Idol Chatter & Voice Views

Great start to a new season of American Idol, right?

I mean, I knew it just had to get better after we’d heard from Reed Grimm, Adam Brock and Deandre Brackenship, because there were so many front-runners still to come.

Some stumbled.  But enough shined that Idol Season 11 could be something special.

Best of the night:  Joshua Ledet, hands down.  I was trying to think back to the last male vocal we’d heard on the show that was as special as his rendition of “You Pulled Me Through” and, honestly, I drew a blank.  Joshua was tender when he needed to be tender, powerful when he needed to be powerful and in control throughout.  I graded it an A+, something I do very rarely.

Runners-up:  Creighton Fraker, who has about a 1 in 1 million shot of being voted into the finals, but took a risk with “True Colors” and delivered one of the best vocal performances of the night.  And I’m going to put Colton Dixon here, too, because he was current and energetic and entertaining even if his vocal performance wasn’t on par with Joshua and Creighton.

Surprise of the night:  That Idol brought back Jermaine Jones, and not David Leathers Jr.  It was great to see the so-called gentle giant get a second chance.  And just seeing him standing next to Ryan … dwarfing Ryan, one might say … was smile-worthy.  Jermaine turned in an adequate performance, got a big hug from his mom on Idol’s big stage and had a night to remember even if he doesn’t make the finals.  Nice touch, Idol.

Worst of the night:   No idea what the judges were praising when Deandre Brackensick stopped singing.  And, hey, guys, if you wanted to single the guy out as a hottie with amazing range, then why not do it earlier in the season so we’d have something to judge him by other than that one subpar performance.  Because I know Deandre can do much better.

Deserves to go home:   Eben Franckewitz trails right behind Deandre for weakest performance of the night.  Someone should have told him not to sing Adele.  His voice isn’t nearly powerful enough to pull it off.  And, sorry, but Eben gets no break for being just 15.  You want a spot in the top 13, you have to sing better than at least half the guys on the stage regardless of age.  Eben fell woefully short.

Please keep him:   Chase Likens.  Why has Idol been hiding him?  He’s good looking.  He’s comfortable on stage.  He did a fine job on “Storm Warning.”  I’ll be rooting for him because he’s gotten shortchanged in terms of airtime to this point.  Given his talent, he should have been on-screen at least as much as the vastly overrated Reed Grimm. 

Judges’ line of the night:  I’ll be back with this in a few.  I honestly must go back and watch the critique of Eben’s performance again to make sure I heard correctly.  Yep, I did.  Jennifer to Eben:  “In the middle, it got a little unsure.  Maybe you couldn’t hear yourself, which is something you’ll have to get used to here, which is totally fine.”  Huh, an unsure performance is fine?   It made about as much sense as Steven’s comment about being a baby in a topless bar.

Baffled by the judges:  Irked would be more the word.  The generally good reviews for Deandre and Eben are symbolic of the problem.  On one hand, the judges say it’s going to be incredibly difficult to eliminate half the male singers.  On the other, they offer viewers virtually no guidance for doing so by loving every performance they hear.  Worthless, Nigel.  They are just pretty much worthless.

Pick five:  Joshua, the best singer among the guys.   Phillip Phillips, the best musician among the guys.  Colton, the second-best musician among the guys.  Heejun Han, because we need his humor on the show.  Chase would be my fifth pick over Creighton because I think he’s more marketable in the long run.

Who the fans will pick:  Phillip, Colton, Heejun, Reed and, if there’s any justice in the world of Idol, Joshua Ledet.

Go here for my song by song grades and critiques.

Go here for my ratings of the Idol gals, whom we will hear from tomorrow night.