Last week’s voting was interesting. I think everybody knew Melissa was headed home. But Ace and Lisa in the bottom three was interesting. I’d almost take that as a sign that perhaps the “casual viewers” were controlling the votes, since the trio were undoubtedly not the greatest singers.
But does it mean anything? Well, in Ace’s case, I think it does. After a great performance singing “Father Figure” in the Round of 24, he’s been totally exposed as a weak singer who has no clue when it comes to song selection. He might be a pretty guy, but Wentworth Miller is back on the small screen to capture the hearts of women and Ace is no longer needed. He’s my early pick to go home this week.
Lisa seemed to be a case of her simply not connecting to the audience enough. She’s a good enough singer that even a lifeless performance like last week was decent, and I think after watching the show again she can see how robotic she was, and pick up the votes that she lost.
So let’s see how the contestants fare this week with the 50s. Doo Wop and Rockabilly – bring it on!!
Opening Credits.
Alan Freed wannabe Ryan Seacrest is in the house, and he blames the voters for Lisa and Ace being in the bottom three. Actually, it’d be more accurate to blame the NON-voters, but you get the point.
Let Us Take You Back to last week, as we said goodbye to Melissa McGhee. Now, here are the remaining eleven contestants! And here are the McFly kids, Dave, Wendy and Marty. “Wendy”, btw, is more like Lorraine McFly at the start of “Back to the Future”, if you know what I mean.
Anyways, Ryan, Randy and Paula take Simon to task for saying who he thought the Final Three would be. I do believe that Simon’s been pretty accurate over the past four seasons, so what’s wrong with a little prognostication? Besides which, Paula’s like NFL draft “guru” Mel Kiper, Jr. with her predictions – they’ll change every few minutes. The important thing here is to remember this – they’re busting on Simon for predicting the Final Three.
Now let’s take a look back at the Fifties. And when you think of the Fifties, you think of… Barry Manilow? Apparently, the Idols were flown to Las Vegas meet Barry as a “treat”. Getting flown to Vegas to play poker with Daniel Negraneau and Evelyn Ng is a treat. Meeting Barry? Not so much, but it’s better than meeting Celine Dion, I guess. Nice mullet on Barry though. Almost enough to make a hockey player jealous.
And now let’s get right to our first singer – “Earth Angel” Mandisa doesn’t know much about Barry, but she respects him now. She’s singing “I Don’t Hurt Anymore” as sung by Dinah Washington.
As usual, Mandisa looks great. She may be a big girl, but she knows how to make it work for her. Impressive to me is how she works the mic stand – many a contestant has looked lost in front of the stand. It almost seems like this song was made for her. Great finish, and a great way to start the show.
Randy – Unbelievable performance. Mandisa set the mark.
Paula – This took me back to the fifties.
Simon – Mandisa you are blossoming. Apart from the vocal it was a very sexy performance. It’s like a great stripper song. I absolutely loved it.
Rating: 7/10
Bucky and Paris are up after the
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Buddy Holly is the artist chosen by Bucky “Shake, Rattle and Roll” Covington, and the song he’s singing is “Oh Boy”. Barry thought the song was repetitive (A Buddy Holly song? Repetitive? Surely you must be joking) and rearranged it a bit. He thinks it’s the right choice for Bucky. Note that “right choice for x” does NOT necessarily mean it’s a good choice for the competition.
I felt that Bucky sang the song sings it ok. Just not great, and with the simplistic songs that Buddy Holly wrote, ok isn’t good enough. Average, and not nearly as good as last week.
Randy – It wasn’t the best song overall, but it was the perfect choice for you.
Paula – Has nothing to add, so asks him about Barry Manilow.
Simon – It was nothing more than a pointless karaoke performance.
Rating: 5/10
Paris “Little Darlin'” Bennett is taking on “Fever” by Peggy Lee, a song that’s been covered many, many, many times. Barry thinks that Fever is a mature song for Paris to sing, but he’s impressed with her depth and power.
One thing about Paris – she knows how to work the camera. She’s flat in parts, but she really “gets” the style and the mood the song is supposed to evoke. On a slightly disturbing note, the Marilyn dress is just not right for a 17-year old, not to mention a decade too early for this week’s theme.
Randy – You blew it out the box. I have no idea what that means.
Paula – Fawns over Paris like she’s her niece or something.
Simon – This is what you do best. You have the perfect voice for that type of song.
Rating: 8/10
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Chris “Great Balls of Fire” Daughtry watches movies. How else do you explain his choice of “Walk The Line” by Johnny Cash? He feels it’s relevant to him. He respects Cash’s creativity, but he’s gonna try something different. That doesn’t exactly make sense, since trying something different would mean that you’re being creative, hence you are in a way honouring Cash’s creativity.
Whatever. I’m not that familiar with song, and I haven’t seen “Walk The Line” either, so forgive me if I’m not up on my knowledge of the “man in black”. Chris definitely dresses the part. He gives a strong, dark performance, which is probably what Cash had in mind. What hurts him here is that I don’t think it’s much different from his pre-top twelve performances. Compare this to “Broken” and “Hemorrhage” and you’ll see that Chris is falling back to his emo base, and while it probably won’t hurt him here, it may do so in the long run.
By the way, you can hear Paula rather audibly cheering and applauding like she’s drunk.
Randy – I don’t think that it was the best vocal that you’ve done. But you took a song that everyone knows and put a different spin on it.
Paula – Gushes over him like he was Corey Clark.
Simon – There was an enormous difference between what you did and what Bucky did. I think you are the first artist we’ve had on the show that’s absolutely refused to compromise.
