Wednesday Night. Normally, it is one of the most boring nights of the week. It is still two days to go before the weekend and you are halfway your body’s stress utilization as work has used up your recharged energy for three days. However, that was not the same case last Wednesday because we have American Idol on TV. (Yeah, and I am doing the power rankings again) Wednesdays and Thursdays get a whole lot bearable during American Idol months because you have to follow it or you will miss the suspense, and it is arguably the most talked TV show. You have blogs, forums, articles and tweets that discuss the show. It is not the greatest show in the planet but the buzz and hype captivates you to get glued in your TV sets whether you watch it during the 8 PM primetime show or the 11 PM show for the workaholics. Last Wednesday, however, was different from the other Idol nights for me. It is because that was potentially the night I hop into the Siobhan Magnus bandwagon (uhmm… although, it already felt that I was riding it after I got addicted at her rendition of Living For The City).
I arrived home and tuned in to Star World and I got to see a guy – Alex Lambert – being praised by the judges. Wha?.. Did I miss something? (Obviously, I missed some performances since Alex is at the middle of the pack but that’s beside the point) I thought this was girls night? I soon found out that they postponed the original show because frontrunner Crystal Bowersox was hospitalized. Thus, I had to settle with the guys – the weaker set this year. The next three performers just validated the point as Todrick, Jermaine and Andrew – yes, you read it right – sucked terribly. By the time Aaron Kelly took the stage, my standards became too low that I began to appreciate his performance. It was better than last week but is still just slightly above average for me. However, I can see David Archuleta easily beating Aaron in singing My Girl.
I arrived home and tuned in to Star World and I got to see a guy – Alex Lambert – being praised by the judges. Wha?.. Did I miss something? (Obviously, I missed some performances since Alex is at the middle of the pack but that’s beside the point) I thought this was girls night? I soon found out that they postponed the original show because frontrunner Crystal Bowersox was hospitalized. Thus, I had to settle with the guys – the weaker set this year. The next three performers just validated the point as Todrick, Jermaine and Andrew – yes, you read it right – sucked terribly. By the time Aaron Kelly took the stage, my standards became too low that I began to appreciate his performance. It was better than last week but is still just slightly above average for me. However, I can see David Archuleta easily beating Aaron in singing My Girl.
Lee Dewyze finishes the show by a strong performance of a semi-rock song. Man, this guy has the voice. From my dark horse prediction last week, American Idol’s The Powers That Be (TPTB) has tagged Lee as the male frontrunner this early. After an hour of boredom, Lee gives us a breakthrough performance. Forget about being pitchy – it is early in the competition anyway. Lee’s distinct voice and performance execution were enough for me to state that it was the best of the night.
Eventually, I was able to watch the replays (and a YouTube clip of Lee singing off key in a bar) and I must say that the boys stepped up as a whole. Sure, there were horrible performances (the four ones I mentioned plus John Park’s performance that almost put me into sleep) but half of them improved. Big Mike – even though I hate his douchey attitude – deserves some praise. Casey – even if I hate his overdone, unnecessary smiles – performed well with his electric guitar skills. I think the judges were harsh on him. American Idol is a singing competition but if you can also exhibit a notable performance with an instrument, you need to be commended for that. It is entertainment. Alex Lambert – even if I cannot think of a backhanded compliment because he does not deserve any – was superb when he exhibited his distinct tone.
Thursday night. Finally, I get to watch Siobhan’s performance and decide from there if I will be a fan. As usual, I missed some early performances. I started with Lacey Brown singing Kiss Me. This chick is starting to grow in me – physically, not musically. I have a fascination on redheads (like Hayley of Paramore and Christina Hendricks) and beautiful eyes. Lacey’s version was just OK, but you have to admit that her voice really fit the song. Sound-alike? Yes, but it was still better than a butchered song. Katie followed up an OK performance with another OK performance.
