Author: Mike Farley (Page 60 of 63)

Last night was the final results show on “American Idol” to determining the top 12 finalists in the competition. There were some surprises…..actually some big surprises. But more on that in a minute…..

The show started with a performance from last season’s runner-up, Bo Bice. Look, I thought Bo was better than Carrie Underwood and should have won, but last night he sang his new single, “The Real Thing,” and just wasn’t very good. And it’s not all his fault. But can someone tell me why producers make folks like Bo and Kelly Clarkson sing songs that are out of their range? Dude was straining so bad I thought he was going to have an aneurism. And he tried to cover it up by flipping his mic stand around like a wild man. Bo, you’re awesome, but be careful out there.

So on to the eliminations. No surprise that the first chick to go home was Kinnik Sky. After she butchered that Alicia Keys tune she left little doubt. Painfully, they made us hear her sing it again. Let’s all be thankful for mute buttons.

For the guys, Will Makar had the lowest number of votes. I can’t say I’m surprised by the choice, because America doesn’t want another Clay Aiken and certainly not one that doesn’t sing as good. He turned in a boring performance Wednesday night and it showed in the voting.

Then the girls got up there again, and it came down to Melissa McGhee and Ayla Brown. Then Ryan Seacrest delivered the news to Melissa that she was in the top 12, and that Ayla was going home. Look, Ayla wasn’t that great the other night but she was a way better singer than Melissa. All I can think of is that Marlboro rigged the voting because they are surely getting ready to offer Melissa an endorsement deal.

Still, this was not the shocker of the evening. While going through the remaining guys, I watched Ryan tell lispy Kevin and Ace that they were advancing to the finals. That left Gedeon and Bucky…..now, Bucky was one I had suspected would be eliminated because he wasn’t very good, but I thought Gedeon was at least good enough for the final 12. But Bucky was the one to advance, maybe because he had the hillbilly vote or because America was frightened by Gedeon’s bright smile. I’ll say this to Gedeon—dude, you got robbed.

So there you have it. Here are the final 12, in order according to the Marley Power Rankings:

1. Mandisa
2. Chris Daughtry
3. Paris Bennett
4. Lisa Tucker
5. Taylor Hicks
6. Kellie Pickler
7. Katharine McPhee
8. Elliott Yamin
9. Ace Young
10. Kevin Covais
11. Melissa McGhee
12. Bucky Covington

Oh, but first…….what the hell were the Brittenum twins doing back? They were both in the studio audience wearing matching white outfits….what happened to the orange jumpsuits and what were they doing there? Bizarre.

So we’ll see you next week…..my first choice for elimination as we count down the final 11 weeks has got to be Bucky Covington. Ma’s Diner had better stock up on sweet tea.

Marley, OUT.

Last night the dudes took to the stage in “American Idol” and, quite like the ladies on Tuesday night, there were a lot of mediocre performances. When the competition gets down to the final rounds, a mediocre showing or poor song choice can mean a ticket home, and that could definitely be the case for a few of last night’s performers.

Here is my recap of the good, the band and the in-between:

THE GOOD

There was really only one performance last night worthy of guaranteed advancement to the next round, and that was everyone’s favorite gray-haired boy, Taylor Hicks. Taylor sang the Doobie Brothers’ “Takin’ It To the Streets” and it was the perfect song for him because he’s got that whole Michael McDonald/Joe Cocker thing going on anyway. Simon said Taylor stood out last night and he definitely did.

THE IN-BETWEEN

If I could give out B-pluses, that’s what I’d give both Gedeon and Chris. Gedeon sang “When a Man Loves a Woman” and did a nice job with it. Randy Jackson called Gedeon an “old soul” because he’s like a throwback to the early Motown era, and Simon declared him interesting enough of a performer to continue on.

Chris sang Seether’s “Broken” and while he obviously has the best voice among the guys, he just turned in an effort that was not up to the bar he set last week.

Will Makar sang a James Taylor song and, while he has a nice voice too, just turned in a performance that makes you start looking around the room and decide if it’s time to paint the walls. That, and he seems to be cut from that Clay Aiken mold….strong voice, not raspy, wussy style. Not that it’s a bad thing to shoot for, but it just seems a bit tired to me.

Elliott “Abe Lincoln” sang Bryan Adams’ “Heaven” and while Paula and Randy loved it, I agreed completely with Simon, who said it was a “cop-out.” It was just safe, uninteresting and well below Elliott’s capabilities.

THE BAD

This is going to be hard for me because I wanted there to be two clear-cut favorites for elimination, but alas, there are three that could go home.

Lispy Kevin made a comment in his video piece that he’s a fan of Kanye West, then cut to the live action…..and dude sang Don McLean’s “Vincent.” Folks, there isn’t a more limp-wristed song ever written. Kevin has a nice enough voice, but he’s just not top 12 material.

Bucky sang a country song and I’m going to admit to not knowing what it was….it’s a good genre for the blond hillbilly but compared to some of the in-betweens, it was a forgettable performance.

