Category: American Idol

By:

The Dude on the Right
So it is "Songs the Year You Were Born" night.  Oh, goody, it is "Songs
When I Was in College" night, or thereabout.  I’m sure flashbacks will be
in order, but I’ll only type about them if I think they will be okay for my Mom
to read.  Here we go…

Ramiele Malubay – Born in 1987
– Sings – "Alone" by Heart
– A song I totally love, but man she doesn’t have the pipes to pull off the
chorus for this song and the bombastic sound the Wilson sisters had. 
Totally wrong song choice, and I’m sorry she is sick.  Ramiele, quick
shaking hands with people and then touching your eyes or picking your nose. 
That’s how you get sick.

Jason Castro – Born in 1987
– Sings – "Fragile" by Sting
– Does a good job by playing the guitar, it keeps him behind the mike and not
having to perform.  The singing is good, the song is sort of boring, but it
should be enough to keep him going, especially because I think the dudettes dig
him.

Syesha Mercado – Born in 1987
– Sings – "If I Was Your Woman" by Stephanie Mills, I think.
– A really nice R&B performance.  Vocal range was good, performance was
good, and this was a great performance that should keep her to the next week.
– What the hell is with all of these 21 year olds?  I remember, sort of, my
21st birthday, and I wasn’t singing in 1988.  Thankfully the picture people
supposedly took of me on my 21st birthday has disappeared, I hope.

Chikezie
– Born in 1985
– Sings – "If Only For One Night" by Luther Vandross
– Chikezie is showing he might be the next R&B singer to blow up across the
Universe.  From week to week he shows differences he can tackle, and he
actually needs to lose this competition to make his own career, a la Daughtry.

Brooke White
– Born in 1983
– Sings – "Every Breath You Take" by The Police
– How boring can you get.  Sure, it’s nice on piano, and she screwed up the
start, but unless she does something special to get her butt off the piano
stool, or straddles it like Tori Amos, as much as I think she is purty, sings
purty, and has talent, this week wasn’t her best.  So much potential that
went away.

Michael
Johns – Born in 1978
– Sings – "We Will Rock You " by Queen
– Only a few words need to be written – You are no Freddie Mercury.  I
guess a few more words are needed – the band didn’t help.  I don’t know
what the judges heard, but he just doesn’t seem to have the persona to be
Freddie, at least on TV I guess.  For whatever reason I thought he wasn’t
that good.  Maybe I should just wonder what is wrong with me, or I need to
be there, live.
– I was 10 or 11 when this song came out, the first album I ever bought was
"Night at the Opera," and I found "News of the World" fantastic as the years
went on, especially with the album art.  I always loved reading "No
Synthesisers!"

Carly Smithson – Born in 1983
– Sings – "Total Eclipse of the Heart" by Bonnie Tyler
– A simple choice for her, but for me it just brings back flashbacks of high
school.  Ugh!  Okay, singing wise Carly was good, but she just seems
to be singing, not performing, and for Jim Steinman songs, as much as it is
about the song, it’s more about the performance of the song.  She just sang
it, whereas Meat Loaf knows how to perform.  She needed to really find Jim
Steinman history and how Meat Loaf made those songs performance art.  That
is what Jim Steinman did.

David Archuleta – Born in 1990
– Sings – "You’re the Voice" by Farnham Johnny?
– Is he just trying to get other people money by singing obscure songs? 
That said, I really like the song, like the performance, and I was graduating
college when this dude was being born.  He tried to branch out, but I’m
guessing in 1990 there are better songs, that people might actually know, that
he could have really blown out of the competition.  We’ll see if his good
looks still keep him in the competition.

 Kristy Lee Cook – Born in
1984
– Sings – "God Bless the U.S.A." by Lee Greenwood
– Gosh girl, I like you, but how the hell did you get this far in the
competition.  You sing nice enough, at least this week, sort of, but you
aren’t a performer in any sense of the word.  Thank your lucky stars you
got to the final 10 to go on tour because a lot of other singers are better than
you.  And from the judge’s comments, what the hell am I not hearing nor
seeing on my screen tonight.

