American Idol - Season 8 - Page 10

Re: American Idol - Season 8

In honor of tonight's first live performance night, here are the last three SAB's for non-finalists:

Re: American Idol - Season 8

I know it's early. But, an hour into this first 12. I have to say. This new system stinks. Only 3 of these 12 will make this. I have seen 3 so far who should go on and we still haven't seen the other 12, including Danny.

Re: American Idol - Season 8

How many wild card picks do the judges have? Can't they bring some of them back that get passed over?

I found this group mostly poor, with a few stand outs. The girl with the Blonde and Pink hair was excellent, as was the Braddy guy. So far the rest have not impressed. Show is not over yet......

Re: American Idol - Season 8

Yeah. Todd, I wouldn't be surprised if you've put your fears aside now. The three or so after Jackie made it look like it was going to be a strong show, but then it went totally to hell. The ones I remember liking were Braddy, the pink hair, and whoever went right after them maybe. Anoop is good, but he talks about bringing energy and then drops that dud on us? Casey was just terrible, with those bizarre facial expressions. Ann Marie looked and sounded better than her tonight, but it wasn't good enough to go on. She might be in the category where she can pull it back out in the wild card round, but I don't know. After that, Danny was good, but I have to agree with Simon. Good, but stomping and whistling for him? Nah. Unprofessional on their part as well.

Re: American Idol - Season 8

Greg, Your right it did go down hill. Although, I liked Danny. Then you had Tatiana. Who can sing. But, then completely ruins it at the end by doing these diva movement and expressions. My guess for who moves on is the following: Danny for the guys, The blond with pink highlights for the girls and for the most votes after...either Braddy or Sarver.

Phil, The judges can pick 3 contestants to move on.

Re: American Idol - Season 8

what did they do to Alexis grace?
she looked terrific but now she looks like everybody else who is on this show.
weird hair color and dressed like a hooker in the preview before she performed.
Do they tell these people to do this to make them stand out more?

Re: American Idol - Season 8

WTF??? I thought that there was no show tonight because of the President speaking and it would be Wed/Thurs this week...this sucks!

Re: American Idol - Season 8

That's next week.

Re: American Idol - Season 8

I think Simon likes Danny Gokey, but he's right - it's way too early to be hitting the superlatives. Friggin' relax or you oversell him and there's nowhere to go but down.

Alexis was the big surprise tonight. She HAS to be top girl. Wow. What a ballsy performance. Didn't think she had it.

I think Sarver picks up third. Maybe Tatiana or the girl who couldn't sing "Natural Woman".

Re: American Idol - Season 8

Jackie Tohn - clownish performance, who can connect to that song while singing it?

Ricky Braddy - he's got a solid voice, but AI doomed him with not much love in the previous episodes. Too much pimping for Danny, so they sabotaged Ricky.

Alexis Grace - she's got a solid voice, and presentation. I hope she makes it through to the final 12.

Brent Keith - country bar singer is in his future. No star potential at all.

Stevie Wright - trainwreck, felt bad for her, Taylor Swift songs might as well be country rap because there is not much "singing" in them.

Anoop Desai - whiney-sounding, and chose a bad song.

Casey Carlson - I feel bad for her because the judges used her looks to string her "fans" along when they knew she couldn't truly sing too well.

Michael Sarver - terrible performance for a song that demands some grit and fortitude. I see no future for him as a recording artist.

Ann Marie Boskovich - sort of lousy at the start, and limped home okay. She squandered her big chance.

Stephen Fowler - WTF? He pissed away a second chance as well.

Tatiana Del Toro - good vocal range and a natural singer, unfortunately, it's her intangibles that will sink her sooner or later.

Danny Gokey - good bar singer as well, the hype is truly out of control so early in this marathon, which is too bad for Danny. His range isn't too impressive, but he's a nice guy (whatever).

