Blunderbuss

American Idol: The Top 24

(crossposted at Flaring Muzzle)

This is going to be a GREAT season. Even the contestants who don't do much for me are at least, for the most part, entertaining and interesting to watch.

THE GUYS

Chris Daughtry is great fun to watch and I dug his song (a favorite at the pool hall I once frequented). He just knows what he's doing up there so it's easy for the audience to get into it. Still, I think Simon might be right that he'd be better as part of a band than as a solo act.

Patrick Hall is the darkhorse, largely an unknown quantity right now. He seems edgy and a bit cynical--no wonder I like him. I don't get the Clay Aiken comparison at all--the two couldn't be more different. And as Simon says, that's a good thing. I hope he picks a better song next week, if there is a next week for him.

Oh, Taylor Hicks. I don't know. I cringe every time the Rainman walks on stage and does his Stevie-thing, and yet he is crazy-talented. Great voice and interesting to watch--but he wears me out. I'm on the fence.

Elliott Yamin was a surprise to me and apparently everyone else tonight. I missed him on the Hollywood week shows, so this was the first time I'd ever heard him. Didn't care for his song, but he IS good. Besides, I love it when Randy gets all excited about someone. And then there was Simon's benefaction. How can one not be swayed by such praise?

A pretty-boy like Ace Young is going to take awhile to warm up to. (I loved Patrick's sour comment on this topic a few episodes back.) He's obviously there for his "personality" first and his voice second. He was surprisingly good tonight though, and as Simon said, brilliant song-choice. (All across America, teenaged girls and boys are dialing madly thinking: I want you to be my daddy...I want you to be my daddy!) He seems likely to go all the way and would obviously be a marketing dream for Idol, but he's going to have to deliver some pretty incredible performances to convince me that there's real substance there.

My wife loathed Bucky Covington and I do take Simon's point about there being hundreds of Buckys in bars all over America, but I actually really enjoyed his performance. His voice (dare I make the comparison) sounds vaguely Kurt Cobain-ish, and it's just plain fun hearing a gravelley singer like him alongside the more "polished" voices. I hope he sticks around.

David Radford falls into the category of talented and fun, but too young. My toes were tapping during his Elvis impersonation, but Simon nailed it when he said it felt like a high school musical. He has to go, but not too soon: my wife has a crush on him.

I'll admit that I just don't "get" Jose "Sway" Penala. I'll take Randy's word for it that he's an amazing singer, but I just can't stand the falsetto. Simon's "pimp" comment was out of line though.

The sixteen year olds, Will Makar and Kevin Covais have to go. They have to go right now. It isn't that they're no good; they just aren't in the same league as the older performers and the sooner they're cut loose the better for everyone.

Finally, there's Gedeon McKinney and Bobby Bennett. I felt bad for Gedeon after Simon dissed the poor guy's smile, but I'm sorry: "Shout"? Sure, it was entertaining, but I dunno... I didn't dig that very uncool "it"-speech he gave during Hollywood week, and he came across as a bit of a Cliff Claven in the clip where he described his song. He's a good singer, but irritating. About Bobby Bennett's goofball performance, the less said the better.


THE GIRLS

What did we learn on Tuesday night? That the black women can SING, and that the white girls (with a couple of exceptions) are trying very hard to keep up. That was my take on things last night, anyway.

Lisa Tucker is the standout. She reminds me of Natalie Cole and her song blew me away. She seems more like 30 than 16. Unbelievably mature. I could actually imagine buying her album.

Mandisa is a joy to listen to. One of those performers who just puts you instantly at ease because she is so comfortable performing. Cool, cool lady. A great way to start yesterday's show.

Paris Bennett is adorable (there's no other word for it) and gave a rousing performance, though I found myself wishing that it had been just a little less energetic. I'm looking forward to hearing her sing something more subdued.

Kinnik Sky gave a good but unmemorable performance. She has a beautiful voice, though, and is, to say the least, stunning.

As for the rest, I really like Melissa McGhee, even though she didn't deliver the most solid performance. I hope she doesn't get booted tomorrow night. She won't win, but I would like to hear more from her.

My wife really liked Katharine McPhee, and there's no question that she's incredibly talented, but I haven't really taken to her--not yet, anyway. It may be just that she makes too many faces when she sings.

I'm having a little trouble distinguishing Kellie Pickler and Heather Cox--also having trouble recalling their performances. Not a good sign.

The weakest performances were probably by shamelessly amusing self-promoter Brenna Gethers and "ethereal" opera singer Stevie Scott.

Brenna is clearly very smart and made a canny song-choice as a gesture of contrition to the moralistic portion of the audience that doesn't like sisters who talk back. (I agree with Simon that she doesn't need to "apologize" for who she is--he clearly knows a kindred spirit when he sees one!--but both he and Brenna no doubt also know that in a sense her song was a necessary, if hollow, strategic gesture.) Unfortunately, it was still a lousy peformance.

Stevie's performance was also weak--or maybe it just didn't come across well on TV. It was unfortunate that she boasted about her "special qualities" (opera training) in the segment with Ryan just before she went on, because the performance itself, although pretty, was underwhelming, particularly when she had inadvertently built up the impression that it was going to be a power-vocal. (For future reference: Ignoramuses like me associate opera with VOLUME.) She seemed to be trying to do a Sarah McLaughlin kind of thing, but her voice sounded pinched or like it was on mute. A puzzling performance.

As weak as these two performances were, however, I have to say that the two contestants that appeal to me the least are sexpot Becky O'Donohue and superachiever Ayla Brown. I'm sure they're both nice girls, but Becky's snarling performance was hard to watch and Ayla's unbelievably priviledged background makes her on-air persona almost impossibe to like. Even though American Idol's quasi-democratic meritocracy is largely an illusion, the PLEASURE of the show involves sustaining that illusion as fully as possible. (That's why Chris Daughtry is such a perfect Idol contestant--who doesn't want this guy to succeed?) No matter how good Ayla is (and she IS talented, "robotic" or not) she does not please. I'm sure we'll be stuck with both of them for awhile yet, though.

posted by albatross @ 1:32 AM