American Idol Season 6

February 21st/2007

For tonight’s show, I was hoping that the girls would be a bit more entertaining than the guys last night. It wasn’t like last night was terrible, but it just wasn’t anything special. Just as the night before, they did another video montage of the top 12 girls.

Stephanie Edwards
From her video, you can see that she is a very sweet and modest girl, with a very big talent. I think she will do well with the viewers because she is relatable. She was definitely a good way to start off the show. Just from her performance, I could tell that the night was destined to be better than the guys. I really like her, and I’m excited to see what she does in the future. The judges loved her.

Amy Krebs
She was another girl I hadn’t really seen through-out the competition. She sang a ballad this show, which I thought was a bit risky. In my opinion, the only way you should sing a ballad on the first show is if you can more than pull it off. She wasn’t too bad. Her voice was decent, but again, the performance was a bit boring, and I think the song seemed big for her. I can’t see her getting a lot of votes with a performance like that.

Leslie Hunt
Natural Woman-Aretha Franklin
As soon as I found out she was singing this song, I thought it was a big mistake. Natural Woman is such a classic, and I don’t think it should be tackled by anyone less than perfect. I actually found the whole performance a bit weird. I think she tried to make it more entertaining, but it came off as wierd. Randy said that the song was a bit too big for her, which I completely agree with. She, like Amy Krebs, probably won’t get many votes because they were unforgettable. It was actually weird because Simon then stated my exact point…that she looked a bit uncomfortable on stage.

Sabrina Sloan
I had never seen her before actually, but seeing her original audition tape, she sounded very good. Her performance was sassy and entertaining, which I thought was really good. She is one of them that would grab the viewer’s attention, although she could show a bit more personality when she isn’t on stage. Overall, I was happily surprised with her performance. She has a lot of potential.

Antonella Barba
I Don’t Wanna Miss a thing- Aerosmith
She had originally auditioned with her best friend, and they both had made it all the way to Hollywood. Unfortunately her friend was cut, and she made it through. They have showed her a lot through-out the competition, and from what I have seen, she isn’t quite ready for this competition. She showed everyone that today when her performance was pretty rough. She is a very pretty girl, which I think will keep her in the competition for a bit longer, but her singing was just not good. The judges all agreed that it wasn’t up to par. Paula even had trouble finding something good to say about it.

Update: Antonella Barba’s hot pictures on the net should not affect voting outcome

Jordin Sparks
She is only 17 years old which I find hard to believe. I have been a big fan of hers for the past while. I think she is outstanding for her age, and will go very far in the competition. She is a contestant that you don’t really have to worry about, because she doesn’t goo off key; You can just sit and enjoy her performance. She did a good job tonight, and she picked a suitable song.

Nicole Tranquillo
I don’t know a lot about Nicole, but I wasn’t expecting too much out of her performance. As soon as she started, I thought the whole thing was weird. Her voice was very different, and I didn’t like it. It wasn’t a voice that is soothing, but it was instead the exact opposite. I don’t think she will go too far in the competition. This isn’t to say she doesn’t have a voice, but it just wasn’t my type I guess. Needless to say, the judges really didn’t like it.

Haley Scarnato
All Coming Back to Me- Celine Dion
Simon had previously called Haley cabaret which I thought was pretty accurate. She seems like a very kind and hardworking person. I wasn’t happy with her song choice at all. I thought it was a bit cheesy and predictable. Like some of the others, the song was too big for her. I just don’t see Celine Dion getting her a lot of votes.

Melinda Doolittle
Coming into this performance, I wasn’t completely sold on her. I find that she has a bit of a lisp, and I wasn’t impressed with her yet. However, her performance was above average. I loved her after seeing her performance. What makes her so appealing is her modesty. She loves to sing, and that’s what makes the show exciting. I predict that she will do very will in the competition. The judges loved her.

Alaina Alexander
From the few times that I’ve seen Alaina sing, I wasn’t crazy about her voice. She has a good personality, and is very passionate about singing, but she isn’t ready for the competition. She definitely chose the wrong song, and started out poorly. From there, it just didn’t get any better, and it made me question why the judges put her there in the fist place. I think she would be a good person to eliminate this week. I don’t say this a lot, but it was almost excruciating.

Gina Glocksen
All By Myself- Celine Dion
I’m not sure if it is just me, but I don’t get a good vibe from Gina. She hasn’t really ever done anything to make me think that she is amazing. It seems to me like she fakes her sincerity. Her performance was decent, but I have a feeling that the viewers won’t take a great liking to her. It was an okay performance, as Simon said.

Lakisha Jones
She is by far one of my favorite female contestants. Her personality is so vivacious when she sings, that you can’t help but like her. She is another girl who is modest for such a big talent. The best thing is that it isn’t just her singing that is captivating, it’s her whole general aura that is exciting. If people don’t vote for her, they are insane. It’s safe to say that all three judges agreed she was in a completely different league than all of the other competitors.

