AI8: Michael Jackson Week 1

This is going to be a short and sweet. Didn't have an internet connection for a huge chunk of the morning, plus work suddenly has decided to revive itself (and it's deciding to do so in proximity to vacation time is not going unnoticed).

Anyhow, even before today became sort of a rush I was still planning on doing a pretty stringent pass/fail grading system on last night's show.... though the order is pretty much my "from best-to-worst" order. 

Here are my top picks of the night (obviously all "pass"):

Danny ("PYT") - Know I should be getting over the hype for Danny, but not so far (I'm saving that for another contestant... well, more than one).  Just like his gravelly voice and as I said in a previous week, his whole Mark from RENT vibe probably is what makes me like him too!

Alison ("Give In To Me") - She is quickly becoming my favorite female contestant... again, that love of the gravelly vocal and I can hardly believe that she is only 16.

Lil ("The Way You Make Me Feel") - Like Danny, not ready to give into the hype re: Lil.  I thought they were going to criticize her for sounding old, but still liked her a lot.  Predicted that Simon would find the outfit hideous.

Kris ("Remember The Time") - The guy is still adorable and only more so with the guitar.  Again, like guy and a guitar vibe (like Jason Mraz or Jack Johnson)

Adam ("Black or White") - The most glaring omission from the above "pass" pictorial... and the Adam hype is one that I am not finding myself fully buying into at this point.  I am not a big fan of the tone of his voice and I am finding his performance a bit too slick, staged, planned out... vs. the more natural stuff going on w/ the above four folks.  Still a force to be reckoned with for sure.  I am putting money down that in a couple of weeks he'll be accused of having "every song sounds the same."

Matt ("Human Nature") - My final "pass" for the night... again, behind the piano is where I think he shines. It was a bit too "run"-y for me and I think he falls into that Chris Richardson... Justin Timberlake wannabe territory, but so far so good.

OK, onto the FAIL... and not that many of these were that bad, but just making the cut...

Alexis ("Dirty Diana") - Thought this was a bit over the top and I agree with Simon that I think she probably thought it was better than it was.  Tad overconfidence and in this particular "get down and dirty" department I am preferring Allison.

Jorge ("Never Can Say Goodbye") - Kind of felt bad for the guy, so a bit more sympathy than anything else for the placement.  Thought his voice sounded good... even though it was a "old" sounding song and the arrangement was pretty awful/cheesy.

Jasmine ("I'll Be There") - Not too much to quibble with the vocal.  But Jasmine is exactly the kind of cookie-cutter singer that IDOL is inspiring.  Thought it was boringly good.

Michael ("You're Not Alone") - I will say I thought Michael was one of the least deserving contestants to get into the Top 12/13.. but he actually did a pretty good job, even surprising me.  But again, just boringly good... sensitive "big guy" stuff. 

Anoop ("Beat It") - The big disappointment of the night.  Anoop is certainly someone I want to like/support, but I have to agree that this is one song of those songs that is going to be a no-win situation without a serious mash-up.  Very kaoroke and not very good at that.

Scott ("Keep the Faith") - Again, I'll await the lightning strike in that I don't think Scott has a voice that should be in the finals of IDOL... and I don't think it was any beter that he was finally behind the piano.  I give him all the credit in the world in dealing and excelling in his blindness, but it's about singing.

Megan ("Rockin Robin'") - I guess a case of "get it/don't get it"... but this girl absolutely, positively drives me nuts.   There are small snippets where I think she does have vocal ability, but then she does her weird affectations or accent or whatever and just loses me.  I am surprised the judges were as hard on her as they were as I don't think she did anything different than the stuff they have loved from her in the past.

Comments

[Bellacantare]

I agree, Scott just doesn't have it. I liked his initial audition, but everything I've heard from him since has been "blah."
I love Anoop, but he just isn't living up to his hype. He might have enough of a following to eek out another week and boot Megan instead, but if America likes that she's different and cute compared to Anoop's washed up Boyz2Men stylings, then she may just stick around. I don't know; it's a toss up with those two. But I think Scott's out for sure.

[Philly]

I think it will be Adam and Lil in the finals. Not that I like Lil, but the judges do, to me she is just another Fantasia. Didn't like her but the judges did and so did america.
None of my pics ever win anyways so I don't even know I put my 2 cents in.

#1

[monette]

Even though he's slick, I really do like Adam, but I definitely agree with your prediction of the "everything sounds the same!" woe, and I imagine that he'll cave, and then the judges will accuse him of not being true to himself. My other favorite was Kris mainly because he slotted himself into the "guy with guitar" category that I'm a sucker for.

More or less, I wasn't terribly impressed or wowed by anyone yet, but I am curious about this whole "change" to the results thing. Finding out soon though!