Idol Chatter & Voice Views

Time for wild card night on American Idol, something we haven’t seen for years.

Of course, it’s something we wouldn’t need to see now if Idol hadn’t foolishly messed with its semifinal format for season eight.

Ryan is blabbing about the power of redemption and tenacity, or some such nonsense.

What it boils down to once all the talk is done: Tonight we find out who the final three members of the top 12 are, and we don’t have a bit of say who makes the cut. It’s all up to the judges.

But that doesn’t mean I can’t grade the performances as the singers perform.

I’ll be rooting for three singers worthy of second shots on this show, Ricky Braddy, Megan Corkrey and Jasmine Murray (as opposed to Tatiana Del Toro, Matt Giraud and Anoop Desai).

Jesse Langseth up first with “Tell Me Something Good.” Again, Jesse disappoints. If you have a minute and 30 seconds to impress the judges with your voice, why perform a song with so many musical interludes? I think she set an Idol record for fewest words sung in 1:30. Grade: C

Matt Giraud next with “Who’s Loving You.” Well, he’s growling a lot toward the end of the song. No doubt it’s better than the Coldplay performance from week two. He’s getting good reviews from his female fans (aka Paula and Kara). I really don’t get Matt, though. He sang half the song OK, then thought he could win over fans with a couple of big notes and some growls. And what’s with the scarf around his neck? I say Matt should go back to his dueling piano. Grade: B-

Megan Corkrey sings “Black Horse and a Cherry Tree,” a song Kat McPherson owned a couple of years ago. OK, that wasn’t as good as Kat’s version. In fact, the vocal was a little flat. But Megan seems so much more refreshing than Jesse Langseth, who’s been doing this for years and years. Someone just needs to work with Megan on her confidence and stage presence. Judging from the judges’ comments, I’d be shocked not to see Megan in the finals. Grade: B

Von Smith sings “Sorry Seems to be the Hardest Word” and I think he just killed his chances of making the finals. The whole song sounded out of pitch and it wasn’t the sort of grab-their-attention performance he needed to overcome judge favorites like Matt and Anoop. Grade: D.

Jasmine Murray is next singing “Reflection.” Jasmine, 17, fell prey to nerves her first time out, I think. But she seems to have fallen into the Von Smith trap, singing a serious song that doesn’t show her youthful flair. That said, she sounds better than Von. Grade: C+

Ricky Braddy returns to the stage, singing “Superstition.” I’m telling you, this guy is going to sing his way right into the finals. He’s in the middle of the best vocal of the night, by a mile. He was pitch-perfect in week one, too; the voters just didn’t know who he was because he’d gotten so little air time to that point. That was far better than Matt, but you wouldn’t know if from listening to Simon and Randy. I fear Ricky’s going to get robbed for a second time in this competition. Grade: A-

That leaves just two singers … and who is Idol leaving until the very end, Tatiana Del Toro, of course, because they know she’s the performer everyone is waiting to watch.

OK, Tatiana is next to last, singing “Saving All My Love for You.” And 10 words in, she has already proven why she was a waste of a spot in the wild card round. She actually sounds good in spots, just not consistently. And now she’s providing the crazy the judges were hoping for, laughing the obnoxious laugh, explaining why she has sung the same song three times so far, talking about why she’s suddenly acquired an accent, dropping to her knees. Sorry, I have a grudge against Tatiana, especially tonight. There were about six more deserving female singers who should have been in this spot. Grade: C-

Anoop Desai is on stage, singing “My Perogative.” I thought it was indulgent. I thought the background singers had too big a role. I thought it was better than his last performance, but not nearly as good as Ricky. But watch this, the judges’ favorite will get in. Tatiana gets chastised for repeating a song; Anoop gets praise. Go figure. That’s Idol 2009, folks. Grade: C

In a moment, we’ll find out who gets into the finals.

My picks: Ricky, Jasmine, Megan.

My guess: Megan, Jasmine, Anoop.

And here come the results …

Jasmine heads to center stage: She makes the top 12.

Ricky heads to center stage: Ricky gets robbed again. Best vocal of the night; nothing to show for it.

Megan and Tatiana are up: Megan makes the finals; Tatiana is out … for good this time … for some reason, she’s kneeling in front of the judges’ table. Way to steal the show, even in defeat, Tatiana.

And, gee, the show is running late. Imagine that. I didn’t think Idol could squeeze eight performances and results in a one-hour show.

Jesse is center stage; she doesn’t make the top 12.

Von is center stage; he’s not going to make the top 12, either.

So, it comes down to the judges’ favorites, Matt and Anoop. Matt gets the spot, and Anoop gets in too.

You must be kidding me. They expanded the finals to 13 people so they could accommodate both of their favorites.