American Idol Season 9

[Eaglesfan27]

Originally Posted by MJ4H

I was baffled with the judges' reactions to both Michael (especially) and Todrick. Seriously. What the hell were they listening to. Kara CRIED???

Ditto. Michael's performance was not nearly as good as they made it out to be.

[Thomkal]

Yeah I'm with the you guys about Michael. I hate when guys do the falsetto stuff, and its even worse when a big guy like Michael does it. Had some good moments after the falsetto, but was all over the place too.

If I had to pick a "winner" tonight, it'd be Todrick. I thought it was going to be a disaster, but he was finally able to achieve the unique to original ratio the judges wanted while improving his vocals and usual good performance skills. I really hate it though when Simon tells someone they are going to be a Broadway singer not a recording artist.

I think all the guys other than Michael and Casey are in danger tonight because none of their performances stood out and/or don't have a big fanbase. Casey finally picked the right genre for his voice, and did enough to get by. Aaron finally picked the right genre for his voice too. The beginning was shaky, got a little better, then the last 10-15 seconds showed what he could be like if he knew what the hell he was doing up there. I'm with Kara though, why when you are 16 are you singing a song about calling home to check on the kids?

Tim has found his calling-gospel music. He should sing any song he does in gospel fashion no matter what the genre is for the day. If he survives till next week, it'll be interesting to see what the confidence boost he got this week does for him. I'd still like to see him and Aaron gone though. I thought that was Andrew's best performance last night, but maybe because its the only song I knew before he sung it. He needs to stop concentrating on singing songs done by women though if he survives. Bad song choice by Lee, but credit for trying to do something different. He went first, so could be in danger, but likely will survive.

[Ksyrup]

I’m having a difficult time with this season. First of all, as I get older and more and more isolated from popular music and just stick to the styles I know and love (new and old), there are too many songs being performed I don’t know and frankly, don’t want to hear again. I thought it was bad to listen to a night of Manilow or disco or whatever, but I’m second-guessing whether it’s better to drown rather than be suffocated. So there’s that – it’s just hard to gauge someone’s interpretation of a song if you’ve never heard the original. My “know that” ratio is WAY down this year so far. I think out of the guys, I only knew 2 songs last night (Hallelujah and Somebody to Love).

Another problem is how damn “samey” everyone is. On the girls side, there are 3-5 girls who mine the same styles/genres and it gets repetitive after awhile. On the guys side, same thing – how many acoustic guitar interpretations can we handle in one night? By the time Lynche got up there, I was seriously hoping he would belch God Bless America just to break up the monotony (it seems like only Todrick has that ability right now (breaking the monotony, although I’m sure we’ll hear some belching when he runs out of stage tricks to use)). BTW – tsk tsk at Simon for calling Todrick’s performance of a QUEEN song too theatrical. And a year after Adam Lambert, no less! Sheesh!

And finally… the voices. There are several people out of the remaining 16 who can “sing,” but whose tonal qualities make me want to kill myself. Lee Dewyze – hate the Vedder thing he’s got going on. He’s like a bad David Cook. Alex Lambert – probably the worst decent singer I’ve ever heard. His tone is so affected, I held my nose and sang in a contorted vocal after watching him, and my wife agreed I sounded way too much like him. Seriously, dude sounds like Kermit screaming for help in a trash compactor. Aaron Kelly – WTF were those judges hearing? Ellen of all people got it right! Dude’s got Goat Vibrato that would make Jim Breuer sit up and take notice. Holy fuck! On the women’s side, Lilly is the one I don’t get – I had to FF through her performance the other night, she was so tuneless. Lacey’s close, but bearable when she’s on. If that was “on” for Lilly, then I’m doubly pissed they gave her the pimp spot. How many Didi/Siobhan/Lilly/Lacey-type singers do they need in the competition, anyway?!

Usually, I can recognize a good singer and just not like their style, stage presence, etc. (like Archie), but this year, the voices themselves are just killing me. Between that and my cluelessness about the songs (I had no idea what Kara was blabbering about – I didn’t know that song and couldn’t understand a word Big Mike sang, so that whole sequence went completely over my head), this season is easily the least enjoyable I’ve watched so far.

Speaking of which… this looks fairly interesting. Almost a reversal of AI – instead of unknowns singing popular songs, they take unknown songs from singer-songwriters and have popular acts sing them. It’ll probably devolve into the search for the next Kara DioGuardi and I’ll end up disappointed, but I’m definitely going to keep an eye out for this (it's a Bravo pick-up).