Then there is Ace, who sang Michael Jackson’s “Butterflies.” You know what, scratch what I said about “Vincent.” This is the most limp-wristed song ever. And is it just me, or did Randy and Paula check their ears at the door? They both loved this dude’s performance, which went back and forth between falsetto and full voice but not without being all over the place. Bottom line: Ace sucked last night….Simon said parts were not great, but here’s hoping America saw what I did, and that’s that the whole performance was just awful.

So there you have it. I’m going to go out on a limb here and say that Bucky and Kevin will be going home, and that America will be stupid enough to agree with Randy and Paula about Ace. For the girls, look for Melissa McGhee to rejoin her friend Heather Cox at their, errr, day job at the Foxy Unicorn and for Kinnik Sky to also take a hike. It’s always fun to see how it shakes out….oh, and my man Bo Bice performs tonight and will show America that they made a mistake last season.

Marley, OUT.

Last night was the final round of female performances on “American Idol” before getting down to the final 12 overall, and once again it was a night laced with mediocrity. The good thing is that it’s getting much more tolerable being an hour long instead of 2 hours or even 90 minutes. Here is the Marley recap:

THE GOOD

There was really only one great performance worthy of goose bumps and that was Nashville’s own Mandisa. After a hilarious video clip where she talked about sucking her thumb until she was 24 (24???) Mandisa reminded America why she has gotten this far and why she will possibly win it all when she sang “I’m Every Woman.” We have all been waiting for Mandisa to belt it out and pull away from the pack, and she clearly did that last night. Simon said it best: “You made everyone else look ordinary.”

THE IN-BETWEEN

Paris Bennett started things off last night, and while little Paris is a favorite in the Marley household, we agreed with Randy Jackson that she was just “ok” vocally last night, singing Gloria Estefan. But Paris is a compelling performer and that is going to count for something in the votes.

Lisa Tucker sang a Tiffany Taylor ballad. The coolest thing about this 16 year old was that they showed a clip of her saying Jimi Hendrix is an idol and that she is learning electric guitar….proceeding to play the lick from “Purple Haze.” This chick is now super cool in my book and probably will be to all the pimply faced boys that are now going to vote for her. She did a decent job singing last night but didn’t blow anyone away. However, Simon said that Lisa is “super talented” and will “sail through to the next round,” and I agree.

Katharine McPhee was rumoured to be pregnant after wearing that maternity looking top last week….see, it wasn’t just me. But she squashed those rumours and even wore tighter clothes to accentuate that fact. Katharine sang Aretha Franklin’s “Freedom” and did a pretty good job….vocally, Katharine is amazing. I’m just not sure she has the goods as a performer to take her into lofty territory.

Gigantic Ayla Brown sang a contemporary pop song by Natasha Bedingfield and took a risk in doing so because not everyone knows the song yet. She sounded pretty good but is going to lose points with that Paula Abdul looking hair flip she had going on. Still, Ayla brings it every week and will probably make it at least one more round.

Kellie Pickler did Melissa Etheridge’s “Only One” and countrified it a bit. Kellie is a dark horse in this competition because she may not have the best voice, but it’s damn good and she is cute has hell. She’s also got this silly country girl humor going on that makes her even cuter. Simon took things ten steps further by calling Kellie a “naughty little minx” and saying he liked her even better than Carrie Underwood. I agree wholeheartedly and I’m sure the folks on Music Row are salivating at the prospects of singing Kellie whether she wins “American Idol” or not.

THE BAD

Melissa McGhee sang Heart’s “What About Love” and did a pretty good job. But the problem, aside from her belly fat sticking out again, is that there is only room for six females in the finals. Melissa is just not at the same level as everyone else mentioned above. Oh, and Melissa, you might want to lay off the smokes.

Kinnik Sky talked about how her favorite food is chitlins, which is basically pig intestines…..ewwwwwwwwwwwwww. Way to lose votes, Kinnik. Then she really punched her ticket home by taking on Alicia Keys’ “If I Aint’ Got You.” Um, Alicia is practically in the category vocally of Stevie Wonder…..there is just a whole ‘nother level that mortal humans can’t compete with. Needless to say, Kinnik bombed badly and should be the first to leave on Thursday night.

Tonight we have the guys…..Mrs. Marley thinks lispy Kevin will survive one more week but I disagree…..or maybe he will blow everyone away tonight. Well folks, that’s why they play the games. See you tomorrow…..

Last night was the “American Idol” results show, where we painfully sit for an hour to learn what we could have easily found out in less than a minute–namely, who is going home this week.

As they usually do on results night, the show started with a group performance of the remaining 20 contestants before whittling things down to 16. This week the group sang Stephen Stills’ “Love the One You’re With,” and though it was cheesy, somehow it wasn’t all that bad.

After this we were treated to the current reigning Idol, Carrie Underwood, singing her current smash hit, “Jesus Take the Wheel.” Okay, I have a few comments here. First of all, Carrie is not a bad singer, but please…….there are at least four better singers this season, and in my opinion there was at least one better singer last season. Bo, you got robbed. Furthermore, and no disrespect to Nashville and its songwriting community, but that song is awful. Does anyone else out there agree with me?

