It was a wipeout in IDOL LIVE's 2010 edition of the poll of the week champion series, as readers were asked which 12th (or 13th)-place finalist is their favorite of all nine seasons.
It was most likely due to lack of participation that David Hernandez garnered 72% of all votes cast, which equates to 13 of the 18 votes. No other finalist managed to get more than one vote (5%), which suggests no 12th/13th-place finisher has a solid fan base.
Regardless, David will advance to the final round of the champion series, which we will revisit once all other placements are decided. In the next round, readers will be asked which 11th-place finalist is their favorite of all nine seasons. Voting will be open for exactly one week.
Vanessa Olivarez 1 (5%)
Leah LaBelle 0 (0%)
Lindsey Cardinale 0 (0%)
Melissa McGhee 1 (5%)
Brandon Rogers 0 (0%)
David Hernandez 13 (72%)
Jasmine Murray 1 (5%)
Jorge Nunez 1 (5%)
Lacey Brown 1 (5%)
Votes so far: 18
Showing posts with label jorge nunez. Show all posts
Showing posts with label jorge nunez. Show all posts
Thursday, June 17, 2010
Poll of the week: David Hernandez favorite 12th/13th-place finalist
Wednesday, April 14, 2010
IDOL LIVE Blog - Top 9 Results [Pt. 2] (4/14/10)
Following last night's showing of interesting song choices from Elvis Presley's songbook, two finalists will bite the dust after one of them was spared elimination last week. If all goes according to plan, tonight's eliminees will be deserving of their ouster.
Besides the expected performance of "Whataya Want From" from Adam Lambert, we can look forward to exhibitions by Brooke White and Miley Cyrus' ex Justin Gaston, who is currently part of the "If I Can Dream" house along with former Season 9 contestant Alex Lambert. There will probably be someone else but I didn't bother to look.
To see who I predict will be leaving tonight, see here. Please feel free to add your two cents throughout the one-hour blogcast, with coverage starting just prior to 9 p.m. ET.
Tonight's blogcast features the music of Danny Gokey, Diana DeGarmo, Jorge Nunez, Kris Allen and Syesha Mercado.
Thursday, May 28, 2009
Poll of the week: David Hernandez kicks off champion series with a win
For the first installment of the second annual IDOL LIVE poll of the week champion series, David Hernandez was the recipient of the title of favorite 13/12th-place finalist of all eight seasons (or all seven seasons that had a Top 12/13).
The seventh season's 12-place finisher scored 21 votes, good for 39% of the 53 votes cast. The next closest finalist was Jorge Nunez of Season 8, as the Puerto Rican contestant garnered 13 votes (24%). Right behind him was his season mate Jasmine Murray, who took in a total of seven votes (13%).
As the winner of this round, David will be back in a few months to vie for the finals of the champion poll series where he will take on much tougher competition.
In the next installment of IDOL LIVE's poll of the week champion series, readers are asked which 11th-place finalist is their favorite of all eight seasons. Voting will be open for exactly one week.
Vanessa Olivarez 1 (1%)
Leah LaBelle 2 (3%)
Lindsey Cardinale 3 (5%)
Melissa McGhee 2 (3%)
Brandon Rogers 4 (7%)
David Hernandez 21 (39%)
Jasmine Murray 7 (13%)
Jorge Nunez 13 (24%)
Total votes: 53
Wednesday, March 18, 2009
IDOL LIVE Blog: Top 11 Results (3/18/09)
After last night's interesting performance selection, we see which finalist just couldn't tackle what the Grand Ole Opry had to offer. Fortunately, we have Carrie Underwood's performance with Randy Travis to look forward to, as well as Brad Paisley's solo performance of his new single "Then." The blogcast will begin at 9 p.m. ET and will last one hour.
Tonight's blogcast will feature music from Carrie Underwood, Elliott Yamin, Jasmine Murray, Jorge Nunez and Syesha Mercado.
Tuesday, March 17, 2009
Jasmine, Jorge perform on 'Ellen'
Following their ousters last Wednesday on Idol, 13th- and 12th-place finalists Jasmine Murray and Jorge Nunez, respectively, yesterday made post-Idol appearances on Ellen. Watch their interview with host Ellend Degeneres and their performances below:
As she did last season, Ellen will be having each eliminated finalist on her show the week following his or her elinination to chat and perform.
Thursday, March 12, 2009
Analysis: So that was the "secret," eh?
Now that the top secret twist is out in plain view, it's time we take a look at the repercussions (if any) that will be felt as a result. First of all, it's not nearly as bad as many suspected. The rampant rumor was that the judges would get to have the bottom two finalists have a "sing-off" and then they would decide who would go home each week. That would have been downright awful.
