American Idol 8 - Top 11

It's time to get out your cowboy hat and boots and celebrate country music on American Idol this week! More specifically, the songs featured on this week's Idol come from artists who belong to the coveted Grand Ole Opry. This week also is the first of the mentor weeks as Randy Travis gives his advice about each of the contestant's songs. There isn't a huge amount of recent country artists included in the Grand Old Opry, from what I understand. So the contestants have a choice of picking songs that go way back to the Country-Western times. Somehow I don't think they want to be classified as being too "old-fashioned" either. Seeing that Carrie Underwood is a member of the Grand Old Opry, how much you wanna bet that we'll be seeing one or two of her songs featured by this week's contestants? I guess we'll find out.

Michael Sarver - "Ain't Goin' Down Til the Sun Comes Up" : Country seems to fit Michael well even though he's made comments previously that it's not the kind of music he wants to sing. It's a very fast, upbeat country song. He appears extremely comfortable on stage singing this song, even interacting with the audience. Michael does a nice effort with this performance. It involved plenty of risk especially with a song that moves as fast as this; it could've been very easy for him to stumble and forget a lyric or two. It was a good performance, but not spectacular. Agreed with Randy in that it didn't show off his vocal abilities like it could've.

Allison Iraheta - "Blame it on Your Heart" : A very rock-country type of song for Allison. I am not familiar with this song but I am going to assume the original does not have this much of a rock flair to it. Allison infused her own rock edge to it and it fit her personality to a T. She plays to her strengths and does a nice job. She is having lots of fun; seems very comfortable moving around on stage. I do think that her lack of a large fan base may end up hurting her at this stage of the competition. She's been a solid performer, but typically the American audience doesn't embrace a female rocker like Allison.

Kris Allen - "To Make You Feel My Love" : Kris is going without his guitar tonight which I think is a very good move. I always feel that by mixing it up week after week, it shows off more variety. Kris shows a very vulnerable side to him with this performance. I think he's been getting better and better with each week. I tend to agree that he's probably better at singing ballads than more of the up-tempo songs. I could really feel his connection that he had with this song and he's definitely doing the right things to stay in this competition.

Lil Rounds - "Independence Day" : I thought the low notes in the early part of the song were too low for Lil and she struggled a bit there. She tried singing a straight country song and I don't think it quite fit her. She certainly could've included a more R' n B edge to the song and probably would've had much better success with it. I don't agree that a different song (such as Randy's suggestion of "I Will Always Love You) would've done Lil any better either. The performance definitely got much better in the later half of the song where she was able to hit those power notes like she usually does. This week certainly wasn't as strong as Lil has been.

Adam Lambert - "Ring of Fire" : I can empathize with Randy Travis in how he was speechless over Adam. I mean, what can you really say about this? It started out very intense. It almost seemed as if I was watching a Broadway rendition of this classic Johnny Cash song. He starts to infuse his usual vocal dynamics into the song once the tempo picks up. This whole performance has a very different sound to it; no question it has more of a middle eastern flair to it. I can say I've never seen anything like it on American Idol. Honestly, this is supposed to be country week, right? One thing you can say about Adam is that he is entertaining.

Scott MacIntyre - "Wild Angels" : I can tell Scott enjoys picking songs that tell a message. Again as I've said before, Scott isn't the most dynamic singer during this season of Idol - but he definitely holds his own. He struggled more with the lower notes in this song. I would tend to agree that he shouldn't always be playing the piano during his live performances but then again, he's not going to be moving steadily across the stage without it, either. He's doing what he feels is most comfortable to him. The falsetto note towards the end of the song wasn't great. Overall, I'd say it was a good performance from Scott, but not great.

Alexis Grace - "Jolene" : It will be interesting to see how Alexis pulls this one out. We're used to seeing her sing rock songs with a harder edge. "Jolene" is more of a softer tune and Alexis even said she wanted to show that side of her. I don't entirely believe it was the right song choice for this particular week. Overall, she struggles a bit with the song and is off-tune throughout. The arrangement just wasn't as favorable for her to be successful this week, either. Basically, it was just an okay performance and actually was quite forgettable. A rare off week for Alexis so far in the competition.

