American Idol - Season 9 - Page 14

Because they saved Mike tonight, next week people will vote for him because they coudn't believe he was at the bottom.  Next week 2 people go home, and one will be someone better than Mike.

Glee starts this coming Tuesday, and check your DVRs because it's 90 minute Idol followed by Glee, which means the news will start at 10:30.

I'm still not a fan of Mike, but that was a save worthy performance.  When they used it on Matt last year, it was clearly used just to use it.

BTW, Mike's wife reminded me of another famous audience weeper:

Mikah,

It looks like I should have watched this week's show. :)

George Martin (Beatles) said something years ago that I really appreciated, and it is something that I have experienced while performing and analyzing music in my studies over the years.  He said (paraphrased) that it's okay to sing out of tune, provided that it is tuneful.  This makes a lot of sense to me, particularly when differing tuning systems are being used.

There are some examples of this 'out of tuneness = tuneful' that are quite musical (e.g., 'blues' notes, just intonation, well-tempered {not equal-tempered} tuning, mean tone temperament, etc.).  These examples / systems often challenge the ear -- often requiring one to 'put on a different set of ears,' if you will -- and in doing so can often add variety to an otherwise monotonous piece of instrumental or vocal music.  (My personal favorite is mean tone temperament.  It is the most lush and concordant of tuning systems provided one does not stray too far from the home key.  Once you do, you're doomed -- and so are your listeners.) 

I heard Grand Funk Railroad's version of Locomotion twice over the weekend.  The vocals in places are out of tune with the harmonic foundation provided by the band's instruments, and yet the melodic line at these 'out-of-tune' points is still quite tuneful.  The vocals are not badly out of tune, but just enough so that the perceived 'rub' against the fundamentals (partials) is not only tolerable, but quite musical.

Wow. . .I missed the show yesterday (stupid Victor Martinez and his stupid butterfingers), but Michael was the low vote-getter?  Wow.

I almost wish they hadn't saved him, 'cause then I'd be well on my way to setting the record for all-time worst score in the HTF Idol contest!  :D

And double-check them, as I thought the Fox promos for Glee were showing a start time of 9:28 pm.

Are you correcting me because Glee starts at 9:28 instead of 9:30?  It doesn't really matter to me since I record the shows in a block.

In any case, you can bet Idol will run over, especially since they have 9 singers instead of the planned 8, so pad generously for Glee.

9:28 is right, and I expect it to run more than an hour.

As soon as Ryan said "shocking results", I guessed Mike was at the bottom, the judges would save him, and that Tim wasn't in the bottom 3 (but then he didn't deserve to be this time). I'll be surprised if Tim isn't in the top 5.

Who picks the "sing for your life" song? So far it's never been the same song they did the previous night.

I can't believe the kids got thru the week without a name mentor? HTF did they possibly do anything without a mentor?

/sarcasm

Guess I shoulda been a little more sarcastic in my "When does Glee start again?" post.  I'm surprised no one called me on it!   Also, did anyone else think that the group number last night was a Glee rip-off?  Right down to the black and white outfits...

And while we are talking about that ABYSMAL number, why is it that week after week we hear Simon and his wedding singer/lounge singer/cruise ship show references to performances yet the producers week after week subject us to that VERY type of performance...ON PURPOSE!

Ha!  That's funny, because while I knew Glee started next week, I assumed the "after Idol" part meant Wednesday night after results.  So the fact that it was on Tues after Idol and stretched into the 10pm hour took  me by surprise.

I always want to watch the group number in case something cap worthy happens, but my wife hates them so much she complains the entire time and I eventually have to fast forward through it.  But yeah, they are skin crawlingly awful. 

There's something about David Archuletta and "Imagine" that just gets me everytime. I know how well known the song is, but I didn't know it until he sang it on the show (I've since heard the Lennon recording). Sure I've probably hear it over the years, but I never stopped and listened until DA sang it. He added piano playing this time, which I also appreciated. I'm sure there were some people out there thinking, "Sing another song already!" On some level, I was one of them. But then he started singing, and I was OK. If he's going to have a signature song, that's not a bad one to have.