In the actual scenario, the judges will only get grant immunity to one finalist once during the entire season, and the option expires Top 5 week. What's important to stress is that the next-lowest vote-getter would not be eliminated, rather there would be a double elimination the following week. That is doable I guess, but it's a little pointless. The only thing it will be held onto for is the possibility of an Adam/Danny/Lil pre-Top 5 exit, which is just not going to happen anyway. So we'll see if there's any valid reason for this threat being brought into the judges' arsenal.
Oh, and Ryan - under this system, Chris Daughtry and Tamyra Gray would not have been able to be saved, as they were both eliminated during Top 4 week. So next time maybe you should have your aide(s) do your homework for you.
Now, back to the actual results. It was no surprise that a combination of Jorge/Megan/Jasmine were going to be eliminated last night, so they did their best to hype up the suspense. Putting Megan with Jasmine for the first "bottom 2" was a good idea, as she was probably really in the bottom 3 or just outside it. Putting Anoop with Jorge was deceiving, though, as he in fact received much more votes than they made it seem like he did. Allison Iraheta most likely should have been standing down there but to make it seem more believable, they decided to place someone who delivered a not so great performance in synthetic peril.
Jasmine's elimination proved that wild card picks don't always work out. Plus, there were a half-dozen girls that belonged in the Top 13 over her, but the judges had to find out they made a mistake the hard way. Doesn't matter, they won't learn regardless. Jasmine did the best she could do with "I'll Be There," but it did come across as being very pageanty and usually doing ballads sandwiched in between better and more memorable performances will lead to an exit. She did her best to control her emotions but keeping in mind that she's still only 17, she should not be ashamed of anything about her time on Idol. Ryan was actually useful last night as he comforted her.
Then there was Jorge, who would have been out early regardless of what he sang Tuesday and only got into the finals thanks to a fluke of a performance in Group 3. But picking a song with "Goodbye" in the title is never a good idea, so that just added to the Peurto Rican's problems. Simon might have been a little too blunt when he said "No. Sorry." after being asked by Ryan if the judges were going to exercise their saving grace on Jorge. But that's just Simon for you.
Kanye West performed his single "Heartless," which pretty much described the performance itself. The fact that it was pretaped was extremely noticeable and took away from what little excitement there was.
The highlight of the night was without a doubt Kelly Clarkson's return to the Idol stage to perform "My Life Would Suck Without You." She was her very own self in her pre-performance chat with old pal Ryan, giggling and joking about herself. The fact that she did her performance live added to the energy, as opposed to that other guy who was just used as filler. It goes without saying that Kelly is just in a league of her own in comparison to the current batch of hopefuls. There's just no way to say any of them match up to her at the moment, performance or vocals-wise.
Next week's theme, Grand Ol' Opry, should be fun for most, not for some (I mean you, Megan). Wonder if Adam will pick a Dolly song? Maybe Danny will do a hoe down to further show off his awesome dancing skills? It all remains to be seen. Plus Carrie Underwood will perform "I Told You So." You can't go wrong with that, now can you?
IDOL LIVE's predictions so far are not going too hot. For my original predictions, I incorrectly predicted Megan leaving 13th and Michael departing 12th, so I'm 0-2 in that respect. As for my pre-results predictions, I got the two eliminated finalists right, but the order wrong (predicted Jorge 13th, Jasmine 12th). So I'm also 0-2 in that department. It should be easier from here on out because we (hopefully) won't have to deal with any more of these ridiculous double elimination.
Wednesday, March 11, 2009
IDOL LIVE predix: Top 13 Results
Just as I was starting to get into the swing of things the judges have to go and invoke their "special privelege" of being able to decide which lucky bottom 3 barnacle receives a get out of jail free pass. At least that's what everyone is under the impression will happen. Under the old regime, one person would most definitely be going home, but this time around it appears they will in fact be saved.
Read my predictions below (if you dare).
Here are tonight's possible bottom 3 scenarios:
Scenario 1:
Bottom 3
>Jorge, Megan, Jasmine
After the three perform one more time for the judges, Megan is given immunity.
Eliminated:
>Jorge (13th), Jasmine (12th)
Scenario 2:
Bottom 3
>Jasmine, Megan, Jorge
Jasmine is sent back to the couches.
Eliminated:
>Jorge (13th), Megan (12th)
So scenario #1 is looking to be the best bet to happen tonight, and it is not surprising that Megan will ultimately be the one given safety because the judges are in love with her (and her tattoo) despite the good possibility that she had the lowest vote totals of the bunch. There's no way of getting around the fact that Jorge was the worst last night, so he has to be out, and Jasmine will be lumped in with the "forgotten" category so the judges won't bother giving her a third chance at staying in the competition.