Danny Gokey - "Jesus Take The Wheel" : There's always a certain risk to choosing a song that has been created by a former Idol. I think a different song would've suited Danny better, especially one that wasn't so low or bland to start. The front part of the song just sounded awkward to me; even though that's how it's supposed to sound. Of course be rebounded well with the later half of the song once the tempo picked up and he was able to get into his upper register. That is typical of Danny's performances there. He's a very likable guy, but this week he was just good for me, not great.

Anoop Desai - "You Were Always on My Mind" : Anoop goes the Kris Allen route and performs a softer, vulnerable ballad. It's a perfect song choice because it allows Anoop to show off his vocal talents. He is definitely much improved over the last couple of weeks. He doesn't go over board with the song and holds back more. It was definitely a much more controlled performance and he doesn't try to do too much with it. It was very well done and it's nice to see him get such great reviews from the judges. Another very likable guy.

Megan Joy - "Walking After Midnight" : We have absolutely no idea that Megan has been sick this week except after her performance is over when she starts coughing. I don't know what more you can say about Megan that hasn't already been said. The judges say time and time again that she's quirky and unique. That about sums up this performance. It was the perfect song choice for Megan and she delivered on that unique sound of hers. She made the song her own and certainly made it much more memorable. And actually, it was a lot better than I thought it was going to be.

Matt Giraud - "So Small" : Whenever I think of Matt, I just can't get his Coldplay performance out of my head. He has been severely damaged because of that and hopefully as we move further along in the competition, that performance in particular can be all but a memory. He is a super-talented guy and there's no question he belongs in this competition. He does a very impressive job with this Carrie Underwood song. He is a true consummate musician - I think he nailed this song tonight and it proved to be a very memorable performance.

So how did the contestants fair? Here is tonight's performance rankings:

1.) Matt Giraud
2.) Anoop Desai
3.) Kris Allen
4.) Allison Iraheta
5.) Adam Lambert
6.) Danny Gokey
7.) Megan Joy
8.) Michael Sarver
9.) Lil Rounds
10.) Alexis Grace (actual eliminee 3/19/09)
11.) Scott MacIntyre

CODES:
best of the night
in danger of being eliminated

As for who will be eliminated tonight - now that is a very tough call. Even though I've had a very tough time connecting with every one of the contestants this year, they are all extremely talented. I thought these last couple of weeks have been very strong, vocal-wise. In my opinion, the top six in this week's performance rankings are a lock and in no risk of going home anytime soon. Adam, Anoop, and Danny have such huge fan bases. Allison has been consistently strong each and every week even though her fan base isn't quite as big as the three guys mentioned. Kris Allen has been improving with each week and is quickly becoming a fan favorite. And then there's Matt Giraud who we know is an amazing musician. He stumbled pretty seriously after his Coldplay performance but quickly picked himself back up and is making a strong push towards the later stages of this competition.

Now as for the bottom five of the performance rankings, the only one that could be considered a pretty sure lock to stay in this competition for a long time is Lil Rounds. She, too, has a pretty strong fan base. Megan, Michael, and Scott are basically just cannon fodder. It'll only be a matter of time before they get eliminated. As for Alexis, she also has a relatively small fan base and one weak performance like this week's could leave her in serious danger. That is why I am picking Alexis Grace to be this week's eliminated contestant on American Idol. I know, it's a mild-shocker seeing how well she has done in prior weeks. But does anyone see her outlasting Adam, Danny, Anoop, or Matt? The males truly are the stronger of the gender this season and the only female contestant that stands a chance to last awhile is Lil, and maybe Allison, too. It could be a very, very interesting results show tonight. Don't miss it!

(UPDATE: Sad to say, but I ended up being right - Alexis is eliminated. It is never easy, especially someone with her talent. Only one sub-par performance was all it took for her to be booted off. I am disappointed she is gone, to say the least.)

