AI 11 3-7-12 The Top 13

Hello dear readers I have no doubt you are disappointed I did not blog about the top 13 reveal; I must be honest that I have not watched it. I just could not bring myself to fast forward through two hours of a results show to find out the top 13.

On the other hand, I have to toot my own horn so to speak that I managed to predict all ten of the contestants, which America voted through. I do not necessarily agree with all their choices but I was 10 for 10! I will bitch about Steven putting Deandre through since I am not interested in seeing hair flipping around for multiple weeks. I was disappointed that Reed did not get through but we have our top 13, which means one of them will be the American Idol. I will bitch later about the producer’s new way of manipulating who stays and who goes.

One last complaint before we dig in. Who the hell picks Whitney Houston or Stevie Wonder as a theme? I am not exactly looking forward to the train wrecks, which have to be coming our way.

Let us get to why we are here and that is to gossip about the performances. The time is now to get on with the dirt!

Joshua Ledet – “I Wish”

It really must be tough to have to go first on such an important night. I really enjoyed Joshua’s performance. The guy took control of the stage; he was energetic and bounced around the stage with great style. The vocals were fine but to my ears, it was more shouting than singing.

Randy – You wore it out. You have been singing a lot of ballads so this was a very different performance for you. It shows that you can do all sorts of different songs.

Jennifer –I want to punch you. (I really hate this expression). I could see that you felt the music through your body and made the audience feel it.

Steve – You keep getting better.

Elise Testone – “I’m Your Baby Tonight”

This was a terrible song choice (thank you Jimmy Iovine) and unfortunately, Elise did not rise to the challenge. The entire song sounds strange and what was up with the over enunciation of the words it was not working (this coming from the man who loves to hear the words) because it seemed to be forced not natural. The performance lacked passion, it was just flat, and frankly, Elise looked terrified. I loved her performance last week and hated this one. All the singers who have tried to out Whitney Whitney fail utterly and this was no exception to the rule.

Jennifer – Whitney had a distinct style and you do as well, so it is hard to marry the two. You have a great voice but this was not your best. There were timing issues.

Steven – Having a good voice does not mean you can sing everything well. I miss how you performed last week.

Randy – this was not your best performance. You seemed to be boxing with the song. You do not have to prove that you have a big voice with every note.

Jermaine Jones – “Knock Me Off My Feet”

I think this was a safe song choice. The vocals were fine but something was missing. The performance shows no personality, no joy, no fun and it was painful to watch.

Steven – blabbers something I didn’t understand

Jennifer – I want to see you connect a little more with the song rather than just trying to hit the notes. You need to sing to someone. You need to get lost in the song and not worry about things like facial expressions.

Randy – I loved the verses but the chorus was not as good since you tweaked the melody a little.

Ericka Van Pelt – “I Believe in You and Me”

Color me surprised since I thought Ericka tanked with her Heart song last week (apparently America agreed with me) but this week Ericka blew it out of the auditorium. This was a great song choice and she manages to make the song her own. This was not a karaoke version this woman showed some fantastic pipes. The tone of her voice was phenomenal. I loved this entire performance. Once again, though the stylists should be murdered for the choice of outfit.

Randy – when you really let go it was unbelievable. You should not think, just let loose.

Jennifer – You gave me goose bumps due to the combination of your tone and the way you interpret songs. I do think you were playing it safe but if you stop thinking as Randy states, the audience is going to go crazy.

Steven – “When you sang the melody at the beginning, then you went up to a pre-chorus, then you hit the chorus, and then it was over.” I guess he likes it.

Colton Dixon – “Lately”

What the hell was this performance all about because it did not make sense to me and it certainly did not sound melodic? There were incredible pitch issues in the beginning but the ending was fine. I just do not get Colton and I am not sure I would be downloading any of his music.

Steven – They say you are only as good as your last performance and your last note and Colton was great.

Jennifer – I think you were the most out of your depth with this week’s theme but you did well.

Randy – I do not think this was your best. I think when you watch it back you will see that your shakiest parts were the softer notes. I liked that you turned it into a rock ballad and you nailed the ending.

