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Live
Semifinals: The Guys
March 6
Four heats
later, and we have the top 20. Now they will sing one
more time on the Vegas stage for your votes. Five men
and five women in 48 hours time will continue to
Television City, where dreams become reality, reality
becomes dreams, and we always love to stop in when we're
in LA. Who'll stay? Who'll go? And who will finally
break out of this stupor called season 12?
LAS VEGAS
The Beatles Love Theatre by Cirque du Soleil at the Mirage
Yesterday, Chico got
tormented by the Top 10 women (well I did also, because I had to watch
it, but at least I didn't have to recap it.). Tonight, I have to get
tortured and recap the guy's performances. The theme: select songs that
don't make you suck. I don't think that's going to help this evening.
Don't forget to download the American Idol app to rig the vote for the
little girls...er...vote for your favorites.
The first person trying to go with the theme is Elijah Liu. He decides
to sing 'Stay', which was performed by Rihanna. Let's start singing
songs performed by women. This is getting to a rip roaring start.
The Good: I like the orchestration. It's a smooth song - and it is
contemporary, which is a nice magnet for the little girlies who would
know this song.
The Bad: Randy completely nailed this - the song didn't go anywhere. If
you're going to pick a song sung by a woman, can we please select one
that has more than a 5 note vocal range? This was mind-numbingly boring
to the point where I may have to go into my collection of Rihanna's CDs
and use them for coasters for the next poker night.
The Gordon: Hey Nicki, if you have the hots for Elijah, don't worry.
He'll be available for courtship after tomorrow's results show.
Cortez Shaw decides to FINALLY give us a quick-paced song. Hooray. He
selects Bruno Mars' 'Locked out of Heaven'.
The Good: Great song choice. It's relevant and as it's been #1 for a
gazillion weeks, this is a perfect song to style and make your own. He
did perform the song well and emoted to the camera.
The Bad: There is something to be said for actually hitting the pitch
when you're singing. He also did nothing with the song. It's a complete
Karaoke rehash, which means he's going to be compared to Bruno Mars, and
Mars, in comparison, slays this kid dead, like in a dragon movie. And he
dances like a dragon with his tail accidentally lit on fire.
The Gordon: He may be getting locked out of the Top 10.
Charlie Askew says that he had no idea of what he was doing in the Top
40. Neither did I. I have no clue what he's doing singing 'Mama' by
Genesis, and this has Super Train Wreck written all over it.
The Good: I'll give him points for the effort and performance. He tried
to sell the song as well as he could. And the second part of the song
was actually pretty good, from an Aerosmith style of him singing
Genesis.
The Bad: However, for the first half of the song...What the hell was
that? This wasn't just train wreck, this was Atomic Train. Silver Streak
and Super 8 all in one. And the nuclear meltdown in terms of that he
always has to be happy makes me genuinely concerned about his mental
well-being and whether the idea of entering this competition was a good
idea for him.
The Gordon: If the judges were grading this, he's gone. However, he is
the classic example of people who vote in sympathy. If the other singers
don't give people a reason to vote, I could easily see Charlie sneak
into the Top 5.
Nick Boddington wants to give people a reason to vote for him. He puts
on his hat because he's a baldy bean. He hopes that by singing The Goo
Goo Dolls 'Iris' he can make people forget about it.
The Good: I would usually harp on this song, because this song has been
done to death, but he makes a nice decision with the piano. It's a very
nice orchestration and I disagree with Nicki that he shouldn't have
changed it. He definitely should have.
The Bad: However, he shouldn't have slowed it down and make it insomia-inducing.
And when you change the speed, you also can't change the pitch to be out
of tune.
The Gordon: I wanted to like it more than what I did. I was bored. If we
get 6 more of these performances, Charlie's getting in.
I was not too impressed with Burnell Taylor last week. Will I be
impressed with him this week when he sings 'I'm Here' by LaChanze? We
shall see...
The Good: The song hasn't been done that often (besides his audition
round. Heh. , and it's a good song vocally to work on.
The Bad: If you're not familiar with the musical The Color Purple, you
won't be familiar with this song - unless you consider that he sang it
during his audition round. Based on the painful opening and lack of
energy throughout the song, I don't think people want to be familiar
with this song ever again. And no, his Will Smith Fresh Prince of Bel
Air outfit wasn't a costume they wore in the musical.
The Gordon: There are 2 much stronger (im my opinion) R&B singers that
will be singing later on in the show. If either of them blows the doors
off in their performances, he's done.
