In my blog entry yesterday about the travesty that was the American Idol Top 12 guys taking the stage, I ended by saying, “Hopefully, the girls will do better tonight. After all, they can’t do much worse.”
I would like to apologize for the false hope that sentence may have given you.
On paper, it didn’t look like the Top 12 girls could do any worse than their male counterparts. Frankly, what happened last night was statistically impossible. In fact, there was higher probability that Queen Angie would suddenly start loving James Durbin’s singing.
So much for statistics and probabilities.
Unlike the guys, where the good singing was spread throughout the show, the girls started in the dumps and basically stayed there until the end. That made for an extremely long first 75 minutes of the show. There was a small bright spot early on, but it wasn’t enough to lift things.
Also unlike the guys, there may have been a partial reason for the problems. During the show, Nigel Lythgoe tweeted, “I’m getting frustrated with our sound! I don’t know where it’s going wrong. The mix between voice and band is okay when it leaves the studio.” So according to Nigel, what we heard through our TV and computer speakers was not what was heard when the show was taped (remember, the show was taped last Friday).
A problem with the sound mix does, actually, explain a lot to me. One of the biggest gripes I had during the Top 12 girls singing was how underpowered they were against the song and back-up singers. I felt that they were simply holding back too much, that they needed to take charge a bit more and let their voice ring out. But if something did happen to the mix as the show was being aired, then it may be that they really did a better job than we are giving them credit for.
Unfortunately, it’s impossible to tell which of the contestants would have benefited from a better sound quality and which ones would have had their mistakes amplified. All I can do is judge based on what I heard.
As I said earlier, the night started off in the dumps. This was thanks to Ta-Tynisa Wilson. Her shaky start gave way to a chorus that was mostly off-key. And that poofy, frilly, mini-dress she was wearing only made her poor singing sound even worse. Naima Adedapo did bring a small ray of sunshine immediately after, with her jazzy version of “Summertime.” But she was doing some weird moves on the stage that simply distracted me from her singing. And the jazzy style wasn’t something that I was expecting from her. Still, she was the fourth best of the night. And I probably should listen to just her vocals again, without the distracting stage dance, to see if she was better than I’m giving her credit for.
The night tanked after Naima, however. Rachel Zevita and Ashton Jones delivered massively off-key performances, while Kendra Chantelle, Karen Rodriguez, Laruen Turner, Julie Zorrilla, and Haley Reinhart all underwhelmed me by being overwhelmed by the music and back-up vocals. If the sound mix was, indeed, off, I think that hurt Kendra and Halie more than the others. Julie had one very off-note key that would have been more glaring with a different sound mix.
But thankfully, for once, American Idol saved the best for last. Thia Megia, who I had become disappointed with during Hollywood Week, stepped up her game with a terrific rendition of “Out Here On My Own.” Those first several bars of a cappella singing were divine, and she showed tremendous vocal ability and control, making her my third favorite of the night.
Then Lauren Alaina took the stage and blew us away with the country version of “Turn on the Radio.” While many people have proclaimed her to be the obvious favorite of the American Idol producers, she does have the talent to back that up. She commanded the stage during her song and had complete vocal control throughout, making her my second favorite of the night.
I wasn’t sure what to expect from Pia Toscano when she took the stage. While I remembered the name, I honestly couldn’t remember any of her performances up to that point. But she made sure I would remember who she is going forward. Her delivery of “I’ll Stand By You” had me responding that I would, definitely, stand by her. Pia is six years older than Lauren Alaina, and that six years of extra experience is why Pia is just a bit better than Lauren right now.
So what did you think about last night’s American Idol? Was it as painful for you as it was for me? Do you agree with my Top 3 picks? Leave your comments below, and don’t forget to share this article on Facebook and tweet it to your friends. All buttons to do that can be found below.
And don’t forget to join Sir Darryl and me (the Token White Guy) tonight at 11 PM EST / 10 PM CST for the Idol Radio Show as we discuss tonight’s results show.
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