Top 6 - Songs of Shania Twain!

It's country, it's Shania Twain songs, and it's this group of singers who more often than not refuses to rise above mediocrity. Hmm...

Lee is up first with "You're Still the One". I liked this. He's getting more rocker(ish) week to week, kind of a David Cook vibe. Kara didn't feel the love from the song, for which Lee laughs at her opinion. Simon liked it except for Lee's weird faces. I have the opposite opinion of Kara, I really like her when I can see her and she's not speaking.

Michael with "It Only Hurts When I'm Breathing". I thought it was good but somewhat dull. Kara tells us this is one of Shania's greatest hits. Considering they are only doing SIX songs from her whole catalog I would hope so. Simon says it's wet, and when asked to elaborate, he says the opposite of dry. What? Shania cried. (Maybe that was wet?) Michael could wind up bottom three getting lost in the shuffle.

Casey James with "Don't". Not sure what he's singing. Nice little ballad. I think he is doing what Michael tried to do better. Randy likes it. Ellen says "i'm going to say the same thing". You know, if I had a choice to get rid of Ellen or Kara, I'd get rid of Ellen. That's how much she adds to the show. Simon loves it, has Casey come down to give Shania a hug. Good job Casey!

Crystal next with "No One Needs to Know". Crystal is singing this song as a message to her boyfriend. Ugh, it's really country. She is singing really nice, it's good, but i despise the song choice. It's an artist Simon likes, and she is there, so he won't do it but I'm sure he HATES the song choice. Crystal makes excuses for her seeming disconnect with the song. Ooh, Simon agrees with me. Crystal doesn't like being criticized.

Aaron with "You've Got A Way". It's not bad. It's too old for him, the way he is sitting there, the way he is singing, the song choice. It comes off strange. However, it was a very good performance. Simon loved it, and makes Aaron cry with his praise. Even the other judges react when Simon praises someone. Tough to predict who goes out so far.

Sibohan with "Any Man of Mine". Ugh, it's very country. At least it's not strum along like Crystal did. (BTW, Country artists are a bit full of themselves, no? It's the story, get in character, blah blah. The lyrics are just like any other genre.) The arrangement is a bit strange. I think it I wasn't so down on country I'd like this more. Siobhan is running all over. She needs to stop the screeching. It was the worst note of the performance. Everyone really liked it. Simon liked it except the screaming.

Hmm...bottom three? I think Aaron, Lee and Michael, and I think Michael goes home. Which would send shockwaves through the pool, and shockwaves are fun.

See you tommorrow!!

Tim Urban eliminated...

Let’s say goodbye to Tim Urban.

There’s not much to say. He was better in current weeks, but not good enough to miss him if he was gone. Very few people in our pool had him. In fact, this pool is as close to chalk as you will ever see. No one has lost their #1 pick. 98% of the pool has their second pick, 88% their third, 85% of the total picks are still in, and 25 people have their entire top 5 still alive in the competition. (That’s why I have yet to do any scenarios, it doesn’t make sense when 25 people are alive in each one. I’ll start this week or next though.)

This week was Alicia Keys and inspirational songs. She was an ok mentor. I thought Lee was the best this week, followed closely by Crystal. (I think people are giving Crystal more attention, but that’s because she was last, and Lee much earlier in the show.) Neither Michael or Siobhan was as good this week, both done in by so-so song choices. (Siobhan reached into the bag of songs we should never sing on this show anymore, and Michael’s inspirational song, as Simon pointed out, was about Spider Man.) Aaron and Casey are just there at this point as far as I’m concerned, and I’d be surprised if they are not the two eliminated the next two weeks. (The real drama here is who will be Crystal’s opponent in the final as she will almost certainly be there.)

I missed most of the IDOL GIVES BACK results show (though I made my contribution via I-tunes). However, even though I joined the show at 9:55 I was still able to catch the last 30 minutes as it had the endless runover. I wonder if the network affiliates were happy about that? Also amazing how the elimination still felt rushed 150 minutes into the show.

This week is Shania Twain week with her as the mentor. I HATE it. It’s a defacto country week with a very limited song choice. We didn’t need that, especially with how lackluster things have been. It’s not like she was this fantastic guest judge either that we needed her to come back.

See you Tuesday! Hopefully I can email Thursday and don’t have anything bad occur (like my pc dying, etc.) as has happened the past few weeks.

Idol Gives Back - Inspirational Week!

It's inspirational songs with Alicia Keys and apparently it's also IDOL GIVES BACK!!!

First it's Casey with Don't Stop (Fleetwood Mac). It was good but nothing special. (Alicia Keys told him not to do a straight version cause people wouldn't give him credit. He did a straight version.) Judges skewer him. Not a good way to start out. (Is Don't Stop inspirational?)

Next it's Lee, him of the lack of facial expression. (Alicia Keys is really pretty btw.) Lee is singing a song I like but for the life of me don't know the name. (It's about a boxer.) This is REALLY good. Simon calls it brilliant. Go Lee!!!!

