Tuesday, March 10, 2009

AI: Top 13!

Lil Rounds: I love her. The only problem with this song, though is that she sang it at the same dynamic marking (loud) throughout the whole thing. Which kind of made it boring after a while. However, she still rocks! As I said, I love her.

Scott MacIntyre: I love piano + singing. And he did pretty good! I didn't like his middle high note, though --it was a tad...screechy. But it wasn't bad. Wasn't bad. Holy crap!? He just learned that on the piano!?
Yeah, he's got talent.

Danny Gokey: I'm feeling stupid because this is now the second Michael Jackson song I don't know. Sigh. But Danny sounds fabulous! He's awesome on stage and he makes me smile. I love Danny! He's just great. Really, really great --and I agree with Paula; he will probably be in the Final Three.

Michael Sarver: I didn't really like him in the middle rounds, and I feel the same way. I think he's a little too affected when he sings --but it could just be difference in taste. I mean, he sang it in tune and had good big notes, but for some reason I'm just not impressed. So it could just be me. Yeah, it probably is...

Jasmine Murray: Why is she wearing a nightgown? Hmmm...but anyway, she picked a song that was way to big for her. Because although this is a Michael Jackson song, we think of Mariah, right? She was flat on two of the really big notes --but her ending note was really pretty. So...I would say she was...okay. But I don't do well with big songs that are flat. Sorry, Jasmine.

Kris Allen: I like his voice --but I'm thinking his guitar is not exactly in tune with the rest of the band. Seriously, something is off --but his singing is pretty good. I like his energy --but it still wasn't my favorite. Meh. It was okay.

Allison Iraheta: I love this girl --and I have from the moment I heard her. Maybe it is her rocker voice? I mean, she's got this husky thing going on and I love it! And it's CRAZY that she's only 16, because unlike Jasmine, she's not "trying" to act older --she just is who she is and there's nothing precocious about it. I really like her! She's fabulous!
Until the cutting remark...whoah! Yeah, follow Paula's advice, Allison, and Be Quiet. Oops!

Anoop Desai: Ooh, Anoop! Okay...He's doing pretty good! Except...he's running out of breath a little bit. Maybe he should do some cardio, eh? But I liked it! Because I love Anoop. I'm loyal! And I it was pretty good --not bad. I wish he could have been a bit louder at parts, though --and I'm thinking he could have if he didn't move around so much. But I love you, Anoop!

Jorge Nunez: I really like his voice --it's very smooth, and I think he did a great job! It started off kind of creepy-sexy-I'm-undressing-you-with-my-eyes, but it got better as it went on. I liked the end a lot. Not bad, eh? Not bad.

Megan Corkrey: I still hate those hips, but man, I love her voice. Very interesting song choice --and you can tell what kind of artist she'll be. And I love the variations she puts on songs --she's so unique! And I LOVE it. The caw-caw at the end was kind of trippy, but man, that last big note was awesome. Loved it. Love her. Even with all the wiggling!

Adam Lambert: Eh. I don't know. I still think he's kind of creepy-weird. But hey, he's got passion and inflection and the rockin' down. He also definitely knows who he is. But I just don't get it --or him. I feel like there's way too much contradiction about him, like he can't make up his mind whether he wants to be all theater-crazy or rocker-mosh-pit. Like he was schizophrenic or something. Does that even make sense? Probably not. I guess I'm in the minority that finds him kind of annoying. Is that wrong? If so, then I don't wanna be right.

Matt Giraud: Okay, now I remember that I HATED his first song, but I LOVED his second. And holy crap! He plays the piano?! Awesome! Okay, now this performance reminds me of his...second performance. As in, I didn't hate it! In fact, it wasn't bad --although that falsetto ending was not my favorite. Meh. But he did well! Two good performances in a row have made me forgive him for that Coldplay one...

Alexis Grace: The beginning tempo was kind of off --the verse was slightly behind the band, but man, this girl can blow! I've loved her since I first heard her, too, though --and she's really good. However, that guitar solo really overshadowed her at the end and kind of screwed her over, and the ending note was kind of...meh. But overall, I think she did a great job!

Who's going home:
Michael, Jasmine, or Jorge

Will I be right?
Probably not.

What did you think?

15 comments:

flip flop mama said...

Okay so I totally missed it this week! I'm really bummed, but loved your review. I saw the last few and did NOT, I repeat, did NOT like Adam at all. I thought he was way too frantic and weird and I was surprised that the judges loved him so much. Anoop sounded good during the little clip they did of him at the. Dang I wish I'd seen it tonight!! Argh!

I'm curious to see what they are changing up tomorrow night though

April J. said...

