The Top 12

The finally the Top 12. I am glad we are finally here. Not sure how excited I am about this group. Before I was emotional attached to the contestants and now I’m just kind of excited. I won’t stop watching, let’s not be crazy, but just kind of anti-climatic at this point.

Diana Ross was giving great advice. She was really pinpointing the areas of strength and weaknesses in the students. All Paula was doing was crying and repeating what Diana said. New judge possibly?

Brandon – Boring. That’s all I can say. I really liked him and he let me down. I didn’t even know he forgot the words, I fast forwarded through it. Maybe the nerves, maybe the song choice, maybe going home.

Melinda – Got it going on. She has the voice and class to be the next American idol. Take the shocked look at her face, please, though. I am going to have to email her that. Please listen. Paula was crying like a baby. Here we go!

Chris – That was terrible. It sounded good in the little clip but the arrangement was terrible. It was distracting and I wasn’t even able to focus on the singing. He needs to stop trying to be cool and current and show his singing ability.

Gina - You needed to ENNUNCIATE. I don’t believe pronunciate is even a word. My spell check doesn’t think so. (I did do some research to hold onto my super geek title. It is enuniate). She needed to feel the song and not just sing it.

Everyone is better in their clip then singing the song.

Sanjaya – Can you say wooden? That was sooo painful. Please put him out of his misery. Put him out of MY misery! And did they give him a perm?!? He should have sung Do You Know from the movie Mahogany. He could have sang it softly and slowly with come conviction.

Haley – Future porn star? This is a family show, right? She had pitch problems and didn’t even seem to be singing some of the words. There was no emotion to that. I don’t hate her and think she can do better. Simon was just trying to be nice. That was a mess. Not a hot mess like Sanjaya, but a mess.

If we, the audience, don’t know when they are missing words, then why the hell are the judges telling us BEFORE the voting?!? Just say, “you know what I’m going to say,” and speak about the rest of the performance. I think that hurts the performers more than the actual performance.

Phil – He was off beat in the beginning. He had energy but it didn’t really match the song. Does that make sense? It was better in the chorus, but he needed to slow it down. He has really a good voice. He sounded a lot like Michael Bolton when he sang the song though. It was a good choice of song based on the theme.

Lakisha – I think the mic stand would have been good. I have seen this performed a lot and I think smoky house, jazz, sultry rendition would have been better. Still great voice, solid performance, but unlike Fantasia when she did Summertime, she could have still brought it down a little lower. But there is always the risk of bringing it too low. If you don’t watch her, her voice is AMAZING. You can really hear the nuances in her voice and really hear the rich texture of it. And a small suggestion, she needs to wait until the music is over before ending the song with a thank you. She’s not Prince. He is legendary for doing that in his songs. Let the song finish, pause, and then thank you. Cuts the performance needlessly.

Blake – I totally agree with Randy – sometimes just sing the song. Paula too – this arrangement was way better than Chris’. And Simon – there’s a reason that there is a Motown sound. Just because its old doesn’t justify changing it. Try doing that to classic rock and you would be stoned. The performance was a little too glitzy in the beginning for me. He is another one he sounded really good in the clip but the performance was less great.

Stephanie – I like her. I think nerves got to her. That was not sexy. She can sing. She still is reminding me of Beyonce. I think she would benefit for watching old Anita Baker videos. I agree that it never got to the disco part and that hurt her. She needed to perform over singing. It was like singing the opening to It’s Raining Men and never getting to the chorus.

Chris R. – Not bad. I don’t like the nasally quality to his voice. Kind of like a male version of Sabrina. Great stage presence. I think that saved some of his pitch problems in the middle.

Jordan – I know she is young but she has to stay away from the Disney movie songs. I think she did an excellent job, with that said. She was able to connect with the audience. She will learn how to work the crowd and the cameras at the same time, just comes with experience. I agree with Randy that she stepped it up. And she looked beautiful. I think she’s the dark horse in this.

In conclusion, FEEL THE SONG!!! That is what is going to kill them. No matter what the genre, no matter what the theme. When you hear the recaps its really clear who should and shouldn’t win this competition. Who is going home? Should be Sanjaya, probably will be Brandon. We shall see. Until tomorrow, c-ya!