And nevermind what DialIdol is predicting this week because finalists 13-6 are all way too close together, so no need to worry about Allison or Kris leaving tonight.
Hopefully scenario #2 happens, but it doesn't look promising. My original predictions for the 13th- and 12th-place finishers were Megan and Michael, respectively, and one of those will most definitely not be going home. The other has a slight chance but probably won't thanks to the new X-Factor judges' manipulation tool.
Monday, March 9, 2009
IDOL LIVE predix: How the Top 13 will place (and who will win)
After correctly predicting eight out of 13 finalists from the Top 36 before any of them took the stage for America to make its judgments and predicting 10 of 13 for the finalists after each group of finalists performed, including Thursday's wild card.
Now it's time to get down to business, as the much trickier task of pegging how each finalist will finish in the Idol horse race must be performed. There are a few good possibilities to consider in making this forecast, but one wrong placing and the whole prediction could be derailed.
After giving the scenarios careful thought, you can read my predictions below.
The Top 13 of American Idol: Season 8 (ordered by predicted place of elimination)
13th-place finalist:
>Megan Corkrey
Megan (is her last name now Joy?) has all the makings of a Melissa McGhee run on Idol. She gets into the Top 13 by a hair on a less than stellar performance (at the hands of the judges, mind you) and she has a unique voice that is pretty polarizing. Couple these facts with handing Megan the tough task of tackling the music of Michael Jackson this week and we have a carbon copy of Melissa's elimination in Season 5.
12th-place finalist:
>Michael Sarver
Assuming this week is a double elimination to get the show back on schedule (unless they're gunning for a dreaful Top 3 finale this time around), this should be the last time we hear from Michael until the finale. Michael is one of those finalists that would not have made the Top 13 had he been placed in a more competitive group, or maybe if he had been just placed in one of the two later groups. He is unfortunately stuck in the finals now, and will be handed a heavy amount of criticism until he is sent packing. Michael's a nice oil rigger, but he's not right for this show. If this week does not see two contestants being given their plane tickets home, expect to see a departure next Wednesday.
11th-place finalist:
>Jasmine Murray
Another wild card pick that many could not explain, Jasmine will skate by the first week or two thanks to the fact that there are weaker competitors, but her time will run up quick because she just does not have the likability factor that many others have. Not to mention she's not nearly the best vocalist, and that fact will remain the same no matter how many times Kara uses the c-word (commercial) to describe her.
10th-place finalist
>Jorge Nunez
Thanks to a surprisingly strong performance Jorge was able to secure a spot in the Top 13 over more probable (and more deserving) contestants, which is a great testament to his ability to connect with audiences. That said, now that he has got the go-ahead to bring his accent back, Jorge's singing will be affected (whether or not this is a positive thing is up to the voting public). Not to mention Grand Ole Opry week is going to be a mess for him.
9th-place finalist:
>Kris Allen
Kris has a lot of things going for him. Ask the girls and they'll most likely say they like him for his looks (or they'll do a good job trying to deny that's the real reason they like him), he gave a great performance in the semifinals and has been able to overcome the tough task of impacting audiences after little to no air time before reaching the Top 36. The one thing going against him, however, is that he's on a battlefield with stronger performers, which will allow him to go only so far. It is entirely possible that Kris could be a dark horse and make it farther, but I wouldn't bet on it. Still, a ninth-place finish is nothing to sneeze at.
8th-place finalist:
>Alexis Grace
Alexis is caught between a rock and a hard place. She came out strong amid an extremely weak group of girls and made it through in the same way Michael did, whereas if she had been in any other group she probably would not have advanced. She has a nice soulful voice but lacks universal appeal, and could be described as very forgettable. Unless she can muster a showstopper that could elevate her stature for a few more weeks, she will exit the show in eighth place.
7th-place finalist:
>Matt Giraud
Despite Simon's comments about his outfit last Thursday, Matt appeals to the core demographic of this show. He has a style similar to Elliott Yamin's and proved that he can play a mean piano back in Hollywood when he sang "Georgia" by Ray Charles. This will only give him a leg up on other finalists, but it will not be enough to send him past seventh place. Matt will begin to be seen as bland and will suffer from lukewarm critiques from the judges with the exception of Simon, who will lay it on him the second he goes off key.
6th-place finalist:
>Scott MacIntyre
Scott is a really nice guy with an average voice. He is not winning material, and will cause a lot of controversy by making it further than some of the "stronger" vocalists (Kris, Matt). Although it is not fair to compare him to Season 3's John Stevens, Scott will see a similar run, eating up the granny vote and delivering a lot of slow ballads week after week. Still, Scott's ability to finally show off his piano skills onstage will bring a different weapon to his arsenal, which should be enough to propel him into the upper half of the Top 13.