When your appreciated it's good to hear it right? We canceled cable about 18 months ago. I don't miss it with the exception of AI! Needless to say I look forward to you re-caps and when I watch the performance clips on fox website, I have your "rundow" open as well. So anyways thanks, I love it!

Cardalls said...

I thought Alexis was better thanthe judges gave her credit for. I think Adam will go far because the judges have some love for him...the rest...just okay for me. And for the record...i think Scott is talented, but I don't think he belongs on AI..don't like his voice at all.

Ann said...

I'm totally creeped out by Adam too. I agree with you about his contradicting look. I don't care if he can sing or not....I just don't like his looks at all. With the eyeliner on it looks like he's trying to be pretty, but then the rest of him doesn't really fit that. Again....creepy.

Anonymous said...

I picked Jasmine, Jorge and Anoop to be in the bottom. I thought Michael's was a little cheesy, too. Mr. T and I had too much fun mocking his hand gestures--the fists and points.

Jorge's eyebrows are really freaking me out. He's a sweet, sweet boy (I can call him boy because technically I think I'm old enough to be his mother) and, of course, physical appearance has nothing to do with singing, but the eyebrows, man!

Adam's was just a little bit weird for me. I thought it was interesting that Simon said it was over the top, but you had to kind of be over the top to pull off the MJ songs and then slammed Alexis for being a little over the top. The judges are always contradicting themselves.

Megan's caw-caw at the end was classic! We skipped back on our DVR like 4 times to hear it over and over. That was a lame, lame song to sing though. Lame.

You've never heard PYT? It's off the Thriller album, dude. How do you not know it? Oh, right, you were like 3 when Thriller came out.

Susan M said...

I'm surprised you guys don't get Adam. Maybe you're just not in tune with what teenagers look like these days? He's very "scene"---what my kids call it. Which means hip. Current.

The guy can sing (serious chops) and command a stage. Did you hear the crowd react to him? I think he's gonna win. Although anything can happen at this point. But he's the one contestant I'm looking forward to seeing what he's going to do with all the different styles they're going to throw at him.

If they do. Apparently there's some big change coming?

Please send Jorge home. He just bugs me.

Anonymous said...

I'm wondering if the big change has to do with how contestants are eliminated. Like maybe out of the bottom three the judges get to pick who goes home? I don't know, they just mentioned it had to do with the judges so I wondered if that meant they were taking a little of the power away from the public. Although, that would totally change the competition, so maybe not.

Mother of the Wild Boys said...

I totally love Lil...I always have a soft spot for the moms.

I wasn't fond of Scott's song, but he sang well. And you're right, he's amazing on the piano.

Am I the only one who kinda doesn't get Danny Gokey? I think he's Hokey. *snort

Regarding Micheal: It's not just you Cheryl. I want to love him...but it's just not there for me.

Jasmine...give the girl a modeling job already, and send her home. She's a good singer, but too superficial. Hey, maybe Disney needs a new It Girl?

Kris Allen...As DH said, "Who?"

I totally agree with everything you said about Allison.

Oh Anoop...I love you, I really do. But sometimes you just over-perform. I sure hope you stick around though, I always have a smile when you're on TV. *Girlish-sigh

Jorge should be singing in Spanish...would they let him do that? I think it would be cool.

Megan is super cute and quirky...and the cawing....hmm.

Adam creeps me out. I guess I'm totally out of the loop with the teens today, like Susan suggested. Oh well, Cheryl and I will be in the minority together.

Matt...meh.

Alexis sang well, but I had to stop watching her spasm-style dancing. I was, however, mesmerized by her outfit.

I like your picks of who's going home... and I think bythelbs might be right about the changes. We'll see!

Jocelyn said...

Okay, here goes my long comment:

Lil -- cute, love her, didn't love her song...too much like a copy cat MJ performance, which will ALWAYS bomb in my book.

Scott -- so nice, so sweet, so not good enough for AI (in the singing department)

Danny -- Danny Hokey. But he can sing and he's a great guy.

Michael -- I think he snuck into the top 13 and his smiling while he sings drives me nuts. He's got a good voice, but he's just not my fave. This was definitely better than the Gavin DeGraw song.

Jasmine -- Only made it in because they needed more girls-- not good enough.

Kris -- I LOVED THIS PERFORMANCE. One of my very favorites of the night. Very current (I hate to quote Randy, but for the record, I said it before him last night -- very Jason Mraz-y). I loved the guitar -- it was unexpected, cool, and made this his best performance.

Allison -- awesome, but every song is starting to sound the same. I love that she knows who she is, though. And who can rock that hair better than her? Amazing.

Anoop -- I love Anoop but this song was poop. So terrible. No one and I mean no one can touch this song. Michael Jackson himself couldn't touch this song again. Anoop dug his own grave tonight. Horrible.

