AI season 12 - 9 Remain

     Apparently when I wrote last week I just saved the post, didn't publish, so if you were looking for last week's rundown, it's there now! I'm still new to the new "streamlined" Blogspot format.

     So according to the results show, they are letting an eleventh "idol" join the tour this summer. That seems strange to me, and it's even stranger how they introduced it. I recall no mention of this on any previous show, so how were the choices narrowed to Charlie Askew (terrific last name) and Aubrey Cleland? I was all for Charlie for a while, but then when he sang in the Top 20, I wanted to die for him. It was the kind of thing where you have to look away from the screen sometimes. Unfortunately for AI, I don't think he was the only one this year that engendered such a reaction. As for Charlie specifically, I feel like he went from funky underdog to a little too off and slightly pathetic. However, in spite of loving her name ("and Aubrey was her name. . . "), I find Aubrey super irritating, and she can clearly make it without AI, since everyone's been throwing contracts at her since she flashed her first model smile. Talk about pageants, Jimmy!
     The two contestants I'd have picked for a shot at a spot would be Breanna and the alien guy who sounds like David Gates. That's the closest to Aubrey they should have gotten. But I'm hoping alien will be back next year, with a real chance to compete. Perhaps in the ensuing months he should work on his appearance so I remember his name and not just his haunting voice and alien visual impact. Sorry aliens, but this is American Idol after all, not Alien Idol.

     I was ecstatic that Curtis Finch, Jr. went home last week. That almost never happens for me. I mean, I guess I often guess right who is going home, but it's not usually the person I really most want to go home. To be fair, if Curtis is genuinely not as he appears, he needs major PR help for his horrible portrayal of his inner, better self. If he is a overzealous religious singer who pantomimes like an evil magician from a 1960s B-movie for children, he's already doing an excellent job. But AI should also take some blame for letting the footage air that showed him being an ass to other contestants. If you want to give someone a fair shake, you don't start him off with a strike against him.
     Not only that, but three of my top four (and probably what I'd have put as the unbiased top three) were the actual top three. Thanks, Idol, for implementing this new, open listing of the rankings. It doesn't matter much delineating between the top three, but having the rest ranked could show people when a contestant they love is really in danger even though they appear "safe." I'd have never imagined Paul Jolley was so close to the bottom had they not shown the order of safety. I don't care that much, but someone might. I was thrilled that Janelle was so close to the top.

     Beatles week! This early? Yikes. There are still some stinkers I don't want to hear sing Beatles songs. But I guess it could help get rid of them more quickly.

     Wow, I don't know exactly who Carly Rae Jepson is, although I've seen her picture. Now I know she has trouble with acting and is fake and irritating. Not surprising for someone who is either a prefab popster or a very early sellout.

     Charlie and Aubrey are back to see who survives. If Charlie does make it, at the very least it indicates a positive change in the way teens are seeing each other and the future. It would give me more hope for music and for society in general if he would win. He looks so much better tonight than recently. But he needs to lay off the turtle a bit now, or get a more subtle indication toward it.
     Anyone who knows modern teenagers is not surprised my hopes are dashed and Aubrey is on her way to the summer tour to smile and prance.

     I'm upset that Kree is singing "With A Little Help from My Friends." With the whole Beatles catalog to choose from, why would she do this? It's one song I really have only appreciated when the Beatles sing it. I love Kree, but mean I think she's the one to change that. It's possible. But not likely.
     Ah, it sounds like Jimmy chose it for her. It's okay, I guess. Maybe it's where she can show a little bit of rock soul without having to delve too far into it, and maybe it's a time when she can afford to do that rather than putting her best foot forward performancewise. She is putting her best foot forward as much as she can, and I suppose other people may love this. It was the absolute best she could hope for with this song, in my eyes. I still would have picked something different. But it was still a top performance.
     Basically, Keith sums up all my positives without any mention of negatives. I think his real feeling is close to mine since when Randy asked if the performance was the bomb, Keith said "I like Kree." The rest of the judges were on the bomb train.

