Blunderbuss

Top Twelve

It has been proposed to me that it is not too early to produce a wish list for the unfolding of the American Idol competition proper. In that spirit, I advance the following top twelve, culled out of the remining sixteen contestants, and ranked for their degree of desired staying power: (Note: this is NOT a prediction)

To be dispensed with next week:

Ayla. She's amazingly and irritatingly self-satisfied. Who wouldn't be, if beautiful, tall, multi-talented, and from an aristocratic family? Yet, apart from her magnificent self-esteem--which Simon commented on last week--there is nothing especially going for her.

Kevin. I like geeky boys, but he's unfortunately not terribly attractive at his age. There's hope, though, that he might ripen with years.

Kinnick. In a competition with such charismatic African-American women singers, she's unfortunately a little forgettable.

Gideon. Though he is an entertaining performer, I have to agree with Simon that he's creepy, both in his smile and in his religiously-fueled egotism.

"The Idols":
Number 12 - Melissa McGhee. She's cute and talented but is a little too girl-next-door and has poor posture, as albatross pointed out to me.

Number 11 - Will Makar. He impressed me this week with his sonorous choirboy voice, and I'm a little curious to see more, but ultimately uninterested. Peter Brady was always my favourite.

Number 10 - Ace Young. The dreamy, pothead, skiing Colorado boy is not a type I find especially appealing. Can't you just see him going to Burning Man, and impressing the girls by touting some book by Carlos Castaneda and talking about how he's really getting to understand himself/the cosmos? Sorry, but it's such a cliche.

Number 9 - Mandisa. This is getting harder. I like Mandisa's power and warmth, but she doesn't give me the shivers.

Number 8 - Taylor Hicks. Buddy let me down last week, with that rendition of Easy, which was desperately artless with all of its out of place woo-hoos. And then, he didn't even seem to be listening to the judges telling him he had to raise his game. I think he's getting smug.

Number 7 - Kelli Pickler. Her high profile here rests solely on her performance last week of "Give 'Em Something to Talk About," particularly the moment in that clip they keep showing where she throws her hair in front of her face. It was a revelation of unabashed and genuine female abandonment that is rare on camera--absent, indeed, in this culture of managed and fetishized female sexuality. But I doubt she's going to be able to reproduce the effect on demand ad infinitum. It's too fragile and precious to survive the camera, I suspect.

Number 6 - Lisa Tucker. I think she's really great, but too young and "wholesome" to be a really sexy and saucy American Idol. And I guess that's how I like my pop stars.

Number 5 - Chris Daughtry. Yes, he's talented, charismatic, and essentially a lovely person (the clips with the step-children warm my heart, as they would any woman's.) But as someone said, he sounds the same as every rock singer of his type and class.

Number 4 - Bucky Covington. The boy revealed last week a really beautiful intensity and vulnerability--though I don't know the song, his Garth Brooks had to be better than Garth Brooks's. But I suspect he won't be able to reproduce that effect every week, and Southern Rock isn't really my thing anyways.

Number 3 - Paris Bennett. I'm convinced the girl is a real talent; still, I'm unsure of how much genuine soul she can dredge up at her age.

Number 2 - Elliot Yamin. Almost every week he reveals some really intense and poweful new vocal talent. But I fear that he's ultimately an underdog, not really capable of throwing off sufficient "star quality" radiance to make use of the American Idol platform. Essentially, I think he might be an "Indie" artist, who needs a more subtle and sophisticated vehicle.

Number 1 - Katherine McPhee. I am a (primarily) straight woman, but this girl makes me quiver a little with her bottomless sultriness and her confidence in her gift. I like someone who can focus so much on the moments of her performance, because she's so fundamentally sure of her control over the whole of it. How far can she go?

posted by ottoline @ 12:11 PM