Wow. This was about 5 times more entertaining than a typical early-round AI show (and about 50 times more entertaining than I expected a Beatles theme night to be).
I know a lot of you ate, drank, and breathed The Beatles growing up and have really high or specific expectations for a Beatles song (pretty unrealistic for a hamfest like AI, IMO), but for me…speaking as someone who wants any kind of break from bland, tedious, predictable, overdone pop…hey, I liked it. Let me put it this way: It sounded like a sequence of songs I’d hear on a classic rock radio station. And since the whole point of this show is to find the next radio-playable singer, well, I can’t complain.
And remember, this is a 1960’s band we’re taking about, meaning that this current crop is two generations removed from Beatlemania. Even if you preached to them over and over how incredibly essential and great and wonderful this band was, nothing can ever come within a light year of experiencing the phenomenon as it happened.
Anyway, I noticed a few minor slipups, maybe a cringeworthy moment or two (nb. to R&B Diva: A lot of listeners find gender finagling really off-putting), but overall, it was consistently good.
I can’t point to any obvious elimination choice, and frankly, I have no idea who I even want to see go. Archuleta is most likely safe; beyond that, it’s a toss-up.
I swear I quit watching this season a couple of weeks ago. Every Tuesday or Wednesday, my husband groans, “Oh no, it’s American Idol tonight!”, and I say, “Well, I’m not watching anymore, so do what you want”, and mysteriously we wind up on Channel 13 and I’m in the same room sort of paying attention.
First off, correct me if I’m wrong, but did Ryan work in a douche joke at Paula’s expense? He showed that picture of Hee Haw Honey and her horse, and Kristy says, “I was spraying her with vinegar to keep the flies off”, and Ryan says, “Vinegar, Paula, that’s the trick…”
Carly: Why was she wearing a clown’s maternity blouse? Why does she want to draw ugly pictures all over herself?
He’s Vinnie Barbarino all over again. Whenever he says something dumb, my husband does the old John Travolta “What? Where?”
Chikeze and god help me David Cook were my favorites of the night. I confess that up until last night I only knew “I’ve Just Seen a Face” as a Phish song. And I don’t even like Phish. But Chikeze at least looked like he was having a good time up there, and made me forget that Ramiele was still left to perform. I watched him twice.
Brooke’s dancing was so awkward – she could really benefit from some stage coaching (or whatever it’s called. You know what I mean). Syesha did exactly what I thought she would do with “Yesterday,” with the runs and whatnot, and it ended up being boring and predictable for me. We forwarded through Kristy after about 2 seconds. She really ought to go tonight.
I am unprepared for a performance by Kellie Pickler.
Once again, I liked David Cook, and I don’t like that kind of music. He’s doing something that the other contestants could learn from - he’s consistently playing to his strengths, picking songs that showcase what he can do, and knocking them out of the park. He and Carly look like professionals on the stage to me. I think David Cook has depths of talent that we haven’t plumbed yet; that, or he’ll just keep doing the same thing he’s been doing. It could go either way.
I love everything about Chickadeedee’s recent performances except his voice - it sounds thin and weak to me.
I liked Syesha’s performance except for the last run that she kinda failed on. It was very Tony Braxton, though.
Ramiele is floundering. She needs her big brother, David, to help her.
I don’t know. I thought it was more of a dig at keeping away Simon, or something, but I’m going to run with the interpretation that has flies swarming around her coochie.
I also liked how awkward he left it after the “blow you out of your socks” comment.
Anyway – last night SUCKED. Harmonica? Peter Frampton box?
We need this shit for BEATLES songs?
Total lack of energy from virtually everyone.
I can’t stand that Irish girl. Could she be any uglier or more full of herself? And who dresses her? Her grandmother, saying, “this is what all the kids are wearing these days”? Try singing “blackbird” straight if you want to show me how talented you are, because you sound like an idiot.
I did like Castro, though. Maybe I got lost in his deep blues eyes like Simon, but I liked his version a lot. I didn’t think it sounded bad at all.
