Wednesday, April 18, 2012

Long Road Home

Who will be homeward bound?
April 18, 2012 American Idol Show Notes:

Round One
Hollie: Rolling in the Deep, came out of her shell, excellent. Score 9.

Colton: Bad Romance by GaGa, futuristic rocker, liked it, needs to pronounce the end of his words for all the non-deaf listeners. Score: 8.

Elise: No One by Alicia Keys, rough-edge rocker wearing orange curtains, OK but didn't really like it. Score: 7.

Phillip: You Got It Bad by Usher, cool slow Afro-beat, playing 12-string guitar, soulful, growly, true artist. Score: 9.

Jessica: Fallen by Alicia Keys, slow sexy song, pretty good, blended in with backup singers too much, needs more confidence. Score: 8. 

Skylar: Born This Way by GaGa, sounds like a pro, like her country version of any song, good choice, rockin country, effortless. Score: 9.

Joshua: Sang some gospel-sounding song, big notes sound pitchy and strained. Score: 7.

Round Two
Hollie: Son of a Preacher Man, narrow range, OK, nothing special. Score: 7.

Colton: Took a favorite Earth Wind and Fire song and made it his own, but I hated it. It sounded like a long slow ballad instead of the original upbeat clean energy. Sounds like he's crying. Score: 7.

Elise: Let's Get It On, she has an incredible instrument, mature voice, but the judges did not like it, and talked too much, bad sign. Score: 7.

Phillip: Wait Til The Midnight Hour, no guitar, awkward movement, more of the same, one-trick pony? Score: 7.

Jessica: Try A Little Tenderness, stepped out and gave a crazy big-voice performance. Score: 9.

Skylar: Heard It Thru The Grapevine, more of the same countryization of a good choice for her, but she too is a one-trick pony, but has fun up there. Score: 8.

Joshua: Surprisingly chose a Civil Rights song, sounded like a slow gospel which is maybe a good choice for him, but I would not pay to go hear him as the tone of his voice is not pleasing to my ears. Sorry. Score: 6.

Bottom Three: Joshua, Elise, Colton.
Hopefully going home: Joshua.

4 comments:

Kit said...

Wow, what a night! Best yet! Just a few short weeks ago I was thinking this year didn't have great talent. Now I'm thinking they're all awesome. I mostly agree with Johnnny but have a few different takes:

Hollie
Song 1: Amazing. Finally had her well-deserved BUH-BANG moment.
Song 2: Karaoke at best.

Colton
Song 1: Pretty good, might have nabbed some Gaga "monsters" as fans.
Song 2: I give him points for creativity. Love it when contestants really change songs up. BTW, if the camera adds 10 lbs, how skinny ARE his legs?

Elise
Song 1: Loved it. Soulful Alicia Keys...them's big shoes to fill...
Song 2: Underwhelming and ugh.

Phillip
Song 1: I think he's Dave Matthews' long lost son. I loved his slide into different keys. Sex.E.Cool. Just think he's got IT.
Song 2: Sorry, I don't believe that he would pick that song in a million years. Somehow managed to keep it from being totally cheesy, but that was about it.

Jessica
Song 1: Um, how good is she? Like, CRAZY good? And 16? I hope she takes 3rd and becomes the next Jennifer Hudson. Damn, girl.
Song 2: Also stellar, unlike the rest on song 2.

Skylar
Song 1: Loved this...country Gaga. That's just cool, and she pulled it off.
Song 2: I don't even like country but she seems able to make anything sound good in an Alabama-Arkansas way.

Joshua
First I have to say that he looked defeated tonight, like he knew it was over. That being said, I didn't like either of his songs and thought the whole "Change Is Gonna Come" thing was overly predictable. Even HE didn't seem to like singing it. Wish he would've broken out of that gospel genre and surprised us.

Going home: Joshua, and if I had to pick a 2nd, it'd be Elise (even tho I like her).

This is getting good!

Reagan James' Mom said...

We missed Hollie, Colton & Elise's first songs.

Phillip: Yay...standing ovation! Excellent.

Jessica: Great stuff. After her last growling note Reagan said, "What the?" (He gets that line from Scotty!)

Skylar: "Born This Way." I thought she did really well with a current, popular GaGa song. However, as I've said before, I'm just not a country fan so I never really love it.

Joshua: I liked that he "pulled back", as Randy said, at the beginning, but I knew the screams would come. He obviously can sing, but could he do just one song without screaming? J.Lo said she felt blessed. Reagan responded, "Nobody feels blessed after that."

Hollie: "Son of a Preacher Man." Reagan said, "Oh my gosh, that was awesome!" I think he has a 6-year old crush on "Hall-ay." She looked adorable in pink but the performance was just...there. I think she has a strong voice but to me she still hasn't found her niche. She's just singing songs, she sings them well, but there's something missing.

Colton: Not good. I love "September" by EW&F and he changed it too much for me.

Elise: "Let's Get It On." Pretty good.

Phillip: I actually loved this. J.Lo spoke for me! I also liked what Stephen said...that Phillip is "brilliantly awkward." His quirky moves are part of his charm to me.

Jessica: She had some weird outfits on tonight. She did a lot of growling in this song. It was fun -- really good.

Skylar: She is spunky!

Joshua: Beginning was good, middle was boring, ending - more screaming.

Bottom: Colton, Elise, Jessica
Cut: Elise

Johnnny said...

Colton is gone. I did not think he could win it, so he had to go one of these weeks. Hollie got a good scare being in the Bottom Two. Elise was in the Bottom Three. Bye-bye Colton.

Reagan James' Mom said...

I didn't watch the results show but just read about it online. We were right about Colton & Elise in the bottom three. I didn't think Colton would be going home, though. Hollie escapes again!

I agree with you, Johnny, that Colton wasn't good enough to win, so I'm cool with him out. Reagan, however, will be bummed when I tell him tomorrow morning. Reagan's favorites that remain are, Phillip & "Hall-ay." My fave is still Phillip!