Rihanna did nothing for me.

The guy Kara signed did nothing for me.

Mike killed This Woman's Work again while singing for his life. No, not in a bad way. Sorry, Mike haters. But... Hey, look! Even in the face of elimination, the mugging continues. But at least he didn't pick up Ryan to show his gratitude at being saved. As much as Mike is a favorite, I do think the judges had a decision to make. Not about whether they wanted Mike to remain in the competition, but about whether they wanted to give up the ability to protect Crystal in the future. There are 9 left. We lose 2 next week to go down to 7. Then there are still 2 more weeks before we're down to 5. So there are 3 weeks where Crystal could be the lowest vote getter where she would have bene eligible for saving. I feel like the judges had to be reasonably comfortable with themselves that Crystal will still be in the top 5 in order to use the save on Mike.

Ockeghem: If I sit with my back to my niece playing both parts of Heart & Soul, if she hits even one key wrong, I'll know it immediately. But if I'm listening to something recorded, or live in a stadium, by the time you add in reverb and various other effects and echos, I can't. Or in the case or rock music, add in distortion guitar and I'm taking on water (which is probably why I've never been a big rock fan). And the more complex the music, the less I can distinguish the accuracy of individual notes. I point that out only to say that for the average non-musical layperson, they have much better "ears" but in some ways, I can still hear music better. I initially learned to play music "by ear" before I had any formal training, so I know what to listen for (more or less).
 
   I point that out only to say that when I watch people enjoy their music, it is based on so much more than perfect tune, or even harmonic tonal combinations (chords). I believe (I could be wrong) most people wouldn't notice an errant note that is in tune, much less a correct note that is out of tune. Occasionally the judges will get real and say, "You know what? ... It doesn't matter." That said, I appreciate when Randy (assuming he has the ears) points out someone is pitchy because I want to know. The problem is, Randy will say pitchy and someone here will say, "What's he smoking?" Or Randy will say it was fine and someone here will say, "That was all over the place." Is that chalked up to watching it in the auditorium vs TV, or something else?

   Whatever the case, there are so many more things that go into delivering a winning vocal performance for me than just perfect pitch. I have no idea if Michael Lynche sang This Woman's Work with perfect pitch or not. Was he slightly sharp or slightly flat? It amazes me that those terms even exist because if I sing something between B and Bb, is it slightly sharp of Bb or slightly flat of B?  Can you all really hear that, especially over the music? If so, that's impressive. I mean, I can tune one guitar string off another guitar string, but still. Anyway, since I appreciate both the technical and artistic aspects of music, I want to know about the things I'll never hear ("pitchy"), even though I'm still able to appreciate the artistic side of things from performers who may fall short of perfection technically.

Jeffrey_H: Your top 3 is my top 3 as well, though I don't really know who I rank higher between Big Mike and Siobhan. Big Mike sings the kind of music I like, but I just love Siobhan's voice. It's operatic to me. I really liked her toned down performance this week. I could really hear her sing (but apparently not well enough to hear how horrible she is <g>). As for Danny Gokey... don't take it personally. Try to see the humor in it, or just let it go. People are always going to appreciate different things. If I can sit through reading commentary about how Siobhan's supporters must basically be deaf, you can make it through Darth Gokey commentary. ;) 
 

No, since Idol was doing group numbers like that long before Glee existed, not to mention that Glee is a hit partially due to Idol.

I think I need to become more articulate in this thread!  I think that there is a lapse between what I am thinking and what I actually type...my point was, especially with all the Glee promos during this week's AI shows, the group number on Wednesday seemed like a rip-off because of the B&W costumes the cast uses in the clips for "Hello, Goodbye".  Had it not been Lennon/McCartney week on Idol I would have not made that statement.

Mikah,

Hi.  It sounds to me like you have a good ear. :)  Some of that distortion in rock music is fascinating to listen to, and for me at least, adds a lot to the overall sound world.  Hendrix's work comes to mind, as does the work of John McLaughlin and the Mahavishnu Orchestra, and a few other musicians/bands.  But I've found that when you listen to music too loudly (over 85-90 or so decibels), the distortion changes the pitch (or rather, I perceive the pitch to have changed).  When my ears start ringing, I know that I am getting close to doing damage to them (and depending on the intensity, this damage can end up being irreparable), so I don't prolong the listening at that particular volume.  But I love experimenting with distortion at acceptable levels of volume.

