Idol top 9- Rock and Roll Hall of Fame week

What the hell was with that entry segment? Tyler has more curves than J-Lo. That blinding light behind them was no fluke.

I'm sorry to keep harping on this. Well actually, no, I'm not. At this point it's the most interesting thing about the show, but are we really watching Steven Tyler's sexual re-assignment as an un-announced subplot of Idol season 10? It's just bizarre to me. And not that I'm against such things at all- I just really didn't expect it to be  part of the most popular television program in history during a season where it is rebranding itself. So on the other hand, hey America, give yourselves a round of applause because no one else seems to care about this at all! We have come so far!

Tyler's opening about the Rock and Roll Hall of Fame is weak, especially from someone who is actually in it. Ah, Steven, how quickly you've gone from savior to punch line, though you kissing your own bust was kind of fun.

So here we are with the Rock and Roll Hall of Fame night sans my favorite Naima, so at this point I don't really care what happens except I really do think Jacob Lusk is incredibly talented. In the suicide slot at number one, he's mistaken when he proclaims "I am not a rock and roll guy." Has he never heard of Freddie Mercury or Frankie Vallie? Not sure Marvin was the best choice for him from the intro- why take the most flamboyantly non-straight guy on the show and have him sing material from a universally acknowledged hetero sex god- at least musically? I'm not saying Marvin's music can't cross orientations- that's ridiculous. But when you sing such a signature song, you better be prepared to own it, slay it, and kill it. Can Jacob do this? Iovinne thinks so- I don't.

Wait. WTF? Suddenly he changes it to MJ's "Man in the Mirror"? Oh dear Lord. Jacob, who is guiding you here???And then you front the whole audience off by saying it won't be your fault but ours if you end up in the Bottom Three? Dude, you have balls. Balls so big, you should have sang an AC/DC song. Are they in the Hall of Fame?

Okay, pause twenty seconds into this- a total failure. Not that it's bad, but he has totally blown the spirit of the night's theme and is doing what he would on any other night. Massive fail, regardless of the how well he sang the song. Which was just fair- and pitchy beyond belief. Not good at all. Sorry Jacob, and I was really rooting for you. You know, James Brown is in the Hall too. Why not "This is a Man's World"? The judges response? I have no idea what they were watching and listening to, but it wasn't what I saw.

Haley Reinhart- Janis Joplin's "Another Piece of My Heart"
Okay, a really good choice of songs for her, and Will.I.Am's advice was really spot on. She obviously doesn't have Joplin's life experience to really make it work, rendering the whole thing as ultimately a karaoke performance, but it wasn't a bad karaoke performance. It will get her through to next week, and at least it was rock and roll. And her shoes were killer. What the hell did J-Lo mean by saying she would be "around for a minute"? Was that a compliment? Didn't sound like one to me.

Casey Abrams- CCR's "Have You ver Seen the Rain?"
Out of all the remaining contestants, this should be his night. His choice- The Police? Are you fucking kidding me? Changing it to CCR was a good idea, though he could have chosen a better song- "Fortunate Son" or "Suzy Q" to name two of a half dozen better choices. Why didn't anyone tell him Van Morrison was a better choice? Schmaltzy- he looked and sounded completely uncomfortable with the song.  It sucked- he sounded like Levon Helm taking it in the ass at some points- and that's not good.

Lauren Alaina- Aretha's "You Make Me Feel Like a Natural Woman"
First of all, where the hell are the Fashion Police here? That get-up is a full-on disaster. I'm all for the full-figured, large-assed gal rocking what she has, but seriously- she looks like a cow dressed as chess game at a dairy farm's Halloween party in this outfit. And Aretha? This song? From a teenager? Doomed! Another performance which totally sucked. And the 1983 hair and accessories? Where does the travesty end? Why am I watching this?

James Durbin- The Beatles' "While My Guitar Gently Weeps"
As the resident season rocker, he has a lot to choose from here, so I won't give him the credit I would have Casey had Casey done a good job. But since Casey pretty much sucked, let's see what the dude does. "While My Guitar Gently Weeps" Unexpected? Hell Yes. Good choice? Hell no. Huge risk. Did it work?
No. Not at all. BORING. I'm not even going to listen to the judges prattle about this one.

