American Idol
Really Unimpressed!

Overall, I was REAAAAALLY unimpressed by tonight With the performances on American Idol, I was especially let down by two of my favorites, Matt Giraud and Megan Corkrey.

Anyway, here we go:

Ryan is wearing a black polo shirt and jeans.  Why he's dressed like a computer programmer running errands on the weekend, I have no idea.  It's also bizarre to see him wearing short sleeves in the dead of winter, although Kara and Paula wear tank tops all the time, so I guess that would be a double standard.  Also, I don't understand the rainbow peace sign necklace that Randy is constantly wearing.  I hope it's a sentimental value thing.

Jasmine Murray is first, and she's singing Sara Bareilles' "Love Song".  She puts a nice pop-R&B spin on it, though there are some parts where she over-sings and goes off key.  She's young, but fortunately, she doesn't remind me of any of the younger contestants in the past because she is TOO SEXY for a teenager.  Randy picks up on the "pitchiness" of her performance and doesn't agree with the song choice.  Kara echoes his criticism.  Paula concurs.  Simon is disappointed as well.  Basically, everyone likes her look and confidence, but doesn't think she has the voice or maturity yet.

Matt Giraud sings "Viva la Vida" by Coldplay.  It's pretty bad.  He was great in the auditions, but this was absolutely the wrong song for him.  He is singing a rock anthem as a Justin Timberlake song.  EWWWW.  Why?  It's effing bad.  I'm severely disappointed because I pointed him out as one of the ones I was looking forward to last week.  Oooooops.  Kara's face says it all.  Paula thought it was the wrong song.  Simon says that with that song choice, Matt transformed from a smooth singer with great vibe into a wannabe popstar.  Randy says that he's got "mad talent", but that it was really the wrong song.  However, he's still one of the judges' favorites even though his performance was kinda wack.  He oddly tells the judges that this is the kind of music he wants to do.  Huh?!?!

Next we have a girl who hasn't been shown much throughout the season.  Who is this chick?!   She looks like a man who had surgery to look like Leona Lewis. Anyway, Jeanine Vailes is singing "This Love" by Maroon 5 in short shorts and it sounds terrible.  She's TRYING to be sexy - it's not good.  Paula says she has great legs and passes it over to Simon.  Simon says it was terrible, but agrees that she has great legs.  Randy agrees with the hot legs, but that the best part of the song was the end - because it was OVER.  Wow!!  Kara says it was overdone, and Jeanine agrees that she was overcompensating.  Whoopsie!!!

Good God, Norman Gentle sings Dream Girls AGAIN and is wearing his sparkly shirt/khaki shorts/sneakers/sweatband outfit with a white tuxedo jacket.  They cut to his parents, and his dad looks like he wants to hang himself.  Norman sings and he actually sounds freaking GREAT, and does hilarious patter throughout.  Simon says he hopes that he doesn't make it through and that it's one of the most atrocious performances they've ever had on AI.  Norman's dad looks like he wants to beat Simon up. Randy thought it was entertaining and funny.  Kara says it was memorable.  Paula thinks he's a true performer.   As a musical comedian, here's my opinion:  I'm glad he's reppin' musical comedy on a national stage, but he doesn't belong on AI.  And honestly, even if he moved to NY - the hottest hot bed for cabaret and musical comedy - there are legions of performers who do what he does ten times better....

Now we have Allison Iraheta singing "Alone" by Heart.  She has a great voice and is the most engaging singer so far tonight.  After the slow ballad opening, she TOTALLY rocks out in her black 80s  prom dress. She's really into it, and the only singer who really let go tonight.  She sounds GREAT. Randy says that she "blew it out the box" even though she's 16.  Kara says that she (Allison) doesn't even know how good she is, and that she could have a big radio hit.  Paula goes for the "you could sing the telephone book" cliche and compares her to Kelly Clarkson.  Simon says she is the best of the night by far, though she just needs more confidence and personality.

Kris Allen is a guy who should never wear anything collar up.  He's singing Michael Jackson's "Man in the Mirror".  It starts off weak, and then just stays boring.  He looks like David Archulet's untalented older brother.  The only thing worse than his hesitant performance are his Kids Incorporated dance moves.  Kara says the end was better than the beginning of the performance, though he was nowhere as good as he was in Hollywood - plus, it was wrong song.  Paula liked it and thought he nailed it.  Huh???  Simon agrees with Paula.  WHAT?!?!?!  I...don't...understand.  Randy is proud of him performing without the guitar.  Whaaa?  I think Kara's the only one who saw the performance I saw.