I too learned to play music by ear at first.  When I was around four years old, I would hear my grandfather playing the organ in another room.  When he finished playing, I would reproduce many of the notes in the key in which he had been playing, even though I had been in an entirely different room from where he was.  (I didn't replicate the entire tune, but I knew the home key based on what I was hearing, and then toying around with the pedals and the keyboard, I could figure it out.)  I didn't know it at the time, but I was showing signs of having good relative pitch.  It wasn't until many years later that I learned of active and passage absolute pitch.

You're correct about there being much more to music and music performances than pitch.  I am in agreement with the George Martin remark that I mentioned above.  For my own part, though, pitch -- and by no means does it have to be perfect in order for a piece to 'work' -- is paramount to my music experience, while rhythm (not to be confused with meter or timing), tone, performance practice, various textual considerations, etc. are secondary.  As far as 'harmonic tonal combinations,' these are for me (and countless musicians with whom I have studied over the years) one aspect of music that increases the enjoyment of the overall musical experience.  Another is formal analysis, and still others, contrapuntal considerations, instrumentation, and orchestration.  One need not have the vocabulary or any formal training to enjoy the music at some level, of course, but amongst musicians, having these common reference points can generate much appreciation and meaningful dialogue, and often results in pertinent observations being made about a particular work or performance.  And this is for me what I do, and it's among my greatest of passions.

Your remarks about a pitch being between B and B-flat, or 'slightly sharp of Bb or slightly flat of B,' are what I listen to/for in music on an almost daily basis.  And in one respect, you've described what amounts to a 'blues' note.  I had a fun discussion with my daughter once, where we were discussing the Beatles track A Hard Day's Night.  Lennon (on the texts 'all right' and 'o-kay') sings between B-flat and B (it's closer to B-flat, and amounts to what some would call a blues note).  At other points in the song, he sings the pitch B (the conclusion of 'dog' and -'thing,' for example) and this contrast between the raised B-flat and the pitch B is just one of the reasons that that particular tune is so very musical.  This is not Lennon singing out-of-tune; rather it is Lennon having an incredibly good ear and knowing just when (and how much) to 'bend' the note.  But this is only part of the story. :)  The interesting thing about the discussion I was having with my daughter occurred when I told her that she couldn't reproduce the note Lennon was singing on our piano, but that she could reproduce it on a guitar or on her synthesizer, or on any instrument whereby the pitch is not 'fixed.'  She was fascinated by that.  I tried to explain to her that every pianoforte (I'm not speaking of electronic instruments in this case) that is correctly tuned is in fact 'out of tune' (the twelve notes are tuned in equal temperament so as to make it possible to play in all keys when necessary).  We eventually got around to speaking about 100 cents between each of the half steps and the Pythagorean comma, but this wasn't as interesting to her.  So, we just continued to speak about the wonderful musicality of blues notes and microtonal music in general, and how we would have to retune our piano to make it necessary to play these particular notes on our instrument.

Your post also reminded me of another interesting phenomenon that I have experienced several times.  Over the years, I've sung in many choirs.  Whenever we have been performing a work with choir and piano (and often other instruments), and the piano that is playing along with the choir cuts out for a time, the lines being sung by the choir 'gravitate' naturally toward one another all on their own.  Sure, the choir may have slipped (relatively) by a quarter-tone or a half-step from the key in which they began, but relative to one another, they are often wonderfully in tune because there is no need for equal temperament to be occurring.  {In these cases it is entirely possible that meantone temperament or just intonation has occurred in part by accident.}  Then, when the instruments resume, the clash of where they are with regard to their own pre-set tuning and the choir having naturally gravitated to where they now are is startling.  It usually takes a few seconds for both groups to adjust to each other so that both are back on the same page, so to speak.  {Some day, I will talk about what has occurred during some of my performances when the groups of choirs are moving physically within a room while singing.  This is often the case when singing the music of the middle ages and renaissance in various early music collegiums.  The Doppler Effect ain't got nothing on what I've had happen to me during these scary times.  The importance of a conductor keeping time is in these instances imperative.}

Edited by Ockeghem - 4/9/10 at 10:40am

Duplicate post.  Sorry.