HITMAKERS (wt)
An elimination competition series featuring undiscovered singer-songwriters, talented newcomers battle through a series of innovative songwriting challenges to find out who's ready for the top of the pop charts. In each episode, the winning song will be revealed in a performance by a special guest star, some of the hottest singers today. True Entertainment ("The Real Housewives of Atlanta") is developing this reality series for Bravo with Steven Weinstock, Glenda Hersh, Tim Bogart and Evan Bogart serving as executive producers. Bogart is part of "The Writing Camp," one of the most powerful songwriting collectives in the business today, having written such worldwide hits as the Grammy Award winning "Halo" (Beyonce"), the #1 smash worldwide single, "SOS" (Rihanna), among countless others.

[Mustang]

Next week's theme is The Rolling Stones. Crystal should do fine the others... oy.

[GrantDawg]

Originally Posted by Mustang

Next week's theme is The Rolling Stones. Crystal should do fine the others... oy.

In other news, Tyler Grady just shot himself.

[GrantDawg]

Originally Posted by Ksyrup

. BTW – tsk tsk at Simon for calling Todrick’s performance of a QUEEN song too theatrical. And a year after Adam Lambert, no less! Sheesh!

No joke. Simon has heard of Queen, right?

[Sun Tzu]

Speaking of Queens, since when does Simon have a fiance? What's his name?

[cuervo72]

Originally Posted by Mustang

Next week's theme is The Rolling Stones. Crystal should do fine the others... oy.

Eh, I dunno. I'm sure someone could do ok with Wild Horses, Dead Flowers, Ruby Tuesday, or Angie. Maybe falsetto some Emotional Rescue.

[Autumn]

Let's hope no one tries Angie.

[Mustang]

Originally Posted by cuervo72

Eh, I dunno. I'm sure someone could do ok with Wild Horses, Dead Flowers, Ruby Tuesday, or Angie. Maybe falsetto some Emotional Rescue.

So, what are the odds that Alex will do Start Me Up?

I he does that, I'll vote for him 100 times.

[mtolson]

If your not a fan or R&B and/or Maxwell you probably will not have a great appreciation for what Michael did. Kara crying, I don't quite get that either. Maybe it was the words behind the song. But Michael's performance of the song was almost (if not) better the the original. The falsetto is part of the song and he practically nailed it. He absolutely crushed that song !

[Mustang]

That bottom 4 was way wrong.

[MJ4H]

Lilly not making it is a fucking joke.

[tyketime]

Yowza... I didn't see that one coming. Especially the last spot for the ladies.

[CrimsonFox]

I think Kara has found Paula's stash of pills :P

[CrimsonFox]

Originally Posted by cuervo72

Eh, I dunno. I'm sure someone could do ok with Wild Horses, Dead Flowers, Ruby Tuesday, or Angie. Maybe falsetto some Emotional Rescue.

LOL while I love Emotional Rescue, it would be a total death song on idol.

The best choices for these guys (IMHO of course) are You Can't Always Get What You Want, Street Fighting Man, Waiting On A Friend, Gimme Shelter, Paint It Black, and things like that that give the singers complexity and big notes. The ones that will faulter will be those that chooce the Stones simpler songs and those that focus more on guitar riffs and "the band sound" (Satisfaction, Start Me Up, Get Off My Cloud, Last Time, etc). There are a bunch of songs on the fence of that that if they change up the song a bit, they could really wow the crowd.
I hope someone does Monkeyman! One of my favorites.

[CrimsonFox]

Oh dear! The teeny boppers don't like your choices to go home. Ouch, some of the better ones going home.

[Lathum]

I agree with what everyone says, really bad results show. I don't recall seeing so many other contestants crying either.

[Scoobz0202]

I may be narrow minded, and unopen to other peoples taste in music, but it's shit like this (Lily) that makes me not want to watch this show.

[Lathum]

Originally Posted by Scoobz0202

I may be narrow minded, and unopen to other peoples taste in music, but it's shit like this (Lily) that makes me not want to watch this show.

I certainly wouldn't buy a CD she made, but I recognize superior talent when I see it and she is more talented than some people who got through.

[Scoobz0202]

I have never really followed an entire season of AI from start to finish but I have definitely watch parts of every season. I don't think my favorite singer has ever won, but that's not to say I don't think a lot of them aren't deserving. A lot of the winners are extremely talented. I have never bought a cd from any winner.

