham (debut) this is the first we heard of her, she was in one of the two groups who sang Lady Gaga's "Bad Romance". We just heard her sing a bit, but the hottie has a nice voice. According to her local newspaper, this is the 6th time she has tried out for "AI".



18) Tori Kelley (debut), another singer we don't know much about. She sang John Mayer's "Gravity" in the audition round. She was pretty good in Hollywood Week 1 and is moving on.

17) Lacey Brown (16), she sang an awesome version of "Somewhere Over The Rainbow". She's a second time contestant who lost out to the gorgeous Megan Joy in last year's chairs episode. Apparantally this is the 6th year she has tried out.

Speaking of Megan Joy:



16) Casey James (debut), in the individual part of Hollywood he sang an excellent blues song, I'm not sure of the name. He's also sang "Slow Dancing In A Burning Room" and "Closer" in the group round.

15) Lily Scott (debut) sang Ella Fitzgerald's "Lullaby of Birdland". I actually like Scott's version than Fitzgerald's version. Scott has a nice, sweet voice. This is the first we've seen of him.

14) Jermaine Sellers (lw: 7), he amazed in the audition round with "One of Us". He also was one of the group who sang Kansas' "Carry On My Wayward Son" in Hollywood. He's not dropping because of a poor performance, but because other people's more amazing performances. Plus "Carry On My Wayward Son" doesn't help. A great song, but the song is older than most people watching this show.

13) Mallory Haley (lw: 4), the pretty teenager was outstanding in the audition round, but she was missing in action last week. I don't blame that on her, I blame it on "AI's" producers. I'm not sure if she is on the show anymore.



12) Lee Dewyze (lw: 9), another person that impressed in the audition round. He sang Bill Withers' "Ain't No Sunshine". He was given very little screen time in Hollywood Week 1. Other than the few seconds he sang a bit of "Get Ready".

11) Ashley Rogriguez (lw: 5), she sang Alicia Keys' "If I Ain't Got You" in the audition round. She wasn't given much screen time in Hollywood, but I think she has the potential to go a long ways in this competition.

The Top 10 coming tomorrow or later tonight. The Top 10 has 3 debuts from outside the Top 30 and two debuts from inside the Top 30. There is a lot of changes as well.

themusicaddict

Sunday, February 14, 2010

"AI" Hollywood Week 1, Part 3

Hello,

Day 2 of the initial individual performances cont. Again parenthesis indicate what number the person is in last week's themusicaddict's rankings.

7) Didi Benami (6) was one of the highlights of the night. The 23 year old waitress sang the song "Terrified" written by Kara Disregardia. This song is actually very good, I just loaded it on to my iPod. Simon said I "hate to admit it but I really like that song". (Simon I know how you feel.) Among the people who sing that song is former Idol Katherine McPhee. Anyway Benami sang a great version of that song and she's moving on. She definitely deserves last week's #6 ranking. 5.0

The gorgeous Katherine McPhee:


(thanks to askmen.com)

8) Crystal Bowersox (18), another singer with an amazing voice. The 24 year old musician and Mom sang an powerful version of Aretha Franklin's "Natural Woman". Even the other contestants were singing along with her. She has a lot of potential. 5.0

96 people made it through to Day 2, the dreaded Group round. The only reason I can think "AI" has the group round is because of all the drama that it creates. (I'm talking about you Mary Powers.) "AI" is about artificial drama as much as it's about singing. I wish it would focus a lot more on singing, rather than the Tatiana Del Tortures of the world.

Day 2 Hollywood: Group round. February 10, 2010 episode.

1) Moira Mosa (she sang with the overrated Danny Gokey and Jamar Rodgers in Hollywood week last year).

2) We also see snippets of Jermaine Sellers (7) and Kat Nestle. This is the first we see of Kat and soon to be the last.

We hear about The Mighty Rangers, a group of 5 that came from the Denver auditions. Mary Powers is showing how much of a drama queen she is. We find out how Big Mike Lynch's wife has had her baby all away across the country. (Dearest Mike: You seem like a likable guy but dude, that's just one of those things that you can't miss if you have any control over it at all.) We also see Destiny's Wild, which features Todrick Hall (3). "AI" conveniently forget to mention the controversy he's part of. I really like him and think he's going to go a long way.

Here are the groups, there is the good the bad and the ugly.

