Hello,
I've only watched bits and pieces of "American Idol" this season. So I've missed a lot of the hype about who's good. I looked at ew.com's Top 13 and got a bit of context from that. Here's their Top 13:
13) Haley Reinhart
12) Ashton Jones
11) Paul McDonald
10) Karen Rodriguez
9) James Durbin
8) Stefano Langone
7) Naima Adedapo
6) Thia Megia
5) Scotty McCreery
4) Pia Toscano
3) Jacob Lusk
2) Lauren Alaina
1) Casey Abrams
Their ratings are based on the full season. That's from the auditions through Hollywood week etc up to the naming of the Top 13. Everyone is entitled to a bad performance, so that may explain last night. I certainly hope so because there were a lot of terrible performances last night. My rankings are completely based on last night's show. That being said, again last night was horrible. There are very few good singers and for the most part this seems to be a pretty crappy bunch.
I'd like to write about the judges before I get to the contestants. Randy seems to be the only one who will say anything even slightly harsh but constructive. He clearly is trying to fill the Simon Cowell role. The other two judges say slightly constructive things wrapped in empty platitudes. Tyler and Lopez worry more about not hurting anyone's feelings rather than making them better singers.
I like Jennifer Lopez and at first flush I thought she looked amazing. But then I realized how much make up she had on, highlighted by way too much lipstick. J. Lo, you are a beautiful woman, go easy on the makeup please. Lopez wore so much makeup that I had a hard time hearing what she was saying.
Steven Tyler is okay, he doesn't say much. Is that how he always is, he doesn't really seem engaged in the whole process. And honestly he's a bit creepy, he says "I love you" to the female contestants easily and too much.
Randy Jackson continues to be lame. Obviously someone is working with him to help him expand his comments. That work was paying off at the start of this episode, as his comments had few Jacksonisms. However as the performances deterioated, so did the intelligience of his comments. It seems his new phrases are "slay it" and "sleepy", he said both a few times last night. (Thank goodness Kara D. and her "artistry" are gone though.) To Haley Reinhart he said, "for me a little boring" and "if I'm being honest". He stole those comments right from Simon, he virutally used the same words. Are the producers making him watch video of Simon?
One of my least favorite things about Randy Jackson continues to be how he rattles on without saying anything. Steven Tyler doesn't say a whole lot either, but at least he says it effeciently. Randy Jackson just jabbers on, I'd hate to be a contestant who has to parse his garbled language.
Again I have no idea how he has held on to this job for so long. I hear people say that he's done the job 10 years, he must be doing something right. To that I say, George W. Bush was President for 8 years. Does anyone think he did a good job?
Also I wish TPTB would let the singers sing 2.5 minutes of each song. Let's be honest that's why people watch this show. I don't watch it for the judges, Ryan Seacrest, the producers or the hype. I also don't care about the contestants back story either. That's something that "AI" manipulates to increase their ratings. I watch this show, or I use to at least, to see the process of a star in the making. I love that season long journey as these people develop, gain self confidence and grow right in front of our eyes. I wish I would have watched the first season and saw Kelly Clarkson's transformation.
Now on to my Top 13- again this is mainly based on last night's performance. They were singing songs from their own personal idol. I highly doubt that, really Ashton Jones idol is Diana Ross? Especially that song, I'd never heard of that song before.