But every year this show just pisses me off with the talented musicians that get booted for bullshit. Last year it was the blind pianist who was just fucking terrible.

What has Katie done during the live shows to deserve to be in the top 12 other then have potential? I very well could be missing a performance but has she had a true standout performance, at all?

[TexasT]

Originally Posted by MJ4H

Lilly not making it is a fucking joke.

Absolutely! How Paige made it over Lilly is a total farce.

[CrimsonFox]

Paige is total crap. Should never have made the top 24.

[Mota]

I agree. Lilly was great, and while her performance this week wasn't the best, she is a real artist. Katie has been brutal, a powerful voice wrapped up in one of the most egotistical packages I've ever seen. That girl really looks like she loves herself. I don't understand why she got ANY votes.

It's also time to send Adam home. He is trying so desperately to relive a moment (and so are the judges) that he has done nothing for weeks now.

[Ksyrup]

Great night last night, Lilly and Alex go home! Woo-hoo!

I thought Lilly was terrible. Pretty shocked to see someone in the pimp spot sent home, but she was really bad. It didn't help that the judges had to fly through their critiques and just said "great" and they ended the show. She got the short shrift, and it obviously hurt her.

But really, what hurt her the most is demographics, plain and simple. She's the ugliest of the 4 girls who sing essentially the same style of song. There are only so many votes to go around. Who would you rather see/watch from a looks perspective - Siobhan, Didi, Lacey, or Lilly?

It's interesting that with new charges of "racism" cropping up over all the black contestants sent home, the truth really came out last night (as if it wasn't obvious before) - the black voting (watching?) demo is small, and they typically congregate around 1 black contestant on each side. That's why Paige stayed, and there was no room for Todrick. That's why, way back when, Fantasia, Jennifer Hudson, and the other black chick were in the bottom 3 at the top 5 show - they split the vote. Syesha Mercado. Vonzell Solomon. Paris Bennett. Each got the black vote. Hell, Lil Rounds stuck around WAY too long thanks to the black vote... Only the season with Doolittle, Jordin Sparks and Lakisha Jones really stands out, but look at the competition - Blake Lewis, Phil Stacey, and Chris Richardson!

People tend to gravitate toward what they like and are accustomed to - black people are no different than white people. And that's why Paige stayed and Lilly got sent home. Supply and demand among the demographics.

And she sucked the other night, too. She's really no big loss - she wasn't going to win. And it'll be one less lilith fair performance next week, hopefully.

[Mustang]

On a different note, I wonder what was up with Crystal. Her body language was very odd. It was almost like she was beaten down and had no energy. While others were excited and congratulated each other when they went to the top 12, she just seemed to be by herself.

[tyketime]

Originally Posted by Mustang

On a different note, I wonder what was up with Crystal. Her body language was very odd. It was almost like she was beaten down and had no energy. While others were excited and congratulated each other when they went to the top 12, she just seemed to be by herself.

I noticed that too and wondered if she had another episode/recurrence of her issues from the previous week.

[Ksyrup]

Yes, that was very strange. And I don't think it was just that she was upset about people going home, because she was the only one that Seacrest didn't bring down on the stage and talk about before getting to the results. He just had her stand up and he told her pretty quickly. Surely she couldn't have been concerned she was going home, either. Must have been an illness or other medical issue going on there. She looked tired and like crap and completely out of it.

[Danny]

Only one that really didn't deserve to go was Lilly. She was better than both Katie and Paige, and more deserving. I am glad Tim made it. He's definitely worked hard and showed a lot of resiliency to come back from being eliminated and then his performance the first week.

[Ksyrup]

Tim Urban = Kevin Covais (or John Stevens or Scott Savol or...)

So impossibly over his head on this show that he's embarrassed people keep voting for him.

I think you guys are ignoring how rough Lilly's performance was. She was out of tune all over the place. The start of that song was painful, the arrangement sounded like Tiny Bubbles, and it's an old fashioned song to begin with. Others were worse, sure, but again, there are other factors for why people go home besides strictly performance.

[Danny]

I actually thought Tim did a real nice job the last two weeks and enjoyed him this week more than most of the contestants. He is far superior to Covais, Stevens, etc...

[MJ4H]

Lilly was not that bad. She was out of tune in a few places, but nothing offensive. The song choice/boring arrangement were the real problem here. Technically, her performance and interpretation were fine.

[Kodos]

I'm glad I'm not the only one who didn't understand the praise for the song that brought Kara to tears. Obviously, I'm no expert, but a lot of songs are getting praise that I just don't get. I wish someone would rock a little. All this ballady crap is really wearing thin. Not having a David Cook type to root for this season is really killing my interest. The performances, especially on the guys side, are just so boring.

