American Idol Season 10 Las Vegas Round
American Idol Season 10 (Wednesdays and Thursdays at 8PM on FOX)
"I will eat crow. I will eat crow, happily. I'll put some salt on it and I'll swallow it." – Vocal Coach from Hell, Peggy Blu (I LOVE YOU!)
Photo Credit - FOX
Last night’s 2-hour episode had the 61 remaining contestants bus’ng it to Las Vegas to perform The Beatles in small groups. They were then whittled down to the Top 40.
After that, they had to sing one more song, to only be featured during their long walks to the final judging. But, we’ll get to that.
James Durbin & Stefano Langone – “Get Back” – They’re probably the highest pitched male vocalists, so pairing up seemed natural. They were shaky in the middle for me, but they were good. James’ scream isn’t as great as Adam Lambert’s but he’s got that rock style to him. This was the first time I was impressed with Stefano, but I’m not sure he’ll stand out enough when it gets to voting rounds.
Photo Credit - FOX
Tim Halperin & Julie Zorrilla – “Something” – Tim hasn’t been featured since his initial audition, although Julie’s gotten some consistent (yet small) clips of air time. They started on dueling keyboards and ended looking into each other’s eyes. It was nice, real nice. J.Lo made it clear that she loves Tim to the other judges.
Photo Credit - FOX (by rickey.org)
Paul McDonald & Kendra Chantelle – “Blackbird” – Neither singer have been overly-featured in these audition rounds, but Kendra impressed me with a montage clip last week with “Georgia On My Mind” and did it again here. I think she’s got an easy recording voice. Then there’s Paul, how unique is he? I’m not sure if he’ll impress the masses of the AI voting blocks, but he’s different for sure.
Photo Credit - FOX (by rickey.org)
Pia Toscano & Karen Rodriguez – “Can’t Buy Me Love” – They get a little interview with Ryan and we find out they were besties back in high school (apparently multiple contestants in the Top 61 all went to school together). Their rendition of the song was sugary pop, but they delivered it with complimentary dance moves and smiles. I wasn’t as impressed as the judges; it was just okay for me dawg.
Photo Credit - FOX
Jacob Lusk, Naima Adedapo & Haley Reinhart – “The Long and Winding Road” – AI showed us their time in from of Iovine and the star-producers, where he told Jacob not to over-sing (I completely agree). For me, I like the tone of Haley’s voice but I think she puts too many unnecessary runs in. I, LOVE, Naima’s voice. And then there’s Jacob: he tells the judges he didn’t push it as far as he wanted. They tell him to go for it and not hold back. If he sings like that or even further, HE WILL NOT GET VOTES. End of story. The judges may love it, but voters will not. Believe me dude, it’s too much.
Photo Credit - FOX (by rickey.org)
Sophia Shorai & Ashley Sullivan – “We Can Work It Out” – The whole intro-clip was watching Ashley pick out a wedding outfit (she ended up with a white sleeveless blouse and black pleather pants), getting married in the Las Vegas wedding chapel her idol, Britney Spears, was married in (that marriage lasted less than a week, mind you) all before heading on stage with her partner Sophia. It was awful. The two didn’t mess well vocally and it seems like the extra-curricular activities cut into their prep-time. (They were eliminated this round)
Photo Credit - FOX
Photo Credit - FOX
Lauren Alaina, Denise Jackson & Scott McCreery – “Hello, Goodbye” – They got the “drama edit” of the night; they just didn’t seem to mesh well together and with the song. Even Jimmy Iovine told them they needed to pick another song. They ended up doing a “fun and entertaining” version of “Hello, Goodbye” while running around a telephone booth. It was a mess, and everyone knew it.
Photo Credit - FOX
Thia Megia & Melinda Ademi – “Here Comes The Sun” – They got the “Vocal coach from Hell”, but it was completely justified. Peggy and the keyboardist cringe in the balcony, as they butchered the song. It was most Melinda… she just wasn’t on point. She might need some more time to grow. J.Lo sees something in Thia, but I think her facial expressions are too fake, although her voice is pretty good.
Photo Credit - FOX
Robbie Rosen, Jordan Dorsey, & Aaron Sanders – “Got to Get You Back in my Life” – The first thing I thought was, “Who’s idea was to put the Jewish kid in front of a cross?” but after that, I thought they had a good vibe and performed the song well, especially the middle-to-end of the song. The judges were impressed. They have high expectations of Jordan, Aaron always surprises and Robbie nailed it.
Photo Credit - FOX
Lauren Turner & Jovany Barreto – “Let it Be” – It was only a small clip, and Jovany was barely featured, but Lauren was the only one this episode to give me “goose pimples”, love her and her under-the-radar awesomeness.
Photo Credit - FOX
Carson Higgins & Caleb Hawley – “Please, Please Me” - They rock out on guitar, but they were all over the place. (They were cut after this)
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Casey Abrams & Chris Medina – “Hard Days Night” – They also rock out on guitars and jump on a fake-bed. For me, it was all over the place and the two didn’t mesh as well as I would have thought. S.Ty calls them “freaks”, but in a good way.
