Idol Chatter & Voice Views

Here we go. Week three of the semifinals. Voters’ last chance to choose who they want to see in the finals.

I’m expecting strong performances from the gals tonight. I’m expecting Scott MacIntyre to breeze through among the guys.

But when it all boils down to one song, anything can happen. Hey, that’s why we watch, right?

It appears Lil Rounds will have the honor of performing last. No surprise there. She’s the gal who’s shown the most potential so far this year.

Up first, Von Smith, singing Marvin Gaye’s “You’re All I Need To Get By.” Uhhh. Slow start. Didn’t like that start at all, and I think he oversang, but the judges are giving him high grades. Not sure I’m as ecstatic about that performance as the judges. Simon compared Von to Clay Aiken; Von clearly isn’t sure what to make of that. Grade: B-

The two guys I’m waiting to hear from tonight are Ju’Not Joyner and Scott, both of whom have outperformed Von to this point in the competition.

Taylor Vaifanua up next, one of two high schoolers among tonight’s group of gals. The 17-year-old from Hurricane, Utah, will sing “If I Ain’t Got You.” Hey, if the pressure is getting to this teenager she isn’t showing it. She’s turning in a vocal that would have easily ranked among the best from last week’s group of gals. Started a little boring, but she certainly warmed to the task. Very nice, Taylor. And she’s getting very lukewarm results from the judges. Not sure what they’re hearing. Especially after the mediocre performances turned in by the first two groups of ladies. Seems like they have pre-picked favorites. Taylor sang better than Von in my book. Grade: B.

And, Simon, I’m with you. I have no idea what Kara was gabbing about. She doesn’t know what it would be like to go shopping with Taylor. Does she know what it would be like to go shopping with Von? I don’t care what it’s like to go shopping with any of these contestants. I just care how they sing, and Taylor just outsang Von. WHY IS KARA ON THIS SHOW? WHY DO WE NEED HER? How about sending Kara home before the finals? That would be my vote. Grade for Kara: F

Alex Wagner-Trugman is up next. Says he’s worried people will think he’s a dork. Fact is, he seems like one of the biggest characters on the show if you’ve seen his videos. Singing Elton John’s “I Guess That’s Why They Call It the Blues.” Prediction: This performance is going to give the judges the blues. Good try, Alex, but you did things with an Elton John song that shouldn’t be done. Simon referred to it as ridiculous growling. Best comment of the night. One of the best of the season. And, of course, silly Kara wants to praise him for his moves. Grade: D

And now it’s time for the other teen, Arianna Afsar, who once sang her way to a second place finish in the Miss America’s Outstanding Teen pageant. She’ll be singing Abba’s “The Winner Takes It All,” the first time an Abba song has been performed on the show, according to Ryan. Oh, no, Arianna is in trouble. Might be the nerves. But this is a really tortured version of an Abba song. Worse that Alex Wagner-Trugman’s performance. And that big last note didn’t save it. Grade: F

Ju’Not Joyner up next, one of the performers I’ve been waiting to hear from, because we’ve seen so little of him to date. But he’s singing “Hey, There Delilah” again. The judges are going to hold that against him. They’ve already criticized Taylor for singing a song she had already performed. I really love the tone of this guy’s voice. I thought he outperformed Von. Best effort so far from the guys. OK, now Ju’Not’s talking about getting a cortisone shot in his tush. What the heck? That’s not likely to score him a ton of votes. Grade: B

Kristen McNamara gets to sing instead of being featured as a drama queen. Why, why, why haven’t we heard more of this girl singing. Singing “Give Me One Reason” and singing the heck out of it. Wow! Now that’s a performance. One of the best female performances we’ve seen this season. Why are we talking about her clothing instead of her voice? Because, as I’ve said before, I think these judges have pre-picked their favorites and, for some reason, a gal with a dynamite voice doesn’t fit the bill. The only better female performance we’ve heard this season was from Alexis Grace in week one. Grade: B+.

Nathaniel Marshall is going to try singing Meatloaf. OK, I love Meatloaf’s voice. And unless you can sing a Meatloaf song better than Meatloaf, you shouldn’t even try it. Bad, bad choice, Nathaniel. Talk about a bad karaoke performance. We just heard one. And these judges are chattering on forever. Get on with the singing, already. Grade: D

Felicia Barton up now; she’s the Joanna Pacitti replacement. She’s singing “No One.” She’s looking very stylish. She’s sounding very sharp. And she’s showing Carly Smithson tendencies of trying to do too much with the song, shouting more than singing. I’m not liking this, which means the judges probably will. I was right. Apparently oversinging is in this year. Nowhere near as good as Taylor or Kristen, but she’s getting better reviews, at least from the two-headed monster known as Paula-Kara. Grade: C.

Scott MacIntyre takes the stage, singing a Bruce Hornsby song. Scott isn’t doing as well as I expected. I’m not sure he has picked the right song for his voice. I think that was a rather flat performance. And now we get proof about what I’ve been saying about playing favorites. There were obvious pitch problems with the song; it was a bad song choice. But no one’s focusing on that. Yes, Scott is inspiring. Yes, he’s accomplished amazing things in spite of his vision impairment. But, hey, Ju’Not was the better singer. Guess singing doesn’t matter much tonight. Grade C

And now, finally we get to hear from country gal Kendall Beard. Singing “This One’s for the Girls,” a song Kristen performed a couple of years back on Nashville Star. I was really, really rooting for Kendall to fill the country cutie void in season eight. But she’s having some real pitch problems. Unfortunately, that vocal was reminiscent of Kristy Lee Cook, more than Carrie Underwood, and that ain’t good. Grade: C-

Jorge Nunez: Mr. Mystery singing “Don’t Let the Sun Go Down on Me.” He’s turning in a very heartfelt performance, and the song suits his voice better than “Mandolin Rain” suited Scott. Paula wants to squeeze him. At least she doesn’t want to squeeze his head off and put in on her rearview mirror (remember, that’s what she told David Archuleta last year). Better than I expected. But I doubt it’s going to be good enough to get him voted into the finals. Grade: B-

The final performer of the night will be Lil Rounds. Regardless of what the judges thought, Danny Gokey fell flat in this spot two weeks ago. Then Adam Lambert turned in a blazing performance to end last week’s show. My guess is Lil’s going to be very, very good.

Lil will be singing “Be Without You.” Not sure she has picked a song that shows how good her voice is, but the potential is shining through just the same. No doubt, as with Adam Lambert last week, this woman’s voice is one of the best on this year’s show. Graded more for potential than for that song and that performance: A-