[American Idol-izer] Top 9 Perform
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Wow, American Idol. Just when I thought you couldn't be less cool, you go and prove me wrong. Proving just how out of touch you are you go and have David Hasslehoff "perform" at the open. Sure having Boy George as guest mentor for "80's Week" is damn cool, but this was just weird. It's not like the 80's are the height of nostalgia anymore. Any quick look through Buzzfeed shows you the Internet is in a 90's mindset, and for most of the kids on Idol right now, they have no idea what these songs are let along know who sang them.
But beyond the Hoff, and a surprise performance from Salt N' Pepa, tensions were high for the contestants. Now with the Save gone, two people were going home and the others were left to perform tired 80's songs. It wasn't a good place for anyone to be in. But, let's get through this together.
Let's see how the Top 9 hassled the Hoff.
[American Idol-izer] Top 10 Perform
Ah, Movie Week. It's American Idol at its corniest. While I wish the show would do away with theme weeks altogether for the sake of staying current (next week is 80's Week, so that's not happening anytime soon), sometimes we do get some startlingly great performances. This week was not one of those times. A week full of out of tune performances (I must be sounding like a broken record at this point), surprising voter turnouts, Kenny Loggins, Jennifer Lopez promoting her single for Dreamworks' Home with a laser light show dress, and two weeks in and the judges have already used their magical save.
I mean, really? Two weeks? This has happened once before with Casey Abrams back in Season 10, but that was a totally deserving choice. Here? I just can't accept it especially after seeing the hokiest, toneless performance I'd seen this season.
But first, here's everybody else.
[American Idol-izer] Top 12 (and 11) Perform
Header by Michael Becker/Fox
American Idol is going through a weird scheduling flux this season (But Empire deserves all of the schedule space it gets). With two cuts in the same week, from the Top 16 to 12 and 12 to 11, the competition was a bit tougher. And once again the strict hour run time forced a bunch of contestants on stage before they were able to compose themselves and led to a bunch of wonky vocals. Thankfully, we won't be talking about those here.
We got the Top 12 on Wednesday, and contestants who made it through only had about 24 hours to celebrate as the field was narrowed down to 11 last night (during a welcome two hour block). A super weird night of new multi camera interviews, a bunch of Empire hype (and a performance of its "No Apologies" theme), red and green light up chairs, and also my boy Quentin is in trouble you guys.
Here are the Top 12 contestants:
Boys: Daniel Seavey, Rayvon Owen, Qaasim Middleton, Nick Fradiani, Clark Beckham and (Wild Card) Quentin Alexander
Girls: Sarina-Joi Crowe, Maddie Walker, Jax, Joey Cook, Tyanna Jones, and (Wild Card) Adanna Duru.
But, only 11 contestants made it to next week.
[American Idol-izer] Top 16 Perform
The first cut is always the harshest. Some Idol seasons experiment with the Top 24 (like that season where they went from 24 to Top 13 in one round), but this season we're getting the long route possibly because of Empire's well deserved hold on Fox's schedule. With this second round whittling the Top 24 to Top 16, I get flashbacks to early cuts like Season 9's Todrick Hall or Lily Scott before we got to see how talented they really were. I was very worried for my favorites Quentin and Jax, because they're great but they're very weird.
Thankfully, the cuts weren't too surprising overall (as only eight boys and eight girls performed this week) and I'm pretty happy with the results. But I'm not happy that American Idol is already having theme weeks. While "Motown Week" led to a great performance by guest mentor Aretha Franklin, these old fashioned themes always clash with Idol's strive for relevancy. But, like in these previous weeks, all of the contestants had a few problems. The kids on Idol never quite gel with Motown.
But whatever. Praise be to our lord and savior, Aretha Franklin.
[American Idol-izer] Top 12 Boys & Girls Perform
Over the years, American Idol's contestants have skewed younger and younger. Lowering its audition age to 15 following the Bieber craze, while still keeping its age cap at 29, we've seen plenty of questionable choices make it this far. Its biggest competitor, NBC's The Voice (in its seemingly 20th season), has gotten so popular because it capitalized on that void and always produces fun to watch acts groomed through years of performing experience.