Who I'd rather see go through:

Alexis
Ricky
Tatiana

But I think it'll end up being:
Danny
Alexis
Tatiana

Re: American Idol - Season 8

well Gokey ran away with the night as I thought he would. overall the night was a disaster, I expect Sarver will have the second highest vote count and get through because he actually can choose a song, which was a task far beyond the skills of most of these twelve.

of the girls, the best were only middling, Alexis, I think will take the night, barring a vote for the worst upset. Tatiana was competent and the first girl of the night (casey?) was entertaining and had she not been cursed with drawing the first slot might have squeaked through, but I don't think she'll make it.


I'm hesitant to even peek at dial idol, I can imagine Gokey is running away like 50:1 versus everyone else in vote counts. :-p

Re: American Idol - Season 8

At least Tatiana looks good in her modeling photos -

Puerto Rico Lifestyle Magazine - American Idol's New Low: the Tatiana Del Toro "Nude" Libel Begins

Re: American Idol - Season 8

The audio for tonight sounded off for some reason, crappy mics or bad sound editing? I don't know.
The whole time I was watching Tatiana I was hoping the stage would collapse.

3 that I think will go through:
Danny, Casey, Anooop

Re: American Idol - Season 8

Due to sound mix, it was sometimes difficult for me to determine
when voices were weak/thin as opposed to the mix just messed up.

Jackie Tohn - A Little Less Conversation - Did nothing for me.

*Ricky Braddy - A Song For You - Bam! Who is this guy? #1 on the night for me.

Alexis Grace - I Never Loved A Man - A lot of sass to her performance, but low impact for me

Brent Keith - Hicktown - Cruise Ship singer for me.

Stevie Wright - You Belong With Me - Did nothing for me. Karaoke.

Anoop Desai - Angel of Mine - Song doesn't rock me. He sings OK.

Casey Carlson - Every Little Thing She Does Is Magic - If she's not gay, why's she singing this song? Karaoke

Michael Sarver - I Don't Want To Be - Trouble with low notes. Don't dance. Can hold a tune, but ultimately Karaoke for me.

Ann Marie Boskovich - Natural Woman - Cute girl. Ran out of breath at times. Performance started out with potential for me, but ultimately ended up thin for me.

Stephen Fowler - Rock With You - Seemed a strange choice before he started. Remained strange for me. Good voice in there somewhere, though. I found myself wishing I could hear him sing a good song that's right for him.

*Tatiana Del Toro - Saving All My Love For You - I saw Patrick's assessment before watching the show and I wanted to reply "for the love of all that's decent, how could you advocate sending this girl on?" But then I listened, and it's undeniable. She had a full voice that was just on. Great timbre at times. The saddest part of all is if I had a label, I'd probably sign her. That is, assuming she's not as far gone as she sometimes appeared.

*Danny Gokey - Hero - He's been my favorite male, but that's because I never noticed Ricky before now. Mix wasn't great. Sounded good, but a bit thin. Maybe drowned out a bit by the music? I want to hear more.

Re: American Idol - Season 8

Jackie Tohn - What was she thinking. Bad song choice and a painful performance. I was embarrassed for her. She has a great voice and went the wrong way. I predict a wildcard spot after she sings a classic rock song.

Ricky Braddy - I agree with Patrick -- we never got to know this guy. Good performance but he doesn't look like a star. Excellent control and range.

Alexis Grace - she won me over by the end of her song -- despite the slip she was wearing.

Brent Keith - Hope he likes playing state fairs. He won't make it.

Stevie Wright - I really felt bad for her. She's so cute and nice but she is just too young for the competition. Great teeth and eyebrows.

Anoop Desai - Great voice, looks like a dork. He needs new hair. I would love it if he makes it through.

Casey Carlson - A stunner but she blew her big chance. Terrible song choice, terrible performance. It was written all over her face.

Michael Sarver - Good song choice but he should have sang the newer Gavin DeGraw song. He had moments but it was not a strong performance overall.

Ann Marie Boskovich - Meh performance. She won't win so she shouldn't go through. She looks older than 22.

Stephen Fowler - Should have sang the song he messed up from behind the piano. Rock With You doesn't have anything to show range or soul. He has both and we don't get to see it. A shame -- he's much better than that performance.

