Overall, I am extremely impressed with this group of talent. There are several exceptional performers in the group. However, is there star quality in any of them? I’d like to hear your input.
I still get nervous every time I hear the American Idol theme song. I have nothing but respect for any of these contestants. It takes a lot to stand on that stage and they all did this former finalist proud.
I did feel bad for a couple contestants. Stevie Wright and Casey Carlson in particular. I have been there and it does not feel good because you know you didn’t do well and you get to have three judges remind you of it in front of millions of people.
The standouts tonight BY FAR were Danny Gokey, Anoop Desai, Ricky Braddy, Alexis Grace – and believe it or not – Tatiana Del Toro.
I have not been a Tatiana fan. However, this past week I was at the American Idol Experience, a new attraction at Disney World. I ran into some of the production team and they told me to watch out for her. They said she was going to surprise some people when she started singing in the live shows. I believe Tatiana may very well become a finalist. I hate to say it, but I think it’s true.
Shoo-in: Danny Gokey
Disappointments: Michael Sarver and Stephen Fowler. They are both capable of so much more than they gave tonight.
Remember: Only three of the contestants that performed tonight will move on to the finals. This season is turning out to be an incredibly interesting one.
Do you have any predictions?
20 Comments
As usual, I really liked Danny. A surprise fav tonight was Ricky Braddy. I think he has a lot of potential. My other fav tonight was Alexis Grace. Everyone else has already faded into oblivion for me. On with the show! (and I’m really OVER Tatiana…I don’t care how well she sings at this point, the drama is not worth it.)
I agree with your favorites Phil. Danny Gokey looked and sang like a star. And his personality is so endearing. Ricky Braddy really surprised me, though. He may have been the best vocalist of the evening, even including Mr. Gokey. Give him some confidence and he could be dangerous. I felt bad for Anoop. Even though he sang pretty well, it was nothing like what he showed us in his earlier performances. But gosh he’s cute. I hope he gets another chance. He really is a great singer.
The girls generally disappointed. I wasn’t surprised. Alexis Grace gave a great performance and Tatiana showed she does have a quality voice.
The others….were there others??? They could have stayed home.
So is it the highest male vote getter and the highest female vote getter plus the next highest vote getter regardless of gender?? Should be interesting to see the outcome of tonight’s efforts.
Well, I am not sure I like this new format. It is so unforgiving. I agree with KsKitty about Nick Braddy.
I had forgotten about Alexis Grace. She was definitely the female star tonite and I hope the votes reflect it. It would be a shame to see her go and Tatiana stay as I’m pretty sure that the guys are taking in the highest votes and there will be only one girl in the 3 selected.
I strongly suspected Tatiana would sing Whitney. I was not impressed with her voice but perhaps its because I really don’t like her personality. There may have been a *few good moments* in her performance but as KsKitty said, the drama is not worth it.
Did anyone notice that she has now recovered her Puerto Rican accent? Nowhere to be seen in the auditions or Hollywood week and now she is Selena. And it wasn’t just when she pronounced her hometown…she was keeping in up on the couch too but then would veer away from it at times. What a fake. She just might make it through though because she is the Vote For the Worst site’s pick this week.
I was disappointed in Michael Sarver too. Perhaps he will be a wild card. My predictions? Gokey, Anoop, and (hopefully) Alexis Grace. Not only did she sing well, but that dress and the pearls were perfect for her song. If Alexis does not make it tomorrow, surely they will make her a wild card.
I’m a Gokey fan for sure…does he remind anyone else of Robert Downey Jr…you know…minus the drugs?…maybe when he was younger? Anyway, he’s cute and he’s got a great voice. I too liked Anoop…he sorta has that cute innocent boy look…reminiscent of Robby Benson. I thought Tatiana was probably trying to put on a show and make people think she is not the flake that she appeared to be earlier. You know…like a leopard trying to change their spots..I doubt she convinced anyone. Yea Monica…I too noticed her trying to throw that accent around. Fake as a three dollar bill that one! Alexis Grace really impressed me for the first time. I certainly did not expect that performance. I thought she was by far the best of the gals. I really like Gokey and think he’s a shoe in to get through to the next round but I hope the wild card goes to Braddy. He really impressed me and I think he just needs a few more performances under his belt and we’ll start to see more confidence.
Danny Gokey is the best! He is so cute and does remind me of Rober Downey Jr.! Hope he wins!
Well, I went to dialidol.com. Supposedly they track the phone traffic. Gokey is far and away the male winner and Alexis is the highest female vote getter. Michael Sarver is the 2nd on the male list. Have no idea how reliable this is but that is exactly how I voted (well I didn’t vote for Gokey because I knew he wouldn’t need it). Tatiana came in 3rd with the women after Anne Marie. The only one they are confident about leaving is Stephen Fowler. I liked him at first and would like to see him have another chance but have to say he did himself no favors with the song choice tonight. Maybe its because I don’t like Micheal Jackson at all. Could it be possible we will see the last of Tatiana tomorrow?
