Thoughts on American Idol Top 36

Group 1

American Idol is like 4 shows in 1. The one-the-road auditions are barely tolerable, but I rather enjoy Hollywood Week. But tonight was the first of the live shows and this is where the excitement really begins.

I liked the funked-up version of Elvis’ “A Little Less Conversation” that Jackie Tohn performed but I thought that her dancing and outfit were terribly distracting. From the auditions I thought that her style was more folky than what we saw tonight. I don’t think she’ll make it any farther.

I didn’t remember Ricky Braddy from the auditions at all. I’m sure that’s because the producers are so focused on Danny Gokey being the front-runner this season, that they’re passing over other real competitors—which is a real shame because he really does have a nice voice. He sang “A Song for You” which is a good song but he did sing it in very much the same way that I’ve heard it sung many times before. He did have good vocal control and form, but did he over sing it a little?

I’d never heard of the song “I Never Loved a Man,” previously recorded by Aretha Franklin, before and it was not really the sound that I was expecting from Alexis Grace. It was probably because of the pink hair I was hoping for something a little more alternative or edgy from her. I didn’t think it was a very good song choice but the judges sure liked it. If history is any predictor, though, the pink hair will get her through to the finals. Think Nikki McKibbin. Maybe then I’ll have a better idea of what kind of music to expect from her.

Brent Keith’s choice of “Hicktown” was probably a good choice for him so that people could appropriately view him as a country artist but it doesn’t seem like country singers ever make it farther than maybe halfway through the finals. Sorry, but country music really isn’t my bag so I can’t really say too many good things about his performance but I’d be surprised if he makes it past this stage of the competition. The problem is that as country goes, there are so many more impressive songs than the one he sang.

Stevie Wright really reminds me of Evangeline Lilly (Kate from ABC's Lost). I think it’s her eyes. I don’t think it matters that I’ve never heard the song “You Belong With Me” that she sang because she was unfortunately very nervous and it showed. It’s too bad that she probably won’t make it past this stage of the competition because I had high hopes for her—probably because I’m such a fan of Lost. Heck, she’s only 17, maybe we’ll see her try out again next year? Maybe she'll get the Lost vote?

Besides the fact that my cosmetologist wife said that his eyebrows need to be taken down a little, Anoop Desai really sang his song, “Angel of Mine,” very well! Again, I’ve never heard this song before, but I would imagine that he probably sang it similar to the original. I do like it when a guy sings a song originally recorded by a girl, and vice versa. That alone has a way of changing it up enough to make it memorable.

Casey Carlson’s version of “Every Little Thing She Does Is Magic” was simply a train wreck. I don’t agree with the judges that songs by The Police are “untouchable”, I just didn’t agree with the touches she put on it. Aside from being too nervous to sing it well, I really hated the gender switching in this song—I think “she” and “her” are too rooted into the lyrics. I thought it would have been good if she would have sung it like the original “Every little thing she does is magic”, but then it would have made it sound like she was switching teams. It also looked like a beauty pageant performance or something from a talent show—might have gone over well in high school, but not on a national stage.

Michael Sarver made a really good impression on me during the auditions. Although I’m not a country fan and could tell that he would probably lean that way, his vocals and his personal story made me root for him to make it far on the show. His choice of the song “I Don't Want to Be” was a bad choice in my opinion. I don’t think anyone has sung this song as well as Bo Bice did a few seasons back, so I was left a little flat by this performance. He was a little stiff to be singing a song as energetic as this one. It would have been nice if he would have sung a song that showed more of the tender vocals that we grew attached to in the auditions.

Ann Marie Boskovich delivered another beauty pageant performance of “A Natural Woman.” The arrangement and performance seemed like just about every other version of this song that I’ve ever heard, and it wasn’t sung nearly as well. Very forgettable.

Stephen Fowler made a huge mistake in singing “Rock With You” by Michael Jackson. In my opinion when someone chooses to sing a song so closely associated with the original artist, they need to make drastic changes to it in order to make it theirs—similar to what David Cook did with Jackson’s “Billy Jean.” The arrangement was very much like the original but he seemed like he was singing to a totally different arrangement in his head. I don’t think that fast songs are very good at this stage because they don’t show how good the contestant’s vocals can be. This will probably be the end of the road for him.

What’s worse? Someone who shows up with at the auditions with a huge ego and thinks they sing perfectly but can’t sing at all, or someone who has a huge ego and thinks they can sing perfectly and they actually do sing very well? Such is the case (or problem) with Tatiana Nicole Del Toro. She’s pretty good but she’s convinced that she’s fantastic and she doesn’t shy away from flaunting it. As could have been predicted, she sang a very dramatic, but surprisingly vocally restrained version of Whitney Houston’s “Saving All My Love for You.” She’s a pretty good singer but often her personality overshadows her ability to sing. I think she has been coached to tone down her personality because she seemed controlled, like she was acting the whole time. I think she’s actually the psychic they keep referring to… probably one of her many personalities.

I’m sure they saved Danny Gokey for last tonight. He was the most comfortable of tonight’s performers as he sang Mariah Carey’s “Hero.” I think it’s clear that the producers think that he should be one of the front-runners too, which explains all of the hype he has received throughout all of the audition weeks. I think it’s also a real shame that they cut Danny’s friend Jamar Rogers. Jamar was so much better than almost all of the other contestants we saw tonight.

I think that the standard that will determine if the contestants progress to the next stage is whether or not the vocals and performances are good enough to inspire people to fork out their hard earned money to buy their music. If you stumble upon one of these people in a bar or in a park you would enjoy it, but would you become a fan and seek out opportunities to financially support them?

I think it’s obvious that my vote along with most of America tonight will be for Danny Gokey. The three that I think will be voted through to the finals in this group are Danny Gokey, Alexis Grace, and Anoop Dasai with Ricky Braddy being one of the wild cards added in week 4.

Out of all of them though, I don’t think I heard any that I would actually buy records from based on what they sang tonight but I guess we’ll see what the other contestants come up with in the future.