Group 1: Faith sang "Irreplaceable". It's members are Michelle Delamor (this is the first we've seen of her), Charity Vance (not rated) and Ashley Rodriguez (5). All are moving on. 4.0

Group 2: Team Awesome sang "Get Ready". It's members are Michael Lynch (not ranked), Tim Urban (this is the first we've seen of him) and Lee Dewyze (9). All three of them are moving on. The other two members are Seth Rollins (11) who's going home. I really like him and I think its bogus that they sent him home. His "Someone To Watch Over Me" in the audition round was amazing. Last and least is two time contestant Michael Castro. Please Castro family, no more try outs. Jason was an excellent contestant, but Michael just doesn't cut it. 4.0

Group 3: Neapolitan, the first of the two competing groups who are sing singing Lady Gaga's "Bad Romance". (By the way Lady Gaga rules, although she's a bit freaky.) The members are Liz Rooney (this is the first we've seen of her). She's the one with red/blonde hair. We also have Page, this is the first we've seen of her and that's all I know about her. Another member is the gorgeous Jessica Cunningham, "AI" producers where have you been hiding her? This is the first we've seen of the 24 year old. There's also Thaddeus Johnson, why is he moving on when Seth Rollins isn't. All four are moving on. 4.0

Group 4: Destiny's Wild also sing Lady Gaga's "Bad Romance". This group features Todrick Hall (3). We also have three contestants that we didn't see in the audition round. They are Jareb Lieber, the one named Theri, Sioban Magnus. All four are moving on. Ellen called their performance "surreal". 4.0.

Group 5: The Mighty Rangers sang an unknown song. Two of this group moved on, they are Tori Kelley, 17 years old. She was very good, 5.0. Another person moving on is Maddie Penrose, the 18 year old is also moving on. She's the one trying to fill the constantly changing glasses slot. She's a little kooky but has a nice voice. (She's from the same place as David Archuleta, please "AI" don't mention him.) The other three members are all going home. Those contestants include Mark Labriola and Kimberly Kerbow (24), both of which forgot the lyrics. I don't mind Labriola going home but I wish we could hear more from Kimberly Kerbow. She was awesome in the audition round singing Ingrid Michaelson's "The Way I Am". We also saw the first and last of Danny Jones. Well unless your his neighbor :)

Group 6: Phoenix went old school singing Kansas' "Carry On My Wayward Son". Two of the five of these contestants are moving on. The first of two moving on are Jermaine Sellers (7). The 26 year old wasn't as impressive as he was in the audition round. 3.5 The other continuing contestant is Jeff Goldford (not rated). 5.0 Those going home include Moira Mosa who is 17 years old. She forgot the lyrics and is gone. Ben Honeycutt, who I actually liked, is also going home. Kat Nestle then quit as she didn't want to "humiliate" herself. I think quitting is actually more humiliating.

Group 7: Big Dreams This group included Matt Lawrence, who I'm glad is going home. He got early good word of mouth, but I thought he was sort of weak. This group also included Amanda Schectman, the 19 year old is extremely annoying. She's very whiny and annoying. She could've been this year's Tatiana Del Torture, thank goodness she isn't.

Group 8: Their name is unknown. This group included Carmen Turner, Kimberly Carver (19) and Dave Pittman. I liked Kimberly Carver, but the one I was most surprised about being sent home is Leah Laurenti (10). I quite liked the 22 year old's "Blue Skies". All of these people are going home.

Group 9: Middle C sang Ne Yo's "Closer". This group included Janell Wheeler (23). She has done quite well with both "House of the Rising Sun" and "American Boy". In this group is also Jermaine Purifoy. In the audition round he sang the very boring "Smile". He's a good singer though. We also had Casey James, the stripper by Kara's request in Denver. I thought he got through as a courtesy. However he sang a blues song as he accompanied himself on his guitar. He was awesome and was a lot better than his audition. All 3 are moving on.

Group 10: 3 Men and a Baby. I have written down that they sang Alicia Keys "No One". This group included the very solid Andrew Garcia. 4.0. He was better when he sang Paula Abdul's "Straight Up". 5.0. There also was the very good Katie Stevens. Kara said she could win the whole thing. 5.0. We also had a return contestant, JB Ahfua. He's better than I remember the first time around. There was also a fourth unidentified contestant. All are moving on.

Group 11: The Dreamers sang Fleetwood Mac's "Dreams". This group included Mary Powers. 4.0. This group also contains my number 1 contestant Hope Johnson. 5.0 Both of these contestants are moving on. There was also Alex Lambert, I don't remember whether he got through. I hope not. The last identified contestant was Margo May, she thankfully is going home. There was also a fifth member who was unidentified.