Aaron is up next...no, it's Tim (Why did they show Aaron?) He is NOT singing this song well. It's not a terrible performance, it's a terrible singing exhibition. It's so off. The judges temper their criticism because Tim is better than he used to be. Ehh...moving on...

Aaron with I BELIEVE I CAN FLY. WHY WHY WHY. That song needs to be put in the "NEVER SING LIST" along with every Celine Dion and Whitney Houston song. Eh...he sang it ok but it's nowhere near the original, thus - what is the point?

Siobhan next. Her scream is "the money spot" says Alicia, creating a term we must promise to never, ever use again. She is singing Miracles. Note to Siobahn: If you look unique, that doesn't mean you look good. It's pretty good. It can be argued that neither Whitney or Mariah could sing it like this at the current time. Siobhan goes through her slow "explaining why she sang the song" awkward moment that she does every week. Judges are harder on her than others, no?

Mike to sing Hero. UGH. Well, it's Nickelback at least (i feared Mariah). I don't feel good about this. EH. It was so-so. It was just a bad song choice.

Crystal to close us out (Note to idol - random would mean the better singers don't close the shows 9 out of 10.) Crystal without guitar. This is very good. I don't like her style to be honest, as much as people will disagree, who sounds this old fashioned on the radio? She is crying. We will now hear she misses her family, as if they all died in a horrible plane crash. Yes she missed someone. WHY? Just bring them out...the show will be over in a month, and you'll be given A MILLION DOLLARS which should insure you see your family a lot more than if you had to sing in in a bar for the rest of your life. Perspective please...

Very very so-so show, Lee was the best to me (I think he got lost because he was so early in the show), Crystal next, and everyone else a far step below. Aaron, Casey and Tim in the bottom. Who goes home anyone's guess, i doubt it matters.

See you tommorrow!

Idol Update - Songs of Elvis - 2 Contestants gone...

Let’s say goodbye to Katie Stevens and Andrew Garcia. Katie leaving barely leaves a ripple in our pool; only 2 people had her in the Top 5. Andrew had a little more support with 13 people choosing him. Neither leaving was a shock nor either undeserved. Katie had a little bit more of a case as she was ok this week, but nothing special. Andrew was a total disaster, and it was only a matter of time until he was gone, so why not this week? (Note: Katie is the first contestant prior to the Top three to go last and still be eliminated.)

This season to me is a bit flat so far. Last week, I had (minor) disasters occurring around me on Tuesday night, and by the time they finished, I moved on to other things (probably a baseball game or something). I forgot the show was on. I’m back this week, ready to watch and I did catch up on everything Wednesday prior to finding out who was eliminated. But the judges deserve criticism for this year, they picked a pretty flat group, their criticism isn’t the least bit helpful for the most part, which makes a lot of the show very flat.

So instead of a recap, let’s do the good and bad of last week….

I LIKED
-Crystal, Michael, Lee and Siobhan.
Every week, to varying degrees these four contestants are good. (Generally Crystal is top two, Michael top three, and Lee and Siobhan all over.) They also all have an idea who they are, what kind of artist they want to be, and the potential for a real blow away performance. At least the bad shows will have 10 minutes at worst of good performances.

-Adam Lambert as mentor
He cared, he gave good advice, he mentioned Lee’s total lack of facial movement, and he treated the contestants like they were competing in a contest. Which is the point, right?

-Tim Urban
He’s not my favorite by any means but he is close to joining the fray at the top, which is amazing when you think about where he was just two weeks ago.

I DIDN’T LIKE
-Crystal Bowersox wants to go home?
http://www.rickey.org/?p=38707
GO HOME. We all have kids. We all have to travel sometimes. We miss our kids when we work all day and don’t see them. She is not special. If she does not want this opportunity then leave. She often as is looks disinterested. Nothing personal, but people getting million dollar opportunities who feel they don’t need them should not take them. (Note: This thought that somehow she’ll be fine without Idol – really? Like her career was taking off otherwise?)

-The Judges have no clue what they are looking for.
The judges for the most part have no idea what they are looking for. Thus, they have no idea what is good week to week, give strange criticism, stranger advice (Kara?) and aside from Simon, their comments are completely disregarded by the contestants. That’s not good. We always had 2 judges no one cared about; we now have three, and at times four.

This week – INSPIRATIONAL SONGS mentored by Alicia Keys! I’d say it should be good but I’m always wrong when I say that.

http://www.rickey.org/?p=38666
The songs they can choose from (not sure if it’s full list or not…)

Let’s keep our fingers crossed.

Top 9 Redux - Elvis Week!

It's Elvis week, because you know - Idol can change what they are doing without telling anyone ever. Because, the show isn't a total mess so far this year. Adam Lambert is our mentor.

See you tomorrow.

Idol Top 9 Results - THE SAVE!