Let me start off by saying I do not like the new format the show has taken this season. Top male and female and next runner up? This cuts a lot of talented people right off the get go. Danny will make it through and deservedly so. Hopefully the drama queen with the convenient accent Tatiana will be sent packing. Her voice is mediocre at best. Some of the notes to me were terrible. Not near as bad of course as the girl who sang Taylor Swift. No offense to Taylor but sometimes I can’t stand the quality of Taylor’s voice and I am a country fan. The girl who sang the Police, Honey what were you thinking? You are a beautiful girl, and I’m sure you will probably be picking up modeling gigs from your song attempt, but goodness, It was nothing but a karaoke bar performance. Painful to watch, but hey, if I had had a couple of beers, I might have voted for you!
Ricky Braddy needs to work on his personality, I think he could go far if given the chance but I do also like Anoop, This is going to be a rough season if everyone that I like moves on. I hope Alexis Grace will move on. So many choices, so few of positions!
Alexis and Danny are my favorites. While Tatiana wasn’t horrible, she wasn’t that great, or maybe I hate her personality so much that I cannot bear to watch the season if she is included. I want to end her dreams. She is a nauseatingly narcissistic drama queen, and I noticed the sudden accent, another ploy. Reallllllly horrible person. Please let her be sent home and let this be the end of her!
My Predictions:
Male: Danny Gokey
Female: Alexis
Next Highest Vote Getter: Anoop
I am surprised that nobody has mentioned Anoop. I like him and I think voters like his personality.
Ok, so Tatiana is a complete flake, but I will admit she pulled off a Whitney–that’s impressive. However, does America really like her? Not really.
Danny Gokey, Ricky Braddy, and Alexis were the best of the night and honestly, none of them blew me away.
I don’t prefer the new format of the show, but I’m a traditionalist…I tend to prefer that people don’t move my cheese when it comes to seasoned television like Idol.
Let’s hope tonight’s group is better!
James…actually several of us mentioned Anoop. He’s one of my favorites. He seemed nervous which made his performance not quite as good as it was in prior performances but he was still very good. I voted for him.
A couple of them I liked. Most of them I didn’t. Just not really very excited about this season. I think at this point I’m watching it more out of habit than anything else. I really hope something happens in the next couple of weeks to grab my attention or this may be the end of my idol tour.
Danny danny danny! He’s my vote. Other than that, not impressed. I’m sad because some of my favorites are failing me with bad song choices. Particularly my oil rig guy! I reallllyyyy like him and i voted for him…I don’t want to see him go home just yet!
Come on guys!!! This first group was horrible. Of all of the performances, Anoop was by far the best of them. Michael was a TOTAL disappointment. For him to be a musician by trade, he should have known better than to pick that song – it was way out of his vocal range and he didn’t have the umph to make it “pop”. To be honest, I have not been impressed with any one that made it through. The judges sent the best talent home and left us the least talented to choose a winner from. This season may cause AI to lose their rating……and fans.
The new format is horrible.
What if all the best singers were in Group 1 and only 3 of them get through?
If Group 2 & 3 have bad singers, then their top 3 will get in, even though they may not even hold a candle to anyone in Group 1.
Another problem is that someone that is generally awesome may have had an off night. It may have been their only off night up to this point, but they may not get the votes needed to hold them through.
One other issue, which has been addressed in past blogs is that the women really aren’t shining as much as the men. Don’t get me wrong, there are some talented women, but they’re just not putting the pressure on the men this year. However, if they are doing the top male & top female vote getters, then a male may get knocked out buy a woman that may not be as good as the top 3 male getters.
Cutting 66% of the singers is a lot!!
I must agree – the new format stinks. Whose big idea was this anyway? It is awful.
The “new” format really isn’t new. This is how they did American Idol in the first few seasons. In fact Clay Aiken didn’t make it out of his first group. He actually got a wildcard spot. Something else to think about, also in season 2 Simon’s wildcard pick was Carmen who did make to Hollywood, but didn’t make it to the groups of 12 where America voted. So, he went back and put somebody in who hadn’t made it that far. Maybe there is hope for Jamar after all. Especially since so many people are talking about him.
If Tatiana makes it through, I may have to stop watching this. She gets on my last nerve!
Good point, Scot. Old or new, this format stinks. Maybe the wildcard aspect will redeem it.
Beyond Danny…..who cares?? Rough start for this season. Ditto on the formatting of the show stinking. Scot is right on…if this group was so bad, does that mean there will be groups with more than 3 people worth talking about?
You know I was just thinking that every year it seems it takes the girls a little longer to warm up.
Take Phil’s season for instance, you had Phil, Blake Lewis, Chis Richardson, Sanjaya, and Chris Sleigh but in the end, Melinda, LaKisha and Jordan were the best of the season.
Take a look at last year Cook, Archuletta, Michael Johns, and Jason Castro were awesome, but halfway throught the season you started noticing Carly, Amanda, Brooke, and Syesha.
The girls are just slow starters and I expect them to pick it up as the season goes along.