American Idol Addicts

American Idol: Season 15 - Final 2 Perform (SERIES FINALE RECAP)

2016-04-06T22:17:00.001-04:00

Hello my friends one last time! It's partly bittersweet, it's partly a relief but inevitably it is finally here. This is my final recap for American Idol's initial broadcast run. Of course, I have to word it like this because there is all of this talk about how one day (probably sooner than later) it may return in a new form. So, I can't necessarily rule out any future musings from yours truly if I make the unwise decision to fall into the inescapable trap again! Yes, I joke around. I may act like I hated every minute but anyone that's still sticking with this recap to the bitter end knows that I loved mostly every minute of it. For all of the awful performances, cheesy moments, judging table round robins, this was one crazy 15 year experience. And there is no denying it, stars DID emerge from this show. They may have found the best ones early on, but we've been treated to some great performances over the years.

The actual final performances of our final 2 tonight is almost an afterthought to what this season really represented. It was a celebration of achievement of American Idol's entire run. If anyone watched the recap special Tuesday night it was a nice retrospective on the accomplishments of the series. From the uncertainty of everything in season 1 to the fully established mega-phenomenonthe show became. They bookended the retrospective with Kelly Clarkson's audition and with her final live performance earlier this season. And that pretty much says it all. This show really was what it was because they found a SUPERSTAR in that 1st season. Every season after that had contestants who aspired to come on the show and become the next Kelly. And sure, they found some that may have had equal or more success, but it was Kelly that started it all. Even Carrie Underwood admitted in the retrospective that Kelly inspired her to audition. But, no one needs me to keep hammering home who my favorite (Who are we kidding? the BEST) idol is!? I've brought it up every season multiple times! Kelly will be on Thursday night's series finale but in a pre-taped performance due to her being extremely near giving birth to her 2nd child.

Okay, I'm rambling. It's been awhile since I did that right? We do have a job to do tonight and that is to pick one final winner of American Idol. I've gotten 8 of 14 picks correct. The whole male guitar trend really threw me off in the 2nd half of the series. Could it possibly happen again in this final season? Only one way to find out. It's time to dive into our real-time recap ONE LAST TIME!

Performance Recap

Round 1 - Winner Songs

Trent Harmon - "Falling" - Not a bad jam for Trent. I don't know how well it would do on the radio, but Keith certainly knew all of the words! Trent has come a long way in this abbreviated competition though and this performance was pretty good. "Pretty" good.
Dalton Rapattoni - "Strike a Match" - Okay, the vocal doesn't compare to the others. We've beaten that to death. But, if you want to talk about Idol winning songs that could actually get airplay, then Dalton's song and Dalton himself is probably Radio ready. He could actually have a decent career after this show even if he doesn't win.
La'Porsha Renae - "Battles" - Hey look it's Diana Ross! Combine the voice with a radio friendly tune and you get some serious potential! That was a solid entry of a mostly successful playlist La'Porsha has been putting together all season.

Eliminated from Top 3 (And my pick): Dalton Rapattoni - It seemed like a foregone conclusion, but you just never can tell how America would vote! Farewell Dalton and best of luck in your career!

La'Porsha vs. Trent! Power Vocal vs. Power Vocal.

Round 2 - Simon Fuller's choice

Trent Harmon - "If You Don't Know Me By Now" by Harold Melvin & The Blue Notes - Didn't he sing this earlier this season? If not, he sang something similar. Still, it was another powerful performance. I feel like he's fighting an uphill battle in this competition, but he's putting his heart and soul into those performances out there.
La'Porsha Renae - "A House is Not a Home" by Dionne Warwick - This song is a classic Idol song that everyone in creation sang every year. Of course Simon Fuller would pick it! Solid performance from La'Porsha. I'd probably rank them pretty evenly that round. It sounded like the judges were giving to edge to Miss Renae after her beautiful awareness of melody. Close call though.

Round 3 - Contestant's picks

Trent - "Chandelier" by Sia - Beautiful, just like the last time. Maybe even better. I think I legitimately can say this year that whoever wins this year is a deserving winner. The final 2 are the legitimate 2 contestants that should've been the final 2. They should just take Nick's crown from last year and give Trent and La'Porsha the wins! I do have to ask though. Why did Trent PICK to go first if he won the coin toss? We all know what La'Porsha is going to sing and she's going to bring the house down.
La'Porsha - "Diamonds" by Rhianna - She brought the house down with this when Kelly Clarkson was in the house. Of course, she was going to do it! And of course, it was amazing. Like ridiculously amazing. I just don't know how you top that. Drop the mic girl. Drop. The. Mic.

The Final Pick

One last time, we need to walk down memory lane of my annual picks.

Record:

Season 1: Kelly Clarkson (winner) vs. Justin Guarini (got it right)
Season 2: Ruban Studdard (winner) vs. Clay Aiken (got it wrong)
Season 3: Fantasia Barrino (winner) vs. Diana DeGarmo (got it right)
Season 4: Carrie Underwood (winner) vs. Bo Bice (got it right)
Season 5: Taylor Hicks (winner) vs. Katharine McPhee (got it right)
Season 6: Jordin Sparks (winner) vs. Blake Lewis (got it right)
Season 7: David Cook (winner) vs. David "the artichoke" Archuleta (got it right)
Season 8: Kris Allen (winner) vs. Adam Lambert (got it wrong)
Season 9: Lee DeWyze (winner) vs. Crystal Bowersox (got it wrong)
Season 10: Scotty McCreery (winner) vs. Lauren Alaina (got it wrong)
Season 11: Phillip Phillips (winner) vs. Jessica Sanchez (got it right)
Season 12: Candice Glover (winner) vs. Kree Harrison (got it right)
Season 13: Caleb Johnson (winner) vs. Jena Irene (got it wrong)
Season 14: Nick Fradiani (winner) vs. Clark Beckham (got it wrong)

Even if I get this wrong I still barely finish with a winning record! I mentioned it above. I love both of these contestants. This is who most of us thought should be the final 2 and they both made it without any crazy voting scandals. There are no losers here. So the biggest question is can I finally pick the right one? Can I figure out what America is thinking? I haven't been bragging, but my record this season has been pretty solid on bottom 3 picks and elimination picks. I don't believe La'Porsha or Trent landed in the bottom this whole season. I've always had a soft spot for the females winning in this show especially after the male dominated 2nd half. So, I don't think it's a surprise what direction I'm going here.

MY PICK - WINNER OF AMERICAN IDOL SEASON 15: La'Porsha Renae
(UPDATE AFTER FINALE - WRONG ONE FINAL TIME!! Congrats Trent Harmon! More thoughts on finale in comments.)

There we have it. I mean Kelly already declared the winner weeks ago. We just had to see La'Porsha earn it week after week since. Kelly also was tweeting tonight and said she has never voted for a contestant on Idol before but she is voting for La'Porsha tonight. We start with a girl we end with a girl. I like it. But again, if Trent wins that's awesome. They're both great singers and I'm just glad no hacks like Nick Fradiani or Lee Dewyze are taking home the win this year. Then again, there really wasn't anyone like that in this year's competition. But with that, I guess it's time to wrap things up for a final time.

I wanted to write one last message of thanks. Thank you to anyone who stuck with me until the end here. This blog was always my pet project that loomed in the shadows of that bigger blog I had back during the LOST days. But, while LOST was keeping me up at night pondering the mysteries of the universe I was having a blast speaking my mind on everything from awful auditions/performances to the very best moments Idol ever had to offer. It was a tough road, some might argue it was meaningless in the end. But, for someone who loves music and likes to arrange words in a manner that sometimes entertains (usually myself more than anyone else I'm sure!) this was the perfect outlet for me. So thank you to everyone who found it entertaining enough to check in! Thanks to my wife who put up with my need to write these blogs even years after I probably should've stopped. Those kids of ours didn't make it easy in these waning years. But, I had a mission to see this thing through to the end. And see it through I did!

I know what you're thinking. WAIT MIKE! There's one more episode! Yes there is and I'm sure I'll have something to say about it. But, as we did for the past few seasons let's just use the comments section here to discuss it. I will post my thoughts in the comments at some point after all is said and done.

So, we've reached the end. Maybe Idol will return. Maybe I'll watch. Maybe I'll write. But it's a lot of maybes. For now, we have reached a definitive end and I am saying my goodbyes. If you still want to see me ramble on about TV you can always check out www.tvaddictsblog.com where there's always SOMETHING to discuss even if it's not in my elaborate forms of yesteryear. But for Idol, I hope you've enjoyed my ramblings and I'll see you when I see you!

American Idol: Season 15 - Top 3 Perform

2016-03-31T23:17:00.000-04:00

Hello American Idol friends! We're back for our final non-finale week of recapping! Next week we're getting "treated" (there is a time when I'd say tortured, but it's the last week!) with 3 episodes starting on Tuesday with a retrospective. Wednesday will be the performances of the final 2 (and I'd assume the elimination of the 3rd). Then Thursday the all out 2 hour bash of a series finale with tons of cameos of Idol's past. Should be a good time! But, we have things to do this week before we get there. And as per usual, my schedule is hectic so I'll be bringing my thoughts to you in real time! Here we go:

Recap

Performance 1 - Hometown Songs

MacKenzie Bourg - "Hallelujah" by Leonard Cohen - Ahhh memories of Jason Castro! Perfect song for MacKenzie though. He did his thing with it. Like really really good. I don't really remember Castro's version except that the song saw a huge sales spike after he sang it. But MacKenzie was amazing! It'll be a shame if he goes home based on my prediction.
Dalton Rapattoni - "Calling You" by Blue October - Good performance as always. Vocal still week. I know I've heard that song before, but forget if he did the same type of version or mixed it up. Keith said he "daltonized it" I guess he mixed it up!
Trent Harmon - "Tennessee Whiskey" by Chris Stapleton (and many others) - When Chris had his big coming out party at the CMA Awards last November, I became a quick fan. And Chris Stapleton's version of Tennessee Whisky is fabulous. Trent is pretty much covering it as Chris did, but he still sounds amazing on it. Hysterical that his family surprised him out there.
La'Porsha Renae - "Glory" by Common and John Legend - She's still a front runner if she makes it out of any surprise eliminations this week. Great performance.

Performance 2 - Scott B's song choices

Dalton - "Dancing in the Dark" by Bruce Springsteen - Okay, so before he started I said, "he's going to do this slow and use his puppy dog eyes." He did for the first half, then he punked out! It was pretty good actually. Still not the greatest vocal, but he certainly commands that stage. Pretty funny that JLo said she would've been his Courteney Cox. The judges speak to the way he interpret the lyrics. It's a really fair point to bring up. It definitely keeps him relevant in the competition.
La'Porsha - "Stay With Me" by Lorraine Ellison - There's just not much to say about her performances without repeating myself. The only thing that has be thinking she may NOT win is because the other 2 are showing growth in the competition, but she's kind of already there. I didn't pick up on her not feeling the lyrics too much.
Trent - "Drink You Away" by Justin Timberlake - Justin really won me over at the CMAs last November when he sang this song with Chris Stapleton. No, seriously. Timberlake and Chris performed both of Trent's performances tonight back to back at the CMAs. Surely, they did that intentionally, right?? Nice family song about drinking your ex lover away. He still rocked it out though and man his voice is crazy good!

MVP of the night - the guy in Keith Urban's band playing the iPads,

Performance 3 - Judges' Choices

Dalton - "Everybody Wants to Rule the World" by Tears for Fears - It was okay. Probably his weakest performance of the night. And it's performances like this that make me think it's really a 2 person fight at this point. If it wasn't for his popularity...I'd say this is definitely for his week. I agree with JLo and Keith that the key was too low.
La'Porsha - "Hello" by Adele - I don't know. Something seemed a bit off about that one too. It was fine, but I think I prefer Adele's rendition! Her commentary about the difference between this song and "Stay With Me" was a nice and humorous touch for her though. Doesn't hurt that she had her baby during that whole performance. Maybe the 3rd cutest child in the world. (I live with the other 2 obviously!)
Trent - "Waiting Game" by Parson James - Had chills on those high notes! This guy is on a roll the past couple weeks. He's peaking at the right time.

Eliminations

Top 4 Elimination

My Bottom 2 (elimination pick in bold): MacKenzie, La'Porsha

Actual Bottom 2: Mackenzie, La'Porsha

Eliminated - MacKenzie Bourg - It was a process of elimination thing. It was MacKenzie's time but at least he went out with a great performance in round 1! Farewell MacKenzie!

Top 3 Elimination Pick:

Dalton Rapattoni - I like the guy, and I'm sure he has a lot of supporters. This competition is pretty tight between these 3 I have to imagine. But with La'Porsha's front runner status and the amazing run Trent has been on I just can't see the final 2 going any other way. Well, I can see it, but I don't think it's going to happen. We shall see!

Whew, the tears almost caught up with me with all of this "last time on this stage" business they were discussing tonight. They move to the big theater next week for the finale, so things are getting real folks. The end is near! By Idol blogging days are FINALLY almost over after 11 years of trying to quit! Even though I've longed for this day, I knew it would be bittersweet. Well, I'll save my goodbyes for next week. Hope you enjoyed my ramblings and I'll see you next week!

American Idol: Season 15 - Top 4 Perform

2016-03-25T00:10:00.001-04:00

Hello American Idol friends! We're getting closer and closer to the end here. David Cook, Katharine McPhee returned and gave us some great performances. I apologize for not calling out Lambert last week, he was good too! It's tough to write these things these days as I know I've mentioned a few times. Here are my real time thoughts as per usual this season:

Recap

Classic Rock Performances

LaPorsha Renae - "Wanted Dead or Alive" by Bon Jovi - Hello 14 hour dreads Batman (sorry, just got back from that new movie. Which also felt like 14 hours coincidentally.)! She finally tamed down that hair for once. She was rocking it until she forgot those lyrics. But, this definitely is not her category. Last note was a little off its mark too. I'm sure she'll nail the 2nd song.
MacKenzie Bourg - "I Want You to Want Me" by Cheap Trick - Nice arrangement and good advice from Stevie "Silvio Dante" Van Zant to change things up a bit. Still like this dude and think he's a contender. Judges were pretty brutal about it. If I had to rate the 2 performances so far, I'd put them on par with each other. Neither were phenomenal but were serviceable.
Trent Harmon - "Sharp Dressed Man" by ZZ top - Trent did his thing out there. That was a n awesome rendition! Loved both versions of the song, but the opening jazzy version was fantastic. And I think it's easy to say he won this round even without knowing who #4 is. These 3 should be the top 3.
Dalton Rapattoni - "God Only Knows" by The Beach Boys - Get this man to broadway! Like 1950s broadway! I like the dude, but it's night and day with who is left. Nice emotion, but maybe it was a little TOO dramatic.

