And here we are! It's the start of the season eight of American Idol performance review blogs here on Luke's Ponderings. Last night we had one group of semi-finalists perform and tonight we will find out which three will advance to the top 12. I'm not sure I'm digging this new format that American Idol has adopted quite yet - that is still up for debate. Anyways, it is what it is and we'll have to live with it for now. So tonight, we'll find out which top vote getting female and male contestant makes it through to the finals. Then, the third highest vote getter, whether it's female or male, will also advance. To be honest, there were only about three or four that sang that well last night, so the voting by the American public should've been pretty easy. On with the reviews!
Jackie Tohn - "A Little Less Conversation" : Jackie is probably our one and only true female rocker on this season of American Idol. I definitely liked how she put her own spin on this classic Elvis song. However, some of the phrasing of the lyrics was a bit awkward at times. It almost seemed as if she performed this song in the past. She certainly is a good performer, even though the vocals might not be spectacular. The performance didn't blow me away, per se, but it was still quite entertaining. Was it one of last night's best performances? It was up there, but not the best.
Ricky Braddy - "Song For You" : It's rather a shame that the producers did very little to promote this guy during the past few weeks because he's actually a very good singer and a likable guy. We certainly know a ton more about Michael Sarver and Danny Gokey than we do with Ricky. I think his lack of screen time will hurt him in the end. I was pleasantly surprised by his performance as he displayed great vocal control and had no trouble hitting the right notes in the song. It was basically a pitch-perfect performance and he injected a great amount of soul into the song. Simon said he may not have star quality - which he himself should accept some of the blame, seeing that Ricky's received very little air time on Idol thus far.
Alexis Grace - "Never Loved a Man" : She has definitely changed her image from the first time we saw her during the audition stage of the show. She looks more edgy and grown up, if you will. She's got a very big voice for such a small person. Another very soulful performance, like her predecessor. It was a very sassy, almost sultry performance. Who knew she had this in her? It was a very strong vocal performance and certainly not boring. In fact, it was a joy to watch. It ended up being one of the highlights of the night - the best female performance of group one. Showed a ton of confidence.
Brent Keith - "Hicktown" : It appears Brent would like to become a country star if he happens to make it far on Idol. He seems to have that country look to him and if he can succeed, he could go far. I am not familiar with country music, so I don't know anything about this song. It sounds like a country-rock kind of song; definitely something fun to dance to. It's up-beat and he's rocking out to it, but I don't think it's exactly the right song for Brent. I agreed with Kara's comment in that it was a safe song choice. He could've picked something that showed off his vocals more. At least he had fun with it.
Stevie Wright - "You Belong to Me" : Stevie was one of my favorites from the very beginning of this season. We really didn't see a whole lot from her during Hollywood Week, so I was pleased she made it through to the top 36. However, this song for her was the absolute wrong choice. It doesn't even start off all that well. It's very pitchy and it almost seems too low for her. She struggles with that lower register in the song. Yes, it's a fun up-beat song and it's a safe selection, but she doesn't even sing it half-way decent. I suspect her nerves may have gotten the best of her. It just didn't work out for Stevie last night.
Anoop Desai - "Angel of Mine" : Anoop is probably considered a front-runner of the competition thus far. And those are high expectations when the live shows are only just beginning. Like Randy commented, I thought this was a very interesting and ambitious song choice for Anoop. I don't necessarily believe it was the right song for him, either. At times it seemed too high for him and he had his struggles during certain moments. He's definitely a great vocalist and he did a decent job with the song. But it certainly wasn't his best; not as spectacular as it could've been. And that may hurt him at this stage of the competition.
