AI 8 3-5-09 The Bakers Dozen Revealed

Nine contestants have earned their places in the top 12 and tonight eight more have one last chance to convince the judges they should have a spot. Welcome to the wildcard episode, this is AMERICAN IDOL!

We have not had a wild card episode since season 3 and that show gave us Jon Peter Lewis. Let us hope tonight will not repeat that horrible mistake.

The judges hold all the power tonight and America will have to live with their decision so I am only praying those decisions are correct.

We have eight singers who must prove their worth. Tonight they must sing for their survival. Let us get to the dish.

Jesse Langseth

I learned in cyberspace Jesse is the sister of Grammy-winning blues man Jonny Lang. Jesse is going with “Tell Me Something Good”. Jesse looked great and I loved her outfit but this was a very strange performance. She used a very weird key and had some pitch issues. I did not like how they cut the song because it was really disjointed. Jesse was better than her prior performance but she did not blow me away. It was okay.

Randy – props for an interesting song choice, there were some interesting note choices

Kara – there were some off key notes, you had your swagger back, you came alive, Sasha Fierce

Paula – I love your tenacity and determination, you are unique, I was impressed

Simon – you were a lot better than the first time but I found the song and performance very indulgent but you have a good voice.

Matt Giraud

I loved the outfit but hated the hat (lose it Matt), it appears he was trying to channel Justin Timberlake’s look including the shape of the hair on his face. Matt chooses “Who’s Loving You”. I loved this performance and it was the best of the evening in the end. Matt had total control of the stage and he sounded great. I think Matt totally killed this number. Matt redeemed himself and he so deserves to be in the top 12. I have already downloaded this from iTunes.

Kara – thanks for bringing back the bluesy soulful Matt, you can riff amazingly, though some were over the top at times, great vocal.

Paula – this is the right zone for you, perfect song, amazing job

Simon – million times better than before, great choice of song, I hate what you are wearing, you reminded me a little of Taylor Hicks (excuse me, where did that come from).

Randy – you have the other wild carders scared, that was hot

Megan Corkrey

I liked Megan’s outfit but for some reason her arm tattoo is very distracting to me. Megan in her video intro explains she wants to sing the “jamziest” song ever. PLEASE, this was just dumb. Megan goes with “Black Horse and a Cherry Tree”. My baby Katharine McPhee killed this number during her season and trust me Megan did not even come close to killing this. I personally feel this performance was worst than her last one. It was all over the place and can we just say that last note was incredibly horrible and leave it at that. In addition, Megan has the stupidest dance moves (where is the Taylor Hicks reference now).

Paula – you are beautiful, you picked the right song and just like your middle name you have a lot of joy (give me a break), I had fun watching you

Simon – I have always liked you, your terrific, your current, original, not the best vocal though

Randy – I agree it is not the best vocal but you are back in the right range, nice song choice

Kara – we need you here for variety, you are different, unique

I do not get why the judges love her but oh well.


Von Smith

Von chooses “Sorry seems to be the Hardest Word”. This started very rough but about half way through he found the balance and he ended on a high note, literally. Von does have a beautiful tone to his voice and he can sing but I do not think this performance is going to help him tonight, which is a shame.

Simon – I love that song but it didn’t start well, it was a bit boring, I am not crazy about it

Randy – there were pitch issues

Kara – I am not crazy about the song, it was very dark but you have great vocal ability

Paula – I have been studying how you perform and it appears when you are trying to be too technical, thinking about each note you get lost but when you let go you soar (oh my god I think this is the most lucid and constructive comment Paula has ever made in 8 seasons – I wonder if they changed her meds)


Jasmine Murray

Jasmine looked great tonight and she had a killer outfit. Jasmine is going with “Reflection” and overall does a nice job. She is better than her earlier performance. There are some really bad notes but when she is good she is great. She had good control of her voice and definitely showed some belting ability.

Randy – 100% improvement, I think the song was too big for you but there were some bright spots

Kara – I am confused, I didn’t know you had that big voice

Paula – you look lovely, you picked a beautiful song, there were some notes which fell off but you are determined, wonderful job

Simon – you are pretty special, very brave song choice, put yourself back in the running

Ricky Braddy

Is it just me or did Ricky borrow some colorful skinny jeans from Nathaniel and he also visited Von’s hairdresser. I thought Ricky did a great job, he is a brilliant singer and he was really having fun on the stage.

