AI 7 - Semi Finals Round 3 - The Men - 3/4/08
We are up to the final week of semi-finals with Thursday being the big announcement of the Top 12 one of whom will be the next American Idol.
After last week’s lackluster performances definitely by the ladies and some of the men, the contestants will need to shine.
Why did they take the time to show Denise Richards in the audience? Don’t tell me she is going to be in a Fox show.
Surprisingly the theme is songs of the 80’s, once again hear the sarcasm in my voice. Do not even get me started on the video clips of the contestants’ most embarrassing moments.
Luke Menard
Did I hear right, Luke has chosen to sing “Wake Me up before You Go Go”. I admit I adore this song but come on with all the hits of the 80’s he chooses this one. It will be a miracle if he can pull it off. In addition what have we learned, do not sing songs that reference leaving, you do not want to leave this competition. Luke has managed to scrape by because of his eye candy looks; it is the only reason why he could have made it after his first performance.
Luke’s performance was unfortunately a train wreck. He was totally off tempo with the band from the first note and spent the rest of his couple of minutes trying to catch up. He had some horrible pitch issues but to his credit, he did hit the money note of the song. Luke’s movements were utterly ridiculous and I don’t think he appeared very comfortable on the stage. He can add this performance to his most embarrassing moment versus his sister dressing him in a tutu and tights. By the way, it might have been better if he wore that costume for this number.
Randy – it started rough, you had several pitch problems, you were ahead of the band, and it was a surprising choice of song, okay, alright
Paula – I was surprised by the song choice, I have to pull a Randy and say I choreographed George Michael’s tour, I loved your interpretation, and I loved it
Simon - I didn’t like it, it was weak, a bit girly, you have no chance of making it through and you can’t win.
David Archuleta
Oh my on top of cute he can play the piano too, I hate him, just kidding. David chose “Another Day in Paradise.” I didn’t like the choice in song nor the arrangement. The vocals were okay, not as great as they have been. There were some really sharp notes in there and it was so plodding, there was no joy for me. I thought David was a bit stiff as well. This was his weakest performance in the semi-finals. So far the men are not providing much excitement.
Randy – it was like watching a concert, interesting song choice because it didn’t show off your voice, it was good, a couple of pitch problems.
Paula – I adore you, so there were a couple of bum notes, you are perfect in your imperfection (what the hell does that mean?), you have a wonderful sensibility, keep it up
Simon – it wasn’t as good as last week, it would have been better if you stayed at the piano, it was all so gloomy, you need to lighten up, you will make it through to the next round, probably the final two, but you occasionally need to show your fun side.
Danny Noriega
I actually fall into the category that likes Danny but even given that this was a scary performance. I liked Danny’s outfit and I liked the purple highlights (it would be hypocritical to say otherwise because I had purple highlights a few years ago) but what is up with the hair over the eyes, it is totally distracting.
Danny went with “Tainted Love”, now this is one of my all time favorite songs, I have it in record format, CD, and I uploaded it to my IPod. I totally hated the strange arrangement of the song. It started out a bit sharp but overall the vocals were okay. It was a poor song choice. Danny however is a good performer, he had the audience in the palm of his hands, and there were many members of the audience which stood up during the performance. On the other hand, his ridiculous hip movements had to go, come on Danny, only Elvis could pull that off. This was definitely a step down from last week.
Randy – it started rough but by the end it got better. I liked the arrangement, but I need to see more confidence, not in attitude but vocally. You were a little shy on the vocals.
Paula – you are a bright light with a sensitive and spicy side (and this means what?), you are true to you, great vocals, you look fabulous
Simon – I didn’t like it, it was horrible, absolutely hated it, and nothing about it was good.
David Hernandez
Poor David, I probably wouldn’t want to be him this week with all the news articles on the internet about his recent job as a stripper in a gay club. I really don’t care but somehow I think that controversy was rattling him. In addition borrowing a phrase from Danny, his embarrassing moment included TMTH (too much too handle). I did not have to hear about the contents of his nostrils.
I actually like David’s choice of song, “It’s All Coming Back to Me Now”. Remember Meatloaf performed the song first before Celine. I thought it was an interesting arrangement. I personally thought David did an awesome job with the song vocally as well as selling the emotions of the song. He did hit the money notes. There were some sharp notes from his lower register. The one thing David has which some of the other performers don’t is his ability to really work well with the band and back-up singers. It was like they have been performing together for years.
