American Idol - Season 8
First 12 of 36 Compete

Jackie Tohn

Jackie Tohn starts off the show.

She comes out with some too tight plastic pants and walks in with a weird shoulder shimmy. Her voice was terribly off and almost no singing was involved. Her raspy voice was just not right for the song. She picked the Elvis "A Little Less Conversation" song. I thought this was terrible. She is spastically moving around on the stage.

The judges loved it. Randy, Kara and Paula at least. Simon called her the clown of the show. I have to agree with him. It was unmemorable and that is always bad.

Ricky Braddy

Up second is Ricky Braddy singing "A song for you" by Leon Russell. This wasn't a bad performance. Not a great song choice as it was an unfamiliar ballad to me. He sang it well. Not sure he has a great look though. He's a bit goofy looking. He does appear to be able to sing.

The ladies and Randy love him. Simon agrees with me that, while he is good, he is lacking star power. The world has plenty of good singers, some even very good to great, but not all are stars and that is the problem.

Alexis Grace

The pink haired Alexis Grace is dirtied up as per the judges. "Never loved a man" by Aretha Franklin. DANGER! DANGER! Singing Aretha is always dangerous unless you are sure you have the voice to carry it off. Almost without a judge one of the judges will mention that to her. The song seemed a bit unmemorable to me. It wasn't bad but it didn't pop.

Randy disagreed with me, he loved it. The ladies liked her, not surprisingly. Simon loved her as well. He thinks she has soul. I'm a bit surprised by their loving of her. Simon drops the Kelly Clarkson comparison. That is high praise from the Idol Judges. I thought she was good but not a superstar.

Brent Keith

We switch over to country with Brent. He does a rendition of "Hicktown" from Jason Aldean. It was a pretty decent showing. He might have a career in the country world after Idol. Not sure he would be able to win this competition though.

Randy says he would make a very good country artist. That is kind of the kiss of death as I had just said. Kara thought he didn't take a big enough risk. Paula again mentions him as a country star in the future. That is probably the route he will have to go. Simon uses the dreadful "forgettable" word.

Holy smokes! When Brent sits down next to Ryan Seacrest he looks HUGE. I know Seacrest is a pocket sized man but he struck me as even tinier next to Brent.

Stevie Wright

Stevie is 17 year old woman with a big smile. You know the show has been around for a while when a contestant says she has wanted to be on it since she was 9. Simon was really pressing the issue that she needs to sing young. So to try to sing young she goes with "You belong with me" by Taylor Swift. She starts the song with a weird voice.

I'm not quite sure she captured the youthfulness that she had hoped to. Randy did not think it was hot at all. I have to agree with him. She just didn't seem to be singing that well. Kara and Paula thought it wasn't the best song choice. She sacrificed her personality for the hope to be young. Simon just thought it was dreadful and I have to say I agree with him. It was probably the worst performance of the night. It's really between her and Jackie for the bottom.

Anoop Desai

Anoop Dog is the 22 year old Indian guy. He sang "my perrogative" in Hollywood week. He says he just wants to sing songs that he had wanted people to perform on Idol. So tonight he is singing "Angel of Mine" by Monica.

I have to admit I already have a soft spot for Anoop. Not sure what it was. Maybe his dorky persona during the audition, I'm not sure. I think I will like him solely for the fact I can count on him for singing interesting songs each week. He does a good job with this song and I hope the judges liked it too. It is a bit more subtle and he doesn't have to do a lot of moving around or selling of the song.

Randy wasn't sure of the song choice but he likes him. Kara also wasn't sure on song choice but she likes him and things he has potential. Paula thinks he has America's backing already. Simon thought the song might have been too old or serious for Anoop. It seems the judges like him, just not this song and performance. He has likability and that should help him in the early rounds.

Casey Carlson

Casey is a 20 year old from Minnesota. This means she has a nice little accent to her voice. I believe she has done some modeling and thus she loses a little bit of the sexy girl next door once you find out she is a professional looker. Anyways, She is singing "Every little thing she does is magic" by the Police.

She does look good. It seems they have slowed down the tempo of the song a bit for her. She keeps giving these sultry looks and snarls to the camera. Unfortunately the vocals are a bit lacking and I think it comes off as a bit karaoke to me. Randy uses the karaoke word just as I typed it. Kara agrees with me and Randy and also calls out her odd movements. Paula said her phrasing was weird and she didn't think about how she would sing it. Simon struggles to find a positive about the performance.