Sia Music Performances

La Porsha - "Elastic Heart" - Better than the first performance. Not her best, but still really good. JLo said the same thing as she did last week as she's already a fully established performer there's nothing really to critique. There could be a downside to potentially peaking too early when you see something like Trent coming into his own more and more each week. I still don't see a finale without her, but I'm not calling a winner yet!
MacKenzie - "Titanium" - Really nice version. I guess one problem with MacKenzie is that he really only has one gear that he relies on for all versions of his songs. He has loads of talent, but I'm thinking a MacKenzie concert might be a pretty chill event to go to.
Trent - "Chandelier" - We have a competition folks! Trent totally wins the night. That was incredible. Was it me or did La Porsha look scared after that performance? This was the one performance of the night where I put the laptop down and just listened and watched. That's the biggest compliment this blogger can give.
Dalton - "Bird Set Free" - Love the lyric "I don't care if I sing off key." He really took this song to heart and cried on camera. That's gotta count for something. I still think he's the weakest of the bunch, but fans/voters will eat that up. There's something to be said for putting your emotions on display for the world to see.

Eliminations

My Bottom 2 picks and the actual Bottom 2 - Dalton and Sonika

Eliminated (and my elimination pick) - Sonika Vaid - It was only a matter of time! Farewell Sonika!

My Bottom 2 Picks: La Porsha, MacKenzie

Elimination Pick: Mackenzie Bourg - I feel like next week will be one of those surprise weeks. Trent really stepped up his game and Dalton has the fan vote after his performances. So by default that puts La Porsha (off night for her) and Mackenzie in the bottom. It really wouldn't surprise me if it's not MacKenzie going home either. Anything can happen.

So that's all I have for this week. 2 more recaps and then we all go on with our lives without Idol! I keep mentioning it, but it's been tough to swing this recap this year so I apologize for my brevity in thoughts and less analysis than usual. But, just sticking it through to the end is an accomplishment for me! Hope to see you in the comments. Hope you enjoyed my rambling and I'll see you next week!

American Idol: Season 15 - Top 6 Perform

2016-03-17T23:55:00.001-04:00

Hello American Idol fans! And just like that we have a Top 5. This season is flying by and it's getting tougher and tougher to sit down for 2 hours of TV in this crazy house! But, I am persevering until the end. Real-time comments ahead, yet again!

Performance Recap

America's Picks

Trent Harmon - "Counting Stars" by One Republic - No one can sing much worse than Ryan Tedder so he already sounded better than the original. But, that said, it's not his best performance. America picked the song so he sang it. I'm guessing they're doing more than one performance tonight (good Harry confirmed it!).
Dalton Rapattoni - "Numb" by Linkin Park - Nice. Turned Linkin Park into an Alt Rock classic of this millennium's first decade. I enjoyed that rendition! Of course, I like the original and the Jay-Z mash-up too. Probably his best change-up to date. J-Lo doesn't know what she's talking about. Harry knows what he's talking about. Keith sorta knew what he was talking about.
La'Porsha Renae - "Ready for Love" by India.Arie - Didn't know the song. Didn't matter. She's just in a different league. The attire was interesting, but that's just what she does.
MacKenzie Bourg - "Wild World" by Cat Stevens - Had a little bit of a Jason Mraz vibe to his performance tonight. Liked the arrangement. He may not have brought the house down, but I still like this dude. (And of course J-Lo referred to the likability)
Tristan McIntosh - "Independence Day" by Martina McBride - She really is singing Country Karaoke's Greatest Hits. Granted, Carrie Underwood rocked this one on the Idol stage. But, if you ever hear a country song at a karaoke bar, Tristan has sang it on that stage. Ahhh, but she's doing on the piano. Nice. I'll give her credit for trying to change it up, but I don't know if it's a winner. She's already hit her peak. It sounds like the judges are on the same page.
Sonika Vaid - "Let It Go" by Demi Lovato (or Idina Menzel, Kristin and Robert Lopez) - Nice Wind Machine! I feel like we're in the middle of a blizzard. I wasn't overly impressed, but she definitely will get the nod over Tristan. She still has a great voice.

America's Picks Round 2 (i.e. the round of tragic/horrifying pasts unveiled! Grab your tissues.)

Dalton - "The Sound of Silence" by Simon & Garfunkel - I mean it was okay. He has great stage presence and the look. He made us listen to the lyrics. It's just the voice is not as powerful as everyone else. But, the people love him. And he's a likable guy as well. I really liked his 1st performance better.
Mackenzie - "Billie Jean" by Michael Jackson - Taking a page out of David Cook's book and changing up the King of Pop's tune (for the record, I wrote this before Ryan Seacrest brought it up!). Two totally different renditions. When this guy does what he does, he's awesome. I loved this.
Trent - "Simple Man" by Lynyrd Skynyrd - The man has some pipes and conviction. Even though La'Porsha is leading the pack this really does feel like it's a 4 way race right now. It's going to be hard to figure out who is going home from this point (well, after Sonika is gone).
Sonika - "Clarity" by Zedd featuring Foxes - I'm just out on her at this point, obviously. She's trying out there. Maybe trying too hard.
La'Porsha - "No More Drama" by Mary J. Blige - Her earrings are to scale of the hair! Apparently, there was lots more drama to be had after the performance. Those pre-performance clips really packed a punch in round 2. So if she was building off of that into the song then more power to her. It was awesome. Still in a whole other league. Not ready to declare her the winner though. These Idol voters like their guitar strumming heart throbs!

Eliminations

My Top 6 Bottom 3 Picks (elimination pick in blue): Tristan, Sonika, Dalton

Actual Bottom 2: Tristan and Sonika

Eliminated: Tristan McIntosh - Not a tough one to predict! Farewell Tristan!

Tonight's bottom 2 - Sonika, Dalton

Elimination Pick: Sonika Vaid - She's put up a good fight, but it's her time.

I would guess from a voting perspective Dalton is getting more votes than where I'm placing him but if there's a bottom 2 someone has to be there.

Hope you enjoyed my ramblings and see you next week!

American Idol: Season 15 - Top 8 Perform, 6 Move On

2016-03-10T22:50:00.004-05:00

Hello American Idol Friends and we're back for another round of performances in this final season. No time to waste, lets get into my real-time commentary and picks!

Duets

La'Porsha & Trent - "See You Again" by Wiz Khalifa featuring Charlie Puth - 2 powerhouse vocals on a very popular 2015 tune. Granted, it's mostly a rap so they just kept singing the refrain over and over again. But they did sound great.
Avalon & Sonika - "Rise Up" by Andra Day - Never heard the song before, but they sang pretty well. Both of them have really great voices, but I agree with J Lo on bringing the feeling to the music. The song is an inspirational tune, but their performance kind of lacked inspiration!
MacKenzie and Dalton - "I Want it That Way" by The Backstreet Boys - Remember that episode when Nick Carter and George Stephanopoulos took the stage and performed a boy band tune? Of course the girls screamed at the end of the song, but it was pretty bland and by the numbers. Totally on point when Harry said the song makes no sense. I'll always remember it as a 3 minute and 30 second Burger King advertisement.
Tristan and Lee - "Don't Wanna Miss a Thing" by Aerosmith - High school talent show? The less I say the better I think.

Top 8 Performance Recap

La'Porsha Renae - "Come Together" by The Beatles - We'll skip right past the attire and judge the performance! You have to give her props for showing her range of genres she's interested in and can perform the "I don't know what" out of (Props to Randy Jackson in the final season. Had to do it). She has a command of her voice, the stage and the audience. I'm still waiting for someone to be able to match her in the competition.
MacKenzie Bourg - "You Are So Beautiful" by Joe Cocker - He sang it pretty straight. Nice touch with the strings, phrasing choices and, of course, crooning to the ladies. Nice performance. (don't judge me, I fast forwarded right through Nick Fradiani. I'm still shocked on the run he went on to win.)
Trent Harmon - "Stand By Me" by Ben E. King - Is it me or does his new style make him look a little like Scotty McCreery? J-Lo knows what I'm talking about! Regardless of his look, he nailed the performance!
Tristan McIntosh - "A Broken Wing" by Martina McBride - Tristan is taking us on a country music karaoke greatest hits tour. That's not to say she didn't sing it great. Well, she did crack a little at the end. I don't know. I like Tristan, but I just don't think she's going to last with the rest of the strong voices and performers in the competition. She has the potential to be a powerhouse country singer one day, but she IS only 15.
Dalton Rapattoni - "Eleanor Rigby" by The Beatles - I should've known to keep him safe last week. I did have Avalon as my wildcard pick for the bottom 3! But his performance just wasn't good last week. This week? Well, you can't go wrong picking a Beatles tune. Maybe a little overkill on the fog though! I like his stylistic choices with the tunes. I just don't think his voice is very strong. I think the band drowned him out a bit this week. Judges and audience loved it and I'm sure the voters will love it too. I'd rather him stick around than some others for now.
(Bottom 3) - Avalon Young - "P.Y.T." by Michael Jackson - 2nd time in the bottom 3. Anyone else having flashbacks to Justin Guarini doing this song in season 1? I really don't think she gave her all to that performance. It was okay, but it could've had a lot more energy. Maybe it's all about connecting with the home audience like the judges are suggesting. Harry spoke to the urgency of the band. I think that's exactly my issue with the performance.
(Bottom 3) - Lee Jean - "Let It Be" by The Beatles - Poor Lee Jean. Nice kid, but I think it's time to go. If you have to compare this to Avalon, Lee goes home. Let it be, Lee. Let it be.
(Bottom 3) - Sonika Vaid - "I Have Nothing" by Whitney Houston - By the numbers once again. Simon would call it karaoke. Yes, her voice is good but she just doesn't bring that extra "Sonika" flavor to it. But, of course the audience and judges gave her an ovation. J Lo at least hesitated a bit.

Eliminations Recap/Picks

My Top 8 Bottom 3 Picks (elimination picks in blue): Dalton, Lee, Sonika

Eliminated: Avalon, Lee

After the 3 performances, I figured they'd save Sonika. I guess she deserved the save, but I think Avalon has more upside of the bottom 3 we saw. I'm not even sure how many go home next week but let's try to figure it out. There's not really a process of elimination to do here. The list is getting much shorter very quickly!

Bottom 3: Dalton, Tristan, Sonika

Elimination Picks: Tristan McIntosh (If 2 eliminated, then Sonika Vaid as well)

I have been enjoying this season, but this whole double elimination shortened season thing is a bit strange! We are flying towards the series finale at light speed. I won't even have time to process that this is my final season of recapping this show! Anyway, we still have a few more weeks to worry about that. Hope you enjoyed my ramblings and I'll see you next week!

American Idol: Season 15 - Top 10 Perform, 8 Move On

2016-03-03T23:45:00.002-05:00

Hello American Idol friends! We're all probably still reeling from last week's amazing Kelly Clarkson performance, I'm sure! But, we have to keep moving on without our inaugural winner and have a job to do. Things are still crazy in the V. House so I will continue to do my real-time recapping. Here goes nothing!
Performance Recap - Theme for the week "Grammys"

Dalton Rapattoni - "Radioactive" by Imagine Dragons - I think I speak for popular culture and we're all tired of this song. Dalton was singing in a lower octave than the original and it didn't really work for me. Boring is the word that comes to mind. It was sung finely in tune so that wasn't the issue.
Lee Jean - "Use Somebody" by Kings of Leon - I appreciate him wanting to branch out and try and stand out. Vocal sounded a little better than previous weeks. Maybe he's getting a little more comfortable. First half of the song was a bit too "manicky" for me (I know it's not a word!). I'm a little surprised he survived elimination this week, so I'm a little curious who may be going home in his place.
Sonika Vaid - "Since U Been Gone" by Kelly Clarkson - Always bold taking on the queen of the Idol stage. Many times it has been the kiss of elimination for a contestant. Felt very choreographed. She has a good voice, but when you compare it to the soulful sound of the original Idol it just doesn't match up.
MacKenzie Bourg - "I Wanna Dance With Somebody (Who Loves Me)" by Whitney Houston - I like this kid. I tried to hate him, but he's just too darn talented. Great performance. Idol winning performance? Tough call with La'Porsha hanging around. We'll see how she does tonight. Harry thought he should've mixed it up more. I hear him, but I thought he did change it up a bit and it worked out. Plus, he's got the grandmother vote coming in now after the shout out to Nona!
La'Porsha Renae - "Halo" by Beyonce - Loved the pre performance clip on the hair. There's not much else to say about her voice and the control on the voice. It's in another league. She's ridiculously good. My only critique is that she did 2 slow songs 2 weeks in a row now. But, when you're that good who cares?
Trent Harmon - "When a Man Loves a Woman" by Michael Bolton - Nice control on the face dude! Trent sang some sweet melodies and that high note was quite impressive! He still remains relevant in the competition.
Tristan McIntosh - "Go Rest High on That Mountain" by Vince Gill - Wow. I didn't expect such a good vocal from her. That's the best she's sounded. Smart to tone it down a notch and get on the piano. Great tune too.
(Bottom 3) Avalon Young - "Earned It" by The Weeknd - Definitely deserving of the bottom 3 last week after that "off" performance. This definitely felt more in her wheelhouse and showed off her unique sound in the competition. Good stuff!
(Bottom 3) Olivia Roxx - "Trouble" by P!nk - Not a bad performance by Olivia. She really rocked the stage. Seemed like the crowd wasn't into it. You also can already tell the judges bias on who they'll probably select. With all of the stage antics I do agree something seemed to be missing from the performance.
(Bottom 3) Gianna Isabella - "If I Ain't Got You" by Alicia Keys - In tune, sang perfectly. Forgettable.

My picks from last week: Gianna and Lee

Eliminated: Gianna Isabella and Olivia Roxx

1 for 2 ain't bad. Olivia was good, but I didn't really see her in contention for the crown. Farewell to both of you.

This is tough if we need to pick 2 each week! Tonight was a pretty decent night of performances. But I think 3 of them were a little underwhelming. So I'm going to dive right in here to my picks,

Top 8 Botton 3: Dalton, Lee, Sonika Wildcard: Avalon

Top 8 Elimination Picks: Lee Jean, Sonika Vaid - Lee's a fighter. I've counted him out a couple times now. Definitely talented, but I don't think he can last too much longer. Sonika - She took on Kelly, and like many before her she paled in comparison.

It's crazy how quickly this shortened season is going. We'll be saying goodbye to American Idol in 5 weeks! Until then, I'll still be having something to say as always. Hope you enjoyed my ramblings and I'll see you next week!

American Idol: Season 15 - Top 10 Perform

2016-02-25T23:16:00.000-05:00

Hello American Idol fans! Wow, Jenn goes home! But, no fear we had Kelly Clarkson to see us through the 2 hour ordeal of losing her. And it was just awesome to have her critiquing all night and then to give her potential send-off performance on the Idol Stage. My top 10 performance recaps come to you in real-time again. Our near 22 month old daughter was wide awake and screaming in our ears during the show, but I think we were able to hear everything pretty well! Here goes nothing!

