AI Season 8 – Group 2
Today (2/25) I celebrated my 44th birthday. Just over a month ago President Obama was inaugurated as our 44th president. Coincidence? Yea… pretty much.
Thank you to everyone for the phone calls and Facebook well wishes. And a special shout out to Nick for the afternoon scotch and Keith for some good eats. But my inching toward decrepitness is not why you are here. It’s time to talk AI.
First a note about last week. I was pretty proud of myself for picking 2 out of 3 of last week’s contribution to the top 12. Well… until a quick survey of several other AI watchers indicated that pretty much everyone expected Danny and Alexis to move on to the next round. I guess that was pretty much a no-brainer. As for the third slot – Michael – I still don’t get it. A few of you called it, but I still think he was middle-of-the-pack.
I’m thinking this week will be a tougher call, but I’m up to the challenge. Here are my thoughts:
Jasmine Murray – Silver jacket over black top. Her Love Song wasn’t terrible, but it also wasn’t good enough. I’m already forgetting her.
Matt Giraud – I want to vote for the Michigander from K-zoo, but he did not Rule the World in his black quasi Members Only jacket. Simon suggested that he was a pop star wanna-be, and I agree. But it wasn’t painful, unlike…
Jeanine Vailes – Ouch. This was NOT Love. Black jacket with sequins on the lapels and denim short-shorts. You know the singing isn’t that great when all the judges start off by complimenting her legs. Coming soon to a casino lounge near you?
Nick (Norman Gentle) Mitchell – Full dis-age from all the judges. AND Ryan. White tuxedo tails and khaki cargo shorts. Oh… and a silver shirt. Clearly Norman showed up today, which is kinda too bad. The dude can sing but the Jerry Lewis shtick is out of place. If I were an AI voter I would have called in a few votes for him because I’d like to see him in the top 12. Heck Sanjaya made it! Alas – I fear we may have seen the end of Nick/Norman.
Allison Iraheta – Lots of red hair and a cute black dress. All the judges loved her and we got our first “sing the telephone book” comment of the season from Paula. I’m not going to say it sucked – kid showed a lot of talent for a 16 year old – but am I Alone in thinking it wasn’t good enough? Considering the other female performances tonight – I probably am. She may have a shot at top 12.
Kris Allen – Odd jacket (probably inspired by the original performer of his song choice) over tee shirt and jeans. “Man in the Mirror” seemed like a terrible song choice at first, but I liked it. I think Kara (the new judge) missed the call on this one and I was shocked when she didn’t like it. Eh, I guess she deserves a mulligan. The seasoned judges all liked it, so I’m comfortable (although not confident) when I predict that he’ll advance to the top 12. Come on ladies – back me up here.
Megan Joy Corkrey – Cute white dress and awesome smile. She totally picked the right song with “Put Your Records On” but seemed to move awkwardly on stage. A few flat notes didn’t help her cause. She kind of reminded me of Brooke from last season, but not as good. Ah, who knows… she may have a shot.
Matt Breitzke – The welder with “white boy” dance moves kicked out some very good karaoke, but that’s all it was to me. Of course, Michael made it through last week so WTF – I guess he has a chance. If You Could Only See what I saw I’m sure you’d agree he was done.
Jesse Langseth – Blue one-shoulder sweater and jeans. Nice try. Super cute. But Gwyneth Paltrow did a better job with this kitschy Kim Carnes classic while playing a karaoke contestant in the movie “Duets.” Not a good sign when an actress (not a recording artist) does a better job while playing a karaoke contestant. What’s really sad is that I couldn’t save my little exercise in alliteration for this next guy…
Kai Kalama – Another good-but-not-great performance for the evening. Wearing a black shirt and black pants, I don’t think he left anyone wondering What Became of a Broken Heart. Mostly nobody cared. Simon appropriately broke out the wedding/hotel singer accolades. Bye-bye Kai?
Mishavonna Henson – Blue top with large black belt and black half-calf tights. A few moments of great, but not great overall. Mostly I have nothing to say because I can’t think of a pun for “Drops of Jupiter.” Bah – the women were all weak tonight. She’s got as good a chance as most of the others.
Adam Lambert – Is probably feeling some Satisfaction. Black jacket, black shirt, black pants, black hair… and lots of gold chains (plus a lock and key). Glad to see he didn’t go heavy mascara. Bold move mixing up the arrangement and making it his own. The music-theater-since-age-10 background was definitely present, but (as the judges pointed out) there were flashes of brilliance. He’s got top 12 potential.
I don’t think anyone will be surprised to see a 2-guy / 1-girl mix passing on to the next round from this group. I’m predicting Kris and Adam for the guy spots, but I’d be happy with one of them being bumped by a freak upset from Nick/Norman. I think the two Matts and Kai are done.
With my one-slot prediction for the women I find myself with a tough choice. None of them were outstanding. Using my warped process of elimination, I’ll rule out Jasmine and Jeanine first. Then Megan (too bad). Of the remaining three I guess I have to go with Allison. But I’m not happy with the choice.
Anyone else with a three piece prediction?
Comment below or email
christopher@grasshutandcoconuts.com
Christopher O.
Themocracy
No prediction here, didn’t get to see the show. But I have to say happy belated. And I never knew you were such a fashion maven “black half-calf tights”. Your reportage on the attire gets kudos.
I saw the recap and wondered was anyone any good. I am suprised the last guy was liked I caught part of his number and all I could think of was Judas/Jesus from Jesus Christ Superstar–I think Broadway is calling.
Thanks for the kudos.
You can thank Jeanne C. from MA for the fashion component to my AI recaps. She made that suggestion a few years ago when these were just emails to a few friends.
As for my actual fashion acumen – I just make some of the shit up and hope the descriptions get my point across. I guess that makes me a bit of a poseur. I do it all for my fans!
Adam Lambert reminds me a bit of Constantine – remember him (I THINK I LOVE YOU!!!!!!!!!!!). You TOTALLY missed the mark on the Red Headed girl. She was the best of the night. She rocked the house. And Man in The Mirror was boring. That guy botched up the start of the song and then couldn’t recover. I can’t believe you liked it… I agree the teenagers will like him, though. I didn’t like him. I love Bette Davis Eyes – but she wasn’t good enough! Good call on getting them all correct!! You do have skills!