That’s the first time in a long time that we’ve had a GREAT first show for the Top 12. Usually there are more than a few clinkers, and last night we only had three.
Syesha – Good, but bland. She has a great voice, but the song sounded like any local talent show. She needs to stand out more or she won’t last long because of the bigger personalities around her.
Chikezie – I’ve made it plain that I don’t like this guy much, but WOW did he impress me last night. That was AWESOME AWESOME AWESOME and I’m absolutely downloading that one off iTunes.
Ramiele – Poor thing. That’s a great song, and while she sang it very sweetly, it never lifted above “sweet” and in turn became “boring.” Will most likely be in the bottom three tonight.
Jason – This is the other song I’ll download. I just love Jason Castro. I love the sound of his voice, the humility in his interviews, and the connection he has with his songs (I’m with Paula – I DO think he makes connections when he sings).
Carly – It helped that she has apparently sung this song hundreds of times in the bar. She was very comfortable with it and rocked it out. Nice job!
David C. – Denis thinks he is a Daughtry-wannabe, and I agree thatI hear some of that same inflection sometimes, but he’s still a good performer and I LOVED what he did with “Eleanor Rigby.” I’ll be downloading this one too.
Brooke – She was obviously very nervous and couldn’t figure out how to play the piano, look at the camera AND look at the audience. So that made her seem very skittish. However, she sounded great and will definitely continue to do well if her enthusiasm each week stays at this level.
David H. – From the high of “Papa Was a Rolling Stone” to the lows of the manic performance last night. Yikes. He’ll be in the bottom three for sure.
Amanda – I’m not a fan, but she did reasonably well last night. I think the mistake was speeding up the song – it caused her to slur her words (I was gratified when Simon said the same thing about her slurring). If she had kept the original tempo we could have understood her more. Despite this, it was a nice performance.
Michael – He did a nice job and at some point when he was singing a long high note I thought, “Wow, he sounds like one of the four tenors!” He has a really nice tone when he’s not forcing it.
Kristi – I didn’t think the arrangement was HORRIBLE – but her performance was. She did not look like she was having fun at all, and her nerves got her when she failed at the run attempts. Absolutely in the bottom three.
David A. – Like everyone else I was expecting brilliance. I was surprised by the song choice. I was also surprised at how many times he forgot the words. But after the first time his nerves took over – I’ve had that happen, and know what it’s like. You forget one time and suddenly you struggle through the WHOLE SONG. Been there!!! But he’s safe because America will come to his defense and save him.