Michael Lynche (after Andrew Garcia and Aaron Kelly were declared safe) sang for his life in front of the judges. Based on their criteria, to be honest – he should have been saved. So despite HATING the save rule (It’s silly, and the idea of singing to be saved is silly because some people won’t be saved no matter what) I can understand the judges bringing Michael back for another week. This means two contestants will be out next week, which should put everyone on notice because Michael will not be one of them (I’m sure his fans will be galvanized knowing how close he came to being out.) Personally, I thought Tim Urban deserved to go. Despite the judges grading on a curve apparently this week, he was still pretty bad. (So for our pool, basically if you still have your Top 5, this week helped you, and if you are behind already, this week did not help at all.)

This was a VERY strange week for the show, and not in a good way. Crystal and Lee brought out the strange instruments (Crystal had someone playing this huge tube thing that I’m not going to look up the name of and Michael had bagpipes. Crystal was great, so it worked, and Lee was not, so it didn’t.) Michael was actually not that bad with Elanor Rigby, although the arrangement got panned. Katie bounced back and was pretty good for the first week in a long time. And Siobhan, was just strange. She dressed like a 5 year old dressing themselves up as a princess, sang beautifully and just very strange and subdued. Then, she cried and told the judges she was “afraid of losing her individuality”. How exactly is she losing it when she does exactly what she wants every week? Strange…

And finally, the judges (aside from Simon) are almost irrelevant this year. People are not eliminated based on their opinion, Ellen seems afraid to take a strong stance, and Kara gives at least one contestant incredibly horrendous advice every week. (She wants Aaron to dance next week. Really? DANCE?)

Next week’s theme is “do any song you want” night”. Not really, but DAMN close. It’s “English songs by artists outside the US”. That covers such a huge amount of material. Artists outside the US cover US songs, US artists sing songs written in other countries, Bands from other countries perform in the US, etc. The mentor will be Adam Lambert, who is a very good choice for do anything you want week. He was #2 last year doing just that every week.

Let’s hope for a great week next week – we really need one.

Top 9 - The Lennon / McCartney songbook...

No mentor today - note: it's Lennon/McCartney, not Lennon OR McCartney so no Imagine, etc. I am writing this after i saw the show so be forewarned, I HATED a lot of what every judge save Simon said today and plan to complain.

Aaron Kelly - Long and Winding Road: I thought this was kind of dull, he is always at about the same tempo, the same volume, the same everything. The judges concur. Kara gives her typical bad advice and wants him to uptempo and be dancing next week. Kara really wants attention, she never stops moving, she always makes sure to chime in, and always playing to the camera. Advice to contestants: Don't listen to Kara if she asks you to change things up.

Katie Stevens - Let it Be: Very good. The judges were super, over the top with the praise though. I am not sure if we have just set the bar low, or if they really loved this as much as they did because she got praised for every facet of this performance to the moon. BTW, anytime they show her in video she comes across as this cute, young girl. When she performs, not at all. I really think she needs to show more personality because I don't think this resonated with people as much as the judges.

Andrew Garcia - Can't But Me Love: Not bad. Just a singalong, kind of dull to be honest. This was a song choice where even if he was good it wouldn't be blow away. I can see Andrew near the bottom three to be honest, as this wasn't exciting enough to 100% keep him away.

Michael Lynche - Elanor Rigby: Have the judges (specifically Ellen) ever heard this song? This arrangement was not that strange, and it was very similar to what David Cook did with the song only 2 years prior. He got massive props for his originality and his arrangement, except from Simon who apparently is not insane like the other judges.

Crystal Bowersox - Come Together: Some guy played this giant tube called a didgeridoo. It was strange, and honestly took away from her performance because it was hard not to watch the strange tube. Other that that it was very good. She understands her style more than almost every other artist, she was back to being Crystal, which is generally good enough to be the best thing on the show.

Tim Urban - All My Loving: I thought this sucked. They graded on a curve and said it was good. Honestly, I really want Tim to be gone. He is a week or two away from being a Sanjaya and knocking off all the better people. Almost a lock for the bottom three.

Casey James - Jealous Guy: Casey went acoustic. I thought this was pretty good. It was nice to hear him sing and not have it be overpowered by the guitar. Got some good feedback from the judges, including Simon who said it was great. Still not sold on Casey as a contender but very solid for him.

Siobhan Magnus - Across the Universe: Ok. I think if you could hear Kara's analysis of this it really said it all. It was basically "That was very well sung, I'm not sure what that was." That was my reaction. Did I like it? Yes. Was it blow away fantastic? No. Do I want to hear it again? No. When asked what she thought of it, she cried because she didn't want to lose her individuality. Very strange. Siobhan needs to be cute and quirky with a great voice singing songs we know, but in her style. Instead she has been dorky, singing strange songs in her style. That won't get it done.

Lee Dewyze - Hey Jude: There were bagpipes at the end of the song. That stood out the most for me, which was not a good thing. It was not his best performance. Ellen loved it, Kara said it was ok, and Simon asked what he was smoking.

For the bottom three I see Aaron, Andrew and Tim. Hopefully Tim goes home. See you tonight.