Performance Recap

Olivia Rox - "Unconditionally" by Katy Perry - She has a powerful voice. Good way to kick off the night. Not much else to say about it. Need to see how she compares to the rest of the crop! Good feedback from Kelly, she would've been a great judge!
Gianna Isabella - "Listen" by Beyonce - She may have lost some credibility with her profession of love for Scotty McCreery. And the performance fell a little flat. I like her, but at 15 her nerves were showing.
Lee Jean - "Skinny Love" by Bon Iver - Still some pitch issues but much better than Wednesday night. He's just a likable talented dude.
Avalon Young - "Stitches" by Shawn Mendes - I think some other contestants have sung this song this year, maybe even Lee Jean. I'm not sure what it was, but I wasn't feeling the performance. It was mostly in tune, but maybe a weird key that she was singing it in. The judges referenced a shaky start, so maybe it just never got in the groove for me after that. Oh and Kelly? She's hilarious and on point as always.
Dalton Rapattoni - "Hey There Delilah" by Plain White Ts - Dalton talked about David Cook being an inspiration to change up songs. So, he interestingly took a low key acoustic song and punked it up. Actually, it was pretty entertaining. I just don't think his voice is that strong compared to others in the competition. He does have good stage presence and performs to the crowd well and that's a plus. Nice trivia on the smudged guy-liner too.
Tristan McIntosh - "Nothin' Like You" by Dan & Shay - Interesting song choice. Seemed a little low and a little flat most of the performance. J Lo brought up the elephant in the room. Too many young performers this year! I noticed it during the auditions that they were letting in and focusing on a lot of 15 year olds. Not promising for the next couple months of performances! Kelly and Harry gave her some good tips on future song choices. So, if she's around maybe she'll improve from week to week.
McKenzie Bourg - "I See Fire" by Ed Sheehan - America loves Ed Sheeran! I hate to say it, but this guy might be the best of the crop tonight so far. I think I've been vocal on why I dislike this. There have been too many winners like him in the back half of the series. He's pretty awesome though.
La'Porsha Renae - "Diamonds" by Rhianna - Maybe I spoke too soon. I've said it before. Girl can SANG. That was pretty much a flawless performance. I'm sure it's too soon to crown the winner, but how can anyone top that?
Sonika Vaid - "Bring Me to Life" by Evanescence - Lots of confidence. Really good vocal. They saved their heavy hitters for the end. Nice on the judges speaking to the fact that she had to follow La'Porsha and brought it. I'd still give the edge to La'Porsha for now, but we'll see how things go!
Trent Harmon - "Like I Can" by Sam Smith - He's another strong one in this competition. My only concern with him is getting tired of that high voice of his. It's very good, but a lot of it might get old! The final 4 tonight showed that there is a competition this year. Maybe not the best ever like J-Lo mentioned, but there is some talent.

Elimination Recap and Picks

My Top 14 elimination Picks: Manny, Thomas, Lee, Jeneve

Eliminated from Top 14: Manny, Jenn, Thomas, Jeneve

Time to get into my process of elimination for tonight! It will be a double elimination next week. Let's get to work:

Untouchable - La'Porsha

Really Good - Trent, Sonika, McKenzie

Good Enough - Olivia, Dalton

A little below Good Enough - Tristan, Avalon

Uh oh - Gianna, Lee

Top 10 Elimination Picks: Gianna Isabella and Lee Jean Wildcard Pick: Tristan McIntosh

And folks, you just aren't human if you didn't cry along with Kelly during her possible final performance on the Idol stage. She's the best and always will be. They should've just ended the show after she won! KIDDING!! Okay, that's enough for me tonight. Hope you enjoyed my ramblings and I'll see you next week!

American Idol: Season 15 - Top 14 Wildcard Night

2016-02-24T22:30:00.000-05:00

Hello American Idol fans! We almost have our top 10! 4 were revealed by the judges tonight and we were given a look at the remaining 10 who have a shot at the other 6 spots. I documented my thoughts in real time and highlighted my picks to get into the to 10 with some thoughts afterwards. I'm all about the efficiency these days! Let's dive in.

Top 10 Fast Passes

Dalton Rapattoni
Olivia Rox
Trent Harmon
La'Porsha Renae

10 Performances for 6 Spots (real time thoughts and my picks for Top 10 in blue)

Theme - Favorite Moments from the season so far

Manny Torres - "Master Blaster" by Stevie Wonder - Not Impressed. Flat pretty much the whole performance. Could be first live performance jitters, but going first won't help his chances.
Gianna Isabella - "I Put a Spell On You" by Annie Lennox - Powerful voice, lots of upside. Couple shaky spots, but overall pretty good.
Thomas Stringfellow - "Story of My Life" by One Direction - Smart song choice to lure in the young vote. I'm 50/50 on this guy personally, but I think he'll get in. Agree with Harry on the voice cracking. It is annoying.
Tristan McIntosh - "What Hurts the Most" by Rascal Flatts - Pretty rendition of the song. Some nice liberties with the melody on some of the runs. She's good.
Avalon Young - "Yo (Excuse Me Miss)" by Chris Brown - Good presence and comfort on stage. Great voice. Looks a "little" less homeless on stage this week. She's really good.
Jenn Blosil - "True Colors" by Cyndi Lauper - Amazing unique voice. She's really really good.
Lee Jean - "Make it Rain" by Ed Sheehan - I think he slowed it down from the last time and doing a different style. Didn't quite hit all of his notes, but still like the dude. Not sure if it'll stand out enough or not.
Sonika Vaid - "I Surrender" by Celine Dion - Kelly did this one in season 1 and I loved it. But Sonika was killing it out there too!
Jeneve Rose Mitchell - "Ring of Fire" by Johnny Cash - Good vocal. A little abandonment of the melody. Agree with the judges, it'll be interesting to see what America thinks.
Mackenzie Bourg - "Roses" by Mackenzie Bourg - The song he wrote is really good and it was smart to feature it in this quick vote from America. And he got the pimp spot which only helps him more. He's in.

Elimination Picks: Manny, Thomas, Lee, Jeneve

Ones where I think I could be wrong: Lee, Avalon, Gianna, Tristan

Lee had a rough night, but I think people like him. I could see the votes saving him. Avalon might not be relatable, but she's got a great voice. Gianna and Tristan I kinda see as the same person. So maybe they won't both get in. We'll see what happens!

If there's any reason to look forward to Thursday night besides the actual competition is to see our inaugural winner sharing her wisdom and her cheesy jokes all night long. Kelly Clarkson will be judging and performing and we're going to love every minute of it! Hope you enjoyed my ramblings and I'll see you after Thursday's Top 10 performances!

American Idol: Season 15 - Top 24 The Other 12

2016-02-17T21:43:00.001-05:00

Hello American Idol fandom! We continue this final season with another round of pre-recorded Top 24 performances. Just like last week, I'll give my brief thoughts on these 12 and a best guess at who will go home Thursday after the duets. Not sure if I mentioned it last week, but I actually really enjoyed seeing all the Idol alums come back for duet night. Most of them, excluding maybe Scotty, really showed their growth over the years. It's a nice touch to see many of the alums returning week to week. Looking forward to next week when Kelly arrives as a guest judge and performer!!

With that said, let's dive in!

Shelbie Z - "Work Hard, Play Harder" by Gretchen Wilson - Winona reborn. She's not too bad, but she's a lot to take personality-wise. Might be forgotten after 11 more performances.
Manny Torres - "Adventure of a Lifetime" by Coldplay - What on earth is that shirt he's wearing? Not one of Coldplay's best tunes and there's not much he can do with the song to showcase his vocal chops. But, they've been featuring him since the last audition episode. He's most likely going to be going through.
Kory Wheeler - "Let It Go" by James Bay - Good song, decent performance. Always have a soft spot for the piano folk! Judge reaction was mixed. We'll see.
Amelia Eisenhower - "Wake Me Up" by Avicii - Hitting all the notes, but she was a little nasally with the performance. She changed up the tune a little bit which was interesting. I was less enthused than the judges. But they're picking this round.
Jenn Blosil - "Sorry" by Justin Bieber - Love her voice. Really quirky girl, but it works to her advantage. And if she can make a Bieber song more listenable, then she has a gift. I have a pretty good ear for hearing if things are in tune and it sounded fine to me, Harry!
CJ Johnson - "I'll Be" by Edwin McCain - Why do people still sing this song EVERY. SINGLE. YEAR.? Don't get me wrong, I love the song but it is way over its Idol limit. I never have been impressed by this guy. All clips they showed from Hollywood week were just of him screaming. And this performance WAS out of tune, HARRY! I just assumed this would be one of the guys going home before the show even started.
Lee Jean - "Runaway" by Ed Sheehan - He's been a fave of the judges and American Idol producers from the beginning. He sounded pretty good. Song choice, I agree, might not have been the best. The funny thing is I actually have heard that song a lot since the entire Ed Sheeran collection was on my daughter's bedtime playlist for awhile! Whatever gets them to sleep! He'll make it to next week.
Trent Harmon - "What Are You Listening To" by Chris Stapleton - This guy is really good. Might have had a little unfair advantage in group rounds due to the mono, but they couldn't lose him in the competition. Love Stapleton too so he's got good taste!
Tristan McIntosh - "Good Girl" by Carrie Underwood - Idol producers LOVE this girl. And why wouldn't they? She's got a good look, good voice and a mom in the military that she loves to talk about all the time and make the world cry along with her! As for the performance tonight? It was aight.
Adam Lasher - "Black and Gold" by Sam Sparro - I have no memory of this guy from earlier rounds. Never heard this song before either. He was okay I guess. But not enough to make him stand out after not even remembering him. Judges didn't seem too excited either. I will agree that this night is not as good as last week's crop. But, I don't think I'm agreeing with the judges on who was good or bad.
Dalton Rapattoni - "Rebel Yell" by Billy Idol - I will say that this guy does like to take risks with his performances. He definitely has the look of someone who will be in our top 10. He also has the look of someone from a Final Fantasy game. It was good and definitely will stand out more than most tonight.
Olivia Rox - "Confident" by Demi Lovato - As tradition foretells, the final performance will stand out more often than not. I will say that Olivia most certainly did Rox.

Well, it was a mixed bag of a night. Here's my best guess at the eliminations!

Elimination Picks: Adam Lasher, CJ Johnson, Manny Torres, Amelia Eisenhower, Tristan Macintosh

I'm not as confident in these picks as I was last week. There are some early faves in there that just really didn't deliver tonight. But, since they called out Shelbie Z as one of the ones that did well, I had to pick someone over her. And I'm biased to a few other people that the judges weren't too thrilled about. I can't imagine a Top 10 without Jenn Blosil and Harry said she was out of tune the whole performance. Oh well, we'll see what happens tomorrow night!

Looking forward to seeing Daughtry, Cook, Pickler and Sparks! Could live without Reinhart but I know she has her Idol fanbase that absolutely loves her. I forget the 6th one that is joining us but I'll remember soon enough.

Hope you enjoyed my ramblings and I'll see you next week!

American Idol: Season 15 - Top 24 First 12

2016-02-10T22:26:00.002-05:00

Hello Idol Nation! We're back for one final season! We had some commentary on the auditions and Hollywood week. I had reservations of starting to recap this week since the show is still prerecorded and America isn't voting. But you know me. Eventually, I just get the bug and have to say something! So I jotted down some brief thoughts on each contestant. I won't be recapping duet night on Thursday because the judges will be making their cuts on the same night. So, I'll give some early thoughts on who stands the best chance to be eliminated.

Then, Thursday night we can just sit back and enjoy the soothing sounds of these amateurs with Fantasia, Ruben Studdard, Nick Fradiani, Caleb Johnson, Lauren Alaina, Scotty McCreery. Yep, I made the same groaning noise. Maybe we're building up to the better Idol alum guests! Better get Kelly out there before her 3rd trimester!!

Okay, enough of my rambling. My brief take on the 1st 12 of the Top 24 are after the jump.

Stephany Negrete - "Mama Knows Best" by Jessie J - Not bad. Rubs me the wrong way. But she sang it powerfully. Room to grow.
Mackenzie Bourg - "Say Something" by A Great Big World - George Stephanopoulos hits the Idol stage! This kid is going to do well. Talented guitar dude. They always do. But, it comes as no surprise that I don't want another one like him to win!
Jeneve Mitchell - "Angel" by Sarah MacLachlan - Rocking the harp like a true rock star! Pretty rendition of the tune. Rhythm was a bit bizarre, but she's got an interesting sound. Still confused how she knows all of these pop songs living in a house with no power. My wife tells me they probably listened in the car. I still smell some fibbing on her part!
Jenna Renae - "My Church" by Maren Morris - Thought the beginning was amazing then the end got a little shaky and I started to think the background singers were bailing her out. Harry mentioned the pitch issues and I picked up on them near the end as well. She's an interesting one to look out for though!
James Viii - "Love Lockdown" by Kanye West - Has some skills with the axe. Liked the riff he played with the melody of the tune. Girls love him. Voice is aight. Judges made a good point on song choice. Not a range of skills shown off in that tune.
Sonica Vaid - "Safe and Sound" by Taylor Swift w/ Civil Wars - Pretty voice. Boring song. Distracting hand motions.
Gianna Isabella - "I Put a Spell on You" by Annie Lenox - She has some inside baseball advantages with her mother the 90s pop star guiding her along, but I already saw her as an early favorite. (Even if the Idol machine is trying to convince me of that anyway) She put on a great performance again. Last note was a little rough.
Emily Brooke - "I Am Invincible" by Cassidy Pope - Really was pulling for her and her comeback story this season. She seemed to have really improved. It would be a shame for this performance to be the end of the road for her, but that was really rough. Song choice was awful (shout out to Voice winner Cassidy Pope). Hopefully, her duet will do better tomorrow.
Avalon Young - "Love Yourself" by Justin Bieber - Kudos for the Phillies logo on her skateboard. She's really good. I agree with Harry that she should've mixed it up at the end. Kind of got old by the end. Key candidate for "surprise makeover" during the top 12. But, I'm sure her fans would cry that she sold out!
Jordon Sasser - "All By Myself" by Celine Dion (really it's Eric Carmen Idol folks!) - House V. is not about the Sasser. Come on, we all know he's an annoying reality TV personality, right? Performance wasn't very good either.
Thomas Stringfellow - "Creep" by Radiohead - I get he's got a unique voice and it's supposed to be a little off center. But, it can be a little off-putting at times too. Still, might be interesting enough to keep around. 5 need to go though. Judges and crowd loved it so what do I know?
La'Porsha Renae - "Proud Mary" by Tina Turner - Well of course she was good! Girl can sang. Does it matter she did a carbon copy Tina performance? Nope. She's really good. Performance, Vocal, Presence. Everything. She's got it.