Photo Credit - FOX
Rachel Zevita & her group… - “Eleanor Rigby” – It was a small clip, so I can’t even think of who else was in her group, but Rachel was featured in a black face veil, the girl has seriously grown vocally since her last stint on AI.
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Jerome Bell, LaKeisha Lewis & Ta-Tynisa Wilson – “I Saw Her Standing There” I liked how they sounded together, but I also agreed with the judges that each one of them faltered a bit. They weren’t crazy about Jerome, thought Keisha held back and they were mixed on Ta-Tynisa (S.Ty loved her, J.Lo and R.Dawg not so much).
Photo Credit - FOX
We got little tidbits of John Wayne Shulz's group and Clint and Eryn, but not enough for me to write about...
But some 21 contestants were chopped after this round including White House Intern Molly DeWolf, Carson Higgins, Caleb Hawley, Denise Jackson, Melinda Ademi and Ashley Sullivan.
THAT LONG WALK FOR FINAL JUDGEMENT
Naima Adedapo – In a sparkling blue gown, blue flower in her hair and blue eye-shadow gives her best America’s Next Top Model walk to the judges while her last song of “Put Your Records On” plays. I think, to steal from J.Lo, she’s “the whole package”. They love her back-story of being a janitor and a mom to two kids. They think she’s hasn’t been as consistent, but her voice and look are something special. She’s the first person to make the Top 24 of Season 10. Then she finally tells J.Lo she wanted to be a “fly girl” when she was younger… didn’t everybody?
Photo Credit - FOX
Hollie Cavanaugh – She looks so much more mature than her original audition… It was J.Lo that asked her to perform another song after the first one was all over the place, and it help her have the confidence in these other rounds. Her final song was “No One” and I kinda dug it. But, the judges feel she’s not ready yet. J.Lo makes sure she knows that she would have put her through and they want her to come back next year or the year after. Poor thing, but I think it was the right choice.
Photo Credit - FOX
LaKeisha Lewis – We didn’t get to see much of her, except for tonight and so I wasn’t surprised they let her go.
Photo Credit - FOX
Alex Ryan – We didn’t see him sing at all, although I did watch his “Road to Hollywood” interview, and found him cocky and arrogant. But he’s young… there’s always next year. He’s cut.
Photo Credit - FOX
Clint Jun Gamboa – His final song was “Hello”, but they decided to rehash the whole “he kicked Jacee out of his group” thing. I think he’s been kind of classy about the whole thing, which makes me like him a little bit. However, I really hope he finds a pair of glasses that actually compliments his face. He’s in… the… Top 24!
Photo Credit - FOX (by rickey.org)
Haley Reinhart – She seemed to think she was going to be cut again while she talked to the judges about growing and learning a lot. But the judges love her. She’s in the Top 24.
Photo Credit - FOX
Deandre Brackensick – He was the stand-out with his falsetto during the Hollywood Group Round (with “The Minors”) but we haven’t seen much else of him. His final song he played an ukele, but the judges think he’s close, but not close enough to make it this year and beg him to return next year. He takes it pretty well.
Photo Credit - FOX (by rickey.org)
Paul McDonald – Final song was an original “American Dreams”, but the stand-out of that performance was his white and floral suit. I said it above, but he’s SO unique, and that’s exactly what the judges said. He’s quirky, interesting. He’s in the Top 24.
Photo Credit - FOX
Ashton Jones – Her hair and gorgeous face (like a mix of Beyonce and Rihanna) make her an instant stand-out, then she has some pipes to back it up. Her final song was “I Wanna Dance With Somebody” (awesome!) and her sleek, retro-curled ‘do convinced me I need her in my Top 24 (just for the style), and the judges agree saying she’s one of the most consistent and hopes she can deal with the pressure to come. She’s in the Top 24.
Photo Credit - FOX
Then… it’s the last contestant of the night:
Chris Medina – Final song “Fix You” was incredibly emotional to watch considering his back-story, but it was really pitchy in my opinion. He was the last “final judging” of the episode, and Jennifer let him down easy. Comparatively, he’s not as good as some of the others and although he’s earned so much respect and love from everyone that’s heard his story, it’s just not going to get him a spot this year. He takes it fairly well, especially compared to J.Lo who loses it.
Photo Credit - FOX (by rickey.org)
Can I just say how much I love J.Lo? For me, she seems like a true fan of the show. I’m surprised that Chris Medina wasn’t sent through to the next round (because I think he would have been with last season’s judging panel), but I commend the new judging panel that seems to be choosing based on talent over back-story. I only hope that Chris keeps trying.
The episode ends with J.Lo crying as she questions if she can go on with more eliminations...
Photo Credit - FOX
But they've go too. There's 30 more contestants and only 19 more spots left in the Top 24. See who makes it and who doesn't on tonight's episode.
