Tag: American Idol

Now playing: Chicago by Sufjan Stevens

This is a very, very late post about the previous episodes of American Idol and I apologise, but I just wanted to clear a few things here.

Firstly, you must really be wondering, what happened to Michelle’s obsession with American Idol? Why did she suddenly shut up about American Idol after strongly expressing her enthusiasm for the show in these three posts? Did she actually stop watching it altogether? Really? After those three posts?

It’s okay if you’re not wondering about that because I myself am wondering about that.

Yes, I still do watch American Idol every week, though I must say the main reasons why I didn’t constantly blog about it are, a) I lost interest in the show , b) I lost interest in the show because of the uninteresting judge panel, c) most of the time I get back from tuition and miss half of it anyway and can’t be arsed to write about it. I pretty much miss a lot during Hollywood week, and only started to really watch it “seriously” in the two-hour episode where the Top 24 are picked. Here is what I think about the Top 24 contestants:

Girls

Ashton Jones

Never heard of her until now, sad to say. I only know she’s from Nashville and I have this thing for singers from Nashville. (Most probably thanks to my obsession with Paramore.) I think she’s good. Just good, you know. Like, good-but-you-probably-won’t-stay long type of good.

 

 

Haley Reinhart

Never heard of her either. She has awesome hair though. Anyway…methinks she’ll be out soon as well.

Okay, that’s harsh, but some of these Top 24 people fail to leave an impactful impression. (I know right, I don’t know anything yet I still want to write a post about it, how shameless of me.)

 

Julie Zorrilla

Oh my God. Who on Earth is this, I honestly cannot remember her at all, I’m sorry.

But that is a really awesome surname.

 

 

Karen Rodriguez

I cannot remember who this is as well… God, Michelle, what were you doing when you were supposed to be watching the Top 24 episode?

 

 

 

Kendra Chantelle

AHA! This I remember! She sang Bluebird with another favourite of mine, Paul McDonald, also from Nashville. They make an incredible duo, but I am not a fan of her voice. I think people like Kendra are overrated in this show.

 

 

Lauren Alaina

I actually loved Lauren’s performance with Scotty and this other girl I don’t remember during Group week, when they sang Hello, Goodbye. She gave me an impression of a girl with a big voice. But then, holy Moses, she had to wear that horrendous pink (PINK!) barbie-esque dress that actually “floated in the air” together with pink (MORE PINK!) knee-high boots, and that’s not all because her outfit doesn’t just stop there no, she actually giggled throughout the whole sit-down with the judges and I’m sorry, but this turns me off really, really badly. I don’t like you, Lauren Alaina.

Lauren Turner

I know this name and I know this face but I cannot remember any of her performances hence this means she did not leave an impression so I will not attempt to exhaust my brain cells trying to recall who she really is.

 

 

Naima Adedapo

Naima I do know. Who can ever forget someone like her? (This is how you leave an impression, guys, appearance- and voice-wise.) I can’t say she is a favourite…yet, but she I definitely have an eye out for her.

 

 

Pia Toscano

I liked Pia immediately the first time I saw her. In a way, she reminds me of Paris Tassin (too bad Paris didn’t make it…what a sham), although mostly because of their appearances. They both have great voices, but in different ways. Pia’s is much stronger, and I think she has a chance at this.

Favourite #1.

Rachel Zevita

Definitely my favourite among the girls. She was an early favourite, remember, back in New Jersey? A petite girl with a huge and outstanding voice. I love her.

Favourite #2.

 

Tatynisa Wilson

I can’t recall who Tatynisa is. Sorry.