As mentioned, with the duets Thursday night the best I can do is take an educated guess at the cuts. (Based on the previews tomorrow's episode already happened!) Here we go:

Elimination Picks: Stephany Negrete, Jordon Sasser, James Viii, Sonica Vaid, Jenna Renae

I think Emily Brooke will bounce back in her duet. I liked Jenna's performance until things got shouty with pitch problems at the end. And the judges weren't too kind to her.

Like I said, this could all change by tomorrow night, but this is my initial take! We can comment after Thursday night's show in the comments here. And before we know it we'll be hitting that series finale (In April this year? Ryan said less than 2 months). It'll be sad to part ways with this blog, but I think I'm ready for it! Hope you enjoyed my brief ramblings and I'll see you next week!

American Idol: Season 15 - The Pre-Recorded Shows Discussion Post.

2016-01-06T22:00:00.000-05:00

Hello friends who have hung in there until the very end! This is the final season of American Idol! I've threatened to quit this many times since season 4, but here we are 11 years later. The audience has dwindled, the show's quality has had its ups and downs. But, there's no doubt this truly marks the end of an era. I'm looking forward to this season more than I have in a while because there are many opportunities for nostalgia throughout this final season. I'm sure we'll get many visitors from Idol's past throughout the season. And I do have my dream of all idol winners on stage in the Series Finale. Will it all come to pass? Time will tell!

For now, we have a job to do. But, as previous years have dictated, I will not recap these pre-recorded shows. Instead, this post will be available for discussion as we go through the auditions, Hollywood and maybe some of the semi-finals. But once we get to the Top 12, 11, 10 whatever they deem the finals, I'll be back in my recapping glory! One. Last. Time!

Hope to see you in the comments and I'll see you for the live shows!

American Idol: Season 14 - Final 2 Perform

2015-05-12T23:03:00.000-04:00

Hello America! It is with mixed emotions that I bring you this season 14 finale post. You may have heard that FOX announced that next season, season 15, will be the final season of American Idol. I thought, once again, of retiring from this blogging tradition but I am more than determined now to power through to the end. Announcing the show's final season a year ahead of time was a great idea to drive up anticipation and really plan a great send-off for this groundbreaking show. I already have a vision of all 15 winners standing on that stage in the series finale and it's awesome. (Granted, half of them don't belong there and there's a chance winner #14 may be one of them, but whatever!)

That's all I have to say about that for now. We do have a winner to pick, and before we even do that we have to talk about one more surprise elimination. Let's dive in.

Eliminated: Jax - What on earth??? I thought she all but guaranteed to be in that final 2. But, I forgot the almighty rule that has governed this show since season 7. FEAR the cute guy that wears that guitar! It has never been truer than this season. The thing is, this year we have 2 of them!

The introverted soulful extremely talented Clark Beckham

vs.

The Pop Song singing, basic chord guitar playing band frontman with an appetite for "MANIC FACE" - Nick Fradiani

I have no idea how this happened. Nick is in the final 2. Nick can win this show. Sure, they've warned us for a few weeks it was possible, but I've been trying since early on to kick him off. My feelings haven't changed much on the matter. The only thing that's changed is I accept that he can win this thing, and he very well might. I'm not going to pretend I like it. The big question is, who will I pick in the end? Ugh, I dread the thought. Let's get into it.

RECAP

Round 1 - Contestant Favorite Performance

Clark - "Georgia On My Mind" by Ray Charles - Clark just has some really awesome musical chops. Maybe it's not for everyone watching, but he's a delight to listen to. Sure, the stage presence isn't really there but he'll grow into that eventually. The technical skills are off the charts. And he really brought the soul to this performance.
Nick - "Bright Lights" by Matchbox Twenty - Nick continued to steal from my Karaoke playbook by going back to one of my biggest hits. Who knew that if I sang with a little more goofy faces and strummed a guitar where you can't hear me playing it that I could win American Idol too? He sounded just like Rob Thomas while singing. I don't mean that in a complimentary way. But, the man does find a way to get the crowd invested. That, I guess, is a compliment.

I give this round to Clark. I don't care what Harry said.

Round 2 - Producer Choice

Clark - "Ain't No Sunshine" by Bill Withers - By the time Clark finished jamming to an acoustic take of the Bill Withers classic (ouch on the Duck joke Keith! Got a rewind in our house for more cringing!), I came up with a conclusion of these 2 performers. Clark, I would pay money to hear this man play his instruments and sing. Nick, I would pay for a beer in a bar and sing along to the cover songs with my friends. Clark smartly brought the guitar out for this one and he played it awesomely.
Nick - "I Won't Give Up" by Jason Mraz - This is a song that I also have played on the piano and sung at weddings. This dude just wants to be me! I swear I can't look at him when he sings. They call it emotion, I call it hyper ventilating through the song. He had some pitch issues throughout and the faces he makes takes me out of the performance. Still, it was a serviceable rendition of the tune. Just nothing special as always.

I give this round to Clark as well.

Round 3 - Single should they win.

"Champion" single by Clark Beckham - This song did absolutely NO favors for the type of musician Clark wants to be. I think they have a list of songs they can choose from to be their single. I doubt any of them really fit his style. This one sounded like a song The Script would put out (which coincidentally was the band that provided Kris Allen with his first single). Clark looked uncomfortable on the song and the song just wasn't that great. They rarely are. Phillip Phillips is really the only one that scored a good first single and lucked out with it becoming the Summer Olympic anthem. So, the question is how important is it that Clark bombed on this track? I just don't have the answer.
"Beautiful Life" Single by Nick Fradiani - What I can say is that Nick's song definitely fit his bland style of bland pop tunes. He dove head first into the cheese and was going all over the stage, activating the sway bots in the crowd and soaking in the moment. The dude looked like a winner. I had never seen him work the crowd like that. It sounds like he genuinely loves the song that could be his single and he went out there and owned it. Is it enough to win the season?

I will give the final round to Nick. I can't even believe the words left my fingers and appeared on this screen. But, I just gotta deal with it.

THE PICK

We all know the drill. I have to go down memory lane every season to recap how I've done over the years.

Record:

Season 1: Kelly Clarkson (winner) vs. Justin Guarini (got it right)
Season 2: Ruban Studdard (winner) vs. Clay Aiken (got it wrong)
Season 3: Fantasia Barrino (winner) vs. Diana DeGarmo (got it right)
Season 4: Carrie Underwood (winner) vs. Bo Bice (got it right)
Season 5: Taylor Hicks (winner) vs. Katharine McPhee (got it right)
Season 6: Jordin Sparks (winner) vs. Blake Lewis (got it right)
Season 7: David Cook (winner) vs. David "the artichoke" Archuleta (got it right)
Season 8: Kris Allen (winner) vs. Adam Lambert (got it wrong)
Season 9: Lee DeWyze (winner) vs. Crystal Bowersox (got it wrong)
Season 10: Scotty McCreery (winner) vs. Lauren Alaina (got it wrong)
Season 11: Phillip Phillips (winner) vs. Jessica Sanchez (got it right)
Season 12: Candice Glover (winner) vs. Kree Harrison (got it right)
Season 13: Caleb Johnson (winner) vs. Jena Irene (got it wrong)

So, I'm 8-5. I can be happy knowing that I'll have a winning record at picking these no matter what happens this season and next season! Nothing will ever top my 5 straight season winning streak of picks. And I definitely have fallen victim to not wanting to pick the guitar man after season 8. I did finally give in with Phillip Phillips though! It might have been that single that won me over, actually. But, I don't remember someone who I thought would be going home in round 12 making it to the final 2, EVER! HOW DID THIS HAPPEN?

Enough stalling. Time to make my pick.

American Idol Season 14 2015 Winner: Clark Beckham

I gotta stay with the horse I've been riding the whole way to the finale. There is one other angle of this that people always seem to forget. The Southern Folk ALWAYS win! Clark has the look, the guitar, the talent, and the southern vote. With that, he has some pretty good odds going in his favor. Throw in the fact that Keith gave Nick the edge and that'll activate the South voting even more so for him! They said the vote was what .4% difference last week? That's pretty crazy. It could go either way. But, I've enjoyed Clark's performances nearly every week. Nick made me shrug my shoulders every week. I do congratulate him for getting this far. And good for him if he wins. But, Clark is the deserving winner this year. Let's see what happens!

And with that we'll close the book on another season. I'll probably drop a few comments after the finale tomorrow night, but I will not be recapping the finale as always. You can count on hearing more words from me as we take one final stroll into the Nostalgia of Idol's past over the final season. I'm excited they have a year to figure out how they want to end this thing and get the past contestants and judges involved in whatever way they can. Should be quite a "PARTY" as Harry suggested. Thanks for anyone for sticking around the blog if you're still reading. Let's do it one more time and then FINALLY say our goodbyes to this show that has been full of several highs and many many lows.

Hope you enjoyed my ramblings and I'll see you next year!

American Idol: Top 4 Perform, 3 Move On

2015-05-07T06:54:00.000-04:00

Hello fellow Idol watchers! We are nearing the end of yet another season. This has been a difficult one for me to stay invested in for more reasons than one. But, I'm going to power through to the end! Let's dive right into a very quick recap that will set up next week's final 2 episodes (airing Tuesday from 9-10 Eastern Time and the Finale on Wednesday from 8-10 Eastern Time).

Recap

Rayvon

Scott's Pick "I Want You To Want Me" by Jason Derulo
Hometown Pick "As" by Stevie Wonder
Judges' Pick "You Are So Beautiful" by Joe Cocker

There's not much to discuss here. Rayvon had quite a run with his twitter saves and judge save. I picked him to go home last week because the math indicated that would probably happen even the show seemed to indicate Clark would go. Rayvon was way past his relevance on the show and his performances last night pretty much showed that. All sung technically good but I lost interest in every one of the performances.

Clark

Scott's Pick "Beautiful Day" by U2
Hometown Pick "(Sittin' On the) Dock of the Bay" by Otis Reading
Judges' Pick "Earned It" By The Weekend

Yay! Clark survived. Now that we're getting down to the nitty gritty I can be a little more nit picky with Clark. By far he is the most talented of the remaining contestants. My wife said it best though, he's a bit awkward on stage. All of the songs were sung great. His piano skills were on display in "Dock of the Bay". The judges and Scott tried to make him a little more modern. I don't know if it was intentional, but on "Beautiful Day" it sounded like he just learned the song with the way he was singing some of the lyrics. It sounded like he was trying to shoehorn a lot of Bono's lyrics in after the place where they were supposed to go. Maybe that goes back to Harry always telling him to find the pocket to sit in. If you can feel that rhythm of the song, and you know the lyrics well you know how to put those lyrics where they sound good. It was just a little awkward. But that voice, sometimes it outweighs these nitpicks. Most of the time I should say. And the last song, he definitely found the zone by the end as the judges all commented on it. He was feeling it, he was emoting, he was getting the crowd excited with his excitement. He even had my wife and I saying, "He's baaaaaaack!" Will it be enough to move him to the finale? Let's hope so. I don't know if I've mentioned this yet, but there was another awkward singer that won American Idol back in the day with an amazing voice and very little stage presence. Her name was Carrie Underwood. Granted, most of us knew from day 1 that she was going to win that year.

By the way, his hometown clips brought back some fun memories in our house. My wife and I got married not too far from all of the clips on Broadway in Nashville, TN. Lots of familiar sites. Great town if you ever get the chance to visit!

Nick

Scott's Pick "Because the Night" by Bruce Springsteen
Hometown Pick "Back Home" by Andy Grammar
Judges' Pick "I'll Be" by Edwin McCain

Nick is still in the competition. Nick has a chance to win. 2 things I didn't think I'd be saying at this point in the show. Somehow he has persevered and has maintained a strong fanbase. I don't think I'll surprise you by saying I still don't get it. That said, I thought this was his best night of the competition. I still can't stand to look at him when he performs. Even Harry mentioned his face shaking (though he mentioned it in a positive way). I feel like he may have taken my feedback from last week though because I didn't see any back and forward thrusting to the mic. Who knew Nick was a closet AI Addicts blog reader? I will still complain about this though. The judges have forgiven him for producing carbon copies of the songs he's performing because "that's just what he does". To me though, none of them ever live up to the originals so it's just glorified karaoke with a guitar. He's still getting great songs to sing and singing them the way people know them and the fans dig that up. But, I'd want to put my money on people doing something a little original. Bringing something unique to the stage. That's just me. I wish him all the best and we'll see what happens.

Jax

Scott's Pick "My Generation" by The Who
Hometown Pick "My Immortal" by Evanescence
Judges' Pick "Misery Business" by Paramore

Jax only needed to perform one song and I guaranteed her a spot in the finale. At this point, I think she's the full package. She has great stage presence, is showcasing her unique voice on every performance and is taking big risks. Her 1st 2 songs were FANTASTIC last night. I know what she was doing with her UK Flag during The Who song, but it was kind of odd considering we're watching "AMERICAN" Idol! But there is no denying she worked that stage, brought her unique flair to it and sung the (Randy Tribute) "I don't know what" out of it. But, for me, probably her best performance of the season was "My Immortal". Wow, toning that big song down and showcasing a beautiful beautiful piano arrangement to accompany her beautiful (J-Lo shout out) and vulnerable voice. It was awesome. "Misery Business" was a mixed bag. Keith summed it up perfectly. She sounded awesome on it, but the arrangement was all kinds of weird. If this was a fair world, Jax would probably win this competition. She's probably been the most consistent all season. But, we've been down this road before. It feels like a year ago this time where we had Caleb vs. Jena Irene (who was picking and performing very similar songs to Jax). I went ahead and picked Jena to win it, but Caleb took the crown anyway. Granted Caleb is different than Jax or Nick. But BOTH of them can sport a guitar. And if there's anything that we know about post season 6 Idol, never go against a decent looking guy with a guitar in the finale! We'll see how it goes down!

Eliminations

Farewell to Rayvon Owen. Nothing else to say that I didn't say above already!

Elimination Pick for this week: Nick Fradiani

I can't in good conscience pick him over Jax or Clark. We've been calling for that finale for a few weeks now, and it still seems destined to happen. But, Nick could certainly play spoiler and it seems like he has enough fans to make that happen. We'll just wait and see.

That's all I have for this week. Since we're back to a traditional week of Idol next week, I'll just be recapping the performance night on Tuesday. If there's anything to say about the final, I'll just add it to the comments of that post. And I'll probably once again declare that this is the last year I'm doing this, but we all know better! Hope you enjoyed my ramblings and I'll see you next week!

American Idol: Season 14 - Top 4 Perform

2015-04-30T06:57:00.003-04:00

Hello Idol friends! We are out of the crazy "twitter save" era and down to the top 4! It was a pretty great night of performances, but also a little concerning. There have been some surprising exits in the past at the Top 5/Top 4 week. If we went by the commentary from the judges alone, there might indeed be a surprise exit. But, in the end I have to have a little more faith in America to spot the true talent! Lots of things at play here and we'll get to it below. Let's dive in!

