This season was already going down the tubes, but the judges last night all but killed off its saving grace with their wild card selections. Sure, it was bad enough when the very competitive Group 3 had to let only three people into the Top 12 via America's votes, especially considering two spots were virtually reserved for screen time favorites Lil Rounds and Scott MacIntyre. Jorge Nunez making it over Ju'Not Joyner and Felicia Barton was nothing outrageous, but he will be a waste of a spot and will exit relatively early in the finals. But when the judges only chose one from the group, Von Smith, to compete in tonight's wild card, something went horribly wrong.
The judges' motives are so transparent it's not even a matter of to what degree their favoritism is lying in the shadows, it's just plain out there for everyone to see. They purposely chose three average to forgettable girls so that it does not look so bad when they go with Megan Corkrey. This is important because tonight's "sing for their lives" spectacle has no bearing on whom the four horsemen will choose, it's all for show and to give FOX another win on a night they normally would lose to the other networks (plus it's a killer lead-in to Hell's Kitchen).
While Tatiana del Toro's vocals are actually pretty good, she was brought back for the drama, pure and simple. And people fall for it, which is sad, but what can you do? The stranger picks are Jesse "don't you just love those drum claps?" Langseth and Jasmine "you better sing a Rihanna song" Murray, each of whom have no shot at being one of the three picks unless the producers pass a law requiring semi-gender equality, making it a 7-5 ratio rather than a more likely 8-4 ratio.
What is embarassing is that the judges did not see the point of bringing back Felicia and Kristen McNamara, each of whom are leagues better than the four girls that have a second shot tonight. This is further proof that all they are concerned about is having Megan make it, and for that reason they are just plain lost. Just the absolute wrong way to go about choosing wild card spots.
As for the guys, everyone they picked was deserving except Von, who should have ceded his spot to Ju'Not. It's surprising that there will be no black male in the Top 12 this season, but it worked in Season 5 so whatever.
No matter what happens, from here on out it's all about Danny Gokey, Adam Lambert and Lil. If these three are not the final three of Season 8, that would mean there had to have been a miracle of sorts because this season is more predictable than all the rest combined.
Hopefully there are no more angry analyses on here for this season. Something tells me that won't be the case, though.
IDOL LIVE's predictions are now 6-9 for the Top 36 and 5-9 for the Top 12. At least we're batting above .500 for now.
Showing posts with label group 3. Show all posts
Showing posts with label group 3. Show all posts
Thursday, March 5, 2009
Analysis: Judges blow it big time with wild card picks
Wednesday, March 4, 2009
IDOL LIVE Blog: Group 3 Results (3/4/09)
Join us tonight as we blog during the results show for Group 3 of the Top 36, when the third group of top male, female and next-highest vote-getters will advance to the all important Top 12. It will begin promptly at 8 p.m. ET and will (thankfully) last only an hour.
Tonight's blogcast will feature music from Chris Richardson, David Cook, Kady Malloy, Kelly Clarkson and Nick Pedro.
IDOL LIVE predix: Group 3 of Top 36
The consesus about last night is that there are two very much all-but-confirmed spots reserved for big names, and a free-for-all for the third spot in which a good seven contenders have at least a slim shot of landing the position of next highest vote-getter, with at least three that stand a very good chance of advancing.
Overall, Group 3 showed that when you get a couple weeks to watch and learn from others that sing for their lives, preparedness certainly plays dividends. It also helps to be very talented, which many of last nights contestants are.
Read my predictions below.
Surprising or not, these will be the latest Top 12 members:
>Lil Rounds
>Scott MacIntyre
>Ju'Not Joyner
Lil is a given. She has been guaranteed a spot in the Top 4 since she auditioned, so this was nothing but a cake walk. In fact, the judges should have given someone else the pimp spot just because it was pure overkill having Lil close out the night to a thunderous chorus of positive critiques. She was great and all, but she still has a ways to go to get positive comments, so the judges might as well hold off until she starts delivering consistently.
Scott is another given. He hasn't been a sure thing all season like Lil, but his great personality coupled with his good vocals (oh yea, and the fact that he's blind) is like a big apple pie with whipped cream on top for the regular voting bloc of this show. Scott was not the best male singer last night, but he was far from the worst. Look for him to go fairly far inside the Top 12.
Unlike the first two spots, the third and final Top 12 space as (allegedly) decided by America is extremely difficult to pinpoint. Many people would tell you who they want to go through, but they are not really thinking about who will go through when all factors are taken into consideration. Jorge Nunez seems like a good fit, but just because he lost his accent and Paula and Kara wanted to squeeze him last night does not mean he will get through, even in the face of a great, surprising performance.
Felicia Barton is also a favorite to take the third slot, but she will have to wait for Thursday for news that she made it into the Top 12. The producers want America to get an extra glance at her for them to decide whether or not they actually like her, since the judges obviously like her and she has received virtually no air time up until now. Nathaniel Marshall and Kristen McNamara are good guesses as well, but just as they started together in Hollywood Week, they will finish together outside the Top 12.
