I'd like to begin this recap/review with a "thank you" to
American Idol; thank you for reminding me why I don't listen to the current stuff on the radio.
I mean... I knew this was going to be a tough week, but if I were watching AI for the very first time last night, it would have been the very last time as well. Is this really what the top 10 undiscovered talents in the country sound like?
If I had to summarize the night in one word, I think "crap" would win out by a whisker over "boring". If I could take two words, "boring crap" beats any other description by a landslide. Part of it has to be the material, but the contestants also seemed to go out of their way to choose things that were monotonous and dull.
Frankly, I'd have rather sat through an hour of Mikaylah Gordon and Kevin Covais doing Motown duets. That would at least have had humor value. Heaven help me, I was actually getting nostalgic for the 1980s... and I'm talking "Duran Duran" kind of '80s here.
So, bearing in mind that I flat-out just don't "get" this stuff, here are my rankings:
- Elliott - Ok, fess up... did anyone else think he looked like Adam Sandler up there? Elliott wins the night by default -- not a perfect performance, but clearly his most consistent start-to-finish number of the year so far. My Grade: B+
- Paris - Another week, another "act". When is she going to stop with the impersonations and show us who "Paris Bennett" really is? She executed well, though, if a bit over the top. My Grade: B
- Chris - You know what I'm going to say, I know what I'm going to say. It's not like the song choice helped much. I take exception, however, to Randy saying that it seemed "sharp" -- I thoroughly disagree, as there was no discernible pitch to call sharp or flat. My Grade: B
- Mandisa - I lover her energy and her performance skills, but this just wasn't a good song. The beginning was monotonous, and the rest sounded like screaming. I know she's better than this. My Grade: B-
- Kellie - Give the girl some credit for knowing her style. Pretty good performance, the singing was just ok, though. There seemed to be a lack of support under the higher and longer-held notes, and if you closed your eyes, it sounded very karaoke. My Grade: C+
- Bucky - He keeps hanging around out of sheer will, because it's not talent. Also someone who knows his own style, he still suffers from a very narrow vocal range, and diction issues. C'mon, even Paula was calling him on it. The band also swallowed him up -- again -- and I'm not sure it's the band's fault. My Grade: C
- Taylor - I just found myself losing interest halfway through the song. The vocal was ok, but there were some breaks on the held notes. My Grade: C
- Ace - What's with the rocking back and forth? He looked like he'd never been on stage before tonight. The tone was very nasal/pinched. My Grade: C-
- Lisa - The second half of the song showed good pop style, but Lisa had pitch issues all over the place. I like the fact that she tried something a little less "musical theater", but the execution wasn't there. My Grade: C-
- Katherine - I didn't have the McPheever today. Everyone keeps picking this song, and, I guess it's supposed to sound that way, but to me it sounded like she never had the key and was searching all over for it -- she looked very uncomfortable during the opening section. The song was a poor fit for her voice, and she showed inconsistency in the ranges. My Grade: D
Overall rankings:
- Chris Daughtry (+2)
- Katherine McPhee (-1)
- Mandisa (-1)
- Paris Bennett (NC)
- Elliott Yamin (+2)
- Taylor Hicks (NC)
- Lisa Tucker (-2)
- Ace Young (NC)
- Kellie Pickler (NC)
- Bucky Covington (NC)
