Todrick Hall – Since U Been Gone: Now this is what I’m talking about. The best way to succeed on Idol is to sing a song that was originally done by someone of the opposite sex. Now is the singing great? Not really. But this is memorable and original. Okay, the judges think it was a little tooooo original. But people will remember it. And at this stage…that’s what’s important.

Aaron Kelly – Here Comes Goodbye: Was he a country singer before? Or is he going the route of the girls and just sounding like whoever he’s singing? I feel like it’s the latter. More karaoke. And some rough vocals. He sounds nervous. Apparently the judges and I don’t agree tonight.

Jermaine Sellers – Get Here: Someone sang this before. Melissa? Season 5? (I was close…it was in fact Season 5, but it was Kinnik Sky…she did a great job, but was cut before the Top 12.) Yikes. I do NOT like this. I can’t stand falsetto. That was pretty rough.

Tim Urban – Apologize: Kris sang this song. He looks like Jon Peter Lewis. If you’re wondering why I’m doing so many past Idol comparisons, it’s because these performances are too terrible, and I don’t want to listen. So I’m thinking back to past years where good singers actually existed. That was awful. Absolutely awful.

Joe Munoz – You and I Both: Ooo, I like this song. Which is probably a bad thing. Sigh. More shaky karaoke. Sounds very nervous. Really boring performance. Not as bad as the last two though.

Tyler Grady – American Woman: More karaoke. Trying to sound like the original. Another boring performance. With more rough high notes.

Lee Dewyze – Chasing Cars: Starting out promising. Going downhill a bit. There were some rough moments, but that was definitely the best so far. And he has a nice voice. Like a raspy Dave Matthews-y rocker. It’s kinda cool. Hey, Simon agrees with me! Kara and Randy hated it. What do they know.

John Park – God Bless the Child: Mikalah sang this song. They’re not going to like this because it’s old. It wasn’t awful I guess. But it was boring. And forgettable. I actually stopped paying attention for a while. He could be in some trouble.

Mike Lynche – This Love: Ooo..another good tune. Whoa…fast. So fast. It’s not terrible, but it it’s boring again. It’s way too fast for him to really sing it well. He just sounds like he’s rushing through it. I don’t like it at all.

Alex Lambert – Wonderful World: What’s with the mullet? Ugh. I don’t think there’s every been a week of Idol where I’ve hated everyone. This is a really bad start.

Casey James – Heaven: I get the feeling that the judges are going to love this. I think he sounds REALLY nervous and shaky. And he looks about as uncomfortable as Alex, just smiling and staring at the camera. I’m not feeling the emotion. And he’s got a Carmen Rasmusen sheep thing going on. The voice wasn’t awful though. I’m not sure why everyone thinks he’s so good looking. I think he’s kind of ugly.

Andrew Garcia – Sugar We’re Going Down: He is SO GOOD. He needs to win this show. No one even comes close. I have no idea what this song is, but he is making me love it. Awesome. …or not. I guess if I knew the song, I wouldn’t have liked it. That’s why I like not knowing songs.

Overall? Another rough night. I liked Andrew, but I guess I see where the judges are coming from…I don’t really plan on buying it on iTunes. So it wasn’t fantastic. Which means out of 24 people, I didn’t like a single one enough to spend $1.29. Which is very sad. And makes me very concerned. I’m even more concerned that some of my favorites – Todrick, Jermaine, and Mike – had such bad performances. I was encouraged by Lee though. It wasn’t great, but I like his voice a lot. I dunno. I feel like it’s going to be a rough year. I don’t know what it is about this year. I feel like I’m watching Season 1 or 2. Where everything is just so karaoke. I mean…listening to the recap…it’s just so bad. Although I must say that Lee’s performance was the only one I didn’t cringe while listening back to. He sounded like an actual artist. He even sounded better than Andrew. Maybe I’ll pick a new favorite.

Predictions? John is gone. And probably Tim. But just like the girls, any one of the guys could go. Could be Aaron, could be Joe or Alex. Could even be Todrick, Tyler, or Jermaine. Who knows. I’m gonna say John and Tim though.

We find out tomorrow which 4 Idols get the boot. And more importantly…KRIS ALLEN PERFORMS! WOO! And Allison Iraheta (less excited, but I’m sure it’ll be a million times better than the 4 hours of my life I’ve spent on this season’s contestants over the last two days).

Until then…

The next three weeks will feature songs from the Billboard charts. Which basically means anything you want.

Paige Miles – It’s All Right Now: Michael Johns sang this song. It’s starting out very very VERY rough. She’s going to be in some trouble I think. No one has any idea who she is, and she’s singing a pretty dull song and doing it pretty terribly. Not good. Hmm…apparently I’m deaf. The judges loved her.

