Finally, the Live Shows get under way. Strangely The Daily Telegraph calls this edition the 'first semi final'. Er, a long way to go, yet, guys, as tonight there'll be 13 performing and decisions will be taken as to who progresses by telephone votes and a wild card from the judges. Votes will decide 5 and the judges one more. That means 7 of these will leave this week.
Reed gets the job of kicking off proceedings and that's not a bad choice at all. He is totally reliable, if not exactly predictable! In a home video we learn that he like cheese curds, whatever they are, in Wisconsin but it's how he delivers Moves Like Jagger that we want to know. Well, Sir Mick might not have moved like that but he certainly took the song apart and put it back together well. In tune and a brave, very brave move. Confident, cheerfuland seemingly unfazed by the big stage. Well done.
Adam talks about 'a large black woman trapped inside my body'. Hmmm. He, or she, does Think. He is confident and professional but somewhat uninspiring. I'm not sure he's Idol material but he can definitely sing well. the rasping voice would get boring after a while, I think. He's also a bit dated-looking and dated-sounding.
Deandre has a sister called Big Mouth Bertha. She'll thank him for that, I'm sure. He's got a lot of hair and appears to have had that since at least age 3, judging by the home movie shots we get. He sings Reasons. An odd start, being into showing off his falsetto range a bit too early for my liking. The next bit sounded off too. His rhythm was all over the place but then he does the very high note and gets a cheer. another warble and he's done. The audience do seem to like him, and Jennifer makes it obvious whose side she's on, predicting his 'amazing year'. Randy joins in with 'you're ready to go right out of the box now!'. Hmmm. Steven doesn't say anything that we get to hear. I was disappointed by this almost meaningless and quite unmoving performance and had expected more from the guy they've largely kept off our screens so far this season.
Colton
We get to see that he has a lot of music stuff at home and you immediately get the feeling that he is just naturally there, where he wants to be and where I had expected him to be last year, in fact. We learn about his hair, probably to balance things a bit with Deandre. His song is Decode, apparently by Paramours. Not something I recognised but he starts at the piano and is in Radiohead mode. This is impressive, though, a great track and shows him as modern and highly marketable. He does a bit standing on the piano - one cool performance that might put Reed in more shade than anyone might have thought. He seems to have woken up the judges a bit, too, and is a welcome and necessary participant. 'A relevant artist', as Randy rightly called him. Ryan shows his colours too with 'I'm liking this guy.'
Jeremy
Gravity is his number. a nervous start, terrible clothes. He breaths on the mic a lot and you just feel his inexperience. He's sweet and good-natured, a nice guy, but I don't see him going far. Randy and Jennifer are very impressed, though, and he gets the extra publicity of Steven and Jennifer looking enchanted during his performance in a freeze frame from the replay. Randy says 'America meet Jeremy. Jeremy meet America.' That's quite a lot of push from all three judges. Will it make any difference?
Not even half-way through, Steven announces that he is as confused as a baby in a topless bar.
Aaron the serious music teacher doesn't help much with a nervous version of Never Can Say Goodbye. It's a safe song and he's an excellent singer, spot on with notes and rhythm but he is just so ordinary. Good but not some big star. He would make a great backing singer and would be totally reliable and sound behind anyone. But he's not the front man. Sorry, Aaron.
Chase, we see, is the rich kid, with a nice clean apartment, University student who has a couple of horses. He is definitely the country singer here tonight and seemingly unopposed. Singing 'Storm Warning' we finally, after virtually the whole series so far, get to see what he's like and what he sounds like. Good, almost too damn good-looking, ideal material for country Idol voters.
In some ways he didn't stand out like Scotty did last year at the start but he'll surely get the Texas votes, even if he may not have been in the Top 5 in terms of performance. A good voice and a natural talent. I can only presume that we'll find out more about how he fits in in future.
Creighton, in comparison to the previous guy, is totally different. He has a small, not particularly smart apartment in New York and no horses. He has this whacky image and looks odd too. He sings True Colours in a very original way. Nicely done but a bit weird and I don't feel that comfortable watching him. He's a cool character, deserves to have made it this far but I'm not sure he's got further to go.
The judges all talk of 'losing guys tonight' and you couldn't help but feel they were being kind to him and planting the thought that he won't make it. there's certainly no room for him and Reed, and Reed so far, has the edge.
Phillip. I do wish they'd stop talking about him working in his dad's pawn shop. I always get the wrong idea. He is also a bit of an unknown. He's had reasonable screen time, unlike the country guy, but we still don't know where he comes in to the competition really and hasn't made that vital lasting impression. His slow, very slow, oh dear, start to In The Air Tonight is different. Where's this going, you wonder. He does a unique and gravelly version that puts him in the frame with Creighton and Reed where only one can stay. He gets to the chorus and slow kinda works. You sense he's good and has a young Boss look and feel. Maybe he should have done Born To Run which might well have kept him firmly in the running. It'll be a tough choice - he might come out on top of that group of The Odd Ones and even put Adam in the boring slot in people's minds too. He gets the first actual criticism of the night, I note.
Eben seems well out of place. So young and more like competition for the girls than the boys here. His song is Set Fire To The Rain which he ought to be able to do well. But his notes were way off at the very start. and all the way through. This was not at all good. It's Fire, not Fi-yer, Eben! Pity, I had high expectations that this kid would fly and attract all the teen votes, despite the fact that a 15 year old boy really can't identify or hope to get much meaning behind the Adele track. The judges were very gentle on him.
