American Idol is back! Same judges- Luke Bryan, Katie Perry and Lionel Richie. Same host, Ryan Seacrist. Billy bones will be the season-long mentor once Hollywood Week begins. Same format, no real surprises.
I definitely liked Wednesday night's Idol better than last Sunday night. Sunday was boring and no one stood out talent-wise. There were at least three, maybe four Wednesday contestants who could go on to the Top Ten. They were that good.
The judges are still way too nice. Katie's act is wearing a little thin. She's still funny but she sometimes tries to be too funny, forcing the humor and it doesn't always work. Luke and Lionel are pretty consistent with their support. I wish they would show more bad auditions, as they used to when Simon Cowell was a judge. Instead we get snippets of bad.
You pretty much know who the producers will be focusing on during Hollywood Week, the ones they highlight with a full audition spot or human interest story. They had even more sappy inspirational stories on last night, but these seemed more powerful than Sunday.
Shay is a young female singer who lost her sight from a brain tumor. As Katie said she "sings like an angel.' She should go far, and not because of sympathy. Bringing someone on with a disability is cool and truly is inspirational to others, but it has to be difficult for the judges. Do you give a bad review to someone in that situation? How do you let someone who is blind know they suck in a gentle way? Hopefully they don't reach that moment with Shay, who, if she keeps singing like she did Wednesday night, will blow away the competition on her voice and heart alone.
Then there is Logan Johnson, one of the first contestants profiled last night. Logan is 20, a survivor of addiction to painkillers. He has a sweet voice and reminded me a lot of a younger Richard Marx.
The guy Katie had fun with is Juan Pablo, a young singer form Mexico who sang "Besame Mucho" ( a song The Beatles did during their initial audition for producer George Martin). He showed enthusiasm and has a certain spark. He sure wasn't boring and is different. He may not win the whole thing 9 although I'm sure there are tons of Latin voters watching),but he will be interesting to follow.
Also different was a red haired guy name Eddie Island from Nashville. Not sure of his style or even if he truly is a Country singer. Can't see him winning either but will makes things interesting for a while.
The last guy was named Alejandro and the judges raved that he was"great" and it was the best audition ever in the history of Idol. Alejandro looked like a homeless guy, unassuming, shy. He played the guitar and the piano with class and style and fury, like he was a musical genius. His voice was strong too. It was like God had plunked this modern day Bach/ John Lennon on the Idol stage without warning. He was good but I don't know if he was the "best ever." Still, he will be worth watching.
All in all, it's fun to have Idol back. I hope they cut the Hollywood Week shorter this season and focus more on the live shows. Last year the Hollywood Week segments seemed to drag while the live shows were too short and rushed.
I know Idol came to Philadelphia last September for auditions but we haven't seen any Philly auditions yet. Looking forward to more as the weeks go on until the finale in mid-May.I will be sharing my Idol thoguhts every week until then.
No comments:
Post a Comment