I didn't see and am wondering where Luke Shaffer (2), Mallory Hailey (4), Angela Martin (14), Donelle Hayes (15), Lacey Brown (16), Jessica Furney (21), Jennifer Hirsh (22), Jim Ranger (24), Benjamin Bright (25), Noel Reese (27) and Genesis Moore (29) are. Those are the members of my Top 30 that I didn't see any of. We saw Tasha Layton (8)and Hope Johnson (1) but didn't get to hear either sing.

Also where were Tyler Grady, Joshua Bullock, Keith Semple, Miriam Lemouni, Holly Harden, Mike Davis, Jess Wolfe, Shelby Dressel, Dawntoya Thompson, Chris Golightly, Brian Walker and Rachel Hubbard?

Also if you're a big Megan Joy fan, go to her facebook.com page. She has 4 of her original songs posted there. Some are better than others, my favorite is "Ryder On The Storm". That song is dedicated to her son Ryder. I don't like her new hair style though.

71 people are moving on. That number will be whittled down to 24 on Wednesday. We then can start to focus on the performances, which is the reason I watch the show. I don't watch the show for the judges and definitely don't watch the show for the fake drama.

My top 30 is coming tomorrow, there are a lot of big changes. I expect there'll be a lot more changes next week as we go down to the Top 24.

themusicaddict

Saturday, February 13, 2010

"AI" Hollywood Week 1, Part 2

Hello,

Again the parenthesis are where they are ranked in themusicaddict's rankings last week. I will have a new Top 30 soon with a lot of dramatic changes.

9) Janell Wheeler (24) sang Estelle and Kanye West's "American Boy". (I think.) She sang the awesome "House of the Rising Sun" in the auditions and was amazing with that. She was also spot on with "American Boy". She has a lot of potential and could get really far in this competition. Ellen D. called her "amazing". 5.0

10) We then saw a lot of bad auditions including Bosa Mora (20). I liked his audition but in the short glimpse we saw of him, he was not good. 2.0 In this segment of the show we lost a lot of "AI" pretenders.

11) Haeley Vaughn (not rated): She's very young so I'm a bit nervous about her potential in this competition. She sang Taylor Swift's "Change" and also accompanied herself on guitar. She's got a good voice and is a very good guitarist. Randy calls her "interesting" and she's moving on. 5.0

12) Mary Powers (not rated and hopefully soon eliminated.): the 29 year old sang Pink's "Sober". The Pat Benatar wanna be is quickly becoming one of these annoying contestants. It seems like each season we have one of those types. Just look at some of the annoying people that have been in this competition Sanjaya, Nathaniel Marshall and Tatiana Del Torture. We also have the incredibly annoying Kara Disregardia and Randy Jackson. Mary you need to go watch "Fast Times At Ridgemont High" to see how dated the Pat Benatar look is. She's annoying but has an okay voice. She's moving on.
4.0

Other shown in this part of the show and also move through include: Todrick Hall (3), Charity Vance (not rated) and Ashley Rodriguez (5). I think Ashley Rodriguez is going to go far as I think the producers will be pushing her hard. She looks like a star.

On Day 1 on individual tryouts 46 people made it through.

Day 2 of the individual tryouts.

1) Jay Stone: the spitting beatboxer, the Blake Lewis wannabe. (At least Pat Benatar was good back in the day.) Simon called him "ridiculous" and he's going home.

2) Lily Scott (not rated) the 20 year old musician and sandwich maker. She was in the Denver auditions, but wasn't shown. Instead we saw bikini guy. She sang Ella Fitzgerald's "Lullaby of Birdland". A very cool song and Lily Scott has a fantastic voice. She's moving on and another person I think who could go far. 4.5

3) Michael Lynch (not rated) the 26 year old personal trainer. He sang John Mayer's sappy "Waiting on the World to Change". (Why is John Mayer so popular, he's sings a lot of generic music.) His wife is in labor. I thought he was a courtesy ticket to Hollywood, but he has a much better voice than I thought. Is he going to win the whole thing, no? But he's moving on. 4.5

4) Casey James (not rated), the contestant who stripped off his shirt in the Denver auditions. He was seemingly a courtesy ticket to Hollywood and someone I thought would wash away quickly. However he absolutely impressed on that very bluesy song he sang. I'm a big fan of the blues so I have a soft spot in my heart for anyone who sings a blues song. That's especially in the pop veneer of "American Idol". 5.0

4) Maddy Curtis (not rated), the 16 year old high school student. Simon said she sang the "wrong song". The road ends for the youngster. Maddy come back in a couple of years. 3.5