     Burnell is up next with his adorable family and a fantastic opportunity with "Let It Be." A wasted opportunity with the disgusting fact he doesn't know "Let It Be." How can you not know "Let It Be?" See, this is one of those times when I find myself wondering what kind of people these contestants really are. What kind of singer or music lover doesn't know "Let It Be?" But let's see if he's just young and ignorant, and able to appreciate greatness and learn from it when he's exposed to it.
     Sounds pretty damn good, and like he understands the lyrics in a way that lets him sing them as if he really feels them. So that's great. His delivery earns him a pass on not knowing the song to begin with. He may even have surpassed Kree, but it's hard for me to judge that without further consideration, since he got to sing such a more moving and potent song. I still hate the way he sounds when he dips low, but it was stellar. OOO! And he humbly notes "I don't know them like I should know them" when Randy asks about the Beatles. Mariah had pretty much the exact same reaction path as I did: Yay, he gets "Let It Be!" Oh, no, he doesn't know it! Wow, he's doing it well. Mariah just subtracted the disgust, or at least politely didn't describe it.
    
     Amber's dad seems sweet enough, but I think maybe they should have laid off her family complications for a little bit longer. This bit only complicated matters more for me, and made what I was assuming was your average divorce-remarriage seem like something more odd.
     The song for Amber is "She's Leaving Home," and now I'm a little annoyed with what is clearly evident: these songs are being given to them, they are not selecting them as in previous years. So not only does that mean people will get songs they don't necessarily know or want to sing, it means the producers can hand pick who gets the best songs. Like Amber. Though it sounds like she's already messing with it in a way that's meant to show off but more shows she's not relating to the song, just trying to sound impressive. That's a fail in my book, even though Jimmy finds her changes "sophisticated."
     Ha ha, she forgets lyrics from the second line. But it sounds pretty good. It's just too bad she's more concerned with changing the song than appreciating its beauty and learning it. The result is good singing but without a real connection and meaning there. It works well enough, but it doesn't move me at all, and this is a song that usually makes me cry from a few lines in.
     Randy highlights the obvious fact Amber just learned the song. Mariah covers for all the people who excuse themselves for not knowing basic Beatles songs by claiming she didn't know it before. But then Keith excuses her fails by saying it was a fresh, modern take on his favorite Beatles song. I don't believe it. Nicki was seeing what I was: Amber wasn't there in the song as she was singing, she was biding her time and trying to do what she's most comfortable with. I say, if you want to be an artist, learn, don't stagnate.  You don't have to do your learnin' in school, but at least know enough to absorb the strength of masterpieces other artists have given the world.

     I believe they may have let Lazaro choose his own song because he's had some issues with knowing songs in the past. If he knows "In My Life," then it will be a good choice for him. Jimmy's description of Lazaro's take on it as a lighter vocal has me a little worried, though, since the only issue I have with Lazaro is his whispery, blurry delivery of lyrics.
     It is a little whispery and blurry, and sounds a little old-fashioned. But he certainly gets the emotion through. I get my usual teary feeling up until they bring in the other instruments and he stands up. He sounds more comfortable then, but less emotionally deep. Maybe the confidence is more important for him at this point, though.
     I'm shocked, but Mariah instantly keys in on my feeling about the backing music, and it's true what she and Keith say about the key as well. Nicki apparently didn't see any of the increased confidence I saw. Randy is wrong and insulting. It was not out of tune at all! Now Lazaro seems like he's going to cry. That's horrible that they made him change his song last minute! I had thought they would take extra care to give him one he could do well, but I guess they just don't really care. Fairly stupid, given these contestants all have the potential to be cultivated into moneymakers. I'm glad Lazaro revealed the truth about the situation to the voters.

