Jacob Lusk sucks, "American Idol" just gets worse

Hello,

I'm writing this blog instead of watching NCAA Tournament basketball, although I do have ESPN.com on another tab. I'm cheering for #12 Clemson to beat #5 West Virginia and their idiot coach, Bob Huggins. Huggins is one of the most unhuggable men in America. Unfortunately it was not meant to be. West Virginia beat Clemson 84-76.

Anyway "American Idol" continues it's rapid descent. This show is so craptastic now. All the changes that were suppose to revitalize the show, didn't. And yes I'll acknowledge the irony that I'm still watching it. As soon as this season ends, this show just needs to go away. The show jumped the shark 3 or 4 seasons ago. What happens when a show remains on the air long after it jumped the shark? What's the phrase for that, killed the shark?

Some quick thoughts about last night's show. This legend, Jimmy Iovine, when is he going to show up? His advice basically is be true to yourself to nearly every contestant, he just switches up the words a bit. Also does he have to wear the same hat every show? Yes, I get that he's trying to get publicity for something. I also understand that he's losing his hair, but can he at least switch up the hats? And these amazing producers, when are they going to show how they get their reputation. These two big changes haven't helped the show at all. I miss the mentors.

Jennifer Lopez toned down on the makeup. She looked better and much more natural. I've never understand why a gorgeous woman hides her beauty in make-up. (That's one of the things that used to drive me crazy about my ex-wife. She's till a very attractive woman, but needed her make-up fix everyday.) Make-up is for ugly women like Tammy Faye.

Now on to the Top 5 and the 7 other contestants still on the show. The number in parenthesis is what their ranking is compared to last week.

12) Jacob Lusk (up 1, only because the number of contestants dropped) tortured Heart's "Alone". After Lusk's terrible version he deserves to be alone. A couple of things first about this season's judges favorite. Nearly half the people coming to my blog yesterday, found my blog using the google search term "jacob lusk sucks". I only had 16 people come to my blog yesterday, but 7 of them came because of what I've written about Jacob Lusk previously. As always I watch "American Idol" on DVR, the show just has so much needless filler. Also my DVR stopped working twice before Lusk's performance, it just froze. I was prevented from seeing Lusk's "performance". Lusk was so bad that even my DVR had an opinion. Thanks to my DVR for that. I was able to track down Lusk's performance later, thanks to mjsbigblog.com.

Again all three judges praised him and I don't get why. I was wondering, am I just a hater? Am I the only one that hates him? No, ew.com's Missy Schwartz dislikes him as well along with friends of mine on facebook.com. Why are the producers pimping him so much, putting him in the pimp spot even? The judges also love him, again why? He's terrible and this week he didn't have a choir to come and save him. He almost makes me long for the days of David Archuleta, Danny Gokey and Adam Lambert. I know Lusk is probably safe for a few more weeks, I just don't understand why. Grade D-

11) Paul McDonald (same as last week) sang Elton John's "I Guess That's Why They Call It The Blues". Again a great, great song that Elton John sings so well. Add Paul McDonald sucks to the google search terms department. Again the producers stuck him with a terrible arrangement of this song. He moved like a spas around the stage and he just sucks. With the rasp of his voice, I think he would have been much better singing a Rod Stewart song. Jennifer Lopez said he has "so much star quality", really? When are we going to see that star quality? Grade D-

10) Karen Rodriguez (down 2) sang Taylor Dayne's "Love Will Lead You Back" allegedly. I spent a couple of minutes arguing with myself about whether McDonald or her should be #11. Not that it matters as neither one have a chance of winning this season. This show has fallen a lot, but not that much. Anyway this is how the song is suppose to sound:



That's the excellent Taylor Dayne, never understood why she wasn't a bigger star. Do you feel the power of Dayne's version. Now on to Krod, first of all she wore an ugly dress and her hair looked terrible. Did she listen to the original version? Rodriguez's version is boring, weak, the Spanish was unnecessary and distracting and the last note was horrible. She needs to go home now. I wish "Idol" wasn't such a money whore and would eliminate at least 3 contestants this week. This season is so weak that they should only have 7 people go on tour, that is if anyone will go and see them. A mercy grade, Grade: D.

9) Thia Megia (up 1) sang Vanessa Williams' "Colors of the Wind". Megia is getting a lot of criticism for choosing this song but I didn't think Williams version was that bad.



Back to Thia Megia, for some reason her name reminds me of a cartoon character from back in the day whose first and last names also rhymed. I just can't remember the name of that character. Megia points out that 15 or 16 is just way too young to compete on this show. They just don't have the life experience or maturity to sing some of these songs. Megia's voice is okay but its another terrible arrangement. I'm waiting for her voice to really pop, but it never did. Lopez said she had "Adele quality". But Adele is an amazing singer, so how would Megia have her quality? Really? I didn't see that.

