This is still a work in progress if you've just tuned into my blog just now and see this message...
So here's my rundown for the Top 12 live performances this week.
1) The Stereo Hogzz - Simon Cowell declared this a "make or break performance" tonight right before they came out to perform Janet Jackson's 1991 anthem "Rhythm Nation" while approximately two dozen dancers (or more) surrounded them onstage. Apparently, they didn't disappoint because the judges unanimously agreed that they owned the stage. L.A. told them that they absolutely had what it took to be stars while Nicole simply said that "The Stereo Hogzz have landed" and adding "much respect to you boys" based on her own experience in The Pussycat Dolls and knowing what it takes to be part of a group and how hard it is to make the combination of singing and dancing look easy. Simon solidified the praise by adding that he was "in such a good mood before this because Miss Smug [Paula Abdul] over here is so happy." It was another overall solid performance by The Stereo Hogzz but I felt that last week's performance was still stronger. Still, they should be safe tomorrow.
2) Chris Rene - Simon said that Chris needed to fixate on the lyrics because if he didn't piece it together that he could be in trouble. "I have so much mad love for you my friend," said Nicole before adding, "You sound absolutely amazing" and "you have grown so much in the competition already." Paula simply declared her pride of Chris by saying, "You're so honest and transparent." Simon agreed, chiming in, "You knew you weren't on your game last week," before poking Paula, "You literally put him in Hell" before finally concluding his critique with affirming Chris' "honesty" that Paula alluded. L.A. ribbed Simon by saying, "That hell you're talking about - that's called fire because you're hot," much to Simon's laughter filled delight. Chris got back some of his momentum back from last week but I do feel like the judges were aware of how vulnerable he could be, especially as a rap/hip hop artist on a singing show, as they clearly seemed concerned that they might lose him earlier than they wished to.
3) LeRoy Bell - LeRoy's choice of song didn't pass mustard with L.A. and Simon although Paula said, "You wrap your life experiences around each song" before Simon facetiously corrected her by saying, "It's only been two songs." Simon also told LeRoy, "I think you are a really good singer. I think you have a confidence issue." He also said that he totally agreed with L.A. and that Nicole has misused him much to Nicole's consternation. Nicole simply rebutted, "Sometimes less is more." The critiquing was oddly short and to the point compared to the other artists and my guess is that he is in trouble.
4) Rachel Crow - Belting out the 80's classic "Walking On Sunshine" by Katrina and The Waves, Rachel changed the words in the song while oddly dressed dancers in awful black and white outfits danced around and behind her. I was not a fan of the lyric rearrangement. In fact, I'm pretty much never a fan of that and found it bizarre to say the least. L.A. told Rachel, "You must be one of the most charismatic singers I've ever met" and said she was tough to criticize. Nicole called her "America's sunshine" and compared her to a Jackson 5 era Michael Jackson but questioned the lyric change. Paula simply oozed, "You have to know how good you are," before alluding to her "If I Were A Boy" boot camp performance and basically asking Simon to give her a song that suits that song's range. Simon rebutted Nicole by declaring, "It's called being inventive, darling," and when Nicole started to sass back he snapped, "Grown ups are talking," and announced that, "This girl's going to be around for a very, very long time." That was Simon and judge code for: Vote for her. Like...a lot.
5) Lakoda Rayne - The pop country foursome decided to designate a season for each of its members.
Derisively calling the seasons theme corny and cheesy, the newly minted four seasoned act went out to prove detractors L.A. and Simon wrong. Dani was summer, Paige was fall, Hayley was spring, and Cari was winter. Dressed stunningly eloquently, the quartet solicited fashion praise from L.A. about their looks. "You look incredible tonight" and noted that the vocal blend he'd been looking for in them was finally present. "The blend took place," L.A. said. He further added that he gets "frustrated because I don't want you to be a tweener" and clarifying those remarks by saying that they should be either pop or country, not both. L.A., of course, is absolutely wrong about this. They are The Dixie Chicks. Nicole said that the "four voices sounded like one voice tonight" and that they "put me in a trance tonight and if I were a season, I'd want to look just like you." Simon complimented them vocally. "Vocally, song wise - massive, massive improvement. You actually sound like singers. Here's the not so good news: I aboslutely hate what you're wearing. The idea of turning you into four seasons is literally insane. You're not autumn, you're not spring, you're not fall, and you're not winter. You're four young girls, and she's dressed you like you're going to the prom." Paula retorted, "It's color," and stung Simon by saying "There's only one season in London, England and that's miserable." "You look beautiful and I'm proud of you. Now let's go get some frozen yogurt." Not sure of Simon's wardrobe criticism although his one liner was pretty hilarious. Still, the girls knocked it out again.
