Tuesday, March 10, 2009

We Are the World, Voting at $5.95/minute

Performance Night: Top 12, er, 13….

So let’s see…Last week Anoop “Noop Dawg” Desai got lucky when Simon announced after picking the 3rd Wildcard contestant that this year, a last minute decision was made to make it a Top 13 instead of 12. Anoop made the cut and tonight, lucky performer number 13 may be doing more than just singing if you call 1-866-IDOLS-13. And you won’t have to wait until after the show to call it either!

And votes to those number may run $5.95/minute.

Yes, it’s a phone sex line, so the first order of business for Idol producers this week is to find a new phone number to call.

So anyway, a few announcements, welcome to the judges, a bunch of flashing lights, and advice from the judges and we’re good to go. It’s a hell of a stage this year, looks great; someone could get lost up there! Two people go home this week…

It’s Michael Jackson week. Will we see a Thriller? Which performers will be forced to Beat It? Is it really as easy as ABC? Just who is Bad?

Lil Rounds – The Way You Make Me Feel – Not bad, I thought it started a little rough but it didn’t take her long to get into the flow of the song.

Scott MacIntyre – Keep the Faith – Great performance, I thought he was much more relaxed tonight than in his earlier performance. Sitting at the piano must have been much more enjoyable for him and put him in his element. He just learned that song this week?? Wow…

Danny Gokey – PYT – Danny is rocking the house with this one and working the stage pretty good, taking full advantage of its size. Wow, awesome, awesome, awesome and the crowd loved it. Did I say it was awesome?

Michael Sarver – You are not Alone – Michael slows things down with this song a bit, and while it was good, I wouldn’t quite put him on the same level as the previous 3 contestants. Fans are gonna have to step up their voting efforts tonight because I can tell early on that it’s going to be a close one.

Jasmine Murray – I’ll Be There – OK, is it bad that in my mind I keep running through the words to a song parody I once helped write called I’ll Be Cher? I suppose it is because she did what I thought was a good job on that song. Does America?

Kris Allen – Remember the Time – Wow, I had actually forgotten about this song. I’m on the fence with this one and that can’t be good for him because everyone else to this point has been outstanding.

Allison Iraheta – Give In To Me – I like this girl because I think the raspiness of her voice makes me forget about all the missing rocker chicks. Amazing voice, amazing performance. Should be safe this week.

Anoop Desai – Beat It – The Noop Dawg is an entertainer. Hard to believe he was actually the last choice into the pool! Great song, but the judges didn’t seem to like the performance so we’ll have to wait 24 hours to find out what America thought.

Jorge Nunez – Never Can Say Goodbye – There is just something about this guy. I like his voice and his performances. Might have picked a better song, but who knows. At least the judges were able to suggest something different (She’s Out of My Life)

Megan Joy Corkery – Rockin’ Robin – Maybe a little corny? I would say bad song choice, but I don’t have any idea what other song she could have done. Caw Caw? Gordon Ramsey liked her, it seems.

Adam Lambert – Black or White – The man can sing, the man can sing, the man can sing. He’s an entertainer, great great performance from him tonight. I must take issues with the judges’comments though. I thought Paula was going to start tearing his clothes off. She was praising him like Campbell Brown praised Barack Obama during the campaign. I think we know who the judges will be pimping this season. Kara said he hit notes she didn’t know existed. I’ve hit notes that no one knew existed. Not necessarily good notes, but I hit them. I think one was the brown note…

Matt Giraud – Human Nature – OK, with the distractions in this house, I am bound to miss a song title or two. This song was no different and when it started out it was completely unrecognizable to me. Needless to say I’m not a Matt G fan, so I wasn’t real thrilled with this performance.

Alexis Grace – Dirty Diana – I’m loving this performance. The only thing better would be dialing a sex line to cast my vote. I suppose with the song choice it would be appropriate. But seriously, fans of Alexis – get the number right! What do you know, Kara likes the naughty girls…

Now a few thoughts…big changes coming tomorrow night? WTF? I don’t have a clue, but here’s my thought: We know it involves the judges, so what if the judges had the ability to “save” one of the final 2 each week? We’ve heard the judges say in the past that “America got it wrong” so what if the judges saw one of their favorites or an undeserving performer in the bottom 2 or 3? They could then have the option to pull that contestant and save them for another week. This would keep a true contender from falling out of the competition after a single bad week while someone who is consistently not as strong (Kristy Lee Cook, Sanjaya, Scott Savol, etc) may get the axe a little sooner. Again, I don’t know, but its possible.

We also get a performance from the Original Idol, Kelly Clarkson! I'm hoping she'll do her new song, My Life Would Suck Without You. Another thing is the debut of the Season 8 exit song – ready for this? It’s Home Sweet Home, peformed by Carrie Underwood! I checked it out on youtube today and I am liking it.

As for tonight’s performances, WOW. I think we can say we’ve just seen one of the best full episodes of American Idol in AI history. There weren’t any truly bad performances tonight, which is rare. Adam, Danny, Allison, Alexis, all stood out in my mind tonight. Lil, Scott, Michael, and Kris were wonderful. Jorge, Anoop, and Megan could have made better song choices, and I’m just not a fan of Matt. I’ve tried and tried to get into his performances but they don’t work for me.

So my bottom 3 tonight, based on performances…Matt, Jasmine, and Megan. Megan survives to next week.

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