Elimination Time - The judges have added up the scorecards from round two and someone is going to suffer a knockout hook. The worst performances by my calculations last night were in order:
KLC - Kady Malloy must have been contagious, because KLC just has had no personality while performing.
Malubay Barbie - She may be appealing, but her ring performance was once again pretty shaky
JC - Don’t think he has to worry about the hook and he probably won’t even wind up in the bottom three, but he’s wobbling a bit.
Mercado - Better performance in round 2, but still not sure she has staying power
Cheezit - He made a strategic error in round 2 by trying to combine two fighting styles. He separated himself last week, but set himself back a bit last night.
Who’s In Trouble?
Carly Smithson -OK gang…gotta admit that this is a shocker. While I have never seen her as the winner of this season, she still has some of the best vocals in the group. But as we have seen over years past, good vocals alone aren’t enough to gaurantee victory (i.e., Chris Daughtry, Tamyra Gray, etc.). Nor are bad vocals alone enough to send you packing (i.e. the infamous Sinjuju, Nikki McKibben from season 1, etc.). You have to bring something extra to last. What I have seen lacking in Smithson is variety and overall appeal. Check back through my critiques of her. It would appear that is catching up with her. I said last night that if she’s going to make it to the end, she will have to stretch herself into something more challenging, a bit different that will surprise us. To quote myself, last night was “more of the same” from her. Don’t see her going home just yet, but this may be the jolt she needs to stretch.
KLC - No surpise here. She should be in the bottom and has most likely served up her last bucket of country fried Beatles.
The Rock n’ Roll Nurse - Another stunner here. Probably even more so than Smithson. If there’s one thing that AO brings it’s uniqueness. No way that she wins, but I expected her to make top 5 or 6 based on being so different. Of course, she still may, but she might also be exposed a bit now. There’s no way that anyone other than KLC is heading home tonight, but I’m still shocked by who joined her at the bottom.
Other Stuff
Malubay Barbie - With Malubay Barbie skipping the bottom three, I think it’s safe to say that she is running on the same track that carried Jasmine Trias deep into the competition. Which means that she will be with us for a while in all likelihood. And that should be good news for all of her fans. I still think she has more potential than we have seen so far.
Kelli Pickler - “Pick Pickler” was always one of my favorites. She didn’t have the best voice that year, but you just had to love her. Her personality, along with some decent talent has carried her a long way. Happy for her.
Idol Gives Back - Great piece of charity work and I really admire the work and the effort.
GETTING THE HOOK IN ROUND 2 IS……..
The Rock n’ Roll Nurse - AO has taken the sucker punch. She can’t hold a note for more than just a nano-second, but I liked her. Especially when she screamed. Elvis would have been proud. She said she she was excited about meeting the lead singer from REO Speedwagon. They actually played in our building years ago. Interesting. I said last night that Lafeyette should get ready because she WILL be coming back….I just didn’t expect it to be this soon.
Round 2 is here and we are minus one cheese and scandal covered Hernandez. He carried the baggage of his scandal into the ring with him, and then slathered it with a thick layer of fake nacho cheese and it all added up to a mess…and the ring has now been cleared of his appearance. Tonight we catch the remaining 11 contenders in shifting power rankings. Last weeks rankings changed up and down the board. So tonight, some will be trying to reclaim momentum, some will be trying to start it for the first time, and others will simply be trying to weather the storm of gut punches they’ve already taken. Last week’s biggest surprise contender was Cheezit, sporting a new spicy brand. I’m completely unsure as to who will provide this week’s fireworks, but the bell is getting ready to ring for round 2 (and it sounds an awful lot like the Beatles). So…..let’s go…..or, just let it be!
Amanda “Rock ‘n Roll Nurse” Overmeyer- Out of the locker room and into the ring first is our rock ‘n roll nurse, AO. Back in the USSR is probably about as good a song as she could have picked for her female-Elvis vocals. She’s got a lot of appeal, which is really good since she doesn’t have a vocal style that can hold a note for more than a split-second. I guess her style is quick hitting….get on a note and get off. BUT….she still was able to deliver a strong enough performance that she will be fine for this round. Gotta give her a few extra points on the scorecard for holding true to her form after the judges had their say with her. (BTW - all you folks in Lafeyette, get ready. ‘Cause she WILL be coming back home. But the ticket prices may be a bit higher than the last time you saw her)
Busted! Going, going…..GONE! Very happy to see Hernandez get the big hook in Round 1. I thought his performance in Round 1 bordered on a high school performance that you might find in Napoleon Dynamite territory. It was awful. Granted, he had a few competitors for the worst, but he still managed to stand out to me last week as SUPER BAD! (And that does NOT mean Super Good). Anyway, there are some changes in this week’s rankings (click here to see last week’s rankings). Get out your ring cards and let’s see who’s moving up and who’s moving down. Click read more to check out the rankings.
