American Idol 8 / Finals 1
OMG! It’s time for the finals, guys! Top 13 ahoy!
West coast be warned: the full show runs until 10:04pm. My TiVo stopped at 10:00.
The show starts with the most awkward zoom shot of Seacrest, followed by the cameraman adjusting the focus. What a fantastic beginning! The judges then emerge from the center stage doors, with some announcer dude calling their names. Then Seacrest gets to come down this magnificent staircase. Apparently, “Simon wanted to create a very interesting entrance.”
The judges are asked for some words. Randy says the kids have to “bring it hard”. Kara’s going to be harder on them. Paula, who is wearing an exploded bird on her shoulder, wants the contestants to not be afraid to use the stage. Simon wants everyone to remember their words and not get swallowed up by the stage.
Then it’s time to introduce the top 13. Scott has a seeing-eye hunk as usual. Some of the outfits are hideously ugly. They line up, and Simon springs yet another big announcement — TWO people will be going home tomorrow.
Tonight the kids will be singing the music of Michael Jackson. Great, yes, let’s get into the themes as early as possible! We see a package about MJ, and get to see him wearing several … well, they’re not exactly codpieces. I guess it’s more like a golden Speedo over the top of his pants. Either way, total fashion don’t.
1. Lil Rounds: We get recaps about her being a mother of three, as well as how the tornado destroyed their house and they’re living in a hotel. That’s some rough stuff. Tonight she’ll be tackling “The Way You Make Me Feel”. And she’s doing it while wearing a TERRIBLE outfit. White high-waisted, pleated, tapered-ankle pants. A pale pink top, strapless save for a huge fluffy ruffle over one shoulder. Good lord, is she trying to channel 1987? She’s singing all right, but I think it’s too high for her. I want to hear her all low and growly, and this is more mid-range and shouty. And it ends in a typically bad Idol-arrangement way. Randy once again claims that this is the way we kick off season eight (he’s said that several times before) and gives her kudos. Kara hopes to get to hear her on the radio. Paula compliments the soft palette of her outfit and gives props to the “glam squad”. Simon thought the song choice was a little bit lazy, and he hates her outfit.
2. Scott MacIntyre: He’s been nearly blind since birth. His sister is also visually impaired! And they play music as a family. Tonight he’s singing “Keep the Faith” from the album Dangerous. I don’t think I know this one. He’s sitting at the big nice piano, and you can see how much more comfortable he is there. He does a good job with the song, and he’s totally safe as houses. The crowd goes bananas, and Kara has to shout them down to be quiet. She’s glad we all got a chance to see him at the piano, and loves the hopeful message in the song that he chose. Paula says it’s “magical to see your instrument at your fingertips” (heh). Simon hated the song, because nobody knows it. Randy found the performance a little too safe.
3. Danny Gokey: He appears to have a humungous family, and they’re big on singing. And making up songs about mundane crap. I kind of dig it. He’s reaching back to 1983 with “PYT”. He starts out weird and slow and such, but then he rocks into it. His voice is totally on, and he dances like a total geekdork. Oh my, he uses a new section of stage — the contestants can totally walk straight out to the judges’ table! There appears to no longer be that stretch of stage behind the judges, but a huge lowered floor right up in the judges’ grill. Paula dances her face off. She’s also first up for commentary — she tells him he’s on the way to the finals, while sounding like she’s choking on tears. Simon calls the vocals brilliant, but calls the dancing hideous. Randy loves on the uptempo performance, and digs the passionate, un-choreographed feel to the dancing. Kara loves how much joy he has.
4. Michael Sarver: His personal tragedy is not having a father for much of his upbringing. Does everyone in this show have a personal tragedy? Anyhoo, his roughneck compatriots seem happy to see him, and are totes supporting him. Tonight he’ll be singing “You Are Not Alone”. He starts out sitting on the stairs, while looking longingly into the camera. He totally needs to go to the Constantine school of camera-eye contact. It really reads as false. He sings pretty well, but you can tell how terrified he is. His microphone hand is shaking, and his voice has a couple of quivers. Much of the song is shouty, and his movements are way more spastic than Danny’s “dancing”. Simon says he makes up for not being the best singer with his passion, heart, and he gives it 110% (ooh, peeve). Randy tells him, “So far, you’re definitely one of the best”. After four performances, Randy? Such high praise! Kara feels that tonight, he showed her he really can sing. Paula still sounds on the brink of tears, and babbles about how lovely he was tonight.