Tatiana Del Toro - Had moments of brilliance but she's too weird. She took it down a few notches but that's not really her. Anyone else notice they whitened her teeth?

Danny Gokey - I disagree with the previous posts. from the first note, he was the best by far last night -- in a different league altogether. His voice has power and grit. He'll skate through and go Top 4 easily. He's my pick to win the whole thing. What can I say? I believe the hype.

Danny, Alexis and Ricky move on.

My wife and I discussed each performance and came to this conclusion: The producers should pick the songs for the first week. Last night should have been Billboard Hot 100 from 2008-2009. They are picking terrible songs for themselves -- too old or too obscure.

Re: American Idol - Season 8

It seemed that the “3 out of 12 advance” format with 3 wildcards would result in a lot of early favorites being thrown by the wayside, and I was worried that too many good singers wouldn’t have a good chance at cracking the top 12 as a result. What I failed to remember from past years is that too many of the early favorites flame out at this point, victims of nerves, poor songs choices, and the inability to stay on key or connect with the audience. A select few were able to muddle through and eventually find their way, but the majority of the screw ups were cast off quickly. While this current format appears to be harsh, it really does separate the wheat from the chaff. And oy, what a chaffy evening it was. So chaffy in fact, that Suzy Chaffee could be the spokesperson, and she wouldn’t even have to change her name.
fficeffice" />

The biggest problem with Kara sitting in as the fourth judge is that she has reigned in Paula – she’s just not letting Paula be Paula anymore (presumably due to the threat of dismissal). Paula has been on good behavior this year (notice she didn’t have any diva flameouts resulting in her missing audition rounds like in the past), but at the same time, it’s not really Idol anymore without Paula’s trainwreck barreling into the Idol station. Yes, Paula did utter the inscrutable line, “look to the right, look to the left, whoever’s better, you’re going home,” but that was it for the evening. Sober Paula is sobering and just no fun.

Speaking of no fun, on to the performances!

Jackie – The WTF are you wearing award was presented very early on tonight, what with the polka dot top, spandex leggings, fat red belt, and high top sneakers. Seriously, WTF? Although I will say the red belt was an improvement over her flesh colored belt she wore at the auditions that made it look like her gut was hanging out. Jackie’s performance was all shtick – drunken karaoke, weird faces, overly dramatic poses, and a dancing style that can only be described as “Mick Jagger pee-pee dance” with a side of, “I’m farting on live TV!” It’s all well and good that she “had fun” out there, but that seems to be the loser’s lament on Idol. The one thing I kept thinking as I watched that camp craptacular was, “Does she realize where she is?” It's freakin' American Idol, not performing arts camp! The strangest part was that I actually though it was a pretty good arrangement of A Little Less Conversation. Too bad she decided to morph into Norman Gentle tonight.

Ricky – Exactly how long did Ricky serve chicken fingers for a living before waking up one morning and realizing that’s not what makes him happy? I think most people would have had that epiphany, you know, as they were applying for the job. Ricky’s rendition of A Song For You was good bordering on very good, but Simon’s pointed comment about his lack of charisma was spot on (he reminded me of a certain geek), but personally, that’s one of those songs that builds and builds and goes nowhere, lacking a big hook to really make it memorable. As my wife pointed out, there were a couple of moments where it looked like he was reading the lyrics off of his hand.

Alexis – Alexis just turned 21, which means she can now legally drink! However, I suspect that Alexis had previously hit the bottle when she was seventeen (or whatever is the answer is to the equation, “21 - daughter’s age - 9 months”). Alexis had one of the shoutier auditions this year with an Aretha song, so I was a bit apprehensive about her belting Never Loved a Man at the top of her petite lungs. It turns out she did a swell job, but it was still a bit shouty for my tastes, lacking a certain fatness in tone that an Aretha song requires. Alexis dirtied up her image by putting pink streaks in her hair and taking the stage sans dress, wearing just a slip. It would have been apropos if her name was Heather and not Alexis, as it appeared she has two mommies.

