The final 12 male contestants of American Idol season 9 performed in Los Angeles Wednesday before the first round of voting. Several of the contestants came bearing a guitar and thus made it an acoustic night. Overall they performed better than the women and most seemed less nervous. Only two stood out though…Lee Dewyze of Chicago and Casey James of Fort Worth, Texas.
Dewyze gave what Simon Cowell called “the best performance bar none.” He performed Snow Patrol’s Chasing Cars along with a guitar accompaniment and it was a fluid, strong rock performance. Casey James’ country twang vocals were just as strong when he took the stage and performed an acoustic version of Heaven by Bryan Adams. However, judge Kara DioGuardi’s fascination with James is distracting and disturbing. Add the fact that she got married seven months ago and it makes for an embarrassing situation.
Andrew Garcia of Moreno Valley, Calif., Joe Munoz of Huntington Park, Calif., and 16-year-old Aaron Kelly of Sonestown, Penn. also did relatively well. Garcia’s acoustic version of “Sugar We’re Goin’ Down” by Fall Out Boy wasn’t the right song choice for him, but all the judges like his voice, as do I. Cowell was disappointed that he didn’t take more of a risk with such a fantastic voice. Since he performed “Straight Up” by Paula Abdul so well in Hollywood the judges felt that this song choice caused him to fall short of that bar he had set.
Munoz has a great stage presence and the judges love how comfortable he is while performing. However, it was a safe song that didn’t release any star power. His voice reminded me of Elliot Yamin.
Kelly’s the youngest male of the final 12 and has one of the most powerful voices in the competition. I think his choice of Rascal Flatts was a good choice, but he lacks confidence. Judge Randy Jackson commented that he was pitchy on the chorus, which was something I had noticed as well. If these three gentlemen take some risks and make good song choices then I can definitely see them in the top 12.
Several others have to really step up if they do not want to be eliminated before the final 12. Todrick Hall of Arlington, Texas has a great stage presence and is a good dancer but he changed Kelly Clarkson’s “Since You’ve Been Gone” so much that it was butchered and his vocals didn’t sound as smooth as they should have.
Tyler Grady of Nazereth, Penn. looks like a rip off of Jim Morrison. He can sing, but not as well as some of the others such as Dewyze and Garcia. So, add the fact that he lost the pitch when the chord went higher in the chorus and that Cowell says he’s too cliché and Grady is in danger of elimination.
Michael Lynche of Astoria, N.Y. is a likable guy with a lot of personality but he made a mistake by choosing Maroon 5 to sing. The performance ended up pitchy and not unique. The judges all like him but were disappointed because they believe he is better than that performance. I personally like him, but not his vocals.
Alex Lambert of North Richland Hills, Texas, a place I have been and like, did not impress me or the judges. His voice came off as if he were singing a bit through his nose instead of his diaphragm, although that may just be how his voice sounds. Regardless, I wasn’t a fan of his vocals and the judges were not fans of his performance. Cowell believes it was uncomfortable and he was too nervous. DioGuardi thinks he needs to believe in himself.
Fortunately for the above gentlemen, there were three that were so awful I don’t know how they got on the show. Jermaine Sellers of Joliet, Ill sang a non-memorable song off key while trying to use as much of his vocal range as possible. Not good at all. Tim Urban of Duncanville, Texas sang “Too Late to Apologize” by OneRepublic and was completely off key on the high notes of the chorus. He had originally been cut but got called to join the final 24 when original member Chris Golightly was disqualified for falsifying information. The first thing Cowell said to Urban after his performance was that they were right to cut him and his voice is not good enough to win. I agree and would not be surprised at all if he is eliminated on Thursday. However, John Park of Evanston, Ill. gave by far the worst performance of any contestant in this round in my opinion. His diction was horrible and the vocals were flat and sleepy. Cowell accused him of trying to be a copycat Michael Buble and DioGuardi agreed with Cowell. Jackson claimed the performance made him feel old. DeGeneres said she liked the performance but she basically has liked all the performances. I guess that’s what we get for Idol putting someone outside the music business in a judges chair.
I vote for Tim Urban and John Park to be eliminated on Thursday, but it’s possible Urban may garner enough votes and Sellers, Grady or Lambert may go instead.
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