We’ll make this quick, unlike last night’s opening episode of the final 24 contestants.
Rudy Cardenas, “Free Ride”: As I’ve said before, he sings like Clay Aiken, but not in a good way. Also – he runs all his words together and is obviously against enunciating anything at all.
Brandon Rogers, “Rock With You”: I liked the first 30 seconds of the song and if he had done the whole thing as a ballad it would have been AMAZING. Alas, he went into disco mode and while the vocals were okay, the performance itself was weak.
Sundance Head, “Nights in White Satin”: I’ve lost the lovin’ feeling for Sundance. Man, he was just awful. Like a Meatloaf impersonator, and not in a good way (I need to stop saying that – I say that a lot, and not in a good way). If he scrapes through the cut this week he needs to go back to his blues lovin’ self.
Paul Kim, “Careless Whisper”: I really don’t like this guy. I don’t know why I’m so against him. He wasn’t the worst of the night, but I’ll be VERY surprised if he makes the final top 12.
Chris Richardson, “I Don’t Want to Be”: I thought his boyband cover of Gavin McGraw was nicely played, although I got a headache watching him bob up and down through the whole thing. But he had energy, and the girls will love him, so he’ll be around for a while. He actually reminds me a lot of actor Bradley Cooper in addition to Justin Timberlake.
Nick Pedro, “Now and Forever”: This was a really mellow song, and I think that fact hid the fact that Nick actually had some strong vocals on this. Nice job. However, if he makes the final top 12 he’ll be one of the first to go.
Blake Lewis, “Somewhere Only We Know”: I was really surprised by this one. One, because I didn’t think his initial audition was that great, and two, because as Blake said – he’s never been shown SINGING this season except for that first time. That’s probably why I didn’t pick him as one of my top two. However, if I had seen THIS during the audition process? He would have been in my top two. The boy was GREAT last night.
Sanjaya Malakar, “Knocks Me Off My Feet”: It’s obvious to me that his sister wanted to jeopardize his chances by giving him this song. He’s got a nice voice, but no power or personality behind it.
Chris Sligh, “Typical”: I like this performance and I thought it was well done. Based on this song AND his personality, if he keeps it up he’ll get to the final top 12.
Jared Cotter, “Back to One”: I have to be honest. I don’t remember this one. That can’t be good. Oh wait! I know who he is. Oh, this one was really pitchy and all over the place. Plus, he looks like a guy I used to work with. Won’t be in the final top 12.
A.J. Tabaldo, “All My Love”: I’m sure his boyfriend loved it, but I didn’t. Nuff said.
Phil Stacey, “I Could Not Ask For More”: He got past his nerves and did a nice job – a good way to end the show. That’s not saying much though.
I usually don’t watch AI beyond the auditions, but Harold has been into this season, so we watched most of last night’s show. And you are 100% correct – the men SUCK.
it was all out brutal last night…
Couldn’t agree more, Jaynee.
I will add that Ryan Seacrest sucked too — the guy’s a host, not a judge. I hate when he interrupts or shuts-up the judges. Simon especially was doling out some very constructive criticism, and I thought Seacrest cut him off once too often.
And is it just me, or are there way too many commercial breaks?
Talmida – yes, a LOT of commercial breaks. This first night SHOULD have been 90 minutes, not two hours.
Yeah, the whole thing with Seacrest trying to make Simon look/feel bad is stupid. There’s no reason for him to instigate bad blood between Simon and everyone else except that he and/or the producers think they need to keep up the ruse that Simon is hated because he’s brutally honest. I think the truth is that Simon is appreciated and liked, but they fear lower ratings if that’s true.
loved your rundown and whole-heartedly agree… i’m just worried that if the girls don’t show up tomorrow with some amazing stuff, this year will be a flop.
sadly, i don’t remember life without AI and i don’t want to.
is aj gay? i don’t think so. it’s sad that he’s already out.