Last night the ladies of American Idol took the stage for the first time this season and the results were lackluster for the hype of the women’s talent this season. My early favorites tend to be on the men’s side, but now that I’ve seen the girls perform, I can honestly say I’m excited about a few.
If you watched last night, you may have noticed something that differs from years past. Instead of contestants singing powerhouse songs by the likes of Whitney and Celine, we saw subdued quirky song choices from many of the girls. The singer-songwriter vibe is in this season thanks to Kris Allen. As the judges reiterated over and over, song choice is crucial at this stage and some of the girls got it wrong. Let’s break the performances down.
Paige Miles–This girl can sing. As Randy and Simon pointed out, she has a big voice but she sang “All Right Now” by Free, which was a questionable choice. I’m not sure if I could figure out the type of singer Paige wants to be. I picture her to be more of a diva singer, so a classic rock song left me confused. I thought she did a good job, though. She should be a shoe-in for the top 12.
Ashley Rodriguez–Ashley chose to sing “Happy” by Leona Lewis and the judges and viewers were not happy. The beginning was rough and while I thought it might get better at the chorus, it didn’t. Ashley seemingly had no confidence or charisma on stage, which didn’t help her cause. Simon told her it was “clumsy” and that he thinks she’s moving backwards. Ellen and Randy urged her to take a risk while Kara said it was too big for her. I agree with all of the above. This week is the most important of any of the weeks because she needed to make an impression and she made the wrong one. Sadly, I don’t think she will make it to next week.
Jannell Wheeler–She perhaps took the biggest risk of the ladies by taking on “What About Love” by Heart. Unfortunately, she failed, but not without a valiant effort. Simon said it best when he said, “You gave it 100 percent effort and probably delivered 65 percent.” I actually agree with Randy that I like her voice and I’m interested to see what else she could do. She rocked ”American Boy” by Estelle during Hollywood week and I would like to see more like that. I hope she sticks around another week.
Lilly Scott–I really didn’t remember much of her going into this week. I couldn’t think of a standout song she sang during Hollywood week but after last night, she is now cemented in my memory. Lilly sang an unfamiliar Beatles song called “Fixing a Hole.” I actually had never heard that song before but she made me love it. I think she’s interesting and for lack of a better word, unique. “I love that you’re like a real indie artist and you don’t care what people think of you. You’re not affected. I love the honesty,” said Randy. Simon has concerns that she lacks star power but I think that her star shone brighter than any of the other ladies last night. I’m excited to see what she does next.
Katelyn Epperly– She established why she was chosen for the top 24 with a convincing rendition of the Beatles’ “Oh Darling.” I, like Kara, thought she had a little too much going on makeup wise, but if I were going to be on TV like that, I would want to do it up too. She just looked a lot different than her intro video, but her look matched her performance and she’s a keeper for this week. Simon thinks she needs some work but overall the judges really like her. We’ll see if the audience likes her, too.
Haeley Vaughn–Here is an instance where I actually was rooting for a contestant during the audition process but now wish she didn’t make the top 24. I don’t think she’s better than say, Angela Martin who, in my opinion, was unjustly cut from the competition. I thought she had a good personality that translated well into her music. She was like a female Jason Mraz with the guitar and the flower in her hair. Now that I saw her last night, she’s just annoying and so are those headband flowers. Haeley sang the third Beatles song of the night with “I Wanna Hold Your Hand.” It was quite painful to listen to. The high notes were shrieky and the arrangement was weird. The judges weren’t so kind either. Simon said it “verged on terrible” while Randy said the high notes were “not as pleasing as they could be.” America will get tired of her Disney-esque personality quickly. She’s too immature for this competition and the frilly outfits make it obvious.
Lacey Brown–I’m pulling for Lacey but she certainly did not deliver the goods. Her performance of the Fleetwood Mac song “Landslide” went pretty much in that downward direction. I don’t think she will survive the elimination this week. The judges skewered her. Randy said it was terrible, Ellen thought she is better than that and Simon counted down the seconds until it was over. He did say she has nice eyes, but nice eyes ain’t gonna save that boring travesty of what is normally a gorgeous song.
Michelle Delamor–I liked her performance of “Fallin’” by Alicia Keys. She could reach diva status by the end of this competition. She’s here to stay another week. It wasn’t a perfect performance as pointed out by the judges, but it was better than good and with the previous performances, it’s enough that we’ll see her perform another day.
Didi Benami–She’s another one I felt like I don’t know well going in to her performance last night and I’m afraid I won’t really remember her much going in to next week. She did well with the song she chose, which was Ingrid Michaelson’s “The Way I Am.” I don’t love that song on its own but it suited her voice well. She’s folksy so I think we may see some Colbie Caillat her future and that would be okay. I don’t know if I see her going the distance because looking at her I don’t say, “American Idol” but you never know. I didn’t say that about Kris Allen right away either. She has a chance so it will be interesting what she chooses to do next week.
Siobhan Magnus–I was not expecting to hear “Wicked Games” by Chris Isaak from Siobhan but I was pleasantly surprised. Siobhan may be the one to watch. Her smokey vibe and smooth tone gave her a one-up on the competition last night. She took a risk on a song and it paid off. I wouldn’t have chosen that song for any of the women, but I will remember her. The judges liked her performance and song choice with Ellen saying it felt like she wasn’t watching a singing competition.
Crystal Bowersox–Crystal has established herself as an early fan favorite for the women and she was the one I was most excited about watching last night. I was glad to see she chose Alanis Morrisette’s “Hand in My Pocket,” because she reminds me a bit of Morrisette. Crystal is a free spirit with a very likable personality. The judges had mixed reviews with Kara and Simon saying they liked her but she can do better. Simon suggested singing David Bowie and that would be killer if she pulls that off at some point. Randy likened her to Bruce Springsteen, Melissa Etheridge and Bob Dylan. I hope she mixes things up this season by varying her arrangements. She’s the type of person who can make any song her own.
Katie Stevens–The old young person of the competition sang last. I’m so tired of hearing “Feeling Good” on this competition so I was a little annoyed sitting through it. There’s no doubt Katie is a good singer but I agree with all of the judges when they said that her performance was way too old for teen status. She should be singing current songs–at least initially. Jordan Sparks used to sing songs that were way before her time but Sparks is an old soul who didn’t look like a 16-year-old on stage. Katie does. But people like her and her back story with her grandma with Alzheimer’s so she will be safe this week. Let’s hope she does something age-appropriate next week otherwise her days could be numbered.
There you have it. That’s my take on the women of Idol so far. By the way, what do you think of Ellen now that she actually has to judge on a technical level? She looked a little nervous at times but reminded us she’s judging from the perspective of “someone who likes music.” I’m okay with that–for now. Once Simon leaves the show, I only hope that they put someone in his seat that has more qualifications than “someone who likes music” otherwise the show is going to lose credibility if it hasn’t already. I love Ellen and I think she will get comfortable as the live shows continue.
The guys are tonight. Make sure to tune in.
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