Melanie Donnelly got the golden ticket to Hollywood.   Unfortunately, she didn’t make the cut once there.  Her voice is Idol quality and as she tells us, the judges gave her some advice for future attempts on the hit show. 

Here’s Melanie’s appearance on the Rhode Show from Monday.

and here is my background piece which aired before Hollywood began.

Now we get to really focus in on the cream of the crop.  While there were some duds…there were a number of bright spots in Round 3 of Hollywood Week.

My favorite performance of the night was Casey Abrams‘ rendition of “Georgia on My Mind”.  Wow.  When he first started strumming the bass, I was thinking to myself…”this ain”t going to be good”.  Well, it was…and it was the strongest performance of the night.  His musical sense, creativity, poise, and voice all were excellent.  While we didn’t get to see all 100 performances last night, I think Casey’s was probably the best.  However, I don’t really remember seeing Kris Allen  or Lee Dewyze at this early stage in the game.  Nonetheless, I think Casey will go deep into this competition.

Another strong performance was given by the June Bug, Clint Jun Gamboa.  I’m sorry, though.  I’m soured on Clint.   He had better do something quick that gets America to fall in love with him.  A good singing voice may not be enough now after the ousting of Jacee from Clint’s group.

Another notable performances include Haley Reinhart whose growl wowed the judges in her version of “God Bless This Child”.  I love her bluesy voice and see her getting into the top 24…maybe higher.  Thia Megia also delivered a strong performance with her take on “What a Wonderful World”.     I would like to see Thia open the throttle a little more, though.  She had the opportunity a couple of times last night, but she didn’t go for it.  

A couple of people who disappointed me are Chris Medina and Carson Higgins.  We all know Chris Medina’s story by now and he’s got very good talent.  We may not know Carson Higgins’ story as much, but I was very impressed with his group performance.  Last night, both guys made a poor song choice….My Perogative.  Carson didn’t really sing it and from the little we heard of Chris, it wasn’t strong at all.  

Everyone I mentioned made it through to the next round.  The remaining group of contestants are headed to Vegas to sing Beatles’ songs.  

You can catch the Idol’s singing the Beatles on Wednesday beginning at 8pm.

What better time to start this year’s American Idol blog, than during Group Night!  This is the time when true colors emerge, and we got to see all colors of the rainbow….some colors were pretty dark while others were brilliant.  My wife and I often cringe when Ryan Seacrest says “this year’s talent could be the best ever”.   That’s AI code for “these people stink, but we need viewers”.   To back up that statement, I reference Season 6…the Jordan Sparks year.   Seacrest said that statement about 500 times that year…and it was more than obvious that the talent that year left a lot to be desired.  This year, I’m hearing the host say these words, but I’m believing them.

Beyond the drama, there were some amazing group performances!! Actually, I don’t rememeber group performances being this good.  Granted there were some bad ones (the Spanglish group), but many of the performances were stellar!

The group of Keera Lyn Ford, Ashton Jones, Jacqui Elliott and Ashley Sullivan was my absolute favorite for the night.  I think the judges of Stephen, J-Lo and Randy loved it!  They reminded me of the singing group En Vogue, and I got shivers while listening to the them.  I’m sure Ashley was glad she stuck around (in case you missed it, this Western Massachusetts native almost walked off the show). 

The best drama of the night surrounded the adorable 15 year old, Jacee Badeaux.  He was kicked out of one group, but was easily welcomed by another group.  Jacee’s performance was very good, not incredible, but he remained extremely classy despite his troubles.  When he started weeping….my God…you’re not alive if you didn’t feel for him!  I hope he goes far in this competition. I’m not sure he’ll make it to the Top 10 in this crowd of talent, however.  On the other hand, Clint (with all of his amazing talent), now is seen in a very bad light.   Kicking Jacee out of his group could hurt Clint if America judges him.  He had better be good if he wants to have a sniff at the top 10!  On the other hand, Scott Mcreery, was bold for apologizing for not sticking up for Jacee.   The group of Scott, Clint, Francis and Monique are quite the group of talent….and all forces to be reckoned with. 

Oh and the creativity award goes to the group who brought Stephen Tyler up on stage…their singing was pretty good, too!  Unfortunately for the group, Lauren Alaina was the only one who moved to the next round.  The performance was entertaining, however.

Like I said earlier, brilliant and dark colors emerged last night.