The lack of experience has never been more evident than this season. While few of the contestants stood out before now, the live shows are usually their chance to break out and get votes. But instead, all we've gotten is a bunch of kids garbling and warbling through poorly chosen songs. It's created a highly visible rift between those who ready, and those we won't want to watch later on.
[American Idol-izer] Top 24 Revealed
After a few weeks of auditions and drama, we've finally got our Top 24 contestants for American Idol XIV. While I don't particularly agree with some of the decisions, unlike other years, I'm okay with the spread overall (even if it skews very, very young this year) There was one moment in particular that irked me during the "Green Mile" process (Why do they call it that?), and I'll get to that in a bit. But if you've been following the posts I've written for this show so far, you already have a jist of my opinions.
So, without further ado, here are the Top 24 finalists heading to the live shows next week (where voting begins) arranged by how much I'm rooting for them.
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[American Idol-izer] Hollywood Week(s)
One of my favorite parts of American Idol is Hollywood Week. Through its fourteen season run, the arduous week of auditions, which include a solo round, a group number, and two follow up solo auditions, narrows the 300 something contestants into an eensy Top 24. Agree or disagree on whether or not each singer deserves their spot as much as you like, but we can all agree how wonderfully dramatic all of it is. Taking advantage of how staged the process is, and AI's usually goofy editing, Hollywood Week is always the best reality TV money can buy.
For Season XIV, it's been a bit different. With fewer spills, fewer breakdowns, but many more talented contestants, there's been less of a focus on the crazy stuff. It's better for everyone that way anyway. Let's go over the highlights of the last two weeks of this, uh, single week.
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Hollywood Week Part 1 (2/4/15)
Last season, the first part of Hollywood Week had the most interesting change yet. The folks who didn't get three yeses during the city auditions had to audition once more in some abandoned airline hangar somewhere all Mad Max style. It was incredibly nerve wracking as you could see contestants crumble over the shake up. Then the coolest part of all of that was the idols to be were placed on two different buses, one going to Hollywood and one to the airport to take them back home. I was hoping for a huge shake up to follow during this season, but was unfortunately given none of that. Instead we got a consequence free (as no one was sent home despite wonky performances) day of performances from the auditioners who stood out the most.
But it wasn't all bad. Jax was the highlight (I'm rooting for you, girl) and one girl fell under the pressure because she felt she need to get her parents "out of the hood." That's way too much pressure for a child to bear, but luckily she's pulled it together long enough to perform.
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Hollywood Week Part 2 (2/5/15)
So this is where all the good stuff started. The group rounds have always led to the juiciest edits as the round naturally creates villains and in-fighting among team members. Some team members go to sleep before others, people blame each other for faulty performances, and so on. But this year we didn't get any of that. The only drama we got was when one girl, Alexis Granville, couldn't find a group, joins a group full of folks I don't like (and Jax) and almost passes out due to panic attacks. This also meant the episode ended on a cliffhanger for some reason. The problem was I didn't care about this girl. They haven't shown any of her auditions in full, and her singing voice is nowhere near the level of the others.
One thing has bothered me since Simon (and to a lesser extent, Nikki Minaj) left that ties in to all this: the constant "kid gloves." In years past, if a contestant forgot the lyrics or broke down under pressure, they'd be sent home instantly. It showed how little experience they had and how they'd fare during the live shows. We shouldn't be getting situations like this anymore. We all know Alexis Grendel won't make the cut, so why make a big deal?
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Hollywood Week Part 3 (2/11/15)
Surprisingly, Alexis makes the cut. She still made it to the next solo round for some reason while arguably more deserving contestants like Rocky, who called and told his mom their life was going to change before getting cut. Ugh, it was heartbreaking. But at least there were some good group auditions. Blvd. (which was comprised of my early faves Cody Fry and Rayvon Owen) was fantastic and Ladies Keep Your Clothes On (formed with precocious youngsters that're all probably going to make the Top 24). All in all, nothing big happened here.
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Hollywood Week Part 4 (2/12/15)
After the group rounds, the remaining 100 something contestants go through one more solo round before getting cut to the Top 48. Here's were it got particularly frustrating as lots of great folks went home for stupid reasons. Jess Lamb (who I pointed out in my first article for the season for her piano audition), and Adam Lasher (Carlos Santana's nephew) who both delivered great Hollywood week performances. It all seems strange when a contestant like Joey Cook, great as she is, can forget her lines twice and still make it through or Nick Fradiani is praised as "experienced" at age 28 when Jess Lamb was more "beaten down" at age 29.
