Wednesday, March 03, 2010

American Idol 9 - Top 20 (Boys Night)

Off we go with another American Idol review! Last night, the remaining 10 male contestants performed another Billboard Top 100 hits theme night to mixed results. Overall, I'd say it was much improved over last week's performances. But it's still evident that the boys need a lot of work to challenge the girls this season. And in somewhat of a surprise, the boys and girls flip-flop performance nights because of an unknown illness to female contestant Crystal Bowersox. She ended up being hospitalized all day yesterday, forcing the powers that be at Idol to showcase the boys on Tuesday and the girls on Wednesday. I'd have to say that it did not seem to faze the boys all that much in performing a night earlier. I think we would've been dealt the same results no matter which night they went. So, let's get this started!

Michael Lynch - singing "This is a Man's World" by James Brown : Last week Michael was buried in the middle of the pack with his Maroon 5 song. I believe R&B songs suit his style more, rather than the pop/rock variety. Last night he followed suit with this classic James Brown song. I liked the overall vibe of this performance. He was confident with the song, very soulful, and made it enjoyable to listen to. And although he's not overly flashy with his singing style, he gets the job done. Going first will certainly not hurt him this week.

John Park - singing "Gravity" by John Mayer : I am kind of looking forward to seeing John perform well because we really haven't seen him perform a lot so far in this season. And when we saw him perform last week, it wasn't very good. Let's see if he became more confident and picked a suitable song to fit his style. I can see John having success with the John Mayer style of music. I heard a lot of potential in his performance this week, although it still was not perfect. I'd rate it as being average due to pitch problems and it being a tad boring.

Casey James - singing "I Don't Want to Be" by Gavin Degraw : Whenever I hear someone is covering this song on Idol, I cringe because it hasn't been successful for some of the previous contestants. Maybe Casey can have better luck with this song, especially if he's rocking out to it with his guitar. You know, it's not half-bad. I don't think the vocals were exceptional by any means as the music tended to drown out his voice at times. But Casey certainly has some real potential in this competition. I'd be shocked if he doesn't make the top 10.

Alex Lambert - singing "Everybody Knows" by John Legend : There is no question that Alex is a likable guy. I think he could do himself some good by getting a haircut, though! As you know, last week was not good for Alex. He dodged a bullet and gets a second chance to prove himself. He has to calm his nerves and improve his stage presence, however. All in all, Alex's performance was actually quite enjoyable. I agree with the judges that he has such a unique tone to his voice. He just needs additional stage experience and confidence and he should do fine.

Todrick Hall - singing "What's Love Got to Do with It" by Tina Turner : Todrick is a guy who appears to enjoy taking risks. He likes toying with songs and turning them into his own work's of art. That being said, he hasn't had great success yet with his arrangements on Idol thus far. Much can be said about his latest re-work of "What's Love Got to Do with It." I think the song became too slowed down with Todrick's new arrangement and wasn't as great as it could've been. I thought the beginning of the song was stronger than the last half.

Jermaine Sellers - singing "What's Goin' On" by Marvin Gaye : It appears that Jermaine is quickly becoming the most disliked contestant of season nine so far. He's dissed the band, talked back to the judges, and some of his comments are a little out there. And his singing hasn't been that great so far, either. Again, I am noticing plentiful of pitch problems throughout this performance. He struggles with the upper notes in his register and some of those notes ended up being quite brutal, to be honest. I think Jermaine is in trouble this week.

Andrew Garcia - singing "You Give Me Something" by James Morrison : Andrew has a soft speaking voice and is a tenor. I totally agree with the judges' comments that he has a very unique sound to his voice that's very enjoyable to listen to. If he can pick the right songs, he has a very good chance to go far into this competition. I think Andrew fell backwards a bit again this week. I wasn't all that enthused about this performance and it fell rather flat. He was off-pitch at a few times and the performance was simply boring. I know he can do much better.

Aaron Kelly - singing "My Girl" by the Temptations : Coming into this season, I thought Aaron had the potential to be the next David Archuleta. Well so far, he's no Archie! That doesn't mean he's doing horrible, however. He certainly doesn't have a ton of confidence on stage yet and hasn't had a lot of stage presence, yet. I thought his peformance of "My Girl" was decent, yet wasn't completely flawless. I often felt like he was trying to do too much with the song and I wasn't in love with the arrangement. A different song probably would've suited him better.

Tim Urban - singing "Come on Get Higher" by Matt Nathanson : Before going any further, let me just say I love this song. I hope Tim doesn't butcher this song like he did to One Republic's "Apologize" last week. I just never understood the hype around Tim going into Hollywood week. He's another one who dodged a bullet last week and he improved himself slightly this week over last. However, it's quite evident he needs a lot of work. I liked that he played the guitar and that probably boosted his confidence some. He just needs to work on his singing skills!

Lee Dewyze - singing "Lips of an Angel" by Hinder : Hmm, a Hinder song on American Idol. Has one of their songs ever been covered on the show before? Lee is a very serious contender for the boys. He just needs to continuing working on his confidence and not let the nerves get to him so much! He seems like a nice, humble individual that I hope continues to succeed this season. Despite some pitchiness here and there, all in all I thought Lee's performance was quite enjoyable. It's clear that the rock genre is something he'd like to pursue.

My favorite performers of the night: Lee Dewyze, Alex Lambert, Michael Lynch.

Performances that were so-so: Tim Urban, Aaron Kelly, Andrew Garcia, Casey James.

In danger of being voted off: Jermaine Sellers, Todrick Hall, John Park.

Going Home: Jermaine Sellers and Todrick Hall. Last week I was totally off with my predictions even though the majority of the performances were mediocre. It was honestly difficult picking who would be sent packing! There is one stand-out from Tuesday night, however, who is most deserving to go. It's Jermaine. He just has not stepped it up and his singing has been absolutely dreadful to listen to. I am left to wonder what the judges saw in him during Hollywood week to advance him further. He's just not coming off as a very likable guy so far. As for Todrick, I think he could potentially be this week's shocking eliminee. If he does make it through to another week, he really needs to pick a song that can showcase his vocals. He also needs to pull back and not do as much vocal Olympics during his performances. All this will be for naught if he's voted off Thursday, however!

(3/4/10) Actual Eliminees: John Park and Jermaine Sellers. Again, no surprise with these two getting the boot. I was sure Jermaine was going home, but I thought John might get spared another week in favor of Todrick. Unfortunately for me, it was the other way around.

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