Recap

Clark Beckham - "Living for the City" by Stevie Wonder, "Your Man" by Josh Turner - Clark has been the favorite contestant for a long time. He performed first and 5th last night. If we went by the first performance, I would have said "competition over! He is winning!" But, then we had other contestant performances, judge commentary and then that incredibly skewed pre-performance package for song 2. It even included an "out of context" quote from Clark that said something like, "If this song doesn't connect, I don't want to win." He had to backpedal after his performance to say he desperately wants to win. I understood what he meant. He feels this type of music. But, come on Clark. I know he changed it up, but why on earth would you sing the infamous Scotty McCreary audition tune "Your Man"? He probably should've taken the advice from Scott Bruchetta (Spelled wrong intentionally) and Jay Demarcus from Rascal Flatts. But, his talent is evident. And he's a Nashville boy. If the fans from the South know anything, they know how to vote for their home grown southern folk! On the 1st tune, I thought the judges were being hard on him because they want to make him that much better. But, now I wonder if they think he'll be marketable after the show is over. I'm fully prepared for a surprise exit next week, but it would be unfortunate. I'm fairly confident 2 of these contestants shouldn't even be here anymore.
Jax - "Empire State of Mind" by Alicia Keys, "Human" by Christina Perri - I'll say it. Jax was hands down the best performer of the night. My jaw dropped when J-lo said it was Nick. Sure, she had a lot of help from lighting and smoke machines but her voice sounded incredible. They said she was hoarse? Well, then it only helped add some nice character to the performance. Maybe it's like when Phoebe actually started to be able to sing when she was sick. Jax connected with her songs and told her stories to the audience. She "bared her soul/gravy" on the Christina Perri song. I thought she pretty much guaranteed one of the slots in the final 2. But hey, maybe America wants Nick vs. Rayvon in the final. That would be a hoot!
Nick Fradiani - "Bright Lights" by Matchbox Twenty, "What Hurts the Most" by Rascal Fatts - So Nick is just taking a page out of my karaoke book to win this thing. I've sang "Only the Good Die Young" a couple times. "Bright Lights" is my go to Karaoke staple. I tend to get positive reviews from performing it. So, can I be in the top 4 of American Idol? I probably bring just about as much stage presence to the performance. I'm being sarcastic, because I really don't bring much! And neither does he. Sure, he acts like he's trying to with that whole manic foot step back and thrust forward towards the mic stand 36 times per 1 minute performance. I mentioned this last week. If Nick has done anything right, it's picking good and popular songs. Keith gave good advice to Clark. We need singles not album cuts. You have to win over the audience. It's the same advice Proximo gives Maximus in Gladiator, "Win the crowd!" I guess that's what he's doing. I still find him so generic and bland. But, maybe it's like CBS TV shows. The more generic and bland you are, the higher ratings you get because it appeals to all types of people (I say this and I still watch Big Bang Theory). I've been trying to boot this guy off the show since the top 10. Clearly he has fans. We've seen this before. Many times before. A man with a light complexion sporting a box with strings has consistently won this show. People are attracted to a man with a guitar. Clark plays guitar too, but it's skill over connection with the audience. And this is where that is going to start to matter. Needless to say, this is a bit worrisome!
Rayvon Owen - "Need You Now" by Lady Antebellum, "Believe" by Justin Bieber - Ahhh Rayvon. If this were a traditional Idol season, Rayvon would've been gone long ago. I picked him last week as who would get the boot, but even had a strong suspicion he would survive. It makes sense that he'd get to live at least 1 more week without the help of a save. He certainly has improved over the weeks and found himself. He is the great balladeer. The Lady Antebellum song was good. He may have gotten a little overly dramatic at the end, but it was still performed well. But then, he went ahead and drew the MOM vote with the 2nd tune. I love Harry's subtle slam at Justin Bieber with his critique of the 15 writers of that song being made happy by Rayvon's performance. No one will be able to convince me that that wasn't a Bieber slam! But, it was total crowd manipulation. Camera pans to the crying mother, the big hug at the end. How does he not go through? He certainly sang it mostly well and connected with the crowd. But it all spells trouble for Clark!

Eliminations

Eliminated This Week: Tyanna Jones - I think I mentioned last week that depending on the week she could be the best performer or the worst performer. America decided. Farewell Tyanna! Still a promising future for you!

I think I did all of my analysis in the recap above. I can't in good conscience pick Clark to go home, even if that's the way it goes. I do give Jax the win for last night though. Maybe Clark gets a bottom 2 scare. So, since I'm pretty confident this guy won't win I'll go with this:

Bottom 2: Clark, Rayvon

Elimination Pick: Rayvon Owen - Has to happen eventually, right? It at least makes me feel better not to pick Clark. I do think he has a lot of support out there regardless of judge/Bruchetta commentary.

Okay, that's all I have for this week! We're getting closer to the end! Hometown week is next for the Top 3. Hope you enjoyed my ramblings and I'll see you next week!

American Idol: Season 14 - Top 6 Perform, 5 Move on

2015-04-23T06:51:00.004-04:00

Hello everyone and welcome back to the show where we consider songs from Dido as "Stadium Anthems"! That's right folks, we are continuing this mixed bag of a season of American Idol (in truth, they've all been mixed bags for probably the past 7 years). It seems like a foregone conclusion who is going to win this season. Maybe the bigger question is who will be standing next to him? But, we have a job to do and we'll do it briefly! Jump ahead for the recap.

Jax - "Are You Gonna Be My Girl?" and "White Flag" - Jax was OK on the first song. Though I thought it was funny how she changed the chorus to "be my guy" but still left in a lyric about "you were with another man". She must be hanging out with interesting folk! She was much better on the Dido tune. I love that song, but as mentioned, how does that qualify as a stadium anthem? Yes, it's one of Dido's biggest hits but has Dido ever rocked a stadium? Anyway, that performance probably solidified Jax as a top 3 finalist. May depend on how popular this next guy really is.
Nick - "Harder to Breathe" and "Maggie May" - I'm being repetitive with this, I know. But, I just don't see it. Can he sing? Yes. Can he perform with a band? Yes. Is he entertaining? Sure, I would probably have a drink at a bar and enjoy listening to that in the background. Is he doing anything to stand out from the crowd and show that he deserves a record contract and a huge fan base? I say absolutely not. He's picking good songs, I'll give him credit there. I felt that he was drowned out on the Maroon 5 tune by the band. I thought he was a little too manic on "Maggie May" not really connecting with the lyrics. The band sounded really good, and he just kinda kept with them as best he could. But, I don't see him as a star. I don't see him as even deserving to be in this competition. He is a poor man's Chris Daughtry. He sounds like he's going for the same sound in his voice, but it isn't as good. The thing is. You can hear the fans screaming for him after he performs. I think that's due to popular song choices and the band sounding good more than him bringing anything unique to it. Let's add his Billy Joel attempt from last week as proving that he's not even ABLE to bring anything unique to it worth listening to. But, maybe I'm in a minority with him. I know he has a defender in the comments of this blog, but I just don't see it.
Clark - "Yesterday" and "Boyfriend" - Just far and above the favorite of the competition. Smooth vocals, great talent, believing in himself a little more each week. The judges came down on him with his Bieber take. Again, is it really a stadium anthem? I dunno. But, I thought his jazzed up version worked really well. He's just a delight to listen to, whatever he sings and he has mad skills on any instruments he plays. I guess strange things could happen, but it's still his competition to lose.
Tyanna - "Party in the U.S.A." and "Heaven" - Singing Miley Cyrus was a nice tie-in to the pre-performance clip where she wanted to meet her. The braided look was better than the blue fro. It's a catchy song, but it probably wasn't her best performance. I knew the moment I heard she was doing Bryan Adams that she probably never heard of the song before she sang it. That said, she still did a good job with it. There were some issues, but she still has one of the best voices in the competition. My wife went ahead and predicted she'll be in the final 2. I'm not sure if I"m there yet. But looking at the competition, it's entirely possible.
Quentin - "Light My Fire" and "Shake it Out" - Should I even bother commenting at this point? The judges gave him a lot more credit for his performances than I could. I was falling asleep on both of them. And I like both tunes.
Rayvon - "I'm Not the Only One" and "Go Your Own Way" - Rayvon has been in that hot seat for 4 weeks now and it seems to have helped him grow in the competition. As tired as I am of Sam Smith songs, it certainly is his wheelhouse. He sounded great on it. The Fleetwood Mac tune was a bit of a mess. Now that the Twitter Save has ended, it seems like Rayvon's presence on the show will end too. Maybe he's earned enough credit to be in the bottom 2 and not be eliminated. But then it's a tough call who would go before him.

Eliminations:

Eliminated from Top 6: Quentin - Well, we've already discussed it. As predicted last week, Quentin certainly did end up going home. I'd venture to say even without the twitter save, he probably got the lowest votes. Farewell Quentin and may you find a good PR agent!

Top 5 Elimination Prediction:
Okay, well the safe pick here is Rayvon. But who else could be in that bottom 2? I know I'd pick Nick, but it doesn't seem like that's what America will do. I guess we have to do a ranking based on last night's performances.

1.) Clark
2.) Jax (for the dido tune)
3.) Tyanna
4.) Nick
5.) Rayvon

Elimination pick: Rayvon - I just still think he's slightly on a level below the other contestants. Even if he's probably a better singer than Nick, I think Nick is still doing some good song selections to keep him alive.

Tyanna, I could see going either way. Either she's going to be standing in that finale, or going home in the next 2 weeks. (That was probably by best obvious John Madden quote of the year "if you're going to win the game, you need to score more points than the other team!") What I mean is, when she's on she's really on. But, when she has a bad week, she's sometimes the worst of the crop.

But, I've overthought this enough for one week. Hope you enjoyed my ramblings and I'll see you next week!

American Idol: Season 14 - Top 7 Perform, 6 Move On

2015-04-16T07:00:00.001-04:00

Hello Idol fans, and those that keep reluctantly watching even though it's painful to do so! It's been a season of highs and lows and this one was a good one! Everyone sounded pretty darn good. And of course, weird stuff happened. Or should I say some stuff happened that was "WHACK!"?? You can never quite predict what might take over a show on live television. Of course, with a 2 hour program, sometimes there's enough time to course correct over the remainder of the show. Was it enough? We'll discuss briefly. The elimination was sorta shocking, but by the time it actually happened it seemed inevitable. I think this whole green chair/red chair takes a bit of the elimination suspense away, especially when everyone sang 2 songs. Oh well, let's discuss!

Recap

Tyanna - "Why Do Fools Fall in Love", "Proud Mary" - Tyanna was sounding really good tonight on both songs. Everyone felt she was sort of reserved on the first tune because she was stuck on a platform behind a mic stand. But, she did her rendition of Tina on Proud Mary and it was pretty darn impressive for a 16 year old. It would've been impressive for a 28 year old which makes it even that much more impressive. I agree with Keith. She's on track to be pretty amazing one day.
Clark - "Superstitious", "Moon River" - I still think he's the one to beat. Superstitious was his better of the 2 performances. That guitar riff at the beginning with harmonizing scatting was pretty cool. But then he rocked it out with the band and sounded great. I usually don't comment on look, but there was a clear difference from last week to this week. More volume in that hair! "Moon River" was a good performance too. It was nice to show 2 different sides AND instruments to show his versatility. I'm sure the different chords would've sounded cool, but I really doubt many people were observing that like Harry did. Maybe it would be a subtle thing that would make the performance stand out even more. In any case, he's safe. But, his competition might have gotten a little stiffer.
Jax - "Piece of My Heart", "Beat It" - Jax was another one that showed 2 sides with her 2 performances. So many contestants have taken on Janis Joplin on this show. But, Jax was able to add her own spin on the tired tune. Good vocal, strong emotion on display. "Beat It" was all out craziness. Her vocals weren't on display, but her performance skills were. She worked the stage, she went crazy and she was still in tune. All in all, a good night for Jax!
Nick - "American Girl", "Only the Good Die Young" - Oh Nick. What to say? I'll at least say this. This was definitely his best night. He felt more comfortable with the band on stage with him, that's for sure. He played the ultimate Party/Bar Band anthem with Tom Petty's "American Girl". He definitely rocked it out and the band sounded great. But, did he really stand out beyond that? Did I think, "Wow, I've never heard the song sung quite like this!"? No, it was a good performance of an exact rendition of Petty. Which, there's nothing wrong with that. It would've been a huge hit at a bar. And maybe if he had a concert full of his own hits and sang 1 cover, it would've been fine. My point is, I didn't see anything IDOL WINNING worthy. But it was good. Now...he did the unthinkable and took on my favorite artist of all time. And he went and tried to change up "Only the Good Die Young". The funny thing is, Billy Joel originally wrote the song as a reggae. What Nick did, well it was "adventurous" I guess. My initial comment before listening to Harry's critique was, "I Feel like he's trying too hard." It seemed like he was trying to be as inventive as his fellow contestants by changing up a tune and he tried to take people to Church with it. I get the idea, and I give him cool points for singing Billy Joel. But, the arrangement did not work for me. Totally agreed with Harry when he implied that he abandoned the whole concept of the song. Self Involved was a good comment too. He changed it up without really thinking about the implications beyond that it "sounded cool and different". I'm sure Simon would've said it was "Indulgent". Anyway, he's fine for now. I'm still not a fan, but give him credit for trying!
Quentin - "Are You Gonna Go My Way", "The Sound of Silence" - WHACK! Wow dude, what a way to shoot yourself in the foot. Maybe he thought he was going to be in the bottom 2 like I did this week? But his whole attempt at being the "Cool silent type" totally backfired on him when he start talking about his one true love Joey being in the bottom 2 (and yes I know he's not "technically" in love with her because she's engaged and he's going to marry them. WHAAAAT???? Let's take a minute to scratch our heads about that one!). He later tried to cover that he was sad about Rayvon being there too. I mean I get it, he was just saying he was sad and the show is hitting home. And he was thankful for moving on. But his behavior or the appearance of his behavior didn't add up. Then Harry, of course, couldn't leave it alone and had to say something. I think we all thought it looked like Quentin was walking over to him and was going to hit him. He's a weird dude. And weird is good for music, but I don't think America will respond well to it...half apology or not. Regardless, we're at the point in the competition where his elimination is a threat anyway. His performances were good, but I agree he did get overtaken by the Kravitz tune. The band sounded REALLY great. And I would let Ricky Minor walk away with the Idol crown if he was eligible. Quentin sang it fine, but he brought nothing different to the table from Lenny's version. So basically, he would've done all right at a Karaoke night with his boy Nick. "Sound of Silence" pretty much lulled the world to sleep and we had the "WHACK MOMENT" in the back of our heads when listening. He might be fine next week, but chances are he's going to be battling 3 time Twitter Save champ next week.
Joey - "My Funny Valentine", "Somebody to Love" - I guess there's not much point in critiquing Joey. She was a good contestant who I thought was better each week. Maybe "Valentine" was a sidestep in that improvement. It felt a little off, but she had just learned she was in the bottom 2 and had to defend her not-so-secret-anymore love with Quentin. "Somebody to Love" was more her speed. She went for a bluegrass feel. It was fun and she sounded great. But, it wasn't enough by 2%!
Rayvon "Long Train Runnin", "Always On My Mind" - The man just can't be stopped! He probably would've been gone by now in a previous Idol season. But, he's a fighter and the Twitterverse just can't help themselves of wanting more Rayvon! He sounded pretty good on both tunes. But, "Always On My Mind" was absolutely his best performance to date. I just think he's on a different tier than the rest of the competition. So, I think his luck will run out soon. I've been wrong before.