Next is Megan Corkrey.  She's one of my favorites and the judges' favorites, and I just hope she doesn't disappoint.  Tonight, she's singing "Put Your Records On" by Corinne Bailey Rae.  Her look (girl white lace dress/tights, tattoo sleeve, heavy make up and "Splash" crimped hair) is as mish-mashy as her performance. Even before she starts singing, she does a completely spastic "twist" dance move and continues with other bizarre, awkward dance moves throughout the performance.  This would be adorable anywhere but the AI stage.  She looks gorgeous, but this performance is freaking me out to watch - she doesn't sound that good, her dynamics are ALL over the place, and it hurts to see someone so idiosyncratic on the most commercial stage ever.  It's like watching a puppy compete on Fear Factor.  You love the puppy and you root for it, but it just shouldn't be there!!!  Paula says Megan did everything right.  Simon calls her a funny little thing, though the end got a bit shout-y.  Randy loved it and says she's in the Duffy/Amy Winehouse category. Kara says that with the right hit, she could be a breakout hit artist.  Everyone thinks she's very relevant and viable in this market.

Now we have Matt Breitzke singing one of my favorite songs, Tonic's "If You Could Only See".  I dig it, but I don't think it's amazing.  It's not quite karaoke, but it's not much better than karaoke either.  Simon said it was boring and uncomfortable, even though he really likes Matt.  Randy says it was a great song, but the performance was boring.  Kara says it fell flat because of poor song choice.  Paula agrees with everyone.

Next is Jesse Langseth singing "Bette Davis Eyes".  Her bluesy voice is awesome (she's apparently Johnny Lang's sister), she's beautiful and she almost out-quirkies Megan.  However, it's pretttty boring.  Randy says it was okay, but not exciting.  Kara agrees with Randy that she didn't show enough range.  Paula thinks Jesse is captivating and has unique phrasing.  Simon disagrees with Paula and says that Jesse is forgettable.

Kai Kalama sings "What Becomes of the Brokenhearted" by Jimmy Ruffin - the first oldie that anyone has sang in the semi-finals so far.  He's very emotionally invested, but is still undeniably boring - plus he has a bizarre vibrato at the end that is not pleasant at all.  Kara says she likes him, but that the song was really old fashioned.    Paula says he's got chops and really "came back" from his LA fubar.  Simon says it was a wedding singer performance.  Randy says the performance was so safe, he doesn't know what to think of it.

Ughhhh this is turning out to be a pretty long night.  No one's really that great - or great at all. 

Now we have Mishavonna Henson, who's got a cool voice and a unique vocal style.  She sings "Drops of Jupiter" by Train and is frowning about 90% of the time.  I just wish she had stopped the song or cut out the "Na-na-nas"  Paula says she sang it well, but the song choice did not excite her.  Simon says it was a great song, but that she's too serious - especially for her age.  Randy agrees that she acts so much older than 18 years old.  Kara says she needs to loosen up, but that she's no doubt a really good singer.

Adam Lambert sings "Satisfaction" by The Rolling Stones.  He is brooding and sexing it up for the camera so much I want to throw up.  I wish he would:  a) stop singing like he's in a musical b) dancing like he's in a music c) trying to look like a rock star d) moisturize.  By the end he's singing higher than any girl has sung in the competition (but on-key, so it's ok), and there is an appropo rainbow video screen flashing behind him.  The performance was appalling to me, but Paula loves it.  Simon thought parts were excruciatingly bad and parts that were brilliant, and that it was a "love it or hate it" performance.  Randy says Adam's the most current artist AI has ever had - specifically, he thinks that Adam is like Steven Tyler/Fallout Boy/a Twilight vampire.  Hmm....  Kara says Adam's vocal ability is outrageous - which is true.  He's like male Mariah Carey, but his over-the-top rocker look is just a farce!

Anyway, tonight was reaaaally disappointing.  The only one who was kind of impressive was Allison.  I thought the first group was so much better, and that there were people in the first group (Anoop, ahem!) who are more deserving of a spot in the finals.  However, I think that Adam and Allison will definitely get through.  For the third spot, it could be Megan.

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