It's been a long road so far. We have had to endure cranky judges (and drunk ones, if the stories are to be believed), strange people (remember the woman in her fifties who dressed up in a yellow chicken suit and lied about her age), ego trips (two words: Ian Bernado), sad stories (16-year old Matt Salvo, who was at the auditions by himself because his mom didn't approve of him going), and Sherman Pore (it will be a tragedy if he is not allowed to sing on stage at the finale this year).
But the pool has been whittled down to 24. And I already have my favorites. And no, Steff, this time there is no Ace Young on the list.
Blake Lewis blew into the Seattle auditions looking like Ryan Seacrest. He then blew me and the judges away with his beat boxing skills. And while his singing wasn't as good, I was glad to see him make it through to Hollywood. During the group competition, I felt Blake's beat boxing skills were the reason why his group sounded so good. Like Simon said, this is a singing competition, and I do think Blake has a voice and the talent and maturity to make it. I'm looking forward to see whether Blake will be able to incorporate his beat boxing duirng the competition. In addition, I'm interested in seeing if he will continue wearing long-sleeve shirts or will allow his heavily tattooed arm to show.
Sanjaya Malakar seems to already be an audience favorite with his 5,000-watt smile. He is the youngest, and shyest, of my favorites. But the moment he belted out Stevie Wonder at his auditions, I knew he had the talent to make it this far. Only time will tell if he has the maturity needed to handle the songs thrown at him during the compeition. But his down-to-earth personality (remind you of anyone) should help him. And you can be sure that his sister will be in the audience the entire time.
Lakisha Jones sang Think by Arithia Franklin and blew everyone away. Based on just her audition alone, she deserves a recording contract. During her solo song in the Hollywood Round, she had much of the audience standing and cheering her on. Lakisha has the maturity and talent to make any song she sings her own. It will be a tragedy if she doesn't at least make the Final 10.
Melinda Doolittle walked into her audition with zero confidence and a lot of talent. Her rendition of Stevie Wonder's For Once In My Life was one of the best auditions of the season. She found some confidence along the way, and it showed during the Hollywood Round. As long as Melinda doesn't lose her new-found confidence on the bigger stages, she will be tough to beat.There you go. My favorites of this season. I think all four for them will have a bright future no matter what happens to them during the competition. But I have to say that I hope all of them make it to the Top 4.
Just in case you have been living under a rock with no electricity recently, below is a list of Top 24.
Top 12 Guys
Rudy Cardenas, Jared Cotter, Sundance Head, Paul Kim, Blake Lewis, Sanjaya Malakar, Nicholas Pedro, Chris Richardson, Brandon Rogers, Chris Sligh, Phil Stacey, AJ Tabaldo
Top 12 Girls
Alaina Alexander, Antonella Barba, Melinda Doolittle, Stephanie Edwards, Gina Glocksen, Leslie Hunt, Lakisha Jones, Amy Krebs, Haley Scarnato, Sabrina Sloan, Jordin Sparks, Nicole Tranquillo
So do you agree with my choices? Is there someone else you like? Leave a comment and let me know.
Oh, and Steff........ since I voted for Taylor last season, this season you have to vote for one of my favorites.
Tags: Taylor Hicks, American Idol, Birmingham, Alabama
# posted by Alan @ 1:15 PM
Post a Comment
