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.