Scotty McCreery- Elvis' "That's Alright Mama"
Just when I thought it really couldn't get any worse, I forgot that Scotty was still on the show. But at least he chose the right material- the best match so far of the night. Again, as always, choosing the safest material possible for his one-note voice, he ought to to be able to kill this.

And he did. Okay, I had to rewind this three times. The first time I was puzzled by how good it was. The second time I wanted to watch what he was doing, because of the whole Elvis as Eminem thing. The third time was just for the vocal. Vocally it was just okay, but the performance was hands down the best of the night so far. He truly captured what the night was supposed to be about. Don't get me wrong- I loathe Scotty, but he kicked ass on this one. I can't deny the kid his due on this one.

Pia Toscana- Ike and Tina Turner's  "River Deep, Mountain High"
The ballad queen does Tina Turner?
She has an advantage doing this in that a large part of her fan base will be unfamiliar with the source material. What a horrible outfit! As for the singing, if you've never heard Tina do it, it may have sounded great, but it totally lacked any soul at all, which is Pia's Achilles heel- a great voice with absolutely no heart nor soul in it. It wasn't great on any level, but on the other hand, she sang the hell out of it. Weird. A failure in most ways, but for this show, this season, also a total success. She's in it until the end. But really, about that outfit....  J-Lo's advice was spot on- she needs some knowledge to really expand that raw talent- which she definitely has. The question is, does Pia have the intellectual curiosity and soul to really be an artist? Or is she just the world's finest karaoke singer? The next few weeks will tell.

Okay, it is definitely weird to see Todd Rundgren in the audience. For those of you who thought this show was just a bunch of bullshit, despite who has participated in it in the past, his presence in the audience should forever remove your doubts that Idol has validity as a genuine musical endeavor. Enough said.

Stefano Legano- Percy Sledge's "When a Man Loves a Woman"
Not the best choice for Stefano- too close to his natural comfort zone and tough to pull off. I would say he didn't. In fact I would say it was embarrassingly cloying and saccharine. Again, Frankie Valli and the Four Seasons are in the Hall of Fame- "Can't Take My Eyes Off of You" would have been a much better choice, or something by Tom Jones- especially "She's a Lady," though I don't know if Jones is a member. He should be! Another better choice for him would have been Al Green's "Let's Stay Together." Green's in the Hall of Fame, right? He has to be.

Paul McDonald- Johnny Cash's "Folsom Prison Blues"
So the weakest performer out of the remaining nine gets the money slot. Hmm. I'll give him huge props for song selection. Totally out of his range and comfort zone. Half the lyrics were unintelligible, but it was far and away the best performance of the night. When he sang " I shot a man in Reno just to watch him die" I knew this was greatness. A fantastic ending. Awesome- and what Idol should really be about this season.

Who should be in the bottom three based on tonight's performance?
Stefano
Jacob
Casey

Who will be?
I have no idea.

Best of the night (in order):
Paul
Scotty
Pia

Damn, I wish this show was consistent, but it seems to change from week to week. Overall, though most of it sucked, I thought this was the best night in weeks.

Idol- Elton John week and the show suddenly sucks

Elton John week? Hello, does no one at American Idol know the year is 2011?

Scotty McCreary- Country Comfort
Duh, big surprise here. He should be sent home for making such a ridiculously obvious song choice as well as for doing absolutely nothing interesting with it. Why the hell do the judges keep giving this guy a buy? Boring as hell.

Naima Adedapo- I'm Still Standing
Oh, why didn't she do "Rocket Man" or "The Bitch is Back"?  At first I thought the arrangement completely sucked, but by the end it took on a kind of anthem quality I can imagine vacationers in Cancun singing in beach bars, but I really don't think it worked welland it didn't seem to work on Idol. Randy's comments about it being corny aren't far from the mark. I don't want to see this woman leave, but I don't think this performance helped her at all.

