After blowing off Idol last week and realizing the sky did not fall down, I’d given serious thought to ignoring the rest of the season, too. After all, with two contestants previously under recording contracts and one bragging about his international tours, the show no longer feels like it’s about discovering undiscovered talent. Unfortunately, there wasn’t much else on of interest tonight so I figured I might as well listen to the guys sing.
I almost wish I’d just gone to bed early.
Michael Johns: Ordinarily, I’m a big Fleetwood Mac fan but his efforts to sound like Lindsay Buckingham were reminiscent of a goat strangling on a piece of barbed wire. And is it just me, or does his upper lip look more like a bottom lip? Weird.
Jason Castro: The granola-munching Rasta hippie dude is back? Color me surprised. I kind of liked his rendition of that old Bee Gees tune: nice and vapid, just like the original. The only thing missing was someone sparking up a clove cigarette to give the whole performance that Friday night at the coffee house feel. Whatever will he do without that guitar to cover his weak vocals?
Luke Menard: Nice piece of college musical theatre performance, but there was only one Freddie Mercury and you aren’t him. So next time you want to show off your range try to at least ensure that all the notes in the song are actually in your range. Oh, and stop mugging for the home viewers you camera whore.
Robbie Carrico: Sure, he’s got the hair and wears his bandanna like Brett Michaels, but watching this guy move reminds me more of Justin Timberlake. Authentic rocker? I don’t think so. That was quite possibly the most lukewarm version of “Hot Blooded” I’ve ever heard.
Danny Noriega: The photos confirm he’s been a girl longer than he’s been a boy. (As if the song choice didn’t?) I’d feel bad about being so snarky but….Zzzzzzzz. Oh, sorry, I fell asleep. Ish.
David Hernandez: Somehow, I’m not terribly surprised to learn he wore leotards as a child. I like him anyway, and I really liked his rendition of “Papa Was a Rolling Stone”. Sssssmokin’!
Jason Yeager: Someone needs to advise this young man to firm up those pecs or get a man-bra. As to the song, I couldn’t decide if I was listening to a karaoke performance or watching a toothpaste commercial. And what the heck was that odd little flappy move at the end? (Could it have been a pec workout?)
Chikezie: I believe… I believe… I believe I’ve always loved Donnie Hathaway and that was one fine performance of one of his great songs. It looked fun, too. I hadn’t remembered much of him from previous performances (except the infamous red suit) but I really enjoyed this one even with the cheap shot at Simon.
David Cook: I’m supposed to root for this guy as our local contestant, what with him coming from a town just an hour away. He’s a word nerd, too, which one might think would make me like him. But I don’t. He’s smug, he sings down his nose and his voice is utterly unremarkable. Also, he needs to wash his hair.
David Archuleta: This little guy is just so adorable he makes me want to pick him up… for my daughter. Such a pure, wonderful and expressive voice. And yet as much as I like the guy, it really shocked me to hear someone his age sing John Lennon’s anthem, Imagine. It shocked me even more to love it as much as I did. And I absolutely 100% did love it!
