American Idol: The Drama! Grave mistake of having 2 judges per performance, etc

This week's American Idol Season 8 shows were chock full of drama and happenings that I felt compelled to write a blog post about it.

For starters, the director had this queer idea of having only 2 judges give their thoughts on each performance. The judges would alternate per performance - simon/paula first then kara/randy, and so on. It was in response to the huge problem AI has had for ages - not finishing on time.

For one thing, I'm actually quite shocked that at this point of the game, they still have this problem. There are less performances to judge on now, and the video cuts between the instructor (this week was Quentin Tarantino - a huge shocker for me! I didn't know he had a lot of knowledge in musical coaching!) and the AI contestant were not too long-winded.

I realized, however, that it may be in part due to the addition of the fourth judge, Ms. Artistry herself, Kara.

I think that having only two judges judge per peformance was a HUGE mistake, and cost points against a few of the contestants, most notably Kris Allen, whose performance was absolutely brilliant and soulful, but who sadly got a bad review from Randy. Simon had to comment the day after that he loved Kris' performance but the damage had been done - luckily, Kris didn't get into bottom 3 because of this costly mistake.

If the AI director really wanted to save on time, he should, personally use this strategy instead:

1. Have Simon judge BEFORE all the other judges
2. Have the other 3 judges talk ONLY IF their opinion is different from Simon's or they have something substantial to add on to it. By substantial, I do NOT mean:
- mentioning the word ARTISTRY
- mentioning the word DOG
- commenting about the song rather than the performer (see paragraph below)
3. Lessen Paula's stuttering - I don't know how they're gonna do this, but it's going to be a huge time saver, IMO

In other news, I was so utterly CONFUSED about Paula's comments on Lil Rounds - instead of judging her vocals and/or performance (which I believe Simon commented on perfectly), she just said that the song was a beautiful one composed by . Huh?!

And then when Lil Rounds started defending herself (as she always does - seriously, it's getting very old and annoying already), Paula commends her and says something like "don't ever hold back" - which is needless to say, because Lil Rounds NEVER holds back on comments. If there is anything she is consistent on, it is her final say on her performance.

Meanwhile, Matt Giraud threw a less than perfect performance (but in my opinion, still a good performance none the less), and got cold reviews from Kara and Randy. I don't know if Simon and Paula would have helped him had they been given the chance to speak but Simon did say on the next day, when he performed again to plead for a save, that he wasn't as good that day as he was the day prior, so I'm guessing Simon might have somewhat liked Matt's initial stint.

The crowd was shouting for a save, the judges were discussing it longer than usual, and finally, Matt is given the only save the judges can give (Tears are shed, and the results episode became one of the most dramatic ones I've watched by far), putting Matt up in the book of AI world records as the first person to ever be saved AND as the most times saved by the judges, as he was also saved back in Wild Card round.

Which simply means that Matt has HUGE potential (believe me, try to listen to some of his studio versions, and you'd find out just HOW GREAT HE IS!). I only wish that he could be more consistent and choose better songs because it will be a dang shame if he didn't sail through to at least the top 4.

Simon ends the results night with a buzz kill, telling the contestants not to be so happy about Matt's save because 2 people were gonna go home next week and next week was going to be.... DISCO NIGHT.

Off the bat, I think Anoop is going to have the most trouble during this night, as I recall his Michael Jackson performance. I'm hoping Lil Rounds will be eliminated already, because she's really not listening to the judges and stepping up to the plate. I'm a bit afraid of how Kris is going to pull off Disco Night as well. I certainly hope he'll do good. He's got great talent so he should be able to do this right.

Can't wait for next week!

Country Night at American Idol and Elliott's new Album

I'm really sorry but I really can't appreciate country music all that much. This is a big reason why I do not like Carrie Underwood's music. Because of this, I was not all too excited about American Idol this week.

I'd have to say I only enjoyed Blake's performance. I think Melinda's performance was way too rodeo for my taste; Lakisha's performance was actually quite solid, I liked how she sang "Jesus Takes the Wheel" more than Carrie in my opinion; Chris Richardson wasn't all too bad; I'm not gonna even start with Sanjaya.

