A "Hero" Emerges

Last week's episodes of American Idol were the type of episodes that make you wish you never happened to have your television on Fox eight years ago. Because, if I wasn't so invested, last week's episodes may have not been as painful. But, I'm invested and those episodes gave me such great pain, that I believe I deserve the heavy drugs, you know, Paula's secret stash. 

All I could do was cringe. I cringed from the moment the show began with the dreaded Jackie Tohn; cut to Taylor Swift calling the cops on Stevie Wright for attempted murder on her song, still cringing; all the way to Danny Gokey being hailed as our nation's Hero, cringetastic. Not a single singer was performing at the level they should be at this stage in the game. And, note to the Three Stooges (Randy, Kara and Paula): it's important to remember that just because performers 1-11 blow it, doesn't mean that a halfway decent 12 deserves standing ovations from the three apes on the sidelines. Thank goodness for Simon who brought us back to reality. And it wasn't just Gokey who got ridiculous praise from the Stooges, what about Ricky Braddy? I could have lulled off to sleep during his performance of "A Song for You." I'm not saying he didn't hit the right notes or refrain from getting pitchy dawg, but the dude was SO boring. And given that he had this to live up to, I would say he failed miserably. 

Wednesday's results show wasn't much better. I believe Jason Mraz was holed up somewhere in tears after watching the group take on "I'm Yours." But, on to the results, Alexis Grace was the obvious female choice out of this group, but honestly that isn't saying much for her. There's a chance I could have made the top twelve with these singers. I am not feeling the Kelly Clarkson comparisons just yet, but I do think she has a fighting chance in cracking the top 6. With that said, we most certainly will not be seeing confetti fall on her this May. Mark my words.

I had a feeling all the voters in middle America would push Anoop out of my life so they could save their beloved "rough-neck," Michael Sarver. I don't think he had a horrible performance, but I can only hold him to past season's top twelve standards and he does not measure up when compared to this and this.  I am happy for him though and I think he will have a great time, a short time, but a great time. Expect to see him off the show second or third. And don't worry about my little Nooooopy, I will go all in and bet we will see him in the Wild Card. If you are currently missing the Noopster, please check out this, this, and this. I am currently Clef Hangers' #1 Fan.

Which brings me back to Gokey. I enjoyed the good versus evil battle the producers set up when the last spot came down between Tatiana and Danny. Obviously evil lost and didn't handle that loss too well, so once again, good prevails on the Idol stage. Of course I 

prefer Danny to Tatiana so I was pleased with the outcome, until......Danny's friend felt it necessary to hold up a picture of Danny and his late wife. I want to like you Danny, I really do, but you and your friends are making it very difficult for me. The bottom line is this, obviously the loss of his wife is very difficult for him and naturally he will miss her during this exciting time in his life, however, there is a huge difference between privately carrying a loved one's memory with you and exploiting the loss for your own personal gain. Unfortunately for Danny, that picture was one step too far in the exploitation department.  I hope he has learned his lesson and he eases up in the top twelve. If he doesn't, I believe we will see an early favorite make an early exit. 

Now, with the train wreck that was week one behind us, we can focus on a great week two starting tonight. Singing tonight are:

Adam Lambert

Allison Iraheta

Jasmine Murray

Jeanine Valles

Jesse Langseth

Kai Kalama

Kris Allen

Matt Breitzke

Matt Giraud

Megan Corkrey

Mishavonna Henson

Nick Mitchell/Norman Gentle

It looks like a pretty good group on paper, but remember, so did last week. Based on what we have seen so far, my favorites to go through are Adam Lambert, Matt Giraud and Megan Corkrey. Matt has been my favorite from the start and I think he has the ability to blow everyone away, including Simon. I expect great things from him tonight. 

Adam Lambert is definitely an interesting contestant. I recently found this footage of him singing "What's Going On" by Four Non Blondes (And yes, you heard right, Adam's gay, HE'S GAY). While it is a bit over the top, the guy has got an amazing set of pipes. He also seems to have a knack for taking classic songs and putting his own twist on them. And let's face it, this tactic has always seemed to work on Idol. I expect him to pick a song by a woman or a woman's group and breathe new life into it. Here's hoping he is not the next Danny Noriega.

My last choice is a real crap-shoot. We actually haven't seen a lot of these girls so I am basing my decision of Megan Corkrey off of what we have seen. I would hope that one or two of these other girls can really blow us away.

