Final Group of 12 - 3/3/09

:welcome1: gang to amateur night at your favorite karaoke bar, oops I mean welcome to the final twelve performances on American Idol. Ryan looks good in his casual attire as he welcomes us, points out the six who have made the top 12 and of cours e our usual intro to the judges. Sorry to be so snide as the beginning but in reality the first half of this show was just dull overall. Here's my take on each contestant and I so welcome your thoughts on this night of "performances".

I can not for the life of me know why the judges were so thrilled with our first contestant Von Smith. He is singing "Your All I Need To Get Buy" by Marvin Gaye and my first thoughts were he is so average. In spite of the over-praise the judges gave I thought he had pitch problems and for some reason the way his mouth moves as he sings turns me off. Overall just okay. My grade: C-

Taylor Vaifanua seemed to show so much promise during Hollywood week but on this night of nights she is singing "If I Ain't Got You" by Alicia Keys. A very dreary beginning was how I felt and her moment of fame did get better as the song progressed but overall had to agree with Randy it was boring. It left Kara cold as she saw no real personality, Paula appreciated the fact she took a chance while Simon called it generic. I agree. My grade: C

Our dorky guy Alex Wagner-Trugman is going to the gym so he can fill out his shirt like Simon does. He might want to go back to the gym to fill out his voice which was a real mess tonight in my personal opinion. Singing Elton John's "I Guess That's Why They Call It The Blues" has none of the inspiration that Elton possesses. Alex has an okay voice but he decided to spruce it up with several growling notes which came off sounding very weird. Paula thinks he is a showman and had fun watching him. Randy thought it was crazy and Kara wants him to ditch the growl. However my favorite remark comes from Simon who says it was like watching a hampster trying to be a tiger. My grade: D

Cute as a button Ariana Afsar wants to make an Abba song sound contemporary. She chooses to sing "Winner Takes It All" and sadly does not make the grade on this number. She sounds dreary and off-key throughout most of the song. And what the heck was with those up and down pitch notes. None of the judges were impressed and Simon actually called it terrible. She is cute but have to agree this was not the right song for her at all. My grade: D

Ju'Not Joyner does indeed have a smooth tone to his voice as he sings "Hey There Delilah" by the Plain White T"s however this performance almost put me to sleep, it was so boring. I appreciate that he tried to make it his own but overall not his best I think. Paula and I agreed on this point somewhat. Kara mentioned the smooth tone but felt he was holding back. Simon mentions it was a safe choice but came off better than he thought it would. Randy was the only one who loved it. I didn't! My grade: C

We have heard and seen so much of the drama between Kristen McNamara and Nathaniel Marshall during the Hollywood rounds but we hear it again before Kristen takes the stage to sing one of my favorite songs by Tracy Chapman. She sings "Give Me One Reason" with a different arrangement that came off sounding sort of like bluesy jazz. It was a decent vocal but it just did not blow me away. It really did not blow the judges away either as they expected more of a rock edge from her. My grade: B-

I found the next performance fun in a way as the drama queen Nathaniel Marshall takes on the dynamic Meatloaf song "I Would Do Anything For Love". His first verse sounded off-key to me but he tries to change it up as the song progresses with a different arrangement that was more up-beat than the original. While I think Nathaniel can sing I did think this was not the right song as his Hollywood moments sounded so much better. Randy is unsure while Kara and Paula liked him better in Hollywood. Simon feels uncomfortable, wonder why? Of course then we have to see that nonsense with Ryan trying to get Simon to feel comfortable with Nate by trying to put his headband on Simon's head. C'mon gang, let's get to the next singer. My grade: B-

Felicia Bardon was brought back as a replacement for Joanna Pacitti although that part was not mentioned. She is a pretty girl and decides to do a copy cat version (Simon's words) of the Alicia Keys song "No One". I have liked many of Ms. Keys songs but this is not one of them. Felicia shows personality and honestly I do think she can sing but this was not a good song to showcase her voice. Paula on the other hand thinks she is an unbelievable talent, Kara likes her presence and Randy thought it was hot. For me personally just okay. My grade: B-

Finally I am thorougly entertained by the voice of Scott Macintyre. He is singing the old Bruce Hornsby classic "Mandarin Rain". While he did have a few pitch notes I loved the tone of his voice and most importantly the passion he displayed as he sang. Yeppers folks I wrote that down before the judges said a word. Kara thinks he could move mountains, Paula thinks he is one of the finest, Randy mentions the passion and the good parts of the song. Simon was not crazy about the song but feel Scott is growing on him. My thoughts are this guy is wonderful in spite of his disability. Loved how he did that high 5 with Ryan. My grade: B+

Our next contestant reminded me so much of Kristy Lee Cook. Her name is Kendall Beard and she is our country girl who chooses to sing "This Is For The Girls" by Martina McBride. For me she sounded pitchy and just average overall. Only Paula thinks she does a good job and mentions that ugly dress she is wearing although Paula likes it. The other judges felt it was the right genre for her but also felt she had issues with the notes. I am not sure we have heard that much from this girl although I vaguely remember her from the auditions. All I can add is in my book she is forgettable. My grade: D

Gotta give the next guy props for overcoming his accent to deliver a nice rendition of "Don't Let The Sun Go Down On Me" by Elton John. You hardly hear his Spanish accent at all. His voice tone was pretty good and I actually liked him during this number. Jorge Nunez also makes a good impression on the judges for over-coming his accent although Simon thinks they make too much of this. Kara tells him he was born to sing and this brings tears to Jorge as he is so happy. I was glad for him. My grade: B+

I think our final contestant is a shoe-in for the top 12. Lil Rounds is in the pimp spot tonight and does "Be Without You" by one of my favorites Mary J. Bligh. She shows lots of personality and was definitely the best of the girls. My only problem with her is she reminds me so much of Fantasia and I am hoping she does not start the screaming that Fantasia showed so much during her season. Simon thinks she is brilliant. Randy likes her swagger, Kara thinks she is a powerhouse and Paula ends it with she is 1st class. I would not go that far but do have to agree she did well. My grade: B

So now we have seen the final group and in reality my only choices for the top 3 of this group would be Scott Macintyre, Jorge Nunez and for the girls Lil Rounds. Will I be right on well I doubt it but you can check out the results tomorrow night. One last note: American Idol is on 3 nights this week due to the wild card picks which I am assuming will be spoken about on tomorrow night's show. Take care all!

Hm. Sounds like this group isn't too hot then.
~tyg

To be honest, I was quite surprised by the vocals of this group. Up until Ju Not Joyner sang I was bored silly with the contestants and their song choices. I like Ju Not and think he has potential. I feel the same for Felicia Barton and Jorge Nunez too. Have to agree...Lil Rounds is the shoe in from this group. I'm hoping Scott McIntyre makes it too. I think when he's sitting in front of his piano and he can sing circles around most of the contestants.

CC could not have described last night better.. You nailed it once again. Funny but with all the talk about VON on the AI boards I could not remember his and now I know why, he did ok but as Simon would say "I'm not jumping up and down" The others following him were average at best. Except for Scott, he did AMAZING I thought anyway, great performance at last... I also agree that Jorge Nunez did a great job with his song, he's not Clay by any strech but it was very good just the same. And of course I knew in this round that Lil Rounds would be the Power house and a sho in for the top 12. I agree that the three that will go forward will be
Scott Macintyre, Jorge Nunez and Lil Rounds, so that would make it next to impossible for Kai to be a wild card choice. Dang it anyway..... Unless of course they don't do the 6-6 split...

great review and thanks so much...