Unlike the uniformly solid performances from the men last night, the women were a decidedly mixed bag in this second round of finals. Some of the weaker contestants from last week cranked it up a notch or two, but an equal number who shone in the first round faltered tonight.
Aloha Mischeaux, who had ended last week's show, started things off on a decidedly mediocre note. Her version of Alicia Keys's "You Don't Know My Name" was nothing spectacular, and it seemed to be a bit at odds with her style and personality. This makes the second week in a row that Aloha has picked contemporary songs (last week was Beyonce's "Work It Out"), so I also have to wonder how she'll fare if she makes it to the themed rounds in the finals.
Next up was Lindsay Cardinale, who eschewed the slow, sultry numbers that had thus far distinguished her among the contestants in favor of a much more energetic song that showed off her Louisiana twang. All in all, it was a fun performance, with exactly the sort of verve that I mentioned last week she needed to show. Unfortunately, the music seemed to overpower her voice at times, so she may have stretched it a bit too far. Hopefully, she'll be around next week to try to find some middle ground.
Jessica Sierra kept up the country theme with a solid version of "Broken Wing." While it was kind of a boring song, Jessica certainly did her best with it, going from an average start to a solid finish. She continues to make a case to stay in this competition based on her voice, but she still needs to find some way to stand out a little more if she expects the audience to remember her when it comes time to vote.
Playing against type, the usually hyperactive Mikalah Gordon delivered a low-key ballad. While the judges thought it was great that she had tried to show some versatility, I thought that this was a horrible choice for her. Clearly the intent was the try to play down her incredibly obnoxious personality, but Mikalah still ended up being just as annoying as ever. By the end of the song, she wasn't so much singing as she was screaming. I understand that she has a fan base, but as far as I'm concerned, she can't leave the show soon enough.
Article comments
1 - Temple Stark
I'm listenign to it play in the next room - and aobut half of what I hear is the back-up singers. It makes the music sound better - but I think it's propping up some blah singers.
Next season they'll have a full orchestra no doubt.
I did here the Joplin song - all I can say is -- yipe!! Shudder.
2 - Scott Pepper
Not only does the backing band prop up the weaker singers, it actually seemed to drown some of them out completely last night.
3 - Eric Olsen
thanks Scott -what's up with Simon being all cheerful and smiley this week? Kind of creepy. I basicaly agree with you but I liked Mikala much better than you did - she took on a Billie Holiday song and handled it was aplomb, which is pretty remarkable. And she barley said a word (which she was no doubt told to do by the producers), so how was she obnoxious?
And I really really like Nadia, but her voice isnt' as strong as some of the others and I think eventually that will catch up with her.
4 - Scott Pepper
I think my opinion of Mikalah in general may have colored by view of her performance tonight ... it was better than what we've seen of her, but I wasn't wowed.
5 - AIAIAIAI
I believe Nadia's performance last night was not her best, but the Idol judges are pumping her up the way they did Fantasia. Sad, really, because Nadia is NOT the best around.
Here's to a final 3 consisting of Constantine, Bo, and Anthony Federov!
(Of course, the show is setting up a final battle between Nadia and Bo, in which Nadia will win because even if Bo outsings Nadia, it is politically incorrect to vote for a better white singer over a not as good black singer, Ruben "winning" over Clay case in point)
6 - IknowIdolInsideandOut
As far as predictions for tonight goes (Speaking of the girls only), conventional wisdom says Janay and Aloha. By far the worst last night, and both were not too good the previous week either.
BUT YOU CANNOT DISMISS THE FACT YOU VOTE FOR WHO YOU WANT ON, NOT OFF. It is this fact about AI voting that makes things interesting. It's not about who was bad, it's about who is lacking a "following."
For those reasons, I predict Janay will go, but not Aloha. I think it will be Janay...and NADIA. With voting evenly spread among the 10 girls, I think Nadia will be lacking in votes, a la Tamayra Gray of AI1 and Jennifer Hudson when she left AI3.
7 - ZMethos
I feel like there comes a point in AI where you either have the fans or you don't--that it becomes difficult to sway the viewers because they've already picked their favorites, and they are no longer voting for a good performance, they are just voting for who they like regardless of how they did "that week."
8 - Sara Marketin
I Think Carrie rocks and that if she gets kicked off there is a big mistake I think Janae is awful and shouldn't have even made the auditions! G carrie!
9 - Sara Mankeliten
I think Carrie will be the next american idol she sings the best out of everyone I hope she wins
10 - Sara Mankeliten
I think Carrie will be the next american idol she sings the best out of everyone I hope she wins
11 - Sara Mankeliten
I think Carrie will be the next american idol she sings the best out of everyone I hope she wins
12 - Sara salinia
I think the order from best to worst starting with the best for girls is
.carrie
.LIndsay
.Amanda
.Mikalah
.jessica
.selina
.nadia
. vonzell
aloha
janae
13 - Sara april
Carrie is the next american idol she has the best voice ive ever heard
14 - AIAIAIAI
I think all of these Sara's are the same person. And she LOVES Carrie.
I like Carrie too, but I love Bo. I like Constantine and Anthony Federov more than I like Carrie.
After that though, Carrie is the best.
That's why I think the final 4 will be Constantine, Bo, Anthony, and Carrie, but the final 3 will be Constantine, Bo, Anthony.
Carrie is cute and can sing, but that trio of boys is phenomenal!
15 - TLC
Just wanted to point out that Carrie DID stick to country - Faith Hill sang "Take another little piece of my heart" several years back and it was quite a hit on the country charts - sadly, Carrie was probably unaware that it was ever sung by Joplin, and she actually did a very good job of singing the Faith Hill version (although still not her best performance). It was also unfortunate for her to sing that particular Joplin song just a week or two after Melissa Etheridge did such a fantastic job with the Joplin version on an awards show. Etheridge's version was a hard act to follow :) (Not that AI viewers would have noticed...)
16 - Adriel
i think JANAY could sing, but shes not doing her BEST... i VOTED FOR NONE STOP LAST WEEK, JUST LIKE I WILL TONIGHT. MARIO IS A COMPLETE CUTIE, EVEN THO' I THINK HE'S ''GAY'', BUT HE IS TILL FINE. JANAY HAS IT, SHE BEETER DO BETTER TONIGHT. I MAD ALOHA GOT VOTED OFF, EVEN THO VONZELL IS FROM MY HOMETOWN FORT MYERS, I WANTED HER TO GO INSTEAD OF ALOHA, DONT GET ME WRONG VONZELL A NICE GURL IN PERSON, VERY LOVE-ABLE. AALIYAH PERONALITY, AND WHITNEY'S VIOCE.