Casey Carlson - "Every Little Thing She (He) Does is Magic" : Casey is a very good looking, cute girl. Just her overall image alone probably made the AI producers salivate. However, you have to be a good singer to complete that package. And Casey didn't do that last night. It turned out to be the wrong song choice again (and we saw that a lot last night). I don't necessarily believe that singing a song made famous by someone of the opposite sex is always a wise choice. Sometimes it works and other times, particularly in this case, it doesn't. Some of her facial expressions seemed inappropriate and it was like she was making a joke out of the whole process. Still, she had fun despite the performance being littered by off-pitch moments.
Michael Sarver - "I Don't Wanna Be" : I'm beginning to feel that this song should be one of those banned by Idol producers (even though no song will probably ever be banned) because it's becoming over sung. Personally, I enjoy Gavin DeGraw's interpretation of it as well as a few other past Idol contestants. However, Michael didn't end up hitting a home run with it. It was just okay for me. Michael seems more into the country genre than anything - he definitely has that look to him. This song never did properly display his vocals in the way that it should've. An example of the kinds of songs he should sing are like his performance during the sing-off, before the judges selected him as a semi-finalist. He can do a lot better, in my opinion.
Ann Marie Boskovich - "Natural Woman" : She was another one of my personal favorites prior to Hollywood week and she appeared to have a fan following. Ann Marie performs an incredibly huge Aretha Frankin song. Obviously Aretha is an incredible singer and you really need the vocal chops to perform a song like this. Unfortunately it falls short for me. She's off-pitch right from the start and she appears uninspired, just as one of the lyrics says. Yet again, another example of the wrong song choice. Just as with Casey, Ann Marie is very pleasant on the eyes but her singing is only sub-par.
Stephen Fowler - "Rock With You" : In my opinion, Stephen had a good chance to sneak into the top 12 if he presented a stellar performance during semi-finals. He really had a great tone to some of his earlier performances (except for that David Cook song where he forgot the lyrics). But he chooses a Michael Jackson song that is probably one of his least popular. This really fell flat and I agreed with some of the judges criticism in that it was all a bit corny. Even though he says he's not that strong performing behind a piano, what does he have to lose by giving it another shot? Overall, I was disappointed to see Stephen do so badly.
Tatiana Del Toro - "Saving All My Love for You" : Oh brother. Here we have everyone's favorite psycho contestant who is definitely one of the more talked about performers of season eight. Could it be possible that Tatiana could help to lift the spirits of the overall Idol audience by performing half-way decently? I was really questioning Tatiana's decision to pick a Whitey Houston song, much like Randy did. But all in all, it really wasn't that bad. I mean sure, it wasn't perfect; but it was probably the second or third best female performance of the evening. I thought it started off rather shaky and she was a bit hard to understand. But once the song got into a higher register for Tatiana, she performed much better. We'll see if America has fallen in love with Tatiana's antics after tonight's results show. Does she make it through?!?
Danny Gokey - "Hero" : Last but not least, it's Danny's turn to wow the audience. You know, maybe the producers were doing us a huge favor by scheduling Danny to sing last because he really lifted up my spirits after a dismal performance night. He's actually taken some harsh criticism from some of the on-line community because of the back-story involving his wife passing away four weeks before he auditioned. They feel he's been over-pimped by the producers and basically shoved in all of our faces. Give the guy a break already. It's not his decision to be so prominently displayed during these early rounds. And after all, he's a tremendous singer. He's set to go very, very far in season eight. He's already a consummate pro.
So, how do I rate tonight's perfomers? Here is a listing of the top six males and the top six females:
Top Six Male Performers:
1.) Danny Gokey
2.) Ricky Braddy
3.) Anoop Desai
4.) Michael Sarver
5.) Brent Keith
6.) Stephen Fowler
Top Six Female Performers:
1.) Alexis Grace
2.) Jackie Tohn
3.) Tatiana Del Toro
4.) Ann Marie Boskovich
5.) Casey Carlson
6.) Stevie Wright
And last but not least, who do I think will advance to the Top 12:
M - Danny Gokey
F - Alexis Grace
M - Anoop Desai
Enjoy the results tonight!
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