 

 

 

Thia Megia

Thia, Thia, Thia. Fifteen-year-old Thia. I don’t dislike you, and I think you are really talented for someone who is a year younger than me (low self-esteem right here), but I honestly don’t see what the judges see in you. In the judging room, if I were presented with you and Jessica Cunningham, I would’ve chosen Jessica. Honestly, I thought Jessica was going to make the cut. It must be a horrible, horrible feeling to try out seven times (this being the eighth) and still fail to make the cut. I don’t blame her for taking the piss on the judges, and on her birthday as well. I have nothing against young contestants, it’s great to have young contestants because everyone love young contestants but logically, young contestants never make it far. There’s a reason why they are called young. Now don’t start being mad at me, if I were to join American Idol, I wouldn’t expect myself to be chosen, because honestly, I know everyone else is older and more experienced than me, and why not wait a few years to gain aforementioned experiences before joining as someone more matured? Just my thoughts. Don’t diss me because I know Thia is a popular favourite.

Boys

Brett Loewenstern

I am honestly in love with Brett. (Already an early favourite as well.) I’m not just talking about his voice, because he is such a fantastic and kind and friendly person. I don’t care if you think he’s corny because I think he is sweet and you honestly cannot find many people like him in the world. When Colton Dixon, Jacee Badeaux and him went into the judging room together, his little question, “Can we hold hands?” just confirmed the fact that I will always be rooting for him. And when the judges finally announced the name of who would be in the Top 24, you would know, just by the look of his face, that fracture of a moment when his face turned from all smiles into one of complete astonishment; because he was ready to congratulate either one of his partners. In that short moment when all kinds of feelings rushed within me, I knew that Brett was one of a kind. He is just absolutely great, and he might not have the strongest voice among the rest, but he sure has the best personality.

Favourite #3.

Casey Abrams

I never really payed attention to him in the beginning, when they introduced him and all, because even my parents were saying how Simon would’ve frowned upon his nonchalance and goof-around ways, but when it came to his last performance with only his voice and his double bass, it totally blew me away. One of the strongest voice this season. Not really a favourite yet, but I’ll be keeping an eye on him.

 

Clint Jun Gamboa

Hmm…don’t remember him.

 

 

 

Jacob Lusk

I have deduced that Jacob Lusk is not a human being and functions on rainbows or some other kind of otherworldly substance because dang, this man has too much energy! I actually spent a good whole ten minutes cracking up when he jumped around the whole place after hearing he got into the Top 24. Not a bad voice, either, I’ll give him a favourite star for being the way he is.

Favourite #4.

James Durbin

Aha! I bet this guy is the one you’re all waiting for, huh? Well then, don’t kill me for saying this, but I honestly thought “meh” when I first watched his audition. As the weeks progress, people start comparing him to Adam Lambert and while I will not deny that I have done some comparison myself too, I don’t find him particularly outstanding or anything. I’m sorry, it’s just what I think okay? I don’t know yet. Maybe I’ll grow to like him, maybe I won’t, but it’s too early to tell yet, but for now, I am just putting him under the “meh” section.

Jovany Barreto

Eh. I can’t remember who you are.

(EDIT: Oh yeah you were the guy who took his shirt off…can’t remember anything else about you singing, though.)

 

 

Paul McDonald

I absolutely love Paul’s voice. It reminds me of the Gibbs brothers’ voices. You don’t find this kind of raspy voice anywhere, and unique voices are really what’s…”in”, you know, since most people’s voices are highly overrated nowadays.

Favourite #5.

 

Robbie Rosen

I remember this guy! Justin Long with Nick Santino’s nose! I will always remember him as that. Despite him being an early favourite…meh. I mean, I didn’t really pay attention to him, but I hear he is also a popular favourite (ahem Wahed) so I’ll be keeping an eye out for him as well, I guess.

 

Scotty McCreery

How can you not fall in love with Scotty’s baritone? How can you not? Because the first time I heard him sing…my mind was completely blown. I have no idea anyone could actually sing like that. And while many might not be a fan of his amazingly deep voice (eg. my mum) I am a loyal fan and I expect Scotty to get to great heights with his voice.

Favourite #6.

Stefano Langone

Am I the only one wondering what it is with mixed ethnicity and American Idol Season 10 this year? Because there are a great number of Latino, Puerto Rican, Filipino etc contestants this year.