Randy – nice song choice for your big voice, you have a tendency to over shoot the note (sharp), I liked it
Paula – you are getting into your groove, finding your niche, you are becoming a very good performer, and you have some of the best vocals of the group
Simon – it wasn’t as good as last week but you have secured a place in the finals
Michael Johns
Michael is going with “Don’t You (Forget about Me”. I totally love this song and it was used in a rocking great movie. In addition how clever to use a great titled song about remembering me, i.e. get those fingers dialing!
This was an incredibly great song choice for him and I totally loved the arrangement, it was fresh yet provided memories of the original. Michael commanded the stage and his vocals were spot on. There were a couple of sharp notes but he is such an accomplished performer it didn’t faze him a bit. My only issue is he did something I hate which is use the mike stand as a toy but luckily he did it only once in the entire performance. So far this has been my favorite performance of the night.
Randy – rambled about how David reminds him of Michael Hutchence of INXS (excuse me but the song was done by Simple Minds). This was so you, very nice
Paula – I am so glad you are defining yourself as an artist. It was the perfect song, it showed strength in your lower register, so what if there were a couple of bum notes, you have great presence.
Simon – I liked it but did not love it. I really think you have great talent but you have found the perfect song where you can have your moment. I prefer you with the soul songs rather than rock but I really like you and I think you will do well.
David Cook
David chose “Hello” by Lionel Ritchie, which is an okay song but made better by an awesome music video. David chose to use his guitar which in the end worked. The introduction was pretty rough but after that moment this was a truly brilliant performance. The arrangement of this song was fantastic; who knew such a soft ballad could be turned into an awesome rock song. David pulled off something totally unique. This performance just became my favorite of the night. All I can say is wow!
Randy – it was like an Emo version of the song, loved it, it would be great as a single, brilliant
Paula – I love it when you take the stage because it is always a surprise, it was fabulous, I loved how you changed it up, and it could be a hit today
Simon – it was a brave thing you did and I loved it, you took a risk, we will see you next week
Jason Castro
Jason heard the judges last week about just singing and leaving his guitar behind but I am not sure it helped him with his performance. It did allow him to concentrate on his vocals but again he was not successful. I thought he had a very rough start and his tempo was off quite a bit. Jason had some breath control issues and can we talk about that horrible ending, those notes were atrocious. It was my fingers down the chalkboard moment of the evening. I think he has a pretty good voice, it isn’t strong enough to win though but without his guitar he didn’t know what to do. The performance was dull. I don’t think he sold the song.
Randy – this song has a great degree of difficulty, I give you props for that, you did a pretty good job, it was nice
Paula – it sounded effortless and showed your beautiful vulnerability (whatever the hell that means), I loved your phrasing, you are unique
Simon – Jeff Buckley’s version is one of my favorite songs, this performance was absolutely brilliant. It was arguably one of my favorite performances of the night; you just get better and better. (This is one of the rare times where I have to disagree with Simon).
Chikezie
I am not a fan of Chikeze and tonight didn’t make me a fan. What is up with his always taking songs and changing the title and words, we have “All the Woman that I Need” versus the original “All the Man that I Need.”. I totally hated this performance. I thought it was cheesy at best. The vocals were pretty rough at the beginning although they improved. I was just completely bored by the performance. There was no wow or any power notes to show me what he might be as a singer. The best I can say is this is the first time Chikezie’s choice of outfit didn’t send me screaming in horror.
Randy – interesting choice of song, you did a good job, tough song choice for me
Paula – vocals sounded good
Simon – I don’t think it worked, it was okay in places but it felt like cabaret, this was not a smart choice
I think David Cook stole the show out from everyone else. Michael Johns was second with David Hernandez next.
Once again I did not spend two hours voting because I was under whelmed by the performances as a whole.
I think David Archuleta is safe so I didn’t bother voting for him. I gave David Cook 75 votes, Michael Johns and David Hernandez got 50 votes. Since I believe Danny might be in trouble I provided 25 votes to his tally.
There is no doubt in my mind Luke Menard will be going home tonight. The other pick is harder. My personal choice is Chikezie but I am not confident about it. Danny is a possibility and as much as I think he should stay David Hernandez is vulnerable this week as well.
We do have way too many David’s in this season’s competition.
I will just go with Luke and Danny and see where the chips fall.
Until tomorrow…
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