Shannon Magrane – “I Have Nothing”

I knew Whitney was not an appropriate theme you are just asking for the contestants to crash and burn and this was a total vocal mess. There were cracks, sharp notes, flat notes, phrasing errors, and breathing problems and a complete lack of support on some of the lower verses. The song was too big for her and she under sang the entire time.

Jennifer – I know you can sing the song; we just did not get to hear it. “Why think about it?” Just tell the story.

Steven – I think nerves got the best of you.

Randy – I think you were thrown off by a mistake in the melody at the beginning.

Deandre Brackensick – “Master Blaster”

The performance was fun to watch which is the only thing I will praise Deandre for. I detested the “reggae” version of the song and he committed the worst sin in my book, which is to have terrible diction. I could not understand one lyric of the entire song. Instead of having his hair flapping in the wind, we had a small ponytail flapping away. Just go away now please! I had promised myself I would not go there but I am. Mr. BrackenSICK made me sick!

Steven – mumbled something I did not understand

Jennifer – I liked your rhythm and swag but I thought the ending was weird.

Randy – You showed another side of yourself tonight. The audience felt the performance and no one wanted it to stop. (Excuse me I wanted it to stop after one second!)

Skylar Laine – “Where Do Broken Hearts Go”

This was an excellent song choice and Skylar nailed the song and the performance. This was a confident, powerful, and flawless vocal. This girl can sing. Those power notes were unbelievable.

Jennifer – I love your composure. The first half was a little “nasally” but you kept it together and gave the night’s biggest moment.

Steven – The performance was beautiful.

Randy – You proved you could sing anything.

Heejun Han – “All in Love is Fair”

I am not even sure what I can say about this performance since I was bored and probably nodded off. The one positive note is his diction was better than last week but certainly not perfect. If I have to struggle to understand, what you are singing you will lose me quickly. This was just ho-hum.

Jennifer – I love you.

Randy – It was not perfect but it was really good.

Steven – did he say something?

Hollie Cavanagh – “All the Man that I Need”

This was an interesting performance because there were some very shaky parts but for the most part, I thought Hollie nailed the song. There was confidence in the performance and fierceness I had not seen before (but then again I missed the Hollywood and Vegas episodes).

Randy – You did well with a tough song.

Jennifer – I think there might be two girls in the finale and you might be one of them.

Steven – You are in the top 13 because you nail songs like this.

Jeremy Rosado – “Ribbons in the Sky”

I thought Jeremy had some very strong vocal moments but the majority of the performance was underwhelming. He had confidence out on the stage and overall it was a good song choice but something got lost somewhere along the way. It was just okay.

Steven – I like your voice but you did not get to soar tonight.

Jennifer – I always like hearing you sing. This was beautiful.

Randy – This was not your best performance. It needed more swag to be believable.

Jessica Sanchez – “I Will Always Love You”

This was probably the most risky choices of the night and Jessica pulled it off. This was practically a flawless vocal and it created the wow moment of the night. Jessica has passion, swagger, and took command of the stage. She had the audience asking, “Whitney who?” The judges give her a standing ovation.

Randy – “Jessica Sanchez is legit!” That was the best vocal of the night and you are one of the best singers in the competition.

Jennifer – I think you surprised yourself.

Steven – You may be the one. You just made 40 million people cry.

Phillip Phillips – “Superstition”

Mr. Phillips is given the pimp spot and I am not sure he deserved this spot. I do not think he really did anything special with the song and he was not on the rhythm of the song during the entire performance. I can see why people like him but you need to back it up with more than he did tonight.

Steven – You are interesting, you just are.

Jennifer – I was worried about you and Colton this week but you killed it.

Randy – We need you in this competition. It is always interesting to see how you will interpret songs.

Now for my big rant! We now have the producers manipulating who will advance or whatever other agenda they have going with the twist that the bottom guy and girl will be announced but the judges now choose who stays and who goes. Excuse me, the contestant with the lowest number of votes should be going home. I rarely agree with America’s choices but it is what it is. With this new twist, there can be so much manipulation to get the producers favorites through or to get two females into the finale.

This decision made me so mad I did not even vote for the contestants I wanted to last night.

Based on performances Shannon should go home hands down but I am not sure it will happen. I suspect that the two lowest vote getters will be Elise and Jeremy.

At this point, I am so mad I do not care who heads home.