American Idol - Season 8
Second 12 of 36

So the highest vote getting male, highest vote getting female, and the remaining highest vote getter are through to the finals. I hope that makes sense ...

Jasmine Murray

Jasmine, the 16 year old from Mississippi leads us of with "Love Song". I believe she has a pretty strong voice and has stood out before.
She begins singing the song and she seems kind of flat to me. Not that her singing was bad or off, just kind of bland. Her voice isn't doing much to wow me or make her stand out. In fact her voice seems almost restrained by the song itself and is struggling to break free from a seemingly simple song.
Randy thought it was pitchy and the song was too simple. Kind of like what I said. Kara thinks she is very commercial but didn't do good enough. You know you are in trouble when even Paula didn't get too excited about it. Simon was disappointed because he liked her but he has confidence for her in the future. Hey, she is only 16 so maybe Simon has a point that she is a bit before her time.

Matt Giraud

I don't really remember Matt, the 23 year old from Michigan. He doesn't look that spectacular to me and quite honestly I think he holds very little chance in this competition. Tonight he will be singing "Viva la Vida" by Coldplay.
His voice is very wobbly. There are parts of his song where I actually think he is going to blow the song away. He never really gets there though. His voice is very shaky. Too much fluctuating on the words. Like I said I didn't expect much from him and he lived up to those low expectations.
Kara was blown away by Matt ... in Hollywood week, but not tonight. She just didn't like the song choice for him. Paula was let down by the song. Simon thought the performance was too wanna be popstar and it ruined the image he had of Matt. Randy tells him to stay away from simple songs.
Looks like the judges all loved him doing Ray Charles in Hollywood week but did not like the Coldplay song choice.

Jeanine Vailes

Jeanine is a 27 year old bartender from DC. I don't really remember her either. She seems like she's kind of cute ... at times. Shes got a pretty nice body but her face is hit or miss. She is singing "This Love" by Maroon 5. She definitely likes to dress sexily.
Again it is another mismatched songs. I usually like this song a little. But she seems to suck all the fun out of the song and comes flat. Just another bad choice of song and arrangement. There were a couple of parts I liked, but just not enough.
Do they judges agree with me? Paula compliments her legs and passes it to Simon. He agrees with me that the song was inappropriate for her. He does agree with the nice legs. As does Randy, who then says poor song choice as well. Kara thinks it was so over done.

What is up with these first three contestants? They are just picking terrible songs and performing them poorly on top of it. I know they usually pack their favorites towards the back but this is poor so far. At least Nick Mitchell might be able to make us laugh a little.

Nick Mitchell

You may know this 27 year old from Connecticut as his alter ego, Norman Gentle. Is he going to take himself serious or will be the comedian that we have come to know?
Well right from the get go we know that there will be a comedy routine as he has the headband and glasses on. I'm not sure what song this is but it's not very good. Looks like his routine might not translate to the regular show. This is all very corny and too top it off his singing is not that good until he hits a long note at the end which again shows that he has some singing ability under the comedy.
Simon, who has been his biggest critic, prays he does not make it to the next round. He thought it was atrocious. I honestly agree with Simon. The shtick is getting a bit old. Randy found it entertaining but not good singing. Kara will at least remember him, which is something we can't say about the previous 3 singers. Paula mentions he might have Vegas in his future.

Allison Iraheta

Allison is a 16 year old high schooler who will be singing "Alone" by Heart. She is kind of odd. She has a weird speaking voice. Can't put my finger on it, maybe kind of surfer like. She has long red hair. She kind of has a piggish like face but also kind of cute at times.
Right from the get go of the song you know you are seeing the best performance of the night. Wow, I know this seems lame but as the song goes along I actually get chills during one of the notes. She has really picked a good song to showcase herself. She has a great stage presence and performance. I think she nailed the crap out of this song. I can't believe she is only 16, she wailed this song.
Randy says she blew it out of the box. Kara calls her great and says she has serious chops. Paula calls her by far the best so far and refreshing at how well she worked the stage. Simon says she was the best by a clear mile. He also says she was so boring pre-song with Ryan but totally transformed when she got on stage.

I think Allison's odd speaking voice is definitely a kind of Hispanic southern Californian surfer talk. She definitely is shy when she is not singing though.

Kris Allen

Kris Allen is 23 and from Arkansas. I don't remember much about this guy. That seems to be theme for tonight. He will be singing "Man in the Mirror" my Michael Jackson. I said it last week and I will say it again. Doing Michael Jackson is tricky and dangerous. Luckily I think this is a song that can translate to certain singers.
He begins the song and I will at least say that the song does seem to fit Kris. I don't think he nails but at least it was a good song choice for him. He does a good job. Better than everyone tonight, except Allison.
Kara thinks it was the wrong song for him and it doesn't show what he did in Hollywood. Paula thinks he nailed the song and it was a good choice for him. Surprisingly Simon agrees with Paula. He likes that Kris showed some confidence tonight. Good remarks from Simon. Randy like the performance tonight.

