DARLING DON'T YOU GO AND CUT THAT HAIR: So, we've got our final 24, and if our Wacky Dancing Parade has taught us anything this year it's that we've clearly got the least talented group of dancers in Idol history, as well as some of the worst hair. (All is forgiven, Amanda Overmyer!)
If history has taught us anything, it's that multiple singers in next week's Round of 24 will make truly dreadful song choices -- someone will again demonstrate, as Kim put it two years ago, "that crooning without having preestablished a fan base is never a good AI strategy." [Also that week: I compared Danny Noriega to Johnny Weir and Garrett Haley to Plushy -- and it wasn't an Olympic year!]
But we have our twenty-four, and one of them will be The Next American Idol. Come next week, our full team coverage should be in full gear.
The motto I'm trademarking this season is: "American Idol: If You've Got a Penis, You Aren't Winning This Year."
ReplyDeleteBut here's what we know from recent years, and this will be my big meta point next week (if I don't exhaust it here): the one who wins is the one who seems to grow over the course of the competition -- and who does interesting rearrangements and restylings -- and not the one who arrives at Idol fully-formed as an artist. I don't know if you can still make it to final two without having significant skills as a rearranger (including just recognizing a good cover when you hear it).
ReplyDeleteWho this favors this year, other than Andrew Garcia, I don't know.
Does Andrew Garcia have a penis? If so, he's not winning this thing.
ReplyDeleteI'm guessing between Didi Benami, Janell Wheeler, Ashley Rodriguez and Katie Stevens, you find your winner...
Just remember where we had Kris Allen ranked before the semis last year -- hell, after his semis performance, for that matter.
ReplyDeleteYes, I do believe Daniel was particularly harsh on poor Kris early on last season.
ReplyDeleteAny inkling into next week's theme? Decades? Open to whatever? Regardless, can't wait to see who takes a wrong turn down Poor Song Choice Alley first.
Even I said that Kris was "like a lesser Chris Richardson" after the semis, and after he made the finals: "<span>Wow. That's ... odd, to say the least. So many more worthy finalists than Kris Allen.</span>"
ReplyDeleteDan, however? As linked through there: "Who? How did this guy get into the Top 36, judges? This is embarrassingly middle-of-the-road, karaoke, talent-show. It's less than middle-of-the-road. At least Nick Mitchell was joking and found ways to get away from his vocal liabilities. Kris just sings earnestly, without distinction or self-awaress, blending into the background before my eyes. Generic. He couldn't make the Top 12 on Canadian Idol."
Yep. It's the ones who "evolve" who win.
Hey, I OWN my obliviousness regarding Kris Allen. If you're gonna go out there with an opinion, make it loud and right or loud and wrong. And Kris Allen *was* the Greatest Canadian Idol Winner in HISTORY!
ReplyDeleteHeh, Dan and Adam.
ReplyDeleteI'm unsure why they included some of the folks that they did in the top 24, but they did include Lilly, Crystal, and Andrew, so I won't complain too much.
I think that I saw that the theme for this week is Billboard Top 10s or something like that? Which means, yes, there could be some truly hideous song choices.
According to the press release, "each contestant will perform a Top 10 hit from the Hot 100 chart." Also, that link contains Twitter, Facebook and MySpace links for all 24 semifinalists.
ReplyDeleteI'm totally with you on Lilly, Crystal, and Andrew. And glad that Simon didn't keep Lilly out on the grounds that she wasn't 'something you'd hear on the radio.'
ReplyDeleteAlso think Dan is right about the potential of Ashley Rodriguez (damn, why didn't they show us more of her at Hollywood Week, though?), Katie Stevens, and Janell Wheeler (if she performs more like Day 1 and less like Day 4).
I like Todrick Hall - liked him at the outset and then he did a good creative version of "I'm Yours." Would like to see much more of John Park, less of Kara fawning over Casey and the other judges aiding and abetting it, and think Katelyn Epperly should be outtahere soon.
What do y'all think about them cutting Angela Martin? They didn't show enough of her Hollywood Week performances to get a real sense of whether they were right (and Simon saying "I've seen this performance a million times" struck me as the kind of thing he kept saying to Lil Rounds, going back to issues Adam and others discussed last season), but I would've liked to have seen her go forward based purely on her original audition. She's got great stage presence and pipes.
I was seriously angry over the Martin cut. That was Idol at its manipulative worst.
ReplyDeleteI'm rooting for John Park on the men's side (Northwestern acapella represent) and Bowersox for the women (Toledo, OH represent).
ReplyDelete