6) Josh Krajcik - L.A. said, "That was really, really good." "Josh, you can sing anything and I'm a believer because you just nail everything" Paula told Josh. "I'm going to take back everything I said, "Simon apologized. "It's like you wrote the song. One of my favorite songs over the last two years. It was absolutely stunning. You took a risk and it paid off. Well done." Nicole added, "I feel like a proud mom but we're like the same age so that doesn't work. I love the lyrics to the song and you just brought them to life and what I love about you is when you sing, I feel the voice in my veins. You make music move through all of us. Thank you so much." Josh padded his frontrunner status tonight again with another orbit defying performance.
7) Melanie Amaro - "The only thing Simon ever did right was to bring you back," L.A. said. Nicole said, "There is no limit to what you and your voice can do." Paula added, "You look beautiful and I must say [that] hearing your voice is like fine china; just bring it out on the most special occasions and this a special occasion. Amazing. Amazing." Simon finally said, "I've got to say - I didn't realize how good you were. I mean, you are seriously, seriously good. Right now you are the one to beat, trust me." Melanie is absolutely a frontrunner now after tonight. She has moved from a dark horse, to contender, to a favorite and Simon's not so subtle endorsement of her as the person to beat might not have been any accident based on the combination of her performance, momentum, and the way she advanced to the live shows, but she has been so strong that the praise was well deserved and Simon's word always carries the most weight.
8) Astro - Reworking the lyrics to Naughty By Nature, or at least it seemed that way (I'm no longer sure), Astro proved his long-term viability once again in the hip hop and pop genres. The 14 year-old child prodigy changed it up with the song as he did with the corresponding set as he performed. Confetti and dancers highlighted his superstar potential. Nicole said, "You know how to get the party started right." Paula said, You're bold, you're daring, and you're unique." I know that Jay-Z has his eye on you for real." Simon had the best critique. "I could remember a few weeks ago L.A. saying people your age couldn't choreograph or sell records. Well, I think it's time L.A. to take that back because I think you are a real little star. Your ego's getting bigger, which I know L.A. is channeling his ego through you, but that's what it needs. You need that confidence, that swagger. I think you are a total little star." L.A. concluded, "You keep bringing it. Each week you keep getting better and better. I know Brooklyn and America are proud." Still not sure if this was Naughty By Nature, an original with a sampling of the 90's group, or a mix but Astro's performance was again rather outstanding.
9) InTENsity - Last week when they were soliciting song ideas, I submitted Kim Wilde's "Kids In America" and low and behold - they listened! And they did a great job of the Kim Wilde-Party Rock mash-up. The critiques were short and sweet but L.A. said, "Three words: fun, fun, fun!" and Nicole added, "That was fun-tastic. Fun-nominal."Simon spelled out the word sorry and said, "Actually, that was terrific. I like the fact that there's a bit of rebellion going on here where you've kind of insisted that you're going to change the style of music to suit all of you. And the blend actually - I shouldn't like you but I actually do really do like you." Paula said, "P-R-O-U-D, exclamation point. Put him [Simon] in his place. Thank you guys for working so hard." I think they did an excellent job. Interestingly enough, Emily Wilson said that if the other acts go home, they will still remain intact as opposed to InTENsity, which would be disbanded. That little nugget of news is probably not going to be found on many other blogs so you probably heard it first here on the official Himay Co. blog.
