Thursday, March 7, 2013

American Idol 12: Top 10 Boys

This episode further proves my point that this group is underwhelming compared to previous seasons - save for Season 6 and 9. Somehow, I honestly prefer Stefano Langone or Paul McDonald any day!! Sure, there were a couple of awesome performances, but as a group, tonight sucked. Wake me up in May. Or better yet, January 2014?

And the judges? Well, Mariah Carey talks way too much, but eventually says NOTHING, the boys bring out the worst of Nicki Minaj, and someone needs to glue Keith Urban to his chair. Haha.

Let’s rank the contestants!

10. Charlie Askew
Mama
I'm still not sure whether to be scared or laugh at Charlie's performance. I thought the song arrangement was interesting, but the weirdness of it all was just painful to watch. His vocals were shaky, the awkward shouting and gasping was horrendous, and whoever came up with this look for him should be fired immediately. I don't know. Charlie tanked, end of story. 2/10

09. Vincent Powell
End Of The Road
Whoa. Who saw this one coming? I seriously didn't. After his almost showstopping performance last week, Vincent stubbornly followed it up with a highly disappointing and over baked version of End Of The Road. No, I didn't think it was awful by any means, but this was just underwhelming. His vocals didn't match the song and he had WAY too many unnecessary runs that added nothing to his performance. 4/10

08. Curtis Finch Jr.
I Believe I Can Fly
"The one and only Curtis Finch Jr." Well, thank God there's only one of him! Curtis was just so full of himself, I was hoping that at the end of the song, he will just grow wings and fly away, but that didn't happen. I don't know. He's indeed a very strong vocalist, but I'm not sure if I can get past how self-indulgent he is. Plus, I didn't think his version was the best I've heard to merit a standing ovation. Like Vincent, his version was SO overdone and the key change was a little jarring. It did not soar, and I did not see him running through that open door. Enough said. 4.5/10

07. Cortez Shaw
Locked Out In Heaven
While I did appreciate the fact that Cortez picked the ONLY uptempo song of the night, I didn't think Locked Out Of Heaven worked out that well for him. It was vocally uneven and everything just came off like an impressive karaoke version of the song. True, this was decent enough, but if he's seriously trying to break away from the pack, this was not the best way to do it. 5/10

06. Lazaro Arbos
Feeling Good
The Ice Cream Scooper! Haha. While I still don't get the appeal of Lazaro, this was actually a passable rendition of this tired song. His rich tone complemented the song perfectly and he managed to stay on pitch for the most part, but of course, I've heard this song performed better on American Idol - Adam Lambert, for example - so this really didn't excite me. Add to that the simple fact that I still don't know what type of music he wants to pursue as he clearly picks overdone songs week after week. 6.5/10

05.  Paul Jolley
Just A Fool
Wait, Paul wants to be like Taylor Swift? Well, he needs to start writing song about his ex-boyfriends too!! Yes, you know what I'm getting at. Haha. On paper, Just A Fool would've been a perfect song for him - a nice mix of diva (Christina Aguilera) and country (Blake Shelton) - but I somehow felt like he was forcing to connect with the song by trying to be theatrical. As for his vocal, it was good for the most part, but lost it a bit at the end when Paul decided that it was in his best interest to scream at us. 6.5/10

04. Elijah Liu
Stay
There was a part of me that felt like I was being tricked. Was I in bizarro land tonight or was Elijah Liu just suddenly became a different contestant? His falsetto was still weak and it almost felt like it didn't go anywhere, but this was actually pretty nice. His relatively thin tone fits surprisingly well with the song and he showed some vulnerability on his vocals that, to me, was a big step forward. 6.5/10

03. Nick Boddington
Iris
Fun Fact: Iris has never been performed by any contestant on American Idol. So, yes, Nick was awesome for the song choice alone. His vocals weren't perfect - his voice cracked somewhere in the middle - but his tone was gorgeously highlighted on this song and the liberties he took with the melody were actually pretty good. Not sure if the performance left a lasting impression though. 6.5/10

02. Devin Velez
Novo Sovios (It's Impossible)
Latino Tintin! As I've said before, whenever someone sings "en Espanol" I’m always left wondering if they are making fun of me because, yes, I don't understand what the heck they were singing about. Haha. But seriously, he needs to quit highlighting his ethnicity. He has a strong voice and this was technically solid, but he needs to be careful about shaping a musical identity around ONE of his traits because that will polarize a lot of people. His identity needs to be a nice healthy mixture of all things that make Devin, well, Devin. 7/10

01. Burnell Taylor
I'm Here
I was seriously hoping Burnell didn't try casting spells with his hands again, but no luck. Haha. To be honest, repeat performances to me just seem lazy, but this was an impressively solid vocal performance. He had a couple of nice vocal choices and I enjoyed his slightly rugged tone on this song. Very nice. 7.5/10


Who will make the top 5 boys?
Burnell Taylor
Curtis Finch, Jr.
Devin Velez
Paul Jolley
Lazaro Arbos

Who should make the top 5 boys?
Burnell Taylor
Devin Velez
Nick Boddington
Elijah Liu
Paul Jolley

3 comments:

Anonymous said...

Totally agree with your jibe at Paul Jolley there!
I think Lazaro is "jolly" too :)

Carlos Jude Laron said...

half of the guys are JOLLY

AND more so, they're likely the ones to advance.

hence we will have a top 10 GIRLS for the season.

benj said...

ang galing mo talaga DAM... tamang tama predictions mo.. tinalo mo pa si madam auring... hehe.. im 90% happy with the results.. 4 of my top 5 girls made it.. sadly adriana didn't make it.. sa guys i dont like lazaro and curtis.. i'd rather put nick or elijah or vincent onto their places.. grabe.. naiyak ako sa tuwa when ryan called candice and amber's names... whew.. so happy!

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