Kara – you can sing your butt off, you showed your personality, good job, you held your own

Paula – you surprised me, you really loosened up, you nailed it, it was fun, you sounded good

Simon – you sounded good, showed some personality but it was a little karaoke, I was disappointed.

Randy – you can really blow but the song was self-indulgent

Histrionic Hyena (HH)

I realize I am totally biased here but her intro video was ridiculous, with all that love everyone, blah, blah, blah – I don’t given a f*^k! HH was wearing a very ugly dress as well. I cannot believe the woman chose the same song, which America clearly did not like. She goes with “Saving All My Love for You” and it was a train wreck. The beginning was way off key (I loved her excuse I could not hear the music at first). HH was living up to her name with the over the top emoting of each little syllable. I will give her props for diction because I could at least understand what she was singing. This was one of the greatest clichéd performances on American Idol bar none.

Paula – I am confused, where did the accent come from, I am not a fan of repeat songs, you started shaky, you didn’t show us anything new but you can sing

Simon – we have heard this three times and he asked why she picked this and HH replied I could not get a new song released in one day and Simon retorted with “rubbish”.

Randy – it started rough, there were good moments and not so good moments

Kara – this is like “The adventures of Tatiana”, you bring a new personality, I am confused

Anoop Desai

Anoop also chooses a song he did he Hollywood, “My Prerogative”. Anoop was visibly nervous and his vocals were good but he has sounded better. He seemed to be having fun but his stupid moves have to go. I found the backup singers were singing more than Anoop.

Simon – this is a strange night, you are like some enthusiastic dog, you are not the best singer but people like you, we will have to review everything because we are casting the next step

Randy – this was better than when you sang it before

Kara – the best you have done, I don’t like to dance but you made me feel like I wanted to get up and dance along with you

Paula – you are becoming quite a showman, where did those nasty moves come from, everyone loved the performance (I do not think so).


It is time for the big reveal.

Jasmine is up first and Randy says that after heavy deliberation, he is sorry that…Jasmine will be seeing more of the judges because she is in. Great fake out, NOT!

Ricky is next and Kara tells him he did not make it.

Megan and HH are brought up together and Paula tells them that this show is a platform unlike any other this is not the end. Megan you are through to the top 12.

THE ANGELS WERE SINGING IN HEAVEN AND RONALD WAS OUT OF HIS CHAIR WITH A WHOOP AND DOING HIS HAPPY DANCE! HH SHOT HERSELF IN THE FOOT AND SHE IS HISTORY. I AM STILL IN SUCH A GREAT MOOD ABOUT THIS. I CANNOT EVEN PUT IN WORDS HOW THRILLED I AM ABOUT THIS OUTCOME.

Naturally HH cannot go quietly and her collapsing by the judges table was ridiculous and Paula telling her they love her, I so do not f*^king care. Enough with this drama! Do not get me started on the whole Ryan and the down on the knees sexual innuendo bordering on sexual harassment bit. It probably was not meant that way but it sure came across that way.

Jesse and Von are told they are not through.

We are now down to Matt and Anoop. Simon tells Matt he is through. Then he suddenly says they have been thinking about this for a while and are pleased to announce we are going to have 13 finalists, you are through Anoop.

I believe if America had voted in Anoop rather than Michael Sarver in Round 1 we would not be having a Baker’s Dozen.

I suppose it was an interesting twist and I wanted to laugh when Ryan asked this is the first time ever. You idiot you have been there for all 8 seasons and you cannot remember there has never been 13. We began with 10 finalists and in the 4th season, we moved to 12.

One of these Baker’s Dozen Finalists will be the next American Idol:

Danny Gokey
Alexis Grace
Michael Sarver
Adam Lambert
Allison Iraheta
Kris Allen
Scott MacIntyre
Lil Rounds
Jorge Nunez
Jasmine Murray
Megan Corkrey
Matt Giraud
Anoop Desai

Overall, I think this is a great group of finalists and I am happy the judges did not just pick three female singers to balance out the numbers.

Until next week…