I also suffer from the Ksyrup problem of not knowing the majority of songs that get performed.

[Matthean]

Originally Posted by Ksyrup

I thought Lilly was terrible.

+1. I really don't get people saying how well she did. She was one of the easiest to pick out as somebody who wouldn't be winning it all.

[mtolson]

Originally Posted by Mustang

On a different note, I wonder what was up with Crystal. Her body language was very odd. It was almost like she was beaten down and had no energy. While others were excited and congratulated each other when they went to the top 12, she just seemed to be by herself.

She must have been close to Katelyn. When Katelyn got the boot instead of Paige she walked back to Crystal and if you were able to read lips you could see Crystal saying "That is F'ed Up" (she actually used the word). From that point on she seemed down. Paige sticking around over ANYONE at this point is crazy. She had no hype and has down absolutely nothing so I don't know how she is pulling in votes.

[Raiders Army]

Does anybody else see Lacey Brown and think of Adam Lambert? They could pass as twins.

[Mustang]

Originally Posted by mtolson

She must have been close to Katelyn. When Katelyn got the boot instead of Paige she walked back to Crystal and if you were able to read lips you could see Crystal saying "That is F'ed Up" (she actually used the word). From that point on she seemed down. Paige sticking around over ANYONE at this point is crazy. She had no hype and has down absolutely nothing so I don't know how she is pulling in votes.

Went back and watched it. Yep, she said that clear as day.

Hey, I kinda like her now.

[MJ4H]

I'm still pissed about Lily, but at least Siobahn is still around. I love that girl. That was awesome and hysterical simultaneously.

[Eaglesfan27]

I love Siobhan. My wife does, too. First time in several years that we are both rooting for the same person to win it.

[MacroGuru]

I missed the show as I was at my daughters Choir concert and since I am not staying at home right now...anyone know where I can catch tonight's performances online?

[Solecismic]

The Rolling Stones were taking what was widely reported as their "last" American tour in the early '80s, when I was in high school. Classmates who would ordinarily be as likely to cut school as pick up a crack pipe and blow smoke in the face of our Shakespeare English teacher were camping out all night for tickets.

Even then, Mick Jagger was seen as ancient and ready for pasture. He was in his late 30s. While still much, much older than the developer of Front Office Football at its inception, hardly ancient by today's musical standards.

While it's likely drug use has left Jagger with the brain matter of a spry 110-year-old, he is still performing almost 30 years later.

It's likely that no genre, other than Celtic Harp Ballads, is further from today's American Idol than classic rock and roll. But, with almost 50 years of songs to choose from, The Rolling Stones are as recognizable a brand as any in music. The Idol people likely jumped at the opportunity to access what Seacrest labeled "the Jagger/Richards songbook."

True to form, only one of the twelve Idol finalists sounded like a rocker today. That was veteran performer Crystal Bowersox, who picked up the coveted final position tonight. The rest tried anything and everything to sound musically relevant. Most did, which was a pleasant surprise. It wasn't a great night, but it could have been much, much worse.

The rankings for tonight:

1. Siobhan Magnus. Siobhan took the dramatic song "Paint it Black" and tried about 100 things with it, building into her trademark scream. That scream is about all I'd expect any more from Siobhan, the rest is memorable and different. She is forcing us to take notice of all the things she can do with her voice - from the screams to the rich lower tones to the perfect register changes. She is an extraordinary talent with no defined direction. Score of 94.

2. Crystal Bowersox. I thought Crystal connected with her song in a way no one else did. And I think she's the only one in the group who has any understanding of what classic rock means, and how it should be interpreted. She is surprisingly versatile. I was a little frustrated with how the judges reacted, because I thought she was very good. Her father, however, needs to learn how to play baseball. There's no crying in baseball. Score of 87.

3. Didi Benami. Together with Crystal and Siobhan, Didi makes up the most talented group of women Idol has ever thrown on stage. It would be a shame if they aren't the final three. Of course they won't, that's not how the voting works. Didi, like Crystal, tries hard to interpret her songs. Her version of Play with Fire was restrained and ballady. She has a quality voice, but the song didn't give her the opportunity to explore its richness. She did very well with a tough theme for her talents. Score of 85.

