Ranking the Top 12 ‘Idol’ guys: Cotter’s tops, Richardson flops
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- February
- 21
Lost in my last two posts was the fact that “American Idol” is (allegedly) a singing competition.
I wasn’t blown away by last night’s performances—and I think last year’s talent pool was deeper—but it’s still early. Also, let me say that all of the guys this year seem to be well-adjusted and kind. I don’t think I can say the same for all of the Top 12 ladies at this point.
That said, allow me to rank the guys’ performances from 1 (the best) to 12 (the worst):
TOP 4: A strong start
1. Jaret Cotter: Forget that Cotter (above) had been the least-searched contestant on Yahoo! prior to last night’s show. Forget the judges’ ambivalence toward the New Yorker’s smooth performance of “Back At One.” While understated, it was the best of the night.
2. A.J. Tabaldo: I have to say, Tabaldo’s first-round audition left me annoyed and cold; his breath control (or lack thereof) had been awful. But, his song last night was spirited, in tune and engaging. Nice job, A.J.
3. Chris Sligh: Controversy aside, Sligh lit up the stage with his enthusiasm and steady performance. Despite (or because of) his tiff with Simon Cowell, he should have plenty of fans to carry him into the Top 12.
4. Rudy Cardenas: I really like this guy’s voice, but I have to admit; he garbled some of “Free Ride’s” words—but unlike some contestants who can’t hit notes, enunciation can be fixed. Still, solid.
MIDDLE 4: Could go either way
5. Brandon Rogers: The former backup singer to Christina Aguilera and Justin Timberlake is perplexing: his control between notes was flawless, but hitting individual notes was flawed; he was occasionally flat. Still, he’s got talent.
6. Sanjaya Malakar: Malakar seems like a nice, well-meaning kid. But he’s got to step up with his enthusiasm and his songs if he wants to stick around. Although his Stevie Wonder song was too slow and too cliché, it was better than the judges seemed to indicate.
7. Blake Lewis: Listen, I sing in a vocal band with a phenomenal beat-boxer, so I’m always going to have a soft spot for vocal percussionists. Still, I don’t think Lewis’ song—yes, song, with notes and everything—was as good as everyone as everyone said.
8. Phil Stacey: Excruciating start, very strong finish. If the whole song were the final 30 seconds, he’d be ranked third or fourth. But, you know, you kind of have to sing a whole song well.
BOTTOM 4: In need of serious help
9. Sundance Head: Oof, brother. The last thing Head needed was a dreary performance combined with a terrible song choice (“Nights In White Satin”). I was once this guy’s biggest supporter. We’ll see if he gets to stick around to redeem himself.
10. Nick Pedro: I’ll say this much… Pedro did the best he could with a paper-thin voice. But if the best thing that can be said about a forgettable song was “it wasn’t that bad,” pack your stuff.
11. Paul Kim: The lower register was awful. The falsetto was awful. The stuff in between was good, but only by comparison.
12. Chris Richardson: As much as I want to say “Bye Bye Bye” to this Timberlake wanna-be, the reality is the voting tween girls will keep him around WAY too long. So I’ll just have to put up with his nasal voice, his random freestyling and his piston-like “dancing” for another month at least.
Who’s probably going home: Paul Kim and Nick Pedro. Who SHOULD be going home: Paul Kim and Chris Richardson.
This entry was posted
on Wednesday, February 21st, 2007 at 2:18 pm by Chris Serico.
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Dreadful. Worst Idol show ever. Can’t even rank them, they all lacked consistent vocals and stage presence. My ears still haven’t recovered from the aural assault.
To me the wacky auditions are the best part of Idol. Once we get to this voting part, I will sometimes tune into the last five minutes, get the recaps, know who did what and save myself two hours. Although watching this way means missing out on Simon’s cruella comments and Paula’s wacky face-offs with Simon.
Of the men, my favorite so far is Brandon! We’ll see how the women do tonight….