Paul McDonald- Rocket Man
Personally I'm tired of Paul, but fans of his aren't going to be dissuaded by the totally MOR (read- boring) performance. Too bad he got one of the best songs in the John/Taupin songbook. Let's hope Jacob does "Daniel" or "Tiny Dancer."

Pia Toscana - Don't Let the Sun Go Down On Me.
Another freakin' ballad? This time she was just plain boring. When Iovinne said she had to be a cross between Fergie and Axl he nailed it, but this didn't even come close to that. Send her on her home already. Wow Tyler is really terrible tonight with absolutely nothing to say to anyone, so he keeps saying the same thing over and over. J-Lo isn't much better.

Stefano Langone- Tiny Dancer
Well, Jacob isn't going to get this one. And this one isn't going to save Stefano. Totally misguided performance. These kids better start paying attention to what Iovinne's telling them, because they aren't getting any real critiques from the judges at this point. Bye Stefano. See you in the next road tour of "Jersey Boys."

Lauren-  Candle in the Wind
She's probably too young to know this should have been the one song no one should have attempted tonight. It still has way too much baggage to this day and really should be left alone. That aside, it was painful to hear pretty much from the first note and never got any better from there. She's too inexperienced and young to really convey the song with any confidence. Hear "I would have like to know you, but I was just a kid" sung by a fifteen-year-old kid is just stupid, and actually, somewhat irritating.

James Durbin- Saturday Night's All right for Fightin'
Another way too obvious choice for him, as Elton's hardest rocking song and this was way too predictable. Surprisingly, it was also dull and contrived. His worst performance on the show. He should have done "Bennie and the Jets" or really freaked everyone out and sung something ridiculous like "Don't Go Breakin' My Heart."

Thia Magia- Daniel
Uh-oh. Another "way too mature song for such a young singer" moment. Surprisingly, I think she pulled it out off except for that weak note toward the end. Too schmaltzy for me to ever want to hear it again, but I think she did a good job with it. Better than anything we've seen so far this evening, which has pretty much sucked.

Casey Abrams- Your Song
Finally, someone who chose a good song that fits their voice/style tonight in a way that wasn't obvious and trite. He blew some words, and ultimately didn't sell it, but I think the his appearance at the bottom was a fluke unlikely to be repeated soon. Still, nothing special about tonight's performance.

Jacob Lusk- Sorry Seems to the Hardest Word
Oh dear lord. Really? This sounds terrible in theory and proved to be even worse in reality. Tonight he sounded like a drag queen, which is really unfortunate. Over the top, totally off the rails. The first performance of his that I actually disliked. In fact, I hated it.

Haley Reinhart- Bennie and the Jets
Absolutely the best song choice of the night, but it's also Elton's best song. She didn't pull it off at all, in fact it became embarrassing once she got off the piano, but at least it wasn't predictable.

This may have been the very worst night of American Idol I have ever seen. If Naima and Jacob are voted off the show tomorrow, I think I may be done with this season. All the promise of the early episodes seems to have disappeared in the past two weeks and even though TIVO helps me get through all the dross quickly, after tonight I'm thinking there are a dozen things I could be doing that would be a better use of my time than watching this show.

Best of the night- Thia (I can't believe I just wrote that)

Going home? Who cares? Okay, to be consistent I'll say the bottom three are Stefano, Naima and Jacob.

Naima and Jacob- my two favorites on this season, will likely be the ones sent home. If that's the case, I'm probably done with it myself

Idol Top 11- Motown Night

Tonight was a bit of a game-changer I'd say. Some favorites looked really boring and some of the real talent that has been buried among the shiny lights really shone through.

Casey Abrams- I Heard it Through the Grapevine
Sadly and oddly, his most underwhelming performance of the show. I thought it dull, safe, and really uninteresting.

Thia Migia- Heatwave
A really poor song choice- one of the most anonymous of the "big" Motown hits, there was nothing at all interesting about her take on it.

Jacob Lusk- You're All I Need to Get By
A perfect match of singer and material. Again, perhaps better than ever before, he killed it. As Tyler, said "baby Luther" is right.

