AI:5 - So Blonde, Even A Blind Man Can Tell
This was not the best of AI, but neither was it the worst. Given the theme, it’s too bad I didn’t love it — but, then, neither did I think it was as bad as the judges seemed to (I despise it when they get on their cranky high-horse… and I’m not too fond of it when Paula gets on her high, either! 
:razz:)
The celeb coaches this week, Andrea Bocelli & David Foster, were actually quite entertaining — Bocelli for what seemed to be his fundamental sweetness (and obvious talent), and Foster because of his high standards (although he ventured a bit too far into arrogant superiority for my taste…). The highlight of the coach-contestant interactions (and there were several good ones, including the Kat/Bocelli duet & Chris/Bocelli singing on the floor) was undoubtedly Andrea Bocelli immediately intuiting that Kellie was a blonde — some things are so obvious that even a blind man can see them! 
There were no “magical moment” performances last night. Why? I’m not quite sure. I am, however, comfortable attributing it somewhat to the genre. I just think that love songs are really tough to do right in a competition like this one, particularly at this stage of the competition. It’s not a bad thing. It just is what it is. Truth be told, I was more disappointed in the judging last night than I was in the performances. I’ve never thought this before, but I’m wondering if it might not be best to try and see if the AI franchise isn’t strong enough to withstand the infusion of new judges — judges who aren’t so seemingly jaded/bored by the whole process. Randy could go back & get more ammunition for his name-dropping, Simon could go off & conquer the world with his obvious superiority, and Paula could, you know, do the rehab thing. Seacrest could stay around, if only in the hope that he might not be so annoying with a new set of judges. But, I digress…
Katharine: She. Looked. Good. And she didn’t sound all that bad either. I thought that she was, by far, the best girl of the evening, and I’d put her in my personal top 3 performances of the night (keep that in mind for the upcoming predictions…). The judges were so far off the beam in their criticisms that I truly wonder what they were watching/listening to. Honestly, this was one of those times when I just flat out have no clue why the judges would say what they said. All I know is what I heard — and what I heard from Kat was pretty darned good.
Elliot: Elliot gave the smoothest & technically most proficient performance of the evening. I won’t even hold it against him that Paula went completely & utterly off the deep end in her analysis. Honestly, she really is a complete & utter whack-job, isn’t she? 
Elliot, however, really is that good, and he keeps getting better each week. I still don’t think he’ll win it all, but he could end up being one of the more, if not the most, successful folks to come out of this season (sort of like Clay in AI:2, although I don’t think Elliot has a following/fanbase like the Claynation to push him along…).
Kellie: Kellie, Kellie, Kellie. You look so cute. And I even find the whole “naive hick” shtick to be more endearing than annoying. (To be fair, though, I’ve got to also say that I could see her blowing up to trailer-park-momma proportions someday — she just has that world-weary look in her eyes…) That said, her Unchained Melody should’ve been locked up long before it got the chance to bore us to tears. That was not a good performance at all. If ever the judges should’ve savaged a performance (like they did Kat’s), this one was deserving.
Paris: It kills me (absofreakinlutely kills me!) to say this, but Paris paled in comparison to Babs (she’s like buttah, don’tcha know, despite being a leftist political moron of epic proportions…) in her rendition of The Way We Were. Paris tried, but if a teenager is ever at a disadvantage during a competition like AI, it’s during theme weeks like this. Love songs? Heartbreak? Longing? Sorry, a 17 year-old just ain’t gonna be able to bring that load home. Paris might well be an “old soul,” but her heart hasn’t been around long enough to make us feel the exquisitely tortuous bliss that is love.
Taylor: It was a rather nondescript performance for Taylor. Not bad. Not great. Merely good. It was good singing, but it wasn’t the type of performance that we like to see from the Soul Patrolman. It doesn’t really matter, though, as the Soul Patrol will keep their man safe & sound.
Chris: I liked this performance. Chris can sing. He might not like the genres where his vocal abilities are stretched & brought to the fore (and I do think that he’s going to be best served by fronting a band of his own creation), but he certainly can do it & do it well. He did the best job of emoting & making us feel what love songs are meant to make us feel. It wasn’t the smoothest or most sonically pure performance (that would be Elliot’s), but it was the most effective. And he deserves props for that.
The voting at Schloß TB:
Mel: Katharine
Deb: Taylor
ghp: Chris
Bottom 3: Kellie, Paris, Kat
Note: I think it’s time for the first all-girls bottom 3. Mind you, I personally don’t think that Kat belongs in the bottom 3. Nope, based on performances, Taylor should be there this week. But I don’t think there’s a chance in hell that the Soul Patrol will allow that to happen.
Going Home: Paris
Note: I think that it’s time for the first big voting “injustice” to happen. If it were up to me, I’d have Kellie be gone, as she’s clearly the weakest/least talented of the top 6. There’s just something that makes me think she’ll make it through another week, though. If I’m correct, then we’ll see a bottom 2 of Kellie & Paris — and, quite frankly, I could be happy with either of them going home.
I really hope that it’ll be another 30 min. results show, just so that we don’t have to endure all of the prefabbed hype & drama that comes along with the extra 30 min…
-ghp
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