So tonight we began the voting rounds.
But I think someone forgot to tell the contestants since tonight’s show was basically two hours of blah…
Before I get to the recap, let me explain how this works…
I rate each contestant according to the official “American Idol” scorecard from “American Idol Magazine.” The scorecard has five categories: vocal ability, song choice, personality, appearance and stage presence. Each category is rated from 1 to 5 (with five being the best) and then totaled. The maximum score a contestant can receive is 25.
However, since the new issue of “American Idol” is delayed until next month, I was forced to make my own scorecard. So I took this opportunity to eliminate the category that has proven the most controversial for me in the past—appearance. Don’t believe me? You should have seen the deluge of e-mails I got two seasons ago when Carrie Underwood got a bad score for her performance of “Alone” because I didn’t like her hair…
So, I will only be judging on vocal ability, song choice, personality and stage presence with the maximum score being 20.
Now that we’ve got the rules down, let’s see how I rated our top 12 guys…
Rudy Cardenas, “Free Ride”: 13
Yikes! I’m starting out harsh, aren’t I? It just didn’t do anything for me and I thought he slurred too many of the words. He seemed a little uncomfortable trying to dance too. I did give him a 4 in song choice, only because he didn’t choose a ballad.
Brandon Rogers, “Rock With You”: 14
I wavered quite a bit on that vocal ability score, but it was just too shaky for me to score it high. He also needs to work on his stage presence. And yes, we know he’s a background singer. We can shut up about it now.
Sundance Head, “Knights In White Satin”: 13
I don’t know that I’ve ever seen a contestant choke this badly after a blockbuster audition. This score was probably a little generous since I thought the song choice was a good one to showcase his voice, if he had bothered to use it. Simon summed it up best with a cutting “I don’t like you tonight.”
Paul Kim, “Careless Whisper”: 13
Great song, but bad choice for Paul. He totally blew past the verse to get to the chorus—which was a little stronger—but then he blew the falsetto.
Chris Richardson, “I Don’t Wanna Be”: 11
Well, at least Simon agreed with me. I thought his voice sounded weird through the whole thing. It’s a good song, just not right for him.
Nick Pedro, “Now and Forever”: 15
Excellent choice of song and great personality, he just didn’t nail it. I didn’t think it was as bad as Randy said, though.
Blake Lewis, “Somewhere Only We Know”: 17
A 5 in both personality and song choice led to this score. He missed some transitions and he needed to get more into it; but it was a great choice.
Sanjaya Malakar, “Knocks Me Off My Feet”: 14
Sanjaya, you’ve got a great voice, so please use it!
Chris Sligh, “Typical”: 19
Unfortunately, Chris became the first victim of the overpowering band, which probably caused him to get off rhythm, but I thought it was a good performance. It was the first time I’ve disagreed with Simon all night. And I think he was genuinely mad about Chris’ comments; but he didn’t need to insult Chris’ weight.
Jared Cotter, “Back at One”: 14
Here’s one of those songs that should be stricken from the show. I did give Jared an extra point for nailing the falsetto, though.
A.J. Tabaldo, “Never Too Much”: 13
It was just too nasal for me and the words didn’t really come through very well. He’s got an interesting tone to his voice, though.
Phil Stacey, “I Could Not Ask For More”: 18
When is this guy going to learn how to start a song? He’s got an incredible voice once he gets past the beginning.
So, who’s going home? With so many of the performances being so mediocre, it’s a close one. However, I think after a bad Hollywood round and a mediocre performance tonight, America is done with Sundance. As for the other trip home, I’d give it to Rudy, just because his performance came off so cheesy. Though I scored Chris Richardson the lowest, I think he’ll make it through and I hope Sanjaya survives so we can see him really sing.
It may be easier to pick the people who are definitely not going home and that’s Blake, Chris Sligh and Phil.
So what did you think? Just post a comment and get this discussion started.
And by the way, if you didn’t get Chris’ Teletubbies comment to Simon, it was indeed Simon who signed the Teletubbies to a record deal. He signed the Mighty Morphin Power Rangers too…
Remember, the girls hit the stage for two hours tomorrow night beginning at 8. Let’s hope they decide to actually show up…
