After the cut, of course.
Ryan brings up Allison, Jesse, and Matt. Unsurprisingly, Allison makes it to the Top 12. The other two don't.
Up next, Megan and Kris. And Matt G and Jeanine. One will be in the Top 12. ...which probably means Nick/Norman/Normund is toast. Dammit.
Jeanine is out; Matt G is out. Kris is through. Well, he's no Norman Gentle, but I did like him.
Superfluous repetition of a montage played earlier in the season.
Brooke White comes on to perform her first single, "Hold Up My Heart." It's okay.
Mishavana, Kai, Adam, Nick, and Jasmine are brought up.
Mishavana, Kai, and Jasmine are done.
I figured they'd follow last week's pattern and leave Nick and Adam for last. And I now think the results will be the same as well... for I have looked around the Intarwebs, and apparently some people really don't appreciate Norman at all. Alas.
Nick is out; Adam goes to the Top 12.
[sigh]
...maybe they'll bring him back for the finale.
Anyway, from a strict singing standpoint, the choices were good.
As usual, to spare the West Coast people any spoilers, reactions are after the cut!
I take notes on the idol performances. Usually they're concise: "Hmm." "Hmm!" "Eh. Okay." "A bit shouty, but not bad." "Not terrible. Pleasant."
My notes from Norman Gentle's performance are unprecedented. And I quote, in full:
YES! <3 <3 <3 <3 <3 !!!!I am aware this means I'm voting for Sanjaya.
I mean, I don't really want him to win the title. But I so want him to stay in the mix for the next while. He's not the best singer, but he's totally the most entertaining.
(He's also the only one who can sass the judges without repercussions. It's part of the act.)
The rotation in judge order was not a bad experiment; it was interesting to watch the shifting dynamic when different judges spoke first.
In general, talking back to the judges is a bad idea. When they're the people who will decide whether you get the chance to come back in the wildcard round, it's downright suicidal. Matt Giraud in particular... all four judges say they want him to make it through so he can sing songs in a different style, and his response is to say that this is the style he plans to sing? Bad, bad move.
(Granted, I may be operating from a false premise. I don't know whether the wildcard choices will be made by the judges or the producers.)
From a strict singing standpoint, there were two standout performances: Allison's "Alone" and Adam's "(I Can't Get No) Satisfaction." Adam was the best of the bunch, period; Allison's would be a somewhat distant second, but still far ahead of the rest of the pack.
I'm voting for Nick/Norman/Normund, Allison, and Adam. I'm also predicting they'll all make it through.
[Edited to note that websites and fansites differ as to whether it's Norman Gentle or Normund Gentle. Still looking for decisive proof one way or the other.]
My television reception sucks, which is to say that I hardly have any at all. I've largely been getting by with Hulu and my brother's Slingbox. Sadly, the Slingbox is down tonight, and no amount of fiddling with the antenna is getting me more than static from Fox.
Scrambling around online, I've found a Fox affiliate being streamed, but it's on the West Coast, so Idol won't be on for another couple hours. So now the question is whether to wait, spoiler-free, till then, or follow the liveblogging on Idol Chatter.
Eh, who am I kidding. No way I'm waiting another few hours. Spoilers after the jump!
Apparently, Casey and Steven are out, and Alexis has made it through. I'm fine with that.
Ricky and Jackie didn't make it. Anoop Dawg is out, Michael (!) is in.
Managed to get a blurry signal! (As long as I hold onto the antenna in the right position.) Ann Marie, Stevie, and Brent... none make it through.
Down to Danny and Tatiana: the Anointed One vs. VFTW's choice. Paula offers platitudes, but finally says that Danny deserves to go to the finals.
Danny goes to the finals!
Well, I got one out of two, or possibly two out of three, if you want to grade it generously.
...I wonder who they're gonna bring back for the wild card round?
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.