8) Naima Adedepo (up 1) sang Tina Turner's "What's Love Got To Do With It". This is an amazing song sung by an amazing vocalist:



Back to Naima, one of the most bizarre contestants in the 10 seasons of this show. Again producer Rodney Jerkins underlies the track with a thumping bass sound. Naima also wears some butt ugly clothes. She's helped by picking one of the better songs of the night. However her performance was less than amazing. Grade: C, another generous grade.

7) Haley Reinhart (down 5) sang Whitney Houston's "I'm Your Baby Tonight". She's probably the second most attractive contestant this season, faint praise indeed. Another contestant's song hampered by a terrible arrangement. I don't totally blame her for this performance, the producer should be shot. This arrangement sucked and destroyed what is a pretty good song. I do blame Reinhart for wearing the nasty looking pants and that her voice doesn't sound great. I thought Reinhart did a great job with "Blue" last week, so I expect her to bounce back. However it was during her performance I realized this has to be one of "American Idol's" least talented Top 12 ever. Grade: C-

6) James Durbin (down 1) sang Bon Jovi's "I'll Be There For You". On a night of terrible performances, his was one of the better performances. Following Naima, Paul and Thia he came off looking pretty good. Is there any other way to say this and can we all agree but that Durbin is one of the world's biggest douche bags? Just a quick example: He was too poor to buy diapers? And what was up with his squinting eyes thing last night? He's a poor man's Adam Lambert and no that's not meant as a compliment.

On a terrible night, he was the best of the first 4 performances. He sounded good until he got to the chorus. He's a contestant like Danny Gokey and David Archuleta that will go far in this competition, but I'll never understand why. And why oh why was he sucking up to Steven Tyler? Tyler told him "don't get too poppy". However while writing that comment down, my mind made a Freudian slip. I actually wrote down "don't get too poopy". I think that's the more accurate quote. Grade: C+

Here's the cutoff for the best contestants of the night, the above 7 "AI" could get rid of and this season would continue on just fine.

5) Scotty McCreery (up 1) sang Travis Tritt's "Can I Trust You With My Heart". I actually thought this was one of the best arrangements of the night. He also closed out the song well. However I can't put my finger on what it is, but something about him just bothers me. This is one of the few contestants I actually agreed with what the judges had to say. Grade: C+

4) Stefano Langone (up 8) sang Simply Red's "If You Don't Know Me By Now". On this performance it reminded me how important picking the right song is. He chose a great, great song and it fit him very well. This was the best song and best arrangement of the night up to that point, that was through 6 performances. He sounds good, but the song ran on too long. Again the song choices are really hurt by focusing on the chorus too much. As the show advances, why can't the singers be given more time to sing a song. Grade: I can't definitely decide, either C+/B-

3) Lauren Alaina (up 4) sang Melissa Ethridge's "I'm The Only One". I'm starting to understand why the judges love her so much. Alaina was much better this week than last week's mediocre "Any Man Of Mine". However again at 16, she's too young for this show. She just doesn't have the life experience for this song. Who is she singing this song too, a stuffed animal? She would be so much better if she'd waited at least a couple of more years. One needs to have your heart broken a few times in order to give this song justice. Grade: B.

You can feel that emotion in Etheridge's version:



2) Pia Toscano (down 1) sang Whitney Houston's "Where Do Broken Hearts Go". I love, love Whitney Houston and I think very few people compare to the amazing Ms. Houston. Whitney is not only a great singer but an amazingly beautiful woman.

Again Toscano had the curse of Rodney Jerkins again, this was yet another horrid arrangement. I would have given Pia a better grade if if wasn't for this terrible arrangement. Pia sounds great though and as always she looks gorgeous. I predict she'll be around for a long time. Grade: B-

I loved how Seacrest put his arm around her and she wasn't wanting that. She was pulling away from him. Randy gave another one of his asinine critiques, "Pia is in the competition to win it". Really Randy? I have no clue why they keep on bringing him back year after year?



1) Casey Abrams (up 2) surprisingly sang Nirvana's "Smells Like Teen Spirit". Did Abrams really call this song the song of a generation? That might be, but Nirvana is one of the most overrated one hit wonders ever. Listening to him sing this song, I was reminded how stupid its lyrics are. Again the focus on the chorus caused lyrics to be repeated to the point where it became obnoxious. Casey is by far one of my favorite contestants this season. In fact I think he is this season's Crystal Bowersox. Now that I do mean as a compliment. I'd be surprised if he didn't finish in the Top Two at least. Grade: B

themusicaddict