Quote:
The only good thing about the save was this year's wrinkle where the contestants are allowed to pick their own save song.  This avoids the problem where a contestant is forced to sing the very song that resulted in their elimination.  I hope that on forward, even in the absence of the save, the contestants get to choose their sing out song so you can remember them at their best instead of at their worst.

In regards to pitch, I would agree that the consistency of the pitch is a key factor.  Someone like Didi sang sharper than the band, but she always sang sharper than the band so I never thought she was "out of tune", so to speak.  Others disagreed -- the judges kept hammering her for being "pitchy".

When you hear something like Paige's rendition of Against All Odds, what you get is someone veering sharp, then flat, then sharp, and that dissonance is extremely unpleasant.  Well, unless you're Haeley in which case it's amazingly hilarious.

When Aaron stays in the same key as the band for 4 measures and then goes flat, it sounds off-key.  And Aaron is one of those singers who tries to stay as close to the note as possible, so it makes it sound even worse.  I think the only singers left who go off key for that bluesy effect is Andrew and Crystal.  But Crystal is good at it and people don't notice.  Andrew simply sounds off-key at times. 

And volume and sound mix make a huge difference in perception.  When my wife and I watch the show, we put at it a reasonably loud volume (not sure where my db meter is), but when I'm reviewing some of the performances when everyone is in bed, I will turn it down and some of the performances that sounded off-key didn't sound sound nearly as bad with a lower volume.  In the very first week of the semis, the sound mix was so poor that the singers were much louder than the band, and half the performances sounded like drowning cats.

Hanson,

I also notice that some performances of music can sound a bit off key when I wear headphones.  Again, this could be in part a function of volume (or intensity, to use the term my physics professor insisted on me using).

There's a writer for EW that goes to the shows live and writes about what it's like to be at the show.  One thing that has been mentioned is that Casey rocked it out two weeks in a row live in the theater, but at home the performances came off as rather dull.  In the theater, with the band jamming out and Casey playing guitar, it was exciting.  But the mix at home turned down the band, you could barely hear the guitar, and his vocals were front and center.  And that's not really his forte.

I'd bet that at most places Casey performed, his vocals were probably drowned out by the band and people came to hear him play guitar more than sing.  He's good enough to front a bar band, but when his vocals are the point of focus like they are on TV, his voice is rather pedestrian.

Crystal Bowersox - yay for the uptempo-ness of the performance, but didn't really like the song, so it didn't really do much for me.

Andrew Garcia - he's got this habit of whining out notes, which just sucks any sincerity or fun out of the songs he sings, and this performance was no exception. Not a good night for Andrew.

Tim Urban - nauseatingly and weepy and nasally all at the same time. How does he keep topping himself week after week in the cheese department?

Lee DeWyze - A little shouty in parts, but overall a good performance, but without much risk in changing up the arrangement, which was probably a good choice.

Aaron Kelly - actually one of the better performances by Aaron, both in commitment and tempo, and he was totally into the song by the end.

Siobhan Magnus - While the start was a little sleepy in spots, I thought the second half just sort of ran off the rails and it was just too much, and made the song unrecognizable because she smothered the melodies and it sounded like crap.

Michael Lynche - Surprisingly, I thought big Mike was in it to win it with his performance tonight.

Katie Stevens - Overly produced, but strong vocals, still no idea what sort of record she'd make, though.

Casey James - he's still stuck in his honky-tonky bar performance mode, which could work for him, but again, not distinctive enough to sign to a record deal.

Gotta give Adam credit for being a good mentor because he sure had them pegged for the dull, boring, lifeless bunch they are and tried to get them to show some personality. He failed, but at least he tried.

I liked Crystal, Lee and Casey though all three are really doing different songs the same exact way week after week after week.

