They started out with one of their best, Lil Rounds. She performed "The Way You Make Me Feel". Lil owns the stage. She's very comfortable, sings with passion and flair, and she rarely misses a note. The judges, for the most part, thought she was wonderful, too. Randy thought she made the song new again. Paula said she's a force to be reckoned with. Simon thought it was good, but he thought it was a lazy song choice, the second half was better than the first, and he hated what she was wearing. She had on a pinkish top and white pants. For the record, I thought she looked beautiful.
The blind musician Scott MacIntyre took his seat at the piano to perform "Keep the Faith." His voice was sometimes weak and the notes weren't always true, but his piano playing was good. Kara said she was glad we got to hear him play the piano; she pointed out that he learned the piece just this week. Simon hated it, because "nobody knows it." He's got a point; I never heard of it. But I don't see that as a drawback. Randy thought it was safe; Simon said it was old-fashioned.
Danny Gokey did a song I wasn't all that familiar with, "P.Y.T." (Pretty Young Thing; I had to look it up on Wikipedia.) I didn't think it was one of Danny's stronger performances. I thought his voice was husky and off-key. The judges didn't seem to notice, though. Paula was dancing. Simon thought the vocals were brilliant; Danny was "one heck of a singer, a white guy with soul." The dancing, though, was "hideous." Danny will have no trouble getting through to the next round.
Everybody's favorite oil-rig guy, Michael Sarver, sang "You Are Not Alone." His voice was a lot better than I had remembered. He carried this ballad off beautifully. I was impressed. So were the judges. Simon said he's not the best singer in the competition, but he made up for it with passion, heart, and he gave 110%. Randy thought he was one of the best so far that evening. Kara seemed surprised that he really can sing.
17-year-old Jasmine Murray performed "I'll Be There", a Jackson 5 song. Jasmine has so much potential, but I don't think she hit it last night. She oversang the chorus; it didn't even sound pretty, although other parts sounded lovely. Randy thought she did a pretty good job. Kara was surprised, too. She thought maybe a half-step down would have worked better for her, though. Even the eager-to-please Paula admitted she didn't always sound good. Simon thought it was a good attempt, but he thought big notes would always trouble her. "A little bit robotic at times."
Kris Allen did "Remember the Time," another song I'd never heard before. He was playing the guitar, which was just as well; he's the one who made strumming motions even when he didn't have the guitar. His little, weak voice resembled Michael Jackson's in parts. It wasn't too bad; it just wasn't all that outstanding. Even the judges couldn't find much to say about it. Kara pointed out that Kris helped out the other contestants with their songs during the week. Apparently he's a huge Michael Jackson fan. Simon said it was "interesting." He didn't think it suited the guitar, which made it clumsy. He made an off remark that he wasn't sure Kris should have "brought the wife out" so early. (Kris' lead-in featured his wife of five months.) I'm pretty sure he was referring to the fact that Kris got this far on his looks, and if the fans knew he was happily married, they might not vote for him. Randy also called it interesting (a word he uses when he doesn't especially like a performance).
One of the best performances was by Allison Iraheta, whose pinkish-purplish hair had been cut and styled and looked lovely. She did "Give It to Me", and she was outstanding. I think the song was a little low for her, but she carried it off beautifully. Allison is my early pick as the winner of this competition. Of course, the judges loved her. Paula said she was a rock star. (Allison was dressed in a kind of punky outfit with chains). (Bad pun alert: Allison Chains!) Simon thought she should lighten up a bit. Allison had the perfect retort for him: “I'm not dark, I'm not like cutting myself.” Reminds me that she's only 16.
Anoop Desai, who was the 13th member of the Top 12, did "Beat It." Now, I thought it was great. I loved how he owned the stage, how he played to the audience. I thought the song was perfect for his upbeat style. The judges, however, were harsh and critical. All of them said it was "karaoke". He hadn't put anything of himself into it. Kara (I didn't write this down, but I think it was her) said that some songs just shouldn't be touched (because the original was such a classic), and this was one of them. Funny - if I was going to download anything from last night, it would have been this.
Jorge Nuñez did "Never Could Say Goodbye," another Jackson 5 song. Jorge has a lovely voice, but I don't think this was a good song for him. He had some pitch problems. Randy said exactly the same thing I did (I always thought Randy had good musical sense!). Kara didn't like it, either; she didn't get the emotional connection. Paula asked him why he chose that song. Jorge thought it fit his voice. “I wasn't going to sing 'Bad' by Michael Jackson,” he said, to which Simon responded “Well, you sort of did.” Simon says it was corny and “you're out of your depth,” and the arrangement was absolutely awful, old-fashioned, he couldn't wait for it to end.
Blonde Megan Joy Corkrey made a terrible song choice; she selected "Rockin' Robin," a 50s song that was covered by the Jackson 5. It was totally not in the spirit of the evening, in my opinion, because the song had nothing whatsoever of Michael Jackson in it. I suppose this was the only song she could find that fit her style. She did an adequate job of it, but it was lightweight to begin with. Kara said it wasn't the most overwhelming vocal performance. Paula felt disconnected from Megan's usual quirkiness. Simon said “What a stupid song choice. The vocals weren't very good, the dancing was verging on ridiculous, the whole performance was clumsy and awkward.” Randy also disagreed with the song choice; he thought it didn't allow her to really be Megan. She gets my vote as the Most Likely to be Eliminated Tonight. Blonde and pretty can only carry her so far, and this should be the end of the line.
Polished performer Adam Lambert did an outstanding job on "Black and White." He was comfortable on the stage, reaching down to touch the hands of some of the audience, singing with a lot of passion. He reduced the judges to babbling. Paula went on about how wonderful he is, how comfortable on the stage he is. Simon said it was in a totally different league to everything else they've heard or seen tonight. Adam was comfortable, he made the song his own.
The Dueling Pianist Matt Giraud, of course, chose to play the piano while he sang "Human Nature." I always liked this song, but I didn't like his performance of it. For some reason, the judges loved it. I still haven't figured out what they see in him.
Alexis Grace finished out the evening with "Dirty Diana", another song I'd never heard before. She has a very bluesy style, and this song suited it well. It doesn't have much of a vocal range, though. Kara said she was a naughty girl and she liked it. Paula pointed out that Alexis oversang. Simon said it wasn't as good as she thought it was. Randy liked her attitude.
I believe that two performers will be eliminated tonight. (They mentioned it at the beginning, but my sons were talking to me and I didn't back up the TiVo to play it again.) One of them should be Megan Joy Corkrey. The other one? I have no idea. I wouldn't be surprised if Jorge Nuñez was voted off; he's kind of old-fashioned. It could be Jasmine Murray. It could be Anoop Desai, if his fan base doesn't carry him through. Or it might be one of the two weakest guys in my opinion, Kris Allen or Matt Giraud. Time will tell. Watch this space - I'll talk about it tomorrow!
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