David Cook – Born in 1982
– Sings – "Billy Jean" by Michael Jackson
– Nice change of a Michael Jackson song.  If anyone ever says "How do I
make a song my own?" this is the performance they should show.  He works
the stage, he sings like a rocker, and if he doesn’t win he will probably have a
fantastic career anyway.  He actually got in touch with a song with the
year he was born, and if I had a dollar I might actually download that song
version from iTunes. (Dude note: As I laid in bed last night I couldn’t sleep because
I just had to figure David’s version probably wasn’t his own arrangement. Sure enough,
I did some quick research this morning and guess I missed at the beginning where
they said it was Chris Cornell’s version. Thought he did a good job, anyway. DOTR)

Let’s wrap this up…

From a lot of the comments I’m guessing that the performances came off a hell of
a lot better live than on my TV because, well, when I thought some of them
didn’t do well, Simon-Paula-Randy thought they were great.   I know
live is better than TV, but is there that much of a difference.  If the
"American Idol" folks want to prove it to me, fly me out for next week’s show,
otherwise, I don’t think anyone did that well this week except David Cook.

That’s it for this one! 
I’m The Dude on the Right!!  L8R!!!

By:

The Dude on the Right
Last night I sort of watched "Dancing With the Stars," especially for my
favorites, Julianne Hough, Edyta, and Kym Johnson.  Isn’t it kind of funny
that we don’t need to reference Edyta with her last name anymore?  Anyway,
I don’t care about any of the "celebrity" female dancers much (nor the dude
celebrities, but I did find Adam Carolla and Penn Jillette fun to watch), wonder
why Julianne wore a giant, yellow outfit (rather than a skimpy, yellow outfit),
and Kym actually looked hotter than Julianne.  But tonight the dancing is
over because tonight is about singing (and cuter dudettes).

My brilliant
dancing analysis will come later as their Spring season goes on, but here are my
musical musings about tonight and singing, and it’s The Beatles night, as
opposed to John Lennon and Paul McCartney night last week.  How much did
the "American Idol" folks pay for the rights to use these songs that mediocre
singers could butcher, anyway? …

Amanda Overmyer
– Sings – Back in the U.S.S.R.
– Something just sounds wrong, like she’s not in synch with the band or
something, but it’s not working for me.  This song doesn’t need a southern
twang to it.  And I don’t like her bouncing up and down while she is
singing.

Kristy Lee Cook
– Sings – You’ve Got to Hide Your Love Away
– What the hell did you ever listen to on the radio?  You picked the song
based on title.  You don’t know any Beatles’ songs?  It’s kind of
"new" to you?
– She’s cute but the song is in the wrong key (she can’t hit the low notes), and
if she keeps going on it’s because she is cute.  She did hit the high note
at the end, but the performance seemed kind of lame.  At least Paula
thought she looked gorgeous.

David Archuleta
– Sings – The Long and Winding Road
– You thought "Dang it!" when you forgot the lyrics last week.  Luckily you
didn’t think "Oh, F&^$, how in the hell could I forget the words to a song in
front of 30 million F$#%ing people?"
–  He shows his vocal pipes this week (again) so we know he can sing the
slow songs, and if this keeps up he’s the next Josh Groban.  He needs to
prove he can sing something up-tempo in my book to make it to the ultimate pop
level.  He’ll be in it for the long haul even if he sucks just because the
girls like him.

How stupid was that iPhone commercial.  I understand
product placement, but Ryan Seacrest should be fired because he isn’t even
trying anymore.  Last week he busted on Jim Carrey promoting "Dr. Seuss’
Horton Hears a Who!", and this week it was the iPhone.  Either he is the
worst pitch-man ever, or he is the greatest at scripts written up as "Promote
this by having the attitude of "What the hell is this shit?"