5. Jasmine Murray: She’s on the stools, and gets asked about the “glam squad” experience. They get hair and costume advice, and they get to keep the clothes. She’s the baby of her family, and they’re a close-knit bunch. She’s a minor, so her mom will be here with her for the long haul. Her song is “I’ll Be There”. It’s a pleasant and boring ballad. She’s wearing a short little pink dress that would look great over a pair of jeans (but seems a mite too short as she’s wearing it, bare-legged), and earrings the size of saucers. Near the end she hits a couple of notes that are slightly off, but it’s adequate. Randy calls her performance “a pretty good job”, which is apt. Kara would have liked it pitched a half-key down (very good note). Paula thought there were bright moments and a couple of flat moments. Simon calls it a little robotic at times, and recommends she act her age, instead of like a little girl trying to be a grown-up. Snaps!
6. Kris Allen: He’s from a small town … but not too small. His father played music in the church. He’s married for 5 months, and his new wife is a cute little blonde named Katy. How Arkansas! He’ll be playing the electric-acoustic guitar and singing “Remember the Time”. Man, the verse on this song is musically boring. And the chorus is verbally boring. He lets the backup singers handle the bulk of the chorus. I think some people will really like this performance. Me, it’s not my bag. Kara is happy to see him with the guitar, and thinks the girlies love him. She also points out that Kris helped out a lot of the other contestants this week. Paula and Simon get into a dumbass thing with her godawful outfit. Then she tells Kris that he’s sexy. Simon calls it a bit clumsy, since the song isn’t really suited to the guitar. He also comments that the wife card shouldn’t have been played yet. Randy calls the performance “Jason Mraz-y”.
7. Allison Iraheta: Her parents are from El Salvador. And since she was a kid, she’s been singing at … a furniture store? Tonight she’s singing “Give In to Me”. The drums, the guitars … it’s like butt rock from the mid 80s. Her outfit isn’t as bad as some, but it’s still weird, what with the sparkly short-shorts over jeans and too many chains hanging from her belt. It’s a decent performance, but it feels totally dated. There’s nothing modern about it. Paula loves it, tells her to stay true to who she is. Simon wants her to lighten up a bit, but is glad she knows who she is as a performer. Randy thinks she could sing anything, and labels her as one to watch. Kara loves the rocker thing, and wants her to keep it up.
8. Anoop Desai: He’s interviewed on the stools, but I miss it all because I’m dicking around with the caps lock on this tiny computer. Onward to his package! (Heh.) He’s an only child. His parents tried to teach him a lot about Indian culture, and are tickled that he’s living the American dream. He’s going to take on “Beat It”. He marches out with the microphone in a stand, and … I don’t know about choosing this song. I like the kid, I think he has a good voice, but this song may be too iconic. I fret that the K word will come out. The background behind him is a weird Matrix-like thing. Simon makes Paula go first for commentary. Paula readies the audience for a boo, then says the song is untouchable, and anything else sounds karaoke. BINGO! Simon takes it further, and calls it horrible — no aggression, all lightweight. Randy calls it the wrong choice, and says karaoke again. Kara agrees with the others, and wanted more variety instead of a straightforward, mechanical performance.
9. Jorge Núñez: Holy crap! I see now that his last name contains TWO special characters, not just one. His big family loves to get together and dance. But they did break apart after his grandfather passed away. But when he made this show, it brought them back together. Tonight he’s doing “Never Can Say Goodbye”. Right off the bat, it’s clear that he’s done his homework as far as looking longingly into the camera. He’s no Constantine yet, but he may be an Ace Young. He turns in a fairly good performance, with most of the notes where they should be. There are a couple of high notes that aren’t quite there, and the ending is the usual crappy Idol ending. Randy wouldn’t have chosen this song for him, because it feels a little old-fashioned. Kara didn’t feel his usual emotional connection. Paula also didn’t feel it, and wondered why he picked the song. Jorge felt it fit his voice better than most. Simon calls it corny, and tells him he’s out of his depth. He also pegs the arrangement as awful.