OK readers. If you’ve dropped by a time or two, you probably realize that I really love to laugh. And since I’ve been blogging about American Idol, it just makes perfect sense to drop this laugh bomb on you for a Friday Funny Edition. This was sent over to me by Lee (not the “Lee” in “Ken Lee”), one of the blokes from the UK that are located on my blogroll. They’ve got a great sense of humor too (as well as some really good info), so do yourself a favor and check them out later.
Now….without further ado, enjoy this version of Mariah Carey’s “Ken Lee” ????????
Elimination Time - The judges have added up the scorecards from round one and someone is going to suffer a knockout hook. The worst performances by my calculations last night were in order: Read the rest of this entry »
The preseason is over and it’s time for the real game to begin. This is a 12-round championship bout. (I know….I’m mixing my sports metaphors, but WORK WITH ME PEOPLE! Sheesh!) It will be interesting to see who’s in top form tonight and who’s susceptible to the hook (get it? Hook? Come on…that was pretty good). I think the four at the bottom of my power rankings (Cheezit, “Busted” Hernandez, Malubay Barbie, and KLC) are the most vulnerable which is why I placed them there. But there are always the potential surprises. Which is WHY WE PLAY THE GAMES! So, in the immortal words of Michael Buffer, “LLLLLLET’S GET READY TO RUMBLLLLLE!” Read the rest of this entry »
OK, tomorrow night kicks off the real competition. It’s time for the gloves to come off and the cleats (or pleats in this case) to go on. So in the spirit of competition, it’s time to roll out the power rankings. In other words, these are my predictions for who will leave spike marks on whose back. (You never knew vocals could be so violent, did you?) So here goes: Read the rest of this entry »
Well, we’re finally down to the real deal. My handicapping was pretty good for this week’s final cuts. Let’s review my previous comments: Read the rest of this entry »
For the first time in several weeks, I’ll have a chance to watch the gals “live”. I’m usually occupied on Wednesday nights, so it’s typically a DVR situation. But TONIGHT, I’m free (or at least cheap). I’m not exactly what to expect from the gals tonight, but it HAS to be better than the dudes last night. Thank goodness that was only a one-hour episode. I’m not sure I could’ve tolerated a longer one. The guys just don’t seem to have any real aggressiveness to them. In the end, this is still a competition. You’ve got to go out and get it done…you’ve got to win it. And the guys just seem to be half-steppin’. The girls seem to have more spunk. So we’ll see if that plays out tonight or not. There’s obviously one girl shocked she’s still singing tonight, that being Kady “I don’t know who I am” Malloy who squeaked by a much better Alaina Whitaker last week. As long as she’s doing impressions, she’s funny and engaging. But as soon as she starts being Kady, she seems totally lost. It will be interesting to see if she finds out who she is this week.
Time to grab the popcorn and another round of Pepsi (my apologies to Coke…the official American Idol sponsor).
• Asai’h Epperson - She’s got spunk…and this is a song with some attitude. But she’s off her game tonight. Read the rest of this entry »
Ok gang….here we go! Or should I say “Going, going, gone!” It will be a steel-cage death match tonight as the guys fight it out to get into the final 12. Wouldn’t that be fun? That would be a real talent…being able to sing while being put in a sleeper hold, or while delivering a flying scissor kick. I wonder who everyone would gang up on first? Oh well, first out of the gate is:
Luke Menard- Comes out of the gate doing his best impression of George Michael. I’m not sure that’s an icon you really want to impersonate. I’m really suprised the “force” is still with him and he’s still here. I know that one of my readers is a Luke fan, but I’m just not seeing him make the next round. I’ve predicted his departure every week so far. Eventually I’ll be right. It’s like the hypochondriac tombstone that says: See, I told you I was sick. Wake me up when he is gone-gone.
David Archuleta - I almost don’t want to like this kid, but I’m beginning to think he’s the genuine deal. I don’t think his “aww shucks” personality is an act. Read the rest of this entry »
Round 2 is here and we are minus one cheese and scandal covered Hernandez. He carried the baggage of his scandal into the ring with him, and then slathered it with a thick layer of fake nacho cheese and it all added up to a mess…and the ring has now been cleared of his appearance. Tonight we catch the remaining 11 contenders in shifting power rankings. Last weeks rankings changed up and down the board. So tonight, some will be trying to reclaim momentum, some will be trying to start it for the first time, and others will simply be trying to weather the storm of gut punches they’ve already taken. Last week’s biggest surprise contender was Cheezit, sporting a new spicy brand. I’m completely unsure as to who will provide this week’s fireworks, but the bell is getting ready to ring for round 2 (and it sounds an awful lot like the Beatles). So…..let’s go…..or, just let it be!