4. Casey James. Casey proved that you can interpret a Rolling Stones song both with a country twang and the pacing and sound of The Beatles. He is really an unusual singer. I think he could do an excellent job with a Beatles cover band. He added a lot of nice tone and styling to the song, but it was a bit of a dull performance. Score of 81.

5. Tim Urban. The judges hated him today. I thought his rendition of "Under My Thumb" was a solid modern interpretation. It was a bit precious, but it showed a new side of Tim. Maybe he's more than the Jonas-wannabe he appeared to be a few weeks ago. There was a bit of Bublé in there and there was absolutely no reason for him to try and rock tonight. Score of 80.

6. Michael Lynche. I wish he'd ditch the falsetto. Yes, he can do it, but it always sounds incongruous with his song choices and it's forced and loud. He can sing, but this was not much of a performance - very unorganized. I thought Simon's charge that he was "desperate" wasn't terribly accurate. Just struggling a bit for relevance. He is more than capable of breaking out any given week, though, so he needs to stay strong. Score of 76.

7. Lee Dewyze. If Lee had a pulse tonight, it would have done wonders. He did a grungy take on "Beast of Burden." I think he put several oxen and a wildebeest to sleep. It was competent and uninteresting. I yawned. I fidgeted. I endured. Score of 74.

8. Lacey Brown. Lacey stumbled through a weird interpretation of "Ruby Tuesday." It's hard to imagine a performer less suited for this theme, so I don't blame her any more than I blame Tim for trying something very different. She lost herself in the middle of the song, though, and it was difficult separating her from any other weak contestant they've ever had on the show. Score of 64.

9. Aaron Kelly. The Kid (as in young goat) bleated his way through a flat, predictable and entirely dated interpretation of "Angie." The kids (as in girls dialing phones) probably like him, so he will stick around longer than he should. Score of 62.

10. Paige Miles. All my notes on this performance related to her sounding rather absent of soul, like she had a bad cold. Then she spent the judging portion explaining she has laryngitis. After a weak opening, she looked very uncomfortable. It's too bad she can't have a pass, but, for the fourth straight week, she was kind of bad. So I wouldn't mind if she went home anyway. Score of 56.

11. Katie Stevens. I know they're trying to save the robotic teen, because she looks terrific. She also wants to put Connecticut on the map. I hate to break it to her, but Connecticut has meant a lot more to the union than a likely 10th-place competitor on a reality show. Even a popular reality show. Katie had major pitch issues. I think the robot needs oil badly, and not even wild horses can keep her around much longer. Score of 52.

12. Andrew Garcia. His dad cried again. The audience should have cried, too, as his pitchy rendition of "Give Me Shelter" sounded more like he was making fun of the show than anything you'd ever want to hear on the radio. If the judges make one more reference to "Straight Up," I think Paul Abdul should come back from the undead, walk on stage, and give Andrew a wedgie. It might improve his tone. Score of 45.

Summary: I know it's popular to say this is the worst group of finalists ever on Idol. I disagree. I think it might be the best. Tonight wasn't memorable or perfect, but it wasn't only rock and roll, and I liked it.

Expected Bottom Three: Lacey Brown, Andrew Garcia, Paige Miles.

Who Should Go: Paige.

Who Will Go: Lacey.

[GrantDawg]

I'm agreeing with Jim a lot this year. This night had disaster written all over it, but it actually wasn't terrible. I just wish they'd put "goat boy" out of my misery.

[Ramzavail]

I think we are all channeling our inner dork a little with Siobhan. Can she sing? Yes. Is she star quality? I don't see it. They tried to fancy up her hair, and she looked awful.

I think Siobhan is the type of girl that would give guys like us the time of day in high school/college (ie. Anti-Janelle, we couldn't run like Tim Tebow). Cute, dorky type. And that is leading us to like her alot more and ignoring the issue of whether can she really be the American Idol and/or a prominent popular musical artist. I think when the time comes America isn't going to see star quality in her.

[Eaglesfan27]

Originally Posted by Ramzavail

I think we are all channeling our inner dork a little with Siobhan. Can she sing? Yes. Is she start quality? I don't see it. They tried to fancy up her hair, and she looked awful.

I think Siobhan is the type of girl that would give guys like us the time of day in high school/college (ie. Anti-Janelle, we couldn't run like Tim Tebow). Cute, dorky type. And that is leading us to like her alot more and ignoring the issue of whether can she really be the American Idol and/or a prominent popular musical artist. I think when the time comes America isn't going to see star quality in her.

