Just wanted to say that I'm really enjoying this group and reading everyone's posts. Did anyone by chance hear Katherine McPhee's new song, Over it? It's really good. I think she's going to end up doing really well....(right up there with Clarkson and Underwood.
So, one of my favorite bloggers (Magistra) posted this after that lame Hollywood episode (Article):
"I’m sending out a missing persons report for the following folks: Jot Jenry Bejarano, Ebony “Roller Girl” Jointer, Jimmy McNeal (The new Velveteen Teddy Bear), Sarah “McPhee with curls” Kreuger, Denisa “Crack Baby” Jackson, Nicholas Pedro, Katie “Baby Voice” Bernard, Lakisha Jones, tall Anna Kearns and Philip Stacy (We saw them during the group round. Did they make it?), Rachel “Opera” Zevita, and several others who I don’t feel the need to mention. If you spotted any of these people on your TV screens, please let me know their whereabouts. Matt Soto’s mom is looking for a new, actually talented child."
The Top 24! I don't know if I'm more excited about knowing who they are or simply knowing that we're DONE with STUPID auditions. I think it's the latter. So, people I'm sad didn't make it:
Bernard Williams. Darn it. What the heck?! Everyone looked shocked over that.
Matt Buckstein (the cowboy). Dang it, I like him and I like his voice. He should try again. Look at that one guy who got in after FIVE tries!
Tami Gosnell (female rocker girl reminds me of Bo Bice)
Marisa something (the one who almost threw up in the elevator)--she has a BEAUTIFUL voice and it really makes you wonder what the judges are thinking.
Not too sad about that cocky guy at the end (Thomas), mostly because he's arrogant. But I do love his smokey tone. Oh well.
There were some VERY good singers who didn't make it through and it's true (and not just cliche) that they shouldn't give up or let a show like American Idol (as much as I LOVE this show) affect their view of themselves. AI is unfortunately often more style over substance. That part I don't like. And they're often wrong, so you do hope those booted keep on keepin' on. I seem to remember thinking that about the guy who was wondering how he was going to tell him mom.
VERY interesting top 24!
I'm not used to watching many of them sing. Some of them sounded off to me in those clips. Some of them seem to have voices that don't match their look (though again could be because we're not used to them given that they haven't had much air time what with all the Big Bird and orgasmic cowgirl auditions). And I'm having a difficult time looking at some of them when they sing, too -- odd facial expressions and stuff. But, I AM EXCITED! Excited Stacy is here. I hate auditions (have I mentioned that in any of my previous posts?) and I *love* the competition. Let it begin!
Early favorites of mine (and these are very subject to change as we get to know them all):
Sanjaya Malakar. He's cute, sweet, not very powerful, but so so likeable. He KISSED his sister and that scores big points in my book.
Melinda Doolitte. She's unaffected and I think that's part of what Simon likes about her and I think it's cute how much he builds her up.
Brandon Rogers sure is comfortable with the camera already. I guess it's all that back up singing. I like his voice.
Gina Glocksen. Fun, likeable, smokey nice voice.
Phil Stacy. Cute, nice voice.
Chris Sligh. C'mon, who doesn't like him? He's great. Love his voice.
Jordin Sparks. That would so be me in the elevator bursting at the seams and yelling excitedly and hardly STANDING that very, very long elevator ride one floor down. She's cute. I like her and her voice a lot.
A.J. Tabaldo. I think it's great that the guy hasn't given up. FIVE times he's tried out for American Idol. FIVE times. I admire that kind of persistence and tenacity.
Nick Pedro. That's my hometown boy, so I'm totally rooting for him. I like his voice, he's cute, and he's SO Boston.
Lakisha Jones. Class act. I have liked her from the get go. She's this year's Mandisa, only more in tune. I REALLY like her and obviously Simon does, too. He called her "sweetheart" like 6 times. She and Melinda are clearly favorites of his.
Some of the others who didn't get a lot of camera time sure sounded good on those clips and of course I'm open to really liking them, too. I'm excited to hear everyone every week.
Some other notes:
It was like dirty old man torture for Simon to have those 2 beautiful girls sitting on the final 2 chairs. He stuck that dirty old man pencil in his mouth and turned away. It was just too much.
I wonder if they feel stupid letting Robyn Troup go (they booted her in Hollywood) after seeing her (very good) grammy moment with Justin Timberlake. Duh.
I like Paul Kim's barefoot gimmick, but not if he just made it up. If he just made it up, it's lame. I'm a little curious to see how far his underwear carries him, too.
Let the games begin. WOOHOO!!
So a show that I actually liked watching. It's always rough to watch this particular show since everyone is a bundle of nerves (except Tommy Daniels, but more on him later). I'm glad to finally have our Top 24 so we can leave the bad auditions behind. Phew!
On to my "Top 10 Things You Should Know: Final Elimination Edition."
10. The judges are really tricky tonight. Look out for distracting banter, double negatives, and a lot of "I'm sorry . . . you'll be seeing so much/more/a lot of us from now on."