13) Jacob Lusk (ew.com's #1) He's one of the few people that I had heard of before last night. I'd heard only good things about him. After last night's performance, I'm very unimpressed. Unlike 2/3rds of the judges, I'll say it like it is. Based on this one performance Jacob Lusk sucks. First of all how predictable was it that one of his favorite singers was R Kelly? He chose to sing "I Believe I Can Fly", which is a great, great song. What did Lusk do to that innocent song, he absolutely killed it and not in a good way. He's a shouter, not a singer. The choir he sang with was much better than him. Lusk is also sort of dorky. Yes it was really that bad. Luckily for him, he will probably get another chance. I know there's actually no grade of F-, but that's how horrible this performance was. Grade: F-
12) Stefano Langone (ew.com's #8) He was saved by the judges wild card. After last night's performance though, I have no idea why. He sang a song by one of the greatest singers ever, Stevie Wonder. However he sang a very obscure Wonder song, a song that seems to deserving of it's obscurity. He sang "Lately", again another song I had never heard of. Out of the several amazing Stevie Wonder songs he sings that one? His performance was equally bad. What was going on with the techno thumping on the song? Grade D-
11) Paul McDonald (ew.com's # 11) He sang Ryan Adams "Come Pick Me Up". I'm a little skeptical that he is a Ryan Adams fan. The things he did to "Come Pick Me Up" he should be arrested for. He took a great song and sanitized it. Yes for commercial TV, I realize he had to soften the language. But his arrangement was horrible. Bad arrangements and where the hell are these amazing producers seemed to be two of the themes of the night.
Warning Adams' song features adult language and imagery. Here's the real version of Ryan Adams "Come Pick Me Up":
I listened to this song 3 or 4 times last night, this is such a good song. Hopefully McDonald has been incarcerated for how horrid his version of this song is. Grade D-
10) Thia Megia (ew.com's # 6) sang Michael Jackson's "Smile". Again with all the amazing Michael Jackson songs there are, why pick "Smile". It's truly a boring song. Not only was the song boring, but so was her performance. Overall she was just atrocious. The producers tried to pep up the song a bit, but that didn't help any. Seriously where's all this amazing talent that Randy Jackson talks about on every show he's invited on. Although I do think I would have given her a better score if she had chosen a better song. Grade D. For all these "amazing" judges: Grade D. They don't seem to have made too much of a positive effect.
9) Naima Adedepo (ew.com's # 7). She was given the pimp spot, the night's last performance, and chose Rihanna's "Umbrella". That's one of the best songs of the last several years. The producer funked this song up a bit, which I liked. But the rest of her performance was a train wreck. Her voice is kind of weak and she doesn't compare favorably to Rihanna. Also what was up with the crappy rapping and terrible dancing? The whole performance was terrible. Like Sarah Palin, she added a new word to the English language. Instead of understanding what the judges said she "overstand" what they said. That she's in the Top 13, how bad does that make those that were eliminated already. Grade: D-
The show started out well, but didn't end well. The last five performances were terrible. In order of performance, my grade is in parenthesis. 1) Jacob Lusk (F-), 2) Thia Megia (D), 3) Stefano Langone (D-), 4) Karen Rodriguez (D) and last and almost least Naima Adedapo (D-).
Randy started off his review of Adedapo with that goofy laugh, I've noticed that means he didn't like the performance. Even Randy Jackson isn't wrong all the time.
8) Karen Rodriguez (ew.com's #10) sang Selena's "I Could Fall In Love With You". First of all her outfit was terrible. And was that a come hither stare that she attempted to do? I think she has a nice voice, but another boring song. I thought the contestants had A list producers helping them with the songs? Her performance couldn't get over soon enough. Grade: D.
7) Lauren Alaina (ew.com's # 2) sang Shania Twain's "Any Man Of Mine". She was awarded the first spot of the night and didn't start off the show with a good performance. Her version was a mediocre take on Shania's excellent original. This was one of the many songs with a skanky arrangement. I thought all these "amazing" producers were suppose to be of help. Grade: C Alaina should have closed the song like Twain's original version does:
Shania Twain is so gorgeous. How many times did they make her spin around while filming that video.
Her videos are interesting in a whose idea was that anyway sort of way.
Sorry for the digression, now back to my Top 13.
6) Scotty McCreery (ew.com's # 5) sang Garth Brooks "The River". He sounds like a country singer and he's got a nice voice. And unlike most of the contestants, he actually picked a good song. However he doesn't have much of a stage presence and how long is he going last on this show anyway? On this particular performance why was he singing below the band? The band's volume went up, but he kept on singing at the same volume. Randy had one of his non productive comments for McCreery. Randy: "yo", "Scotty", "yo yo", "listen man".
Back with last night's 5 best performances later.
themusicaddict
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