American Idol 9: Week 2 Girls
It’s a marathon morning; I just finished watching the boys’ performances, and now it’s on to girltown. It’s also laundry day here at the House of Meyer — the whites are in the wash, the colors are in the dryer, so let’s get into some singing!
Crystal Bowersox – Fresh out of the hospital, mamasox has the lead-off spot. She performs with a packet full of trinkets in her pocket, and has a twin brother. She’s singing some CCR this week. It seems apt to give a gospel twist to a song called “Long as I Can See the Light”. It was well-sung, and she’s very authentic, but it just wasn’t terribly exciting. I wouldn’t call it boring necessarily, but it didn’t thrill me. The judges (including Ellen wearing a jaunty ascot tonight) are all madly in love with her. Kara says she improved over last week’s “You Oughta Know”, which is so odd, since last week she sang “Hand in My Pocket”. But all Alanis songs are interchangeable, I guess. By the way, it appears that she was hospitalized for a complication with her diabetes, which isn’t surprising what with all the stress these kids must be under. Even if she didn’t sing well, she’d be totally safe.
Haeley Vaughn – I typed both her first and last names wrong initially (because Hayley Vaughan makes more sense). Did you know she makes most of her flower headbands herself? And admits she has no confidence in herself? And did you know that when she smiles, something about her teeth makes me feel like she’s going to bite me in the throat? Also, she’s the female pick for Vote for the Worst, so I fully expect some awfulness again this week. She’s singing “The Climb” by Miley Cyrus (I thought she said “The Klein”). Long story short, the song sucks, and her performance of it sucks more. Pitchy, twangy, bad karaoke. Judges agree.
Lacey Brown – I really want to like this girl. She’s the quirky short-haired redhead! Last year she lost out a semifinal spot to that horrendous Megan Joy Corkery. Tonight she’s singing Sixpence None the Richer’s “Kiss Me”, and it has its problems. She actually has a little bit of the same goat-bleat quaver in her voice that Megan Joy had, and while Lacey has more control over her voice than Megan Joy did, she’s still all over the place. She’s hitting sharp notes and flat notes, and notes you never knew existed. Randy calls it “karaoke”, but what really intrigues me is that he has a heart with eyes on it on his sweater. What the hell is that? The rest of the judges are mostly in my corner.
Katie Stevens – Last week, the judges criticized her for singing “Feeling Good”, saying it was too old for her. So this week she’s tackling Corinne Bailey Rae’s “Put Your Records On”. Which is one of my favorite songs to play in Band Hero. I don’t think I’d call it a younger song per se, mainly because CBR has such a rich, mature voice. Katie does all right with the song, but it needs to be moved up into a different key; the low notes are lost, as is so often the case on this show. But it’s better than last week. Ellen agrees with me that she’s still not singing young enough stuff. The rest of the judges agree. They may seem harsh, but it’s all valid, valid, valid.
Didi Benami – Is it just me, or does this girl look a LOT like Brooke White from season 7? I liked Brooke, restarts and all. Plus, she meows songs. Just like I do! Last week, she sounded very Grey’s Anatomy soundtrack. This week, she’s singing the classic “Lean on Me”. She mixes up the notes in the verse, so it’s not identifiable as the original. Then she goes back to the regular melody for the chorus, and it’s not as good, because you know what notes she’s supposed to be hitting. I worry about the voters this week, but I really do hope she stays around; she could be very, very good.
Michelle Delamor – She’s tackling Creed’s “With Arms Wide Open”, which is a … fascinating choice. As she sings, let’s analyze her outfit. Half-gloves that only cover the fingers, although they don’t appear to cover all the base knuckles. Over one of those, a giant tacky cocktail ring. Black jean leggings underneath a white juniors’ bubble-skirt strapless dress underneath a cropped black jacket. And stilletto boots. Is the singing over yet? Because it’s just as godawful as her outfit. Her pitch is all over the place, she can’t quite make the high notes, and the final two notes are more pitiful than powerful. She says she felt good afterward, but the grimace on her face belies that statement. The judges are mixed.
Lilly Scott – She plays a lot of instruments, including the melodica and “the Moog”. She’ll be playing the 12-string guitar for “A Change is Gonna Come” this week. She’s also supposed to work on opening her eyes more and looking at the camera. Well, she pretty much fails at the eye stuff, but I think her reworking of this classic song is pretty entertaining. she changed it up, she made it her own, and even though the song’s from 1964, it didn’t feel old. If she can keep improving, and not become one of those finalists who start strong then slowly creep backward, she has top 4 written all over her.
Katelyn Epperly – For her pre-sing interview, she’s wearing a Madonna-in-1984 outfit, as if she’s going to burst out singing “Lucky Star”. Last week, Kara criticized her makeover, and this week … she’s just as glammed up. But Kara’s right; Katelyn looks much better looking natural. Not with this white satin and gold lamé, ginormous earrings, and glam squad makeup. She’s the first contestant so far in the semifinals to play the piano, singing Coldplay’s “The Scientist”. And it’s surprisingly good. Sure, a couple of bum notes here and there, but for a ballad, it was quite compelling. It didn’t bore me. The judges think it was too slow, but we’ve had speedier ballads that were so much worse.
Paige Miles – In her spare time, she colors coloring books. I tapped her to be eliminated last week for a horrible song choice. This week she’s doing Kelly Clarkson’s “Just Walk Away”. She changes the notes all around in the verse; that is to say, she takes away most of the challenge, and just sings a few of the same notes over and over again. We get a shot over her shoulder of the judges, and Simon’s digging around on the floor for something. She follows the real melody for the chorus, and has to go up into a whisper for the high notes. She has the type of voice that we always hear on Idol, fair to decent but without any real passion; just warbling pop. She’s not connecting to the lyrics AT ALL. She’s cracking her voice constantly throughout the shouty bridge, and she ends the song with a whimper instead of a bang. She would have fit in three or four seasons ago, but this isn’t where AI has moved along to recently. The judges are mixed; some like it, some hate the song choice.
Siobhan Magnus – Maybe it’s because she’s a mellow, slow-talking girl … but I find her personality-free. She had a mohawk a while back! And no, that doesn’t suit her at all. She’s just boring. This week she’s singing “Think”. And I have every common complaint — she’s not connecting with the song, she’s not putting enough passion behind it. She’s hitting most of the right notes (except for a couple of the higher ones), but until the very end, there just wasn’t any strength behind them. It got better at the end, but it felt karaoke to me, and again, it felt way too old for her. I guess I’m on a different page from the judges, because they all seem to love it.
It’s harder to pick the bottom two from the girls. Crystal and Lilly are totally safe in the top. Then there’s a glut of okay girls. From the recaps, and looking back, I’m thinking Lacey and Michelle for being off-key and uninteresting. Although Katie might be down there too. I’ll give Haeley another week because she has the power of badness behind her.










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