I'm wondering why Ryan Seacrest was strongly defending Sanjaya when Simon gave his honest criticisms. Honestly, Simon isn't biased. He gives opinions to every Idol contestant the same way. It just so happens that Sanjaya's performances give way to more criticisms, that's all.

Back to Blake. I just love everything about him. From his looks to his cool personality to the way he dresses to the tone of his voice to the way he performs. He is an idol in every sense and he has miraculously made me like Country music a little more.

On other Idol news, I listened to Elliott's new album and loved it. Wasn't too hot about "Wait for You", but the rest of the tracks were hot!!! "Movin'" On is at the top of my list!!! Gonna buy his album real soon! You can preview the tracks in the american idol official website.

1 Cool cat, 1 hip performance, and the "ho-hum" rest of them

Tony Bennett night was a night of great performances. I especially liked Blake's performance. He was 1 cool cat, singing and dancing to "Mack the Knife". Blake Lewis embodied "cool" in every sense - his tone, his moves, his look.



Chris Richardson made a comeback with his hip rendition of "Don't Get Around Much Anymore" and Randy Jackson himself said that he "came out with a vengeance".



I personally didn't like the rest. Melinda and Lakisha sang well but I felt that it wasn't unique enough. They're good belters that's for sure but each AI season has good belters so there's nothing to rave about there. I do have to give props to Melinda because as usual, she interpreted the lyrics flawlessly. Lakisha's sass came back, as Simon said, but I felt the band overpowered her performance.

Gina confuses me - she's supposed to be a rocker and now she's going towards becoming a belter. I think Gina should stick to what makes her stand out above the rest of this year's competitors. She could go tap her sentimental side but there is still a way to maintain her personality in my opinion. Take Garbage, for instance. Garbage's singer Shirley has slow, sentimental songs but the rocker in her still shines.

Haley and Phil are doomed. When Simon starts judging your legs, you're balancing on a thin thread. When Paula starts saying something bad about you, tsk tsk.

Sanjaya Malakar still had a non-energetic performance with his too-loose clothes and too-quiet voice. Simon's comment on Sanjaya was hilarious, saying he was "incredible". I don't get why Tony Bennett had such praise for Sanjaya. It's scary.

Sanjaya is getting very Cocky

Sanjaya is now suffering from what season 4 Scott Savol suffered from as well - a large amount of cockiness. The feeling of being invincible tends to get into people's heads. It's the feeling that they can sing as crappy as crap itself and still escape the bottom 3 - the feeling that even Simon Cowell's influential words cannot sway the voters.

This cockiness will be the downfall of Sanjaya. I absolutely felt like his comment about Simon being jealous of his hair, the way he smiles and grins even though the judges are speechless in disgust, shows that he is starting to love the power that he has over his fans. And I think (at least I hope) this will be his demise. Fans absolutely do not love cocky Idols. This, I think (and as I recall), is why Scott Savol got eliminated after he expressed his confidence in making it to the AI finals. And Scott Savol sings way better than Sanjaya.

Sanjaya, please do leave with your faux mohawk and your faux nice guy personality. Please, for the love of all who know what real good singing is.

What they Mean when they say Sanjaya's getting better

Here's what I think.

This is the American Idol talent meter:


There's "You are the singer to beat", then there's "Your vocals were spot on", followed by "It was good", and "It was aight" at the neutral side. Then there's "That was not good, dude", "second-rate bar performance", and "absolutely horrendous".

Finally, there's Sanjaya.

His first performance on stage was when he ironically bored us by singing a Stevie Wonder song with the lyrics "I don't wanna bore you". He followed this up with a performance that felt like a "ghastly talent show", with a voice as small as a mouse' and an oversized suit. Yes, Sanjaya fans, I acknowledge the fact that he never sings off-pitch. We got to give him some props for that. Here are the props: Sanjaya, you CAN sing... just make sure it's during family reunions, school recitals, those types of events.

Now, singing shouting the Kinks' "You Really Got Me", Paula and Randy felt he was having fun and felt it was his best performance yet. That just means that currently, he has finally reached the "absolutely horrendous" spot.


Bravo, Sanjaya. You really ARE getting better.