10) Drew Ryniewicz - Singing Nelly's "Just A Dream", she proved once again that she is a 14 year-old nightmare to her competition. L.A. told her she had the "spirit of a superstar" but the truth of the matter is that Drew already has the complete package of a superstar going on in her favor. L.A. did jab at Simon by telling her that she had the wrong mentor. Nicole declared her love for Nelly and told Drew that she's "relevant" and said she could also be on Eminem's track? Huh? Really? You really want this preciously sweet 14 year-old hanging around Eminem? Paula apparently commented, "I totally live for the last note that you sing", prompting me to conjure up images of Paula just doing nothing in her free time but waiting for that last note. And why only the the last note? Simon stated the obvious, instructing Drew that he's "seeing a star emerge in front of me right now" and that she was really his mentor. For Simon, that was surprisingly cheesy and sentimental; not to mention just way over the top but Simon has shown some softer moments on this show so far because it truly is his baby so his motivation to keep some of the more blunt talk in check is rather apparent. Still, Drew did exceptionally well and there was just no need to go there anyway but she does indeed have a very good music sense and perhaps Simon was just taking that observation to a very unnecessary extreme.
11) Marcus Canty - Singing the L.A. Reid penned Bobby Brown song "Every Little Step", the performance was genuinely solid but then the judge's feedback had me looking for Randy Jackson on the panel. (Apparently, they felt like they were at a Marcus concert.) Nicole started by saying how she felt she forgot that she was watching a competition show and not a concert and that she was just one of the screaming girls attending it. Paula merely took the time to take a trip down Memory Lane; back to the late 80's when she still had a music career of her own. She really only added that Marcus is "the complete package" as a performer. Simon then touched a rather sarcastic nerve with L.A. by initially saying how narcissistic it would normally be to have his own artist perform a song he wrote before L.A. preempted him, perhaps premeditatedly (I should put perhaps in quotations, really) retorting, "We could have done one of yours -" rhetorically at Simon much to his rather bemusedly laughing delight. Simon then finished his thought by giving L.A. props and noting how much Marcus has "come alive" in the competition and that "it was a brilliant song choice; it is a brilliant song" and L.A. essentially just echoed that sentiment to his prodigy.
12) Stacy Francis - L.A. repeated his praise of Marcus to Stacy as well, noting to her that she's "so poised" and that she's "getting better and better" as the competition carries on. This might be the new "in it to win it" but the competition still has plenty of life to go. L.A. warmly proclaimed to Stacy, "You stir our souls when you sing; you really do," which pleased Stacy. Paula agreed, calling it a "shiny moment" for her and complimenting the way she interprets songs as "magical" and that "the bottom of your voice is just...my God...just fills up the entire, the entire stage." Simon, however, regaining his usual lack of sentimentality just in time, immodestly pounced on an opportunity to say, "Stacy, I don't want to take any credit but I'm going to," before deciding, "I think you want to give me a kiss, don't you?" Yeah, like Stacy really had a say in the matter. I couldn't help think about Herman Cain's recent troubles with female ex-employees of his regarding allegations of sexual harassment. Simon further patted himself on the back, exclaiming, "You know, that's why I love judging these shows; when I can help the mentors, when I can help the contestants. This is what you should have been doing right from the start. It was real, it was fantastic, one of thee best performances of the night." Nicole slyly matched wits with Simon by first appearing to congratulate and appease her boss and fellow judge. "Good job," she directed towards Simon. "We took your advice, Simon," Nicole grinned. "Good job. But I'm not going to make it about you. I'm going to make it about Stacy." Simon smiled and fake moaned, relishing Nicole's comeback directed at him. "I know what you've been through and I asked you one thing; be honest in your performance tonight. And you were just honest, you were the epitome of grace and poise and beauty, and I'm so proud of you. This was a perfect song for you (gesturing more genuinely towards Simon), and you're fulfilling your purpose. You should be very happy." It's also interesting given how Simon stepped in and chose a song for someone not in his own group. We'll see if that overshadows the tremendous performance by Stacy or not and how Simon really does win either way.
Well, there you have it. My prediction? LeRoy Bell goes home tonight. They complimented him while setting him up to fail at the same time but my guess is that it just might be that the other performances were simply more electric. I love LeRoy and will hate to see him go if that is indeed the case but hopefully we haven't heard the last of him one way or another. Marcus Canty and InTENsity could also be in trouble and I didn't think that Rachel Crow's lyric changing stunt that Simon put her up to might do her any favors. Still, I'd have a hard time imagining that she's going home. At any rate, we shall see.
Stay tuned.
Follow me on Twitter.
.
No comments:
Post a Comment