But, be on the look out for Kris Allen. From the very little I have seen of him, I think he has a chance to spoil Matt and Adam's party. Either way, I am expecting a much better show than last week and I am hoping group two can give the Idol singers (and not the Three Stooges) a much needed jolt. 

This is for all the guys who said I had to sleep with them to get a blog...

Hollywood week (or weeks, I guess) is over and tonight the real competition begins. Hollywood gave us some good memories and even better quotes from resident nut-job Tatiana Del Toro (ie: title of this blog). But, in the end I am fairly happy with the top 36. I think we all could do without the likes of Norman, Tatiana, Von "Shouty McShoutster" Smith and Nathaniel Marshall, but if there is any justice in the world of Idol, they will all be out within the next three weeks. I understand the producers are trying to give us a few crazies to mix it up a bit, which makes sense, but it is also heartbreaking for people like Jamar Rogers. It really surprised me when the judges said he just didn't stand out. I know the judges talk out of their asses a lot, but the guy had the second most screen time, next to his best friend (and possible gay lover), Danny Gokey. He obviously stood out to the producers when it came time to edit. I don't, however, think all hope is lost for Jamar. I will predict now that we may see him during the wild card round in a few weeks. In season 2, the judges invited Carmen Rasmussen to the wild card after she was eliminated in day one of Hollywood. So, if Carmen deserved a spot, then Jamar most definitely deserves a spot. Stay tuned.

With Hollywood behind us, I am looking forward to see how my favorites fare in the most important portion of the competition thus far. In the past four seasons the top 24 has been split up into boys and girls and the singers were given three weeks to showcase their talent to America. Tonight, Idol goes vintage (like someone else) and returns to the old format last seen in season three. Three groups of twelve will sing and the top three (top boy, top girl and next best vote getter) from those groups are into the Top Twelve. After three weeks, the judges pull together another group of twelve for the wild card. The wild card has produced some really great Idol talent, such as Jennifer Hudson, Clay Aiken and Kimberly Locke, so I think it was a great choice by the producers to bring it back. 

The twelve singers taking the stage tonight are:

Alexis Grace

Ann Marie Boskovich

Anoop Desai

Brent Keith

Casey Carlson

Danny Gokey

Jackie Tohn

Michael Sarver

Ricky Braddy

Stephen Fowler

Stevie Wright

Tatiana Del Toro

That is quite the group. I would say the other contestants are thanking their lucky stars they didn't get stuck in this group. There are a lot of camera favorites in there, which means a lot of these singers already have a built in fan base, which is bad news for Ricky Braddy, the only one of this group who has had no camera time. However, Paula has been talking him up in the media so I look forward to seeing if he can actually sing or if it's Paula's pills that make him the best singer in the world. The great news from this group is that Tatiana is out after Wednesday and I never have to hear that crazy laugh ever again. Or so I pray. 

The three I predict to come out of this group are Danny Gokey, Anoop Desai and Ann Marie Boskovich. Danny is a no-brainer. He has had the most camera time and he has been successfully using his wife's death to his advantage for his sob story. A sob story that he most certainly doesn't need and actually the reason I will not be voting for him any time soon. The rules of Idol are simple: if you can't sing very well, come up with something painful from your past to earn you votes. If you can sing, hide painful things from your past until you need the votes. The guy can sing so if he was following the law of David Cook, he would have waited to give the producers home video footage of his wife when he was in the top four. Fool.

Anoop is definitely one of my favorite contestants right now. He can really sing, but I just like him. He is not pretentious at all and I really appreciate the fact that he seems so laid back about the whole thing. What I appreciate more is the fact that he was in the University of North Carolina's acapella group called The Clef Hangers (Andy Bernard anyone?). I love him even more after I saw this.

The third spot is a real toss-up, but I am giving Ann Marie the edge on this one. We haven't heard too much from her, but what I have heard, I have liked. I will expect to see most of the rest of this group in the wild card though, so I urge fans of Stephen Fowler and Michael Sarver not to get to upset if they don't go through. Oh, and don't be surprised if I quit this blog if Tatiana or Jackie go through. I just couldn't handle that pain. You understand.

So, here is to tonight and to hopefully some really great performances!

Vintage Iverson

I'm missing the cornrows a little bit, but it is nice to see him looking the same as he did when I first fell in love with him. It really rekindles our romance.