Greener Pastures

I know I said I would have comments on the 2nd installment of the After the Final Rose but I couldn't bring myself to watch it yet...maybe tomorrow. In the meantime I decided to watch Idol which never let's me down or disgusts me. The final group of semifinalists fighting to make the Top 12 went at it tonight. When I saw the preview of this week's group it seemed a little unfairly stacked. All in all I'd say I was right - way too much talent for 3 spots in this group. Here's the breakdown...

Von Smith - surprise of the night. He truly wowed me with his performance as he got over the shoutiness he displayed in Hollywood Week. He's definitely one to watch.

Taylor Vaifanua - All I can remember about her is how much she towered over Ryan.

Alex Wagner-Trugman - If this singing thing doesn't work out the kid could definitely have a comedy career. Honestly I was too distracted by his "dancing" to hear too much but he had a few nice moments.

Arianna Afsar - Poor dear was off-key for the most of the performance. It reminded me of the talent portion of Junior Miss Pageant and the song choice again was atrocious. I really don't know what is happening this season but maybe we've just got a batch of people with really awful taste in music.

Ju'Not Joyner - Once again I'm thrown off by the unnecessary capitalization, punctuation and SONG CHOICE. If I have to hear another gussied up version of Hey There Delilah I'm going to stab a fork in my eye. The song was catchy but mediocre at best as a mid-tempo guitar ditty - what makes anyone think it will work as a power ballad?? But I digress - this is more my counterpart's territory. What I will say is that I totally disagree with the judges here. Maybe The Bachelor has made me a bit of a conspiracy theorist but I've been hearing rumblings of complaints that so far the Top 12 is a little too pale if you know what I mean. I wouldn't be surprised if the judges were giving Juneau the mittens treatment on purpose.

Kristen McNamara - I can't say that I was a big fan of the up-tempo rearrangement of "Give Me One Reason" but you can't deny that Kristen definitely has some singing chops.

Nathaniel Marshall - After his dramatics during Hollywood week ("It's not just your dream at stake here!!") and catching this clip on YouTube I was already a fan of Nate's. His take on Meatloaf didn't change that at all. I do fear that Adam Lambert may have already filled this year's quota of flamboyant, theatrical males with spiky hair and excessive accessories.

Felisha Barton came into this round with a significant disadvantage having only ever been shown on screen getting cut. I wasn't as impressed with her as the judges were - pretty forgettable in my book.

Scott MacIntyre - I don't want to be the asshole that says something mean about the blind guy so I'll just stick to the high points. He had some nice notes and his brother is hot. I WILL say something mean about the judges. I think it's condescending to tell him that if he messes up a note it doesn't matter because he "moves mountains when he sings." What kind of BS is that??

Kendall Beard - Not Carrie Underwood, not even Kellie Pickler...next.

Jorge Nunez - I kind of want him to move on just because I have so much fun saying his name. This song still belongs to Clay Aiken in American Idol world but Jorge was good...really good. And he made me cry. I read yesterday that this year the top 12 does not have to be gender balanced and I can only hope that that is true. There are simply more that 6 men that deserve to be there and this performance made be believe that Jorge should be one of them.

Lil Rounds - Wow...In the pimp spot and lived up to it. She really shouldn't even be in this group.

Who got my votes tonight? Von, Nate and Jorge (Lil doesn't need them)
My predictions for the Top 12 spots - Lil, Scott and Jorge edging out Von because he was closer to the end and I expect a Birmingham like voting block from Puerto Rico.