I can only recall Stefano as one of the better contestants in the Top 24. And that my mum likes him.

 

Tim Halperin

Wow okay it’s finally the last 24th contestant and…WHOA HOLD UP. Who on Earth is Tim Halperin I have never seen you before on my TV.

…honest to God, I have never seen this guy before.

 

 

Early favourites that didn’t make the cut: Chris Medina, Colton Dixon

*Of course, you must know that people change hence opinions change so this is what I think right now but it might not be what I think a week or two weeks later, so don’t judge me too quickly. It’s just a TV show.

New Orleans was definitely better than New Jersey.

I’ve decided to stop whining about the judges and focus on the contestants, because New Orleans have some pretty decent singers right here. I personally found three of my favourites tonight, the last two of them even managed to completely blow my mind.

Brett Loewenstern: The moment I saw him, the first word that came to mind was “Frodo”, followed closely by “hobbit”. So whenever I say The Frodo Guy, you’ll know who I’m referring to. However, the minute he opened his mouth, all three of us started to question his gender at once. If you close your eyes and just listen to his talking voice, I can assure you you would’ve thought it was a woman talking. But when he started to sing… it was great. He had a great voice, and now I am assured that hobbits are naturally good singers. I’m sorry, I mean, people who look like hobbits. (And I’m not just saying, because Simon Cowell once called the winner of World Idol a hobbit with the voice of an angel but that’s out of the topic so never mind.) He’s also kind of like American’s Idol resident Kurt Hummel. He left the room with a golden ticket, and Jennifer Lopez claiming that he has “extremely well-conditioned hair”.

Well, I might love his voice, but I wouldn’t go near his hair with a ten-foot pole.

Jacee Badeaux: When I started hearing people comparing this so-called sensation to Justin Bieber, I had instant dislike for him. If American Idol is going to start swarming with barely of age tweens screaming their lungs out, proclaiming their undying love for this new Biebs-look-alike, I swear I’m going to stop watching the show entirely. So I was prepared when it was his turn…and I was unprepared. Maybe it was also the after effect of listening a Mick Jagger slash Steven Tyler look-alike who can’t sing, but I have to say I am impressed because this fifteen-year-old (and here I was thinking the youngest age limit of American Idol was sixteen) had a genuinely good voice. Looks-wise… I’m not sure many of Biebs’s fans would be happy, but all the better. Although something tells me he won’t last long. Take Aaron Kelly for example. He lasted long, oh yes, but only because of his looks, and the fact that he was young. If you’re young without a promising voice, looks are going to be your only weapon of survival, and since we can’t really determine if young Jacee here really does have a promising voice, we’ll just have to see.

Paris Tassin: I was prepared for the girl with this beautiful name ever since Elya tweeted how she looked like Lights only with a better voice. I thought she looked like a dark-haired version of Kristen Bell. I honestly wasn’t expecting her story of woe, thinking she was just some kind of normal teenager from this small town from Louisiana whose biggest dream is to win American Idol and all that jazz. I wasn’t expecting a mother with a diseased child, but I guess that adds to the juiciness of the show.

Okay that sounded heartless. But it was a touching story, and when she sang, she blew everyone else off the shaky list of American Idol to-bes. It wasn’t just her voice, which is extremely powerful, that had a huge impact on me, and the judges too, but her song choice…was just plain perfect. She sang Temporary Home by Carrie Underwood, and it was kind of like Carrie Underwood herself wrote that song especially for her, because it was her life story, and she wasn’t just singing a song, she was singing about the truth of her life, which moved Jennifer Lopez to tears. So what else is there to say? She got the golden ticket and she’s on her way to Hollywood.

Right, so here’s a list of some of my personal favourites so far, which I’ll keep on updating as we move along.

New Jersey

• Robbie Rosen (He looks like Justin Long with Nick Santino’s nose.)
• Rachel Zevita
• Travis Orlando (He;s about the only one from New Jersey that I truly like.)