Rating: 6/10
Crappy singers Constantine Maroulis and Ryan Cabrera are in the audience, and they will be treated to the McPheever after the
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We’re back, and “Unforgettable” Katherine McPhee thoroughly enjoyed her time in Vegas. I take that to mean she snuck out and gambled instead of meeting with Barry Manilow. She’s singing Ella Fitzgerald’s “Come Rain or Come Shine”
I’m not sure if Kat sang the song powerful enough, but it was sultry and smooth, so maybe that’s the way it’s supposed to be sung. Like Chris and Mandisa, it was another consistent performance from Katherine, and I felt like it was an off week for her.
Randy – Once again, it sounds like you got your own Dawg Pound. It still was really, really song. You took a difficult song and worked it out. Props, props, props.
Paula – Says that Katherine will be one of the final performers. This, after slagging Simon earlier for pre-picking his final three.
Simon – Something happened. Tonight, you turned into a star.
Rating: 5.5/10
Taylor, the Silver Fox (didn’t the Silver Fox hook up with Wolverine?) is up after the
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Taylor “Born Too Late” Hicks sang Mandy when he met Barry Manilow. Unsurprisingly, it was better than John Stevens’ rendition. Like Bucky, he’s chosen a Buddy Holly song – “Not Fade Away”.
I didn’t think it was great, but it got Paula dancing. Not that it takes much on this night. Nice touch with the sax player on stage and interacting with him. This is the kind of stage presence that’s needed from the competitors. Vocally, there’s nothing I can put my finger on, but I just wasn’t impressed this week.
Randy – I don’t know if the song was the most challenging for me but you worked it out. “Worked it out” is apparently a theme tonight for Randy.
Paula – Someone should be making an exercise video out of this. She’s talking about Taylor, not her car crash antics, sadly.
Simon – Sorry, but – (looks at audience) let me finish, and then you can boo – it was a complete mess. I like you, but that was like some hideous party performance. (Paula talks about Simon dancing) Paula, you’re talking rubbish. It’s a singing competition, not a dancing competition.
Rating: 4.5/10
I think Paula needs to stay away from her friends Jack, Johnny and Captain Morgan. Of course, if she did, I wouldn’t be both entertained and frustrated by her comments and actions – I’d just be frustrated. More erratic Paula after the
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We’re back and Lisa “Rockin’ Robin” Tucker has a plan to stay out of the bottom three – do her best and have fun. Wow, great strategy, kiddo. She’s doing “Why Do Fools Fall in Love” by Frankie Lymon and the Teenagers because she’s actually 40 years older than she looks and loves doo-wop. Well, more of the latter and none of the former.
It feels like I’m watching dinner theater or a bad musical where the singers are going through the motion and looking for their paycheque. Like last week, it’s good, just not great or memorable. She’s in danger of going home this week.
Randy – It was just alright for me tonight.
Paula – You got back to the youthfulness.
Simon – Shall I judge the singing or the dancing Paula (HAH!). There are times like I feel I’m trapped in a high school musical or something.
Rating: 4.0/10
Covais is up after the
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Kevin “Charlie Brown” Covais is singing “When I Fall in Love” by Nat King Cole because he’s playing it safe this week.
Actually an ok performance up until “warmth of the sun” and then it goes south. He forgot the words in the middle, does a poor job of covering it up and stumbles around until he reaches “And the moment”, where he finally recovers and puts in a decent finish.
Randy – I love this song and you did a pretty good job with it.
Paula – Tries to slam Simon and, well, don’t quit your day job. Hey, Jasmine Trias is in the crowd! Sad that she’s a better singer than those two blorks they showed earlier…
Simon – Not the best version of the song I’ve ever heard. Your audience is going to love that version.
Rating: 3/10
I’m surprised Simon went so easy on Kevin. They must want him to stay.
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Elliott “Johnny B. Goode” Yamin has become a Fanilow. OK, the faux-Sandler crap has seriously got to stop – surely Elliott’s better than that. He’s singing Al Jarreau’s “Teach Me Tonight” because it was on Barry Manilow’s new album. No, seriously.
Elliott looks like a drunken groomsman for some reason. Naturally, Paula loves it. Feel free to disagree, but I was bored with the song. Too many runs for my liking, which is partially why Sway got kicked out in the prelims.
Randy – You chose the toughest song to sing tonight. And you know what, you worked it out.
Paula – You moved me.
Simon – Allow me to judge your singing. It was fantastic.
Rating: 4/10
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Kellie “Don’t Be Cruel” Pickler is singing Patsy Cline’s “Walkin’ After Midnight” because Grandpa said to. Again, I’m being serious. Kellie. Singing country. SHOCKING!
This was a safe song for Kellie. She sings it well, unsurprisingly, but I don’t think it will win her votes. It won’t lose her any either, and it puts her firmly in the middle of the pack.
Randy – The country-pop girl is back.
Paula – Just what I always wanted, my own little bunny rabbit. I will name him George, and I will hug him and pet him and squeeze him…
Simon – You were back doing what you do best.
Rating: 5/10
Ace closes the show after the
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Ace “Tutti Frutti (Pat Boone Version)” Young is a hit with the seven-year olds. I can’t make this stuff up. He’s singing “In the Still of the Night”, but a jazzy version.
Jazzy version, original version, Boyz II Men version, this was horrible. I wrote at the top that Ace got exposed as a poor singer, and this has done nothing to dissuade me from that notion. Nice high note at the end though. I’ll give him a point for that.
Randy – Ace is back tonight.
Paula – She wants Ace. Badly.
Simon – It wasn’t the best vocal tonight, but I don’t think that matters. It was a hell of a lot better than last week.
Rating: 1/10
Time to recap the singers, and time to start voting.
I’m gonna make like a tree, and get out of here.
