It's Week 2...Top 10 Boys

So last week, we lost Joe Munoz, Tyler Grady, Janell Wheeler, and Ashley Rodriguez...not sad about any of them going.  So after such a lackluster week, this week has to be better, right?  Well, the boys got bumped a day early, due to Crystal Bowersox being hospitalized for Type 1 Diabetes complications.  Let's hope and pray she's better.

Michael Lynche "It's A Man's Man's World"
Wow! This is soooo much better than last week!  I'm not buying him though.  It's all a little musical review, not contemporary recording artist.



John Park "Gravity"
He's so disappointed me.  He had such potential from his audition, and a really great tone.  He seems to be letting his nerves get the better of him.  A better song choice, but still not doing it for me.  I have a feeling, he's gone (Sorry Lauren :/)



Casey James "I Don't Wanna Be"
Casey is an amazing guitarist!  The vocals here are just eh, though.  His vibrato is a little out of control. I also feel like he's pushing the grit into his voice.  Good way to get nodes, sir.  Just ask Danny Gokey. This song always makes me think of One Tree Hill...



Alex Lambert "Everybody Knows"
Can I just squeeze him, please? He's sooo cute!  Such untapped talent.  The tour is gonna do amazing things for him (come on, we all know he's gonna make the tour...).  He has such a pure voice.  It's perfect for recording.  This was a great song choice for him.  He sounds nothing like John Legend, but still is contemporary.



Todrick Hall "What's Love Gotta Do With It"
This was a hot mess.  He's so comfortable on stage, a has great stage presence, but doesn't have the chops to back it up...You can see his years of dance and musical theatre in the way he takes criticism, though.  He handles it well, and changes what they tell him to change.



Jermaine Sellers "What's Goin On"
I like Jermaine.  His personality has won me over.  The first half of the song was messy, but he pulled it together for the second half.  He's really breathy in his falsetto.  He needs to watch videos of Adam Lambert because they have very similar voices, Jermaine's is just more gospel.  If he reigns it in, and follows the judge's advice, like he says he will, he could become amazing.



Andrew Garcia "You Give Me Something"
Andrew set the bar way too high for himself with his first few auditions.  He has a great voice, but seems like the criticism last week threw him.  This was shaky.  There just was no emotion to it. He also drops the ends of his phrases, which sometimes makes his held out notes go flat.  He needs to remember who he was when he made those youtube videos.  Maybe his friends are a big crutch for him...



Aaron Kelly "My Girl"
Oh, this was bad.  My mom said he reminds her of a middle schooler.  He's not ready for this, at all. David Archuleta, Allison Iraheta, and Diana DeGarmo are special kids.  Aaron is not of their caliber.  This whole performance was just off.  His rapid vibrato was pulling him flat a certain points.  He also over uses runs. Just makes this all over the place.



Tim Urban "Come On Get Higher"
Tim is totally out of his league here.  Ellen is right in encouraging him to find another creative outlet, but the judges are the ones who put him here.  Were the rest of the people auditioned that bad?  Or did he coast through on his looks?  (Is it telling I couldn't find a high quality video of him on youtube?  I hope so...)



Lee Dewyze "Lips Of An Angel"
Wow do I hate this song!  It's horrible!!! Although, it shows Lee would fit on modern radio. It was absolutely adorable how he kept getting a look on his face like he couldn't believe what was happening. Vocally, that was much better than last week.  He is gonna push Andrew Garcia out of frontrunner status soon.  He reminds me of a cross between David Cook/Chris Daughtry/Danny Gokey.

Blah, Blah, Blah! The Top 12 Boys...

Wow, what not a good way to start off Season 9.  There is no way they can keep calling this the "Best Talent We've Seen Yet" after the past two nights.  None of these people come close to the talent we saw last year.  Are any of them viable recording artists? Or are we in a season like 6 where only the winner comes out on top?

Todrick Hall "Since U Been Gone"
(The boys videos aren't working, so...)
Todrick took a hugely popular song and rearranged it to a song that nobody could recognize.  (Not to mention it was recorded by the most popular and successful Idol...) His vocals were a little all over the place, but he had great stage presence.  I'm interested to see what else he will do this season.


Aaron Kelly "Here Comes Goodbye"
I'm not sure what the judges were talking about here.  His vocals were consistently underpitch.  It's a shame he's on now, and I know I've said this before, but the poor kid's voice hasn't finished changing.  It's going to sound completely different in 5 years.  I felt like I could hear this performance at any karaoke competition at any Midwestern fair.


Jermaine Sellers "Get Here"
I think Jermaine may have a chance, along with Todrick, to be the first viable African-American male artist (since Ruben) to come out of American Idol.  He was a little overblown, but if he follows the judges advice and picks some neo-soul songs, he could have some amazing performances with that voice.


Tim Urban "Apologize"
I didn't know it was legal to let Zac Efron compete...that's really all I have to say about Tim.


Joe Munoz "You and I"
I really like this guy!  His voice is well-controlled and OMG! he stayed on pitch through the whole song!  (It saddens me that when watching a SINGING COMPETITION the singers cannot consistently sing on the correct pitches...and pitchy is NOT a musical term :( ) Anyways, he was good. And I disagree that this wasn't a good song choice.  I think it showed off his voice well.  I liked the little Latin vibe he gave to it, too.  It would be cool to hear him sing in Spanish. He could be this seasons' Kris Allen...(I spied a guitar in his clip package AND he sang Man In The Mirror...)


Tyler Grady "American Woman"
I just am not feeling this guy.  I didn't really get a sense of his voice with that performance.  Can he sing? I don't know.  And where would he fit on modern radio?


Lee Dewyze "Chasing Cars"
Is it too soon since David Cook's season to have a clone?  I like Lee's voice and his Midwestern boyish charm.  But that song didn't showcase him enough.  And he's too much like David Cook.  Let's hope they give him a Cookified makeover too...


John Park "God Bless The Child"
Um, John...you are basically on a TV show, setting you up to be a viable recording artist, and you pick this song?!  Where would you hear this on the radio?  You have a beautiful voice.  Pick something that's going to let you be the R&B artist lurking inside. Even Michael Buble is cooler than that...


Michael Lynche "This Love"
Wow, more about the baby?  We haven't heard enough?  Anyway, this was ok...he's a boring singer.


Alex Lambert "What A Wonderful World"
Alex is awkwardly adorable.  He's soooo young!  But he can sing!  He picked a great song to show that off.  It's going to be an uncomfortable ride watching him, but if he grows and gets more confident, what a story that will be!


Casey James "Heaven"
I just don't get it with this guy.  Yes, he's disarmingly charming.  He's cute, but not as !!!!!!!ELEVENTY!!!111 Hot as Kara makes him out to be.  He has a decent voice.  I have to give him props for making it through that performance...the judges were so unfair in their behavior with him.  I can't imagine them being allowed to treat a female contestant the same way.


Andrew Garcia "Sugar, We're Goin Down"
This was an interesting arrangement.  But no doubt, Andrew can sing.  He and Todrick are going to make this season interesting, at least...I'm still reserving judgement until I hear what kind of an artist he really would be...


Underwhelming, all of it....sad, so sad...