Category: Pop (Page 207 of 216)

Last night’s “American Idol” show featured a bigger stage, bigger backing band, more lights and more fanfare. Judge Paula Abdul said this season was the most talked about on the streets, and for good reason–the talent is better than it’s ever been. Or at least there is no clear-cut favorite to win it all.

This time it was Stevie Wonder Week for all the contestants. Not only did they have to choose a song by the living legend, they got to hang with him and have him coach them on their vocals. Some of the contestants were overwhelmed with emotion as they worked with Mr. Wonder, and who woudn’t be?

But then we had the performances. Last night there were quite a few mediocre showings and a few clunkers. Here’s the Marley recap:

THE GOOD

Katharine McPhee sang “Till You Come Back To Me,” a song Stevie wrote that was made famous by Aretha Franklin. And though Katharine wore a dress that once again made her look pregnant, she brought it vocally. Simon even compared her at this stage of the competition to Kelly Clarkson.

Taylor Hicks did a great job with “Livin For the City,” a perfect track for the gray haired wonder, and Paula said it best: “You had everyone smiling.”

Paris Bennett sang “All I Do” and was strong as usual. The judges made note of Paris’ confidence and the fact that, at 17 years old, comes off like a seasoned veteran.

Chris Daughtry did well with his song choice too, taking on “Higher Ground,” and effectively combining the Stevie version with the Red Hot Chili Peppers version and sounding great in the process. Simon even said Chris could have a hit single with that song right now.

THE IN-BETWEEN

Ace Young redeemed himself this week after that incredibly limp-wristed Michael Jackson song a week ago. He sang “Do I Do” and while his Scott Stapp hairstyle is still annoying, the dude sounded a lot better this time and seemed to pick the right song. Randy and Simon said it was mediocre overall, and I agree.

Elliott Yamin sang “Knocks Me Off My Feet” and even Stevie Wonder said he’s got a great, natural voice. Talk about an endorsement. Elliott did a decent job but just didn’t wow anyone, and that probably included most of America.

Mandisa took on “Don’t You Worry” and it was one of her worst performances yet, though still pretty good by everyone else’s standards.

Bucky sang “Superstitious” and it wasn’t bad overall. He had some balls to his voice though at times had a little too much of that Creed-esque “pickle in mouth” vocal thing going on. Simon said Bucky’s hairstyle reminded him of Jessica Simpson–hey, that’s better than looking like Scott Stapp, isnt’ it?

Lisa Tucker was very good as usual but not quite on par with the four great performances of last night. Lisa sang “Signed, Sealed, Delivered” and if anything, she did a good job of commanding the audience’s attention.

THE BAD

Kellie Pickler, what happened to you? Well, Kellie was a bit out of her element. First of all, she had to wear a nice dress instead of jeans, and secondly, she is a country girl and wasn’t used to singing anything with soul. Kellie sang “Blame It On The Sun” and was pretty much all over the place. Randy said it was like a “non-event” and Simon, who we all know digs this chick, said it was boring. But somehow Kellie’s good looks and quick-witted charm are going to take her a few more rounds.

Melissa McGhee sang “Lately” and messed up the lyrics both in her session with Stevie Wonder and on the stage last night. Simon said it was her best performance yet and Paula said her voice is soothing (soothing? like a carton of smokes maybe). Anyway, Melissa wasn’t awful but still not good enough for mediocre in my book.

Then there is Kevin Covais, who proclaimed himself a sex symbol before performing. Well, maybe to little girls like the ones that came up and hugged him. Anyway, Kevin showed why he soon will be homeward bound by doing “Part Time Lover.” Somehow this kid makes you want to root for him, but he’s just not in the same class as most of remaining contestants. He does get points for snapping back at Simon though:

Simon: “That was appalling.”

Kevin: “That’s okay, I wasn’t expecting much from you.”

Freaking hilarious. If anything, Kevin and Kellie could probably host their own comedy show after they get booted off.

So here’s the deal…I have to pick one contestant for elimination……I think it should be Kevin, though I don’t believe it will be. In fact, both Kevin and Kellie have too much of the cute factor going on. Melissa McGhee, meanwhile, is the odd one out and will be eliminated this week. Stay tuned America….

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…..