This was a real tough performance. She may be able to slide through on her looks alone. Best part of the performance was hearing Casey's mother speak in her great Minnesota accent afterward.

Michael Sarver

Michael is the roughneck from the oil rigs. Although only 27 he does seem to have an older aura to him. Perhaps it is because he is a tough man with a real family. He is singing "I don't want to be" by Gavin DeGraw.

Michael has a weird look to him. It starts with the fact he is a bulky guy. I always expect him to belt out country ballads but, as with tonight, he goes with pop. His performance is surprisingly (to me) pretty good. He sings it decently and seems into his song. Not a bad job at all.

The judges didn't really like his performance. They don't think it was bad but it wasn't as good as they wanted out of him. Simon wasn't too negative with this and actually hopes America votes him into the next round.

Ann Marie Boskovich

Ann Marie is an attractive 22 year old woman from Nashville. She is kind of hit or miss with her looks. Sometimes she can look great, other times she can look plain. She will be singing "Natural woman" tonight.

I feel like she missed a few notes in the song but she sung it well. She also looks pretty good in her blue dress, so that might help her out and give a needed boost.

Randy and Kara didn't think she sung the song that well. Paula thought it was one of her better songs so far. Simon doesn't think she had the voice for that song. I don't care, I think she still did well and has a good shot at moving on.

Stephen Fowler

I don't really remember this guy at all but I know he forgot his words and walked off on the last Hollywood performance. He is a 26 year old black man with a big afro. It is still a bit puzzling on why he made it through despite losing the lyrics and walking off.

Tonight he is performing "Rock with you" by Michael Jackson. It is a great song that may be hard to pull off seeing that Jackson is one of the greatest artists of all time and has quite a range. Stephen has an interesting voice and he seems to handle the song well. I can see why the judges wanted to give him another shot. He's got a good performer in him too.

The judges do not like the performance. All four did not like it. Paula mentions that the song was owned by Michael Jackson, so much like Aretha it is tough for the contestants to pull off.

Tatiana Nicole Del Toro

Tatiana is one of the most annoying people I have ever seen on this show. That is saying a lot with some of the gems that have been shown on Idol before. She has a horrible laugh that will haunt my dreams for years to come. I hope she is gone immediately.

She will be attempting "Saving All My Love For You" by Whitney Houston. This should seal her fate with the judges because Whitney is yet another singer that is so unique that it is near impossible for the Idols to pull off her songs.

This is not her first time performing because she works the cameras well and connects to the cameras. She is also a better singer than I think I have given her credit for. She struggled on some high notes and was shouting more than singing at some points. The dramatic ending was unpleasant though.

The judges liked what they saw. They know she didn't hit all of her notes but still think she did well.

Danny Gokey

So it looks like the producers really like Danny Gokey since they are putting him last on the show. The headliner of the show should have an advantage if they have a decent performance. Much harder to be lost in the shuffle when you are the last thing people see. They probably like his singing and his tragic background story. Danny will be singing "Hero" by Mariah Carey. Mariah is another singer that is dangerous to sing. Luckily the rules tend to go out the window if you are of the opposite sex as the singer.

Paula can be seen out of her seat after only a few of the lyrics. Now I like Danny too. I think he can go far if not win the whole thing. I'm not thrilled about how he is singing this song but he still manages to do a good job of it.

Kara is screaming at the end of the song. Randy drops a blazing hot on him. Simon brings down the praise a bit. Calls it good, not great. Simon isn't buying the Gokey hype ... not yet at least.


My new gimmick is doing lists for my shows. Luckily for me this is a show that fits well for this type of list. Only 3 people will make it through. I believe there are some wild card spots open after this as well.

This top 12 list will be a combination of who I would like to see make and who I think will make it to the top 3.

1. Danny Gokey
2. Anoop Desai
3. Alexis Grace
4. Casey Carlson
5. Stephen Fowler
6. Ricky Braddy
7. Tatiana Nicole Del Toro
8. Michael Sarver
9. Stevie Wright
10. Brent Keith
11. Jackie Tohn
12. Ann Marie Boskovich

Labels: American Idol, Music, Television

- posted by Doug @ 9:26:00 PM