Michael
Johns
– Sings – A Day  in the Life
– This is not a good song to trim, though I thought he did a decent job trying
to pull it off.  To do it his way he probably needed a month to work to
rehearse it (and a different band), but I think the dudettes will find him cute
enough to pull him to the next round.

Brooke White
– Sings – Here Comes the Sun
– She’s married.  Damn, so much for fantasies about my future wife.
– No matter what, I think we have already found our next "Carrie Underwood
Country Star" no matter if she wins or not.  She performs, is purty, and
somehow seems to be able to put her mark on every song.  I don’t care what
Randy says, what Paula says, or what Simon says, because I really liked her
"fly-a-way" performance and her attitude, but Brooke, don’t beat yourself up so
much because for me it worked.

David Cook
– Sings – Daytripper – The Whitesnake version
– He’s sticking with the rocker mode, and this is a song that works for him, but
I’m thinking the kids in the audience don’t understand the voice box thing. 
He should have just stuck to rocking and not gone Peter Frampton on our ass. 
There’s still something I don’t like about him because it just seems he is
copying people.

Carly Smithson
– Sings – Blackbird
– She’s starting to get that "crazy-eye" look, where I can see the tops of the
whites of her eyes, and it well, isn’t a good look.  I will, every week, be
not liking her only because she had a major recording contract before.  I
know that is kind of petty, but for some of the other contestants where this is
their first chance, someone who actually has gotten to the precipice, and even
though the record company supposedly was her downfall, she has at least gotten
there before.  And you know what, I didn’t really like her performance this
week, either.

Jason Castro
– Sings – Michelle
– He just seems giddy rather than in love while he is singing.  His smile
is actually almost scary.  Dude, you need to learn how to drop that smile
and make it sincere rather than a plastered-on smile.  The singing was
okay, and although Simon thought he looked good, I thought the goofy look
sucked.

Syesha Mercado
– Sings – Yesterday
– She’s cuter with the tighter hair, with the ponytail.  The straighter
hair was okay, but she just needed to pull it back.
– She sings nice, but the performance was boring except for the high notes. 
The better place would have been at the front of the stage, not on the stool. 
The singing should keep her going on through next week.

Chikezie
– Sings – I’ve Just Seen a Face
– He has just turned into my favorite "American Idol" contestant ever.  He
works every genre, tries to step over party lines, and just seems to try to show
that he can try anything.  He’s a kind of bizarre dude, but sings perfect
for every side.  The only problem is he doesn’t know if he should settle
into being Usher or Cowboy Troy.

 Ramiele Malubay
– Sings – I Should Have Known Better
– She was the last singer of the night, which is usually the one who is supposed
to do the most fabulous version, but I thought her performance was boring, even
though she sang alright.  Just an "Umm" for me.

Let’s wrap this up…

Why does everyone take this season to bust on Simon.  It seems like an easy
joke, but it’s not appropriate for people to pretty much dismiss everything he
might say.  I really hope they get away from The Beatles’ songs, no matter
how much they paid for them, because we have now found out that there are a lot
of people who can’t sing, or arrange, Beatles’ songs.  Please let us get to
wacky mentors again, because as much as they sucked, they were better than a lot
of these people singing songs they couldn’t learn from John Lennon nor Paul
McCartney.

That’s it for this one! 
I’m The Dude on the Right!!  L8R!!!

By:

The Dude on the Right
We are finally down to the final 12, thank whatever God you pray to, because now
I can finally to actually try and get to know the "American Idol" contestants,
or at least identify them better, even if it isn’t really by their name. 
It also helps freeing up my Thursday night TV viewing, especially as "30 Rock"
and "My Name is Earl" returns pretty soon, because Idol is back to its
appropriate two nights a week.  Enough prologue, the theme of tonight is
the Lennon/McCartney songbook, so this night has the potential for some
train-wrecks.  Let’s get to the show…

Syesha Mercado
– Sings – Got to Get You Into My Life
– Better hair, nice look, bad earrings.
– Thought she started well, but then kind of messed up making it "her own"
during the chorus.  Even though, she has the looks, the voice, and has tons
of potential, she’s starting to be a performer.

