American Idol: the top 12 men perform
Tonight’s American Idol featured the top 12 men performing. For the next three weeks the men and women will perform separately, with the bottom two eliminated each week until the final 12 are named.
The show featured songs from the 1960’s. Here’s my take on each performer, in the order in which they sang tonight.
David Hernandez. He performed Wilson Pickett’s “Wait till the Midnight Hour.” I thought it was kind of boring and bland. It was good but nothing really special to me. The judges liked it – and even Simon said that it was better than he thought it would be.
Chickezie. He performed the Stevie Wonder song “I Love You More Today than Yesterday.” First off I thought his suit was distracting. He’s not a bad looking guy but I did not like the suit on him at all. And I thought he started off kind of rough but did good as the performance moved on. The judges were not all that pleased with his performance. Randy only said it was “pretty good” and “alright” while Simon said he hated the whole performance. He called the suit hideous and the performance old fashioned, corny and cheesy. I don’t think I would go that far in describing it. I think this guy has some amazing potential.
David Cook. I loved him. He did the song “Happy Together” and really rocked it. I liked the performance and I like his look. Randy said that he thought the start was weird, but he really rocked the song. Paula said it was worthy of great praise. Even Simon thought it was good, although he said it was a weird song choice.
Jason Yeager. I can’t believe that the word cheesy was not used by the judges to describe his performance, but Simon came pretty close to how I was feeling when he called it very cruise ship like. Jason sang “Moon River” and dedicated it to his grandmother. That’s nice and all but it’s not going to win you American Idol. The judges said that a lot of young viewers at home were not going to relate to this performance. Simon said he came across as much older in the performance.
Robbie Carrico. Just looking at him I thought he would give a really edgy, rock performance. He chose the song “One” by Three Dog Night and I was kind of disappointed, since I thought it could have been edgier. The judges liked it, saying it was a good and authentic performance. Simon questioned his authenticity, though, basically because he doesn’t know enough about him yet to know if he is authentic or just comfortable.
David Archuleta. My first question about him is does he shave yet? I have to ask. He gave what I would describe as a very pop performance of the song “Shop Around.” The judges loved it, and Simon said that by far this was the best performance of the evening so far. I just thought it was too pop for me. Just my opinion.
Danny Noriega. He took on the challenge of “Jailhouse Rock” by Elvis. I was so distracted by his wardrobe – I at first thought his pants were women’s pants, and then all I wanted to do was reach into the tv and pull them up. I think he’s got a lot of attitude for an 18 year old. He was giving Simon lip because he didn’t like what Simon had to say about his performance. Simon said if you’re going to do Elvis then you need to do it well. He said that Danny’s performance was verging on grotesque. While Randy and Paula liked the performance aspect of tonight, they both thought it was a safe choice.
Luke Menard. He performed the song “Everybody’s Talking” and I thought it was nice. Simon said it was unforgettable, and I think he probably is right but I still liked it. Of course the fact he is from Crawfordsville, IN could be a reason I like him. I actually know some people from that small town. That might have influenced my feelings. But I did agree when Paula compared him to Kenny Loggins. He has that soft kind of feeling about his vocals.
Colton Berry. This performance of “Suspicious Minds” by Elvis was really forgettable to me. Simon said it was a waste of time and not relevant. Randy thought it was pretty good, but Paula said it was not his best performance. The only thing that I took from this performance is that he looks like Macaulay Culkin and not Peter Frampton or Leif Garrett.
Garrett Haley. Poor Garrett looked like a deer in the headlights while singing the Neil Sedaka song “Breaking Up is Hard to Do.” It was a boring performance, and all three of the judges didn’t like it. Randy said he didn’t make it his own; Paula said he needed to be more courageous in the performance. Simon just called him whiny, terrified, and haunted and told him he looked as if he was locked up in his room for a month and should get some fresh air.
Jason Castro. He performed the Lovin’ Spoonful song “What a Day for a Daydream” and he blew away Simon and Paula. They both loved the performance, and Simon said it was in the top two of the performances tonight. I personally thought it sounded like a commercial. Oh well.
Michael Johns. The producers definitely saved the best for last. He chose to sing “Light My Fire” by the Doors and it was amazing. One of the judges compared him to Michael Hutchins and I can’t remember who said that but they are so right. All three judges loved him – even Simon. He said that Michael has the natural charisma of a lead singer and has been the most consistent contestant.
Tomorrow the women sign, and the elimination show will air on Thursday. In my opinion many of the men are not all that strong. I wonder if the women will be the stronger contestants this year.
Read these other great entries
February 20th, 2008 at 3:25 pm
It’s interesting that they split something so neutral by gender. I’d like to see them audition everyone together and see where the judges’ individual biases get exposed!