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2006-03-02 - 12:41 a.m.
American Idol/Boys v. Girls: Round 2
The boys win by a landslide!
THE GIRLS
All in all, I was disappointed in the girls' performances. Here's how I ranked them.
(1) Mandisa
Mandisa made me love a song that I hate. She sang "Cry" by Faith Hill. Faith Hill music makes me violent. I like her as a person, just hate her music. But Mandisa knocked this song out of the park.
(2) Ayla Brown
Ayla Brown shocked the hell out of me last night. I didn't even know she could sing! Last week I was unimpressed with her that I unconsciously left her off my blog. This girl wasn't even making a blip on my radar and now she's one of my favorites. Ayla sang "I Want You To Need Me" and did a fantastic job. I thought she looked great and connected with the audience even though Simon didn't.
(3) Katharine McPhee
I was a little disappointed in Katharine's performance of Stevie Wonder�s "All in Love is Fair." I loved the song, but thought she was pitchy in parts. She didn't blow me away like she did last week. Her clothes were highly distracting, the maternity blouse and those long shorts/short pants were not flattering. But when I added her up points (thanks to my handy dandy American Idol magazine scorecard) she came in third place. Even on a bad night, Katharine is at the top.
(4) Lisa Tucker
Lisa sang "Who's Loving You" by the Jackson 5. I hated the song immensely. Lisa sang it well, but it bored me. I thought she looked really cute, though.
(5) Kellie Pickler
I liked everything about Kellie except the song, "Let's Give 'Em Something to Talk About." I just think it's been done too much on AI. I did love her little hip bump with Ryan after the judges' critique.
(6) Paris Bennett
Paris went from first place in my books last week to sixth by singing "Wind Beneath My Wings." *collective eye rolling and yawning* Not only did she pick an old lady song, but she dressed the part, too! Bring it next week Paris!
(7) Melissa McGhee
Melissa (or Jessica Sierra, Part II) sang "Why Haven't I Heard From You." We finally heard the huskiness to her voice and I liked it, she even reminded me a bit of Kelly Clarkson who sang this song on her Independent Tour. But Melissa's voice doesn't have the range or strength that Kelly's has. I found her stomach very distracting thanks to her again unfortunate choice of clothing.
(8) Brenna Gethers
I feel the need to explain why Brenna isn't in last place. Believe me, I want do want her gone. As I said this morning, her personality is so grating that I'm feeling violent thoughts about her. But because she (a) chose a great song (anything by Donna Summer is good in my book), (b) looked great (I loved her dress and shoes and thought her hair and makeup was perfect), and (c) didn't suck too bad on her vocals, she somehow managed to sneak up a few positions. In retrospect, I should have given her negative points instead of the 1 out of 5 on my scorecord.
(9) Heather Cox
First of all Heather sang "Fly" by Mariah Carey. I loathe Mariah Carey. And she didn't even sing it that well. Heather looked cute and scored points in the personality section by revealing she's an American Idol stalker. So from one AI stalker to another, I'd give her another chance. Just please, no more Mariah.
(10) Kinnik Sky
Kinnik sang "I'm Here for the Party" by Gretchen Wilson in hopes of standing out. She also wore an unattractive outfit that included camo capris, a bustier and cowboy boots. It was a mess. Despite her attempts to bring youth and freshness to her performance, it was stale and boring.
I'm hoping Brenna and Kinnik go home this week.
THE BOYS
I've gotta say that there wasn't one single performance that I didn't like tonight! Sure there were some that I have no desire to see or hear again, but I didn't think anyone sucked. Yeah boy(s)! (tm Flavor Flav)
(1) Will Makar
Will, my boy, you done good! You made mama real proud! Will sang "Lady" by Kenny Rogers and freaking blew me away. I will have this on repeat all day.
But dear God, he was only 12 years old when the first season of American Idol was on. Somebody pass me my cane. I don't know wtf is wrong with the judges' ears. He was awesome.
(2) Chris Daughtry
I'm probably the only person in the world who doesn't have Chris at the top of their list. Yes Chris did a great job with Fuel's "Hemorrhage, a song that has been one of my favorites for years now" He had me rockin'. But here's the the thing...and the reason why I couldn't disagree with Randy more when he said, "That song could be on the radio by you tomorrow." No, Chris could not release this song tomorrow and it be a radio hit! Because Chris' rendition is no different than Fuel's version being played on the radio right now. There was nothing that Chris added to the song to make it different or in Paula's words, "his own." End of story. They critique all the others for this very same thing and yet with Chris they didn't say a word. Maybe it's because they're not listening to rock music everyday of their life and it's something different for them...but not for me. One last thing, those jeans on Chris were perfection.
(3) Elliott Yamin
Elliott grooved his way through "Mood for Love." It was like warm butter, gorgeous. Just eh, he really needs some dental work.
(4) Gedeon McKinney
Gedeon makes a surprise appearance in the top 6 with Sam Cooke's "A Change is Gonna Come." GREAT song choice! Totally won me over with that. The goofy faces when he sings are distracting and I really wish he would shave that moustache off. Maybe he would look a little closer to his age (17) than in his 40's. Love his hair though.
(5) Ace Young
Ace sang "If You're Not the One" by David Bedingfield. It was a good performance, I especially like the falsetto, but it didn't put me in convulsions like last week. Again, this week everyone was so good that being in the middle of my list isn't that bad. The beanie thing kind of annoys me though.
(6) David Radford
David got back to his thing and sang a Frank Sinatra song. I thought he did a good job. I just wish he would wear an undershirt.
(7) Taylor Hicks
Taylor needs to cut the crap out and just sing. The "whoo!" during and after his performance were ridiculous. And I didn't like his song choice "Easy" by Lionel Richie, it's a snoozefest of a song.
(8) Kevin Covais
If Kevin had chosen something other than the horrendous "Heard it Through a Grapevine" song, I would have enjoyed him tonight. He's precious. But with such a great group of male singers this season, I don't think he deserves to make the Final 12.
(9) Bucky Covington.
Bucky chose a Garth Brooks' song which sounded great with his voice. I even think Bucky cleaned up this week. His hair looks better pulled back and I thought his new clothes looked good. I don't think he belongs in the Final 12 though.
(12) Jose "Sway" Penala
Sway still maintains his last place finish, however, tonight I thought he sounded okay. Not great, but a HUGE improvement over last week. The judges were so mean to him that I felt sorry for the guy.
But right now the only guys I'm comfortable with letting go are Bucky and Sway.
