American Idol Season 11!!!

It's that time of year again!! I swear the only thing that gets me through the long months of Christmas til summer is American Idol.... Sigh. And the truly tragic thing is that I know nothing about singing, or really, music in general. In fact, I'm practically deaf! Good thing this show is really only about 10% about the singing!! Ha! Anyway, tonight marked the first of the live episodes. We were treated to mediocre performances by the Top 13 guys. Tomorrow night will be the Top 12 girls, and then Thursday night they will be chopped down to a measly 13 Semi-Finalists! Oy! The top five with the most votes from each night will be automatically in, and then the "judges" (and I use the term loosely) will each get to choose one wild card pick from the remaining hopefuls. Get it? On with it, then!

1. Reed Grimm - LOVED that the manny(male nanny) from Wisconsin used the Family Matters theme as his audition song (in Pittsburgh no less!), but since then he has been slowly declining from my happy list. He has been given the "annoying quirky guy" edit by producers and tonight was forced to perform first, so that halfway through the episode he was all but forgotten. His slowed-down version of Moves Like Jagger was sleepy and disappointing. Sorry to say that he doesn't stand a chance at America's vote or the judges pick. Later, Reed. :(

2. Adam Brock - The only thing that I like about this guy is that he is a hometown boy from Washington, PA. I hate that he describes himself as "White Chocolate" and says he has a black woman inside of him. His cover of Aretha tonight wasn't my style at all. He has a decent voice, but at this stage of the competition they all have good voices, so I'm much more interested in stage presence and personality, and his are lacking. Later, Adam.

3. Deandre Brackensick - His voice drives me CRAZY! I will take this opportunity to restate that I know nothing about singing. K? That being said, I SERIOUSLY don't see what everyone loves about this kid! He seems nice, but a minute of his voice is all I can take! Everyone raves about his falsetto, but if I wanted to hear a girl sing I would just listen to a girl sing!! A guy who can hit a high note, I like. A guy who sings an entire song in them, no thank you. During parts of his song I actually felt like I was watching a cartoon character talk... Like the teacher from Peanuts that just goes "wahhh wahhh wahhh" a lot... Oy. I know I will be stuck listening to this kid for a long loooong time, because even if America doesn't vote him in you can bet that the judges will! Yuck.

4. Colton Dixon - YES! Now this is a guy that I can get behind!!! I was a big fan of him last season when he made it to the end of Hollywood week only to be denied the final spot which went to Brett Loewenstern instead. This season I started off kinda ticked at him, because he chose not to audition until the judges made him. I usually would write him off as not wanting it enough and denying a spot from people that actually came to audition, but his thank-you to the judges for making him audition seemed sincere enough that I'm willing to overlook this and move on. His performance tonight of Paramore's "Decode" was fantastic! I loved that he started off slow on the piano and then hopped up and rocked it out for the second half. Loved the drama and intensity and the slow build... Exactly what the doctor ordered after the first three duds! And it doesn't hurt that he totally reminds me of a cross between my two favorites from season 10, Paul McDonald and James Durbin! I'm thinking and hoping that America will be sending Colton sailing through to the Top 13 and not making him depend on the mercy of the "judges"! #TeamColton

5. Jeremy Rosado - Oy. I guess he has a good voice... But once again, not my department. And besides, if they didn't have a good voice they wouldn't be in the top 25, duh. So aside from the voice there's........... um...... Yeah, exactly. All I can tell you about this kid is that he's "a really nice kid." Seriously. That's it. And I only know that because they keep telling me that. Not sure what makes him so nice. Don't remember what he sang, but recall it being very dull. Yawn. Judges seem to love him, so even if America doesn't put him through there's a decent chance that they will. Joy.

6. Aaron Marcellus - Actually quite enjoyed him! He's definitely not my style musically (Jackson 5, blah), but I thought his voice was interesting, and his performance was super high energy and fun! I feel like in a group that has Joshua, Deandre, Jeremy, Adam and Jermaine all with kinda similar styles Aaron will be one of the first to go, and this makes me sad, cause I'd take him over most. I'm thinking he definitely won't get America's vote, and probably won't get the judges' either. Later, Aaron. :(

7. Chase Likens - Where did this kid come from?? Chase got the MIA edit during all of Hollywood and Vegas weeks, so it will come as no shock when he doesn't get America's vote. Even if his performance had been the best of the night(which it wasn't) I doubt he would've been able to get enough votes to beat out some of the already-formed fan bases. He is the sole country boy this year, and I guess the producers figured we had a country boy win last year, so no need to publicize this year's. Or something like that. I'm not a huge country fan, but was pleasantly surprised by Chase's voice and performance... He seemed natural on stage. I would like to see more of him, but that's just not in the cards. I'll be sorry to see ya go, Chase. :(