Katie was surprisingly ok, but she is totally unconvincing when she tries to give some attitude....Same for Aaron.

Siobhan was a bit less than ok, but I thought the judges were overly harsh in their criticism.

Tim and Michael were beyond bad in my opinion. Could they be any more boring? I knew Tim would chicken out on the falsetto at the end of that song that Adam wanted him to do.

And Andrew? I don't even remember what song he did, and I'm happy about that. All I remember is that he was awful.

Andrew should save some time and pack his bags now... I think Aaron and Katie are in trouble too...

I actually think Tim Urban is proving remarkably adept at maximizing the use of his very limited talents. This was the first week that didn't feel like karaoke to me from him, and it's because he zeroed in on what he could do well and stayed away from everything else.

I'm sure that showing a little chest and smiling his dooeyed smile didn't hurt among the preteen texting crowd, either.

While I was surprised that Mike had the lowest number of votes on results night, the truly shocking part of the evening for me was “132 million”.  As in, 132 million votes for the season.  That’s shockingly low if you think about it – counting six semifinal shows (boys and girls) as well as the top 12 to top 9 shows, that’s 132 million votes over 10 shows for an average of 13.2 million votes per show.  That’s a huge drop-off from last year’s totals, and probably the reason why they haven’t been discussing vote counts on a show by show basis. 

 

Due to the 90 minute run time and the extra contestant thanks to the judges’ save, the show stayed on track by taking time away from the judges, and to not have to listen to Kara blather on for 3 minutes quickened the pace and made for a less frustrating show.  Speaking of which, Kara posed nude this week in Allure magazine.  She wasn’t really naked since she covered up the unsightly bits, but it was still a nauseating sight.  For whatever reason, Kara posed like she was a Sea Monkey from ads that used to appear in comic books back in the day.  Incidentally, sea monkeys are actually brine shrimp that enter a state of suspended animation and come back to life in salt water.  Contrary to the ads, they cannot be trained since they are mindless creatures that lack the intelligence to learn.  Perhaps the photographer knew that when he turned Kara into a sea monkey.

 

Tonight was Elvis night with guest mentor Adam Lambert.  The decision to tap Adam raised a few eyebrows since he’s not even a year removed from his own Idol experience and his recording career thus far has been shaky.  Also, what does this have to do with Elvis?  But hey – at least they’re not asking Demi Lovato or a Jonas Brother to mentor.  Adam recorded his mentoring segments with a hairstyle reminiscent of Dragonball Z.

 

Crystal – A very good performance of Saved kicked off the evening, and I was impressed that Crystal went up in her range the entire song since she seemed unsure of it earlier this season.  This isn’t an Elvis song I’m familiar with, but lyrics like, “I used to smoke and drink and dance the hoochy-coo” caught my ear immediately.  BTW, the smoking in her version has nothing to do with cigarettes.  Or the past tense.  Crystal shook her dreads out mightily to the rhythm, but aside from tapping her foot every now and then, everything from the neck down stayed rooted to one spot.  She looked energetic in close shots, but when the camera pulled away, she was just kind of standing there.  Crystal is the Melinda Doolittle of this season for me – polished, spot on, and yet I don’t find her or her performances thrilling.  Unfortunately, she’s probably the best the show has to offer this season.

 

Crystal caused a small commotion online when she tweeted, “Pigpen was always my favorite character on charlie brown. All about the under-dog. I love you, VTW!!!! Keeps me smiling.”  The shout out to Vote For The Worst, where her official nickname is “PigPen”, was quite a ballsy move considering Chris Sligh was berated and almost kicked off the show for saying, “Hi Dave” during a performance show in season 6 (Dave was in reference to Dave Della Terza, the creator of VFTW).  And the inspiration of the nickname?  My chop of Crystal from the beginning of February.  I had no idea at the time Crystal would be this season’s front runner.