    
     Why in hell would they give anyone who doesn't beg for it "Come Together?" The lyrics are going to unfairly impossible to learn, and that coupled with any unfamiliarity with the song will leave a singer unable to properly connect wit h and convey the emotion. Ah, I see Jimmy is just telling Candice to junk any meaning of the verses and concentrate on the chorus. Thanks for such competent musical insight, Jimmy. I'm losing respect for you like sand through a sieve. I get that maybe they really want to use the Beatles to get rock in for some of the singers they don't think might otherwise have the right opportunity with it, but you have to have a little mercy!
     Not that I don't think Candice can handle it. I do worry about the lyrics, but I'm hoping if they gave her enough time to learn them, she actually did have time to understand the story they tell, which is really the best way to remember them.
     Seems like that's just what she did. She was right on it all the way. I didn't appreciate the end run, but I guess that was a nod to her usual preferences.
     Keith jumps on the planned bandwagon by describing her performance as "rock chick." Randy reinforces that this proves she can do upbeat (upbeat? He must mean literally) songs.
    
     Paul tells the sweet story of moving from a trailer to a farm where his family hand built their own home from farm trees. This presents him in an utterly new light to me, at least. A little confusing that he says he grew up in the trailer and the pictures show him as a child when the house is being built. Of course, back in the studio, he's the diva he's always appeared to be.
     He's got "Eleanor Rigby," another solemn, deep, and moving song like "She's Leaving Home," though it reads a little angrier to me. Given his problems with sincerity and oversinging in the past, I'm doubtful for him with this one, especially hearing some of the gymnastics he's doing in the rehearsal studio.
     His opening falsetto is off key and impotently wispy. He recovers in the repeat. His initial looks to the audience/camera seems sincere, but he's already going to a cheesy place with the vocals. By the time he gets to Father MacKenzie, it's down to straight cheese. He's doing some silly Panic! At the Disco emo Phantom of the Opera faux-drama crap with a song whose power lies in its meaning, not in snarly looks and vocal high jumps. Blegh. A total letdown for me. As always, it's not his voice that's the problem, it's his presentation and attitude.
     Oh! And by presentation, I don't mean his outfit. I agree with Nicki, his threads are perfect this evening. Very handsome. But the song was all, all wrong. I disagree with Nicki that it was bland, safe, or forgettable. On the contrary, it was too overdone. I agree more with Randy, that he wasn't connected (because he went the usual plastic performer route). Mariah and Randy both seem to be pointing out that while he did show some singing ability there, the emotion and sincerity was not. Keith points out the good bits and his vocal talents, but again slips in a hint of his true take on the matter by saying "if we get to hear you again."
     It makes me even more upset that Paul felt he was truthfully feeling the lyrics, and disappoints me greatly that he feels he could not do his country take on a Beatles song. He is utterly clueless in both regards.

     Angie Miller has an adorable family and a gorgeous mom.  Angie's also lucked out in getting "Yesterday" (no doubt because she's a top pick of the producers). I expect she knows the song well and will sing it beautifully. Jimmy gives her the advice he should have given Paul, that sometimes power comes from restraint, not volume.
      Uh oh! Out of the gate, Angie's jumped the cue. She quickly just doubles up the "yes" in "Yesterday," but I hope she isn't completely thrown off track. Maybe her drama background will serve her recovery well. She's working a little too hard at appearing sincere and not feeling the lyrics as much as I'd hoped. She's awesome, but I don't feel touched as if she's telling me her own real story about yesterday. It's performance. She's singing so prettily, it's just not everything. But it's so well done, it's enough. In the audience, her mother looks worried.
     I was wondering if the judges were going to continue the "Angie" play with her name, and yes, still, they continue. Quit it already. It's annoying. I agree with Mariah that the arrangement was well done, showing her vocal abilities while still staying true to the song and respectful of it (unlike Paul's travesty). I think what Keith has to say may have been why i wasn't getting the right connection and emotion while she sang: perhaps she was too bus trying to sing the way she's been told. If that's the case, she has to stop worrying about that and just get back to being herself, naturally.
      Angie's hair does look nicer ironed out (though it could have been ironed better). She really needs to do something with her hair, because all those short layers with the long, long underneath is like some kind of weird girl mullet that doesn't work at all. It's less noticeable when it's straightened out a little, but it's still lumpy and odd.