My prediction for this week is that Leslie Hunt and Nicole Tranquillo will be eliminated this week. Now, this is based on what I think America will do. If it was solely based on talent, Antonella and Alaina should go.

February 20th/2007

The top 12 boys sang tonight. Two girls and boys will be cut every Thursday night, so tune in for the elimination show as well!

At first, they showed a video montage of the top 12 guy’s prelim auditions, just so that the viewers could get a closer look at the idol hopefuls.

Rudy Cardenas
Simon really didn’t like Rudy in his first audition, saying that he was too typical. Tonight, he is singing more of an upbeat song. I find that he doesn’t really pronounce his words, which was a big distraction for me. Aside from his slurring quality, he did have a decent voice. I didn’t notice him go off tune a lot. He hasn’t really been my favorite throughout the competition, and tonight didn’t change my perspective of him. The judges weren’t too impressed, with Randy saying that the performance was a bit too corny for him. Also, Simon said that he doesn’t have a unique voice, and that his performance was forgettable.

Brandon Rogers
Rock the Night Away- Michael Jackson
Brandon was a back-up singer for artists such as Christina Aguilera and Justin Timberlake. I didn’t really have too much to say about his performance. It wasn’t amazing, and it wasn’t bad…It was just okay. Randy made a good suggestion that he should stick more to the melody of the song, and eliminate some of his runs. Simon said that he believed he was better than that.

Sundance Head
He did amazing in his very first audition with the judges, but had a lot of trouble with the Hollywood auditions. I had a lot of hope for Sundance because of his first audition, but tonight I just don’t think he cut it. I think the whole American Idol process made him abandon the type of music he really loves, which Randy stated. The judges suggested that he go back to his “blues” roots.

Paul Kim
I thought that Paul’s song choice was really poor. It didn’t suit him at all, and I think it was in too low of a register for him. He went into a falsetto part, and was completely off key the whole time. I really liked him in his first audition, but I thought that this performance was just a wreck. I found it interesting to discover that he always wears bare feet when he sings. To me, that seems like a desperate (and weird) attempt to get attention.

Chris Robinson
Next up was Chris Robinson (aka the Justin Timberlake sound-alike). I think his amazing voice definitely shined through tonight. He changed the melody up a bit, but it actually worked so much better than you would expect. He got the audience standing up, and it was a very high energy performance. He received both praise and constructive criticism from the judges.

Nick Pedro
Nick has a much softer tone than the other male contestants. He had made it all the way to Hollywood last year, but voluntarily dropped out due to the extreme pressure. Personally, I don’t really like his tone, but I was hoping tonight that maybe he would impress me. He was the first guy tonight who chose to sing a ballad, and I think he did quite well. He wasn’t in tune for every note, but he was decent. However, I don’t think the audience will take much appreciation to it, because it was quite boring. Simon actually gave him some encouragement, saying that he believed he had a good voice.

Blake Lewis
Blake Lewis, who I call the beat boxer of the competition, was next, and I was really interested to see him tonight because I’ve never really him sing. As soon as he started to sing, I knew I liked him. He has a voice unlike any of the other competitors, and I think he chose a song that suited his voice really well. However, just like most of the other contestants, I noticed him go off key once or twice. His tone reminds me of a Maroon 5 sound. Overall, I thought he did a very good job. Simon said it was the best performance of the night so far.

Sinjaya Malakar
He is seventeen year old who just finished high school. I think that Sinjaya still has a bit more maturing to do before he can be a professional singer. He does have a really nice voice to listen to, but once again, his performance was quite boring. The judges cut him down a lot. You can’t help but feel bad for him.

Chris Sligh
When I saw that his age was 28, I couldn’t even believe it. He looks so much younger than that, and also, I think he seems younger because of his personality. He is very witty, and has a great personality, which I think will get him a lot of votes. I think he chose a really good song for his voice, and did a solid job.

Jared Cotter
The viewers haven’t really had a chance to see Jared yet, so this is his one chance to wow the audience. As soon as he started singing, I was upset with his song choice. It is just so typical, and it lead to a boring performance. It would be really hard to make this song amazing. I don’t think he will get too many votes, and for the ones he does, it will be based more on looks than singing talent. He was ok.

A.J. Tabaldo
A.J. was another competitor we haven’t really seen too much of. He had auditioned the year before also, and had made it to the first round of Hollywood week. He seems like a very nice guy, but once again, I think it was another wrong song choice. However, I thought he managed to pull it off. As Randy said, vocally it was quite good, but it just wasn’t anything too special.

Phil Stacey
The last singer of the night is Phil Stacey. He is one of my favorite guy contestants, and I think he will go pretty far in the competition. I think he has really improved through-out the competition, and that’s important. I must admit, he started off a bit rough, but I thought that he had an overall good performance. He can defiantly sing, and his voice is one of those tones that is just really good to listen to.

This is a hard prediction, as none of them blew me way. Based on America’s votes though, I think that Sinjaya and A.J. will go, but it’s really too close to call.