Saturday, May 19, 2012

AI S11 Finalist Recaps

   Here we are, at the finale of this horribly-judged, quite freaky season of American Idol. So, I'll just recap the finalists' performances week-by-week.

   TOP 24 -
Jessica Sanchez - She's along for the ride with pals Eben and Jeremy, but I don't like her all that well. 

Phillip Phillips - (I'm never going to get over that name, lol) He can play guitar like crazy, he can sing well, but he might not have enough memorable personality for people to remember he's out there...

 Top 12 Guys/Girls - 

Phillip Phillips - In The Air Tonight - Good song choice. It was a lot lower-key than I though it'd be, it was a good arrangement, but it seemed a little safe. 

Jessica Sanchez - Love You I Do - Catchy song, hate her voice, it was forgettable. And the glitter on her chin...seriously?

Top 13 Contestant Profiles -

Jessica Sanchez, from San Diego, California - I'm not sure why America let her in. Not a fan of her voice, doesn't seem to have much personality.

Phillip Phillips, from Leesburg, Georgia - He seems like a good guy to know. He's quiet, so you don't remember him off personality, but isn't that kind of a good thing? Most talented this season at arranging his performances, he's a very good guitarist.

Stevie Wonder/Whitney Houston Night (13) - 

Jessica Sanchez - I Will Always Love You - Should anyone else sing this? I couldn't tell much difference between her and the real thing, which I suppose means she's a phenomenal vocalist, but it was just okay for me. 

Phillip Phillips - Superstition - Guitar! Great. Good song. Interesting voice. He was shouting too much, but I liked it. 

Year You Were Born Night (12/11) - 

Phillip Phillips - Hard To Handle - He had stage presence, it was very cool, I liked it. That was a great way to kick off the show. 

Jessica Sanchez - Turn The Beat Around - "And they voted. They did, they elected all the diff'rint ones of 'em that they liked, and she wasn't on there. She wasn't. Because she did, friends, she did exactly what her song said, and she turned that beat right around and is in danger of going home! She is!" (Said in Andy Griffith type voice.) 
   It had a good beginning, from there...it was rough. Wild, all over the place. Shiny, shiny pants. Felt like a concert, and at that, it would've been all right. But we're not at a concert, we're trying to find the best singer in America that will sell records this year. And she ain't it. Judges' criticism sounded fake, like "We have to say something, and we need to say something encouraging, because if we said how we really felt about it, like Jimmy will tomorrow night, you'll be crushed." (This half of Jessica's critique said in my normal tone of voice.) 

Billy Joel Night (10) - 

Phillip Phillips - Movin' On - What kind of effects did they hook up to that guitar? That was cool! It was simple, kind of funky,  pretty good.

Jessica Sanchez - Everybody Has A Dream - That was old. And pageanty(First time that adjective has been used this season. Amazing we got this far without it.) Yawn-inducing. Forgettable. And bad. 

Their Idols Night (9) - 

Jessica Sanchez - Sweet Dreams - The harp was an interesting change of pace, but overall, it was strange. I almost liked it, but I didn't. And I just figured out why I've never liked her: She's like one of those Chinese gymnasts, always thinking "I have to win, if I fall short..." Not having fun at all, just tense, trying to get every single little note perfect, and otherwise completely devoid of personality.

Phillip Phillips - Still Rainin' - Cool song! Good voice, it was good. 

Eighties Night (8) - 

Phillip Phillips - That's All - Cool opening. Nice. Very good, and it was awesome that he could play with his brother-in-law.  It'd be so great to have someone you could feel that comfortable playing with. 

Jessica Sanchez - How Will I Know - It had that awesome guitar-keyboard thing that I don't know the name of! Nice outfit, cool guitar, the background singer looked ridiculous, I kinda liked it. Enough to give her one vote this week. 

Phillip/Elise - Stop Draggin' My Heart Around - Awesome. Loved the guitar, vocals matched the tone of the song well, it was cool. 

Jessica/Joshua - I Knew You Were Waiting For Me - Bad outfits, I liked the music. She did pretty well, he was awful. Even DeAndre could have done better than Joshua on that one.

Top 7 Week - I missed this episode due to being in Louisville to the Together for the Gospel conference. But the judges saved Jessica. 

Then and Now Night (7, again) - 

Phillips Phillips - U Got It Bad - Boring. 

Jessica Sanchez - Fallin' - Oh my gosh, was that outfit for real?! Weird stage setup, bad vocals, it was old. Bad old, like "There's a reason that music style is banished into the depths of history" old. 