5) Justin Williams, the 27 year old from Sandy, Utah. He moved through the Boston auditions. I'm glad the journey is over for him. After two years trying to make it through Justin it's time to move on. 3.5

6) Tim Irvan sang the David Cook song, "Come Back To Me". This is the first we have seen him. He's moving on. 4.0

We then see a bunch of other people get sent home. Those people including Page Deschaunze, Erika Rhodes (the "Barney" girl. Also both of the Desimone sisters are both sent on their way.

themusicaddict

Friday, February 12, 2010

"AI" Hollywood Week 1, Part 1

Hello,

A couple of quick things, I love this song:



This is already the song of the year for 2010. 113,000,000 views on youtube.com can't be wrong. This song is so searched for on youtube.com all one has to do is type a "b" and this is the first result shown.

The second thing: Kara Disregardia says the following about Ellen D. “I think she also knows more about music than you think she does…I felt she had a really good handle on whether a contestant had potential, had star quality. She knew if something was off in the vocals or in their performance. And I thought she delivered the message with kindness but also had criticism in there.” A typical Kara sentence, it's actually a paragraph and she says a lot of words without saying much. Now Kara if you can learn as much as her. Seriously for being in the music business, it's shocking how little she knows. I refer to the "old Aerosmith" vs. new Aerosmith" music comment she made last year. She's also made several other head scratching comments.

Apparently Kara will also be in the upcoming Maxim in a bikini. Don't follow her example Randy :) This is the year we had bikini guy in the audition round.

Also here's Sugarland new song "Wide Open". A song they sing for the 2010 Winter Olympics CD. The Vancouver Olympics start today. Although Sugarland I do have a question, why in the heck are you letting Danny Gokey on your tour. Julianne Hough is cool, but Gokey is not. There's a real video for this song but I could not track it down. Here's a fan made video.



Here we go on "AI" week 1 in Hollywood! Why "AI" do you not have a list of the final 71 contestants?

Tuesday we start with 181 contestants and that number is whittled down to 71 contestants at the end of Wednesday's show, getting ready of a lot of fluff. (Look at that I just wrote a Kara sentence.)

Ellen DeGeneres was introduced as the new permanent judge. Awesome. Parenthesis indicate their position in my rankings. The last number is my rating of the little bit of their performance I saw.

1) Katie Stevens (Not rated, but will be) was shown first singing, she sang Stevie Wonder's "For Once In My Life". I thought she was a lot better than in the audition round. The judges like her and she's moving on. 5.0

2) Next up is one of my favorite contestants from the audition round, more for his personality than his singing. Of course I'm writing about Antonio Wheeler (28), better known as Skii Bo Ski. This is the end of his "Idol journey" spoken in the Ryan Seacrest fake drama voice. 3.5

3) Vanessa Wolfe (not rated) the young women from Vonore, Tn. She sang Blind Melon's "No Rain". Props to her for picking such a cool song. I just don't think she's that good. I was surprised she made it through the audition round. 3.0

Ryan continues to pile on the drama and hype. Please stop!

4) Andrew Garcia (not rated, but will be) did a twist on Paula Abdul's "Straight Up". This was a great interpretation. Where has he been hiding? I think he's going to go far in this competition. Kara called his performance, "genius" and for once I agree with her. 5.0

5) Tasha Layton (8) is shown in passing a few times in these two shows, but we never get to hear her sing. She's moving on in spite of that. "Idol" not showing any of her performances: 0.0

6) Cornelius Edwards (not rated, nor will he ever be). He's the dude that got sent to Hollywood mainly for ripping his pants. His lack of singing skill is not the only thing exposed. Why in the hell did he choose to sing the Dixie Chicks "Cowgirl Take Me Away"? Great song and great band, but weird choice for Edwards. Thankfully he's not moving on. 0.0

7) Megan Wright (not rated) sang "Who's Loving You". I liked the part of that song that was shown. However the judges didn't and she's going home. I'd rather have her in there than the drama queen Mary Powers. 4.0

8) Amadeo Diricco (not rated) the man who sang Muddy Waters' "Hoochie Coochie Man" in the audition round. He wasn't not as impressive in Hollywood. He wanted a second chance but Simon denied him and he's going home. 2.0

themusicaddict

Tuesday, February 9, 2010

Gwyneth Paltrow, Liv Tyler and Some of the Worst Bands Ever! (Updated April 26th, 2016)

Hello,

I had to delete pictures of the gorgeous Brooklyn Decker and another hot model to comply with Google Ad Sense policies. I did so.



This is in no particular order, this list right now is a work in progress.