Lauren Alaina- You Just Keep Me Hangin' On
Vocally it was neither here nor there, but her confidence in that performance was great to watch. Easily her best performance in weeks- and she totally rocked that dress.

Stefano Legano- Hello
Lame-ass choice! I like Stefano but this was schmaltz to nth degree. Sorry- three steps back. Worst of the night so far.

Haley Reinhart- You Really Got a Hold On Me
Another poor song choice- what the hell, with one of the deepest songbooks in pop history apart from the Beatles, why are there so many poor choices tonight? The character in her voice came through, but there was nothing at all interesting nor captivating about it. Especially too bad because in parts she showed that with the right song she could own this stuff.

Scotty McCreary- For Once In My Life
Dreadful from the first note and never got any better. He was worried about sounding like a lounge singer? That would have been a a great improvement. The kid's been exposed on this one as the true one-trick pony that he is. Send him home already, please.

Pia Toscana- All in Love is Fair
Yes, she has a great voice, but she's boring me to death with these songs. Enough already with this Celine wannabe. Basta!

Paul McDonald- The Tracks of My Tears
This is a hard one. Such a distinct voice in yet another mediocre Motown song. A different song would have served him better, especially one that didn't recall at least two other versions that were arguably superior. 50/50- and that's not really good enough.

Naima Adedapo- Dancing in the Streets
WTF? Another poor choice! No "Heard it Through Grapevine" No "Tears of a Clown'? No "Standing in the Shadows of Love," or anything by the Temptations, all of which would have been much better suited to this woman's particular and unique talents. All that aside, she was really good and I hope that people wake up and realize how awesome she really is by taking a mediocre song, not going over the top with it, but still making it the most interesting performance of the night so far.

James Durbin- Livin' for the City
Much as I hate to say it, easily the best performance of the night- and he made it look so easy to boot. Right song, right approach- perfect.

Someone needs to give Tyler some drugs or something because for the most part he keeps saying the same thing over and over and I for one, am growing bored with him- where did our wit go?

As for the bottom three, this one is really hard to guess, but if I were going on my own gut and disregarding the stupidity of most of the voting audience which has kept Scotty in it so far, I would say...

Scotty
Thia
Stefano
runner up losers of the night- Pia and Casey

Do I think that's going to be the way it goes? Of course not. In my opinion, best of the night goes to (in order, best on top):

James
Naima
Jacob
runner up winners of the night- Haley and Lauren (and who would have ever thought I would say that?)

Idol top 12- the year you were born pretty much sucked for you

Tonight pretty much sucked, with the exception of three performances- Jacob, Stefano and Casey's. Who's going home tomorrow? I'd say Haley. The others in the bottom three? Paul and Lauren, though it may be Naima instead of Lauren, much as it pains me to put my girl in the bottom three.

Naima Adedapo (1984)- What's Love Got to do With It?

Off the bat, I didn't think the song was a great choice- there were better songs off that Tina Turner album to begin with. Naima is definitely my favorite contestant this season, but that doesn't change the fact that I've seen strippers lip-sync this song more convincingly. Uh-oh. This may be the end of the line- it lacked everything she needed at this point, though I hate to admit that for such a raw and interesting talent.

Paul McDonald (1984)- I Guess That's Why They Call it the Blues
Based on the preview, this was obviously going to awful, and the performance just confirmed that. What the hell is happening to such a talented group? That was a total disaster. The worst performance I can remember from a Top 12 performer since I've been watching the show. Painful and lame.

Thia Magia (1995)- Who knows what the song was? Who cares?

That was the best karaoke performance ever. Do you care? I don't, though she was very good.

James Durbin (1989)- I'll Be There For You

Durbin doing Bon Jovi should have been a natural fit, but again, another boring and uninteresting performance. So far, tonight is really awful.The judges, I suspect because so far this evening is a disaster, are being way too kind.

Haley Reinhart (1990)- I'm You're Baby Tonight

Can the song choices get any worse? Obviously the answer is "yes." Oh my god, that was really terrible. Now I'm embarrassed to be watching this. Awful make-up, awful performance. Please, send her home.

