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