Idol Chatter & Voice Views

We survived the craziness of the auditions, the drama of Hollywood and the tears of Vegas.

Finally, it’s time for the viewers to decide who survives on American Idol.

I can’t say I’m thrilled by this one-week semifinal format.

But I am impressed by the talent Idol has selected for tonight’s show.

Let’s just say any lady who wants to break the guys’ three-year stranglehold on the Idol crown … well, it’s going to be tough.

As I’ve done for the past three seasons, I’ll grade each performance as it happens tonight in this blog.

Then, shortly after the show, I’ll post a recap, picking the best and worst performances of the night and doling out a couple of other honors.

So let the singing begin.

According to the spoiler sites, here are the songs we’ll be hearing and the order we’ll be hearing them in.

1. Clint Jun Gamboa – Superstition by Stevie Wonder
2. Jovany Barreto – I’ll Be by Edwin McCain –
3. Jordan Dorsey – OMG by Usher
4. Tim Halperin – Streetcorner Symphony (Come On Over) (Rob Thomas)
5. Brett Loewenstern – Light My Fire – Doors
6. James Durbin – You Got Another Thing Comin’ by Judas Priest
7. Robbie Rosen – Arms of an Angel by Sarah McLachlan
8. Scott McCreery – Letters From Home – John Michael Montgomery
9. Stefano Langone – Just The Way You Are – (Bruno Mars)
10. Paul McDonald – Maggie Mae by Rod Stewart
11. Jacob Lusk – House is Not a Home
12. Casey Abrams – I Put a Spell On You

Word has it, Steven Tyler gets a special gift from Ryan at the beginning of tonight’s episode.

And Ryan just confirmed what we’d heard to this point. That voters will select 10 finalists; then the judges will each add a wild card pick for a final 13 contestants.

And there’s the gift. A bleep stick, just in case Steven slips.

Clint Gamboa: I always feel bad for the person who has to kick off a semifinal show with this many contestants. They pretty much have to be brilliant to be remembered by the end of the show. Clint picks an Idol standard, “Superstition.” And clearly he knows all about glory notes on Idol. But there were points where the arrangement drowned out the vocals, especially in the early going when he got a little pitchy. I wasn’t as impressed as the judges. Grade: C+.

Jovany Barreto: The 23-year-old from Harvey, La., thinks he’s left the shipyard behind. We’ll see as he sings “I’ll Be.” Up until this point, what do we know about Jovany? That he’s a good-looking guy with great abs. This will be the first time we’ve heard him sing much since the auditions. Steven’s reaction: “Wholly shipyard.” He calls it beautiful. Hmm. Jennifer’s impressed too. Not so sure.  Let’s just say I thought it fell well short of “beautiful.” And if we were looking for an original take on the song, he’d didn’t bring it. Grade: C-

Jordan Dorsey: The other guy from Randy’s home state, Jordan is going to play Usher, singing “OMG.” Well, I’ll give Jordan an A for enthusiasm. But that performance fell way short of Usher. I hope there was something wrong with the acoustics at the opening, otherwise Jordan was just plain off key. And the judges, who have been kind to this point, weren’t digging it. As I promised in my preview, Jordan loses one grade for being a jerk until he proves he isn’t. Consider me unconvinced. Grade: D-

Tim Halperin: I have high hopes for Tim, having heard his pre-Idol originals. And he’s the type of contestant who has done very well on Idol in recent years. He’ll sing Rob Thomas’ “Streetcorner Serenade.” OK, this is not going well. Not sure that was a great song choice for him. And Tim looked lost without his piano. In fact, he looked like he was struggling from start to finish. Grade: C-.

Brett Loewenstern: The red apple in a basket of green apples — hey, Brett came up with that one — is going to play Jim Morrison and sing the Doors’ “Light My Fire.” I have trouble envisioning Brett in the Jim Morrison role. But his vocal was as good as any we’ve heard yet, and he too has learned the Idol lesson well: Go for a big note at the end. Randy counted 14 head shakes. Let the red hair fly. Grade: B

James Durbin: I’m not sure about a couple of the song choices so far. James, on the other hand, seems to have picked wisely. The rocker can certainly rock out with “You’ve Got Another Thing Comin’.” Hey, give James credit. He limited himself to two shrieks in what has now become the best performance of the night. The vocal wasn’t as spot on as the guy he’s so often compared with — Adam Lambert. But James Durbin is a guy Idol needs in this year’s finals. Hey, and he’s wearing a tail to help make himself stand out. Grade: B+

Robbie Rosen: The 17-year-old New Yorker is going to take on “Arms of an Angel.” This is not the way to follow James Durbin to the stage. Robbie is turning in a sleepy, pitchy performance of this song. That was the most out-of-tune effort we’ve heard so far tonight. He’s getting great reviews from Steven and Jennifer. It’s up to Randy to tell the truth. And he does. That was pretty brutal. Grade: D.

Scotty McCreery: Another of Idol’s favorite teens, Scotty will sing John Michael Montgomery’s “Letters from Home.” He looks incredibly calm, cool and collected for a 17-year-old. Now that was a pitch perfect performance. Perhaps the best pure vocal of the night. And he delivered big-time on that final note. Nice song choice. Grade: A-

Stefano Langone: One of the guys who needs a strong performance to separate himself from the pack. Aside from one very bum note, he really delivered with the second half of that song. Not one of the night’s best, but perhaps good enough to squeak into the finals. He got the Jennifer Lopez seal of approval. That was clear from the audition when she proclaimed he had “star” stamped on his forehead. Grade: B-

Paul McDonald: I thought this was the perfect match of singer and song, but I’m not enjoying it as much as I thought I would. But Paul’s got a distinctive sound and a quirky attitude, so I’m hoping he hangs around. Grade: B.

Jacob Lusk: He’s dazzled with his vocals so far. Now he tackles “A House is Not a Home.” At first I thought we were going to hear a very subdued Jacob performance. Then came the ending, when he pulled out all the stops, hit a couple of incredible notes and turned in another of the night’s best performances. Grade: A-.

Casey Abrams: Randy called him the best musician the show has seen last week. But the musician has to leave his instruments behind tonight and head onto stage with just his voice. He’s going to sing: “I Put a Spell On You.” This guy is a character, and that shines through on stage. I think we’re seeing why Idol picked him to close the show. He is out of control good. Wow. Just a fun, great performance. And love the twist with that gentle closing. Grade: A

And that’s it for the grades. Check back soon for the recap.