Brent – Shout out to Blanchester Ohio, blitches! I don’t know if Blanchester is a hick town, but if Brent says so, so it goes. Hicktown was a terrible song choice, at once gimmicky and forgettable and I could almost hear eyes glazing over collectively in the blue states. Then again, Brent didn’t even do the song justice, lacking any sort of energy or distinctiveness, and I had problems hearing his vocals over the band. With that undistinguished of a voice, Brent will be a two time reality talent competition loser, having previously been booted off of Nashville Star. I thought I’d be all clever and referential and say that it was barely better than Bucky Covington, but then Paula busted out Bucky’s name and ruined that for me. Thanks Paula. I really don’t know how she even remembered the name considering those were the days she was regularly in a percocet martini haze. Oh, by the way, Brent looks like this. I wouldn’t really bother expending the energy to remember what he looks like since you won’t be wondering, “who’s that singing?” anytime in the near future.

Stevie – Every season, it seems, someone hits the stage and just massacres a song so horribly it’s like they just don’t want to be on the show. Stevie (who is a girl, BTW), sang some Taylor Swift song with all the musicality of Antonella Barba, rarely staying on key and was in fact so ferociously off-pitch that her atonal caterwauling made my wife and me completely embarrassed for her. If that weren’t enough, Stevie also busted out fusillades of manic shimmies, side steps, and tons of perma smile that covered up the fact that she must be dying inside to be honking in front of millions of people. The other three judges got all sorts of hung up on the song choice. Simon was the only one who pointed out that the performance was terrible. This is just another example of why the other three judges are useless.

Anoop – I wasn’t that thrilled with the choice of Angel of Mine because it lacks the energy that his other songs choices had. I don’t know why these contestants keep picking slow ballads. The backup singers didn’t do Anoop any favors by singing slightly off key. Maybe the acoustics are different in the theater than home, but I didn’t really find it all that sharp or off key like the judges seemed to think. While my wife is a fan of Anoop, she was appalled by the totality of the presentation – the untended hair, the slapdash outfit, the general lack of style – but she heaped extra scorn on Anoop’s choice of footwear, disgusted that any stylist worth their salt would have let anyone go on stage in sneakers. One of the big disappointments of the evening – I expected a lot more.

Casey – Every Little Thing She Does is Magic is probably my favorite Police song, and I was a bit jazzed to hear that Casey was going to do a cover version. Casey may be the prettiest girl that ever made it this far on the show, but like many pretty girls before her, the producers apparently picked her for her beauty rather than her talent. True, she missed her first big note and whiffed on a few notes here and there, but she was better with her pitch than most of the pretty girls before her. But here’s what killed her chances:

1) Too much gender switching. It’s one thing to change a pronoun here and there so we don’t think you’re a lesbian, but I don’t know why you’d bother picking a song with so many gender pronouns. If you have to transpose pronouns three or four times a measure including the title of the friggin' song, pick something else. If Amanda Overmayer sang this, I’m sure she would have kept the lyrics intact because she just didn’t give a shit what you thought.

2) Musical theater much? Her voice is more like a low wattage Kristen Chenowith than contemporary pop singer, and her broad gestures and movements were fake and distracting. She also acted out parts of the song to her detriment and generally overdid the Rent-like ersatz enthusiasm. Big finish!

3) Weird faces. For a pretty girl, Casey generated a plethora of bizarre facial expressions. While it is understandable that singer will contort their faces to hit tough notes, Casey’s facial deformations were oftentimes between the lyrics. There was just overall too much mugging and pageant smiling to get across any genuine emotion, and there’s no bigger turn off for me than a singer (or VP candidate) who winks in the middle of a song.

If this were last year, Casey might have been able to make it to the next round on looks alone (that and she was still better than Stevie and Jackie). Sorry bubble tea maker. Maybe we’ll see you on Broadway.

Michael – Just a horrible, horrible song choice, and I will tell you why: Michael’s big plus in the auditions was his clear, soulful upper register, something they showcased time and again since it was such a contrast to his look, which reminds me of a bear on its hind legs. So why did he pick such a growly karaoke staple like I Don’t Wanna Be that did nothing to show off his voice? In addition, Sarver looked uncomfortable on stage, shifting the mic from hand to hand and cutting out intermittently in the process. At one point, he performed some half hearted, arrhythmic line dance kicks. The sum total of Michael spoken words during his post song Ryan interview: “Yes I did,” followed by, “Well that’s good to know”.