Paul Jolly survives Jimmy Iovino (and his internal psyche) to sing
again. His choice of song is "Just a Fool", by Christina Aguilera
featuring Blake Shelton. Who will look like a fool after this
performance?
The Good: This is the best that I've ever heard him.
The Bad: He wants to be the guy version of Taylor Swift. The problem is
that 1. a song choice of Christina Aguilera doesn't justify that and 2.
his performance screams 'broadway Cabaret Musical Nightclub'. Mariah is
closer to the point - he's a variety singer right now, but he needs to
sharpen his genre selection and song choices to attract the voting base
that he wants.
The Gordon: Best vocal of the night so far (which, admittedly, isn't
saying much, but hey, it's a start.)
Lazaro Arbos is trying to take the judges critiques and select a better
song. Is 'Feeling Good' that song?
The Good: The second half of that vocal is probably the best that we've
heard this evening. He definitely spun the song out to make it a little
different. It's not too much different, but the emotion into it made
this a nice performance.
The Bad: The reason why he goes so high on the second half of the song
is because it's to contrast the first half of the song, which is a bit
of a muddled vocal. Last week, he wore a pink shirt that made him look
like a sherbert cone. This week, the same pink shirt with the grey
jacket over him makes him look like a pink ice cream scoop with
marshmallow topping.
The Gordon: If you listen to the audience, he's getting in. Forget the
vocals - he's an amazing story, and that could propel him to the title,
whether he deserves it or not.
Curtis FInch Jr. believes he can fly. I believe I'm going to cringe
because I have to deal with 90 seconds of R. Kelly's crapterpiece.
The Good: At least he tried to spin his own rendition of the song and
gospel it up. From that stand point, he succeeded.
The Bad: I get it that he made the song his own. The problem is the tone
and falsetto, and whereas it was good technically, there should have
been a lot more power and a lot less restraint on the vocal. And that
last money note was so buzzy that it sounded like the bees also believed
they could fly and made a beeline right into his mouth.
The Gordon: I liked this a LOT less than the judges. Maybe it's because
the energy didn't translate to the home like it did on the stage, but I
wasn't feeling it. I do think, however, that he gets in.
We're up to Devin Velez, who decides to sing...Perry Como? 'Somos Novos'
(It's Impossible) from Perry Como? La Gente Esta Muy Loca...
The Good: He does a really nice, sweet version of the song. Vocally,
he's on point.
The Bad: It's a horrible, horrible, song choice. I'll explain this later
on, but the song choice was a mistake. And that outfit makes him look
like he would have been Perry Como's vocal back up in the 1950's.
The Gordon: Here's the problem: Your voting group are American 10-20
year old girls. Devin has sang old Spanish songs that won't attract that
group. In addition, I think the Latin vote is going directly to Lazaro
Arbos. So while I like the singer, I don't know where he's going to get
his votes from.
Finally, it's Vincent Powell singing 'End of the Road', by Boyz II Men.
Is this going to be the end of his road? (Sorry, I had to say it)
The Good: I liked how he coordinated his glasses to Randy Jackson's
glasses. Keep styling and profiling. And I like that his dress code is
going to get him into any night club in Las Vegas after the show.
The Bad: The pitch was terrible all around the song. If he was a
motorcycle, the road would have shredded his tires and AAA would have
had to tow it off to the shop.
The Gordon: This was brutally bad. He shouldn't get in, but if he does,
he can thank the fact he was in the last spot this week, along with his
performance from last week.
The Verdict: Let's do this based on Boys II Men songs. Because I feel
silly.
Thank You: Curtis Finch, Jr., Devin Velez, Lazaro Arbos
Please Don't Go: Nick Boddington, Burnell Taylor, Paul Jolley
End of the Road: Elijah Liu, Cortez Shaw, Charlie Askew, Vincent Powell
However, that was only based on musical performances and NOT who I think
is advancing. Just like the girls, I found a whopping zero excellent
performances from the guys. Which means that some of these votes are
going to be based on back story. And hence, we may have a surprise or
two...
The Rationale: One of those spots is going to Lazaro. You have 4 R&B
singers going for 2 spots - Finch will get one and Powell will probably
get the other one, despite the brutal effort tonight. Between Jolley vs.
Boddington for the pop spot, I think Jolley gets in, plus Jolley can
court the country vote that no one else wanted. For the last spot...no
one else impressed, and while Devin Velez SHOULD get the last spot, I
think we get a surprise....hello, Charlie.
My 5 picks:
Lazaro Arbos
Charlie Askew
Curtis Finch, Jr.
Paul Jolley
Vincent Powell
America votes tonight. Fox
reveals tomorrow.
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