10. Megan Joy Corkrey: She’s on the stools, and it turns out she was pushed into auditioning by her friends, and she’s never really performed on stage before. And her outfit is terrible. In her package, we find out that she’s tried out for musicals and choirs before, but never got anything. She also didn’t do well at marriage; she’s divorced now. She misses her kid, like every other contestant. She’s going to sing “Rockin’ Robin”, which was done by the Jackson 5. Really? This counts as part of the Michael Jackson catalog? What a horrifying choice. I need to take my mind off the singing, so I’ll comment on her outfit. A too-short red dress, with a ginormous flower thing on the side of her torso, with straps made of braided mummy’s rags. Fugly. Oh, she’s still singing. Okay, on to her dancing. It’s like the twist, done by someone with no coordination whatsoever. She seems SO uncomfortable. And ends the song with “CAW, CAW!” I mean … does she even CARE? Does she give a crap at all about doing well? Sure doesn’t seem so. Kara liked that she injected her personality and made the song “so Megan”. Paula loves her quirky and unique tone, and tells her she picked the right song. Simon pegs it as a stupid song choice, and nails her dancing as ridiculous. Randy thought it was a poor song choice. Then Simon turns to Gordon Freakin’ Ramsay in the audience and asks what HE thought. Gordon says something which we can’t hear, since he’s not near a microphone. I’m guessing it was pro-Megan, because Simon then says he’s doesn’t know what he’s talking about. HEE!
11. Adam Lambert: He moved to Hollywood right after school, but it’s hard to make a living as an artist in Hollywood. His parents seem really supportive and down-to-earth, and there’s really no whiff of a personal tragedy. He’s singing “Black and White” for us. He sings it well, but it’s very Broadway, and I wonder if he’ll ever be able to shed that distinctive sound. At one point it sounds like he sings, “I ain’t scared of no brother, I ain’t scared of no cheese”. I had to go look it up — it’s “sheets”. He finishes with some flat shouted notes, and the audience goes ape-crazy. Paula tells him that in all of American Idol ever, she’s never seen anyone so comfortable up on that stage. And again, she sounds on the brink of tears. What’s UP with her? Simon says it was in a totally different league from anything else tonight. Randy continues the love-fest: he could be on the charts right now. Kara closes it out by complimenting notes that Adam hit that she didn’t even know existed.
12. Matt Giraud: He grew up with a strong family, who spent a lot of time together. And he played a lot of shirtless ping pong with his dad. No real personal tragedy here, either. He’s singing “Human Nature” tonight, as he sits at the big ol’ piano. The song is perhaps a half-key too low; the lowest note of each line in the verse is lost. Later on he gets into his falsetto, which is pretty good. His song seems significantly shorter than most of the other contestants’. Randy loves his Justin Timberlake thing. Kara tells him he’s talented, and hopes to see him for many weeks. Paula calls him talented and sexy. Simon calls it good, though hard to follow Adam. He refers to it as a “meat and potatoes” performance.
13. Alexis Grace: She grew up in Memphis, surrounded by Blues. Her dad is a longhair hippie. She’s going to be a great mommy AND accomplish her dreams. And tonight, she’s singing “Dirty Diana”. Oh, and her outfit? UGH. I would describe it as a strapless short-shorts onesie. With a Mr. T-grade wad of bling. The song is all right, although it’s too shouty for her. I want more low and bluesy from this girl, too. Clearly the judges have to hustle through their comments, as we’re now quite short on time. Kara’s glad that she’s back; she’s a naughty girl, and Kara likes it. Paula wants her to watch her oversinging. Simon calls it over the top, and Randy likes the attitude. She’s also stuck with a wonky phone number: IDOLS-36.
TiVo ended recording right as Seacrest was giving the number for Alexis. Fortunately, I was able to hop back to the start of the 10:00 news on Fox, since the tuner hadn’t changed. Tomorrow we’re going to find out about a surprise change in the rules, which involves the judges. Simon isn’t sure the public will love it, and Seacrest says it’ll change the entire theme and concept of the show. I wonder if it’s going to be a So You Think You Can Dance style judgement — America picks the bottom group, but the judges make the final call? We’ll find out tomorrow.
Recaps: Lil tried too hard. Scott picked an unknown song. Danny danced like a delightful dork. Michael felt stilted and awkward. Jasmine was boring. Kris improved with his guitar. Allison rocked like it was 1984. Anoop dared to sing what he shouldn’t have. Jorge never can say goodbye. Megan horrified my very soul. Adam was showy all over the place. Matt channeled his inner Timberlake. Alexis has great legs.
Now, my picks. It sounds like they’re going to do something weird and different, but we won’t know what until tomorrow. And they also said that two people would be going home tomorrow. I’m going to go with Megan, Jasmine, and Michael for my bottom three, with the ladies going home.