New Orleans

• Brett Loewenstern
• Jacee Badeaux
• Paris Tassin

Wow I’ve never really cared about the auditions before but this year, this year I’ll do it for Careful Confessions.

Is it just me, or is Steven Tyler looking like he’s trying too hard to have his hair look like J.Lo’s?

Anyway, I only got to watch the first episode of the new season of American Idol because I don’t have cable TV and Malaysian TV is a day late.

I think the only three words that was on my mind the whole time I was watching the show was, “WHERE IS SIMON?”

The new judge panel is so disappointing. We all know Randy can’t judge, and if he does we can’t really understand him since all he ever says is “dawg” and “yo” and ends every sentence with “man”. Proof can be seen during this one audition when he said “Aw man I’m sorry dawg I guess it’s a no for today” but then J.Lo and Steven Tyler started saying yes and he totally just did a 360 degree round turn and said, “Yeah man you were awesome yo yo yo dawg yo that’s cool that’s cool”. I don’t even know if he’s trying to be funny but if he’s going to be bouncing back and forth like that throughout the whole season, I say get Randy off the judge panel!

And then there’s J.Lo… I don’t think I’ll ever get why people faint over her, but then again that’s just my opinion. Putting someone as famous and “bootylicious” as Jennifer Lopez on the judge panel isn’t actually something I would do, because would you look at the number of self-proclaimed number one fans who queue up behind billions of people not to audition for American Idol, no not really, but only to catch a glimpse of their queen, Jennifer Lopez. I don’t know if the people behind AI really do filter and weed out the poorest performers before they get into the auditions like the papers proclaim but if they do, they sure have a sick sense of humour to let in just the right amount of horrible, horrible contestants to make the show juicy enough for America. I know it’s a reality show and it’s only normal to do everything to make it enjoyable and laughable but it kind of loses the real meaning of “searching for the next American Idol” if everyone’s just going to go up to the television screen and say “omg I’m going to see Jennifer Lopez omg omg omg”. And also, the way I look at it, American Idol is trying to make J.Lo the new Simon, or even a Kara, by the way they’re making J.Lo look like a harsh and fierce and unforgiving bitch. Ha. That can never happen, Simon Fuller.

Steven Tyler…I don’t even know what to say about him. I don’t really know him, except that he’s from Aerosmith,and that’s pretty cool, although (don’t kill me for saying this) he’s kind of like the new Paula, commenting more on outfits and looks than their singing. He’s a cool “dawg”, but I don’t know, I just don’t see it, man. I just don’t see it.

I’m not having a good feeling about this new season. The contestants are pretty much same old, same old, although less entertaining, the judges are just blah and Ryan is not getting enough showtime. I was like “Where’s Ryan?” throughout the whole show (apart from “WHERE IS SIMON?”) because he is one of the reasons I made an effort to finish the episode tonight. I know once they enter Hollywood week it’ll be better, but for now I’m just…urgh.

Simon come back wherever you are I don’t care if you now have a sexier judge companion in the form of Cheryl Cole please come back even though you are not American, American Idol is dying without you.

We want your witty comments

Your amazing smile

Your extraordinary personality

And lastly…such a beautiful face.

I can’t even begin to tell you how excited I am for the new season of American Idol. Well, maybe not as excited as I was last year because Simon and Kara, the only two judges who I thinks are actually the real judges of the show have left, but still excited all the same. For quite some years, American Idol has been the only antidote to a shitty beginning of a new year.

Despite my anticipation for another season of gags and laughs (although not as much anymore since Simon left) I doubt I’ll have any new favourite soon since I reckon Siobhan Magnus will always triumph as my favourite American Idol contestant, ever.

So this post isn’t as long as I expected or wanted it to be, but I guess you can expect some reviews once the show starts here (which is actually tomorrow night, boo for no cable TV). It won’t be stellar, but whatever.

Like me! THIS is the place where you can die hyperventilating or bask in its awesomeness till you get a stroke.

PS. Hope you enjoy this pingback. 🙂