Anne Marie – Another disappointing dud. Anne Marie picked the overdone Natural Woman and needed to kill it to have any chance of standing out. Instead, she sounded thin and shrill, and her voice actually became grating as the song went on. Worse still, she missed every single big note. Anything else? Yes! It was the most boring performance of the night. How old is this chick anyway? She looks twice her reputed age. Someone needs a re-makeover, stat! The sum total of her spoken words during her post song Ryan interview: “I just sat right on the hard part… I sat on a big thing of wood and it hurt.” (That’s what she said). Pretty sure she was NOT referring to Ryan. No, wait – I'm 100% positive it was not about Ryan.

Stephen – And now for the biggest disappointment of the night! I had thought that out of all the singers glimpsed in Hollywood week, Stephen may have had the best voice, killing a Stevie Wonder song and sounding good even while forgetting the words. I only hoped that he wouldn’t turn into Brandon Rogers, another audition wonder who sucked it up when it was go time. I dunno – maybe he forgot to take his meds or he was on some meth binge or he thinks Michael Jackson is his real father and he wanted to reach out to him – whatever the reason, picking Rock With You ne plus ultra of bad song choices, and, much like Rogers, he just flat out sucked in the singing department. And wow – didja notice the backup singers were really off key? They sounded a bit shaky all night, but this was brutal. Maybe one of the singers went out for a ciggie break, got locked out, and had to be replaced by Stevie Wright.

Tatiana – Pffffft. What a letdown. Anyone expecting giggle fits, a public meltdown, or telenovela style histrionics were disappointed by a rather middling rendition of some Celine or Whitney song, I dunno, it all kind of blends together on Idol. Just stodgy and connection free, she sounded like a 50 year old lounge singer. It appeared during the last Hollywood week show that Tatiana had packed on a few extra pounds, but tonight, she looked like they digitally superimposed her head on Jordin Sparks’ body. Speaking of her head, from certain angles, she looks like Madonna. Not the new/old one with the plastic surgery, but the old/young one with the original nose that was a nude model (that picture was severely cropped, folks). The sum total of Tatiana’s spoken words during her post song Ryan interview: Just kidding. I don’t have the time to transcribe the verbal diarreah.

Danny – It’s pretty much unfair that Danny got sooo much face time during the auditions and Hollywood week, as they not only had his bits, but shoehorned him into his buddy Jamaar’s excessive face time as well. So after all this blatant pimping (so much so that short of defecating on stage or revealing that his dead wife was a hoax he was a shoo in for the top 12 anyway), what do the producers do? They give him the pimp spot, so-called because no one who sings last gets voted off – ever! Hmm, let me guess – TPTB want Danny in the finals. And hey, he deserves to advance based on his vocals, but I thought it was all rather unspectacular (Alexis Grace was better and Ricky was on par) and I got the feeling he wasn’t really trying too hard (can you blame him?). Didja notice his audible gasping throughout the song? It’s David “Gaspy” Archuleta all over again without the nervous lip licking but with bonus smug self-satisfaction. BTW, his buddy Jamaar didn’t seem too enthused about being used as a prop for the Danny pimping. He even did bonus semi-slow sarcastic clapping

Re: American Idol - Season 8

I think the high point of the night was Tatiana heading back into the waiting room, and being met with some of the *coldest* stares from the other women I have ever seen. You just know that they realized Tatiana didn't actually crash and burn like *they* did, and, they of course hate her all the more for it

Re: American Idol - Season 8

Jackie Tohn - Too weak. You would think a good choice, but she didn't pull it off.

Ricky Braddy - Wow, a really good one who they totally ignored so far - either so they could push their drama or because they don't like him, but he's good.

Alexis Grace - Good potential and a pretty good performance - cute with just enough sass for character.

Brent Keith - Yeah, he's gone.