1) Adam Lambert: The man has talent but he's so over exposed and over hyped.
2) Jane's Addiction: Seriously how many times are they going to break up and get back together? Perry Farrell has got to be one of the most annoying people of all-time. The have had a few good songs, but when did they release their last good song.
3) Iron Maiden: I have given them a few chances, but I just never could get into them. "Run To The Hills" is a great song though.
4) Nirvana: The most overrated one hit wonder of all-time. If it wasn't for Kurt Cobain's suicide, they'd be just a historical footnote now.
5) The Beatles: The most overrated band of all-time. Unlike Led Zeppelin, their music doesn't hold up very well now.
6) Aerosmith: Steven Tyler supposedly has lost his voice and he's in rehab. Rumors say Led Zeppelin brought him in for a tryout when they were thinking about going on tour with Robert Plant. The word is he was a disaster. When was the last time they had a hit? The best thing about Steven Tyler is his hot daughter Liv. They do have a lot of good songs, I don't know if they will make the final list.

7) Oasis: They broke a few months ago. I hadn't realized they were still together.
8) Radiohead: I do like "Karma Police", but very little else from this band.
9) Judas Priest: see Iron Maiden, but Judas Priest does have more good songs.
10) Backstreet Boys/ New Kids On The Block/ O-Town It would be too easy to list these as separate bands, they are all interchangeable. Most of their music is generic dance pop. (I think N'Sync is miles ahead of these three bands.)
11) Vanilla Ice: He should've only released "Ice Ice Baby" and then gone away. He also is part of Madonna's "Sex" book. There will be no pictures from that book on this blog.
12) Bob Dylan: One of the worst singers of all-time. A man who has been living on reputation for about 30 years now.
13) Wilco: Thumbs up to them for recently giving away two of their concerts to aid the people in Haiti. Unfortunately that's the only way I would download their music.
14) Flaming Lips: I love "She Don't Use Jelly", they should've quit after that song.
15) Coldplay: The most boring, wimpy band ever. I do look forward for Chris Martin's wife's new movie though. Gwyneth Paltrow coming to screens on May 7th, 2010 in "Iron Man 2".


16) The Fugees: the best decision Lauryn Hill made when she left this band. I don't blame her for turning down the chance for a reunion.
17) Tupac, P Diddy, Kanye West, Nelly et al. There has been some good rap music but these artists aren't it. Good rap musicians: The Beastie Boys, Run-DMC, Grandmaster Flash and LL Cool J.

If you have any bands to add to this list or disagree, leave a comment.

themusicaddict

Sunday, February 7, 2010

New Orleans 31, Indy 17

Hello,

What a great game. That was easily one of the best Super Bowls I've ever seen. Great defense, two great quarterbacks, gutsy play calling, clutch plays and very tense throughout. Obviously the two biggest plays are the onside kick by New Orleans at the start of the second half. Not only did that prevent Indy and Payton Manning from getting the ball, New Orleans drove down the field and scored a touchdown to take a 13-10 lead. The other big play is when Tracey Porter intercepted the ball and returned it to the house. That made the score 31-17 with about 3 minutes in the game.

The Colts then drove down the field with Manning hooking up with former BYU player Austin Collie for a big play. They got within the five yard line but could not score.

That results in New Orleans 31, Indy 17. The Saints are a 42 year old franchise who had never been to the Super Bowl and now they won the first Super Bowl they went to. Drew Brees, with a Super Bowl record tying 32 completions, won the game MVP.

What a great game!

Now I'll return to being a Dallas Cowboys fan. Sean Payton used to be an assistant coach at Dallas. The Saints ended up with him and Dallas ended up with Wade Phillips as head coach. That's a sign of very bad karma. That sucks! Jerry Jones it's not too late to fire Wade Phillips. It would be great to see the Cowboys win the Super Bowl in their home stadium as Dallas is hosting the next Super Bowl. However Dallas won't do it with Wade Phillips as head coach.

I also did like the Who halftime show, I was pleasantly surprised. They did a good job and kicked some butt especially on "Won't Get Fooled Again". That's one of the greatest songs of all-time, especially the scream.

Other than a couple of Bud and Doritos commercials, the commercials were lame. Although in the godaddy.com commercials, they had the gorgeous Danica Patrick in them. I also like the Megan Fox commercial as well.





themusicaddict

"AI" Top 30 after auditions, Go Saints


Hello,

Here's a bonus picture of the gorgeous Carrie Underwood, she's singing the National Anthem for today's Super Bowl 44. What was with that outfit she was wearing?