8. Creighton Fraker - Oh Creighton Fraker... I love your name, Creighton Fraker. I'm sorry to your parents who have to listen to Ryan repeatedly call your birth dad your "dad." That's just not right. Anyway... I like Creighton Fraker. I really do. I liked him in Hollywood week when he was busy getting the "annoying quirky guy" edit with Reed Grimm. He is quirky, but he is also interesting. AND he sounds pretty when he sings. In a man's voice, not a girl's voice or a cartoon character's voice. I'm looking at you, Deandre Brackensick. Anway. Yes, Creighton Fraker. I would love to see him advance, but I doubt it's in the cards. I don't think that his awesome cover of Cyndi Lauper's "True Colors" was enough to undo all the crappy earlier footage, and I don't think he's cute enough to win the "cute quirky" vote (that will go to Phil Phillips), and I think the judges will be busy using their picks on silly Deandre Brackensick or some other random girls. I'll miss you, Creighton Fraker. :(

9. Phillip Phillips - Speak of the devil... I was just talking about you! And speaking of cool names... Yes, Phillip Phillips. I enjoy this guy. He got probably the best edit of anyone throughout the auditions and Hollywood week. He's got a good distinctive voice, a nice personality, a solid family, and he's got the "cute quirky" thing down pat. Plus his cute bromance with Heejun Han. If anyone can sweep America's vote, it's him. On the downside, he was one of only 3 guys to get one negative word from our fearless "judges." Blah. I thought Phil's cover of "In The Air Tonight" was great, and I don't care what the "judges" say, so there! I'm not too concerned about him sailing through to the next round.

10. Eben Franckewitz - Sigh. This kid is Adorable with a capital A. I loved his Vegas performance of "You Are So Beautiful." Unfortunately, tonight was rough for him. He has a lovely voice really, but another year would surely have done him wonders. I just don't think he was ready for this competition. As much as I would love for Eben to go on to become the next Biebs... I'm gonna go out on a limb and say that not even the teenybopper girls of America can save him after tonight. Later, Eben. :(

11. Heejun Han - I am SO torn on this kid! I felt like his whole "clueless Asian who only half-gets the English language" shtick was really fake for most of Hollywood week, but then occasionally he seems sincere and kind of sweet. And his voice feels the same... sometimes sincerely sweet and lovely... other times total imposter! Really not sure who he really is! "I talked craps about Richie." Really? Craps? His video footage tonight showed his mom seemingly not speaking much English(?) and made me think maybe he really doesn't have a firm grasp of it, and maybe he's totally sincere, but the random faces he was pulling on stage and the glasses without lenses threw me through yet another loop. And while I love "Angels" by Robbie Williams, not so sure I liked it by Heejun Han. Can he get by on America's vote for his shtick and mediocre voice? Possibly...

12. Joshua Ledet - Blah. So overrated. I'll say it again: I know nothing about singing. Joshua Ledet's "emotionally charged" performance left me totally cold. I didn't know the song, but the boy just standing at the mic was soooo dulllllll. I am sure that he will make it through based on America's vote, and if he doesn't then you can bet the "judges" will save him, so we may as well prepare for weeks, if not months, of dull power ballads. Hellooooo, Pia Toscano! Sigh.

13. DRAMATIC TWIST MYSTERY PERFORMER!!! - Let me just say, I was SHOCKED that the big mystery thirteenth contestant wasn't Johnny Keyser!!! I was sure that the whole eliminating him early thing was all for publicity so they could bring him back now and net him tons of relieved votes! Alas, there was no cocky waiter to be found behind door number 13. Not sure if this made me happy or sad... I liked Johnny, but honestly have enough guys to root for this season. Kind of relieved not to have to reserve room in my heart/voting block for another. Unfortunately for me... Jermaine Jones came out of nowhere and won me over!!!! Talk about dramatic twists!!! I liked Jermaine's mama's boy vibe in Hollywood, but didn't dig his low voice much, so I wasn't too sad to see him go. But tonight, let's chalk it up to song choice, I loved him!!! His cover of "Dance With My Father," or whatever it's actually called, was awesome! I felt like it totally suited his voice and kind of gave me "goosies!" Yeah, thanks JLo for the use of that word, but I don't think I'll be using it again. Anyway, not sure what Jermaine's chances look like... The whole second-chance-twist thing throws a wrench into my high-tech vote-getting theories, so Jermaine could be a dark horse, or just a waste of 5 minutes and a random voting number (5736?!?!) Only time will tell!

My ideal picks:
Colton, Phil, Creighton, Jermaine, Chase, and Aaron or Eben.

My predictions:
America votes: Colton, Phil, Joshua, Deandre, and Heejun.
Judges pick: Jeremy and possibly a surprise of Creighton maybe? Fingers crossed?

Okay, this took way longer than planned. We'll see how long the blogging lasts this time.... Oy. Night all!

Linz :)

Here I Go Again, On My Own...

So, I guess I haven't posted on here in over two years... Oops? So much for me sticking with blogging this time! I always start with such good intentions, and it never lasts. :( I think the problem is that no one reads it, and it's like, "what's the point?" Ya know? But nonetheless I'm gonna give it yet another try! Mainly because it's American Idol season and I want to talk about it without driving my Facebook friends nuts with continuous status updates... Aren't I so considerate? :p Anyway, this post is to announce my return, and the next one will address my obsession with Idol! See ya then!

Linz :)