Territorial Bloggings

Ah, the 80’s - Morning in America. My time - four years of high school & four years of undergrad. And I met & wed the Territorial Wife & Love of My Life. Not a bad decade…

I wonder if any of the remaining musical youth will sing Musical Youth? Nah, probably not, though I betcha Ricky & the band could tear up Pass The Dutchie…

Thankfully, not too much preliminary BS, and we head right into the performances.

Luke Menard - Wake Me Up Before You Go-Go - Dressed up by his big sister. In a tutu. That makes the choice of singing a Wham! standard a bit more understandable, no? So-so performance. He has a nice enough voice, and the falsetto is actually ok, for what it is. That said, he has almost no power underneath it at all. Tellingly, the wife said his voice doesn’t match how cute he is. I agree with Simon - it was weak, a bit girly, and he won’t make it through into the finals.

David Archuleta - Just Another Day In Paradise - Botched a Spanish song in Honduras & got bailed out by moms. Played piano & sang Phil Collins. A bit of an odd arrangement, in that it was quite different than the original; however, he sounded great. Perhaps a bit too theatrical, though. The wife has picked him to win it all, and even thinks he could build a bigger fanbase than Clay Aiken did with the Claymates/Claynation (who are still, and always will be, more rabid than the 2nd most rabid AI fanbase, the Soul Patrol…). Anything’s possible - this kid could be the perfect Idol storm… Simon’s right, though, that we need a bit more fun/upbeat/power from him. And he doesn’t need to politick by giving deep meaning (e.g., the homeless) to his song choices.

Danny Noriega - Tainted Love - He tripped. TMTH. Hrm. I would’ve guessed that it was something closet related. Guess not. What a horrible, horrible arrangement & performance. It might’ve been more convincing if it had been done with all the other girls’ performances tomorrow night, you think? Nah, probably not… Shy? Even vocally, I. Think. Not. A bright light? Maybe a happy, you know gay, light. I share Simon’s annoyance with the girls’ coiffure talk. Honestly, I almost hate to bust on him so much, but schnikes! He carries himself like someone you see on one of those Lifetime or Discovery Health channel “I finally acknowledged my inner self & decided to take action” type of shows…

David Hernandez - All Coming Back To Me Now - A booger-nosed photo shoot? I hardly think that’s the most embarrassing thing to happen to David, not when there’s new embarrassing stuff about him emerging (just Google ‘david hernandez strip’ or click here…) every day. He’s got a nicely powerful voice, and I’d rather have him in the finals than Danny. That said, I want him out of the finals quickly.

Michael Johns - Don’t You (Forget About Me) - A kangaroo mascot mishap, getting beaten up in front of 20,000 people. A bummer, to be sure, but how many of those 20,000 knew it was him? That cuts down on the embarrassment, no? Very good song choice, as Simple Minds’ sound & swagger match his vocal abilities almost spot on. He’s got that charismatic/sexy/smoky lead-singer vibe down pat. He kept himself undeniably safe with that performance.

David Cook - Hello - A childhood talent show freeze-up? Better then than tonight. Lionel freakin’ Richie? Very, very different (and better, although the original’s video is a classic monument made out of cheez…) than the original. The guitar was a bit rough sounding, but that actually made it work for me. I liked the way he crunched it up, both with the raw guitar, and the vocals. Emo? Yeah, I can see (hear?) that. Very brave, indeed. Very, very good, as well. I like this guy, and I hope he goes a long way in the finals.

Jason Castro - Hallelujia - A dred-related dating mishap? Eh. This guy can sing, and he most definitely can emote/perform. I don’t think he’s got quite enough in the tank to derail the Archuleta bullet train, especially if he misses more notes like he did on that last line. The good spin on the missed note is that it helped deliver the emotional impact of the song & performance. He’s good, and I actually kind of like/enjoy him as well - I want to see him do well & go far in the finals.

Chikezie - She Fills Me Up - Was always (unknowingly) using the women’s room in high school. Ok, that is embarrassing. Not a great performance by any stretch of the imagination, and certainly not worthy of the pimp slot (aka the final/anchor slot, whose occupant the producers have traditionally seemed to want to boost). But it was good enough, at least for me, to get him deservedly into the finals. The falsetto at the end was pretty cool. His vocals did sound good, in a smooth way. Simon could be right, though, because the wife didn’t like it & thinks he & Luke will go home (she’d like to see Danny go home, instead of Chikezie, but isn’t optimistic).

Not Safe: Luke, Danny, David H., Chikezie

Should Go Home: Luke Menard & Danny Noriega

Will Go Home: Luke Menard & David Hernandez (a scandal backlash vote)

I’m going to hold off on an actual ranking of the guys until I know the results, given that it’s possible (if not darned likely) that I won’t agree with America on which guys squeak through into the finals.

Tomorrow, the girls…

-ghp