I'm cheering for the Saints today. I don't know why I'm so excited about this game, but I definitely am. I think it will be a high scoring shootout. It will be a fun game to watch. Last year I didn't even watch a minute of the Pittsburgh-Arizona Super Bowl. I just had no interest in the game that featured one of the NFL's greatest franchises vs. the Cardinals? Yawn! If this year's Super Bowl had been Minnesota vs. Indy, I would have had no interest either. Maybe I'm excited because something special might happen today. Reggie Bush is playing for the Saints, he's one of my all-time favorite players. I loved him at USC and hope he has at least a couple of breakout plays today.

Go Saints! I predict New Orleans 34, Indy 31.

Although the Who playing the Super Bowl is a bit puzzling. The two remaining, surviving members average age is 64.5. Those two people of course are Roger Daltrey and Pete Townsend. Both the legendary Keith Moon and John Entwistle are deceased. Maybe next year we can round up a band from a retirement home!

I'm also looking forward to the commercials. Click on the following link to see what ew.com thinks are the Top 11 Super Bowl commercials of all-time.

http://www.ew.com/ew/gallery/0,,20340963,00.htmlhttp://www.ew.com/ew/gallery/0,,20340963,00.html

Here's my favorite Super Bowl commercial of all time. This is the dawning of the age of Apple and the Macintosh, the best computer platform ever. Apple: Now dominating business with music players, cell phones and increasing on computers and tablets.



I had forgotten how spooky this commercial is. I believe this is the first meeting of corporate America drones.

Now we go with the Top 30 "AI" contestants after the too long audition rounds. These are the Top 30 plus 10 to watch. These are just my rankings from the auditions and my impressions so far. I haven't read any of the spoiler sites. I did that last year and it wasn't as fun.

First the possible chart busters: Miriam Lemouni, Katie Stevens, Andrew Garcia, Amadeo Diricco, Jermaine Purifoy, Keith Semple, Haeley Vaughn, Mark Labriola, Tyler Grady and Joshua Blaylock.

30) John Park (Last week: 24) The 20 year old sang the Blood, Sweat & Tears "I Love You More Than You Know". He might have completely dropped out of this list, however it seems he has something intangible and he may end up doing well. Also we should keep Shania Twain away from him:)

29) Genesis Moore (Debut). The 16 year old sang a song I'm not familiar with. She didn't get much screen time.

28) Antonio Wheeler (Skii Bo Ski)(Last Week:20) He sang the Temptations' "I Heard It Through The Grapevine". The funny, snappy wiseacre kid is very entertaining.

27) Noel Reese (last week: 19) the young singer who sang a pretty good version of Whitney Houston's "I Have Nothing". I think she might be too young to go far, I would suggest for her to come back in a couple of years. "AI" might be done by then but I'm sure "X Factor" will still be around.

26) Claire Fuller (last week: 15). The 23 year old from Philadelphia had a forgettable audition. She had a good audition, I just don't remember a lot about it. I do remember she's a babe and I like her singing, but don't remember anything else.

25) Benjamin Bright (last week: 16). He sang the Beatles "All My Loving". I do remember him and like his voice. He could be a big surprise maybe.

24) Jim Ranger (last week: 17) He sang his own original composition, "Drive". I like that song. He could end up being great or not so great. We'll see! I just get the feeling he's not going to be the type of contestant the judges are going to like.

23) Janell Wheeler (last week: 18). I really liked her version of The Animals' "House of the Rising Sun". She has a good voice and is attractive.

22) Jennifer Hirsh (last week: 14) She sang the song from "The Wizard of Oz", "Ding Dong The Witch Is Dead". A strange choice but it seemed to work. Here's her singing a longer version of that song than was shown on "AI".



21) Jessica Furney (Debut). The 20 year old is around for her second "American Idol" journey. She was good last year and good this year. It seemed to be a little self serving that she sang a song that Simon Cowell allegedly "co-wrote".

20) Bosa Mora (last week: 13). I liked his soulful version of the George Strait song, "You Look So Good In Love". I have sort of soured on him the last couple of weeks, although I really don't have a conscious reason. There's just something about him that I don't think he's going to get far in Hollywood.

19) Kimberly Carver (last week: 11) she sang an original composition. I don't remember much about her either.

18) Crystal Bowersox (debut). One of the two contestants to sing a pretty good version of Janis Joplin's classic, "Piece Of My Heart".

17) Kimberly Kerbow (debut) The 24 year old cutie sang Ingrid Michaelson's "The Way I Am". (I've become a pretty big Ingrid Michaelson fan since hearing Kerbow singing this song.)

