Territorial Bloggings

Well, it’s always fascinating to see just what song choices are made, particularly with a theme like Billboard #1 songs. At first glance, it seems like it’d be difficult to not do well; however, I think that #1 songs can be a bit of a mine field. Why? Well, either because some really popular songs just aren’t very good (and/or they’re niche/fad-type songs), or they’ve become so associated with their original artists that it’s hard to “make them your own.” Overall, though, I thought the group did a nice job.

That having been said, let’s get on with the rundown & predictions:

Top-Notch: This week there are 2 members of this no-questions-asked category — Bo - Once again he gave, IMO, the best performance. He showed he can do the “sensitive” & controlled thing. I’m not a huge fan of the song (or of Jim Croce for that matter, but I’m sure my sister just loved it! ;-)), but Bo did it well. I’m just in awe of the fact that he’s so self-aware & comfortable in his skin. Simon’s right, Bo doesn’t perform like he’s in a competition — no matter what/when he performs, he’s Bo, and that’s very, very good. Carrie - Carrie looked great, made a great song choice, performed it very well, showed that she has perhaps the best pure vocal instrument in the competition. She needs to work on consistency and understanding who she is as a performer — I can still see a bit of the struggle to translate/transfer her self-identification as a Country performer into the Pop milieu. Once she gets a grip on this, she’ll be tough to beat.

Safe: Once again, the middle group is the largest. On the whole, this group did much better than the middle grouping last week, but IMO they’re still a bit below Bo & Carrie’s performance level this week — Scott - He’s good. It was a great song choice, and he did a great job of emoting & showing some passion. If he keeps up the learning & weekly progression, he’ll be around for a while. Jessica - Took a song with a tremendous “cheese” factor and tweaked it just enough to show off her vocal & performance abilities. Nikko - I don’t really like/get the song choice/genre, but I do get it enough to know that he did a really great job with it. For some reason, I was quite surprised by how well he did… Constantine -Ok, now I know who/what he is. He’s the 21st Century David Cassidy! This was a great song choice and, if he’s smart, the start of how he’ll differentiate himself from Bo. Constantine is not a “Rocker” in the genuine sense; rather, he’s a rocker in the “Teen Idol”/bubblegum sense. It probably offends his sense of “keeping it real” but if he’s smart, it what he’ll play up to stay in the competition. Vonzell - A good enough performance to keep her safe, but I still see her having trouble getting enough people to care enough to keep her in the competition for long.

Safe, with a Bad Performance: These two folks are, I think, quite safe this week, even though their performances could merit their being at risk… Nadia & Anwar - Cyndi Lauper & a mohawk? Chaka Khan? I expected better from these two (esp. from Nadia), and they really let me down this week. It makes me worry/wonder about their ultimate longevity in this competition.

In the Bottom 3: It can’t be avoided for Mikalah this week — she’s in over her head, and she needs to go home. She gave a horrible performance, and writing more about it won’t make it any better or more understandable. Anthony also will be in the bottom 3, and I hope it’ll serve as a wakeup call for him. He’s got a great voice, but there’s just something not quite clicking for him. I can’t really say what’s wrong, or needs to be changed, I just know that something doesn’t sound right to me.

So, I think the bottom 3 will consist of Mikalah, Anthony, and Vonzell (It could also be Jessica, though based on performance it should be Nadia or Anwar).

In the end though, it doesn’t matter who the 3rd member of the group is, because it’ll be Mikalah going home.

-ghp