Chikezie
– Sings – She’s a Woman
– He is really coming into his own and I think he did a great job.  He
works the stage, acts just a tad goofy for the song, and at first, when "Idol"
started, I didn’t like him, but slowly Chikezie is becoming one of my favorites. 
Somewhere the "confidence" drug hit this dude.

Ramiele Malubay
– Sings – In My Life
– First impression – wrong song.  Her voice is nice, but after following
Chikezie’s performance it’s almost like following Jerry Lee Lewis back in the
old days of rock & roll.  She looks good, sings okay, but the performance
was bland.  Paula thought she looked pretty.

Jason Castro
– Dude, you sound like a surfer, a stoner, like, well, you just want to
sing, and keep the karma.
– Sings – If I Fell
– He’s got the Jack Johnson vibe but with a reggae look instead.  He sings
well enough, I like that he’s also a musician and maybe sticking to the
surfer/reggae attitude will do him well.  I don’t think it will get him to
the finals, but Paula at least feels his heart.

Carly Smithson
– Sings – Come Together
– As much as I don’t like her being in the competition, but damn, I love that
accent.
– The voice is there, because it always is, and I do like the version she put
together, but even though she almost had a career before, there is something
about her look that bothers me.  I think it’s her hair.

David Cook
– Sings – Eleanor Rigby
– There’s just something about him that I don’t like.  I don’t know if it’s
his look, or maybe his attitude, or just seeming to be like Chris Daughtry. 
Paula thinks he’s a horse, but I just find him, umm, done before.  I don’t
see him winning but still getting radio play.  The only problem he has
right now is not seeming to have a previous band career like Daughtry did.

Brooke White
– Sings – Let it Be
– Good song after a long commercial break to let us forget performances. 
She sings pretty, plays pretty, and does that half "playing to the camera" but
still "I’m wrapped up in the song so leave me alone" performance well. 
Nice.  I like her.  She sings purty.

David Hernandez
– Sings – I Saw Her Standing There
– He seems to try too hard to be a performer, and his singing for this song
isn’t that great.  I think this was just a total wrong song choice for him
from the Beatles’ catalog he was given.  He better have a good fan base
otherwise he will be gone.

Amanda Overmyer
– Sings – You Can’t Do That
– It’s the first song that she heard this week.  Bad pants.  She stays
true to who she is, but I don’t see it getting her to the end of the competition
– just not "pop" enough for the show.  She does have the attitude, and the
voice, to hit her nitch, but I don’t think it will be with "American Idol." 
Good week for her, though.

Michael Johns
– Sings – Across the Universe
– It’s not a performer song, but let’s see what he does with it…  So far
it’s stale because he can’t separate himself from his microphone stand. 
Like everyone else, he sings nice enough, but it’s not a performance to
remember.

Kristy Lee Cook
–
Sings – Eight Days a Week
– She knows what to do with the songs, but it was a crappy arrangement. 
She’s a country singer, she knows it, and looks to follow in the footsteps of
Carrie Underwood, but this was not a song that could be turned into a country
song in a week.  The song sounded forced, she looks purty, sings purty, but
everything sounded wrong.  It was all over the place.

David Archuleta
– Sings – We Can Work It Out
– My advice for him, because he has so much potential, is don’t let the
"American Idol" folks fuck you up because they let you fuck it up this week. 
Forget the hair styling, forget the clothes, forget the pressure, and just, for
every week, let yourself have fun.  Sure, it’s easier said than done, but
that is your forte.  Bounce back to a few weeks ago when you just sang.

The pressure of competition has hit a couple of contestants, some of them picked
wrong songs, but the next couple of weeks will start to tell who gets the
popularity vote.  And next week come the Mentors.  God, for Howard
Stern fans we can only hope that one of them is Bruce, as in Bruce Springsteen. 
Artie Lange knows why.

That’s it for this one! 
I’m The Dude on the Right!!  L8R!!!