Stefano Langone (1989)- If You Don't Know Me By Now

First of all, give the man props for picking a decent song. He clipped every line way too short, it was pitchy beyond belief, but at least he didn't sound embarrassing. Sad to say that on this evening, this middling at best performance sounded better than anything preceding it. That's not saying much, but there it was.

Pia Toscano (1988)- Where Do Broken Hearts Go?

The intro with "I Will Always Love You" was completely nauseating. What was with the outfit? What was up with that performance? Weak and lame- when Pia comes off this bad and screechy, the show gives its haters its due. And the arrangement? Pathetically bad- it sounded like a bar band from Turlock. Can it get any worse? We're only half way through the night.

Scotty McCreery (1993)- Can I Trust You With My Heart?
The preview made me want to see this one-note pony break out with the Elvis, but the year restriction prevented any such dreams from coming true. So instead we got Travis Tritt. Yee- haw. Snore. Much as I detest him as a contestant, his performance was the most solid of the night so far. Even if this night wasn't a complete debacle for most of the other performers, he still would have shined. Well done, cowpoke.

Karen Rodriguez (1989)- Love will Lead You Back
That updated Barbarella outfit was the bomb! Those boots? Oh dear lord! Okay, my fetishes aside, I don't think I've heard this Taylor Dane song and why should I have? Taylor Dane? Here we go, back into the breach of despair with horrible song choices. Okay, I do know this song. I'm voting for the outfit- yes! The Spanish was totally superfluous this time around, but she shined amid the dross surrounding her tonight.

Casey Abrams (1991)- Smells Like Teen Spirit
His parents are cool. So is he. Taking on a song only Patti Smith has so far had the balls to cover (the brilliant dancehall sequence  in Moulin Rouge excepted) this guy has balls and guts, and for that he deserves respect and to move forward in a week when most everyone else has sucked completely. Suddenly he is the most interesting contestant because he's really going for broke.

Lauren Alaina (1994)- I'm the Only One
Good song choice- perhaps the best of the night. Too bad she didn't sound like more than someone doing Etheridge in a karaoke bar. If she had owned it, it would have catapulted her into the top tier. But she didn't. J-Lo was wrong. So was Randy and Steven.

Jacob Lusk (1987)- Alone

A terrible choice of songs. Terrible, but good for him for stepping out of the comfort zone. Did it have the "musty stank" he spoke of? HELL YES! The dude killed it. Best of the night, far and away, hands down. Go Jacob, and rock on.

Idol- the top 13

Lauren Alaina- that was lame, doing Shania without adding your own twist to it. Fail.

Casey Abrams- it takes big balls to take on a signature tune of Joe Cocker's- he showed his. Nobody in their right mind would touch this song, but he owned it.

Ashthon Jones- what the hell was with that weak song choice? That did nothing for you.

Paul McDonald- that song bored me and I thought he looked silly for the first time. But I don't think he's leaving for awhile.

Pia Toscano- she loves Celine Dion. So do millions of other people. I can't stand this kind of thing, but she can nail it. Ugh.

James Durbin- showed he's not a one-trick pony. Impressive- his best moment so far.

Haley Reinhart- some of it was great, but some of the yodeling was painful to my ears. I'm with Randy- boring.

Jacob Lusk- it took him a minute to hit his stride tonight, but then there he was.

Thia Megia- it almost seems like she doesn't even know how good she is. That's some scary talent in a fifteen year-old.

Stefano Langone - I thought the arrangement was off, but he knows how to sing like Stevie and that was his best performance yet.

Karen Rodriguez- a strangely weak performance.

Scotty McCreery- he's annoying me at this point. Enough already.

Naima Adedapo- the most interesting performance of the night- not the most successful, but certainly the most ambitious. The best came last.

Who should go home? Lauren. If they send home two, add Karen, sadly. Ashthon rounds out the bottom three.

I Predict

So I called 12 out of the 13 finalists on Idol correctly. Not too shabby.