Didi, my pre-semifinal #1, horribly sang Lean On Me. As Simon said, it was a wasted opportunity (Alien Simon finally made sense!) I liked Didi’s previous performances but her rendition of Lean On Me made me feel that she is in danger. The Way I Am was a good performance but it got sacked by the judges to the point that I feel that America thinks that Didi had two terrible performances. That was why I felt that Didi diminished all her frontrunner momentum when he sang the 2nd worst song of the night (it felt like Alexis Grace’s Jolene from last year except that I am not yet sold on Didi). How was Didi’s Lean On Me horrible? First, it was a soul song. Her thin, vulnerable voice does not fit songs that require full voices. Didi has several limitations and Lean On Me was simply a stay-away song for her. It did not help that I have the Glee singers singing in my head when Didi was performing the song. It further paled in comparison when I remembered Glee’s Mercedes shrieking glory notes on their rendition. If Didi slowed the song and lightened the mood, it would have been believable.
Michelle Delamor’s performance was forgettable. Lilly Scott’s was decent but I was not crazy on it as compared to last week’s. I have a feeling that it might get tiring listening to her style eventually because it lacks versatility. I hope she proves me wrong because I really like Lilly especially now that Didi is one bad performance away from being eliminated.
Katelyn Epperly was the shocker of the night. I did not expect anything from her because I felt angry after she borrowed the Across The Universe version of Oh Darling and made it worse last week. Katelyn sang one of my favorite Coldplay songs, Scientist, and she made it believable. If you have no plans of rooting for someone but that person makes you say “hey, it is a good version”, then the performance is actually good. Coldplay’s version is still better but Katelyn’s rendition was way far from mediocre. However, she did not admit that she got it from Natasha Bedingfield’s style. Hmmm… two weeks in a row of copying without referring it to the original. At least, David Cook had the guts to admit it when he copied Billie Jean before. There goes Katelyn’s likability.
Paige Miles was next and I still continue to get confused what the judge’s buzz was on her. Best voice in the competition? Whatever Simon talked about, Paige should exhibit it first. If she has utilized the so-called best voice already, then that is not good enough for me. Frankly, I hate it when she hits the high notes. It feels that something is lacking. She has the potential to have the booming soul voice but I have to hear it before I get impressed. There were some moments when she delivered that but I actually liked Lil Rounds’ moments from last year more than Paige’s and I am not a Lil Rounds fan. Oh I forgot, Simon is an alien.
Finally, it was Siobhan’s turn. She gets the pimp spot this week. I do not know if I should be happy for this or not. In my opinion, getting the pimp spot early in the competition somehow puts you in frontrunner position. We all know that early frontrunners have a hard time winning. Adam Lambert’s consistent performances from last year did not help. I preferred Siobhan taking the pimp spot next week or the week after that but you have to take what you can get. At least, this buys her a spot in the Top 12. Siobhan reveals her radical hair to America (which I already knew a week ago via YouTube… she is a punk rock chick). Siobhan also explains how she does the weird noise that she made during her Hollywood celebrations. She is definitely strange. Crazy and weird, however, are ‘in’ these days with Lady Gaga and Adam Lambert in the spotlight of pop culture. But, I like Siobhan’s weirdness because it makes her down-to-earth. She does not have a cookie-cutter image, thus we can relate to some of her flaws (although I am not anywhere near her weirdness). Siobhan Magnus is also a unique and cool name. Famous people have cool names. Michael Jordan. Magic Johnson. Bill Gates. Cheater Guy… I mean, Tiger Woods. Ron Burgundy (even if it is fictional). Siobhan is easily the most likable contestant this year.
Other reasons why I like Siobhan: 1) she likes the Boston Red Sox; 2) she is potentially the best pure rocker we are going to have this season; and 3) with the exception of her nose ring and irregular teeth, she is awesomely cute.
Siobhan sings Aretha Franklin’s Think. I have to admit, it was a slightly above average version when she sang the verses. She was off pitch in some parts and the whole theme does not fully fit her. However, Siobhan has remarkable performance skills. She probably got it from her theatre days (I really did research about her). The Siobhan last week was definitely different from the Siobhan I saw this week. She is perky and lively. Siobhan at least made the theme believable. Then out of nowhere, she screeched a long, uber high glory note. BAM! That was awesome. It was like hearing “Wicked Sick!” after having a killing streak in DotA. Pundits think that it was the highest note in Idol history. What is amazing is that she belted it effortlessly and it was on key. Although her performance on Living For The City was still better overall, the Think glory note has very high recall factor. Ladies and gentlemen, we have the winner of the night. Siobhan Magnus, you earned a fan.
