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Idol Blogging
Wednesday, February 27th, 2008It’s the 70s this week. The men are up first.
Michael Johns — Fleetwood Mac rocks. Johns is a seasoned performer, and he’ll be fine. But much as I love “Go Your Own Way,” this wasn’t a great song choice for him. There’s so much to choose from in the 70s, especially for a powerful voice like his. Why go for something so unabashedly pop? I was hoping for some Zep. Here’s hoping he tackles Michael Hutchence in the next few weeks. He’ll be okay, but kind of a disappointing start to the night.
Jason Castro — I’m surprised they put two of the strongest three men back to back. And I’m surprised at how weak both of them were. Castro will be fine, too, despite this performance. He’s got more than enough personality to get him through this week. But this was a really poor choice. And obscure. I’m a music geek, and I’m not even sure what he sang.
Luke Menard — Pretty bold choice to go with Queen. He actually did okay. Without video, it would have been very strong. Unfortunately, the pictures weren’t kind. He looked uncomfortable. I got the feeling he was spending most of his time not connecting with the audience, but making sure he could remember the lyrics, and get them out at the right time. Much better than expected. And perhaps enough to get him through if a couple of others slip up this week.
Robbie Carrico — Weak sauce. If you’re going to try to sell yourself a rock ‘n’ roll guy, and if you’re going to sing Foreigner to prove your bona-fides, you can’t then pass on Lou Gramm’s falsetto. Gramm’s vocal is the only reason “Hot Blooded” is an AOR staple. It’s the whole song. Sorta’ pointless to sing the hook an octave lower, isn’t it? I read today that Carrico once dated Britney Spears, just before her career took off. So I guess he’s got that going for him. This guy’s a fraud. He may last another week, but he doesn’t deserve to.
Danny Noriega — Well, damn. I’m pleasantly surprised. Sang The Carpenters’ “Don’t You Remember You Told Me You Loved Me Baby.” I disagree with the judges, here. I think he did really well, probably the best performance so far tonight. I like that the kid’s got some sass. He also looks like he just stepped out of the 70s. I can totally see him gazing into the camera as part of some late night AM Gold four-part CD offer.
David Hernandez — Sang the Motown tune “Papa Was a Rolling Stone,” made famous by the Temptations. Weird choice. The judges loved him, but I just didn’t buy it. Hernandez doesn’t have the soul to pull it off. At all. Also, the version that hit the charts in the early 1970s was about twelve minutes long. Hard to do it justice in just a couple of minutes. No question the guy has a great voice. But the song’s a narrative about an inner city family broken up by a rakish father who shirks his familial duties. It just didn’t work coming from the mouth of a skinny white kid in his 20s. I’m sure he’ll be fine. It just didn’t work for me.
Jason Yeager — I liked this guy. And the Doobies were a great choice to suit his voice. A pretty solid performance. That said, I think he’s probably in trouble. He’s too old to tap the teen girl or granny vote. He’s a bit chubby, which makes him seem even older–kinda’ dad-ish. There are older people in the competition, but he just feels old. And as suited to his style as the Doobies may be, it’s just not the kind of song that resonates with the people who will be voting. I like him, but he’s probably gone.
Chickezie — Sang Donny Hathaway’s “I Believe.” Wow. Good thing he hung on after last week’s disaster. Really well done. Looked like he was having fun. Sang great. And he managed to work his name into the song, which got a rise out of the crowd. I think he climbed out of trouble this week. In fact, given the weakness of everyone else so far this week, he may have even eked into the top tier. He showed some personality after the song, too, shouting out to the backup singers (one of whom is Hathaway’s daughter). That’ll certainly help him. Nice recovery.
David Cook — Sang Free’s “All Right Now.” Terrific song choice. And he got to be the first Idol contestant to pick an ax in the finals. I thought he did very well, though I wanted just a bit more edge out of him. Jerk the mic around a little. More rebelliousness in the vocals. If you’re going to do rock, go ahead and pull out the stops. Maybe he’ll pick it up in coming weeks. But he was good this week. And did Simon really criticize him for enjoying crossword puzzles?
David Archuletta — Agitatrix says, “He’s too cute!” That and the way the teen girls screamed at the mere mention of his name tells me he’s the frontrunner. That said, I just didn’t like him tonight. First, it’s almost impossible to sing “Imagine” today without looking like the douche who sits down at an open piano at a party and starts that familiar chord progression in a lame attempt to get chicks (I know–I was that guy in high school!). Second, a 17-year-old singing “Imagine” to try to look weighty just comes off as kind of poseur. Third, he oversang it. Granted, he oversang it great. But he still oversang it. “Imagine’s” beauty is in its simplicity. It’s not going to hurt him at all, of course. And the judges obviously don’t agree with me. He’s on his way to the finals. So I’m probably alone, here. But I just thought tonight was pretty hokey.