 

Andrew – I know he thought it was funny, but picking your nose on national television, even if it’s just a put on, isn’t going to get you any extra votes.  Seriously, there are a lot of uptight people out there, and any reference to bodily functions and excretions are serious turn-offs for them.  Also a turn-off?  Andrew’s version of Hound Dog.  I just can’t understand why he picked this song since it’s too familiar, too karaoke, and too repetitive to make any sort of impact.  That he sang it with a washed out and at times strangled voice made it an exercise in tedium.  It’s times like this when I wonder if Andrew is happy enough with making the tour and just doesn’t have the heart to keep going.  When you hit the bottom two you can take it as a wake-up call or a sign that the writing is on the wall, and at this point Andrew has clearly taken the latter interpretation.  And to complete the circle, here’s one of Andrew’s friends being caught unawares by the camera.  Hey, maybe Andrew wasn’t fake picking his nose after all.

 

Tim – Man, this kid can smile big.  I mean, that smile looks like it hurts to make.  But Tim knows his strengths, and a big smile is one of his selling points.  Tim said he was “going on stage and just showing people that I do know what the words are about” to protest the widely held notion that Tim doesn’t understand any of the lyrics he sings.  Whenever I hear someone like Tim sing about love, I always assume they’re singing to Jesus.  I Can’t Help Falling in Love With You was the best arrangement that Tim got from YouTube came up with so far, and shockingly, it was probably the second best performance of the night.  Now, there are still the limitations that come with such a wispy and lightweight voice.  But in this season, where Casey James is considered “bluesy”, a good arrangement and singing on key makes you look like a front runner.  That was his first credible performance, and for the legions of viewers who have been repeating the mantra, “but he can’t sing!” this may be the week that quiets them down a bit.  So he’s probably getting voted off this week, right?

 

Lee – I will give Lee this – he was on key for A Little Less Conversation.  And he showed off his soulful, whiskey soaked voice tonight, which sounds like it should be coming from a bigger, older singer.  But the arrangement was so blah, so ordinary, so… karaoke, that I found the performance to be boring and pointless.  Lee started off the performance by singing off to the side and cutting out after pulling too far away from the mic.  And then the song just… stopped.  Lee’s performance skills can be described as sleepy – even the last guitar chords were struck half-heartedly.  Just a passionless performance.  Maybe that’s because he’s saving up all his passion for Andrew, the love of his life.  After Crystal let loose last week that the two were going to get married and have Danny Gokey babies, TLC offered them their own reality show.  Which one is the mother in this relationship?  You think it’s gotta be Andrew, right?  You’d be wrong, though.  It’s Hambone.

 

Aaron – You knew this was going to be awful when Aaron prefaced the performance by saying, “I’m gonna go out there and have a great time with this performance”.  That and the fact that he thought it was the wrong song for him.  Boy, was that kid right.  Blue Suede Shoes sounded like it was from some novelty album recorded by the Smurfs – it was all fake posturing and weak vocals – Aaron sounded like he was performing in one of those toddler beauty pageants, and at this point, I would say that Aaron is easily the worst contestant left, which is a bold statement considering Andrew is still in the competition.  But at least Andrew can deliver a somewhat entertaining performance once in a blue moon – Aaron is hard to watch and listen to all the time.  The nervous lip-licking, the creepy joker smile, and the inane posing – Aaron seems to have gotten all his moves by watching Lee Greenwood wannabes singing I’m Proud To Be An American at county fairs.  And can he hit a solid note anymore?  He had one performance weeks ago where he actually nailed a couple of notes – he just can’t produce anymore.  Aaron gets compared to David Archuleta a lot, but that’s an insult to Archie – the only thing they have in common is the lip licking.  And while we’re on the subject, did David get accepted to the Vulcan Science Academy or something?  One day, way in the future, Aaron might be a credible performer, but as it is, the only shot of Aaron Kelly winning American Idol is if it’s Aaron Kelly Jr.  Ah, the circle of life.