9. Arrogance apparently does not pay. Honestly, I thought Sundance Head was out--we've been seeing so much of his poor performances in Hollywood, but I wonder what his final day was like. I wonder if his increasing humility throughout the week gave him the edge over the cocky attitude Tommy Daniels brought.
8. The stage is pretty cold each week, so you may want to find some shoes, Paul Kim.
7. Chris Sligh, you look more like Weird Al than Christina, but funny is good. Oh, and you can sing, too!
6. Blake Lewis must be hiding some talent besides being a human drum machine, because all I've heard from him so far is a bunch of noise. That group of four was pretty good, though so I bet he can sing a bit, too.
5. This year is a good one for backup singers. Congrats to Melissa Dolittle and Brandon Rogers. I bet we see a bunch of them before this season is over.
4. There always needs to be at least one person to bring in the votes from the tweeners and the little old ladies. Sanjaya Malakar should fit the bill nicely. He's an upgrade from last year's hanging chad, Kevin Covais.
3. This year is also the year for repeat offenders. Gina Glockson (try number two), Nick Pedro (also numero dos), and A.J. Tabaldo (holy crap! FIVE TIMES!!!) Hopefully he didn't have to go through Hollywood Hell Week that many times. Although, that's a lot of frequent flier miles!
2. Reminders from past seasons: Fantasia, in (Stephanie Edwards). Mandisa, in (Lakisha Jones). Ruben, out ("Little Ruben"--I forgot his real name).
1. The judges are really nice this week, even when they boot you. Next week, Simon turns nasty. Look out! Reality check is on the way!
Here is my final, pre-24 haiku. Enjoy!
Oh! Hallelujah!
Finally we have talent
Next week should be great!
It's really too early to have any favorites or make any marginally accurate predictions, but I'll share a few random thoughts. The girls seem stronger at this point from top to bottom, but that can change quite quickly. The guys seem to have more "wild cards," especially when you consider the group includes Sundance Head, Chris Sligh, the Human Beatbox, Shoeless Paul Kim, and a 16 year-old named Sanjaya. It should be quite an interesting set of shows next week!
I must say, I haven't posted for a number of weeks. Mainly because I had the same thing to say about EVERY SINGLE audition week. Eek. They certainly were a bit monotonous this year. Highlighting the "crackpot" talent. Dramatizing the already melodramatic. Trying to tug the heartstrings with the sad back stories. URGH. I've always said I love the auditions, but this year the wise Idol producers seemed to not showcase as much of the 'real' talent as they have in the past.
For this very reason, I was SOOOO looking forward to Hollywood week... oh, excuse me, did I say WEEK? I meant Hollywood hour. I was SEVERELY disappointed with last night's show. They breezed through so much of it. The end result? There are almost NO potential idols with whom I have a sense of connection. Going into tonight's show, I was rooting for MAYBE 2 people. Melinda Doolittle and Chris Sligh, funny guy.
Happily, tonight they did give us a glimpse of the individual singing performances of most of the top 24... in fact, it got to be very predictable. If we saw a clip of the contestant singing, well.... "you made it baby". Or, if you were one of the unlucky idols who had Simon giving you the verdict: "I'm sorry to tell you, you are NOT one of the people who did not have the talent to reach the top 24" or some other confusing choice of words.
Overall I'm very happy with the top 24. I didn't agree AT ALL with their last two selections. But, someone needs to be the first to go home, right?
All I can say is: BRING ON THE COMPETITION. YAY.
Here we go...
Sanjaya Malakar will be a popular contestant throughout the show, methinks.
Tall Anna couldn't believe she wasn't chosen.
Tami Gosnell didn't make it...not too surprising.
Melinda Dolittle made it through. I'm glad. I like her talent. The other backup singer, Brandon Rogers, made it too.
Ryan Seacrest's outfit let me know that it's alright to wear your shirt untucked beneath your sweater, even when it's longer than the sweater. Maybe that's only true if you're wearing a sports coat over the sweater which is longer than everything else?
AJ Tabaldo was impressive, and made it. I like him.
Haley Scarnato made it.
Phil Stacey, he guy who missed his daughter's birth, got through. Good.
Chris Sligh made it. Let's see how long he lasts.
Rudy Cardenas made it. I'm surprised.
Paul McCartney wasn't selected.*
Paul Kim made it.
Jordin Sparks made it.
Tatiana McConnico got the boot.
Leslie Hunt made it, and looks interesting.
Nicholas Pedro made it with his husky voice. I tend to think he won't last, but we'll see.
Alaina Alexander made it, but I think her Hollywood audition was pitchy.
Chris Richardson made it, but I didn't like his audition, either.
Sabrina Sloan made it, but I wasn't impressed with her talent, either.
Lakisha Jones sounded great in her Hollywood audition, and I'm glad she made it.
I really don't understand why they have to mess with their minds by saying stuff like, "I'm sorry ............pause and tone pregnant with doom and gloom).............. but it looks like you'll have to be seeing a lot more of us".
