Territorial Bloggings

Last week: Lennon & McCartney

This week: McCartney & Lennon. Oh and maybe those Harrison & Starkey guys, too…

It’s always nice when they change things up a little, no? Vive la Différence!

This is a voting contest, Ryan? WHAT? Who knew?!?

Then why are there judges? I’m sure they’ll offer insightful commentary. Oh. The contestants need to pick good songs? The Lennon/McCartney songbook has lots of good songs? Gumption is necessary? Sing well? Hrm. I might have to reassess that insightful commentary thing.

Oh, and the only contestants who took risks last week like Paula did with her new single were the ones who sucked. In fact, now that I think about it, David Hernandez did bear a striking resemblance to MC Skat Kat…

And you mean that Paul was in a band before Wings? John before The Plastic Ono Band? George before The Traveling Wilburys? Ringo before The All-Starr Band? Wow, who knew?

Anyway, let’s get this puppy started…

Amanda - Back In The U.S.S.R. - Well, that was tolerable, if only because of the way the band & backup singers sounded good tonight. It worked well enough to keep her in the contest once again. Aside from the classic Beatles version, I preferred Billy Joel’s version from his KOHUEPT live album. She is unique, authentic, blah, blah, blah. Too bad she’s not, you know, good. When she changes it up like Simon suggested, she will be exposed as the one-trick-pony that she is. I’d send her home this week, but her fanbase will keep her safe.

Kristy - You’ve Got To Hide Your Love Away - Her eye makeup makes her look like she’s way too plain-Jane this week. Her eyes look like tiny black slits. Nice boots, though. I actually liked her singing tonight, surprisingly enough, at least when she was able to power her way through some extended notes. There were some spots where she seemed to be almost talk-singing, and it wasn’t as smooth as the good parts. Like the money note at the end - that was good. It was better than last week, way better. Depending on what the rest of the field does, she might could be safe again this week, giving her a chance to earn the 10th place finish Simon predicted a few weeks ago.

David A. - The Long And Winding Road - Hopefully he does better, and doesn’t incur the wrath of his dad again (there’ve been reports that he has a huge-ass stage-dad, who was bad enough to get banned from Star Search back when David was on it a few years ago…). That was pleasant. David has a nice, smooth voice. He’ll get better about the emoting thing as he gets older & more mature. This performance will get him back into the good graces of his fanbase.

Michael - A Day In The Life - I didn’t like that first high note. That was about as good as could be expected in the aftermath of rearranging that masterpiece within in an inch of its life in order to make it fit into the time allotment. It was good enough. Barely. But it wasn’t his breakout “Idol Moment”. He’d better deliver that moment real soon now if he wants to avoid being the first controversial elimination of the Finals. I’m actually a little surprised that I liked it more than the judges seemed to, especially Randy & Paula. Simon echoed my point about the breakout moment needing to arrive SOON. I believe the dedication story, but it does sound a little desperate & cheezy - I hope that doesn’t blow back on him.

Brooke - Here Comes The Sun - She’s Canadian, eh? Nice, folky song choice. She changed it up just enough to not sound like a cheezy karaoke knock-off. Though I could’ve done without the “Whoop!” when she started to walk to the middle of the stage. Not a knock-it-out-of-the-park performance like Let It Be, but it was still good enough to more firmly entrench her with her growing fanbase. She’s perky, folky, genuine, and downright nice. Yay.

David C. - Day Tripper - He is a rock star. Oooh. The Whitesnake version? Eep… Ok, I liked it. A lot. Like I said, David Cook Is. A. Rock. Star. There’s not much more I can say about it than this — I want him to win it all. I can’t wait to go buy his records. Simon’s turning on him, much like he did on Daughtry & Bice. Sometimes, Simon’s anti-Rock bias just can’t help but show through — he is, after all, a Brit-pop A&R guy.

Carly - Blackbird - She looked better in the blue last week. The red with ruffles looked like a maternity top. The waving arms in the mosh pit are usually a sure sign that the performance wasn’t a good one; however, this week Carly followed up her Idol Moment from last week with a strong, solid, & nicely nuanced performance. She really does have a beautiful & emotive voice. It’s going to help her stay in this contest for a long, long time, deservedly so. Simon is unjustifiably cranky this week. This was a good song choice for her, not a negatively indulgent one, and it showed off her beautiful voice wonderfully.

Jason - Michelle - He should’ve gone with a little stronger, heavier, more substantial song this week, rather than with another light, airy, folkie-type song. It seems like he might be worried to step out of his comfort zone. That all said, it was a pretty good performance, one that should keep him safe again this week. Even if it wasn’t a standout effort. He is charming, but he seemed a little, I don’t know quite the right word, lackadaisical.

Syesha - Yesterday - Well, I was really hoping that we’d get past the lads from Liverpool without having to hear Yesterday or Hey, Jude. No such luck. She wants to touch everybody this week? Looks like she was trying to do it with her chest. I’m just sayin’… That was a competent rendition of an almost impossible-to-do-well song. I can’t get over the sense that she’s an actress who really plays the role of a singer well. Thing is, she needs to be a singer first & foremost, in order to do well in this contest. And she’s not pulling it off. Her “vulnerability” seemed more forced than genuine. I feel bad saying that, but it’s what it felt like to me.

Chikezie - I’ve Just Seen A Face - An instrument as a prop. Why? Chikezie slowed it down & we got the arm waving again. This time it meant what I fear it usually does. And it really didn’t improve when he blew on the harp & sped things up. That was not a good match for his considerable vocal talents. Nope, I didn’t like it. It’ll be very interesting to see if America punishes him for this. They’ve been known to turn fickle very quickly, and he might run afoul of that this week. Eze’s a likable cat, but this performance was like a bucket of cold water - not pleasant.

Ramiele - I Should Have Known Better - For as strong a voice as she has (and she does), her performance of this song sounded weak & sketchy. It was too low, and there were only a few power notes that let her shine. This was not the kind of rebound performance that she needed this week, and certainly not worthy of the pimp slot. That was atrocious, and she should have known better.

The Top 3: David C., Carly, & David A.

The Safe Middle: Jason, Brooke, & Amanda

The At-Risk Middle: Michael & Syesha

The Bottom 3: Kristy, Chikezie, & Ramiele

Should Go Home: Amanda

Will Go Home: Kristy

All in all, the group was much more closely bunched together this week. There weren’t the standout performances, good or bad, as there were last week. It makes it a little harder to handicap things, if I’m looking solely at performance-based criteria. In another way, though, it makes it easier because I can look at how I think the fanbases are developing, which is what I based my main predictions this week. We’ll see how it breaks down tomorrow night.

-ghp