More cuts tonight! Can’t wait to see who gets it next!  American Idol continues tonight at 8pm on Fox Providence.

So, I came across this video while doing some extremely important research on youtube (cough, cough) and I decided that if I don’t get the co-hosting job, there better be a room full of people THIS disappointed when the decision is announced live on TV, December 13th…

Best line-’I bet fifty dollars on this guy and I DON’T EVEN HAVE FIFTY DOLLARS!’

I couldn’t embed the video, but it’s worth following the link. And if you can stand the screaming 12 year olds bawling over David Archuleta’s loss on American Idol for long enough, the end is the best part.

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ZHoxl8IK7po

Enjoy!

Last night, on Eyewitness News on Fox Providence I said that Ricky Gervais could be the next judge on Idol.  I still feel that.  He’s got the pedigree.  I also mentioned that Ryan Seacrest would fill the seat well….but then you would need another host.  Seacrest is the glue to that show, and that could actually be more difficult to replace.  There are other names being tossed around….

Could Madonna replace Simon?

This came across my desk (actually Katherine Sotnik’s desk….I don’t have a desk, but I digress)… according to Perez Hilton, Simon Fuller (executive producer of Idol) is desperately seeking Madonna to replace Simon.  The marriage seems perfect.  She knows music and she has a fake British accent.  What more could you want? I’ve also seen a report or two that no one will fill the chair  and Season 10 will be filled with no one or guest judges.  I don’t think the “guest judges” would be fair to the contestants at all. 

Here are a few articles about Madonna possibly replacing Simon:

Examiner

The Sun

Just a quick post on the Idol Finale….

American Idol: It's a Beautiful Day for Lee Dewyze, the newest American Idol.

Momentum and the young vote….that’s what won it for Lee Dewyze.   It was definitely an upset and probably the biggest upset in Idol history.   I truly do feel that Crystal was the more talented of the two, but like I said on the Rhode Show this morning, when you are peaking in the Top 8 or 9, the only place you can go is down.  That’s what happened to Crystal.

Congrats Lee!

It was quite the duel last night on Idol.   I think it was fairly obvious who won the night, but just for the heck of it, let’s dissect the show and Season 9 to figure out who is going to win this thing.   

In usual Idol fashion, there were three rounds:  contestant’s pick from the season; Simon Fuller’s (executive producer) pick; and the contestants’ first Idol single release.  Here’s where I wonder about stuff.  Which songs do they get handed to them first?  If you know you’re singing a slow song, like Lee did in Round 2, wouldn’t you pick an upbeat, get-the-crowd-on-their-feet song? That would be the winning strategy.  Apparently, that’s not what happens…or the contestants didn’t think about a winning strategy. 

American Idol: Crystal and Lee answering questions at the American Idol press conference.

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Lee or Crystal?  Geesh I remember Kelly or Justin and Rubin or Clay.  The years fly by!

This is a tough one this year.  Last year, it was fairly obvious to me that Kris was going to win despite my feeling that Adam should have won.  This year, I have absolutely no idea at all. 

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Aaron Kelley is gone, and I have to admit, that was a bit of a shocker.  I’m not disappointed, however, because I thought he should have left a little bit earlier.   

What is more of a shocker is that Season 9 is already winding down!!! Where did the weeks go? We started out with “Pants on the Ground”, Bikini Boy, a couple of local hopefuls,  Hollywood Week and here we are….near the end of the season.  Whew….time flies! Last night was only so-so.  With what should be the best 4 of the season performing, it should have been a breathtaking night.  Well, it was breathtaking, but my breath was taken by Lee Dewyze, who laid an egg.  It was movie night on Idol and each singer performed a solo and a duet….and Jamie Foxx was in everyone’s grill again this  year.  I kinda found that annoying, but that’s me. 
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My father e-mailed me to tell me I sang “Summer Wind” better than Crystal.  I’ve got to strongly disagree with that, but thanks Dad.   Outside of a few off notes and seemingly lost melodies, I thought the night went well for the remaining five.   

American Idol: Top 5 with Harry Connick, Jr.

I thought Harry Connick was the best of all the mentors this year…a little better than Usher, who was also very good.   I also liked how he played the piano/organ with the contestants.  Harry practiced with them and he was able to bring those rehearsals to the performance.    I thought that helped the Idol hopefuls. 

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