     I'm shocked that Devin goes to military school, and it makes me like him more. So does meeting his family. The producers clearly like him, too, since they've given him "The Long and Winding Road." It sounds like he's going to do some sort of '70s funky Stevie Wonder spin on it, though. Ugh. Brian McKnight! Oh---what? Jimmy claims Brian McKnight and Stevie Wonder are in the same vein, but to me, they're not at all. I think that may be the problem: jimmy is wanting Stevie Wonder (which was what I was initially hearing in the mix), but Devin is going for Brian McKnight. It's not even the same era. What is Jimmy talking about? jimmy is also making me more and more nervous as he says that the plan is to "change" the Beatles song. I thought it was just going to stylistically lean toward Devin's strengths. I don't see how major changes are going to serve him or be good.
     I'm not hearing much change at all, and I'm hearing mostly Devin, with a Stevie Wonder-esque tone and ridiculously overdone Brian McKnight-type runs. There are way too many runs and trilling. It just sounds silly. It's a shame, because he was singing it beautifully to start. The runs cheesed it up and cheapened it.
     Of course the judges are fans of cheap, overdone R & B. He's a great vocalist, they're just not using him to his potential. I agree with Keith again. Not only is this one of my half-catalog of "favorite" Beatles songs, but Devin needs to be slightly more emotionally connected to the songs. He's better than most, but he could be more. Ah! Randy has commended Devin for his R & B flair, but points out that there needn't be a run in every breath. Thank goodness! Someone he may listen to has given him good advice.

     I've been eagerly waiting for Janelle to sing, and she's finally up, the capper for the show tonight. Janelle's mom and dad are darling, and Oliver Springs, Tennessee looks like the perfect little country town. Ah, Janell has chosen or been assigned "I Will." I hope she knows it well. I hope it has beauty with her lovely, lilting voice and no harmonies ---if they add background harmonies, I fear they'll overshadow her lead vocal to the point where it may be canceled out in voters' eyes. I think you could definitely do this soft and sweet and plain, delicate and true, and it would pierce right through. Elegant and simple. But it all needs to come together, and she has to have power in her simplicity to make it pierce. I have noticed that she loses a little power when she's singing sometimes, and maybe, as Jimmy seems to think, it is because of her breathing. Let's hope it's that and the issue is handled.
     Oh no, she's laughing before she starts! That's not good for your diaphragm. Maybe it's why her "still" wobbles slightly. But she's so sweet and clearly understands the song. She's entrancing. There's just a touch of background harmony in the chorus. And just a few breath problems. But her voice is lovely, welcoming, and wonderful. I didn't like the end as much as the beginning and middle, and she really was running out of breath at the end. I don't understand why the breathing is such a problem. Don't you naturally know where to breathe?  If you don't have time to breathe, you don't have the ability to sing that line the way you're singing it, and you have to sing it differently or run the risk of sounding deflated. The breath problems knocked her a teeny bit off a couple of notes, too, but she's so unusual and pretty to hear that it doesn't really add up to mattering much all together.
     Keith is all compliments, and Nicki is ready to remarry her "beautiful swan goddess." As I expected, it's not just me for whom the small flaws didn't matter. All the judges are freaking out for her. I don't know where Randy thinks Janelle was last week, but apparently she's back, and one of the best of the night (I agree). And yes, the "not quite a yodel" was unique and gorgeous. Yay! I hope she's in the top three in the results also.


Tonight's Ranking:

1. Janelle Arthur (she beats out Angie because to me in the Beatles perfect emotion matters more than perfect delivery)
2. Angie Miller
3. Candice Glover
4. Burnell Taylor
5. Kree Harrison
6. Devin Velez
7. Amber Holcomb
8. Lazaro Arbos
9. Paul Jolley

     I'm confident my bottom two are the real bottom two, and I wish Lazaro would stay over Paul, but I think Paul may get a boost from his low spot last week and Lazaro will go home. I hope it's Paul instead. He's never going to succeed with the mindset he has now, in spite of all his vocal talent.