Heejun seems to be famous more for his one-liners and amusing escapades than his singing. He is certainly someone who we have seen plenty of before, possibly having more airtime than anyone else so far. He was muted tonight and looking very respectable too. He sang Angels. Now, if it had been Korean Idol or even Asian Idol, he might stand some chance of that performance being acceptable. As it is, though, many notes were not as Gary Barlow would have wanted and, whilst his voice can be nice and he does have that tremendous personality and, maybe, a big fan club. He'll need that fan club to get through as it won't be on his singing ability this evening.
Randy is clearly confused by all this, asking Jennifer: 'What do you think, man?'
Joshua
No big back story - we just go straight in to a church-like track called You Pulled Me Through. Possibly, no, definitely, the best singer of the night.This was an excellent performance indeed. No frills, no fancy stuff, just straight, very accurate and very meaningful and heartfelt. Performance of the night, he gets the standing ovation and this was well-deserved. Now, this is American Idol!
Lastly, we get to find out that Jermaine is the one that gets another chance out of the four we were told about last week. He wasn't my choice but his performance of Dance With My Father was a fine one. This tall, very tall guy with the low, low voice is good. In a way it was like watching someone do a victory number and I don't see how he could go back home again now after that. He's not modern and not someone you can really see winning, despite the 'victory'image, but, boy, has he got the ability to sing that sort of number. Quite how he'll cope with the Abba or Rock round I'm not sure. They'll also need to think very hard about planning who he partners in any dance-and-sing-along-intro numbers they get the eventual Top 12 to do!
So, these guys will be down from 13 to 6 tomorrow? Not an easy prediction but, on tonight's performances, my guess is that Joshua, Phillip, Colton, Jermaine and Chase get through. The sixth? Oh boy. That's difficult. It ought to be Reed. Heejun is immensely popular, though, and will get more popular support. Eben may still get the teeny vote. Jeremy may also get the sweet vote. I'll guess Deandre but it's a long shot!
Of course, by the time I publish this in England the choice is about to be announced in the States. I'll just have to try and not look at Twitter for 24 hours. just like a semi-final - perhaps the Telegraph was right after all.
We get to see that he has a lot of music stuff at home and you immediately get the feeling that he is just naturally there, where he wants to be and where I had expected him to be last year, in fact. We learn about his hair, probably to balance things a bit with Deandre. His song is Decode, apparently by Paramours. Not something I recognised but he starts at the piano and is in Radiohead mode. This is impressive, though, a great track and shows him as modern and highly marketable. He does a bit standing on the piano - one cool performance that might put Reed in more shade than anyone might have thought. He seems to have woken up the judges a bit, too, and is a welcome and necessary participant. 'A relevant artist', as Randy rightly called him. Ryan shows his colours too with 'I'm liking this guy.'
Gravity is his number. a nervous start, terrible clothes. He breaths on the mic a lot and you just feel his inexperience. He's sweet and good-natured, a nice guy, but I don't see him going far. Randy and Jennifer are very impressed, though, and he gets the extra publicity of Steven and Jennifer looking enchanted during his performance in a freeze frame from the replay. Randy says 'America meet Jeremy. Jeremy meet America.' That's quite a lot of push from all three judges. Will it make any difference?
Not even half-way through, Steven announces that he is as confused as a baby in a topless bar.
In some ways he didn't stand out like Scotty did last year at the start but he'll surely get the Texas votes, even if he may not have been in the Top 5 in terms of performance. A good voice and a natural talent. I can only presume that we'll find out more about how he fits in in future.
The judges all talk of 'losing guys tonight' and you couldn't help but feel they were being kind to him and planting the thought that he won't make it. there's certainly no room for him and Reed, and Reed so far, has the edge.
Randy is clearly confused by all this, asking Jennifer: 'What do you think, man?'
No big back story - we just go straight in to a church-like track called You Pulled Me Through. Possibly, no, definitely, the best singer of the night.This was an excellent performance indeed. No frills, no fancy stuff, just straight, very accurate and very meaningful and heartfelt. Performance of the night, he gets the standing ovation and this was well-deserved. Now, this is American Idol!
Lastly, we get to find out that Jermaine is the one that gets another chance out of the four we were told about last week. He wasn't my choice but his performance of Dance With My Father was a fine one. This tall, very tall guy with the low, low voice is good. In a way it was like watching someone do a victory number and I don't see how he could go back home again now after that. He's not modern and not someone you can really see winning, despite the 'victory'image, but, boy, has he got the ability to sing that sort of number. Quite how he'll cope with the Abba or Rock round I'm not sure. They'll also need to think very hard about planning who he partners in any dance-and-sing-along-intro numbers they get the eventual Top 12 to do!
So, these guys will be down from 13 to 6 tomorrow? Not an easy prediction but, on tonight's performances, my guess is that Joshua, Phillip, Colton, Jermaine and Chase get through. The sixth? Oh boy. That's difficult. It ought to be Reed. Heejun is immensely popular, though, and will get more popular support. Eben may still get the teeny vote. Jeremy may also get the sweet vote. I'll guess Deandre but it's a long shot!
Of course, by the time I publish this in England the choice is about to be announced in the States. I'll just have to try and not look at Twitter for 24 hours. just like a semi-final - perhaps the Telegraph was right after all.
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