American Idol -- Top 24 -- Guy's Night

Not-Brian-Dunkleman does his usual introductions and tells us that tonight they separate the men from the boys.

Todrick Hall – had a great original song for his audition.  He’s singing Kelly Clarkson’s “Since You Been Gone”.  He reworked it into an R&B version.  I liked the verse more than the chorus, but it was memorable, which is what the judges always want.  He received a round of applause from The Wife.  Ellen liked everything except the chorus.  Dawg doesn’t understand what song he sang.   Kara agrees with Randy and doesn’t think he should be as crazy next time.  Simon thought he was being a dancer trying to sing and it was verging on stupid what he did. 

Aaron Kelly – (aka Chicken Little Part Deux) – sings “Here Comes Goodbye”, which is fitting because he has a similar voice to the chipmunk who is the lead singer for Rascal Flatts.  The Wife says it’s a carbon copy of the original version, which is fine, but not great or original, which is what the judges always want, which means they’ll love him.  Simon says it was a good performance but notes Aaron is lacking stage confidence/presence.  Kara loves his raw, natural talent.  Dawg says he has a huge voice, the chorus was pitchy, and he lacks confidence.  Ellen thinks he’ll be around for a long time.

Jermaine Sellers – promises he won’t throw anyone under the bus anymore.  Singing “Just Get Here” and that’s exactly what I’m hoping for with the ending, just get here.  He’s not good at falsetto and he sounds very off key.  Not a good performance.  Ellen felt he pushed a little too much.  Randy was surprised with the song choice and he did too much with it.  Kara didn’t think the runs were meaningful or special.  Simon thought it was a cocktail bar performance and it didn’t work.  Simon thinks he blew his chances with that song, but the other judges don’t agree.

Tim Urban – (no relation to Keith Urban or Urban Apparel, from what I’m told) – was a replacement after Chris Golightly was kicked off the show for already having a contract.  Singing “Apologize” by New Republic.  He does a carbon copy of the original and is nowhere near as good of a singer as the original version.  He keeps missing the higher notes.  Mediocre at best.  Simon says the vocals were weak and they made the right choice initially about not picking him for the Top 24.  Kara says he was over powered by the music.  Dawg says it was the wrong song for him because he doesn’t have the falsetto.  Ellen said he may get a lot of votes because he’s adorable. 

(Aside:  New Glee commercial = the Wife has to change into a fresh pair of panties.)

Joe Munoz – (I need to find the little “n-yeah” symbol to put over the N in his name to make it official) –Singing Mraz’s “You and I Both” in the style of Enrique Iglasias.  Nothing special or noteworthy about the performance.  He’ll be fine this round.  The Wife loved him.  Ellen liked him.  Dawg likes his voice but wasn’t sure about the sound choice.  Kara never would have thought he’d sing a song like that, and she thought he was the best singer of the night so far.  Simon thinks he’s not a star with a performance like that one. 

Tyler Grady – has a throwback/70s style.  Not sure if that will help or hurt him.  Singing The Guess Who’s “American Woman.”  He starts it like the Guess Who version and then kicks into the Lenny Kravitz version, and he does both very poorly.  He never really sings, just screams the words “American” and “woman” over and over.  Simon thinks people will remember the performance for the wrong reasons and that he’s a pretend rock star.  Kara feels similar to Simon and that he obsessing over the 70s too much.  Dawg thought it was style over substance.  Ellen doesn’t think he has enough charisma to go with the poses he does on stage. 

Lee Dewyze – His performance with his guitar at Hollywood week was pretty good.  Hope he uses the guitar tonight.  Singing Snow Patrol’s “Chasing Cars”.  He has the guitar.  It has a country/alt-rock feel to it (similar to Darius Rucker).  I like it.  Ellen thought it was a good song choice, but felt he screamed parts of the song.  Dawg didn’t like the song choice, it wasn’t hard enough Rock enough for his taste.  Kara agreed with Dawg and Kara.  Simon disagreed and thought it was the best performance of the night. 

(Aside:  The Wife and I would like to petition Idol to give the contestants 30 more seconds to sing and have less Ryan & Judges filler.  It is so frustrating that they seem to be killing time, but the songs are only a minute long.  Annoying.)

John Park – Shania Twain made him blush in the audition.  Singing “God Bless the Child”.  A jazz standard.  I can’t understand a word that is coming out of his mouth.  The first couple of lines I thought he was singing in Japanese.  I did not like this one bit.  Simon thought John’s voice was not incredible enough for that song, and was emotionless.  Kara agrees.  Dawg liked parts of the song, but the song made him seem old.  Ellen was confused by the song choice but liked the performance. 

Michael Lynche – became a father during Hollywood week (birth, not conception.  That would have been weird to make publicly known).  Singing “This Love” by Maroon 5.  He does a more R&B/jazz version than the original.  Vocals are nothing special.  Ellen likes Mike’s personality.  Dawg liked the energy.  Kara thought it brought the energy in the room up.  Simon thought he delivered so little for such a big guy.    

Alex Lambert – (Not related to Adam Lambert or Bill Laimbeer, according to my sources) – Singing “Wonderful World” by James Morrison.  He’s rocking a mullet and a jeans/suit jacket combo.  The song is fine if you close your eyes.  He has no stage presence.  Simon was quite happy for it to end due to the uncomfortableness of the performance, but likes his voice.  Kara likes his voice tone and wants to hug him.  Dawg liked him.  Ellen likes his mullet.

Casey James – He’s singing “Heaven” by Bryan Adams.  He tries to make it a country version, but doesn’t commit to it and it comes up way short.  He has a goat vibrato on notes that he holds for longer than 2-beats, which is very annoying.  The entire Casey-Kara banter is growing very old and stale.  Ellen jokes about the Casey-Kara dynamic.  Dawg thinks it was good.  Kara says he’s ear and eye candy.  Simon says they’re both cursed with good looks.  Simon says he chose the right song. 

Andrews Garcia – He cries a lot.  He’s singing Fall Out Boy’s “Sugar We’re Going Down” acoustically and toned down.  It’s a nice arrangement, but his voice is nothing special.  He’s more of a musician than a singer.  Simon was disappointed with the seriousness of the song.  Kara thought it was a strange rendition and that he was a risk taker.  Dawg agrees about the arrangement and is a fan.  Ellen says she’s a fan but was not blown away.

I would rank them (from best to worst)

Todrick Hall

Lee Dewyze

Andrew Garcia

Joe Munoz

Casey James

John Park

Michael Lynche

Alex Lambert

Tyler Grady

Bottom three is Tim Urban, Jermaine Sellers and Aaron Kelly 

And Tim and Jermaine go home. 

The wife and I usually pick one guy and one gal each and then see whose contestants last the longest. This season:

The Wife picks:  Andrew Garcia and Katie Stevens

I pick: Lee Dewyze and Lilly Scott