I agree that sense of approachability is a major part of her likability, but she has immense talent, and I think that sense of approachability will be a major asset in making her a star after the show regardless of whether or not she wins (which I think she will at this point.) I think she has appeals to many different groups. Oh yeah, she looked far from awful.

[path12]

I'm warming to Siobhan over the past couple weeks. But I do hate the big note scream generally and that might get old quickly.

[GrantDawg]

Originally Posted by path12

I'm warming to Siobhan over the past couple weeks. But I do hate the big note scream generally and that might get old quickly.

Agreed. The thing is, with that song, she needed something. She is doing well arranging songs that are not the most vocally challenging by adding a little to them. Like I said earlier, you want to add challenge without destroying the song. Too many runs and such are as bad as none.

[Ksyrup]

Last night wasn't too bad. I seriously wish they would eliminate 2 people a week until the top 6 or 8, though. I'd nominate these people for elimination right now - Andrew, Paige, Aaron, Katie, Tim, and Lacey. The idea that a couple of these people will spend another MONTH on the show, if not longer, is maddening.

Aside from Tim, I didn't think anyone embarrassed themselves, which is a feat in and of itself, I guess. And of course, Tim - the Low Expectations Candidate - was mostly in tune, so even after completely destroying the idea of Under My Thumb with an inane reggae take, the judges weren't as hard on him as they should have been. I think they're still recovering from his first week performance, where anything is a solid gold performance by comparison. I just assumed he stole that reggae idea from some YT performance he saw - did he really come up with that on his own?! Yikes.

I think there is a bit of a "most alluring woman in the office" phenomenon to Siobhan. She definitely can sing, and there's a sex appeal about her - kinda like a home-schooled, raised by hippies version of Katherine McPhee - but really, what makes her stand out in this group is that her performances are mostly jarring. Everyone else is milquetoast by comparison, with the exception of Bowersox. I thought last night's performance seemed way too calculated at imitating Adam Lambert to be considered great, but again, compared to the rest she definitely stood out and did a great job mixing solid vocals with an unhinged/edgy performer vibe. Maybe when $imon $ees her, he's thinking AI's version of Lady Gaga or Katy Perry?

As great as Crystal is, she isn't "out there" like Siobhan - she's just a flat-out professional musician among amateur singers content with doing her thing and riding it out as long as it goes. I have no doubt Crystal won't win, because she doesn't care. At some point, as she continues churning out Melissa Etheridge/Janis Joplin takes on every theme week, the judges will praise her but start asking for more or some surprises, and I don't think she'll be inclined to give them anything more than she already has, because she knows who she is. She's like a more talented version of Brooke White. In a pretty weak/samey field, though, she will still likely go far.

Now comes the real test for AI watchers - having to endure several more Aaron Kelly's of the competition perform week after week while we're all tortured with one elimination at a time. I wish I could DVR through the next 6 weeks in one sitting.

[Thomkal]

Siobhan was the best for me last night. Crystal, Casey, and wait for it...Aaron in the next group for me. Simon said it the best really for Aaron-found a song that suited his voice nearly perfectly and didn't try to do to much with it. That however is the problem with Aaron-its a disaster when he tries to do too much. And since he has little clue what he's doing up there, most of the time its a disaster. This may have been just a one-time thing or the start of something miraculous at the start for me at least-Aaron lasting past the top 10. We shall see. Now likely he will be eliminated this week since I said all that.

[Drake]

(I sort of liked Tim's reggae take on Under my Thumb.)

[Sun Tzu]

Tim turned a great lick that is blatantly and unapologetically about a Man who is emotionally abusive towards a Woman into a cutesy reggae song. I can't believe the judges didn't call him out on that.

Michael was, for the second week in a row, a dancing joke. It's like he's absolutely dying for attention, bouncing around trying to get people to pay attention to his dancing as apposed to his singing, followed by 3 seconds of standing still so he can do a falsetto, and then another minute or two of terrible singing and bouncing around. My wife hit it right on the button last night when she said "if you close your eyes when Michael is on stage, you start wondering why he's even in the competition".

Lee is getting better every week, and seems to be getting a good grip on what he's good at. What bothers me is the judges see him finding his niche, and then they ask him to do something completely different. Lee falls right into the Dave Mathews/Jack Johnson/Accoustic Eddie Vedder mold, and the judges acknowledge that, but then they ask him to do something to "wow" them. What the hell else do you want from the guy? He's doing what he's good at, leave the poor fucker alone and let him explore his own musical stylings without you telling him to turn the volume up and be your next David Cook/Adam Lambert.