I’m apparently the only human alive who hates the Beatles. So I’m definitely biased here but last night was terrible. I could sit through one week of this crap but two is just too much.
That said, I thought David Cook and Chikezie were probably the best last night, followed by Carly and probably David A., who sang well enough but was boring as hell. It’s hard to say who was the worst, because there are just so many to choose from. Ramiele sucked big time and so did Jason Castro. Jason actually made me cringe he looked so awkward on stage. And he needs to stop saying the word “cool” because every time he says it all I can think of is the scene in “Grease” where Danny and Sandy meet at the pep fest and Danny does that whole, “That’s cool, baby” thing. Oh, and Kristy Lee was terrible, too. I’d put Ramiele, Jason, and Kristy Lee in the bottom three, and hope to hell they send Kristy Lee home.
I can’t remember anything about Amanda, and that says volumes.
Kristy has no instincts. Horrible.
I really liked David A., David C. and Syesha, whose performance was quite moving. She was on the verge of tears, though, and that could have interfered with her rendition.
Brooke was all right; last week she was better. Same comment for Chikezie.
Ramiele was cute but forgettable.
Jason’s goofy-sexy thing is wearing thin, and I find his performances to be lazy. He’s slumming it now, just phoning it in.
Christy’s tattoo is bugging me a lot even though her voice isn’t all that bad.
Michael Johns had a horrible arrangement, quite lackluster.
For the life of me, I do not get the love-fest for Jason Castro. I thought Simon made an excellent point about something to the effect that, were this competition taking place on the radio, he wouldn’t have a fighting chance. Yes, he is a very good looking guy, but there is nothing remotely remarkable about his voice. Sure, he is usually in tune but he plays everything way too safe.
And just to further demonstrate how out of touch I am, I really like Amanda. Sure, she is a Joplin clone, but so was Robert Plant, for the most part. She is full of energy, a great performer, and far more unique than the usual herd of Whitney wannabees. I’ll take an Amanda rendition over being bored to tears by Jason Castro any day.
I think what this week and last week proved, more than anything else, is what phenomenal singers Lennon and McCartney were. They made it sound easy (the way great soul singers like Sam Cooke and Smokey Robinson did), but you realize how hard it is to actually sing when you see other people straining.
The arrangements last night were almost uniformly godawful (if there’s on thing Lennon/McCartney were masters of, besides singing, it was writing melodies - stop fucking with them!), with a special mention going to Kristy’s “You’ve Got To Hide Your Love Away”. She actually made that song completely suck, and I hope her dumb ass gets booted tonight.
So two nights of Beatles songs and we only had a few good performances. What a waste. I think they really needed some help with song selection. Allow me:
David Archie: “Happiness is a Warm Gun.” Bonus points for grabbing a trenchcoat from wardrobe.
Kristy Lee: As mentioned above, “Act Naturally” would have been perfect. Especially if she sang it in a super hillbilly accent while dressed like a scarecrow (with hay sticking out of her sleeves and pant legs) and doing that Ashley Simpson hoedown dance. Thayre gonna mayke a big starrr outta meeeeeee!
David Hernandez: “Do You Want To Know A Secret?”
Michael Johns: “Nowhere Man.” Replace the “he’s” with “I’m” though.
Amanda: “It Won’t Be Long.” It won’t indeed.
Ramelie: “With A Little Help From My Friends.” I get by with a little help from my friends, I breath air with a little help from my friends, I chew foooooood with a little help from my friends!"
Carly: “When I’m Sixty-Four.” No need for a wardrobe change.
David Cook: “I Should Have Known Better” than to try the comb-forward.
One thing the judges have pointed out year after year, is that they can’t stand having the contestants go up and just sing the song straight, as made famous. If you do, the judges call it boring and predictible and karaoke and “just an imitation”.
My husband pointed out last night (I don’t remember which song) that they were also masters of complex harmonies. These guys keep trying to sing songs that were done as 2 to 4 part harmonies as solos, and they really lose something.
(I thought I saw face tattoos on some of Carly’s crowd, too.)