Eliminations

We've already alluded to it. Joey Cook has gone home. Farewell oh quirky one and good luck in your future endeavors!

I had picked Rayvon and Quentin as my bottom 2. Guess what? Here's my bottom 2 picks for this week.

BOTTOM 2: Rayvon, Quentin

Elimination Pick: Quentin - It really could be either of them. But, I'm going to give the edge to Rayvon because somehow he keeps winning the twitter save and Quentin kind of lost some appeal this week. I could absolutely see it going the other way. But, on a night where everyone sounded great, I think it has to be this 2 in the bottom. We shall see!

That's all I have for this week folks! Hope you enjoyed my ramblings and I'll see you next week!

American Idol: Season 14 - Top 8 Perform, 7 Move On

2015-04-08T23:04:00.000-04:00

Hello Idol fans! It was Billboard night and what better way to celebrate than bringing on Florida Georgia Line to help celebrate! UGH. I don't know if I have ever been able to go on a rant about how much I despise them. And I don't think I really have to, because their talentless selves were pretty much on display all night!

As for the contestants? It was a mixed bag of a night. But it's pretty clear who are the frontrunners vs. the middle of the pack vs. the weakest links at this point. I typed each contest recap up basically in real time, so I wasn't aware of what was coming next or who would inevitably be sent packing. (trying to be efficient in my time!) Let's dive into the discussion.

Jax - "Poker Face" - Pretty interesting rendition of the tune. I think the judges were expecting a little more just like we at home were. But she still is one of the top contenders this season, and I think she'll be fine.
Nick - "Teenage Dream" - Okay, so I'm apparently totally off on this guy. I really don't get the appeal. But, he is the token man of light skin that plays a wooden box with strings this season (aka WGWG. then again, Clark can fill that role and is much better and more versatile). So, I guess that means he's going to go on a bit of a run regardless of what I say here. There are worse contestants and he can carry a tune. I just don't think he has a great presence up there.
Quentin - "Latch" - Never liked the song. But Quentin sang it really well and commanded the stage. Harry mentioned pitch issues, but I didn't pick up on them. I should state the disclaimer that all of my idol watching experiences these days include screaming kids in surround sound!
Joey - "Wrecking Ball" - She avoided the crabby hands! I'll be honest, I didn't pick up on that before and I can still make fun of Carrie Underwood's mannerisms on stage. Very emotional performance. She is totally a different artist than I expected from the first time we saw her. Judges spoke of not enough dynamics. Probably true, but I still think there's something about her that stands out. I still think she's safe this week.
Clark - "Make it Rain" - Dude is just awesome. I'm no Jason Derulo fan, but the people that got him as a mentor certainly benefitted more than getting the joke known as Florida Georgia Line. Nice little guitar solo which he could afford to take a few seconds to do because the vocal is just dead on fantastic. Still the one to beat. All the judges can do is nitpick on some really technical stuff to make him even better. All good advice though!
Tyanna - "Stay" - She definitely can get inside a lyric with her personal motivations. Powerful voice and conviction for 16. On a good day, she's right up there with the top contestants.
Rayvon - "Set Fire to the Rain" - The guy has a good voice, but I just don't think he's on the same tier as the others.
Qaasim - "Hey Ya" - Still not that great. Still an energetic performer. But there's no impressive vocal. At this point, Rayvon and Qaasim should be in the bottom 2 in comparison to everyone else.

Eliminations

Rayvon and Qaasim fought for the fan save. Qaasim goes home! I really don't think Rayvon deserves to be saved twice, but between those 2 yet again, he deserves to stay!

This week:

Bottom 2: Rayvon, Quentin

Elimination pick: Rayvon - 3rd time's the charm!

That's all I have this week. Hope you enjoyed my brief ramblings yet again and I'll see you next week!

American Idol: Season 14 - Top 9 Perform, 8 Move On

2015-04-01T23:03:00.001-04:00

Hello friends and welcome back to this crazy season of Idol. In a season of declining interest, I personally had been looking forward to this week. The one the only inaugural winner of Idol, Kelly Clarkson returned and proved just why she is still the best to ever grace the stage! She provided invaluable advice and her usual blunt humor that is equally awkward and refreshing. Most of the contestants pulled out some interesting renditions of her favorite tunes. And even with the twist "twitter save" the right thing happened at the end. Let's dive into a quick recap and pick for next week!

Nick - "Catch My Breath" - Eh. He did an okay job. Pretty much sounds the same every week at this point to me.
Jax - "Beautiful Disaster" - Harry clearly did not hear Kelly's rendition on the Breakaway album of this song or her live performance on Idol at the season 3 finale. That was basically the version Jax did and it is the much better version than the overproduced version on Kelly's first album. Jax, naturally, added her unique voice to it and it worked very well. She is easily one of the top 3 of this season.
Tyanna - "Mr. Know it All" - Definitely a performance with conviction and a few pitch problems. She still has a powerful instrument in that voice and is a force to reckon with.
Joey - "Miss Independent" - Fine, we get it Harry, you are a modern day jazz musician. But that shouldn't take away from what Joey is doing out there. She turned the song on its head and it sounded really really good. I'm continuing my 180 on my opinion of her. She's very good at what she does. Is it relevant in today's market? Depends. As I've mentioned, Adele has an old fashioned sound and has proven herself very relevant. Time will tell.
Quentin - "Darkside" - Love the song choice. It's one of the songs from Stronger that I tend to go back to. He sounded very good on the verses, choruses were a little rough. But, there's still something about him that's appealing for now.
Qaasim - "Stronger (What Doesn't Kill You)" - Ugh, I really wanted to like his arrangement. You can tell that this guy has talent, but the vocal killed the whole thing. It sounded good in rehearsal with Kelly, but when he gets on stage he overdoes it or something and is all over the place. He might be in trouble.
Clark - "The Trouble With Love Is" - My wife's favorite Kelly song of all time. Kelly does nail the vocal on that song. But, so did Clark. He is easily the one to beat at this point. He wavered a bit in the beginning, but what he brought to that 2nd half was awesome. The feeling, the growling, the vocal turned it into a pretty magnetic performance. I look forward to hearing him each week. Definitely safe.
Daniel- "Breakaway" - Still boycotting commentary, but I will say I knew he would sing this song and it was as awful as I thought it could be.
Rayvon - "Since U Been Gone" - Definitely Rayvon's best performance to date. I'm sure toning things down helped to showcase his voice. Also, going head to head with Daniel for a save helped to shine him in a different light. Will it be enough to save him next week? Probably.

Elimination this week:

Farewell Daniel! (For the record I had Daniel and Rayvon in my bottom 3)

Bottom 3 for next week: Nick, Qaasim, Rayvon

Elimination Pick for next week: Nick

In all honesty it should be Qaasim, but I think there's more upside to him than there is Nick and I think the voters will lean that way too. Going first never helps either!

That's all I have for this week. Hope you enjoyed my ramblings and see you next week!

American Idol: Season 14 - Top 9 Perform

2015-03-26T10:47:00.001-04:00

Hello everyone. As expected, I am out of town and ran into issues getting to this recap. I finally had some time to (sorta) watch the episode and provide a very quick commentary. Here goes nothing!
Recap
I'll be honest, I had the show on in the background while doing other more pressing things. Maybe I missed some details worth listening to or seeing. But, from what I can tell Clark and Jax were the standouts with their performances. Joey picked a good song and look with Cindi Lauper, but it was missing a punch. Qaasim continues to prove he doesn't have multiple facets to his performances. Quentin was okay. Nick picked a great song, but one that leads to inevitable comparisons to Michael Jackson. His voice did not fit the billing the song requires. Tyanna was okay on the Whitney tune, but still missing something. I'm continuing my boycott of commentary on Daniel.

Eliminations

Maddie and Adanna have gone home!

Not surprising on Maddie being eliminated as it was overdue and expected. I didn't think Adanna had a great following, but I thought she was improving. I had picked Rayvon last week and he somehow survived. His performance last night wasn't anything to write home about either.

In fact, this season is getting more and more disappointing each week that it is on. Its saving grace is that the inaugural winner will be gracing us with her songs and presence next week! I feel certain most will butcher her songs, but at least she will be there to provide humor and her amazing voice on a performance of her own!

As for my pick for next week? So many to choose from:

Bottom 3: Rayvon, Daniel, Qaasim

Elimination Pick: Daniel - It's time dude.

Sorry for the brief recap this week. I'll try to live up to expectations again next week! Hope you enjoyed my ramblings and I'll see you next week!

American Idol: Season 14 - Top 11 Perform (again)

2015-03-20T07:07:00.003-04:00

Hello Idol watchers! Well, maybe it shouldn't have been shocking who ended up in that red seat last night. It certainly wasn't surprising that the save was used. But, we'll talk about that later. Movie Night was an interesting night. People that were really good last week didn't shine this week. People that were bad last week did much better this week. And others remained consistent (for better or worse). Let's dive in!

Recap

Adanna Duru - "I Love You I Do" by Jennifer Hudson in Dreamgirls - Okay, maybe I'm starting to see what the judges have been talking about with her. She just needed a few weeks to get into her groove. She really has a good presence about her out there. Her voice is really good and she pretty much rocked this tune. I love that Harry told her to win over the crowd in the room and don't sing to the camera. Didn't they give the opposite advice last week?
Daniel Seavey - "Lost Stars" by Adam Levine in Begin Again - I just don't want to waste any more words on this kid. He was not good. He will be here next week.
Rayvon Owen - "Stayin Alive" by the Bee Gees in Saturday Night Fever - When looking at all of the contestants, Rayvon just doesn't seem to stand up to the competition. Yeah, he can sing and he's impressive with his falsetto stuff. But, all of that falsetto gets overbearing too and it gets drowned out by the band on songs and arrangements like this. (Did Harry really say that not everyone knows what "an arrangement" is? I know it was to Clark, but isn't that basic knowledge? I'm a musician, but I didn't think I was in an elite crowd when it came to that word!) On the other hand, Harry's advice for Rayvon to pick a song with some meaningful lyrics that he can chew on was good advice. With his current trajectory, he might not be around much longer.
Nick Fradiani - "Danger Zone" by Kenny Loggins in Top Gun - Easily the worst song choice of the night! Don't get me wrong, I love some Kenny Loggins soundtrack tunes just as much as everyone. But don't they usually come in kind of a comical way referring to 80s Soundtrack Tunes? Kenny Loggins was the go to guy! And the fact that he was there last night makes me think maybe the producers forced someone to fall on their sword and do a Kenny Loggins tune. At least no one did "Playin With the Boys" from the infamous Top Gun volleyball scene. Again, a classic tune but in a more unintentional comedic way. Anyway, Nick tool the song all seriously and changed it up. But the lyrics are still ridiculous and doesn't give much range. This guy just seems like a Chris Daughtry / Ed Kowalczyk (LIVE) knock off. I've made it clear I'm not a fan. But he does have some fans out there. And J-Lo has outed him as the "hot guy" this year. I don't see it. My wife doesn't see it (She consistently says he's creepy and "why is he still there?". But maybe someone does!
Joey Cook - "Mad World" by Michael Andrews in Donnie Darko - Well, Adam Lambert did do a memorable performance of this back in the day. But I have to say, this Joey Cook has made me do a 180 on her. She has shown a lot of range in a small amount of time. This was a nice toned down performance with emoting and it really worked for her. It showed less of her quirky side and how she could be a viable performer in today's world. And of course, Harry did mention that the song has lyrics "you can chew on". It's a good point. If you can bring meaning to lyrics with your own interpretation, it can make for a memorable performance and a connection with the audience.
Tyanna Jones - "Circle of Life" by Elton John in The Lion King - I always think of Jennifer Hudson when I think of this song and American Idol. She really nailed it back then and in hindsight, I wonder how she didn't win that season. The judges loved that illiterate Craptasia, a role model for all of America! (no offense to the illiterate! Oh right, you wouldn't be reading this. I stand my by comments!) Anyway, Tyanna went from one of the best performances last week to one of the worst this week. It was out of tune for a majority of the performance and the pacing was all off. Harry brought up that it seemed like she was actually trying on this performance where the other ones seemed more effortless. There is probably something to that. Even through all of the negative criticism I can still hear that powerful voice in there. It's undeniable. She should be okay and when she connects on a song the next time it'll be really good.
Quentin Alexander - "You're the One That I Want" by John "Adele Dazeem" Travolta and Olivia Newton-John in Grease - I was actually really impressed with Quentin with his arrangement of this tune. It certainly made me think of the song in a completely different way. Granted, the judges took him down a notch when Keith said he heard that version of the song before. So, he didn't come up with that arrangement. Fair enough. Joey didn't come up with the arrangement of her tune last week but she still nailed it. Quentin does have a powerful voice, and he still is a unique persona on the show. He'll probably be okay.
Maddie Walker - "Let's Hear it for the Boy" by Deniece Williams in Footloose - I'm befuddled how this girl is still here and wasn't the eliminated one this week. Okay, she was sick or in pain last week. What was her excuse this week? She's young and inexperienced and she showed why she wouldn't win a pageant's talent competition this week. It was bad folks. Harry spoke to how he can't identify who she is because she's all over the place with her performances. Keith said a ballad would've hit better. That's probably true. I just don't see her sticking around much.
Clark Beckham - "Sunday Morning" by Maroon 5 in Cheaper By the Dozen 2 - That's an unfortunate movie for the song to have been found in. I don't even know if I knew there was a sequel to that franchise! But Clark certainly picked a great song to showcase his gifts. Yes, and he picked a great personal arrangement of the tune with just him and his talented guitar noodling. I've been supporting him since the earlier live shows. I think he's one of the best talents this year. There is no denying that he is very talented and I thought he brought more emotion to the table this week as well. I think it was the best of the night, regardless of what that last performer did.
Jax - "Grow Old With You" by Adam Sandler in The Wedding Singer - I've always loved that song. I never thought I'd hear it on American Idol, but that's what makes Jax a unique contender on the show. This was definitely more in her wheelhouse than trying to carbon copy a Taylor Swift song last week. I did let out a snort when she did the tongue and cheek "remote control" lyric. It's kind of silly when it's a girl singing it rather than a guy. Harry spoke to Jax as a High Risk High Reward contender and it worked this week. I agree. And that's what you have to do to stand out in these competitions. She'll be safe next week.
Qaasim Middleton - "Come Together" by The Beatles in Across the Universe - Yeah, I should've known he might be a threat for elimination based on that awful performance last week. It's clear this guy has one trick. It's an impressive trick, but nonetheless the schtick will get old eventually. He was saved tonight based on his ridiculously over the top performance of The Beatles' classic tune. It was the right call to save him. He shouldn't be eliminated this early in the competition, but it may speak to his appeal by the American masses. I thought his attitude last night was pathetic. The Mic drop may have been part of his performance, but I think it was more speaking to his disappointment in the voters like, "Do you see what your lack of votes did? How dare you!" And then when he was saved, he wasn't gracious, his facial expression stated, "Of course I was saved. I. AM. THE KING!" Sorry dude, you haven't earned that kind of respect yet. And if he keeps that attitude up, he'll find his way off this show much sooner than any of us expected. Also, I wonder if it was even clear to everyone that now that he was saved that people should vote for him. They didn't flash the numbers DURING the performance. The second he was saved the numbers flashed up. If Ryan spoke to it it was drowned out by the crazy crowd. That might hurt him. But, I'm sure he'll somehow manage to be safe next week.