16) Lacey Brown (debut) The second time contestant sang a very good version of "Somewhere Over the Rainbow". I expect big things from her.

15) Donelle Hayes (debut). In these last set of auditions she did over sing Melissa Etheridge's "I'm The Only One" a bit. Thankfully she didn't over sing as bad as Von Smith last year. She has a good voice and good presence, just tone it down a bit. Keep on picking great songs like that!

14) Angela Martin (last week: 12) The 28 year old contestant who's trying out for her third season of this show. Since she's 28 this is the last year that she can tryout for "Idol". She got to the Top 50 last year but had to go home to take care of a speeding ticket. She had a warrant out on her. She sang Mary J. Blige's "Just Fine". There just seems to be something standing in her way, this year her mother is missing. I haven't heard an update on that.

13) Katelyn Epperly (last week: 8). I'm having a hard time remembering her. She sang Duffy's "Syrup and Honey". Is the 19 year old too young to win the whole thing?

12) General Larry Platt (last week:6) This is someone that I don't have a hard time remembering at all. I love the frisky 62 year old, retired military man. Obviously he's not eligible for this competition and will continue to slide down this list. He still is one of my favorite auditions of this season.

11) Seth Rollins (last week: 10). He sang Frank Sinatra's "Someone To Watch Over Me". He also was one of my favorite auditions of the year. He has a pleasant voice and sang that song very well. I really like him, but I'm a little skeptical he can win the whole thing. (Allison Iraheta also sang this song last year and I love her version as well.)

10) Leah Laurenti (last week: 7). The 22 year old could use a break out Hollywood week to really set herself apart. She sang a nice jazzy touch on the Ella Fitzgerald "Blue Skies".

9) Lee Dewyze (debut). The 23 year old impressed me quite a bit with a solid version of "Ain't No Sunshine". I thought he sang the Bill Withers' classic better than Kris Allen last year.

8) Tasha Layton (last week: 9) She's someone that has grown on me the more I think about her. She has a lot of potential and I expect her to go far in this competition.

7) Jermaine Sellers (last week: 5). He did a great take on the Joan Osborne classic "One of Us". Another one I expect to see go far in this competition.

6) Didi Benami (debut). I loved her take on the Beatles "Hey Jude". I think the 22 year old will do well in this competition. I expect her to at least finish in the Top 12.

5) Ashley Rodriguez (last week: 5) She was fairly early in the audition process. I remember her mainly because of her awesome take on Alicia Keys' "If I Ain't Got You". The 21 year old has huge potential.

4) Mallory Hailey (last week: 4). The other person who did an amazing version of Janis Joplin's "Piece of My Heart. She's another one that may be too young to go the distance, but she certainly seems to have the ability.



3) Todrick Hall (last week: 2). I'm turned off a bit by the whole fiasco where a group he was associated took some kids money to stage a performance, but they had to cut some of the performances. However I really like his voice and I loved his own "AI song". (That's my title for it.)

2) Luke Shaffer (last week: 1). He sang Secondhand Serenade's "Fall For You". One of the several songs that I've been introduced to this season. It's a song I really like. I think he has potential to go a long way and maybe even win the whole thing. I would like to see more girls in the Top 8 mix this year though than last year.

1) Hope Johnson (debut). The 19 year old has a couple of things going against her. First of all she may be too young, I also hope she picks better songs. Martina McBride's "I Hope You Dance" is one of the sappiest songs of all-time. However Hope has an amazing talking and singing voice. She could be a much more interesting champion than Ruben Studdard, Kris Allen and Taylor Hicks. (How bad was the season that Taylor Hicks was on for him to win it all?)

All the above is based on one audition only. I expect that this list will be dramatically changed next week. A lot of these people will probably completely drop out. On the flip side, some people who we haven't even seen will enter. Thank goodness Hollywood week is finally here.

themusicaddict

Friday, February 5, 2010

"AI" auditions Best of the Rest episode

Hello,

This is a review of the 8th and finally the last audition episode, the best of the rest episode. Thank goodness the auditions are over and on to Hollywood next week.