Pat Pat Pat Pat.

That is the sound of Spike Marley patting himself on the back, because I accurately predicted the outcome last night four times. Yes, last night saw the end for big mouth Brenna, big breasted Heather, big bald head Sway, and big ego David. All kidding aside, it proved that 42 million Americans do have ears, and they voted the right ones off this week.

A sneak peak at next week will follow, but first……can Ryan Seacrest get more annoying with each week? Last night, when the guys were finding out how America voted, he asked each one of them to predict his fate. What are they supposed to say? Most of them offered the right answer…”I have no idea, Ryan.” Ryan, stop being a jackass and just tell us the results.

Next week the following contestants need to step up their performances or they will be on a plane back home: Kinnik, Melissa McGhee, Bucky, and lispy Kevin. After that, it will really get interesting, because the final 12 is when the great singers start to separate themselves from the really good singers. Stay tuned America, and since Ryan Seacrest kept reminding you to vote, I don’t have to tell you to do so. See you next week.

Marley, Out.

So last night it was the guys’ turn on “American Idol” and just like the ladies, there are 10 left who performed last night. After 5 minutes of the usual judge banter, the performances got underway and there was a least one clear cut leader, and a few duds……and, like the women, quite a bit of medicocrity.

THE GOOD

Okay, Chris Daughtry, who was the last guy to perform, wound up blowing everyone else out of the water, singing Fuel’s “Hemmorhage.” This dude can wail, he looks confident when he performs, he gives me goose bumps and he just has the goods to be a star right now. The judges agreed. Paula said “Do you know how good you are?” and Simon said Chris’ performance was the measuring stick for the rest of the guys. I’m going to go out on a limb here and say that Chris is as good as Mandisa and Paris, and maybe even good enough to win this whole thing. That, and dude is humble.

The other really strong performance of the night was Elliot Yamin, aka the Abe Lincoln impersonator…..well, Elliot shaved off his beard and turned in a great performance of a Stevie Wonder tune. Randy gave him a standing ovation and Simon even used the word “great.”

THE IN-BETWEEN

Taylor Hicks, who everyone affectionately knows now as the gray haired dude, attempted the Commodores’ “Easy.” It was just okay…..but even worse, dude kept ad-libbing this “whooohhh” almost after every line. Nothing has been more annoying in music since Michael Jackson’s “hee-heehhh.” There’s no denying Taylor can sing but he didn’t exactly show it last night.

Ace took on a Daniel Bedingfield song, and while Randy and Paula said it was good, I disagreed and so did Simon. Ace was clearly not an ace tonight….he strained a lot and didn’t look comfortable.

Gedeon, the dude with the smile as wide as Hollywood, sang Sam Cook’s “Change is Gonna Come.” He’s a bit goofy and animated but really sounded pretty good. Simon even made reference to the fact that he’s got a natural ability akin to some of the great Motown artists from 30 and 40 years ago. I’m going to declare Gedeon a sleeper here.

Will, the Fred Savage look-alike who also reminds me of a young Paul O’Neill (my friend Kramer once promised this sick kid that Paul could hit two home runs in a game). Anyway, Will sang Kenny Rogers’ “Lady” and the song choice was bad for him….it was kind of boring and didn’t showcase his voice enough. Simon said 11 year old girls might like it, but that’s about it.

Bucky made reference to the fact that the food in California is much different than where he is from in North Carolina. Ma’s Diner serves up fried chicken, mashed potatoes, corn, and sweet tea….but in Cali he said the menu looks French. Anyway, Bucky sang Garth Brooks’ “Thunder Rolls” and did pretty good, though to me it sounded like karaoke or a bar band performance. The judges thought it was pretty good too but not nearly the caliber of some of the better singers here.

Lispy Kevin sang “Heard it Through the Grapevine” and he made reference to the fact that he’s getting more attention from chicks now. He said “Hey ladiesth, howsth it going?” and now I know who he reminds me of: Butthead. Now imagine Butthead trying to sing Marvin Gaye, and we have a problem.
Kevin wasn’t awful, but the novelty is wearing off.

THE BAD

The two that I’m picking to get voted off this week are Sway and David the crooner.

Jose “Sway” sang Stevie Wonder’s “Overjoyed” and definitely struggled with it. Anyone that takes on the great Stevie Wonder is taking a risk, and Sway just didn’t do the song or himself any justice. Adios, Jose.

My other choice for elimination was David, who sang Frank Sinatra’s “The Way You Look Tonight.” Definitely his genre, but he was pitchy and totally unconvincing. The judges agreed, and Randy said it best: “I was bored.” I bet most of America was too and it’ll show tonight.

So let’s recap…..my top three right now are Paris, Mandisa and Chris….honorable mention to Lisa Tucker, Katharine McPhee, Elliot Lincoln and Taylor “Gray.”

The Marley choices for elimination are Sway, David, Big Mouth Brenna and Heather (they’re not real, and they’re not spectacular). Join me tomorrow for the recap