Chris is so pretty. I can sympathize with the teenboppers who vote Ace because I’ve found Chris’ vocals sounding distincly baaaaa–y the last two times out-- something I hate-- but he’s so very, very pretty.
Damn hamsters. Sorry for the two typos (esp the RHCP transliteration).
A weird night – from bad too very good, but nothing amazing for me.
Top three, all very good, but very differenct styles, so hard to judge:
Taylor
Paris
Chris
Proficient, but lacking a little something:
Lisa
Katherine
Okay:
Bucky (God help me)
Mandisa
Elliott
Kelly
Bad:
Melissa
Ace
Kevin
(For the third time) I think Ace will be out this week.
Very, very, very pretty.
Oh, and because I forgot it before:
PS to my letter to Taylor: Call Dat Phan. He’s from California, and I know he knows where you can find a Vietnamese beauty salon. Your hair is fine, but your eyebrows are a fiasco.
I’m worried for Chris. There seems to be too much “you’ve got this in the bag” talk. It’s too early for that; a backlash is imminent.
That said, I’m pulling for him & Kat McPhee to make it to the final two.
Until then, here’s my off-the-cuff list:
-
Taylor - against my better judgement, he just edges Chris in pulling out a better vocal performance. I liked him, even though I suspect he could kill me in my sleep.
-
Chris - because he was amazing, and I am pretty sure he would never murder anyone.
-
Katharine - she didn’t (couldn’t?) move, but I could listen to her voice all day.
-
Paris - oh, yeah.
-
[strike]Puffy[/strike] Bucky - pulled a fun, funky performance out of an ocean of suck.
-
Elliott - supercompetent, if not super-compelling this week.
-
Lisa - technically great, but so not engaged
-
Kevin - he gets points for knowing exactly who he is. Squish!
-
Mandisa - she’s better than this
-
Kellie - good but boring
-
Melissa - good but brain-dead
-
Ace - remember the ocean of suck?
Ace - ptooey
Pickler - ptooey
Melissa - ptooey
Kevin - ptooey ptooey ptooey
I thought the rest of them were all really good, at least at the low volume we used (be vewy vewy qwyet let ye waketh yon toddlers).
My meaningless rankings of tonight’s performances:
Taylor
Chris
Katherine
Paris
Bucky
Lisa (I know. But she bores me)
Mandisa
Elliott
The Pickler
Ace
Melissa
Kevin
I thought Taylor and Chris were much better than everyone else tonight. My bottom four can’t go home soon enough as far as I’m concerned.
Ace, Kevin and Melissa can not sing. They are horrible. I wish them gone. I suspect it will be Melissa because people thing Kevin is cute. It’s one at a time now, right?
The rest can sing so it’s the performance that set them apart for me. Taylor was by far the best and Chris is very, very pretty. Everybody else did fair to middlin’.
I forgot to add–I think Melissa’s journey ends tomorrow. Kevin will live to see another week.
Kevin is the new John Stevens, I think. Make of that what you will.
RICK’S PICKS, MARCH 14
First of all, there’s no doubt about it; this is the best Final 12 they’ve ever had. Way, way, way better than any previous season.
In order of performance:
-
CHRIS DAUGHTRY. Great performance as usual. I wonder if his rock act will get tiresome, but so far it still looks and sounds great.
-
PARIS BENNETT. Very good as compared to last week, a technically strong and entertaining performance. She has a chance to win it all.
-
TAYLOR HICKS. I bounced this one around for awhile… he could have been ranked everywhere from second to sixth, because he’s so damn unusual. In the end I decided to rank him on the high side because unusual is usually a sign of quality.
-
MANDISA. Big black lady singin’ loud. It’s an old act but she does it well.
-
KATHARINE MCPHEE. Katharine has one significant advantage; she is just incredibly, stunningly beautiful. I’m talking Hellenic beauty. She’s easily the most beautiful contestant in the history of American Idol, far and away. She’s kind of like Lisa Loeb but taller and without glasses and even prettier. So why in the hell did she wear a dress that made her look pregnant?
A much better performance than last week; it’s telling about the strength of the field that she only ranks fifth.
-
ELLIOTT YAMIN. Elliott really does have a lovely, clear voice, maybe the purest singing voice in the competition, but he’s really, really dull, and unless he does something about that he’s gonna get voted off in about four weeks.
-
LISA TUCKER. In the Predictions Contest I picked her to win; I feel bad about that pick now, she wasn’t great tonight. Not bad, but she fell behind on the bell curve.
-
KELLIE PICKLER. That was actually pretty bad.
Liberal will continue denying it, but there’s no reasonable opposition to the fact that she’s playing up this hayseed act to an almost preposterous degree. That said, it’s smart. Smarty pants backtalking or arrogance rarely work. Humility gets votes.
-
ACE YOUNG. I thought that was bad but he was suited for this kind of music. I guess. To be honest he could rank as low as eleventh. I’m well into the field of people who cannot possibly win now so it doesn’t really matter.
-
KEVIN COVAIS. Watching Kevin Covais sing Stevie Wonder is like… like watching a little kid do a funk song. It’s neat, but kind of embarassing.
-
BUCKY COVNGTON. That was just terrible. I don’t know what the judges were talking about. He murdered a great song.
-
MELISSA MCGHEE. Every year there’s one or two people who are just obviously out of their league from the beginning of the Final 12. It’s always a tall brunette who sings vaguely 90’s-style white-soul style. Julia DeMato. Mikayla Gordon. And now, Melissa McGhee. Buh-bye!
Yay, our wishes are granted!
Don’t count your chickens yet. It could be the group sing tomorrow.
I pretty much agree with the same top four and bottom four as everyone else and I concur that Melissa is the most likely to go home, not because she was the worst tonight (that would have to be Kevin) but because I think she has the smallest fan base.
You really think Kevin was worse than Ace and/or Bucky and/or Melissa? I mean, I’m biased, but I really think Ace and Melissa screwed the pooch tonight, performance-wise (no idea what they do backstage for nerves).
I missed Chris. What did he sing?
(blowing cooly on fingers) Why, “Higher Ground,” done Red Hot Chili style.
Which number was Chicken Little tonight? I am going to vote to keep him in with the hope that he wins the show. It would be a win all around.
Wow, Taylor and Christ were just head and shoulders above the rest. They rocked the house.
Melissa or Kevin go home tomorrow, probably Melissa, but I hope it’s Kevin.