Frontrunners: Archuletta, Johns, Castro. Chickezie’s giving Castro some heat, though.
Going home this week: Yeager and Menard. Maybe Carrico.
The race is now for second place. As a singer/candidate, David Archuleta is unbeatable. He gets the tween vote, the housewife vote, and the grandma and grandpa vote- a powerful coalition.
He made a very strategic choice to sing the third verse of Imagine rather than the first, those first verse lyrics would not be well received in church going America.
And more than anything, he’s been brought up right. He immediately and sincerely lets the praise that comes to him be reflected on others.
My wife is jealous that Daniel Noriega is more feminine than she is. In fact, we have a running bet on which week one of the tabloids has a story on young Daniella Noriega…
Cook and Eze looked comfortable…Archuletta will get the teenies, but something about him gives me the creeps, like his channeling a dead Osmond family member or something…
Totally agree with the predictions.
I agree with you concerning Chickezie. He sucked so badly last week that I dreaded his performance this week. And then he really did a great job.
I thought Yeager did a good job but the judges were merciless. I agree with you. He is probably gone. But I think he is head and shoulders above Noriega. I don’t know what it is about Noriega but I just don’t like anything about him.
Archuletta is going to be the guy to beat.
Maybe liking Archuletta negates some of the white trash in me.
I agree with you on who gets the ax this week. I think it will be Yeager and Menard. But they can’t dump Noriega fast enough for me. I don’t see how he made it to Hollywood. I’d like to see his original audition again.
Is there any truth to the rumor that more people vote for American Idol than for the president?
I would say that this is true since no one ever gets to vote for president.
I was completely reversed on your opinions of Noriega and Hernandez. I thought Noriega’s timing was horrible, his voice barely grazing the correct notes. And the song was just uninspired and boring. And I can’t stand that horrible hair.
Hernandez, tho, was edgy and forceful. A very good stage presence and a good interplay with the band and backup singers, while bringing the audience in as well.
matt - No. There were 120 million voters in the last presidential election. Last year’s Idol finale had 74 million votes… and that’s not the same things as 74 million voters. Anyone with a text plan or a modem can vote dozens of times.
Oh, and Archuletta’s not gonna win. America doesn’t vote for Mormons.
Castro sang a fucking Andy Gibb song. Worse, it was right after I said, “Oh, great. 70’s week? That means we have to hear a fucking Bee Gees song.” Not quite, but too close for comfort.
To Castro’s credit, he made an otherwise terrible song listenable. Hence, the wife and I voted for him like 70 times via text on AT&T wireless (unlimited text plan). It was only after we’d voted that we found out he appeared ina Cheyenne video and on her MTV reality series. That makes him less appealing, but he’s still by far the best of the guys.
Beyond that, Radley’s analysis is almost exactly right (Archuletta included). I think Michael Johns is way overrated, not nearly as good as he thinks he is, and to me he comes off as a poseur as well (and, note to Michael: playing tennis does not make you a “jock”). I think he’ll be safe as some of the dead weight gets cut, but I don’t see him making it to the top 8.
Re: Archuletta’s inevitablity: Let’s not forget that last year at this time Simon had already crowned LaKisha as a finalist/probable winner. I think Archuletta’s the one to beat now, but he’s far from inevitable.
Say goodbye (and good riddance) to Yeager and Menard. By next week I think I’ll be able to predict the top 8.
The Carpenters’ song is actually called “Superstar”.
What I like about Archuletta is that he doesn’t appear full of himself (like some of the others…), and I think that a bit of humility can go a long way. And, of course, I’ve enjoyed his vocals thus far (even “Imagine”…but maybe that’s because I’ve only heard the original once or twice. If taken as an original performance, I’d say it was excellent). I’m hoping Carrico gets cut this week, as I haven’t been impressed by him (partly goes back to that lack of humility). I think Randy said it correctly “Rock ‘n Roll is more of an attitude, not acting like you have something to prove”. I’m predicting Carrico and Yeager are cut this week.
Good call, JSB. I hadn’t considered Carrico in BIG trouble until about 3 seconds before he and Menard were called up. I still thought he would edge out Menard, but I’m not disappointed to see him leave. Simon was brutal, but awesome in his send-off.
For the record, I think it’s “Archuleta” (with 1 “t”). And yes, I know I made the same mistake above.
Thanks Greg!
I figured on Carrico leaving since he just wasn’t all that enjoyable to listen to or watch, not to mention he got a little annoyed at the judges last week (never a good sign!)
I can’t take too much credit though…if you look at the site http://www.votefortheworst.com you’ll see who they’re trying to keep in the competition, which has a strong effect this early in the game. Assuming at this point that the people they are voting for will stay in the game, that basically takes away one of the contestants making the odds of picking the correct ones more favorable. Once we start getting into the top five or six, however, VFTW won’t really be able to keep their choices in.