Stevie Wright - Gone.

Anoop Desai - Angel of Mine - Not the best choice, but I like what I have seen of him so far and he did sing decent.

Casey Carlson - Every Little Thing She Does Is Magic - Not good

Michael Sarver - Ok. Just not good enough.

Ann Marie Boskovich - Natural Woman - Like above, ok, but not good enough and really worse since the song is iconic.

Stephen Fowler - Bad song choice - while it was better than I would have thought, still a very wasted opportunity

Tatiana Del Toro - Better than I thought it would and have to honestly say quite good at times. The worst part is that at times sings good naturally and at other times very forced with ridiculous looks etc.

Danny Gokey - Hero - He's good and did a good job on a big hit

Danny I assume is a lock. I think Alexis is good and given the weak group, should be given a chance to move forward. Ricky is also good and hopefully having been on air virtually only last night (if only last night) it's hard to say if he will move on. Anoop has had some time and is decent enough to move on and well I'm sure Tatiana will move on regardless....

Re: American Idol - Season 8

Did anyone see Casey's angrily pointing at someone in the front row as she headed back to the waiting area? A guy and a girl looked after her with what I took as surprised looks on their faces. I wonder what that was about.

Re: American Idol - Season 8

Both my wife and I are convinced that Tatiana was on meds last night - beta blockers immediately come to mind. If you watch her during the judging and the post-interview, it seems pretty apparent that she's likely on meds based on how moved and responded. I'm not a psychiatrist, but outside of her drama queen act, there's a lot about her that screams borderline anxiety / panic disorder.

I wonder if she completely broke down during the rehearsals this week and a doctor stepped in...

Re: American Idol - Season 8

Last night. Train wreck. 'Nuff said.

Re: American Idol - Season 8

Kudos to all of the above posters for their in-depth reviews. Although, I expect even the better singers would do something goofy or wrong. Remember a month ago most were just average Joe's(Jane's). Now, they are on the top rated tv show being discussed on tv, radio and the internet. As on previous seasons. We will see their singing, appearance and mannerisms improve as they get more comfortable and get more time with stylists and coaches.

And please tell me I was the only one who noticed Tatiana's diva posing at the very end of her song?

Re: American Idol - Season 8

The only one who did a decent job was Danny. Everyone else stunk up the room. I had high hopes for Anoop.

Re: American Idol - Season 8

Whew! I was horrified that a grave injustice was about to be done when it came down to Tatiana and Danny because I was certain that America was going to put her through.

I was pleasantly surprised when Ryan said his name. She could sing, yes, but he was far better and deserved it more.

Re: American Idol - Season 8

If they really wanted suspense, they should have had it come down to Tatiana vs Alexis. Danny moving to the top 12 was a no duh situation -- I don't think Danny even broke a sweat.

It should have been Danny first, then Anoop vs Michael, then Alexis vs Tatiana.

Re: American Idol - Season 8

I realize Dialidol was on the Sarver train, but he's only there because of his perceived politeness. This is a friggin' singing contest, people!!!

Can't stand the overconfident vibe that Danny gives off.

Re: American Idol - Season 8

It wasn't a no duh situation for me. Lots of good people got cut over Sanjaya and I thought for certain that they would vote to keep Glenn Close over Danny.

She looked like she wanted to use that ring as a throwing star to tag Ryan in the face.

Re: American Idol - Season 8

Well, they for once got it right with the voting on tonights show. Certainly, Alexis and Danny are the two stand outs that will most likely be in the top 4 at the very least at the end. In fact, I would not be surprised if you are looking at the top 2.

Next week will be boring looking at who's coming up. No one there I don't think has anything close to what Alexis and Danny have for vocals. Three out of that group will make it, but they won't be in the top 5.

Re: American Idol - Season 8

I don't take it that way at all and REALLY like Danny for his talents and personality. You are told to believe in yourself and when you do some perceive that as arrogance. How many Doctors, lawyers, computer techs, etc. all have egos when you talk to them that REALLY know what they are doing, not just think they do. Almost everyone I know does because they are highly confident in their ability and can back it up.