Elimination Pick

Okay, let's sum up.

Clark - Best of the Night
Qaasim - 2nd best - gets knocked down a notch for attitude.
Other highlights - Jax, Joey, Quentin, Adanna
Not their best - Tyanna, Nick, Rayvon
Beyond comprehension that they're still here - Daniel, Maddie

I know they don't do a bottom 3 anymore, but it's still fun to do.

Bottom 3: Daniel, Maddie, Rayvon

Elimination pick: Maddie Walker - 2nd time is the charm, right?

Okay, that's it for this week! I'll be out of town next week but may have a chance to get to this recap. If not, then I'll post a discussion blog if anyone wants to put their thoughts in. If I see the episode, I'll certainly at least post my pick! Hope you enjoyed my ramblings and I'll see you next week! (maybe)

American Idol: Top 11 Perform

2015-03-13T07:10:00.003-04:00

Hello fellow Idol watchers! Well, after being spoiled with 1 hour episodes, we got blindsided by a 2 hour episode last night! I'm sure this is how they will be from now on. 1 2 hour episode a week. It definitely gave the show more room to breathe, and allowed me more control over fast forwarding the nonsense! Things felt more at home. But, these performances? I think I fall for the hype every year that "this is the best crop of contestants, full of potential of tons of stars." Last year they had people that could sing but had no charisma. This year they're just full of stage performers who can't carry a tune! Maybe they're just adjusting to the live shows and it'll improve. But, I spent more time cringing last night than anything. We lost a contestant too and we'll discuss that a bit as well. Let's dive in!

Recap

Rayvon Owen - "Burn" by Ellie Goulding - Ugh. Not a very good performance. I think Rayon's time on this show might be limited. As Harry said, he has a pattern of building to a climax and high notes. He had already lost me in the beginning of the performance. He was breathing heavily and throwing in whispery (is it a word?) high notes for no reason. It was a mess.
Maddie Walker - "She's Country" by Jason Aldean - But not as big a mess as this performance was! I'm not sure how a Jason Aldean song could turn into looking like a Pageant performance! But, Maddie pulled it off. Every choreographed move was felt in the performance. I'm sure the new mentor guy (that brought us Taylor Swift! don't you forget it!) determined all of these moves. And yes, she probably wasn't comfortable adding that into her show, but it all felt so forced. The judges tried to give her a pass saying her amazing voice will come out. She may not have the gift of time on her side for that to happen.
Joey Cook- "Fancy" by Iggy Azalea - And the girl we referred to as Ronald McDonald a few weeks ago continues to impress me. What is happening to this world?? We found out by the end that she did not come up with the arrangement and it was by a band called Post Modern Jukebox. Eh, who cares? At least she owned up to it unlike some of the people in the past (even Nick Fradiani with "In Your Eyes" being totally the Jeffrey Gaines version). It was still a crazy good performance and a smart choice for her. We all questioned if her schtick would get old. It was a smart move to take a popular song and turn it inside out. I wondered if she could survive in the mainstream market. Then I thought about Adele (no I'm not comparing the 2. Adele is one of a kind.). She brings a sort of old fashioned vibe to the modern era and excels at it. So, maybe there is room for someone like Joey Cook to find a niche in the market.
Clark Beckham - "Taking It To The Streets" by The Doobie Brothers - Whenever I hear this song on this show, I just think of Taylor Hicks with that speeding highway video background behind him and can't help but laugh. I like Clark, but I don't know about this one. It sounded like a carbon copy of Michael McDonald with a couple ad-libbed sing-screams at the end. I'm sure he'll be fine. Harry compared the dude to Ray Charles in how he's introspective and to keep doing that. Hmm, not sure if that's good advice for this show, where you need to win over America. But we shall see.
Jax - "Blank Space" by Taylor Swift - So, it's a fine line to walk. If you build a reputation of changing up songs and putting your own spin on it, it's probably not advisable to take one of the most popular songs out there right now and sing a sub-par karaoke rendition of it. If she came out and nailed the performance, that would've been one thing. But the song ate her alive. As J-Lo said, the special quality of her voice got lost in the song. I'm sure she'll survive, but she better rethink those song choices!
Qaasim Middleton - "Jet" by Paul McCartney and Wings - Well, we wanted to see another side of Qaasim and aren't we all terrified that it happened? Everyone acknowledged that his voice is not the greatest and that certainly was on display in this performance. The whole conversation about Suffragettes vs. Giraffes was comical but the point was he didn't feel connected to the song. He'll probably resort to the antics again next week. He might not be the talent I thought he was!
Adanna Duru - "Runaway Baby" by Bruno Mars - Scotty P (who brought us T. Swizzle y'all!) said that Adanna and her Duru Nation have a chance to win this thing because she has "EDGE". Woaaaa. I've tried to kick her off the show a couple times now, but maybe there's a little bit right about what he's saying. She is a very manic performer, but she was able to get some control over the performance last night. And with a Bruno Mars song like "Runaway Baby" there is huge potential of overdoing it. She somehow made it work. Love that song too.
Tyanna Jones - "Tightrope" by Jangle Monae - I'm not very familiar with the song but Tyanna certainly knows how to handle a stage and work the crowd. Her singing chops are pretty good too. I don't think she's in any danger of going anywhere just yet.
Daniel Seavey - "Happy" by Pharell - Ugh, it's happening again. The cute kid keeps getting a pass. Even worse? He knows it! The pre-performance clips had him saying "I can't keep relying on being cute." I mean, he tells himself he's cute too? Maybe that'll lose some of his appeal. Because now I'm just seeing some punk kid with an ego that needs to be knocked off his pedestal. We all know he's not winning the show, so it's just a question of when America will wake up. I have nothing else to say.
Quentin Alexander - "Rolling in the Deep" by Adele - He sang it well, changed it up just enough to distance it from the original, worked the crowd. Good performance. Nothing spectacular, but he's fine for now just wearing weird things and singing well.
Nick Fradiani - "Wake Me Up" by Aloe Blacc - You'll be hearing this a lot from me. I just don't get it. He's an average performer with average looks (I got confirmation from the wife that he's just flat out creepy). It was informative to know he used to be in a band. I'm sure I could've guessed. But standing out there with no band surround him certainly could affect his performance. Because the stage was definitely swallowing him whole. But even the vocal is a little much. Lots of extra vibrato where it's not needed. Harry wants to feel the weight of the world when he sings lyrics with those words. I'm not sure it'll do it for me, but I'm sure he'll be back again next week. Sidenote: I don't think because he went last means he was necessarily in the bottom 2. I think the whole concept of bottom performances is gone with this new format.

Eliminations

The curse of going first returned and claimed Sarina-Joi Crowe after a crazy quick and rushed hour show where she didn't have time to get her bearings. I did feel bad for her, and maybe still do a little. But she had a commercial break last night to get her composure and sing for a save. If she had the right song picked, she probably could've impressed the judges. The problem was, it was PARTY SONGS night and she unfortunately had Demi Lovato's "Neon Lights" in her arsenal. That and the One Republic song were not well suited for her voice. And just like that....she's gone. Farewell Sarina-Joi!

Okay, onto the pick from the Top 11!

Safe: Joey, Clark, Qaasim (for now), Adanna, Tyanna, Daniel (ugh), Quentin, Nick

My bottom 3: Rayvon, Maddie, Jax

Elimination Pick: Maddie Walker - Just when I thought she was turning things around on Wednesday, she lost all of that redemption value with the Thursday performance. She's the next logical pick.

Jax had a bad night, but I'm sure she'll bounce back. She is certainly one of the more interesting characters this season.

That's all I have for now, except we all must prepare for April 1st! It better not be an April Fool's Joke but it's going to be Kelly Clarkson night on Idol! She'll be arriving with her new #1 album in her back pocket (Good album, not her best, but still full of catchy and powerful anthems) to guest mentor the kids. She even suggested in a recent interview that she'd be totally up for being a judge on American Idol one day. Judging by her performance on the ill-conceived Duets show on ABC, she could totally pull it off if it ever happened.

Okay I'm really done now. Hope you enjoyed my ramblings and I'll see you next week!

American Idol: Season 14 - Top 12 Revealed and Perform

2015-03-11T22:30:00.001-04:00

Hello America! What a crazy packed hour of revealing the top 12 and asking for votes at the same time. I was so confused, and they didn't even have time to explain what was being voted on. It turns out that next Thursday will be a Top 10 performance. So I guess either 11 perform Thursday night or 12 will perform again and the bottom 2 compiled votes will get the boot. We'll find out. In any case, I'll pick someone to go home after tonight's performance. I wasn't expecting to recap tonight, so this will be brief!

Recap

Sarina-Joi - That annoying One Republic Song - Entire song was out of tune. After last week I was hoping she'd do better. I really don't like this "revealing they're moving on to the next round" right before they perform. It gets them all out of sorts. Combination of it being bad and her going first is a bad combination. It'll depend on how the show works tomorrow I think if she'll move on.
Rayvon Owen - "Wide Awake" by Katy Perry - Probably his best performance I've heard since the live shows. Not great, just his best. He's a good singer. I'm sure he'll be okay.
Daniel Seavey - "Straight Up" by Paula Abdul (or a rip off of what that dude did on Idol a few seasons ago) - I've already expressed my feelings on this dude. At least Harry finally agrees he's too young and inexperienced. That said, he sounded his best tonight until he forgot his place in the song. Someone is voting him through. And it's going to get more humiliating for Sanjaya every week he stays in. Oh wait, did I say Daniel?
Maddie Walker - "Suitcase" by Gwen Sebastian - Maybe it's the idol stage vs. Detroit. This is the best I've heard her sing too. Could hear a nice country tone in there. Judges talked about her being in her head. Maybe but this seemed more vote-worthy than her past performances.
Tyanna Jones - "Wings" by too lazy to look up - Besides her blue clown hair, she did a pretty awesome job. The big highlight was the way she worked the stage, which all 3 judges noted as well. She seems like a natural up there. A few notes were a little cringe-worthy but she'll be fine.
Nick Fradiani - "In Your Eyes" by Peter Gabriel (but he's totally ripping off the Jeffrey Gaines version) - Once he sang this song, I finally remembered him from the audition. There's a chance the cover version of this song is so old now people think he's being original. He sang a perfectly capable version of the song, but I still don't see the "idol" appeal in him. He's just a dude that can play guitar and sing. Not really sure how to explain it. Maybe the judges saying he doesn't believe in himself is what I can't put into words myself.
Jax - "I Wanna Hold Your Hand" by The Beatles - She still has a unique style that keeps me interested for now. I agree she was better on the piano alone before bringing the band in. But the band version wasn't bad either.
Qaasim Middleton - "Sir Duke" by Stevie Wonder - Qassim was smart starting off with a quiet start to the toe tapping Stevie song. He needed to show some versatility. We know he can bring the crazy, and he did once again in this song eventually. But he proved he can sing a powerful ballad without resorting to the dancing and screeching off pitch high notes. The man is an entertainer and he's obviously one of the favorites.
Clark Beckham - "It's a Man's Man's Man's World" by James Brown - I still really like this guy. He feels what he's singing and sneaks in some crazy runs naturally. I always feel like he's going to crack his voice but he always finds a way to hit his notes. He's a favorite this year as well.
Joey Cook - "King of Spain" by Tallest Man on Earth - Was she playing an electric ukulele? I figured she'd get in after her better performance last week, but I still don't see longevity on the show for her. She's a strange bird and that will appeal to some. We'll see!
Quentin Alexander - "Royals" by Lorde - (WILDCARD PICK) - Surprised he didn't make it in on votes. I'm sure the bursting into tears at the end of his performance was enough to win over votes. He sang well though too!
Adanna Duru - "You and I" by Lady Gaga - Another case of the "too excited to sing" I guess getting picked first or last will do that? I'm still shocked she got in over some of the others. I think I picked her 2 weeks to go home. (And she might have if they didn't do a wildcard). Her performance was a little intense and a little out of tune for the reasons stated above. I guess she has potential, but I don't know if I'm too interested at this point.

The Pick

So I picked 1 of the 4 that went home. Alexis Gomez. Not good odds, but I still feel pretty good about picking Nick and Daniel based on how they did tonight. Maddie redeemed herself a bit.

Here's my rundown for tonight:

Safe: Rayvon, Qassim, Clark, Quentin, Tyanna, Jax
Should be okay: Maddie, Daniel
Might be in Danger: Sarina Joi, Adanna, Joey, Nick

Elimination Pick: Nick Fradiani - Not sure how confident I am in this, but his performance was pretty forgettable and he's pretty forgettable too. We'll see what happens!

Okay, that's all I have for tonight. Hope you enjoyed my ramblings and I'll see you tomorrow!

American Idol: Season 14 - Top 8 Girls Perform

2015-03-06T06:54:00.002-05:00

Hello everyone and welcome back to season 14 coverage of the show that just won't quit! Well this week seems to be the opposite results of last week. The boys were really good last week. The girls were much better this week. Results were a little surprising to me, but I at least mentioned 3 of the 4 booted contestants names as possibilities! (Of course, when you name 6 of the 12 as possibles, you're giving yourself pretty good odds, but we won't talk about that.) Let's dive right into the recap and figure out who's going home!

