So last night the final 12 sang their hearts out. Nine of the 12 were fantastic or definitely better than expected. The other three were so obviously NOT meant to be there, that they were painful to watch.
Case #1: Camille. I kept waiting for her to burst into tears and leave the stage in the middle of her song. Sure, she’s had great confidence – and thus great performances – in the past, but hello – the winner is expected to sing in front of thousands on concert tours, make an album that sells, and be a good singer 99% of the time. And based on Camille’s first shot at stardom – she doesn’t have it. The audience will probably put her through for next week’s show – but if she doesn’t shape up, she may be out as early as next week.
Case #2: Jon Peter Lewis. Or is it Jon Lewis Peters? I can never remember. In my house we just call him “Elvis” based on his song during the wild card show last week. I was hoping the dancing thing last week was a one-time-only deal. Last snow showed it’s not. And that’s not good. The boy can’t dance, and shuffling your feet on stage doesn’t mean you have a personality on stage. Were he to stand still (a la “Tiny Dancer”), he has a decent voice, but not a great voice. Yeah, America loves him. But only 22% (based on 12 people during the wild card). I doubt the 22% will hold up based on last night’s other brilliant performances. But I don’t think he’ll go tonight. Possibly next week, unless Camille fails miserably next week too.
Case #3: Leah LaBelle. Poor Leah – her mother is going to have a fit when her daughter loses tonight. I picture a temper tantrum – and not by Leah. You know that since the age of two Leah has been told she needs to be a famous singer. I fear we’ll be reading headlines in a year about Leah on the “torment of an almost Idol” and how she never recovered because her mother wouldn’t let it go.
As for the good performances, at this point I think it’s between LaToya, George and Diana. They are my three favorites in this competition. FantaBounce did well, but MAN WHY DOES SHE HAVE TO BOUNCE LIKE THAT?? The rest were strictly in the “slightly-above average” realm – they’ll definitely have to kick it up a notch or else they won’t even have a CHANCE for the Top 4 against LaToya, George, Diana and FantaBounce.
My predictions for the bottom three: Camille, Elvis, and Leah, with Leah getting the boot.
I’m part of America and I don’t like Jon Peter Lewis and I don’t know who the 22% is that does…except that they may find him hilarious to watch. I’m not looking for an idol that is hilarious. I love George, and I also very much like Diana, Jasmin and Fantasia. I want to like Matt, but time and again he doesn’t live up to his audition to me. Leah will probably get the boot. I don’t really like LaToya…I always forget her. I didn’t think Amy did as well as she has in the past, Jennifer was ok, Camile wasn’t anything special and will probably be in the bottom 3. I kinda think that John Stevens may also be in the bottom 3 despite Simon’s apparent liking to him (and wasn’t Simon who last year criticized Clay’s “broadway-ish” performances saying they weren’t pop enough?)I’m missing someone…but I can’t think of who.
I didn’t watch it because of our dinner with Cindy and Hans. It was good? I have pretty much written off this season.
Jen, the good performances last night were actually OUTSTANDING – particularly LaToya, George, and Diana – who will definitely be Top 3 if they continue singing the way they did last night.
And because they were so good – with the exception of the three HORRIBLE ones, the rest seemed strictly average (but were still decent).
I didn’t think I’d like this year’s Top 12, but after last night’s performances, I’m hooked.
I haven’t been a big fan of American Idol this year, so I didn’t watch last night. However, Anthony put it on TiVo and with your recommendations, maybe I will watch it this evening when I get home… and if its good then I will tune in to see who gets the boot! I really don’t think anyone is worthy of the title this year, nobody really stands out in my opinion.
Finally got caught up after watching the tape from last night. I agree that Leah should get the boot. Love George.