Nicole Tranquillo made it, and looks interesting.
The guy that sang Cupid made it...very good.
Amy Krebs (?) made it.
Antonella Barba made it, while Marisa didn't. Awww.
Thomas Daniels didn't make it, while Sundance Head did, in spite of turning red while he sang, to Simon's disapproval. I was actually a little surprised.
I'll have to go back and correct the names when the post the top 24 on the AI site.
Not a bad show. Next week will be the real beginning, for me.
See you then!...
...John
*Just seeing if you're really paying attention.
Man o man that was a rough night, people getting the smack down in harsh fashion and large groups.
I was stunned to see our bearded friend leave the show, but I was amazed we didn't get to see him sing, nor did we really get to see him get cut....perhaps I missed something. Oh well, there goes one of the people I had on my top 24 list. I only have 13 so far because our dear friends the producers decided this year to avoid showing us any of the stars and stuck mainly to showing us crap in auditions and drama in groups. Perhaps someone needs to remind them this is a talent competition, not soap opera tryouts. I'm mainly still upset about the bearded guy, think about it...Sundance Head flubs his way through groups and makes it and bearded guy is gone without even seeing him sing. What massive change could we have missed?
Anyway, i'm frustrated with the editing style, lack of content and complete disregard for talent over looks which seems to be a growing trend on this show. I can't imagine how we lost some excellent singers...but we held on to some of my top 24. Here's the list for the curious.
Brandon Rogers
Chris Sligh
Sundance Head
Nick Pedro
Sanjaya Malakar
Blake Lewis
Phil Stacy
Rudy Cardenas
Alaina
Haley
Jordin
Melinda Doolittle
Antonella
Simon will have a tough time, what with having to send home all the very cute girls that just don't cut it in the singing department...know what I mean, Vern? . Huh? . Huh? . Huh?
Countrified Perla was something of a standout, but I didn't catch her last name.
It was good to see that Ashlyn Carr got her second chance.
So many others went by so fast, I couldn't catch their names.
They seemed to show a little more of the guy's auditions, or maybe it just seemed that way to me. Again, I was lousy at catching names.
Marisa Rhodes stood out in the group songs.
Chris Sligh and his crew represented nicely.
Sundance Head was a bit pitchy, and I agree with Simon that Paula was a bit generous to let him through.
Baylie Brown blew it, forgetting lyrics. Too bad, and fare thee well...
Tomorrow should be interesting...
...John
So, they've cut down 5 days of Hollywood auditions to 1 hour. I should cut my list of ten lessons we've learned down to 3 or 4 words. I'm already over the limit so I can keep going or I can stop now. I guess I'll keep going, but I really am underwhelmed at this point.
Here are my "Top 10 Things We've Learned in Hollywood."
10. Sundance Head is among the "undeserving" to this point. Great audition. Terrible Hollywood. I admit we didn't see his final solo audition, but he really shouldn't have made it that far.
9. Gossip and rumors surrounding Hollywood are most certainly just that: rumors. Both of our potentially disqualified contestants (Ashlynn Carr--sweetening her boyfriend's gasoline, and Sean Michel--refusing to chop the locks) were really sent home because their auditions weren't good enough.
8. Pleas for a second chance/second song/second look/etc. will not be rewarded, especially if your mother appears on stage to present them. You pick the song. You deal with the consequences.
7. Get it together! I loved the group with Chris Sligh, the beatboxer, et al. From what they showed us, they looked great, and it looks as though all (?) of them made it through so far.
6. Momma supports you, but if you forget the words she may just say, "You what?!" I wasn't mentally prepared for 15 weeks of telephone calls and tearful exchanges, but I did feel a bit sorry for the kid (Matt Cato?) at that point.
5. If you have reservations about the group you joined (they're totally BFF!) make a switch before the audition the next morning. Confronting the group afterward won't help you get through to the next round. I did enjoy seeing the "trained" one of the group get sent home, though (albeit a day later)! I guess God does like good people!
4. I'm tired of hearing people sing their original audition songs on the first day of Hell Week. Can we all say "one dimensional" together? Thank you. It's come back to haunt many, many contestants, past and present.
3. Your hips do lie.
2. Having a My Space page doesn't mean you will make it on A.I. I mean, they let anyone have a blog these days!
1. One week in Hell can't chase the nice out of genuinely good people. I loved seeing Sanjaya Malakar run to find his sister rather than whoop and holler with the rest of the 40. He should have plenty of moments to celebrate as time goes on. Thanks Sanjaya for one of the more uplifting moments this season so far.
Here is my haiku, inspired by this uninspiring show:
One hour departed
Forty contestants remain
Did I miss something?
I thought I wanted more time to see Hollywood crap, but I'm actually a bit glad that tomorrow we get the Top 24 and then get on with the show. I'm ready to hear the "real" stuff and not the fluff. I am not ready for more Ford commercials, however!