Recap

Tyanna Jones - "Rockin' Robin" by the Jackson 5 - So Michael Jackson and his family were the big choice of the night. And, I certainly made the comparison of Tyanna last week to looking a little like the king of Pop. My one note of feedback for her was that the night was already off to a better start than the guy's night. She has a strong voice and stage presence. She'll be fine.
Loren Lott - "I Wanna Be Where You Are" by Michael Jackson - Surprisingly, I don't even think I've heard this MJ song before. Maybe just not often. But Loren sold it to me. Very strong vocal and she still has the benefit of me knowing her name without having to look it up.
Maddie Walker - "I'll Be There" by the Jackson 5 - I didn't think this was a very good performance. Maybe the judges were trying to cushion the blow. Nerves may have gotten the best of her too. But the performance was kind of bland. Harry brought up the dynamic range not existing. It was kind of the same level the whole way through, and that can get old. She might be in danger.
Joey Cook - "Shop Around" by The Miracles - I was surprised to see Joey get through this week, but maybe being unique and weird made her stand out enough to get the unique/weird vote! This performance was much better. It's still a very niche market she's singing towards and I agree with Harry it may get old after awhile. But, I think she'll be safe this week. And who would've thought The Miracles would nab 2 slots on an Idol Motown night?
Sarina-Joi Crowe - "You've Really Got a Hold on Me" by The Miracles - I keep forgetting about Sarina-Joi and her 4 audition story. But wow, she impressed me with this performance. Lots of control, lots of power in her voice. And when she did one of these high note runs, it was reminiscent of a Steve Perry run (you know that band, Journey? The Dawg used to play bass on tour with them. Maybe you heard him refer to it. Funny sidenote - SNL had been reairing classic episodes in honor of the 40th anniversary. They showed Mariah Carey's debut on SNL back when she was like 20. First of all, much better singer then. But, there was some dude with a flat top in the back playing bass. I joked that it might be Randy Jackson. We rewound and paused the TV. Yep, it was him! Good for a laugh.) Anyway, Sarina-Joi could be a favorite in this competition. She certainly will be safe this week.
Adanna Duru - "Hello" by Lionel Richie - Adanna was another pick for me to go home last week. This week was a good performance. Maybe I could've dealt with a few less constipation looks during her emotional presentation, but she was feeling the song and sang it well. I didn't notice as much her being out of tune the entire performance as Harry did. But, I certainly recognized the high note being a little scratchy. We'll see what happens.
Jax - "Ain't No Mountain High Enough" by Marvin Gaye and Tammi Terrell - Ahhh, she wore the dress. My wife picked it up right away. Guys, the picture that broke the internet clearly has a white and gold dress in it! There are no ifs, ands or buts about it! Even the picture Seacrest showed was white and gold! This dress was clearly black and blue! (Before we get into a heated debate, yes I know it's just that picture for some reason that is causing people to see it differently. Something about the lighting and science with our eyes and pigments. But it's white and gold!!) So, Jax changed up a very familiar song. I thought she did a decent job with it. She even through in some fun scatting at the end. She certainly is unique in this competition and I think that'll keep her around.
Alexis Gomez - "I Can't Help Myself (Sugar Pie, Honey Bunch)" by The Four Tops - First of all, the Mrs. and I agreed that she was channeling the one and only Minnie Mouse with her attire. If that's considered a compliment, it's pretty much the only one I could think of. This performance was really really really bad. It was out of tune all the way through, manic from start to finish, and a bad song choice for her. I'm sure getting picked last when you know you're either going home or are the last slot is an incredibly emotional situation, so that may have caused her to get all crazy on stage, but that won't really compute with the voters. It does make me wonder how they're going to handle eliminations in the Top 12. Are they going to make people wonder all night or have an elimination up front? I think the elimination up front would put everyone at ease. Or maybe it would make them all emotional for their friend that left. I have no idea how they handle it on Dancing With the Stars, but I'm sure it will be similar.

And of course this means we bid farewell to:

Lovey James
Katharine Winston
Shi Scott
Shannon Berthiaume

I'm sure it's sad for them that they're not moving on, but I'm just sad there won't be any more "Justine Guarini" jokes this season! Farewell ousted contestants!

Elimination Pick

Okay, we have a job to do. I think this week is pretty cut and dry for the girls. There were 2 weak performances and it's too early for the audience to be too forgiving.

Elimination Picks: Maddie Walker and Alexis Gomez

Wildcard: Adanna Duru

So that's it for this week. I'm starting to worry that Idol's 1 episode per week show is going to air on Thursdays. If it's a 2 hour show, they certainly are not going to move the growing Empire from it's 9:00 Wednesday slot. They might stick with an hour show though since next Thursday's Top 12 episode is only an hour. We'll just have to see what they have in mind, but I know fitting in 2 hours on Thursdays will be rough for yours truly! For this week we're done. If they're only revealing the top 12 next Wednesday, I probably won't recap it. I'll just stick to performance nights. So, hope you enjoyed my ramblings and I'll see you next week!

American Idol: Season 14 - Top 8 Guys Perform

2015-03-05T07:02:00.001-05:00

Hello Idol friends and welcome back! So I went 2 for 4 with my picks for the guys last week. I'm not too surprised by who went home instead. We'll get right into it this week. The Top 8 performed Motown Hits in Motown itself. The crowd seemed fairly unenthused/uneducated by the local historical music selections, except one dude that was dancing and singing like no one was watching. Anyway, we'll return to Hollywood next week to reveal the Top 12 on Wednesday and for Top 12 performances on Thursday. Then, my assumption is we go to 1 day a week. I assume that one day is Wednesday, but what do I know!? Our job, should we choose to accept it, is to pick 2 more guys to kick out of our group! Let's do it!

Recap

Daniel Seavey - "How Sweet it Is" by Marvin Gaye - I have no regrets picking Daniel to be eliminated even though I was pretty sure the American conglomerate would vote him through. The kid is not ready. This week was the same inexperienced display. Flashing those cute little boy smiles with a semi-okay monotone voice. The judges picked up on it too saying that he sung the song too low. He certainly has showcased his talents in earlier rounds with the various instruments he plays. They have not really been on display too much in the voting rounds. I'm sure he'll get through, but I don't think he should!
Mark Andrew - "Papa Was a Rollin' Stone" by the Temptations - I still like this dude, but still fear his chill vibe may get old after awhile. The rendition was decent, but in his chillaxin version, he lost some of the intense vibe of the original Temptations' cut. Harry referred to Mark's antics as "Jam Band" which is a pretty good term for it. I just assumed this guy would be in the top 12, but he could be in danger.
Rayvon Owen - "My Girl" by the Temptations - In case no one noticed the only 2 artists from the Motown era were The Temptations and Stevie Wonder. Joking of course, but they certainly were the most popular of the night. Rayvon definitely has a good voice. I wasn't feeling his performance. I'm sure that's what Keith and Harry were talking about when they said they want to feel weight to his performances and "see the other side". We'll see.
Adam Ezegelian - "I Want You Back" by The Jackson 5 - Ahh the ol' "let's slow this popular song down and show how artistic we are" trick! Okay, clearly someone out there likes this crazy manic screaming dude. The judges loved the performance. I'm still not totally on board. Same as some of the other guys. He clearly can sing, but the crazy eyes take me a little out of the performance.
Clark Beckham - "Tracks of My Tears" by Smokey Robinson - I'm sure I could get assaulted for saying this, but I think Clark did a pretty top notch job on this performance and may have even rivaled Adam Lambert's version of the track. (Okay, I listened to that again, maybe not!) Regardless, Clark is the real deal and here for the confetti on finale day. He showcased the electric guitar this week, we know he can play piano and he has good control over his voice and emoting. Harry demanded his performances to have a beginning, middle and end. Based on a lot of the competition, I thought he did a standup job. But there's always room for improvement.
Nick Fradiani - "Sign Sealed Delivered" by Stevie Wonder - Sounding like a broken record. His performance was technically good, but it just seemed to be missing something. Keith thought it was the guitar that made him look uncomfortable. I don't know. I just think he'll get lost in the mix of all of these other personalities.
Qassim Middleton - "I Wish" by Stevie Wonder - There is no doubt this guy was made for the stage. He owned it, went crazy with his dancing, and commanded the band. He's certainly a frontrunner. That said, I will say his performance looked eerily familiar to last week's. Could you imagine an entire concert of that intensity and monotony of dance moves? Just trying to be constructive here! Also, his facial expressions during everyone else's performances were getting a little on my nerves! I'll wait to see some versatility to the guy but he's certainly going to be around for awhile.
Quentin Alexander - "Master Blaster (Jammin') by Stevie Wonder - If you dress up like Jimi Hendrix, people will love you. He certainly grooved with the band, and felt his performance. I thought it was just okay, but he has the goods to be in the Top 12. I'm sure he'll be safe!

This means that the following 4 were eliminated from competition:

Michael Simeon (correctly picked by yours truly)
Savion Wright (Not picked)
Trevor Douglas (Wildcard pick by yours truly)
Riley Bria (correctly picked by yours truly)

Farewell folks! Didn't know you long enough to miss you!

Elimination Picks

Okay, one more job to do. Let's figure out which 2 will not go through. Discuss amongst yourselves if my rhyming was intentional there.

Totally Safe based on merit: Qassim, Clark

Could be safe based on being cute: Daniel

In danger of being forgetful: Nick, Rayvon

Safe based on the way he dresses: Quentin

If I could kick 2 off myself: Adam and Daniel

Couldn't think of a joke for this segment: Mark

Elimination Picks: Nick Fradiani and Daniel Seavey

Wildcard pick: Adam Ezgelian

The more I thought about it, if America does right by America, they have to note vote for Daniel. It wasn't a good vocal performance. They didn't vote Trevor in last week and he was all over the map with his vocals. We'll see how things go next Wednesday! I'll see you tomorrow for a recap of the Top 8 girls performances! Get ready for lots of Aretha and The Supremes! Hope you enjoyed my ramblings and I'll see you next week.

American Idol: Season 14 - Top 12 Girls Perform

2015-02-26T22:34:00.001-05:00

Hello Idol fans! Back again for night 2 of the Top 24. It's the girls this time. A little short for time as expected, so let's cut right to the chase. The guys night was better, but there's a few standouts in the female squad. Let's dive in!

Recap

Lovey James (AKA - Blondie # 1, she likes dancing) - "Love Runs Out" by One Republic - Lots of blonde haired girls in this bunch and she probably stands out the least. She sang this song a little better than Ryan Tedder, but that's not saying much. The curse of going first lives on. It's just tough to remember those performances by the end of the show. And with these quicker Idol episodes they didn't even give a recap of performances at the end!
Adanna Duru (AKA - Children's Voice teacher) - "Rather Be" by Clean Bandit - I wasn't very impressed with this one. I could tell the judges were, but I could barely understand the first half of the song. Lots of runs without being able to understand the words. Then she kicked things into gear and started stomping feet and belting out some lyrics. Sure it was good. But you put her up against a couple other of the similar vocalists in this competition and she doesn't hold up.
Alexis Gomez (AKA - Blondie #2, Country Music with a Mexican Flair) - "Gunpowder and Lead" by Miranda Lambert - This song is a staple in Karaoke bars and American Idol performance stages. We've heard it a zillion times. Alexis did a good job with it though. She's had a lot of exposure over the weeks and I could see her sticking around. Biggest feedback from the judges was to not fake a twang if you don't have one. Great, now she's going to add spanish lyrics into her country songs!
Joey Cook (AKA - Bluey#1, The Goofy One) - "Somebody Like You" by Keith Urban - This is one strange bird. You gotta give her credit for putting her weirdness out there on full display. But, come. ON! That was ridiculous. Yeah, go for comedy and sing one of the Judges' songs. I really can't put it better than how my wife summed it up. "She looks and sounds like a clown auditioning to become Ronald McDonald's wife."... Drop your mic Mrs. V. and head stage left! You win this round!
Katherine Winston (AKA - bandana girl ) - "Safe and Sound" by Taylor Swift - Pretty voice, but pretty bland performance. I fell asleep trying to type something here.
Shannon Berthiaume (AKA - Little Rocker Girl) - "Who Knew" by P!NK - We figured this girl was going to be good, but she turned in a pretty ho hum version of this P!nk song. Harry called her green. Yeah, I'm sure there's potential there and maybe she'll get a pass this week, but I have her pending for the bottom of this post.
Loren Lott (AKA - The Actress with the voice) - "Note to God" by Charice - This girl was pretty much a poster girl for this season during the auditions and Hollywoood. She got all bold with her song choice and sang the heck out of it. I wasn't too thrilled with it, but I think she'll get a lot of votes. Plus she brought out the "stank face" when she really was doing those vocal gymnastics. Memorable name too. (Wife again: "Not for John Travolta" Stop stealing my thunder!!) We'll see more of her.
Shi Scott (AKA - "Justine" Guarini or Sideshow Roberta) - "Umbrella" by Rihanna - Another poster child of this season. I've been waiting all season to call her Justine Guarini an I can just tell the joke is slaying on a half dozen computers booted up to this website! Unfortunately, her vocal was slaying in all the worst ways during her performance. No vocal range, lots of angsty screaming (but not the good kind). Bland again. I think somehow she'll still get through, but not for this performance.
Maddie Walker (AKA Blonde#3 - With some highlights though!) - "Love Gets me Every Time" Shania Twain - I do love me some Shania Twain music, but I do agree with Keith that it might not be the best Shania song to pick to showcase your talents. It was a lovely rendition of the tune. She has the benefit of being near the end of the show, but she was also followed by 3 pretty solid performances so hers might get forgotten.
Sarina-Joi Joi Crowe (AKA 4 Audition Girl) - "Mamma Knows Best" by Jessie J - Sarina-Joi has been there done that and you can tell she's not messing around. Voice is powerful, she commanded the stage and was really really good. Definitely one of if not the best of the night.
Jax (AKA Blondie #4 - With the crazy sparkly x on her face) - "Bang Bang (He Shot Me Down)" by Nancy Sinatra - I'm sure most of the younger folk know this song from Kill Bill. And she sang a killer rendition of it. Great control over her voice and she eventually kicked it into 80s rock song mode by the end. It all somehow worked. And she had great stage presence. Definitely will be sticking around.
Tyanna Jones (AKA the girl that looks creepily like a young Michael Jackson) - "Lips Are Movin" Meghan Trainor - My daughter not only sleeps to Ed Sheeran music, she rocks out to some Meghan Trainor. Loves the stuff. Tyanna had a really good performance. I agree the key was probably too low. I thought Sarina-Joi and Jax had better performances than this closing act, but it was still a powerful 1-2-3 punch to end the night.

Picks

Okay, let's pick our 4 girls to get the boot!

Lovey James
Adanna Duru
Joey Cook
Katherine Winston

Wildcards:

Maddie Walker or Shannon B.

Lots to pick from the girls, but I think those 4 picks are pretty solid. Maybe Joey will get through on weirdness, but it was so ridiculous for what the show is looking for that I can't see America voting for it. Maybe the country will prove me wrong!

Okay, America that's it! We'll get our answers next week. By then, we won't even remember what they sang and why we picked them but that's the new way of the world. We'll survive. Hope you enjoyed my ramblings and I'll see you next week!