Ashley Rodriguez – Happy: I’m not liking this one either. The lower stuff wasn’t great, and I figured she’d get better as it got higher, but I didn’t like that either. I’m getting a very karaoke feeling tonight. Not starting out well. But she’s had a lot of airtime, so she miiiight be okay. We’ll see.

Janell Wheeler – What About Love: Ugh. More karaoke. I liked her at one point, but I was not a fan of that. That’s the problem with giving them the freedom to choose whatever song they want. They all pick these big diva songs and never compare.

Lilly Scott – Fixing a Hole: The first musician. She’s going to be one of those people I never like. So I’ll never be able to judge her accurately. I despise her voice. She really is like another Megan Corkrey (and she’s not even the one I compared to Megan in the auditions…which means there’s gonna be 2 of them). Same sort of annoying voice and annoying movements (movements aren’t nearly as annoying as Megan’s). Sooo…I don’t like her.

Katelyn Epperly – Oh Darling: What is she wearing? Leather strapless dress and cherry red lipstick. Yikes. Well…I don’t hate her. But I don’t really like her either. It was probably the best so far for me – but that isn’t saying much. Wow…Kara agreed with me about the look. And Ellen was cute, she sounded like me. I felt like you were pushing too much, but I don’t really know if that’s right.

Haeley Vaughn – I Want To Hold Your Hand: I’m not looking forward to this. She’s one of my least favorite of the Top 24. She’s playing the guitar. Which I’m not really a fan of. I do not like this. I mean, it’s not as karaoke as the others because it’s definitely different, but it’s very very yelly and squeaky.

Lacey Brown – Landslide: Something about this feels off. I don’t know what it is. Maybe the timing or something. It’s just weird. Although…I’ve hated her more in the past.

Michelle Delamor – Falling: Oh good, back to the karaoke show. Not terrible, but really boring. And very karaoke. She’ll be in trouble. Middle of the show, no previous airtime, boring performance.

Didi Benami – The Way I Am: Okay, finally someone I liked in the audition process. Uh oh. This is rough. Where did this voice come from? She’s singing like Megan Corkrey too! And she’s even wiggling like Megan used to. I have no idea what this song is, but I’m assuming whoever sings it has this stupid kind of voice. So apparently Didi doesn’t have a style. Bleh.

Siobhan Magnus – Wicked Game: Wow she’s starting out low. More karaoke, but this is probably my favorite performance of the night. Which bothers me since she’s only 19. I don’t like to root for anyone under 20.

Crystal Bowersox – Hand In My Pocket: She’s another one. Karaoke. Trying to sound like Alanis. She’s yelling a lot too. Boring and yelly. Hmm…no one else commented on her yelliness, but Simon agreed that she was just trying to be Alanis. To which she responded, “they don’t allow originals on this show”. This is why I think they should be required to watch the show before they go on it. “Original” doesn’t mean you wrote it. It means you interpreted it.

Katie Stevens – Feeling Good: Uh oh, the last two people who sang this in the first week got the boot. In the same year. Although I feel like they didn’t get the last spot. So she might be okay. It’s just such an indulgent song (to use Simon’s terminology). She sounds like she’s trying too hard. Yelly again. Wow, look at me go. This time Randy agreed with me!

Overall? Not so good. I didn’t like ANYBODY. I guess my favorite was Siobhan. But I didn’t really like her either. I won’t spend money on any of those performances on iTunes. It was just not a great 2 hours.

My predictions? It’s tough because I didn’t like anyone. But if I had to choose, I would say that Michelle Delamor is definitely in trouble. She didn’t get any airtime in the audition process. And I have no idea what she sang. I think Haeley should go too, but I think she’ll make it through. I’m watching the recap right now, and I’m realizing just how bad everyone really was. This is a hard choice. Okay, I guess Lacey. Michelle and Lacey. Vocally, I think Michelle was better than others, but I don’t think she was memorable enough to overcome her lack of advertisement. But don’t quote me on any of it. Anyone could go home. The only people I’d like to see again are Siobhan and Didi.

The guys perform tomorrow night…hopefully they will be more original. I’m encouraged because some of them have already shown they can do it. We’ll see.

Until then…

Janell Wheeler is in! She’s okay. I don’t hate her. So that’s a plus.

Tyler Grady is in. I’m not sure how I feel about him. I don’t hate him either. But I don’t really like him. He’s a drummer though, so maybe I’ll give him a chance.

Lacey Brown is in. I’m not happy about this one. She’s the girl who went up against Megan Corkrey last year. And I dislike her just as much as I disliked Megan.