Good luck to Naima and Jacob, my two personal favorites, though sadly I believe Naima will make an early exit unless she can find the confidence to match the incredible natural talent she already has.

Here is my prediction for how it's going to go (not how I think it should), from the first sent home to the last one standing:

13. Haley
12. James
11. Naima
10. Thia
9. Paul
8. Scotty
7. Stefano
6. Karen
5. Ashthon
4. Lauren
3. Casey

The finale will be between Pia and Jacob.

Jacob wins.

American Idol Season Ten, Top 24- who's going to make the cut?

It always surprises some people when they find out I like Idol. Last season was a disaster and I didn't bother with it. This season has been great so far. Lopez and Tyler have turned out to be inspired choices for the show and amazingly, Tyler now owns this show as if it was always his. Nobody right now is missing Simon nor Paula. This may be the best season of Idol ever, and who would have thought that possible? Also, when Randy has differed from J-Lo and Tyler, so far I'm with Randy all the way.

As the final 24 gets cut down, here is who I think should make the final 12, based on this week's performances.

The guys who should make the cut:
Jacob Lusk- phenomenal voice, phenomenal skills. Barring some huge mishap or sheer idiocy on the part of the Idol audience, he's going to go far, maybe all the way. Either way, a star is born. Yes.
Casey Abrams- weird, unique, charismatic and can sing. Yes.
Paul McDonald- yes.
Sefano Lagone- the darkhorse for the contenders, but definitely yes.
James Durbin- Adam who? Yes, but let's see how versatile he is- he may be a one-trick pony.
Brett Loewenstern- most of the audience may not remember Simply Red, but Loewenstern does and he's got more tricks up his sleeve than most. Yes.

Say goodbye to:
Clint Jun Gamboa- his initially strong performance faded from memory as the night wore on. Plus he comes off as a jerk.
Jovanny Barreto- not a chance.
Jordan Dorsey- another jerk, bad performance, can't hold a candle to Lusk. Bye!
Tim Halperin- totally non-descript, boring performance.
Robbie Rosen- had the misfortune to follow Durbin and came off as a young, effete Neil Diamond. No.
Scotty McCreery- yes, he has a great voice for country music, so give him a contract and send him to Nashville, but please get him off the show already- everything he does sounds the same.

The women who should make the cut:
Naima Adedapo- she has it all. The voice, the looks, and charisma. I LOVE her. Yes.
Karen Rodriguez- she has a beautiful voice, great range, she exudes charm. Like J-Lo, I love that she sings in English and Spanish. Needs to pick better songs, but definitely yes.
Ashthon Jones- her voice reminds me of Teena Marie's with a deeper timbre. A classic R&B singer- and has personality to burn. Yes.
Thia Megia- this 15 year-old has so much going for her and she's going to be a huge vote-getter. Absolutely.
Lauren Alaina- she's unique among this group and has a lot of versatility- perhaps more than any of the other female contestants. Yes.
Pia Toscano- the most solid woman from the beginning, she killed it tonight. Yes.

Say goodbye to:
Ta-Tynisa Wilson- it can't be easy going first on the show, but sadly, no, nothing new nor interesting here. She looks hot, but that's all she's got.
Kendra Chantelle- I have no idea how or why she made the top 12, much less how she's going to stay there.
Rachel Zevita- oh, hell yes I loved her, but it's not going to happen. Not a great vocal on this night, but as a performer she's interesting and would shake things up. Too bad she's going home.
Lauren Turner- she'd be great fronting a bar band or on the blues circuit, but for Idol? I don't think so, but everyone seems to like her.
Julie Zorrilla- I love this contestant but the judges did her in tonight. Too bad, but she's going home.
Haley Reinhart- she's a little bit too Christina Aguilera for me, and in a less-competitive field she'd make it through, but the talent on the female side is deeper than on the guys, and there's no room for her this year.

We'll know tomorrow.

Dude Looks Like a Lady

So did anyone else notice Steven Tyler has undergone breast augmentation surgery or know the story behind what is going on here? This photo is unretouched and I just took it from the TV on pause. Really, wtf is going on here?