1) Jessica Furney -20- Warmego, Ks. She sang Simon Cowell's own co-written song "Footprints in the Sand". I'd like to know how much he contributed to the actual writing. Furney sang Leona Lewis' version. She's a repeat candidate from last year and has had a makeover in the past year. I liked her last year and was disappointed when she got cut so early. I also like her this year. 4.5/5

2) Amanda Schehtman: she sang a song I'm not familiar with. She started out cute, but then after her audition they allowed her to talk. That was not a good thing for Amanda as she was very annoying. She's an actress and overly dramatic. Kara had to tell her "it's the connection really". I think she'll be an early Hollywood washout. For her singing I gave her 4/5, but she lost .5 of a point for her obnoxious personality. Final grade: 3.5/5

3) Lee Dewyze -23- paint sales clerk. He did not get much screen time, but I loved his version of Bill Withers' "Ain't No Sunshine". I liked it much better than Kris Allens's sort of weak version last year. 5/5

4) Crystal Bowersox: she sang the Janis Joplin classic song "Piece of My Heart". Another person who did not get much screen time, but who I have high hopes for. 4.5/5

5) Lacey Brown: Another repeat performer from last year. She made the Season 8 Top 50. But in the chairs episode she was bumped by Megan Corkrey for the Top 36. She sang a very nice version of "Somewhere Over the Rainbow". She actually sang one of the better versions that I've heard by an "American Idol" contestant. 4.5/5

In between the good auditions we had Stephanie Fisher, student and promotional model. (What exactly is a promotional model?) She attempted Peggy Lee's "Fever". I agree she didn't deserve to go to Hollywood, I do thank her for reminding me about the song "Fever". I especially like that song when it swings. I think it works much better that way than as a ballad. My favorite version is the Sarah Vaughn version. I like the Adam Freeland mix. I think that song could even swing more than the Vaughn/Freeland version. Stephanie 2/5, "Fever" 5/5

Here's an interesting version of that song, this is the Beyonce version. What's up with the giant cat though? I know the lyrics refer to a cat, but that still doesn't make sense.



Here's Elvis's version, I feel his version is a little restrained.



Here's Peggy Lee's version:



6) Rachel Hubbard -16- Borene, Tx. She's a high school student. She did a very good version of Martina McBride's "Wrong Again". She has a nice voice, but she's only 16. I wish they would raise the minimum age to 18. 16 years old is just too young. 4/5

7) Thaddeus Johnson -16- Oklahoma City, Oklahoma. Another probably too young high school student. He sang LeAnn Rimes "How Do I Live". I think that is one of the greatest songs of all-time. His version was okay. 4/5

Here's LeAnn Rimes live version:



8) Genesis Moore -16- McDonagh, Georgia. She sang a song I'm not familiar with, I didn't see any other bloggers that knew the name of the song. 4.5/5

Another weird audition: Adrian C. The "manflower". I looked up the definition of "man boobs" and they had his picture without a shirt on.

9) Micheal Lynch -26- Astoria, New York. He's a personal trainer and a big, buff guy. I don't see him lasting too long in Hollywood, I'm glad I'm not the one that's going to tell him he's not the next American Idol. He sang The Righteous Brothers' "Unchained Melody". 4/5

10) Didi Benami -22- waitress. She sang the Beatles "Hey Jude". I'm not a big fan of the Beatles, but I do like that song. I really, really like her. She's a babe and got 4 yeses to Hollywood. Avril Lavigne said she has "huge potential". 5/5

11) Aaron Kelly -16- Sonestown, Pa. He sang the Miley Cyrus song "The Climb". Again too young and I wasn't overwhelmed by him. 4/5

Then a couple of sort of strange auditions. First was Kimberly Bishop -20- torturing Katy Perry's version of "I Kissed A Girl". Next it was Shaddai Harris version of the Alicia Keys song, "Falling In Love". His singing turned off Simon Cowell on Alicia Keys.

12) Hope Johnson -19- waitress/bartender. My favorite of the night and one of my favorites of the whole audition round. I love her speaking voice and I love her singing voice. She sang the sappiest song of all-time, Martina McBride's "I Hope You Dance", but I won't hold that against her. Look for her to be near the Top of my Top 30 coming Sunday. I have high hopes for Hope :) 5/5

I'm having a Top 7, because they had so many good auditions this round.
7) Genesis Moore, unknown song. If you know please e-mail me.
6) Crystal Bowersox sang the Janis Joplin classic, "Piece of My Heart".
5) Jessica Furney sang Leona Lewis' "Footprints In The Sand".
4) Lacey Brown sang "Somewhere Over The Rainbow".
3) Lee Dewyze sang Bill Withers' "Ain't No Sunshine".
2) Didi Benami sang the Beatles "Hey Jude".
1) Hope Johnson sang Martina McBride's "I Hope You Dance".

Next week we are finally going to Hollywood and not a moment too soon. This audition round has been way too long. 3 weeks of auditions is just right. Please "AI" producers show more of the good auditions from now on. I would have loved to see at least 30 seconds of each of the 181 people going to Hollywood.

themusicaddict

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