For an hour and 45 minutes Wednesday night on Idol, we listened to mediocrity smattered with glimpses of potential.
Then we heard from a potential Idol.
Last week, I grimaced when Paula and Kara started raving about Danny Gokey’s evening-closing performance, because it wasn’t that special.
This week, Adam Lambert was special and deserved every bit of the praise heaped up upon him by Paula, Kara and Randy.
And, Simon, I don’t think too many people are going to hate that performance. Not on an evening when so many of the singers seemed intent on putting viewers to sleep.
Or, in the case of Nick Mitchell, made them want to throw things at the TV.
Here’s the rundown.
Best of the guys: Adam Lambert, hands down. Heck, best performance of the season to date. I cringed when Adam announced that he would be singing “Satisfaction” because we’ve heard it so many times before on Idol. But perhaps never as good as this. Five notes in, I knew his performance was going to be special. Book a spot for Adam in the final three … and I mean for the season, not for tomorrow night’s results show.
Best of the gals: Call it a toss-up between Megan Corkrey and Mishavonna Henson. Megan looked like a potential Idol and sounded really good at times singing “Put Your Records On,” but the performance was a little uneven. I don’t know what the judges were listening to when they gave Mishavonna lukewarm reviews. I thought her vocals on “Drops of Jupiter” were the best we heard from the gals last night. She looked the part too. I just think Idol fans are going to find Megan the more appealing contestant.
Deserves the third spot: Last week, Michael Sarver wound up here after what I thought was a very shaky performance. This week, I thought Matt Breitzke sounded great — OK, not Adam Lambert great, but pretty darn good — on “If You Could Only See.” But he, like Mishavonna, got very little love from the judges. Hey, Simon, I liked the song he chose.
Deserves to go home: Jeanine Vailes scores points in my book for pointing out to the judges that she felt compelled to deliver an over-the-top performance because she had been so under the radar on the show so far. Anyone who reads this blog regularly knows how unfairly I think Idol has treated many of the contestants this season, especially the gals. Still, Jeanine’s Idol career should end with one song.
Others I’d lump in this category: Matt Giraud, who didn’t come close to living up to his billing; Jessica Langseth, who should have done much better considering she’s one of the most experienced females; Allison Iraheta, whose performance of Heart’s “Alone” didn’t stand out from any of the many other times I’ve heard it performed on Idol.
Please give them a second chance: Actually, I think there were several singers who did well enough Wednesday to merit a shot in the wild card round. Certainly more than from week one.
I’d start with Megan or Mishavonna, if one of them gets eliminated Thursday night. Then I’d add Jasmine Murray. She looked like a Miss Teen America Wednesday. She might not have sounded like an Idol. But she sounded better than you would think after listening to the judges. I still think she has top 12 potential.
On the guys side, I’d like to hear more from Kris Allen, who got virtually no attention on Idol before turning in a solid performance last night; and from Kai Kalama. The judges were right. His performance of “What Becomes of the Brokenhearted” was boring. But based on what we’ve heard from his on past shows, he can do much better.
Please send them home: Nick Mitchell. Every second of TV time spent on Nick Wednesday night was a wasted second. And there were way, way too many wasted seconds.
Kara DioGuardi. Yes, Idol. It’s time to send home a judge. I have no idea why we need four judges on a show that already featured too much talk and too little singing for what’s supposed to be a singing competition. Last night’s show seemed to drag on forever.
Early favorite: After two weeks, Adam Lambert and Alexis Grace have turned in the only Idol performances worth downloading from iTunes. And Adam has a slight edge.
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