So that leaves Ju'Not, who was on top of his game when he slowed down "Hey There Delilah" and made it an entirely different song. More shots of his son during his pre-performance package and an awkward joke about getting a shot for his asthma will all combine in a perfect storm of happiness for Ju'Not, which will sort of come as a surprise to most of the audience after thinking Jorge will be the third choice of the night. If they really want to maximize suspense tonight, the producers will have Felicia, Ju'Not and Jorge stand together at the end of the show and read the results with all of them vying for the spot, but most likely they will save Lil's obvious victory for last. Thanks for keeping it interesting.
Of course, I reserve the right to be wrong on the third spot. Not the first two, though. Those are 100% guaranteed or you can ask for a refund. Right now I am 4-6 after last week's predictions so a clean sweep tonight would be much appreciated.
About last night: Where has Group 3 been this whole season?
So it's apparent that the producers saved the best for last, but what for? So that a lot of great semifinalists will be shut out of the Top 12? Well whether or not that was a concern when they formed the groups, it will surely come true tonight.
It's true there were still a few clunkers, like Arianna Afsar's depressing "The Winner Takes It All" and Alex Wagner-Trugman's growl-a-thon on "I Guess It's Why They Call This the Blues," but the majority of the performances last night were memorable and the contestants had song choices that were near perfect fits for their vocals.
There were a few surprises last night, one of the more notable ones coming early on when Von Smith toned down his theatrics tenfold as he opened the show with "You're All I Need to Get By." It was a much different Von than the one we saw during Hollywood Week, where Simon gave him the lashing of a thousand tongues with his critique. It was obvious Von didn't see the Clay Aiken comparison coming last night, but he handled it well by saying Clay is successful so he doesn't mind the comparison.
Another surprise was Puerto Rican Jorge Nunez, who proved to be a true contender when he sang "Don't Let the Sun Go Down On Me," which has generally been considered to be a cursed song on the show. Paula's and Kara's cougar fangirlism following his performance could have been left out of the scheme of things, but the fact that he went near the end of the night was a great help for his Top 12 prospects.
There were also a few semifinalists that were kind of just there for the sake of being there, like Kendall Beard, who filled the role of the blonde country girl very nicely, but it was apparent the judges did not have her set in their sights for the Top 12. Nathaniel Marshall, while his vocals are sort of alright deep down beneath his glammed up drama queen look, managed to receive the most commentary from the judges and gain pretty much nothing constructive from it except a chance to shake Simon's hand. That awkward exchange just goes to show that Ryan really doesn't think before he acts most of the time.
Taylor Vaifanua was in a strange position because while she did not sound all that bad, she has an issue with standing out amongst a crowded crew, and her rendition of Alicia Keys' "If I Ain't Got You" could be described by the three b-words: bland, boring and blah.
As for some other bright spots last evening, Kristen McNamara came out of her shell and defined herself as a new girl minus purple-streaked hair on "Give Me One Reason." The judges (mainly Kara) had some weird fixation on suggesting that Kristen should sing more Kelly Clarkson songs, something Kristen took to heart when after her critiques she said she could see herself recording similar material to Kelly and Leona Lewis.
Scott MacIntyre, while he picked an interesting song and sounded pretty solid overall, was given the second-most unnecessary praise of the night by the judges. It's a tricky territory to tightrope considering the whole blind thing he's got going on, and no one wants to suggest that will help him out on this show, but when something like this is so obvious it can't help but be said. It should also be noted that Simon's comments about Scott being relevant were very misguided. Scott is a great guy, but there's no way he should make it over Ju'Not Joyner, whose "Hey There Delilah" was much more original than the original and sounded smooth and soulful, actually making it listenable after radio ran the song into the ground in 2007.
Felicia Barton came out strong last night. She showed everyone why she belonged in the Top 36 in the first place, and despite hitting a few bum notes here and there while singing "No One," she was overall the second best girl of the night. Simon got it right when he said the first half of the performance was better than the second half, but Felicia's originality should make up for that. If she doesn't make it tonight, she will definitely be a wild card contender.
And then there's Lil Rounds, whose smart song choice of "Be Without You" by Mary J. Blige coupled with her inevitable pimp spot and overwhelming praise by the judges virtually reserved her a spot in the Top 12. That's not to say she wasn't good, she was probably the best vocalist of the night, and the fact that she didn't pick something by Whitney Houston should earn her a few extra credit points. Lil has a great personality to boot, so that will only help her down the road.
After all is said and done, Group 3 is for sure the most talented of the bunch and it will be sad to see many of last night's contestants not go through. Can we just swap out Michael Sarver and Alexis Grace for a few of tonight's performers? If only...
P.S. it was hilarious how they went the whole show without mentioning Joanna Pacitti's name. What if someone had been watching the season without venturing online or watching any of the entertainment shows to see the fallout of the controversy? They must have thought "Where's Joanna and what's up with this Felicia chick?" Chalk up another one for Idol producers.
Tuesday, March 3, 2009
IDOL LIVE Blog: Group 3 Performs (3/3/09)
Join us tonight as we blog during the third and final group of 12 semifinalists' performances in this two-hour extravaganza. Will they heed the judges' warnings and choose the right songs? Probably not, but that will make for good TV at least. The blogcast begins at 8 p.m. ET as usual.
Tonight's blogcast will feature music from Alexandrea Lushington, Antonella Barba, Blake Lewis, Brandon Rogers, Carly Smithson, Chikezie, Danny Noriega, Diana DeGarmo and Fantasia.
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