American Idol 8 - Random Thoughts

A new episode of American Idol is four days away, when another group of 12 will perform in front of the judges and most importantly, America. As we head into the weekend, there are a few topics I wanted to bring up in regards to the show. First off is Danny Gokey, the crowned "front-runner" by producers of American Idol. I guess I am kind of on the fence about the guy. You could probably blame the onslaught of negativity Danny has received from a variety of on-line entities, in the form of blogs and magazines about the show. People are claiming that Danny has been "over-pimped" by the producers of American Idol. So far during the show, what is Danny most known for? Probably not so much for his singing, but for the fact that his wife died four weeks prior to his audition. Again, we saw another reminder of Danny's tragic situation when a family friend held up a small picture of Danny and his deceased wife during the last result's show. By no means do I wish to belittle the situation that Danny has been put through. To lose the love of your live at such a young age has got to be unbelievably heartbreaking. But I can't help but think it's continuing to be shoved down our throats every time the guy shows up on the screen. And yes, I did stick up for the guy in my last recap thread as I thought the negativity he's received was unjust. I don't particularly feel it's his fault that it keeps being brought up, either. Does it hurt his chances in the long run of him becoming the next American Idol if it continues to be brought up week after week? Indeed I do. The early favorite of this season could wind up being eliminated much earlier than we can imagine - and he's already lost some support because of it. Personally, I don't believe Danny himself should be criticized for what's going on. People claim he's been acting too smug or self-centered in most recent episodes. Hey, maybe the guy likes the camera? But so far I cannot totally fault Danny in how the producers have portrayed him. Sure, he could probably handle himself a little better on camera; be a little more grateful and not be so preachy. However, he still has a tremendous fan base for someone this early into the competition and that should carry him well into the top 12.

Now, as for my final opinion on the new format that Idol has embraced for choosing it's top 12; I gotta say I do not like it. As in previous years, the judges/producers have whittled the competition down from a top 50 to top 24. Once we reached the semi-finals, the top 12 guys or girls perform, and the two contestants with the least amount of votes were sent packing. This went on until we got to the top 12. I liked it this way because we got to see more of the contestants each week as opposed to just seeing them sing one time before they get selected to the top 12, if they happen to perform well. Those contestants who weren't shown auditioning or didn't get much screen time in Hollywood week could at least display more of their skills in the semi-finals and build a fan support. We hardly knew anything about Jason Castro last season prior to him being selected to the top 24, and look where he ended up? The top four. So for contestants this season like Ricky Braddy and Stephen Fowler, whom we didn't really get to know all that well prior to the semi-finals, they are at more of a disadvantage more than ever before. In Ricky's case, he performed quite well, even better than Michael Sarver, in my opinion. But it was his lack of screen time that really did him in. And that's unfortunate. Hopefully the judges end up handing him a wildcard, because he and Anoop Desai deserve another chance. So hopefully next season, American Idol will realize what a big mistake this top 36 format is and revert back to what has done so well in previous seasons. I'd hate to see a singer like Michael Sarver make it in only because of a Simon Cowell lifeline.

I must admit, during my years of watching this show, I've learned a few TV slang words and phrases that I knew absolutely nothing about. Last year, I saw "TPTB" show up quite often on message boards and in blogs. I didn't know what that stood for, and it honestly bothered me! Someone with the same curiousity as me happened to create a new topic on a message board addressing that very issue, "what does TPTB mean?" For those that may not know, it's "the power's that be," i.e. the producers or anyone with creative control of a show. Within the last week, I've learned of another phrase people have used when talking about certain American Idol contestants. The phrase is "cannon fodder." It's most notably a military phrase as Wikipedia states, "an informal term for military personnel who are regarded or treated as expendable in the face of enemy fire. The term is generally used in situations where soldiers are forced to deliberately fight against hopeless odds (with the foreknowledge that they will suffer extremely high casualties) in an effort to achieve a strategic goal." In the American Idol world, it refers to those contestants who get very little screentime prior to the live shows, such as Ricky Braddy or Stevie Wright. Basically, it comes down to a contestant being chosen just because they needed to fill that slot - because they have absolutely no shot of becoming the next American Idol, at the fault of the producers. A contestant may be a great singer, get very little screen time, and receive mediocre comments from the judges (kind of like Braddy, even though he received praise from all of the judges except for Simon). Then the follow night, they get eliminated. You compare that to a Danny Gokey or Michael Sarver, who have had a ton of screen time in prior rounds and one may not have sung exceptionally well. Yet, that fan recognition helps get them into the next round. Hopefully that makes even better sense when I try to compare the two.

Well, that is about all I had to say in regards to American Idol for this week. Even though Anoop Desai wasn't selected for the top 12 this time around, he's almost a lock for a wildcard spot. Danny and Alexis were shoo-ins for the top 12 and with Simon's help, Michael got that extra push. Next week should prove to be another very intriguing week of performances. Hopefully more contestants will step up and deliver some memorable performances. You can bet that I'll have the recap right afterwards.

American Idol 8 - Top 36 Group 1

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!