American Idol 2, March 4: Pretenders and Contenders

Olivia Mojica “Because You Love Me”

Randy - “not sure it was the right song... showed some signs of life at the end... didn’t work for me”

Paula - “(in the future) you have to take advantage of the moment”

Simon - “lack of emotional feel”

Sting7 - Olivia got off to a rocky start, but toward the end, I agree with Randy, there were signs of life, for sure. She had a nice little run, she’s gorgeous, she took some chances and made it her own. I would call it a success overall.

Janine Falsone, “We Belong”

Randy - “you’re drop-dead, but I didn’t enjoy it”

Paula - “know how to work a camera”

Simon - “you had all the passion of a kitten mewling!... song was so wrong for you...”

Sting7 - The camera was absolutely in love with her. And, I daresay, she was with it! Interesting song choice, she performed it a little too breathy, didn’t come anywhere near the angst that Pat Benatar intended. I liked the overall tone of her voice, and you can just tell that she would explode with a better song. Not sure if we will ever know for sure.

Chip Days, “Rock With You”

Randy - “you listened to what we said... I liked it”

Paula - “good job... definitely showed personality”

Simon - “terrible audition... bad song choice... capable of better”

Sting7 - I don’t know why Simon has it in for Chip. I was thoroughly impressed with his performance. He has a wonderful warm voice, his energy matched the uptempo push of this Michael Jackson classic. I liked him through and through. For the record, I got some heat for picking Patrick over Chip as my third last week. To be clear, I did think that Chip was better, but I thought Patrick had an underdog thing going for him after Simon insulted him. I am glad that Chip got the nod for the Wildcard, and I think he showed up again.

Aliceyn Cooney, “Angel”

Randy - “started shaky... at the end, I thought ‘she’s not bad’... okay”

Paula - “nice voice... all we’ve heard was ‘Angel’... wanted to hear your voice from another perspective”

Simon - “good, not jumping out of my chair

Sting7 - I got the feeling that her voice is capable of much more power than this Sarah McLachlan light-touch. It felt like sailing a pond in a yacht, she seemed so concentrated on matching Sarah’s light feel that she really had to reign in her voice. It left me disappointed.

The Wildcards get a visit from Justin Guarini, who is just looking like money these days. He says it is much more fun on the other side of the television set. He also says life after Idol is “cool.” The girls say Justin is “hot,” though Olivia thinks he’s too old for her.

Trenyce, “Let’s Stay Together”

Randy - “(standing ovation) you brought it home... very very nice”

Paula - “(standing ovation) you shined! It thought you shined the last time, but you were even better”

Simon - “not as excited... maybe I’m in a bad mood”

Sting7 - She kicked the door down. I don’t know how I overlooked her! If I could give her Pick To Click status I would. Outstanding performance, she clearly had the most energy, awesome presence, completely at home in front of the camera, and charm charm charm! She is the comeback story of the night.

So, those were the performances. Who I think should advance:

1. Clay Aiken

2. Trenyce

3. Chip Days

4. Kimberly Caldwell

Who I think will advance:

1. Clay Aiken

2. Trenyce

3. Chip Days

4. Olivia Mojica

The four Wildcard entrants that were not in the top 32 didn’t really show that they deserved the second chance, though the judges were harder on them than I think they warranted. Let’s hope they stick to the Top 32, and I bet they will. The twist was not Frenchie’s return, I feel a bit better that I was not the only one who thought this was the call. (Can you imagine – Fox had a conference call to specifically say Frenchie was not coming back?) It was fun night, and I am specifically happy for Chip and Trenyce. Clay, A Pick To Click, should have advanced last time. What folks saw in Charles Grigsby is a mystery to me.

And, it dawned on me, even though some contestants were summarily dismissed tonight, all nine of them were better than Nikki McKibbin. You heard me.

Sting7 can be reached at stingseven@yahoo.com.

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