Shmuel's Soapbox: American Idol Annex

Season 8: Semifinals, Group One

It's that time of year again! (Spoilers after the jump.)

The semifinals have always been the weakest segment of the season, and the one most tinkered with over the years. I'd actually thought the method from seasons four through seven worked pretty well: whittling the top twelve boys and top twelve girls down to six apiece, losing two from each group every week. It let us get to know the survivors better, as by the time we got to the finals, we'd seen three performances from each.

But they're trying to shake things up. This year, in a modified version of the previous method, we've got three groups of twelve singers. Each group sings one time. From that group, the boy with the most votes, the girl with the most votes, and the remaining person with the most votes makes it through to the finals. There'll also be a wild-card week for the last three slots, the mechanics of which have not yet been announced.

Jackie Tohn's performance of "A Little Less Conversation" was not actually good, and her outfit was really rather bad, but it must be admitted that she made the song her own in a way nobody else managed all night. But the judges were right; it showed her entertainer side, but not her singing ability.

I have nothing to say about Ricky Braddy's performance. I was mildly amused and appalled by the way his mom blurted out their fansite URL, braddybunch.com, on live national television, and even more amused and appalled when I discovered that it was the wrong URL. (It's actually thebraddybunch.com.) I'd wonder what the trademark lawyers would say if I thought he had a prayer of making it to the finals.

Alexis Grace and Brant Keith were okay, ditto Stevie Wright and Anoop Desai.

Casey Carlson's performance of "Every Little Thing He Does Is Magic" was definitely the worst of the night. Her vocals weren't strong enough, it was pitchy... with that said, Randy and Kara singing "everything about that was wrong" was the cruelest moment seen on Idol in a very long time.

Michael Sarver is no Gavin DeGraw. Ann Marie was actually quite good. Stephen Fowler, not so much.

Tatiana Del Toro. Even before checking, I knew that Vote for the Worst was going to back her to the hilt. She was made for them. Which makes it all the more annoying that she turned in the best performance of the night, bar none.

But there's still no way in hell I'm gonna vote for her.

Danny Gokey was good. Not as good as Randy, Kara, and Paula seemed to think, but good.

I voted for Danny and Ann Marie.