Jorge -- Borje. Can't stand his voice. He's sweet but makes me totally uncomfortable. I'm ready for him to go home.

Megan -- Love her. Dumb song choice, but she sold it. I loved the caw caw at the end. It just made it memorable. Sucky song choice, but really cool sound. And I have to say, I'm loving her dancing now.

Adam -- Sorry, but he's hot. And I love his crazy high notes. I didn't love the first half of the song and sometimes he "acts" a little obviously, but I love him and I think he's got incredible stage presence. Hot Hot Hot.

Matt -- One of my top performances of the night. Loved it. He's got a really hot Justin Timberlake thing going on (you know I still have a crush on him, right??). I love the piano playing and the singing was totally on point.

Alexis -- She's good, but not THAT good. And that outfit was......a mistake.

Going home (two tonight, you know): Jasmine & Anoop. Anoop shouldn't but I think Puerto Rico will keep Jorge in for a few weeks.

My guess is that the judging will now be like Dancing with the Stars and the judges will get a portion of the vote.
I like the idea that bythe presented, though -- America chooses the bottom 3 and the judges chooses who goes home. That seems like a cool idea so the Sanjayas don't keep sneaking through.

I loved last night, over all, and it made me long for the days of freak-free Michael Jackson. I love that man's music. He's probably #2 after the Beatles for me.

And wouldn't it be CRAZY RAD if he made a surprise appearance tonight???????!!!!!!!!

Lizzie said...

Ok, so I'm creeped out a bit because I'm totally insync (Ha. Punny) with Julie here. LOVED kris, and I was not hot on him before. But now that he's all Mrazzy, I mloving it, because I mlove me some Mraz. I HATE the stupid roughneck. He's there because he can carry a tune and the hillbillies need someone to vote for (for the record, Wayne likes him). Cheryl, I'm so glad you said Jorge was doing a whole 'undressing-me-with-his-eyes' things, because A) YES, he was and I hate that, and B) Wayne knows my usually term for this look is 'trying-to-rape-me-through-the-camera', which is not exactly appropriate to say in front of company, and now you've given me a more proper term for it! Thanks! Adam did it at the beginning of his song too, which creeped me out, because his look seriously didn't say 'undressing', it said what I say, and it was scary. But other than that I think he's cool. And yes, he's very 'scene'. Wayne doesn't like his style. I just tell him that Adam's hot with the scene-girls... And MATT! Could it have been hotter? No, it could not. I think it's cute you didn't know the duelling piano-player played the piano... but as Julie said, VERY JT, which is hot hot HOT.

I usually love Danny, but I found him kind of nerdy last night, but not in a cool geek chic kind of way, just... nerdy. Sad. Oh well, we'll see what happens tonight.

Lizzie said...

ok, so my last comment is what happens when you try to type with an energetic three-year-old on your lap.

Cheryl said...

Four quick comments:

Susan M -
I guess that would make sense (that the teenagers are into Adam and what he's doing/wearing), but I still don't get it. Am I finally getting too old for current pop culture?! I hope not! (And Susan, you are, and forever will be, exempt from that definition of old. Because you, my friend, will always be current in the music/pop culture scene. Or at least you will always "get it". :) )

Bythelbs-
YES! Hypocritical comments from the judges suck. And they do it all the time.

Lizzie-
DOH! He was the dueling piano guy!? See, it's hard to remember from Hollywood to Top 12. It is. Or I can blame it on my pregnant brain... :)

Julie-
Your comments on the songs are hilarious. I love 'em.

tamrobot said...

my opinion of their performances from best to worst:

Adam Lambert
Alexis Grace
Danny Gokey
Allison Iraheta
Megan Corkrey
Kris Allen
Matt Giraud
Lil Rounds
Michael Sarver
Anoop Desai
Jorge Nunez
Scott MacIntyre
Jasmine Murray

I really can't wait til Jorge, Scott and Jasmine are off. They have always sounded off key to me. It's painful to listen to.

Also the AI band sucks hardcore this year. They cheese-ify everything. I would love to hear someone sing with just piano or just guitar. The band just seems to make their performance worse instead of adding to it.

Susan M said...

I totally agree about the band being horrible. I also think the sets and lighting don't help with the cheese factor.

I'd like to know more about what exactly Kris Allen did to help out the other contestants.

Also I'm suprised, Cheryl, that you didn't know the song Danny did. He did change it up a bit. "Pretty Young Thing" was one of Michael's hits from Off the Wall. Here's the original.

Cheryl said...

Tam-
Good point. The band doesn't help at all!

Susan-
Thanks for the link --I love watching Michael dance. But then I get sad because he was so amazing and I miss the '80's MJ. *sniff

But No! I had never heard this song. I seriously am not as music-savvy as I pretend to be.
Don't tell!