Ashley Rodriguez is in. I don’t remember if I liked her or not. I think I thought she was okay. Maybe. Heh.

Alex Lambert is in. Ugh. I don’t like him.

Joe Munoz is in. I don’t have any idea who he is. Which means he needs to kill it next week or he’s going to be another one of my 100% guarantees to get the boot. But he has a chance…I said the same thing about Kris last year, and he did in fact kill it. And he made it through. And he won. Yay!

Crystal Bowersox is in. She’s okay. I still don’t like her stupid dreadlocks though. Aw, but her husband and son are really cute.

Katie Stevens is in. I’m not a huge fan of her either. Apparently last night was not an accurate representation of the Top 24. I’m not particularly excited about anyone so far tonight.

Angela Martin is out. Wow. I didn’t like her, but this is rough. Third time auditioning, third time to Hollywood, third time cut. That’s rough.

Lilly Scott is in. I don’t like her either. I’m not sure I’m excited about all these “different” girls. I want a cookie cutter all-American girl belting out well known songs. That’s my kind of Idol.

Paige Miles is in. I don’t think I’ve ever heard that name. So she’s in the same boat as Joe Munoz.

Siobhan Magnus is in. I don’t think I like her.

Michelle Delamor is in. Don’t know her.

Jermaine Sellers is in! Yay! Boston Jermaine! Hooray, I’m finally excited about someone!

John Park is in. I don’t know him either.

Ooo…now we get down to the 1 spot, 2 people part. Girls are up first.

Tori Kelly vs. Haeley Vaughn

And the winner is…Haeley. Ugh. I really don’t like her. I don’t like Tori either. But I have a really bad feeling that this is going to be another Janay Castine.

Now for the boys:
Thaddeus Johnson vs. Andrew Garcia.

And the winner is…Andrew! Yay! I like Thad, but he’s only 16. He should come back some other year. He’s quite good.

I’m a little confused. I only counted 11 boys. The video at the end tells me that Tim Urban made it through, but I don’t remember seeing him. He must have been mixed in with one of the quick montages and I missed him.

So here they are…
Guys:
Mike Lynche
Casey James
Aaron Kelly
Lee Dewyze
Todrick Hall
Tyler Grady
Alex Lambert
Joe Munoz
Jermaine Sellers
Tim Urban
John Park
Andrew Garcia

Girls:
Didi Benami
Katelyn Epperly
Janell Wheeler
Lacey Brown
Ashley Rodriguez
Crystal Bowersox
Katie Stevens
Lilly Scott
Paige Miles
Siobhan Magnus
Michelle Delamor
Haeley Vaughn

Overall I think I’m somewhat pleased. I won’t know for sure until the next couple of weeks, but I’m encouraged. Particularly by the boys. Mike, Todrick, Jermaine, Andrew, and Aaron. The girls I’m not toooo excited about. Didi I think was okay. We’ll see. But right now, I give my Idol 2010 crown to…Todrick or Andrew. I think this is the year of the original and entertaining songwriter.

The website will be updated tomorrow at some point with pictures of this year’s Top 24. And I promise to have all the names and faces memorized before next Tuesday. WOOO!! My game starts next week! Yessss. Go Boys (as usual)!

Until then…

ANYWHO. I guess we’re announcing the Top 24. So here we go!

Mike Lynche is in! WOOO!! Unanimous decision! YAY!

Didi Benami is in! Yay! I like her too! WOO! 2 for 2!

Katelyn Epperly is in. I don’t really like her though. Oh well. I wasn’t going to like them all.

Shelby Dressel is out. That’s too bad. She wasn’t bad.

Casey James is in! He’s okay. I don’t hate him.

Aaron Kelly is in! Yay! Aw, he’s so cute. I might have to root for a 16 year old this year.

Lee Dewyze is in! Heheh…he just keeps saying shut up. I wish they had showed more of him. He was really good.

Todrick Hall is in! WOO! I’m so excited about the boys this year! Now we just need Jermaine (I think Orlando Jermaine got the boot earlier) and Andrew.

Jessica Furney is out. That’s weird that they’d even show her. They didn’t show her very much in the auditions. Probably just because she’s freaking out right now. Stop your whining. Stop. Stop. Stop. Stop. PUHLEEZE. Go away. Go away. Go away. Go away. Go away. Why are you still here? Yes, that’s why they showed her.

So 7 people are in the Top 24 so far. I’m not a fan of this splitting the results into two days thing. I like to learn them all at once. Sigh. Oh well. We have 5 of 12 guys and 2 of 12 girls. We learn the rest tomorrow…and then my website gets updated on Thursday! WOO!

Until then…