But it wasn't all bad news. One standout solo in particular was Quentin Alexander, the extremely cool and stylish contestant would be missed if he didn't make the final cut. There's no way he's not making the Top 24. Also, Alexis Granville was finally sent home after she broke down again and failed to sing on key. No more free passes, so yay!
That's it for this catch up! This week takes the Top 48 to the House of Blues where they'll perform once last time before the Top 24 is officially revealed. Rumor has it something big went down during the performance so I can't wait to see what comes next.
Why You Should Watch American Idol Season 14
American Idol has run into a string of bad luck the past few years. It's biggest competitor, NBC's The Voice, finally overtook it in the ratings, public fights between the judges (which have been in the worst game of musical chairs lately) turned the focus away from the contestants, long time sponsor Coca-Cola ended their partnership, and frankly the winners of the show haven't been doing so hot since about Season 8. Have you seen Lee DeWyze, Candace Glover, or Caleb Johnson anywhere? Even the bigger winners like Scotty McCreery and Phillip Phillips are struggling with McCreery crooning on cruise ships and Phillips struggling to match his "Home" single's success. But even with all of that, the show is finally getting its act together again.
You see, desperation breeds good television. With its new overseeing record company, good chemistry between the judges, and a few production changes, Season 14 is shaping up to be the most entertaining (read as "watchable" yet).
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I've been an adamant follower of the show since season 2. I'm a big reality competition junkie, and time and time again American Idol has proven to be the best singing competition. As different as shows like The Sing-Off, The X-Factor, or The Voice are, they've never quite reached the same level. Sure people watch The Voice, but winners of that show (and the runners up are less lucky) are forced into an even worse fate than AI winners. Name me one non-winning contestant on The Voice, I dare you. But that's besides the point as AI has gotten far too comfortable and is finally waking up after all the shake ups. Two or three seasons ago, American Idol finally allowed instruments during the auditions as a ploy to recreate David Cook's success from Season 7. And while it didn't work then, it's finally gaining traction in Season 14 thanks to a few noticeable changes.
Taking a cue from The Voice's practice of auditioning seasoned musicians, American Idol has put an even bigger focus on singer/songwriter types who've worked on their talent for a few years. There are still a few new faces, because AI loves a good underdog story, but from the first half of the auditions the point of view has shifted away from sad stories and the like and more toward the music. More of the auditions are shown, we get less "joke" auditions, and the talent is the best it has been in years. And Idol is so confident in that talent, they're not afraid to build up hype for the live shows. For the first time, Idol has (slightly) revealed the Top 24 contestants. In the video above, we get silhouettes performing the most overused song on the program. This already confirms two good things. One, we won't have to hear "Feeling Good" anymore, and two, the talent is palpable. Also there's a fun little game now of trying to match auditions to voices.
From what I've seen of the season, there have only been good decisions. They kept the last panel of judges (Jennifer Lopez, Keith Urban, and Harry Connick Jr. make a great team besides all the JLO closeups during the performances), Adam Lambert was the first past contestant to guest judge on the show (a little bit of desperation, a little bit of confidence), Randy Jackson is no longer involved and we'll have a, possibly better, in-house mentor (no more "It's pitchy, dawg") with Big Machine's Scott Borchetta backing the winner so hard, they'll get a huge push in record sales. And more so than in other seasons, I've already got a few favorites from the first half of the auditions. That hasn't happened in a long time. Here are a few of the standouts:
"Hollywood" Anderson, who I can't spot in the Top 24 video but deserves all the record deal money:
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Jax, who's actually IN the Top 24 video:
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Cody Fry, who is one of those seasoned musicians I mentioned:
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Jess Lamb, who was the first piano audition in Idol history:
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So with Hollywood Week coming up soon (two weeks probably), things are heating up for American Idol again. Can the show ever be great again? Regardless, it'll still be entertaining thanks to all of these big changes reeking of desperation. I definitely know this American Idol-izer won't want to miss that.