I have to admit that I expected her to easily sing the glory notes. I watched some of her YouTube clips in her high school plays and from there you will know that she has a wide vocal range. She may not have the best voice of the competition (I think Didi, Lee and Alex have the best voices) but Siobhan is the technically awesome and is the most diverse as well. Heck, I do not know what to expect from her next week.
When I watched the replay of her performance, I realized that the verse parts were not that average at all. If you compare it to the original Aretha Franklin version, you will observe that Siobhan tweaked the tempo to suit her style. The song does not fully suit her voice but her delivery made it believable. These (along with the fact that it was a difficult song) are the reasons why I think Siobhan had the best performance.
The show ended with Simon unnecessarily pimping Crystal Bowersox. Dude, you already compared contestants to Crystal, she does not need excessive hyping. It suddenly felt like Simon was begging for Crystal’s votes because she went first. We all know Crystal surely has a place in the Top 12 because of her frontrunner status. It is actually unfair to Crystal because people will now expect too much from her (remember the frontrunner syndrome). But for selfish reasons, it was good for Siobhan because it suddenly felt that Crystal got the pimp spot this week than Ms. Magnus.
I was able to watch Crystal’s performance in a replay (and I repeatedly listened via YouTube) but it was just above average for me. Alien Simon definitely overpimped her. Poor Crystal. I got to watch Haeley’s too. She found a way to butcher an already terrible song (uh oh… Miley’s fans are going to hunt me. Miley’s fans find Jeff and chopped him into pieces. After a few hours, Alien Simon resurrects Jeff and says “Do not reveal my identity to anyone.” Jeff promises.)
The judges continue to be horrible this season. They have been contradicting what they are saying and they have been humiliating contestants with over-the-top comments without suggesting anything helpful. Alien Simon evaluates performances by comparing to their past performances (Sorry, Alien Simon. I lied). Let’s say Contestant A performs a 9/10 song last week while Contestant B does a 3/10. Then Contestant A declined to a 7/10 performance while Contestant B improves to 4/10. Simon throws Contestant A out of the window but he over-praises Contestant B. Let’s just name Contestant B Tim Urban (oh wait, Tim performed a 0/10 song last week!) Kara happens to give the contestants the kiss of death whenever she states that they were the best of some kind (see Joe Munoz and Michelle Delamor). Ellen improved using Simon’s standards where she was 1/10 last week and she is now 3/10 this week as she has stopped stuttering and giving awkward comments. However, Ellen has Randy as her cast as he always speaks first. Randy also improved based on Simon’s standards since Randy has all the room for improvement anyway.
OK, I will give you a break. The sarcasm, nitpicking and backhanded compliments end here. Yeah, they better end before some fanbase starts to chop me into pieces again. Alien Simon won’t be resurrecting me anymore. It is time to be optimistic as I hand you my overall power rankings after this week’s marked improvements. (By the way, girls beat boys again. 2-0)
On the cusp: Katelyn Epperly and Casey James
5. Alex Lambert
4. Crystal Bowersox
3. Lilly Scott
2. Lee Dewyze
1. Siobhan Magnus
Didi and Andrew are out of the rankings but if they perform solidly next week, there is a high chance they return in the Top Five. I hope they do. They both have amazing voices and they can sing without the necessity of hitting the glory notes. But then, you have to impress before you get appreciated.
Yup, no sarcasm and backhanded compliments. It is because I did not write any description about my Top Five anymore. I pretty much have described them anyway.
By the way, we have one of the most beautiful lineup of female contestants this year (well, that is if you prefer Caucasians). Didi Benami is the prettiest of the bunch (I hope she does not get eliminated next week after I stated this – Janell Wheeler got the boot after I said that she was the prettiest). If you like redheads, then you have Lacey Brown as the eye candy. Katie Stevens appeals for the teenagers. Siobhan Magnus, as I mentioned, is a cute little thing (although she is not really little). I do not find Katelyn Epperly beautiful but it is understandable if other people like her looks. Lilly Scott has an extreme appearance but is still cute in some ways. If you are a shallow guy, this is a good year for Idoling for you (it has been awhile since the McPheever days). But, I am not evaluating them on their looks – if I was then Didi and Siobhan would never fall out of my Top Five. I think the current Top Five is fair as of now. ‘Til next week.
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