Megan Joy Corkrey

Megan Joy Corkrey is up next. Megan is a cute 22 year old blonde from Utah. She is also a mother. She is cute but she does dress a little odd. Like in this picture it is a very old time looking outfit. I guess it is a bit more hippy than old timey. She also has a 3/4 tattoo sleeve on her right arm. That kind of takes the hippy part away for me. At least contradicts it for me. She will be singing "Put your records on" by Corinne Bailey Rae.
The song seems to be sung well. I like it. She doesn't seem like she really knows what to do with her body on stage though. I liked the song and the performance but I think it might have been missing a little something. It might not be memorable enough. It probably isn't going to be good enough to make the top 3 but it was nice.
Paula thinks it was the right song. She also finds her hip, cool and beautiful. Simon says she looks gorgeous. He thinks she became a bit shoutty. She is sitting there and smiling beautifully on stage. Randy thought it was a nice job. Kara calls her a package artist and thinks she has potential to be a break out artist.
Those are all good words from the judges but will it translate to America?

Matt Breitzke

Matt is a big old 28 year old welder. He doesn't exactly have an Idol look. He is singing Tonic's "If you could only see". I like this song, hope he does well.
He definitely has a decent voice on him. I'm just not sure he is, to use a phrase the judges like to use, a package singer. I would've liked to see him rock out this song a bit more. He keeps it kind of low key and never really explodes the song out. That is going to hurt him because, although a good performance, it is going to be a forgettable one.
Simon hated the song choice. He found it boring and not fitting of Matt. Randy agrees that it was a boring performance. He says it was ok but didn't have enough of an edge to it. Kara thinks the song fell flat. The song was in key but just not exciting enough agrees Paula.

Jesse Langseth

Jesse is a 26 year old single mother from Minnesota. She was one of the sing offs at the end of Hollywood week. She is singing "Betty Davis eyes" by Kim Carnes.
I'm finding her singing to be nasally. Not terrible but I don't really like the voice. The performance is a bit weird too. The whole thing seems off a bit to me. Can't quite explain it properly.
Randy thought it was ok but it wasn't big enough or exciting enough. Kara liked her look and liked the risks she took tonight. Paula has found her captivating even if the performance tonight wasn't perfect. Simon thinks she was forgettable. Honestly I don't think he is being insulting when he says that, I think he means it exactly as it looks. Oh well.

Kai Kalama

Kai is a 26 year old Californian. I think he might get support because he is a good looking man. Although I think he would look better if he cut his hair shorter. He will be singing "What becomes of a broken heart" by Jimmy Ruffin which should help the women swoon. That of course will help his vote totals.
The performance is actually pretty good. He has some cheesy looks and actions in the song that I didn't like. I also think the poofed out hair with the beard makes him look very George Michael-ish.
I think Kara likes him, a bit of a crush. She thinks the song was a bit old fashioned for him. Paula thinks he has the chops and liked the performance. Simon says he has heard a lot of performances like his. Again, he is using the forgettable word again. Randy says it was a very safe performance.

Mishavonna Henson

Mishavonna is an 18 year old Californian who made it to Hollywood last year. Last year she was cut in Hollywood, this year she makes it a bit further. Tonight she will be performing "Drops of Jupiter" by Train. Shes a bit weird looking.
Her performance is good. Definitely one of the better ones tonight. She takes the song and uses it to show a range in her voice. I think she did a good job transforming this song into her own song.
Paula didn't think it was a good choice but wasn't exciting enough. Randy thinks the song sums up Mishavonna it is very serious but the performance was a bit cold. He thinks she acts like a 50 year old. Younger and more fun. Randy gets the old feeling from her as well. Kara wants her to loosen up a bit. She says Mishavonna is a good singer but isn't sure where she fits in the music industry.

Adam Lambert

I have a feeling that Adam is one of the favorites of the judges/producers. As I have said before, usually getting the closing spot on the show is an indication the producers want you to succeed. However, with all that said, this kid looks like a huge douche to me. It starts with that horrible Goo Goo Doll (Johnny Rzeznik) haircut. He'll be performing "Satisfaction" by The Rolling Stones tonight. I want to forward through it.
Oh man, he is dressed in all black with SEVERAL gold chains. He also treats us to several Elvis like snears. I can't express enough how much I do not like this kid. He is also butchering the song. He is chopping up the lyrics into individual words. I hated everything about this performance.
Paula is giving him a standing ovation at the end. She says he is in a league of his own. Simon thought parts were excruciatingly bad and parts were brilliant. He also says it was a love it or hate it performance. Randy loved it and thinks he is incredibly current. He warns Adam not to overdue it. Kara thinks his vocal technique is great, going from low to high.

I hate him. I think he could go very far but at the same time might not make it this week.

My American Idol Rankings

Here is how I ranked the singers tonight. Again this is how I think America will vote them. Unfortunatly this means I put Adam at the top. Ugh. I think tonight was overall underwhelming.

1. Adam Lambert
2. Allison Iraheta
3. Megan Joy Corkrey
4. Kris Allen
5. Mishavonna Henson
6. Jesse Langseth
7. Kai Kalama
8. Matt Breitzke
9. Jasmine Murray
10. Jeanine Vailes
11. Nick Mitchell
12. Matt Giraud
- posted by Doug @ 7:44:00 PM