5th-place finalist:
>Allison Iraheta
Allison is different. She's young. And she's got a lot of spunk. These three characteristics alone will be enough to launch her through the first half of the finals. Once things get down to business, though, her distinct vocals will begin to wear and tear after being subjected to "Olivia Newton John week" or "Reggaeton week" (not real themes, just wild guesses) and she will be seen as a two- to three-trick pony. It always helps to have Miley Cyrus' endorsement, but unless Miley sends MySpace bulletins to her fans reminding them to vote for Allison, it probably won't matter much past the Top 5. She will make a name for herself while on the show, but things will come to a close at this point.
4th-place finalist:
>Anoop Desai
Anoop is the one wild card pick that will stand the test of time, making it into the coveted Top 4 thanks to a combination of his soulful vocals and personality (and maybe just because it's fun to hear Ryan and the judges say his name, dog). Despite this, he is really not the stuff winners are made of, and so things will catch up with him when he's left standing next to three performers that are out of his league. Still, this is an excellent showing for a geeky guy from Chapel Hill, and he will take away a lot from his experience, whether or not he decides to pursue music as a career.
3rd-place finalist:
>Adam Lambert
One word that describes Adam quite well is "unique." That is usually a good trait to have when competing on this show, but in his case he is just too unique to win the whole shebang. Adam will deliver spectacles through his performances on a weekly basis, but when it comes down to the nitty gritty, he will not win over enough of the voting public because of his counterculture status. He still should have a successful career on Broadway when all is said and done.
Runner-up:
>Lil Rounds
The much hyped, much talked about Lil would win this show if it were Season 3 or maybe even Season 6, but she can't win Season 8. As already stated by the judges and co., a guy will take the title this season. That rules Lil out, no matter how poised and how consistent she may be. It will still be an exciting finale with her in it, and the judges will love it because they love her. Besides, the finales are always a little more interesting when there are two members of the opposite sex competing against each other. The only thing that could ruin this finale, though, would be if a Top 3 finale was installed to make up for choosing a baker's dozen to represent the finalists, and in that case Lil would have even less of a chance to win it.
Winner:
>Danny Gokey
And then we're left with Danny Gokey. If he can weather the ridiculous "using his dead wife to advance" complaint that's being sloshed around the net at the moment, he will surely fit the bill of an Idol winner. Who can't picture Danny on the stage at the Kodak/Nokia singing an ultra cheesy power ballad with multicolored confetti showering down on a screaming audience? Things that will help Danny make it to this point are overpraise from judges, his knack for choosing the right song and great vocals. Not to mention all the other finalists seem to be saying great things about him as a person. If he does not win, it would not be the biggest surprise, but it really does seem like this is the year of the Gokey, whether we like it or not.
And there we have it. Each week I will compare my original predictions with how things turn out in reality in addition to making revised predictions depending on the circumstances each week. Hopefully things go better than my Top 12 and Top 36 predictions. (Photos courtesy of AmericanIdol.com).
Thursday, March 5, 2009
Poll of the week: Lil bit of competition in Group 3
In last week's IDOL LIVE poll of the week series, there was a strong showing for virtually all of Group 3's contestants, as the results were scattered all over the board rather than being concentrated for one semifinalist.
Lil Rounds came out on top with the most votes, taking 24 of the 115 total votes cast over the course of the poll's eight days of being open. Her percentage was 20%. Not surprisingly, Felicia Barton was next up with 21 votes (18%) cast in her favor. It's a shame that result could not have been reflected in the actual voting for the show.
Next up was Scott MacIntyre, who was able to manage 12 votes (10%), followed by Kristen McNamara and her 11 votes (9%). Aside from these top finishers, everyone else was able to come up with at least two votes each, which supports the idea that Group 3 was the strongest of the three.
In this week's poll of the week, readers are asked to vote for their Top 13 favorite finalist. You will have exactly six days to vote.
Arianna Afsar 6 (5%)
Felicia Barton 21 (18%)
Kendall Beard 2 (1%)
Ju'Not Joyner 7 (6%)
Scott MacIntyre 12 (10%)
Nathaniel Marshall 7 (6%)
Kristen McNamara 11 (9%)
Jorge Nunez 2 (1%)
Lil Rounds 24 (20%)
Von Smith 8 (6%)
Taylor Vaifanua 8 (6%)
Alex Wagner-Trugman 7 (6%)
Total votes: 115
Analysis: Judges blow it big time with wild card picks
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.
Wednesday, March 4, 2009
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.
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