Phillip Phillips - In the Midnight Hour - Awesome. The stage was really neat, that was cool. After he was done, though, all sweaty and everything, his stage makeup wanted to take off; looked a little bit like a "Twilight" vampire.  

Jessica Sanchez - Try a Little Tenderness - Dull. Old. Fossilized disco, and if possible, an even more stupid outfit than the one before. 

Queen Night (6) - 

Jessica Sanchez - Bohemian Rhapsody - I like the real thing better. I liked Michael John's version of that better than the original, she wasn't great, but the black and white filming was pretty cool. 

Phillip Phillips - Fat-Bottomed Girls - Strange. Very Phillip-like in style, I didn't like it much. 

Jessica Sanchez - Dance With My Father - I learned a new color tonight: Mom said that was chartouse, which I had always thought was a pink-purple color. The dress still reminded me of banana peels, whatever color it was. The song was a LOT better than I've ever heard it(Seriously, why do guys always sing this?), I kind of liked it.

Phillip Phillips - Song Unknown - Weird, but sort of cool. Neat fiddle playing, that tuba-saxophone thing was odd, but interesting, the picking/strumming was neat. The girls making fun of him in the intro video was hysterical. 

Sixties/British Pop Night (5) - 

Philip Philliips - The Letter - There should be a limit to how many songs can share the same title, because just seeing this recap without watching the show, you'd think it was Collin Raye's piano ballad, which, btw, is one of the best and saddest country songs in existence. And what kind of group calls themselves "The Box Tops"? Richie Cunningham and pals? Anyway, did anyone else notice that he had a new guitar? The song was kind of jazzy, I think I liked it.

Jessica Sanchez - Proud Mary - Backup dancers? Beads? That weird looking dress? The odd dancing? UGH. Felt like a casino performer in an old spy movie.

Phillip Phillips - Time of the Season - It was restrained, the tie-dye background was cool. He had no chance on the high notes and knew it, that was good, very nice.

Jessica Sanchez - You Are So Beautiful - Can't top Alfalfa. (I was born in 1993, grew up watching movies like "Space Jam", "The Big Green","Air Bud", "Toy Story" and "The Little Rascals", which is always what I've connected this song to in that first scene where Alfalfa and Darla are on that date that Spanky and Co. crashes.) She did all right, didn't much like that run at the end. 

Joshua/Phillip - Duet - You've Lost That Lovin' Feeling - Awkward, old, pathetic, and boring. And quite painful to witness, honestly. 

Hollie/Jessica/Skylar - Trio - Higher and Higher - The song was okay, Hollie was good, Jessica was off slightly, Skylar had way too much twang. 

California Dreamin' Night (Final Four) - 

Phillip Phillips - Have You Ever Seen The Rain - Don't like this song, it was okay, neither awful nor amazing, just somewhere in between. 

Jessica Sanchez - Steal Away - Ugh. Old, bluesy, ridiculous outfit....

Phillip Phillips - Volcano - Cool sound, but I'm just not sure what to think of that one. 

Jessica Sanchez - And I'm Telling You - Bleah. Shouted all the way through.  

Phillip/Joshua - Song Unknown - Much better than last week. The dueling pianos were kinda cool, but it wasn't that great. 

Hollie/Jessica - Eternal Flame - Okay. Forgettable. Very mellow. 

Top Three - 

Jessica Sanchez - Song Unknown - Mournful picking. Mumbled lyrics. Dreadful. 

Phillip Phillips - Beggin' - It started out atrociously, then it picked up. Kind of bluegrassy jazz or something. Pretty good, that was kinda nice. Downside: It was also pretty repetitive.

Jessica Sanchez - I Don't Wanna Miss A Thing - I love this one(the Mark Chesnutt version, or most of the AI performances of it, not so much the Aerosmith version), it was pretty good, but only like at a talent show good. For this far into the show, it was way too safe, would've worked well like at Top 24 or something like that. Kinda neat that she's homeschooled, but she's still annoying. 

Phillip Phillips - Disease - For him, it was a good choice. It was interesting. And his dad seems nice.

Jessica Sanchez - I'll Be There - (Verbatim from my notebook) Bleah! All wrong. Dismaying. And painful to the eardrums of the listeners. 

Phillip Phillips - We've Got Tonight - Very good. And (gasp!) I agreed with Randy! This was Phillip's best performance of the season, he just locked himself in as one of the finalists with the way he did that song. 

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