 

Siobhan – What happened when Siobhan met Adam?  In my imagining, the wailing Wonder Twins would both scream so loudly that it would shatter glass from miles around and distort space time (poor Katie shorted out from the sonic barrage, but at least she made out a bit better than the keyboard player).  The reality was slightly more mundane, but you usually don’t get to see the Bride meeting the Monster just any day, so I’ll take what I can get.  I kind of know what Siobhan wants to sound like, but Suspicious Minds sounded like Anne Murray in the beginning, and then, when she hit the gospel part, the nasally part of her voice and odd phrasing made her sound like Navin Johnson.  On the plus side, she was more on-key than usual, although she missed the two big, screamy notes that hurt the performance overall (the snippet from the recap sounded much better than her live performance, and she hit those notes better as well).  I think the reason her phrasing sounds so weird to me is that Siobhan doesn’t have any rhythm – she galumphs across the stage and doesn’t walk with the beat, and I think the way she sounds like she’s out of time with the beat is why I haven’t enjoyed any of her performances so far.

 

Siobhan’s critiques started off well for her, earning praise from Randy and Ellen.  But Kara and Simon were not so kind, and Siobhan’s bitchface let you know she was none too happy about it.  There was one psycho look she gave to Simon where it looked like something snapped – you have to see it in motion to understand.  I’m sure that week after week of Simon’s negs, she must think Simon is a big meanie.  But the sign says it all.  BTW, Suspicious Minds was my first public karaoke experience...  I think I’ve told this story every year.  Note to producers – NO MORE ELVIS WEEK.  Please.  How is anyone supposed to sound current when you’re pulling The Rolling Stones, The Beatles, and Elvis out of the mothballs week after week?  That’s from the 60’s man.  THE 60’s!

 

Mike – So after last week’s dramatic save situation, the one where Mike’s wife was acting like Ashley “Crying Girl” Ferl, Mike rebounded with a stripped down, sit down, ham free version of In the Ghetto, sans the fish lips, face pulling, and posing.  Okay, some face pulling.  But it was a snoozy, monotone arrangement that ended so quickly that I wondered if I had fallen asleep in the middle of the song.  It seemed like there were only a couple of verses, but the languorous way he sang the lyrics stretched them out to the 90 second span, which is why I was thinking, “that was it?”  Not that I wanted more, it’s just that the performance screwed with my internal clock.  Ryan was trying to talk black again when he was announcing Mike’s phone number.  It sounded like Michael Scott impersonating Stanley Hudson.  Also, he totally ragged on Ryan Dunkelman tonight for no reason.  Maybe Ryan is as bored with the show as I am and is channeling his inner Michael Scott to stay awake.  Or drinking.  Heavily.  Mike’s top heavy physique reminds me of Bob Parr, the civilian identity of Mr. Incredible.

 

Katie – This has got to be the most disappointing performance of the night for me.  After last week’s eye-opening performance of Let It Be, I hoped that Katie had turned a corner and found her sound, a jazzy, Eva Cassidy-esque style that suited her voice perfectly.  But she turned around and delivered a noisy, over-belted version of Baby, What Do You Want Me To Do in the style of Diva Mode Katherine McPhee, with so much shimmying and incessant side to side head bobbing that it was annoying to watch.  Katie had been my last hope that someone would step up and challenge the Lee-Crystal stranglehold on the finals, but she was back to old-fashioned mode again.  I suppose she got so excited at the positive reviews last week that her back panel fell off and the impact glitched up the programming.  All those upgrades.  All that coding.  All for naught.  And please stop begging for votes.  Just irritating.

 

Casey – Another C-student performance.  I don’t know if Casey spent more than 30 minutes prepping for this one, and its non-descript and pedestrian vocals just laid there, twitching at times but mostly an immobile lump.  Casey’s reaction to the criticism from Kara and Simon was to make a fish face.  And that was the highlight of Casey’s night! 

Alright, the 'Andrew & Lee Plus Thr3e' photo is easily the greatest thing from you, Hanson.

This show is Awful, with a capital A.  Bad singers, year after year of bad theme weeks, and throw in Adam Lambert as a mentor and Ke$ha performances, just wow.  Why can't I turn this off?

Looks like Ricky Minor is joining the Tonight Show as the new band leader (he's not leaving Idol, it seems).

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I didn't even bother last night.  Doesn't sound like I missed much.

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Oh, is that who that is up in the forum header?  I thought it was Michael Jackson!