March 5, 2008

  • Here's my American Idol Recap for the GUYS last night (Songs From the 80's)!

    Luke Menard -- "Wake Me Up Before You Go-Go" -- This was a dreadful, uninspired performance. Luke's on stage mannerisms are highly annoying. It's a puzzling song choice because it is relatively easy to sing. Any decent signer could sleepwalk though it. I never liked this lame Wham song back in the 80's and I don't like it now. Luke isn't changing that. I predict Luke is in high danger of being sent home now. 2/10

    David Archuleta -- "Another Day in Paradise" -- I'm tired of AI pimping this young kid endlessly like he's the second coming of Jesus. To be fair, he has a good voice, but so do a lot of folks on AI. As far as the performance goes, I actually liked this performance better than the much ballyhooed "Imagine." I think Simon was on to something when he said he didn't much care for two "depressing song" in a row, but I think he chose he words poorly. It's not depressing songs that are the problem, it's seeing a naive 17 years constantly sing preachy songs. "Imagine" and "Another Day in Paradise" are best sung by someone a little more world weary. It's nice to hear that David was "thinking about all the homeless people" out there, but it's not a new problem that we need him to bring to our attention. Simon boldly predicted he will be in the top 2. Is that because he deserves it, or does Simon know AI will do everything in their power to try and make that happen (as alluded to on VFTW)? 7/10

    Danny Noriega -- "Tainted Love" -- Enough already. Danny is this year's Sanjaya, all twink, no talent. He's very T-girly. If he got some breasts and starting taking hormones, he has the real potential in this area! His BSDM version of Tainted Love was creepy to say the least. Unfortunately, due to the support of VFTW, I suspect he will be around for awhile. I was surprised Paula was so down on his purple hair streaks! 2/10

    David Hernandez -- "It's All Coming Back To Me Now" -- It recently came to light that David was a exotic male dancer who performed for both men and women in the Phoenix area. I think the "drama" surrounding this "shocking" revelation overshadowed his performance. David's performance of an over the top Meat Loaf song was not bad, but I find the song inherently awkward. It did give David the chance to show off his pipes well. However, I suspect that gay male dancer won't go over so well with the AI voting block, so this week is likely the end of the road for Mr. Hernandez. 6/10

    Michael Johns -- "Don't You Forget About Me" -- Michael chose a hallmark "modern rock" song of the early part of the decade by Simple Minds. One would be hard pressed to find someone who grew up during that era who wasn't familiar with John Hughes' "The Breakfast Club" and it's lead music track. The problem is, when one chooses this kind of iconic song, it's hard to forget the original and almost always, the AI karaoke version pales in comparison. Predictable that was the case here. Michael's version sounded wimpy. However, he's a good looking guy that seems comfortable on stage and already has the rock star swagger down. That will carry him far into this competition. 5/10

    David Cook -- "Hello" -- In the most surprising performance of the night, David sang (and played) Lionel Richie's "Hello." If you know anything about Lionel Richie, you know he was the king of massively popular, syrupy sweet love ballads during this era. But this was something different. David managed to update this tepid song into a credible alternative rock track with an edge! Props to Cook for his adventurous choice and making it work. Best performance of the night by far. 10/10

    Jason Castro -- "Unknown Song by Leonard Cohen" -- This funky monkey kid bugs me for some reason. The whole rasta hair and 70's folk singer get up seems so out of place on Idol. I was not familiar with this song and I suspect the majority of viewers were not either. That's always a risky thing to do on Idol. Jason's performance didn't seem bad, but I had nothing to compare it to. I don't know what to make of Jason but I can't see him going far in this competition. He should be at Berkley smoking weed and participating in protests or something. 6/10

    Chikezie -- Chikezie's performance of "All the Woman (Man) That I Need" was quite good and reminded me of the late Luther Vandross. Of course the judges focused on the fact that Whitney Houston once sang this song. If you watch Idol a lot you know anything she sings is "off limits" in their book. I'm more concerned that Chikezie is not connecting well with the audience however. Sadly, he may be at risk despite decent singing and a ballsy song choice. However, I'd like to see him move forward at least into the top 10 and that's why I threw him a few votes last night. 8/10

    This morning, I heard on the news (Yes, it's amazing what passes for news these days isn't it?!) that AI made a statement about stripper boy Hernandez's eligibility on the show given his past line of work. An Idol rep stated, "We've had strippers on the show before. If it were some sort of heavy porn, then maybe we'd have to take action."  (emphasis added)

    My reaction to this is, I'm glad they aren't going to banish him, but the second part of their statement is troubling. Why shouldn't a porn star be allowed to be a contestant on American Idol? Performing in an adult movie is perfectly legal in California just like stripping or working at Safeway. I don't feel it's appropriate for American Idol to be drawing arbitrary morality lines in the sand as a criteria for eligibility. As Paula reminds us several times each show, this is a "singing competition", not church. Since when are singers required to be public role models with "perfect" character that conform to someone else's idea of what is moral?


    -- Snowman