I Would Do Anything for...

Top 36 – Group C

My belly has been fed, I’ve got my soda and my snacks…It’s Tuesday night and This…is American Idol

It’s time for the 3rd and final group of 12 to sing for their spot in the top 12 before we get to the wild card round on Thursday…

For those of you new to my style of blogging, when it comes to tv shows like Heroes and American Idol, I tend to summarize rather than opinionize. Trust me, you’ll get my opinions as we go along.

Up first…Von Smith – You’re All I Need to Get By (Marvin Gaye) - I wasn’t a fan at first, but I promised Tammy I would cross over to the dark side because after all, they have cookies. And Von is a Missouri boy! I had no idea! And I gotta tell you, I am liking this performance. So is Randy, Kara, and Paula. Simon says he reminds him of Clay Aiken. The opener has had it rough the last two weeks, but Von starts things off strongly tonight. (IDOLS-01)

Taylor Vaifanua – If I Ain’t Got You (Alicia Keys) Aside from holding one note for about 3 seconds, I really didn’t see anything special about this performance. Kara says it left her a bit cold. Paula is disappointed because she wanted something new and Taylor did this during Hollywood week. Simon had trouble remembering her called the performance a bit bland. Randy called it boring.

Alex Wagner-Trugman – I Guess That’s Why They Call it the Blues (Elton John) – personally, I love this song. I used to sing it at karaoke and…way back when I was younger and had just started seeing my daughter’s mother, it was one of “our” songs. Alex is dirtying this song up and imho doing an interesting job with it too. Paula seemed to like it, Simon didn’t. Randy thought it was a bit crazy. Kara didn’t care for the growling. I guess we’ll wait and see what America thinks.

Arianna Afsar – The Winner Takes it All (Abba) – First time Abba has been done on Idol, according to Ryan. Possibly the last based on how this is starting out. I thought it was too boring. The judges didn’t care too much for it either. As always, Paula appreciates the fact that she took the risk.

Ju’not Joyner – Hey There, Delilah (Plain White T’s) – interesting; he slowed the song down a little more than it already is. His voice has a good sound to it and I liked it, but I wonder if the judges might call it boring. Randy and Kara liked it. Paula brought up the repeat card about doing a song he did during Hollywood week, but in his case she liked it because he changed it up. Simon also liked it even though he called it a little bit safe.

Kristin McNamara – Give Me One Reason (Tracy Chapman) – well, one thing I can say about her, aside from the fact that she’s a cute blonde, is that she’s a karaoke host! At least, I hope I heard that right…As for her song tonight, I don’t know. On one hand its better than the other 2 women tonight, but I don’t really care for her spin on the song. Good voice though. She’s got a shot.

Nathanial Marshall – I Would Do Anything for Love (Meat Loaf) – I like the song, but not enough intensity and power, I thought. I apologize to all the Nate fans out there, but I feel like he’s taken a classic rock song and disco-tized it. Nate has a lot of fans out there and I know that every one of them will be behind him tonight. Suddenly he is Kara’s karaoke buddy and to this point he is a top challenger for that male spot.

Felicia Barton – No One (Alicia Keys) – Actually, she was number 37 when it came to picking the top 36, but the sudden disqualification of Joanna Pacitti opened the door for Felicia to be brought back. Not bad and I am glad we got a chance to hear her perform because I honestly don’t remember any part of her auditions or Hollywood week. Mixed reaction from the judges, but all in all the reviews were good.

Scott MacIntyre – Mandolin Rain (Bruce Hornsby) – One of the true talents that I enjoyed listening to every step of the audition process and hope he does well tonight. So far so good, I think he’s going to be difficult to beat.

Kendall Beard – This One’s for the Girls (Martina McBride) – She’s beautiful, she’s blonde, she’s country…but I just don’t see her moving on. The news was somewhat positive from the judges, now her fate is in America’s hands.

Jorge Nunez – Don’t Let the Sun Go Down On Me (Elton John) – Memories of Clay Aiken come to mind as he started, along with my own song parody of this song. Remind me to share that with you sometime, but right now, let me just say ”Wow”. Great job. The dude can sing.

Lil Rounds – Would you know it, this was the one song title and artist I missed tonight. Great vocals, but she’s lacking then energy of the last two pimp-spot contestants. It’s difficult for me to judge her based on that song, but she does have the pipes to sing.

Wow, I originally thought the best group was the 1st group, but tonight is a lot more difficult in picking who the top male is. Maybe not so much for the women, but Jorge was great, Scott and Ju’Not were both wonderful. Von was the best I’ve heard from him all season and Nate was just contagiously good.

For the women, people who know me know that I have to root for the country girls (Go Kendall!) But if I had to rank the top 3 girls tonight, I’d say Felicia, Lil, Kristin, and Kendall in that order.

So who’s moving on? Here’s my prediction:

Top Male: Scott MacIntyre
Top Female: Lil Rounds (but maybe Felicia)
Next Highest Vote Getter: Jorge Nunez (But Ju’not, Nate, or Von could challenge)

Now Go Vote!